Be Inspired

Playa Pictures

Hi there! Everything is going FANTASTIC! And just to prove it, I have posted the pictures from my most recent and much deserved vacation in Playa del Carmen. You can also view in the photo album section at the left-hand corner of this blog. 

I have also started my new position at a FABULOUS company and am very happy!

On Wednesday have my walk-through for my condo and hope to move in the next few weeks. No one wants to pay a mortgage, rent and HOA dues two months in a row so keep your fingers crossed that the work is completed properly and there aren't additional delays.

hugs and kisses!!!

Adventures in Toronto

Before I left for this business trip, I had this sensation that it was going to be an adventure. Our company is launching a new solution and I get to be the key evangelist and subject matter expert for Central North America. Public speaking has quickly become my favorite part of my job especially since I am so passionate about this company and our products. I do presentations for partners and clients quite frequently but this one was at the most amazing venue: The CN Tower in Toronto, Canada. That alone had me excited but there was something more bubbling beneath the surface that indicated to my intuition that this was going to be an auspicious event.

The flight was very delayed in taking off. After several hours on the tarmac, one tends to strike up a conversation with the other hostage sitting next to you. He told me all of the neat places to go and things to see while I was in town as I was going to be here 2 nights. The next evening he brought his wife and we ate dinner which was nice because I get tired of eating alone. My presentation went very well and people asked a lot of questions which is always a good sign. The food and the view were absolutely sublime.  I was equally impressed with the quality of the partner that put on this event.  My hotel was right on the Harbour so I had this amazing bird's eye view of Centre Island.

On Thursday, it was raining here and all of the flights were cancelled. There had to have been a line with over 300 people in it. Each one desperate to speak to one of 3, yes ONLY  3 agents. Being the socialite that I am, I eventually started talking to the rest of the people around me. We were all a little frustrated after several hours in the ticketing line slowly watching the 3 agents turn into one. I started to doubt my intuition when one of the young locals who was trying to get to Chicago started talking to me after 52 minutes on hold with the airline only to get cut off. At this point we knew we were both going to need to head back downtown after resolving the reservationless reservations. I had just learned that I would not be able to get out of here until Saturday morning...this was only Thursday and I had already been here a few days. I suggested that we split the 50 dollar cab ride but he had a nearby family member come and pick us up. It was his mom so I figured that was safe.  Toronto is just a safe place and the people are extremely friendly. Hopefully, I will meet my new friends out tonight or make some more at this Manhunt event that happens weekly at a different location. It is basically a big game of hide and seek. One person is 'it' and every person that they tag becomes 'it' as well. There are a lot of young people that do this...I may be the oldest person there but I did bring my tennis shoes and I am into some good clean fun. The jazz festival is going on right next to the hotel so that is another option. At any rate, I won't be going anywhere until I complete some more work so I need to finish this blog. I just wanted to put this down while it was fresh in my mind. I will post pictures soon.

In other news, no one seems to smoke here so I may have quit simply because I haven't seen any one around me light one up.  I have been meaning to cease this nasty habit for a long time so this extended trip may have been exactly what I needed to remove me from the environment and temptation. Even bigger news that also played out during my visit here is that I am acquiring a condo at the Renaissance at Turtle Creek.  Once I found out how much my current apartment complex wants to charge for rent after the renovation I decided to see just how hard it would be to buy something.  As it turns out, it isn't that difficult especially since it is my first home and I have always made maintaining my credit a priority.  I had decided on this one model of which there was only one left. It got snatched away from me before I could get off of the plane and confirm that I wanted it with the Realtor. Fortunately, one just down the hall became available after someone changed their mind, only this one is even better because my room has a window that faces downtown and one that faces the park as well. We will be on the 14th floor. It is going to be so  Super Duper as I like to say.

Well, I am off like a herd of turtles. New update on Manhunt...It looks like it is going to rain some more this evening..so I am just going to have to start one of these in Dallas.

Wrigley Field

In response to everyone's comments about going back to the midwest, I was actually in Chicago last week. There was no sign of Fall but I am working on scheduling a trip to Minnesota within the next few weeks and I hear the season will be in full swing at that time.

In some of the blogs that I link to we have discussed the Top Ten list which inspired my posts about Hungary.  It seems that my list is generally comprised of things I already did.  I am too sponaneous to make a list. If it happens, I'll know it.  One of these spontenous 'must-do's' that I didn't know about until after the fact was how awesome watching the Cubs would be at Wrigley Field. That is an experience that I am glad I did not miss. I had good friends from Dallas in town at the same time that were headed to a night game and I was fortunate to be able to join them.  I ate one of everything (as long as it was greasy) and thoroughly enjoyed myself. 

My vacation

Friends,

I just returned from an extraordinary vacation in CanCun. I know that a lot of people say that it is very americanized and I would agree; however, I have to admit that the reason why I enjoyed myself so much is that I conquered my fear of the ocean. I even went snorkeling in two spots along the reef. There were a few times that I panicked when I thought about the potential of becoming a tasty morsel for any barracuda passing by. Fortunately, I was the ONLY person that didn't see one of the predatorial fish. For the first time in my life I passed the day playing in the ocean feeling remorse for the masses crowded around the pools. I am not certain how or why I was able to do this now in my life. Perhaps I was more afraid of not experiencing the salty movement of the ocean all around me or personally seeing the coral reef than I was of whatever had me terrified in the first place. Next year I plan to SCUBA dive somewhere more exotic like Costa Rica provided that I get certified in the states beforehand.

"He who jumps into the void owes no explanation to those who stand and watch."

*Jean Luc Godard {Influential French Filmmaker}