Conference is going great! Thanks for asking.

So, here I sit.......working on my notes from the first day of conference, finishing my glass of wine, and wishing I brought a sweatshirt to my lanai right now (it gets chilly at night here!).

And 20 miles away, the fires are burning.

I worked a 15 hour day today so I havent seen the news in a few hours.....but I am getting reports from the web and the City of Sa.n Die.go. I know there are fires there and I know how bad it looks on tv.

Downtown San Diego is fine. The conference hotel is about 20 miles away from the closest fire. We can see the hazy smoke in the sky and, if the wind blows just right, we might be able to smell the fire for 2 seconds. But other than that, it is business as usual at the conference hotel. Today, the sun was shining and kids were playing in the resort pool. See the pics----took these today----no fire.....its fine here. The fires are not in downtown SD.

And everytime I look at my Blackbe.rry, 58 new emails arrive asking for status updates on the fires (do I look like a fireman!?!?!) and/or to cancel their registration cause they are watching the news and think the hotel is next to go up in flames.

So, yes, conference is going freakin' awesome.

I want to go home. Yesterday.

The Time Is Here

I blinked. Just 2 seconds ago, I swore it was August and I had months of time until conference. But no, now it is almost time to board the plane for San Diego. Oh but first, I have to attend my 10 year HS reunion, get my house clean so that it is still habitable when I get back from conference at the end of the month, and get Grace's bags packed for a few days with her grandma.

All this in the next 3 days.

Sounds fun, huh?

Nope. Not fun.

But conference is only a few days away. Once I am on the plane to San Diego, I will feel better about it all. At that point, I cant do any more for the events or meeting so I can sit in business class and just relax....until I land anyway.

And then the 16 hour days start.

TGIF

It is important that I post about nothing; about no heavy topics or thoughts or anything. My brain is mush these days since my plane to San Diego takes off in 9 days for annual conference. I cannot even measure the stress anymore it is so high. Auto-pilot has set in...go to work, get tasks completed in record time, rush through traffic to get to day care for pick up time, hang out with Grace and eat dinner, sit in the family room with Hubby and my laptop until 11 pm, go to bed and get up and do it all over again.

And so today, mindless fun.....I have 2 things for you:

1) My childhood buddy, Laura, had her baby yesterday. So cute! Here is the first pic available:

2) Last weekend, my sister and I took Grace to the Yo.uth for Tomo.rrow's Country Fair. We go every year but this year it was just the girls...no "stinky boys" as Grace would tell you. The silent auction at the Fair is always full of great stuff, mostly Redsk.ins items since YFT is J.oe Gib.bs' place. If you dont already know, I collect Ba.rbies....have all my life. And I won a new one at the silent auction.....such a steal....got it for $40 and the same Ba.rbie is listed on Eb.ay for $80-$150. Go me!!!!! Isnt she gorgeous!? HAHA---those of you who know me in "real life" know about my love of Burb.erry so this Bar.bie is perfect for me!!!

The Things Kids Say

How is it that at 3 1/2 years old, Grace knows EXACTLY what to say to make Mommy sad?!!?!?

Hubby and Grace called me this morning at work before leaving for day care. After the normal "good mornings" and a brief discussion about the virtues of cereal in a baggie, Grace said...

"Mommy....you not here. I sad. I miss you. "

It would have been less painful to stick a needle in my eye!

Back from the....Not Really Sure Where I Was/Am

Though I have been neglecting you, I have not forgotten about you.

Conference is only 2 1/2 weeks away and there is a TON left to do. Very quickly, I went from a calm-but-busy-yet-together attitude to the whatever-make-decisions-quickly-and-get-annoyed-easily mentality. There are things I dont like about this attitude (it sucks being short and curt with the co-workers in the office) but then again, the silver lining is that I am getting a bunch of things done quickly these days!

Today, for instance.....its 11AM. I have proofed, approved, and sent the Final Program book to the printers-a day early! I have taken inventory of 28 country flags and boxed them for shipment. And somewhere along the way, I managed to get 63 more registrants this week!

So, yes, I am probably going to be neglecting you a bit until the end of the month but I promise...at least a post every few days.

Here is a bit of catch-up on what is going on:

• Yesterday, I got to take Grace to the doctor's offce because she has eaten in 3 days and has a nasty cough. He says she is fine. Dont you love going to the docs, hearing him say she is okay and the cough will go away soon, and then handing over $20 for nothing!?!
• Grace recognized the letter A. I gave her an Al.toid (she loves them) and she held it up and said "Mommy, there is a letter A on my candy!". I had no idea she knew what the letter A looks like.

Thats all for now. I must go tape and pack my 53 boxes to send them off to San Diego!