missed it!

Yep, missed the connection and now I have no idea if my bag is here or nowhereland. Baggage claim is ridiculous!!!! It is five people deep at each claim stand and there are barely any bags!! Nightmare! Morgan agreed to get me but I have to get there soon or it will be her bedtime...ugh. I guess I at least get to sleep in my own bed but I bet it is crowded here tomorrow morning so it will be an early one for me!

Still having fun!

So I have landed in Atlanta, and it is only 10 and my connection is at 10:30 so I had a chance. HAD a chance cause we are now sitting here (probably about to be struck by lightning) and the engine is off and the minutes click by! My sister just laughes when I call her now. Oh well, just wanted to give you guys an update. Hopefully my other flight is delayed and I will be "that girl" running through the airport....all of you picture it and get a good laugh!! More later--the night is young!

Airplanes are fun...

So, I didn't have to give up my seat which means I do get $200 :-( I am on my original flight that got delayed until 7:15 (which was 15 mins ago). So now we are sitting on the plane delayed again and I have been on here for 40 mins already. They are being great by giving us water, telling us what is going on and stuff but still. I am also sitting at the window on a 3 seat row. The lady next to me smells like a grandma (what is that smell) and probably is one. She is also texting like a 15 year old. Weird. The lady on the other side of her is about 250 lbs and has to be dying cause it is warm on here (and no, that was not a reference to the lady who did die on a flight earlier this week).

So to sum up - no $200 AND I will probably miss the connection....oh well! Hopefully the one in the morning will be on time and Morgan is home cause I rode marta to the airport and don't want to walk home in the rain :-( if I miss my flight.


Take off time is now 8:15.

Do you guys like my new positive attitude? Overall, I think that the titles say it all :-)

Update on my situation

So, now my 5:47 flight is delayed until 7:15pm. I talked to the gate agent and he confirmed me on the 7:15am flight tomorrow morning so I will at least get to go then. In addition to that, I figured that since I was going to miss my connection anyway, I might as well get paid for it so I offered to give up my seat. I will get $200 Delta Dollars for that and will be in first class for my flight out tonight (also delayed a couple hours). Now that I am confirmed on the flight in the morning I am pretty pumped about the $200. I mean the flight to MB is also delayed I am sure, since they said that there are no flights going out of Atlanta or in right now, but that would mean I would probably get there until midnight and really, what is the difference between getting there at midnight and getting there the next day at 8:30am...not a whole lot...just sucks to have to ride marta back home but whatever. Funny thing is that the guy across from me talked to his wife who said it is not raining there...hmmmm...probably something in between....

I was smart enough to have all electronics charged and to have my blackberry charger and computer charger with me.

Oh, and before I forget...another tidbit from earlier...we were going through security (all 5 of us) and the lady in front of me was on a belt all by herself so I got behind her...then she proceeded to take FOREVER...the TSA lady said "you are a pro, huh" and I was like really, this chick just took 10 mins to do less than I did in 2. The lady replied "yeah, when you do it every week, you get really good at it" Yes, you would think, huh.

Some of you might ask yourself (or me) why I do this job when I always complain about the traveling....there are many reasons:

1. I am dating someone who lives in a different state, it actually makes it easier and cheaper for us to see each other. Plus, it is a good excuse for why we don't see each other all week because I can say "well, even if we lived in the same town I wouldn't be with him right now". Messed up a little bit but long distance relationships are HARD and you find yourself saying whatever you can to make yourself feel better.

2. I am single and don't have anyone that I "come home to" so it doesn't really matter where I am, I have the same interaction with people as if I was home. I do miss going to happy hours and trivia and stuff like that but no one really does that anymore anyway so I guess I am not missing it...I am just not doing it.

3. I like free trips...both the ones that I take to locations that I wouldn't visit for a vacation and the ones that I take with all the points I earn from my work travel. I have crossed off many states in the good 'ol USA since I started working with all this travel and it is sometimes fun to go to places that you wouldn't want to waste a precious vacation on, but that you would like to see. Also, got a free trip to Australia with work. I have also gone to London, Yellowstone and soon Greece absolutely free of charge other than taxes...that is not a bad deal. Craig and my sister Jenn have also gotten free flights :-) and I think that we paid $13 total for our hotel for a week in London when Dudley, Morgan and I went there and that was only cause we made a phone call about a shuttle.

4. I don't really like being in the same place all the time with work...I have never had a job where I went to the same office every day....at least not a real one since I graduated...being in a different place every few weeks is just all I have known and I like to meet new people and learn about different areas of the country and world.

5. Because I live alone I save A TON of money when I travel....my electricity is only $30 a month when I am in town..almost nothing when I am gone. Plus, I don't buy gas, food, paper products (as evidenced by my last email) use any water ,and don't make trips to Target. All of those things save me money. Money that I don't have spend on other people so I can save...all part of #6 below.

6. I want to not be doing this in 5 years. I want to enjoy it while I can, see the places I can, meet the people I can and then I want to "quit my day job" Hopefully it will happen before 5 years, but if not, 5 years is my goal. I want to do something where I am my own boss and where I could raise my kids and take vacations when I want to. Life seems too precious to be tied to "the man". I don't want work to live I want to live to work. Cheesy but I think I could do it. I am not as gutsy as Molly is to just quit. I am too logical for that, but with a plan I think that I can do it. The photography thing seems to be going well, and thanks to Drena and her book recommendation I think that I am going to try some real estate investing and I am still determined to learn that darn stock market.

Plus, I like to write to you guys and complain but really I am pretty calm in the airports and I am always nice to people until they are mean to me. Even if I think that they are stupid, I am nice to them....I have learned that they can make or break you when you are stuck somewhere and their power should be respected. I also know what they are and aren't allowed to do from experience and will definitely politely call them out if they try to lie to me :-)

Next up will be my hotel advice for occasional travelers...sadly, it will probably be later tonight because I think that I am going to be here for a while....

Yay for traveling!!

Fooled you! I am now leaving Fort Lauderdale to connect through ATL (cause all things Delta go through ATL) to get to the beach. So, first flight is delayed to the point where I will have 18 mins to make my connection. You guys want to place bets on whether or not I will make it? And, even if I do will my luggage?? So, second one should be delayed, right? Nope, that one is on time.

Check in here was a nightware...one of those check in guys that is not nice, takes his job way too serious and causes everyone to be delayed. The bad part is that he will probably be over here to work the gate in a second. When I checked in there was a message that my flight is oversold and they need volunteers and since they have a 7:15 flight tomorrow morning and I could get paid to bump my seat and since I will probably miss the connection I am considering it. Problem?? No agent at the gate, of course. Good thing I am connecting through home and not some random city!

Other entertainment? I saw Barbie and Meathead have a public fight on the shuttle bus on the way over here. Meathead even got a talking to by the driver. Apparently their flight was in 30 mins and she made it seem like he was to blame so he was mad at her cause she told him to get out of the way and he did. Yeah, it didn't make sense to me either. Gate agent is here, long line!! Glad I am number two. I kind of wish I hadn't read all the blogs earlier cause now I will have no entertainment. Hmmmm. More later!

