tsa-the bane of my existence...balanced out by the rest of the week

ok, so i have a little time to spare, here in ICT, waiting for my colleagues, alicia and joyce, who are hanging out in ORD, waiting for their delayed flight...curses, chicago, how dare you! anyhoo, perfect time to finish what i started!

so, at the airport in albuquerque, we went to security and the jokers went through tsa pre, while i stood in line with the rest of the world of non-travelers. my bag was flagged in security, so i was pulled to the side, they swabbed my bag and the coffee alerted them (note to self, just going to have to deal with the wretched hotel coffee...or rely thoroughly on 'the bucks'). anyhoo, this made them have to go through each of my other bags, and a pat down; "do you want a private room?" the girl asked, and i just looked at her, "ain't no one got time for that! i'm a little less modest than i used to be, and it should probably be more embarrassing for you than me, fondling a grown-a-woman in public, but go ahead, don't care.." and that was that. did i really say it? ok, some of it...so that happened, then i sat there waiting for them to finish, and something else set off the alarm...so they had to re-run my phone and the ipad...and this whole time, i'm sitting there, without my boots on, mind you, thinking, "i'm missing out on precious 'goodbye' breakfast-time" (insert grumpy-cat face) i was ok at the very beginning of this process, but as they started sucking time away from my life, that i'll never get back, i started to get more and more irritated, and i couldn't even use my phone to text the girls, because it was being run through security...ugh. by the time they brought everything back and determined that i didn't have an organic coffee explosive, i had text from sabrina, and julie was just calling at that moment, so i told her i was in security still, and was going to have to go to the bathroom before meeting them. grr...

upon release, i went to the bathroom, washed my face, grabbed a sip of water and made my way to the restaurant...when i got there, i thought i was good, until they asked what happened, and a couple tears of frustration rolled down my face and mama-bear (sabrina stood up, as did ju, and just gave me the hug i needed at that moment to let it go) then julie k made a suggestion that i took her up on, which i'm sure she regretted a moment after. but kudos to her for being so brave, so early in the morning! alas, our time was up, and sabrina made her way to her flight and we parted ways toward ours, later to find that sabrina's was once again delayed (it had also been delayed on the flight in, due to a lightbulb, of all things-i've seen pettier delay pretenses before)...

i know i didn't mention it before, but there was a lady at the restaurant, sitting behind me, and she had called a server over and asked him to speak to a manager, something about waiting, and ice tea...idk, julie k heard better than i did, but the thing about it, is that she sounded like a man one of the goats from the three-billy-goats-gruff. anyhoo, guess who was at our gate area? you betcha! fortunately for us, we'd chosen a little spot by the window with just two chairs. unfortunately, that little spot smelled like wet, sweaty socks. we tried our best to ignore it, but that smell! you can only hold that gagging for so long, so we moved toward the line for boarding, and we laughed at some of the people who were edging closer and closer-even one lady who literally just went around the who group like one of my fourth graders to get to the front, and i could imagine her raising her hand, waving it and yelling, "FIRST!!!!!!" and we giggled.

upon arrival, we had a goodbye ritual, and then i took off. on the way home, i was driving by cabell, and decided it was time to stop in. i've been meaning to for quite some time, so this was the perfect opportunity to see the remodel, and catch up with friends at the end of the day! ciane and jeri took me around to see everything, and at a couple of instances, i may have actually seen tears in eyes-they miss me so much (feel free to insert a little light-hearted sarcasm here)...but seriously, it was great to see cabell friends...it's always so out-of-sight-out-of-mind. i later got a text from veronica, asking if i was free to do dinner with her and maite, so we made that happen at twisted root that evening, shortly after i ran over to joanne's to pick up the boys. it was good to sit with both of them and catch up!

then on friday afternoon, after i had finished with everything, namely working on my expense report and watching some more webinars, i had gotten a text from nicolette, asking if i was in dallas...and if so, hang out? so i took her up on that, as i had to run to target, so we did that and washed her car (she'd made the mistake of parking on the empty street, where others fear to tread, and she payed the ultimate price...revenge of the birds! and not even the rain could wash that shtuff away!) then we had a lovely dinner salad with a great wine, and walked the neighbor's dog, as she was out of town. good practice in responsibility!! then i left, with the understanding that we were going to go to get our oil changed the next morning.

come saturday morning, i got the text suggesting breakfast first-which i am always up for! so we did a little four corners, as they have great coffee and some solid meals.

and as soon as breakfast was over, we went to get the oil changed, and from there a quick stop at the pet store, to check on doggie-travel-meds...for her dogs. and that was a morning for me, i had to get home to do laundry and get the boys ready to go to joanne's for the next few days. 

it was a week full of blessings, but i am still dying to get my tsa-pre-check! soon, patience, soon.

julie

3-day weekend: great way to chase the week!

this week was probably one of the most stressful of my recent life. thankfully i had the right people to talk to, at the right times for my own processing purposes. after about 5 or 6 conversations, i was able to arrive at a logical decision-and i was given a compliment today from someone i respect very much. (more of this story in march). 

