Eyewear/Reunion

Yesterday, after dinner and Jim set off for martial arts, I headed to Kohl’s to buy new sunglasses. It’s a new record for me to have kept the old ones 2 years before losing them which is why I won’t follow Jim’s footsteps in buying a $120 pair. After checking out the clearance racks (it’s my civic duty) I headed to the sunglasses department. The very first pair I put on I liked. That being particularly odd in itself I went to a bigger mirror than the 4” one on the rack and tried them again. Still looked good, so I bought them. Just like that. Without trying on another pair or even going back to the sunglasses rack. Amazing.

Public Question: Who from UD is going to go to the 5 Year reunion June 9-11?? I’m strongly requesting that I see the faces of Viki and Lisa and I’m even reaching out to Miss Wahn and Ford as well (you guys were there with us the whole time and would know bunches of people there anyway!). I’m intending on going to the class party on Friday night and the porch party Saturday night. Jim, the non-drinker/non-UD grad, isn’t so thrilled about going. Who’s up for it? And if so, thoughts on spending the night on campus ($65 for a double occupancy room in Marionist hall)?

Alaska's comin' together

I used my positive jive this morning and took the time to book our airline tickets for Alaska. It would have been wonderful except every time I choose a flight from the Orbitz page it gave me an error and said that the pricing had changed – $67/ticket more!! This was frustrating because I’d back up, research and the same thing would happen over and over. When I called customer service they weren’t helpful at all.

Finally, 20 minutes after I started the *&^% process, totally different flights popped up as options. I eventually booked one of those that now gives us better flight times (including a direct flight on Delta home – yeah 4500 skymiles each!) but was $100/ticket more than what I had originally found. Eh well… I had a $150 coupon from Orbitz because we book through them so often. Now, with the discounted airfare, separately purchased Seward-Anchorage train transfer tickets (there’s no airport in Seward where we dock at the end of the trip) and a hotel for Friday night we still saved $164 versus going through Royal Caribbean and got really good flight times that we controlled.

I’m content. : )

GOOD morning!

I hadn’t posted in a while because I didn’t feel like much was going on worth writing about. Today, however, I feel really alive. I think that it’s because I woke up and sun was streaming through my cracked blinds and I was all tangled up in Jim. I had slept the whole night through without dreaming and the resulting rewetting drops I have to use. The room was the perfect temperature and I was the right amount of snug. It was 6:30 so I had the blissful revelation that I got to sleep for another hour if I wanted to. Life was damn good this morning.

Funny, when I woke back up at 7:15 I had the sudden realization that my team might have inverted some numbers on our MBA Simulation game. I hadn’t thought of it since I shut it down last night but out of no where I was sharp and consumed with that thought. Weird how that type of realization comes out of no where… When I checked the game online it doesn’t appear that we made the mistake afterall. Bonus!

I got finished preparing for work a full 10 minutes quicker than normal so I got to read a bit of my magazine before I left (hell no I wasn’t going to work even 10 minutes early today!). I drove to work and the sun was bright and cheery. I think just knowing it’s going to reach 70 degrees for the first time of the year puts a chip on your shoulder. Even my coffee has the right amount of vanilla creamer.

It better not be a boring day – I have too many positive vibes to waste.

Pet Peeve

You know what’s really gross? People who don’t wash their hands after they use the bathroom. To protect the guilty, I’ll refrain from using names, but it makes me cringe every time I hear a flush and an immediate door opening after several of my co-workers use the restroom. They don’t even feign washing their hands by turning on the water for even 15 seconds. I’m not pretending that I wash my hands for the full time I should (experts say that you should lather as long as it takes to sing Happy Birthday through), but I do use soap and I do wash EVERY time I go.

It’s incredibly obvious to everyone whose office is within a 15 foot range that they just peed and dashed. In addition to my being disgusted by now touching the inside bathroom door knob in general, it’s lowered my personal and professional respect level for them. I can honestly say this bothers me more than the other set of people who #2 in the little sales bathroom on our side of the office and don’t try to mask it with the Febreze Air Spray. At least then I know right away and can choose to use another bathroom.

