Childless Week 2008

With Morgan gone to camp, I had 6 whole days of childlessness. I was also husbandless for 2 days and in-law-less for the week. In case you didn't compute, that meant that I was ALL ALONE in my house for the first time in a very long time. ALLLL alone. It was heavenly. I went to Friday's with people from work on Monday night. I went to Bern's with potential clients on Tuesday night (YUM - Bern's rocks). On Wednesday, we went to Tijuana Flats to hear Jay play (he rocked), and we went to Travis and Lisa's house to swim.

Thursday night, I did laundry and packed. Friday night, I drove almost all of the day to camp (Cornelia). I arrived around 1am. I listened to Jimmy Buffett's Swine Not book on tape on the drive. The voice was so soothing that I almot fell asleep several times. I had to get out and run around the car at one point.

All in all, it was a great childless week. I needed some mommy time. :)

Funniest Divorce Story EVER

While we were out with a perspective client, this one person tells the best story ever. Basically, her ex-husband had his leg amputated, and he had an artificial leg. He usually had a spare, and a friend of theirs painted SF 49's on it because she was a huge 49's fan. He wasn't so much, but he want along with it for her. Each year, they went to New Orleans to see the 49's play the Saints. One year, they are there, and the husband has on the leg that has the SF 49's painted on it. She says, "honey, take off your leg. They are giving autographs." He actually hands her the leg, and the players actually sign it. Now, the story is pretty good even until now. But it gets better. When they get a divorce, she gets the leg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He didn't really like the 49's, so she got the leg.

One Year Smoke Free

WOW....what a difference a year makes. A year ago, I wss off to volunteer as the camp nurse for the second year. At camp, you obviously cannot smoke. As I did the year before, I quit for the week. The first year, I actually thought I would quit for good. I didn't make it but 4 weeks. Last year, I planned to just make it through the week. However, I kept going. As soon as we finished the NINE hour drive, we met friends at a bar (I was childless for the week). I remember crying because I wanted one so badly. I kept thinking that if I made it on that long roadtrip, I could make it longer. How crazy is that. I cried in a bar because I wanted a cigarette!!! Today, that seem crazy, but at the time it took everything I had to not smoke. For the next 8 weeks, it was really, really hard. Every day brought struggles. Once I made it to two months, I knew there was no going back. I still had occassional times where it was hard from monthss 2 - 4, but it lessened every day. Months 4 - 6 brought odd urges and weird dreams occassionally, but it wasn't hard to keep going. Month 6 - 12 were a breeze. Never even struggled. Yes, sometimes it smelled good. Yes, I occassionally walk outside for no reason and then realize why. But, the effort required at this point is NOTHING. If you are trying to quit, just focus on the first 2 months. Patches, gum, food, drink, whatever, just make it for the first 8 weeks. Get a counter and see how fast the cigarettes not smoked and the money saved change. I cannot believe that I would have smoked over 8500 cigarettes in this last year if I had not quit.

I feel SO much better this year. Obviously, running and exercise is easier, but it iss much more than that. Life is more relaxing. I can sit and watch a whole movie with my daughter cudding with me. I am not constantly worrying about it. When we went to Busch Gardens, I am not alway thinking about when I can have another or about getting them wet.

of course, on the day that my quit counter flipped to a year, my computer died. I was bummed, but my co-workers went to happy hour with me to celebrate (it was childless week 2008). We went to Friday's and had a really cool waiter a great time.

TEPR, Demos, Iowa

As soon as the dev meeting was over, I had one day before I left for TEPR. We (MediNotes) won first place for HOT products and first place in the pediatric challenge. TEPR had pitiful attendance, but I still love TEPR. I wish HIMSS or some other trade show would pick up some of the things TEPR does since I am not sure TEPR will make it another year. The classes TEPR offers are much better than your average trade show. I can bring someone new to thee industry and they can learn a lot. It is a great trade show for developers. They also try to let attendees actually compare products. I think the challenges are a fantastic way to show the similarities and the differences in the products. Yes, they are a pain to do. Yes, the scenaarios are sometimes a little silly. But, if you are really looking for an EMR, they are a great tool. The awards are also nice. Although, this is the first year we went to the final of an award category, I think that awards are good and should be something that all trade shows offer.





