Another week bites the dust

Its hard to believe how fast his year has been going I mean April is right around the corner. I just checked out the prices for my favorite campground maybe we can hope down for a weekend in April. March has been nuts guess it could be called

Had to travel on weekends which I don't like but its not something I could avoid. Thankfully its almost over.

I had a fun dinner with Ms Jin and JDC in Florida at our favorite Restaurant Bowled in St. Petersburg, FL. If your in the neighborhood you have to go and check it out. The foods amazing.

For a change this weekend we have a full social calendar. Thursday night I got home in time to grab a movie - saw I am number four at the IMAX. Not bad a movie guess they are trying to take on Twilight without the Vampires. Last night hubby and went out to meet up with one of Hubby's fraternity brothers and his wife. We ended up having a great time no surprise to me :). We are even talking about going down to our favorite campground together.

Tonight I am heading out to celebrate Hen's night with my English friend who after almost having given up all hope for true love, found it and is getting married this Spring. I am so excited for her, i like her beau - and not its not because he shares Grumpy's given name - and am thrilled to see how happy she is planning the wedding and their future together.

I wont be able to party to much as I am heading out early tomorrow to Buffalo, NY for the week.

Well better make some food before i polish of the rest of the 2 cookies Ms Jin had given me for the trip home.

busy busy bee

Things have been nuts so far this year lots of change lots of drama. After 8 years of working with the Au pair program as LCC I have resign. It was a pretty sad day for me especially since it really wasn't what I wanted to do but given what was asked of me it was the only option. Day job has been to nutty lately with lots of 60-80 hour weeks. More of that here. Lots of changes a lot of them good its just that they increase our already high workload. I like doing a good job and with all the things we are now required to do it is nearly impossible to do so even if you do work 80hs a week. Hell I have yet to finish my January contact reports and here its March. Well I better finish this post and get to it.

I am heading to Tampa tomorrow hopefully I'll get to catch up with Ms Jin and JDC while I am there.

Gee January is not yet over and I broke the post at least once a week resolution already missing last weeks post. In my defense the week was nuts.

It started with a 3am wake up call on Monday to head to Wheeling WV from there it was off to Buffalo after i finished in Wheeling Tuesday afternoon. The drive was interesting started of with rain as I headed north switched to freezing rain, hit some heavy fog along I-90 by lake Erie and then snow toward Buffalo. I worked crazy hours all week in Buffalo - the weather was awesome freezing cold and snow. I had to dig out my car every day :) Yes I loved every second of it.

Since i had to be back in upstairs NY Monday I stayed the weekend instead of going home for less than a day. So Saturday I went up to Canada to hang with Julie and to give my charity contribution. Yep cut off all the hair its currently on its way to Locks for Love to hopefully make a nice wig for a child some day.

Sunday I hoped back on I-90 to Rochester where I had dinner with a friend before watching the Steelers beat NY at the hotel. While no football fan as a wife of a die hard Steeler fan it was my duty to watch and text comments to Grumpy during the game.

After working Mo-Tue in Rochester it was back to Buffalo for a day and then finllay heading home Wednesday night. One of these days I'll have to have Grumpy film the greeting ritual that goes on when i get back from these trips. The puppy fell all over herself trying to say hello.

Since i am driving to Florida next week the baby will get to come with me. I can't wait this way i got someone to fight over the blanket with :) I'll get to hang out with Ms Jin and JDC too and they'll get to meet Boo.

So now its past my bedtime. Grumpy and I went to see Green Hornet tonight in 3D but it wasn't much to write about.

I think I left my Brain at the hotel ..

So if you a linked to me on Facebook this is the status update you just saw




I seem to be scatterbrained today. First the stupid car keys then the computer.

So i am not getting home till after 1am tongight which totally sucks as i have so much crap to do with my mom coming Sunday, us leaving next Saturday. Nevermind the part were work is trying to test my limit as if I am not busy enough my boss "volunteered" me to help someone which in this case entails in me doing a site visit in St Louis for them - where a site all of a sudden enrolled a ton of patients. I need to be there at least 4 days just to do a basic review. ARRGGGGG. Here goes my hope that next year will be a little calmer.

