It's been a long time ...

Decided after a trip to San Francisco on Monday and now on my way to Napa for a retailer event it was time to jump back on the blog bandwagon so to speak.  These trips are quick but sometimes have the most stressful meetings attached to them.  Today will be different.  Today I'm traveling to attend a dinner for one of our biggest retailers.  The event is in Napa, that can't be all bad.

Gearing up for a trip to China in a week and a half.  Let's be honest, that is the real reason for my starting this blog back up again.  I want to remember every experience of that work trip as well as have fun editorial to share with the kids!  Until then ... let's enjoy some wine in Napa!

So its been awhile ...

Not sure where to start but let's just say the last six months have been a whirlwind both good and bad.  In December my professional world was flipped upside down when we went through some pretty major restructuring and I took on considerably more work.  Needless to say my time has not been my own and only within the last month or so have I finally felt as though I could breath again!

I'm off to Arizona tomorrow.  Rather looking forward to the sunshine and the heat, although 100 degrees is almost a bit too toasty for my blood.  But beggars must not be choosers and I want sunshine.  Excited to see a few of our top independent accounts, pictures to follow I'm sure.

On the road again ...

... I can't wait to be OFF the road again.

Okay so I'm not in an awful mood as of yet, but I am ready to be home long enough to spend some quality time with my daughter.  Elizabeth was out like a light when I got home around midnight on Wednesday and so I rubbed her cute little back and kissed her goodnight.  She didn't even flinch.

We spent the weekend being busy little bees and visiting friends and family.  But now, it is Monday and I am on the road (or rather on a plane) headed to Dallas and Austin this week.  I'll be back Thursday evening, before midnight but after Elizabeth's bedtime.  Sad face.  I love my nightly ritual of putting her to bed.  It is our special time although lately she doesn't like to rock with me.  We read and she has a bottle and then she looks at me and says 'nigh nigh' and makes the sign for bed.  We rock a little more and then she is insisting on her crib.  While any parent would probably love this ... this time at night is the only time that this little gal sits contently!

The good news is though that I'll be able to Skype with the Lizster both tomorrow and Wednesday evening!  She is growing like a weed but sick as can be.  Her cough has gotten worse poor thing and she has a mad case of diaper rash (TMI?).  So we baby her a little more than what she is already ...

Off to work a little on the plane and then maybe catch some zzzz's.  I think I'm going to need it considering I get in to Dallas at midnight.  Until later folks...

Mile High to Miles of Rain.

So I thought I'd have time to catch up with everyone on Friday evening.  That obviously did not happen.  After arriving in Denver around 9am I went straight to the hotel in order to grab a few boxes and then headed to the hotel.  Denver was gorgeous, even if I only got to spend about five hours total in the sunshine.  Colorado is definitely one of only a few states that I could see us ever moving to.  Sunshine 320 days a year.  Wakeboarding and skiing all within an hour or two.  Amazing outdoor activities.  It would be a blast. 

But I digress.  Friday set-up went pretty well.  After having gone through it once I had an idea of how things needed to be set-up.  Friday evening I headed out to Euclid Hall with my rep and another manufacturer for a quick bite (at 9pm that is).  Mind you after my 3am wake-up call I was exhausted but the bar was very cool and the food was delish.   If you ever get a chance be sure to check out the roasted cauliflower appetizer and the sausage sampler was amazing.  We even splurged and shared the S'more dessert complete with homemade graham cracker and marshmallow.  www.euclidhall.com

Saturday was the first day of the show and it went well.  A little slow to start (it always is) but things picked up around lunch and didn't stop until 7pm when the show closed.  I love this show as I always get a chance to catch up with some of my favorite store owners.  And it is finally to the point where my stores come prepared and simply hand me their replenishment purchase orders ... some of which are topping over a few thousand dollars!  We headed to the Hyatt immediately following the show for a quick drink and then out to Osteria Marco. 

Oh my word was this Italian amazing!  We ended up with six in our party hanging out with two others at a communal dinner table.  Such fun!  We started with the meatball sliders and bruschetta, along with a chef's selection of meats and cheeses.  I have to say though the most amazing was the Burrata and the Capra Ricotta (homemade in the restaurant).  We then ordered a few pizzas to split, but all in all it was delicious.  www.osteriamarco.com  What was not delicious was that by the end of this dinner I was in a full on fight with a brutal cold.  You see I left a petri dish of an office and therefore was hoping I would escape it but I think my lack of sleep did the opposite.  It hit me like a ton of bricks.

