A Glimpse Back

She affectionately referred to me as "one of my best friends."

She jokingly called me "mom."

She would have been 27 today.

And she wrote this in my yearbook... "Never give up, never look back, and always have a box of tissues on hand - I hear the road is rough."

Little did she know, a good many of those tissues would be used mourning her.

But because of her, I try to live my life to the full... to never give up... and never look back.

However, on her birthday, I'm allowed a brief glimpse back... and the use of a few more tissues.

Who's HOME???

ME!!!

And SO happy to be here... so happy. Practically kiss-the-ground happy!

And now, to let you in on the secret, let's review where I've not been:

Haiti
Oman
Uruguay
South Africa
Thailand
Oregon
Netherlands (the)

Put 'em together and what do you get?? Where Lindsay has been since last Monday! The fourth largest city in the country, in the "everything-is-bigger" state of TEXAS!

The training ended on Friday and I got to spend the rest of the weekend with my friends Will & Christian, baby-three-weeks-away-from-making-an-appearance & two of Christian's younger brothers. We had a good time of painting their new apartment, reminiscing about years spend in VA, eating at Whataburger, going to The Galleria (mall second only in size to the Mall of America) and playing Trivial Pursuit.

Overall, this trip was really good. And overall, I am pretty much the happiest girl in NH, being home, home, HOME!

Last But Not Least

Lindsay is NOT, I repeat NOT in the Netherlands!

And she'll be home on Sunday night...

Then the secret will be released.

The End.

Dear Claire,

You will know soon :)

I'll be back safe and sound in NH on Sunday...

For now, just know that I am not in Oregon!

Love,
Lindsay

If I Were in Thailand, I'd Visit Tad & June

But I'm not, so I cant.

Today, was the last full day of training. Tomorrow we're only meeting from 7 - 12... then tomorrow afternoon, I get to see one of my friends whom I haven't seen in years. YAY!

I've learned a lot this trip - both about training and about myself. It's been a good opportunity and I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity.

And I'll be incredibly glad to be back home!

Who's In South Africa??

One... two... three... Not it!

Today was a full day of training.

And now I'm off to watch my Red Sox win this thing!!

PS - I miss NH... a lot!

There Once Was a Girl...

... who didn't travel to Uruguay!

Before I left for this trip I had to fill out a traveling profile for the person who would book my flights, hotels, etc.

I put "preferably an aisle" for my flight preference. That apparently read "Lindsay wants to sit in the middle of two large men on both her flights... oh, and please make sure her seatmates fall asleep... and snore for the duration of both flights" to the person who booked my flights.

Also, for the hotel, a king size bed was requested for me. I got two doubles... so, if anyone wants to come to anywhere-but-Uruguay, come on down.

We had a full day of training today, and it was very informative. I like the guy who is running it, and I look forward to the next three days. I'll come back one of the world's best nine trainers, I have no doubt.

And that's what I have to say about that.

I Have Landed

And I'm not in Oman :)

Perhaps at a later time I will tell you all the things about the flight, but right now, I'm tired.

The end.

Us? Competitive?

There is a certain brother of mine with whom my competitive nature tends to show itself more often than not. I wont name any names, but he has red hair and lives next door to me.

When we were younger, it did nothing to help family harmony... now that we're grown, it brings much laughter.

In the last month we've been "helping" each other get healthier by making it a competition.

This morning, I was feeling quite smug as I started my walk at 7:15. "Really, I should get points for even being out of bed at 7:15 on a Sunday, much less walking my little feet off," I was thinking...

BLAST! Coming toward me, on his way HOME from his walk was the aforementioned brother.

When we got within yelling distance, I asked where he had walked to. He replied, "To the mini golf course... it's really dark out there at 2:00am." For those of you unfamiliar with NH geography, the mini golf course is at least seven miles from our home.

Not to be out-done I graciously informed him that I wouldn't be in attendance at church this morning, as I was walking to the Mall of NH and most certainly could not be back by 10:30.

(on a side note, when he told me where he had really walked to, I specifically went a little further, even though before seeing him I had been contemplating turning back because I was cold)

It makes me smile that this competitive must-always-beat-those-around-me gene has been passed on to his daughter. We'll be eating dinner, none of us aware that we're in a race, when suddenly Chloe will throw down her fork and declare, "I WIN!"

PS - This afternoon I am packing for my trip... and I'm not going to Haiti.

The Trip of Which We Do Not Speak

A couple of weeks ago at work, I was given a big compliment by my supervisor. He chose me out of all the trainers at our company to attend additional training. Now, instead of training employees in our call center exclusively, starting in 2008 I will hopefully be traveling to many locations to help other trainers with their facilitation skills in the classroom.

It was an incredible boost to my spirit, and a wonderful answer to prayer, as I'd just been asking God to send something along to help me cherish the special stage of life that I'm currently in.

In an effort to keep all scary stalkers at bay, I've been advised to keep the location of my travels off my blog until I return.

So, I decided to make a game of it. I leave early this Monday, and will post on my blog each day a place that I am not! ha HA!

I leave you with this... I am not going to Madagascar!

Things That Made Me Laugh This Week

Cards that come in the mail from my VA brother & sister-in-law that say...

Red Rover, Red Rover, send cute, financially stable, emotionally mature men right over!

LOVE IT!

When Life Gives You Lemons...

... go to iParty with a friend & try on wigs!! (wonder why they didn't put THAT on a throw pillow?)

Being Short = Danger, Danger!

This morning, after purchasing my iced Dunkin Donuts nectar-of-the-gods, I was walking across the parking lot to my car.

And there was a large semi trying to get out of a small place.

He was pulling out at a tight angle, and suddenly, all I saw to my very-close-right was his chrome grill!

But then he cut the wheel even more, and we made eye contact.

And he read in my eyes, "Please don't run me over, because that's not really fun for me."

And he didn't.

That is all.