BOO!

I love Halloween. It means that I get to dress my little girl up and take her to see all the neighbors and friends and familiy! So much fun. This year I will miss 2 of my favorite tv shows (Standoff and House) but thats okay----Grace is going to be so adorable and the pictures will be precious!

Day care is having a Halloween party and parents are invited. SO excited to see Grace interact with all of her friends during the day. Its such a rare occurance that I get to see her during the day so I am takng full advantage of this time at day care with her.

I must tell you-----Grace is the most adorable little witch ever today! I promise pictures tomorrow.

A perfect weekend.

There is a wedding coming up so all the girls got together to tie ribbons on 300 ornaments. There was ribbon, wine, and girl talk for several hours. Perfection. AND no children! Even Supergirl, with the newborn SuperBoy got out by herself!! No major problems were solved and the world is not a better place for the time we spent chatting, but, wow---I needed that time.

After the ribbons were all tied and the wine bottles were empty, I headed to errands with 2 of the girls. Nothing like hanging out with 2 of your closest friends at Party City the weekend before Halloween (read MAD house!). We definitely sealed the deal on our collective Dorkiness when we found ourselves in Office Depot very excited about organizational tools (i.e. white board markers, binders, file folders, and all those other exciting things at an office supply store). Target was the last and best stop though---a bridal registry in hand and away we went! SO much fun!!!

Of course the highlight of the weekend revolves around the smallest friend-family member, Dylan. Nope--not one of the Girls but since he is just a baby, he counts!!! :) I miss those newborn moments so much so its nice to be able to visit Dylan and his Mom.

Friends over last night for dinner and, 6 bottle of wine later, I fell into bed happy as could be.

See----the perfect weekend. I needed it.

I didnt realize it until now but my last post was #200!!

And so, here is post #201................

Blah Blah Blah.

Got it? Good.

No, seriously. There is so much going on right now but I dont know what to write. Or if I should write about it. Strange, really. Normally, you cant shut me up but right now I feel so reserved in everything I say and do.

Yesterday was Hubby's birthday. While at dinner at my parent's house (we survived!!!), Grace opened a drawer and found piles of old pictures. Pictures of me and my siblings as children, my senior portraits, pictures of the weekend that my parents moved me into my dorm at USC. Some of them were immediately destroyed (admit it, we all went through an ugly phase and I dont feel the need to keep the pictures of it!) but some of them made all of us laugh. It was nice to look back a few years and realize that, even though most of my college memories are crap, there really is evidence that I had a good time and even some good friends.

I realized after looking at those pictures how much I have changed. Not just better haircuts (damn, I needed help back then!) but seriously, I have changed into an almost completely different person. If I say so myself, I am very proud of me. I also realized there are still lingering things I want to change. I guess life is like that----the old cliche is true----change is the only constant.

I have spent so much time in the past few years trying to hold on to things from the past, good and bad, happiness and anger. Maybe its time to just let go of them and live in my moment. Scary. The only thing I know is the past....how can I walk away from that?

Those pictures last night reminded me that even though its scary as hell to move away from the past and everything you know, its worth it. Look what I got last time I made this decision----a great husband, a fabulous daughter, and a life that, while not perfect, is mine and I love.

Where the Hell Was I?!

Seriously, I did not forget you----the past week has been one of those times when I simply needed to disappear from the world a bit.

Let's recap:

1. Conference is over for this year and I am going through a bit of withdrawl. Really. The "high" of being onsite at conference is so exhilirating that when its all over, I have a feeling of let-down; almost like a withdrawl from an addiction. Running around a hotel dealing with 1200 people for 15 hours a day becomes normal by the end of the week. Now that I am sitting at my desk for 8 hours a day, I am not real sure what to do with myself.

2. Things starting progressing with the house. Looks like we might actually own the place before Christmas----finally!!!! We are inheriting Hubby's childhood home and it has taken 2 1/2 years to get to this point when the appraiser comes in to figure out how much we owe on the house. Could be good news, could be bad news. But at least its news! Its stressful and frustarating and exciting. While I just want to know the outcome, at the same time, I dont want to know. There are too many "what if" questions that the entire process is so draining for me.

