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

adjoining rooms are the best, so long as you know the people on the other side (and like them!)

oh, my. let's see...so the drive back to albuquerque seemed faster than the drive to farmington (not sure why...) although, most times once you've arrived somewhere, and are vaguely familiar, it goes more quickly...but let's face it, it was mostly because julie k was intent on breaking the speed barrier (surely i jest). it wasn't a bad drive, not even when she was trying to drive by braille-even though she wasn't 'snoozing' (as one of my other colleagues so hilariously put it) conversation and music-

once we arrived to the abq area, we found a little restaurant-mimi's cafe, and the food was delectable. they had some specials, but the brie...and sabrina's brie and turkey sandwich-i'm pretty sure my mouth was watering! and then sharing the creme brulee cheesecake 3-ways was about right. yum. cute little place to share the comedy with! yes, ma'am! add to it julie k's whistle at certain intervals ( not sure if the audio worked or not, but if it did, you will gather that she was on the spot, and i couldn't figure out how to edit that part out! oops) but every time she does her whistle, it makes me laugh- it kind of reminds me of old kamp days with erin, and when that particular group used whistles to keep track of each other in the dark; path-lighting can be dangerous, even if it is your spiritual gifting...(what?) 

but back to the matter at hand, we finished dinner, and went to check in at the hotel. upon check-in, we asked for an adjoining room, and the gal was like, "oh, we don't have any, they're all assigned." but we'll try to get you close, and they proceeded to talk in some crazy lingo, like 'front-desk-robot-talk' and it was so fast and ping-ponging back and forth, look up, look down, "6th floor?" "no, fifth floor" "oh, wait, i DO have an adjoining room! put them in 511 and 513!" pretty sure we almost wet ourselves (at least me, i shouldn't speak for these two dignified ladies, who would never do anything like potty humor in public). remind me, that brought up something i almost forgot-look for it in a minute. anyhoo, the gal had to take us up to the rooms to unlock the middle doors, but when we got upstairs, the key to the other room wasn't working, so she unlocked one middle door, and had to go back downstairs to retrieve new key cards. it took a minute, but she was excited to do it. (and by excited, i mean at least she did it with a smile!)

so back to the wet myself thing...when we were in the training the previous day, i had gotten to coughing so hard at one point (from something that was said, perhaps), and i'd been drinking lots of water, so you can infer the situation, i made my way toward the restroom with none other than a mini-bottle of water in my hand and i started to guzzle it on the way down the hall, when something hard hit my tooth! WHAT IN THE WORLD, i was thinking about the worm in the bottom of tequila bottles, and thought, 'what nasty thing did the bottlers allow in this bottle! and more to the point, why hadn't i noticed it?!' then i tasted it, halls. yes, i accidentally took the bottle that sabrina had just dropped a halls into. good thing, because i was about to do a spit-take...

ok, and back to our regularly scheduled post, sorry about that, i was just reminded of it...so the door was finally opened, and we got our stuff settled, and then went out to their balcony. no hot tub this night, as it would take too long for bathing suits to dry, and i think sabrina might have gotten a little case of altitude sickness as we were leaving the restaurant. thankfully the meds began to kick in, and by this time she was feeling a bit better. traveling can do a number on you when you're all over the place! anyhoo, we were pulling up stupid videos and laughing and one of my favorite comedians, brian regan-HAHA! so funny! some of the things he comes up with just leave you thinking, "i know who he was talking about!" because we all have those someones in our lives! charlie, a redneck video, muffins, we ranged the gamut!

sleep was good, and we were off to the airport, with a quick detour to starbucks. it got long again...tomorrow i finish with the airport story (which i can finally talk about), and move into the week! sorry 'bout the lack of pics, but deal with it, we're all adults here, and this is not a story-book...

for now, enjoy what's left of the evening, as i prepare for another 'adventure in training'!
julie

hatch chili's-they'll do one of two things (besides just clear your sinuses!)

alrighty then, i slept well, and was up early enough to enjoy the little breakfast area. i wasn't expecting too much, so when the girls arrived we looked over the breakfast bar, and it was good. i may have copied sabrina's biscuit/egg/sausage option and it was satisfying. from there, always a necessity: starbucks to start the day right. it always helps set the mood and pace of the day!

