Reasons Today Sucked

I try to be a pretty positive, optimistic, cheery person most of the time...and a lot of it even comes fairly naturally to me. But every once in awhile there is a day that is really just sucky. Everything seems to go wrong. Unfortunately, today was one of those days. Here is why:

1. I got picked up at 7:00am from my apartment this morning, after about 5 hours of sleep (at best) - I almost forgot my wallet, and ran out to the car with my shoes untied...because I was running late. Par for the course on Monday mornings.

2. Some guy tried to walk away with my laptop at end of the security line at LAX, mistaking it for his own. I politely told him to hand it over...and then he yelled at me like it was my fault he is an idiot.

3. Another guy ran my foot over with his oddly heavy suitcase (no idea what was in there) while I was waiting to board my first flight. He did not apologize.

4. Guy sitting next to me on my first flight would NOT leave me alone...kept asking me questions about where I was going, what I do for a living, etc....all while I was READING my book. I finally had to pretend to sleep to get him to shut up.

5. Landed in Atlanta to find that my second flight had been delayed 2 and 1/2 hours. Darn it.

6. Flight gets delayed another 1/2 hour. DAMN.

7. I try to make myself feel better by eating dinner at the seafood restaurant in Terminal D. I stupidly order a platter of fried shrimp (buffalo style)...and proceed to eat the whole thing.

8. As a result, I have a stomach ache for the next hour...while still sitting in the Atlanta airport. Luckily I travel with Pepto (in pill form).

9. I run into a Managing Director from my company while waiting hours in ATL for my flight. I am traveling in sweat pants for the day, and look a bit like a schmuck. Luckily, he and I go way back and are buddies. Still mildly embarrassing.

10. Flight gets delayed ANOTHER 1/2 hour. Son of a B$&#%!!!!

11. Finally get to board second flight (after a cool 5 hours in the Atlanta airport)....only to sit on the runway for over 1/2 an hour. Land in Raleigh, NC at about 10:40pm. That is 3 hours and 40 minutes behind original scheduled arrival.

12. Get to Avis to pick up rental car...they don't have one ready for me. Even though I am almost 4 hours late.

13. Finally pull out of airport en route to hotel...it is raining cats and dogs, and there is heavy lightning. I contemplate pulling over about 5 times on the way. But decide against it because I sooooo want this day to end.

14. Finally check into hotel room. All is well here....except that the door latch is broken. (see below) I am super paranoid about people breaking in my hotel rooms. This will probably cause nightmares, which will cause me to get even less sleep tonight. I am too tired to try to switch rooms at this point. I shall put the desk chair against the door instead.

Aaaahhhhhhhh, yet another glamourous day in the life of Lindsay. I mean, you can't make this stuff up. I just really am, as my dear parents call me, a S%$T magnet.

Silver lining to the day? Met a very cute guy while waiting for the rental car shuttle at RDU...talked the whole way to Avis....got some info...maybe going to try to meet up sometime soon, if schedules permit. I guess I can't call the WHOLE day bad then, huh?

Just Want to Count Some Sheep...

Have you ever been so incredibly tired that you can barely keep your eyes open, you have trouble concentrating, and (worst of all) you feel kind of dizzy/slightly intoxicated? Well, that's exactly where I am at right now. And it stinks.

This past weekend was even shorter for me than normal. I didn't get to fly home until Friday evening (which is thankfully rare), and then had to fly back out late Sunday night. So what did I do with a really short weekend at home? I crammed in as much fun and games as possible, of course! Hence the exhaustion right now.

I managed to go straight from the airport to happy hour in Hermosa Beach on Friday evening (with my luggage in tow), and stay out with the party animals until about 1:00am (that would be 3:00am to my body at that time), then ran a bunch of errands Saturday morning so that I would be free to get a little rowdy and watch the big Badger game (On Wisconsin! They smoked the silly Ohio State Buckeyes...#1 ranking? Puh-leeeeeeez.) Then it was a quick shower/change of clothes, and out on a fabulous dinner date...and then out for the rest of the night. I managed to not get to bed until almost 4:00am on Sunday morning...was awake by about 8:00am (painfully)...finally managed to drag my butt out of bed by about 9:30am. Quick got ready and headed out for brunch. Brunch included football and bottomless bloody marys and mimosas. Therefore, brunch lasted until about 5:15pm. Oops. Stopped for some quick silliness at a Halloween store (see below - LK, hope you don't mind me sharing the photo evidence)...made it home to shower and pack my luggage again. Then it was off for a frozen yogurt date (where we saw some fabulous celebrities!). Quick stop home to grab luggage, annnnnnnd then back to LAX for the redeye flight to Chicago. I bet you're tired just from reading that, right?

I. Love. My. Job.

I am a seriously lucky lady. I love my job. I adore it. I get to work with/teach every single new hire class that starts with my company...and I wouldn't trade my role for anything! We hire amazing people - smart, thoughtful, young, inquisitive, clever, funny, challenging...and they all know how to have a good time! My weeks at the Q Center in St. Charles, IL are always fabulous, and every time I leave, while tired, I'm a little sad another week is over. How many people get to feel that way about their job?! See? I'm incredibly fortunate.

Last week was the 4th and final week of training for the September 2010 new hire class. And it was even a little more fabulous than normal because my boss was here for the whole week with the class and yours truly. She's amazing....I strive every day to be a little more like her! Having her here for the week was kick-butt. I only wish she could come out with the classes and me more often. But we made sure to cram in as much awesomeness as possible into the week. The highlight of the week was definitely the group social on Wednesday evening - I think it was the most random one we've had yet! We were supposed to do dinner and bowling. Dinner, we did. But bowling was scrapped in favor of grabbing some beers and champagne and cruising around St. Charles in our stretch limo, singing, dancing, and playing games.

