Friday, August 31, 2012 - Rest Day

Slept late, then dressed and walked to the First Watch restaurant a few blocks away, grateful for some fresh air and a change of scene, having been nowhere except the hotel and the Forum for the last 10 days. Had a nice brunch, took a walk, then back to the hotel for a nap. We made arrangements to meet another friend at a little Thai restaurant within shuttle distance, enjoyed a nice early dinner with him, than back to the hotel to relax for the evening, another much needed early night to bed.

Thursday, August 30, 2012 - End of Convention, Let down

Last day of the convention is always a letdown, after the rush, but previously we used to have a wrap party, though we didn’t have one last time, and we didn’t have one this time, so we all ended up drifting away to separate get-togethers, if we have them. Our group ended up back at the hotel, where we had drinks at the bar before heading to bed, having had food at the convention before heading back. We all broke up fairly early though, as Jane and Steve both had 6 a.m. flights, whereas we cleverly arranged to fly out Saturday, knowing we needed a day of rest before facing any travel challenges. We all said our goodbyes and headed off to bed.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - Back to Work

Finally felt well enough to go in. My Pink Eye was mostly gone (at least I didn’t look like a Zombie and I was past the contagious stage, or at least I was washing my hands every five minutes to make sure I didn’t spread it), and I was still on enough cough medicine, ibuprofin, Afrin and everything else where I could pass for almost healthy. Rather than disturb what was a system that was obviously working, I just took over the floater detail, which was pretty easy because the bulk of the speakers had already gone through. Ultimately, for me at least, a pretty uneventful day. At least I was there.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - Sick Day

Feeling better, but not enough to guarantee I could make it through the day, so instead of going in and making everyone worry about me, I stayed in bed another day, dammit. I did spend the day watching the convention and making notes on all the speakers so I could better guide my coaches tomorrow, so it actually turned out to be a constructive day, though not so much fun as being there...

Monday, August 27, 2012 - Sick Day

Spent the whole day in bed, sleeping, occasionally eating, and popping every pill and remedy I could get my hands on. Only felt marginally better, not much. Hubby got back around 10:30, he gave me the highlights. Fortunately, today’s convention schedule had been postponed because of a tropical storm, so a lot of speakers were cancelled anyway.

Sunday, August 26, 2012 - House Doctor Diagnoses, Sent Home to Hotel

Sick today, though I dragged myself into work anyway. I looked so bad my compatriots found the house docter (literally, the attending physician of the Congress of the United States, no less!) who examined me and concluded I had a severe respiratory sydrome in my head and lungs, a perforated eardrum (I had lost the hearing in my left in a few days ago), and conjunctivitis, aka Pink Eye, something I had once as a kid, which made my eyes super-red and watery, and was contagious as can be. I had no choice but to return to the hotel in the afternoon, with Jane taking over my rehearsal room, and Steve taking over Jane’s. Thank goodness I had planned for the contingency by bringing Steve on board back in 2008, but I never dreamed it would be ME he’d end up filling in for! I always figured it would be one of the older folks in the crew, like 78 year old Hubby! Oh well, at least the contract was being fulfilled, though I hated missing even a minute of it!

Saturday, August 25, 2012 - Schedule Filling Up, Feeling Ill

Worked with some more speakers today, with Steve as our floater, filling in all the cracks between the rehearsal rooms, the stage, the participants lounge, scheduling and the speechwriters. Started to seriously not feel well, though, it seems the bug I got is finally overtaking me.

Friday, August, 24, 2012 - First Customers, Steve Arrives, Birthday Dinner

Had a couple of speakers come in to rehearse today, a good start. Our second subcontractor Steve arrived, got him up to speed as well, then at the end of the day, we all headed over to the hotel restaurant for a nice dinner with the four of us, plus one other gentleman who has been at all of the last 5 conventions with us (and then some, I think), and it turned out to be a lovely little dinner party to celebrate my birthday.