as fate would have it, we arrived at the location where they had the previous training, but there was no one there (a hotel meeting room), cue a frantic trail of calls to find out where the location was to be for today, as it was not in any of the emails, nor was it on their training site page...uh oh. panic...not sure how many numbers or persons were talked to (lost count) before receiving a text from the appropriate person. all i can say is that it is certainly a good idea to be early (as we were), and only minutes from the new location. no worries, a little shot of adrenaline is good for the body! lots of breathing and thinking... we were still early and sabrina and julie k were quick to set up, each jumping into action, doing what they do, like a well-oiled machine!

when it was time to begin, there was a pretty full room! they were very organized and helpful at the sign-in table, and they had more coffee. good sign. projector-check! mic-check (for now)! computers and internet-check! finding the right dongle...check! posters up-check! quick trip to the bathroom-check!

and so it began. with every training, there is bound to be a naysayer, at least at the beginning. most of the time, they just need reassurance, and to be able to see the benefit...and so we had ours. and of course, they wrote questions they had on post its so they could be addressed...and it used to bother me in our meetings and trainings when i felt that people weren't listening (i.e. cutting things, knitting...the like) but i've come to realize that sometimes it's the doing something with your hands that helps you focus...(not you, reader, but if you are knitting right now, not even offended). it's the sleepers you have to worry about (and we had one of those, bless her heart).

so, yes, the best thing you can do when you have a knitter is compliment them on their knitting, whether they're your colors, or not! the hat came along really well! in fact, she said she could teach me...

the mic was a little finicky. at first, it was doing really well, but then satan possessed it (i don't know how else to describe the shrill shrieking). and once that happened, sabrina had to be contained in her own little invisible box- i was hoping at one point that she'd come out of the box to wake up the sleeper. as i was getting ready to go to the back of the room (bouncer, crowd control), i saw her head bob, and her eyes peeked open, so i took advantage of it and leaned down as i was walking by, and said something to the effect of, "are you getting some valuable information?!" and from that point, she sat up a little straighter, and started looking at her neighbor's table. good times.

nobody puts baby in the corner! unless you're in farmington at this facility, then sometimes you have to put baby in the corner...

in the initial introduction, sabrina named us julie 1 and julie 2, and that was how the participants began referring to us as well-comical, i tell ya! it was good to be back with the participants to answer questions that came up throughout, and they had some good questions, so that was fun. one group was getting a little loud in the back, so i did the whole teacher-proximity thing, and when sabrina said something pertinent, i mean all of it was, but at this point, i knew a couple of the tables around them were unable to hear what was being said, so i addressed them, as they were talking about something non-relevant, and said, "hey, i'm not sure if you heard what she just said, but [repeat what was said]" and they returned to the training at hand. and before we knew it, it was lunch time!

now, i will say this, i had early warning about the seriousness of the hatch chili in these parts...new mexico ain't playin' around. the eatery was a really quaint little joint-very comfortable. the food-not comfort food, unless your stomach is lined with cast iron. so yes, it went kinda' like this:

straight up, enough to put hair on your chest or turn you into one of daenerys targaryen's dragons...and since i am not about to depict a hairy chest-ew, we're going with dragon. (sabrina, you can thank me later for that!)

 fortunately the server saw that it was not being consumed, and brought the tomato fennel soup, which was delicious! so he earned his tip! it really was a cute little place, as i said before-

upon our return, thankfully siesta is not a part of this culture, and everyone was on task as we really got into the reports and looking at their own information, resources, etc. by the end of the session, great reviews, and it never ceases to make me smile when "that one person" comes up and says, "yes, this was great! i was angry when i arrived because i HAD to use this, and now i'm actually really excited to use what i've learned!" yep, loving it! and as participants were leaving a couple favorites said: julie1 and julie2, like thing one and thing two! #tshirtsinthemaking?

so once all was said and done, we made our way back to albuquerque, with mario andretti at the wheel, we were going to make up time we didn't even realize we had to make up!!

a little more to finish up tomorrow-
ju1

driving, hoteling and hot tubbing...none of these things should be for children...

so...let us continue. i arrived at the airport and met julie k prior to the flight-going through security was a beast-dfw was terrible at this particular time, and add to it, the tsa agent made everyone go to one lane, but then people started getting in the other line---so i was watching people who were like 5 or 6 behind me going through the scanner, and i was not happy. jerks. so i muttered under my breath...and made it know to my inner imaginary friend that i was indeed pissed.

when i finally got through, ju had already gone to the bathroom, taken a nap, played a game of scrabble with another traveler...okay, maybe she just went to the bathroom, but still... we grabbed a snack for lunch, and then it wasn't long until we boarded.

