Scamp & Scoundrel

This was by far my favorite find when we were in Las Vegas earlier this month. Scamp & Scoundrel… a fun new jewelry store!


Farmer Doc’s favorite part was the $3 blackjack tables at the Hooter’s casino. But I’m sure I spent less money at the jewelry store than he lost spent at the casino!

Vegas Vacation

Don’t get too many ideas… we were mostly out there on a business trip! I headed out to Las Vegas earlier this month for the American Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Conference. And to prove that it was business, I even sat in on a panel on using social media! So there!

But it wasn’t all business… Farmer Doc came with me (although he skipped out on most of the conference) and we had plenty of time to do some gambling sight-seeing.

Okay. We gambled, too.

We stayed in the Paris hotel. It is beautiful! The inside is decorated to look like you’re outside in the streets of Paris… It was just stunning!

Mystic Aquarium

Last week, I had the opportunity to travel to Connecticut for a few days with Farmer Doc. It was mainly a work trip, as I was speaking at the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Association’s annual meeting about equine respiratory disease.

But we stayed for an extra day and made it a for-fun trip, too! One of the great things about heading back to the East Coast (my old stomping grounds) is that (if I can make the extra time to stay) I can always hook up with an old friend or two. This time, I got together with my best friend, Dani. We hadn’t seen each other in a year, and we hadn’t met each other’s husbands before! So it was a chance for the girls to catch up, to meet the boys, for the boys to meet, and for all of us to hang out with their adorable two-year-old.

So what did two young couples do with a two-year-old in tow in Connecticut? We went to the Mystic Aquarium!

The first thing you see is the outdoor enclosure with the beluga whales. (We taught little cutie-pie a new word, and I think “beluga” was her favorite word by the end of the day!)

Nashville

A couple of weeks ago, Farmer Doc and I went to Nashville, Tennessee. We headed south for the American Farm Bureau National Convention. The convention was held in the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, which was just as amazing as you have heard!

Watching the crabs

We found a spot on the San Diego bay where we could watch the little crabs run around on the rocks. See the little guy here? He kind of blends in with the rocks…



Look out, crab, the wave is coming!

How to pack a suitcase quickly

I’ve been traveling a lot lately. It’s all been fun, but there comes a time when I’d like to spend 7 days in a row at home! One thing I have realized is that I’m pretty good at packing my suitcase in a hurry!

I need to start with a clean surface. It doesn’t matter if I’m starting to pack at 10:00pm, I always make sure the bed is made so I’ve got an easy space to work. (It’s kind of like cooking in a clean kitchen – so much easier than when the counters aren’t covered with yesterday’s dishes!)

Morning war

Today I had a meeting with some of The Real Farmwives of America & Friends to build some blogging solidarity. We try to get together every few months to hang out, share some blogging experiences and tips, and spend some quality time on our blogs.

I live three hours away from where these meetings are. In a different time zone. So a meeting that starts at 10:00am in Indianapolis starts at 9:00am in my time zone. And I need to leave my house by 6:00am to get there on time.

(Don’t ask me about the meetings that start at 9:00am Indy time. I get tired just thinking about getting up for those meetings. Two weeks ago, I had to get to one that started at 7:00am Indy time. Ouch!!)

Anyway. Last night, I remembered to set up my coffee pot so it would automatically kick on and be ready to go by 6:00am. I changed my alarm clock, but I realized this morning I didn’t change it to the right time.

I thought I set it for 4:45am. Which makes me gag a little.

I actually had set it for 5:45am. Which makes me gag a little less, but also makes me late for my meeting.

My coffee pot turned on as planned. My alarm clock did not go off, but lucky me, I had a cat alarm clock this morning.

I don’t love it when Martin or Leo wakes me up by yelling for breakfast before my alarm goes off. Today, that would have been welcome.

This morning, right at 5:30am, I woke up to the sound of a cat puking. Many times. In different areas of the house.

The good news? It woke me up.

The bad news? There was a puking cat. It was Martin. And he had puked all over the house.

The other good news? After he puked (7 times), he was fine. He came for breakfast at 6:15am like he had never eaten before in his life.

And I sped a little bit on my drive (fueled by a travel mug of coffee, a triple venti skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks, and a Diet Coke), so I wasn’t too late for my meeting with the girls.

I did have to stop to pee. Twice. But I made it!

Time traveler

March 7: Central time at home

March 8: Drive to Indianapolis to Eastern time, then fly to Washington, DC on Eastern time

March 10: Fly to Indianapolis on Eastern time

March 12: Drive home to Central time

March 12: Clocks “spring ahead” – back on Eastern time, sort of

March 15: Drive to Indianapolis to Eastern time; drive back home to Central time

March 16: Drive to Louisville to Eastern time, fly to Raleigh on Eastern time

March 22: Fly to Louisville on Eastern time, drive home to Central time

March 23: Drive to meeting in Eastern time

March 25: Drive to meeting in Eastern time

March 26: Drive to meeting in Eastern time

My internal clock certainly feels all messed up. No wonder it’s been so hard to get up in the mornings!

Can you get jet lag from driving back and forth between two time zones? I’m exhausted!

I’ve been traveling so much this month, I can’t wait to get back home!

So close!

I thought I was going to be able to blog from the plane.

I got on the plane, and it is a Wi-Fi Hot Spot! Yay!

I was so excited… I haven’t blogged in forever. And I miss it. And I miss you. And here I was, with an hour of “found time” online! What a perfect excuse!

We got up to cruising altitude, and I fired up my laptop, all aquiver with anticipation.

My first flight with Wi-Fi!

Sort of.

I connected to the Wi-Fi, and realized I had to pay for access.

Sad. :(

Don’t get me wrong. Bags fly free. (Instead of for $25 like on other airlines.) And I love that. I am not complaining (too loud). So $5 for a Wi-Fi connection really isn’t all that bad. I just didn’t want to dig out my wallet and find my card info and spend five bucks for an hour.

So I wrote this post instead, and will have to wait to post it until I am back on the ground.

Ah well. Maybe now that I’m up and running, I’ll get some other posts written, too!