I’m in a bit of a crunch time at work with nearly every minute planned out, so I’m stealing a few minutes to post on this here neglected blog.
Yesterday was a big event at work, and then we have a conference that starts Sunday night. So…I’ll be clocking around 8 hours on Sunday, 14 hours on Monday, and 10 on Tuesday. Then I have a test Wednesday night. And then, then! I leave for Minneapolis on Thursday for a good five days! Hurrah!
Last weekend was my dad’s birthday, so I went down for a visit. The big difference for this trip was that I flew! Yes, there is now a flight between St. Louis and my parents’ town in northeast Arkansas. February is the first month of service, and round-trip tickets are promotionally priced at $50. Sweet!
The plane, as you can see, was small. Teeny. Seats for 8, and don’t even think about a bathroom or beverage service. Pictured above is the plane I rode in on the way down. It was once the private plane of the governor of Maine (hey, that rhymes), and had big, comfy leather seats that swiveled around and laid all the way back. It was rather luxurious.
One nice thing about the teeny planes is that they cruise at such a low altitude, you have plenty to look at during the flight. Stuff like…farmland.
There was more farmland, but I only took one picture during the flight.
When leaving Jonesboro, I remarked to my parents that there were no security measures at all. Not even a wand. While glad to take my full water bottle on board, I couldn’t believe it. Upon arriving in St. Louis, we found out that any passengers with connecting flights had to go through security there because Jonesboro doesn’t have any TSA stuff going on. Just think of all the stuff I could have smuggled aboard had I only known!
Shoes
On Tuesday, I bought a new pair of shoes. This is rather monumental for me.
What is especially notable is that these shoes are shiny metallic and have a stylized bow on them. Apparently, this is the sort of shoe I wear now:
I’m also in love with a pair of bright yellow pants at Target, but they’re a tad too tight for comfort. These are surprising changes in the clothing front.
Journaling
For the past couple of weeks upon awaking, I’ve been writing a list of 10 things for which I’m grateful. Actually, I write down things that make me sad and angry too. The point is that writing them down is supposed to move you towards acceptance. I like this practice, but since I always spend some time free-writing afterwards, I either need to get up earlier or move it to the night.
I used to keep extensive, detailed journals, but I stopped quite some time ago. It’s been good, yet uncomfortable at times, to start again.
I’ve also been rereading parts of some old journals, and I’ve been quite struck at some of the keen insights I had way back then.
Journaling: it’s a good thing to do.