Weekend of 3/24

This weekend was just what I needed. Jim’s aunt and uncle were waiting for me when I got home at 6:00 on Friday. Even though they’re technically our guests they had made a Meijer trip and had bought all the fixin’s for dinner, including wine, AND actually cooked it for us! Steak, 2X potatoes, salad, yum! We hung out and played cards all evening and hit the sack around midnight.

Brunch with Lori turned out to be lunch as TGI Friday’s no longer has weekend brunch. We were devastated and told our waitress so. Any one know of reasonably priced brunch places in Cincy that we had try up next?

As Jim’s aunt and uncle left earlier in the day than we expected on Saturday, I returned home from my get-together with Lori to just Jim. We watched more of season 3 of 24, went out to dinner at a local joint I’d wanted to try (which I’m glad we tried but have no intention of returning to.), finished up the last two hours of 24 and read ‘till we went to bed. At dinner we brought an entertainment coupon and were surprised to see the restaurant was no longer Buffalo Bob’s but now Buffalo Joe’s. We asked the waiter if we were just crazy or had they always been Buffalo Joe’s. His response: “No, we were Buffalo Bob’s but Bob died so now we belong to Joe”. ha! I know it’s rude to laugh about someone’s death, but the way he said it was too funny.

Sunday was literally one of the best days ever. We went to 10:30 church service, went to PF Chang’s with the girls, came home and spent the afternoon cuddling, reading, cuddling, cuddled more. With the rain coming down in the background I can’t remember the last time I was quite so relaxed and happy. We sucked big-time at bowling (losing ¾ games), but had tuna noodle casserole for dinner so that made up for it. I’m beginning to see the merit in what all of you tell me to do so frequently – stop being busy. It was great to just spend time with Jim and be carefree and moderately unscheduled.

I'm exhausted physically and mentally...

It’s been a LONG work week. I deserve more than a 2 day weekend. I won’t bore my reader by recounting all of it, I’ll just sum it up by stating that I’d love a Happy Hour and I can’t even do that because we have company coming over at 6 - an end that’s status quo with how M-F has gone.

I’ve come to my own blog about 4 times just to look at the porcupines and smile. They really are damn cute. : )

On the up-side, I did have several good meetings with clients this week which should lead to some NEW business in the next few weeks. My bosses are happy with me and I’m hoping that next week will be more manageable. I got to meet Jim for lunch today as I was in the area – a rare treat! I also talked with Khang, the travel agent, and found out that the Alaskan cruise prices are now $1864 for an inside cabin – this makes me really happy because we paid $1006 for it when we booked in August. Hooray for deal-getting! Boo that the prices now will most likely hinder any new folks from joining us.

Tomorrow I’m having the best brunch in the whole world (4 egg omelet with cheese, tomato, mushrooms, onions and peppers; breakfast potatoes & OJ @ TGI Friday's) with Lori and I’m having the monthly girls’ lunch at PF Chang’s on Sunday. Any ladies want to join us for lunch on Sunday just give me a call!

Adorable Picture of the Day

Porcupine Babies

Amazing Race

Jim’s office started an Amazing Race pool where co-workers randomly drew names of teams to cheer for and a cash prize at the end ($5 to get in). This office pool has lead Jim and I to adopt our very first primetime TV show we watch together. It’s fun to watch what they do and debate how we’d tackle the challenge. What’s interesting is that like most things Jim and I normally agree on how we’d approach the detores (an activity choice where you have to complete a task to get your next clue to the race) and what roles we’d take if we were in the race – I’d be the navigator/director, he’d be the driver/challenge taker. I’m sure if we were actually on the show (which I doubt would happen because a family from Cincinnati won last year’s show and I doubt they’d let another Cincy team on so quickly just for diversity reasons) I’d be made fun of nationwide for how competitive, bossy and cheap I would be. We’d be sleeping in airports across the world rather than use our sparse allowance for hotels!

