Comfort zone

I thankfully had an uneventful trip to and from my training (so I have probably just jinxed myself for the next time I travel...) and have just been trying to play "catch up" this weekend.  I left VERY early Monday morning for my training, got my rental car no problem (which was something I was worried about since I had never rented a car before and they even had to upgrade me for free since they didn't have any compact cars), found the hotel, unpacked and then headed straight to the pool.  Actually before I went to the pool I attempted to find out where my training was since I didn't have an address for where I was supposed to go and no one at the hotel had any idea (I sent an email to the contact I had and they didn't answer -- I actually did a search through all of my work emails and found where I was headed).

I enjoyed the pool for just over an hour (and had it all to myself) before heading back to my room.  I got some dinner and had a relaxing evening in my room.  The next morning at breakfast, I noticed a couple of people wearing name tags that we used to where at work and I approached to introduce myself (which is something I don't really do so I was impressed with myself).  One of them is someone who has done our yearly inspections in the past and she gave me some "pointers" for the next time they potentially come out.  I was a little shaken by this but wrote down the information she gave me and then I headed to my training.

The training was good (when I actually found the location -- the address we were all given was to the nearby post office) but I felt like my brain filled up pretty quickly over the three days.  They presented the information over about a day and a half and the rest of the time was spent with us practicing the skills we were learning.  We were assigned a group to work with and we had to do a practice situation simulation in front of one of the instructors.  My group opted to get it "done and over with" and signed up to go first.  Am I ever glad we did!  They had originally told us that particular day we would be there until 7 or 7:30.  They let my group go about 6:30ish because we were done and other people didn't end up getting out of there until after 9 pm.

I picked up some dinner, ate and then headed to the pool.  I spent time in the hotel pool everyday I was there (except for the day I left since I didn't want to put a soaking wet bathing suit in my suitcase) and I didn't have to share it with anyone.  Everyday I was in the pool for about an hour (or more) and I enjoyed the alone time in the water.  The hotel had a lovely pool so it really surprised me that I had it to myself.  I know that other people used the pool since the window to my room overlooked the pool room but I lucked out by not having to share the time in the pool.

On Thursday we were done with the training just about noon and we were given the rest of the afternoon to do whatever we wanted (and Friday was our travel day).  After saying our good-byes, I ran back to the hotel to get changed and then I went on an adventure.  We had been given information about some local attractions and one in particular stood out to me -- I went to the zoo!  I had the best time and took some really good pictures of my adventure.  The day couldn't have been any more perfect - it was 83 degrees and sunny.  While I was at the zoo, I had the opportunity to see some really neat animals and I even took the time to feed some hungry stingrays (they ate small frozen fish that had been cut in half -- ick!!).

I was really glad that I pushed myself outside of my usual comfort zone and did the things I did during this week of training.  While we had the opportunity to have lunch together, I didn't just sit there, I actively participated in conversations and even shared things about myself (the people that I talked with thought it was very cool that I'm a belly dancer!).  I think overall it was a really good experience for my first work travel and I hope that any/all other ones go just as well.

After I got back, I played with the dogs and then I crashed.  Yesterday, I took the dirty laundry out of my suitcase and did the laundry while I went to the dance studio.  You might wonder why I went to the dance studio right after getting back from a week long training rather than sleeping...  We had a performance today so I went to one last rehearsal (since I missed the other two this week).  After being at the studio, I had to go grocery shopping because I emptied out the fridge before leaving.  I had the group performance this morning and then I came back here and got a few more things accomplished (like putting more things away from my trip and organizing what I need to take to work tomorrow).

Well, since I still have a couple of things that I should take care of before going to bed, I should bring this to a close for this evening.  I hope you have a fabulous week, my dear readers, and I will see you on the flip side!

out of time...

I sat down for the first time this afternoon and ended up doing the one thing I really didn't want to do -- I fell asleep.  Now don't get me wrong, I am one who usually loves afternoon naps but not today...  Let me explain why.  Tomorrow I leave for my week-long training opportunity and I have a VERY early flight which means I have to get up even earlier to get ready and get myself to the airport.  Since I'm not one who always gets good sleep, I figured taking a nap today would not be a good way to get to bed at a decent time tonight.  Hopefully my (approximately) 30-minute cat nap won't cause too many problems getting to sleep tonight but only time will tell, I guess.

I had been working trying to get last minute things done before my travel day tomorrow and I have finally had to say I've done what I can do and be okay with that.  I'm trying hard not to feel as if I've just given up but I have had to realize that I can only get just so much accomplished at any given time.  The dogs have been extra crazy today since I think they can tell something is happening but they just don't what that is yet.  I've been trying to keep my suitcase is hidden from them but I don't know...

It was a very busy week at work and I was trying to get as much done as I could since I'm going to be out this upcoming week.  I was out for two days this past week because I was facilitating another training so I had to cram 5 days worth of work into 3 (as well as prepare for being out).  I made it all work and I'm hoping that I got it all accomplished and if I didn't, there's not much I can do about it at this point.  Luckily, in this day and age, if they absolutely need me for something, I'm just a phone call/text/email away and I can get back to them when I can (since I'll be in training).  I'm hoping to have at least a little bit of fun this upcoming week as well but we'll see how that all pans out.

Something that I have decided to do a better job with is being selfish.  Not selfish in the "bad" sense but do a better job of taking care of me.  I unfortunately did not do such a good job at taking care of me this past week (or for quite some time for that matter).  I didn't make it out of the office to go walking at all this past week and I only left for lunch one day because I was the one to go pick up food for everyone in the office.  I need to change this somehow.  I make sure that everyone else in the building gets a lunch break and I encourage them to leave the building during that break just to get away.  I don't do the same thing for me.  My days are too long/busy/stressful at times to keep up this break-neck pace.

Speaking of a break-neck pace, I should probably bring this to a close a little early tonight to make sure I have everything together in order to leave tomorrow morning.  I'm hoping that I can maybe come up with some sort of plan of action while I'm on my training this upcoming week (the pool will hopefully provide a place of clarity for me) but we'll see how things go.  I hope you all have a wonderful week and find time to do something just for you.  I'll see you back here next week and I really hope that I won't be stuck in an airport somewhere...  =)