Not Everything Goes ......

...... the way we plan.
In fact, I would dare say that most things don't go the way we plan.

I'll start with the good news, just to give you a sense of relief:  we made it to see Barbara.
We didn't make it on time, but at least we made it.

Here's what went down.

Mom and D came to my house to pick me up and go get some lunch.  Well, lunch took longer than expected and suddenly I realized that we had to get out of there and to the airport ..... fast!
So we took off and got there 40 minutes before the flight was to leave.  Not usually a problem.
Son #3 and I have made flights over the last 2 months with way less time than that.  We just love running through airports, hearing the gate agent call our name over the intercom. What a rush!  :)

So I get up to the ticket counter of US Airways (not the first, but definitely for the last time), after waiting in a huge line.  Now, US Air let me check in on line 24 ahead of time, which I did.  But they do not let you print off a boarding pass.  For some odd reason that control-freak of an airline, wants to personally give you a boarding pass ...... AFTER you wait in line.

By the time I got to talk to the old man ticket agent we had 30 minutes until take off.  He then told me that I couldn't get on the plane.  They stop handing out boarding passes 30 minutes before a flight leaves.  I asked him if he was kidding me and he said no.  I even tried at a kiosk, but that's the message it gave me, too.
This flight was supposed to get us in at 6:00.  The concert started at 8:00
I was doing my very best to not panic.
I called United and then found a United ticket agent, only to find out that they could get us to the next stop, but not any further.  Not that night anyway.

So I moved on.  First to Spirit Air.  No go.  And let me just add for the record, that the people who work at for Spirit Air at IAH, need to get a boat-load of spirit.  Truly.
Then I moved on to Delta.  No go again.  Then American.  Nope.
Then even Southwest, which is at the airport across town.
No.

I finally had to tell my Mom SOMETHING, to explain why I was going nuts all over the airport, trying to get us out of there.
So I told her that we were going to see Celine Dione.
She was quite pleased.

I finally exhausted all of our airline choices.
And so at that point I did the only logical but crazy-as-a-loon-thing I could think of.  I googled "hiring a private plane in Houston".
O.
M.
G.

I got ahold of 2 companies and told them I needed to get to Las Vegas as soon as possible and asked for a quote.
I received a better quote from one than the other (one was half of the other).  The man I decided to go with knew that we had to be there by 7:00, AT THE LATEST.
He assured me that we would.

While I was on the phone with the different plane companies I was writing down the prices and then doodling over them to try to keep them private.
I evidently didn't doodle well enough.
My Mom looked at one of the numbers I had written and then looked up at me and said, "It's not worth it."  I was on the phone so I didn't' say anything.  I think she may have repeated herself.
As I hung up the phone I knew that I was going to have to cough up the truth so that she didn't have a stroke.
So I set up my iPad to video (because I'm ALWAYS thinking of you Peeps!), reached into my purse, got the tickets and tossed them on the table in front of her.  And then I think I said, "Well, I lied again."
Hopefully you can hear the rest.  Oh, and please forgive the messy editing, or lack thereof.  To get from my iPad onto my computer I had to send it in pieces.  So they overlap.
And Oh, #2 ..... please disregard my Mom's potty mouth.  She was in shock.
Oh, #3 .... please disregard my wrong name(s) of the group that was playing with Babs.
I, too, was in shock, but for all together different reasons.
:)

After celebrating and much phone talking, my mom and I found ourselves on a small 3 passenger jet, not including the 2 guys/boys flying it.
Steve and Brad.
Part of the cast of characters from Rocky Horror, if you know your Rocky Horror.  And I do.  So I kept hearing Susan Sarandon singing, "Oh, Brad ....".  Over and Over.
It was quite an experience.
As was the plane.

The jet, nor the two men/boys did not arrive as soon as we had been told.  In fact, they were about an hour late.
And so began our trek in the skies.

We landed in Roswell, NM to re-fuel.  I saw no aliens, except for the small pilots club that was packed with young men and women in sand-colored fatigues.  Some of them looked a tad bit alien-ish.
But that's all I can say about that.
Or I'll be shot.
:-o

We got back up in the air and made it to Vegas around 8:30-9:00ish.  There was a car waiting to pick us up (the driver had been waiting for an hour and a half.  I knew exactly how he felt).  He whisked us away and to the MGM Grand as fast as he could.
We got there in, what was surely record time, ran in to the front desk, left our bags with the baggage guys and then ran like hell through the hotel/casino to their Arena theatre, where Barbara and Il Volo were performing.

We got into the theatre, settled into our wonderful seats and proceeded to be mesmerized for the rest of the evening.
Not only was Il Volo playing, but she also had her son, Jason, come out and sing with her, and then sing alone.  He did a great job.  Of course.
She also had a guy named Chris Botti who came out and sang with, and without her.  He was very good, too.

I was impressed that Babs kept the political comments out of the program.  Other than a couple of joking comments.  I was fine with that.

She did a great job, though her voice seemed a bit tired.  But Barbra Streisand at a "bit tired" is still better than any set of pipes I know.  :)

She seemed very, very relaxed and very, very happy.  It seems as if this is the best time of her life.  She's in a wonderful marriage, she's happy and she's doing what she loves ...... singing.  She's well known for her stage fright and how much she hates to do concerts.  But she seemed so very at ease and comfortable ...... she just seemed happy.
And that was nice to see.
And even nicer to hear.

So we made it.
We didn't make it in time, so there is much back and forth occurring between the guy who told me we'd be there by 7, and "the powers that be".  He's trying to make this "right" and compensate me for not getting us there when he said they would.
I hope he can.

It's now 8:57 my time ...... here in my home.
And I am going to bed.
I'm beat.
Physically as well as emotionally.

And it seems that I'm getting sick.
Coughing a lot.  Sore throat.  Just an "ugh feeling".
Which normally would just be a pain in the neck.
But in 4 days (FOUR DAYS!!!) I'm leaving for Kenya.
And I can't be sick.
Or exhausted.

So I'm going to bed.
And hoping that I feel better tomorrow ...... before I have a tennis match at 9:00 a.m.

I'll leave you with some pics.
Enjoy, Peeps.
I wish I could've taken you all with us.
But alas, the plane only had 3 seats.
And three seats cost enough.  I can't imagine 5.
Or 100.
I think I may be the one having a stroke.

Night, Peeps.
Happy Sunday.
:)