Howl-O-Scream

I had meetings all day today, and I worked from home. Tonight, Morgan, Krishan, Mona, Krishan's Dad, and I went to Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens. Mike and the kids didn't want to go, so they did trick-or-treating stuff. Personally, I believe that kids should stop trick-or-treating when they hit double digits, so I am happy to be done with that. It is fun when they are small, but it gets crazy as they get older.

We went to the Fright Feast first. You get dinner and a show (the dinner was really good - surprisingly enough and it even had veggie options!). The show was corny and had "I kissed a girl" and "When I grow up" in it.

After dinner, you get to go to the haunted houses 30 minutes before it opens to the public. We went to the 3 main ones before they opened the main gates. Then, Morgan and I rode Montu twice in the front row. Morgan was so excited to have "two firsts" of riding the first row AND riding it at night. Then, we went through a scare zone and hit the other 3 haunted houses and one other scare zone. We never could find the 3rd scare zone, but the haunted woods one was great. The best was when a person dropped down from the ceiling right in front of Mona.

It was great fun. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Back Home

Today, I had meetings all day (met downstairs at 6:45am - You know how I love the mornings), and then I flew back home in the tiny plane to Tampa. This flight was like a dream compared to the last one. VERY smooth, relaxing flight. I was so tired I slept the whole way.

I got home in time to make it to the gym to see the last part of Morgan's practice. Her team is getting excited about their first competition on 11/23. They got their uniforms tonight. Exciting stuff.

Glad to be home. Night Night.

ALL day meetings

I was in meetings ALL day today - from 8am until almost midnight. I heard the Rays lost. Bummer. At least they made it to the finale. I hope they are proud of that. I ended up working in my room until 3 am to prepare for the meeting the next day. Thanks to Krishan who came to my rescue at midnight.

Off to Miami

Today, I left for Miami for work. I planned to leave the office early as I had a conference call to do from the airport. Then, there was talk that it might be cancelled. As I was finishing a meeting, I didn't leave as early as I liked. I rush through McDonald's (first time I have been there without Morgan requesting it in a LONG time) while talking to Phil on the phone. I make it to the airport (have to love how they change the side you exit for the parking every few months just for fun). I get to the Continental check-in, and the person recommends that I take my bag to the plane as I won't have to pay the $15 baggage fee if it is gate checked. Ok. Sounds like a plan.

I arrive at the first checkpoint where you show your ID and boarding pass, and the rude lady says that I have three items and cannot come through until I have 2. I tell her that the backback zips onto the suitcase but that I have it unzipped for ease of getting through security. I show her where it zips. She says that she doesn't care and that it is still 3 items. So, me being the patient and tolerant person I am, plop my butt down right in front of her podium and start zipping the backpack back onto the suitcase. Proud of myself, I start to go past her. She then tells me that it doesn't count as I have just attached them together and that I still have three items. I cannot believe it. Is she smoking crack?? So, I pick it up and show that it moves all as one piece. I put it down and show that it is all one piece. I lie it on its side and show that it is one piece. She is still not happy and says that I need to put my purse inside one of the bags. Finally, her boss said that it was fine and let me go. Oh my aching head....

At this time, I am trying to be on the conference call, but it is not going so well as you can imagine. We finally decide that they will get me a list and we will talk later. Probably a smart move on their part. :)

When I booked the flight, I knew it was a small plane. I did NOT realize it was a TINY plane. What I also didn't know was that it was very windy today. OH MY GOD...this was the craziest flight. We went up and down and tilted left and tilted right. My stomach dropped so many times that I really thought I might need a barf bag. I kept thinking of Mike and the Pilot Buddy since there was no restroom on board. Glad I went at the airport! Thankfully, it got a little smoother in the middle of the flight. The view was amazing though. Since we couldn't go above the clouds, we could see everything. I was in the exit seat (Yes, I said seat as there wasn't even an exit row - just one seat).

After landing, I get in a cab because I have another call coming up in 40 min. The hotel is supposed to be 20 min away. WRONG. It ended up being 45 minutes and $65. Gotta love it.

We ate at a Cuban restaurant that night. I had Paella. It was ok, but it wasn't as good as Papa's.

