Outdoor Art

Here are a couple of pictures I couldn't resist taking or sharing. With a few hours to wander around Berlin during the conference, we zipped by the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, Unter Den Linden and Checkpoint Charlie. There are lots of pictures all over the 'net of these sights. Then we turned a corner and came upon this:







It was like something out of a fairy tale. like someone had rolled up a house and everything in it and tied it up with twine. If you can see the umbrella on one side, you can guess at the size of this ball.

Pretty cool. Kind of hidden. Not your typical sight.

A Sunday Flower

Just recently, I was in Berlin for a conference. Aside from attending the meeting sessions, there was a little time to sightsee. The Botanical Garden was my favorite spot and this little flower in the huge greenhouse is my favorite picture out of all those I took at the garden.

Enjoy!

T Minus 2 Hours

Things left to do before leaving on long trip:

1. take shower
2. pack carry-on
3. calm down frantic husband
4. vacuum carpet I don't think so.
5. pick up kids
6. calm down excited kids
7. put fresh sheets on bed
8. make sure cab comes
9. don't forget kids' car seats
10. don't forget passports
11. stop blogging

Merry Christmas, if you celebrate it because we will. Happy Holidays otherwise!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I Love You, Tomorrow

Eek! It's here. The triathlon is tomorrow. I've been on the East Coast all week and the flight back last night was delayed four hours which meant that I didn't get home till 2:30 am today. I took the day off work, got some sleep during the day and made my checklist of stuff. Tuesday night I had my first anxiety dream about the event: made it to the swim start but didn't know where my shoes or my bike were and my running shorts fell in the water. I did manage to get a couple of short runs, a single swim and two aikido training sessions (which I do want to blog about, but not in my current state of mind) in while in Princeton (lovely campus, by the way) so I don't feel completely unprepared. But still...

Let's see, my bike is on the car, ready to go, tires all pumped up, brakes checked. Helmet is in the back seat, check list is on the dining table along with the rest of my gear. I'll wear my swimsuit.

Just checked the weather. It's going to be in the mid-50s. Oh baby, the water is going to be cold. All the better to swim fast(er) in, I suppose.

Time to sleep.

Travelling for Work

It's getting to be that time of the year again. Time to hit the road for the annual conference season - a high-tech dog and pony show where we show everyone how fine and dandy our web resource is and all the wonderful things that they can do with it.

Did I mention hitting the road? Yes, this means time away from the family. There is a certain appeal to the travel, if you don't count the actual time spent in the airports, cabs, planes and trains. I'm referring to those nights without being woken up by wails of "MAAMAAAAA!" or the ghostly specter of one of the two boys in the doorway, just standing there. From past experience, I do miss my guys but I'm usually way too busy to think and, before I know it, I'm back on a plane headed back home.

So now I'm flying for Chicago at the beginning of July and because I have to give a presentation on three separate days, which are spread out over four days, I have to be away for five nights. Grumble. I don't like being away that long.

Time to surf the airline webpages trying to find the ideal flight schedule/fare combination. Jeepers, wasn't this supposed to SAVE us time and effort by putting the information at our fingertips? I've just been the biggest waffler in the world for the past week because I can't decide whether I want to leave in the early afternoon so as to get to Chicago by early evening local time or whether I want to leave in the evening CA time so I can see the kids before I go to the airport - but this means I get to O'Hare at just past midnight and to the hotel at some godforsaken hour. Waffle, waffle, waffle. You know, sometimes it's really nice having three airports to choose from when flying in or out of the Bay Area but, this very second, the combinations are driving me batty! Fly out of Oakland but return to SFO. Fly out of San Jose and return to Oakland. Do I want to fly through Denver or fly direct? That's really a no-brainer - fly NONSTOP!

Thirty minutes later.... Done!

I've already checked out the hotel website and they do have FREE high-speed wireless. I hear there's also a nice big lake to run by/swim in close by :) and I'm positive that there's got to be an aikido dojo not too far away. I'm guessing my bag will be half full of work clothes and half full of running/swimming/aiki gear. Oh, and there is that matter of the conference, guess I'll have to slap together a presentation for that too.

This is going to fly by so quickly.