Travel

I survived my conference week and I had a good time despite the whirlwind that surrounded the circumstances of my travel...  After my very long travel day, I arrived at the first day of the conference (I met up with someone in the hotel lobby and we were told that the shuttle bus to the conference site wasn't running that early but they could take us to the train; we took the train and ended up walking a number of blocks in the wrong direction before finding where we needed to go - as the shuttle drove up...).  After the initial session and welcome ceremony, I met up with two ladies and we "adopted" each other for the week.  It was nice meeting up with them since I didn't know anyone at the conference and I didn't really want to do everything alone.  The three of us would meet up in between sessions, have lunch together, we wandered around after the end of the conference day, got dinner together and got to know one another better.

The sessions I attended gave me some new/exciting ideas to take back into the workplace.  I know that it definitely wouldn't be smart to try and implement all of those ideas tomorrow but I can start planning some things out.  I also feel as if the lessons I learned will not only help me in the workplace but they will also help me personally.  One of the sessions that I attended, the presenter talked about how different things can influence our lives but only if we let them - worry, lack of sleep/exercise, comparing ourselves to others, drawing inaccurate conclusions, our thought processes, and not acknowledging our own accomplishments.  These are all concepts I have heard before but I think it might have sunk in this time; time will tell.

I'm definitely going to go into work tomorrow with a new outlook - I don't have to be the one to personally take care of things in order to make sure they're done and I also don't have to work a million hours each week.  It won't do me any good to continue at the breakneck pace that I've been attempting to operate and I need to not only realize it but to do something about it.  I already have it on my schedule to have a day off of work this upcoming week (since I traveled last week on the holiday I get to take a day off).  Rather than trying to find a reason to work that day, I am going to take it off and enjoy myself - I don't know what I will do yet but it's going to be something for me.

I did accomplish what I set out to do at the conference in terms of what I wore and what accessories I put on each morning.  I even put a different color in my hair each morning just because I could.  ;)  Actually, the first day, no one said anything about my hair but on the second morning, one of the "three amigas" said to me, "Hey, wasn't your hair blue yesterday?!"  That second day it happened to be red.  I always think it's funny when someone has that reaction since they tend to think it's permanent.  I wore my fun earrings and while people asked about them, the general consensus was that they were cool.  The bag I carried was even very "me" - it is shaped like a bowling ball bag, is purple and lime green with sparkles, and it's made out of retro car vinyl.  I get lots of compliments on it and it just makes me smile every time I carry it.  Now I just have to remember to continue these things as I go back to work tomorrow.

Since I have been gone for a week (technically four days since last Monday was a holiday and the building was closed), I'm not 100% sure what I have in store for me at work tomorrow.  I have an inkling about a couple of things since I was checking my work email while I was gone (just in case) but I'm not sure if other things have come up other than what showed up in my email.  I know that I need to learn how to "switch off" when I'm not there and trust that the work will either be done while I'm not there or it will be waiting for me when I get back into the building.  This is a work in progress and I am hoping to utilize some of the things that I learned this past week to help me with that progress.

Well, my dear readers, I'm going to bring this to a close for the evening and get myself together to head back to work tomorrow.  While I was at my conference I picked up numerous catalogs/pamphlets of new things to purchase, all of my notes from the sessions, receipts to submit for reimbursement, etc...  I hope you have a great week and you have the opportunity to do something for yourself and let "you" shine!  =)