Present in the hear and now!

An exert from my vacation post I'm still working on...

After a stressful, tearful TSA experience without my daughter, AND finding out my flight to SNA was canceled! I started over at PDX to hopefully get another ticket and meet the rest of my family. 

I'm not a seasoned traveler. So with a ton of stress, I panicked, worried I would not get on a flight out! Will that guy three rows ahead get the last ticket? What about that family? Hmm... I don't see any Disney swag, they might be safe. My head was swarming with "What if's." I did manage to get a few rows up by asking politely to cut, they could tell I was stressed wanting to get to my family. But politeness doesn't get you that far when everyone else is in the same boat. I then became mindful and slowed down. My anxiety began to wane. I found people-watching at the airport helped get my mind off the "What if's" and I was able to be present in the moment and not stuck in my swimming head. I made good memories in that line! With thoughts of our new puppy at home with Grandma, I turned my attention to the many companion dogs. There was a Doodle puppy who was not being properly trained. Treats to get him/her to stop barking just re-enforces the habit...it barked a lot and peed. The poor owner was clearly stressed out and embarrassed. A German Sheppard puppy with floppy ears flying cargo. He was having a great conversation with the Doodle pup 😆. A spoiled Cavalier-Spaniel flying cargo for the first time. She had a teen owner with Dad and brothers going to enjoy the sun. The San Fransico rescue that was part Lhaso Apso part Havanese (Hava-Apso) SPOILED rotten that old pup.  The family of redheads, whose little boy really wanted a German Sheppard puppy. The extremely grumpy guy who had to borrow tape at the ticket counter to close his package, I hope your day got better! 

Being stuck overnight in an airport must SUCK! A lot of that line consisted of that. They all just wanted to get home for the holidays! And I just wanted to meet my family safely in California!!!