Whirlwind Day

So on Tuesday the 23rd my company flew me, Lupe & Crystal down to Oakland (icky) California for an annual manager's meeting. Since I was out sick the Friday before I wasn't even told until Monday and good thing Ray was able to get the day off to stay home with Elli! I set my alarm for 3:37am and Lupe and Crystal picked me up at 4:35am to make our 6:15am flight! We got to the airport at 5:00am and got stuck in a LOOOONNNNGGGG line at security! We made it through, stopped at the restroom, bought a coffee and then heard our last call! Lupe barely made it because he had to go back to the Starbucks line (I had just stood in this long line) to get a muffin! Thank God he made the flight - he hates to fly and would most likely not do well without us there! The flight there was fine - no turbulence at all! We were definitely tired though! Once we landed we had to wait for a shuttle to the rental car. We had reserved a SUV but of course they had none! They asked Lupe if he wanted a Dodge Challenger instead and he immediately agreed without asking Crystal if she would mind - since she was in the backseat! We took one wrong turn on our way there - that was my bad since I was using the GPS on my phone but still trying to do my makeup! Once we found our exit we went to go some breakfast at Jack in the Box and walked out of there 10 minutes before we were supposed to be at the meeting! We met at Campo di Bocce in Livermore. We had a joint maintenance & manager meeting about how well the company as a whole and some accomplishments of some of the properties. We then broke up for lunch - the managers went inside and we had a nice salad, bread, chicken pasta & dessert lunch. It was really nice to be able to meet all the other managers from CA! Some awards were handed out and I got a pin for 3 years with the company! I'm almost on 4 years but that isn't until November. Then we had a speaker, Tammy Laurens, talk to us about selling on phone calls - she talked super fast but was very fun to listen to! Crystal and I both answered questions correctly after and got a cup of goodies and Starbucks card! After our meeting we all got to play Bocce together and it was a blast! Lupe, Crystal, Liz, Alianna, Brandy and I were on a team together and we won 13-6! I really enjoyed meeting everyone and did have a lot of fun! We left there at 4:00pm to make it back to the airport for our 6:50pm flight! After returning the car we made it to another long line at security. Crystal was smart and brought a change of comfy clothes and changed while we were waiting. Lupe actually met Gary Payton and got his photo taken with him - what a lucky guy! We then grabbed dinner at California Pizza Kitchen - BBQ Chicken & Roasted Garlic Chicken! Crystal and I sure smelled yummy! The flight back had some turbulence but wasn't too horrible - we were just so happy to have made it home! We were like zombies walking all the way back to the car! Going back to work on Friday was exciting to share with the team but I could hardly keep my eyes open from working a 16 hour day and being up for 20 hours!