Monday, June 22, 2009

Whirlwind

{Sorry folks, another post with no pictures. My parents have been involved in the most recent events, which means all pictures were taken by my mom}

Whirlwind sums up the last week for me. Here's the rundown:

Sunday, 10:00 PM (PST): Board my red-eye flight to Syracuse, NY via Newark. I try my best to fall asleep (and stay asleep). Surprisingly, I got quite a bit of sleep, but I just woke up every hour or so.

Monday, 6:08 AM (EST): {{MY BIRTHDAY}} Arrive in Newark. I eat some breakfast and find my gate. I read my book while waiting to board.

Monday, 7:45 AM (EST): Board flight to Syracuse. I think we sat on the runway for at least 30 minutes waiting to take off. I don't notice, I just sleep...and sleep...

Monday, 9:30 AM (EST): Arrive in Syracuse. Wander to the cab station. Receive a full education regarding weather in Syracuse...

Monday, 10:00 AM (EST): Arrive at client site just in time for my first meeting. Good thing someone else decides they can lead the meeting!

Monday (remainder): Struggle to produce some form of work and stay awake at the same time. Talk to my mother and discover that my granddaddy passed away that morning. This was an expected event, but still sad news to receive. I spend my evening researching potential travel routes to Dallas.

Tuesday: More meetings, more struggling to stay awake... Drive to Buffalo.

Wednesday: Finally book flights for me and Shane to get to Dallas for the funeral. More meetings, lots and lots of flowcharts. We drive up to Niagara Falls (the Canadian side) for dinner. It was a little difficult to see much through the rain and the mist (we were soaked), but it was fun nonetheless.

Thursday - Friday: More meetings, more flowcharts...

Friday, 2:00 PM (EST): Leave Buffalo on a flight for Atlanta after stopping for some buffalo wings (I couldn't leave the city without saying I did...)

Friday, 7:00 PM (CST): Arrive in Dallas (via layover in Atlanta). Was greeted by Emma, who kindly drove me very much out of the way to the funeral home in McKinney. I'm glad we had the hour to catch up. I even dragged her inside the funeral home (in her capris and t-shirt) to say hi to my mom and Shane {{Sorry Em}}. Lots of hugs from aunts, uncles, and cousins I haven't seen in years. It's strange being one of the oldest. I feel like I've stopped growing up and they're all catching up!!

Friday, 8:30 PM: Eat dinner at Braum's complete with a hot fudge sundae (made with Blue Bell ice cream, of course)!!!

Friday, 10:00 PM: Arrive at our awesome room at Motel 6 for the night.

Saturday: Funeral, interment, quick tour of my old stomping grounds in Duncanville, a quick drive past the Grassy Knoll and the Schoolbook Depository, luncheon, relaxation time (this time at my parent's hotel...a little cozier than the Motel 6), dinner / movie time with cousins.

Sunday: Church, lunch (leftovers from viewing and luncheon) with cousins, dinner in Southlake thanks to an awesome family friend, and craziness at Love Field airport.

Sunday, 7:40 PM (PST): Arrive in Phoenix just in time to enjoy ice cream with Shane's family.

Sorry for the detailed play-by-play, but this was my week... I never changed the time on my watch or my work computer to have some form of constancy, but it caused some confusion. I'm glad to be home and hoping to catch up on some much-needed sleep this weekend!!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Happy Birthday to...

...me!!

Monday was my birthday, but really the celebration began last Thursday. My parents showed up at our front door with gift-wrap bows stuck to their heads. Too bad it was a surprise, or I would've thought to take a picture of my awesome presents. They stayed the weekend with us, which was full of good food from good restaurants, movies, hikes, cooking for the party, celebrating, and just spending time together. Luckily, Shane had convinced me that it was important to change my 7:30 AM flight on Sunday to a 10:30 PM flight instead. This allowed for maximum parental time, even if I only got 3 hours sleep on my flight to Syracuse :).

On Saturday, we had a birthday party with Shane's family. We had steaks, grilled chicken, and all sorts of yummy sides. I even got MY birthday cake this year--chocolate cake, chocolate fudge icing, chocolate chips... My mom and I made it together and, in the tradition of Richards family birthday cakes, we ended up with an awesome crack in the shape of a Y on top. Sadly, all pictures and video taken are on my parents' cameras so I don't have anything to post as of yet.

For my actual birthday, I flew all night to Syracuse via Newark. I slept about 3 hours total on my flights and showed up to the client site just in time for my first meeting. Due to my lack of sleep and the work I had to do, the day didn't really feel like my birthday, so I'm glad I had a whole weekend to celebrate with my family.

That's all for now, folks! I think I'm supposed to get some work done before I get to bed... {After posting this and looking at the timestamp, I noticed that it says I posted at 5:36 PM, which makes me sound like I'm planning to go to bed at 7. In my defense, it's almost 9 in New York and I need to review a report before I can think about going to sleep... There, I feel better!}