training is kinda like super market sweep

so, as any good blogger would do...wait a minute, who are we kidding? i'm not a good blogger, i am merely a person posting silly stories online so that my friends know what's UUUPPPPP! so don't worry, it's not about to get bloggy-er-y-ish-may it never be!

but back to my story! me.me.me.me.me! (some would call it the me monster, but hey, it's my blog post, i do what i want! because i can, mind you).  

so, yes, we slept in a little on tuesday morning, 7:30-right? did some morning prep-stuffs, and then made our way to the site, but first...drum-roll please, yes, yes, a little starbucks en route. and since this was in effect breakfast and would have to last all afternoon, we got two each. one hot to start the day and one cold to last through training (sort of). while in line waiting...and waiting, the lady in front of us had like 4,201 drinks. bless her, the angel of the medical center. yes, i was exaggerating-if you didn't catch that, you really don't know me well enough, and may want to consider finding a different blog to read-although you would miss all of my witty banter (with myself). but let us continue. she had like...14 drinks, needed a box, and even at that, needed like 1 more arm, and she still would've spilled someone's drink on herself, so i helped her out to her car, and by the time i returned, they were still working on ours.

once we got to the car it got real-a very honest conversation-the kind i like best; thanks for being authentic!

we rolled up and found the office, and sat with the contact. julie laid out kind of what she'd planned, and was informed of a twist. which was sorta like going to the grocery store and thinking you have a $100 budget for a meal, and 3 bags to pack your treasures in, with about 6 hours to then prepare, and getting a text saying: oh, hey. um...you'll be serving two different parties, and you actually have $50, they'll be there in three hours, and still plan on the same meal for both parties, but make sure you can get that in one bag...and by the way, there may be a VIP at the party as well! hmm. and like a pro, julie started changing the menu and getting to the meat of the matter, and said, well, let's do the main course, and we'll just have to save the dessert for another time! a little tweaking, but under control! in volleyball, our phrase was WIT-whatever it takes!

in the midst of making changes, deAn's call came in, so i went out to take it and find her, as she had just arrived. when we found each other, i brought her up to speed with the plan and the changes, then we went back into the office, did introductions and went to find our portable and get set up. while setting up, we shared a lunchable, because one is never too old for a lunchable! #notjustforfieldtrips

people began arriving, and we directed people to the math session or our session, depending on age-group. we worked first with middle school teachers and they were dears. some of them on the newer end of the spectrum. so it was a lot of information, but info they should have been able to take back and use. then, as the changeover was happening, there was somewhat of an additional challenge thrown in (just keeping it real, i guess!). instead of going from 2:30-4:00, you now have until 3:30. clasps hands with arms straight out, turns them palms out, cracks knuckles, cocks head from side to side, cracking the neck, shakes it all off, YES, MA'AM! can do! and did-with grace. it was decided that a portion would be taken out, but in the end, even with the shortened amount of time, julie was able to get to it, because this was the elementary school group, and most had a better grasp on the concept and what was going on. they were on the ball and had good questions and thoughts. it went smoothly and i am confident that when they return, they will be able to really put it all together and use their data like masters!

the great thing about this was that it was a great opportunity for deAn and i to see adjustment on the fly when things aren't going quite as planned, so you have to switch it up. when it was done, we bid farewell to deAn and made our way back to the homestead, passing by the little shop where joy works. who is joy, you ask? just a local kevin had mentioned the day before. moving on. bella was ecstatic to see her mama, and needed some lovin'. so stinkin' cute! and then julie said something to her about daddy being home soon, and of course, from that moment on, she had her eyes on the door, acute awareness that at any moment it could happen! so we (and by we, i mean julie) got the food out for dinner preparations. it was going to be good!

when kevin arrived, he came in and got to work, after explaining boxplots, and some workday talk. then we sat out on the deck while he was getting the grill ready. and soon it was time to put on the asparagus. with that it was also apparently time to go get some propane...after some banter of who was going to get it, and how a good wife might have anticipated this...kevin went and exchanged a tank in record time! and julie did a second batch in the oven while the mediterranean seasoned chicken was grilling. sitting around the table enjoying a home-cooked meal with friends- how pleasant! delicious, i tell ya! the chicken, the asparagus (both), the couscous, the pita with tzaziki sauce-like, i'm licking my fingers mentally!!

