beginning of the end of january

alright, so i got a little ahead of myself- my birthday actually happened the day before ginger and i went to kilgore, and i celebrated it with nicolette and nafia with a simple dinner (reminiscent of last year-simple, small, private.not a big deal) we were going to do cheesecake factory, but it was so packed, we opted for blue mesa next door. it's always good to catch up with the girls and laugh a little! they were very thoughtful with their gifts-those who know me, know i am a sucker for stationery! so stationery, a sweet journal and the  i received some sweet cards over week leading up to my birthday, and silly/humorous affirmation cards! time i get to spend with these two has become so limited, but when we do get together, it truly is enjoyable!

i also received several cards leading up to my birthday-a few from colleagues (thanks leadership team, alyshia, and joyce-so thoughtful!) not to mention, the following weekend i received a gorgeous bead necklace, which is totally me, (for which i have the perfect matching earrings) and another stationery set from sabrina, none-too-soon, i might add...as i only have about 4 cards left from the punny set, and maybe for from the inspire set. yes, i may have substituted letter-writing for blog-posting over the past couple months. oops.

that last weekend of january, we were off to abq, new mexico. i found out about a month too late that one of my old kampers, and dear friend, kelly v lives there! if only i'd known sooner! anyhoo. i was pleasantly surprised that my flight was hooking up with sabrina's, so she saved me a spot on plane while i was boarding from dallas. i was excited that we were going to get an opportunity to fly together-a little hangout time long overdue. we did some work on the plane (as much as we could, as the wifi was sketch). we arrived in the afternoon, had some copies to run and things to do to get ready, then we grabbed a late-lunch/early dinner and went to settle into the hotels.

 notice i said hotels plural? well, as it so happens, the two hotels are basically connected by a courtyard, divided by a gate. so i checked into my room, then made my way across the courtyard to hang out with ju and sabrina in the other hotel. it was like playing marco polo trying to figure out where they were, but eventually, i heard my name ring out through the air, "JUAN!" and then my phone rang out and we talked my way through the mine-field...as i tried to use my sense of direction and looking at where the sun was setting, as the constellations hadn't come out yet (and even if they had, i'd left my astrolabe at home)...reunited and it feels so good... 

when i first arrived to my room, i was a little worried, and i ransacked the place, trying to locate the hair-dryer. i was getting worried. i looked under the sink (the usual place) under the OTHER sink, not there either, in the closet, in each of the drawers,

BIBLE: beauty is fleeting, why you need a hairdryer?
DEX PHONE GUIDE: baby, i got yo' number... (closed that drawer right back up)

behind cupboards...but finally! really? hanging on the back of the door? who'd-a-thunk?

oh! there you are!

it didn't take too long before it was time to go to bed, and wake up again! of course when you wake up with these two, you know it's going to involve a little starbucks, as well-and so we were off, and i tried the sous vide eggs for the first time-gruyere and bacon...ah, delectable! somewhat heavenly bites-if you can handle the consistency. as we slowly drove through the parking lot, past the carl jr's, i'm pretty sure there was a homeless man in the back corner who was making drug deals or something. i mean, there was something going down back there- both mornings a truck drove by and then the next morning a car was back there-and they weren't dropping off blankets and toiletries. just sayin'.

we got back to the convention center and had some setting up to do-it took pretty much 30-40 min. creating the posters, setting up the tables, passing out the papers-but it got done, and people started showing up, many of whom the girls had worked with before (several of them seemed so excited to be back-which has been a welcome progression!). cris appeared out of nowhere and we got her stuff set up as well, and it wasn't long before we saw lori come in as well. it was good to see her out of her boot, although it may have been a little premature, she did pretty well. this was the first chance i got to meet kelly and she introduced us all to heather, her partner in crime.

the session began with a little review from the previous round, because there were lots of positive comments about it, in fact, believe it or not, there were a couple of teachers in monday's group, and tuesday's group that actually brought their lap-folders with them-so excited about all the foldables! so there was a bit of review on portfolio/profile/display ideas, goal-setting, problem-solving, and then a bit on PLCs, followed by a survival -type team-work-collaboration. and that was followed by more end of year reports/work-time.

it was comical when one of the gentelmen that was in the session shared that he disagreed with the order of some of the survival game entries...and he was a survivalist. HA! (keep your opinions to yourself, mista!) it was still fun!

we had a great lunch (when it comes to sushi, i trust julie k, she never does me wrong!) i forget the name of the place, but we did it for lunch both days, and i was a happy girl! yummers!

monday night after the training, we headed out to dinner with kelly and heather, and it was loud. partly because it was like 8 girls in a small room, surrounded by small parties and some business men. add a little wine, and the girls get louder. the food was really good-we had quite the variety-a bit of everything! lovely evening. while my reach wasn't bad, the gentleman from the next table offered to take our picture, and it came out much better! (i'm sure he was probably thinking, 'just let me take this and get it over with so ya'all can get out of here and we can have a peaceful conversation, bringing the decibel count down a notch). ha!

my lovely friends/colleagues. 

i do enjoy working with these ladies! abq day tuesday-ish next up.

julie

great end to a year

i tried. i tried to get started again, but i just didn't get enough posts under my belt to start the ball rolling again, so here i go again (on my own...goin' down the only road...go ahead, thank me for putting those lyrics in your head, and now, shake it off...back to ME!)

yes, so as i was saying. lots to catch up on, so i may have to take the cheap way out and just provide some brief details on some events. and no worries, i will not give you a novel in a day, but rather i will do my darndest to section it out in such a way that will keep stories straight!

