travel day! there should be a law that says:if you drive past the beach you must stop!

sooo...we woke up early the next morning to head up to orlando, but before we did,we sat on the balcony one last time, had some coffee, and relaxed (it was nice not to be too rushed). sabrina thought it would be a good idea to call and mess with lori (the adult version of 80's "is your refrigerator running? go out and catch it, hahahah)...i mean..i didn't stop her- but i'm pretty sure lori had to go take some blood pressure meds and breathe into a plastic bag in the corner...until finally sabrina stopped short and told her she was just joshin' (otherwise we might have had to remote call 9-1-1). #sorrylori

we checked out and figured out that the durango had its own nav system, so we figured that out, and as we were driving, i decided to play with some buttons on the dash, and sabrina gave me her best 'mom' look and said, "don't go pushing buttons-you don't know what they're going to do!"  (no worries, there wasn't an auto-eject button, nor was there a self-destruct-in-10-seconds button)...but we finally did figure out how to make it quit stalling-we think.

once we got to the ft lauderdale area, i was losing the battle of the bladder, so we pulled over by a sketchy gas station with an outdoor bathroom-with a door that opened to the outside-which didn't lock. but i wasn't worried-i knew that if it came to it, sabrina had my back-i have no doubt she would've pulled out her best football tackle and wrestled them to the ground. (i hope, right?)

at this point the coffee and power bar breakfast was wearing off, so we found ourselves a little natural burger restaurant.
lady at counter: oh, those large fries, they'll feed three.
us: oh...perfect, we're from texas.
i don't know three of what she thought they were going to feed...it was the perfect amount!

then we found a parking spot on the next block, where we could see the ocean just down the way, so we parked it.
change in the street--CHECK
pay the meter--CHECK
think we can walk to the water barefoot--CHECK
feel like my feet are blistering and the skin on my soles will completely peel off--CHECK
keep going to find "shade" in the dune grass--CHECK
being laughed at by the locals--CHECK

it doesn't get cheerier and more relaxing than that!

sabrina was wise enough to turn around and put her flip flops back on in the shade. but foolish me...whoever came up with the stupid motto no pain no gain was probably high on morphine, too. just sayin'.

finally we got to the cool, wet sand-and praised Jesus for it! we walked north until we found a spot that was slightly less populated. not that you need to know we were going north, but just in case anyone out there was wanting to really envision it, we turned left. there ya go.

the water was beautiful and refreshing! we spent a good amount of time just wading and enjoying. got some sun...one never notices it in the moment, but i definitely had lines.  at one point while we were out there, some idiot man brought out a bag and began feeding the gulls...mine.mine.mine.mine...for a minute i thought he'd break out in song with "feed the birds, tuppence a bag." umm that wouldn't be weird or anything...eventually we had to go in and move our belongings a little further up, so the rising tide didn't get them, and while we were sitting there, observing our surroundings and taking it all in, we were trying to avoid looking over at the couple in the water pretending to be....dolphins? dolphins expressing way too much pda? maybe. and then there was the girl on her paddle board with the watermelon slices on the boobs and buttocks (not real watermelon, that'd be on the strange-food-fetish side....nope, she just looked like she'd purchased a toddler bathing suit)...AND add to that she nearly ran into us on her board, when she turned around to make her way back and oops, there she was!

while there, i got a text from my dear friend, brandy, asking if i was in orlando-she'd gotten my letter. well, no, but we were on our way! so she suggested dinner and i said yes. sabrina was a trooper-she offered not to go so we could catch up, but i begged her to go because i really love it when people i adore meet other people i adore, because shouldn't everyone in the world be friends?! #justdoingmypart so after our long haul to orlando, we found our rooms, and sabrina got a business call before taking a record-breaking shower (must be a mom thing, but seriously impressive!) then we may have missed the turn..not once, but twice! my fault....probably both times...oops.

a little dark...and the lighting wasn't that good either ;)

appetizers were good, company was good-we got to help sabrina work through some things about her daughter wanting to go on a mission trip, laughed at some guys who were 'pea-cocking' like college boys..wait a minute..they WERE college boys, no wonder! after a wonderful, albeit too short of time with brandy, we called it a night. went back to the hotel and it was our last night, so we hung out on the balcony one last time...unplugging the overhead light, because it was so bright. good times, i tell ya.

it's getting long-more tomorrow-
julie

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

what do you do? no, like i'm a driver, i DRIVE, what do you do? REALLY?!

remember where we left off? i'd just gotten back from pbi (west palm beach). now that that's out of the way. ju had asked if i might drop her off to pick up a rental car in dallas. well, duh! my life! i think acts of service is one of my love languages (that i give...i am also very good at giving quality time because that is the one i receive the best)..i've tried very hard to get better at noticing what people receive and try to meet those-if you are not familiar with the five love languages, i highly recommend!! the book is great, and here's the quiz! if you want to really connect with people (anyone) this is key!

