Back to Reality

I’m back. Three whole days with no internet access. Wow. I feel like I’ve been on the moon.

Alabama was great. Well, the conference was great, I didn’t get to see a whole lot of Birmingham except for the inside of the hotel and the adjoining mall. The conference was excellent, and I made a lot of great professional connections.

My co-workers and I had a blast. This was my first time at this bi-annual conference, and I am already looking forward to the next one. On Monday night we went to a great down-home BBQ place. Pulled pork, beans, fried pickles, hushpuppies, coleslaw…oh mercy was that GOOD. The banana cream pie wasn’t too bad either. Those folks know how to do BBQ.

Tuesday night was hilarious. After a lovely reception where we really got to loosen up and talk to each other (with the help of a heavy handed bartender), we all headed down to the hotel bar. It was amazing to see how much laughter is the great equalizer. About 30 of us from about 8 different states were sitting together, telling stories, making fun of each other and laughing hysterically. After the crappy week I’ve had at the office, it was a great release. For some crazy unexplainable reason, the hotel bar closed at 12 midnight so we had to move the party elsewhere. We ended up at the pool. Not a good place for the very drunk. (Fortunately I had pretty much stopped at the bar, and while I was feeling a little “happy”, I was by no means drunk). A woman from our group disappears and comes back with her bathing suit on (quite a sight) and a tray that contained an ice bucket and the contents of her mini-bar. “C”, a young and quite handsome guy decides he’s going in the pool and strips down to his underwear. He is standing next to me trying to convince me to join him. Eventually I convince him to go in alone. Then “G” who is gay and fabulous, sees C, his eyes pop open and he starts this slow motion bounding run across the concrete, shedding clothes along the way to join him. This causes C, who is not gay, to panic, and to now try to discretely (which when you’re drunk means “conspicuously”) and quietly (which when you’re drunk means “do the whisper/yell thing like no one can hear you”) get his ass out of the pool. Then the group realizes that “F” (man) and “L” (woman) are missing, and a manhunt is formed to try and find them. Hilarity ensues as the group is going from floor to floor, calling F and trying to listen for his phone ringing. All I can say is, you know you are having fun when you are standing next to a wet, gay, drunk man in his underwear in a hotel hallway at 3 am.

But the highlight of the trip was my celebrity sighting. I have eagle eyes my friends, and I am so impressed with myself. We were all standing in the hotel lobby waiting for the shuttle to take us to the airport. I see this guy get off the elevator and walk outside. Short, baseball hat, sunglasses, jeans and a t-shirt. I must have seen his profile for all of 5 seconds. “Hey!” I said. “That’s Elliott!” *WHO?* “Elliott from American Idol!!!”

Now you all know how Elliott was my boy and how upset I was when he was voted off. A co-worker and I got up the courage to go outside and I asked him if he was indeed *the* Elliott. He shook his head yes. He looked very tired, but he was very nice. We shook his hand, told him we were big fans, and that we voted for him. He was very appreciative. He was in town rehearsing for his concert with the Little Memphis Blues Orchestra. My co-worker got his autograph for his wife. How funny is that?!

So back to reality. Work continues to really suck. Know what I’ve learned? That when you are miserable at work, no one wants to hear you complain, and that just makes the situation worse because you start getting mad that no one cares or understands. So I try not to, but it’s hard to keep it all inside. I am in a really hard situation because I have no peers here. Most of our office is housed in another building 15 minutes away, and that is where everyone my age/level are. Therefore, I don’t really have any friends here. I eat lunch by myself every day (in my office), how depressing is that? That’s not normal right? If anyone has ever been in a management capacity, you’ll understand that you can’t really regularly go to lunch with people who work under you. The few other management people here are either weird, or not people you want to know your business. My boss is a social misfit and doesn’t like to eat with anyone. So I have no one really to vent to about stuff here. I need to really figure things out. When it gets to the point where you want to actually cry at least once a day every day (and I am NOT a crier), you need to do something. The thought of another major upheaval in my life is a little much to contemplate but I can’t go on like this. I am trying to hang on until after the adoption travel, but I don’t think I can do it.

Anyway, I’m just starting to catch up on all of your blogs, so forgive me if I’m a little behind for a while. I was so happy to see many new people commenting after my last post. I hope that more continue to “de-lurk” and that the newcomers comment more often. I think your posts get better when you actually know who your audience is. Or rather, when you know you actually do have an audience.

Is it Friday yet? I think we are having a garage sale this weekend. That ought to be a hoot.