Zzzzz....

I’ve been having some very odd dreams lately.

Saturday night (my first night back at home), I dreamt I was still in Thailand and realized that I had neglected to feed my fish before the trip. I started panicking about coming home and finding a tank full of dead fish. When I awoke, I sprang out of bed to feed them immediately, but I couldn’t find my fish tank. Then I remembered...I don’t own any fish.

Since I’m still suffering from jetlag, I only slept about two hours last night, but I still managed to squeeze in another wacky dream. It was very movie-like, as many of my dreams are (I once had a dream that included closing credits), with a complicated, but logical plot line and a surprise twist at the end. To make a long story short, I dreamt that the pizza delivery guy was trying to kill me with an axe.

Yeah, I really some restful sleep. And soon.

I'm Home!

And what a trip it was.

The sprained ankle I suffered on the first day was a pain (literally), but not an insurmountable issue. My kind travel companions helped me about and lifted my spirits when I'd start to get frustrated by my limited mobility. I'm happy to report that the swelling has gone down quite a bit and it only hurts first thing in the morning and at the end of the day. I expect to be back to normal in a few more days.

As for work, my involvement in the training was to include wandering around the training room during our sessions, answering questions and solving techincal problems. But training people who speak English as a second language turned out to be more demanding than we'd anticipated, especially with the training center's Internet access being so painfully slow. After two days, the session leaders started to feel and show the strain, so I started leading some of the sessions, which worked out well for everyone.

Outside of work, I had a nice time getting to know my co-workers. In the evenings, we would gather together to unwind and relax over dinner. Every meal was fantastic -- great food, nice conversation, a few good laughs. Always a pleasant way to end the day.

Wednesday night, we went to Venus Jewelry. My co-workers had been babbling about this place for weeks before the trip, saying that it was the place for beautiful gems and jewelry at amazing prices. I've never really been into jewelry, but curiosity got the best of me and I decided to tag along. I ended up falling in love with, and buying, a black star sapphire and white gold bracelet. They also had a gorgeous matching pendant, ring and earrings, but I couldn't justify splurging that much.

Our last evening was particularly fun. While the rest of the group went out for some last-minute shopping before a late dinner and our 1:00 AM departure, Lori and I spent a few hours relaxing in the hotel's outdoor cafe, enjoying a bottle of wine and watching people come and go. As time passed and the wine disappeared, off came Lori's clip-on ponytail. It happened to match my hair color perfectly, so, naturally, I had to try it on.

So, it was a good trip and a nice ending to the traveling madness of the past few months. Now, I'll enjoy staying home for the foreseeable future.

Grace

After an uneventful flight (other than sitting next to a man who sucked his teeth after meals and snored so loudly I could hear it over my headphones), I’ve arrived safely in Bangkok. It’s the end of day one and things were going well. Were.

We made it through our first day of training sessions without any major problems. The Internet connection at the training center was painfully slow, but the center’s IT personnel promised improvements by tomorrow. I’m not sure what they’ll do to achieve that, but there’s little to do but trust them.

My co-workers and I were about to head back to the hotel this afternoon when I unconsciously decided to show my least favorite side me: klutzy me. As I stepped off the curb to get into the cab, I stepped right into a pothole and sprained my ankle. Bad. Down I went, as the colorful words flew from my lips and the tears streamed from my eyes.

My co-workers, who I really don’t know that well, were absolutely amazing. They helped me into the cab, gave me a shoulder to lean on as I hobbled through the hotel, carried all my stuff to my room (Brad even carried my little red purse without a second thought), gathered everything I could need or want (extra pillows to prop up my leg, tons of ice for the ankle, an Ace bandage, Advil, an offer to order room service or bring me something for dinner), and have since been checking on me very frequently, almost annoyingly so, to see how I’m feeling and if I need anything else.

So here I sit, leg propped up, icing my ankle, laughing at myself to keep from crying, and thanking God for my thoughtful co-workers.

