CNMC 2009 Day 4

It’s now Wednesday and I am finally getting around to blogging about the last day of my trip.  Sunday was an extremely long day for me.  The day started with a workout in the hotel gym (30 minutes on treadmill) to get a good start to the day.  After showering and getting dressed, I went downstairs for breakfast.  I was informed by Fr. Seraphim that we had a big table around the corner (the same one four of us were at on Friday), so I got some food and joined them.  After two days of not the best breakfasts, I decided to do better and had cereal.  I ate with a great group of people and it was very enjoyable.

Before too long it was time for mass where we were going to be celebrating together.  Fr. Roderick, Fr. Seraphim, Fr. Jay, Fr. Bill and Deacon Tom all had the pleasure of co-celebrating with the presider from St. Mary’s that was right across the street from the hotel.  It was a very beautiful church and it was a unique mass.  They had a small choir in the loft, but they didn’t have a microphone up there.  There was a pipe organ, but they didn’t use it all the time and had some instances of a capella or chanted hymns.  Another unique thing was that during the gospel, the presider had us sit during the reading and offered a commentary during the reading.  I had never experienced that before, and I don’t know if that is even okay to do during a mass.  The mass was very nice and it was wonderful to share a final experience with all the CNMC participants.

A very special thing happened during the mass.  As I shared earlier, Mac and Katherine were celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary during the weekend.  During the mass, they were called up and Fr. Bill had the honor of presiding over the renewal of their wedding vows.  It was just so neat to see all of our SQPN priests and Deacon Tom up there during this part and for Eucharist. 

After mass, we hung out in the sanctuary for quite a long time to say final good-bye and snap photos.  Zina also handed out handmade rosaries and I was happy to receive one.  I didn’t stay very long because I wanted to see The Alamo and Barb and her mom were also going.  I found out later that group photos were taken at the church that I missed because I left.  I went back to the room to change and then headed off to meet them.  By the time I got there, the line was quite long and it was very hot.  Before getting in line, I stopped for ice cream across the street, which was a great way to cool down before heading in.  Since no food or drink is allowed in, I had to finish it outside, which wasn’t a problem because the line was huge!

When I got back from there, I went to gather my things from the room and checked out.  I did call the desk the night before to ask them if I could check out at 1 p.m., which they said was fine.  Barb messaged me to let me know that our taxi would be there at 1:15, so I decided to hang out in the lobby until it was time to leave (since I really had nowhere else to go).  I was joined by Fr. Seraphim, Fr. Jay, Inge, Zina, Jeff and Myra.  The priests had their technology and I got this awesome photo taken with the most beautiful baby ever!  

I took a walk to get water and found a new seat when I came back since Inge had just returned from a walk herself (with her H2).  Before long Barb and Rosalie joined us along with Marianne and Emily who were sharing our taxi.  Before too long, our taxi arrived and it was time to say good-bye and head to the airport.  Jeff Young had originally said he would join as well, but decided that day to leave earlier.  The other four were headed out by Southwest and I took American, so we were dropped at our various places at the airport and although we were ready to pay our own way, Rosalie decided to “pay it forward” and take care of the fare.

I checked in for my first flight on the American kiosk to get my boarding passes and headed to my gate.  I got right through security with no problems and stopped at Quiznos to grab some lunch.  It was my first time ever eating there and it was delicious!  I then went over to the gift shop to get my traditional postcards and magnet.  I have a friend who collects postcards, so I have a few to send her now.  After that, I headed to my gate and ran into Kien and John!  I thought there was a chance I would see them because Kien messaged me to ask if I was in the airport and reported that there were in a nearby gate area.  There were just about to leave, so we talked for a few minutes before they left to board their plane.  I stayed to wait to board my 3:30 plane.  Tim from Florida also was on the flight, but we didn’t say hi until afterwards.

