Daytona July 4-8, 2007

Wednesday, Happy Birthday America

After a couple of rainy days in Jacksonville, we were thrilled as we entered the infield of the Daytona International Speedway on the fourth of July. Keith and I found a parking spot for Rose at a church on Williamson Drive. For a $50 donation to the church, she could park her car there until Sunday. Not much was going on at the track today other than watching the RV's and rigs pull in. To celebrate Rose and Patrick's very recent 25th and 30th birthdays, we went to Carraba's across the street from the track. Patrick walked because all six of us cannot fit in the Jeep. It was a very long walk in the hot sun, so he definitely earned his meal that night. On the way home, Keith made two trips so no one had to walk.

Thursday-Friday July 5-6

Thursday was the Rolex race, which is not that interesting to me, but Keith watched most of it. Both days, we spent time at the haulers and getting pictures and autographs at the gate. We saw practically everyone. I actually have not seen Jimmie Johnson in 3 years, but I think I have seen everyone else at least once. The picture inserted is Keith with Joe Gibbs Racing driver of the #18, JJ Yeley. On Friday, the Busch drivers qualified, but the Cup driver qualify session was canceled due to rain with 14 drivers left to qualify. Keith and I went to the taping of Trackside in the afternoon because I wanted to see Darrell Waltrip. After 3 years, I finally got to see DW! We also went to the superstretch looking for the Team Red Bull hauler. We finally found it (we had looked all over for it earlier). Unfortunately, it was closed and open only on Saturday. I was exhausted and still did not have an Allmendinger shirt for my brother. So we made plans to go back the next day. Rain continued so the Busch race was postponed!

Saturday 7-7-07 RACE DAY

DIS held both the Busch race at 9 AM and the Cup race at 8 PM. Obviously 9 AM in July in Florida is NOT the best time for a race. It was extremely hot on top of the RV. Sara and I ended up spending the middle of the race in the pool! To top it off, Kyle Busch won the race. To quote Sara: "Kyle Busch! Who's Kyle Busch? He's not one of our drivers!" Then they still did the fireworks display - sounded great, but you couldn't see the fireworks in the daylight. It was soon time to go back to the superstretch. We tried to catch the shuttle - after waiting forever, it was full when it arrived. We then decided to take the jeep - no parking. So finally Keith let Rose and I off at the tram and he went to the store. It was a long walk, but at least the hauler was open this time. I have my brother's Allmendinger shirt, but I felt bad that Keith couldn't come with us. Rose and I went to get him a David Reutimann hat. When I asked for the hat, David Reutimann himself was in the hauler, so we were able to get the hat autographed for Keith.

PEPSI 400

Keith, Rose and I went to Fan Zone for driver introductions. We were able to get on the tri-oval, sit on the banked track, and sign our names on the checker start-finish line! We were able to see even more drivers as they walked to the stage for driver introductions. We watched from behind the pits for a while before going back to the RV. Keith and I were shocked because Rose was on the top of the RV with Patrick. She is afraid of heights so she never gets on top the RV. I did not get to make Sara take her nap today because I had gone to the superstretch; therefore, she had already fallen asleep. Keith and I joined the kids on the roof for an extremely close race. It was thrilling as we had no idea who would win. Jamie McMurray won the race by inches over Kyle Busch. I love Jamie, so I was pleased. The top ten had some of the drivers I do not care for, so I was concerned that one of them would win the race. For the past two years, Tony Stewart has won this race. Tony wrecked early, so it was probably good Sara fell asleep - Tony's her favorite driver. Now this fireworks display was awesome! I taped ten minutes of it for Sara, but my arms were too tired to tape it all. Another great Daytona race ends with excitement. Tomorrow, we head home until next July's race.

Chicago Part 2

Thursday, June 28, 2007
8:30 seemed late on Monday, but today it seems very early after our late night at the theater. I had a headache for most of the day, so this was not my best day. We had breakout sessions to practice the software presentations. We were in a room with no windows, and the AC here does not work like it does back in Louisiana. I also was bored because I didn’t need practice for the software. It is very much like netTrekker to set up students and reports are similar to Achievement Series, so I felt confident and prepared from the get-go. I presented the software demo games and the section on writing. The training did not complete until 5 PM. Everyone met in the lobby at 5:45 for a group dinner at Giordano’s Pizza to experience some authentic Chicago pizza. It was very good, especially the deep dish spinach pizza.


Friday, June 29, 2009
This morning everyone received individual feedback on presentations from one of the trainers. I was pleased that my trainer felt I would be ready to present immediately. They had a limo service for me at 11 AM because my flight was at 1:13, so I left for O’Hare after telling everyone a quick goodbye. All the people in this group have been interesting and fun to meet, so I hated that I had to be the first to leave. I had to fill out some forms before I left, then off to the airport. This ride with AC was much better than the hot taxi ride on Monday; however it was chaos at the airport. Apparently, weather had forced many delays and cancellations in the past few days. I saw that my 1:13 flight was now changed to 2:00 PM meaning I would not make my flight to Lafayette from Dallas. We actually did not get to leave until 2:30. The airlines had gotten a 747 and merged two flights to try to catch up the backlog of standbys. I felt like I was on the Amazing Race as I tried to find options for getting home. I checked flights directly to New Orleans, but everything at O’Hare was behind, so I decided to try my luck once I got to Dallas. Luckily, I was able to get on a 7:10 flight to Lafayette. Did I say 7:10? Silly me, thunderstorms in Dallas, flight changed to 7:20. 7:40, 7:55 – every time I looked at the monitor the time changed. I contemplated going to Houston and catching a redeye in the morning, but then decided to stick with this flight. We finally took off in the rain at 8:20. After landing in Lafayette and driving to Morgan City, I finally arrived home at 11:30 P.M. – 12 ½ hours to get from Chicago to Morgan City. Now I just have to unpack and repack as we leave for our Daytona trip at 10:00 AM tomorrow morning!