Weird South Florida Allergies

So apparently I might not be sick again but just might have some allergies to something down here. Apparently when people move here or visit from other places they get the same sniffly nose and stuff that I have. The funny part is that I feel high as a kite right now on cold medicine. Last night I thought I was sniffly (it didn't start until then) because of the pants from Craig's house so I took a 24hr Claritin (it was all I had because the rest of my allergy medicine was at his house). Then this morning I still didn't feel well (though I slept fine) so I was talking to another guy that was here and he said his doctor told him to take the Claritin-D down here so he gave me one of those...I still had a few hours left on the other Claritin and then I had some diet coke with caffeine for lunch....so, yeah a little in the clouds! I was supposed to go to dinner with the Controller and they other guy working there tonight but I just didn't feel up to it...I have to repack and there are toiletries spread all over my room from the lotion explosion. Sucks cause I really didn't get to see much of Fort Lauderdale but at the same time, I think that some rest would be good for me. I did discover that when I am outside the sniffliness (it is a word) is better so I opened the window in my room...that makes me start to wonder if it is something in the air conditioning...hmmm.

Anyway, not much else going on here...I feel like I had a lot of things that I wanted to blog about earlier today but now I can't remember any of them...maybe I will think of something later tonight. Right now I am trying to decide what to order for dinner...I think that I will stay in tonight and try to get this last client's pictures ready. I might be back later...

Exploding Lotion....

Yep, that is what my lotion did in my makeup bag...awesome! It is yellow VS lotion too so it sort of stained the inside of my makeup bags which sucks but it is soakin the sink right now with hopes that it will all come out.

So I got up at 4:30am today to catch my 6am flight out of Dayton, connect in Atlanta and then come down here. I was a little worried because one of my employees had her flight cancelled on Sunday and then delayed yesterday but all went smooth. I used my mask to sleep on both flights and I am sure that I snored on both of them.....but at least they were both on time...now if I can just make it to the beach on time this weekend I will be thrilled!!

The work here isn't really going to take as long as I had thought it would so I could have stayed one more day in OH, but I didn't know that.

We had a lot of fun this weekend going all over the place. I got there on Friday and still wasn't feeling 100% so we decided to just hang out and watch Long Way Round and relax. The show is really good and I love Ewan McGregor in it! They are doing another one that is called Long Way Down that premieres this week...you guys should check it out. They basically rode around the world on motorcycles in the first one and in the second one they are riding from Great Britain to Africa. It is so cool because they stop and meet people along the way from all these different walks of life and even though he is a famous actor he is so sweet and humble with these people. It is just really sweet to see that side of an actor. We got pizza at Marion's which is my favorite pizza place there. Their website explains it all...the place is as simple as the website and you can only pay with cash :-), and then sort of went to bed early. I will fill you guys in on the rest later because I want to actually include pictures and stuff and since I only have one client to go for editing and none from this last weekend, I should have time to go through normal pictures...I am very excited to have some time to get my normal stuff done...it looks like I will have another to do list to make.

All of a sudden when I got to my hotel room tonight I had a really stuffy nose...ugh, I just got done being sick so I am hoping that it is just because I got up so early and I am wearing the pants that I wore at Craig's all day yesterday when the kitty was climbing all over me. Let's hope. The other guy from Corporate did say that his allergies bothered him whenever he comes down here so that could be the problem too...as long as I am not sick again!

By the way, I have reached an all time low with my Starbucks crack addiction....I am now looking online to see if there is one on my way to work tomorrow...gosh, I am sad. I need it!!!

third time is a charm!

Arrived 2 mins early!! I feel like Delta and are in one of those relationships were the girl just won't leave the guy because every time after they have a big fight he sends her flowers at work! So Delta is back in my good graces after our big fight the other day! (I seem to fight with a lot of nonreal people/things).

Third time is a charm???

This is my third trip to the airport this week and so far,so good. I have 40 mins until my flight, and so I don't jinx it, let's just say that my flight is not not going on time. Hopefully that confused the powers that be.

Fun discoveries/observations:
Having a suitcase that has 4 wheels instead of 2 is really convenient until you get on Marta and the train stops and no matter what way your bag is facing it is going to roll! It was a good thigh workout because there are many stops between Midtown and the airport!

I stood through security for 15 mins with my scond section of my backpack wide open and no one mentioned it. Also not sure how it got open but nothing was missing so who knows.

There were two of the tannest 15 and 16 year old brother and sister standing in front of me at security...I think that they were mini bodybuilders as well...seriously!

The guy standing in the line next to me had on pants that were so tight that there was NOTHING left to the imagination!!! They were dress pants and it made me wonder if the ladies at his office talk about it.

A guy in line went to the bench to get his stuff all situated and then passed a bunch of us but didn't have his crap together so he had to go through 4 times. So much for sneaking by! If you are going to pass at least do it fast, right?

Somehow it poured and stopped between the time I got here on the train and when I got to the gate 20 mins later.

The lady sitting across from me has gone through every ringtone in her phone 5 times...please make her stop! Oh wait, she just found the chicken noise she was looking for so she is done.

I think I prefer these small planes cause they load you up so fast! The plane before us was late but 10 mins later it was boarded and is leaving! Sweet!

Ok, actually boarding on time....it is going to happen, I can feel it!! We might sit in line for a while but hopefully it won't be too bad!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Singledom at its worse....or is it at its best...

cause it doesn't matter. Here is the inventory of paper products and essentials in my house....no paper towels, no napkins, 1/4 roll of toilet paper, 1 kleenex, and 1 little soap thingy for the dishwasher. I am also out of peanut butter (or will be when I finish my dinner). Um, I think that I need to go to Target....good thing I have no husband or kids cause I would be the worst mom/wife ever to leave them for 10 days like this...

Positive....

Well, I didn't know my travel post would create such a stir, but maybe everyone is just bored today :-) Anyway, I feel like a lot of my posts have been negative and I don't want to be a negative post so I am going to try harder to be positive. I will admit that it is extremely comforting to me to write those ranting posts when I am stuck in airports and to know that you guys will read them and give me a little perky comment back to entertain me but I don't want it to seem like that is all I am about...considering moving to another blog or something so you guys don't have to read it here. So, what is on my mind today? I am still really tired...I feel like I have been up until 2am for the last two nights ....oh wait, I have :-) I am going to a clients house in a little while for some newborn pics....I am excited because her pregnancy shoot was fun. I did call and tell her I was on the tailend of a cold so if she wanted to reschedule then I would but she said it was cool..I hope that it goes well....and then I am going to go to sleep early tonight after I pack. On another positive note...traffic was great again today! I rode Marta to work cause I didn't want to take a cab all the way to Corporate last night and then drive home and that is where my car was but I drove home and there was no traffic...so awesome..people must be on vacation or broke or something.

So, when I got home today I saw a cleaning person van in the parking lot...I am seriously considering calling them..I know my place is small but geez if I have time to clean...or want to make time I guess. For those of you that have them....what do they clean exactly? Surely it can't be too expensive if I only have 4 rooms, right?

