Homeward Bound

Finally, it is the eve of my departure. I have been in Chicago since July 6th..non-stop, no breaks, no trips home. I am so tired of most of these people, save a select few. Imagine, you put 100 people in a hotel for three weeks...it turns into freakin Melrose Place. The gossip and rumors about who said what about who, who hooked up, who's husband just left them, who's in the closet, who's pregnant, who should leave their husband because he's abusive, how to parent children correctly, why people shouldn't consume more than two alcoholic beverages at one sitting in a work situation, blah blah blah.
We get to do it all again in October, although that will only be for a week, so hopefully everyone can hold their liquor and keep their pants on.
I am so ready to hop in my little car and head south to the sweet smell of fresh cut grass and a glass of wine on my deck. I want to get it on with my husband. I want to love on my dogs and prove to them that I do exist. And I want to spend a quiet morning at the barn with my horse.
Only one more morning of my hotel routine: wake up call at 6am, reminder wake up call at 6:15.
Hop in the shower. Hop out, pour a glass of juice. Stand wrapped in a towel while drying my hair and putting on my face, select an outfit that is cute but functional and able to deflect the Antarctic temps of the hotel meeting rooms. Down the elevator. Walk to the far end of the lobby where a breakfast buffet is set up for us each day. Decide if it will be oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins or bacon and eggs. Find a seat with the people I like. Start easing into the day with minor breakfast conversation. Betty or Lisa will swoop in as soon as I finish and take away my plate. I thank her and walk down the hall to class. This is exactly how it will go tomorrow morning. It will probably be the last day I have any structure to my morning until I return in October. I have found that I kind of like this structure and I may try to implement some of it at home. Who's going to give me a wake up call and whisk away my dirty dishes?

Hello, room service, in-room dining! Hello!

I am exhausted. But before you feel sorry for me, let me tell you why. I am back up in Chicago for more job training. The training has been pretty stress-free, just time consuming. Nothing like the last trip. This time I have to pretend to be giving the doctor my schpeil while a trainer evaluates me...for four different drugs...so I have to practice a lot and learn what I'm allowed to say and such.
I am missing home. Boo was scheduled to come visit me this weekend, but it really doesn't make sense from a logistical standpoint. I have to prepare for my next role play certification, we'd have to pay to board the dogs, gas (nuff said!), and money to entertain the two of us over the weekend. So, we decided he would stay home, save money, time and fuel. The dogs won't get bent out to shape, and I can be focused on the task at hand. But that doesn't keep me from missing Boo and my critters and my bed. I will be going home a week from tomorrow. Yay!
Right now my hotel room smells like black beans and rice, I have Baja Fresh trash in my room. I am tired of take-out food and living in a hotel. I do however enjoy the fact that my room is cleaned daily, my toiletpaper is crisply folded into a little point each day, I get a wake-up call everyday and my meals are prepared for me. :) I also leave wet towels on the floor and they are magically whisked away with fresh ones hung in their place.
Some of my counterparts are characters. There is a wide variety of people here from all over. Most of them are interesting and likeable...I hope I fall into that catagory for them. Although today I was a little testy so I mostly kept quiet and to myself.
The company threw a little reception for us in the lobby last night; there were crudites, fancy cheeses and chicken satays...and an open bar. So, being salesfolks, we're a pretty social bunch. After three glasses of wine, Allison and Carol began mixing vodka with crystal light water. I hate vodka, but apparently I thought it was a good idea because I had a couple of those. I was a social bbutterfly, mixing and mingling with people I didn't even know. Eventually I went to bed and woke up at 5:45am with a headache and a sick feeling in my tummy. Somehow I muddled thru the day, but as mentioned, I was not happy about it. So now, I am blogging because I have been delinquent with my blogs. My eyelids are being propped open with toothpicks and I am going to have to hit the hay. So, good night blog friends.

Hello Franklin Covey!

Gonna make a list for ya.

• I've been in Chicago for the past two weeks training for my new job.
• My new job is pharmaceutical sales; I've been working my ass off to break into the industry for five years.
• Training was brutal, but I felt triumphant at the end of the two weeks.
• I am home for two weeks during which I have two bridal showers (one of which I'm the hostess!), one rehearsal dinner, one wedding, 4th of July, two evenings planned with friends, one hair appointment, one dentist appointment, get the dog groomed, guests staying at my home for four nights, shopping for new work clothes, trying to find/see an new OBGYN, study for and take an entrance exam for another drug I'll be selling. Did I mention that I'm still working during the days?
• The guests are my brother-in-law C and his fiancee A. They are getting married July 5th.
• I have to leave to go back to Chicago on Sunday July 6th...for three weeks straight.
• Under pressure? Actually, I am scary efficient when this kind of chaos rears it's head. (Note the bullet points.)
• Oh yea, the new OBGYN...we're going to try to get pregnant starting in August. Ha ha! They say there's no good time, so away we go! Luckily I'll actually be home for most of August and September.

