Save Second Base

I know, I know... it's been a few days since I last posted. My laptop has finally passed away and now I am faced with purchasing some stupid AC adapter when really I just want *this*. You know, because that money tree in my backyard is flourishing. HAHAHA.

I'll start with today and move back to Wednesday, the start of the worse business trip I have ever taken in my entire lifetime.

Months ago, D and I committed to participate in the run/walk for a cure - Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer event. D's good friend from high school - David, lost a sister to breast cancer and let me digress. Her funeral was one of the most beautiful tributes I have ever seen compounded with the fact that her brother -David, truly loved his sister. If my brother would show 1/8th of the compassion and sadness at my funeral, I will be shocked and well- shocked. So fast forward to today - San Diego's Balboa park to be exact and everything was perfect - weather, course and most people. Speaking of people, there are several in my life who I walked for today that have dealt with breast cancer and it was powerful, motivating and inspiring to be part of such an amazing event. I ran this event, with very little training and was amazed that I made it as far as I did (2 miles, baby steps - errr baby jogs). I have decided that I really need to get serious about training as it didn't go nearly as smooth as races I had participated in past times and I am sure that I will feel it tomorrow. Oh joy. What I will also be feeling tomorrow is happy to have been part of an event that raised $800,000+ for breast cancer research and awareness. Some of our favorite t-shirts we noticed today were Save Second Base and Save the Tata's.

Halloween was not too scary, just a few friends over and I made Taco soup, jalapeno cheesy cornbread and a yummy desert that I will have to post photos of. D and I reminisced about our November 1st anniversary - the anniversary of our first date, our friends enjoyed hearing us talk about that night. We had a very normal, dare I say boring, first date - dinner and movie. The zinger was in the days that followed. We never left each other's side from that day on and were living together by Thanksgiving.

Thursday was my first day back to work, plenty to do and I left at noon to meet with nice lady therapist. Nlt was supportive without being condescending, polite without being "too nice" and made me feel really comfortable. I will see her again (in December) to discuss our miscarriage and the loss of the BG and lg. After the appt I headed to the last night of Professor Hell's class, I have her next term so, I promise to deliver more horror stories. She is everything I hope to never be as a teacher - A bully, inconsistent and rude. I feel confident these are personality traits spilling over into her career, sadly. The poor kids that have to deal with her. It's over, not much to say about the class except - B's are for degrees. I need to get over the whole " I NEED AN "A" IN EVERY CLASS thing.

Wednesday - hee hee, the end of business trip hell and the beginning of my life resuming to a normal state. Our team, still camped out at the worst Marriott in Marriott history (Seriously, don't ever, EVER stay at the Marriott Villa's in Desert Palm Springs, off of Pinehurst Lane -HORRIBLE) packed up the car, attended our last workshop and I drove us back in record time. We were "released" for the day. Yes, big cheese - dumb boss used that exact word and then I popped a happy pill to deal with family drama.

Let me talk about this property - real quick. It was a timeshare and due to the overflow of the conference affecting vacancy at closer, better hotels we were forced to stay at this hellhole. First, I took a bubble bath and had to dry off with a hand towel (good times) and when I called to ask for more towels at 9:30 PM, I had to call back at 10:30 PM to remind them about the towels I ordered AND they delivered the towels at 11:15 PM. I am sorry, they delivered dirty towels with hair on them at 11:15 PM. I tossed them out on the patio, totally nasty. The following morning, I went to grab the hair dryer and guess what - yep, no hair dryer. This is a place that wants people to give large sums of money, it's a timeshare for God's sake and you don't have a freaking hair dryer? Seriously? The sheets didn't smell fresh and there was just a general film of dirt across everything, I made a stink with the housekeeping manager and returned to find the room spotless, shining and smelling pleasant. I am sure they used my toothbrush to scrub the toilet bowl.

Tuesday - After being at the conference ALL.DAY.MONDAY. my direct supervisor and I bumped into each other in the hall and decided that we needed to go find "a diversion". I was happy just to go sit out by the pool, she was looking for drinks. We left the hotel where our conference was being held and while we were headed to the hotel adjacent to the other property and a beautiful clubhouse. Within five minutes, I was drinking a glass of Chardonnay and she was working on a martini. Twenty minutes later those drinks were pushed aside and we were tasting $500.00 a bottle champagne - for free. J, my boss, is a cutie pie and there was some youngish dude representing Champagnes and trying to get the club house manager to purchase a few cases. The stuff was GOOD- it was a fun afternoon. Let me just tell you how "sobering" it is to have to provide an analysis of the classes you *supposedly* attended and hoping to make some sense.

While experiencing our libation filled afternoon, J and I were determined to ditch the other two individuals for dinner. Not a problem, I had previously mentioned the never-ending homework I had brought and she suddenly was not feeling well. The problem - how do we ensure that we will have wheels. We were so desperate to get out of having dinner we agreed, ahead of time, we would call a cab if one of the other member of the party we were ditching wanted the wheels. The sun was setting, it was dusk, I ran to the car like a 16 year old trying to sneak out of the house and drove over to J's place. Thirty minutes later we were here we were happy to discover that they offer half price on all bottles of wine, Tuesday nights. It was a LOVELY evening, seriously - we had a blast.

Monday was long, not really newsworthy. That was my last week in a nutshell...

Other news - I have decided to get a double master's, one will be in Special Education, Mild to Moderate and the other will be in Special Education, Moderate to Severe. Our school is one of the few in the area that has this specific program, I'll start in Spring 2009.

Have a great week. Tomorrow is my last night of class for my Fall I term, Fall II will start the week after next and I am ready for a break. I hate starting the week out exhausted.