Well, I have had a fun couple of weeks. I traveled to Oklahoma City for a convention that was held on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 26 and 27. My luggage didn't arrive when I did so Delta gave me a cute little care bag. They called it an overnight bag. It included detergent, toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, deodorant, razor and shave cream, and a t-shirt. Fine but I want MY stuff. I was told it could arrive about 6:30 or it could be the 10:15 flight. Tracking showed it arrived at 6:30 but the transport would have it delivered by 3am. I told the desk to call if it was there before midnight. Otherwise I'd just get it the next morning. It arrived sometime during the night. The convention went well and the rest of my trip was fairly uneventful.
Now fast forward to Thursday, May 5. I flew to Springfield, MO. The flight was fine (seats are getting smaller each trip and I don't mean I've gained weight either!), got my rental car, drove to the hotel and checked in early to a nice room overlooking Hammons Field. Got directions to Walmart and then headed out. I needed one item from Wallyworld and then on to the airport to pick up Esther. Pulled out the GPS and requested directions to SGF.
I followed those directions only to arrive at a closed airport with signs saying they had moved. Well, ok then. Follow signs that aren't quite clear what the numbers mean - nothing says 2m just an arrow and a two. Does that mean go two miles up the road? Go to the second light? Second intersection? SHEESH! Of course I got "lost" and so I stopped and called my hero husband to look it up on Google and get me where I needed to be. Meanwhile, Esther has already arrived and is waiting for me so we can go set up our booth since we must open it at 6pm.
FINALLY! I make it to the airport, Pick up Esther and we head back to the hotel to get her checked in and then to the convention center to set up our booth. We are both starving but we need to get set up first. Mission accomplished. Lunch/dinner at Steak and Shake which is directly across from the hotel. Change clothes and head to the convention.
Let me tell you that I've attended a few of these and never have I had teen pages who were so attentive and helpful! These kids were awesome! Our pallet arrived with a missing board and another that came off right beside that spot as we unloaded. There is no way we can pack our stuff back on this pallet. So a teen page found us another pallet but also considered working to fix ours if necessary. Other pages were always close by to bring water, answer questions (or go find answers), etc. They would even man our booth if we needed a bathroom break. Thursday evening we did lots of talking and showing and had lots of people say they would be back.
Friday was a steady day. Lots of sales putting us at the close of the day about 3/4's of the way to our goal. Again, quite a few saying they would be back to make purchases the next day when their teen or husband could be with them. After we closed up at 6pm, we headed to Lambert's Cafe Home of the throwed rolls for dinner. We had a short wait but it was so worth it! What a great place with wonderful food, great prices for what you got, and we left stuffed with lots left on our plates. If you get a chance to go, fried pork chops are awesome!
Saturday we headed to the convention, according to the information we had. We arrived about 9:45 giving us 15 minutes before the exhibit hall is to open. WRONG! They had changed times! Opened at 9:00 and closing at 6:30 instead of 6pm like was originally posted. It made for a long day and with workshops going on for some reason we weren't steady the entire day - just spurts of interest. We did FINALLY reach and exceed our sales goal right in the last hour of the day but we weren't sure it would happen. Oh, and the computer ordering system decided to dump the last order of the day AFTER the family had left the building. I knew the last name and what the order consisted of but nothing else was in the system. I remembered them discussing another booth and so I tracked down that exhibitor to get their phone number. I'm hoping the order is actually somewhere in the system after all but I'll let customer service deal with getting everything if it isn't. I just don't want to end up putting a duplicate order in for them and having their card charged twice!
Esther and I decided to try Texas Roadhouse for dinner. We had a bit of a wait but it was again worth it. Delicious! We had fried pickles thanks to a coupon Esther found for a free appetizer. Both of us ordered the 6oz steak with mushrooms on top, a house salad which was delicious with items you normally don't find in a house salad, and she had a sweet potato while I had a loaded baked potato. YUM! Again, we left very full and no room for the ice cream we kept saying we were going to get.
Back to the hotel where I saw the lights on in Hammons Field and then heard on the news they had lost a game played there that afternoon. I could have watched from my room if I'd been there during the game! After a good nights sleep we headed to the airport. Esther's flight was at 10:20 so I dropped her off and then checked in the rental car and onto my flight. Just as I got checked in I had a message from Delta that my flight had changed departure time. Instead of 11:30 we were leaving at 12:05. Also, it's overbooked so they are looking for volunteers to fly later. Ok - I'll volunteer. I'd love another voucher! I COULD have kept the rental a little longer and driven around a bit to see the sites, enjoyed some ice cream or whatever. Instead I'm sitting in a hot, humid airport!
As I sit here typing, I get another message from Delta that our flight is now scheduled to depart at 11:45. They just can't make up their mind! So, what time is that flight again? The time keeps changing on the screen I can see. At the moment it says 11:40.
OH, and by the way... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!
And they just called to say we will depart now at 11:59 and arrive ATL at 3:21. They are beginning to infringe on family nap time!
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