Recovering from D.C.

Still lagging on posting to this blog! I am so sorry. I promise to step it up. Life has been busy and full. I got home from my business trip to D.C. on Wednesday. Six hours later than originally planned. It took six hours to take the normally 45 minute flight from DFW to TUL! UGH!


First it was a mechanical issue that delayed our plane. Then they decided we couldn't fly on that one at all and tried to find us a new one. More delays. And a gate change (in a completely new terminal). We finally boarded that plane 3 hours after our original departure time and they announced that it had a mechanical issue too! They resolved it and we began to taxi for departure when the pilot announces that there are 35 planes AHEAD of us on the runway! We waited and waited. Then he tells us we're heading to the gate to refuel. WHAT?

So we do and the passengers get very restless, some demanding to get off. The pilot, who was about 6'5" and 350 lbs. came back and convinced them otherwise (thank goodness...getting their baggage off the flight would have been a nightmare and more delays for the rest of us)! Finally, refueled, the pilot pulled some strings and we cut in line behind about 10 planes to depart. The passengers applauded when the plane took off the ground.

Forty-five minutes later we landed in Tulsa, just intime for a thick downpour. I was soaked getting into the car! But we needed it. We have had record temps for the past two weeks. All in the high '90's/low 100's. It's been nuts. Today we have a respite with 92 degree weather. It seems to have rained overnight and lowered the heat index a bit. WHEW! Our a/c is working overtime and the poor puggies can only go outside for five minutes at a time.

Speaking of which, Ms. Regina broke her toenail off on Friday so we had a nice unplanned trip to the vet because of it. This is the second time in 3 months she's done this and I have no idea how it's happening. I am guessing that when she's chasing birds and squirrels in the backyard she runs across some exposed tree roots that are grabbing her nails. I hope this doesn't happen again. She bleeds A LOT and it's not cheap to run off to the vet with that sort of minor emergency.

Anyway, D.C. was good, I did manage to get out of the hotel/convention for one great meal out at a Spanish Tapas place called Jaleo. It was delish. We also tried the new bagel place here in Tulsa, Old School Bagel Cafe, in Brookside. They have a good menu and lots of fresh items, although J thought they were all a bit overpriced. Of course, we're used to having more bagel options, in general, in CA and of course, NYC. So this place sort of has the market cornered and can charge $6.00 for a bagel with cream cheese and lox. Oh well, it was yummy! So was their fresh-squeeze OJ, but at $4.00 I won't be ordering that again. I will, however, be back for their Everything Bagel with cream cheese and lox. Now, if we could only get them to start making Asiago Cheese Bagels!

A Post...Finally!

I have been a slacker blogger these past few weeks. So much has been going on and I just haven't had the chance to blog. J is in school fulltime now and also still working two jobs (60+ hours a week). Mom is back after a month in CA and I have finally recovered from my whirlwind trip overseas last month.

This weekend I head to Washington D.C. for a music educators' conference. I'll be there through Wednesday. I hope to have dinner with some of the gals I've been chatting with online for the past few years. We met while planning our destination weddings in Hawaii on a message board for brides. Hopefully that will work out. My next trip is to Detroit in late July. After that, no travels until October, when I head to Nashville for ten days. Oh how I'd love a leisure travel trip too, but with my work schedule and J's crazy work/school schedule I don't really see how's that possible anytime soon. We'll have to find a little getaway, closer to home.

Other than that, we've just been trying to beat the heat. It's been really humid and near 100 degrees for the past few days and should continue for a few more. I am seriously considering getting a kiddie pool for the backyard. We never go outside because it's too hot. The poor pugs, even at night, get overheated because it's still in the high 70's/low 80's after the sun goes down around 9 p.m. I did see fireflies for the first time last night, so that was fun. I don't remember it being this hot in June last year. We mostly had rain and thunderstorms. Guess it's different this year.