One thing I got to do in NYC was meet my new second cousin, Matthew, 9 months.
We didn’t like each other at all…
Nope, not us.
Category Archives: travelin’ moon
a happy business travel
I have been a delinquent blogger, yes. Busy with work and busy with play. See the new pictures to the left.
Now I am in New York! And I am happy to be here…
I arrived late last night and was so thrilled to feel the we-don’t-sleep energy of the city as I wandered around looking for food at midnight:30.
I usually get so down and depressed when traveling, but how could that happen in this city with so much to explore and filled with people I adore.
Today I am on my own until I work later this evening. I am going to go explore a place recommended by RJ’s brother -in-law called Serendipity, which looks rather cool. I have been instructed to try a frozen hot chocolate, which sounds like an oxy-moron to me. It looks like they have a good black bean burger on the menu that I want to try too.
Then tomorrow I am going to brunch with Lindsey! And then later, to a Superhero Exibit with Mila at The Met. Then, Mila and I walked over the the pier and sat on the grass catching up, but I DID buy a superhero t-shirt of Cat Woman!
Sunday I plan to have brunch with my cousin, Jen, so I can finally meet her son Matthew and then I hope to meet up with Mike.
Hooray for New York City trips. And I may find myself here for an extended period of time in September or October, too…
back in the air
Today I am headed out for some more work adventures. I am flying to Chicago this afternoon for the start of another teacher training session…
It looks like Chicago is another place in the country where the humidity is high and the chance of a thunder storm is high! How cool. Or, how hot, actually. Humidity is not my favorite thing, but I do like me a good thunder storm.
Thank goodness for frequent flyer miles that help me stay motivated. I only need 1 more roundtrip after this one to earn my 4th ticket coupon and RJ and I can fly to Hawaii for free!
This fact keeps me going.
back, lazy, calm and thoughtful
I arrived home from Houston on Monday afternoon and I was so thrilled to be back where everything is familiar, where I recognize the smell of everything and where hot is actually not as *hot* compared to the humidity of a Texas Summer.
While I was away I was not feeling particularly communicative. I couldn’t think straight, actually. And whenever I tried to speak about how I was feeling it was rather hard for me not to cry.
This happens to me, sometimes. Especially if I am away from home.
And then I got in my rental car (which, as usual, smells a little funny; like faint cigarettes and some kind of upholstery cleaner) and took a 3 hour drive to Austin. Not only have I always heard cool things about this city, but my friend Rachael lives there now and her baby girl is now about 1 month old, so it seemed the perfect thing to do to get my mind off what was troubling me.
On the drive there, I talked to people on the phone as I whizzed past lots of beautiful open land and lush, green trees. And talk about a beautiful sky – the big Texas sky’ll break your heart with beauty.
Rachael, baby Delilah and I went to lunch at Shady Grove, where I ate a huge Chili-dog. It was so wonderful to see Rachael as a Mama. It made my heart sing when Rachael said “I just don’t ever stop thinking about her. I don’t even know what I thought about before…” Delilah is precious and Rachael is simply radiant.
On the drive back to Houston, I took my time to stop and take some pictures along the way. I tried hard to drive with the windows down, and no air conditioning, so that my hair could blow and I could let the good smell of the earth clear my head, except for the sound of hot air blowing and classic rock blaring on the radio. But Texas is a different kind of hot, so every so often I had to roll up the windows and cool off for a few minutes.
Something about that drive quieted my mind. The overwhelming sense of stress was still there, but somehow, it seemed more manageable after allowing myself to “get away” all by myself with only the open road ahead of me.
Click right here to see the photos of my journey.
airplane humor & rental cars
If you hadn’t noticed, I travel frequently for work. Mostly, I go to Chicago and Houston, with occasional visits to San Francisco and New York. I have come to realize that traveling for work is not my favorite thing…
I used to think that I would *love* to travel around the country for work, but after now doing it regularly for over a year now, I have come to understand why most people would rather stay at the home office. I do adore seeing and knowing all the other women who work for our company because they are all wonderful and amazing people, but it’s the being away from home and not really having time to explore that gets me down. But because I do my best to stay as positive as I can, so as not to get too depressed on the road, I try to observe life and learn new things in the usually mundane details of life.
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