Ugh, this past weekend has been so full of ups and downs that I don't even know where to begin. It went a little like this:

Downside: The original flight I was planning to book home was full, so no cheap tix for procrastinatey me

Upside: After being resigned to paying a full month's salary just for a stupid flight, I did find a connection for slightly cheaper

Downside: I'd have to book two legs of the journey separately, so I hoped one wouldn't fill up after paying for the other

Upside: United allowed me to create and "hold" an intinerary, so this problem was licked!

Downside: After paying for the other leg first (non-refundable), got stuck on the United site when it wouldn't allow me to pay through a non-American credit card, doh!

Upside: I can try to book it through Travelocity instead, they definitely take international credit cards

Downside: In the ten minutes I spent on the United site, the price on Travelocity has now jumped by US$200/ticket. Damn.

Upside: I trawl United.com again and find they have a phone number that I can call in and pay

Downside: I get an automated customer service, the kind where I have to repeat myself 5x verbally just to get the confirmation number acknowledged on the system

Upside: The credit card seems to be going through

Downside: I get caught when inputting the zip code...only 5 digits dang it!

Upside: I get transferred through to a live person finally (!) who tells me I can take the itinerary to any travel agent and they'll process it, phew!

Downside: I have to spend saturday morning schlepping to the United office to buy the tix, and now I'll have to pay an extra processing fee to get a real ticket issued

Upside: The woman at United processed it all, and we didn't even have to pay the extra fee, yay!

The End.

Well mostly the end, there was all sorts of other drama over the weekend, but it's probably best to leave out of a blog. I capped it off with climbing on Sunday on the lead wall, and that was so stressful since I haven't led in ages. I actually did far better on my first climb than the second, because lead climbing is not so much about strength as it is about mental confidence. On my first, I was stupidly didn't think about the risks and thus performed much better, but psyched myself out on the second attempt by overthinking. I guess I need more practice. All in all, I didn't have a relaxing weekend, but I'm 100x more relaxed now that I have my tickets home booked.