At the office

I shocked everyone by showing up in the office again. I do love having Krishan as an office mate, but I miss the Dev lab. For those of you who never had the pleasure, the Dev lab was a room with no windows and a very shoddy table that lined the rooms (it served as a desk but it was very fragile). It also had whiteboards at each end. In this room, we had 7 people as we kept adding to the room as time went on. When I first started at Bond, there were only 4 people there. To me, the Dev lab symbolizes the beginning of the Bond era, and I really enjoyed the camaraderie and team feeling it had. I truly believe that the team atmosphere and sharing information increased our time to market and reduced inefficiencies. We could quickly have meetings, easily hear what was happening with other projects, and generally gain a better understanding of the product without leaving our desks. Now, the dev lab minus me is in the bowling alley until the office closes at the end of the year. It is going to be very weird having everyone be virtual. In some ways, I think it will be nice as I won't spend 1.5 hours of my day in a car for no reason. On the other hand, I think we will have to work hard to keep the comaraderie going. I am still in denial that Krishan is moving, and I refuse to believe it. :)

Poor Rays

It has been so fun to watch the Tampa area get SO jazzed up about the Rays. They have such a great story to tell after being the worst team in baseball. They have a very young team, and their determination has been infectious this year. I am so sad that they are struggling so against the Phillies. I am having flashbacks as I was raised on the Atlanta Braves. After watching many heartbreaking years, they finally did well. I remember them losing to the evil Phillies as well. I hope that the Rays have a few more upsets in them. It would be so incredible to have them make it back to Tampa.

Chin up Rays, Tampa loves you. I can hear the cowbells now. :)

On another note, I finally got my updated voter's reg card, so I can now vote where I am supposed to vote. I keep seeing all of the lines for early voting. That just isn't the same to me unless you aren't going to be around for the real day. I love election day and the electricity in the air. I like going to vote ON election day. I am glad they have the flexibility though. I am sure all of these people going early can only help election day traffic.

Kids

This is my rant of the month. I have been traveling a lot lately, so we thought it would be a nice thing to take the kids on a quick cruise that goes out of Tampa to Cozumel. We have been excited planning it until Mike talked to Dana. She of course has to take her miserable life out on the kids. She tells us that they kids are working on perfect attendence and that they can't go. Unbelievable. I cannot believe that she would deprive her kids of a great and fun opportunity (not to mention good family bonding time) because she is miserable. What kind of a parent does that? What ever happened to giving your kids the best?

Birthdays, Massage, Football

Morgan and Alexis went to Kendall's birthday today. Without going into too much detail, Morgan is definitely starting the emotional side of teen stuff. She made a drama today out of wearing jeans or shorts. All of that stress prompted me to call and get a massage. I had a massage therapist named Beth, and SHE ROCKED. She was PHENOMENAL. I will be going back. My back and neck were killing me, and she did a great job of working it out. Thanks Beth!

Morgan had a great time at the birthday party. They had a big blowup jumpy slide, a trampoline, a pie smashing event, a search for items in jello, and a scavenger hunt. What fun!

After the party, we went to Best Buy for Morgan got get a new Sims expansion pack. I also saw that the LG dvd/digital picture frame was on clearance, so I got it. I have been drooling over Travis' for a while. It was a steal, so I will see how it works out.

After we went home (battling traffic of course), Mike calls and says he wants to go to Los Vallartas. For those of you who read yesterday's blog, Morgan and i went there yesterday. UGH. We are good sports, and we go. The balloon man made baseball player balloons to be the Rays players. They are awesome. We watched Tennessee play Alabama. Of course, Tennessee sucks this year, so they were losing. Bummer....

FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!! It's 5 o'clock somewhere

Thank GOD it was Friday. I actually had one of the best work days I have had in a long time today. I had a great session with a bunch of clients, and I gave a demo to some of my new Eclipsys crew. It was just a great day even though I had meetings from 8 until almost 6. I felt like I was back at Misys except that the meetings were useful. :)

Morgan did her full by herself again. I could just watch her do them all day. Beautiful. After tumbling, we went to Los Vallartes with Mara, Kraig, Alexis, Kylie, and Uncle Mark. The service and food weren't very good, but the margaritas were fine. Mike got home late. Alexis spent the night. They had fun.

Home Sweet Home

I stayed home and worked today. It was a frustrating day, but it was good to start to settle back into my life. Of course, Mike left town before I landed yesterday, so it was just Morgan and I. She had cheer until 8:30, and she talked me into going to Cracker Barrel for dinner. I wanted to go watch the Rays play somwhere, but she convinced me to go there.

We ate and taked, and then when we were leaving, John McCain's buses pulled in. We were excited and took pictures. Morgan was excited and wanted to show her teacher. Unfortunately, she said that she was one of 4 kids in her class for McCain. NOT a good sign.

