Whoa. That's all that can describe the last week. Whoa.
I closed my show on Saturday, Dec. 22nd. It was a great run, even though I was pretty darn sick for the last two days of it. The week ending in Dec. 22nd held 8 performances of the show. Whoa, dude. I was pretty tired and worn out for my 6AM flight out of SLC to Ohio on Sunday, the next day. Little did I know my troubles/adventures had just begun.
The flight left SLC at 6AM and arrived in Minneapolis, MN just after 9:30AM. I heard an announcement over the loud speaker at the airport about a non-denominational Christian worship service. It sounded pretty interesting, so i decided to attend. They must have only wanted people who really took Christian worship service very seriously because I had to ask 4 people how to get there, hike three staircases, climb two walls with nothing but a fork and a stapler, and barter passage across an underground river to get there. It was a typical Christian (though not LDS) service with a lot of repeating after the pastor, a form of sacrament (I didn't partake of), reading of scripture, and forms of prayer. Having grown up in white-bread, died-in-the-wool-true-blue-thru-and-thru Mormon country, I hadn't attended a lot of services of other faiths, so it was very interesting and enjoyable for me. At the end of the service, I asked if we could sing a few Christmas carols. They all wanted to sing, but couldn't think of songs to sing so I suggested three and we sang one verse of each. They seemed to really enjoy that and we were all on our way, out of the underbelly of the airport beast, and back to the surface.
I had a four-hour layover and decided to pass part of the time napping. Sleeping, after all, is one of my talents. My plane was supposed to leave at 1:25 but as we neared 1PM, the flight was delayed to 2:09PM. Every 30-40 minutes it was delayed another 45-60 minutes. This made for some interesting happenings among the stranded would-be passengers. A few transmissions via text-message to the mother ship document some of these events.
Text #1: Hour 6 (6 hours in Minneapolis airport). Flight
delayed again. Est departure of Feb. 29. Just finished
last of food rations. Abandoned camp by nearby walk-
way for site closer to gate. Locals are still hostile but
exchanging information. Must find water soon. Chubby
female next to me could serve as food source if necessary.
Text #2: Hour 7. Flight further delayed to May 8. Made
a TV out of gate chairs, shoelaces, and coconuts with
Mary-Ann and the Skipper. Nearby Idahoans are getting
hostile.
Text #3: Hour 7 contd. Disgruntled passengers attempt
to escape on a raft made out of guardrails and bamboo.
I don't think it will work.
Text #4: Conditions continuing to worsen. I will do what
it takes to survive. I will not be left behind!
As you can see the long hours in the airport began to take their toll on my sanity. The flight was eventually cancelled around 7PM and it was a mad dash to get to the nearest gate agent and get a seat on the last helicopter out of Vietnam! Go, go, GO!!! At first they told me the soonest they could get me to Ohio was in 36 hours on Christmas morning. Well, that was not acceptable so I ran around like chicken with it's head cut-off talking to any and all gate agents available; meanwhile, back at the ranch, Stephanie used her mad skills to get me a flight that night at 10PM to Detroit and then a flight the next morning at 9AM to Cleveland. Bam. I calmed down, realized I wasn't going to be blessing my grandchildren in the Minneapolis airport, took a short nap, and boarded the plane, which was late, just before 11PM. We sat in the plane at the gate for three hours and finally took off just after 2AM. We landed in Detroit at a cool 3:30AM. I found a soft bench outside a closed A&W restaurant and had a snooze for a couple hours. I woke up as hungry as a hibernating bear and got me a bagel sammich. My flight was supposed to leave just before 9AM. I broke out into a cold sweat and my entire life flashed before my eyes when the departure time was delayed until 9:30, but just five minutes later, the time was moved back to 9AM. Weirdy. Well, I pulled into Cleveland around 10:45 and walked into house o' Cameron and Stephanie at a smooth 11:55. Total travel time from my house to their house: 32 hours. Total number of naps: 7. Total times I was able to brush my teeth: 0. Number of times I considered walking back to SLC: 1. Being with my brother and family for Christmas: priceless. I LOVE MY FAMILY! I am so thankful for them and LOVE them whole lots. Did you know I get to be with them FOREVER? Yay for forever!!!
Now for the really good part. Ricky sent me the most fantastic, cute, fabulous, precious song Christmas morning that melted my heart and made me weak in the knees.
Forever :)
Once again, he sang and recorded each of the four parts individually and then mixed then together. Cute as a button. Also good news: Ricky helped me record a version of "Mary's Lullaby" for Grandpa for Christmas (He asks me to sing at least 27 times every Christmas). Here's a little sampling of that one.
Mary's Lullaby recorded for Grandpa Burke
There's a short part in the song where you hear three voices; they are all mine. Ricky showed me his secret trick of recording yourself multiple times and then mixed it for me. He is also playing the piano accompaniment. He's awesome, eh?
End of transmission from the Ohio.
