I went to Nashville, Tennessee, this past weekend for a wedding. I had an awesome time singing karaoke with my brother, vising Vanderbilt University and all the touristy attractions, blending in with the locals and dancing with my cousins. The weather was wonderful as was the company. My good ol' dad was even kind enough to fly me to Music City than make me drive 11 hours! Tennessee was great, but getting to and from Nashville was another story.
Getting to Nashville
I flew out early Thursday morning into Chicago O'Hare, where of course, I was delayed by 2 hours. "Delay smelay," I thought...no big deal. And then, I saw her. A short little blonde, dressed in sweats, no make-up, eating a Big Mac. Could it be!? No! I texted Blake in fervent excitement, "I think there is a celebrity on my flight!" "Who is it?" he asked..."I think its Leanne Womack," I said. "Go sit next to her and start singing 'I hope you dance,'" he said. "Are you crazy! I don't want to freak her out!" I stammered. "Well you better talk to her and have plans made to hang out with her by the next time you talk to me," he said. "Ok, Ok," I said, knowing very well that Blake knows I get nervous about these sorts of things.
So I waited for her to take one more bite from her tasty looking Big Mac and then I leaned over and popped the question..."Excuse me ma'am. Can I ask a stupid question." (This is where I freaked her out, I think). "Yes," said the blonde woman. "Are you Leanne Womack," I said. "Yes," she said very bluntly. Then I began falsely gushing about how great I thought she was and how I loved "Why they call it falling." Before you begin to judge, just pause one second, because she is the first celebrity sighting for me, and I was excited. She could have been Mini Me for all I cared, and I still would have gushed about how great he was in Austin Powers. Anyway, she was less enthused than I, and just stared back at me. I asked her some questions, but it was clear that she just wanted to get back to her Big Mac. "Well, it was nice to meet you," I said. "It was nice to meet you too, sweetheart," she responded condescendingly in her southern accent, obviously not really happy to have met me. Someone is a diva and she's eating a Big Mac with special sauce running down her chin...serves her right. Maybe if she was a bit nicer, I would have warned her about it, but she had already burned my bridge...See if I listen to any of her music ever again...psh. I'm obviously still upset about the encounter.
Leaving Nashville
The weekend flew by fast, and my memory of the horrible encounter was far from my mind. What a great weekend with family! Was it really time for me to leave!? UGH! So, I sat shot gun while my dad, mom and brother drove me to the airport (I get severly car sick...Just another characteristic adding to my "coolness" level). I was about 3 hours early to the airport, but my dad likes to play it safe. So, I was checking my bags when I found out my 5 o'clock flight had been delayed to 8:10 p.m. meaning I was going to miss my connecting flight to KC. "I'll put you on standby for the 2:30 flight, but you better book it because...it's 2:30 now!" said the United Airlines flight lady. Thats when chaos began. I ran off with hardly a good bye to my family, stood in security bawling my eyes out as my mom waived good bye to me, fearing the worst that something horrible might happen to them since I didn't get to say good bye properly (No, this was not Nancy Kerrigan moment...It's coming.). I ran, and I ran, and I RAN! I made it to the gate only to find that the 2:30 flight had been delayed by 2 hours and was overbooked. So much for trying to make that flight.
So then, I sat, and I sat, and I SAT. Luckily, I decided to buy a book, Twilight, to be exact, and now I'm obsessed with Edward Cullen, but thats another story. The plane took off as expected...8:10. We landed in Chicago at 10:30 p.m. I missed my connecting flight...bummer. I was on one of those planes where you had to walk down the stairs. Well, it was pouring down rain by the time the plane landed, so not only was I late, tired and hungry, but now I was soaking wet...bummer. I walked into O'Hare airport and stepped into chaos. Literally, chaos was all around me. People were screaming at the airline folks, like it was there fault or something. All the food places were closing...even McDonalds, which I thought was a 24/7 fast food joint...I could have really used a Big Mac...karma sucks. I walked aimlessly through the airport like a lost, wet dog...I smelled like one too. Tears began to drop from my eyes as I contemplated sleeping at the airport...low point. Then...I saw her...she was crying and screaming pathetically to the airlines lady "WHY! WHY! WHY!" She was totally having a Nancy Kerrigan moment. Thats when I decided, "I'm not going to be that girl." So I put on my big girl pants, called a hotel, booked a room for the night and sloshed my way to the shuttle center. I stood out in the rain for another hour. Despite the cold rain, things were looking up. I boarded the shuttle, checked into my room, stripped out of my wet clothes, turned the heat onto 77, climbed in bed, turned the TV onto "Friends," grabbed my book and engrossed myself into all that is Edward Cullen...I fell asleep to the Cullen family at 1 a.m.
The Next Day
I awoke at 4:50 a.m. Threw on my clothes, gave myself a look in the mirror..."Sick," I thought, and I was off to the airport. I was 2 hours early. I watched as weary travellers from the night before waited on stand-by for the next flight to California...There were 40 people on stand-by, only 3 people were cleared from the list. Luckily, I used my "charm" and wooed a nice flight lady, from the night before, into checking me into my new flight. I was golden. No stand-by list for me. I sat for 2 hours and fell more and more in love with Edward. Then, I boarded my flight, sat on the runway for 30 minutes (another flight delay), and then, we were off. I clicked my heels and I was home...not really, but I had made it home, safe and sound...jet lagged, but home and full of stories and memories to laugh about.
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