3 months later...

Sorry I've been slow to update things here. I find myself boring and never think people will want to hear what I want to say.

Last time I posted I was heading to Oklahoma. That was a strange place. The owner/GM had such a small staff that he had to work the desk while I was training him. Good thing they weren't busy. My training room was in a tiny room that had been built for the Ramada mart but never finished. It had no door and the only light came in from the main lobby and in through the window and open ceiling of the tiny room.

Turns out the place is also haunted. I didn't believe the staff that told me this, so I googled it. Google is my answer to everything. I found a lot of search results for room 110 of the hotel. I'm glad they put me in 122, not 110. It seems housekeepers have been locked in the closet between the connecting rooms there and people hear noises and see a guy. Creepy.

After Oklahoma I thought I was going to have a few weeks off. I was being typical lazy me and putting off my laundry. My suitcase was still sitting where I left it in the dining room the night I got back. I'd been home for less then a day and a half when I got a call at 9:45 AM that I was going to North Carolina that day. I had about 4 hours to unpack, do my laundry, repack and get in a cab to the airport.

The people in Winston Salem, NC were awesome! They were all super nice and the managers took me out for some great meals. You know how I love the food. I went to the Old Salem Tavern with them one day for lunch and they took me and my support person to a place called the Cotton Mill the night before we cut over. They loved the food too, and they didn't eat cheap.

They wanted to keep me. I would have stayed if they had a place for me and if they could have afforded me.

I was home for almost a week and went back to North Carolina, this time to Charlotte for 2 weeks.

I was home for almost 2 weeks after that and got to spend some time in the kitchen again. I took my second stab at cupcake bites. My first attempt was a huge success for Kathryn's birthday (shown in the picture) and so I thought I'd make them again for our nontraditional Easter dinner. My brother in law couldn't say enough about them. He kept comparing them to the mushrooms in Mario brothers including doing little voices of them asking for mercy and not to eat them.

After all that I got to go to California. I spent about 2 weeks doing an install in Burbank, home of all the major TV studios and just a short drive from Hollywood. I had a blast! I spent my evenings going to LA and Hollywood being a tourist. The install went really well and on my day off I went to Disney Land!

I didn't have a lot of time there, I really wanted another day, but it got me thinking about how much I wanted to go back to Disney World. I went when I was something like 5 years old. We had plans to go again in '92 but that fell through and we've had 4 - 4 day passes sitting around the house for 17 years. I brought the idea up to a few people and with no convincing needed Andrew said he would go with me! I'd asked for time off for my birthday anyway, so we're going to head down to Orlando and use up two of those tickets. WooHoo!

Because of my time off I'm not working a lot this month. I'm spending five days doing support in Chicago right now and plan on swinging over to the Harry Potter Exhibition while I'm here.

Back on the road tomorrow...

...and I'll be back on the 28Th. I've been home more than I've been working lately. Since November 1st I've worked 56 days out of a possible 110. OK, so technically I've worked 50.9% of the time. Regardless, it's not good. I keep hearing that things are picking up and the schedule is getting full but I won't believe it till I see the money in the bank. I've had this one site on my schedule for a while. Last week I had a few others show up but they disappeared the next day. I had a few more show up yesterday but I'm not holding my breath that they'll stay.
I've spent the last week trying to figure where to go next. I applied for a few jobs online and sent my resume off to a few friends and family that said they would be willing to help me find a new job. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to quit my job today in hopes of a new job that I don't have yet, I'm just keeping my options open. One of my fellow road warriors/co-workers/blogger's put it best when she said she 'just wants to be a housewife.' I know I'm single and not even in a relationship (let alone dating) but the idea of being a homebody, cooking dinner, joining some sort of community organization or (gasp) a choir is appealing to me. In 12 years of work history I've never had a regular 9-5 job-with the exception of one summer job in college. A year ago I was eager to travel the country and today I just want to work near home and have nights and weekends free.
Well, I need to finish doing my laundry and pack my bag. I hate this part of the job. I've never been to Oklahoma, it should be interesting.

My guilty pleasures

I have a lot of free time lately. I was home for nearly a month over the holidays and have been home for a week from Arizona. I thought they were sending me back, but the hotel pushed their opening again and they had to send another installer because of scheduling conflicts. I spend a lot of time sitting around in front of the TV. It's been really cold here with sub-zero temps the better part of a week and a lot of snow. It's not the kind of weather I enjoy. If I didn't feel such strong ties to my family I would probably move to a warmer climate...maybe I'll be a snowbird. I'll have to ponder this.

