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

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