Re-Blog: The Journey Continues

And now the rest of the story.

So I was finally on the plane to Winnipeg. I slept through most of the flight. We landed and I wasn’t sure what to do. My friends that I was originally going to stay with were gone or on their way to work so I had to think of something to do for the next few hours because my taping wasn’t until 2pm.
Before I had come I did some important research and found that the best shopping in Winnipeg was at the Polo Park Mall. So I found myself a cab and asked him if he could take me to a restaurant by the mall that served breakfast. Thankfully he was up to the challenge and we drove to the mall and started circling around and found a Perkins restaurant. Perfect! So with my luggage in tow I am seated a comfy booth and beg my waitress for some coffee. By this point I have already been awake for over four hours. And it is only 8am. They brought me a whole carafe of coffee and I begin to browse the menu only to discover that they are having an eggs benedict special. They are my favourite and there were so many to choose from. It was the beginning of December so they were playing jazzy Christmas music. I was so enjoying my time there. After the craziness of trying to get to Winnipeg I thought my luck was changing.

After my delicious breakfast I decided to stay a while longer because the mall would not be open yet. I poured another cup of coffee and start leafing through my book. Since I am going to be interviewed about it shortly, I should review it. Some of the chapters I have been writing and rewriting for years, others I wrote just before I sent my manuscript to the publisher. I hadn’t really looked at my book since it was published because it was so overwhelming and surreal. I had been working on the book for years and looking for a publisher for a couple of years and to finally have a copy of my book in my hands is more than a dream come true. It is like seeing God’s powerful hand right before my eyes. I remember reading through some of the newer chapters and being shocked that I actually wrote those words. When I was finishing my manuscript my publisher had only given me a couple of weeks. So I would stay up very late and get up very early to try to finish writing. My friends rallied together and made suppers for my family so that was one thing that I didn’t have to worry about. It was amazing. So I remember so many times being so tired that I didn’t think I had anything of value to say or write about. Then it was like my fingers took over and just wrote like crazy. I know for a fact that I had help writing my book.

Back to my trip. I figured that the mall should be open so I pack up my things and grabbed my suitcase and lugged it through the snow to the mall. In my research on the mall, I learned that they would keep luggage at customer service while you shopped so that was my first stop. I got there a little early, none of the stores were open by I could walk the hallways. I finally located the customer service desk where they informed me that they no longer offer that service. With no other option I wheel my suitcase through the mall and stores with me.

I could not believe how people reacted to me because I had a suitcase with me. Most stores that I walked into the sales people would not even talk to me. An interesting case study. I did find a few good deals and some cute things for my girls. The one thing that my girls asked me to bring back for them was a chocolate bar. So I made sure I did that and I noticed that it was about time for me to find a cab to get to the studio.

I had no idea which door to go to so and I had walked that mall several times that morning. So picked the closest one. Just as I walked out a cab went flying by. So I thought that maybe another one might be passing by shortly. Well, that wasn’t the case. There was a payphone there but no phone book and mall security came to the door to deal with a man that was causing problems outside the mall. I figured I should move on, this door was becoming too exciting for me. I decided to walk around the outside of the mall and surely a cab would come by. I am still dragging my suitcase and now it is through the snow, and I am not having my luck finding a cab and now I am walking into a parking structure. I knew I picked the wrong way to walk. Down the block I see a movie theatre so I thought I would walk there and someone could help me there. It was nice to walk into the warm theatre and I found a phone book and called a cab.

I waited out front for the cab to arrive and I gave them the address of the studio and it was about a 25 minute drive. I arrived at the studio at 1:55pm for my taping at 2pm. I was hoping to have time to change my clothes and fix my make-up that had been applied at 3:30 that morning and then have a few minutes to relax. No such luck for me! It was straight to the green room where I was told that Bob Misner was waiting to meet with me. I asked for a couple of minutes to change and I put some powder on my nose and that was it.

Unfortunately, Bob had not had a chance to read my book so I gave him a brief summary. Bob and his wife Audrey have written a couple of books and we share the same publisher. Actually, my friend let me borrow a copy of their book Marriage Undercover, and I was stilling looking for a publisher at the time so I checked who published their book and emailed them with my book proposal and the rest is history.

So we headed out to the studio and it was weird but cool to be sitting on the couch that I had seen on TV so many times. The first taping went okay but I wasn’t sure where Bob was going with some of the questions, but the second I didn’t really care so I just said what I felt like I needed to say and it was really good. I prayed steady as we were walking to the studio because I had such a crazy day and I was so not relaxed. But I guess I will see on Monday how I did.

After the taping I had nothing to do because my friends were not coming until 5pm to pick me up. So I hung out in the green room and read more of my Tony Compolo book. My friends came to get me and took me out for a wonderful supper. I had missed lunch so I was so hungry and it was great getting to visit with them again.They took me to the airport to catch my flight which of course was delayed again. Thankfully someone left a newspaper for me to read. We were finally able to board and then were told we were going to be delayed again because another plane is late and there are a few passengers that need to transfer to our plane. I seized the opportunity to sleep; I still had an hour and a half drive home once we arrived in Saskatoon.

I woke just as we were landing in Saskatoon to see a snow storm out the window; it is now around 11pm. I made my way to the phone that connects me to the hotel where I left my vehicle. They told me that the van was on its way. I was waiting by the doors when I noticed my reflection in the window. The hair on the side of my head that I had been sleeping on during the flight was standing straight in the air. I tried to flatten it as much as possible but wasn’t having much luck. Oh well, after the day I had I didn’t really care, I just wanted to get home to my family and my bed.

The van driver took my right to my vehicle and put my suitcase in for me and helped me brush off the snow and made sure I was okay before leaving me to drive home. The Saskatoon Inn definitely gets high marks from me!

So I start out on my way home and the roads aren’t too bad, the snow is really blowing but I can still see the road, I just needed to drive slower. When I reached the half way point things got really bad. It was snowing so hard I could barely see through the snow hitting my windshield, the road was covered so I had no idea where the road was, I was just concentrating on not driving into the ditch on either side of the road because if I did I would be there for the night and my cell phone is almost dead. At this point I am so very tired from concentrating so hard and from my long day and my knuckles are very white. I was driving so slowly and I was not seeing another vehicle at all. After a while I noticed lights coming up behind me. I realized that it was a semi and it was travelling faster than I was so I looked for the next road and turned off just enough so that it could pass me. If I tried to go too far down the road I would get stuck because of all the drifts. After I let the semi pass I now had tracks that I could follow all the way home.

I walked into my door about 1:45am with my husband waiting for me and my girls asleep. I go and give my girls a kiss to let them know that I am home and I am so happy to feel safe and secure in my home.

What a trip! When I was thinking about this trip I always thought it would feel so glamorous travelling and talking about my book. The whole time I was away I kept thinking about how lonely I felt. I don’t like not including my family in what I am doing.

Through all of the character building exercises that I encountered on my trip I saw the blessings as well. The hotel that gave me a discount, my favourite breakfast in Winnipeg, visiting with friends, and the van driver that looked out for me. I am very nervous to see myself on TV, I don’t know if I will watch it or not. But I do hope and pray that what I say will have an impact. After all that is why I wrote the book.

Hope you liked hearing about my journey and if you read the whole thing, good for you, I’m impressed you stayed with me so long!