Sunday was equally as busy and I enjoyed seeing many of my international customers.  I'm thinking a trip to Costa Rica may be in my future in order to visit and thank my best international customer!  Hmmm that may be wishful thinking.  I was feeling pretty miserable but I was able to chat it up with my little princess Sunday evening and what a joy.  These long trips make it really hard to not be with her but to hear her say 'hi mama' and 'nigh nigh' or 'buh bye' before we hang up is priceless.  I know it will not be long before she is talking up a storm in 'good English'.  That evening we met up with a few other manufacturers as well as stores and tailgated outside the convention center.  We grubbed on some delicious drinks and jambalaya (and I may have had a DayQuil so I wouldn't feel miserable for the evening).  After tailgating we headed to the Ace sponsored Miranda Lambert concert.  Although she wasn't amazing she definitely can sing and it was a blast.

Monday was the final day of the show and actually wasn't too painfully slow.  We wrote a few orders, caught up with a few additional friends and then waiting until 6pm to tear down.  After almost three hours of tear down and pallet loading, I wrapped up and headed back to my hotel.  Tuesday was spent visiting two accounts in Colorado Springs.  Seeing as I was already in Colorado it just made sense.  Good trips and a chance to enjoy the beautiful Colorado weather.  I left Tuesday evening to head to Grand Rapids MI.  Oooh what a night.  Although I had a direct I did not get in to my hotel until a bit past midnight. 

Today I was very glad that I didn't have to be ready until 9am.  The sleep was much needed.  Today was one of those days that you just aren't sure what to expect being in sales.  There were two meetings both of which went much smoother than what I had expected.  Not great, but not horrible.  However to be honest it was more of me pushing through to make it home to see my little one.  I wasn't able to talk to her or my husband today due to meetings and flights so I'll be very glad to head home and crawl into bed with my hubby and kiss my baby girl goodnight. 

Until next time ... I'll leave you with this.  Try and try again, nothing is impossible.  A great piece of advice I received this trip and I'm going to try and live a little more to that mantra.  Here's to hoping I'm home before midnight tonight.  From 35,000 feet ... aloha.

Detour

I expect to be able to write more tonight but gee whiz if this trip goes anything like this morning, I'm screwed.   At least I woke up on time.  On time being 2:45am, yuck.  Out the door by 3:30am, only to have my exit to I-5 south closed this morning.  So I took the 'long' way around through Bellevue and down into Tukwila only for my exit to the airport to be closed.  Thus another detour. 
The only positives this morning were that the premium lane for security opened right as I walked up to it and that the Starbucks line was only about 25 deep (yes this is a surprisingly short line).  In two and a half hours I will be in Denver, setting up yet anther trade show booth and hoping upon hopes that the show this weekend is decent. 

More soon ... aloha for now!

Sushi, Dancing & Fireworks

Do I have your attention yet? 

These things all made this week/weekend in Philadelphia a bit better.  To put it frankly the show sucked.  Traffic was slow, orders were small and people just are so hesitant to buy right now.  Unfortunately for me I'm not a hard sell.  I truly believe that sales is better suited by building relationships and trust rather than you need this ... and you need it now.

Friday things looked good.  Show numbers were decent for the first go round and we all felt optimistic.  So much so that we headed to dinner and had some fantastic sushi at Morimoto.  A very unexpected find (although recommended highly by the concierge) it is a modern, upscale sushi restaurant with a very simple menu.  Everything was divinely fresh, however a bit simple for my tastes.  I love when sushi chef's experiment with different flavors and textures.  Not here, everything here was crisp and basic.  Not a bad thing, just not generally what I would seek out.  www.morimotorestaurant.com  The evening was spent at a colleague's hotel having a few glasses of wine and then we headed out dancing for a bit of fun and to leave the stresses of work and shows behind for a few hours.

Saturday, not so much.  Things were fairly steady however no one wanted to write.  "I'll just take the catalog please," or "We are good for now, thanks," or my favorite (both literally and sarcastically) "My rep takes great care of me and I prefer to order through her/him."  So we wrote a few orders, caught up with a few people and then turned in for a fairly early night. 

