First Official Work Trip

So I'm on my way home from my first official work trip. Yes... right now... I'm on a plane. You gotta love technology.

So two weeks ago, I gained the Dallas/Ft. Worth market as my area to find and develop projects. This was an area I've never been before... I can honestly say, I expects Dallas to be very, how shall I say... Texas? You know... "Everything's bigger in Texas" and lots of trucks and boots and cowboy hats. You know... like the show, Dallas. I was surprised to see that is wasn't and really just like any other big city with lots of suburbs. Houston was more 'Texas' (IMO) than Dallas is. Maybe it was because it was just my first time there... but who knows.

My main focus was actually over in Ft. Worth this trip. I had a meeting with the City about a new project, and we wanted to make sure we were heading down the right path before starting the formal design/submittal process with them. Not that those reading this really have a honest care about it, but this site just seems too straight forward to be true... even the City Planner said it was a pretty straight forward looking site. Scary. So here's hoping that's true.

I did drive by some other potential sites and explore a bit. For those who don't know, the downtowns of Dallas and Ft. Worth are about 30 miles away from each other - straight show on I-30 between the two. And as Cities go, the two are actually quite different, from what I saw. Again, this was my first time and just my first impression. Over the next few trips, I'm sure I'm form a final opinion. Upon arrival to DFW, which is right between the two cities, I was hungry for lunch and had only my own schedule to deal with (driving to sites). So I found the closest Panera on my way to my first site. Which happened to be in Arlington. Which I didn't even think about being the home of the Cowboys. So without even looking, I found myself in the shadow of AT&T Stadium. I passed by it a few more time on my trip, as well - you can see it very clearly from I-30. There was also a Wet-n-Wild there, that looked just like the one I went to growing up in Orlando (Kissimmee). Only, this one had be sold to the neighboring Six Flags across the interstate and renamed. But it was still on Wet-n-Wild Drive. LoL

So Texas... I did not think I'd end up there (in a working sense), but there I am. For now. That could change at a moments notice when you're in development. But it'll be interesting while I am traveling down there.

Is It Really Spring?

I know I said I'd limit the weather posts... but it's finally spring!

At least on the calendar. But the weather hasn't been too horrible. Great, no... but not horrible. We've had some 'warm' days that have given us a hint of what's to come... but it still seems cold for March! And the weatherman agrees - we've had a lot of below average days. And there's still snow in the forecast. We didn't get a lot, but I'm so tired of the snow this year. I think it's because it's been so cold this year. And I had no garage. Still. But I digress.

So yeah... Spring is here and I'm really hoping it warms up quickly and stays there. We even threw some grass seed down today, in hopes of it germinating and taking care of some of the mud the snow left behind. And a few of the tulip are trying to poke through. But it's actually later than in years past... our neighbor's tulip tree is normally in full bloom by now! I'm so tired of looking at all the 'blah' browns/greys and lack of color around here.

Spring Break is the other thing... it seems like everyone but me is taking a true spring break vacation. How is it that the person from FL is the one NOT going to FL soon? Complete bummer... I think I need to plan something. Ha Ha I wish I could... maybe a late spring break? I don't know... nothing can be determined yet. Too many other things happening (mainly with work). But that's a whole other story.

A New England Wedding

I think we only have one wedding this year... as last weekend was it! And it was a destination wedding, of sorts, in that we had to travel. To New England in the winter.

I think everyone had heard about the monumental amount of snow they've had in New England this winter - near record setting overall total (with still a possibility of it being surpassed). So we had an idea of what to expect when we got out there... a lot of snow on the ground! And there was, indeed, a lot of snow, which was clear as we landed in Boston.

We headed out on Friday morning, with the through that we could actually have a day of 'vacation' before the wedding on Saturday. Last week, as I was trying to figure out what we should do, in occurred to me... New England is known for their lighthouses! Since we had to drive to the northern border of Massachusetts for the wedding, we might as well keep driving north for a bit and be a tourist. Besides, why not add two more states to my 'visited' list. I honestly had no idea where to start, so I found a guided tour a mapped out some of the lighthouses they had listed. So I knew it's be an interesting drive trying to actually find some of these.

And that turned out to be true. We drove as far north as Portland, ME, and our first couple of stops, while not complete failures, were disappointing. Either we couldn't find the lighthouse at all (bad directions from Google/Siri) or they were too far out to really see. But finally, I picked a sure bet based on reviews - the Portland Head Light. And it was about the most perfect lighthouse you could find. I was a happy girl, finally. And the next one, The Nubble Light House, was probably one of the more iconic light houses you see photos of... even with snow on the rocks around it! We decided to grab a Lobster Roll for lunch - because you always have to have a Lobster Roll, right?? Then we drove around to find a few more before heading to the hotel. It was starting to get dreary and windy... and we were getting hungry for dinner. We chilled out for a bit and freshened up before heading into the downtown area of Amesbury for some dinner. Yelp has become my friend when travelling... it really does help you find some good places you may not find, otherwise. And it, again, helped us find some good pub fare. But by the time we were done eating, we were wiped from our long day of travel.

