Merrell's Are Not Acceptable Bike Wear and Other Observations

Whew!  I'm home!  Sookie is glad.  My body is glad.  Kelly doesn't ever want to come home.

Two weeks ago, I was headed to the 5th International Family and Patient Centered Care Conference in Washington, D.C.  Last week, we were heading to the Outer Banks of NC for vacation.  Soooo much has happened!

The Conference:
It was phenomenal.  That's the only way I can describe it.  I was surrounded by people who believe in what I do for a living; who value my education, but also value my life experience and its role in my work; and by some of the most incredible figures in health care in the world.

I learned so many interesting and valuable things that apply to my hospital work and also to life in general.  For instance, if you have a user name on Twitter, a blog, Facebook, etc. search it on Google.  I had over 5 pages of hits on mine.  I had no idea that much was publicly available!  Also, prospective employers do that as well.  It's a good thing I only swear about personal things.

The VP of Canada's largest health system said we were the best presentation of the conference.  Wowzas!  Ummhmm, yeah, yeah.  I shook my tail feathers on that one.  People from stellar facilities suggested we become educators in FPCC.  I am humbled and awed.

I discovered that getting down into the Metro was a little like a snowy mountain scene in a James Bond movie...I have a picture in my head, but I can't figure out which movie...It's just this cavernous tunnel burrowing crazily into the ground.  I've ridden the NYC subway dozens of times, but the D.C. Metro threw me.

I discovered Lady Anti-Monkey Butt.  What is THAT, you ask?  It's this fantastic anti-friction powder.  Great for hot days and bras or thighs.

Finally, Jenny Lawson's book Let's Pretend This Never Happened made for great plane entertainment.  My manager and I read together and were so boisterous with our laughter that we met a woman at the hotel who recognized us from that!   


Next, the beach!

We went to Nags Head, Outer Banks, NC.  Those are the barrier islands off the NC Coast for which lighthouses and pirates are famous.  For those of you familiar with my fear of bridges, you'll understand that this is a HUGE deal.  There are three doozie bridges, one over 5 miles long.  It's not a beautiful scene either like the 7 Mile Bridge in the Keys.  That aqua water just soothes my anxious soul.  Anyway, we made a convoy of Sanders from here to there.  It was great driving and we arrived to beautiful weather and waves.

This is literally just out of the car: 

I'm slightly less pale, except for the myriad skeeter bites on my face and body, today.  I'm much more rested.  I'm more literally rounded, having read four books in 5 days.  I'm puzzle queen after this monster, which I did not complete on my own, but I was obsessed by it.







The winds picked up to storm-force yesterday.  This morning it was still so bad that it blew the hair wrap off my head which was drying my hair.

Our ride home was adventurous.  I saw an El Camino and realized it's the original hybrid car.  I saw a man on a Harley sporting Merrell's.  REALLY?  In what HOG chapter or Gran Torino scene do comfort clogs go with a kick ass motorcycle?  I am driving down I-40 as excessive speed and those suckers stood out in the lane next to me.  Seriously shaking my head at that...

Home Sweet Home it is, to mounds of laundry, a lonely cat and dog, my Altima (a story in itself) and my bed.  Ahh, my bed...see you soon, friend.

Island paradise...A-Z carries on

If you've read any of my previous posts, you've probably figured out I have a particular fondness for sand and water.  I'm not talking about the preschool table either.  Just last week, I posted about how in my deepest despair, the dreams of beaches kept me from going completely crazy.

I don't know how my pale, French/English descent self is so drawn to the Islands.  Even when you throw in the 1/8 Cherokee, that still takes me to the mountains or plains.  Not true, though.  This woman thinks of, wishes for, gets lost in dreams about an Island paradise at least once a day.

I  have two favorites so far.  First, as mentioned in the previous post, would be the Florida Keys.  Next and probably by far the winner for the view as the plane descends, is Hawaii.  It is absolutely breathtaking.  However, I had an aisle seat, so no photos of that.  When I was walking from the plane into the terminal, I was impeding the foot traffic flow, because all I wanted was to do was absorb the air, the breeze, the idea that I was in Hawaii.

When I went there, it wasn't a purely pleasure trip.  There was serious business I had to do.  But, there was fun and a week with my best friend and her family.  I was completely surprised as I went to baggage claim and my very own Army soldier stood there in fatigues with leis to welcome me.  I was overwhelmed anyway and that just threw me over the edge.  I'd left at 5:30am for a 10-hr non-stop flight.  I'd lost five hours in-flight.  All the emotion, the lack of sleep, the beauty and that welcome just opened my flood gates.  It was not the happy, laughing scenes from Magnum, P.I.  It was goofy me.

Driving from Honolulu toward the North Shore was an event.  It's a little like Atlanta traffic with fantastic views.  Look to your left and there is Pearl Harbor.  There are a lot of little moments like that which I remember.

Wandering on a near-empty part of Waikiki while waiting for a Luau; walking down the busier part to get to a submarine tour launch; driving by the pineapple fields...getting asked firmly to leave the Dole plantation by their security guards.  It was closed, but not by long.  I just wanted to see!

The most beautiful, majestic truly paradise-like experience happened the pineapple night.  We drove up to the North Shore.  It was nearing sundown.  There are mountains on the left and pineapple fields on both sides of the road.  The North Shore is famous for surfers.  This was mid-February and there was only one guy out there.  There was a small mountain jutting out to my left.  There was a cove up to my right.  The light misty fog, was visual poetry.

the desolate Waikiki beach

The North Shore at sunset

I am so, so glad I had that opportunity.  I wish it had been purely pleasure.  I wish it had been 85 degrees and beach days every day.  I wish I'd seen the volcanoes.  It doesn't matter though.  I went to one of the most idyllic island paradises on the planet.  I'm a lucky girl.