I was on the road and couldn’t fill out a bracket before the March Madness started, so I printed out paper ones for me and Billy before I looked at any scores. Billy had already seen some of the scores, so he got one freebie that I missed (really, High Point?), but otherwise we’re on even ground. I’m having fun looking up all the scores and marking up the brackets. I am a nerd. We were going to go to Sea World today, but Christina still isn’t feeling well. We did come to Orlando (which was a wall of traffic from start to finish, thank you, Florida), but I think we’re going to stay in. Hopefully Christina feels better tomorrow. If not, she’s going to have to find a bench to lie down on because we have to check out of the hotel at 11.
Tag: hotel
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March 18
Pretty decent drive from NJ to VA today. There were a couple spots with traffic, but nothing more than a few minutes and otherwise traffic was very light. I hope tomorrow is just as easy, but I take nothing for granted. We got to the hotel pretty early, around 3:15. I spent some time telling ChatGPT how disappointed I was with it (for some reason this felt necessary), did some crossword puzzles. Then we went to the Subway at the gas station for dinner, bought some snacks, played some Uno, called Billy. Now I’ve showered, watching some basketball, and pretty soon I’ll be off to sleep. I’m hoping to get an early start tomorrow. Arriving early enough to have time to relax before crashing is nice. Fingers crossed for another easy day. We’ll see. I’m ready for anything. Kind of.
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March 14
It was a pretty smooth drive to Virginia today, but oh so long and boring. It was nice to arrive before dinner time so we had time to relax a little before heading back out. I’m loving my new car, which welcomed us to every state we drove through and only needed 1 1/4 tanks of gas to go 500 miles. Not too shabby, little car.
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January 22
I got as much done at work as I could before hitting the road for Christina’s dance competition. I’m at least mostly ready for the first day of training. There is still so much to do after that. Trying to disengage for the weekend and accept that whatever happens, it’ll still better than the last few classes. Traffic was amazing tonight and we made it in almost an hour less time than usual. I know the ride back will be different, but I love it on these rare occasions when I can make the whole trip without having to crawl. Our room is pretty nice. We all, individually, announced the presence of a truck in the parking lot with the competition logo on it. Clearly our observation skills are good. Listening? Not as much.
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September 23
Another long, exhausting day. I’m spending a lot of time meeting with people in different roles, getting a lot of new perspective on what I do and how it fits into the larger organization. Even though not directly tied to what I’m doing, it’s been hugely beneficial, so a worthwhile trip. Went to dinner with the leadership team, which was nice but long. By then I was exhausted and just wanted to talk to my family and go to bed. Which I will do now.
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September 22
First day in the office in about a year, and it went pretty well. It was nice seeing some familiar faces. Went to dinner with Sarah and Q, which was great. The day was so exhausting, though. I fell sleep at 8:30pm and woke up at 10:40 with headphones on. Two more days!
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July 4
We made it through Atlanta without getting stuck in any traffic, which is a July 4 miracle. This, just as we were saying we’d never travel over the Fourth of July again because everything is closed on the Fourth of July. There was a yarn shop and a chocolatier we wanted to stop at before leaving Nashville, but both were closed for the holiday. So be it, here we are, just south of Atlanta, where Christina just beat Billy’s and my butts at Five Crowns and we made our trip official by watching a Harry Potter movie on the hotel TV. I’m looking forward to getting back to the dogs tomorrow, food shopping, and about 200 loads of laundry. But it was a good trip. Good to get away.
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June 28
We made it to somewhere in Georgia today after sitting in two hours of Atlanta traffic. The traffic was made less tedious by a podcast by the man who narrated our riverboat tour in New Orleans. We learned about the history of rum and then the history of Santa Claus! It was much better than listening to the YANKEES GAME in which the Yankees were having their asses handed to them on a stick. For dinner tonight, we walked across the Target parking lot to the Golden Corral, which I didn’t even know still exists. There is also an REI in the Target plaza, which means we’ve surely forgotten something that we won’t buy there now but will wish we had when we discover tomorrow that we’ve forgotten it. All in all, today is better than yesterday. Ready to enjoy my last night on a mattress and within reach of a shower for a few days.
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March 17
We arrived in New Orleans with enough time to have a nice dinner and take in a rooftop sunset by the pool. All we know for sure that we’re doing tomorrow is having beignets. Anything on top of that is a bonus.
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February 28
We paid off all our debts today. What an amazing feeling! Everything is clicking right now. Things I didn’t think were possible. I’m not sure how this is happening or why, or how long it will last, but I’m going to enjoy every second of it while I can, with heaps and heaps of gratitude for what I’ve been given. Now if Robin can do well at tomorrow’s competition, that would be a nice cherry on top. But I will not be greedy.
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June 26
I went to my first escape room today and it was more fun than I expected it would be. The people in my group worked really well together, which I think helped a lot. Also we won. I am grateful for the time I got to spend with people from work, but I am ready to go back to my little private office in Jacksonville tomorrow.
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June 25
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do all evening by myself, but the kids took care of that, spending 90 minutes on FaceTime with me after dinner. They all seem to be hanging in while I’m away.
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June 24
First day of a work-related road trip. I have probably not been as invested as I should be. But I had a nice meal with Sarah and Q and that’s two in-person meals with Q in one year so I win!
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April 17
I got another flat tire today, my third in four months. Got it replaced in time to drive to Orlando, yay! Now for a good night’s sleep before our big day tomorrow!
Year in Photos 