A busy week…. March 9, 2008

Monday afternoon, I flew from Detroit Metro Airport (5:11 PM) flight to Chicago O’Hare with the owners of Futura. Then, we rented two cars and drove 2 hours to Oconomowoc, WI. (Can you pronounce that ?!) Anyway, we arrived at the Garden Inn at 9:30 Central time. I just wanted to order some room service and go to bed. But, the owners wanted to eat at the Chili’s across the street. So, at about 11:00 CT, I arrived here to enjoy my quiet time all alone. This was my first time away from Thomas over night, ever. And, this was my first time away by myself, really. But, time to myself was very limited because meetings started at 9 AM the next day. So, I settled in to check email. At least I had free wireless.

Reading my email left me unsettled because I found out about a potential lice exposure of Ellie. Ugh.. my daughter may be sleeping with lice on her head right now and I’m in another state! I felt so powerless and my head itched at the thought. I resisted the urge to wake Andy up in the middle of the night to check her head. But, I didn’t sleep well. I tried not to obsess over Lice Fest 2007. And, there was really minimal chances that Ellie would have lice. But, there was the chance. Ugh.

Here is where I slept:
It was a great room.

So, before the meeting started, Andy checked Ellie’s head and Ellie had avoided the lice. Now, just so you know, this is a bad lice year. They are everywhere. I’m not sure why. But, every time we go out, we can be exposed. So, I do check Ellie’s head about every other day. Because it is so much work to get rid of them. But, so far so good. So, knowing that we had one more lice free morning, I was able to go to the day of meetings and focus. The meetings were very productive and I learned a lot. I left the meetings energized and motivated. Yay! I am excited to be part of Futura.

:::warning::::: whining ahead::::::::::::::

So, at 5:20 or so, I went to the car. I was to drive two hours back to O’Hare and get on a 9:55 PM CT flight back to Detroit. So, I get in the car and can’t get the key to turn in the ignition. Other people tried. We called Alamo and they tried to help us. Nothing worked. Tick tock tick tock. So, it took over an hour to arrange for me to take our other rental car to the airport. (That required a manager over ride since I was not listed as a driver.) Alamo preferred that I ride in a two truck two hours. Are you kidding me?

My wonderful friend Jack recently gave me his GPS system because he wants something fancier. It is a Magellon Maestro 3200 or something like that. I love it! Well, it navigated me right to Alamo. I arrived just in time to have dinner at the airport before my flight was scheduled. Meanwhile, it was snowing like crazy in Detroit.

Well, my 9:55 flight took off at 11:30 CT. Ugh. We landed about 1:30 AM EST. Because of the snow, I arrived home at about 3:30. (I didn’t check any luggage.) I drove about 20 mph home from the airport.

So, anyway, my first business trip was an adventure. I was so happy to be home and I’m not traveling for business anytime soon.

I have to say that I have a great husband. He stayed up until I was home safely. He talked to me on the phone so much and I wouldn’t have been able to drive home without him.

Ok, I’m done whining now. I still love most parts of my job. I’m still very excited to work for Futura and I’m planning some great programs. And, I really believe that Ellie and Thomas will grow up to be bilingual. I had been slacking in that department and now I am recommitted. So, the flexible schedule and educational benefit to my kids is really wonderful.

We are in the middle of the second weekend of our bathroom remodel. Friday night, three guys worked from 4-9:30 doing the demo of bathroom #2.

Here is our new bathtub.

Saturday, two guys worked from 8-3:00 and they did the floor and started the shower surround. It’s coming together.

They broke the sink during the demo. So, darn it. I have to go pick out a new one tomorrow. I’m not sure how many hours they are working tomorrow. They won’t finish, but we’ll be able to use the toilet and the sink, I think.

So, stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow or Monday.