I am so looking forward to our vacation next week. All inclusive resort (including BOOZEEEEE) I am so not leaving the bar that's built in the middle of the adult only pool for the week we are there. Bought sun protective clothing so i wont burn :)


Alright lets see what else i can forget till I get home

NYC

Grumpy and I had a good time in NYC it was nice not to travel alone and he enjoyed playing tourist. I uploaded the pictures he took and a few i had take with my cell to flickr here are a few of the best shots

Lady Liberty

Brooklyn Bridge - Grumpy walked all the way across while I sat at a starbucks working

Timessquare

Empire state building

Law and Order fans - recognize this building?? Yes that is the courthouse you see in the show.

We had an awesome anniversary dinner at Uncle Nicks - one of the hells kitchen restaurant on 9th Ave. IF you like greek food you need to try it plus the Sangria was sooooo yummy.

A cold, a mouse and lots of work

Those are the reasons why I haven't been around the blog sphere. The cold came on last weekend and I have been miserable all week. I am slowly feeling better still coughing. It didn't help that I had been gone since Monday and just got back last night. I didn't even bother to unpack my bag - my room in vegas is more of an appartment and has a washer/dryer so I am going to do my laundry there on Sunday after I get in. Yes you read right I am leaving again Sunday till Friday. Poor Grumpy he has to be by himself again for a week. I do think he doesn't mind it too much because he can have the control of the remote control and eat seafood while I am gone.As for the mouse - well Cleo killed one a couple of weeks ago and Grumpy went ahead and set a trap behind the faucet since he saw a mouse runing along the wall there. So I walk into the kitchen today to fix some lunch when I see this blur - I look and there is a tail hanging out of the trap - twichting. Well that killed my appetite. Called Grumpy so he could come home and get rid of the dead mouse as I was not going back in there with the tail still hanging out. The good thing about his new store is that its right around the corner so he actually did come by quickly and got rid of the thing. My appetite didnt come back until dinner time.

Well I better get some stuff done around the house. I have Au pair things to deal with all afternoon tomorrow and 9am Friday is when I head toward the airport.

I am kind of pissed that I dont get to enjoy my pretty roses. I realized half way to Charlottesville that I should have taken them with me so I can enjoy them in the hotel - maybe my cold would have been better had I got to look at them. But no and by the time I get back from Vegas they will have passed on :(

Speaking of Grumpy - he got to go and see his Steelers play the other week - took a bunch of pics. So look for a post with him being the ghostwriter.

Home and gone again

Yes we made it home after 53HOURS!!!! I ended up having to leave again less than 36 hours after getting home - got this sweet rental car - the new Mustang convertible. Sweet ride I didn't want to give it back. I had hoped I could get another one when I got to Vegas the next day but no such luck - they gave me a Hyundai Santa Fe.
Grumpy should land soon. I am still busy so the poor guy may have to take the shuttle to the hotel. We hope to go Jet skiing on Lake Mead tomorrow afternoon. And then maybe catch a show and see if we can make it to the Grand Canyon. We head back Sunday afternoon.

England

Hadn't planned on visiting England but here we are. Of course our connecting flight is delayed by 4 hours why wouldn't it be so now we wont arrive home until past midnight - if we are lucky and all goes according to schedule. I am not sure but I think we may have been faster had we gone by boat!!! At least we are first class today so we get to hang out in the fancy lounge with free food and booze.