Back to the point. My guilty pleasures. I became addicted to 2 shows in the last month. The first is Doctor Who. One night I was watching TV with the guys (this is my new name for Adam and Andrew, not to be confused with the boys who are my nephews William and Xander) and we pulled up the guide to see what was on. The TV had been on the Sci fi channel and an episode of Doctor who was on...as we flipped through the guide Andrew and i kept getting pulled back to this show we had never seen before and wanting to know what was going on. This put us on Netflix and we began watching the series from it's new beginnings. I kept watching in Arizona and since I've been home I am ashamed to say that I have exhausted the netflix watch instantly library and am now searching the internet for season 4 episodes online.

I have also become addicted to a reality show. I was flipping the channels in my hotel room one night and came across the new ABC show True Beauty. This is why I love this show. They don't know the real competition. They think they are simply in a beauty competition but really they are also being judged on how they are as people. I love seeing shallow people talking about each other, being rude and then being told they lost a beauty contest...but it makes me think...does me liking this aspect of the show make me ugly on the inside? Regardless, I can't stop watching.

Another thing that I like about being home? I get to see these guys. I love my nephews and they love Auntie Layli. I get big hugs and smiles whenever I come over. I should go more, but as I said, it's cold and I'm a wimp.



P.S. I joined Twitter today. It's a way to do quick short updates about your life and what you are doing. I added it to the right hand side of my blog so I can give quick updates via web or phone without doing a whole mobile blog post.

Coming home for a bit...

After a week in Arizona I'm heading home early. The hotel I was woking at was a new build and there was no way they were going to open this week. At first they might be able to make it later in the week-but they decided late yesterday afternoon to send me home. I was really looking forward to some free time in the Tucson area. I loved the mountains all around me and as much as they freaked me out sometime, I liked the cactus.

My flight left at 8:10 AM. I did not want to wake up...I had to get up at 4 AM to get ready, drive to the airport and return my rental car. As I sit in the Dallas/Fort worth airport it is all I can do to keep my eyes open.

I finished The Tales of Beetle the Bard on the last leg of the flight. I stopped at Hudson news and picked up the new Gregory MaGuire book for the next flight, but now that lunch is settling in I think I might just sleep.

The reason I started writing this post to begin with was to tell you about the sad thing I saw as I was waiting to board. There were several air force people on my flight. It seems they allow family to go with the military to the gate to say goodbye. There was a man with his wife and two young children saying goodbye, maybe forever...the older girl was around 6 or 7 years old, the younger still in a stroller...the older girl was crying and sobbing and the mother crying despite her efforts to hold it back and be strong. I'm getting tears in my eyes again just thinking about it.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Bring it on

2008 was a roller coaster of a year. I changed jobs. I traveled to 24 different cities for work in 2 countries and 16 states and provinces. I gave up my apartment and moved back in with mom to save money since I'm hardly home. I met a lot of great new people, some I'll see again, others I won't. Some I might not see again but will be in constant contact with online. I think I can say I have met true friends over the last 11 months, people who I clicked with instantly and who got my whacked out sense of humor.
The year also had some bummers for me...I gained a lot of my weight back, not all of it, but a lot. My cholesterol is high. The doctor says eat better and exercise more. How about exercise...to put the more there makes it sound like I exercised to begin with and I never really did on a regular basis. My love life was also pretty stagnant in 2008. I'm OK with that, but no one else seems to be. In the last week people I hardly know have commented on my single status.
So, my message for 2009-Bring it on. I'm ready for whatever you've got.

Christmas morning

This was the scene in the living room Christmas morning-before the carnage began. Mom and Kathyrn go a little over the top. I will point out that the 2 biggest boxes are from me and to me.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Home for the holidays...I hope.

I'm back from a month in Canada. I got back Monday morning after 12+ hours of travel and two 3 hour layovers. I had thought I was going to have to leave again today or tomorrow, but thankfully the site pushed the install. For now, I'll be home for Christmas, but that could change in the three business days before Christmas. I'm preparing like I'll be here. Adam and I went shopping yesterday, he likes watching me spend money, and we began discussing the menu last night after a nice evening with Juliet, Dave and the kids. I miss my nephews when I'm on the road and love the hugs I get when I see them again.
I'm keeping things simple this year. I got one big gift for everyone in the house and just one thing for each of the kids. OK, one big one for William split between me and Kathryn's boys. I've realized over the last year that I don't need much and I hope my family hasn't gotten me too much stuff. As it is the TSA questions the number of electronics in my carry on bag.
I'm feeling better than my last post and I appreciate all the kind words you gave me. I'm hanging in for now but keeping my options open.