mini-vaca
So, a couple of months ago, Heather emailed me and said, "I'm going to a conference in Addison, IL. Why don't you come and meet me there?" At that point in time, the DC trip with A, B & C was still in the works, so I totally disregarded her email. Apparently, I didn't totally disregard it, because when the DC thing fell through, I thought of her email. Started researching, but it looked like it wouldn't work out. Then I checked southwest.com. My closest Southwest airport is 2 1/2 hours away, but for the ticket price, it was well worth the drive. Unfortunately, at that price, I had to fly out at 6:45 AM. Oh, and that put me into Chicago's Midway Airport at 8 AM.
Tim picked me up. I practically had to beg him to stop for coffee. He doesn't touch the stuff. (I'm still in shock!!) We ended up at BTP where he gave me the grand tour before Jayce put me to work. I stuffed envelopes, labeled envelopes, shipped envelopes, and finally, labeled some Spanish books with price stickers. It was neat to be involved. I worked with all the boys until Joanna rescued me and we took off to a quilt shop on our way to the actual conference. She dropped me at the hotel where I met up with Heather & Olivia. We had dinner at Chilis and talked a lot!
Conference was really nice. I enjoyed what I heard of the meetings. Unfortunately, the chairs were not exactly comfortable, so I ended up walking quite a bit of the time. Saturday night, 25 of us went bowling, although not all of us bowled! It was fun to hang out with "older yp" for a change. Seems like that happens far too infrequently these days.... Heather ended up taking off Sunday afternoon, so that night, I went to Beth & Su's place closer into Chicago.
Monday, I set off by myself. Beth had given me her train card and Kim's Art Institute Member card and a set of house keys. I took the rainbow as a good sign, but really should have just taken the umbrella! I alternately got rained on and wore my sunglasses. Crazy. In retrospect, I would have been better off just staying at the art museum instead of thinking I could see more of Chicago. Too late for that now. Despite the weather, I thoroughly enjoyed the city. I need to go back and explore further and spend more time at the art museum! Public transportation is SO the way to go and all the people I talked to were helpful and nice.
(If they were Sox crazy over the weekend, I can only imagine what it's like there now!)
Eventually, I headed back to Beth's. By the time I got to her street, the sun was out. I stopped in the Belgian bake shop for a fabulous donut and hot chocolate. It was the perfect ending. Back at the apartment, I finished my packing. Olive came and took me to the airport. Flight was delayed by about 15 minutes, but was uneventful once we got underway.
Landed about 8:45, so I was on the road by 9-ish. Remember that 2 1/2 hour drive to the airport? Well, it has to be driven home too. It rained. A lot. The whole way home. I stopped for an XL Dunkin Donuts. (Hey, it was what was open!) It kept me awake. Well, that and my super-ecclectic music choices. These are the songs I cranked up:
- Drunken Lullabies Flogging Molly
- We Built This City Starship
- Lay Your Hands on Me The Thompson Twins
- Manic Monday The Bangles
- The Man You Want Me to Be Phil Joel
So finally ended up at home around 11:30. Pretty much fell into bed and then, this week has been crazy! Wish I could have had Tuesday off to catch up, but they needed me at work. (Lucky girl!) I'm hoping this cold goes away, but think I need a huge chunk of sleep to get any relief at all.
Tim picked me up. I practically had to beg him to stop for coffee. He doesn't touch the stuff. (I'm still in shock!!) We ended up at BTP where he gave me the grand tour before Jayce put me to work. I stuffed envelopes, labeled envelopes, shipped envelopes, and finally, labeled some Spanish books with price stickers. It was neat to be involved. I worked with all the boys until Joanna rescued me and we took off to a quilt shop on our way to the actual conference. She dropped me at the hotel where I met up with Heather & Olivia. We had dinner at Chilis and talked a lot!
Conference was really nice. I enjoyed what I heard of the meetings. Unfortunately, the chairs were not exactly comfortable, so I ended up walking quite a bit of the time. Saturday night, 25 of us went bowling, although not all of us bowled! It was fun to hang out with "older yp" for a change. Seems like that happens far too infrequently these days.... Heather ended up taking off Sunday afternoon, so that night, I went to Beth & Su's place closer into Chicago.
Monday, I set off by myself. Beth had given me her train card and Kim's Art Institute Member card and a set of house keys. I took the rainbow as a good sign, but really should have just taken the umbrella! I alternately got rained on and wore my sunglasses. Crazy. In retrospect, I would have been better off just staying at the art museum instead of thinking I could see more of Chicago. Too late for that now. Despite the weather, I thoroughly enjoyed the city. I need to go back and explore further and spend more time at the art museum! Public transportation is SO the way to go and all the people I talked to were helpful and nice.
(If they were Sox crazy over the weekend, I can only imagine what it's like there now!)
Eventually, I headed back to Beth's. By the time I got to her street, the sun was out. I stopped in the Belgian bake shop for a fabulous donut and hot chocolate. It was the perfect ending. Back at the apartment, I finished my packing. Olive came and took me to the airport. Flight was delayed by about 15 minutes, but was uneventful once we got underway.
Landed about 8:45, so I was on the road by 9-ish. Remember that 2 1/2 hour drive to the airport? Well, it has to be driven home too. It rained. A lot. The whole way home. I stopped for an XL Dunkin Donuts. (Hey, it was what was open!) It kept me awake. Well, that and my super-ecclectic music choices. These are the songs I cranked up:
- Drunken Lullabies Flogging Molly
- We Built This City Starship
- Lay Your Hands on Me The Thompson Twins
- Manic Monday The Bangles
- The Man You Want Me to Be Phil Joel
So finally ended up at home around 11:30. Pretty much fell into bed and then, this week has been crazy! Wish I could have had Tuesday off to catch up, but they needed me at work. (Lucky girl!) I'm hoping this cold goes away, but think I need a huge chunk of sleep to get any relief at all.
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