After last week's show, I can't remember much what happened. I *think* I picked Marci up from the airport on Sunday. I turned 50 on Tuesday, which was a weird day because we found out Ted was doing worse than anyone thought and the doctors were saying that he's only got a few months left to live. Add in the lack of confidence I've been having at work and trying to balance everything, and it was just a weird day to have a birthday.
Marci ended up booking another trip to CA to see and be with her parents, going down Saturday and staying for at least two weeks. Add in the fact that I'd be taking Riley to Colorado on Wed through Friday, and the week just got more crazy.
All this and I forgot we went out to a Japanese BBQ place on Monday for my birthday. A grill-at-the-table place that was pretty good, but also hit and miss because we didn't really know what we were doing. We did gifts the next night and because it was a milestone birthday, I was expecting something a little snazzier, but I didn't get anything super special. Standard gifts, pretty much what I asked for on Amazon, but nothing that blew my hair back. Got some money and will put that towards a new radio for the car.
Come Wed, we all got up early and flew out to Denver, where Riley and I picked up a rental and then almost got in an accident not even 2 minutes out of the facility. I was turning left as a car was turning in, but there was a small car that was hidden behind the turning car. I looked right to make sure it was clear and started going, but Riley called out and I saw the other car just in time to stop. Luckily didn't cause an accident and we went on our way.
Denver's airport is weirdly way out of town. Though I guess if someone thought Seatac was *in* Seattle, they'd think the same heading from downtown to the actual airport. We headed west on I-70 for about 250 miles, 3.5 hours. It snowed on the way and there was some hilly driving, and some epic views, but mainly it was boring and long. We got a Nissan Murano with a radio that really cemented me wanting to upgrade my car's radio. Just need to get the cash from Robb to make it so.
We finally to got to Grand Junction, CO in the late afternoon, like 4:30 or so? We checked in the hotel and dropped off our stuff and then freshened up. Also, if Riley decided to go to this school (Colorado Mesa University), we said he'd have to pay extra for the flight from Denver to GJ. The drive is just too much. Like flying into Eugene and driving to Seattle instead.
Thursday we visited CMU, which we both liked quite a bit, then drove back up to Denver. We got into the hotel at around 8:30 and then had to be up at 3:15 for a 3 flight day, going from Denver to LAX; LAX to San Jose; San Jose to Seattle. All in all, quite lame.
Got to spend some time at home on Friday and Saturday morning before trucking Marci back to the airport to see her off to CA. And then I leave tomorrow for CA as well until Friday. So Riley will be at home by himself. He'll be plenty busy, with 12 hr days away from home (school and play practice/prep), so KODO will be alone a long time too. We're having Nancy K come over to support, so I'll have to meet up with her sometime to prep her.
I'm looking forward to/not looking forward to this trip tomorrow. I expect to learn a lot and I'm hoping the experience helps cement some of the things I'm doing. I'm in my own head a lot and struggling with the subtleties of the job and inferring a lot of what I don't know. My foundation is not strong right now and I"m trying to develop it more daily. Hoping this trip will illuminate some of the things I'm missing.