Thursday, August 23, 2012 - Jane Arrives

Our subcontractor and friend Jane arrived, and we got her caught up on systems and procedures. Everything on track for an efficient convention.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012 - First Day at RNCC

Took the hotel shuttle over to the Times Forum, which was already being surrounded by fences making it look like an invasion was impending, spent most of the day getting caught up on systems and procedures and getting organized for the upcoming job.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - Flight to Tampa

Finished packing in the morning, taxi to airport, flight on Southwest in the late afternoon. FROZE!!!! I kept getting colder and colder, and they had no blankets, and no matter how many times I asked the flight attendant essentially ignored me, then the landing was delayed because of weather. I spent the last hour of the flight curled into fetal position trying to stay warm, but by then I was shivering so bad, a deep down to the bone chill that felt like my connective tissues literally disconnected from the bones. It was horrible, and I knew I was going to end up getting sick, just what we didn’t need for the next 10 days!! It’s crazy, flying from 80 degree weather to 90 degree weather, and catching a cold because the flight was about 55 degrees (though honestly, it felt even colder than that!) It was raining when we landed, the airport was freezing so I couldn’t get warmed up, raining when we got into our car service, though I managed to talk the driver into taking off the air condition, freezing in every store we stopped in on our way to the hotel (welcome to Florida in August, where the indoor temperature is so cold that if it were that temperature up north, someone would put the heat on!), and finally freezing in the hotel lobby when we checked in. I couldn’t warm up for the life of me! Finally, we got checked into our room, which had a lovely balcony overlooking the river, so I opened the patio door and sat outside where I FINALLY was able to get a bit warmed up. I knew it was too late, though, and one of the stops was a drug store for some cold medicine, because I knew I was going to get sick. We ended up ordering room service because we knew the restaurant would be too cold, a nice bowl of stew was just the thing! Comfy room, we got a pretty good night sleep.

Monday, August 20, 2012 - Laundry, Shopping and Packing

Determined we needed to pick up a few things to take with us, in addition to doing all of the laundry. The one drawback here at Jock’s is that there is no water at the outbuilding, we need to fetch it with the horse trailer whenever we get low, so a laundromat is, alas, the only reasonable way to get it done. The older woman at Mr. Clean wasn’t exactly friendly, we seemed to disturb her space, so we were glad to get out of there. Did some last minute shopping before getting home and doing as much packing as possible. Looking forward to a good night sleep, I feel like I still haven’t fully recovered from all our recent activity, and we’ll need all the energy we can get for the next 10 days!

Sunday, August 19, 2012 - Pack and Clean

Spent the day "drycleaning" all of our suits and business clothes, as we will need a lot of them for the upcoming Convention in Tampa. Nine working days means 10 different outfits for me, while Hubby will be swapping between multiple suits and blazers (men have it so easy!) Starting doing some packing, then relaxed as much as we could, try to rest up before our busy week.

Saturday, August 18, 2012 - Rest/Work Day

Did manage to sleep late, thankfully, then spent most of the day catching up on two months of paperwork that I’ve let slide, glad that job’s done! Relaxed during the evening, discovered some open movie channels on Dish so we recorded some new movies for later. We may have recorded just a few too many western programs during our last few absences... : -). Made a few decisions about how we are going to pursue our Fall tour of New England as well.

Friday, August 17, 2012 - Pick up Hearing Aid

The day we’ve been waiting for has arrived! Hubby was jumping up and down like a kid in anticipation of getting his hearing aid. I worked on the computer until it was time to go, then we headed up to Costco in Dedham, MA, where Rick finished his fitting and showed him all the features of his new ears, including warnings that all the new sounds are likely going to make him dizzy (which they did). He was so thrilled, though, as I am. For the first time in a long time, I don’t have to yell at him just to have a conversation, and during the evening, the volume on the TV was so low that I was having trouble hearing it! Love it! He knew his ears were getting bad, he just didn’t realize how bad. What a relief! Off to bed, looking forward to sleeping late and putting some more deposits in our sleep bank.

Thursday, August 16, 2012 - Shopping

Although we wanted to rest all day today, we ran down our groceries before we left so we had to run out and do some shopping. We also stopped the tailor’s where we had dropped off Hubby’s suit last week for a fitting, looks great! Relaxed all evening, trying to get as much rest as possible before our big event starting next week.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012 - Flight back to Boston

Early morning, decent traffic for LA, long flight back to Boston, quick pickup by PreFlight parking shuttle, clear drive home, CRASH in bed!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012 - Work Day

Day Two of our Training Camp.

Monday, August 13, 2012 - Work Day

Day One of our Training Camp.

Sunday, August 12, 2012 - Rest Day

Our new backyard

Woke up early, at least relative to local time, not fully rested but with too much on my mind to go back to sleep. Once Hubby woke up, we showered and dressed and went to the Corner Bakery for a better than expected breakfast. A quick trip into Ralphs and CVS for a few supplies, then headed back to the hotel for a lazy afternoon. Spent a few minutes setting up our work room for tomorrow, then relaxed for the rest of the day, napping and watching TV, getting rested up for our busy next two days.



