The surprise that wasn’t….and a pretty bad day.

No, these problems are not huge, even slightly big, to others. They pale in comparison to others’ problems- issues like terminal illnesses, trouble paying the car note and mortgage because one or both are looking for jobs (not careers but A JOB period), a parent who is dying, a child who is trying every last bit of their patience…or the really bad stuff like no clean and/or running water, no clothes, no food, no Bibles, no parents, no hope. However, this day was big for me and had been planned to be that way for some time.

This was supposed to be one of the coolest posts I’ve ever put up here; however, as you’ll soon see, it is, sadly, NOT.

Today was supposed to be the day that I surprised S here in Wichita Falls. I’d schemed a fantastic plan to get out here and unbeknownst to him, be waiting at the local Best Buy when he came to pick up a surprise I’d told him would be delivered there (that would be me).  We meet, we reconnect, we talk for awhile, we hang out, he goes to class, he aces test, he graduates, we ride back together, end of fantastic surprise story. However….this is what happened.

The day started off early (0300h) and I made it to the airport early (thanks, boyfriend’s mom!) and breezed through security with my bag. I’d made sure to pack everything perfectly and leave the clear plastic bag full of all my 3 oz containers (freakin’ terrorists…) on top so they could check it out. I packed as light as possible, keeping in mind that my stuff was going back w/my boyfriend in his car…and aaaaall the stuff he’s collected over his 3 months in Wichita Falls. They said there were more than a few things w/more than 3 oz of fluid in them (whatever) so they made me check it- back to the front of the terminal, check it, back through the security line, back through the checking of everything else, etc. I leave basically on time, though they said there was a “thunderstorm” near Dallas, so they weren’t allowing us to leave as scheduled b/c we’d be wasting gas riding around in the air when we got there (i.e., unable to land). They let us leave anyway. We have a pretty uneventful flight, except for the constant circus in my stomach. (No food + angst + nervousness= yucky-feeling Jen.) It got better for awhile, then I got more nervous, thinking about what was to come, wondering if everything would work out OK. (Little did I know.) Thankfully, the Coke (and second Coke) and fun, plane shaped graham cracker snacks made a dent in my hunger and helped ease the nausea- for a bit, anyway. (The same medicine could not work, though, for the crying, screaming, tantrum-pitching child in front of me. ALL. THE. WAY. THERE.) Then we started circling Dallas. ‘Round and ’round we went, everyone wondering. The pilot said we were going to wait a bit and see if we could get in b/c the weather was so bad- I got pictures of the clouds. They didn’t look that terrifying to me- but I’m not a weather forecaster or a pilot, so what do I know? We continued to stay in a holding pattern FOR AN HOUR. That’s right. Then we were diverted to San Antonio. SAN AN-FREAKING- TONIO. So now I’m thinking…OK. Now what? If I get stuck here, what do I do? Can I rent a car and drive to WF? Nope. San Antonio doesn’t do one-way rentals. I can’t get a new flight to Dallas b/c they’re not letting anyone land there. My head is spinning, I’m still nauseated, the kid in front of me is screaming bloody murder because his mother is making him sit  on his bottom w/his seat belt on and I’m sitting at San Antonio on the tarmac w/the rest of the plane wondering what’s next. This is soooo not what I had planned.

