Thank You Jeff, You Saved My Life- REALLy LONG

So, I thought I'd blog about my lovely experience flying from Indiana to Utah on Thursday while it's still painfully fresh in my memory. The flight from Evansville to Cincinatti was on time and was less than an hour. Of course actually getting all of my crap plus my kids onto the plain and situated was a lot of fun. By the time we got seated (we were the last to get on the plane), I was sweating like a hog and everyone was staring at me. That seems to be a common thing when I fly by myself with the girls. I wonder why...

Anyways, I arrived at the Cincinnati airport and bought us a scrumptious dinner at McDonalds... right. I changed the girls' diapers and got more hot water for Sarah's bottles. Then we sat and sat while we waited for the plane to arrive from SLC. In the meantime I asked the airline worker at the desk if he could switch our seats to the 2 seater side as opposed to the 3 seater side. I really wanted to avoid irritating the poor unfortunate soul who was assigned to sit by us the 3 1/2 hour flight to SLC. Why is it every flight these days is delayed? Mind you, the time was rapidly approaching 9 pm. My kids go to bed around 8:30.

Time continued to drag on and I thought the airline worker had completely forgotten about my plea to have our seats reassigned. By some miracle (which it really turned out to be), he hadn't forgotten about me and had seated us in the front of the plane right behind first class. When the plane arrive and the passengers were getting off, a stranger approached me and asked if he could help me in any way. Even though I'm a very independent person, I have learned to never refuse help from anyone who offers when I'm flying by myself with the kids. So, I graciously accepted and said he could carry in Reagan's carseat for me. I also had two loaded backpacks, Sarah strapped in the Ergo carrier, with Reagan buckled in the double stroller.

Fortunately, I was allowed to board the plane immediately after first class. Hallelujah! We got situated and then Reagan started grunting like she was pooping. I thought "Oh fantastic! We still have a ton of passengers to board so I can't change her and everyone that passes by will smell it and glare at me." I couldn't smell anything but I was so anxious as people loaded the plane. Since we were behind they immediately started taxiing and so I couldn't change her until after we had taken off. Once we were in the air, the seatbelt sign was illuminated for at least 45 minutes! When it finally turned off I grabbed Reagan and headed quickly to the bathroom. I left Sarah strapped in the carseat with her binky, blanket, and some toys. I was ticked/relieved that Reagan hadn't actually pooped since there was no changing table in the bathroom. When we got back to our seats, Sarah was screaming her eyes out in the arms of the flight attendant who was looking at me like I was the most negligent awful mother. Thanks lady.

Throughout the flight the kind gentleman who carried in the carseat held Sarah now and then for me while I worked with Reagan or fixed a bottle. At first things were going ok but they quickly went downhill. Reagan proceeded to scream and hit and throw things the entire flight. I kept trying to calm her down and get her to go to sleep since it was so late. No luck. At the same time Sarah was exhausted and so I was trying to put her to sleep but as soon as she started to dose, Reagan's screams woke her up. I was so frazzled. It was the longest 3 1/2 hours of my life. Wasn't it so nice that Reagan finally fell asleep for the last 15 minutes of the flight. Needless to say she was not happy when I woke her up shortly after we landed.

We finally arrived to SLC. The name of the kind man sitting behind me was Jeff. I overheard the conversation between him and the guy sitting next to him. Jeff turned out to be a member of the church and somehow they had started talking about the gospel. The other guy was very curious and it was neat to witness someone else having a missionary experience. Jeff helped me get my things out of the plane. It took them about 15 minutes to bring out my double stroller. Reagan was falling apart because it was now 11 pm Utah time and 12 am Indiana time. Jeff stayed with me even though I told him I would be fine. I'm so glad he stayed. We got down to baggage claim and I reached into my pocket for my phone so I could call the shuttle of the hotel we were staying at that night. Nothing was in my pocket. Oh crap! Just what I needed...my phone had fallen out of my pocket. I explained this to Jeff and he said he'd wait with Reagan and my things while I took Sarah to go see if I could get through security back up to the plane.

Turns out I had to get a special pass to go through security. It took them about 30 minutes to get that for me. Are you kidding me? So I go back to Jeff to tell him I have to head up. Reagan starts crying once she sees me. So, I switch and hand him Sarah and take Reagan with me. I start sprinting with Reagan (who weighs 30 lbs) on my hip. The gate wasn't close and I was huffing and puffing running with Reagan in my arms. I finally get my phone and sprint back. Jeff is still standing there waiting for me. Seriously, this guy was incredible. So so so so nice. He helps me out to the curb while I call for a shuttle. No answer. I thought hotels always had someone at the front desk 24/7. So I call again. And again...about 15 times total. No answer. Not even an answering machine. I had been assured the previous day that a shuttle would be available. I just needed to call. So, what does Jeff do? He offers to drive me over to my hotel. It's about midnight at this point. I have already thanked him about 100 times and it doesn't seem adequate. So, he loads all my crap into his car and drives us over. He helps me unload and waits while I check in. He then helps me all the way up to the 4th floor to my door. He wouldn't leave until I got to my room no matter how many times I told him I could handle it. I wanted to get his last name or contact information so I could send him some huge gift basket or something but I thought that wouldn't be right since we were both married. I just wish I could have done something more than just say thank you over and over again to show him how much I appreciated his selflessness and goodness.

So, my burdensome trip was made much lighter by Jeff. Thank you Jeff for saving my life. I probably would still be on the curb at the SLC airport sobbing my eyes out if it wasn't for you.

Oh and one last thing. The entire carpet in my room was soaking wet. They must have cleaned it 10 minutes before we checked in. I was way too tired to say anything about it. And I was so excited about my super hot priceline deal to stay at the Marriott Residence Inn.

Sorry Erik but I think you'll need to come visit us next time! I can't handle another trip for awhile :)