miami, whoever drew up your road plans must've been on a tequila binger...just sayin.

so we were in a hurry to get out of the airport and on the road...once we got started, we pulled off because we had to find a shady spot to put in the coordinates and figure out exactly where we were going! it's not too far of a drive, but once we got close, it was a lot of crazy turns..."drunk cubans made these roads!"

we pulled up in front of the hotel, and it was nestled into a little area near a mall. but all streets were like a little maze, with hidden little shopping areas that you'd miss if you didn't know. after signing in and dumping our stuff, we went out in search of dinner-we were looking for a specific place, and the lady giving us directions from the phone wasn't very helpful (google maps), she was about half a second after the turns...so finally we did a loop around the mall and settled on the cheesecake factory, because it was the only thing we really saw. and the guy who served us was just a little bundle of joy- a cutie. interesting little fact you might not not be aware of..they had little cameras at each table to snap chat guests...

okay, not really...they were to make sure diners weren't stealing silverware...okay, no, no, no they were installed by jason borne to keep track of the shifty nsa agents who gather there...(stop me, i could do this all night..and drive you crazy like someone saying the same joke over and over when it's funny the first time, but not the 81st...) no worries, sabrina clarified and explained what they were really there for, and i am not going to lose any phalanges over it.

we stopped by the publix (affectionately not dubbed publix by sabrina, which led to a stupid story of my own which will just remain in the durango), and that was where we purchased some power bars-which would be our sustenance the following day for training, because let's just face it, it's easier than going out and rushing a lunch meal. it was a beautiful evening, so i joined her on her balcony (the pool and hot tub were just so far away!) we hung out for a long time with scintillating conversation. pretty sure at some moment there were some texts and a call with julie k (their friendship is precious!). we solved some of the world's problems that evening, i only wish we'd written down the answers! #sabrinaforpresident

the following morning, we made our way to the nova site, detouring only for starbucks...parking in a compact lane (durangos are compact, right? i guess more compact than a semi...maybe a girl had to walk through the bushes and maybe another lady missed the entrance because we weren't as compact as a push-over smart car, but i got one word for them: dealwitit) and at that point, we were second guessing the start time...shoot..8:00...8:30? we got there 5 til 8, hoping we weren't going to walk into a room full of attendees...and sigh of relief, there was no one. so we set up and found the tech peeps to say "let there be sound!" but they had some difficulty...finally after some fidgeting and changing computers and the sound-on the finicky dell, we had sound.

we were trying something new with the sign in, doing it digitally. soon thereafter, the lady arrived with some magical panera goodies-yum. (and coffee!) and our participants began trickling in for the morning session. great group! one of the ladies from the morning session was previously living with her family in dallas and had worked for the disd, so we had a fun connection and talked about that for a minute. when lunch time rolled around, we did indeed stay for the changing of the guard, and met the new crew as they came and settled in. the afternoon was quite the talkative group (as most bilingual tainings are--it's in the blood, processing through vocalization!) sabrina handled it very well, and truly, it's not an easy thing for many teachers to deal with when you are used to having a fairly quiet attentive class...the difference is that truly they are attentive, they just reiterate and converse about it to solidify the information and clarify.

then BOOM, no more than 7-ish minutes into the presentation, the shift. this training was not going to take the same path as the earlier session, so it may have thrown the handful that stayed for round two for a loop! the questions began. from the same lady-every time. not a bad thing, she just wanted answers, so sabrina was reactive and went with it to avoid total shutdown. so yes, our motto for the afternoon: there is more than one way to reach the goal-line, and by golly we were going to take the scenic route this afternoon! i know it felt less organized to sabrina, but they received the information they needed, it was just packaged differently! one of the troopers who had been there for the morning session was less than impressed with all the questions the lady in the back had-she had the eye-roll and faces to prove it! she was funny! and i knew exactly who she was talking to when sabrina said, "you're killin me smalls!"

i was the door monitor for a minute or two, as it was automatically locking behind them when they went to the restroom...finally i broke a fork and jimmied the opening so that i didn't have to be pendiente (alter ego-mcgyver for those of you who need to catch up). some of the participants had to leave early due to a hail storm that was brewing, and they lived a ways up north and had to pick up their children and something about traffic (because of the crazy, drunk, cuban highways)...so anyhoo, just a couple left, and we kept on swimming! upon finishing, we made our way back to the hotel-did i mention that our durango had issues? well, it kept stalling when we were at the stop light..to save energy? whatever, yo! it's too hot to be pulling that crap! we tried threatening it, we pushed a button, that didn't work, so we just dealt with it. quick dinner at chilis, people-watching, because that's what we do! why is everyone else so strange? the family with the boys who looked like chunky, not-your-brightest-crayon twins...maybe not, they just both seemed equally unbrilliant...and the two older men-one a dad, not sure about the other, and then a lady...mom? sister? kim cardashian of the latina world? again..not sure.

and THIS is why we were on HER balcony...mine was about wide enough for me, and looked out at another building-boo

it had gotten too late and dark too early, so we ended up not trying to hit-up the beach, instead we ended another evening on the balcony watching the sunset and the lightening gracing us from afar. i was off to bed at a fairly decent hour so that we could be up and on our way in the morning to spend a little time at the beach on the drive up to orlando for the next training.

 funny how God works to bring friends together...at some point on this trip sabrina told me that at first she wasn't sure about me (as far as friendships go-she liked me for the team, but wasn't really convinced until we hung out in colorado-which truth be told we didn't get much time there). that said, we're a lot alike as far as the whole "outgoing introvert" aspect, and she (and julie as well) is one of those i could sit with for hours and talk (or not) and be refreshed/energized. i love people who don't drain me! my inner circle has expanded a bit...and i'm okay with so grateful for this!

and then there was orlando...then being not tonight...
julie