We did get to watch most of the game after dinner. GO RAYS. Way to tie the series!

Long Flight Home

I get up at 6:30, finish packing, and get ready to fly. I can barely shut my suitcase because I have gotten all kinds of useless stuff for the kids. I FINALLy get it to zip and do a silent prayer that it will hold and not break open on the plane.

I eat breakfast with Travis and get a cab to the airport. I had a much friendlier cab driver on this trip than the trip out. The first guy was evil. The second guy was nice. I get there with plenty of time, and then I get on the plane. I am in the middle seat. LOVELY. It wasn't too bad as I had nice people next to me.

I have a 2 hour layover again in Houston. We board the plane, and I am on an aise. We wait for a bit, and the pilot says that maintenance has to happen on the breaks. We finally pull out (no air while they fixed it), and we start to cool off. All of the sudden, the sky falls and we get a STORM. Nothing like being on the plane waiting in the middle of a storm. Thankfully, we were on the plane or we probably would have been even more delayed. After already being on the plane almost 2 hours, we finally take off. I was SO happy to land in Tampa and to go get Morgan. Home sweet home.

I did make it home to watch the 2nd half of the Rays game. BOO...poor Rays lost by 1.

By the way, check out my friend Steve's blog here. He is now an Assistant District Attorney! Congrats Steve!

Tuesday at MGMA

We had a scheduled demo at 9, and I wanted to be there early. So, I made the mistake of calling Travis and asking if he wanted to walk with me to the convention center. He says that he wants to get a very quick bite to eat, so he suggests we meet at floor 1 of the hotel. I get there, no Travis. I sit down. I wait. No Travis. I finally get up and go to the buffet. Travis comes in and we eat. It is 15 til when we leave. I am NOT happy. Travis says, "I forgot my wallet." We go up in the evelator and I hold it (of course he takes so long that the alarm is blaring in my ear for half the time). He gets there and says we have 6 minutes. We rush to the booth and get set up. Thankfully, we had a few minutes so I could prepare. I think it went pretty well.

I must be getting sick as I am starting to like the Allscripts orange. I guess it is just hard for me to hate the Tennessee orange. I see Misys people everywhere because they have that orange lanyard around their necks with a white shirt on. They stand out.

After the booth closed, I had to take a nap. I did an hour power nap and checked email. We went to dinner with some partners at a mexican place in Old Town. It was good, and the margaritas were great. At Christy's suggestion, we went to Whisky Girl to dance. It was awesome. It is scary when you know the songs because of your 10 year old daughter though.

Early....

So, thankfully, I asked about our Monday meeting and whether it was happening the night before. I was up and on a call at 6:30am. Did I mention that I am not a morning person? :) I finish that and rush to the booth. It had already started. Thankfully, it wasn't very busy. I walked around and talked to other vendors for a lot of the day, and I gave a lot of demos the rest of the time.

After the booth, we had dinner at Rainwater restaurant. It was amazing. Very nice dinner.

We went back to the hotel late, and I was so tired. I don't think I even woke up in the 4 whole hours of sleep I got. Amazing.

Crack of Dawn - ICK

I had to get up at 6:30am. That is REALLY early after a weekend in Knoxville. The cab came at 7am. The drive to the airport was beautiful, but I had forgotten how pitiful the airport is in Knoxville. Of course, you can tell how I was feeling since I was taking pictures through the cab window. I just can't tell you how beautiful it was.

I went to Houston first, and I went to get a bite to eat during my 2 hour layover. I found out that Houston has some weird law that says you have to have a plate in front of you to drink alcohol before noon on a Sunday. I met a girl who sells Timeshares in Charleston and a guy who works for Sherman Williams in Alabama. They were pretty cool to talk to. I couldn't even imagine drinking at this point. My liver was begging for water and diet coke. Thank GOD for caffeine and hydration.

My next flight also involved sleep. I have to give it to Continental as they still try to have good service. They even served a lunch. Amazing. We landed in San Diego around 2. I was there for MGMA (Medical Group Management Association). I rushed to the hotel, changed clothes, and rushed to the booth. It turns out that it is slow inside an exhibit hall on a beautiful sunny day in San Diego. Imagine that!

