bruno-not a scary dog, but he sure did scare me!

okay. so, on wednesday p.m. i walked into the front room, and saw a ziplock baggie, where i had stored some semi-sweet chocolate chips. the problem was that the bag was ripped open, dumped on the couch, with at least half of them gone...chaco was looking up at me shaking his head, saying, "bruno. he's gonna be in so much trouble!" so i picked it all up as quickly as possible, knowing that chaco had just been waiting for his chance, because that's always the way it goes. bruno quietly instigates, and chaco is usually the one who joins in and gets caught...younger brother syndrome.

i wasn't too concerned, because he'd gotten into chocolate before (small doses...somehow he gets into my backpack when i forget i had it there). anyhoo. they had dinner, and a couple hours later, he began acting very strange-panting, pacing, laying on the floor and whimpering a little, i checked his heart rate-palpitating rapidly and that's when i began to worry. by this point it was almost 10 p.m., so i knew we were going to have to go to emergency care-ugh. as quickly as possible, i piled them into the car-which was a rental for the next day's training (i'd been planning to take my own, but the transmission sensor went out and the mechanic said no-way). so i didn't have their car seats-they just sat in the back on a blanket.

once we arrived, they buzzed me in, and there were two other ladies right behind me with their pup, who had be run over and was in bad shape. once the paperwork was done, we went back to a room, and the vet took bruno's temps and vitals, then took him back and they induced vomiting; when she came back to the room, she was very concerned because there was blood as well, so she took me back to where he was for a minute, and said they were going to run the blood tests, and put him on oxygen to get the breathing back to normal. so we went back to the little holding room and waited-definitely teared up at this point and could have used a glass of water. chaco just lay in my lap (i was glad i'd brought him, but i couldn't leave him at home, because he would've been a mess as he doesn't do well alone). finally after they got the results, she came back still concerned, as they weren't able to come to any conclusions. so she suggested leaving him overnight to monitor him and do another blood test later in the morning because she felt they weren't getting an accurate reading due to the food...so that was the plan; i'd be back to get him at 4:30 a.m. so i could take off for training in kilgore at 5:30.

 the hardest part was that i had to initial a few different boxes, and decide whether to have them do cpr, or dnr. a couple of things went through my head. what stuck was-if they had to do that, who knows what quality of life would be like afterward. that's the worst feeling ever.

when we got home, ready for bed, it was close to midnight, and chaco got up on the bed, kinda' still looking around for bruno. i said goodnight to both of them-like always, and in 4 hours was up again, getting ready to go. when i arrived at the er this time, there was a different vet (2nd shift), and she was a talker. she said the same over and over in about 213 different ways...i kept trying to reassure her that i understood what she was saying and tell her what my plan of action was...finally it was determined that the results were still a little mysterious, and she couldn't quite pinpoint what had caused the bleeding; she was still concerned with a couple of the levels, and suggested going to my vet later in the day to retest for clotting factors. so with that we slowly backed out and took off. i knew he must've been feeling a little better, because the tech said bruno totally put on the breaks when she took him out to potty and walk-he was having none of that. sounds like bruno! he can be pretty stubborn.

once i dropped him off, google maps had me on my way to kilgore. it was about to be a long day! on the way there, i received a couple texts and a phone call from my people, and they know how much the boys mean to me-just checking up. once i got there and found the site, i was quite early, so i made my way to coffee (there was no starbucks in the vicinity, so gas station coffee was going to have to do!) and i called lori at that point, b/c i'd been trying to figure out how i was going to get back in time to get bruno to my vet. had it not been so late the night before, i probably would have dropped the key off with solange and asked her to take him (she's always been a champion for the boys), but that wasn't the case, and i'd not really been thinking about it. lori was very gracious and concerned-and pending numbers and how jane felt about doing the afternoon session, i would come back after the morning session. thankfully, jane was cool with it (not surprisingly, she gets dogs as family, too). 

the first session was quite a crowd-they had moved us to a larger room, and we got everything set up and handouts handed out, and then the fun began! jane did the intros and explained what tx success is, and i jumped into the presentation from the get-go; thanks for the vote of confidence, jane! she was great about adding information as we went, and it was comfortable, so i've gotten my feet wet! after going through much of what istation is, answering questions as we went, we got into some hands-on activities. this was a great opportunity to chat with some of the participants to answer additional questions and help in whatever they were working on. it was a good session, but i think there were a couple of disgruntled folk, who wanted the program to do something it doesn't do...

lunch time came, and we cleaned up to get ready for session 2, which some were staying, but several had not registered and were returning to their campuses. so jane and i bid each other farewell, and i hadn't gotten to the main road, when i got a call from jane asking if i'd left the handouts for the 2nd session-OH NO!! so i turned around, took my backpack in, and realized that they were actually in the trunk of my car-at the transmission place. i'd brought the wrong ones-for austin. oops. so i quickly went in to trouble-shoot with the substitute secretary and shared the files we needed from my drive, and she was able to make copies for jane and we were good to go. i need to call jane and see how the afternoon session went!

