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

whose child created the interstate/road system in houston anyhoo?

wednesday morning, i had to get up early so that i could get some creamer for coffee. i spent the morning taking pictures of receipts and making some changes in plans...instead of staying in town-ish on friday, i was going to be flying to houston for a different training. that evening i messaged an old high school friend from HONDURAS, who now lives in houston to see if there might be a possibility of getting together...the response was overwhelmingly positive! once i arrived, i was going to meet up with her and friend/s for dinner, and then spend the night at her place. something to look forward to (apart from the training itself).

and now let me back up. that afternoon i was fortunate enough to participate in (and by participate, i mean listen in) on a live webinar. i'd listened to most of the recorded webinars, so it was especially fun to listen to one live! lori does a great job with these-very animated. in fact, i was thinking at one point that she would be a great d.j. and if she d.j.'d for a station that played music i enjoyed, i'd totally listen to the traffic-talk...but then of COURSE she'd be a d.j. for music i enjoy...right? and if not, i'd call in and say, "hey! play music i like, or i will have to switch stations!" 

so the plan was to get to houston around 7:05 and meet indi at the restaurant, but alas, my flight was cancelled and i rescheduled for the later flight. i didn't arrive until late, and they were done with dinner by that point, so i must made my way to her place, and when i arrived, it was a little dark, but i was pretty sure i was at the correct address, so i called, and she told me to meet her at her house. i told her i had arrived, but wasn't sure which house, or where to park, then turned the car lights back on. she said, "oh! it's you! i'm in the truck in the driveway, park under that tree!" (which is exactly where i was!) and before i knew it there was a figure running down the middle of the road, and i couldn't get out of the car fast enough!! good thing it was 11:20 and there were no cars in sight, because there was a huge embrace in the middle of the street! it was SOOOO great to finally get to see each other in person after all these years! we went in and i got to see the beautiful remodel, and i unofficially met her sleeping son-meaning: don't wake a sleeping football player who needs to get up early!

photo cred-indira selfies! has it really been so long??? 91 seems forever ago! but at the same time like just yesterday!

between her looking for a letter that she'd written, and grabbing some water, we got to talk and catch up before crashing on a most comfortable bed! i really wish we'd had more time because we barely got to the tip of the iceberg! i've missed this girl-nothing is quite as comfortable than being with friends that you've grown up with and known for ages-and that was exactly how i felt! thank you indi for just being you! can't wait to see you again!! the alarm didn't go off at 5:15, but i am light-sensitive and my body has this internal clock thing, so at 6:10-ish, i checked my clock because i could feel the sun coming up, and i jumped out of bed and was thankful that i had packed the way i did, because my outfit for the day was all rolled up and all i had to do was pull it out, put on some mascara and pee....then i threw everything into the carry-on and rushed downstairs, and gave indira a huge hug and goodbye, again,wishing i had more time! (never long enough)...and then i sped off to try to avoid traffic!

let me just say that i hate the routes in houston...i missed a turn and had to reroute more than once...it seemed to me as if some children had been asked to join the planning team and been given the task of drawing some roads and then the engineers looked and said, "it is good" and began to draw up construction designs...for real though. yikes.
         
and then some of the drivers...lets not even go there.

but i did make it to the training on schedule, and was thrilled when sabrina pulled up! this meant i was in the right place, and she hadn't given me a bogus address just to pull my leg! good way to start!

we chatted for awhile as we waited for the unlocking of the doors so that we could make our grand entrance. upon entering, we put our stuff down, i found the perfect place from which to observe and take notes. there was a spattering of participants settling in, so while she was working with the projector and sound system, sabrina asked me to pass out several handouts--my workout for the day. (working out my fingers-counting pages and meticulously maneuvering the phalanges as to not acquire any paper cuts-mission accomplished!) 

i thoroughly enjoyed observing sabrina, and seeing how she runs her training. it was very fitting. she did a great job keeping the crowd engaged and having them jump right in! very personable, and comfortable with the crowd. it really was a great group that showed up for the training, especially considering that it was the last friday of their summer break! the best part was hearing some of them say that it was so great to finally get training, as they have been using the program, but had never really had training, and it was more or less a compliance-thing.

