Wicked

Last night my colleague, Deb, and one of my volunteers, Shon, and I went to see the musical Wicked. I had been looking forward to this ever since I saw it last August with my sister. It's an amazing show and I loved it even more the second time.

It was also great being able to get downtown and away from this airport hotel. I actually was pretty adventurous and took the train by myself after my meetings got out. It was a great excuse to sit and listen to the Wicked soundtrack on my iPod in preparation for the show (I'm almost certain I went the whole trip without breaking into song.)

Before the show we headed to a great restaurant, Petterino's, which is actually where Kathleen and I ate back in August. We decided just to share an appetizer and have a glass of wine and then go for dinner after the show.

The show was fabulous and the cast did an outstanding job. Now I just have to figure out when I can get around to seeing it again!

The Windy City and One Republic

I am blogging live from Chicago, well, more like from a not so fancy hotel across the street from O'Hare (or the "Big O" as they called it on the news this morning, interesting!). I am sad that I'm not staying downtown, but I will be headed that way most likely tonight and definitely tomorrow night, so that will have to do.

The weather is actually a bit on the chilly side. I think when I landed yesterday it was about 41 degrees. It probably wouldn't be so bad had we not just had such a fabulously warm weekend. In fact, on Saturday, Andy and I played golf and got totally burned. I'm not sure why I didn't think to use sunscreen, but I guess the fact that is is April is what threw me off. So I am now sporting a super chic red "V" on my chest where my golf shirt opened up, and my arms are bright red, as are the tops of my hands for that matter. So I'm feeling a bit silly here but at least the rain finally let up and allowed me a chance to get out and play.

On a completely unrelated note, I just have to say how much I am loving the One Republic album, "Dreaming out Loud." So if you are looking for some new music for your iPod, this is definitely worth a listen. Enjoy!

Wii back?!

Ok, so I've heard of "Wii elbow," but what I seem to be experiencing is something more like "Wii back." You know the old saying "it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye?" Well, let's just say, "it's all fun and Wii until someone gets a little over zealous trying to beat their husband in tennis, baseball, bowling, and yes, boxing all in one night." Oh, and did I mention "wrist weights" were involved?

Yes, my friends, we waited a LONG time for this Wii, and we are getting a lot of great use out of it. However, my back, and let's face it, most of my upper body, feel like I spent way too long at the gym (something I must admit happens very rarely.) I'm hoping that this is the "good pain" your body feels when you've worked out a few muscles that haven't been used in months, but if not, perhaps I'll soon be making "Wii back" a more commonly used phrase.

In the meantime, I'll try not to beat up on Andy as much...but it's just too much fun! ;)

The madness has ended...

I have to admit that I was in a far greater mood yesterday than I am today. Somehow I managed to put together a pretty stellar bracket this year for the NCAA tournament, and for probably the first time in my life, I had picked the final two teams and was in the running to win the pot. All I needed was a win from Memphis and I'd have been $500+ richer.

Sadly, in the last two seconds of the game, Kansas hit a three pointer to tie the game, and went on to win in overtime. What's worse is I stayed up until quarter to 12 to watch it. So now not only am I exhausted, but I feel as low I literally lost $500, which is crazy as I never had it to begin with (though I had spent it in my head! Guess I'll have to wait awhile for the purse I wanted to get.)

It's not like losing these pools is new to me, in fact I've succesfully lost my $10 every year I've participated. I guess what's killing me is how close I was to the victory, and how I didn't even end up with second or third (darn you Connecticut and Georgetown for losing so early!)

I suppose this is why I shouldn't gamble. In the meantime, perhaps I'll be able to convince my brother-in-law, who won the pool, to share the winnings...what do you think the odds are? Anyone want to bet on it?

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Most everyone knows that Andy and I have been on a mad "Wii hunt" since we first played with one back in December. Unfortunately our efforts had been unsuccessful. That is until I made my trip down south. Apparently, Wii's, while still few and far between, are more prevalent in South Carolina.

I had mentioned to Don and Rosemary that we were looking for one and while I was in Charleston running my meeting, Don went out to Walmart and found one! I kept it a secret from Andy and surprised it with him today when I got home from my trip. I was a bit nervous carrying it on the plane, mainly I was hoping the security folks wouldn't make me take it out of the box and whatnot, but everything went smoothly and it is now all set up in our basement.

We've already played a few games, and I'm happy to say that while Andy kicked my butt in tennis, I was the big winner at bowling and boxing! I can feel the Wii elbow coming on already! :)

An educational experience...

So I am down here in Charleston running a workshop for my members entitled, "Leading People in a Changing World." Typically when I run these things the content is heavily focused on maintenance and reliability (M&R) practices, so the information simply flies over my head and I'm simply there to make sure everything runs smoothly. The good thing about this session is that while there is some focus on M&R, for the most part the content can relate to any industry out there.

Probably one of the coolest parts is that one of the presenters is a former Top Gun pilot and instructor, needless to say, he's got some really interesting stories to tell. I am always amazed when I come across a really good facilitator, and try to learn as much as I can about not just the content but their technique as well.

Two "Ah-ha's" from yesterday:
1) 90% of an organization's constraints are man-made
2) If you can't get rid of negativity from the organization, then you aren't going to be succesful

Now if it would only stop raining...

Mini-Spring Break

I left town yesterday for a business trip to Charleston, South Carolina. I left a day early and flew into Myrtle Beach to visit our family friends, Don and Rosemary. I had been looking forward to this trip for quite some time for several reasons. One, I hadn't been out of the office for a trip since January, two, I absolutely adore Charleston, and finally, a chance to spend time in sunny South Carolina with my friends.

Well, I really haven't seen much of the sun, but I did enjoy my time with Don and Rosemary yesterday. It was raining when I left Washington, so I had a feeling it might be the same in Myrtle. To be honest though, the rain hasn't put too much of a damper on things. The temperature is still warm, so I've been in capris and flip flops the whole time, and the rain simply comes and goes, so you do get some spurts of sunshine every now and again.

After lunch today I made the drive from Myrtle to Charleston. Fortunately the rain stayed away during the two hour trek, so that was good. I'm in a Toyota Carolla rental, which has a CD player, but zippy power. Anything over 60 mph and the car starts to shake...at least I know I am not in danger of getting a speeding ticket, which according to the fellow who checked me in at the hotel are an all too often occurrence on that trip.

I am staying at a hotel right in the heart of Charleston, so as soon as I'm done working tonight, (and assuming the rain holds off) I plan on walking around this lovely (though wet) city.

More later, and hopefully some pictures too!