and i was off again. on the way back, i again got a couple texts and a phone call-just checking in, which really did mean a lot to me--my thoughtful friends. when i got home, i packed the boys up, and took them to the vet. when we got there and i explained the situation, they made a spot for me and the vet came in and talked with me after taking bruno's temp. after looking at the records from his august comprehensive, he said he wasn't too concerned, as bruno hadn't been throwing up nor having diarrhea, and at this hour, he wouldn't be able to get the results back until the following day; how about bringing him back tomorrow, so that we can monitor him. he did give me some antibiotics, in case there was some infection that may have caused the bleeding. (which may have been a nasal passage issue, bleeding back into the throat the night before causing it to look like he was vomiting blood)...so the good news is that bruno has been acting his normal self, and seems to be fine. me on the other hand-still tired. like i said before, i truly had thought about laying down on the sidewalk to sleep at one point. and looking at the clock right now, i am off to bed-needs more sleep!

love this nugget! my loyal friend!

but on the bruno front, feeling much better-thanks to all who said a prayer and sent love-
julie

sometimes early breakfast is only funny to the ones making it...

so, here's the deal, i would've worked on a post earlier, because i didn't even finish my last story...but i've been so tired the past couple of days, due to unforeseen events, which i will get into later...suffice it to say i was so tired yesterday that i considered laying down on the sidewalk in the middle of a short walk with the boys...truth, i considered it at about three different points around the fountain. and when i went to return the rental car, it was that nauseatingly exhausted feeling. i now know i need more than 4 hours of sleep per night.

but back to finish what i started!

wednesday morning rolled around, and i was still in SAT at julie and kevin's. remember how i volunteered her to make breakfast (which she was more than willing to do, because she loves her boy); so my alarm clock was set for about 5:30, i believe. when i woke up, she was not out of the room yet, but kevin said she was awake, go on in-so i grabbed the guitar from the stand to perform a little early morning serenade-because that's just what you do when there is a guitar at hand! (right?)

i think we may have been a little much for him in the morning-we were messing with his mojo-his routine! and with that, the coffee, and the bacon in the oven; which i just want to say was ah-maz-ing! melt in your mouth #neverfryingbaconagain and somewhere in the midst of waiting on the bacon and packing his lunch, there was some word that was bothersome and for the life of me, i do not recall what it was, but julie seemed to be stumbling over it, so we reduced it to the lowest phoneme possible... "G" and that was probably where the most annoying part was for kevin, because that's when we started laughing and it got silly (needless to say, it's still funny, and will never cease to be).

juan...julie JUAN-love it.

once the boy took off, we actually did sit to do some work-she had some calls to make, and then showed me how to do some things with the padlets. and we had some data to drill into from the previous day. so it was productive time. it wasn't long before we had to take off for the airport-grabbed a bite to eat first, and starbucks- sat in the parking lot at starbucks for a minute while ju looked through her funniest pins and posts and shared laughs. HA! so, i just want to take this moment to say it again, it was a joy to be able to stay with julie, kevin and bella, and 'do life' for a couple days in a family setting. they truly make my heart smile.

and the flight back was not memorable in the least.

once i got back to dallas, it was a fairly quiet couple of days. i met with nicolette on sunday after church and we went to get some doggy things for her boys-who came home with her last week. i took the boys with me, and they got to meet new friends #socialization. we found a bed for the crate, dog food and i think there was something else, but it fails me now. ah, yes!! it was party city-she had to get hair thingy-ma-bobs so they could be thing one, thing two and thing three! i did find something that i HAD to get, only i cannot post that picture quite yet. i may have found a flannel shirt at target too....just sayin'. anyhoo, when we got back to her place, i helped make some vocab flashcards, because that's what first grade teachers do! and then we headed back home.

nicolette with ALL the boys!

monday i went in to the office to make copies for our training on tuesday- of course i did them wrong.  yay, me! and no one was there really, except for cherryl (just not anyone from our dept), so i went in and chatted with her for a minute. good thing when i got to mt pleasant, jane had enough for the first round, so i was planning on going into the office again on wednesday to make some more for the thursday training. tuesday went well-it was a fairly small crowd-although big for what they've had before.

so, wednesday came (it usually does, right? anyone surprised? didn't think so), and i went up to the office, to make those copies, and to make copies for julie for austin, and grab some folders for sabrina, since i'd be seeing them. so that took a minute. suzanne was there, and she had a special gift for me...i now get excited about ethernet cables..what's wrong with me? cutting those pieces for the thursday training was a cruel beating. but hey, done. brian and lori were 'in the house' as well, and busy, per the usual, so i just did the peek in and say hey.

