Hits and Misses (January 19-25)

I'm trying to get back into the blogging routine. Let's get started with a look at the week that was.

HITS

• Sunday evening was such fun having friends for dinner and a movie in Malibu. It's always great to hang out with the guys who keep me young and love me unconditionally. Throw in great conversation and Disney's Aladdin and you have the recipe for a great night.
• To end my time in Malibu, I experienced a first……lying in a hammock overlooking the Pacific. The view was beautiful, the hammock was relaxing, and the air was crisp. I never imagined that I would actually enjoy lazing away in a hammock, but it was awesome. Hopefully next time there won't be quite the chill in the air.  I have a feeling it would be easy to pass several hours in such a peaceful situation.
• My workouts became more intense this week as I resumed working with my trainer. I have always enjoyed working with Spencer, but had to put it aside because I simply didn't have time in my schedule. I was surprised when I got a message from him asking if I would be interested in scheduling two 30-minute sessions each week. These seem more realistic for my schedule and stamina at the moment. When my classes start at Union on Thursday, I'm not certain where my training times will appear, but I have a feeling it will seem more manageable to keep a 30-minute appointment than trying to find another two hours in my week.

MISSES

• Red eye flights and jet lag are the pits! I didn't want to leave Malibu, so I waited until the last possible minute to fly home. Teaching a 5:30 class after landing at the airport less than 10 hours earlier was not fun. I'm still trying to catch up on all of my rest without being too terribly cranky.
• Conflicting information is no fun while traveling either. When I arrived in Cincinnati to make my connection, snow showers had moved into the area and snow covered the runways. The agent at the gate assured us that our connection to Memphis was only delayed; the plasma screen in the terminal announced that the flight had been cancelled. It's never a good feeling to think that the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing. Thankfully, I made it to Memphis with only a 35 minute delay…..and a lot of stress in Ohio!
• Returning from holiday always seems so busy. My to do list has been long all week and it felt as though I would never catch up. I finally had to revisit the list and push things ahead to next week just to keep my head above water. 
• What made my schedule so insane were the tremendous number of technical problems I encountered. Web links wouldn't work. Once the links were established, Java couldn't support the documents without a significant update. Students still don't have access to necessary materials. My home computer required a major update that put it out of commission for several hours. It just seemed to be one thing after another once I got home.
• To top it all off, I'm fighting a cold or lung infection. I'm not running fever and don't really feel sick, but I've got more than the normal amount of congestion in my chest and head. My ears are stuffy, throat is irritated, and my left shoulder aches. (I think the shoulder aches are associated with an old injury that I've aggravated now that I'm beginning to lift in the gym again.)

There you have it!  Hope you all have a great week.