Pollen SUCKS!!!

I have been not so fondly reminded of one of the main reasons I was glad to leave the eastern US so many years ago - pollen. It has been atrocious this week. My blue truck was yellow when I left work yesterday. It started on Sunday with my fateful decision to go for a ride on the motorcycle to enjoy the wonderful weather we are having. It seems that woke up my sinuses to the fact there's pollen here, and lots of it. And now my nose is constantly running, and I feel like a huge clamp is tightly attached to my head. I woke up this morning with a huge headache. Given it's already 74 degrees today, and it's only noon, I have had my windows open to enjoy this. And of course, it's contributing to my misery. So I will be making a trip to the store to stock up on allergy meds this afternoon.

On to other happenings, it has been a while since I did any updates. My project is finally up and running at full speed. This next week is when all the trades will be officially in the building going to work, so it's going to be a little crazy. I've been doing coordination meetings with them, in hopes that it encourages them to look ahead a little. Too many times the foreman get the drawings and don't take the time to think of anything other than what's on them. You would think that wouldn't be a big deal, but it is. Relying on designers to think of any other scope of work is like relying on the foreman to think of anyone else's work. It rarely happens. So it's up to me and Scott, my superintendent, to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. We'll see how that goes.

Speaking of work, I was talking to my project manager yesterday about another project in Colorado, because that QC manager is too lazy to do his own job, so I'm doing it for him, but that's another story. Anyway, the topic of future work came up, and I asked what other stuff my company has in the pipeline. After a long explanation from the PM, and his seeming sense that he knew why I was asking, he ended his discussion with, "Well, we don't have anything right now. But don't worry, there's time before you finish this one." What I heard - start looking for work. I already knew this was coming, it's not hard to see with my company. The other company in our joint venture effort is my first call, because I know chances are pretty good I can hire on with them. One of their head honchos is going to be here in a week and a half, and I plan to pull him aside and discuss it. We'll see what happens. My current project doesn't end till October, so there's still time.

I'm still doing my monthly trips home, I am definitely wracking up the miles. I had to call Delta the other day about something, and the guy I was talking to saw how quickly I've piled up the miles and was amazed. I said - "when you're flying from Seattle to North Carolina monthly, that tends to happen." I'm doing a super duper quick trip next weekend, I fly into Seattle Friday night and leave Monday morning. All to participate in two fantasy baseball drafts. I have priorities :-). Then I go back for my normal 5 trip the first weekend in April.

So, a few weeks ago, I did a whirlwind of traveling around the country. I hopped on a plane on a Friday afternoon amid tornado warnings and flew to Dallas to witness my nephew Keyan's baptism. It was great fun to see everyone, even if only for one day. Somehow on this trip, I managed to not get a single picture of Brynna. I'm such a horrible aunt. But here's what I did get:

Keyan and Tracen at the baptism. Donuts and milk were provided afterwards, as you can see here. Such cute boys!

After the baptism, we went back to the house, changed our clothes, and headed to a park to play for a little while. Keyan and Jeff took on Jessie and I in a game of basketball. It was good fun, it has been a while since I've played any ball, even just messing around. So I enjoyed it. Keyan made the winning shot for his team, then we headed to his actual basketball game. He was playing for the 2nd grade league championship. He played awesome, even getting a rebound and taking off down the court for a lay-up, only to be stopped by the ref to remind him he had to dribble as he ran... :-). It was cute. Anyways, they won the game. Here he is proudly with his trophy:

Here's Jessie with Maddox afterwards:

Tracen playing during the game. Apparently basketball spectating isn't his thing yet.

The other funny part of this day was as we walked into the middle school, there was a couple of machines that sold pencils and paper for 25 cents. Curious, and somewhat nostalgic, I bought some paper. Tracen was with me, and assumed it was for him, saying "Thanks!" as he grabbed it from the machine. :-) I wasn't going to argue, I had no need for it. So while we watched Keyan's team practice before the game, Tracen drew some pics for us.

Trace: What should I draw?

Me: A lion eating grandma's head.

Trace: Okay!

Once done with that excellent picture,

Trace: What should I draw now?

Me: A cheetah chasing Aunt Jessie, and she has a monkey on her head.

Trace: Okay!!

Again, awesome picture. Love it!! Alissa, probably not so much ;-) Sorry. What are Aunt's for?

One last one, here's Mad chillin' at the house:

We had a fun time, but alas, I was headed back to the airport on Sunday morning to go to a seminar in Vegas. I stayed at my timeshare that was just a short way from the Orleans casino, where the seminar was. This was a week long seminar for building inspectors to get a little smarter. I was a wee bit out of place, and quickly realized I don't know nearly as much as I thought about building inspection. But it's a good start, and I learned A LOT! I did a class on Monday for soil and foundation inspections, Wednesday was fire and smoke barrier construction, and Thursday was concrete inspections.

Tuesday was my off day, which ended up not being quite the play day I was expecting, but for a decent reason. Being I was at my timeshare, they of course wanted me to sit through one of their sales pitches. It worked, I bought a few more points. But I also got some free dinner coupons out of it, which is why I agreed to it in the first place. So that night, I took advantage and went to Bobby Flay's restaurant at Caeser's Palace. Here's the inside:

It was really nice, good ambiance. It was also insanely expensive, I was glad I had coupons. Here are pics of my meal. This was the appetizer, a blue corn crepe with some mexican type pork inside. Delish!

Next was the main course, seared ahi tuna on couscous. It doesn't look like much, but it seriously filled me up. And was super tasty.

I debated on desert, because I really was full. But then I figured, I'm at Bobby Flay's restaurant, when will I do this again, might as well. So I did. And oh my, was it a good idea! It's a chocolate cake thing that was like a lava cake, and had a warm toffee syrup on it. When I took the first bite, I actually said out loud "Holy crap!"

I felt like a rolly polly when I left, I was so full. But it was so worth it. All this, plus a soda, for a mere $85.... Good thing I had $75 worth of coupons. Throw in a tip, and not a bad deal.

Afterwards, I headed to the Venetian to catch the Phantom show. I've been before to this, and loved it. I love Phantom, so I take the chance to see it whenever I can. This night's version sucked. I seriously was watching my phone for the time so I could leave. I don't know if we got the understudies this night, or if they were off for whatever reason. The guy playing the phantom was trying to do some weird accent, and it wasn't working. He cracked several notes, and I swear I heard him sing the wrong words a few times. The actress who played Christine wasn't too bad, and the guy who played Raoul tried too hard. So I counted it as $130 down the drain. But such is life in Vegas, right? I decided not to do any other shows while there, save some money. I headed to the airport on Thursday night for a red eye back to NC.

So those are the goings on for now. I suppose I should shower and go buy my sinus drugs so I can get home and amply prepare to cheer on UK tonight. I think my neighbors may have wondered about me last night. I was seriously clapping and yelling when I was watching Duke lose. :-) Hope everyone is doing well, and cheering loudly! GO CATS!!!!