then it happened. wednesday night happened, and it wasn't pretty. more on that tomorrow. yikes.
tell your pets you love them tonight! (ok, your family too)
julie

training is kinda like super market sweep

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

julie

easy like a hamburger...in a labyrinth...in wichita

sunday morning i had to do things a little differently, as i was flying out of dfw, and arriving back at love field. so i took lyft, and my driver was samuel from kenya. he was a little difficult to understand, but i was doing my best! what i DO know is that he is passionate about his daughter's pre-k teacher! and he visits his now-elderly teacher in kenya whenever he visits-she taught him everything, his first time in school at a fifth grade age, knowing nothing...oh, and he has 9 brothers and sisters...yep.

security was a breeze, and then i stopped to grab a quick bite at mcdonald's and the lady in front of me just very indecisive..finally said, why don't you go, we're not sure...so i did. and about 15 minutes later, as i was walking down the corridor toward my gate (EMPTY corridor, like no foot traffic and plenty of space), the same lady moseys out of a little shop and right into my path, like two of her steps, ahead of me (which was about 7 times slower than i was going...if you know me, or have walked with me, i walk fairly quickly always on a mission). so when she slowed my roll like this, i had to pull out my invisible whip and crack it around her ankles, tugging really hard to bring her down in a face-plant. and then i came out of my split second fantasy world and shifted gears to power past her. i'm so glad i don't ever act on these imaginings...people might start to realize i'm not nearly as nice as i come across...then when you get to know me, you know better. warped humor, i guess.

i arrived in ict early enough to enjoy every bit of this airport. lots of sales going on-wedding dresses, cars, and how did i know i was in kansas? well there was this:

tractor-rider mowers...so midwest!

and if you were not aware, ict is 'the air capitol of the world'...idk, but anyhoo, they had a wall of pictures, and that kept me busy while i was waiting for joyce and alicia to arrive from their delay in o'hare. no worries, i had things to keep me busy.

very spacious baggage claim area! great place for a flash mob, in case anyone wants to know

very interesting little museum

upon arrival, i met them in the baggage claim and we went to get our car-oh praise Jesus for small airport rentals. due to it being a one-way drive, they didn't have the car on location. but he was going to give alicia an executive upgrade...good thing she's already an executive member. hmm.. "oh, we don't do things that way here"...so we went to wait on a bench not to far away, with him letting us know he'd come find us when the car arrived...and then he popped out of the back office about 15 minutes later and waved us over. oh. but the wave....so professional. so alicia came back with the keys and we went out the door-his directions were to go to the right...apparently HIS right. we did find the car, and got on outta' there. the drive to the hotel was...drum-roll please...less than a minute around the parking garage. DUDE! I COULD HAVE WALKED THERE, CHECKED IN AND TAKEN A NAP!!! i so stupid! i totally should've looked it up! they have a shuttle. what was i even thinking. i wasn't. whatevs. no big. so we checked in quickly and were to back in the lobby for lunch in ten minutes. no worries, i thought. until i looked at the room #s just outside the elevator, and asked the handyman which way i needed to go to get to 348. he said, "go to the end of this hall, then you turn right, go to the end of that hall, then turn left, make a little jog to the right, and it should be on that hall....

and so it began....

and continued....

just a little further!

one more corner to your amazing view!

ermergersh! TOTALLY worth the hike for the view!! i'd purposefully request this room again!

i was afraid i wasn't going to be able to get out of the labyrinth in time for lunch, and i might flake away in the wichita winds, if they left me (which they would NEVER) fortunately i left airline peanut crumbs to find my way back (i had no bread...don't worry, i didn't have peanuts either...again the imagination thing).

we arrived at the end of the church crowd,so there wasn't a huge wait, but the place was full. lunch was delish...i haven't had a steak in quite awhile ( not a problem, it was very small, and rather inexpensive-and the sweet potato-the real deal). this is one of the first times i really got a chance to talk to alicia and joyce, without everyone else around, and it was nice to get to know them better. you may remember that we were in colorado together on one of my first trips, but it was all such a blur, and apart from the trainings, there wasn't much time with just them. so it was good. after lunch, we found the site, wichita university-it was a nice little campus, but the doors were closed-sunday/fall break.

once we got back to the hotel, we called it a day. lunch was so heavy that none of us were really planning much for dinner (i had the protein bars in my room, and hotel coffee...as i didn't want to go through the whole frisk-down with tsa this time)...so i took a nap, wrote a letter, finished that last blog, played word games...watched a netflix show...there was no hot tub, so...went to bed.