After the booth, we went to dinner at Mickey and Lou's. I went there with my brother Mike several years ago during HIMSS. It was still really good even though I was too hungover to eat much. We watched the Rays game, and I was amazed at how many people were cheering for the Rays. The few people who were cheering for Boston weren't too bad. I just wanted to say, "Can't you just be happy for a team who has never been to the World Series?" Thankfully, the Rays pulled it out and will go to the World Series. It wasn't even any fun to give my boss a hard time as he was several hours delayed, bumped from a flight due to lack of bin spacea, AND they lost his luggage. GOOOOO RAYS!

I had a GORGEOUS view out of my hotel room window (the pictures don't do it justice).

AHHH Game Day in Ktown

We start off the day with a sandwich at Gus'. Amazing. I realize at this moment that we forgot the sign that I made with Lisa. Ok, Lisa made it. I just had the idea. Did you know that there is a whole series of Orange Man art? Who knew? The Ham and Swiss are just as good at 1:00 in the afternoon as they were at 4am. :) I realize as we are sitting there that the check cashing station is not there. When I was in college there, the ATMs didn't cross banks - especially for deposits. So, we wrote a check at the check cashing place and then went to the strip to spend the cash. It occurred to me that Electronic Medical Records are the same way. Right now, they don't talk a lot but soon they will (hopefully).

We then went to the Half Barrell and watched the games that were on. Of course, there was an obnoxous Ohio State fan there. FIGURES. We met some cool people and hung out. The bar loved our sign, and we had several pictures taken of us with the sign. I went to put my T tattoo on my face in the restroom, but there was a drunk girl in the bathroom who got my shirt soaking wet. It was very cold outside, especially with a wet shirt.

The stadium is just as wonderful as ever. LOVED it. The stands loved the sign just as much. It said, "I bleed orange, but I am running out of band-aids." However, no bleeding happened at this game. Tennesse ROCKED the house with lots of interceptions and scores (sorry Dad).

After the game, we walked back to the hotel, and we watched the Rays LOSE again. GRRRRRRRRR....

All in all, a fantastic day. However, my liver is crying out for a rest. GOOOOO VOLS!!! GO RAYS - you get ONE more chance

Knoxville Bound

Did you know that it is hard to take pictures while riding in a car? The trees and leaves were SO amazing during our drive to Knoxville. Unfortunately, the camera pics weren't very good. I forget how amazingly beautiful Tennessee is. I love living in Florida, but it is UGLY except by the beaches. Stucco everywhere, flat, boring......Tennessee is diverse, hilly, beautiful. I still find it amazing that I lived there every day and was used to theh beautiful surroundings - so much that I didn't even notice sometimes. Now, it is breathtaking. It really reminded me to stop and pay attention to amazing things -sometimes your memory doesn't do reality justice.

We got to Knoxville, and we checked into the Hilton downtown. The view was outstanding as I could see the river, Calhoun's, and the stadium all at once. AHHHHHH.....Home...:) We went to Calhoun's for an early dinner. We saw the Mississippi State radio crew, but they were hiding in their bus. We did thoroughly enjoy the dinner - we highly recommend it if you are in Knoxville or Nashville. After that, we went back to the hotel for a while as Calhoun's had cancelled the band due to potential rain. BUMMER...

We go to the bar in the hotel (the Orange Martini - LOVE the name), and we meet these people from Atlanta who went to Mississippi State. It dawns on me that I haven't really talked to many people who went there other than my Dad. They seem like very cool people. We takled a lot about jobs, living locations, etc.

Mike and I get ready to leave. We are in the elevator, and these two guys are there. They ask what we are doing. We say "Old City". One dude wants to go to the strip and the other wants to go to Old Town. Both of them tag along. We go to a bar that has a patio. We quickly figure out from the many shouts of "Is thatr ERIC CHURCH?????????" We loved him. I am not sure that it could have been any better.

Next, we went inside and listened to the band play. 500 miles to Memphis was their name. They were pretty good too. Next, we walk in search of our next good place. We can hear this band upstairs, but we can't figure out how to get there. FINALLY, a door opens and a drunk blond girl is staggering out. She asks if there is a bus near. We tell her to take a cab, and she says that she had no money to stay. She lets us into the fraternity party (the PIKES), and we have a fantastic time dancing away. The band ROCKED, and it wa HYSTERICAL to point out people and equate them to our adult friends. AMAZING time. HAD a BLAST.

Next we take a cab to Gus' Good Times Deli. I heart GUS. He and his wife are retired, but I lived there. Mike and I get steamed Ham and Swiss sandwiches, and we start talking to college kids. Of course, they are for Obama, so I have to get into it. That is when Mike reminds me that they are in COLLEGE so they want to share the money with everyone. :) KNOXVILLE ROCKS...

