Let's see, what is my exciting day today?

Got up early this morning and went to Wal-Mart. Amazing how quickly we run out of things like food and laundry detergent. And it's amazing how quickly the money goes towards this stuff!! I spent more than $100 in about 40 minutes! Amazing!

I got home about 8:00 and woke up Mark so we could get ready for the gym. Got ready. Had breakfast. Mark headed out so he could get some running done before class - and the girls and I started some laundry and then headed out.

Class was kick-ass. Today was the first day I got to use my cycle shoes. They are cool - but I felt like a retard for a bit. See, they have these metal cleats on the bottom so that the shoes clip into the bike petals. It took me a good 10 minutes to get all clipped in. Oh, and for the longest, I had my LEFT foot clipped in, but not my right. Some lady behind me said "I don't think it's worth all that trouble" BUT, let me tell ya, it was an even better workout with those shoes. It worked the hamstrings and the inner thighs better than without them.

Came home and fed the kids hot dogs - I had tuna. Gotta get some of this weight off - put on 1 1/2 lbs while I was gone.

Did laundry. Cleaned out the garage. Changed sheets on everyone's beds.

THEN Mark got called into work for a bit. Damn, damn, damn. But he HAD to. Someone had to escort a lady to the hospital, so it left them "below minimum". He is supposed to be able to head back home at 7 PM when the k-9 officer comes in.

The girls rode their scooters for a bit, and are now working on "Make and Bake" suncatcher things.
posted by... deb at 6:05:58 PM | Link Me!

Let's see - where did I leave off on my week?

Wednesday

Got up early again. It's this damned body clock. Had set the alarm for 5:30 - and was up and out of the room before 5:15. Was just a cardio kind of day - so I did 45 minutes on the stair stepper. Man, do I miss that style stepper!!

School was ok today - had problems staying awake after lunch (sandwiches today). Elliot (the guy next to me) had to nudge me once. They shouldn't be boring after feeding you a meal - LOL. But, overall, learned some great things to bring back to work - and during my breaks, I worked on some things that I had brought with me (some procedures that needed some updating).

After school was over, I went up to my room for a bit and read. Mark was planning to call around 5:30 - and Jenni was supposed to meet me at 6:00. I sure didn't want to wait in the bar by myself for too long, so my room seemed like the best option. Mark called and the kids were still being pretty good for him. He finally had gone to the doctor about a muscle in his shoulder (pinched nerve) so I was glad he did that finally!

Went downstairs, and there was Jenni! She had come a few minutes early, and the bartender was searching out some Dr. Pepper for her. She drank her Dr. Pepper and I drank a glass of wine. Jenni brought me this cool little basket with some Mary Kay stuff in it. We ran upstairs to my room to drop off the basket, and then headed out to dinner (oh, she also brought me a picture from a few years back - and it's a "Trixie As" kind of thing - I'll scan it for the Friends page soon).

We went to dinner at Tortola (or something like that - whatever turtle in spanish is) and had a nice dinner and nice chat. Jenni has a brother in Plano, so we are hoping she will be able to visit some with me next time she comes this way. After we went back to the hotel, we had the bellman take a picture of us with Jenni's digital camera.

After Jenni left, yes, I DID call Shana for a few minutes. But as she recently told you, I ran out of change - LOL.

Then it was to my room for some reading, a little TV (is there NOTHING on TV??) and bed.

Thursday

Thursday morning wasn't so great. I started and had the cramps and stuff. So I skipped my workout, got ready for school and got packed. Damn, I sure took alot of things with me!!

School was great Thursday - We got to do roll playing in our audit training - and practiced making up "open ended" questions. The instructors were great at tricking folks as they said their questions in a closed way - LOL.

The flight home was great - and then got picked up by Mark and the girls. They were glad for me to be home - and I was glad to be home.

and that was my week at school!

posted by... deb at 5:23:30 PM | Link Me!

Oh, man, am I tired.