3. Took Grace to the doctor this weekend and had to do a neubulizer treatment. NEVER AGAIN! We had to hold her down so the medicine would get into her system. Now she is fine but only after 4 days of Baby Steroid medicines. Yep.....my baby was on 'roids for her allergies.

4. When baby gets sick, Mommy gets it worse. I have been laying around my house for 3 days with a sinus infection. Ever wake up and your head is too heavy to lift off the pillow? That was me yesterday. Now I am all drugged up on Sudafed and at the office. Oh yeah, and i slammed my finger in the hall closet door and can barely move it without excruiating pain!!!

I am a mess! But hopefully in the next few days, I can pull myself together just a little.

Conference Photos To Enjoy!

Here are some pics from Nashville that the conference photographer took. The first two will give you an idea of what I worked on all these long hours. Th e second two are proof that I do in fact have a damn good time at my job!

General Session happened each morning (4 times total actually) with 1100 people in attendance each time. No pressure, really!




The Grand Ole Opry event is action. How cool to sit on the Opry stage to during the swearing of the new Board of Directors!? After this presentation, we went outside for dinner in the Opry courtyard and back on stage to dance!

See look at me having fun!!! :)

This is most of the conference planner and hotel gang. Nancy (the one in white) had her birthday in Nashville and so we went on a progressive restaurant hop though the hotel. Yes, it was 1 am and yes, those are fabulously yummy adult only beverages on the table!

Me, standing on stage at the Grand Ole Opry at the very end of my conference last week. SO COOL! The circle of wood (see how the stage is a different color wood?): "That circle is the most magical thing when you're a performer," says Brad Paisley, "to stand there and get to sing on those same boards that probably still contain dust from Hank Williams' boots." Seriously one of the coolest events I have ever planned!!!!

Annoyed at all the Bitching!

I tend to bitch and complain about things when I am annoyed or frustarated or whatever. I just do. I try not to be totally negative all the time but sometimes I just am. Well, no more. I am sick of listening to other people's bitching so I am going to try to take my own advice and SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!

The staff at work has been back from conference for 1 week now. And yet, I am sitting at my desk right now listening to 2 of them complain about the cost of the stupid buffett restaurant at the hotel in Nashville. Oops, moving on to the next complaint---the view from their hotel room was of a parking lot. HELLO! You are working at the conference, not vacationing. Who cares what the window looks at if you are only there 7 hours a night to sleep!!?!?!?!?!!??

Not once have these particular people commented on how well organized conference was or how smoothly it ran or how we all managed a 1200 person conference with NO major problems for a week! That is an accomplishment. Nope. They are too damn concerned that their dinner buffett at one of the most famous hotels in the US cost them $22. If they didnt like it, then go to Chick Fil A so I can eat in peace damn it! Keep in mind too that the company we work for pays a per diem to all staff to cover meals not provided by the conference schedule.

It's only Monday morning......looks like it could be a LONG week!!!!!!

I am havng one of those days where I have no motivation to do anything!!! Personally, I think that since I worked so damn hard last week that I am entitled to a few days of nothing, BUT the boss doesnt think the same way. And so I am sitting at my desk, just sitting. Hey, I am here; that's all he can ask right now!

Yesterday, I stayed home with the sick toddler (who is fine today by the way---maybe she knew Mommy needed a day at home still!). Even though I got nothing done and had to clean up after Sicky all day, I realized how much I am missing. Granted I was away for 8 days but it seems like Grace has turned into a real kid overnight. I feel like I missed those toddler moments. I had no idea that she knew some of her shapes or that she could tell me what part of her body hurt. Or even that she knows the tune to "Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques"! I feel like it was just yesterday that I had a baby----not a newborn but a small child/bigger baby not a kid.

I just need to learn to slow down and enjoy the time I have with her. I wont get this stage again in my house so now is it. Time to get on the floor and play. Time to grocery shop after bedtime so I can be there for nighttime stories. And time to leave the office on time and not turn on the laptop at home.

Growing Up

Home today with a sick toddler. Throwing up sick. No fun for either of us. I can handle scrapped knees and bloddy noses and nasty diapers. But throwing up is not something I handle well, at all! Yet here I am today with 2 episodes under my belt.