I turn on my phone to start making some calls and doing some research and find I don’t have but a sliver of battery left. My best friend calls, S’ mom calls, there are 5 emails (work), 4 texts…and then S calls. He wonders why I’m so down and what’s wrong- remember, at this point he has no idea what’s going on. I try to keep the secret, but end up telling him what his surprise is, though it’s not looking like he’s going to get much of a surprise considering I’m supposed to see him in 2 hours, and I’m in San Antonio. On a plane. Buckled in and not going anywhere. SO- I tell him and he is surprised, I guess- with him, it’s hard to tell sometimes what’s surprised and what’s normal. Plus, I’m ticked off that I HAVE to tell him, so I’m probably reading into it. (I hope I am, anyway.) Back to it- I tell him where I am. “I’m….(big sigh) in San Antonio.” “Oh, you ARE, are you?” he says, very surprised to hear those words leave my mouth. Yes, I tell him- and continue to tell him what SHOULD have happened and what HAS happened and what I don’t know WILL happen. He tries to talk me through it, but no amount of anyone talking me through anything could have made that better. We talk for awhile then continue to text afteward while I’m waiting on some sense of direction and time for the day. (The Lord definitely had His hand in continuing the battery life b/c I am NOT kidding it was about to die when we started talking.) OK, so the flight attendants (who were fantasic through it all, by the way- thanks to Cami, Patti and Mitch) start moving people off the plane who are actually stepping off at San Antonio (so this diversion saves them a few hours), leaving the rest of us to figure out where everyone’s going and when they need to be there. Collective thought, hands raised to questions asked about different destinations, more waiting, more wondering, people step off to go to the bathroom and get drinks, more collective thought, everyone on cell phones making new arrangements, announcements galore across the plane’s intercom, flight attendant telling jokes and singing songs in the aisle, etc. They are trying so hard to keep us all somewhat happy, but props to all the ones on my plane, they all did great. Everyone was very patient, even though we wanted to hit and throw things (I would have been the ringleader of all that.) SO…they finally come on about 2 hours later and say we’re boarding (hence, leaving) immediately and taking on passengers from San Antonio who are headed to San Diego. (Apparently they stop in DAL.) We board, full to the brim (including 4 extra screaming children) and sit. And we sit. And we sit some more. We wait for 30 minutes, then finally take off. I think I have never been so excited to take off, my flight at 0705 that same morning notwithstanding. We take off and they start throwing drinks and peanuts to everyone to appease us (though we’re pretty cool) and I sit next to a guy named Ted who immediately dozes off (lucky jerk). I try to sleep b/c at this point, I know I’m not going to see S until after he gets out of class and I can’t do anything about- it’s all out of my hands and even if I broke every speed limit possible, I couldn’t get to him before he goes to class. So I’ve given up that dream- plus, he already knows the surprise is up, so whatever. At this point, I only want to be on the ground and out of this BLASTED plane (and that’s saying something because I LOVE to fly). SO…we get to DAL….and we’re put in a holding pattern. A. HOLDING. PATTERN. Are you freaking KIDDING ME????!!!! We’re circling, wasting gas (yet again) and after 45 minutes (!!!!!!!!!!!!) of circling are finally allowed to join in line with those waiting to land. A “50 minute flight gate to gate” has turned into an hour and 45 minutes. I have never been so excited to see the ground. We land. I thank all the flight attendants and they wish me luck with the next few hours (by now, they know the story- heehee ).  I deplane and go to baggage. Someone has messed up the bags and where my bags should have been, they were not. They should not have been, they were. I am frustrated. I finally find my bag (which shouldn’t have been checked in the first place) and head to get my car. I finally find the shuttle to Enterprise and they take me to get my car. Offering me a bottle of water (which was drained in a matter of 75 seconds) was a treat. They take all my information and my reservation number…and then proceed to ask for my round-trip ticket itinerary so that I can pay with my debit card. I tell them over and over and over again that I booked the reservation with Enterprise SPECIFICALLY for that reason- I don’t use credit cards b/c I don’t like them and they get me in trouble. I don’t have a credit card I can use, which is the WHOLE reason I booked w/Enterprise in the first place. I told them that the lady I had talked to when I made the reservation originally said that I could pay with a debit card even though I didn’t have a R/T itinerary, that everyone I talked to required it but Enterprise did not- that they would simply freeze the deposit in my checking account and release it when I returned the car and the keys. This didn’t happen, obviously (because why woudl ANYTHING go according to plan on this day?). I am not sad or about to cry by this point, I am MAD. Livid. About to throw things, MAD. The manager says he doesn’t mind running my debit card and he’d do it if the computer will let him, but it can’t be charged by the same company twice in the same hour. I don’t understand this, but he explains to me it can’t be done…and I feel like I’m up a creek. He tries to get me in touch w/another company they own, but can’t get in touch w/anyone at the desk, so he takes me himself. I get there, hopeful to be moving on….and they tell me the same thing. I feel like dissolving in a little puddle of nothingness on the floor and leaving them to clean up the mess. This time, no one tries to help me at all. So I go to my trusty Blackberry (thank you, GOD, for wonderful technology and people who know how to make it work)… and it’s dead. DEAD. And I can’t find an outlet to plug it in (story of the day). I finally find one in the restroom (HA! and you thought the story couldn’t get any better…) and start on my search. The first one I get to (thank you, Lord, for directing my fingers and thoughts to the answer right away) is Budget- I call and get a reservation immediately, all the while asking over and over again “do I need a return itinerary to use a debit card? Are you sure? Are you positive? I won’t get over there and be told it can’t be done?” She assures me this won’t be a problem, and I am cautiously excited to be possibly leaving the place I’ve been dying to get to since 0705 this morning. (WHEW.) However…I’m at the car rental place, so I catch their shuttle back to the airport to see the Budget shuttle in front of me. I grab my stuff and shuffle there, tapping on his window to let me in. He gets me to the office, I meet a very nice lady who takes excellent care of me and puts me in a red Ford Focus. (Y’all, this car is NICE, by the way!) I move through efficiently and easily and head out toward Wichita Falls. And the time? The time is now 1645- S has been in class for 45 mintues and I haven’t even left the airport that I was supposed to fly into at 0850 yet. Unbelievable.

