Archives for September 2011

Joined a friend we made at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul at a lovely Indian restaurant, and got caught up as much as we could over a two hour lunch. Looking forward to working with her again in Tampa, assuming we get asked back again. We won’t know till probably January, but it looks as promising as it ever does. After all, we have been doing them since 1992! But it’s never good to count one’s chickens before they’re hatched…

Decided we needed a few things for our lengthy stay in Orlando, so we spent the day shopping, mostly for clothes. Not entirely successful, but did manage to find a couple of things that will be useful. Everything on every rack in every store at a mall just looks the same to me, and if I don’t like what the “designers” have decided is “in” this season, I’m out of luck. Not much available in a classic look, which is definitely more my style, but we’re planning on being in NYC in a few weeks, maybe I’ll have some more choices there (though I’m not counting on it.)



Rhode Island Sunset

Rec’d an email from our new client in Jacksonville, FL. He has an event in Orlando the week before our already scheduled training event, and has asked us to come in a few days early to work with him, so I spent the day changing our flight, arranging accommodations and a car rental, and generally working on logistics. Hubby looked for a problem with the wiring on the vehicles, when we arrived the brake lights and one side of the turn signals on the RV weren’t working properly, so he tried to narrow it down. It seems it’s not the RV, it’s the truck, so that will need fixing before we leave Rhode Island. It’s always something, but at least it’s not like having a whole house to look after! Glad to have another job, though, it’s always a good thing!

Well, it seems that the horses had a few problems while we were gone. Apollo is apparently allergic to some weed that’s heavy in his field, his nose is running like a kid with a bad cold, and Clio’s back fetlock is swollen and has a few abrasions on it, as though she got kicked or it got caught on something. We took a trip to the pharmacy and got some allergy pills that our hostess said would do the trick for Apollo, and decided to keep them both inside for a few days to recover. Nothing serious, just something to keep an eye on. Dogs are doing great, though Marina’s limp seems to be getting worse, I’m finding it hard to believe it’s just arthritis. It really does look like an injury that’s just not healing properly. Again, we’ll keep an eye on her to see what’s going on.

Today was the first day the weather was too cold and rainy to drive the Mustang with the top down, but we were thankful for the many good days we had with this little red guy. Lots of fun! Other than an hour delay in our departure and arrival, it was an uneventful flight back to Providence from Nashville, though the parking bill at the airport was outrageous. Raining a bit here as well, and the temps have dropped somewhat, to be expected at this time of year. Thoroughly exhausted, can see us crashing for several days!

After finally having a pretty good night’s sleep, I decided I couldn’t stand looking the the remnants of a very large oak tree that we had cut down before we left on this madcap adventur more nearly 20 months ago, so I prodded Hubby into helping me split huge logs that had been sitting in the yard all this time. Unfortunately, he discovered a lead in the hydraulics on the tractor, which affected the front-end loader, so we couldn’t move it to where the logs were, so we had to hook the baby trailer to the back of the riding mower and lug the logs to the tractor in the pole barn. Some were just a tad too long to fit in the splitter, and many were so huge we had to struggle to get them in, but after a few hours we had a nice stack of well-seasoned firewood, and a cleaner yard than we had had for ages. It was a relief to get it done at last, though I’m not sure Hubby was as thrilled at getting the job done as I was… Hopefully the labor will make for a good night sleep! Did most of our packing in the evening in preparation for our flight back to Providence tomorrow.

Things got off to a bit later start than we had planned because other events were late, but the end result was a very productive workshop where we once again changed some minds about things. Looks like it might open some more doors for us. Once again we were invited to dinner at the restaurant for another enjoyable meal and more company now that they knew us, and with a glass or two of wine, what more could anyone ask of a work day?

Still woke up without having a really good sleep, but without phones or internet, we relaxed a good part of the day, though I still had work on my computer to do. Then we headed down in the Mustang, with the top down, of course, to the restaurant and marina in Tims Ford State Park for a reception on a houseboat and dinner at the restaurant. Endless shrimp and good conversation made the enjoyable evening fly by. The trip seemed shorter again for some reason : -), probably because the top was down, and we got back in time for a good night sleep for our early start tomorrow.

At least, it was supposed to be. Spent more time working than doing much of anything else, but did manage to squeeze in two movies we had rented yesterday. Feeling a bit tired, woke up before I got a really good deep sleep in.

Headed out to the airport, this time O’Hare, to grab a quick flight to Nashville. Security lines were long, glad we gave ourselves lots of extra time. Had a nice breakfast at a roomy grill between terminals before jumping on an American flight. Didn’t take long before we were on the ground again in Nashville. Picked up our rental car at Alamo, where I uncharacteristically let the guy talk me into an upgrade (from a Toyota Corolla to a cherry red 2012 Ford Mustang convertible… What can I say, he made me the proverbial offer I couldn’t refuse : -), then headed out to do some shopping before getting home. My Mustang and I managed to shave about 20 minutes off the usual trip :-). It was fun, I do have to say that! Settled into a movie we had rented before crashing in bed, exhausted from the recent flurry of activity. Looking forward to a quiet day off tomorrow!