on the plane, i had an aisle and an empty middle seat-which was pleasant. once we arrived, sabrina was waiting with the car. thankfully she was feeling a smidge better (kinda ?) than on saturday. and we were off on our drive to farmington-about 3 plus hour drive. and while it was quite a drive, the entertainment was priceless. albuquerque is endlessly brown. 1001 shades of brown and rather depressing. and that's not including the buildings and homes-which i was informed were brown due to city ordinance-to blend in with the surroundings. i mean, i never really thought brown was a beautiful color before albuquerque...come to think of it, i still don't! so there you have it, blending in is highly over-rated!

there were patches of 'pretty' as we got closer to farmington, but we weren't really holding our breath. what can i say about the actual travel to farmington that would be of interest and not censored...hmm...entertaining would be way too simple. these two and their stories and reenactments! some great songs-black velvet is always better when you have your own set of lyrics...and then there was the platypus song-a little more of a nursery rhyme-ish meets hip hop meets 8th grade....yup. but seriously, what kind of animal is this strange ball of fur with webbed feet and a bill? and i've yet to see the dance, as dancing in the car is hazardous to everyone's health. somehow julie had burned her hand (that's a story for her to tell), but for whatever reason, she blamed me-and kept pointing it out at various points throughout the trip-stopped feeling bad for her about the 918th time. own it, ju2.

when we actually arrived (sabrina got us there safely-thanks for driving!) with the navigation of julie k, we stopped first at the outback, as it was right in front of the hotel. i got out, and cursed my sweater-that one is going to have to either be worn with jeans, or donated to goodwill, because it sheds fuzzies all over my leggings-no bueno. i felt like a lamb. back to the outback, we were seated, and the server had the personality of a carrot. no eye contact-probably intimidated by our beauty (usually the case).  the food was great- salmon, chicken, soups- haven't been to an outback since heartlight! we then stopped at the store to grab some water and what-not, and ju amused herself at the checkout with the amazing sensor at the end-had we not had places to be (namely the hotel hot tub), she might have stayed there all night volunteering to bag, just in order to play with the sensor! silly charlie, you could lose a kidney like that, too close to the candy mountain aisle!

woah! ya'll check this out!! 

we were warmly welcomed- they even knew our code name:

and they are child-friendly which we would really 'appreciate' later...they even have a play area; apparently miley inspired...curious as to how many came in like a wrecking ball...

proximity of quarters were not in the cards-fortunately it was a relatively small hotel. so i dropped my stuff off, and made my way back to the gals' room and we gathered up the hot tub necessities. that was when i heard the finished rendition of black velvet-with passion. it was impressive-these two...like i said before: lyrical geniuses. we took our stuff outside, because we were welcomed by the screaming yelps of over a dozen children with a few parental figures in sight. so we took a minute to get ready, then went toward the hot tub, and there was someone in there at first (a lady with three kiddos), so we asked if she minded if we turned on the jets-okay. so it was and we got in! and they got out. good, good...i'm pretty sure ju was reading the rules out loud- no children under 16... so yes, we were in for awhile-more laughing, more re-enacting, more stories, sabrina putting on a little show with her suit-which neither ju nor i were able to duplicate...there was envy. but of primary importance-relaxing. after a bit, it was time to get out and cool off for a few minutes, so we went back to our area and relaxed-leaving the door cracked with a boulder. the towels to dry off were about big enough for a five year old to be comfortable with. ju and sabrina were smart-they tied theirs together and got more coverage-which was nice for outside, as the temps had dropped a bit. while outside, we tried to think of different ways to help thin the number of obnoxious children...

we returned to the hot tub once more for a few minutes before heading back up. one of the topics we broached was the online dating-and would i think about it...hmm. i've been asked this before, so i may be at the point of giving in-these people are breaking me. it was a really sweet and thoughtful way to approach it. i'm not saying never-it's just not how i ever imagined that i would meet 'the' right guy.

we went back up with our belongings, and then sabrina called it a night (she had some rest to catch up on, if you remember, saturday she wasn't great, well, still not a hundred percent), so julie and i went downstairs and before i knew it-life story (mine); it was actually a good conversation, but it was soon time to shut down shop and get sleep. i actually slept fairly well-the air-conditioner fan stayed on all night-life was good! i went to sleep flattered that these two were willing to allow me to appreciate the seldom-seen-by-outsiders fun that they have together.

black velvet-make your own lyrics!
julie

sometimes it cost an arm and a leg and sometimes you just want to give eeyore the stink eye...