Jim drew David and Lori’s name out of the hat. They are the unabashedly “nerdy” couple on the show who are holding their own so far (always middle of the pack). What’s killing them, and what would kill me, is that they are way too out of shape. When you need to rush around looking for a clue in a field they get winded and end up walking while the other teams are dashing around them. They did decide yesterday, to my delight, that they are in it to win now and are not helping other teams. They even LIED on last night’s show. : ) My only complaint so far is the same two teams, both sets of male buddies, keep coming in first place each week, but that can't be helped...

Monday Evening News

Last night Anjali came over to spend the night with us. She and her family are moving to NC and she has no furniture to sleep on at her old house in Mason. We were happy to accommodate! She mentioned that it was a little uncomfortable for her since we don’t have that kind of relationship normally (ie didn’t go to HS or college together and since they live(d) in Cincinnati they had no reason to spend the night before). We run Hotel Eutsler half the time anyway (had guests on Saturday night too!) so it wasn’t weird for me at all! What also dawned on me is that I truly can sleep anywhere. If I had to go crash at Dale’s one night I wouldn’t think anything of it (perhaps he would…).

When Jim woke me up this morning I was dreaming about Lisa. We were at a salon and I was getting a manicure and she was telling me about how she’s determined that teaching in traditional schools is not her calling. She can’t take the bratty children and the annoying parents any more. She had decided to follow-up on a zoology class she took at UD and go into animal research by teaching monkeys things like sign language, fine motor skills, etc. Her arguments were that the monkeys 1) don’t talk back, 2) are always happy to see you, 3) very clearly make or don’t make progress, and 4) require little governmental regulation (no tests, no progress reports, no individual school plans). She was really excited and was going to be making 2X what she does now. And my nails looked good - double bonus.

Other news – Carol wrote a blog: http://www.myspace.com/lumpie_wan. Let’s all harass her to keep it up (specifically ask her about her new black light that finds gross things in bathrooms). Tom’s in surgery right now- shoot a quick thought/prayer his way please! AND: SARAH F’S MOVING TO OHIO!! This proves to me that with enough nagging, anything is possible! Congrats on your Univ. of Akron graduate school acceptance!!!

Picture from the Sleepover

2 of my favorite people!

Maturity Revelations

There are a few moments that strike me and I realize that I’m actually a mature adult. Some such moments are pretty trivial like the first time I stopped saying that I don’t like spinach or mushrooms and actually tried them. Other moments strike me like when I found myself confident enough to go against my parents and tell them I thought they were wrong. This was especially significant when some of the things I logically disagreed with them on were related to parenting. Crazier when they took my advice and changed their tactics.

Lately I’ve noticed that with my age and experience I’ve gotten a firm grasp on when to shut up. I used to argue for the sake of arguing because didn’t want to lose a disagreement or admit that I was wrong. Over the past few years I have come to develop an understanding of when it’s better to back-down and apologize even if I don’t think I’m totally in the wrong. This new approach has definitely helped me neutralize some tough conversations where my being defensive would have only heated things up and made the situation worse.

At this rate I’ll be a full-fledged adult by the time I hit 30!!

Friday Night Highlights

Last night we headed out with the Sacks for our once every other month or so get-together. As always, lively conversation ensued. It’s nice when you can sit back and say “I know some really tremendous people” and know that you’ll have them as friends 20 years into the future.

We had attempted to go to Brazenhead, a 3 story Irish bar, in Mason to celebrate St. Patty’s, but there was a line of 100 people who they were only letting in on a 1-to-1 basis as people left and a $10 cover charge. So, instead, we headed down to Johnny Carino’s for some Italian (where we only waited about 25 minutes on a Friday night!). Good food, lousy service.