but i digress...so we went to get the shuttle, and i missed the apparently epic stumble-up-the-stairs...depth perception, ju!! she biffed it-let's blame it on the luggage being top-heavy and throwing her off balance. regardless, smacked her shin and hand (left a mark) and the shuttle driver-pat? kinda' mumbled to ask if she was alright, but didn't lend a hand or make an effort to help with the bags...first day on the job? crack addict? not sure...a little slow. anyhoo, i gave my ticket to the driver and the driver looked at it and said the number. there were others on the shuttle as well, which was probably a good thing because the driver was awk-ward-as-all-get-out. (notice that i have not assigned a sex, as we were a little uncertain? see how i did that?) yeah, so anyway...we were the last ones off, and we kept seeing people give tips, without really being helped, and by the time it was down to us, i wasn't going to, but then in the back of my mind, i was thinking, "shoot, if i don't, will i look racist? or if this person is indeed on some illegal, mood-altering narcotic, i don't want ju to get a shiv in the kidney" i even looked at julie and was like:do i? don't i? of course she was biased, as she was almost hospitalized for the aforementioned mishap...not really, but i'm a sucker, so i doled out two dolla. (you think i jest...) and then wouldn't you know it, this person who was pretending to be a mute the entire 20 minute ride got a second wind and became a chatty chat chatterson...i wasn't trying to start a conversation, because julie had someplace to be, but (now we know it was a girl) she asked a question and i thought it would be rude to be short.
she: what do you do?
me: i'm a trainer.
she: no, i mean, like i'm a driver, i DRIVE. what do YOU do?
me: (scratches head and tilts to the side)umm... well, i'm a trainer. i TRAIN people. on a computer-based reading program. 
she then starts asking all sorts of questions trying to understand. eventually telling us she went to school in louisiana or something like that, when julie told her she went to college at baylor, this lady got ALL excited and started getting passionate about her friend who played ball there. we were finally able to tear ourselves away without an embrace (julie looking at her wrist, as if to be keeping time). 

we were able to avoid traffic for the most part, and i hope she was able to get to her bro's house in time to see her nephew and not run into too much traffic going to meet up with her friend, who just happened to be in town as well.

(sorry ya'all, get the popcorn and settle in, there's more! i mean, that could've been the post in and of itself, but nooooo, i've gotta go and tell you everything!)

on saturday i went furniture shopping with one of my friends- we hit up nebraska furniture mart just to make sure that's NOT what she wanted! and after looking at several couches and taking pics to get a second opinion from mom, we left with a better understanding of what she did not want. most of them were comfortable, and me, the least particular person in the world, didn't get it (not a 100%). i will say this, she'd been talking about a particular couch from pottery barn for the past 9 months, so i had an idea that she wouldn't settle. and she shouldn't-her heart was already set. if you're going to pay money for a big-ticket item, you should get what you really like! so we ended up at pottery barn and she did find the one she wanted! i'm moral support, and i really do like the one that she chose! party at her place in 8-10 weeks!!

after going in on sunday and making the final purchase, i came home and prepared for my trip du jour- monday i'd be taking off for miami-coveted time with sabrina. if you recall, i got to spend a day with her in magnolia about a month or so back-not nearly enough time, so i was really looking forward to this because i'd get to observe in two separate venues. and i was a little anxious, because i was going to get to meet dr. campbell, from ucf. i kept hoping that i'd make the cut with her (always good to have your clients like you, right? exactly! best behavior!) 

so i'll get into that a little more tomorrow, but i will say that i was delighted to find sabrina at love field and i sneaked up behind her at the airport to surprise her, and just kept thinking, "i hope that's her!" as i walked up behind her and you know how you walk up behind someone and cover their eyes and say "guess who?!" well, i DIDN'T think she'd probably appreciate having some stranger in the airport put their hands over her face, but it was something like that...again, i was hoping for the love of all that is good that i did indeed have accurate recall the back of this head! praise Jesus, it was sabrina!

it's always a good flight when you're among friends! (can i say that figuratively-not metaphorically...as there really isn't a metaphor, but there really weren't a lot of friends on this plane so to speak and it would really be hard to be surrounded by one person...and now i'll shut up about that, just know that this is one of the things i appreciate about southwest when i'm traveling with friends-we can sit together and enjoy the trip-and we did! whew! did that tire anyone else out??) we looked at the power point and then played word games-she introduced me to my newest addiction- alphabetty. curses. what do you MEAN i have to wait 2 minutes for a new life?!

so that was that, and when we got to fll, we rented a car and headed for the first part of the trip to miami for our adventure. (by now you know that everything with me is about some sort of adventure, and if an adventure doesn't happen, we're going to make that trip to the grocery store into a freakin' adventure! i didn't grow up watching indiana jones for nothing!)

our rental convertible...lori, that's covered by our rental agreement, right? not really, we had a dodge durango with a personality crisis...almost a diva about stoplights. 

patience, more coming soon.
julie

a squirrel, a beach, and a habitual liar...pbi!

so much going on! let's see, i shall go in chronological order...the last two trips have been especially priceless. i got up early on monday and left for the airport after dropping some letters at the post office. i had to leave early enough to make sure i could figure out where to park and all. the parking spot out at dfw is forever away and difficult to navigate...don't think i'll do that again! (wait til you hear about the return story!)

anyhoo, i ended up getting to the airport early and had to laugh when i saw that they had a twisted root in terminal A; good to know, as we'd just spent a couple days wanting, yet avoiding the shakes.