so this was our three-day weekend, and it started out at northpark mall, la duni- delicious veggie platter, non-work-related conversation, and fun company! we moved over to kona grill to enjoy laughing with sabrina, a friend of nafia's who i got to meet at the tea party (she's great! lots of fun!) then we did a little meandering around, checking out a couple of stores, playing around before the movie-we may have had to purchase later tickets because there were none together. the movie: how to be single-funny, sweet.

classic. i got a short video clip of nafia and this one, but the file was too big to post...or i'm just too impatient!

saturday was an all-day t.v. marathon. i finished dexter, and was a little disappointed with where it left off, but hey, as long as they bring him back, we'll see if they are forgiven or not!

also saturday night, i decided it was time to do my hair again! so keratin brazilian blowout treatment again! it went well, and my hair is smooth and silky!

used my favorite hair person..oh, that would be ME!

sunday-funday! wish it had been sunnier and brighter, but it was still good. there was this breakfast joint that looked interesting in fort worth, last time we got lost there. it ended up being very cowboy-ish. good bacon! it was a people-watching morning. then a quick car-tour up and around the tcu area, and then off to see the stockyards. i can't believe i've been in this area over 11 years, and have never been over there! for sure a must-visit when family and friends come into town. #mustwearboots

drove through historic grapevine as well. i just LOVE that place! sometime in the spring, i think i will need to get over there to enjoy the quaintness of it all!

this morning i got to go for a walk-i've been avoiding it this past week because i've had a cough, but today was too beautiful not to! eight miles-it was good! my runtastic app cut out on me again, though. boo. then this afternoon, i had a meeting with a friend, for whom i have great respect, at the coolest little coffee shop down on greenville! (wish i'd gotten a pic!!) another reaffirming conversation-there's something about someone saying they're proud of the way you handle things, that just makes everything seem a little better.

it was a good weekend.
julie

what do you get when you drink coffe and diet dr. pepper? nothing...just a bathroom break.

i knew today was going to be this kind of a day because i didn't get to bed until after midnight last night trying to finish revising ninety fourth grade expository papers so that my students can understand what revision looks like.

literally picked up the coffee in one hand, took a sip, then picked up the diet dr. pepper in the other hand

for whatever reason, the hot and cold go together, and then the bitter and sweet kinda' go together. anyone with me on this? if so, just nod your head, i'm sure i'll feel it.  i suppose it worked because i am still awake, and i made it through the day. coherently, even!

while i was listening in on a conversation, i heard a couple of ladies trying to figure out what half of 37 was. and after spending a couple of minutes, one of them said to the other, "that's why i don't help my daughter with her math homework...she won't let me." hmm...

and in the mail today i got a letter from fema...they wanted to sell me some flood insurance. apparently they didn't look at the address or realize that when an apt number ends in the 30's, it means 3rd floor! and there's a drought...and the average rainfall is 76 mm/month.

tonight needs to be an early night because tomorrow we have conferences.boo. long stinkin day!

ok, be hot or cold, or i will spit you out of my mouth (that's biblical, but that's what i often tell my drinks as well),
julie

tornadoes are a threat, but man-eating cars are a bigger threat!

it was so great to wake up this morning and be able to go out onto the balcony to drink my coffee in a leisurely fashion without sweating through another t-shirt! the only downside is that i do not have the greatest view. so after coming back in, we left the screen door open to enjoy the breeze and nature noises, only the noises we got were the clanging of pipes and truck noises with their reverse signals and such...but we kept the windows open anyway. (mostly because we knew that we're only going to enjoy a few days here of up to 90` weather before it goes back up into the high 90's  for a bit. boo).

recipe for great day-beginner

chaco and i went for a walk again today and bruno refused, then proceeded to bark as we walked away, so we went back to get him and he again played stubborn, so chaco said, "sayonara! let's go mama!" on our little walk i saw this guy and it reminded me of part of last night's dream. i had woken up three times and not remembered any of them until the last time i fell asleep and it was strange.

an acorn can have some interesting uses...

so in my dream i was frantic because i was with this group of people-some teachers and no one was helping me come up with an idea for vocabulary and grammar. so this one guy proceeds to pull out a bag of acorns; he had hollowed the insides out of the acorn and then written words and definitions on tiny papers and mixed them up to create a matching game. i remember wondering where this guy found all the spare time to hollow these suckers out.

the dream took a weird turn when tornadoes started showing up on the horizon, and as we were running from building to building, the cars began to be more of a threat than the tornadoes. the cars had mouths and were trying to eat us. with a quick maneuver the car missed me and i started yelling at the woman inside the car. her window was down and she was stuck in the car (it wouldn't let her out) and she looked me in the eye and said, "don't get mad and yell at me, i HATE this car!"

note to self: next car must be car without a mouth and a mind of its own. 
strange dreams..must've been the peanut butter fudge.

happy labor day!
julie