It goes without saying that the Thomas-Higgins family can't travel anywhere without something strange, weird, and down right bizarre happening to us. So it shouldn't surprise me that the 2012 Morgan Grand Nationals will go down in history as one the more unique experiences I have had to date. But I will still act shocked anyway! It was a rollar coaster of emotion from start to finish and in true Erin style I will englighten you in list format. (I love lists)
Thursday October 11th - So my first mistake was thinking I was in the clear after a VERY uneventful flight. I am not a good flyer. This hasn't always been the case either. In my high school and college days, 2 years ago, I loved to fly! At one point I spend almost an entire year bouncing back and forth between Michigan and California. But that is a whole other blog in and of itself..... But as I age, ever so gracefully, flying has become a bigger worry for me. I read somewhere that the most dangerous time in a plane is the first 90 seconds of take off and the last 90 seconds of landing. So I spend those three minutes gripping the arm rests and chanting in my head, please don't crash, please don't crash, please don't crash. The flight attendants don't help with my paranoia either. While flying with a child they feel it is necessary to remind you 100 TIMES that, "In case of an emergency please put your oxygen mask on first before assisting your child." I smile and nod confidently but inside I am screaming, 'are you secretly telling me we are going to crash!?' So when we landed in Oklahoma City and everyone on the plane was still alive I was fairly confident that the worst was over....WRONG!
Thursday afternoon Travis, Madeline, Pap, and I decide to head to an early dinner and meet friends at the new Italian place. As we are loading into the truck I feel a bit on my arm and I swat at the insect with other hand, believing it to be a mosquito. WRONG again! It was a giant man eating bee that had flown down the sleeve of my ever fashionable blouse I was wearing and was stuck! (It may have been a normal sized bee but in my adrenaline fueled panic it looked about the size of a Guinea Pig.) Just like every other normal and extremely rational person I started to scream and panic. Phases like "Get it out get it out!" and "I'm going to die!" Travis reached over and caughted the mammoth intruder in my blouse and kept him trapped between the fabric until he could work the little sucker out! By now I am 100% convinced that death is emminant and I am waiting for the onset of symptoms. Ok.... in my defense, both my brother and my dad are EXTREMELY allergic to bees. I have had to drive my dad to the emergency room after being stung and since I am allergic to EVERYTHING (including exercise) I was fairly certain this bee would be the death of me. But since I am hear blogging today you can see that I am still alive and well, although semi-tramatized by the bee incident. I spent the rest of my life nursing my VERY sore arm and reminding my family how I nearly escaped death twice now. (Plane ride and bee sting)
Friday October 12 - Waking up the next morning still breathing and functioning was a huge relief! Although I was still alive a good 6 hours after the bee sting I was still a little fearful that the allergic reaction was lying dormat and would set in while I slept. It didn't....and I have since been told that that thought is ridiculous by health care professionals. The morning also brought rain which means at a horse show mud! We got to the horse show fairly early and at this point Madeline's God Mother Sara had joined us and we were stabled with our good friends Brian and Jodi. The best thing about OKC.... Good Friends! Madeline and her new best friend Piper decided they wanted to visit their leadline horses and feed them treats. Piper was riding a horse named Charlie and Madeline was showing a horse named Barbie. This is a big deal....it actually really is a big deal I may have cried while they were showing... So off we go; me, Madeline, Sara, Piper, and Jodi. We walk out of the barn and down a small hill and WHAM! I wipe out in the mud. Not only do I wipe out, but I wipe out in a dress and flip flops. I have mud all the way up my left leg, left arm, and inbetween my toes. GROSS! Being the supportive and wonderful friends that they are Sara and Jodi immediately bust out laughing. At one point I thought Sara was going to start crying she was laughing so hard. I pick my dirty self up and march angerily to the bathroom. To add insult to injury I had to wash my legs and feet off in the sink in the bathroom at the state fairgrounds. It may have been cleaner to just stay muddy. As I emerge mudfree from the restroom Jodi and Sara are still laughing uncontrollably and Madeline says to me, "mommy be careful. Don't fall down anymore." Over the next couple of days evertime we would pass by that spot Madeline would remind me, "mommy, that is where you fell down." Thanks Mad....