#suckerforgoodburgersandshakes

anyhoo, just as i'd walked by, i got a text from julie k asking if i was there yet, if so, to meet by the gate. she invited me in to the special admiral's club-hook a girl up! i was impressed-no lie! we sat for about an hour and had very meaningful conversation to catch up-i knew i liked this one! then we made our way down to the gate area and found miss angelica (always good to see her-there's a special bond with the ones you start with). 

unfortunately we found out that we had just lost one of our partners in crime-another newbie, who was actually able to jump into something that is going to be very beneficial, and through a strange and difficult series of events, God has provided for her in a most beautiful way-which puts my heart at peace, although we will miss her greatly-her humor, loyalty, thoughtfulness, and intelligence...

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant. 

Martin Luther King, Jr.

we sneaked on the plane with julie-taking care of her girls! oh the perks! when we finally arrived, we quickly found a car and made our way to the hotel. it was a beautiful hotel! after settling in, we were off to dinner at mojitos-latin cuisine. when we crossed the road into city place, it was an adorable little area with shops and restaurants on the lower and upper decks. the food and drinks were fabulous, the service, on the other hand was found lacking slacking. i mean, when the only person we can find to ask for salt is the cook who doesn't speak english...you get it. and when we actually did get the salt, there was so much moisture that not even the rice was able to salvage these tiny granules. i tried vigorously shaking, hitting it on the side...nothing. i think julie k asked the waitress when she made her way around again. the meals were great-i couldn't help but get me some paella! and i think i may have eaten most of it with the barbie-fork...it took me a little longer, but i thought maybe they put it there for the challenge. small fork challenge!! 

went out front with julie for a couple minutes and when we came back in, there was angelica, chatting it up with the neighbors at the next table..i mean literally sitting at their table and eating their food!! oh, it's good to be uninhibited! she's such a friendly, outgoing one, that this was not surprising and we had to coax her back to our table eventually! we walked around the block and back to the hotel, getting a better feel for the area. then it was off to the hot tub! (after donning our bathing suits, of course!) 

when we got down to the pool area, there was a group already in the hot tub, so we joined them and started chatting it up-they were down from new york for one of the girl's bday. young pups. we got out for a minute and enjoyed the little cabana by the pool (since it was deserted, surely no one would care, right?) and then we got back in after a bit and a new set of folk were down in the hot tub, they were business peeps from london, selling jewelry.

 julie k: oh! is your necklace one of the pieces you sell! it's beautiful!

 katie: NOOO! 

boys:NOOO!

 hmm. shouldn't you be advertising your merchandise? market the crap out of that stuff! 

we made our way to bed, as it is always a good idea to wake up in a timely fashion the day of your training! which would begin in its own magical little way! while stopping for breakfast at starbucks, we sat out in the peatonal--pedestrian area, and along came this squirrel. she had no fear. she knew her gig well! she came up and started talking to us and asked what kind of food we had and told us she had zero use for egg and bacon crap, where were the nuts. so angelica did her best to sift through her meal to locate some almond slices, and a kind, older gentleman brought over some almonds as well. she was all up in our business!! she took one right from my hand, and said thank you..she got spooked easily and at one point took a flying leap from the table to my shoulder to the back of the wicker chair we were in...crazy little hazel. so, when you have an experience like this, you get pics! and we did! she was so photogenic! the pigeons were pissed, because there was a sign that said we couldn't feed them...besides, they were thugs. 

for real, though!

fascinated by the audacity exhibited by little hazel

not nervous at all!!

not afraid to go through our food...

this guy gal!

then we made our way to the hotel to dress-up, grabbed some lunch snacks from the grocery and off to the races. we got to meet the west palm beach crew-very hospitable and very attentive! julie of course gave a great rendition of: basics 101; it was good to hear the bilingual/dual language presentation. the participants were all-in, they had some great questions, and seemed highly engaged and interested, as they would be taking it back to their campuses. i love watching the interaction when the trainers already have the connections with the contacts-that personal relationship is EVERYTHING! once we finished and discussed a little bit, we headed back to the hotel to slip into something beachy and first went to dinner-thank God for people who like sushi! not everyone does-but when with those who are like-minded in their fishy ways...

it was then a race to the beach to see the sunset and feel the magic! parking was, for lack of better phrasing, not a walk on the beach...but we found a spot and took a hike! when we finally got to the public entrance, we found a spot (the entire beach was pretty barren, so that was not a difficult task). amidst some calls, texts and emails, we were able to enjoy the breeze and the majesty! angelica did her thang-she has this little thing she yells into the vast enormity of the cosmos when she reaches the beach (the same thing happened on the west coast), and all was good. the conversation-rich. the moon came out, and we all shared some of our favorite songs-and my heart was at rest. (why aren't there any public restrooms on the beach? asking for a friend...)

there it is!

these two! love em!

magical.

when we made it back to the hotel, there was still time to go down to the hot tub, so hot tub we did-although this time angelica only joined in for a minute (granted it was really almost too hot)-probably had a phone date with the fam or something fun like that! this time, a young man joined us in the hot tub, and his was an interesting story. we're calling the b.s. card on him! 

ju: so what do you do?

young man (ym): i'm an entrepreneur

ju: what type of stuff do you do? 

ym: sell things

ju: like what?

ym: clothes, jewelry, you know..

ju: oh, so where is your business?

ym: up and down the east coast, new jersey...

