Ah, the Newport life!

Had to work this past weekend at our annual physician conference - this time at The Island Hotel in Newport Beach (last year was Dana Point). This hotel was formally the Four Seasons, which I supposed is a pretty big deal--I really wouldn't know! But it's new owners were pretty fabulous, in fact it was the best treatment we've received as long as I've been involved in these things. And the price was right--deep discounts! Wish I could have enjoyed the room I was given just a little more. The hotel event coordinator upgraded my room to a 2 room suite with a corner view of the ocean and the mountains on the 6th floor. Beautiful. Scott and Scottie came over on Saturday afternoon and got to enjoy the room a little more than I did. (I did sneak in the sunset between conference and dinner Sat night, which was nice.)

My job? Point person/coordinator for the conference with a pretty heavy agenda. Worked my butt off prior and while I was there; thank goodness there was 3 of us! Got an average of about 3-4 hours sleep for the past 10 days. AND had to work on Monday. But it came off without too many problems and I got OT and DT to boot. Will come in handy with Scott still looking for work....

This conference is a pesonal challenge for me, because it seems so much bigger than I'm really capable of handling. It seems I have to work twice as hard (and long) just to make sure it's OK.

She's back!

Thanks to Scott, she's been resurrected! I was ready to call the junk yard and have them haul it away.

2 years ago when Bethany got her car, we didn't have any more room to park her in front of the house. Since we don't have a driveway, only an alley, we parked 'er on the backyard slab. There she sat--lonely and neglected. The spiders were her only friends. I think all the kids learned to drive in her, except one, but they all hated to drive it because it wasn't cool....it was the family van and who wants to drive a family van when you've just received your driver's license? So Scott charged the battery and Viola! She started on the first turn after sitting soooo long. I actually love that van, except when the air conditioner went out, then the heater, which we never seemed to have the money to fix. HOT in the summer and BRRRR in the winter. Oh yeah, I think the CD player is broken too. I wish the picture above was the real deal, just a pic of what it looked like when we bought it. She certainly isn't perfect. The paint on the roof is completely gone, the dent in the side is still there (won't say how that happened), still doesn't have heat or air, needs a couple of motor mounts, and the interior is showing it's age. But it's clean--spiders gone-- paid for, and runs, and it will come in handy with Jo and Amanda coming next month. I've even offered to drive her again (am I nuts?), just because I don't work that far from home. Thanks Scott for not giving up on her.