I know, I know. I promised a blog - and even thought I would get to update The Other Side today - but I was really swamped. Too bad there wasn't someone doing my job while I was at school, huh? I already had tons of things to do, and then went to school and missed 3 1/2 days from being at the office.

Let's see, the short and sweet of this week...

Monday

Left the office at 11:15, though I had planned to leave at 11:00. went to the Mazda place to put my car in the shop for it's new CD Player / Radio - and Mark was there waiting for me. We threw my bags in the back of the truck, and went to lunch. I also tried on my new cycle shoes on the way to lunch - and they are keepers. I can't wait to use them!!! Mark took me to the airport. Originally, he was going to just drop me, but changed his mind and came and sat with me in the terminal for a bit while I waited on my flight.

Flight was short and sweet - right at an hour to Houston. Got to the airport, huffed it downstairs to the shuttle window - and they tell me that the 3:30 shuttle has already gone (it is 3:38) and the next shuttle will be at 4:30. I sit on the curb and read - it's fairly warm, and I was re-reading The Watches. Finally got to leave the airport about 4:45. Took for fucking ever to get across Houston to my hotel. I finally got to the hotel after 6 PM!!! So, I go into the hotel and go to the desk to check in - and they give me the key for my room. 505. The guy tells me that it is a smoking room and I cringe. No offense folks to those of you who smoke, but I had asked for non-smoking. He gets the manager. The manager talks to me for a bit, finds out what I had requested,and then puts me up on the "Executive Level" so that I can have non-smoking. It's nice, too, 'cause you have to put the key in a thing in the elevator in order to even go to that floor. Made me feel a little safer. I finally make it up to my room, and the sheets are turned down and there is a little piece of chocolate on my pillow - and two bottles of water in my room! Hooray!!

I go downstairs and to call Mark, and realize I had said I'd call at 7PM. It was 6:30 - so I went into the bar for a bit, grabbed a little snack from the buffet there (little teeny eggrolls) and a glass of wine and wait for time to pass. Go call Mark and the girls - and give them my room number - and then head back upstairs for Mark to call me back (cheaper that way - LOL). Am tired. Actually, more than tired - I was exhausted. So....I decide to have room service for dinner (salad and tiny pizza and a piece of cheesecake). The cheesecake was the only good part, but I was tired and didn't really care. I was asleep before 10 PM.

Tuesday

Alarm goes off at 4:30 AM. Throw on some clothes, brush my teeth, and then head down to the little dining area on my floor. They have it set up with a coffee machine (you push a button and voila! fresh brewed coffee!!). I grabbed a cup of coffee, and then went downstairs to workout. I did a little bit of weights and then 1/2 an hour on the stairstepper (the ones like the Q USED to have which I love and miss!!) and then headed upstairs to take my shower and such.

After breakfast, it was off to school for Day 1. ISO-9000 - diferences between the 1994 standard and the recently released 2000 standard. They fed us a yucky lunch (chicken pot pie) and class lasted til 5...back to the hotel to be bored. Mark was due to call around 9 PM, so I had time to kill. read. flipped channels. I had finished the Watchers, and had started the new Charmed Book (The Gypsy Enchantment). Went next door to some steak place for dinner, and ordered a cheeseburger. Yep. Couldn't bring myself to order a steak, as the cheapest on the menu was $21.95. That is ridiculous!!! Expense Account or not. No way. And my burger was good. Read some more, and then Mark and the girls called, and then to bed.

Yep, what an exciting time I had! The most excitement of the day was the workout, discussions on the ISO standard and the call from home. Oh, and the book was OK - yep, Day 2 in Houston, and I was reading book #2 already.

Well, I'm tired. My advil is beginning to wear off and I need to pull out my contacts. More from me on my exciting time in the morning.

OK - am really tired. More about my week in the morning, 'kay? I started yesterday and am feeling all crampy and floody and stuff, so I think bed sounds best.