Visitors to the office, Trip to Nashville

I had appointments in the office today, so I had to get all of my stuff to the office with me and be ready to go. I had a fantastic meeting with a partner, and I learned all about their new content. FUN stuff....

We ate at Pei Wei for lunch. Gotta love Pei Wei. It is a mini-PF Changs but fast and cheaper with the same food. How can you not like that???

As I am getting ready to go to the airport, I got a call from Morgan saying, "I DID IT, I DID IT." She finally got her full back. Of course, this means that Mike and I have to go by the gym to see it. :) It was beautiful. The first one she did wasn't so great. She got upset. She came over to us, and I said, "Morgan, I am so proud of you. It doesn't matter that you didn't hit that one...it matters that you tried." Her coach had the 6 girls who could do a full get up while the rest sat down. I pointed that out to her and gave her a hug. Mike, being a male, says "Try harder." I cracked up. Such a typical male vs female discussion. She did it beautifully the next time though, so we got to see. :)

We went to the airport and somehow ended up drinking margaritas. How did that happen? We started watching the Rays game. They were ahead 5 - 0 as we boarded the plane. We were all happy. We landed, got the rental car, and headed to my parents house. I check the score and it is 7-7 in the 8th...WHOAAAA....what happene???? We go straight to a bar. We get there just in time to see them lose. :( It's ok Rays.....you can do it!

We got to my parents house, and I looked at some old memories. I found two letters from my parents when I was in high school. I was at a church retreat, and the letters made me cry back then. They made me really cry now. They were wonderful letters where they talked about how I had really grown up, and they talked about how proud they were of me. I have the best parents in the whole entire world. The only part that made me cringe was the part that said they were proud I had committed to a life of no alcohol or drugs.....Hmmmm I guess I shouldn't have had those margaritas. lol

Busy Day - WOW

Have you ever noticed that they day before you leave for a trip is hectic? I got more done today than I will over the next week. :) Crazy work day....crazy home day....trying to do laundry, pack, spend time with Morgan, etc. Wow...

I started thinking about signs to take to the Tennessee game today. I am thinking of something playing on the pitiful nature of the Vols this year. I thought of putting "Fire Fulmer" but maybe that is too blunt.

This orange crap that is appearing at my house for Allscripts is kiling me. Orange is the Vols color - not Allscripts. UGH...Of course, everyone keeps thinking that I am loving the color, but they don't understand that I don't work for Allscripts so I don't like it. If I worked there, maybe....:) I could double my work attire AND my play attire at one time. :)

Rays WIN 13-4

Go Rays, Go Rays.....

What great teamwork. The team is so young, and they just keep pounding the ball. 13 runs.... Amazing. It would be so fun to have the World Series and the Super Bowl in Tampa this year. What a great time for the city.

My boss sent an email cheering for the Red Sox (he is a Yankee fan AND a democrat)

"If you allow the Tampa Bay Rays go to the World Series, dogs and cats will start dating, Republicans and Democrats will start getting along, the world will spin off its axis 2 degrees causing us to whirl out of orbit, crash into Venus, and everyone on the planet will be wiped out.

Please win, I want to survive.

Your humble Pin Stripe Fan"

I cracked up. Of course, I had to bring up that they are an inspiration and a great example of teamwork. Go RAYS....please win.....for Michael who adores you and stays up late for every game.

MIsys and Allscripts Deal is Finalized

First, I am a Tenneessee fan, so I love the color orange. However, I think orange is a color best left to the football fields. For some reason, I don't really like the all orange logo. Having some orange is one thing - all orange is another. I am also not really clear on the Boomerange looking A and M combined in the logo. I guess the shadow is supposed to be the part that makes the M. I guess they are saying that Misys is still in the shadows? :) I guess the company is Allscripts Misys, but the logo appears to only say Allscripts. Interesting. Not a surprise that Allscripts wanted to limit the exposure to the Misys reputation in the market. Allscripts is a marketing machine, so it will be interesting to see what they have at MGMA. I am sure it will be a production. I do have to question the "1 in 3" quotes referring to the doctors who use their products. I suspect that they count people who were ever sold the product and not just those who are on active maintenance or those who are actually using the products.