Catalina Island in the background

Saturday, August 11, 2012 - Fly to Los Angeles

Slept fairly late today, at least for a travel day, as we didn’t have to leave until about noon. Had a full breakfast, then packed everything (something that gets easier with practice, and we’ve certainly had a lot of THAT lately :-) for our flight from Boston to LAX. Gave the horses (well, Apollo, anyway) some apples before we left, spoke to Angela about last minute details, then headed out for Logan. Traffic was probably good considering it’s Boston, only had a few slowdowns. Stopped once for coffee at a Dunkin Donuts, then found our way to a very organized off-site parking lot that had shuttles to the airport every five minutes. We parked right away, and there was already a shuttle waiting to take us over, very efficient. Arrived in plenty of time, had a nice leisurely lunch at a brewhouse in the airport before heading down to the gate shortly before boarding. First time I think I’ve ever taken a coast to coast flight non-stop! Hubby says he has once before, but that was before we met, so it was ages ago. We started out with seats in different rows, but a nice Aussie fellow was kind enough to switch seats with me so I ended up next to Hubby for the trip. And it was even in an exit row, so we had lots of leg room! Used the flight to get caught up on my blog (which has slid to more than a month behind! How does that happen???), until my battery almost ran out, then read the rest of the way. Arrived ahead of schedule, grabbed the Thrifty shuttle to the rental car office, and even though I had booked a mid-size car (usually I only get a compact, but it was only a dollar a day more so I thought I would splurge), but when we got out to the parking lot with instructions to choose any car in the M section, we discovered one Dodge and three Ford Crown Victorias! Definitely bigger than a mid-size, but that’s one of the perks of showing up so late! Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, we settled on a gray Crown Victoria, packed up and drove the 40 minutes to the Wyndham Hotel in Irvine. A very nice ride! Exhausted by the time we got there, we skipped going to the store, and just had a nosh and a drink in the bar before collapsing into bed! VERY long day!!

Friday, August 10, 2012 - Excellent Day at Costco Hearing Aid Center

Slept as late as we could, though rain woke us up a few times during the night. Got some work done on the computer before we had to drive to an appointment at Costco in Dedham (an hour’s drive), in our continuing efforts to solve Hubby’s hearing aid problem. Made one short stop at a Chinese tailor to drop off a suit is too big for Hubby since he lost weight, but the woman there said they could alter it, so we’ll have another suit to take with us for future events. Fabulous, beats the heck out of hanging in the van never to be used again! One more side trip for ice cream at a little parlor in the mess they call downtown Dedham before we headed to Costco. We arrived about an hour early, but apparently all of the previous customers had done the same, so our provider, Rick, was able to take us right away. What a difference! Though we had a few problems to resolve at first (they neglected to tell me they only take American Express or checks, and I didn’t bring my checkbook!), and that we had to be members just for the hearing aid test (a contradiction to what I had been told on the phone), we eventually got everything sorted out, and Hubby had a fantastic set of tests, much more thorough than anything he’d ever had before. Furthermore, the kind of hearing aid he wanted was less than half the price of what that silly woman quoted us at Miracle Ear. Plus we have the advantage of being able to get it adjusted at any Costco, giving us the flexibility of a national chain that we wanted. The best part was that not only did Rick have samples of the kind we wanted, he put some in Hubby’s ears and took us around the store to show us how they worked! Fabulous! Needless to say, we ordered a pair, and we’ve already set an appointment up for next Friday to pick them up and get them programmed. That will give him a few days to get used to them before we fly to Tampa. He was crushed when he had to take them out, but he learned a valuable lesson, like how much I have to raise my voice in order to talk to him, and how frustrated I get when he interrupts a conversation I’m having with someone else, because he’s oblivious that we’re talking. Anyway, despite the long drive, it was well worth it! It looks like we’ll FINALLY be able to solve a long-standing problem, and we couldn’t be happier. Headed back to a Walmart pharmacy where we had dropped off a prescription earlier, a quick stop at Staples for some office supplies I needed, then finally arriving back at the ranch just after dark, where the pups were happy as clams to see us. Fed everyone, including ourselves, before heading to bed. Another busy day in the books!