aldine...aldine. let's see....i rented a car for this trip, because my goal was to finally get some things to one of my coworkers in the area. made for a bit of a drive, but nice to mix it up-no airports to rush to, stop as i please..it was good for me.

the training itself was pleasant and i got to drive through the reports with sabrina at the helm directing the participants. both sessions were very productive. sabrina was great about going where they needed to go, and adjusting to the crowd. they had some good questions; i love it when there's an eeyore in the crowd who complains about everything..it just brings joy to my soul. i mean..adding a class of 70 students..it's going to take forever..(10 minutes later) "how are you doing on that class?" "oh, i got it all done." wa waaaa... hmmm. good! good, good, good. even better-when the same one is cutting up with a partner in crime about something completely off topic next to me, while i'm trying to listen to directions from my capitan...AND the woman right behind me is needing some hand-holding and direction, because she told me before we even started that i was going to hate it that she was sitting right behind me, as she was ADD, and planned to ask me lots of questions. i like a challenge. but when we get to the end and eeyore has already powered down the computer and hence didn't want to do the survey, i may have had a moment.

it was lovely of them to provide lunch for us-a delicious mexican meal...thanks aldine!! and as always i took away great ideas from my yoda-i am a jedi in training. i have even been introduced to jaba-through pictures, which is a rare opportunity. learning my way around the millennial falcon...

the drive home was delayed by about 15 minutes, but once i got on the road, it wasn't too bad. saturday i did nothing. nothing but laundry, a short phone call, a quick trip to target, and that was my down day. from there sunday just came out of nowhere!

oh, but wait, i actually DID do something on saturday. julie k. had sent her change of flight plans to me so that i could book mine, so i did that, and when she called, she'd mentioned that it cost her an arm and a leg, so i told her i had an extra...well. when you offer someone something, you should most certainly follow through...and so i did. i made her a key chain.

whatcha' think, will there be a demand for these beauties?

so...when i purchased the doll to use and got to my car, i was so intent on making this happen, that i wanted to rip the leg and arm off immediately (morbid much?) anyhoo, i have always been fairly modest, so i tried to the best of my ability to keep her covered while dismembering the body...ew. anyhoo-easier said than done, and she had a reeeeeaaaallly strong rotator cuff-that took some slicing and dicing-almost thought i was going to chop my finger off at one point and tried to think of how i'd explain that one at the new mexico training. anyhoo, i was just hoping that no one would walk by my car and see what i was doing, because in all honesty, not knowing the why behind it, might make me look like a depraved serial killer...of barbie doll knock-offs. and when i got home, i got out the power drill and bored a couple of holes into the limbs. my dad would be embarrassed to know that this is how i use my tools!! then i had to find an appropriate chain..i looked in every little drawer where i have knick-knacks and pens, and school supplies, and FINALLY located the perfect key-chain...a whole lot of effort for something so silly, i know. but worth every bit.

always have a knife handy! (unless you're flying on a plane! fortunately i remembered to remove it from my purse before flying out the next day!)

so that was fun! and when i got home from aldine, i had my a-list-preferred card in the mail...been doing a little light traveling since july...(70,000 plus!) now if november 15 will just get here already so i can get my tsa-pre to get through security in a timely manner, i will be in heaven!

yea!

sunday morning rolled around, and i got the boys over to joanne's, and we got to catch up-i love when we get to chat and catch up! then i made my way out to the dfw airport in order to fly out to new mexico. we'll get into that tomorrow! and boy oh boy, is there a lot to get into and a lot to not get into!!

so, for tonight, i bid you farewell, and pray that you will not have visions of mutant barbie dolls in your dreams!
-juan  julie

houston...take two...turned around in alief

okay, so i really shouldn't be doing this right now-too much to do, but if i don't at least start, i will never get it done...so there's that. besides, i took a nap this afternoon, hence i may be awake later than i'd like anyway, so here goes.

when i left off last, i was meeting megan and deAn at love field to go to houston again, this time for a training with alief. when megan arrived, she found me at the gate and we chatted for a bit before deAn joined us. at this point, she wasn't feeling bad, just a little "tired." i was looking forward to finally getting a chance to observe her, because i'd only heard good things! it was great to find out a little more about her-again, one of the benefits of getting to observe everyone. the plane ride was short and sweet-always is to houston.  the poor flt attendants put on their track shoes to run down the aisle to throw peanuts or pretzels at passengers-trying not to cause bodily harm- and ensure that pax can guzzle their beverages before touchdown-although, to be perfectly clear, there are literally two sips in each little plastic cup, purposefully filled with extreme ice. 