And, tomorrow while waiting at the airport I am going to start my first book on my list from the 101 goals that you guys suggested.....it is from Drena. "how to build wealth one house at a time" I am considering buying a rental house so it is probably a good book for me to read :-)

Not much else...I will check in later after my session.....hopefully I will be watching the tour tonight :-)

My visit to VA Beach....

So, my visit with Terah…..let me first say that when I was going to do this at first I thought that she was an hour and a half from the airport and then it was 2 hours to my hotel….I was a little off. It was about an hour and a half to an hour and 45 mins to her but then it took me 3 hours to get to my hotel….yikes.
When I got there John Franklin was asleep and Kory had gone out to get us Five Guys (yeah, and I wonder why I might not be able to fit into the bridesmaid dress much longer) . Terah and I got to talking. We talked about photography and John Franklin and just sort of caught up. It had been a really long time since we had seen each other for more than an hour and gosh knows when the last time was that it was just the two of us so it was nice. She is also one of those friends that I have to beat over the head to keep in touch with me but when we see each other we fall right back into the same conversations (maybe cause we spent every day together my last year of college). Kory got home and we had lunch and then it was time to wake the monster. I say that very affectionately and because when he got downstairs I wanted to hold him immediately and about 5 seconds into it he started crying. Granted, he had just woken up but I always have babies that have just woken up when I pick them up and they never cry immediately…I was afraid he didn’t like me because as soon as he was back with Terah he was fine..ok then. We moved to the living room and I was flirting with John Franklin so he would let me hold him…and boy was he flirting back!! He would smile and giggle and all kinds of stuff and FINALLY he let me hold him and play with him. I will say that after a while he was wearing a nice cologne of spitup and drool….yucky, but I loved on him anyway. The rest of the day we sort of just hung out with him and played. I tried to take some pictures of him….posted the one already but I will post some more soon. I was using all manual settings in her living room and they didn’t turn out quite as well as I had hoped L John Franklin was definitely different from my niece in that he would get cranky for no apparent reason (though I am sure that he had one that I didn’t know about). It was sort of funny because Terah and Kory are laid back so you would think that he would be calm but he just likes to whine or something……he is super cute, don’t get me wrong, it was just sort of funny because he would appear to be upset and to whine but really I think that he just enjoys whining. Listening to Terah’s pregnancy stories and the first few weeks of John’s life though make me glad that she is not the only person I know with a baby. She is definitely a strong person…stronger than I think that I would be…but then again, that is why babies are so cute, so you don’t give them back! (neither she nor John were ever in danger, she just had a rougher time than most that I know with her pregnancy. ) I had a good time and I was really glad that I got to meet the little one…I hope to see him again before he gets too much bigger..did I mention how HUGE this kid was???? A pound more than my niece who is more than twice his age! His little feet look like those gloves that doctors use that they blow up for little kids at the doctor’s office….so cute, I tried to get a picture of them so I will try to share.

Home

I finally got out at about 10:20pm and landed around midnight...ended up having three seats to myself and slept the whole way hom.e I emailed my boss and said I would be in late so I just woke up...horrible cabbie on the way home too...whatever, I am going in to get my meetings done and then I am going to leave early to get some rest and pack for my weekend...I think that I will work from home tomorrow too and I am seriously considering talking to my boss about a 4 day work week when I am in town. That way I could at least have one day to myself.

Travel is not normally this bad but the last two months have been horrible.....the industry is definitely declining. I know they can't help weather delays but they can help how they handle it and switching us to 3 different gates and giving no updates is not the way to do it. My coworker didn't land in Atlanta until 3;30am and Delta told her they were cancelling all flights out of Newark today to catch up...what the heck? No other airline is doing that...they lost her as a customer..she said she is going to use up all her miles, go on a trip that was already planned and then switch airlines...unfortunately that is happening with a lot of people. The weather is one thing but when you see every other airline going out except Delta you have to wonder why they don't go too. I already have a couple flights scheduled with them and I do like the skymiles but they really need to get it together :-(

No flying today and sorry about all the traveling posts...I do fly to OH tomorrow and I hope that no drama is involved!! We shall see!

I'm freezing!

It is so cold in this airport and yes, I am still sitting here! It is now 2.5 hours past my flight and there is a rumor that we will not get out until at least 11....good thing I rode Marta huh...gonna take a cab home. To top it off my phone is about to die, my blackberry can't pick up a signal anymore and it is pouring here. On the bright side I did get a full client edited and I am hoping to get some more done. The biggest debate I have now is whether I should give into the bladder, pack up all my stuff and go pee or if I should just let the guy next to me watch my computer and take my purse with me to go pee...hmmmm.....I think I might try to go back to Wendy's to use their counter if we are going to be here forever.

So, they just made an annoucement that concourse C (mine) closes at 9:15...what does that mean? Does that mean we will not get to go? I am not sure....anyway..

I broke down and decided to pay the $8 to get the internet at the airport...it is the least that my company owes me for the fact that out of the last 28 hours I have spent 11 of them in an airport. My coworker who is stuck in NJ and I are trading stories...how sad is my life right now???

Anyway, when stuck last night I wrote some blogs so I will post those next and then check everyone else's and hopefully by then I will know what is going on....not looking good though.....LOTS of rain...I just wish they would call it cancelled so I could go sleep!

it isn't just me

Just talked to a coworker trying to get out of Newark and Delta has cancelled all flights from Newark to atl and just Delta did this. All other airlines are still going!! Luckily she got on a Continental flight. I am seriously considering switching to Continental in the future. I still get the miles but not as many delays. My flight is still only delayed 20 mins so here is to hoping. More updates asa we go so if you don't like the travel updates stay away from my blog for a while :-(

Hope all is well with you guys!

i made it

Last night I got to my hotel at 2:30am!! Luckily I slept on the plane. Honestly, I don't remember th plane ride at all! I am back in the airport and delayed again! I did snag a seat at a counter so at least I can edit.

And no, Drena, no travel budget. I got that in audit but now it is just built into my pay (they need to up it). I do get the miles and I am going to Greece next year and so is my sister on my miles. Sometimes it is not bad but I guess that isn't interesting so I don't write about that. It has been bad lately! Hopefully today will not be that bad. I think if I can get a good night's sleep tonight I might kick the cold!

by the way.......

The latest delays have been waiting for crews from other flights (why does it have to be a specific crew?? Won't anyone do?) So now everyone in the terminal claps when they get to the gate. Ours just showed up and they bowed. I wish I could be amused at thie point but I can't. I am also hungry again and everything is closed. I thought the atlanta airport never closed!

still sitting here

Funny how none of you mentioned that if I wasn't feeling well I should sit in an airport for almost 6 hours now (I got here too early cause traffic didn't exist cause no one can afford to drive but my flight was supposed to take off 3 hours ago), then hop a flight that will not get in until at least 1:30 (if we still go), and then get up at 7:30 tomorrow to sit in training all day just to get on another plane home in 21 hours from now......yet that is what I am doing!!

By the way, who is the Donner family Molly?

traveling fun of the day....