Sunday the show was empty.  No one wanted to write orders.  Everyone wanted to watch football or sight see while they were in Philadelphia.  So we sat, we ate, we had lengthy conversations that resulted in one sale for me the entire day Sunday.  Then comes the worst.  While I generally don't mind tear down this go around I had to wait for my pallet as there was a bit of shelving I didn't use and I had stored by boxes for my brand new display.  Well the show closed at 5pm and by 9:30pm I still had no pallet.  God bless Philadelphia and union labor.  Luckily at 9pm my rep and I began building another pallet and 'making things work' so that we were not there until midnight.  Well, my pallet showed up about 10pm and we were wrapped up around 11pm.  By the time I made it to my hotel out by the airport it was 11:30pm and I was spent.

Up at 4:15am this morning as I wanted to get home half ways early to spend a few hours with Lizzy.  The first flight was on time and now as I await my second flight ... things look interesting.  Lots of storms and possible tornado's in Cincinnati.  Just praying I get out.  I need to see my baby.  I miss her tons on trips like these.  All I want is to give her a huge hug and kiss.  Especially as she now knows how to do both quite well now! 

Until next time folks ...  

The city of brotherly love ...

Well I made it, caught an earlier flight yesterday ... set-up today ... ready to go home.

The Chicago meetings' went one for two.  One was just 'peachy' (no sarcasm intended!) and the other was really great.  Got to the airport five hours early for my flight and ended up getting on an earlier flight (which was great).  Arrived at the hotel just in time to witness an SUV hit a car and then run straight into the corner of the hotel.  Major oops!  She was fine as was the driver of the other car, but wow, that was something to see. 

Set up all day today.  The booth looks good, a little full, but it looks sharp.  Not looking forward to tearing down Sunday evening.  It will probably take about three hours and not exactly fun after a long weekend at a trade show.  But such is life in a day of sales! 

Here's to spending the weekend in a city I hear is pretty cool, but have yet to really explore!  Maybe a few good spots for dinner will be in my future.  Toodles for now!  

The Windy City ...

Oh how I love Chicago. 

Smooth flight, decent Chicago pizza, and now looking forward to relaxing this evening before two meetings and another flight tomorrow.  It is the beginning of a long week.  Well more like a week on the road, which means it is a long week! 

It is getting harder and harder to leave the Lizster.  Funny as that sounds as I thought for sure as she got older I'd become more and more accustomed to leaving as would she.  But no such luck.  I think a big reason is because she is becoming a ton of fun!  She began walking, not just between daddy and I, this past weekend.  She started talking within the last week.  She is feeding herself with a spoon better and better every day.  I think the only remnant of 'baby' is the bottle she will not give up and the diapers (I think we are ways from giving that up!). 

We are saying hi, buh-bye, mama, dada, and please (sounds more like peas, but the sign language that goes with it means please)!  Well hopefully daddy, Lizzy and I will get to Skype in the next few days.  Unfortunately after tonight the days are long and the nights even longer.  I'll be heading to Philadelphia for the True Value hardware show.  First day is 7am-6pm and the second day is 7am-8pm ... there is a third day but at least that is a bit more doable at 8am-5pm ... however that is on a Sunday.

Okay time to go to sleep ... night night friends.  Kisses to my Lizbug, mommy loves you and misses you tons!!!

On the road again ...

Just a quick post tonight as it has been a long week and an extremely long day. 

After almost eight weeks at home, travel has begun again.  In a big way.  I'm in Spokane today and tomorrow assisting at one of my favorite shops, The Kitchen Engine, celebrating their 5 year anniversary.  Check them out here: www.thekitchenengine.com.  Today I spent the day demonstrating our awesome hand powered food processor and a few other nifty gadgets to make the perfect guacamole. 

This morning though and this week in general, has left something to be desired.  Why is it when work is stressful that is when home gains stress momentum as well?  Lizzy has decided she just doesn't like to sleep without us in the room, holding her.  Yikes.  We finally got her to bed around 9:30pm last night and she decided it would be a great idea to wake up at 4:14pm.  Now most people probably think, well at least you got six hours of sleep.  It is not the same as almost eight hours people.