We got home around 11:15 or so, read a bit and hit the sack. We’re expecting Jim’s cousin Rachel and her husband Nathan within the next few hours so we’ve spent a good chunk of the morning cleaning. Right now as I’m typing my dear husband is MOPPING the kitchen floor the old fashioned way (aka not with Swiffer). I have it so good….

Last Night's Events

Last night, for the first time in over 5 years I took my acrylic fingernails off. I know this doesn’t seem momentous enough to write about, but a habit/hobby/whatever for 5 years makes it seem like a major change to me. What was horrible was that I had to pry them each off, which I tried to make easier by soaking them in acetone first, but in the end it was an incredibly painful 3 hour process as you might envision. My nails are so thin and so painful that at one point I actually pierced through the single layer that was left with the fingernail clipper and made my skin underneath bleed. Big picture – I’ll save myself about 2.5 hours/month and $625/year on professional manicures, but if they turn out to be as thin and tear-able as they used to be I might end up putting them back on.

Other news – I am 9/16 on my basketball pool. I incorrectly guessed Syracuse (chosen for the Y), San Diego State (picked for Joe Kramer’s residence), Marquette (ala Anne), Seton Hall (I thought they were good?), and Nevada (where I went for my first anniversary). To address Dale’s concern, I did CORRECTLY pick WIS-Milwaukee for both him and the Johnsons. In Greg’s pool I also incorrectly picked Xavier (booo!). I have no upsets picked in the remaining first round games, let’s hope I do okay!

NCAA Bracket Decisions

Last night’s class went well. My team is still in first and Mindy chided me for constantly repeating “I don’t know what this means” but I was so confused that we were successful in spite of ourselves. Further frustration: we can’t implement the strategy we spent 2 hours working out on Monday. EUGH.

I’m here at my desk with a blank NCAA tourney bracket in front of me prepping for victory in the office pool. Admittedly I am not a basketball fan until March at which time I just like to be rowdy and competitive (go figure). Here’s my criteria for picking teams:

1. Is it a Cincinnati team? If yes, choose that team to win. This year, Xavier will be the miracle team and beat Gonzaga.
2. Have I been to that city or state before? If yes, choose that team to win. It’s a good thing I’m well traveled or only Midwestern teams would win! As is I have Washington, Nevada, LSU, UNC, California, UCLA, etc. going on.
3. Is one of my friends from the city or state? If yes, pass them on. While they’re ranked #2 anyway, I passed Texas on for Trey J., #5 George Washington for Kenny, and #4 Illinois for Jamie C.
4. ** NEW FOR THIS YEAR ** Do I have a friend with the team location as part of their name? That’s how Marquette got moved on thanks to Anne Marquette.
5. Are there any cool letters that I like to write, specifically G, Y, Z, X, or K? Full speed ahead Arizona, Georgetown, etc. Exception to this rule is if an item above takes precedent. So, with sadness, I did not move Gonzaga through even though they have the best name in the tournament.

A science? Admittedly not. But, in 2003 it banked me $72 in winning in the office pool which has funded my participation for the following 6 years! :)

Mmmmm - Egg McMuffin and Hash Brown...

Well, after two nights of no real dinner my body started going bezerk. I went to my 9:00 sales call and was FAMISHED afterwards since I hadn’t eaten since 1:00 yesterday afternoon. I stopped by McDonalds for an Egg McMuffin meal and it was amazing. Jim introduced me to Egg McMuffins (yes, one of those rare things that he eats that I never had that he gets to take the credit for opening my eyes to) when we were in Vegas last November and this is my first one since then. All that grease really hit the spot (did I really write that?!)– this better not get addictive.

Class Partying

Well, the past two nights I’ve gone out to the bars and it’s such a weird experience for someone who’s not in that scene anymore. Ironically, I was out drinking for class! Monday night my small group for the Capstone class went to Claddagh’s for a strategy session (where we ended up talking about strippers and subsequently named our shoe company Hustlers!) and last night about a dozen of us went to The Pub in Rookwood for celebratory drinks that we got our sales prof booted. We toasted to the new, wonderful professor 3X and sat around and lamented about what a moron the old guy was. One of my classmates even bought our first round since to “make up” for being out of town and not having the chance to write a letter to the dean. Very nice of him! The act of having beer for dinner and feeling of being slightly buzzed is odd for me on many levels as I seldom drink any more.

