On Being Right
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 2:13PM A few weeks ago my mom called with the exciting news that the Pioneer Woman's cookbook was finally available for purchase. I did know this already, but I thought it was sweet that she was calling to say that she wanted to buy it for me for Christmas, purchasing it right now, so that I could have it when Ree (that's her name, not that anyone who reads this doesn't know that. I think.) comes to Dallas on her book tour. She'll be in a local Borders Tuesday, December 1.
It's on our calendar.
Flash forward (which, by the way, is still a great show, except for a couple of scenes so far that have made me a bit uncomfortable, but...that's Hollywood? I don't know...where are my scruples? And where is my train of thought?) a couple more weeks. We, operating on standard Walker protocol, waited a long time to buy our tickets to see Mike's family for Thanksgiving. We finally ended up purchasing tickets for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving until the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, mainly because of prices and blackout dates and all that fun stuff. Then there was a problem with the processing and the next day we found out that we had not, in fact, had success with the purchase. The airline offered us tickets that were now more expensive and to that Mike said a resounding,"NO WAY!" We bought our tickets with a different airline, keeping the same dates, because who wanted to spend twenty more hours checking all the different options between the weekend before and the weekend after Thanksgiving? (For all I know, he did check to see if the rates were different/better and found that they weren't. My guess is he figured I'm the one who picked the dates, so let's stick with those.)
So, the dates for our trip are (departing Dallas) November 24, 2009, and (returning to Dallas) December 1, 2009.
December 1, 2009?!
December 1, 2009?!
Why, yes, that is what I said. And my precious daughter just informed me of the fact that I suggested that we come back from our Thanksgiving vacation on the day that the Pioneer Woman will be at a bookstore right around the corner from my house. Michaela and I were in the kitchen and I asked her if she liked the pancakes I made for dinner. I then asked if she knew where I got the recipe (which she did like, by the way). She said,"Of course!" and pointed to the Pioneer Woman's cookbook.
This next part is a bit blurry because I'm still in shock, but I think I said that Grandma Vicki had bought the book for me so that I could get it signed when Ree comes here December 1. She had a funny look on her face and then she said,"Daddy said we weren't going to be here." I looked at her, laughing, and said,"What do you mean, we're not going to be here?" I thought he had been making one of his silly jokes. And then it hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks that we would indeed be traveling.
And then I thought I would cry.
I have thought a lot about this right-brained business the last few days, ever since Christian's teacher made that comment. I feel like (oh, that's a very right-brained thing to say!) it has actually helped me understand myself a little bit better. Not like myself, but understand. It's almost hilarious how much I fit into the bullet points on the little right-brained chart I found online.
But right now I'm not laughing. The Pioneer Woman was my main inspiration when I started this blog last year (Last year?! Is that right? Right...get it? Ha, ha. Wait, I'm not supposed to be laughing.) and still inspires me daily with her blog. I never thought about a blog being an outlet for my desire to write for other people until I read what she was writing. Even if my main audience is my mom and dad, and some of Mike's family (thanks for reading, you guys!). I have been delighted to find that other people regularly read my thought-provoking work here (uh, oh, more laughing) and enjoy seeing pictures of our kids (which works out very well...since I love to take pictures of them). All that is to say (even though it doesn't directly have anything to do with the fact) that I do not go a day without checking Ree's site, to see what she has been up to, what silly things she has to say, or what sweet and poignant things she has to say, about life, motherhood, being a wife, watching cows, cleaning manure off of porches and pants (probably not so much poignancy there, but...well, yeah, not so much). My life is so very different from hers, and yet I feel like I can connect with her (I love chocolate! I love Toni Collette!). I love her site, and I so love to read her stuff.
And I was really looking forward to meeting her. And maybe taking her picture! Or a picture with her! I wanted her to write in my cookbook: To Christina...You have the best blog I never read.
Isn't that really funny?!
Here's my plan. See, I've checked the data. Our flight gets in at 8:00 p.m. Her time at Borders supposedly starts at 7:00 p.m. I think that if we head straight to Borders from the airport, then I will still be able to catch her. I was hoping to get there early, hang out, I even planned on standing in line for hours. Maybe it will be better this way. Who knows.
Let's just say that sometimes being right is very, very wrong.
silly
Reader Comments (12)
Oh, I hope you get to meet Ree! Love her blog too! Am I now officially the only one that doesn't have her cookbook!? Maybe for the Christmas list... :)
Hi there. I linked here from the comments on PW's post about her lily white feet (she's too funny) and I read about your travel plans going a little awry. So sorry! Here in Phoenix last week, Ree answered questions from the audience for the first 30-45 minutes, then started the signing. I was out of there 2.5 hours later, but I was pretty close to the front of the line.
All that is to say you'll probably be just fine if you want to head to the bookstore when your flight lands in Dallas. I'll check back to see how it goes. Good luck!!
And more importantly, enjoy your trip!! :-)
You must be there on behalf of all of us who don't live in book tour worthy areas!
I bet you can catch her if you go right to the book store. Don't worry. It will work out. And if you don't catch her, you can send me your book and I will get Pastor Ryan to sign it. I realize it's not the same thing, but it might help a little.
You are PRECious. I love you. Hope you get to meet her.
It is so heartbreaking to think about not being with you guys at Thanksgiving this year. Man. They don't even celebrate thanksgiving here in Germany. The turkeys.
That IS disappointing! I do hope you will be able to catch her! I'll bet you will, and hopefully, like you said, it will work out perfectly.
Thanks for feeling my pain! ha, ha...I tried not to take the whole thing too seriously. :)
Kate...it'd make a great gift-for you or anyone! It's so fun to look through, much more than recipes. It's like a paper version of her blog.
Margi...thanks for the info, and the encouragement. And I will definitely post a follow-up. It's what I do-write about all the significant (ha!) things that happen in our lives. :) In spite of how it might have come across, I am looking forward to our trip very much.
Mindee...send me your book, I'll get it signed for you. Maybe.
Elaine...you are too funny. Pastor Ryan's great! Maybe one day we can all get together at a park and let the kids run around while we (and by "we" I mean Ryan!) takes fabulous pictures of everyone!
J.R....my heart is breaking. That's all I can say. I do like that you call them turkeys. :)
Lori...thank you! You and I, we're optimists. Right?! :)
good luck! I really, really hope you get your picture with her even if you have airplane hair! And I hope she does write you have the best blog ever!
Oh my goodness, how exciting! I'm sure it will all work out and you'll have a huge post complete with a photo to blog the day after! Got my fingers crossed for you!!!
Promise me you'll give her a hug from me? I find it terribly unfair that I worked for her for a year and have never met her in person and 10,000 other people have. It's quite unfair! ;^P But I'll heal. In time. Maybe.
HA!
Have a BLAST! If I thought it was possible, I'd try to pull a string or two and get her to hunt YOU down in that crowd! But I don't think I have that power! LOL
Nan, I will most certainly give her a hug for you! That will be an honor. :)
Just please, please, please go through with it and go see her - I feel like she or the idea of her anyway has been huge for you this last year and I'm really hoping you go see her! btw, I was in need of recipe ideas and went to her site - for the first time ever - this week and have already made her pancakes and these things called French Breakfast Puffs. Both were super yummy. I love how she lays out her recipes with all the pictures. Anyway, do it girl!