Today feels double long since I have a client meeting with physicians from 8-10pm. And then an early meeting tomorrow with my French client.
I cooked up some chili and mashed potatoes and corn. Not bad! It’s a good winter meal. Tomorrow, I am going to cook up a couple soft boiled eggs with toast! Yummy!
Now I am going to head done to keep working on expense reports and my forecasting of hours. Hopefully, I won’t fall asleep!
We are home and enjoying a down day! Well Phil went for a bike ride and I have been sorting out the studio cleaning up and organizing. I just came down to start the spaghetti sauce. Yummy!
Yesterday we went to Bethlehem, PA which was so lovely! I want to go back. We went to an Irish pub called McCarthys I think. Dinner was awesome and the gift shop even better. Phil bought a magnificent navy blue sweater. Absolutely stunning!
We are on the road about halfway to Marie’s. Turkey day! We just passed Somerset and headed through the tunnels on I-70. There is snow on the ground, just a light dusting. I brought the cheesecake and Phil plopped his backpack on top of it! He is such a bull in a China shop.
I used the nw mixer and it was really powerful, though I found myself missing my mom’s old Sunbeam mixer. Cuisiart is fancy but what I really wanted was one that was effective. Oh well.
We had such a great dinner! Marie is an ace of a cook!
We are on the road about halfway to Marie’s. Turkey day! We just passed Somerset and headed through the tunnels on I-70. There is snow on the ground, just a light dusting. I brought the cheesecake and Phil plopped his backpack on top of it! He is such a bull in a China shop.
Today, the car is getting taken care of—oil change, tire rotation/alignment, inspection so that everything is legal for our road trip. Cheesecake is done and in the frig! I need to share the recipe with the shuttle driver!
One thing I have noticed is this nagging little headache behind my right eye. I think it is related to sinuses and maybe the beginning of an infection. I will have to see how I feel over the next couple days.
Yeah! The girls from Brazil 🇧🇷 were great! They went through this house top to bottom and scrubbed everything. The only thing we have left is to do the carpets and the light fixture in the kitchen. I will have Phil tackle that.
The cheesecake is done and in the frig! Now I have to get the car done and stop at Boscovs for candy. I want to fill a nice jar with goodies.
We drive to Wildwood for Sydney’s play, which was very well done for high schoolers. I find it so hard to be in that school because I really hated going there. I have such negative vibes from there and from the town. It makes me so down in the dumps to go there. It lifts as soon as I am home and anonymous again. I love that I never run into people I know! I know I’m weird but I prefer that.
Busy day with work, cooking, and un-decorating. I have 3 calls tomorrow that I must do and then I’m off! I need some down time!
The house cleaners are coming tomorrow and I get the car done on Wednesday. Must make my cheesecake tomorrow as well!
Ah....it’s good to be home and running the errands to fill the fridge and to get the house sorted out. Unpacked and laundry going! Shortly, after a quick rest I will start making a beef stew at Phil’s request. All the Halloween decorations need to be put away and the Christmas ones need to come up.
Tomorrow, we are driving to Wildwood to see Sydney in her play. Chris and Kelly are supposed to be there as well. 🤓
I am so exhausted—th strip home via the Tappanzee Bridge was a nightmare. 287 dumped me onto 202 south and I wish I had stayed on 95 south right through the heart of NYC. Seriously. Never again.
Home now with the fire going and waiting for Phil. He left work at 6 o’clock. WTH? Now we won’t eat until 8. Shoot me!
While I wait for Phil, I am listening to a bag pipe player across the street!! Awesome!
Wow—I am tired of teaching! But this group is so fun! Heidi does hilarious accents from all ethnicities and she had us roaring while she did her teach backs. So fun.
I did my first one-on-one with one of my direct reports. I think it went well b/c I used a template to go by that my boss uses. This method should help us all move forward in our jobs.
It’s Wednesday already and I missed writing something yesterday. My coworker & I were quite busy training and I think we are providing as good as we possibly can while dealing with errors in the training domain and in Fetalink.
Tired! Sushi and generals chicken. Gonna get in my jammies now! Tomorrow we test them and make them practice.
Wow—what a whirlwind. Got home yesterday and chilled for a bit then Phil & I went to dinner at the little Mexican restaurant in Lambertville. Delicious! Then I went through my suitcase and decided on what I was going to need. However, I was just too tired to deal with it. Jammies and bed were calling my name! I tried to watch Project Runway but I dosed off before the strike of half past eight. I gave in and hit the sack! And did I ever sleep!