lunch was lovely- due to the fact that we were pretty 'out-there' and we weren't sure what was going to be available, we looked on 'aroundme' and found a denny's--but it started to seem very far, and sabrina was cool with whatever, so at one point i said, "how 'bout we stop at the second restaurant we see from here?!" she was game, so we ended up at sonic-when in doubt, a route 44 goes a long way #comfortdrinks

i loved the drive because it was 'get-to-know-you-better' time. i love that she is so tight with her family and loves them so much! proud mama, with every reason!

great trainer-i see friendship in our future!

sporting the hawaiian shirt she purchased for her son-which i really think she might have to rethink and keep for herself-it's totally her color! 

the after-lunch crowd is always a doozy-same crowd, carb-loaded...snoozy.(as after-lunch p.d. always is because no one builds naptime into the agenda these days...) so it took some work to get past that initial after-lunch zombie-state, but once she got to the goal-setting, people started to perk up because this is something they were really interested in...well, most people...of course there is always that one table (there was at my school too!) and yes, this was no exception-the "we-didn't-go-over-that" table...and of course i looked at my notes and, yep, verbatim, we had gone over that...and of course that table gets the looks from everyone else, nodding their heads and saying, um..yes..we did..i know. sometimes it's hard to listen and multi-task at the same time, and it was ok, because they already knew the information; they were just doing their job of being the reminders to make sure that we went over it.

once all was said and done, i'd gotten answers to my questions, and after getting a couple of pictures, we parted ways. i loved observing sabrina, and i'm sure i'd pick up something new each time. i had to take off to make sure that i arrived at the airport in time to return my rental.

on the way back, part of the route was toll. i wasn't sure exactly how to do this, i should've asked prior to departure...when i saw the sign that said: LAST EXIT BEFORE TOLL, EZTAG ONLY/VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED...what does that even mean? prosecuted? sounds awfully harsh! water boarding... bamboo shoots/fingernails...why can't they just say you'll get a bill in the mail? (?) so i got on the service road and the lady in my phone maps kept trying to get me prosecuted! so i pulled over to a gas station, worrying about my time, and finally called the car rental to ask them about all of this toll-shenanigans...they set me straight, and basically said i was equipped  my car was equipped with tags on the plates, and to just roll on through, they'd send a bill...and i'm sure they will. so i did just that, and please let me tell you that the trip from our training site to the airport was where my child-map theory came from. i mean...it was ri-di-cu-lous!! puh-lease. but eventually i did make it to the airport and realized that my flight was actually an hour later than what i thought...this was good, because it meant i had time to grab some grub-thank you, peppercorn ranch burger, you blessed me more than you know. (burrgers, burgers-i think my life is about finding the perfect burger).

once i landed in dallas, i was driving home at 9 pm, thinking, "welp, everyone else is just leaving home to enjoy their friday night, and here i am ready to go home and settle in!" also in my thoughts was that my friend b.mayes was at the dixie chicks concert in dallas! (jealous) and i later saw on facebook that my boss was there as well, enjoying the festivities! (hope she doesn't mind the reference as boss, it's just so much shorter than the vice president of professional development...lookin' at you, lori!) and then of course i thought what if they were sitting near each other...then i saw something about hatin' on the karaoke-ers and immediately hoped they were nowhere near each other. not that i think bmayes would've involved herself in too much crazy loudness...or would she?

it's good to get home to the boys-i'm certain they were sad while i was gone, but they were immediately excited to see me when i walked in the door...too bad i couldn't say the same for the flowers...

up early-ish for breakfast at breadwinners at northpark, because that's what you do when friends are in town! it was great to meet sarah and her friend as well. it's always good to catch up, and there was a lot of catching up to do! something fun- b and sarah stayed at the double tree, and saw the istation building! (i mean, not as fun as like..a ferris wheel, or pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey fun, but it's all relative!) on the way home, i found myself behind this car, and i couldn't help but think that it looked like a character in a video game that lost a life//game over...

note the Xs in the eyes...

the rest of the day was somewhat productive...wait that was today...i meant for today to be much more productive! the most productive thing i did today was finish another letter and receive a call from sheryl who had just received a letter! (we never know how long it's going to take for international mail to reach its destination!) and talks with sheryl are always animated-touching base with her is always enlightening, and they change quickly, especially when you have teenagers! love the real friends who never change, just the circumstances...the love is always there #thosefriends

so tomorrow i will wake up early, as i am going to be taking off on the 1:00...so i need to get to bed!

sleep with the angels (many of you probably already are)
julie