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Wow! It has been a week and a half for sure! As you know (because you did read the previous entry), I was preparing to leave for our annual convention. I am here to say I survived the convention… but barely. It started out great. I was traveling with a colleague and we managed to manuever our way to our destination in fine order. Our troubles started when we checked into our hotel to find we were assigned a room with just a King bed… ummm… I share a bed with my sisters occasionally when our cheapskate budgets require but never a co-worker. Sorry.

We soon got that resolved and then the bigger troubles started the very next day. It just so happened that we were in the hub city for American Airlines when the FAA decided to stop being the nice guy. People who had responsibilities were not able to get in, others decided to leave on the first flight available and each day brought news that flights through Saturday were potentially going to be canceled. Not cool.

Our special speaker was to arrive on Thursday evening. We discovered her flight was canceled that morning and scrambled to make other arrangements. It was imperative that she come though as she was to speak to a sold-out luncheon. The headaches that ensued throughout the day were more than I ever care to deal with again while on the clock. I have enough problems in my life without throwing in others! It was not a pretty sight and the speaker was ready to head home but they persevered and the day was saved! It was a day of learned lessons too so all was not lost. The next day, everything went off without a hitch (well, nothing major at least) and we were able to make our flight although a bit delayed.

Oh, and in the midst of all this great fun, tornadoes landing nearby on Tuesday night. While we weren’t affected directly, many reported waking up at 3:30 in the morning to loud storm noises. Within a day or so, a couple of roads were blocked off in the downtown area as falling glass from two skyscrapers was reported. I don’t know if it was true or not but apparently, it created a snarl in the traffic. I was on foot all week so it didn’t bother me; however, coming from the DC area, I know all about snarls in traffic and it ain’t fun!

So, I survived my week but now, I haven’t even caught my breath and I am heading out early Thursday morning (by car) to a wedding. I return on Sunday only to return to my crazy life on Monday. I’ll work that week and head down to NC the following weekend for a quick trip. Hopefully, that will be profitable though as I am holding two jewelry shows. Otherwise, I would probably be considering a cancellation of that trip right now… I love to travel but too much of a good thing can be a bad thing!

Tags: American Airlines, backache, catch my breath, convention, flight canceled, traffic, travel, trip, weather

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Well, for better or for worse, I have done what I could in preparation for my first ever convention which begins next week. I believe I am prepared as I can be but once we are on site, I am sure there will be a million things I think of that I should have done… but didn’t. Oh, well, it’s not like we are in the business of saving babies (as a former boss of mine like to remind me so we could keep things in perspective) so whatever happens - happens. And the world will continue to function in spite of my failures.

I cannot imagine what could go wrong though. I have 3 copies of my extremely detailed schedule. I put down when to check on food for the functions, who needs to be where, what time things start, when I need to call the limo service, etc. You name it, if I am supposed to be doing it, it is recorded on my schedule.

I did forget, however, to download all of my convention docs onto a flash drive. I have a thick notebook though of everything I need so hopefully, I won’t regret it. Actually, we are to have access to our drive anyway on site so all should be okay in that department.

I love to travel so I will enjoy that aspect of the trip. The bummer is that I am busy working from sunup to sundown so I will have little time to actually enjoy the destination’s highlights. I guess that means I will have to go back on my own time to discover the wonders it has to offer.

Maybe I’ll be able to clean up my cubicle now that the convention will be over by the time I see it next. I was able to toss a ton of paper today so I fully intend to really purge things out upon my return in a week and a half.

Enjoy your weekend and celebrate your freedom from the Cube…

Tags: convention, cubicle, failures, preparation, schedule, travel

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While I worked at an association/foundation for 3 years that hosted an annual convention, I was never involved in many aspects of the preparations for it. Oh, I helped create spreadsheets and charts for the Board meeting, tracked donations and made sure invites went out for the special reception held in their honor but that was about the extent of my participation. Wait, no, I stuffed the appropriate ribbons in their registration packets right before the shipment took off from our office. Apparently, convention-goers love their ribbons!

Well, now at my new association position, I AM the convention coordinator! I don’t think I realized it at the time of accepting the position but I am quickly getting an education. Actually, it’s not too bad. Lots of deadlines and follow-up involved. I have always been bad at remembering things but for some reason, in this position, I am doing well. I am keeping on top of things… so far. It is going so well that I am afraid I will get down to our convention site and realize I messed up royally on some important task!!! Boxing up our convention shipment is the task at hand and then I will have a little room to breathe.

