Handi Quilter makes great people? Or great people make Handi Quilter?

Do you remember how excited I was that I my HQ Story was chosen by Handi Quilter?  My flight to Salt Lake City for their planned event was scheduled for early Sunday morning, October 11th. 
Well. . . . . . .the Friday morning before that I arrived at work perfectly healthy.   I swear.  The picture of health.  By the time I left on Friday afternoon, I sounded like a Nyquil commercial.  My co-workers were pleading with me to see a doctor.  "Eh, it's a cold, I'll be fine."  Saturday morning I went to work for 6 hours, felt like I'd been run over by a train, and decided maybe it WASN'T a cold.  I went to see my doctor to see if I could get medication before I left on my trip (Yes, my doctor's office is open Saturday AND Sunday, and until 8 pm during the week---isn't that amazing?  Sure, I have to wait, but I don't need an appointment.  I  much prefer a two hour wait in the office to a two week or two month wait for an appointment time to be open.  I also may not always see the same doctor every visit, but I was in the military so that doesn't bother me.)
ANYWAY, they took x-rays, listened to my breathing (which, frankly, they could hear in the next room, without amplification equipment), and told me I had pneumonia.  I received a breathing treatment with a nebulizer, a shot of steroids, and prescriptions for antibiotics, prednizone, cough syrup with codeine, and two inhalers.  I asked the doctor if he knew if I could travel with inhalers on a plane. 
He said, "Just where do you think you're going?" 
"Salt Lake City, " I responded.
Him again, "I don't think so."
Then there was a lot of whining on my part about how important it was, and how excited I was, and how I MUST go.
He said, "At that altitude, you'll feel 5 to 10 times worse than you do now--you could end up in the hospital."  But he gave me a medical note for airport security that I needed to carry my meds with me.  Yeehi, Salt Lake City, here I come! 
So while I'm waiting for my prescriptions to be filled, I start thinking about it and decide maybe I should let the people at Handi Quilter know.  I called Brenda, the Director of Marketing & Education for Handi Quilter, knowing she was vending at a show, and left a message about my predicament.  I don't remember much of what I said except that I still wanted to come, but didn't want to put them in a bad situation and could she please call me.  I then proceeded to take a nap.  When I woke up, I felt like the train backed up and ran over me a couple more times.  Reality set in.  Along with a megadose of disappointment.  There was just no way I was going to be able to travel.  None.  I called Brenda again, apologized for acting like a four year old who was going to get what I wanted no matter what, and told her I would not be attending this special treat for those whose HQ Story was chosen.  And THAT made me feel worse than the pneumonia!
SHE WAS SOOOOOOOO GREAT!  Really.  Unbelievably understanding.  First thing to do, she said, was to cancel my flight, so I could transfer the ticket to a future date.  She said to let her know when I was able to come, and she'd schedule HQ educators to give me training for a day.  Then she said, no, she had a better idea.  She invited me to attend an HQ Retreat!  I was flabbergasted.  I mean, it's not THEIR fault I got sick.  I figured I just missed out on it, and that's how life goes.  No way did I expect such a generous offer!
So, along with being sick with pneumonia, I was in mourning for a few days for the fun I was missing.  But again, Handi Quilter was so great.  They left me on the emails that shared photographs and videos of the things they were doing in Utah.  They got a tour of the facility, training, a field trip to a local quilt shop, dinner at the CEO's home.  They were videotaped sharing their HQ Story and quilting tips.
Once they got home, the attendees started blogging about the once-in-a-lifetime experience provided by Handi Quilter.  They came home with rulers, magazines, fabric, batting, scissors, thread, and heads full of ideas of new ways to use new tools.  I was getting a little green (but this time it was envy, not pneumonia! LOL), but I assumed that when I finally made it to Handi Quilter for the retreat, they would shower the goodies and knowledge on me, too : )
Then, lo and behold, they emailed me to tell me they shipped a box to me!  YEEHI!!
I'll tell you all about those goodies in the next post!!