i drove us to our venue, but we were stopping first at chic-fil-a for breakfast, as our site was on 17th street, and the chic was on 21st. well. i'm here to tell you that not everything is as it seems. we didn't go the way google maps was telling us, because we'd made a mistake the previous day, so we went east, toward the school. google maps was like, oh, yeah? well fine, then i'm going to take you around the back way and in the opposite direction about 5 miles to get to chic-fil-a, which, come to find out, THIS 21st street was nowhere near our 17th street. oh well. we then back-tracked and passed several unfamiliar landmarks until we finally arrived at the school, parked and found the lucas room.

still early, we got jacksen to help us out. (he pushed a button to lower the shades, and another to lower the projector and screen); very impressive, and alicia made certain to boost his ego, but letting him know how very powerful she felt he was now that he had taken care of these things. he did help us with cords, and wifi, and all that we needed. the morning session was not to be in the cards, so we were able to talk, they shared tips and just basically wanted to be as helpful as possible, to answer any questions, etc. we found a minute to create a little boss's day collage for lori, then people started arriving for the afternoon session, and there were internet issues. the guest site hadn't been working earlier, which was why they'd given us the secure passcode. well that wasn't working, so i went on a little mission to find an IT guy...i wandered through the desert, around a mountain, waded through a stream, while on a call with julie k (to make sure of plans for that evening), and FINALLY after i was parched and weary, i came to a little closet that said IT, and it was almost as if i had just stepped into a frat-house-movie...you know, the ones where you have that one guy that had way too many, is a little overweight, pants sagging low, even with a belt, grungy,scruffy...out of shampoo, maybe bedbug bites...and smelling like nothing you would encounter at bath and body works...and he begrudgingly followed me, like i was lassie, leading him to our disastrous encounter at the well...kept a straight face and walked in saying, "i've brought reinforcements!" mmmmm....i just wanted have a disclaimer saying: he's not our roadie! anyhoo, he was able to get onto GUEST first try. as soon as he said that, everyone did that, but he had sequestered this lady's laptop, as any quizzical IT person would do, trying to figure out the original dilemma, which no longer needed figuring out. the lady said, "i can just get on guest too.." and he said no. and continued playing! alicia continued with the presentation, and finally he gave her computer back, and sauntered off a little like a cross between winnie the pooh and eyeore.

at some point, i'd mentioned earlier in the trip that i was easy-in regards to food, a similar version of that may have come out in the training, as we were discussing that when their students were showing amazing results, they could get alisha a steak, joyce- i can't remember what amazing meal, and when alicia looked at me and said, and et tu julie? it just came out again: you know me i'm easy (slight pause...) like a hamburger! umm...like a hamburger? it was all i could think of! my brain went to the fact that there is a mcdonalds on the corner near my apt, and it would be super easy to stop there to get a quick burger. (i didn't say a healthy, delicious burger, i said quick and easy....if i wanted delicious, i'd go back to fll with sabrina and get one of those burgers by the ocean and fries for three!)...but there it was. out there. too late.

i had the second part-working through student ICON, showing them all the amazing features and facets of the amazing red-caped-icon. if only i had a better grasp on the sound! they got to play around and appreciate and understand the features, though. and we definitely stopped for a minute to listen to joyce's favorite-the digraphs. then joyce went through the website and finished up, answered questions, promoted the upcoming convention/workshops in florida and wichita. it went well, and i think they got some additional answers they didn't have prior to coming! it was quite a mixed group, so the discussions were very different. a few lower grades, a few k-5 and a few 6-7.

thanks, joyce and alicia for a great time! but then, i'm easy...like a hamburger. (??)

once we finished, we gathered everything up and headed out to the courtyard to take some pics in the courtyard. after a few moments, trying to precariously position my phone on my backpack, balanced on a statue...there was a gentleman spreading grass seed who came over and took our pics for us. so grateful was i that i threw my purse on the ground, as to be out of the picture. so we got our pics in a cute little sitting area, then moved over to the statue. once we had those done we grabbed our packs, and we were off to drop me at the airport before they headed to kc. upon arriving at the airport, i was going to have quite a wait-to get on a flight that would get me in the earliest! BUT...i realized my purse was not with me. yep. we turned around to go back and get it from the university-hoping it was still there; fortunately it was fall break,but still. a little worried now.

when we arrived, joyce got out to go look with me, and it was not on the ground where i had dropped it initially. i looked around and saw another guy watering plants down the other side of the sidewalk, so i ran toward him (slow mo, i'm certain i looked like whitney houston in body guard: i'm gonna run to you)...anyhoo, the man had no idea, whipped out his flip-phone and called his boss. thank GOD it was the one who had taken the picture, and he had taken the purse into the info desk, just inside the student bldg we'd been in! relief. the training gods were with us! (um, God himself kinda trumps them, so...). so when we got to the airport, it was for real this time! goodbyes, and i got checked in and ready to go, thankful for their graciousness! i enjoyed our time.

the flights were uneventful, and on-time, so i was going to see julie and meet kevin and bella shortly.
we'll get there later!
julie

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