(sketchball)

ym: but i'm not doing that now. i'm looking for the next thing.

ju: oh, where did you go to college?

ym: some college we were unfamiliar with

ju: what did you study?

ym: i have a degree in cancer

(cough, more like a degree in b.s. and not screaming bachelor of science...just bachelor!)

older man approaches and gets into the hot tub, julie and i excuse ourselves, as she "gets a call or text" and we sit there ripping his story apart. enter hotel worker, ym gets to looking a little nervous and jets out of the hot tub, disappears for a hot minute and returns fully dressed in jeans, shirt, backpack...squatter? intruder? the world will never know, but we have our suspicions! 

before going to bed, we did meet one more group of people. they actually sold computer diagnostician equipment. that particular conversation seemed a bit more legit! one of the young girls made fast friends with julie k, due to the whole brazilian thing she's got going on (now is THAT a conversation starter, or what?!) anyhoo, that was a fun little group, mostly bilingual group-most unlikely to be mistaken for a bilingual group at first glance-

the following morning was a relaxing preparation for departure-and an uneventful trip home. i realize that not all trips are like this, but you have to take advantage of your surroundings when you get the opportunity, right? (at this point everyone should be nodding their heads and shouting "amen!" as if they were part of a very charismatic congregation!!) so i don't hold my breath, but in all honesty, the best part about the trip wasn't the things we did, it was the satisfaction of once again being a part of a group of educators seeing the value and understanding a program they could really implement with their teachers! along with that, of equal value, was the cementing of relationships- if you know anything about me, you know that i truly value relationships! 

encore? may it be in the stars!

julie

utah, wow! you impressive beast-of-a-state, you!

it's still hard to gauge exactly how much time i'll need to get to the airport and get to my gate at a decent time. i think part of this stems from having worked for the airlines; the other part is that nagging necessity to be punctual (OVERLY punctual). flying out on tuesday was no exception.

i opted for extra space and chose an exit row window...my mistake was that this aircraft had 2 exit rows, and i sat in the fwd, which means that my seat did not recline. add to that the fact that i chose the wrong side...i missed the great view as we were drawing closer to vegas. oof. the only positive was that the flight attendant had slid into our row to get out of the way of those boarding, which saved us from having a middle seat occupant...thank you, flight attendant! so i re-positioned when we got to LAS.

salt deposits creating a beautiful landscape flying into slc

bacon and letter writing-bacon goes with everything!

 jane picked me up at the slc airport and we were off...to the doctor. she wasn't feeling so great, so we stopped into the one-stop-shop-doc-in-a-box and after she diagnosed herself and told the doc what she needed, he wrote up a script and sent us on our way. while there, i noticed that they had a special little corner set up under the t.v., which was a little awkward...not sure why it was set up like this-time out box-like in hockey a penalty box, perhaps? (no one puts baby in the corner came to mind)...or maybe a privacy area for breast feeding, but that would be counter-productive, as the t.v. was right there..terrible designing of space... much of my wait was spent analyzing this, and feeling sorry for the lady who had just filled out her paperwork and told them she'd hurt herself on the job-she didn't want to fill out workman's comp (as it was a brand new job for her), but legally they had to file it that way because she'd mentioned it, so she had to redo paperwork..boo. anyhoo...

after stopping at the pharmacy which google maps told us was in the parking lot (unless it was a superhero thing, like wonder woman's jet, that info was incorrect-so we went into target). from there, we grabbed lunch, because it was about a 2 hour drive to our hotel, through the mountains. getting to the little burger joint was a mini adventure as we missed the turn and had to make a loop. and we were on the road-one annoying thing is billboards of ears. everywhere-with no real advertisement...not sure if it was an ear doctor, plastic surgeon for ears...man who listens well..still don't know exactly, but there were at least 10 of these things littering our viewing pleasure. the mountains changed with every turn as far as the flora (0 fauna in sight). 

upon arrival, i will rarely turn down the opportunity to take a nap! (one of my super powers). at the appropriate time, we reconvened for dinner and asked the receptionist for suggestions, to which she excitedly suggested groggs. so we were off to helper, ut about 5 minutes away to check out groggs pinnacle brewing company (the view is nothing like what is shown...when i think pinnacle, i think highest point, right? nope. pretty flat and routine). and we were very excited about the spinach dip...then it arrived. the food-ok. i think jane enjoyed her salad more than i enjoyed the philly...i need to stop expecting my philly to compare to the one i had in kc so many years ago! that said, she may not have enjoyed the salad so much, had she poured the "bleu cheese dressing" all over it...mayonaise. it was a ramekin of mayo...miracle whip even...(the cooks were probably thinking..."hmm, we don't have bleu cheese, this is the closest thing we got...they'll never know!) anyhoo, they did have the coolest jugs, because the history of the place is that they used to actually be a brewery as well.

definitely a 'locals' joint! 

spinach dip? dip with spinach on it...on bread. lori said it best in a fb comment: looks legit.

great souvenirs, but i've cut back on purchasing things b/c they end up at goodwill; pics will suffice

afterward, it was too early to go back, so we explored the area of price. price seemed to be an old mining town. one of the first things that caught my eye as we drove under the quaint little bridge and around a small hill. it was a backyard that screamed "child predator!" you know, the overgrown weed-look, with a couple of old ice cream trucks (the real deal, with the music and all)...i half expected a clown to show up in the door and wave us in...then we came across this gem, which perhaps really made great shaved ice, it was just the sketchiness of where it was.