Awards, raffle prizes, schedules, program books and food/beverage orders have been ordered, received, printed, shipped or in the process of being done. Of course, there are some little details of things that still need to happen but in my experience, everything works out in the end.

So, I march forward in faith and  in 3.5 short weeks, I will see the big picture and know if I truly messed up or if I really was “keeping on top of things.”

Tags: association, board meeting, convention, convention coordinator, convention shipment, convention-goers, keeping on top of things, ribbons

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You guessed it - Friday is my favorite day of the week! And not because it is the last day of the work week either. For me, Thursday is basically the last day of my work week. So, instead of saying, “TGIF!” I say, “TGIT!” I work two part-time jobs. One is an office job and the other is childcare. Every other week, I have to do the childcare on Friday afternoons too but I have the morning free to do whatever I want - in this case I happen to be blogging.

This schedule allows so much freedom - I love it and I don’t know that I will be able to go back to working on Fridays again! Right now, I am babysitting my adorable nephew while his other aunts (who would love the same opportunity) are working their 9-5 jobs. I am also enjoying a leisurely breakfast (egg and cheese sandwich with a cup of fresh brewed coffee), getting laundry and dishes washed in between emailing, blogging and general surfing. Working from home is my dream! I get a taste of it every Friday and absolutely love it!

So tune in for my adventures every Friday!

Tags: childcare, coffee, dream, freedom, Friday, part-time, TGIF, work week, working from home

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In light of my many pursuits these days, I am lacking in the sleep department and today, someone noticed. I get noticeable shadows under my eyes and my eyes get bloodshot. Thankfully, I am still able to function and get my work done (it helps that I am busy at work right now so I don’t have time to fall asleep) but I really need to get a good night’s sleep here soon! It’s just been too exciting though figuring out everything with my blog and some other things I am working on. I tell myself that I’ll be able to sleep soon but not yet. Hopefully, my body won’t decide that sooner than my brain.

That reminds me of a friend of mine who used to drive semi-trucks with her sister. She would get so tired sometimes that her eyes would play tricks on her. She saw blue chickens and other strange sights due to her lack of sleep. One time, she saw this huge red apple looming in the road ahead. She kept going and she “ran into it” smithering it into a million pieces! I’ve always heard that if you dream you are falling and you actually hit the ground (in your dream), that means you died. I think it must be true because I’ve never actually hit the ground - I always wake up before that happens. I guess that same theory doesn’t work for running into imaginary objects in the middle of the road.

Meanwhile, life is otherwise beautiful and we are moving forward. I am so looking forward to April and May which normally means warmer temps and gorgeous days.

Did you know that today was Johnny Appleseed Day? hhhmmm… the things one learns each day!

Tags: asleep, blog, blue chickens, dream, pursuits, sleep, tired

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Okay, I am green, green, green when it comes to this blogging stuff… or any programming stuff for websites. It took me a LONG time to figure out how to do this type of blog instead of the free style through Wordpress directly. wow! I am so psyched! I love learning new things and this time, I won big! I have found that if you follow people’s instructions and all the pieces are there to work with, it will most likely work out just fine. Trial and error are also good learning tools.

Well, my former blog was called Cubicle Dweller which was one person’s perspective on the world from her cubicle in Northern Virginia. This will continue in that vein as I am STILL working in a cubicle. The goal is always to get out of that setting but until then, I’ll blog everyone to tears about my experience.

So, we are in full blown convention mode. I am having fun (actually) doing all the logistics and figuring out the whats and whos of it all. My desk is in complete disarray each day when I leave but there isn’t much I can do about it until the storm blows over.  Meawhile, cold air is blowing down directly on top of me while the rest of the office is warm! I can normally handle colder temps but when it is going right down my neck - it chills to the bone, I say!  Oh, well… spring is right around the corner and so that helps me endure.

I will be copying and pasting some of my former posts here in case you missed them. You may find them interesting and if you don’t, well, I will have accomplished my former said goal of blogging everyone to tears. If you just can’t wait until I get them over on this site, check out www.cxpressions.wordpress.com to get the scoop now!

Enjoy!

Tags: blog, bloggin, convention, cubicle cxpressions, cubicle dweller, office, perspective, posts

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