I will keep you all posted on my little travel adventure :)

so much for dinner

until 3 hours ago it looked like everything was going well we boarded the plane we taxied I fell asleep. I wake when the engine rev up and notice we don't take off. the captain announces a light in the cockpit went off and it needs to be checked. after a while he states we need to go to a gate so a mechanic can check it. a bit over an hour passes we are still on the plane its hot ... then the announcement more tests needed but it looks like it was a false alarm. more time passes - yes it was a false alarm but now we need to refuel. tic toc ... now we are refueled but can't get a take off slot until another 1 1/2 hs. so here we are on the plane hot as hell. at least I brought food since I hate plane food. they finally handed out water. there is no way we'll make the connection and my back of chocolate I bought is melting in this heat.

UPDATE (9:35pm)

So after being trapped in the plane for 5hours they finally let us go - the flight was canceled. We had to go back into the terminal and wait for 3 hours to be rescheduled. Now we are in a hotel they put us in until we leave early AM tomorrow to try again to get back this time with a layover in Manchester England. What sucks is that I am supposed to work tomorrow never mind the fact that I had planned on floating the in pool right about now after hugging Grumpy and the little monsters - nope instead I am in a airport hotel. My shoulders are killing me from handling our heavy luggage and I am not looking forward to doing it again tomorrow. Wish me luck that all will go well and I'll be home tomorrow night

New toy

Grumpy got himself a new toy - we went car shopping on July 4th and he found a 2006 Trailblazer he liked. Since the car had been on the lot for 6 month we got it really cheap it only has 35000 miles on it.

I am in Charlottesville this week and then head to Vegas Sunday just to get back Wednesday midnight and turn around 19hours later to fly to Chicago .... I will post pics from the car later

Also I updated the other blog with what's been going on and some back story to the whole mess. I hope the guy goes to hell - Karma has got to kick his ass. Go here for the post - again I am sorry its a private blog.

On happier notes I lost 13lbs since starting to work out - its been slow going but at least its going. I almost fit back into my favorite jeans - almost

Bummer

I am so bummed out. I finally got the word that I'll be in Vegas next week but when I looked for flights to get Grumpy out there too - no luck unless we want to pay $400+ dollars (for a little more than 36h in Vegas)! We couldn't use the stupid companion ticket because it requires 14 days advance purchase and while I could use my miles there was no flight that could get him back on Friday to one of 3 fricken airports???? I am so mad his b-day is Friday and it would have been fun to celebrate into it in Vegas. I mean I'll be there every 4 weeks so he can come on one of the other trips but still.... I was looking forward to spend some time away with him and now I'll be bymyself in the big fancy vacation hotel vs the normal business hotel I would stay in.

hi

hi
Originally uploaded by dino0477.

Well i am out and about again. I was on site in Richmond all day and just got into Charlottesville. I ended up changing my room as only the top floor of this NEW Hilton has cell reception. Kinda stupid now i need to make sure i am always on the top floor. But I do have a nice view from up here.


ADDENDUM 2330

I had a rather interesting evening. I had told one of the nurses on my study I'd meet her for a drink - she was getting bugged by lots of people this week and I was trying to cheer her up. Well she called me late in the afternoon and said she and some friends were going to the Dogwood festival and didn't I want to go along. I tried to talk my way out of it but unsuccessful. Fast forward 2 hours here are some pics - I did have a bite of yummy funnel cake

the night ended with me hanging upside down in the skymaster with the seat being loose and fearing for my life. I was never afraid of rides but the harnes never clicked in and all that was holding me was the itty bitty seatbelt. granted there was a metal cage around the whole thing but still not very comforting.

This car was in the parking lot of the hotel when I got back - not sure if it is a real "pace car" but it looked cool.

Wrap up

Here is another airport post. I managed to get on an earlier flight to Charlotte and am waiting for it now. I still can get home earlier but at least this way I have more than 30min to catch my connecting flight. Who knows I maybe even get to stop by Jamba Juice.

