Rain, Rain, Come My Way

One of my favorite gifts this Christmas were my new Burberry Rain Boots. Thanks Mom and Sis! Thing is, since I got them it hasn't rained. Boo. Per the weather report, I just may be able to wear them tomorrow! Aren't they pretty?


Oh, and one other thing. This photo revealed a hidden bonus. See the quarter behind my bookcase? When you wash your clothes in your apartment building laundry room, every quarter is precious. Yay!

Hotlanta... Not So "Hot"

The weather during my trip to Atlanta was freezing! It actually snowed the second day. I arrived on Wednesday afternoon and after a long flight and shuttle ride from the airport (the driver was literally yelling out specific landmarks, we had no idea we would be getting an informal tour of the city!), I arrived at the W Hotel Midtown. It was great! As you all know, I'm a little obsessed with W Hotels. So far I haven't stayed at one I didn't like. I was given a "Spectacular" room on the 19th floor which was modern, yet comfortable. I always like that aspect of this hotel chain. Here are some photos:

The Entrance

My room

The view, day one

Thursday night, day two, a little snow

The snow the second day simply shut down the city on Friday. The experience reminded of me when I lived in Richmond, Virginia. Like Richmond, Atlanta just doesn't have equipment to remove snow from roads quickly and everyone simply panics. Schools where closed on Friday and all were discouraged from getting on the roads unless they really had to do so. Personally, I had to get to the printer. It turned out to be good that my ride was the printers plant operations manager, who was from Wisconsin. He was one of the few who understood driving on snow and ice. My press checks were slow-going on Friday due to employees arriving late to work because of the road conditions, but we made it through and accomplished what we needed to do by the end of the day. Whew... I was a little worried. Once the day was over I was on to a more enjoyable part of my trip, seeing some friends. More to come...

In-Flight Wireless

Right now, I am blogging in flight to Atlanta! This is the first flight I've been on that offers wireless onboard. So cool. I'm on my way to a few days of press checks, then a short visit to see my friend Liz who recently moved with her family from California to Atlanta, GA. I'm excited to be able to see them.

I'm staying at yet another W Hotel in Midtown Atlanta. Photos to come (if it's photo-worthy)! I better get off my webblog and actually get some work done on my laptop. Work is paying for this internet connection so I feel obligated to use it for something other than my personal blog. ;)

The Holidays in Lafayette

The holidays were mellow in Lafayette this year. It was just me and my Mom and Dad. We would have loved to spend Christmas with Morgan and Piper (oh, Meg and David too), but the Allendorfs weren't able to travel South from Spokane this year. We understood, Piper is only 4 months old and it's an ordeal to get a family of 4 packed up and able to travel during the holidays. We sent them lots of goodies and gifts and the photos on Meg's blog have been fun to see.

I had a much-needed "staycation" between Christmas and New Year's. My work closed the corporate office during this week and although we had to use 4 days of PTO, I was more than willing to comply. For me, it was all about sleeping in, taking it easy, and not having much on my schedule. I was able to spend time with a couple of friends that are hard to get together with since they have moved along the road of life of marriage and having kids. All that goes along with it is very time consuming! It was really good to see them since my schedule was much more flexible than usual. : )

My parents, as usual, cooked up some wonderful food (our traditional crab bisque on Christmas Eve) and there were lots of treats to go around. While present opening is not near the event it was when Meg and I were kids, it was still fun. My favorite gift was my Burberry Rain Boots from my Mom and sister. Of course, it hasn't rained since I got them. Ha! Overall, it was nice to have the downtime after months of crazy work schedules and travel.

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

My Knee and the Latest Follow-Up Appt.

I wish I had good news to report on my knee, but I don't. Unfortunately, the cycling didn't go very well. I got to 15 minutes, then in mid-November, after cycling on a bike in a hotel gym, my knee flared up again. It wasn't a terribly flare-up, but it felt uncomfortable enough to lay of the cycling for a bit. I didn't realize until it was too late that the bike at the hotel gym had a little resistance on it and I'm sure that was not ideal for my knee. Obviously, the bike was very different than cycling on my bike on the trainer at home. Oh well.

I explained this all to Dr. Dye at my appointment with him on December 14. He seemed a little disappointed too, but urged me to keep doing what does not irritate my knee. He made the comment that many people are like me and after the surgery, the healing is very slow. As usual, I've come to terms with that as long as eventually I can get back to normal exercise.

One change Dr. Dye did make was to switch up my anti-inflammatory medication. I've been taking one Piroxicam pill each day since last May, maybe late April. He switched me to a different medication (I cannot remember the name at this moment and am not near my prescription bottle) that I need to take one pill before breakfast and second pill before dinner. When I picked up the prescription, the pharmacist told me to make sure to drink one full glass of water before I take each pill and do not lie down for at least a half an hour afterwards. Hmm... my only thought was wondering if I lie on the couch right after I take this medication that this would allow the medication to settle in a certain spot in my stomach and cause an ulcer. Scary thought. Needless to say, I'm following their instructions carefully.

More Travels

In late November/early December, I was out of town for almost 2 weeks and away from the office for 3 weeks! As I previously posted, I was in Los Angeles the two days before Thanksgiving, I headed back to L.A. the first week of December and spent my birthday there.

It took me a while to decide what to pack for the trip. The plan was to spend Mon, Nov 31 - Fri, Dec 4 in L.A, then fly up to Spokane for my niece Morgan's 2nd birthday. Last, I went from Spokane to Minneapolis, MN on Dec 8 for more press checks. The weather in Los Angeles was to be much different than Spokane or Minneapolis, but I tried not to worry about bringing a heavy coat because my suitcase was heavy as it was! Well, it turned out I really needed that heavy coat. This was the weather when I flew into Minneapolis.


Yikes... I had planned to stay downtown, but the reps at the printing company I work with recommended I change my reservations to a hotel closer to their plant. Good call. I was in Minneapolis for 3 nights and each night I returned to my hotel room and cranked up the heat! This was the view from my hotel window:


Burr... you should have seen me the first morning I was there, trudging across the parking lot to my beloved Caribou Coffee in a winter jacket appropriate for San Francisco in the Fall. The guys from the printer called it a "windbreaker." Thank goodness one of their wives offered one of her winter coats for me to borrow. I figure the next trip I should take one of my winter coats with me from the time I lived in Salt Lake City and leave it there.

My next trip? Atlanta, GA in January.

Nap Time for Morgan

Morgan is not ready for her nap... silly girl. : )