Our class last night essentially started the semester over for our sales course. All grades are being wiped clean, the Associate Dean came in to personally apologize for the debacle, and our new professor is so far living up to her hype. She’s even given me an idea for an activity my potential business class should I ever go back into teaching. We have 7 weeks of class left and I have no doubt she’ll do all she can to make the best use of them possible.

Capstone practice year 2 starts tonight. So far our team is in first out of 9, but I doubt that many teams have fully gotten the hang of the game yet so that fact doesn’t mean a whole lot. The “real thing” starts next week.

Weekend of 3/10/06

Here’s the scoop on the weekend:

Friday
Believe it or not we did not have plans. Jim and I went to dinner at a little Mexican restaurant near our house and hung out, just the two of us, all night long.

Saturday
Jim, Dale and Karen (not me) judged Cincinnati science fair held at UC. Good times had by all (except for the getting up at 6:45am on a weekend) and interesting stories to tell after the fact. I slept in until 9:30 when I woke up to rain and thunder outside – prompting me to enjoy cuddling with my pillow and being tangled in blankets for another full half hour.

Dale had dinner with us which always makes me happy because 1) I’m not sure he eats enough home cooked meals 2) he brings good dessert with him. Afterwards, Dale, Karen & my parents came over for an impromptu game night where we played Scattergories, Mexican dominos, and Sequence. Fun times. Mom commented that Dale will have lots of Templin time on the cruise, to which he responded "Man Overboard!"

Sunday (today)
One of the best shows I’ve ever seen, Wicked, was on the docket for 1:00 with Mom as part of our Broadway Series Tickets. Fabulous all the way around. It was the kind of show that you forget you are watching a play and get wrapped up into it like it’s real life.

We won ¾ bowling games in our league which keeps our place in the middle of the pack. Jim snaked the bathroom drain and made some horrible-smelling, nasty-to-look-at gunk plop out of the drain. I was supposed to shine the light but didn’t want to look, making it difficult to keep a good aim for him.

I finished a book today- a Nora Roberts (my favorite author!) series that is very addictive as this book was the first out of 4. Jim’s working on other household items so I’m going to sneak back and try to get a good jump on book 2. :)

Lazy weekends are the best!

Retribution!

Dear MKTG 960 Students,

Thank you for taking the time to inform us of the situation regarding MKTG 960 and Professor Bowman. The feedback you provided was crucial and valuable. We realize that providing such information takes time away from you and your busy schedules. Student feedback is essential for successful resolution of the issues at hand.

Professor Bowman has been removed as the instructor for MKTG 960. Dr. Clint Schertzer has asked Professor Ginger Rothfuss to assume leadership of the class. She will be with you effective immediately. I have worked with Professor Rothfuss on many occasions. She has taught numerous classes for the Williams College of Business. She is at all times professional. She is highly knowledgeable and competent no matter the MKTG subject area she teaches. I am positive she will work very hard to make your remaining time in MKTG 960 valuable and beneficial.

On behalf of Associate Dean Tadepalli, MKTG Department Chairman Dr. Clint Schertzer, and Assistant MBA Director Ann Marie Whelan, we thank you again for your input. Student feedback is highly valued by each one of us. We take your educational experience at Xavier with the utmost seriousness. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any other questions or insights.

Sincerely,

Jen Bush


Jennifer Bush
Executive Director, MBA Programs
Xavier University

Maybe if we publicly harass her...

I’m investigating whether or not you can block certain people from reading your blog. Like SARAH FORD for example. There should be a blogging law that states you can only read other blogs on days that you yourself post. Then the fact that SARAH FORD DOESN’T UPKEEP HER BLOG would be punished by not allowing her to read the nonsense that I think is worth writing about…

I love you, Sarah!