Flossy

When you grow up in a small town, typically, you have the same dentist and doctor that you started going to the first time you ever went to a dentist or doctor. I don't know how old I was when I first went to the dentist, maybe four years old? I don't know the rules about kids and getting to the dentist yet. So maybe I was four. Anyway, Dr. Huppert has been my dentist for some years now. Even when I went away to college three hours from home I had the same dentist. You know why? This is crazy, but Dr. Huppert actually had an office in my hometown AND the city my college was in. I think that is bizarre coincidence, but true nonetheless. It had something to do with the fact that his mother lived down there. Anyway...
I've grown up, gotten married and moved far enough away from my hometown that it doesn't make any kind of sense for me to continue going to his office. So yesterday I went with my husband (Boo) to his dentist. It was almost surreal. When the same guy has been humming songs and asking you open-ended questions while his hands are in your mouth since you were four-ish it's strange to meet the new guy. It was a strange dental tryst. But I think this is going to be a permanent change. The new guy is sweeping me off my feet; he's already scheduled a time to replace my old fillings with new white ones! He mentioned to Boo that Dr. Huppert should have replaced them long before now because they're breaking down. He's even talking about sending me off to get braces! His hygenists are so friendly! His wife is so nice! I thought everyone might break out into a musical number while we were there. I wouldn't have been surprised if a little animated bird had landed on my shoulder as I walked out of the office.
So long Dr. Huppert, you've been a nice dentist but things change. I'm gonna like it here!

Let it fly!

You'll be glad to know the little bird made it! It turned out better than I thought...I woke up on Saturday and went out to the garage with some hesitation. What if he died? I slowly lifted the towel off the top of the box and there he sat, dry and alert looking at me. Before I knew it, he shot out of the box and flew around the garage! After a few minutes he landed near the lawn mower and I leaned over him so he couldn't fly up. I scooped him up in my hands and walked out to the backyard. As my hands opened he checked out the scenery then flew up into a nearby pine tree. How about them apples?

Meanwhile, I've been a single girl all weekend while Boo is in Chi-town for a bachelor party. I've enjoyed my alone time but I'm starting to miss him. I went to the spa yesterday and got a massage and facial (had a leftover giftcard, woo hoo!). It was very relaxing and I never had the urge to fart. Nothing is worse than being in the middle of a fantastic massage when the urge to fart hits. What do you do? I always manage to sequester my farts during massage, but I always wonder how many times people actually just let em rip. Then there's the theory that it's natural and massage is manipulating your body and stirring everything up, toxins and whatnot...so why not just let it out? I'll probably continue to just sweat thru squeezing them back.

Birds and farts. That's why they pay me the big bucks.

Sweet bird

It's the middle of the night and I'm awake. I went with some girls to see the "Sex and the City" movie tonight. It started at 9:30 but the power went out halfway thru the show and it took some time to get it up and running again. Good movie btw.
Hellacious storms came thru tonight and by the time I got home to let the dogs out it was past 1am. The backyard was flooded. Mya (our little dog) found something interesting under a tree and bounced around it while it tried to scamper away. Well, it scampered right into the flooded part of the yard. Mya was right with it, so I went out in the yard to get her. As I got closer I heard the thing "peep" in dispair. It was a baby bird that had been stormed out of it's nest. So I waded out into the water in my sundress, pajama pants and flip flops. I scooped him up in my hands, lost one flip flop and was soaked to my knees. The dogs were bouncing around me trying to see what it was. I took him inside and patted him dry. He seems in good health and just shy of being old enough to fly. I put him in a box with a paper towel nest and took him out to the garage where he'll be warm and dry tonight. If he makes it thru the night I'm going to take him to a wildlife rehab tomorrow.
Boo is at a bachelor party, so I had this adventure in the middle of the night without anyone to share it with so I'm sharing it with you. I am hoping this little bird makes it because he sure is cute. I'll keep you in the loop.

Can't you hear the crickets chirping? Me neither.

It's one of those warm Indiana spring nights. Warm enough to keep the windows open over night. I'm sitting at the dining room table enjoying the night breeze coming in the window. If I lived in the country where I'd prefer to live I would be listening to to rural night sounds like crickets and the wind rustling the trees. But I live in the most congested part of the city and I'm listening to the the magical sounds of the freeway and ambulance sirens from the nearby hospital. So, all but one window will be shut before I wander off to bed. The one window will be the one in our bedroom so if anyone tries to climb in we'll hear them.
I am glad that we have a gigantic backyard. I did a little beautifying today. I accumulated several flower pots and finally put flowers in them today. It looks like Better Homes and Freakin Gardens on our deck now. I enjoyed getting my hands in the dirt and watching the dogs play in the yard. It was reminiscent of being in the country. Have I mentioned that I grew up on 40 acres of fields and woods in rural central Indiana? I left home at 18 and I've been a city dweller for most of the time between then and now. I'm not really sure how that happened.
I had an apartment in college, an apartment after college, a house in the city with my ex-husband, an apartment after my divorce, then a little house that I rented in town. Now a house in the city with my new and final husband. He knows I am pining for a rural lifestyle and he'd like to accomodate me but the housing market has us sort of biding our time. And our house isn't bad, I just don't like the location. One of these days I'll tell you all about my hometown and where I grew up. But for now, let's enjoy this mild spring night and the moment we have now.