I'll be on Blog Talk Radio tonight!

First, before finishing the story about my dangerous anniversary, I wanted to let you know that I will be a guest tonight on Journal Jabber, a radio show hosted by Amy Eye and Cambria Hebert (among other amazing people) on Blog Talk Radio. Amy Eye is a fantastic editor and Cambria Hebert is a published author.  I'm really excited to visit with them. {You can find out all about those wonderful ladies here on their website}
    I will be on their show live tonight (Tuesday April 24, 2012) from 9-10 p.m. eastern standard time--that's 7-8 p.m. MST. Here’s a link to the show where you can listen in live or listen to a recorded version afterward. You can also visit in the chat room during and after the show. I’d love to talk with you. Cambria has some great questions lined up, and I’m so excited to share my work in this new way! I hope you’ll tune in!
    
    Also, I'm the featured author over at Guerrilla Word Fare--so fun--go there for a chance to win one of my books.  

    Now, onto the story of the day.  This is a continuation from yesterday's post: I almost died!  

    Cade blindfolded me and told me to stay on a hiking trail until I heard the alarm on his phone go off.  Too bad he set the alarm for TEN MINUTES!
    Let's just say I was terrified--scared stiff--worried about being dead as a doornail and all those cliche things.
    It wasn't until someone clutched my shoulder that I really thought I 'd die.
    I talked about this yesterday, but let's go back to being in labor.  A part of my body stretched to the size of a WATERMELON--with five different kids--did I scream then?  No!  How about the time I cut my thumb in half on a table saw?  Did I scream even during that?  NO!  Yet some stranger touched my shoulder and I yelled so loud I could have woke up the Krakon!
    I took off the blindfold and in front of me stood the cutest teenager.  Her face pulsed with concern and she put her hand to her face.  "Oh my gosh!  Who did this to you?  Are you all right?"
    I said the first thing that came to mind.  "Oh," I chuckled with nerves, still trying to get over the fact that I'd screamed.  "My husband just blindfolded me and left me here.  It's no big deal, really."
    The girl gasped and called to some people down the trail.  "I've found someone . . . a girl who was BLINDFOLDED."
    I never knew blindfolding someone was a cardinal sin, but apparently it is.  Three kids ran up to us.  They each looked more concerned than the last.
    "No, everything's really all right.  My husband just left me here . . . alone."  That wasn't the right thing to say, and they just gawked at me.  "I mean, it's our eleventh wedding anniversary.  He told me to stay here until this alarm went off and then I could look up the trail."
    "So he could have time to find a 'place' for you?" a boy said.  "I don't think you should do this.  What kind of a husband leaves his wife blindfolded on a trail?  When I get married, I'll NEVER do something like this to my wife!"
    He had a point.  
    Cade and I have been through many tough times together.  Being homeless.  Starving.  Losing a child.  Oh and that watermelon stretching thing. . . .  But was enough, enough?  Maybe we'd been through too much and now it was time to say goodbye!  Plus, why had he left me on a highly populated trail?  Of course someone would see me and be worried.
    The cellphone alarm FINALLY went off at this point.
    I looked up the trail and smiled to the teens.  "See, there's a note hanging from a tree.  I have no idea what it says, but he has some type of plan going on."
    "Yeah," one of the guys mumbled.
    "Well, I better get going.  Are the four of you doing anything fun today?"
    "Prom.  We went hiking as our day activity.  We never thought we'd find someone blindfolded on the trail, though."  Maybe they'd go out for ice cream next time!
    "Have a great date," I said.  "That's so fun."
    The first girl stopped me, clutching my arm once again.  "A lot of girls die in the woods.  Are you sure you should go?  Can you trust this man?"
    I held up the note I'd pulled from a tree and read it to her.  

You are my constant reminder

of all that is good and beautiful

in the world.

    "I can trust him," I said, then saw a note hanging on the other side of a nearby stream and I quickly crossed and went to it.  The kids shrugged and continued on their hike.  They'll probably never forget that strange encounter.
    So, many notes hung from trees, becoming sweeter and sweeter.  I found myself deep in the forest.  Shadows loomed and birds stopped singing.

Watch your step.

    I read another note.

I'll walk by your side in this life and the next.

    At this point, the notes stopped.  I have to admit I was worried.  Could I find my way back quickly?  I was practically born to hike--Hansel and Gretel had nothing on me--but I'd been so excited, I hadn't paid attention to where I went.  Plus, why had he written about the afterlife?
    All the sudden someone whistled and I jumped--being a pansy yet again.   I looked to the left and Cade sat by a log.  He looked so handsome.  He rested on a blanket where he had sandwiches, strawberries, whipping cream and champagne.  All of my fears melted away.  
    "Did you feel like a pirate?" he asked--that rogue.
    The point is, I LOVE pirates.  When I was a kid, I'd always pretend to be the wild stowaway who charmed the merciless captain and then took over his crew.   
    "Well . . . actually I did."
    "Do you like the notes?"
    I nodded.  "Yeah.  They're blog-worthy."
    "Oh, no you don't.  Those are for your eyes only."  He paused and then grinned.  "I guess you can take a picture of them."
    I put my hands on my hips.  "A picture?  Cade Hirsch, did you plan all of this for the blog?"
    "No," he laughed and threw a strawberry into his mouth.  He reminded me of a Greek god--the kind that blindfold their women BEFORE trying to seduce them!
    I told him about my encounter with the prom committee and after a long visit and much champagne, I finally said, "You left me gift-wrapped on a busy hiking trail!  I could have died."
    "Not you," he said, and followed up with something that just proves he's my soul mate.  "You run better than Steven Seagal.  You would've been fine."  
    And it's true because if you remember my post from yesterday, I'd thought the exact same thing.

     Anyway, I'm excited about that radio show.  
    To recap: I will be on Journal Jabber tonight (Tuesday April 24, 2012) from 9-10 p.m. eastern standard time--that's 7-8 MST. Here’s a link to the show 

   To celebrate the launch of my new book Bible Girl, go here to enter for a chance to win $300!

• Bible Girl Giveaway for $300!

 

    Have an awesome day!  And if someone tries to blindfold you on a busy hiking trail, pray there are strawberries involved.