Sales Class Update

The ball is officially rolling. I sent a very comprehensive letter to Jen Bush, the MBA Executive Director, and copied both the Marketing Chair and the Dean of the MBA about the absurdity of my Sales class. There have been at least 4 other emails from my classmates that were sent to Jen that I was blind-copied on as well with the same concerns.

The marketing chair wrote back one of my classmates with the following update:

Mark:
I received a copy of your email from Jen Bush.
FYI I met with Mr. Bowman this afternoon and we had a very frank discussion.
Rest assured that the dean's office and I are working on solutions to this unfortunate situation.
Thank you for your concern and input. We will be back in touch with all of you soon.
Please feel free to call me to discuss at any time (513.235.7691).

Clint Schertzer, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of Marketing
Xavier University

Additionally, one classmate did some gossip validation and found out that the Marketing Department has already contacted another teacher who does the undergrad sales class to come take over the rest of the semester – hooray! Perhaps this can be salvaged! Too bad about half the semester has been piddled away on this idiot.

Picture in Epcot

In "Italy" by Neptune's Fountain

Back to reality...

Today was rather uneventful. We got up, had breakfast, packed and flew back. Cincinnati welcomed us with constant grey and rain which made our drive home slow-going. As soon as I walked in the door I prepped to walk right back out and go to class.

Some general comments/updates (1 I will expand on at a later date):

• I sat outside by the pool yesterday and b-u-r-n-e-d my chest and shins. It’s unfortunate in a way that my skin’s healing so quickly- I have a persistent itch along my bra line that is very inconvenient to attend to while in public!
• There are NASTY people in this world. I watched a Latin guy blatantly pick his nose on the plane and later on in the flight spend 45 minutes gnawing on his fingernails. The man was having a full-out feast on his fingertips right in front of me. He’d even contort his hand and neck to get a better angle on them. I pity the next person who had to sit in his seat after his saliva-coated fingers unlatched the seat belt, opened the overhead compartment bin and twisted the air vent. I understand Howard Hughes’s view of the world a whole lot better…
• I got a 56.81% on my sales test. Mindy called me this afternoon in a frizzle about the whole thing. Apparently 1 person got an 80, 1 person got a 72, 1 got a 68 and the remaining 15 people were in the 50’s. He even gave an XU employee a 51%! This prompted 1 person to walk out, 5 people to drink and lament further action after class, 1 4-page letter to the executive director from the top guy in our class (current VP of marketing who oversees 1700 sales people at xpedx who got a 51%), and 4 phone calls to department and program heads by Mindy. Tomorrow I’m following their lead and your advice and writing the Exec. Dir.
• My capstone group finished 3rd out of 9 teams with an overall shareholder return of 1409%! :)

Menu Compliments/Concerns

I am eating a totally kick-ass lunch right now – It’s a sandwich with large sliced tomatoes, ½" thick fresh mozzarella, red onion slivers, olive oil and garlic on toasted ciabata bread. I’m so full but I just want to keep tasting it!! I got fruit on the side and Jim snuck me out a banana from his training and just dropped it off. Lovin’ life right now.

Speaking of food, there’s a new Long John Silver’s product out – lobster bites. It’s little balls of lobster that are breaded and deep fried. They come in packs of 10 or as part of a combo. The MBA in me is going nuts over this. Lobster does not seem to be to be a good product for them except for the fact that it’s seafood. Here’s my beef (hahaha) about it:

• Lobster is a high-end product that is top of the line cost and quality wise at most restaurants. When I, as a higher-than-average income consumer think of lobster I do not think of LJS. How can LJS think that their audience would relate to this?
• Why would anyone ruin lobster by breading and deep frying it?
• Isn’t half the point of eating lobster the experience of eating something fancy when you’re in an up-scale position (nice evening out, celebration, etc.)? Grease-drenched crustacean served off disposable plates is not my idea of fancy.
• I’d think more of the quality of the product if it wasn’t sold for %^#* $2.99. What kind of toxic waste-eating lobster are they serving for just $2.99?!