SO…I make the 2 hour trek to Wichita Falls, check into my m/hotel (which is great) and meet the lady I’ve been talking to for a month about my room (she’s the one at the front desk)- she’s fantastic. She wishes me a great night. By now I can barely see straight b/c there’s a mixture of nervousness and anxiousness and not eating and complete excitement at the thought of seeing my boy in a few minutes or a few hours, whenever he gets out of class. I go in and refresh my makeup, curl my hair again, spritz some perfume…and then he calls. I am SO excited to see his name and picture pull up on my phone! We talk for a few minutes and I say “so….come see me!” and he says matter-of-factly…”nope. Can’t. Can’t leave base ’til midnight.” He continues to talk for the next minute and half or so on and off, but I don’t remember any of the words that came out of his mouth. Again- are you FREAKING KIDDING ME???!!!! I make this whole trek out here and I have to wait AGAIN??!! AGAIN???!!!! This can’t be happening. But oh yes, it is. He says he’s sorry and he was under the impression that he’d be able to leave directly after his test (after all, what ELSE were they going to do?), but his instructor said they couldn’t leave. And he’s certainly not going to come over at midnight b/c he needs to sleep as much as possible if he’s driving back directly after graduation. So…I hang up with him as soon as possible and dissolve in a pool of tears and screaming in a pillow. I haven’t cried like that since the day he left. Pretty fitting, huh?, considering that’s the way he left- I guess that’s the way he should come back, too. It was NOT a good day. I went to the store to get some “help” for sleeping that night- while I should have been thoroughly exhausted, I was not. I am headed to bed now, hoping and praying for a better day tomorrow.

I’m mad, I’m sad, I’m confused, I’m ticked off, I feel like I wasted a whole lot of time and money and I brought a lot of stress and heartache on myself for absolutely nothing. I have blisters and raw places on the back of my achilles tendons from the heels I was NOT supposed to be wearing for 9 hours. My toes are swollen (not much, but it’s something else to add to the list- sure, why not?!) from being in said shoes for 9 hours. The TSA agent who checked my bag didn’t put back my 3/4 full bottle of Proactiv that he took out at 0630 this morning, so if I go back and it’s not there, I’ll have to buy more. (Another $20 down the drain.) I won’t be able to see him ’til tomorrow, so I feel like the whole freaking day has been a waste, and a lot of time and energy and heartache and stress for nothing in return at all.

I am praying for a much better day tomorrow.