I think it is interesting that two companies who had so much bad blood are able to join forces. I remember when it was a bitter rivalry. I am sure it has to be crazy for the people who left Misys, who went to work in Cary at the A4 office, and who are now working back at the same original building. That has to be spooky weird. Having been a part of two acquisitions this year, I know it is challenging for any company to merge two groups, and I wish the two groups good luck in the merging. I guess I will have to limit the Tennessee shirts while near trade show events. :)

Beach, Boat, Bern's

Today was a great all around day. We started by waking up at the beach and eating a fantastic breakfast at the Doubletree. Other than slow elevators, the hotel at North Redington beach is awesome. They even accomodated our sandwich trays from Subway and let us get them out one at a time.

After we checked out, we went out on the boat. We had a great time at Shell Island, and we just hung out and enjoyed the day. Everyone had lots of shells to take with them when they left. :)

We went to Bern's for dinner, and you just can't beat Bern's Steak House. Even the waiters have to work there for almost 2 years to become a waiter. The food is awesome, and they have an incredible wine selection (100,000 bottles onsite and over a million offsite). We did the tour of the kitchen and the wine cellar, and we had fantastic bananas foster in the dessert room. THANKS to Papa for dinner and Mike for dessert! What a fantastic end to Mark's birthday weekend!

Birthday Bash at the Beach

Mark had a great birthday bash at the beach, and we hung out and had sandwiches, chicken fingers, and lots of drinks to make the day festive. The family was all here, and I had a great time hanging out with Mike M, Mom, and Dad in addition to all of the other friends and family - and of course Mark. :) Even Travis and Lisa showed up with the kids in tow late into the evening. I would tell some great stories, but what happens at the beach, stays at the beach. We did love the Tiki bar, and the kids played on the beach ALLL day.

Thanks Mom and Dad for driving down, getting all the food and decorations, and for everything you did for everyone!

Thanks Mike for flying in for the occassion!

Thanks to Abhi for great pictures!
http://picasaweb.google.com/abhijeetkoliv/MarkSBirthdayParty?authkey=FDw4gAKAvm8#


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LORDY LORDY MARKY'S 40!!!!!!

So, I have had just a BIT of fun teasing Mark (he is wearing a "40" shirt in the picture under a Happy 40th Birthday Banner with yellow 40th birthday caution tape and a blinking "kiss me I am 40" pin in case you can't see it). Since he always tries to convince people that he is younger than I am, I had to make sure that the record was set straight. We all wore "Old Fart's Friend" name tags today. It was a fun day. We took Mark to lunch at Pei Wei. Good times.

My parents were here today, and we all went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant for Margaritas (ok, and dinner). Margaritas have to be the best invention ever - especially on a Friday after a long week. Can you say YUMMMMMMYYYYYY?

Tomorrow is Mark's official party at the beach. I am excited to spend the day at the beach. Mike M also comes in tomorrow, so it will be fantastic to have the whole family together for Mark's birthday. :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK! WE LOVE YOU!

Wow, Feeling that Change!

So, all of the changes going on hit me pretty hard today. I guess it was the good ol change of state rule. I got to the office and of course went to where my desk has been for the past 3.5 years. The only problem was that other people were sitting there. I totally walked there out of habit even though I knew that my desk had been moved in order to split the new company from the old. So, I get to my desk, and I organize stuff, plug in stuff, etc. Thanks to Tony, Mark, and everyone else who moved my stuff in my absence!

I have sat in the middle of a group of people for over 3 years now, and today I was in an office by myself. Although, there have been many days where I thought I might like that, today was a very odd experience. As silly as it is, I felt so lonely in that room. Maybe part of it was being away from the office and wanting to catch up with the team, but I just felt disconnected. Hopefully, the shock will be over tomorrow.

I heard that many Misys and Allscripts people were laid off today. It sounds like departments all over on both sides had lay offs. Some of the people I heard surprised me as they had been there for a long time. Knowledge and experience take a long time to acquire and a long time to replace. Best wishes to everyone looking for new places to work.

Final Day and Back Home

The last day of meetings was today. There was another fantastic speaker. He talked a lot about how each generation has a set of expectations that then form the very basic expectations of the next generation. Each generation is constantly pushing the expectations higher. For example, semi-private rooms used to be ok, but now people do not want anything to do with a semi-private hospital room (or dorm room apparently). He also mentioned the disconnect that many physicians have with their patients when it comes to technology and using it within their practice. Not only was the message great about the evidence-based economics and about the expectations, he was a fantastic speaker who had the crowd laughing hysterically.