Thursday, August 9, 2012 - Drive to Jocks Horse Farm, Cranston, RI

Got up early with the alarm, finished packing, ran by the dump, and were on the road before 8:30. Made a quick stop for breakfast and fuel, then ran straight down to Angela’s place in Cranston. This is the same place we stayed last year, so it will make it easy for everyone. Angela met us at the barn as we were filling up with water (the only drawback to this place, no water at the outbuilding where we park), got the horses settled in (Angela was nice enough to agree to let Apollo run with the mares, last year he got into some weeds in the gelding pasture and acquired a cough that lasted for months), though we’ll need to keep an eye on them, as the pasture is full of clover. Apparently unlike the rest of the country that’s suffering from drought, Rhode Island has had so much rain that the horses can barely keep up with the speed at which the grass and clover are growing! They’ll enjoy it, though, it just might be hard to get them back on hay later! Got everything settled in easily enough, experience makes it a piece of cake! Hubby even got the satellite dish out, and we crashed in front of the TV for the evening, a much needed few hours of rest!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012 - Another Ride Day at Lake Luzerne

Another excellent night sleep, love these cooler nighttime temps!! Took the horses for another ride today, figuring we better do it while we could, since the rest of this month is going to be incredibly busy. Took all the remaining trails we could find, including one that wasn’t even on the map (one with white blazes), mostly linear that ended at private property, usually a stable that rented horses. We’ve passed several groups out here. A good workout for the horses, though Apollo was getting a little frustrated at the rocks and just walking. Once we got back to camp, though, we cantered across the field, just so they could stretch their legs. A nice ride, but we’ve just about explored every trail in the place, and not gone more than a few miles. Just as well, though, we don’t need to be exhausting ourselves with 4-5 hour rides! Got back and did some packing, as we’re leaving tomorrow, again!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012 - Ride Day at Lake Luzerne

Had an excellent night’s sleep, with perfect temps in the 50’s and very dark quiet for a nice change. Did some laundry this morning, nothing like the smell of clothes fresh from the line, especially when the line is in the middle of a forest! Glad we didn’t come here for the peach and quiet, though, as there is some kind of rock-crushing facility very nearby, and they were quite busy making loud noises, so much so we could hardly hear our generator over it! Eventually got around to saddling up the horses and heading out on the trail. This is a pretty small area, with only a few short horse trails, but we weren’t really up for anything long and tiring today, we have too much recovery to do from the hectic pace of the last few weeks! Followed the yellow trail markers, which eventually crossed the main road and worked us up a steep hill to a vista that was very pretty. A lot of the trail was quite rocky, though one section was sandy and the rest just dirt. Definitely needed boots on today! Got back around 4:00, got everyone settled in, took down the laundry, had dinner and a nice relaxing evening. Glad we skipped lunch, though, we both gained a few pounds that we have to lose, and missing a meal always helps!

Monday, August 6, 2012 - Travel Day to Lake Luzerne Horse Camp, NY

Packed up and were out by 8:30, a quick stop at the Canandaigua Water Treatment Plant to dump, then McDonalds to pick up a bagel breakfast, then onwards toward Lake Luzerne in the Adirondacks in eastern New York State. We avoided the thruway because it would have cost us $60 to go 166 miles, and we weren’t in THAT much of a hurry, so we took a more scenic route. Stopped once more at the Walmart in Amsterdam for supplies before heading out to the campground, arriving aroun 4:30. Didn’t take long to check in, and reached our campsite shortly thereafter. The campground is mostly wooded, though at the end of the cul-de-sac there is a dirt road that goes around to an open field where there are a few covered stalls and a LOT of paddocks. If we had wanted a satellite signal and to be closer to the water spigot, we should have picked site 18 or 19, but we opted for 22, which is a large area on the edge of the woods. Since that took us about as far away from the paddocks as possible, and because there was no shade there, we opted to highline the horses in the forest, which was very convenient. Our only neighbors are a couple with an antique, round-edged trailer next door, and a couple of horse trailers around the back near the paddocks. We filled the tanks and I started a load of laundry so that I could get at least one load hung before dark. Enjoyed a quiet night, as there are tight restrictions on generator use, so we had ours off by 8:00, watching a great old movie "The Man Who Knew Too Much" off the batteries until early bedtime.

Sunday, August 5, 2012 - Day at Friend’s Cottage on Honeoye Lake

Did some preliminary packing before setting out to visit with friends at a cottage owned by one of them down on Honeoye Lake, a short 20 minute drive from the farm. Got back before 7:00, did some more packing, then headed to bed for an early start in the morning.

