All in All a Good Day!

So we wake up in Colorado Springs (4:45 am), say goodbye to Josh and family over coffee (we won't see them for over 7 months), drive to DIA, turn in car, catch shuttle to terminal, check bags, get through security (with our pride intact), catch the train to terminal C, have a little breakfast, get some fuffy coffee and  pastry and make our way to gate 47...so far so good...it's about 8:45, plenty of time to relax, line up and get on the plane...NOT...now remember we are on a tight schedule, we are suppose to catch a 10am flight to Phoenix, arrive at 10:55 am, collect our bags, catch shuttle and hopefully be at hospital by 12:15 pm so we can see my mother before she heads into surgery at 1 pm...about 9 am it's announced our plane is going to be late due to mechanical problems...they listed 12 pm as the new departure time but hoped that would move up if they could fix the problem faster than anticipated...at 10 they move us to gate 31, about as far away as you can get and still be in terminal C...lots of confusion at gate 31...we had 2 competing flights waiting at the same gate to leave...our flight loses and we are moved to gate 39 for a 12:10 time...at 11:30 it is announced over the loudspeaker that our flight is being moved to gate 46, that is cancelled and we are settled again back at gate 39...about 12 pm we are lined up and loaded...plane takes off at 12:30, arrives at Phoenix airport at 1:30 and we make it to the hospital at 3 pm...we are now 2 hours late from the start of the surgery and 2 hours short of the end...on top of it all as we are landing one of the crew gets on the PA and announces our arrival, apologizes for being late, wishes us a good day and then says, "maybe on a future flight we can make up for this delay"!! Now explain to me what their plan is...leave 2 hours early for a future flight!! Anyway...the day ends up on the plus side of the ledger, mom gets through the surgery with flying colors and was resting when we left the hospital at 6:15pm...we just got off the phone with the CC Unit and they said she was doing very well (this at about 9:30 pm)...anyway we are happy to see this day end and are thankful for the skilled surgeon and his team for a job well done.