Adventures in traveling...

Well folks, I am in San Diego. I will be here for a few days working on-site at my biggest client's conference.

The trip out here could have sucked a lot more, but it was by no means my best experience. It felt more like a comedy of errors.

Issues started on Thursday when my boss attempted to check me in and got all of our information jumbled. I took it upon myself to re-check-in on Delta.com. Being a skymiles member, I attempted to attach my account number to the flight, only to find that i first had to change my name on the account. "No problem," I foolishly thought. when I changed the name on my Discover card, all it took was a phone call and a brief sales pitch for whatever financial protection they were offering that week. And that was a credit card - a skymiles account should be a breeze. Wrong.

I called the customer service # and was told that I have to fax a request that includes my current name, my requested new name, and a copy of my marriage certificate. I asked if I could go ahead and get credit for my current flight, but the customer service person said it wouldn't work until I change my name, so i have to send in copies of my boarding passes as well. we will handle that next week.

I return to the Delta site to continue re-checking-in and I have the option of selecting a new seat. My boss made all of the travel arrangements through Expedia and he told them that I wanted either a window or an aisle seat - which is fine. However, I have managed to strain my foot/ankle, ram my knee into a table, and drop and iPad on my foot - all left side of course. So, I decided to change my seat to an aisle seat, closer to the front of the plane, on the right side specifically so that I could have room to stretch out my left leg and have no one on that side to bother me.

Cue Friday - I head to the airport super early to make sure that I can easily maneuver long term parking/shuttles, and go to the actual ticket counter to look at my boarding pass one more time. Oh, did I mention that my boss spelled my name wrong? So I go to the counter, the chick fixed my boarding pass and took my luggage. I breezed through security, grabbed some Chick-fil-a and propped myself down next to the only available outlet so fire up the PC and follow up on a few emails. I played a quick game of "OMG, is that Bootsy Collins?" and waited for my zone to board.

As I pass my boarding pass to the Gatekeeper, it doesn't beep like all the others. Crap! She informed me that my seat has been reassigned tot he other side of the aisle so that another party (who obviously checked in after me) could sit together. Fun. Fortunately, no one sat int he middle see between me and Little Miss Pees A Lot. She got up at least 4 times that I could remember to go to the bathroom. And she was super skinny with the ability to squeeze between me and the seat in front of me, so she never bothered to wait for me to move. I sat reading my latest book purchase: Are You There Vodka? It's me Chelsea. I think my incessant giggling bugged my bladderless neighbor and overly made up chick who just had to have my original seat.

My second flight from LAX to SD lasted about 45 minutes (24 minutes in the air). I again chose a new seat than was originally assigned. It was next to a much larger man  who couldn't quite get the arm rest down. I decided not to let it bother me as I only had to sit next to him for 45 minutes. Until he fell asleep and kept sliding down in his seat. He smelled kinda funny too - kinda musty, like the awesome denim shirt that he was wearing had been packed away in the attic for the last 20 years since it was "cool" and he decided that yesterday was THE day to wear it.

All-in-all, not a bad day. And San Diego is, as always, beautiful. The weather is perfect. It got a little chilly as the boss and I walked back to the hotel after dinner in the gas light area, but nothing that an extra sweater or jacket couldn't handle.

Today we head over to the convention center. I was told that today is the "easiest" of all our days. We are only scheduled for about 8 hours of prep work.

Fun.

Autumnal (is a fun word)

It's Autumn... has been for a bit now. Heck, we're about 1/3 of the way through Autumn!

I decided to give the blog an Autumnal sprucing. (Look out come Christmas time!)

These colors make me think of pumpkins

And pumpkin pie...










or perhaps pumpkin cookies (with white chocolate chips)!











Dang it. I have to leave for a business trip tomorrow and all I can think about right now is baking.

I love Christmas... duh!

I made the big mistake of asking mom what the menu for Christmas is going to be this year.

I NEED to know. Christmas is a rough time for scheduling for me. Jerry and I typically head to Hillsboro on Christmas Eve and stay the night with his family. There is just something adorable about the excitement of the niece and nephews on Christmas morning (ok, the surprise on Pop's face, as well).

Prior to dating Jerry, my Christmas routine was pretty set - if I was working on Christmas Eve, then the festivities began as soon as I got home from work. I would change into my Christmas-working clothes and help mom with as much prep work as possible. This typically includes baking something and prepping the spices for her famous lasagna sauce. Late nights are usually followed by early morning Christmas present unwrapping, followed by cleaning, more cleaning, and more cooking.

But, as I said, things have been different since I have been heading to Hillsboro. Now, Jerry and I pack up and head to mom's, bake my contribution to Christmas, and help her with as much food prep as possible. Jerry is very good at helping Dadu prep the beer - you know, making sure temps and CO2 mix are just right. Then we head to the 'boro and mom is left with only Mindy as a helper.

So planning for Christmas ALWAYS starts early. That's why it wasn't unusual for me to ask about the menu now. I was informed (as I am every year) that mom wasn't making a big to-do about the Christmas menu this year, but that she figured that I could make some cupcakes and she would buy some other quick prep desserts.

Here are the flaws in her theory...
- Christmas is a Saturday, so if I do get the Friday off work, that more time for baking!
- I am already thinking about making some kind of candy (thinking Christmas trees and Snowmen) picks to stick in the top of cupcakes.
- Last year, I bought a cool cookie stamp thingy to make holiday sugar cookies - and I WILL use it this year.
- I have a cookie press - and I WILL use it this year.

So, what am I getting at here?

I love Christmas and I am already shopping for this year's dessert options - but Michael's doesn't yet have holiday candy molds. how can I practice and perfect the Christmas menu if I can't get the candy molds yet?!?!?!

Who remembers this?

This delightful childhood tune has lodged itself in my brain... (I think these are the words we sang...?)

Suffocation
Hyperventilation
Suffocation
The game we like to play...

First you take a bowling ball
And you roll it down the hall
Hit your dad
Make him mad
Ahhhhhhhhhh


Suffocation
Hyperventilation
Suffocation
The game we like to play...

Then, you take a garden hose
And you stick up your nose
Turn it on
And you're gone
Oh oh oh oh

Suffocation
Hyperventilation
Suffocation
The game we like to play.

6 months

Jerry and I have been married for 6 months today. So if you had anything less than that in the pool, you lose.

I found it funny today that as I was perusing the Facebook, I noticed that an acquaintance had written something about celebrating her 6 months with her husband. I found this odd since I was married on a Thursday. Despite being able to do simple math, I know when my 6 month-iversary is because it is one day after the anniversary of my first date with Jerry. (Don't think that wasn't planned)

Being resourceful, I popped onto theknot.com and checked out her wedding registries - because it lists the date there.

She was married on May 8.

Wow.

She's just as smart as I remember.