anyhoo, megan got worse as the flight continued-and it didn't ease up even as we arrived at the hotel. perhaps dehydration...so she stayed at the hotel, and deAn and i found the cheddars that was literally around the corner, but we took the scenic route..it should have taken about a minute, but no worries, we got there about 10 minutes later. thanks siri... and when we got there, we were seated almost immediately. from there the service went downhill. i think our server was about to be cut, and was finishing his housekeeping duties, because when we finally asked about our food, it came out (my shrimp was cold, but at this point, i know how things work, and i didn't want to take any chances about what might happen to my food if it were sent back...just sayin'). the positive in this, is that deAn and i got to catch up-if you recall, she is one of the trainers who started with me, formerly a principal. i really enjoy her spirit and positive attitude. we took a baked potato back for megan, and i think that was what she needed. went to bed relatively early to be prepared for monday morning.

when morning rolled around, i went down for a little breakfast, and ate quickly-then i saw megan working on her computer, changing a couple of things on her computer. one thing i will say is that i was very impressed with her organization and desire to get things 'just-right.' and when deAn arrived, we took off for the designated location-i believe it was their district building. siri was once again doing a number on our timeliness...taking us every which way, u-turn here, u-turn there...i turn, u-turn let's all just turn everywhere!! (part of my houston ditty-coming along)...

anyhoo, when we arrived, the parking lot was fairly packed, which we later found out was because the bus drivers park here before going out. some of the bus drivers actually came in at one point thinking this might be one of their trainings..so we kindly redirected them. once we got the projector taken care of, things went smooth sailing. thoroughly enjoyable group. great participants in the morning and afternoon. one beacon of light in the morning-she was a true believer (read into that with sarcasm if you must)...but megan did a great job giving her an answer that shut down the negativity. KUDOS!

we were able to catch the earlier flight, and it was not a heavy load, so we each got aisle seats. the flight home was much better. on the way out of the airport, i made sure to point out the welcoming, happy ranger statue...and when we got to the parking spot, i gave her some additional materials that i had grabbed from the office for her.

the next day, was an early drive to arlington to watch jane and georgia with the coaches there. it was good to see this training, as they had been going back to this site over the past three years, so there was familiarity, although most of these coaches were somewhat new to the program. most of them had been to a training about a month prior, so they were ready to go. i was surprised when i walked in to see suzanne and lori (consultant, not boss-lady-[boss lady work for you, lori?])... we were able to go around and help with questions and such as they worked through reports. toward the afternoon, suzanne was working on the schedule and i was able to give some input and clarification about a couple of dates. i was almost going to colorado, but sadly already scheduled in texas, so that was not to be.

and i had to contact julie k to finalize a couple of things for one of the trainings in san antonio-i'm glad i got to speak with her because they were in florida at the time, and i was a little worried about them being in the area where the storm was going to be hitting.

back to the training, jane and georgia tag-teamed it splendidly, and had some great activities that were engaging and the participants were, for the most part, on task. it got difficult when the network started going slowly, but they hung in there!

wednesday i watched some webinars in the morning before heading to the office for a product knowledge meeting...which we went to, because we'd gotten an email, and the specialist kinda' looked at us strangely and said we probably weren't going to need this training at this point...so we went back to the 19th floor and i finished up some things with suzanne and deAn finished making her copies...and just before i was getting ready to leave, surprise of all surprises, in comes lori (lori #1, not consultant lori, boss lady this time) with dr. campbell, who if you recall, i had the pleasure of meeting in orlando at ucf with sabrina. this time i got to meet gretchen as well, whom i have heard great things about! (they are huggers, and i love it-me too).

and then i was out-because the next day i was driving to houston for the aldine training. yup. three trips to houston in a matter of a week's time...more on that later!

so just to sum it up, be sure to hydrate when you fly...(i guess that isn't really summing anything up...almost as bad as someone who says 'excuse the pun' when there really isn't even a pun...punny, i know...i guess i'll have to dive into the teacher lessons and get a little more direction on that summing-up thing...)

faithfully yours (and by faithfully yours, i merely mean i'm not cheating on you with another blog),
julie

houston, whatcha' got? besides traffic?

last week was a little bit of a breather, so i was able to rest a little before taking off for houston. it was a pleasant surprise to get a text from friends on the road, and there may have been a comical exchange of video and texting...just saying, it was necessary for the moment, as we'd discussed how funny it would be if we made one...and so i did. because if i think something is funny, i'm gonna do it, whether it's stupid or not! #itsthestupidthings

i also spent some time watching recorded webinars and i've gotten really good at booking hotels and flights!