there were ample mexican restaurants in town-which was surprising, we didn't realize that there was such a presence of hispanics in this area. i wish i'd gotten a good pic of the downtown area, because it was really a great backdrop-beautiful old town feel! ancient everything. there was an original jc pennys, the theaters, it was pretty cool-here's a link if you want to see what it really looked like! once it got dark, we went back to the hotel to get our rest.

the following morning, thankfully jane was feeling better, the meds were working, and our training was a little later, so we grabbed brunch at the local diner we'd seen the night before. there was only one lady manning the entire place, which was hoppin', and mostly men. we shared breakfast foods-each getting what we needed to survive the day! then we made our drive to huntington. it was an easy little drive and once we arrived, the streets were super wide. apparently, from what i just read, the roads were designed this way back in the day to be wide enough to turn a team of oxen around.

once again, a training success, and it was fun watching aha lights, and teachers that looked like they were seeing and learning something that would be a valuable tool to them in the classroom. love it. i think they really got a lot out of the hands-on portion and working through the different segments they'd be using. in huntington, they only have half days on wednesdays due to their bus schedules. so by the time we finished, the teachers were ready to jet.

and as soon as we were done, we decided to be adventurous. we drove another 2 hours south to moab, to see the arches national park. we were very fortunate to arrive after the ticket-takers had already left for the day, so we didn't have to pay the entrance fee. but we stopped into the visitors station and purchased the national parks passport, as it is the 100th anniversary!

then we talked to the ranger, and asked her what would be easy to do in the amount of time we had before it got too dark. she pointed a couple things out on the map, and once again we were off to the races. first up, balanced rock-such neat formations! i loved teaching about the erosion and weathering with my fourth grade class, so this was fascinating to me! there were some formations that would be exhilarating to climb! then we returned to the car and headed for the arches. i didn't look at the map again to see what the lady had circled, so we went into the parking and started out on our little hike up to the delicate arch...there was some steepness, it was a pretty good little hike...there were parts i would've loved to 'trail-run', and at the time we were there, the trail itself wasn't too busy. i probably should've warned jane that i'm so used to trying to keep pace with shea and the kampers when we'd go on trip at k2, that i was used to being challenged. we did stop a couple of times to 'enjoy the scenery' (cough). at one point there was this older gentleman who appeared out of nowhere with work-type clothing, and kinda a red-flag; jane was in one area and i was on the other, and this one, he was a strange cookie. not sure if he made it or not, but it seemed like something out of 48 hours... i'm fairly certain that had i said "we're almost there" one more time, it would've been etched into jane's memory forever (i'm the we're-almost-there-gal) GO HARD OR GO HOME!! but truly, had it been easier to arrive, it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable nor enjoyable. the way it should be, the best things in life make you appreciate the journey!

the pictures speak for themselves-the majesty...

you would think that going back down would be easier, but the truth is, going down is just not great on the ankles, knees or back. it was a beating- i'd rather go uphill any day. we did arrive at the parking lot by dark and at this point, we hadn't eaten since brunch, and it was about 8:00, so we went into moab, as there was nothing on the way back to the hotel. so after getting moab, ut t-shirts (jane is starting a collection, and me, well, i needed something to wear on the way home!) afterward, we stopped at moab brewery (you'd think all they did around here was brew!) but the meal-i tried the jamaican burger, still trying to match up to the sweet/savory burger i had back in miami at kush! it was good, but not a match for kush's guava burger!!

i drove back that night, and jane kept us busy by googling to entertain us. we learned that the area was rich in uranium, there is a bacteria that makes the rocks look green, the difference between a mile and a nautical mile, and that nautical miles have something to do meridians-and to really understand this nautical mile thing, you have to go back to some geometrical understanding (not good, as the only reason i passed geometry was that ms. fasquelle probably felt sorry for me or was amused by the equations i used to somehow make connections), the etymology of the mile is roman, feet, acres, all goes back to the furlong and how far an ox can plow without resting. p.s. from now on, anyone traveling with me may now hear me referring to distances in furlongs-prepare yourselves! 

we got back to the hotel sometime after midnight. completely worth it!! i emptied my shoes out-sand from the hike, and was too tired to shower. so i woke up early the following morning to shower right before we were to take of for slc to fly out. the problem with doing this is that i had to straighten my hair, which leads to having to cool the iron down quickly enough in order to pack it up without my carry-on smoking and going up in flames. so there was this effort:

the trip home was uneventful through denver and (as always) it was great to be home again.

julie

if the bath bombs don't kill ya, the scrub bars might!

bath bombs! i know. i'd gotten a couple at lush, and i really like them-not gonna' lie. i don't usually take baths (don't worry, i shower), but when i do...it's because i have a bath bomb to use. so, as with everything, if you google it, you can make it. now that i had most of the ingredients, i finally found a youtube video with a lady showing exactly where she got her citric acid in a pinch (the whole i-don't-want-to-wait-for-amazon culture). so i went to walmart and in the canning section, there it was. when i got home, i set to work...and by work, i mean i mixed a couple of things together, then i mixed a few other things and combined them...gave them the waiting period and voila! homemade bath bombs! color. i need to work on the color-i think i will have to purchase the dye.