so this is the really cute pic of ju and kevin preparing our delicious meal!

after clean-up, we were back on the deck with some light music in the background, so as to not bother the neighbors, nor interfere with conversation, once it began to get dark, kevin turned out the porch light (again respectful of the neighbors), and brought out a small lantern light, and dialogue continued. kevin explained exactly what a psychometrician does, beginning with the history. it was very interesting. and after some time, he had another early morning, and i may have kinda' help volunteer julie to get up early and make hubster breakfast, promising to get up and lend moral support! smile. so he went to bed and we spent a little more time talking about traditions and such. parents, family, etc. and we then had to get some shut-eye as well, as we were getting up early and would be looking at work stuffs the next morning.

and now we'll call it a night, as we did!
julie 1-but only because i'm older.

second leg and OGL...omm, could've been worse

wichita to dfw-smoothe sailing and on time. uneventful, and a decent seat-mate.

cue the second leg from dfw to sat. the safety announcements came on in the headrests in front of us, and the window seat lady (let's just call her wsl) was actually funny-we could be friends; we made fun of the entire video, from the exaggerated leg-room we wished we had to the silver hands buckling the passenger in (which we deemed slightly inappropriate-i suppose i can only think of a few of people i'd be willing to shoot that video with: looking at you, julie2, sabrina, shea and bmayes)...and then there was the part where the flight attendant had two other people buckling her seatbelt...so i looked at wsl and said, "would you go ahead and get that for me?" thank God she laughed...and then the lady and her teenage daughter with the o2 masks...the mom had to get her daughter's, as she just sat there looking like a pathetic teenager, who could obviously do it herself, but wasn't about to make an effort. yep. there may have been a fashion show of life-vests, and a dance party at the end. not sure how i felt about the whole thing-uncomfortable that this was where my safety lay, thankful it was over, wondering how much they had to raise prices to pay for this commercial endeavor...

and once the flight actually took off, i took out my notebook to begin the process of writing ideas for these posts. wsl looked up from her kindle at one point and had a shocked look, stating that she hadn't seen anyone actually 'writing' things down in such a long time. and then the older german lady in the aisle seat, who was somewhat annoying (let's call her ogl)
ogl: oh, are you journaling?" 
(at this point i had my earbuds in, and had to take one out to hear her)
me: not really, it's for my blog
ogl: oh! what do you blog about?
me: stupid stuff, mostly just whatever is going on-to keep friends apprised of life.
ogl: (somewhat disappointed) oh. you should use your tablet.
me: (i kept having to take the earbud back out because i was hoping she would stop chatting, but NOOooo) well i like to write it out first handwritten and then go back later to type it all up. (earbuds back in)
ogl: well, that takes too much time. you need to just do it all at once and edit while you go.
me: (earbuds out again...i'm not going to tell you what i was thinking, because i'm sure she's probably someone's grandmother) well, it's my rough draft and i like to write it out by hand. 
ogl: hmf. well, i dictate mine. 
me: good, good for you. i'm glad that works for you. i like to write mine out. (finally headphones back in, and no more chitter chatter). 

so when we finally arrived and i was able to set my pace for the walk to baggage claim, wouldn't ya' know it, ogl was not too far in front of me, setting her own pace, just slow enough that i would catch up at the escalator. guess who took the stairs-yep, i sure did. and it wasn't long before ju arrived to meet me-they were running a little late due to construction, but so were we, as upon arrival, we were taxiing around the pad ramp like a game of cat and mouse maneuvering around parked planes, to finally get to our gate. and of course that initial meeting in the baggage claim was very similar to a 'hello' with sabrina a few weeks back; surprises are fun; little did our friend randi know she would be the inspiration for such pleasant airport greetings.

when we got back up to the truck, i finally got to meet kevin and bella! it was good drive home, due to more construction...which meant talking and music; i vaguely remember car conversation, except to point out the signage on one of the trucks-good times. and then we arrived and i settled my bags into sabrina's room ;) loved the decor!  and then we had a little time for a quick glass of wine and chit-chat before bed-kevin was out early for work, but knowing that we had a little time to sleep in, we got to sleep a little later than normal.

my bed was comfy. sleep came easily-hard to believe i'd been in wichita merely hours ago with joyce and alicia training! time to get ready for another mini-whirlwind!

julie