I ended up getting to leave earlier than originally planned, and I got back to Tampa in time to meet Morgan at the gym for her tumbling lesson. She had a rough day as she didn't win the VP vote at school. Of course, it was made worse because her school cut off a lot of her speech (after they had edited the recorded speech without asking or letting her record it again -of course, this was also after several teachers had reviewed it prior to it being recorded). So, now, it just seems unfair whether that really affected it or not. I felt so badly for her, but I am also so very proud that she was brave enough to try to run AND that she dealt with the disappointment very well after she got over the initial shock.

Man, it was SO great to be back home in my own bed.

Long Day

Today was a really good day for the first 16 hours. After that, I was tired, emotional, and ready to crawl in bed. :)

The meetings were very good. The awards dinner was very good. The comedian was from Knoxville, and he was hysterical. He was Korean, and he had a very southern accent. I kept waiting for some joke about hunting and the orange Tennessee fans wear, but he didn't go there.

After the comedian, there was a band, and we had a great time dancing and just enjoying the intelligent people and the conversations with them. After that, I made the wise decision to go to bed instead of staying out even later.

Meetings, Meetings

Today, we had meetings all day. In the morning, there was a speaker who was an astronaut on the Russian space station. He was fantastic. He talked about learning so much about himself after being around only two people who only spoke Russian for five months in a confined space. He talked a lot about confidence and knowing your stuff. Those are things I have always believed in. He also talked about writing a letter to you children to give them something to have after you are gone. I thought it was a fantastic idea.

After the meetings, we went to dinner at a Thai place called Nan. It was very good. Tom ordered a variety of appetizers and entrees, and they were all delicious (even the pink wontons).

At one point, I was doing a demo and the man I was talking to stopped and said, "The world is coming to an end" as he looked at his phone. He said the Dowm was down around 800 points. Wow, that is crazy.

Even though the world was possibly coming to an end, I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Travel to Atlanta

Today, I flew to Atlanta for a user's conference. We stayed at the Marriott Marquis, and I had forgotten how wild the elevators are there. I was on the 28th floor, and my ears popped when I went up. :) The elevators are fun, and the hotel is beautiful.

I went to meetings during the day, and then the opening reception was at the world of Coke. It made me think about how funny it is to people not from the south that people in the south call all soft drinks Coke. I always giggle when I hear "pop" or "soda" because I have always called it Coke. Non-southerners always think it is odd when people ask what kind of Coke you want. :)

It was great to see some people again and to meet some new people! Long live Coke! :)

What a week

All of the remote people came into town this week, and it was great as always to see the crew. We went to Skipper's on Tuesday night, and then we hung at the Best Western on Wednesday night. We had fun by the pool, and Phil brought out the evil Tequilla. I think everyone had a great time hanging out together. We had some work meetings on Wed and Thursday, and then I flew to PA on Thursday night. I think Thursday was one of the worst travel days that I have had in a long time.

The dev crew did get to go out on the boat, and Travis even let us take his boat too! Now that is trust! :) We had a great time - well, except for the sandbar part. :)

We had a meeting that was very hard for me. I left the meeting, and I got a ticket on the way to the airport. Ugh. I get to the airport, and I get on the plane. I realize that I left my purse in Tampa. Lovely. I did have my ID and debit card thankfully because I used them at the check-in kiosk. Thank goodness for small favors. I am on the plane and remember that I never got a rental car after one of the trip members has to cancel coming on this trip. Thankfully, Krishan got me a reservation when I called him frantically as the door to the plane is closing. So, the whole flight I am nervous because my purse is in Tampa. I decide that I need a drink, and I order a bloody mary. Of course, a freaking coke is $2 and a bloody mary is $7. Gotta hate US Air. Anyway, I am drinking my bloody mary and starting to chill a little after a very long stressful day, and I spill my drink ALLLLL over my shirt. I have ice cubes in my bra, tomato juice all over my shirt, and I am freezing. Of course I am in a window seat. I pull all the ice cubes out and get as much off as I can with a wet napkin and then try to dry with dry napkins. Lovely. Wow, this is a fun day. We land, and I am immediately shivering. I am in a tshirt and shorts (changed after the meeting).