Needless to say I'm tired, stressed and a little loopy.  Enjoying my stay here at the lovely Davenport Tower though.  The only hotel I'll stay at in Spokane now.  Best rooms ever.  Even better than the Starwoods I generally stay in.  Tonight I ate at the hotel restaurant, which is actually known around town as pretty decent, and had the best Southern Comfort Chicken and quite a tasty spinach salad with egg, bacon and sliced beets.  Delish. www.thedavenporthotel.com

Okay off to bed, another day of demonstrating tomorrow!

Hanging out in DC

Wow ... all I can say is I cannot wait to bring Lizzy back to this amazing city!  I have so much I want to see and only one day to see it in.  I spent the last four hours walking around DC and grabbing a bite to eat.  Tomorrow I think I'm going to check out the Holocaust Museum and then get all my stuff ready for work on Monday.  I love my little monster and I cannot wait to get home to see her.  Miss you Miss Elizabeth ... mommy will be home soon.

AmericasMart

Well today was a success although not sure I'd come back for this reason again.

We spent the day 'teaching' summer school to a select group of retailers.  It ended up being mostly people from the Southeast but was still beneficial.  There were a few retailers who did not currently sell Chef'n and a few more who were getting ready to open up shop in the next few weeks/months.  I am spent though, repeating the same message 10 times in one day was quite enough. 

Headed to dinner tonight with an industry peer and his family.  What a fun night.  I miss you Lizbug and having dinner with three sweet kids made it a little more difficult but I made it through.  It was great being able to Skype with the hubbie and Lizster last night, wish I could do it every night I traveled! 

Off to DC tomorrow to work with a rep on Monday ... no use traveling back late Saturday just to turn around and travel back to DC on Sunday to work Monday so I'll be walking a bit more of the show tomorrow morning and then flying to DC.  I've never been before so it should be fun!

HotLanta ...

It's been a few weeks but I am on the road again ... heading to Atlanta for Atlanta Market.  Should be fun, but will definitely make for a long day tomorrow.  I'm walking the show looking at different showroom space on Saturday and then heading to DC.  I'll play tourista on Sunday as it made more sense to stay on the east coast for a day then fly back Saturday night, back out Sunday, to work in DC on Monday.  More to write later as I need to download a few photos from the last few weeks for the personal blog. 

Peace out for now from 36,000 feet.  I generally love wifi while flying!  My battery is about to fail though, now all they need to add is a power source for seats in coach.  Is that possible? 

Antipasto and a Lobster Roll

Antipasto for 2!



Antipasto for 50!



Yesterday I spent the day traveling Massachusetts and New Hampshire with one of my favorite gals.  We spent our time with just a few accounts but I love talking with the smaller stores, I always learn so much.  We started the day in downtown Boston at the custest shop on Newbury Street, Kitchenwares by Blackstones.  Incredibly nice store with an amazing selection for the size of the store.  http://www.kitchenwaresboston.com/

From Newbury Street we headed up to Salem, NH and visited another store called The Kitchen Place.  They have two locations and this is probably one of the finest gourmet stores I've ever seen in a mall.  They give the Williams Sonoma a run for its money (it's right below their store in the mall!).  Check 'em out: http://www.thekitchenplace.com/

From our few stops we then headed to dinner at this most fabulous Italian restaurant ... best Italian I've had in some time.  Tuscan Kitchen.  While the Yelp reviews were average at best, we all thought it was a delight and our waiter Edwin was awesome.  He had incredible suggestions on both food and wine and did not pressure us to rush our meal in any way.  I had the Pappardelle al Anatra - incredibly delicious braised duck.  Amazing!  Check out our appetizer entitled Salumi e Formaggi, at the top of the page as well as that version that was made for a party of 50 people!  http://www.tuscan-kitchen.com/

We hoped all over New Hampshire and Maine today.  Adorable shops yet again.  Portsmouth NH has to be one of my favorite towns in New England.  Such an amazing hippy-esque main street and no joke, four kitchen stores within walking distance ... and they all get along! That just doesn't happen!  One of my favorites (who also has another location in Portland, ME which we also visited today!) is LeRoux Kitchen.  If you cannot find it in this store ... you probably don't need or want it!  They carry eight different cherry pitters, which if you think about it is pretty crazy considering cherry season is only about six to eight weeks long.  http://www.lerouxkitchen.com/