Saturday morning, we woke up to some snow showers. Lucky New England! But they didn't last too long... they did turn to rain, eventually. So we had some breakfast at the hotel, and then found the only Starbucks in NE Massachusetts. No joke. They are Dunkin Donuts lovers in this part of the country. We used their Wi-Fi for a bit before doing some more exploring - no lighthouses, today - too cold! Instead, we drove out to Lowell to find some makerspaces Eric read about. And a converted factory and created a great reuse - apartments, small (local) shops, and even a small theatre! It was a very cool space. But then it was finally time for the reason we were here... Zeb & Heather's wedding.

The venue was in Groveland, about a 20 minute drive from our hotel. It was still drizzling a bit, but it was letting up. It was indoors, anyway, so it was just a matter of getting there. They had a really sweet (and fun) ceremony, where one of the guys who was responsible for them meeting was the officiant. There weren't too many people there that we knew, as Zeb was one of Eric's younger fraternity brothers... and we were in New England, not Indiana. But we had a good time, with good food and friends. They are a great couple and Eric and I are so happy they found each other.

Sunday morning we slept in after the late night. We decided to skip the hotel breakfast and, instead, find some breakfast as we headed back towards Boston. We found a truly local place (thanks to Yelp, again) and had a really hearty breakfast. We then headed to Somerville to find another makerspace Eric heard about - this one was supposed to be awesome! We were not disappointed at all. It was huge and I think it was everything Eric aspires to have his space be. Eric got quite inspired. We then went to Cambridge to scope out another space, which we couldn't fine, but we did find Harvard. It was kind of cool to see such a historic school - the campus was much more urban/dense than I expected... guess I'm used to Auburn.

But it was finally time to head to the airport and back to Indiana. It turned out to be quite the weekend for us, and just enough time away for both of us. Even if it was cold. We still had a great time.

An Unconventional Valentine's Day

After last year's near fiasco (if you don't remember, go look it up), I really was big on doing a big date night. I still wanted to do something, and while I would've been just happy cooking a nice meal at home (like we've done in the past), I still did a little searching for something fun to do. And then it came to me... a hockey game.

I know... hockey on Valentine's Day?? And no, this didn't mean a trip to Chicago. We have a new hockey team in Indy this year, the Fuel, that is actually a feeder team to the Blackhawks. Not the only question was, do they have a game on Valentine's Day?

Indeed there was a game. So a week out from Valentine's Day, we were buying tickets for a Valentine's Night Hockey Date. Sounds fun, right?? I even had guys at work jealous - kind of funny, actually.

So the game... we had talked about checking out a Fuel game when they first announced the season last year. The Blackhawks game we went to over a year ago was a great time, but pricey! So these would be cheaper in what I like to call a more 'intimate' atmosphere... only around 5,000 or so seats verses 20,000 or so in the United Center. We really weren't sure which level to buy - we figured they were all good seats. But we chose to go low because we knew we'd never get low for an NHL game. Not right on the glass, but just a few rows up.

It was a fun atmosphere, too! Not quite as electric as a Blackhawks game... but then, you only have a quarter of the fans yelling and screaming. But fun, none the less. They even had a surprise It's one of the few losses they've had in the past month or so. So that was a bit of a bummer. But they DID get a goal while we were there and, since they're a Blackhawks affiliate, it was the same horn and song to follow. Loved it!

So yeah... a little unconventional for Valentine's Day, but it was a lot of fun. And since it was so cold, it was nice to be able to just bundle up and not worry about being all dressed up in the cold. That was last year, and it sucked. I'll take my jeans and comfy layers any day.

Blogging FAIL

So I have to apologize to my few loyal readers out there (my family) about my slow decrease in quality blogs. I have no good excuse... just the excuse of my life (work) being busier, which actually leads to less for me to blog about.

There's no interesting trips or life events. Pretty much just go to work and come home. When something happens, I obviously blog about it. But there's just not much going on. I'm hoping as spring and summer come along, I'll have more to talk about and not just throw boring 'blah' blogs on here like I've been doing on occasion... you know, about the weather or something silly like that. But, quite frankly, the weather gets me worked up in the winter because, well, I hate winter and the cold.

