In Pictures

Whoooiee, what a week. 

Here's a little picture walk through it... 

I went on another business trip to a conference with six other people from our district.  One was my friend Karen who is also a teacher.  We have a really hard time acting normal together.  And sitting still.  Sitting still is almost out of the question.  Since we were the only two that wore sweatpants the morning we left, we offered to take the back back seat of the Ford Expedition for the eight hour trip to St. Cloud, Minnesota.  Then, we proceeded to try and act normal so the other five people would not think we were crazy.    

The whole acting normal thing lasted about ten minutes.  At which point Karen said, "This is like riding a donkey through the Grand Canyon back here."

 
When we stopped at the first gas station, Karen asked the guy in line behind us, "Do you have a cat in your truck with you?"  He replied, "No.  Not a cat."  I then piped in and said, "Oh good.  Because a cat is one letter away from being a rat and that is not a coincidence.  Not at all."

After getting back in the vehicle, one of the ladies we were with turned around to us and said, "Is this going to happen at every gas station?  I need to prepare myself if it is."  Then, Karen told her, "Yes, this one can be a bit embarrassing."  And the lady said back to her, "Which one?"  Turns out, we both can be a bit embarrassing. 

By about hour three, we had ourselves a regular old road trip going on.  Complete with Cenex coffee and cards.  There's nothing like playing Slapjack and Crazy Eights in the back back seat of a vehicle that will make you feel like you are a kid again.

And we did text the driver from way in the back back seat every once in awhile just to remind him that we were with him.  Didn't want him to feel left out. 

  
I packed my running gear but the only time it was used was to be my camera protector in my purse.  I figure good intentions for running while on a trip is better than no intentions.   

Once we arrived in St. Cloud, I declared to all of the people in the vehicle, "Well, I think we've known each other long enough now and have been through enough together that we should probably all share our deepest darkest secret."  They didn't want to do that quite yet so we went for pizza and wine instead.  It was the best pizza I've ever eaten.  So good that Karen asked our waitress to get the cook so she could give him a kiss.  It might have actually happened.  I will never say for sure.  

Then, we went and discovered that strangers in Minnesota love a good squeeze hug just as much as strangers in our town do. 

The next day was the conference and I put my glasses on and learned a lot about how to manage all of our data.  Afterward, everyone from the conference boarded a bus and went out for dinner together.  I've never been to a conference like that before.  Apparently the data people have something figured out.  A guy wrote me a note in some pretty fabulous looking handwriting.  The note was about my big brown handbag that is so large you can crawl inside of it, but still.  A note is a note.

There was amazing live music.  I love amazing live music. 

The next day, we went to the conference again and I put my glasses on again and learned a lot more about managing all of our data.  Then, we left to make the trip back home.  I forgot to turn in my room keys.   

In addition to packing running gear with good intentions, I also packed The Great Gatsby with good intentions to read for book club.  I was gone Tuesday through Thursday and book club was Friday.  I read as much as I ran while gone.  So late Thursday night, I spent a long time in my favorite chair ferociously reading.  I loved the book as much as I love book club and that's serious.   

My favorite quote:
He smiled understandingly -- much more than understandingly.  It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.  It faced -- or seemed to face -- the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.  It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression on you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.   

Those are some words. 

I guess the week of traveling wore me out.  When I was getting caught up from being out of my classroom and entering grades at my dining room table, I fell asleep sitting up with my glasses on my face.  I woke up with a head bobbing jump and then started to laugh because it reminded me of the time that Sister Pister fell asleep in her spaghetti.

On Saturday night I went out with some friends to watch the UFC fights.  This guy came over  to our table and said to me, "I've been staring at you all night."  My reply was, "You're scared of me?  Why are you scared of me?"  His reply was, "No, I've been staring at you."  My reply was, "Oh.  hahahaha."  And what I was thinking was -- this is creepy.  Then, he shook my hand to introduce himself, went to shake my friend's hand, knocked over an entire drink on my lap, and walked away without saying anything else.  It was perfect.  As if soaking me wasn't enough, he came up again after awhile and started trying to hug me.  I said, "You're not from here are you?"  I could tell from his accent.  Then, he proceeded to take a pocket knife out of his pocket and flip it open saying, "I'm from Sacramento baby."  Well, I guess girls in Sacramento like having a drink spilled on them and then a pocket knife pulled on them.  But, this North Dakota girl does not find that attractive.  I have such good luck with guys coming up to me.  I'm wondering if anyone knows someone to introduce me to that is not related to me or that won't write me a note about my handbag or that won't pull a pocket knife on me?  This streak has to end sometime.  

Today, a six mile run was in the plan and it happened.   Whoo!  And I visited my fourth grade teaching partner, her husband, and their new baby.  Of course I had to put that baby in front of the window and take some pictures.  More on that later.  She's a cute little bug.

It has been a week.  A busy, fun, and slightly odd week.  Here's the best part.  Tomorrow is the last day of February.  Peace out February.  I will not miss you.