We visited two other amazingly cute stores this afternoon, Keys to the Kitchen in Kinnebunk ... see website here: http://www.keystothekitchen.com/.  The most lovely woman works here and I picked up the coolest housewarming gift for my sister here.  I'll have to post a picture later as I do not want her to see it or read about it quite yet!   From here we went to have a Lobster Roll (see picture below).  I was told this is THE thing to do while in Maine.  It was all it was cracked up to be and more.  A full pound of perfect lobster on a lightly toasted hot dog bun with just a hint of mayo on it.  DELICIOUS.  One more stop in Damariscotta to visit Weatherbird and we had a full day.  Weatherbird has the perfect selection of better and best kitchen tools, gadgets and cookware.  The buyer at this store was a delight and had so much knowledge to share.  He was wonderful.  http://www.weatherbird.net/

I am desperate to get back to my baby.  She is changing so much and after last week she was a little testy when I first got home.  Unfortunately I think she is noticing when I'm gone and now has decided I'm the bad guy until a day later and then she forgives and forgets!  I wish it was that easy for all of us adults to forgive and forget that quickly.  Hope all is well with everyone.  One more day in Conneticut and then flying out of  Boston tomorrow evening, late!  I am due into Sea-Tac at 1am and then have to Shuttle Express it back.  Yuck!



Lobster Roll



Bean Town



Even hotter now then back in the day!

Well it's been almost a year but here we go ... again.  Back to Boston, home of my beloved New Kids on the Block!  Haha, what did you think I was going to say?!?  I have yet to really 'explore' Boston, maybe someday.  I'd love just once to be able to see a few historic things, sight seeing things during all my travels.  Maybe next month when I'm in DC for an extra day. 
The weekend was a bit crazy but Lizzy and Ben are okay.  Ben is still extremely sore and Lizzy, well she is just a barrel of fun right now.  Not sarcastic at all.  She literally spends all day playing and laughing.  Yesterday we hung out in the beautiful sunshine while dad cleaned and waxed the boat. 

It was hard to leave this morning.  Partly because of how fun Lizzy is to hang with and mostly because of what happened last week.  Although Ben and Lizzy were okay it definitely makes you put your priorities in order.  She is my world and it is amazing the pain, fear and love that goes through you when you hear that your child was in an accident.  God bless SUV's and carseats!  Luckily I'm in to Boston by 9pm so I will be able to Skype with the kiddo tonight.  Skype always makes everything better!



I see you! 



The Phone Call Every Parent Dreads ...

Yes the family is alright but I am home now, a day and a half earlier than planned.  I received a call Thursday evening, after a great day at the Dallas Market and a wonderful sushi dinner at Kenichi, from Ben saying that although they were fine he and Lizzy had been in a car accident.  Words cannot describe the emotional roller coaster that I went through over the next few hours.  He was calling me from the side of I-5, audibly shaken and not sure what to do. 

He assured me all was okay, the police were on the scene and the EMT's were on their way to do a once over on Lizzy, but all in all they were fine.  At that very moment I knew what I had to do.  Family had to come first.  Between him calling me to let me know and him calling me about an hour later from his sister's house I had already changed my flight and was coming home. 

Needless to say I had to ensure, with my own eyes and hugs, that my two loves were okay.  I did not sleep what-so-ever Thursday evening and even in pure exhaustion on the plane Friday could not sleep.  I picked up Lizzy and could not stand to let her go yesterday.  Although I'm happy to have an extra day at home before I leave again on Monday for Boston, I sure do wish it wasn't under such stressful and scary circumstances.  Here's to giving everyone an extra squeeze ... things can change in the blink of an eye and I cannot help but thank God that everyone involved was okay.

Southern California then on to Dallas!

I'm so sick of the Seattle dreary, crappy, spring weather.  It is time for summer dang it.  I have to say I'm excited to get away for a few days mostly because I need sun!  I spent the morning flying and this afternoon in Laguna Hills for a few meetings and then up to Hermosa Beach to visit with a girlfriend for dinner.  She and her husband just had a little boy about six weeks ago and boy oh boy (no pun intended) was he adorable ... or should I say handsome.  We headed out to dinner at some ridiculously good Mediterranean  place and they gave me a quick tour of Hermosa. 

