Go Heat!

Last week was the culmination of months of preparation, fundraising and great expectations.  Bubba and I were going on a school trip to Washington DC.  Although I was very nervous about leaving my family for four days with our psychotic schedule, I was very excited about experiencing this trip with Bubba. 

I worked like a crazy person preparing to leave.  I always want to bail out of a trip right before because of the extreme work it takes to leave.  I was doing school uniform laundry until midnight, the night before we left.  I felt like a walking zombie. The mental warfare was so great and I honestly didn’t know if I could handle it.

When I finally got to the airport and got on the plane, I “let it go!” (Yes, I have the movie Frozen on the brain and regularly pop out movie references!)  Bubba was so excited and to experience so many firsts with him was such an honor.  I just didn’t realize how many firsts he would really have…  LOL!!!

Our leader, Jennifer Shephard, has a calm personality (unlike me who is a tightly wound, ball of nerves!)  The whole trip was so peaceful and organized.  Even though we packed a ridiculous amount of things in the day, there was no stress until….

We got dropped off for lunch and after we ate, we still had a little time before we had to head back to the bus.  Bubs asked if we could walk a block down to the Verizon Center which is where the Washington Wizards, the NBA team, plays.  The Miami Heat were playing there that night!  We walked up to the building and someone was coming out of the door.  Before it closed, I grabbed it and we slipped in the lobby of the facility.  Bubba was freaking out thinking we were going to get in trouble.  I told him to calm down, I wanted to get a picture of him and then we would go.  

A guy came off the elevator and was looking at us. Bubba said nervously, MOM he’s going to kick us out!”  I said who cares hurry up and let me get my picture!!!  The guy noticed Bubba’s Heat jersey and asked if we were there for the game, which didn’t start until 7 PM. I told him no that we were from Florida, my kid loves the Heat and wanted to see where they were playing.  He then asked if we wanted to come to the game!!  WHAT???  He went on to explain, that the game was sold out but they decided to sell individual suite seats, which is very unusual!!  I didn’t really know if we were allowed to leave our tour group so I told him I would check. He gives me his cell phone and told me to call and let him know!  I asked him if he could let Bubba inside to see the court in case we couldn’t go to the game and he said sure!  He took us up in the employee’s elevator and into a suite!  Bubba was in heaven!

When we got back with our tour group, I told Jenn what happened and she exclaimed, “YOU HAVE TO GO!!  This is your trip!!”  I didn't want Bubba to miss any of our tour and Jenn assured me that the only thing we would miss was a Hip Hop performance. We laughed knowing that Bubba would probably rather be at the Heat game!!  My heart started beating chaotically!  I called Dan and after being with me for over 20 years, and knowing how God regularly blesses us in these crazy ways, didn’t really act that surprised and said YES!  Go to the game!!!  I called our new best friend, Zach and told him we were all in!  He proceeds to tell me that if I could get there around 5:15, he would let us in before the gates open and Bubba could watch the team warm up…WHAT???  I didn’t tell Bubba that info and kept that little surprise a secret!

We went to the Holocaust museum and I told Bubba to try his best to forget about the game, and to really focus on all that he was going to see and experience.  He did a lot better than I did.  My heart was racing and I was almost in a panic at what I had done.  I used to be fearless before I had five babies that depend on me.  I was envisioning us getting murdered on the street trying to get home to our hotel, which was in Virginia.  Kelly Trent did her best to pump me up.  She got on Google and mapped out our whole route home to the hotel and told me I could do it and to be brave!  I was getting ready to leave and was wondering where I should get a taxi and a sweet faced museum worker, walked up to me and asked if she could help me with anything.  I laughed because I must have looked like I needed help!!  She also pumped me up, confirmed Kelly’s expert directions and told me where the best place was to get a taxi.

 

Here we go…push past the fear and just do it was my inside voice.  I had to put my brave face on because Bubba was getting nervous.  I hailed a cab and despite almost getting hit getting in the cab, it went pretty smooth.  We got to the Verizon Center, called our contact Zach, and he came down, gave us our suite tickets and took us into the arena.  Bubba’s face was priceless.  All the players that he knows so very much about where on the court (minus Lebron who was “resting” for playoffs according to Bubba) it was crazy. We roamed around and Bubba talked to some of the players and got their autographs!  As I watched Bubba, I marveled at the favor of the Lord.  You can’t earn it.  You don’t deserve it but he still goes out of his way to bless us. 

An announcement came over the PA system that the doors were getting ready to be opened so Bubba and I started heading up to our suite. We were treated like VIP’s which was so funny and felt like a joke!  I asked an attendant where the restrooms where and she said, “Ma'am you have your own bathroom in the suite!”  WHAT??  

A man and three kids came into the suite after Bubba and I.  One of the kids had a Heat jerseys on which surprised me since we were in Wizard land. I asked the man if they were Heat fans and he said his kids were but he was more of a Miami Hurricane fan??  WHAT??  I laughed and asked him why since we were in Washington DC…..wait for it…..He says because he is a former Miami Hurricane basketball player?  I called Bubba over and they began having a great U conversation!!   I sat through the rest of the game in awe at how God orchestrated all of this to bless my boy! WOW, WOW, WOW!!  I called Dan and apologized that I was with Bubba at his first NBA game and that his Dad should be experiencing this with him.  He was so funny.  He said had he been there, he would have never gone to the Verizon center, gone into the lobby in the first place and none of this would have even been possible! 

It was all fun and games until it was time to leave…Lord help me! What was I thinking??  I had to put on my brave face again and act tough as we walked through the dark 6 blocks towards the Metro station. Bubba was looking all around worried.  I told him to walk fast, don’t look or respond to anyone on the street.  We focused forward and made it to the entrance.  It was pretty daunting taking the escalator down underground.  It was pretty empty and thankfully a security guard helped us get the right ticket and told us to go downstairs and to get on the Blue line not the orange.  We kind of panicked when there two blue lines going in opposite directions.  There were a couple people that didn’t look like derelicts so we asked them which one to Franconia.  They were super friendly and helpful.  We got on the subway and there was a pretty scary dude on there and we couldn’t understand a word from the announcer.  Bubs hopped up with every stop to check the map to find which stop we were on.  After a couple stops, the scary guy got off and our two previous friends were still there.  We started chatting with them and the nice lady thankfully was getting off at our stop so we could relax and just follow her!  

We were suppose to get picked up by our hotel shuttle but missed it because the van said Hampton Inn on the front. We were staying at the Holiday Inn.  That would have been great info for them to tell us when we scheduled a pick-up.  I was a veteran at this point in cab rides, so we took a quick cab ride to the hotel and felt like rock stars when we successfully made it back alive to the hotel!!  Thank you Lord for helping us!  Thank you Zach for hooking us up!  Thank you Jenn for letting us go and thank you Kelly for pumping us up telling us we could do it!!!  It was an experience we will never forget and it reminded me that our God is ever mindful of us and goes before us to prepare blessings galore!!  Go Heat!!