Disney Day 2

There are a lot of untamed children and a lot of idiot parents in Disney. Yesterday I was enjoying a Chicken Caesar Wrap by the pool for lunch and there was a 2 year old screaming his lungs out. I totally understand that kids will not always be angels in public, but for the life of me I can’t fathom why the grandmother would pace with the child the length of the eating area. Why should 40 other people have their lunch disturbed? Freakin’ take your kid to a more isolated area and let him calm down! GEEZ.

All day yesterday I was pretty much tethered to my hotel room and computer so I could uphold my arrangement with the boss to be productive on this trip. I was very good, if I do say so myself, about keeping up with emails and conference calls and only took 1 hour over lunch to eat and sun myself out on the dock around noon. I did spend some quality relaxation time on our balcony that overlooks a garden and a pool towards the end of the ‘work day” though.

Jim got done with his training at 5 and we headed up to the cocktail hour with his other SEC classmates. We stayed about 30 minutes because I was starving and Jim’s not one for randomly talking to strangers. We walked all around the Boardwalk looking for dinner places but at the end of a very pleasant stroll we ended up eating in a restaurant in our hotel. We stayed in all night after dinner and watched TV and let Jim catch up on email. He had training start at 8am this morning so we went to bed at our normal time.

Tonight we’re going to Jellyrolls, the dualing piano bar – one of the piano players is a Kilwein (for you UD people!) and though I didn’t graduate with him I think I’ll request the UD fight song and introduce myself! With a noon flight tomorrow we can stay out a bit later and enjoy the scenery.

PS- I’m starting to regret my no Soarin’ yesterday based on your comments…. Oh well… next time!

Disney Day 1!

The trip to Orlando was relatively uneventful which is always a good thing. We checked into the Disney Yacht Club in the afternoon and grabbed some lunch at a nearby brewery which was pretty good. There was this loud loud loud girl a few tables away from us who educated us on all of her boyfriends and rude girl friends over the whole meal. It was very obvious that tables close to hers were highly annoyed. It would have been more tolerable if she didn't speak fluent valley girl. :P

The property is really pretty as you would expect from Disney- a pool, lazy river, big room, and 78 degree weather! When we checked in the hostess asked if we had a floor preference. My reply was “if you see there’s a family with little kids in one room, we don’t want to share their wall.” Rude of me – probably. But this morning, as I’m working from the hotel room, I’ve heard CONSTANT whining from bratty, Disney-spoiled children since 8 am. UGH.

Yesterday we bought discount tickets to Epcot and went from 4-9 which was plenty of time for our liking. While we got a FastPass to the new Soarin’ ride we decided that after a big Chinese dinner we didn’t have the energy to walk back to that end of the park and have our stomachs turned. We did however get to see LOTS more stuff than we did a few years back when we came with my company. We hit the GM Test Track, the Ellen DeGeneres Energy moving movie, the Land’s boat tour through the greenhouses of Disney, and the new Space Mission to Mars ride that killed 3 people to date! We also toured several more countries in the World Showcase than we did in ’02.

Jim and I are currently debating whether we went to Animal Kingdom last time wer were here. I strongly contend that we did not and he keeps swearing he remembers being on an animal safari with me and "where else could it have been?" He claims he's now concerned about my long-term memory if I'm "blocking out entire days" of my life. I'm so sure we didn't go there I called Jonathan Wolf to vouch for me (which he did though Jim said that wasn't a valid witness as he wasn't with us).

Jim’s off at training right now and I’m keeping up on my email for work. I had a wonderful night’s sleep so I’ve actually got quite a bit of energy. Too bad this laptop doesn’t have wireless access, I could be working from the pool instead of my room!

Friday, 3/3

What a great night! Sorry I didn't write as it was happening, Carol, but we were incredibly busy!