I closed my show on Saturday, Dec. 22nd. It was a great run, even though I was pretty darn sick for the last two days of it. The week ending in Dec. 22nd held 8 performances of the show. Whoa, dude. I was pretty tired and worn out for my 6AM flight out of SLC to Ohio on Sunday, the next day. Little did I know my troubles/adventures had just begun.
The flight left SLC at 6AM and arrived in Minneapolis, MN just after 9:30AM. I heard an announcement over the loud speaker at the airport about a non-denominational Christian worship service. It sounded pretty interesting, so i decided to attend. They must have only wanted people who really took Christian worship service very seriously because I had to ask 4 people how to get there, hike three staircases, climb two walls with nothing but a fork and a stapler, and barter passage across an underground river to get there. It was a typical Christian (though not LDS) service with a lot of repeating after the pastor, a form of sacrament (I didn't partake of), reading of scripture, and forms of prayer. Having grown up in white-bread, died-in-the-wool-true-blue-thru-and-thru Mormon country, I hadn't attended a lot of services of other faiths, so it was very interesting and enjoyable for me. At the end of the service, I asked if we could sing a few Christmas carols. They all wanted to sing, but couldn't think of songs to sing so I suggested three and we sang one verse of each. They seemed to really enjoy that and we were all on our way, out of the underbelly of the airport beast, and back to the surface.
I had a four-hour layover and decided to pass part of the time napping. Sleeping, after all, is one of my talents. My plane was supposed to leave at 1:25 but as we neared 1PM, the flight was delayed to 2:09PM. Every 30-40 minutes it was delayed another 45-60 minutes. This made for some interesting happenings among the stranded would-be passengers. A few transmissions via text-message to the mother ship document some of these events.
Text #1: Hour 6 (6 hours in Minneapolis airport). Flight
delayed again. Est departure of Feb. 29. Just finished
last of food rations. Abandoned camp by nearby walk-
way for site closer to gate. Locals are still hostile but
exchanging information. Must find water soon. Chubby
female next to me could serve as food source if necessary.
Text #2: Hour 7. Flight further delayed to May 8. Made
a TV out of gate chairs, shoelaces, and coconuts with
Mary-Ann and the Skipper. Nearby Idahoans are getting
hostile.
Text #3: Hour 7 contd. Disgruntled passengers attempt
to escape on a raft made out of guardrails and bamboo.
I don't think it will work.
Text #4: Conditions continuing to worsen. I will do what
it takes to survive. I will not be left behind!
As you can see the long hours in the airport began to take their toll on my sanity. The flight was eventually cancelled around 7PM and it was a mad dash to get to the nearest gate agent and get a seat on the last helicopter out of Vietnam! Go, go, GO!!! At first they told me the soonest they could get me to Ohio was in 36 hours on Christmas morning. Well, that was not acceptable so I ran around like chicken with it's head cut-off talking to any and all gate agents available; meanwhile, back at the ranch, Stephanie used her mad skills to get me a flight that night at 10PM to Detroit and then a flight the next morning at 9AM to Cleveland. Bam. I calmed down, realized I wasn't going to be blessing my grandchildren in the Minneapolis airport, took a short nap, and boarded the plane, which was late, just before 11PM. We sat in the plane at the gate for three hours and finally took off just after 2AM. We landed in Detroit at a cool 3:30AM. I found a soft bench outside a closed A&W restaurant and had a snooze for a couple hours. I woke up as hungry as a hibernating bear and got me a bagel sammich. My flight was supposed to leave just before 9AM. I broke out into a cold sweat and my entire life flashed before my eyes when the departure time was delayed until 9:30, but just five minutes later, the time was moved back to 9AM. Weirdy. Well, I pulled into Cleveland around 10:45 and walked into house o' Cameron and Stephanie at a smooth 11:55. Total travel time from my house to their house: 32 hours. Total number of naps: 7. Total times I was able to brush my teeth: 0. Number of times I considered walking back to SLC: 1. Being with my brother and family for Christmas: priceless. I LOVE MY FAMILY! I am so thankful for them and LOVE them whole lots. Did you know I get to be with them FOREVER? Yay for forever!!!
Now for the really good part. Ricky sent me the most fantastic, cute, fabulous, precious song Christmas morning that melted my heart and made me weak in the knees.
Forever :)
Once again, he sang and recorded each of the four parts individually and then mixed then together. Cute as a button. Also good news: Ricky helped me record a version of "Mary's Lullaby" for Grandpa for Christmas (He asks me to sing at least 27 times every Christmas). Here's a little sampling of that one.
Mary's Lullaby recorded for Grandpa Burke
There's a short part in the song where you hear three voices; they are all mine. Ricky showed me his secret trick of recording yourself multiple times and then mixed it for me. He is also playing the piano accompaniment. He's awesome, eh?
End of transmission from the Ohio.
1 comment:
Okay, that song was just beautiful of you singing! And I love hearing the part of your voice when it was singing the 3 parts. Okay, who is this Ricky guy?
Post a Comment