Archives for December 2011

Drove downtown today to meet with a client this morning, then did some shopping in the afternoon, including returning an outfit that had different size pants than jacket to Burlington, but it was an incredible struggle to get that done. Apparently because I’m five days beyond the return date, they wanted to only give me about half what I spent back. After 30 minutes of discussion, they finally managed to work something out with the regional office to get the refund in a couple of weeks. We’ll see. Meantime, headed back to Hidden River for a couple more days. Weather’s been too cold to do much of anything but work inside, so at least I’ve been getting caught up.

Despite my apparent exhaustion, I just could not get to sleep! I had drank a lot of cold tea during the evening, and I didn’t pay attention to the caffeine level in it, so I’m thinking that’s what might have caused it. Literally tossed and turned so long I thought I would still be awake when the alarm went off. Last time I remember seeing the clock it was almost 3:00, and finally fell asleep until the alarm went off on schedule at 4:45 am. Snooze-alarmed only once, too much to do. Leapt out of bed into the shower, with Hubby following shortly, finished packing, poured a cup of coffee to go, and headed out to the airport with a stop at the gas station. In the car rental lot by 6:30. As always the Orange County TSA had to confiscate something from us (this time is was a plastic lettuce knife), which they always seem to do no matter how carefully we pack, grabbed a croissant at the restaurant to tide us over to our First Class meal on the plane : -). Terrible service there at the airport restaurant. Wheels up a bit late because people just couldn’t find a place for their carry-ons, and off we go!

Despite my exhaustion, I still woke up every two hours, and this time, couldn’t get back to sleep for a long time, once for over two hours. Thank goodness Hubby doesn’t have this problem, he just keeps happily snoring along moments after his head hits the pillow! I’m usually a good sleeper, but lately, not so much. I need to get out in the woods for awhile, where it’s quiet and I don’t have anything to think about except when’s the next time we’re going riding! Walked across the street to Coco’s Bakery and Restaurant and had a very disappointing brunch. Hubby’s blueberry waffle was okay, but my El Paso Benedict had many shortcomings. The eggs were too hard (probably from sitting under the heat lamp too long), the bacon cold, the muffin soggy, and the side of fruit (melons) was totally tasteless. I complained and they took it off the bill, but it will be the last time we eat there, sadly, since it’s so conveniently located to several hotels where we hold workshops. Walked over to Target to pick up a few things before heading back to the hotel. Got back into bed, where Hubby napped again, but my mind was too active so I spent time working on a chart of potential Costa Rican riding vacations which we are considering. Finally tried to sleep around 5:00, but only managed to rest a bit. Instead of getting up and going out as we had originally planned, we called down for room service, and mostly packed out bags while we waited for it. Lights out at just after 9:00, feeling really exhausted, and hoping for a good night’s sleep! Alarm set for 4:45 am.

Still woke up every two hours, and once couldn’t get back to sleep for over an hour. Don’t know what’s causing it, maybe the alcohol. Anyway, up bright and early again, rejoined our group for another busy but very productive day. Really excellent progress on the whole. Looks like it might open a few doors to other jobs, as well, several people indicated a need for other associates to either attend one of these workshops, or to have us come in to work with their group by itself. Either way works for us! Though we ran almost a half hour long, people still hung around to talk to us, even after the class was finished! Just can’t get enough, I guess : -). Went to happy hour again, this time we had margaritas, and were joined by two students from the class for a bit. Finally had to head off to the room, exhaustion setting in after being “on” for so long. Lights out by 10:00.

Arrived in the meeting room by 7:00 am. Most of what we had discussed had been done, with a few minor details remaining, so everything worked out. Students started to arrive by 8:00, and we got started just about on time. A good group, somewhat subdued and serious at first, warming up a bit by afternoon. Very attentive, and they all seem to be absorbing everything thoroughly. Went to happy hour for a change, this hotel’s cantina had a Monday Martini and Meatball special, so we decided to splurge again and had a couple of Cosmo’s and appetizer size meatball plates for dinner. Off to bed, hoping to get a better night sleep!

Didn’t get out of bed until after 10:00, but I was awake every two hours for some reason, so I didn’t feel as rested as I had hoped. We went out to Denny’s for breakfast, then to Staples to pick up a table top easel pad. The salesman at the store insisted he didn’t have anything like that, right up until we found one sitting right on his shelf, then he got rather huffy for some reason, like it was my fault he didn’t know. Weird. Headed back to the hotel. Checked out the meeting room we were going to be working in, and discovered a complete mess, everything was in the wrong place, so we had to try to rearrange as much as we could, but there wasn’t anyone from the banquet office in on Sunday, so much of it we simply had to leave instructions. Not an easy task, since the vast majority of people working at this hotel don’t speak English. Anyway, we did the best we could before heading back up to the room. Late in the afternoon, Hubby decided to steam our suits, and we discovered that one of the suits I had brought, which I hadn’t worn yet, had a different size pant than jacket, and didn’t fit properly! That necessitated another outing to a Burlington Coat Factory, which was right up the road. Not much of a selection compared to some other stores we’ve been in, but I managed to find a green jacket w/black pants that looked good. Not that I needed another pair of black pants, especially since I’ve been trying to avoid black these day (shades of my fat-hiding past), but it did the trick. Finally got back to the hotel, and got to bed early since we have an early start.

Managed to get out pretty early. The ranger had told us about a manhole cover over a sewer that RV-ers were allowed to use as a dump, so we were able to get that done before we left camp (though handling the manhole cover was no easy task). On the road before 9:00. First stop breakfast, then fuel and propane, then clear sailing to our next stop, a stable in Callahan, FL just west of Jacksonville. No trouble getting over through the Ag stop at the border, the young man didn’t even come out to compare our horses to their passports! Arrived around 3:00, a bit ahead of schedule, but that allowed us to get everyone well situated. The horses are in big stalls with runs, the dogs will stay in the RV and the staff will look after them when we leave next week. Hubby got the satellite dish up, we plugged into electric in the workshop, and we’re home free! Well, not free, this place is a bit more than usual, but it will do the job nicely. Did a little preliminary packing, then settled in for the evening.

Slept late, and tried to take it as easy as possible in preparation for our long drive tomorrow, but we did get almost everything packed up early today. Finished up the laundry, had a nice shower before going to bed, set the alarm for an early start.