I think I Brought MN Home To Tampa!~

My PLUSH sweet Room

AT

THE BEST WESTERN "PLUS"

in

Bloomington MN

(across the street)

from

The Mall of America

Welcome home to ME!

JUst had to show you this fabulous room I enjoyed

briefly at the new,

DID I MENTION

BRAND SPANKING NEW

BEST WESTERN PLUS

new

HOTEL

in

Bloomington MN

where I spent my last day

in

MN!

And I have to tell you,

they did a fantastic job with this property,

the place is just lovely.

The art, the colors, textures

and

STAFF

all

5 star!

Claire at the desk

was top notch

Randy, the one with "evidence of cookie crumbs" on his chin,was the shuttle driver

and

gave me directions on navigating the

Mall of America

(only lost myself 3 or 4 times)

was kind, efficient and friendly

and

then

I met

Brandon

who was in charge of the

Ballroom

where I spent the day with

the lecture

on

Compassion Fatigue.

Now that was after a night in that spectacular room,

a room that was just splendid

with its decor of rich chocolate

bedding, its textures and colors inviting and top notch,

the art on the walls wonderful to look at as well.

AND LET ME TELL YOU...

YOU

could bounce a dime

on those sheets that bed was made with such perfection!

And oh what a grand bed it was

with pillows everywhere,

too bad there wasn't the godsons and Olivia there

to have a pillow fight with!

I was just thrilled to realized

that

Premiere Education

had booked the

first conference of my speaking there

in this new and wonderful hotel

where the service was spendid

the catering staff and AV staff

so kind and accomondating during the day!

and to think:

I was the first speaker to take the room by storm

to a fantastic

group of

mental health and Professional Caregivers

as

we spent the day

together!

In that room

sat

folks from

those with 1 year of experience

to practioners with 40 years of experience

who collectively

we counted had more than

"1000+ years of PROFESSIONAL YEARS"

of Professional Care giving experience"

for

those in the state of Minnesota!

They included

Nurses, Social Workers, Psychologists, Marriage and Family Counselors, those working in Mental Health, Psychiatric Nurses, Private Practice Therapists, Chaplains, Head Start Counselors, Managers,

Crisis Call Centers, Hospice....

Professionals working with those who have been sexually abused, domestic violence, mental issues, physical and chronic pain, Cancer patients, divorce, rape, trauma, and the list continues...

It was quite a day, It was a wonderful day,

I was honored to be with them all.

It was a FULL DAY~

I shared with them my desire to help with

PROTECTING THE NORTH AMERICAN BLACK BEAR

OF ELY MN

suggesting they join us at

http://www.bear.org/

and sign the petition there!

I told the that Lily the Black Bear gave the world

HOPE

and

told them of the Facebook page

and that Lily has 180 thosand fans

without leaving her den

while

I

travel around the world

and

have 1400 fans

They laughed as hard as I did over that one!

Imagine, some had never heard of Lily and they live right there in MN,

some did not know there was a need to protect collared and brightly colored ribboned North American Black Bears either,

but

they cannot say that anymore!

I helped them to understand how we as Professionals and as humans can learn much from the

North American Black Bears

by being creative

in having

tenacity in purpose!

By stretching to "get what we need"

and

yes I also shared with them

that a man named MOE in Duluth bid

$1,000.00 for Bear Scat

and won it on Facebook on an auction to benefit

the Wildlife Research Institute

and

that

Healing Heartaches had also been auctioned

and

fetched

$500.00

and

yes

I was well aware

that my book

only fetched half the price

of

Little

Hope's

bear poopie aka SCAT!!!

Did I mention

they laughed a lot yesterday???

BUT

most importantly

when we said

"so long"

I believe they walked out a bit taller than when they walked in,

feeling

"refueled with passion and purpose"

for the important work that they do

and

I thanked them for the

HARD and dificult work that they do each and every day.

I do hope to be invited back someday,

preferably when it is not so darn cold

but

I was told a "heat wave" was coming in

as it

hit 40 degrees and not to be surprised if I saw

some in their flip flops!

MALL OF AMERICA

Just another view of that Mall!

Looking at another angle of the many ways

you can get lost on those levels

and those many options

of where to go!

So I'm thinking

everyone should experience that just once

at least,

and when you go,

you can stay across the street at that

fine new hotel

The Best Western Plus!