Okay, on to more pleasant things.......

At the doctor this morning, Grace weighted 32 pounds and 40 inches tall!! On the way home, I realized that Hubby's carseat lists 38 inches tall as the max height. So now we need to buy ANOTHER seat for Hubby's car; now we need a booster seat because of her height. It makes me incredibly nervous though. Booster seats use the car's seat belt and it makes me terrified.....the 5 point harness just makes me feel better than the lap and shoulder belt of a car.

Anyone have a great booster recommendation? Any advice?

Toxic!

Conference is going perfectly. Well, almost. There are a few glitches here and there but nothing Earth-shattering or show-stopping. However, there have been some pretty funny moments in Nashville!

Here is a taste of them (excuse the pun.....you will understand after you read the post!):

Sitting in the staff/volunteer lounge on Friday, enjoying the Tuscan White Bean Soup (VERY GOOD!) and there were 8 or 9 volunteers sitting at the table directly behind me and the third party planner (let's call her Nic). Lunch that day was pizza, soup, salad, and assorted ice cream bars. One volunteer commented to another, just as she was getting ready to bite into her Cherry Garcia bar, "You know, the ice cream is a little soft now and bacteria--E. Coli--- grows in ice cream. If you go to the store and the ice cream is soft, they have to replace all of it in the store. You can DIE from it!" Oh gee, thanks for letting us know right before our first bite!!!! This conversation went on for 15 minutes. At NO time did any of the volunteers sitting all around Nic and I tap us on the shoulder and ask for us to get the ice cream replaced; a practice they knew we could handle for them. At some point, Nic decided enough was enough of that conversation and called Catering for new ice cream. However, NONE of the us (Nic, me, the catering manager we were working with) could get over the "Toxic Ice Cream Debacale of 2006"!

Meanwhile, down in the Exhibit Hall, the Boxed Lunch was going on. Well, there were 1100 people in there lining up for their sandwiches and chips. Due to space constraints, we couldnt provide seats for everyone but it was better than last year so we were okay......we thought. Tray Jacks were set up around the Hall for the dirty dishes. One attendee decided that was the PERFECT location for him to eat. When the wait staff came over to use the tray for its purpose---dirty dishes---at the end of this "gentleman's" (I use the term loosely!) meal, the attendee freaked out. Screaming, yelling, waving his arms all over the place, and demanded every email address available in the hotel. Once I got over to the "situation", I was trying to explain why the waitor did what he did (it was his JOB!), the man got mad and started yelling that I was insulting his intelligence, etc, etc, etc. And so, he has written a letter to the hotel management describing how unacceptable it all was. The next day, he saw Nic (she also insulted his intelligence!) and gave her a hug. Yes, a hug in the middle of General Session.

There are a ton of funny stories and stories that make me cringe. Overall, the conference was a great success! I wore a pedometer the entire week and my grand total of steps is 63,296, equivalent to 30-something miles. Yes, my feet hurt and my back hurts. But I should feel ALL better after the Hot Stone Massage scheduled right before I get on the plane to take me from Nashville to HOME!!!!!!!

Stranger Things COULD Occur....Maybe

Today was Travel Day for the staff. Once we were all here, we headed downtown for our staff dinner to kick things off. I choose a really great place to give us a Nashville flavor. It was a hit with everyone (good preminitions I hope!).

However, something strange happened tonight at dinner.....................

A higher "ranked" staff member ordered a drink for me........a drink called the Hoochie Coochie.

Is that wierd or is it just me?!

I Have Arrived

After 1 1/2 in security at the DC airport and then sitting on the runway for 30 minutes to pass the time by and suriving a chatty chatty chatty seatmate, I arrived at the Nashville airport, 20 minutes late. Only after the ride in the stretch white Hummer Limo did I arrive at the Biodome....I mean, Opryland.

And so I am here. I have a balcony overlooking the Garden. I am in the middle of the hotel so I can get to all the conference events pretty quickly. And the spa is just around the corner!!!

I will post this week. It will be random times and after the exhaustion of conference, they may not actually make too much sense. However, I will post.

WIsh me luck! Off to conference work I go!!!