What happens when you don't feel well, want to sleep and definitely don't want to fly? I will tell you, you go get a sandwich, eat it, go to the bathroom and come back to find out that your flight is delayed an hour and a half. Sweet! I was supposed to leave at 8 and get in at 10 so now it will be at least 11:30! Awesome. They actually have no idea when it will be because the plane is coming from Savannah and actually turned around to go back....great! I will just keep repeating "I will be in first class, I will be in first class." I had planned on editing on the plane but now I have time in the airport so I will sleep on the plane. Things are not looking good and I have training at 8am tomorrow.....UGH. And I feel worse. I thought if I got some good sleep tonight I would be ok but it doesn't look like that will happen now :-(

Not feeling well and broken shoes.....

Did you guys miss my travel stories on a Monday morning...no fear, I fly tomorrow, Wednesday and Friday so there are still plenty of opportunities for me to have some fun stories this week.

I don't feel well today :-( I hate not feeling well....I have a little itchy throat, and this is how it always starts out. I always try to tell myself that I might have just slept with my mouth open the night before but eventually I will have to give in because other symptoms will start :-( I am too busy this week to be sick...tomorrow night I fly to Baltimore (got upgraded to first class) for some training on Wednesday and then I fly back right after the training and then on Friday I go to Ohio. We were going to do a little weekend trip in Ohio so I want to be healthy for that too. I also have a newborn shoot on Thursday and I don't want to be sick for that either.

So, the broken shoes....I have not had good luck with shoes lately. Normally when I pack for work trips I only pack oIne pair of shoes for work (to save room) and then I make sure all my outfits match the shoes...not too hard with lots of black shoes and black pants. Well, on Thursday they broke...they are little strappy ones so one of the little straps broke..not a big deal because there are tons of straps so I just cut off the rest (ghetto I know, but I had to make it through the day). No big deal cause I worked from my hotel on Friday and wore flip flops to the airport. Well, yesterday we had a shower for Jennifer in Roswell. Since I have been out of town so much I just planned on going to the store on my way to the shower...left in plenty of time...as I am walking into BB&B I feel something weird with my heel of my shoe and thought I got it stuck in a crack in the sidewalk..nope..heel completely broken off. These were not stillettos either..they were cute little sandals with this little flower on top and a low but thick heel...sounds tacky but they aren't. Well, now I am screwed..no time to go home and no time for shoe shopping...I am walking around BB&B with one heel and one no heel shoe...it sucked. Bought my present and took it to the counter to have them wrap it....which took literally 15 mins...what the heck? She put so much tape on there that the present could have literally been wrapped in just tape....no paper needed. By the time she is done I have 3o mins to get to the shower that is 28 mins away...crap, broken shoe! I luckily had on a sundress so I ran into Old Navy and found the best non flip flop shoes that I could....it would have to do...I made it to the shower on time thank goodness but I was not happy about the shoes...who has two pairs of shoes break in 4 days? I guess that neither of them were high quality or anything but they were cute and I have a hard time finding good shoes for work because I often have to walk really far in them (airports) and like to be comfy...so if anyone knows were to get some cute shoes, please let me know.

Other than that the weekend was busy, dinner and drinks with everyone Friday night...there were 15 of us and Jimmy was in town so that was fun....3 sessions on Saturday and a wedding that night...it was UGA people (I didn't know them) so I did get to hear the fight song a couple times but it was outside...not sure if any of you remember the temp on Saturday but 90s is not the weather I would want to have my wedding outdoors in....oh well...more about the sessions and wedding on the other blog....

Sunday was pretty chill....just the shower and then I spent the rest of the day catching up on my editing from last week and watching the tour....it was a good day for it yesterday.

Ok, I am going to relax (and that means not exercising even though my pants are getting tight....I am not as good as eating on the road as I thought I was but I have to get this under control before I can't fit into my sister's bridesmaid dress) so I don't get any sicker..if you guys have any home remedies, let me know. Craig says I have to sleep but I am not a nap person so I am just going to try to go to bed earlier than my normal 1am!

More sketchiness...

Today I decided to try and get in another exercise session with Al. The guy from the other day was gone yesterday and not around today so I decided to go for it. I started out down the desserted sidewalk toward the convention center they have here (with no one ever at it). I figured that I could walk around the parking lot and the building to add a little distance and keep from having to go up and down the same road a few times. As I was getting to the center a Police SUV pulled up and then went to the back of the side and parked...I thought that was weird but oh well. I kept walking...then I went up the road and back down again to make one more round around the center and the SUV was still parked there...20 mins later. As I got around to it he pulled out and then waited. I thought that he might say something to me but he didn't and once I passed him he pulled out and drove off. I guess he was waiting to get a call and didn't want to waste gas.....

Other than that, not much going on here. I was going to try to go to DC tonight (I think that it is about an hour) but I wanted to get all my photos edited because it stresses me out to have them hanging over my head. I am going to have to come back here for another week and since I will be at the beach the weekend before I won't have any sessions to edit so I am going to go one night that week...of course it has been sunny every day this week and it will probably rain that week but so is life.

I am watching this show Hopkins...it is like a real world ER show and it is so sad. Terah was telling me that she watched it and cried during every episode. I watched it last week but had to turn it when they were shoving a girl's teeth back in her mouth but since Terah liked it I decide to give it another try. She was definitely right, when they brought in the 2 year old that was all of a sudden so sick that he needed a heart transplant and his parents were questioning how they didn't know, it was so sad. Good news is that they just found a heart for him (guess he didn't have to wait as long as Denny on Grey's) so hopefully it will all turn out.

Back to editing......

Quote of the day

As seen on a bumper sticker when I pulled into my lunch spot.

"I may be fat, but you are ugly and at least I can diet". Hmmmm, now if I was ugly because I was fat, wouldn't I be able to diet and solve the probelm too?

And, Meghan is the anytown,usa winner. They have all the stores she mentioned except Ann Taylor (have the loft) and Books-a-Million.

My little Bulldog....

So, I went and visited Terah Kinser Defore on Sunday and promised you guys some pictures...unfortunately clients come first but I had to share this one....this is pretty much how I think the kid felt about me :-) I called him Bulldog because he sounded like one when he was breathing and because he is 4 months old and weighs more than a pound more than my 9 month old niece!! I will share more photos later and tell you more about my visit, but for now, enjoy!

I think that Starbucks has crack in it...

and as Zachary would say, crack is whack....

I have had this theory for a really long time. It just seems odd to me the way people flock to it and when I have been on trips with Dudley and Morgan they seemed to point out one whenever we saw one (including in London). I thought it was sort of weird and, not being a coffee drinker myself, assumed that Starbucks put some sort of crack in their coffee to get people addicted. A couple years ago a friend of mine introduced me to the chai tea latte at Starbucks and it was love at first sip! It is exactly the kind of taste that I love! Then I found out that you can buy the mix at Target for less than the price of one drink at Starbucks and you could mix it yourself at home. You guys know me, so that is exactly what I do at home and for 5 months I was home all the time! Then when I started traveling I would go to the actual store to get one every morning for breakfast.....and now to my point......the last two nights I have craved this latte at night....what the heck? This never happened to me in at home, but I have been on the road for almost 6 weeks now and at 5 a week I think that the crack is getting to me and I need more....I haven't actually give in yet, but I just find it so strange that I crave it at night....another fact to support my theory that Starbucks has crack in it.....