Saturday, August 4, 2012 - Return to Pittsford Day

Well, the day for which we came here has arrived! Did some running around earlier in the day to find a tool Hubby needed and to pick up some groceries for the picnic before heading out to Powder Mills Park, with a stop at Abbott’s Frozen Custard in Bushnell’s Basin for a quick ice cream lunch (better to stave off the temptation of what will certainly be mostly junk food at the picnic), enjoying a leisurely few minutes sitting on a park bench by the Erie Canal. Arrived just as the festivities were getting underway. Had a great time, saw many of the friends I got reacquainted with last year, plus quite a few more that I hadn’t seen since high school, mostly from other classes, which is why I thought this was such a great idea, a cross-class reunion. Thoroughly enjoyed myself, and Hubby was very patient and understanding as he sat to one side with the dogs most of the day. Eventually things wrapped up, and those of us that were left headed downtown to the Pittsford Pub for a nightcap. A great time was had by all!

Friday, August 3, 2012 - Short Ride and Visit with Friends at Cayuga Lake Cottage

After breakfast, Hubby and I saddled up the horses for a quick ride around Beth’s property. They have about five acres of scrub trees, shrubs and bushes that they’ve very cleverly bush-hogged a bunch of trails through, to provide a meandering feel of a much larger space. It was a bit hot in the sun, but it was a good shake-down ride in any event, enough to get the horses stretched out. We trotted and even cantered in a few places, and just as we were heading back to the barn, I discovered I had lost my phone! After a brief look around, we realized that we’d never find it in the long grass without hearing it ring, so we went back to the RV, put the horses away, then got on Skype on the computer so we could ring the phone. I took the walkie talkie and the dogs and started walking around the field. After several trials and errors, and at one point taking the dogs back to the RV because they were panting so hard in the heat I couldn’t hear anyting (though Billy slipped out and found me again anyway), I finally managed to locate the phone, right where I had been looking but would never had seen it, it was so deep in the grass. Shucks, I was kind of hoping I’d be able to persuade Verizon into letting me upgrade three weeks early, darn it! Anyway, job done, we showered and got dressed and headed down to Cayuga Lake to visit a friend and her husband at their cottage. Had a lovely afternoon with them, before heading back in the evening.

Thursday, August 2, 2012 - Dinner with PMHS Friends

Slept late, spent most of the day getting caught up on lots of work that had been let go because of all the activity lately. Arranged to have dinner at Flaherty’s in Macedon, quite a nice Irish pub and restaurant, with a bunch of friends I had gotten reacquainted with at last year’s reunion. Started out in the pub at 6:00, then worked our way into the dining room around 7:00, enjoying a rare draft beer (well, black and tan actually), some very nice lobster bisque and a nice piece of steak that Hubby and I shared. Lots of fun and laughter, and even got to meet a friend’s sister, who just coincidentally happened to be having dinner at the same time! The universal spirit at work again! A fabulous evening, very enjoyable for all!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 - Travel Day to Brookfield, NY

Got up at a reasonable hour, had some breakfast, then finished up packing up. Then it was time to bring the RV slides in, and the bedroom came in fine, as usual, but the living room refused to go. No motor engagement, no whirring, no nothing, dead. We tested the power sources all around, including the switch, and after an hour, came to the conclusion it had to be the motor. Fortunately, our hosts knew of a motor shop, someone that specialized in electric motors, and Sharon ran me over there in her truck with the motor in hand. After a 20 minute drive, we arrived at the shop, where a genius of a guy managed to find a loose wire inside, tightened it, said one of the brushes was a bit worn but otherwise it worked fine, and got it working again! Yeah! We were afraid we were going to have to find a replacement, and how knows how complicated that might have become! A quick ride back, Hubby reinstalled the motor, it worked like a dream, and off we went, doling out praise to our rescuers and hosts before heading down the road to our next stop, another farm in Brookfield, NY called Thistledale, and run by Beth Harrison. Though we were running late, Beth was running later, so we arrived around 3:30, she arrived around 4:00. It didn’t take us long to get settled in, way back by her barn with a paddock right next door for the horses, electric provided and water run from a source clear on the other side of the barn, but a hose already in place, thank goodness. A quick setup, a quick shower, a quick change of clothes, a quick feeding of all the animals, and off we went to meet my old childhood friend Mary and her husband Garry at an Italian restaurant at Eastview Mall, about 30 minutes away. Great to see them again, had a lovely dinner, a lovely evening, wish we could have spent more time with them, but we have just too much stuff to do, things are so hectic!! We said our good-byes just as the sun was setting and a gorgeous full moon was rising, truly a spectacular sight! A short drive "home," and we were settled down for the night.