Whew!

Today is Friday, thank god!  Since I'm not currently adhering to a standard Monday - Friday work schedule I'd never have bet money on on how thankful I'd be to have reached a Friday.  Especially this particular Friday.  Too much travel and stress the past eight days.  Hopefully the next travel I'll be doing will be relocating.

~~~ 

After returning home from my whirlwind trip to San Antonio I spent Saturday just hanging out and unwinding.  I went to the Camp Verde County Fair.  I ate some cotton candy, rode two rides and then fought the urge to puke for a few hours.  I guess the rides I enjoyed when I was younger are a bit tougher on my equilibrium now that I'm a wee bit older.  Just what I needed - another exciting perk of getting older.  

Sunday I drove up to Flagstaff to pick my future home (a.k.a RV spot) and went for a hike with the family.  It was a last ditch effort to enjoy the Aspen's as their leaves are turning the wonderful shades gold and amber.  By next week most of the Aspen trees will be bare until the spring.  

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Here's where my week started to get a bit bumpy..

Monday morning I was innocently making my bed (which should be an effort that get's rewarded - not punished) and when I finished tucking sheets under the mattress I attempted to erect myself into an upright and standing position, my back said "OH HELL NO" !  It's been a couple of years since I've been in that much pain.  So, I spent the rest of my day utterly unproductive and alternating hot and cold therapies and dosing myself with Motrin.  Tuesday morning I was still walking hunched over like a gorilla so I called the doc and got a pack of steroids (above).  They suck because they make my blood pressure go up and keep me awake at night.  Woohoo!  Tuesday and Wednesday were a wash as well because I was on light duty until the pain subsided.  

(Side note: I did force myself to drive down to Scottsdale for a second interview which was pure agony but I made it work and kept a smile on my face for the interview which went really well!)

~

Thursday morning I left the house at 6am for the airport, San Jose bound.

I was blessed with easy flights and figured it was a good sign for the interviews I was heading into.  My back was feeling 80% better and I was in good spirits.  I had a layover in LAX and found some really fun treats!

 

There was this really cool chain restaurant called "Lemonade" and they [appropriately] had strawberry 'lemonade' cake!  I didn't get any but it looked awesome!

 

 

They also had these amazing french macarons in lemon, raspberry, caramel sea salt and pistachio.  They were HUGE!  Seriously - the size of the palm of my hand!

And of course I got one.  Caramel sea salt.  I'm not stupid!  I know a 'find' when I find one!

I also got the most amazing beverage I've ever had.  It was a guava lemonade.  Truly the best limeade or lemonade type beverage I have ever, ever, EVER had the pleasure of enjoying.  If you find yourself in LAX you really need to find this joint and grab a bev at the absolute least.  

But I recommend you get a bev and a macaron.  

I'm just sayin...you'll thank me.

 ~

Thursday night I met with the first of my nine interviewers and had a great time chatting with her.  After we wrapped up I headed out into downtown to find some dinner. 

Cool thing they had here was a "bike share".  For a small fee you can just grab a bike at your point of origin and drop it off at a different bike rack near your destination.  Kinda cool!

Totally not cool for this germophobe was the location of the hand towels and wash cloths in my hotel room.  Is there not enough room to the left of the throne and maybe up 12"?  I mean - seriously!  I had to ask the GSA for some fresh towels and set them on the bathroom vanity - far away from the toilet.  Genius move Mr. Hotel designer man...

Today, Friday - I did my remaining eight interviews.  They went really well and the team was very welcoming and kind.  I wrapped up early enough to enjoy the public transportation and hit the local mall to grab a few toiletries from Sephora before heading to the airport.  Back at the hotel I retrieved my luggage, hopped in a taxi and arrived at the airport.  I checked in, went through security and sat down to wait for my flight.  Not 30 seconds later I heard the chirp of my phone indicating I had received an email.  Delta was sending me a "Dear John" email.  My flight had been cancelled.  Shit.

~

So, presently I am sitting at the airport awaiting a flight I managed to book last minute on Southwest Airlines.  I had to purchase the dang flight for $330.00 and am hoping the company I interviewed with will reimburse at least the cost they are getting refunded for my Delta flight.  I had to retrieve my checked luggage, shuttle to a different terminal, check in with SWA and go through security again.  The only upside here is that I will arrive in Phoenix 90 minutes earlier than I would have arrived on my original flight.  Considering I have a two hour drive home from the airport, I'm grateful to be getting into Phoenix earlier than originally planned.

Well, okay.  That's not the only upside.  

I was afforded time to write about my trip on my lil blog.  :)

~

And so, I will leave you with this lovely image from my adventures here over the past two days.  While San Jose may not have exactly given me a big ol warm hug-o-welcome, they do hug their trees.

And that's just lovely!