I know its not a competition, but I am winning

Okay, so I am slowly but surely getting over the fact that I am spending the weekend at home in Alabama and not gallivanting around Europe.

Today was extremely successful (even though I was melting in the Southern heat of 100 degrees instead of relaxing along the Mediterranean Sea, but I'm not bitter). I was able, by some miracle, to get refunded in the form of Delta credit, for both round trip tickets to France (remember, we had to buy Mark a completely new ticket this morning at 2am). So, what was once an "impossibility" according to the ticket counter in Atlanta, I made work today over the phone. Ashley: 1 Delta: 0. (Yes I am keeping score, but really I want to send the customer service rep a fruit basket and personalized thank you note for saving the day)

I also was able to cancel and get refunded for all but 7% of my train ticket from Marseilles to Paris. Ashley: 2 Eurotrain:0.

So, at the end of the day, I am not in France, but my wallet isn't in quite as much pain as it was this morning at 2.

I was able to tell Mark the good news over text as he was taking off from Boston to Paris this afternoon.

Mark feels horrible (kind of like the "gift" Daisy left on his suitcase this morning), but I'm sure he'll get over it.

He started planning our next "vacation," which is centered around swimming and work (I've heard that vacations usually don't revolve around work, but we are penny pinchers with no time, or much money, to spare so we do what we can), but vacation is vacation, right? I think it is making him feel better to be proactive and be able to say, "won't it be fun to go up to the North Carolina mountains?"

It's no France, but it will do.

At this moment I am a woman trying very hard to win "Wife of the Year" for not freaking out (much), for getting our tickets credited back to us, for driving my husband back to the airport this morning and for being loving and supportive of a husband who is in France right now.

Now, the next week will be spent anxiously checking results online. I'll keep you posted.