not sure if the half bomb is enough, but it was easier...

and as you can see some of them have been shrink wrapped, as i may or may not have access at home to a roll of shrink wrap, the sealer, and the heat...thanks to stationery adventures...i spent money a long time ago on this set-up and surprisingly, i've found lots of things to shrink-wrap...in fact, sometimes just for kicks, when i have it out, i'll just shrink wrap paperclips, or pennies, or whatever small thing is lying around #toomuchtimeonmyhands #easilydistractedandamused

then i got everything around and ready to go because i knew that ginger was coming to pick me up in the afternoon. i was ready to go to cleburne! woohoo. i enjoyed the driving, and being able to get to know ginger. she is so easy-going and i loved hearing about her family! kankuk kids, and i was so tickled (i don't often get to use that phrase) when i found out that her daughter is working for klife of north dallas-i only have positive experiences with klife! go girl! anyhoo, google maps took us in a round about way to arrive, but we arrived, checked in, grabbed some dinner and stopped into walmart for the $1 earbuds, as the dolla-make-ya-holla store was closed for the evening. i highly recommend the dollar store over the walmart earbuds, as they fit the ear better. walmart earbuds are like shoving a mentos candy in your ear, whereas the dollar store earbuds are more akin to a gummy bear (unsucked..not that i would know about either of these things). when we got back to the hotel, we were able to go over the power point, and i got to see the handouts that we were going to be using. so i was informed and ready to be of assistance, as need be. somehow i keep getting the handicapped rooms. i guess i'm okay with that because it's like having a dance hall in my entry, and being the avid break-dancer that i am...plus, when i get to winded, i can sit to straighten my hair and wash my face...

it was really a great group to be working with-mostly instructional coaches and lab teachers-they would be the accountability and influencers of the teachers using the program-they were highly engaged, and excited to understand the program better; they seemed quite ready to go back to their campuses to get going. and we had a good trip home afterward-minus the traffic, but once you hit the traffic, you start to get that feeling of being home-

did i mention (no) that when i decided to make the bath bombs, i may or may not have also looked up the massage/scrub bars, because i really do like these things! i'm here to let you know that shea butter and cocoa butter are NOT the same as shea butter CREAM and cocoa butter CREAM. nope. and guess who figured this out after putting them in the pot to 'melt' them...i mean it should've been a hint when the instructions said that it would take awhile for the cocoa butter oils to melt, as it is harder. it was messy. and now i have a half jar of each to give away to friends with dry skin who use lots of lotion. (i threw my concoction out.. #massagebarfail) and then i did a little research and had to go to amazon. even so, when i had my redo, they seem still a little too oily...being single, my mind goes straight to liz lemmon (30 rock) and death by slipping in tub headliner... gonna' be working on that recipe.

bring on friday afternoon-one of my friends was in town, en route to oklahoma, so a group was meeting up at top golf (i'm a first timer), so i didn't swing immediately, as it was more satisfying to spend time catching up with leah, nika and ally-they are the locals (minus leah, who was in from washington), but i've seen shea more in the past year than the locals, and she lives in florida! what gives?! but seriously-good times-love this crew! some key players were missing, but you take what you can get while you can! nika and leah had to go pick up lo from the airport and head on to OK, so we stayed behind, i ruined nika's last few round scores (i can barely putt-putt, give me a break! shank!)..i did better when we went to the batting cages #redemption. and all too soon, it was over. shea and ally were going to sprinkles, but i am proud of myself, i refrained. now, had they been going to nothing-bundt-cakes, i might've caved (those things..).

more of this, please!

and then it was on, the race to get ready to take the boys up to MO to see mom and dad-extended vacation for the boys! mom agreed to take them on for a couple weeks, as it was looking pretty busy. on the way up, i saw a new quicktrip on the way through ok, so i stopped, did my business, and then let the boys out to walk around and stretch their legs (their tiny little legs). there was a welcome center right next to the station, which they are working on, building a pavilion, picnic tables, etc. i was approached by two older ladies who began talking about all the future plans, and creating a little dog-run, etc. yep, they sucked me into their conversation and held on like pitbulls...note to self-don't offer additional information that can be construed as "yes, i'd love to sit and talk with you for a year" i mean...everything. the lady told me all about her being a volunteer at a school and helping with the reading program and about the teacher not wanting her to tell the kids to read without tracking with their fingers...about her giving her husband a hard time, and the teacher thinking she was rude because she didn't know they were married...yep, we're friends now. nope, just kidding. but i AM including a photo of the place in case anyone out there just wants to strike up conversation and take an extended break while travelling through eastern ok. she said she is there most of the time!

oh, and just a fun little extra, i want you all to know that the babies in oklahoma are pro-police:

blue lives matter-that is what the blue strap means, right?

i really do enjoy being at mom and dad's, and i know the boys do too. we didn't do a lot on saturday-just hung out at the house, watched some wheel, relaxed. then on sunday, we went to church, and then lunch afterward. there is this mexican restaurant that they enjoy going to, so we met up with pastor and his wife, and their daughter and husband, and another gentleman who was visiting the church for the first time. the boys talked down at their end, and we held conversation at ours- i keep getting fajitas whenever we go there, but i've never been really impressed. the taste just isn't there-rather bland. but the portions-woah! plenty where that came from! after sharing a fajita platter with mom, we barely made a dent, so we took almost a full to-go box home. crazy! and as we were leaving, they invited us over for games that night.