From there I headed to San Diego to do a store training tomorrow and I have another meeting in the afternoon.  I love visiting Great News down in San Diego, if you ever get a chance, it is one amazing store.  http://www.great-news.com/

Okay I'm zonked, time for bed!

Saugatuck and Kalamazoo

Okay, I never thought I'd say this but I can see why people move to Michigan.  I think this beautiful state gets a bad rap because of Detroit, the auto industry and union labor.  I'm not about to discuss my thoughts on any of these as I do not want to turn any readers off!  That being said I've spent the last two days in southeastern Michigan and have thoroughly enjoyed my time. 

I've visited Spartan and Meijer ... hmmm both interesting store concepts and both should hopefully be featuring an outstanding selection of product by January 2012.  Great meetings!  Next up would be the independent blitz.  Here we go ... I always like to give a little shot out and recognition to those stores that are just too cool for words. 

If you find yourself in Saugatuck you should definitely visit The Butler's Pantry (www.thebutlerpantry.com).  What a marvelous kitchen shop, complete with Stonewall Kitchen goodies and a gift basket area where you can create your own or they'll do it for you!  It is right next to a confections shop and the fudge is oh-so-good!  While in Saugatuck I would definitely check out The Hickory Pit.  Outstanding BBQ and the family just moved from Kentucky.  Show a little love to welcome these folks to the neighborhood. 

From Saugatuck we headed down to Kalamazoo.  Cutest stores ever!  First up was actually my dream kitchen store.  5,000 square feet and room for a demo kitchen.  Absolute perfection.  A great balance of all brands and the ability to brand block was amazing.  Not to mention Kalamazoo is an adorable town.  Probably not even really a town but a city!  So first up was The Mercantile (http://www.mercantile-kitchenware.com/) and about the nicest set of owners with their adorable dog.  He was a bit shy but boy oh boy did I have fun in their baking section!  Second up in Kalamazoo was Sticks & Stones (you can find her on Facebook) which is quite the amazing housewares shop.  Adorable storefront in downtown Kalamazoo, beautiful home accents and essentially only our gadgets!  The owner is a kick in the pants and had me laughing the second I walked in. 

We had one more stop back in Grand Rapids at an Ace store that was unlike any I'd ever been to, and I've seen quite a few Aces'.  This store had a kitchen that I'd dream for in my own home.  An awesome housewares section with just about every tool, gadget, small electric, etc that a person may ever need.  Check this out ... www.ryleesace.com and select Ace's In The Kitchen.  Amazing.

We headed out to Holland this morning visited a beautiful old fashioned general store downtown and had a delightful conversation with a few of the ladies that run the store.  Incredible amounts of tools and gadgets and literally EVERY single color of KitchenAid mixers available.  The row just kept going and going and going!  Visit Teerman's (www.teermans.com) next time you're in Holland.  Once you are finished shopping be sure to walk across the street to Crane's and grab a slice of cherry or apple pie.  AMAZING! 

Back at home, sitting here watching a bit of television.  I realize that my job is pretty darn cool and I get to meet some amazing people.  I come home and my family is thrilled to see me and while I was gone these two days my daughter learned how to blow me kisses.  Life is pretty darn sweet right now. 

Grand Rapids, Michigan - Take Two

So I never made it out a few weeks back when I was trying to make my way to Michigan.  Ended up being horrible weather and completely destructive tornadoes so all in all I'm glad I was "stuck" at home.  But the business must continue on. 

Upgrades the entire way, always nice.  I'm to the point though that I am definitely spoiled.  Ben and I headed to Las Vegas this past weekend for a long weekend away with a few other couples.  We were upgraded on the way down but not on the way back.  Sadness.  Although I must also add, Ben turned to me after the flight down and said, "not sure what the big deal is about".  Ahhh to someone who doesn't travel a lot it just seems like a little more room.  To me it is more room, food, no waiting in line for a bathroom, better customer service, etc.  Or maybe it is simply that the people surrounding you in first travel as much, if not more, and understand how exhausting travel can be and are simply not up for long, entire flight conversations.