Anyway, no cardio today but I am about to try to grab a picture of the sun setting behind a cornfield...it is sort of on a major road and has a no trespassing sign on the gate but I think that I can park nearby and walk and not have to go in....the sunsets here are pretty......not as much pollution so you can actually see the sun set. I noticed this field and the sun the other day but I didn't have my camera with me and no time to get it before the sun went down. Yesterday, same scenario so today I planned ahead! YAY me....if I get one I will post it later but I have a knack for missing these shots so no promises :-)

Scary run....

Since I am really trying to exercise on the road I have been taking AL out in the evenings. My hotel this week is down a long road that is lined with a ton of chain stores and has sidewalks all along it. It is the road I walked on yesterday. Past my hotel is the road and the sidewalk but no development yet so it is pretty empty of life. I decided that since today was my shorter run and I had to get a higher heart rate, I didn't want to go the way of all the stores and have to stop at all those lights, and I was going to on the undeveloped part. I start off and at the sidewalk in the hotel next to mine I see a random guy walking...he looked sort of sketchy and I am not one to get sketched out easily, but you know how you just have that feeling sometimes? I walked past him and sort of looked sideways to make sure he wasn't following me. I get to the next light and take a right because he is gone. There is a truck that is slowly down and staring at me...and again I feel weird. I watch as the truck waits at the light to make a left and I keep going but sort of watching. I notice that they do not take a left but instead make a U-turn and come down the side of the road I am on...now I really feel weird. I decide that I just don't feel comfortable so I turn around and decide I will just do the treadmill. As I do I see the truck turn around again so they are now coming back toward me..again!! Freaks me out but I get to my hotel road at a point when it is too late for them and they keep straight. I run back to the hotel, past the dude who just appears to be hanging out at this other hotel...weird. As I get back to my hotel I notice a guy about to go running that looks normal and since I really don't want to do the treadmill I decide I can follow him. He isn't wearing headphones so he would hear if I screamed. He looked at me sort of weird (since I had just come back from running) but didn't say anything...we ran back past the sketchy dude and then he was way in front of me (runs faster than I can) and was off. I decided to turn around and come back to my hotel once again...I had some stair exercises from the personal trainer that would keep the heart rate up! I passed the sketchy guy again, this time sitting on a tree near the hotel...so weird. When I left to go out to pick up some dinner an hour and a half later I saw him walking on the sidewalk near the hotel about 10 feet from where he was earlier...I decided that if he was still there when I got back that I would mention it to the front desk.....it was just weird and there is nothing over here except the hotels and he wasn't exercising so it seemed as though he was probably up to no good....plus he got a good look at me like 100 times. When I got back though he was nowhere to be found.....hmmmm. I did finish my exercises on the stairs and got the heart rate up just as high! I also did the fitness test today and I improved by 1 point! YAY!

Anyway, that was my night....the day was not as exciting and it looks like I will be back here again cause there is no way I am going to finish 6 months worth of recs when I haven't even finished the first one yet! YIKES! Oh well, not a bad town to be in and the location personnel are nice...that is all that matters.

TV Shows

Did you guys know that 90210 is coming back??? I will be interested in what it is all about. I used to love the original, only to be replaced by Dawson's Creek! Ah, teeny soap operas, I fell for them every time. I remember that Donna and David's wedding was during the premiere of Dawson's Creek my freshman year of college and normally the whole hall watched 90210 with us in our room and there was a huge debate about which to watch. My roommate wanted to watch 90210 but got out voted. We did flip back everyone once in a while for her :-) Gosh, with this and the NKOTB concert this year, I am not sure how this will be that different of a year for me than my earlier days..hmm

I am also pumped about the new season of Big Brother..it is a great show for travelers cause it comes on so many times a week. I totally get addicted! I wish the Biggest Loser would come back because I love that show too!

And, finally, for those of you who like CSI Miami and all of Horatio's one liners..here is a video for you. I don't know how to put the videos so you can watch it within my blog but if anyone wants to tell me how I will do it.

Ok, enought procrastinating and back to editing!!

fat pants..

Apparently I needed to pack some! I put on a pair of pants that fit really well when I wasn't traveling and probably on the skinny end of my closet and they are pretty snug!! Uh oh, I didn't pack extras, but I guess it really is a good thing and just reinterates the need to eat healthier while traveling. I set some goals for the week which I will not bore you with but hopefully that will help. I am literally in anytown,usa. Literally! I drive a mile and a half off the exit to get to my hotel and I think that there is literally every store you could think of either on the road I turn off of or the one my hotel is on! I seriously challenge you to think of one that is not there. Anyone who does will get a prize!! (I still have the prizes from being cheered up that one time but haven't made it to the post office yet. I promise I will)

Quote of the day....

This was on my starbucks cup this morning...the one that I waited for 15 mins for and almost missed my plane for....who knew that the airport would be so crowded on a Sunday morning...anyway:


You can learn a lot more from listening than you can from talking. Find someone with whom you don’t agree in the slightest and ask them to explain themselves at length. Then take a seat, shut your mouth, and don’t argue back. It’s physically impossible to listen with your mouth open.
-- John MoeRadio host and author of Conservatize Me.

I love watching The Tour....

de France that is....I know you all know I love Lance, but now there is a new cutie on the scene....Kim Kirchen...doesn't hurt that he has a cute accent, is on the American team (though he is not American) and is in the lead.....

Anyway, I am trying to sort through all my sessions from the day...4 of them today and that is tiring, but I am trying to be ready so that I can get the editing done quickly and get ready for another busy weekend next weekend. I like watching the tour because it is interesting to me to learn about the cycling and to see the teams work...it also amazes me how fast they go and how small those wheels are!! Plus, it is a little like the Olympics in that they do lots of backstories and the announcers are British .....who can't listen to the British for 4 hours?

I went to the personal trainer again today...it was my first time without Dudley and it was pretty hard...I am going to set a couple of goals for myself for this week while I am out of town..I seem obsessed with goals lately and can't get anything done without making a list...sad! I like to blame it on the fact that I am in a different city every week, sounds good, right?

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! I am leaving again tomorrow morning...this time I am going to Fredericksburg, VA for the week, but first I am visiting Terah Kinser DeFore in VA Beach and meeting John Franklin :-) I have seen pictures and he is cute...of course I have only seen three pictures since he was born...Bad Terah, so I will be sure to post some for you guys after the weekend..from what I could tell he has some beautiful big eyes so I want to get some pics of those :-)

Made it home and here are my answers...