I left home at 8:55 and grabbed a breakfast sandwich at the bagel train before getting on 195 to the NJ Turnpike (which was the only real slow part of my trip). I managed to stop at a really NYC sorry of rest stop right before the GW bride. BR break and a second cup of tea for the day!
Right now I am posting from the Red Garage at the hospital in Danbury. All good!
Oh boy—hit up Marshall’s! I always find good stuff there when I’m up here. There goes my per diem+.
Of course after the dinner fiasco, I did not sleep at all! But right now I could nod off any second. So tired! I will sleep on the plane no doubt. Dang it . . . I wrote a long paragraph this morning but did not save it. Oh well! I managed to grab a good old American breakfast (sort of) and make a couple sandwiches for the plane ride home in the American Airlines lounge. At least I did not have to eat the food on board --it is very difficult to distinguish between what is loaded with salt, sugar, or fat . . . or all three.
On the flight, I slept about three hours and got online to clean up email and do some WBT's. It helps to get caught up on these long haul flights. I don't mind that.
Home now with the fire going and Phil getting ready to go to dinner. Mexican in Lambertville!
Today, is packing and travel to CDG airport to the Hilton Hotel. I am looking forward to home! Ashley is late to breakfast.
Actually, she missed it. We connected at noon and checked out. My hotel was very expensive but it should be covered except for the nights Marie was there.
Our train ride was challenging because there were 2 guys sitting in our seats. I was lucky that a French woman came to my rescue and to those hoodlums to move into their own “place!” Ashley really struggled with her luggage since there was no room left. Ridiculous that passengers don’t put the small stuff under their seats.
We finally slogg d through the airport and waited an eternity for the Hilton shuttle. The executive lounge was underwhelming and one of the wait staff gave us such poor service, that I complained about it at checkout. So we huffed our way out of the restaurant and went to bed without dinner.
Sleep was a good solid 6 hours which is not enough for me because right now I could fall asleep. This French client is not very interested in us being here on site. They rarely include us in the conversation and I have to beg for the workflows and the scripts, which I have not received either. So I sit and face the horror of nodding off.
Yuck—it is quite cold at 44 degrees and raining. At least it is not windy.
Marie is in France one day and makes the front page of the paper.
This was the most amazing day for Marie being in France! After a long day we are in our jammies and stretched out in bed watching some French program called “Tilt.” And a video of Marie came on! We videotaped it and of course texting everyone! So hilarious!
We toured 2 more castles today—Chenonceau and Chambord. I managed to see more this trip because it is late in the season and there were no crowds. Marie really loved touring the castles and especially Chenonceau. She had been following that one on Pinterest. We did get some great pictures.
We slept sort of broken up last night—asleep at 8pm and waking at 1130pm. We chatted for a couple of hours then tried to go back to sleep. Once again, Marie said I was laughing in my sleep. Of course we woke up late to start our day—7:45am.
Breakfast is small but good. I was able to get a good cup of tea at least.
Right now, we are on the shuttle to our first castle—Azay le Rideau. As our driver stated, “This is my favorite of all the castles In the Loire Valley.”
Must sketch a French mouse
We arrived safe and sound and got through customs very quickly only to go wait at the wrong luggage carousel. Then we headed to a real French restaurant im the airport and voila—Marie saw a mouse scurry across the floor! She practically jumped onto the chair. I could not stop laughing! The waiter came over to ask us what was he matter—like he didn’t know! It was comical!
Now we are down in the waiting area for the train to Tours. I am charging my phone and keep getting a mild shock. I hope it does not burn out my iPhone. Waiting 3+ hours in a cold hard seated bench after being up all night was tough! But we did it. Finally got the train track # assigned only to find the escalator broken with the top steps all piled up on one another. And by the time we dragged all our luggage and computer bags down the thing, we saw a sneaker mangled in the bottom step. As Marie says, “Safety Third!!!”
In the shuttle and ready to begin a fun journey. The only snags are Marie’s return trip and making sure there are 2 double beds. We will work out he kinks. I will reserve a room at the Marriott for Tuesday night. And we need to get train tickets to and from St Pierre too. I’m glad I am heading to the airport early.
Marie and I had a great plane ride. We chatted and laughed so much. The food was horrible as expected and the characters sitting around us provided some hilarity.
I did manage to get quite a bit of work done.
Thursday was a very productive morning. The afternoon was not. Now it is time to ramp it up and finish laundry, packing and some final computer work. I cleaned out the closet and got moving on lots of laundry. I have started packing and picked out a few outfits. Now it’s time to get serious.
