Excitement

So this week I began a new adventure at work. For the first time in over 21 years, I get to dress up in business casual clothes for work. My whole career at work, I have had white uniforms to dress in...aka good humor man (a comment not lost on me by Princess and friends). What did I do when presented with this new challenge? SHOPPING of course. Princess kept me in check, but I did get some new pants and some new shirts (this weekend we're going again - even if she doesn't know it yet).

Thursday, I travelled to Little Rock, AR for work. It was a short flight, uneventful hour long plane ride from Houston to Little Rock (Home of Bill Clinton if you didn't know). At the airport, I met up with two co-workers from the East coast (Stacy and Jack). A note about Stacy, she is the purchasing manager for a variety of different commodities we buy. Stacy is petite, but don't let the size fool you, she holds her own with the toughest of the rednecks we met in Arkansas. Picture "Preppy Mom" in about a 5'4" frame, that has no problem taking you down a peg or two (it was a blast to be with her - it was my first time meeting Jack, so I'll have to size him up and let you know. We all travelled to the vendor's location so that I could perform the audit.

We were touring a rice milling operation and of course, Thursday's high was 104F! With humidity that hovered around the SAUNA level. Work went good, we had a nice dinner at the country club, and then toured another rice location on Friday. After the second tour, we jumped in the car and headed back to Little Rock to eat some lunch and catch our flights home.

We decided that we did not want airport food, so we headed into downtown, where we lucked upon a parking spot, and then perused the local eateries. We sauntered in the lovely 99F sunshine and SAUNA humidity, all the way down Bill Clinton Blvd, and Stacy even bought some paraphernalia at the museum library store.

We grabbed lunch at a pub, "The Flying Saucer" home to about 300+ different beers, lagers, and ales. The food was...how shall I say it...nothing to blog about :-). We arrived at the airport, checked in the rental car (me forgetting to give the keys to the new 2007 push start Altima and running back with sweat pouring down my back, legs...well, you get the picture, and then settled in to connect to some WI-fi and do some work.

Little Rock airport has free WI-fi for Internet connections, but it was down yesterday so we chatted about the trip, families, work, etc. Stacy jumped on her plane headed back to the east coast, me waiting for a 6:30PM flight home...WHICH DIDN'T HAPPEN!

The 4:30 flight left at 5:15, then returned to the gate at 6:10, deplaned, and left again at 7:00PM. No announcements were given by the CONTINENTAL staff as to the delays for the 4:30, nor the 6:30 (which eventually boarded beginning at 10:30PM (of course dear friends, Continental sent my flight to Waco on ahead of me, and booked me on the 11:00 AM home today!). I slept all the way to Houston, bumpy ride and all, navigated to the rental counter (of course, my name was NOT on the gold list), and obtained my rental car at 12:30AM this morning(can you say inept workers)).

I navigated the interstates, toll roads and highways between Houston and Waco with the greatest of care due to the tremendous amount of water on the roadways (HA - hardly a puddle - but we delayed the flight 4 hours for the torrential flooding that took place yesterday afternoon), arriving at my abode around 4:00AM, where I was greeted by Princess and the girls.

But, the surprises were not over! At 7:30 this morning, Jenna strolled into our bedroom and announced that she was ready for breakfast (I believe having been awake for about an hour on her own, and telling me I need my pajama top on when I slept). Seems that Jenna is the proud big sister to Elizabeth (who decided to come about a week early, and also very quickly from the story). From the pictures Princess took, I can't wait to see this new bundle of joy!

So, here I sit in the computer/craft room typing out my woes. Princess made us pancakes and fruit, and is now showering. I'm next, then the fun of our Saturday begins. And all of it on just 3.5 hours sleep (I should be just lovely out and about with the back to school crowds)!

More adventures to come.
Jim