Do you use the shampoo in the hotel? Nope...it dries my hair out...so unless I forget mine I don't use it or if it is really good but I think that even the "good" stuff is cheaper versions of it.
Conditioner? That stuff makes my hair like straw..I can hear it squeaking when I comb it and it takes twice as long...my hair tangles easily so I need the real stuff.
Do you take it with you (either for yourself or to donate)? Yes, I have started because my boss's church collects them to give to battered women's shelters and other organizations that help people get back on their feet.
Do you trust the alarm in your room or get a wake up call or use your cell phone? Sadly when you travel as much as I do you realize that there are only really 3 different alarm clocks used by hotels with one being in 85% of the hilton brand hotels so I trust the alarm clock....
Do you use the hairdryer they provide or do you bring your own? I trust them to have one and actually sometimes it is a decent one....they have real ones that aren't hooked to the wall and that are 1875 if you can believe it.
Do you iron your clothes in the hotel? Yes, I iron my clothes every day at home...it is my one anal attribute so I do it in hotels too...usually all the first night for the whole week so I don't have to do it each day.
What thing do you forget the most? Toothbrush by far, but I have forgotten undies a lot too!
Do you have them clean your room every day and if they do, do you reuse towels or get new ones? Well, obviously from the previous post you know the answer to this one...
Do you ever swim in the hotel pool? Nope, unless it was on vacation but not ever for work...I would do it for exercise except they are so small! Maybe when I start working on that triathlon goal...
Do you use the workout room? Yes, I do a lot. I have gotten better about going outside but sometimes there is nowhere to go outside so you have to do something.

Travel update....

Apparently it was just the flight that I was on that got delayed so I was able to switch my flight to 1pm instead! They let me do it for free too, so once again they found their way back into my good graces :-) (for now).

Hopefully all will go smooth!

Travel Woes

So, it is 8:45 and I just got a call from Delta that my 2:40 flight has been delayed until 4:15.....that SUCKS...you know that if it is already delayed that much it will only get worse. I can't believe that they did this 6 hours before my flight...you know how they always wait until the last minute, so the fact that they did it so early has me a little worried. You know, I used to stick up for Delta and flying through Atlanta..all that hometown pride stuff but lately I have become REALLY annoyed with them. It seems like all my flights are delayed all the time and I used to be able to tolerate for the free miles and the free trip but now that isn't even the case....and little did they know, that is most of the time why I continue to fly them....because the experience (minus the damn delays) is better when you have some medallion status. UGH...I have stuff I needed to get done tonight too..I have 4 sessions tomorrow and I am leaving early Saturday morning so I can visit Terah in Virginia and meet John! (Very excited about that).

At least the Boston airport has free wifi, so if you have entertainment....you know where to send it. I can't decide if I should leave at the same time I was going to or wait...I am sort of scared to wait cause the guy next to me just told me about a time when they changed his back to the original time and there is a lot of time before the flight, plus, the traffic is going to get worse....Friday afternoon in a major city!!! I wish there was a kinkos nearby, then I could at least print up the shower invitations that I was going to do when I got home!

Catching up and weird hotel habits...

Tonight I met up with my cousin and we went to Federal Hill for dinner. It was really yummy and I think that I definitely ate too much!! It was really good to see her because it has been two years (since Alyson got married) since I have seen her. We grew up 800 miles apart but we always had fun when we did get to see each other. She had been through a lot since the last time I saw her and I think that we have lots of similarities so catching up was a light in my otherwise sort of frustrating day. Today the training definitely went better...my employee is very smart so she caught on quickly and once we made it through the first project and was able to finish another one and start a third....it was really nice. I think that I have just been feeling a little down lately, and I can't really pinpoint why...if someone reason this blog from start to finish they are going to think I need therapy with all my mood swings :-) Also, after talking to her I realized that my sister's wedding is coming up fast and I need to make sure I stay the size I am or my dress is not going to fit!!! It fit perfectly before......

So, just a little thinking about hotels. As you guys know, I try to do my part with the environment and part of that is that when I am on the road and in a hotel, I don't need them to change my sheets and towels everyday. I don't do that at home so why should I do it on the road? Normally the only way to do this is to hang the do not disturb sign on the door....and they should, well, not disturb.....right??? Hmm, so while I was in Albany (my second home for a while) I would put the sign on there every day and then when I would come back at night there would be a letter that was put under my door. It said something to the effect of they check the rooms every day for guests' safety. Ok, I get it, just in case I was murdered in my room or something, you want to find the body before it rots, but what if I really didn't want to be disturbed? I guess that is what the little top lock sort of thingy is for....
So, when I got here, I did the same thing, put my sleeping, do not disturb on the door, hung up my own towels and 'made' my bed (I don't move when I sleep so it just involves folding the covers back up), and didn't worry too much about putting away my person computer, ipod or extra hard drive. Tuesday, all went well. Wednesday, they apparently decided that my room needed to be cleaned regardless of my little sign on the door so when I came home yesterday they had cleaned it and given me new towels. Ok, didn't ask for that, and again the sign ignored. Today I got home and there was a bag of laundry items hanging on my door...more towels, shampoo, conditioner and who knows what else. I have never had that happen before but I thought it was weird...how dirty do they think that I am? This got me to wondering about other hotel habits:
Do you use the shampoo in the hotel?
Conditioner?
Do you take it with you (either for yourself or to donate)?
Do you trust the alarm in your room or get a wake up call or use your cell phone?
Do you use the hairdryer they provide or do you bring your own?
Do you iron your clothes in the hotel?
What thing do you forget the most?
Do you have them clean your room every day and if they do, do you reuse towels or get new ones?
Do you ever swim in the hotel pool?
Do you use the workout room?

I have found that I have a routine that I do at every hotel I go to ...sort of weird, but I guess I have to do it to keep me sane! It stresses me out way more when I go out of town for just one day instead of a whole week. Just curious what you guys do.

Sleepy...

I feel drained! My new employee is really sweet but it is just draining trying to train someone and do your own work! I don't feel like I have too much to talk about...not horror stories with travel (thank goodness) and no kids and no creativity right now. I brought my camera here but I haven't taken any pictures and I only have one more night..maybe I will do some tomorrow.

Watching Baby Borrowers...sad I know! I would rather be watching the Tour de France but I don't have that channel here so I have to just check it on the internet. I know a lot of you think I am nuts for watching it and don't understand the strategy but just like anything else, there definitely is one.

So, I responded to the message from the ex...kept it simple and just said "yep, it is me, how are you doing?" He wrote back with a timeline of his jobs and the fact that he is married with a daughter and due to have another one in September. Just makes you think about the people you have dated and how different you life would be if you had stayed with them. I think that it also sort of makes you realize how you really weren't right for a person (or them for you) but how when you find the right person, everything just seems to fall in place. He had moved like 3 times in the last 8 years and all over the place and I just can't imagine that he would have ever done that if I had asked him to....course he didn't do it for his wife either, he did it for his own job but still. I am a little jealous because sometimes I feel very left out of the whole having kids thing....I am around it all the time..with my family, with my friends, with the two girls that sit anywhere near me at work. The reason I think that I feel left out is because I think that I would be ready to have kids now....of course not in my current position but just in general so it isn't like I am all "yuck, why would you want kids" and so when you know you are sort of ready (if you are every ready) it is hard to be around it all the time. That said, I know that things will all happen for a reason and all that good stuff, but a little part of me was a little jealous that he has a daughter and another one on the way...silly I know.

