Kronos Training and Conference in Florida

I left for Orlando on Friday, the 13th. My co-worker Tom and I had training on Saturday and Sunday and then the conference Monday thru Wednesday. Eric met my mom on Saturday at the Mississippi. The boys got to spend 5 days in Wisconsin. Eric ended up having vacation, so he had a real vacation, no kids, no wife! He was able to do whatever he wanted.

Tom and I arrived in Orlando around 2:45pm. We got our luggage took a taxi to the Dolphin and Swan Resort on the Disney grounds, and were checked in by 3:30pm. We went and talked to the vacation planners at the hotel to find out if any of the parks were open late. EPCOT was open until Midnight for Disney guests. It was our lucky night. Plus, since we were with the conference we received a discounted rate on the tickets. They normally are $67, we got them for $41. We only had to walk 100 feet out of the hotel to catch the boat over to EPCOT.

I have never had the opportunity to stay on the Disney grounds. It sure is nice. The landscaping is beautiful, and everything is so convenient. I didn't know their was a Boardwalk or a Downtown Disney. There was a lot to check out.

We walked into EPCOT at 4:30pm. It turned out that they were having a food and drink festival in the International part of the park. Besides all the permanent countries, they had another 10 small stands set up for countries, such as Australia, Thailand, Mongolia, Sweden and Italy. At each place they had several sample dishes to buy, a wine from that country, or a beer and a dessert. We had a lot of fun sampling. We started in the UK, and I had to have a pint of Strongbow Cider. Well, that went down really quick. At another stand in the UK they had Woodpecker. So I had one of those as well. Between the eating and drinking we did manage to go on the boat ride in Mexico and Norway. We also went over and did Mission to Mars and Test Track, which was a lot of fun. It is only the second time I have been at EPCOT at night, so I got to see the laser show and fireworks, which was cool.

We met a Disney employee who was playing tourist for the day. He told us he makes $2500 a week take home, but they have to work 16 hours every other day. He said he moved there from California, and was going to keep working until he had a good nest egg built up. Tom and I couldn't decide if he was telling us the truth or not, but I said, "Maybe that is why they always have smiles on their faces, and are willing to be so helpful." We stayed at EPCOT until Midnight and then took the boat back to the hotel.

Saturday morning was a little hard for me. We had breakfast and registration at 8am and class started at 9am. I knew it must have shown when Tom said, "Geez, you look a little rough this morning." I didn't feel too hung over, just really tired. Now mind you I am not use to drinking the way we did. We were buying beers at every country! I lost track after 8.

We were taking a class on Crystal Reporting. I was excited to learn something new, but apparently my eyes didn't want to stay open for the first hour. Tom woke me up a couple of times. I didn't even know my eye lids had shut! I'm not much of a soda drinker, but I had a few Diet Coke's in hopes that the caffeine would help me get going. As the day went on, I got back to feeling like myself.

Saturday night we were going to live it up at Pleasure Island. We went over there, and decided to have dinner first. We ended up going to Fulton's Crab House. We had to wait 45 minutes for a table. So we finally got seated around 9:30pm. We had this really nice waiter Luis from Columbia. I tried Lobster Bisque for the first time. It was delightful. I then decided to have crab, since we were eating at the crab house! Luis was kind enough to give me a demonstration on how to crack crab. I have been eating crab since I was 10, but I didn't want to burst his bubble. So I smiled and allowed him to show me. Tom ordered Hawaiian Nairagi. Looking back I should of ordered it too. It was fantastic. It was grilled and glazed with a Thai sauce, on top of grilled veggies. I told Tom I wanted to come back Monday night for dinner so I could order it. After dinner Tom wanted dessert. He ordered an Expresso and I decided to have an after dinner coffee. Well, 2 1/2 hour later we are ready to leave. Guess how much our bill was? Now remember we were eating on the Disney grounds....

It was $92.13 or rather $110.13 with tip. I told Tom there is no way Mercy is going to reimburse us for such an expensive dinner. He really thinks they will. I submitted my expense report on Wednesday. My supervisor thought they may come back and say something. I submitted an itemized bill, to show that we did not have any alcohol with our dinner. I will have to wait and see. It was almost midnight by the time we left the restaurant. We decided to skip pleasure Island and head back to the hotel. The king size bed was calling my name.

Sunday was much better for me. I was wide awake and ready to learn how we can customize reports within Kronos using Crystal Reports. Kronos is our time keeping system here at the hospital. I am excited to apply what I learned. Now I just have to wait for the software to be ordered and loaded on my computer!

Anthony's 15 Month Check-Up

Monday I took Anthony in for his shots. The doctor was checking his ears, and found he had an infection again. So she said we need to wait a week or two to get his shots. So even though he has tubes, he can still get infections. We didn't know that. The main purpose for the tubes is to help with drainage, which he had lots of that, and to make sure he can hear. It also alleviates the pain, since pressure can't build up in his ear. So that is good.

We did get his weight and height. He gained a pound and half. So he now is 25.5 lbs. He also grew an inch and a half. He is 32.75 inches long. His skin on his back and legs is really rough and splotchy. The doctor thinks he might have seasonal allergies, just like his daddy. So he now takes Singular and he was already taking Zyrtec at night. It already seems to be helping. So now we will go back in two weeks for shots.