* We had to make a bathroom stop at a random gas station. So, of course we needed to play with everything there, including the amazing hat and bandana collection:

* We bought some sunflower seeds at said gas station. Naturally that led to a sunflower seed spitting contest in the parking lot:
* Group shot at the end of the night...yeah...it was 1:15am...looking pretty good, right? Although we're missing 3 people here...I think they were dancing on the sidewalk off to the side...
The September 2010 class was really great - I heart them all! And today, I am back at the Q Center for week 1 of the brand new class...October 2010. They will see me this week, next week, and then for week 4. Will they get sick of me? Only time will tell! Game on.

And can I just say, that I never mind coming back to the Q...but it sure is even better when I walk into my room and find this waiting for me:

Thank you, Q Center! And really thank you to HC...I know she's the one who makes that happen...she rocks.

A Most Perfect Day

Yesterday may have been my favorite day in LA so far...a bold statement. But it really was a perfect mix of sun, fun, friends, and laughs. A couple of friends and I spent some amazing time at the beach...and rented bikes...and had the best day ever. We rode from Santa Monica down to Marina del Rey, in search of the "banana stand" - if any of you watch the TV show Arrested Development, I guess you'll know what that means. You'll be happy to know we found what we were looking for - I don't watch the show, so I didn't have the appreciation for the mission and success. But I still had a darn good time!
My friend LM and I decided on a tandem bike instead of two singles...a genius decision on my part. She wasn't so keen on the idea at first, but went along with it anyway - she's such a great friend! We almost tipped over at least 10 times, we tested our balance to the max, we had near collisions with somewhere between 10 and 20 boardwalk-strolling pedestrians, and we then eventually found our stride. So much fun! And let me tell you...two blond girls riding a tandem draws a lot of attention. I wish I could say we were embarrassed or something...but I can't. (Not sure I can say the same for the two gentlemen we were with who had to be seen with us all day) We had the day/time of our lives! I hope to repeat it very soon.
We also found this souvenir parking sign...they only had "Lindsey" and no "Lindsay"...very upsetting, as you can see. Maybe I'll just make my own. That'll show 'em.

Much to My Delight...

...I found a special treat in my apartment upon returning late Thursday night (after being out of town for 11 days). What was this special gift, you ask? Let's see...how best to put this...basically, my sink/garbage disposal had thrown up all over my kitchen at some point over the 11 days I was gone. I don't know how else to describe it. That's pretty much what happened...and it was dis-gusting.

Now, bear in mind, it was about 10:40pm local time when I got back. But my body/brain thought it was about 1:40am (eastern time). I had just finished up a 4 hour flight, and a 40 minute cab ride home (gotta love the traffic back-up at LAX)...and I could barely see straight I was so exhausted. And then I get to come home to THAT. Ugh. But it had clearly happened at least a couple of days before, so I made an executive decision that I was not in any danger...so I put it out of my mind temporarily and crawled in bed. Aaaahhhhhh.

Fast-forward to Friday morning. I call my apartment management company to tell them they need to send someone over real soon...but this apparently did not qualify as an "emergency" so they said they'd be over "sometime today." Great. I'll just go without a kitchen all day, while working from home. Fast-forward again to 6 HOURS later...no sign of the plumber quite yet...and my sink decides to throw up again! Luckily I caught it JUST before it started overflowing, and was able to start bailing water out of the sink and into the toilet. Lovely.

After 25 minutes of that, the plumber finally shows up and saves the day. Didn't take too long, and it was mostly better. Next, they sent a cleaner over to clean up the whole kitchen, which was nice. The worst part of that though? I have all wood floors, and they were starting to warp from the moisture...so the cleaning guy had to leave me with this industrial-sized fan:

No big deal...just run it for the next 6 hours...it's as loud as a 757 would probably be if one was parked in my apartment, and blows at 360 degrees, meaning everything was flying all over the place. Piece of cake. Aaaahhhhh, good times.

Oh...and the last awesome little nugget...the cleaning place still hasn't come back to pick up the stupid fan! You think I want that thing in my apartment taking up space and looking ugly?! I'm about ready to take it out and throw it in the garbage...if only it was a little lighter so I could actually pick it up. Darn.

A Very Difficult Week

I know it's been 9 long days since I've last written, which I wish wasn't the case...but there has been a lot going on during that time...some really hard days to get through. I usually try to avoid sad updates, but there is just no way around this one. I have a few things that I feel like I need to say, even if only for myself...as a kind of therapy.

The stories are not mine to tell, so I will not get into details of anything...but last week there were two lives lost. Two very young, very promising lives. In two complete accidents. Neither of them related to each other. But both very hard to accept, and pretty much impossible to make sense of. My heart is aching for the two separate families who are going through a grief I cannot fully understand, but I am trying desperately to. In both cases someone I know lost a brother...I have a brother...I simply cannot even imagine how they feel and what they are going through. (And BY, I don't know how you did what you did...but you were amazing. Completely and utterly amazing. I don't think I could have managed what you did. I am so proud to call you my friend. I love you very much.)

One can't help but think about some important life lessons to take away from situations like these. They should be rules to live by every, single day. Unfortunately, they often get forgotten or pushed aside until we come upon tough days like these.

1. Life is short. Way shorter than we often realize or expect. Too short to "sweat the small stuff" or to worry about petty things or to hold grudges.
2. Family and friends make our worlds go 'round. Respect these people and shower them with love, because life would be way different (and not in a good way) if you didn't have them. Even when there's distance between you...they are your rocks.
3. And most importantly, make sure the people you love know exactly how you feel about them. You never know when your last chance will have passed to express your feelings. Don't worry about the "right time" or the exact right words to say or who should say what first...just say it. Now. While you can.