thursday rolled around, and i went into the office to make some copies for megan, one of the trainers i would be going with on sunday-back to houston again...i knew she was travelling and lives a ways from the office, so i offered to make the copies (gotta' earn my keep). once i had those made, i headed to the airport and found a spot at my gate and began reading. when i stopped in at the office, i stopped by lori's office, as she'd mentioned a book during our training a few weeks back, and i was really interested in reading it. i hadn't seen my colleague at that point, and i wasn't sure if she was a last-minute-er, or not.

when the announcement came, i packed up the book, leaving off at what the author self-proclaimed the best chapter. and once i got in line,there was a gentleman right in front of me, and i don't know exactly what his excuse was...either a) it was still dark in his house when he grabbed his daugher's backpack, b) a cute girl selling backpacks told him it looked really manly on him... c) he got a really good price on it...? not sure, but there he was:

 my co-worker and i saw each other. "hellos" across the way. she was ahead of me, and when i got to the plane, she was preparing her seat in the bulkhead. disclaimer: i don't like sitting in the bulkhead-i like my bag to be accessible, and i like a good table-tray. so i sat behind and got a text asking if she'd missed me, so i explained myself.

upon arriving in houston, we got to the car rental, and she goes so often that she knows the rental lady (lucy?), who gave me a hug and said to look for her whenever i came in to rent a car. good to have friends! when traveling with people, you learn a lot about them...family, friends, where they have lived, what type of music they listen to (this time, it was some slow-r&b, i guess?) but it was just background music...like the music you'd use in the background of a video/movie. nothing like sharing music! and then after the young man at the gate dropped the amex under the car, and we had to back out to get it, we started toward the hotel, or so i thought.

actually she was kind enough to show me the town and different areas of houston, since i'd never really been to the downtown area and seen the sites. so i was given the royal tour! it's nice to have someone who is familiar enough with an area to be able to point out different areas. then we grabbed dinner at niko nikos- apparently featured with guy on diners, drive-ins and dives. it was a great little greek restaurant! but truly nothing compares with the first gyro i ever had in an authentic little dive in san diego with stacey cruse and family! #mouthwatering.

once we finished with dinner and drove a little more, we found our hotel-this was one that she had frequented often, as they had recently remodeled. it was a pleasant evening-i went to bed early. then the next morning we got to the campus, and the room set-up sometimes just isn't what you had anticipated, so you roll with it. the first morning session was light and it was difficult to get everything in, then when it was time for the second group to enter, it was chaos. i mean to tell ya, it filled up and seemed like maybe they'd gotten the wrong memo-that maybe this was the carnival, or something because they came in droves, and at that point, my partner looked at me and asked me to go find the person in charge. so i found the lady that had helped us get set up in the morning and she came in with a big stick-metaphorically speaking (her attitude) and basically said, "if you did not register for this training, you need to stand up now and leave, there is not enough room. if i have to, i will start reading down the list, so you may just want to get up now." and that was that! still a full room with people sitting on the floor in the front of the room. so third world. anyhoo, the show must go on...and it did.

several of the participants were new to istation, so hopefully they were able to digest everything-you never know when time is so short! but there were a couple of ladies in the second session who stayed a little after to ask some questions, so i know they had a bit of a grasp and they were going to be serious about using. i always pick up some sort of tid-bit even this far into the training. this particular trainer used some good anecdotal supports, and a bit of humor-which can go a long way, if done right!

we finished around noon-thirty, and made our way to the airport. she had put the airport name in the google maps or siri, and it took us toward the airport, at one point telling us to turn on a back road, so i pointed out the road and she turned in...and it took us to a back side of the airport-the cargo side (still close) and told us to park and walk the rest of the way. (not my fault). so we backtracked and got to national to turn in the car without further ado.

hungry doesn't even begin, so we got food on the fly, as we were trying to standby for the early flight. the flight was a little late-which was fine by me-i got to eat before getting on the plane! for whatever reason, this short hop left me feeling a little queasy-weak and shaky...thought i was getting sick, but thankfully such was not the case-no time to be sick!

friday night, saturday, all a blur...talked to some friends, did laundry, headed out again sunday afternoon for...houston! this time i was meeting up with megan and deAn. it had been a bit since i'd seen deAn, and so i was excited to see her, and i was also looking forward to working with megan for the first time-i've only heard good things, so i was looking forward to getting to know her better on this trip.

more on that tomorrow-for now, it's time to call it a day!
julie