Fire in the Sky

Okay so as you know I went on vacation to see my father-in-law. We decided to leave a day early and surprise him so we got plane tickets to fly from Tulsa to Nashville and rent a car and drive to Smiths Grove, KY. All is good. we leave the house around 0530 Thursday 2 April and head out to the wonderful city of Tulsa Oklahoma. Okay someone forgot to mention that some of the signs as you drive along the turn pike are repeats posted a whopping four feet apart (makes you wonder). We get to the airport, park the truck and check in for our flight now from what I read the airline we are flying on is pretty good at being on time. Our flight actually leaves a little early (there are so many nice people on this plane) we are 15 minutes in the air and we smell something burning, now I didn't see any toaster anywhere and Ben is sound asleep sitting next to me and I'm sure if it's anything to worry about he would say something (at least I hope). The two older ladies behind us are now asking questions to each other about this burning smell all of a sudden the pilot comes over the radio with an announcement that we are turning around and heading back to Tulsa to land because of this burning order that has now filled the entire plane. As we make our way to the ground we are met by the fire trucks I guess we had an (IFE) we were held on the runway while the fire department took some infrared device and checked out the plane to make sure there was no fire (thank goodness there wasn't I'm in no shape to jump from a non-moving plane) then they followed us back to the gate where we disembarked. Now we are waiting for another plane which take two hours so these nice people we have come to meet get on the other plane they brought and we head out again this time we make it to the run way to stop and wait our turn, all of a sudden they shut down the engines. We all look at each other and the pilot makes another announcement, we can't take off and head to DFW because of high winds in Texas so we head back to the gate and disembark second time in three hours (we are becoming real good friends with the people on the plane now). Now we were suppose to leave at 0850 but now we are departing at 1415 we get on the plane for the third time and we actually take off to much applause in the plane this time. We arrive at DFW missing both our connecting flights to be put on stand by for the 1803 flight leaving DFW for Nashville we are numbers 17 and 18 on stand by (what are the chances) well as it seems the good lord saw fit for us to get on the first flight out and we arrived safe and sound in Nashville at 2035 picked up the rental care and drove 78 miles north and surprised my father-in-law. We had a very nice visit spend some time with my nieces, great nieces and great nephew. It was a very short trip but well worth the time we got to spend with the family. We left Sunday for our flight back home in hopes that we would not encounter any problems heading home and to our amazement we arrived 20 minutes before our projected time.

Loss of a Family Member

As you all know we were unable to make our trip to Kentucky to see my mother-in-law. I spoke with both my father and mother-in-law Friday after my mother-in-laws doctor appointment, they said her pain medication was increased but she was doing better. So now our plan is to go visit the first weekend in April. Saturday Ben replaced the ball joints on the truck so now it is safe to drive (long day Saturday). We had an uneventful Sunday except for the normal first ball practice of the season (yes I am playing ball again). Monday morning : it is extremely foggy this morning and little chilly but the birds are out in full force singing. I am entertaining the idea of sleeping a few more hours when my cell phone rings (most generally when this happens it's Chris wanting me to bring him something when I go into town) as I pick up the phone I see that the caller is my brother-in-law Timmy (okay now my heart has sunk) the last time I talk to Timmy was two weeks before Thanksgiving when he called to give me an update on my mother-in-law. He had some sad news for us my mother-in-law passed this morning around 0730, he said she was real bad yesterday and that they knew it was coming so they spent the whole day with her. twenty minutes later my niece Tabatha called to tell me the news of my mother-in-laws passing. What to do now? Many questions as to why we were guided in the direction of not going? Please keep Craig's family in prayer as this will be a trying time for them as they must carry on without the physical company of their loved one.

Day one

So I am actually on vacation today, what a change from my normal routine (okay so what is really normal?) Ben and I were suppose to drive to Kentucky this afternoon but between the weather and the truck needing repairs and work I had to cancel my trip to Kentucky. My prayer is that my mother-in-law will make it until we get back to see her the first week of April. If your not aware she has been battleing lung cancer for two years now and is on the down hill side of the battle. I found out tonight that Hospice has been coming in for about a month now. A flood of memories come rushing in when I think about not getting there in time to say goodbye as I did not make it in time to say goodbye to my father who as you know died of cancer in April of 2003. This was only one portion of my day as I was on my way to the base this afternoon I was passed by a yound pilot who apprently thought I was going tooooooo slooooooow only to find out there was a car in front of me. He preceeded to pass both of us and almost clip the car in the oncoming lane to OH to get to the Base Gas Station a whopping 2 minutes before me. So I pull up and start pumping my gas only to feel the steam pouring out of my ears in frustration because of this young man (Ashley would be so proud) as I walked out after paying I looked over and preceeded to say"I HOPE YOU FLY PLANES BETTER THAN YOU DRIVE" the look of astonishment on this young mans face was PRICELESS as I said (Ashley would be proud) just another day in Oklahoma pardise.