Hawaii or Bust

Today was our big travel day and we are all very tired. We left Lawrence at 4am and didn't get to our condo in Hawaii until 9:30pm Kansas time. It was a very long day. Joshua did about as well as you could expect a 9-month-old to do, but he did not sleep on the plane well, and by our last (and longest at 5 hours) flight, he was cranky. People were really nice about, which was sweet because we feel so guilty when he is screaming and there is just not much we can do about it. We will try to bring some baby Benadryl on the way back and see if we can use it if he gets so tired again. We did have some luck getting him to sleep in the airports for layovers, which is what you see above. When we were in Vegas last month, I saw people cover their strollers with blankets so the kid wouldn't be distracted. That's what we had to do, and he at least got a couple hours sleep that way while on our layovers. It made me glad I noticed that in Vegas and decided to try it because otherwise I don't think he would have slept at all.

Weary Travelers

After five days of intense training in California for all the sales engineers and professional services staff in my company, we're all heading back to our respective homes across the globe.  Haggard and exhausted from morning-to-night training and activities in combination with some very very late nights working on projects, we're all ready to go home.  Here Rob and I pose for a picture as we wait to board our plane to take us back to see the families that we've been so badly missing.

Tastes Like Meh

Ask anyone from California what their favorite burger chain is, and they'll probably tell you something like, "IN-N-OUT!  IT'S THE BEST EVER!  WHAT?  YOU HAVEN'T TRIED IT.  OH MY GOSH!  YOU HAVE TO TRY IT!  YOU'LL LOVE IT!  IT'S SOOOOO GOOD!"  So we're in California for our training, and they decided to bring us In-N-Out burgers to eat while we worked on our projects.  Greatest ever?  Not by a long shot.  Really good?  I wouldn't go that far.  Tastes like decaying roadkill?  No, better than that.  Decent?  Yeah, I'll go with that.

Lots of Nerds Bowling

Although we have all-day training sessions going on, they are providing us with fun activities in the evening.  Last night we went to a pool hall.  Tonight's activity was bowling.  Our whole team went to a local bowlng alley and bowled a few games while drinking some beer and eating some pizza.  While some of us spent their time attempting gimmick shots, most of us did traditional bowling, and we definitely had a fun time.  Here I am with my competitive bowling face.

As Tasty As You'd Hope It Would Be

I'm at a mandatory training for the technical team within my company for the next few days.  The information is useful, but it makes for long days.  Apparently someone decided to spring for a treat for us which is a little outside of what you'd expect for an afternoon snack in a hotel conference center.  During our afternoon break, they brought in a plate of chocolate-covered bacon.  I thought it would be one of those things that's good in theory but that the actual taste wouldn't be good.  Instead, it was quite tasty.  Sometimes I love my company.