Friday night we went to friends of ours for dinner to celebrate Erin's 28th birthday. They had gotten their January wedding picture proofs back so E and I giggled over them until we had dinner. Brushetta, Marsala chicken with fresh spinach and mushrooms, and garlic mashed potatoes! Mmmmm! Oh, and they LOVED Megan's pudding dessert- between the two of them they ate half the 9X9 pan!

We talked and laughed so much we didn’t even have time to pull out a game. Jim had a ball because the Hansma's are now up to 4 cats and 1 dog (in addition to thier other roommate's dog!). He was still cracking up yesterday thinking about one of the cats and the puppy who were fighting over the lazer pointer beam. Even after the same tricks for a half hour neither Jim nor the pets were tired of playing.

Only problem with the night - they live in Batavia so it was a little haul (40 minutes) home and we still had to pack for Disney. Their house location makes us especially sad because when the time comes we see ourselves moving MORE west, further from them.

We laughed so hard!

Last night was a very good night. Still happy over my flowers, I eagerly looked forward to my night out with the girls. Jen Johnson was in town for a training, so Kelly, Jessy and I headed out to Margaritas for what else? Margaritas! (OK, to be fair, only 2 of us had margaritas… you can’t expect a pregnant lady to be drinking!) We ended up talking about jobs and houses and grown up things like that over dinner. But, as conversation often does with 4 female friends, we ended up chatting about our escapades in "other" areas of our life. What a riot these women are!

It’s a fun evening when you can laugh along with others’ stories, glories and tribulations, and an chance to reaffirm if you’re “normal” or not. Of course as the conversation turned to me my dear husband comes home from martial arts- timing which made us all erupt in laughter and left him more than a little suspicious of our conversation. He’s a personable guy though and didn’t miss a beat in joining what’s normally conversation reserved for close friends. I think he just wanted a view of what we women do and talk about when men aren’t around. My outgoing friends don’t miss a beat and I think he got more than a little insight of the female mind! Not sure if he’ll be quite so eager to join us next time… Thanks, ladies, for a wonderful evening!

Very Pleasant Surprise

This afternoon I got a bouquet of flowers from a client of mine. Aside from flattering emails, in my four and a half years working here I’ve never gotten more than a Christmas card from a client, so I was incredibly touched at the gesture. The card read:

“Karen, Thank you for all your efforts. You are exactly what customer service means. Thank you very much! James and Rob”

Being appreciated is such a wonderful feeling!

3/1/06

Some random things I’d like to comment on today:

1) This morning Jim got a call from Chase MasterCard saying that our credit card information was attempted to be used for <$1 in West Chester, IL at a hardware store today. That, apparently is a common sign of fraud- thieves attempt a small amount to test the waters and then go on a rampage. What’s odd – we both still have our cards. Apparently identity thieves are now taking to actually manufacturing plastic cards and using them! Anyway, the charge got denied, the card’s cancelled and the credit bureau warned so no harm done.

2) I get a monthly or so e-newsletter from Aaron Karo, a comedian I started reading my freshman year at UD. It’s cool because he’s the exact same age as us so his Ruminations about college were quite literally a published version of my own experience at the time. Hysterical! He’s still at it in his 20’s and it still cracks me up.

3) I’m beginning to side with Tom P on the flirting thing – I’m not convinced most men can be totally innocent in the flirting they do. This goes for men that are not married to my girl friends (namely Danny and Kendall who are suggestive in jest but love and respect their wives dearly), but rather those random people we meet in the world and who I’ve noticed never quite seem to know where the line is drawn…

4) Monday night I spent a full HOUR trying to get links to friends’ blogs on the sidebar of mine. As you will see, I was mostly successful. For the life of me I could not completely figure out HTML coding and couldn’t get the font for the title just right. Just when I thought I had it and it looked good from my house, I get to work and it looks like *&^. UGH.

While this blog didn't have much excitement, aren't you glad I wrote something so you weren't disappointed by having nothing to read when you clicked on my page?