Hopefully our garage will get built and the bathroom completed. Maybe Eric can work less and we can do more fun things on the weekends. But for now, I'm just trying to get through the winter. I'm not saying I'm stopping my blog. Just know that if you see a longer gap between a blog, it's just because I'm in winter hibernation. Maybe something exciting will happen this weekend. Maybe not.

So bear with me as I try to get back into more fun stuff. We are trying to plan a few things... and surely some spontaneous fun will occur, as well. I just don't want to bore you with 'blah' just to throw a blog up here. Where's the worth in that, both for you and me? I'd rather work on quality than quality... maybe that should've been a New Year's resolution. Guess it still could be. Not a bad life motto, actually. Maybe that'll put my focus on better things, in general. Hmmm... maybe I'm on to something here.

Okay... until next time. I've got to think about this some more.

Where'd January Go?

I'm thinking this might be a similar post I do every year. I don't know - I didn't look back. But it feels like it... maybe... But seriously... where's the heck did January go??

I know I've been busy with a new job, and we've had some crappy weather. But I feel like it's flown by, and the wreck that is my house shows that, as well. You'd think I was never home, by the way there are some 'to do' stacks of stuff around. I'd say I wish I had a day off to catch up, but I think I'd just end up napping all day. Because when I AM home, I'm soooo tired.

Eric laughs at me, though he's just as bad, if not worse than me. It didn't take long for him to fall back into his bad habits of working too late and going into the office at least one day a weekend. He claims to need the time to catch up... but he over-committed to begin with, which is never good. So he's getting all stressed out.

At least I'm not stressed... just tired. My job continues to go well and while I'm not traveling out of state yet, I have that to look forward to. Which will only make the house worse?

I just want my garage to be built. Part of me feels like that will be the solution to everything. There will be more storage, no worries about cars getting hit, and maybe our lawnmower will finally be safe. No more saws in the bathroom or wood trim on the bed. Maybe we'll even be able to finish the master bathroom, once we have a place to act as a workshop.

But none of that can happen until the ground thaws. Stupid winter. I'm so ready for it to be over. I want some warm weather and can't wait to not have constant gloomy days. I really hate winter.

*sigh*

January is over. Here's hoping there are no freak storms in February and maybe even get an early spring. Maybe.

Deflategate

I am so sick of hearing about 'Deflategate' already. Not that saying 'already' means anything, considering it was a bunch of crap to begin with. Part of me thinks it was just a bunch of hype to begin with - we can't honestly have a slow news week for the NFL, which last week would've been without this going on.

So here's the thing. Living in Indy, I'm hearing about it even more. Cause, of course, everyone here thinks the Colts got the shaft. The fans here seem to completely ignore the fact that the under-inflated balls were discovered in the first half, corrected at halftime, and the Patriots still scored an additional 28 points to completely blow away the Colts. Go figure.

Everyone is so quick to want to see the Patriots punished for cheating. But yet, there's no proof they cheated. There's no evidence to support that this was done on purpose, or done by someone as part of an intricate plan. Who's to say there wasn't some rogue person that just thought it would help the Patriots... or in hopes the Patriots would get accused of cheating?

I'll be one of the first to say that the NFL has become to big for their own good. They need to fall, at this point - no organization should have that much control over the media, merchandising, and everything related to football, in general. Maybe this little incident will help in that. Though I doubt it. But maybe. In my eyes, the NFL has become about as evil and the ENRON corporation... and every giant seems to eventually fall. Maybe Deflategate was just a way someone decided to make to dominoes start to fall.

How's that for a conspiracy theory?

How's the Job Going?

So I've been at my new job 'for real' for a couple of weeks now. I say 'for real' because I can't really count the two weeks I was technically employed there, but not going into the office over the holidays. But now that I have two full weeks of actually going in when the office is fully staffed, I can finally say I feel like it's official.

It helps that I came into this job, working for a guy I used to work for (at Kite). So the comfort level was there from the beginning, which was a huge plus. I didn't meet most of my coworkers until after the holidays - they took off the few days I was in the office. It's really a fun group - everyone meshes together really well. Nobody's going rogue, thinking they know better. That's a nice change of pace from my previous development experience, as well.

I can already tell you that I love being back on this side of development - the client, rather than the consultant. I love being part of the big picture and not just a small piece that I'm not supposed to go beyond. I always felt so pigeonholed, like I couldn't comprehend anything out of my scope.

The company, itself, is amazing so far. I've heard companies say they're like a big family, and I even thought I was in companies like that before... but this one... wow. It really is a big family. No matter your title, everyone's just a family member in the office. And the respect amongst everyone is unlike anything I've seen before.

So yeah... I'm loving my new job. I imagine it's only going to feel more like 'home' as I get more into it and we get busier. It'll be a good wave to ride, regardless.