Wicked Chicago

Monday June 25, 2007
The alarm went off earlier than usual as I had to leave for Lafayette at 4:30 A.M. I made the trip easily arriving in Lafayette with plenty of time for security and check-in before my 6:40 AM flight to Dallas. From Dallas, I flew to Chicago’s O’Hare airport arriving at 12:25 PM. I quickly caught a taxi to Evanston because the training started at 1PM. I was immediately surprised because it was extremely hot in Chicago and the taxi had no AC. Why would anyone put up with the snow during the winter if you still had hot weather in the summer? So much for my anticipation of a cool week!
I had no trouble finding the training building in Evanston, and I was greeted by a friend I had previously met in Dallas. Someone was speaking so I quickly found my table. The first afternoon session lasted until 4:30 and covered the history and foundation of the program, and Toby also modeled the introduction part of the training. We were free for the evening. Evanston is about 30 minutes north of Chicago. The downtown area consists of four major streets with a wide variety of restaurants, shops, spas, a large movie theater, several Starbucks, and professional buildings all within walking distance. Both the Metra system and the “EL” subway system have stations on the corner. I checked in at the Hilton Garden Inn, dropped off my bags, walked to the bookstore, checked out the movie theater, and browsed in a few shops before deciding on Chili’s To Go for dinner. I ordered my favorite Margarita Chicken and took it to the room for supper. While waiting at Chili’s, I read the paper and saw that Wicked was playing in Chicago. I checked with Ticketmaster online and found one seat on the third row center for Wednesday night. I was so excited. Of course, I would have to figure out how I was going to get to Chicago and back, and I hoped that I didn’t have any homework from the training that I would have to do. But who cares, I am going to see Wicked!

Tuesday, June 26, 2007
I love this training schedule – breakfast at 8:30 with training beginning at 9 AM. I actually slept late considering the alarm usually blares at 6 AM. Both breakfast and lunch were provided for us each day. The food was fabulous and varied daily. Another trainer manager joined us today. She is the one who interviewed me for the training. She had just spent last week in Kentucky with my sister for trainings. I already feel a great fit with this group. Five of the participants also got tickets for Wicked for Wednesday night so we are all planning to take the “EL” into Chicago. Most of the day focused on the software, which was interesting and easy. Training ended at 4:30. A participant from Florida and I decided to walk around and look for dinner ideas. We decided on Viva le Crepe. It was a fantastic decision. I had Ratatouille Crepe with zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli, and herbs in a red sauce over the crepes. It was delicious. At home, we would probably have it with pasta, but with the crepe it was just the right amount and didn’t make me feel stuffed. So for dessert I had the fresh fruit crepe – blueberries, strawberries and raspberries on a warm crepe with liquor sauce. My friend had a Spinach and Ricotta crepe and a raspberry sorbet crepe. We were proud of ourselves for trying something different and having such a wonderful meal. Afterwards, we had a nice stroll back to our hotel where we prepared for presentations tomorrow.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Wicked! I cannot wait for tonight. Luckily the training went rather quickly today as we had breakout sessions for practice, and then presentations for most of the day. This is been great fun for me. All of the information for the program has come so easily to me. I already feel confident that I could do this training. This is a better fit for me than the previous professional development program I trained with earlier in the year. I am lucky that if I hear something and take notes on it, I pretty much know it. In addition, if I like the product, it’s so much easier to remember and process. I love and believe in the program – that makes such a difference. I cannot wait to practice on Sara. She will love it as she always wants to play games on the computer. She is going to devour it. It will also give me some practical experience with the materials. My presentation went well, and training ended at 4:30. The “Wicked Women” met in the lobby at 5:15 to ride the EL to Chicago. It was just like on ER, but I didn’t see any cute doctors on the platform. The ride to the theater district took about 40 minutes. It must be so convenient to have a transportation system like that. The cab ride would have cost $35.00 each way. Riding the EL cost $2.00! New Orleans should build an elevated system like Chicago to alleviate its traffic problems as they rebuild. We found the theater rather easily, and then ate a Chicago Dog at America’s dogs. It was a hot dog with relish, tomatoes, mustard, mayo and onions. Finally, it was time for the show to start. My seat was perfect; I could not have chosen a better seat. The play was amazing. My cheeks hurt from having this big mesmerized smile on my face for three hours! Having known all of the words to the songs but never seeing the play made it surreal to see the performance and how the scenes fit together to tell the story. I called my godchild during the play to let her listen to two of the songs. When it was over, I just wanted to Tivo it and start all over again. I cannot wait to see it again. Now when I listen to the songs, I can picture the scene vividly. The way home was an adventure because we had to make a transfer to a different line. But everyone was very friendly and helped us get on the right train. We were back at the hotel for midnight. This trip was a success, no matter what happens now.