The meeting was okay - Cleveland isn't really a nice city and the hotel despite being a Ritz had seen better days. They did have a nice gym. I had crashed Tuesday at 7pm didn't wake up until the next morning so I never got to go but I did go last night (midnightish) and then this afternoon as our meeting ended at noon and the shuttle wasn't coming till 3pm. This afternoon one of the other monitors was in there and wow - my 45min on the cross trainer never passed that fast before. He is a cutie former navy guy and we chatted while working out and I was done in no time at all and had done 4.7 miles. I was pretty proud of myself ;)

So here are the rest of my pictures:

The outside of the Hall of Fame
no explanation needed the sign says it all Here is what I bought at the gift shop
I went a head and sent Grumpy the pic and he approves of the purchase - wonder if I took it at the right angle ;)


Here are some of my team mates including our manager (second from the left) - after the Hall of Fame we met in the Lobby for a "team building exercise" each state had to come up with fun facts about there area. - We based ours on Virginia is for Lovers and had lots of fun preparing it over some wine our manager treated us too. The presentation was a hit this morning. The one that got the most laughs was the VA Law about it being illegal to own a skunk as a pet.

So we are about to start boarding which me luck I can't wait to get home and see my babies.

too early

I finally went to bed about 1am - my alarm went off at 3am. I am so not a morning person!!!

So now I am sitting at the (almost) empty airport. I got lucky with the security check in. The guy infront of me took forever to get his stuff together - take off shoes, take out computer and liquids ... - so I skipped in front of him. Well the TSA people were doing the lets check every 6th person thing he was number 6. Had I stayed in line it would have been me. HIHI I mean I had enough time so it wouldn't have been a big deal I just don't like them taking my bags apart. Besides I would not have been able to post.

Quick update on the past weekend. I finally made it home sometime after 11pm. My friend from NY state had come down for the weekend and picked me up. We were going to have dinner but the delay canceled that plan. So we just went to the house chatted a bit and crashed sometime around 2am. Saturday we went out to get the ingredients for Maultaschen as she grew up in Germany and its one of her favorite things to eat. They turned out okay and she happily munched on them along with some wine she had brought for us to try. Sunday was here before we knew it. We had lunch at the German Restaurant were some of my au pairs, former au pairs and friends joined us. The food was good as always. After my friend left to head back up to NY I went home for a well deserved nap. After traveling the whole week and having a busy weekend I was pooped. Grumpy and I were going to go to the gym but I just couldn't get moving.

Yesterday was my office day I did get some stuff done. After finishing up in my office I headed over to the my old job and office to get some of the stuff done there. I was pretty productive and got through a lot before meeting Grumpy at the gym. After that I stopped at the Italian restaurant to show the owner some stuff on his web site. Of course the discussion eventually got back to this whole mess ... You know I am over it and I am tried of explaining myself. There a lines you shouldn't cross and once you do there is no coming back. To me the most important part is how people act after they screw up as I believe that shows their character.

Well they just called my flight so let me get packed up. I am sure I'll post from Cleveland - after all we are going to the Rock and Roll hall of fame there's got to be at least one post in that one!

On the road again ...

The next 2 weeks are going to be pretty busy. I just drove up to Charlottesville as I have a site visit here tomorrow and didn't feel like getting up at 5am to drive 3 hours to work for 7 hours and then drive 3 hours back. Call me crazy but I rather drive up the night before and get some decent sleep. I found a Hilton Inn a mile from the site that just opened. Its really nice so I will be crashing here twice a month from now on. Wonder if I can reserve this room specifically I like it - top floor nice view I got a Microwave and a Fridge, Plasma TV and WIFI connection what more can a girl want.

I am driving back tomorrow afternoon as I am leaving for a 3 day meeting in Atlanta Wednesday. I get back from there Friday night and will be picked up by a friend who is coming into town Thursday -she is crashing in our house. I haven't seen her in forever so I am looking forward to spend the weekend with her. We met while working at Busch Gardens together and bonded over the fact that we both grew up in Germany (she as an army brat) and want to go back.

Next week I am traveling again. This time to Cleveland Ohio can't say I have been there before. It's our annual team meeting and supposedly we get presents I guess thats one reason to go.

So I am tired and need to get my beauty sleep.