Wow, it is cold in PA, especially when your shirt is wet AND you wore shorts and a tshirt. I go to get a rental car, and I hand him my license and card. "We don't take debit cards ma'am," says the rental car man. I try to explain that I don't have anything else and I ask if I can make a deposit or something. No, he says. So, I sit outside the car rental place almost in tears. Travis doesn't land for over 2 more hours, and I am wondering what to do. There is a Dollar rental car place next door, and I figure that they surely take Debit cards. I call the Tampa airport too, and they do have my purse and have it locked up for me. Whewwww.... I can't figure out how to get to the Dollar rental place because the lot is all surrounded by a fence. I finally decide that I have to walk out onto the road to get there. I am dragging my suitcase around the spikes that keep people from stealing cars. I am walking down the road hoping that cars can see me ok. I walk into the Dollar store, and I am on the verge of a breakdown. I tell him that I have no reservation and no credit card and ask if he can take a Debit card. I tell him what has happened. He is SOOOO nice, and he gets me a car. It is now 10:45 and Travis still doesn't get in for almost 2 hours. I drive around a little looking for a restaurant (I haven't eaten all day due to nerves and being a bit hungover). I can't find anywhere, and my phone is dying. I pull out my eee pc, and it is dying too. My other phone is dying. Uh oh...I am really panicing now. I don't know how to get to the hotel without my electronics and Travis won't be able to get me either. I call Lisa in near tears, and she tells me that she will let him know to take a cab, and she agrees that I should go to the hotel and chill. So, my email won't connect, my eee is dead, and I have no plug. Hmmmm....

I call the hotel chain and get the number. I call the hotel and get directions. I have no pen. Where is my pen? In my purse in Tampa. Lovely. So, I can't find anything to write with so I used eyeliner to write the directions down. I drive the almost 45 min to the hotel, and I look for food (of course, it is 12 something now). Wendy's! Whew...open until 1. I work on the demo prep as I haven't gotten to do that during the week. Travis calls later when he gets in and he is starving. We go in search of food, and we find a Burger King open until 2. I finally get to my room and go to bed knowing that we have to be in the lobby at 7:30.

The meeting went well, and I got back to Tampa at 6:30p. I met Mike and the kids at Skipper's and we ate dinner. Mike wanted to see the Sauce Boss (he sings and makes gumbo at the same time). Mike and Michael stayed, and I took the girls home. Michael got to stir the gumbo, and I am glad Mike got to go.

What a week....

Debates

I am catching up on my politics, but Morgan had to do a poster for either McCain or Palin. She knows I tend to vote Republican, and she knows that I plan on voting for McCain. They have been discussing it a lot in school, and she comes home from school and says, "Mommy, I think I might have to be a democrat." After I get back to vertical and try to gather my thoughts, I ask why. She says that her teacher said that Palin kills wolves in Alaska and sells their legs and she thinks that is mean. You have got to be kidding. So, I spend quite a long time explaining that Alaska is very different than Tampa. I also explain that wolves kill other animals like caribou. Then, she had to make a campaign poster for one of the candidates. She had to get at least 10 personal facts and issue facts and put them on the poster. She did a great job, and it gave us a lot of time to talk about it all. She also had to read a newspaper story about the debate and write a summary and her personal thoughts. It was quite interesting to hear, "Mommy, what is fiscal responsibility? What is a bailout?" I think it is great that they are getting the kids involved. I don't agree with the teacher telling the kids the whole killing wolves thing like that, especially without additional points of the candidates or more of an explanation. Morgan has been loving Palin, especially since Morgan is running for VP of her student council at school. I like her having a female role model in politics, so I hope that she continues to enjoy her.

Fire Fulmer

Ok, I am officially a member of the Fire Fulmer Fan Club. I have endorsed him, and I have respected him. However, it is time to go. We really need someone new. I just think we need a change. I am not even sure it is Fulmer's fault, but I think fresh blood is needed. I saw Peyton Manning was saying that they players just need to listen to the coach, but I don't think that can be the case after all this time. Losing to UCLA I could get (although watching BYU slaughter them made me wonder). Getting spanked by Florida (how bad can it be??) was another. Losing AGAIN to Auburn when it was a game they actually could have won without so many freaking mistakes sent me over the edge.

Welcome to the World Hudson!

My cousin Amanda had her first baby today - Hudson Graham who was 9lbs 3ozs and 21.5 inches! He is adorable and BIG! Congrats to Amanda and Matt! Welcome to the family Hudson!

US Air - YUCK

My least favorite airline is now US Air. First, they charge for even the first bag. That is insane. Secondy, they charge $2 for a can of diet coke. Seriously? No peanuts or pretzels - nothing at all. They say they have snack packs, but they were all sold out when they got to me (for a 4 hr and 50 min flight). Then, I open the tray table, and it has an add on it. You have got to be kidding. I did upgrade to first class for one leg, and they don't even serve the drinks before you take off. I absolutely cannot believe it. Rude staff as well. Unbelievable.