Anywho, back to Grand Rapids MI.  There is one thing to say for the Midwest.  It is always beautiful, lush and oh so green during the months of April, May and well into June.  I miss the farms and fields, the humidity (ok just a wee bit) and the warm summers.  I have been thinking more and more when I travel what it'd be like to move.  I know this is never an option but sometimes it just kills me to see what we pay in Seattle for cost-of-living versus other states and regions in the country. 

So I'm here meeting with one key account and about six independents.  I am pretty sure I'm going to put more miles on a car with this rep then ever before.  Lord help me with his driving though.  Any other rep I'd just fly into Chicago and then ride to Michigan.  Not with this rep, wowee it is an adventure every mile of the way. 

This entire region just reminds me that I REALLY need to bring Elizabeth back here to meet all my extended family.  She has yet to meet my grandma or my cousins and second cousins.  I see a Midwest trip in our near future.  Gee whiz, she is almost a year.  I better step on it!

I'm Proud To Be An American.

So it has been an interesting last 24 hours to say the least.  We enjoyed lovely weekend with family and friends and definitely did not want it to end.  Last night after putting Lizzy to bed I walked out to find an NBC Special Report stating that they were expecting the president to announce that they had captured and killed Osama Bin Laden.  What an evil, evil man and although it is probably wrong, it gave me immediate pleasure to hear that he was gone. 

It crossed my mind a few times between last night and my 5pm flight tonight that flying today could be interesting to say the least.  Security was maybe a hair tighter and people definitely seemed a bit more on edge.  That being said, tonight was the first flight I've had the captain of the plane step into first class (before take-off and door closure of course) and thank each person sitting in first class for their commitment to Alaska Airlines.  Impressive customer service ... too bad their baggage handling is severely lacking.  Okay back to the point, for the most part it was business as usual. 

Until I began chatting with the lady next to me.  If you know anything about me, I generally do not make small talk on the plane.  I plug-in and fall asleep, work, watch a movie, anything but small talk.  Boy am I glad I began talking with this lady. 

She was on her way to see her 30 year old son who is currently stationed in Germany but has spent the last year in Afghanistan.  He works for the Navy and is an officer with central intelligence.  He touched down on U.S. soil for the first time last night in over a year.  She has not seen him in well over a year.  He was literally on his way to Washington (D.C. that is) for a debriefing of his last mission in Afghanistan.  Impressive enough the way this story was.  I was in no way prepared for what was coming.

He went into the Navy and became an officer so that and I quote, "no one would cause his family harm every again."  Let's back up two steps.  He and his mom watched Tower One knowing that his aunt, her sister, was still inside.  See they knew this because her brother, mother and father (his uncle, grandma and grandpa) all worked in Tower Two and had gotten out but had been communicating with her sister.  She is describing the day the tower fell, how the two of them were glued to the television.  Her parents and her brother on cell phones trying to keep in touch with her sister.  Telling her to get out.  Then the tower fell.  She said that when she heard her dad scream ... at that moment ... was when her son looked at her and his career path was forever changed.  He WOULD NOT let that pain happen again. 

Please remember our service men and women tonight, tomorrow and always in your prayers.  I fly a lot, I'm gone a lot.  It pales in comparison to what these men and women do day in and day out so that we can talk how we like, work how we like, worship how we like ... the list goes on and on.

Elizabeth, if there is one thing mommy and daddy can teach you it is acceptance.  Acceptance of all things and all people.  Those that are different, those that are hurting, those that can teach you ... please know we all share this beautiful planet therefore we should be polite, heartwarming, forgiving of those around us. 

After all this ... it is time for bed. 
God Bless! 

Delayed.

Oh how this title could result in so many comments however I will take it to its literal meaning.  I'm delayed at Sea-Tac, again.  It was inevitable, almost every single flight my first three months was on time.  Last week, delayed 2 1/2 hours on two of the four flights.  Today, I was supposed to leave at 10:55am, I'm writing this at 12:19pm and right now I'm supposedly leaving at 2:02pm.  Already missed my connection so we'll see how this afternoon/evening goes.  I'm a bit nervous that there are not too many flights heading out to Grand Rapids MI! 

Well it's official, it is now 12:56pm and I've missed the final connection into Grand Rapids.  Hmmm this could get interesting considering I have a 9am meeting and the customer is 45 minutes from the airport.  Crap and a half.  I suppose its time to call the travel agent.

Any way you cut it ... this is the 'glamorous' side of travel.