so let's start with where we left off, shall we? that was back just before the new year. jo anne was once again kind enough to let the boys chill with her for a few days, while i went to san antonio to visit with julie k, her husband, and guest of honor: randi robarts-former colleague! it was great to see and hang out with all of them, but especially great to catch up with randi, as her departure happened so quickly. i love it that things are going so well for her and she is so happy on her current path.

joy to my heart! (missing a partner in crime)

we greeted and had a fun quick little gift exchange...i'm in love with the thoughtfulness!

i've explained this before, but the short answer is julie 1(julie juan...very meaningful)

it's chaaaarrrrlieee and he goes to candy mountain!

this shortbread and the spread were delicious! (a labor of love)

i know kevin had my best interests in mind, but i tried to grow this boyfriend, and apparently this is 6X normal size...and he wasn't a good communicator.

we watched some sketchy documentaries about the white's of w. virginia...ouch. it was almost painful! but then to ease the pain, some fun youtube vids, which had us crying. and dinner was phenomenal-BOTH nights! kevin's artisan bread was melt-in-your-mouth!  both nights we played a card game that had us in stitches-any outside observer may have had some questions. how do we know i was exhausted? i may or may not have almost fallen asleep standing (leaning) in the kitchen...

ah, these scallops! the bread...the everything!!!

but after a good night's sleep, we were able to do a little damage at bath and body and old navy. when we stopped at a local thai place for lunch, it was hoppin', which usually is a good sign. so we went in, and received terrible service. asked for water and tea refills multiple times, and then when ju's tempura came out, it was more of a breadcrumb panko than the traditional light tempura. we tried to get a cohesive answer about this, but i'm not sure the lady really understood what we were trying to get to. while there, we were hoping for an awkward moment from this gentleman who walked into the restaurant with his ukulele, waiting for a girl. but by the time we finally left (without the water refill), he had yet to pick up the instrument in serenade-mode. oh well.

ukulele man

and of course, randi with her obsession, was able to stock up when we found her japanese nuts, and she didn't go overboard or anything...

we played our card game again that evening, and truly we all won because night elf, level 90 when everyone laughs, everyone wins. #puddinbane

our trip ended with brunch at max's wine dive. and i will say, the mac and cheese was a hit, and we stretched it out as long as we could, grabbing starbucks and chatting for a couple minutes before it was time to part ways so they could get randi to the airport and i could hit the road to be home before late afternoon to pick up the boys. i loved going on this trip, because there's something very special about seeing friends and hanging out outside of work-it just makes it more 'friend-y' instead of 'work-y.' as always, the best part was the conversation-always rich.

the drive home was great after austin, and it was a quiet night for new year's eve. but we rung in the new year (ok, we fell asleep early, and merely accepted that when we went to bed, the new year had started somewhere!)

i'm going to miss being close enough to just drive down every once in awhile! next up: several trainings to include abilene, kilgore, ft worth, abq, waco, lubbock, disd, orlando and amarillo...it'll take a minute, but we'll get caught up, hang with me!

julie

if i'd had the shooter marbles with me, i would've knocked the slow walkers over!

alrighty then, so wednesday, the girls all left, and it was very lonely going back to the hotel. culture shock...

i'm tellin' ya, it was rough.

 so i took a nap...because that's what you do when you're alone at a hotel in a foreign city. and i looked around and realized that julie k had lost her marbles...not really. she had found some shooter marbles the day before...which was strange, because i didn't know kids still played marbles! so i looked it up, to make sure there wasn't a new game out there, and i saw that kids were actually racking up debts playing marbles and stealing to pay their debts! WHAT?! so i am sending the marbles back to ju, with a warning to not play against those street kids!!

you can't really tell here, because there is nothing to compare it to, but they are bigger than they look.

so, back to the hotel...i got a text from jane, who was going to be doing the TX Success training with me the following day, and we met for dinner. she found a place that sounded pretty good, so we met there (it was about a half hour away from me, but the drive was good, so not a big deal). they had these special kosher hot dogs- a special for the big game! so i got the cleveland (not to support them, it just sounded more appetizing), and it was pretty delicious. we had great conversation, and it was decided that since it was such a small group, i would do most of the morning presentation-as far as the power point went.

we ate outside, because it was such a beautiful evening (and it was freezing inside!)

got back to the hotel, and watched the remainder of the game, which kept me up later than usual, as you all know. but i was vested now, in cheering for the cubs for julie's sake! what a nail-biter!! go team!

the next morning, getting up was a beast, but it had to be done! the regional center there is beautiful! the morning went off pretty much without a hitch. jane jumped in to add whatever additional points were necessary-i'm sure it won't be long until i hit them all, and she can just take a nap during that section...they did learn some new things, though, so that was good! and then in the afternoon it was even a smaller group, so it was like a round-table session. good times!

we went to the little heb for lunchy-type things, and i swear, on the way out, i don't know what people were doing, but they were in my way, and it drove me crazy! i mean to tell you, if we'd been walking any more slowly, i feel my blood would've coagulated...people walking slowly, me trying to maneuver around them without being rude, and saying something-pursing my lips together so tightly i think they may have lost all color-jane observing this, almost laughed, as they would start to move, then stop, then zig when i was trying to zag...it was almost as if they were doing it on purpose! oh. my. this is when my patience wears thin. and for real, heb, why you gotta' make your entrance/exit like a funnel? #notcool

once the training was over, and questions were answered, we bid each other farewell, and i drove back to dallas-and it was raining. most of the way, it was raining. traffic in construction + rain= exhausting drive.

but i had time to recuperate, so no worries. i did have to go in to the office to make more copies, but apart from that, i was home. and home is good. i don't think i did anything of consequence over the next few days. i mean there was this election thing, but apart from that...

up next, el paso!
night!
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

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