That evening my stomach was literally in knots. This was the first time Madeline would show in Oklahoma City. For weeks she had been talking about going to Oklahoma and showing Barbie. She told her preschool class that she would go to Oklahoma and come home a World Champion. Yeah....we have created a monster.... There were 23 little munchkins in the leadline class and we were going to be the 11th rider in the ring. They go in one at a time and they announce their names as they go in. It's probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. So in true Travis style we decide we don't need to be there right as the class starts because we are 11th down. So Madeline, Aunt Sara, and I make our way to warmup ring and see the other 22 riders on horses in line and the paddock master is calling "Madeline? Madeline Higgins are you here?" Mad starts jumping up and down and I wave my arms. She spots us and looks extremely confused as she says "Where is your horse?" I explain that "Barbie" is on her way and she points me to our place in line. The whole time I am thinking..."I will not panic. I will not panic." Aunt Sara must have sensed my "not panicing" because she immediately says "I will go find Travis" and takes off. Just as Sara takes off the line starts to move forward. All of a sudden 22 Horse and Rider combinations and 1 Madeline/Mommy combination make their way down the shoot to the coliseum and I am in full blown panic mode. Madeline is yelling "I need Barbie! I can't show without Barbie" and I am silently cursing the "wonderful" man I married under my breath. (Sarcasm font needed) All of a sudden Travis and Barbie come trotting up the make up ring and find their place in line. The paddock master announces over the PA system "Riders up!" and everyone laughs. It's funny because we are the only ones with a rider NOT on a horse.....just kidding NOT funny at all! Being the prepared individuals we are Madeline lands in the saddle and we discover her stirrups are about 2 feet to long. As the line progresses down the shoot Aunt Sara and I start shortening stirrups and get Madeline's reins in order. Have I mentioned we are drawn a little crowd at this point. Needless to say, Mad made it into the ring on time and was absolutely adorable. I have never seen Travis as happy as he was when they took their first steps into the coliseum. I admit I teared up when they said her name and felt an overwhelming sense of pride. It was such a wonderful moment that I almost forgave Travis for the chaos before....almost....
Late Friday Night - I had survived the plane ride, didn't die from the bee sting, cleaned myself up from the fall in the mud, and Madeline was a World Champion! Ok a leadline World Champion, but it was still really exciting. That meant it was time to celebrate!! Madeline was settled in for the night with Pap, so it was time to hit the Cowboy Bar. Oklahoma City is the only place that I know of that has LIVE bull riding in a bar. You have to be a professional bull rider to compete, and every Friday and Saturday night they have LIVE bull riding competitions. This isn't mechanical bulls people, these are real, nasty, burly, mean as a snake bulls, in a bar! And IT..IS... AWESOME! We made plans to meet up with the usual suspects and headed out. In the parking lot we ran into Trav's Aunt Coni and her friends and made our way inside with them. As we were waiting in the lobby we see a security guard talking sternly to a man and a woman. The conversation quickly gets more heated and I notice the gentleman has a black case strapped to his side. I lean over to Travis and whisper "Does that guy have a gun?" To which Travis replies "What?!" Because he is deaf or pretends to be deaf so he doesn't have to listen to me. So I turn to Aunt Coni and repeat my question, just then the woman lifts up her shirt and reveals a gun as well! Question answered! The arguement starts to get louder and I think maybe it's time to hit the floor or turn and run. Both Coni and Travis lean in, trying to get closer to the action while I am squiriming my way closer to the door. Must be a Higgins thing because I wanted out of there. Just then one of Aunt Coni's friends says "people have been shot here before you know?" That was all I needed I turned on my heel and started to work my way to the door. Just then the gun toting couple decide they are headed to the door as well. I put myself in reverse and hide behind Trav and Coni who are still trying to get a good look at the action. The couple leaves, but as they are walking out the door they leave the secruity guard with a few choice words. But that is WAY better than a bullet in my book. "We almost had a gun fight!" I exclaim. To which Travis replies "What?!" And I decide to just ignore him again.
So for those of you who are keeping track that totals 4 times I tried to die while in OKC. (If you don't count falling in the Mud then it's only 3 times.) Plane ride, bee sting, and a gun fight at the OK corral. Not bad for a girl raised in South Detroit. :) Ok there really isn't a south Detroit. Someone should really let Journey know that. And I'm not really from Detroit. I will say, watching Madeline show in Leadline is one of the greatest experiences I have had as a parent. There is nothing more rewarding than watching your child partake in something they love. The shear joy and enthusiasm is incredible and really that's what showing horses is all about. Once your strip away the politics, the money, the gossip, and the pettyness you return to what it was intended to be. The pure love and innocence between a little girl (or boy) and a horse. Life doesn't get much better than that.
