Waiting, Waiting, and Waiting Some More

My Siesta Fiesta Journey is here.

Well, sorta.

My flight was supposed to leave Birmingham at noon. It actually left at 1:30. So, I was a little nervous about making my connecting flight. However, all nervousness was replaced with "are you kidding-ness" when I noticed that a family with 4 (yes, 4) babies and a Jack Russell terrier named CoCo were also on my flight. Now, I have 3 kids of my own, and am a former teacher. The sounds of babies/children generally do not phase me. However, all 4 of the kids cried the entire flight. And the dog, (remember, a Jack Russell - aka dog on RedBull) was cooped in a tiny crate and barked the entire flight. Plus, the plane was only a smidge bigger than my minivan. Lemme tell you. There's nothing more head killing, ear deafening, than riding on a teeny airplane with screaming kids and a barking dog. Shoot me.

Also, the rain has been a little sporadic today (THANKS, Tropical Storm, Fay!) so as we approached Houston, we were told to circle around a few times because it was too crowded to land. Somehow, we ended up over a huge body of water (I'm assuming the Gulf of Mexico) which was a little confusing because I never EVER thought that a flight from Birmingham, AL to Houston, TX would take a seaward route, and for a minute I questioned if I was even on the correct flight, and then I wondered how on earth I was going to explain to my husband that I had gotten on the wrong flight... and eventually landed in Houston. At 4:00 pm. My connecting flight took off at 4:00 pm. I sprinted like an Olympian - ok, well, not so much, but imagine... - to get to my gate only to be able to look at the plane with closed doors sitting at the gate. It was mocking me. I think it stuck its tongue out at me. I had missed the flight.

So I weighed my options.
1. Get on the next flight, which is at 9:20 pm.
2. Find another carrier and see if there was another flight to San Antonio. There was - SouthWest - at Hobby Airport - I'm at George Bush.
3. Rent a car and drive.

I checked on option 1 - and got booked on that flight.
Then I checked option 2 - tickets were $179 and I had to be at the other airport in an hour. Nope.
Then I checked on the rental car option - $155, 3 1/2 hours, rain, and Houston rush hour. Nope.

So I'm sitting. I bought a day pass into the Continental Airlines President's Club room (best $45 I've spent yet), got some fantastic dinner, bought a book, and am hanging out. My friend, Erin, is sitting at Baggage Claim at the San Antonio Airport waiting for me to get there. Bless her wonderful heart.

I'm fully expecting Beth Moore to BRING IT this weekend, because I'll confess that my mind has not been full of happy thoughts today. I need some time in the Word.

More tomorrow - peace out.

Siesta Fiesta! It's FINALLY Here!

I'm not a patient person. I wish I was a patient person. I don't have the patience to force myself to become patient. (Ba dum dum dum).

I have been waiting now for almost a year for this weekend to get here. A YEAR, people.

That's longer than I waited for the birth of my children. It's longer than Spencer waited to propose to me after we met. It's a LIFETIME in my existence.

But now, it's here! It's the Siesta Fiesta in San Antonio!!

I will leave Birmingham at noon on Thursday to fly to San Antonio and will return Sunday. My amazing, wonderful, fantastic, husband is keeping the girls so I can go. Read: I won't have to change a diaper for 4 whole days!

My friend, Erin is meeting me in Houston, and then we are flying to San Antonio together. She is one awesomely crazy chick who LOVES Jesus and guarantees side splitting laughter, so I'm pretty stoked about hanging with her for the weekend. Plus, we both share a love of LOST, Shawn Johnson and the entire US Women's Gymnastics team, the Montgomery Biscuits, PF Changs, Travis Cottrell and his Praise Team, the Nacho Cheese joke, and Hunt's Snack Pack Chocolate Pudding. I love her. She is tall and skinny and resembles a JCrew model, and I am not tall and not skinny and resemble a mom who hasn't showered in 2 days. But other than that, we're twins.

I also cannot wait to meet people FOR REAL who I have gotten to know on this blog. People like Lisa who has just finished writing a book called Married to the Ministry. She wrote a BOOK, y'all. Her writing and picture will soon reside on the shelf in my den. How crazy is that? I went to a Birmingham Blogger dinner about a month ago where I met in real life Sophie, Kim, Gayle, Leslie, Ditsybug, Rhoda, Lora, Stacey, and Becca. **UPDATE I totally forgot to add Trista and I read her blog EVERY DAY! I used the list of people who were at the dinner that she has on her blog. Because it was on her blog, she didn't list herself, so I didn't list her, either! SORRY TRISTA!!** A lot of these gals are headed to San Antonio and I am looking oh so forward to seeing them again. You know, because we have to travel 800 miles to hang out together when we actually live in the same city. But Birmingham's salsa doesn't compare to San Antonio's salsa (so I've heard) so that in itself justifies the trip.

The whole Siesta Fiesta part is a get-together of ladies (and a few men "Miestas") who read and comment on Beth Moore's blog. We have matching tshirts (which I have always thought was waaayyy corny, but am super excited about it this time) and reserved seats a pajama party and a lunch/meet-and-greet with Beth and ENDLESS SHOPPING. But to top it all off, Beth will be bringing the Word like it ain't been brought before. The Holy Spirit has tickets and will for sure be in attendance (and there is nothing like a gathering of Christian women AND the Holy Spirit), and I guarantee God, himself, has his popcorn ready and will be ALL OVER that arena. I. Cannot. Wait.

I hope to be able to update ye olde blog while I'm in San Antonio, but I won't make any promises for stuff like internet service at the hotel (after all, hundreds of bloggers are descending upon the place, so it could throw in the towel and cry Uncle), or my choosing shopping over sitting at a computer, or the goodness of the salsa that might deter my thoughts away from blogging. But I'll try.

Oh, and changing the subject really quickly, I had the amazing privilege of re-connecting with a cousin through the wonderful bloggy world. Her name is Phyllis and we haven't seen each other in about 10 years. She is now married to Will, and they, along with their 3 children, Jaan, Raia, and Asya, are missionaries in the Ukraine. Please add them to your daily prayer list. They are LIVING the Great Commission every single day. That's awesome.

See y'all later.

Hysterical, I Tell Ya.

I just found this blog.

I have tears of laughter streaming down my face.

This lady, who I want as my best friend because her wit has cracked me up SEVERAL times this morning, makes fun of cakes. Misspelled, poorly decorated, questionable, cakes.

Go there and laugh. Right now. Pronto.

And have some tissues handy, because she makes you laugh the ugly laugh that produces tears.

But oh, so worth it.

Oh, and vote for me, if you haven't. Thanks.