I hope I don't jinx myself by writing this, but I figured that I'm finally learning how to be a better traveler.
1. Don't make assumptions on the closest airport. I'm doing a training a Chicago Suburb, but it is closer to Milwaukee. I got to avoid flying into O'hare and had and easy car ride.
2. Invest in good luggage. I just got my upgraded computer rolling bag carry on. Wow that made a huge difference.
3. I'm staying in a nicer hotel and I love it. There's a restaurant in the hotel. I know I should venture out and see the town, but I love finding food right here and not traveling all over creation to find a mediocore meal. This is heaven.
4. Rent the same kind of car in every town. Now I have feel for the Ford fusion, so there's no looking for windshield wipers or lights.
5. Get a good nights sleep. So its time for me to go to bed
Monday, October 12, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Six Weeks
Six weeks ago I took a new job, and it has changed my life. I went from teaching reading under the stairs to presenting on the reading method all over the country. In the last six weeks, I feel as if I've learned more about myself and my life than I have in the past several years.
1. I'm from Colorado now. I guess I had to leave Denver to realize that its my home in every since of the word. I look forward to coming back here. I'm discovering that I love so much about this place. I love the wide vistas that display plateaus and mountain peaks. I love that on a clear day I can see Pike's Peak and that there is almost always snow on it. I love that I get to enjoy all four seasons here. Sometimes I can enjoy 3 of them in one day.
2. I really miss Dave when I'm gone.
3. Colorado has the best food. There's enough Hippies so we have Whole Foods, enough cowboys for steak dinners, enough Mexicans for Mexican food, and we have access to good Sushi even though we're inland.
4. I need 8 hours of sleep to function properly.
5. I'm much healthier than I realized.
6. I can travel to strange and scary places and I will be very frighten, uncomfortable, tired and hungry, but I'll survive.
7. I'm really excited to turn 40. Sometimes I wish I looked a little older. I think its hard for people to respect me, when they think I'm in my 30s. I'm thinking about letting my hair go gray. I'm definitely wearing it straight for work.
8. I'm really lucky that The Dave is so supportive with this new job, but I get annoyed when people always ask me, "What does Dave think of your new job." Sometimes I want to scream and say, "Hey, Its my job. Shouldn't you be asking what I think."
9. I need patience for when people ask me, "Why can't you come to my home town and visit me?"
I know they want to see me which is wonderful, and I want to see them. But I must refrain from saying, "Oh I was given a choice to visit somewhere beautiful like Santa Barbara or Seattle and I said no. I'd rather stay in some dirt poor town in Louisiana by the meat packing plant." Its work not vacation travels. I work all day.
10. I need to be more organized and learn to travel light. There are worse things in this world than wearing a boring wash and wear outfit. However, I still lug around a lot of extra weight in my bag, because I can't give up my clothing options or my boots.
11. The Sookie Stackhouse novels are really hot. Vampire Bill or Vampire Eric? I still can't decide.
1. I'm from Colorado now. I guess I had to leave Denver to realize that its my home in every since of the word. I look forward to coming back here. I'm discovering that I love so much about this place. I love the wide vistas that display plateaus and mountain peaks. I love that on a clear day I can see Pike's Peak and that there is almost always snow on it. I love that I get to enjoy all four seasons here. Sometimes I can enjoy 3 of them in one day.
2. I really miss Dave when I'm gone.
3. Colorado has the best food. There's enough Hippies so we have Whole Foods, enough cowboys for steak dinners, enough Mexicans for Mexican food, and we have access to good Sushi even though we're inland.
4. I need 8 hours of sleep to function properly.
5. I'm much healthier than I realized.
6. I can travel to strange and scary places and I will be very frighten, uncomfortable, tired and hungry, but I'll survive.
7. I'm really excited to turn 40. Sometimes I wish I looked a little older. I think its hard for people to respect me, when they think I'm in my 30s. I'm thinking about letting my hair go gray. I'm definitely wearing it straight for work.
8. I'm really lucky that The Dave is so supportive with this new job, but I get annoyed when people always ask me, "What does Dave think of your new job." Sometimes I want to scream and say, "Hey, Its my job. Shouldn't you be asking what I think."
9. I need patience for when people ask me, "Why can't you come to my home town and visit me?"
I know they want to see me which is wonderful, and I want to see them. But I must refrain from saying, "Oh I was given a choice to visit somewhere beautiful like Santa Barbara or Seattle and I said no. I'd rather stay in some dirt poor town in Louisiana by the meat packing plant." Its work not vacation travels. I work all day.
10. I need to be more organized and learn to travel light. There are worse things in this world than wearing a boring wash and wear outfit. However, I still lug around a lot of extra weight in my bag, because I can't give up my clothing options or my boots.
11. The Sookie Stackhouse novels are really hot. Vampire Bill or Vampire Eric? I still can't decide.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Am I up for this?
Today I'm off to Coldwater OH. So I have a long plane flight followed by a 3 hour drive to the hotel.
Tomorrow I have a Fundations follow up visit. This will be my first "follow up" I'll spend 2 days answering people's questions about Fundations. There is no organized presentation, just me telling people what to do.
I'm wondering how I'm going to fill the time. The program is fairly easy, I can't imagine anyone needing so much help. However, I feel like I could use a ton of help learning how to fill out an expense report.
