getting my calm back....

i'm at stoney creek inn in quincy illinois. oh yes, i am, but for a while there, i wasn't so sure it was going to happen.

first, i woke up late. nothing like throwing the last of your stuff in a bag and dashing out the door willy nilly hoping that you remembered to lock the dead bolt and turn off the coffee pot.

work was okay, but it was a series of issues. love days like that... the printer has a snit fit, things languish and don't route as expected... ah, life's lovely little challenges.

so, here's the plan: meet up with my best friend and her fam in a mcdonald's parking lot in wentzville at 5. nooo problem.

well, before that could happen i needed to get through the obstacle course.

first, i discovered last night that, though i registered and paid for a digital photog and photo imaging class, i'm only registered in SLCC blackboard for business admin--a class i did not register to take. so, i dug around. in the banner web, where everything electronic lives, i'm registered for photo imaging and business admin. in blackboard, where i take my class, i'm only registered for business admin. so, i call to get it all fixed, since classes start tuesday. after 75 minutes in the hold loop--never speaking to a soul--i'm flipping out. i call and speak with several people in several departments, no one can help. i ended up faxing in a pleading sos page. it's still wrong.

we get off work at 3... i'm trying to wrap up stuff. of course, that didn't happen.

twenty minutes before i leave, my mom calls and she has been sick for the third time since xmas with that stomach thing that is traveling around the lou. there is a small family thing and a discussion that gets my blood pressure up just a bit.

okay, now i'm off.... i do 80 out to wentzville and believe it or not, i'm five minutes early. finally, the calm that i've become accustomed to in my life recently starts to creep back in.

let me tell you, i had one of my 3 meals at mcdonald's this year in the parking lot of the wentzville mcdonald's and damn! i went inside, something i never do. i was treated like a queen and out the door long before a drive thru order taken the same time. but, not only all this, but it was good. not just salty clog your arteries good, but the burger actually tasted like meat and the fries were salty heaven. wow. just saying, next time you want mcdonald's, i highly recommend the one in wentzville.

so, we met and took off. i listened to "alf leyla, wa leyla" about a million times for the dance choreography i'm working on. the drive was nice... long... quiet. then, i went random on my ipod and this is what i listened to for the last leg of the drive. i don't remember this song. why don't i remember this? it's beautiful.

i made it... and tumbled out and into the family... ah, so nice to be embraced by a family that i haven't seen in ten plus years... such a wonderful family... and the babies are growing into little people... how warm and delightful.

i walked into my room and there on my bed is a stuffed fox which i took a pic of, but forgot the cord to download. i've started chatting with him and have named him "jinx". i have a king size bed that is like heaven and a bathroom the size of my kitchen at home. there's floor space to practice my choreo and do yoga... and cable!

but, before i could unpack i was in my swimsuit and down to "the lake". my friend tc, her husband and their two kids, quinn and luke... into the pool we went! then the hot tub, then the sauna, then i went back into the pool to romp with the munchkins. we went under the little door and viola! we swam in the heated outdoor pool! 12 degrees... steam coming off the water and ice on the edges of the pool. it was so much fun!

then after some catching up with my buddy and another round in the hot tub and sauna... i came back to my little world... mmmmm that bed looks great... but the fitness room was empty and dark. so, i changed and snuck back downstairs. i was the only one, of course on a friday night, so i figured out how to use a treadmill and ran a mile. okay, this was maybe no big deal, but for me... one who doesn't run, it was HUGE! there have been so many people in my life running lately, i thought why not? well, my calves are killing me, but i have to admit it was very satisfying to do something that i have not a) done before and b) tried since eighth grade. i spent a half hour stretching when i got back to my room and if i can walk tomorrow, i want to try again.

it has been a long and strangely satisfying day. tomorrow, i get on that treadmill again, feast, swim, sauna, hot tub, feast, swim, sauna, hot tub, go to dinner, celebrate christmas...go to bed and make it home for salsa sunday night.

that king size bed is calling me and let me tell you... i got some catching up to do!