Tell them Dr Showalter sent ya!

I hear they even have a suite there with a fireplace in it.

I of course expect to be given that room should I ever return, and to just be stuck there in a warm month

but sure to fire up that fireplace

just for fun!

Cos' in my way of thinking

you would need to go for a few days

if you were really to visit that mall properly,

and

heaven knows you will need

Randy to shuttle you back and forth

for naps

on sheets that you can bounce a dime on

to rest between those many miles of walking

and

shopping.

Meanwhile

you are guaranteed to meet some lovely folks along the way

and have a ball if you are there long enough.

At the end of the day

and after good byes and hugs

and signing books for many,

I was standing outside

when somehow the sliding automatic doors

opened and

I got "caught"

by one of them

in my "back"

OUCH

so now at home

and ever so grateful

I am nursing a quite painful

"wing area of my back"

preparing to apply ice on it and to lay low

today.

But while outside I see a car whip into a parking space

and a lovely woman jump out of her car and come

running to me,

she hugged me and thanked me

for what she said was the best seminar ever

and then

said,

"Dr Showalter, I would like to gift you with a CD of mine"

and handed me a CD

with the title "Foreign Soul"

her name

Rebecca Aadland.

I was touched beyond measure and cannot wait to listen,

she is a psychotherapist

and has expressed herself through music,

some of the song titles are :

Vulnerable, Racing Heart, Heal Me Baby, Woman, Breathe easy...

Now that is something isn't it?

The gifts one receives ....

During the break yet another woman walks up to me, hugs me and says I would like to give you this, and hands me a stone... it is a heart; a black perfectly shaped heart. She said she carried it in her purse, and as I was talking, she thought of it and said, I need to gift this to Dr Showalter > the kindness of spirit filled the room yesterday, my heart is filled.

Thank you MN for your hospitality, thank you for spending the day with me!

So I arrived at the airport (one of the weirdest of airports evah)

and the number of people there were amazing, it was just nutz.

Busy busy busy it was;

only to find out my flight had been delayed by over 40 minutes (as in late).

Then I see it:

folks in shorts in MN, flip flops too, or

shorts with "muck-lucks" boots on

and

t-shirts

and

guess where they are all going it seems?

YEP

you guessed it!

The plane was full >>> MN was coming home with me

all bound for Tampa!

Guess they are sick sick sick

of the cold weather

so the plane was at capacity

all heading to Tampa!

I sat with a family from MN, a young woman named Sara who does NOT like to fly and her Mom. Sara and I became pals, as I talked her through the flight with breathing work to help her overcome her fear and her urge to use that "bag" they put in the seat after telling her that "puking was unacceptable to me"! LOL

She did great and then I would almost have her in my lap showing her the brilliance of the night lights below.

I asked her what her favorite smell was, her favorite fragrance, and for the first time in my life...

I had the experience of someone unable to answer me right away!

FINALLY

SARA DOLAN FROM MN FINAL ANSWER?

POTATOS

hahaha

Sara have a great time in Naples kiddo, and have the best life,

remember you have to breathe, to get up in the air

in order to see the splendor below

so breathe in the favorite fragrance of mashed potatoes

then

blow out the candles!

LOL

Life is such a beautiful gift always!

Don't BLINK~~~

AND

on board was on

Soldier.

I thanked him for his service.

And

in my heart as I watched him take his seat back in row 23

I felt so sad for a long time during the flight

and

then I felt a bit a "mad"

...

Maybe it was pain from  my back that was increasing by the minute

or maybe

it was being tired

or

maybe

<>

BUT

not one person in first class

offered

him to switch seats

NOT ONE

gave that American Soldier their seat

from MN to Tampa last night.

And

I was upset about that all the way home.

And oh how I had wished

that I had a seat in first class last night

just so I could insist

that this

Solider

sit there

and enjoy a bit of comfort

as I could tell

he is preparing to ship out

and

defend this country

and all of us.

May the Creator bless you Soldier

and

as I told you last night in MN

I appreciate you, I thank you

and

I want you to take BEST CARE OF YOU

AND

COME HOME SOON AND SAFELY.

The fire is burning brightly this morning

the sage is fired up

with thoughts on the wind to all

I wish you all that you dare to dream.

Walk in BEauty

DRSES

author of

Healing Heartaches,

Stories of Loss and Life

http://www.drsherryeshowalter.com/