We did get to have some fun in Fort Lauderdale. We went to the beach and then got thirsty. We found a sign that said, "COLD BEER" with an arrow. So, we followed it.:) I had on a Tennessee shirt, and this guy named Doug started talking about Tennessee. Next thing I know, we have had several Jager and tequilla shots and we are playing darts. We went to the Elbow and had fun there for a while. Around 8ish, I took a cab back because I had to work on the challenge the next morning. Unfortunately, I decided to lie down on the bed, and I didn't wake up until midnight. OOPS. I don't know Cathey well enough to call her at midight, so I decided I would get up at 5 andf be ready for her in the lobby. I think I was hungover for 4 days. That will teach me.


After TEPR, I flew to Oklahoma for a work trip. I got to hear about how they are dealing with illegal immigrants. It was pretty interesting. I guess they are requiring you to have proof of citizenship or visa for everything. They have had thousands of people leave. It was interesting to hear the pride in their voices. I think it is great that they are trying to find a solution. While we are a great c0untry because we are a melting pot, we need to be sure that we don't sink the country by taking in more than we can handle.


When I got home, I had two more big demos. I completed 7 scripted demos in 6 days. It was insane - especially for someone who is not in sales! Next, I was home for 4 whole days in which I joined a boat club. :J You pay an initiation fee and a monthly membership fee, and you can take a boat out whenever you want as long as they are not al taken. When I was a kid, my family spent a lot of time on a boat, and I have great memories from it. I am so glad that my kids will have that too. Of course, we were on a lake and not in the bay or the gulf. The traffic channels are pretty confusing to me. I am fine as long as I know how deep it is and as long as no other boats are around. J Mike has me drive when he tubes, and he is giving me lessons as we go. We have already lost an anchor and cur our feet looking for it. J We also stayed at the Doubletree North Redington Beach, and it was AWESOME. I am not sure what is in those cookies, but they are addictive. I did find out that Christi Cookies holds the recipe (they are in Nashville). It has a great tiki bar, nice roomss, and is right on the beach.





Next, I was off to Iowa for a manager’s meeting. It was a great meeting. The more we get the two companies together, the more we begin to act as one. I did learn that if you go swimming in an indoor pool in a navy shirt, it turns brown. I ruined my favorite Tennessee shirt. :(





I got home late Friday night, and my car started acting up again. Lovely. We went out on the boat on Saturday with one of Morgan’s friends and her family. We had a great time. Then, we went to a Tampa Yankees game. I wasn’t really planning on the Yankees game, but we had a good time. The only problem was that Morgan flew out to camp thee next morning, and I hadn’t even been to Walmart or packed AT ALL. So, at midnight, I got home and started packing. Thankfully, her laundry was already done so it didn’t take that long. We got up at 5:30 and left at 6 to drive to Orlando. The flight was $200 less from Orlando, so we did that. Of course, her bag was ONE inch oversize and was a few pounds overweight. So, I had to pay extra. I am so glad that we were not on hidden camera as it was too funny with us trying to get the trunk checked in. First, I drove to the curbside check in. Because she was an unaccompanied minor, they said we had to go inside. Since I couldn’t do that with my car at the curb, I had to go park and put the trunk on a cart. HEE HEE that was funny. We finally got it inside and to the ticket counter, and then she says we have to take it across the aisle to drop it off. Lovely. I don’t think the baggage people liked us as it wouldn’t fit on their machine so he had to take it somewhere else. Morgan was a champ and went straight onto the plane without hesitation.

Dev Meeting

The implementation team left on Friday, and I had a fantastic Mother's Day. I even had a cake made for me. I got flowers and even got handmade gifts AND a Best Buy gift card. Couldn't have been better.