Sidenote....on Baby Borrowers they are showing toddlers and how the have accidents and they blur out the poop...what a weird thing to blur out..not that I want to see it but still. For those who don't know, it is a show where 5 sets of teens have to take care of babies for 3 days, toddlers for 3 days, preteens for 3 days, teens for 3 days and then elderly people for 3 days....it is to show these 18 year olds that they are not ready to have babies.....last week was the babies and this week is the toddlers....hence the pooping....that brings up something else....when George Carlin died his stand up was on all the time and he has this bit about words the bleep out on TV and one of them was 'fart' I thought that was weird, but then I can't think of a time when I actually heard it on TV...can you?

Enough rambling! Going to check the tour.

OMG

Remember how we were talking that one day about boyfriends that we had no idea where they were???? I said I ddidn't know where the guy I dated for like 4-5 years and then broke up with was.....well, thanks to you that encouraged me to get on Facebook, he found me...not that I care that he found me or anything but it is just weird...what do you say to someone you haven't talked to for like 8 years but you dated for 4? I don't know....he is married now as I think we discovered at the UGA/BAMA game several years ago when I saw him and was EXTREMELY drunk....I think that was the day that I drank a double bottle of wine by myself...of course it was like 9237493792 billion degrees out so I sweat most of it out but there was definitely some left. Anyway, I just thought you guys would like that...and what the heck do I say? I took this blog off of my profile in case he was going to read it...he can't see my profile unless I friend him, right....ugh, I am such a Facebook virgin....where are my pros?

Frustrations

In my second hotel room for the night....the first one was TINY and didn't have a desk so I changed rooms. I feel like I should take Al downstairs and work out but I got up so early this morning that I sort of doubt that is going to happen.

I am frustrated and it is related to business but I will vent here since it doesn't give specifics.... This week I changed hosts for my website because my brother in law has been using the new host for YEARS and since this is what he does for a living they know him and they were going to give me 10 times the space for the same price..awesome, huh. Well, when we switched it messed up everything with my proofing album software and my email. Now, if this was a slow time then it wouldn't be a big deal but I had three clients who haven't had their pictures uploaded and several that were trying to order. I like to get everything up and edited in a week....I feel like it is best to get the pictures done when the parents are still excited about them and in a reasonable amount of time. Luckily with Zach's help I figured out the email thing on Sunday but couldn't do the proofing site on my own. Today Zach spent all day with the guy who owns the software trying to get it to work and finally thought he had solved everything. Tonight I go to upload those pictures that I haven't been able to and they won't upload!! Ugh....I contacted the guy and hopefully we can get it resolved soon but with training my new employee I don't get to spend a lot of time doing personal stuff during the day so I am not sure how I will check tomorrow...it has me frustrated because I feel like I can't deliver the product. I also have 4 sessions this weekend and I don't want to not be able to upload those next week...people are only patient for so long, you know. Hopefully it will all get resolved...Zach is really smart and the guy who owns the software is quick to respond, so here is to hoping! I just feel like when you have your own business it is all on you and you have to make sure things go smoothly and I sort of feel like they aren't right now.

I had fun reading everyone's blogs! They are like crack to me and I get so sad on the weekends when there aren't as many posts...glad everyone is back and not on vacation anymore and stuff!

Remember that Seinfeld episode where

He argues with the rental car place because even though he had a reservation, they have no cars. Welcome to my world. I am sitting outside of Avis with about 20 of my Avis preffered members and even though we are preferred and all had a reservation, it is 20 mins until they have any cars. Somehow I think that the Seinfeld humor would get lost here with these guys. The funnier thing is that when they pull the cars up they are all washed. Umm, i could use a dirty car, it would make it feel more like mine at home!

I am starving cause the breakfast I ate at 6am is long gone. I successfully slept on the plane the whole time and woke up to screaming high schoolers as we landed (safely so not sure about the screaming). I figured that since I just woke up and since I hadn't had one I would get my latte. No dice....Starbucks was out and it was the only one in the whole airport...what?? Hopefully my car will be ready soon so I can get something to eat. Oh well, at least the breeze is nice.

Monday travel

Nothing too bad today, I have an 8:40 flight so I got here at 6:40 whic means I got up at 5:30 and I am not a morning person. At least I have a window, remembered my ipod and my mask to sleep. The thing that I see ruining this trip is there is a big group of high schoolers on here and they are surrounding me and loud!!! I hope the ipod drowns them out and at least it is better than a screaming kid (I think).

I cant believe it is 8:30 and I have been up for 3 hours!! I know some of you do this everyday but just imagine if those of you who do stayed up until 1 or 1:30 and then did it. That is the time I normally go to bed so 5:30 is too early.

This dude in front of me is probably 17 or 18 sitting with two of these high school girls
And he is literally too cool for his shoes!!! Apparently he know all card games and probably knows the one the girls are trying to show him cause he is that cool. He also travels around the world taking pictures with his phone. These poor girls are trying so hard to include him in their game and he is sort of an ass!!!

This trip is to train my new employee and I think that it could get interesting, but hopefully it will just go well.

I am off to nap

Oh and by the way.... His AWESOME game that he is going to teach them is rummy... A way cooler version of course (though it sounds just like the one I know so maybe I am cooler than I thought).

Happy 6th...

Since I missed the 4th :-) Craig ended up not getting here until 3am on Thursday night...traffic was really bad for him along the way and it took him longer than it ever has. I felt bad for him cause he was exhausted when he got here. I had actually fallen asleep on the couch watching Into the Wild but as soon as he got here we went straight to bed...I had to get up in 3 hours to do the Peachtree. Since my mom was doing it with me and had a 70,000 number, I was not in any sort of realy hurry to get going in the morning. My mom got here around 6:30 and we went to wait in the long line for Marta..I should have gotten them the night before...oh well. We lucked out and right after we walked down to the train a Doraville one came. Now I am not sure if any of you have ever tried to ride Marta the morning of the Peachtree but it is ridiculous!! I really didn't even have anywhere to hang out and just sort of had to train surf the whole time (which really makes you notice all the nooks and crannies of the track cause they make you tip and fall). We got off and started the trek to the starting line and our coralling area. We made it to almost the starting area by 7:25 so not too bad...too bad we had to wait until time group 7. We actually made a quick stop at the porta potty and since it was right between group 6 and 7 we snuck into group 6 which had a start time of 8:22am..the winners were already done! I had joked with my mom that we could watch the winners come by my street and then go to the beginning to start our race..I am pretty sure we could have done it this year but we didn't. The race went pretty well for us...I haven't really run since the half marathon and not much before that so I wasn't expecting much and my mom was about the same. We ran/walked the first three miles and then we walked the rest of it since it was all up hill. We did pretty well. The new ending was straight up a hill which my mom was none too thrilled about. I felt fine walking but her knee was really bothering her so it made it sort of difficult. I actually liked the new structure of the ending..you didn't walk as far for t-shirts and the line was shorter once you got to them. All in all a good experience....though the over a mile walk home was a little tough after we had already done 6 miles. I actually wore Al through the whole thing and in total, with the race and the walk back I burned over 1000 calories...SWEET, bring on the cookout!!