torn. i enjoy games, but i don't really know them... so just go and enjoy it. suck it up. so i went and was pleased to play banangrams (which if you recall is one of our favorites from UIL). so that was fun, and then after several rounds, we switched it up and played a round of yahtzee-first time i've played since grade school...and then UNO. so it was a full game night. we've been throwing around the option of having a game night sometime back here in dallas.

the following morning, i was to be getting up early to travel back to tx. note to self-don't stop at the info. station, park on the opposite side of quick trip and sneak in and out. mission-stealth, accomplished and on my way! it would've been the perfect trip, had there been no other drivers on the road! i may or may not have a heavy foot...even with flip flops on. i just can't help it. i rely heavily on my radar detector. i let this flaw slide, because i mean..it's not really addressed in the bible per se...c'mon, they had chariots..and carts..so yeah..i made good time and arrived home to prepare for the epic adventure to utah!

never been to utah, didn't know what to expect, or where exactly we'd be, but i knew i was going to enjoy it and i'd been looking forward to working with jane shields since we met at the summer convention-a wealth of knowledge-and humor to boot. more about that to come.

julie

when the newbies get together...we laugh and learn and laugh some more

ok, so that last post..i thought that i'd posted it a couple weeks ago! what in the WORLD?! so, so much has happened since..stick with me kids!

so after a great weekend, we had newbie training the following week on wed/thurs, and that really threw me off days wise, because when friday came around i thought it was thursday all day long until i went to set my alarm for the next morning...i'd even planned my day out and planned to go down to get my background check and finger-printing done...until i realized that my alarm wasn't set to go off for 2 days...but back to the training!

the girls-randi, angelica and deAn (dee-ann) came into town on tuesday, so i met them for dinner and a welcome! so, what better welcome than to satisfy their craving for the cheesecake factory?! sacrifices. dinner was delish-randi and i shared some appetizers; and there was much laughter. but let's not kid ourselves...the salted caramel cheesecake had been becknoing, taunting, singing an alluring, mythical, enchantment like fairies in the enchanted forest of some disney movie since the moment we crossed paths. and it did not disappoint! so rich, so decadent i felt like doing the decadence dance...not unlike extreme with their 80's big hair. the drawback-over-satisfaction hanging out in some area of the body not quite to the stomach cavity-i felt like i should be jumping up and down to try to get dessert to settle. this must end...

we did spend some time in the container store afterward as well, and there was oooohing and aaaahhhhing. i found some stuff i didn't need (always do), and randi was a doll-she got us all sturdy receipt envelopes and name-tag holders. #thoughtful

the next morning began with a short briefing with lori, our version of 'commander in chief' of training, and got our hearts settled. and we received some fun apparel-t-shirts!! sweet! then we worked through some of the learning we'd been receiving with suzanne facilitating, and began going over various reports and explanations, maneuvering through the website. lunch was lovely-whole foods makes excellent sandwiches and chips, and then we delved back into learning and working together. janet was only with us for the day, as she had to take of the next day, but it was great having her with us for the short time as she was able to enlighten and share some stories and tips. and to top it off, we also received these great sweatshirts, which is perfect, because all i currently have are hoodies, and the hoods are sooo heavy!

morning 2- lori was able to join us again to get the morning started, and once again suzanne continued the session as we got more in depth into what we were learning, and more apparel was brought in-this time: oxfords-unfortunately the size left was...XXL. so, no oxford for me. it's ok...save the tears, ya'all! i also got an assignment to go with ginger to cleburne while we were there, so i got that on the calendar. we had a great training session, and it was good to all be together again-shenanigan girls...

not gonna' lie, i love going into the offices and seeing all of the istation art-work! such talented individuals we have!!

hmm...i spy...lori and suzanne!

on saturday, i decided that i was going to do something amazing. i was going to make my own bath bombs! so i looked them up and went to get all of the ingredients, and tried to decide what one would use these for:

security dummies to put by the window...dummies for the car (HOV lane!)...

day of the dead!

while i was there, i got a txt from nicolette, and we ran some errands-i take advantage of friend time even more now that i don't get to see them as often! among these errands we went looking for food to cook for the week...this is not an easy feat when dealing with this one! mostly because she is legit louisiana chick, and she was pretty adamant about the sausage. i get it. nothing beats the original when you are trying to cook a regional dish. and i know how they are about their rice and beans with richard sausage (ree-shard, not like richard simmons). but she did settle on something and was willing to make a compromise-it sure looked good, but i'm guessing next time it will be richards.

oh, and pretty much everywhere we stopped, i was looking around for citric acid. not even kidding, we looked in the baking section, by the epsom salt in the pharmacies, you name it, we looked for it-but to no avail. this was one of the necessities for the bath bombs. i don't know how many times i said, "okay, this is the last place i'll look!" and more on the bath bomb experience later!

next up: cleburne, top golf, labor day and utah
but not tonight!

julie

old news...i'm late..i'm late...for a very unimportant,trivial, blog-date!

