We're Going Back to Cali. To Cali. To Cali.

It was a stressful trip, or rather a much dreaded event for the two weeks leading up to it. In my stomach, I knew I would not be returning home to my family. My flight was canceled last Sunday (as were all flights leaving Atlanta) when the Blizzard of 2009 hit us with 4-6 inches of snow before the afternoon had barely arrived. I arrived at John Wayne airport in Orange County on Monday morning after catching the first non-stop out of ATL.

Training ended early and I found that Amy was instructing a class in a nearby town only 20 miles away. We had previously agreed to meet for coffee one afternoon, but finding out about her class and that it had an opening was an unexpected thrill. I have admired her work ever since I started up my Etsy shop a year ago and have enjoyed exchanging tweets with her on Twitter. In her class, I learned how to make a toggle clasp out of glass. My efforts aren't that pretty, but then I was focusing more on technique than color combinations & decorations. I'll post pics tomorrow. Before I left, Amy gave me one of her signature droplet beads :)


When driving back to my hotel after the class, American Pie came on the radio singing to me that this would be the day that I die. A quick push of the seek button to the next radio station landed me in the middle of a rage on Revelations from a Christian radio station. Off went the radio and the hands gripped the 2 and 10 positions on my steering wheel for the next 30 minutes.


During the course of my training class, I learned how to use various test sets for finding troubles on phone/data lines in the field. I climbed down into a manhole and I raised myself 40 feet in the air on a bucket truck extension arm. The view of the San Bernardino mountains was awesome, although I didn't have my camera with me.


The highlights of the trip were taking Amy's class (was totally unprepared for any torch time!), hanging out with her for a coupla hours in Starbucks the next day, driving to San Clemente down the Coastal Hwy (all the above pics were taken on my drive to SC or on their pier), dinner with Level 3 friends of Todd's in San Clemente, training ending a day early and getting a 3 hour layover in Salt Lake City where my best friend from the 2nd grade picked me up & hung out with me over dessert. This was the first time I have seen Becky in 25 years. How fun to catch up face-to-face after so many years and now be moms.

So. Very. Thankful. To. Be. Home. Safe.

With my husband and kids. They are the absolute best things I have going on in my life!