My Bags Are Packed...Almost

Well, Ernie is at his grammy and grampy’s house for the next week, as I’m packing for my trip to Bangkok tomorrow. This will be trip number three in as many months, and (hopefully) the last for quite some time. Compared to the previous visit, I’m expecting this to be a pretty low-stress trip. There are six of us going and we’ll be offering lectures on clinical data management and training on the newly-implemented EDMS. My involvement will be limited to assisting the session leaders and making myself available to answer questions as they arise. Of course, that’s how things are supposed to happen, but we’ll have to wait and see how they actually play out.

In between doing laundry and packing tonight, I watched The Libertine. While being vulgar and obscene, it managed to keep from being offensive through its brilliant dialogue, direction and acting. (It starred Johnny Depp, so how could it be anything but brilliant?) One simple, yet thought-provoking line that stuck with me was:

Life is not a succession of urgent “nows.” It is a listless trickle of “Why should I?”’s

Something to think about, no?

"Good times. Noodle Salad."

It's been a great weekend.

The college gang came to town Thursday night for a long weekend. Lee's 30th birthday is tomorrow and he's the last of us to reach this landmark age. So, we got together to spend the weekend reminiscing and laughing, barbequing and swimming at my pool, playing games and cards, eating lots of good food, and even shakin’ our groove thangs at eCitie. And here's the proof:

Lee, JD, Gurney, KB and me, enjoying the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer:

Lee, passing the time with some truly stimulating reading material:

JD, acting out a five-word phrase in a rousing game of Charades:

All dressed up and some place to go -- dinner and dancing at eCitie:

Of course, a bazillion funny things were uttered over the course of three days, but my favorite happened during lunch this afternoon. As we were discussing the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Gurney said, in all seriousness, "Oh, I never got to see Narnia: The Captain, the Walrus, the...what was it?"

Car Trauma and Little Women

Sunday, KB and I wanted to see a matinee of Little Women: The Musical at the Kennedy Center. So, Ernie and I headed down to Germantown for the day.

About halfway there, I looked down at the dashboard to see the “check engine” light on and the thermometer in the red. Perfect. I called KB, explained the situation and decided, rather than risk the car dying on 270, I’d cross my fingers and continue on. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it.

As soon as I got off 270 and had to stop at a red light, the car sputtered and choked, and smoke started wafting out from under the hood. So, there Ernie and I were, sitting in five lanes of traffic, with the car completely dead. I called KB, explained where we were, and asked her to come get Ernie, so I could get towed.

When I called for a tow truck, I was told it would be about a 45-minute wait. Just then, a tow truck happened to be driving by, so I flagged him down and asked if he was available to tow me two miles down the road to the Honda dealership. Luckily, he was free and able to help me out.

Turns out that the oil gasket was leaking and caused a hose to swell and burst. The high temperature also burned out the coil in the distributor assembly, as well as the thermostat. It’s all gibberish to me, but how can I argue? I don’t know anything about cars. As George on Seinfeld says, when talking about auto mechanics, “They can make up anything. Nobody knows. ‘By the way, you need a new Johnson rod in there.’ ‘Oh, a Johnson rod. Yeah, well, you better put one of those on.’”

Well, it took two days and $1,100, but my car is back in running order. Whew!

KB and I made it to the evening performance of Little Women on Sunday. I’m glad I saw it, but it’s not something I need to see again. There were a few good songs (“Astonishing,” “Some Things Are Meant To Be,” “Days Of Plenty”), but most of the music seemed like an afterthought. And, oddly enough, the second act was much better than the first.

There were a lot of kids at the performance, which surprised and pleased me. I’m always glad to see parents introducing their children to the theater at an early age. Sitting next to me were a mother and her daughter, about six years old. The daughter was very well behaved and seemed thoroughly interested in the performance. Like toward the end of the second act, when Marmee approached a mournful Jo in the attic. Jo began yelling at Marmee, venting her sadness and frustration at Beth’s death. The girl sitting next to me started crying softly and leaned into her mother’s side, hiding her face. Her mother put a comforting arm around the girl and stroked her hair. The daughter then wiped her eyes and stayed huddled close to her mother for the rest of the show. Very touching.