friday morning we had a training in tulia, which was a tiny drive from lubbock. it was great driving up there with sarah! we got to catch up and she was able to share the background of the schools we would be working with. although we didn't see any jackelopes, nor any other type of wildlife, a gentleman did later tell us about a his run-in with a bird of prey. he arrived late to the training because this bird dive-bombed him and then went flying up 20 ft and then fell to the ground. he felt so guilty that he was actually thinking about going back to check what kind of bird it actually was. we told him just to pretend it was a pheasant and be done with it-no worries. he didn't return for the afternoon training, so perhaps he actually did go back to check on it...?

doing some station-activities with reports

this one-she makes me smile laugh! truly enjoy working with her!!

the training went well and almost everyone returned after the lunch break, minus that one lady who entered and her first words were: WHAT? THIS IS AN ALL DAY TRAINING?! (body language suggested that her mind was processing some inaudible filthy language) but everyone else was very pleased that they stayed, because we had some really good information about the reports, and they found it useful.

after all was said and done, we made our way back to the airport. my original flight was scheduled to leave at 8:50 pm, but when i got there, i stopped at the ticket counter, and heard the lady say that they'd been on a ground stop in dallas, and the 2 earlier flights hadn't left yet, so i asked her to put me on standby. as was making my way up to the gate, there was a man who was running late, so i told him to chill, the flights had been delayed. he looked at me and said i looked very familiar, so the only things i mentioned were dallas isd and kanakuk (the two places i'd probably have the most contact with the largest number of people). nope, so i let it drop and went to the gate, thinking i wouldn't have to deal with him again. my southwest app said i had a boarding spot (b17), but the lady at the gate said no, that i was on standby and had a boarding spot for the later flight...hmm, ok, whatever.

 the time kept getting pushed back so finally i got a personal pizza and when i went to sit down, the guy i met at security (damon) brought his culinary purchase and sat at the table next to me and began to strike up conversation. so we discussed what he was doing in lubbock-interviewing for a chief IT position with the district. anyone who has followed this blog for a time knows that i do not LOVE small talk. unfortunately i happen to be really good at it, and the conversation kept prolonging itself until finally he finished his food and decided it might be important to go back and check on the flight. i might have been more inclined to keep the conversation going, but guy had a ring..and braces (which made him look 15) so i allowed for ample separation time to try to ensure that we didn't run into each other again. nice guy, but i was out of conversation. the lobby was so cold that i had to go grab some coffee to warm my hands (note to self-start bringing hand warmers).

finally around 7:15 they decided to allow the 2:40 flight to board (they'd already cxld the dallas portion of the 2nd flight and sent them on to nashville).  so i again approached the counter, and the same lady from before said no, i didn't have a boarding spot, step to the side with the other standbys, and wait. and then pony tail agent approached and began to help and started to clear passengers. after she'd cleared about 12 passengers-NONE OF THEM ME...she looked at her list and said into her radio that they were about to clear the last two standbys because there were two no-shows...she said my name and another, and i stepped up and said that's me! i just didn't have the boarding ticket-she said well, you should! here-and printed it. i wanted to crane my neck to look at the other agent behind her who was saying i didn't have a boarding spot (because she was still trying to tell ponytail that i didn't have a boarding ticket) i wanted to wag my finger and say, "shame on you!" from now on--just trust the app. anyhoo, no hard feelings, i got on the flight, and we finally got off (good thing because the later flight, my original, the 8:50 was cxld as well).

as i was walking down the jet bridge, the flight attendant met me at the plane and before she could even say anything, i said, "i have to gate check it, don't i?" she nodded, and had a tag, so i knelt down because i keep my lock and key to lock it up just in case and she was pretty impressed (doesn't take much), and i expressed my frustration, because i would've been on the plane in plenty of time to get a spot that would accommodate my bag, but they screwed up inside. and then i found a middle seat not too far from the front of the plane. after a few minutes, she made an announcement about the bag that they were going to gate check and i waved, she told me they found a spot for it-actually in the overhead right in front of me. am i the lucky one, or what? so i pulled out a card and found the starbucks gift card that i try to keep on-hand for just such occasions, and expressed my gratitude for her listening and making an effort.

upon arrival, the whole thing seemed like a repeat of the previous friday-groundhog day-trainers edition. so once we were finally afforded a gate, and able to deplane (go ahead, say it like tattoo-fantasy island), i was able to get home and once again, driving home at 10:30 pm, exhausted, thinking about people who were probably on their way out for the evening- i was dying to put my head on my pillow!

then saturday i picked up the boys and spent some time chatting with joanne. then we relaxed at home and that evening i got to do dinner with solange and the crowd to give a farewell for her twins who were going off to start college! every time we get together, the group feels a little more comfortable, and it keeps me up to date with my spanish-smile. snuffers fried pickles never disappoint (the taste-buds..they disappoint the scale, and my thighs, but never the taste-buds).

sunday funday consisted in a 6-hour poster-making-marathon with nafia and nicolette. we had a delicious breakfast of blueberry waffles, sausage, hashbrowns and fruit-great company, funny conversations, laughter, and we finished a ton of posters! then i made my way home and was able to help nicolette with some name-tag/ofishally first grade tags-and looking for a special beginning-of-the-year book (which target, walmart and barnes and noble were all out of)...oops. hopefully she was home in time to get a good nights rest for her first day of school!

i hope all of my dallas school friends have had a great start back to school!!
julie