The first flight went great and made it to Dallas in the expected time.  I was amazed at how huge the Dallas-Fort Worth airport was and even had to take a shuttle/train to get to the proper gate for the second flight.  Once I got to the right place, I found a (very expensive) organic food restaurant to pick up a salad for dinner.

My second flight to Milwaukee boarded just fine, but within a few minutes we were informed that there would be small delay while they waited for another crew member to board.  Once that person made it, we were off.  Unfortunately, within a few minutes of leaving the gate, we were informed that there was a mechanical problem with the (very small) plane.  It also happened to be 100 degree outside of the plane, so we forced to sit on the plane for way too long while we waited for some answers.  I twittered/plurked all along so my friends would know what was going on.

Here’s what the Twitter feed looked like:

Boarding plane #1 to Dallas 3:08 PM Jun 28th from HelloTxt

Wow DFW is a huge airport! At least I was able to get a salad for dinner. Overly priced, but still good5:02 PM Jun 28thfrom HelloTxt

On the plane to Milwaukee. Small plane for long flight5:51 PM Jun 28th from HelloTxt

Mechanical problem with the plane. Don’t know how long we’ll be delayed 🙁6:24 PM Jun 28th from HelloTxt

Do you know what’s worse than being stuck on a plane? Being stuck in a plane when it is 100 degrees outside! Someone amuse me please!6:37 PM Jun 28th from UberTwitter

No news yet. This blows6:46 PM Jun 28th from UberTwitter

Got an update, but not really. Don’t know how much longer we have to be in this oven6:53 PM Jun 28thfrom UberTwitter

It’s only 77 degrees in Milwaukee. Oh I wish I could teleport myself and my bag there now…6:57 PM Jun 28thfrom UberTwitter

The flight attendant just informed us that the safety cards made excellent fans…yeah…7:00 PM Jun 28thfrom UberTwitter

Going to fly at a lower altitude. Waiting for more fuel…7:08 PM Jun 28th from UberTwitter

So far 5 people have chosen to leave the plane7:14 PM Jun 28th from UberTwitter

Okay 15 more minutes. We’ll see if that’s actually true…6:55 PM Jun 28th from UberTwitter

The fuelers have arrived. They called this “progress”. I’ve been on this plane far too long…7:25 PM Jun 28thfrom UberTwitter

Maybe this my third thing: car broken into, more damage than just the window, stuck on a hot plane for an hour and a half…7:29 PM Jun 28th from UberTwitter

Since bad things come in threes…7:29 PM Jun 28th from UberTwitter

We’re deplaning… 🙁7:37 PM Jun 28th from UberTwitter

We’re going to reboard and take off in 10 minutes…we’ll see. We’ll be taking off about the time we were supposed to be there!!!!8:02 PM Jun 28th from UberTwitter

We’re boarding. Please pray that nothing goes wrong!!!!8:20 PM Jun 28th from UberTwitter

Is finally back in milwaukee! It only took 10 hours but I’m here! (Dance)10:53 PM Jun 28th from HelloTxt

So, after 2.5 hours of delay, we were finally off to our destination!  We took off about 20 minutes after we were supposed to be landing in Milwaukee, so that was crazy.  Once we landed and we able to be free from the torture of this flight, I headed off to the lower level of the airport and stopped at the Go Airport Shuttle station near the exit and informed them that I was supposed to have a shuttle at 8:30, but was delayed.  I took a seat and within a few minutes was able to get a shuttle home!  By 11:15 I was home and so happy to be so!  I picked up my mail and headed straight to bed.  What an exhausting day!  I did get some very pretty photos outside of the plane, like these, however.

After 10 hours of traveling, this was a welcome sight to see!Well, that just about wraps up a very exciting and fun four day experience at the Catholic New Media Celebration.  I really hope that these blogs will help those that weren’t there and be a good recap for those that were.  If you want to check out all of my photos from the trip they are all on Flickr.  Thanks for reading and I’d love your feedback!