Pirates, The Park, iPod

KB and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest last night, along with everyone else in the free world. We’d been counting on it all week, but when showtimes started selling out, I figured it would be a good idea to cut out of work a few minutes early and get to the theater to buy tickets. Sure enough, the earliest available show was at 10:15. Not a problem, since we needed time to enjoy dinner at Macaroni Grill beforehand. Good dinner, really fun movie. Johnny Depp is brilliant, as always.

Today, I did laundry, rearranged some furniture before putting it back in its original location (the new arrangement just didn’t work as well), then took Ernie to the park, where we took a leisurely stroll on the hiking trail, then sat in the grass, reading and watching the birds. When we returned home, I started downloading CDs to my new iPod.

My Mp3 player broke a several months ago. When I called to make use of the service plan I had purchased with the player, I was told I should expect to receive a mailing label with which I must return the player and all of its original components. Once they received the player, I would be sent a store credit for the original purchase price of the item. Great.

Well, several weeks passed and I never got the label, so I called again. I was informed that it had been sent out the day after my call, but no matter, they would send another immediately.

Again, several weeks passed. Again, nothing. When I called, I was told they would just send the store credit and return of the player was not necessary. So, I have the old, broken (but fixable) 40GB Creative Zen, plus the new 30GB iPod.

Fifteen CDs down, only another 550 or so to go!

Communist Chic

Look what's available from The North Face in men's and boy's sizes:

Please explain to me how anyone is buying this. How a well-known, respected American company is producing an item that advertises – hammer, sickle and all – a nation responsible for the deaths of nearly 62 million people.

Jeff Jacoby at the Boston Globe has an interesting explanation for this fashion trend:

[P]erhaps the strongest explanation is the simplest: visibility. Ever since the end of World War II, when photographers entered the death camps and recorded what they found, the world has had indelible images of the Nazi crimes. But no army ever liberated the Soviet Gulag or halted the Maoist massacres. If there are photos or films of those atrocities, few of us have ever seen them. The victims of communism have tended to be invisible -- and suffering that isn't seen is suffering most people don't think about.

''Communist chic?" The blood of 100 million victims cries out from the ground. To wear the symbols of their killers is no fashion statement, but the ultimate in bad taste.

Instead of supporting this company and its bad decision to produce this junk, how about contributing the money you might spend on such a jacket to the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and help erect a monument to those that have perished under communist tyranny?

Besides, you can get a better jacket from L.L. Bean, unless they start making Swastika parkas. And if that's the case, well...at least you'll have your principles to keep you warm.

(H/T Michelle Malkin)

A Relaxing 4th of July

Independence Day. I love this holiday: the barbeques, the fireworks, the time with friends and family. I saw many people outside this afternoon enjoying these things as I took Ernie for a long walk. I myself did not partake in such festivities. Instead, I spent a much-need day at home. I gave Ernie a bath, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed, did laundry, and watched Open Range. Not a traditional way to celebrate our nation’s birth, but very enjoyable nonetheless.

Back in the U.S.A.

I've safely returned home from my trip to Bangkok. I was only there for four days this time, but I found myself swimming through a sea of emotions the entire time – some work-related, some personal. Yet what I feel most now that I'm home is thankful. Thankful that I was born in, and that I continue to live and thrive in, the United States.

I bought a few souvenir trinkets, but my favorite by far is the hand-painted bone china teacup I mentioned earlier.

There was an entire set of dinnerware in this pattern, which I would love to own. But considering that one teacup was about $50, I figured it would be best not to look at the price tag for the set. When (if) I get married, perhaps I'll register at that shop.