After the race my sister, Zach, Ariyana, and Richard came to join Craig, mom and I for a cookout. This was Craig's first time around Ariyana and wasn't sure what he thought cause he was pretty quiet all day....she liked to give him funny looks and climb on him. He was also the only one who would give her the remote and pick it up for her every time she threw it on the floor. Later on he said that he doesn't normally think that babies are that cute because they all look the same but that he thought she was really cute and had good facial expressions.

That night we went to Morgan's parent's place to watch the fireworks without all the hassles and noise. It was actually really fun because we could see the Lenox, Stone Mtn, and Decatur ones along with tons of little displays in between.

Yesterday we were pretty lazy and slept late, then we went and looked at the car that I really want!!! It is so darn cute but I have a hard time justifying a huge purchase like this right now....but then again, I always have a hard time justifying a huge purchase so I never do it. After that we walked around downtown and took some pictures...there were TONS of people out. Craig left this morning :-( The visit seemed so short, as it always does. Sad. I am going to try to go and see him in a few weeks because my boss said she didn't mind me working from there so hopefully that will work out.

Not much else going on...I switched hosts for my website and they switched it faster than I thought which caused all of my albums and email to go down...ARRRRG.....at least it was a holiday weekend and maybe there weren't people trying to log on. It is just frustrating....hopefully Zach will be able to get it all fixed up for me after the weekend....

Hope everyone had a fun 4th!

Anticipation....

Craig is on his way down here. I am sitting here waiting. The last few hours are definitely the hardest. He is driving because he likes to drive and he doesn't like to fly. I know that some of you think that this is crazy and sometimes it is definitely inconvenient but that is what he prefers. I have learned that you love the people that you love because they are who they are...if you start trying to change them then they aren't who you loved to begin with. Anyway, I talked to him an hour ago and he wasn't feeling well and he said the traffic was sort of bad. He was only going 60 in a 70 zone and was in the middle of nowhere. Waiting here is hard. When he would first come to visit I would call a couple times (or a hundred) and check where he was and stuff but I think that just makes it worse so now I just let him call me. I just get so antsy and I don't know what to do with myself. I try to fill the time with other things. Today I went to the personal trainer at 6 to take up some time and now I am going to try to catch up on all my editing....I also need to take a shower because I stink, but that is only going to take up so much time....then what? UGH!! So, for everyone who is not already drinking, going out of town or just has a life, ENTERTAIN ME!

Surely 104% isn't good, right?

Or am I just a wimp? Today I wore Al for my second personal training session and it was sort of tough at one point. I have to say that even though I sweated A LOT today, I did feel like it was a bit easier than last time. The one thing that was so hard was this long massive hill that we had to run up. Dudley said she had never made it all the way to the top running and that she normally had to stop but today she did just fine! We go again tomorrow....

On another note...what is up with these TV shows?
Greatest American Dog
I Survived a Japanese Game Show
Baby Borrowers (was going to put the link here but apparently NBC's website is down so I will add it later.)

I really hope those writers don't go back on strike because I need some normal shows again!

new website...

I know I haven't posted on the private blog in a while but I need some suggestions...if you read it, check it out and let me know your thoughts!

Having employees are hard!!

So I got two new seniors under me at work and boy are they work!! It is not really their fault and I don't want to reveal too much in case anyone I work with ever found this, but let's just say that if any of you want to have a drink or 10 then I have plenty I could tell you. In the meantime, and to keep it light, let's just say that having two employees that are not located in the same city as you or the company they work for is really a complete logistical nightmare. I spent my entire day today doing administrative tasks! I had to track down a paycheck that one employee never got, find out where their computers are two weeks after I requested them, find out how they need to fill out expense reports and when they get paid, and set up work for them and then answer questions about it. Like I said, none of it their fault, but with all the meetings I have gone to lately I have gotten a little behind in my own work and instead of being able to catch it up I had to get all this done. I am actually extremely excited to get them and once I get things going it will be great because I will be able to hand off some of the work that I am doing to them and I will be able to develop the department more. Today was just a rough day for admin stuff...I also had 4 time and expense reports to do for myself and those things take forever. Whew...I can't wait to do nothing this weekend and we have been told that we can leave at noon tomorrow...I think that I will take them up on that!

Goal #33

My goal number #33 is to have a blog that makes money. I need some ideas for topics. I had some of the following but I am not so sure how interesting they would be:
1. Financial ideas (don't really know about this anymore)
2. Photoshop how-tos (this would be simple stuff but I think that there are definitely beginning photographers who could use easy tips)
3. Photography tips for regular people (meaning you have a point and shoot and some pets or kids or take trips and want to get good shots) but I am going to try to do this on my photography website.
4. City reviews (I travel a ton and usually spend at least a week there and could give insight to business travelers not so much the tourist stuff cause cities are so different when you are just working there).

Any of those sound good? Any other ideas? I am not the best writer but thought it would be fun to try...

Update on baby in first class....

Never figured out if they paid for it or not but actually discovered that the guy sitting next to me was also the baby's "daddy". That's right, for the slow ones out there...two daddies. I am not sure how you guys feel about this but I have to say that I am all for it. They looked so happy and they were absolutely adorable with her. They were switching her off so I got to play with her a little bit and they had a ton of stuff to entertain her. She is going to be a year old on the 4th...how cute. She was really smart too! He would ask her where her foot was and she would lift it and then he would repeat it and kiss her foot.....then he would ask her where her hand was and she would lift that and he would repeat and kiss it. It was adorable and the two of them were so cute with her. I know a lot of people don't think that same sex couples should be able to adopt but I don't know that many of them have ever seen a couple in action. These two guys couldn't have possibly loved this little girl anymore and I learned that in a 4 hour flight. They loved her so much that they passed her back and forth because they wanted to hold her and share her. You have heard me blog about parents who were horrible with kids on planes and here is this couple who was so AWESOME with their little girl. Why does it matter that she has two daddies? I don't know the circumstances behind how they got her and didn't think that it was appropriate (obviously) to ask, but I like to pretend that something happened to her real mom that was out of her control and that this couple got her and will raise her to be a loved and smart little girl. Do you ever wish that you could get an update on someone you flew next to? I do...this would be one of those times.

Speaking of which, I saw the guy I rode next to on Sunday at Starbucks in the airport today...weird.

here we go again...

I got upraded to first class again! Sweet! The guy next to me seems nice, I have a window, and we have our own TVs!! Double sweet! I do find one thing odd...the guy across the aisle has a baby with him, in first class, with a carseat which I would think you have to pay for! I am sure you all love your children dearly (or will if you don't have them yet) but buying a first class ticket for your 9 month old?? Hmmmm. I hope she is a good flyer like Little Miss Charlotte! I am just happy that I can edit as I fly because I am behind and I have to clean my condo when I get home cause Craig gets here on Thursday night late and my place is a diaster!!!