The dev team arrived on Sunday. Whoa….sleep? What is that? The dev team meeting was also great, and it was fantastic to have the whole team meet up since some had never met face to face. We also had fantastic meetings, and we went to Busch Gardens for team building. Some of the team went to the Rays/Yankees game that went into extra innings and put the Rays in first place. I heard they also made a pit stop on the way back….J We did a team building exercise at Busch Gardens where we had four teams of 6 (one had 5 because Phil had to go to Jessica’s play). Each team had to take pictures of the team doing different activities. If requested, I will share it if people are interested in the scavenger hunt we used. It was tons of fun, and we almost filled an entire Shiekra car. Just a note, do NOT to go the Subway in Wesley Chapel with an order for 23 sandwiches. They are morons there, and it took over an hour to get the sandwiches even though there were ZERO customers when I went into the store. I do have to give the Wesley Chapel Hampton Inn some props. It is a beautiful hotel with amazing rooms. The conference room was also nice.

Also, miracles do happen! Almost 2 years later the United States Government paid me back for my deductible and rental car for the accident that their employee caused. I can't believe that the government can get away with that but a private citizen never would.

Implementation Meeting

Wow…I so deserve too be punished.. Please keep scrolling to catch up. I have not had time to do anything but work for the last few weeks it seems.
We had an Implementation team meeting in Tampa. It was the bomb (great job Julie!!!!!!) We had tons of fantastic meetings, and we also did team building at Chuck E Cheese and Busch Gardens. We really bonded as a team, andwe also had some Iowa participants. Let the blending begin! I think I will be laughing for a while. We took a Disney character personality test, and we were almost all Mickeys or outgoing people who talk well but don’t listen well. We also had a couple of Winnie’s who are detail watches and good listeners. Whew…at least some people will hear all the talking. J :Some of the funniest things were 1. Watching everyone at Chuck E Cheese - the car racing and dance, dance revolution were the most fun 2. Heather thinking that Phil had nicknamed someone Jawbone because his earpiece is called Jawbone. 3. Larrry almost puking o the Phoenix - Oh no, it isn’t going to stop was the quote I think as the ship went upside down 4. Ivan’s walk after getting wet.

Disclaimers Everywhere

It seems that nothing can happen in today's world without a disclaimer. Everywhere you go you see them. It seems that they get more and more stupid by the day. For example, today we went back to Busch Gardens. They have signs everywhere by the water rides saying, "You will get wet." DUH. On the bottom of the Dominos Pizza box, it actually informs you that Dominos will not be responsible for pizzas that are ruined by reading the message on the bottom of the box. I mean, really? That is really necessary? When I was a smoker, I always paid attention to the "smokers tax" that was always being discussed. Instead, maybe there should just be a tax on stupidity. If you actually don't know that a cup of coffee is hot, taxed. If you don't know that a water ride will cause you to get wet, taxed. If you actually ruin a pizza trying to read the label, taxed. Wow, what a great place it would be because we could laugh about it AND have more money. Speaking of the non-smoking thing, in less than a month, I will have not sm0ked for a year. I cannot believe it. Amazing. 8,094 cigarettes I would have smoked. Over $1300 bucks saved. Amazing. DId you know that they aren't good for you?



I have been meaning to put pictures of my EEE Pc on here, but I kept forgetting. Here is a picture of the EEE Pc on the airplane tray table. See how well it fits? I just adore it. It really has been life altering to have something so small to take around.





As I said, we went to Busch Gardens again today. Mark actually got up early and beat us to the park. In fact, I think he was the first one there. :) He had the very first parking space. When I called at 8:50, he was already there (the park opens at 9). He rode Shiekra something like 8 times in a row. We didn't understand exactly, so we went to Montu first. It was awesome to ride with no line. We took the sky ride over to Shiekra, and then we rode that. We rode Kumba, the river rapids, walked through the Tigers (one was right on the other side of the glass staring at us and then we got to see them eat - wow, it is amazing to watch them catch the meat), rode the Pheonix flying ship, cheetah chase the Sandstorm spinning make you want to puke ride, and ate lunch. All before the Bonds arrived. Abhijeet and Mark were there with us though, so it was fun. We did all of that including riding twice on the coasters by 1. Wow. Unfortunately, Mr. get to the park early wasn't feeling so well and had to leave around 3. Maybe on the next trip he can get there early and stay all day. :) Sorry Mark, couldn't help but take one more shot. :)



Morgan and Katie had a blast playing with Tal, Riley, and Reagan. Morgan couldn't believe that Camden is so big now. She was shocked!




Somehow, even with all of the disclaimers, we managed to navigate the park with no incidents or injuries. It was a great day!!!!