Success!

HUGE sigh of relief....the conference I've been working on for nearly a year is now over and done with, and it went really well!!!  It took a lot of hard work by a lot of different people and it was all worth it.   I think that all of the 170+ attendees had a good time and we'd planned for it so well that even though small issues cropped up throughout the week it was nothing we couldn't handle.

I drove down to Corpus Christi on Monday and didn't come back until Saturday.  The conference actually kicked off on Wednesday but there was a lot to do to get ready for it.  I am so glad K let me use his truck, all the stuff I had to bring + picking up another person would not have fit in my little car.

The conference was at the Omni Hotel, and they took really good care of us and were wonderful to work with.  I'd been working pretty hard leading up to the conference and wound up with a cold before I left Houston.   It got so bad that I lost my voice and actually had the President of the organization send me to my room to rest.   I didn't think I'd be able to sleep, but I did and it really did help!   If you have to lose your voice, this hotel was the place to lose it.  The hotel staff went out of their way to help me, providing a steady supply of hot tea with honey and lemon and the other officers really helped too - one even brought me some lozenges for my throat.   It sounded a lot worse than it felt, and it sounded BAD!  My voice still isn't back to 100%..


I didn't attend many sessions during the conference, its a full-time job putting on the conference!  I was able to attend the general sessions and the special event.    I had a lot of good seafood being so close to the coast and we had a great evening on the USS Lexington.   The tours were really interesting, and I even got to sit in the captain's chair on the bridge!

I feel like I'm still recovering from my lack of sleep during the conference.   I didn't get much sleep between stressing about the conference, being away from home and hearing drag racers (loud even 17 floors up!) and wind the last morning.   I've had some early nights since I got home - I went to bed at 8:45 on Saturday!  I should be back to normal soon, and am very glad I'll be in town for a while - two work trips in one month is plenty for this girl!

We had a pretty low-key weekend.    We got a lot of rain on Friday and Saturday so it was a good weekend to stay in and I haven't been feeling great so even more reason to stay home.

We finally saw "Water for Elephants".   It was of course not as good as the book but pretty good and yes I love elephants so I'm biased :)  I'm convinced the actor who played August can never play anyone you want to root for because he's always played bad guys and he plays them well, I hate him!!!

Today Kevin had the idea to check out a nearby Indian grocery store so we could find a few ingredients to make butter chicken.   I was surprised with how large the place was and amazed with how many ingredients I'd never heard of...we found what we needed - tandoori masala - and also got some frozen naan.   The butter chicken was delicious (though I made the mistake of looking at the nutritional information) , the naan was disappointing since it ended up soggy in some spots.  I think because it went from frozen to heated up too quickly.   It was probably more authentic than what we've bought at the grocery store, but I'll go back to that unless we find a way to have it turn out better.   The price was great, all 3 items we bought were not even $6, compared to the closest thing we could find to tandoori masala at our usual grocery store being $4.50 there.

I am pretty sure the reason I haven't been feeling well is that I've been working too hard, both on the conference and on my regular workload.   I got a lot of rest this weekend and am feeling better.  I'm ready for this conference to get underway, and love that this time next week it'll be all finished (and hopefully a success!)  K helped me pack the the truck today so I have one less thing to do in the morning. I had a lot to load in, including gifts for the committee members, door prizes that my university donated (thank you advancement office!), and my own luggage.  Thankfully Kevin is letting me use his truck since I don't think everything would fit in my 'go-cart' of a car, and I'm picking up another gal on the way down.

I'm excited to get this conference going.  I know there will be 'fires' and problems that will come up as we go through it but we should be ready for them, and the hardest work is over (I hope).

8 years

8 years ago today, Kevin and I had our first date!

I remember being nervous before the date and he even had to come get me outside - I was waiting for him outside the restaurant and it turns out he'd gotten there early - we met at benjy's.  We sat down, must've ordered some food, and the conversation flowed and I didn't want the evening to end.   After dinner we went to the lounge upstairs and sat on the outdoor balcony, each with a drink and continued our conversation.   I have no idea what we talked about that night, but it was the beginning of something wonderful.

This day means more to me than Valentine's Day, though K gets major brownie points for calling to wish me a Happy V-day that weekend even before we'd officially met.

We both new very quickly that we had found something special and we never looked back.

I am proud to say I met the love of my life online.  When we first met I wasn't sure I should tell people how we met - 8 yrs ago it was common, but not as common as it is now (and there was no ad campaign saying how many couples meet online).  I thought about saying a friend introduced us, but thats a lie.  To this day some people assume we met at my alma mater, since he went there at one point too - we could've seen each other on campus!   Then I realized it doesn't matter how we met, just that we did....and I'm so glad we did...

almost here

Conference planning has been keeping me very busy, hard to believe that the conference is NEXT week! There have been lots of little decisions and follow-ups to do, I'm ready for it to be here!   The only thing I've ever worked on that involved this much planning was getting ready for our wedding and for that most decisions were just what K and I wanted, this has a lot more people to consider and many more 'moving parts'.    Everything from what time to put materials together to making sure we have food arranged at all the times we need it (and for how many people) and everything in between has been on my mind.... I am glad I'm not an event planner! I am very fortunate that I have a great team working on it, and I don't know how people put a conference together before email, I guess a lot more faxes and phone calls... This time next week we'll be wrapping up the conference, cannot wait!!!

Atlanta

I love when I can mix business and pleasure.  I've been attending a conference in Atlanta, which happens to be home to 2 of my very good friends.   On Wednesday, Delena was nice enough to pick me up a the airport and bring me to my hotel - visiting with her was much better than any taxi ride!    Jill met us at the hotel and we all went to dinner.   The food was delicious and the company was wonderful.   If you get a chance, try out Seasons 52.  They have seasonal menus and the dishes are all less than 500 calories!   Great news since I usually end up having to pick between what I want to get and what I feel I should get.   The scallops were delicious!   I did splurge and have a drink (pineapple martini) and a mini-dessert.

The past 2 1/2 days have been busy with workshops and my brain is overloaded.

I extended my time in Atlanta by one night so I can get some great hang out time and finally see Jill's house, long overdue.  

Its a quick update since I want to enjoy all the time with my friends.   I appreciate Kevin not minding that I wanted to stay an extra day.  I should get home in time to watch the Superbowl with him....