Home Sick

The past 5 weeks have been a travel blur and a routine shaker. It’s taken me an entire week to regain any real energy let alone muster enough inspiration to open up the blue mailbox. But I finally have myself back together enough to at least write somewhat of an update – perhaps more of a “journal entry” than my typical blog entry.

As you may recall from my last writings, Doc. B. and I went on a Hilton Head vacation at the beginning of April. We came back for two days and then I was off to Florida to assist in providing training for some of our SSA field office employees. I came back home for another two days and then made my first ever visit to the Social Security holy land – Baltimore (it was almost as exciting as the time I made a work-related trip to the Mecca of Wal-Mart in Bentonville, Arkansas). I was in Baltimore for two weeks, along with 22 other SSA employees, to learn how to do interactive video training (IVT). I now know how to write a training script, how to use a teleprompter and what not to wear when you are on camera (saturated colors, stripes, polka dots and leopard skin prints don’t go over too well – thankfully my wardrobe contains very little of these types of garments). When I returned home a week ago, my parents greeted me at the door. They were able to make our house a pit stop on their way home to Michigan from Florida.

So for an entire month, I was in my little work cubicle for only one day. Pretty cool, huh?

There were many difficult times for me over the month. Being away from Doc. B and the kitties, being “on” all the time, stepping outside of my comfort zone to be on camera, and just plain being away from my beloved routine in good old Atlanta.

But what I just realized is that despite stepping outside of my routine box, I really had a great time on my trips. I have wonderful new friends/co-workers because of it all. Just because I’m out of my element doesn’t mean I can’t have fun. Perhaps next time I'll realize this while I’m in the midst of the fun rather than days later.

p.s. When I left a month ago, Doc. B. was building an arbor in our backyard. The photos are what it looked like when I left. While dad was in town, he helped on it a bit and it’s coming along nicely. I’ll post new pictures when it’s done!