As the stomach churns in Chicago : (

Today was the day! The lists had been checked not once but twice and every item was safely tucked away in its rightful spot. One suitcase, a backpack and one carry on (cute but functional and Hollie approved for fashion sense) were now loaded into the van. Suffice it to say I never bothered going to bed as we were to head out at 4am (ok 4:30 and for the record Rod never rolled his eyes at me) for the airport in Minneapolis. Anyways, you get the picture. My wonderful husband and trusty chauffer got me to the airport right on time, safe and sound lickety split :)



Air fare to central America isn't cheap my friends and I thought I'd done rather well when I booked my flight many months ago. Well it turns out you should be leery of those "wow, I got a good deal!" sites. I can't explain it well so let's just leave it at I had more than 3 airlines involved in my flight plans that I was unaware of. It's like being slammed ( not in the head silly!) but like in the old days when the phone company switched your service without your knowledge or consent. Anywho, I was sent back and forth from one airline carrier to another like a slap happy ping pong ball and I was not very happy. After all it was really way too early for a stressed out sleep deprived woman to behave nicely. Rod was afraid I was going to get hauled out of there, but I finally made it to the security point.

Well folks, it just gets better from here. It didn't take too long for the security agent to announce over the loud speaker " I need a baggage check!!" (now just pretend all the letters in the aforementioned quote were capitalized) and he followed it with " Who's bag is this?" as he held it up and away from himself as if were a Pepe le pew like offender. Yes of course it was my cute Hollie approved bag and there I was signaled out for all the world to see. I was now the vile person who was holding up the line. The nerve of some people! Long story short, the securtity agent took every single thing out of my bag. It was a good thing I had placed all my lady like unmentionables in pretty pink floral cloth bags. Somewhere under that burlish exterior he must have had a remnant of chivalry because he never rifled through them. At last I was home free and my travel bud Kelsey and I booked it for the gate. Phew we made it!

Or so we thought but wait, there's more. I was way in the back of the plane and seperated from Kelsey. No prob I thought, I'm a social kinda person, I will just chat my seat mates up a little. Problem was that I was sandwiched between two people and believe you me there is no way that even sardines should be relegated to such tight quarters. I really had to use the ladies room (yes I still use that archaic term!) but I thought I'd better get situated and wait for the flight to get underway as I'd already gotten some not so friendly stares from the passengers (that apparently were once again being held up by moi) as I boarded. Unfortunately the said lack of space coupled with my trying to squeeze into my seat and the "Dragon Lady" sitting in the aisle seat caused a slight "love tap" by my shoe to the aforementioned "Dragon Ladies" neon green pedicured toes. She let out a howl/shriek (totally unnecessary by the way) and she lashed out at me. She crossed her arms and stared straight ahead and would not acknowledge me.I swear I felt the temp drop in the cabin, she was so cold to me. I tried apologizing to her and she gave me a loud "well!"

But wait if you read on you'll find there's still more. In case you'd forgotten I still had to go visit the ladies room and I tried so hard to wait it out but a girls got to do what a girls got to do! Wouldn't you agree? By now the nice lady sitting to my opposite by the window seat turned to me and patted me on the arm and gave me a wink. She was such a sweetie that she volunteered to help me take dragon lady down should it come to that. So we looked each other in the eye and I told her "cover me I'm going in." Somehow I feel like there should have been some scary movie music but alas there was none. Anyhow the lady, and I use that term lightly refused to move from her seat and I had to literally catapult myself out of my seat. Well as we all know what comes out must go back in, at least in this case and it meant I had to get past DL and into my seat. I have to give it to her, she's one stubborn cookie. She woudn't budge from her seat and she ended up my hiney in her face. Not on purpose of course. Anyhow, I ended up having a lovely time chatting it up with my seat mate(the nice one) and we talked about God and his provision. I now have her business card and know that DL is one sad puppy. It must take an awful lot of energy to be that nasty. God bless her, and I do mean that from the bottom of my heart.

Aww, isn't that a happy ending? Nope, as you already guessed there's more. My flight got into Chicago and I don't think I ever want to be in that airport again. Really who planned/mapped that thing out? Once again chaos showed it's ugly little rear( oops, I meant its head he he)and made a mess of things. I wont go into the details because I've already ranted way too much but suffice it to say I am still in Chicago and not Nicaragua where I should have been to by now: (

Kelsey and I missed our flight by two (count them) stinkin minutes and poof our entire morning really hit the fan. There we were trying to get someone to help us but we couldn't get someone to even listen to us. What we were told was that our ticket was non replaceable and that we'd have to pay for an entirely new one. Really, got an extra $900.00 bucks? We tried calling the numbers on our intineraries an those of the carriers involved but nothing worked. It finally struck me as I was sitting on the cold floor surrounded by my luggage and my forlorn travel buddy that our God, my God was bigger than the situation and that He could fix it in a flash if it should please him. So then and there I began to pray and ask God that He would give me the courage to stant at the scary ledge of fear and be okay with whatever the outcome was. I didn't ask God to prove himself or his love for me but rather to let me know that He was there in the circumstance. In the end I was able to speak to a kind woman by the name of Dina (God bless her soul!) who extended God's grace to us right then and there. I am now booked on a flight that goes out at 3am (who cares, it gets me closer to Nicaragua) and I hope to be in Nicaragua by 4pm tomorrow. One day later than scheduled but abudantly blessed. There were no additonal fees to pay and I gave Dina a huge hug and I shared with her that I'd prayed and that she had been His provision to me. Point is, it was all worth it. Can you believe all this took place by 10:30 am?

I realize this posting is tremedousley long and I hope I haven't lost my four followers yet. I've chosen to take this chaotic day and have fun with it. Are you wondering where I'm typing this from? Surprise, I'm at the Chicago public libray. Kelsey and I decided to throw caution to the wind and we've discovered the joy of the rail/train system. Except for the heavy bags I'm carrying( Just call me a little pack mule) we have explored the downtown area a little and met some very nice, kind and funny people. I hope that the next time I post it will be briefer and that I will be doing it from my new location of Nicaragua or Costa Rica. Please pray, and I do mean please pray that God will continue to open my eyes and heart to his invitation to trust and turn to Him no matter the outcome. I love and miss you all.





Araceli/Kitti