I missed you guys! Hope you all had a good week - I'm WAY behind on everyone's blogs. (((hugs)))

posted by... deb at 10:38:13 PM | Link Me!

pssst

new bloggin Trixie Friend.

check her out
posted by... deb at 6:36:45 AM | Link Me!

Home again, Home again, Jiggity Jig!

OK - I'm home!

I've been wading through e-mails for the last 45 minutes - and have been able to delete 75 e-mails PLUS 33 in that bulk in-box. Lots of e-mail to still reply to, though - so I will likely stay in at lunch today to catch up!

I promise details of my week in a bit - but first I need coffee - and to get ready for work. My seminar was kick-ass and I learned all kinds of nifty things that I can't wait to tell the guys at work about!

Catch ya'll in a bit!!
posted by... deb at 6:05:33 AM | Link Me!

ahhhhh!!!

I meant to blog this morning, but have been running around like crazy since I got up. I do want to say we enjoyed the Half-Time show - and enjoyed the first episode of Survivor!

Have a great week all! If I find a computer, then I'll blog, but don't count on it.

I'm outta here! See you on Friday!!

posted by... deb at 11:26:09 AM | Link Me!

I missed the entire first quarter of the Super Bowl - did I miss the Squirrel commercial? Half time is about to start - to be honest, my only interests are Halftime and the commercials. Sorry, after working for more than a year in a Sports Department at a local tv station, I'm not so into football.

Let's see, Katie is going to have a hard time with me being gone, I think. She has already told me that she is going to miss me. Then, a bit ago, she broke down into tears, telling me she was going to really miss me. ahhhh... :-(

More in a bit as half-time show is about to start.
posted by... deb at 7:04:32 PM | Link Me!

Morning all! I have been a busy bee this morning.

I pulled together my clothes to wear to school next week. some fresh from the cleaners, all starched and stuff. I did break down and buy a new blouse yesterday at Foley's. It was marked down to $19.99 then another 20% off. The first day, I figure I'll wear my button-up denimn shirt with the company logo on it - figure you can't go wrong with company logo wear, especially when you are going to school your company has paid for.

Also pulled out my briefcase. I have a really cool briefcase I got from Steven Covey's company - with all kinds of compartments and pockets and such. I'll carry this instead of a purse next week - one less thing to keep up with. I dumped the contents out, 'cause I haven't carried it since May. Katie at this moment is throwing away all of the odd-ball oldish stuff that was in the bag - Equal (which is too old after being in the garage) napkins, etc. She is organizing me - putting all the useful stuff (Shout Wipes, pens, "sticky pads" aka post-it notes ) in a stack by my briefcase. She is cheering everytime I say "yes, you can thorw that!".

I still need to make a Target run - need a travel sized toothpaste, a new toothbrush, and there was something else, but I can't remember now what it was.

Had a good day yesterday. After the gym, we got the girls new tennies. Damn, but Em is in a 4 1/2. Women's shoes start at 5 - and most of the kid shoes only go to 3. Leave us in the middle of childhood and adult size stuff. YUCK! But she lucked out and got a pair of Sketchers 'cause they go to size 6. Katie still wear's little shoes, so finding her some was no prob.

Then went to eat lunch. Went to a favorite locally owned place called "Buck & Loon's" Fun place - good food.

After lunch, Katie and Mark headed on to the house - and Em and I went to the mall. See, Em is a big old tomboy, and doesn't do dresses on a regular basis. So, when she needs to wear something dressing 90% of the time it means we have to go get something. We shopped for about an hour, and finally found something we both liked. A dark purple long-ish dress - printed skirt - cardigan looking top - but all one piece.

(Quote of the trip: "Why can't we find any boyish looking girly clothes? Do they all have to be so prissy girly girl?")

I'm getting ready to head out to the gym, so maybe I can catch up on my bloggy reading there (haven't tried to get to Danielle's from there - don't know how the net bikes process passwords....hmmm...)

Catch you guys later today!
posted by... deb at 9:08:59 AM | Link Me!