I'm looking forward to going to the midwest. I didn't like The south at all. It was a little too dueling banjos for me.
Tomorrow I have a Fundations follow up visit. This will be my first "follow up" I'll spend 2 days answering people's questions about Fundations. There is no organized presentation, just me telling people what to do.
I'm wondering how I'm going to fill the time. The program is fairly easy, I can't imagine anyone needing so much help. However, I feel like I could use a ton of help learning how to fill out an expense report.
I'm looking forward to going to the midwest. I didn't like The south at all. It was a little too dueling banjos for me.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Texas
As if spending time in no-where VA wasn't bad enough. The next place I was sent to was no where Texas.
I need to be packing for my next trip so here's some highlights.
1. I was taken to Buckee's for lunch and had the following conversation.
ME:I've never been to Buckees
Principal:You're in for a treat!!
Yes a trip to Buckees and Walmart counts as a treat in some parts of America.
They sold cow-hide hand bags with rhinestone crosses. I can honestly say that I've never seen anything like it.
2. Although I drove over 2 bayous I never got to see Vampire Eric and I purposely drove at night.
3. I have a "Northern Yankee accent."
4. Crickets crawling on walls or floors seems to be no cause for alarm.
5. The images of cars and blocks and hound dogs roaming around are very realistic.
6. This on is sad.
While I was waiting for the principal, I saw a large group of high school girls. I figured, its a small town so its a k-12 school. Wrong the HS girls were the mommies dropping off their kids for school.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Dream Job
About 10 years ago I went to my first Wilson Language workshop. I had instant job envy for my trainer. She talked about how she travel all over the US and taught teachers about the Wilson Reading System. She said it was great, because you got to meet a lot of interesting people and you set your own hours.
Even as I was just learning the program, I though "That would be a cool job."
10 years later, I have that "cool job." When I interviewed, my boss asked would I like to go to big cities or small towns to do my trainings. I don't like driving in crowded places like San Francisco, or Chicago so I said small towns. I pictured myself doing trainings in places like Colorado Springs, and Modesto. Never did I imagine a town like Kilmarnock, VA Population 5,000. More people work and attend Cherry Creek High School than live in Kilmarnock.
The trip out to Kilmarnock was an experience. Changed planes, and drove 2 hours from the airport to the town. The town was in the VA marshland. The mosquitos were larger than my dogs.
I arrived at hotel, a cute bed and breakfast at 8pm. There was a note the front door which read, "We've all left for the night your key is under the mat, I'll see you for breakfast."
I got settled into my room. It had no alarm clock and no phone. I used my cell to call the owners.
"Can I have a wake-up call on my cell?
"We don't do that. I'll just knock on your door."
"Okay. Can you wake me at 6am?"
"Sure I get to hotel at 5:30 so that's no problem."
The idea of having someone else in charge of something as important as waking me up for my first training is freaking me out.
I call The Dave and tell him to call me at 7 just in case the inn keeper forgets.
Since it was my first presentation, I couldn't sleep so I had no trouble waking up at 5am. The inn keeper knocked on my door at 7:30.
ME: I thought you were going to be here at 5:30/
InnKeeper: I got here now.
It was at that moment that I realized I was a long way from home. I went down to eat breakfast, where I discovered that I was one of two people staying in the hotel. The other person at the hotel was a doctor, so I was in luck because there would be a doctor in town for the next few days.
After hearing that statement I shouldn't have been surprised that I was served toffee with bacon, and was taken out to lunch at a gas station. I thought I would kiss the ground when I came home.
Even as I was just learning the program, I though "That would be a cool job."
10 years later, I have that "cool job." When I interviewed, my boss asked would I like to go to big cities or small towns to do my trainings. I don't like driving in crowded places like San Francisco, or Chicago so I said small towns. I pictured myself doing trainings in places like Colorado Springs, and Modesto. Never did I imagine a town like Kilmarnock, VA Population 5,000. More people work and attend Cherry Creek High School than live in Kilmarnock.
The trip out to Kilmarnock was an experience. Changed planes, and drove 2 hours from the airport to the town. The town was in the VA marshland. The mosquitos were larger than my dogs.
I arrived at hotel, a cute bed and breakfast at 8pm. There was a note the front door which read, "We've all left for the night your key is under the mat, I'll see you for breakfast."
I got settled into my room. It had no alarm clock and no phone. I used my cell to call the owners.
"Can I have a wake-up call on my cell?
"We don't do that. I'll just knock on your door."
"Okay. Can you wake me at 6am?"
"Sure I get to hotel at 5:30 so that's no problem."
The idea of having someone else in charge of something as important as waking me up for my first training is freaking me out.
I call The Dave and tell him to call me at 7 just in case the inn keeper forgets.
Since it was my first presentation, I couldn't sleep so I had no trouble waking up at 5am. The inn keeper knocked on my door at 7:30.
ME: I thought you were going to be here at 5:30/
InnKeeper: I got here now.
It was at that moment that I realized I was a long way from home. I went down to eat breakfast, where I discovered that I was one of two people staying in the hotel. The other person at the hotel was a doctor, so I was in luck because there would be a doctor in town for the next few days.
After hearing that statement I shouldn't have been surprised that I was served toffee with bacon, and was taken out to lunch at a gas station. I thought I would kiss the ground when I came home.
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