My trip was finally here! I don't think I'd ever been in such need of a break. Just one more day of work and I'd be off.
Monday was full with getting the last few things on my pre-trip list done, including a Wal-Mart run over lunch for a pair of black dress pants for dinners on the ship. The body shop had taken over dealing with my insurance company and assured me I could leave the car even though he didn't have final approval and he'd get it done. Work went swimmingly, getting the last few things done, and I was out the door right at 5:00 with out-of-office messages on both email and voice mail. Done and ready to boogie! I went to knitting and then finished packing when I got home. I was 95% done and had time yet in the morning.
The plan was to pick Anne up at 9:15 and then drive to the body shop, which was right by campus, to drop off my car. Anne's friend, Beth, was meeting us there and dropping us at the airport. I woke up at my regular time so had a leisurely morning before heading to Lincoln. We had a bit of a snafu with luggage and despite having paid with Anne's United card, I had to pay for my luggage. Oh well. Since we had separate tickets from Lincoln>Chicago and then Chicago>London, we had a long layover planned. Luckily Anne had one-day passes for the United Club and while we had to backtrack to the first terminal, we had a lovely afternoon snacking on free food and enjoying the free wifi, after which we headed to our next flight. It was uneventful and, of course, we got almost no sleep. At least we enjoyed the Elton John movie.
Exhausted but happy, we were in the UK. We made our way to the coach station and bought one-way tickets to Bristol. We were both asleep before the coach left the depot and only woke up when it stopped in Bristol. Bridget was there to meet us and it was great to see her smiling face. She drove us to our AirB&B, where we dumped our bags and headed to the local pub for some lunch and catching up. Then we drove to a little craft shop, where I bought a skein of sock yarn. Go figure. We walked around the cute downtown area but our energy was flagging so we ended up back at the B&B, where we chatted the evening away.
We got up the next morning and headed to the seaside at Weston Super Mare for breakfast and shopping, making a point of crossing Bristol's famous bridge too. It was fun to be hanging out with Bridget again. We had an early embarkation time so only had until just after lunch. Bridget dropped us at the ship and we were off.
We got on the ship and found our cabin easily. Unfortunately there was a note on the bed saying we would not be going to the Faroes due to bad weather so would be starting with 3 sea days and would be circumnavigating Iceland in the opposite direction so all our plans had to be remade. Not our problem though. After a mandatory lifeboat drill, we found a spot to knit on the aft deck until dinner time. First up was getting changed for a cocktail party to meet the knitting group and then dinner, where we had 3 full tables and the people we sat with were all nice. It was going to be a fun time.
The storm that was making it impossible for us to go to the Faroe Islands was also making for rough seas. Six meter waves! There were sick bags hanging every 2 feet along the cabin decks and on every stair rail but neither Anne nor I needed them. You could not stand up without holding onto something and walking was problematic. Oh well.
We had a dedicated conference room for our classes and our designer was lovely. We had morning and afternoon classes and got to know everyone while learning Icelandic knitting. Between classes, we were eating all the time - breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner before ending the days knitting by the bar on deck 9. I was totally enjoying the time on the ship, unlike my previous Carnival cruise, and it was a good thing because we had 3 days before we'd set foot on land. By the end of the weekend, we wore more than ready for land. Iceland here we come!
It was my last full week before heading to Iceland and was it jam packed. Thankfully, things were moderating at work so the funk I started the week with started lifting. Progress is good.
Like I said, I was in a funk and Labor Day was more of the same so my 3 day weekend was a total loss. I was supposed to drive to Grand Island to pick up fair entries but Helen called early in the day to say she and Charlie were going to go so she picked up my ticket and I crossed that off my list. I rallied late in the day and got a few things done at home, which kept me from stewing more and gave me a better start for what would be a busy week.
First thing up was to talk to Nora. The thing most on my mind over the weekend had been worry that Nora would be upset with me over the sh*it from the previous week. I didn't see her on Tuesday at all but we went for coffee first thing Wednesday and we're fine. I was SO relieved. I didn't want anything going on at work to impact us. By the way, Brook and I now report to Ben - the new guy in the office. 'Nough said about all that.
Since I'd be gone for 2+ weeks and would be ending the month with jet lag, I had front loaded all my training for the month into the first week. I had 3 classes to teach and one was extended because someone was coming to town from an outstation so I was doing a 2-fer. Between all that, I was sending out an update to of my database to all the departments so would be fielding calls. The week was jam packed and the days flew by.
I was also busy during lunches and after work prepping for my trip. I found some fancy clothes for dinners on the ship for both Anne and me. I was running errands and making piles of things to pack all week. And drama was rearing its head at every turn. My sister, Ginny, called to say they were bugging out ahead of a hurricane. I was trying to get the iPhone 6 Lori gave me hooked up (failed). I was fighting with my insurance company, who had completely fallen down on processing my claim. And I was trying to hire a cleaning lady to start cleaning while I was gone. Nothing like a deadline to get me motivated!
The weekend was my last chance to get things sorted out but with the lists and piles I'd been making, I wasn't feeling too stressed about packing. I had a nice lunch with Lorri at Mocha C's on Saturday and otherwise just worked my way through my final to do's. Anne and I talked/texted a zillion times about every little detail of the trip. Too funny.
On the cleaning lady front, I thought I had one all lined up but she bailed on me at the last minute and so I went to Facebook and found another person who would come out Sunday at noon to see my house and could start cleaning while I was gone. My friend Lorri was also planning to hire the one who bailed so she stopped after church to meet her and then took her to her house. We both hired her and she'd be doing a thorough cleaning on Tuesday so I'd come home to a clean house. Yay!
By the end of the weekend, I had my luggage upstairs and had started transferring piles. While work had settled down some, I was still in desperate need of this vacation. I was ready to get out of the country and enjoy some European time. Just 2 days to go.
So I've been putting off this post because I wasn't sure how to handle it. Here goes as best I can.
Something happened at work that shook me to my core. While I won't be sharing specifics, I will say that I wasn't sure if I could continue to work there. The sh*t hit the fan on Wednesday and it kept spinning for the rest of the week. Cindy kept me sane and I ended the week with my head down, keeping busy and doing my best to soldier on. I went into Labor Day weekend desolated and spent the entire weekend stewing at home, not able to enjoy anything. I was a wreck.
I'm sure some positive things happened in the week but if so, I can't remember them. I have since come to the realization that I will stay at my job until I retire but I will never trust anything again. I am officiallly gun shy and cynical. Six years from February 1st and I'm outa there.
Thanks for listening.