The Third Time is the Charm

Saturday afternoon we headed up to Ames for Lisa's wedding. We were blest with a beautiful fall day. It was sunny, breezy and 78 degrees. Lisa and Sanchez were getting married outside, so nice weather was key. Eric's dad and stepmom made it up from Garden City, so dad was able to walk her down the aisle. The ceremony lasted about 15 minutes and then they took pictures afterwards.

We then headed to Huxley for the reception, which is a small town between Ames and Des Moines. We thought we knew where the reception was, but we were mistaken. So I finally got a hold of Skyla, our niece, and she got us there. They served authentic Mexican food, and it was really good. They had rice with veggies, beef and chicken, refried beans, and spaghetti in cheese sauce. (Sanchez wanted an American dish!) They had lots of limes and onions on the side. We were all encouraged to partake of the tequila, but we declined.

There was a park outside, so the boys had fun playing. Chase was really anxious for the cake. He had to patiently wait 2 hours before they cut it. He actually ate some of the cake, rather than just the frosting! It was very moist and light. By 6:30pm Tony was tired and really needed to get home. He has all four molars coming in at the same time, so he wasn't in the best of spirits. The most entertaining part of the night was, as we are getting ready to leave. (Now mind you, Lisa has had several shots of tequila at this point.) Lisa says to us, "You 're going to leave me with all these Mexicans?" Miranda and I look at each other, and say, "Yes, you did marry one. Have fun!"

Recruiting for the Elks

Friday night we invited our friends Tom & Melissa and Justin & Angie to the lodge for dinner and drinks. The lodge really wants to recruit younger members, so we are trying to do our part. Miranda also came to town, so she joined us as well. We had Melissa's son Cody babysit. Chase was very excited. He hadn't seen Cody for awhile, and he has a lot of fun playing with him.

The lodge has free pool, so after dinner the women decided to play. We all aren't very good, but we had a good time trying. The first game we played was just Melissa and myself. I think it took us 30 minutes, but I finally got the 8 ball to drop. However, once we got on teams it seemed to go better. We did figure out, that just because you have a few drinks, doesn't mean your pool skills improve, one just thinks they do!

We headed out around midnight and then Mel and Tom stayed for a night cap. Ahh the convenience of having a kegerator in the garage! I forgot to mention that both Tom and Justin are joining. Yeah!

Chase Starts Indoor Soccer

Chase had his first soccer practice on October 3rd. I am the assistant coach. We had a good practice. The coach read the schedule incorrectly, so we ended up practicing outside. It was good, because it was a beautiful night. The kids practiced kicking the ball into the goal, then we got in a circle and had them pass to each other. At the end we let them run around after the ball. It is hard getting 3 and 4 year olds to only use their feet. They all want to stop the ball or move it with their hands. Chase was upset because, he couldn't have his own ball. I guess we will have to work on that.

Go Dutch!!!! I Went Back for Homecoming

I apologize for my tardiness in updating my blog. September 30th I went over to Pella for my 10 year college reunion. Campus has really changed over the last ten years. We have a new foot bridge, new housing, new International building and a new football field. It got to town around 10am and went to the student center. I wanted to go to the bookstore and get a new Central shirt. It was a madhouse, and after 45 minutes I was finally out of there. I then headed over to the tailgate picnic. The plan was to meet up with Marnie prior to the football game. Apparently over the last ten years, Central has improved their food as well. I had a bbq beef sandwich that was excellent. They also offered hot dogs, brats, chicken sandwiches and veggie burgers. When we were there, we had a choice of a dried out hamburger or skinny hot dogs!

I met up with Marnie outside of the stadium after lunch. Part of the homecoming festivities were class parades. Besides our class of '96, '01, '91, '86, '81, '76, '71, '66, '61 and '56 were celebrating their reunions as well. Central had banners for each class to carry into the stadium. I had seen some of my classmates prior to lunch, but when it was time to walk in, it ended up being myself, Marnie and our friend Danielle. It was pretty pathetic!

Marnie and I thought it would be fun to sit in the student section. We lasted one quarter. They kept standing, and it seemed like everyone was on their cell phone! We didn't have cell phones when we were in college. We had to communicate via our dorm phone or leaving messages on our doors. The game was pretty slow at first, but finally in the second half there was scoring, and then we went into overtime. Central came out victorious.

After the game we went to freshen up and then hopefully meet up with some other friends. Eric dropped the boys off at Stephanie's and then drove over to meet me. He was bored out of his mind, which I was afraid of. First we had class pictures and then the dinner. Once again I was majorly disappointed. I knew certain friends weren't showing, but I was hoping to see some I had lost touch with. However, only 8 showed up for the dinner. I had seen about 10 others earlier at the student center, but they chose not to attend the dinner. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed myself and enjoyed talking to those that did show up.

After dinner our class met at the bowling alley. It was the first time I had been to the new bowling alley in Pella. It was very nice. Eric was happy because the Iowa game was on, and he could drink some beer. We visited for awhile and then some of us wanted to bowl. I have discovered that when you only bowl once every two years, you don't get any better! I was able to break 100 on my first game, but my second game went down hill fast, and I wasn't even drinking! We headed out around 10:30. We still had to pick up the boys in Knoxville. We made it home shortly before midnight. Even though it was poorly attended, I had a good time.

Anthony is Getting Better

Last week I thought Anthony had allergies. However, when he woke up with his eyes almost mattered shut, his nose covered in dried snot, and his ears draining, I knew I needed to get him to the doctor. The doctor didn't give it name, but he prescribed an antibiotic and ear drops for him. By Saturday he was back to himself. I am glad I didn't let it run its course.