What I did for the last few days....
Yeah, I've been a little busy. I'm oh so glad that the conference is done.
The last few days before the conference I was trying to get everything done. I designed a bookmark to promote the association's social networking opportunities. I had to prepare for a poster session and make a handout. Lastly I had to work with my coworker to produce a presentation (she did the handout). The night before I left for the conference I was up quite late finishing up my handout. I have a tendency of procrastinating especially when I'm stressed (it's like grad school all over again). It doesn't help that once I'm in it, I get all perfectionistic all over the place.
Wednesday, we pulled into town where I had lunch with a group of folks who participated in the leadership Institute, I got there just a little late but other folks were late too. Then off to the conference we went. Wednesday wasn't too bad because I wasn't doing anything other than handing out the bookmarks. After the conference P picked me up and took me back to her friend M's house. We left and had dinner (black and blue burgers with milkshake) before visiting and to sleep.
Thursday, went to the conference and set up my poster session. The poster session seemed to go well. I spoke with a few folks and handed out my handout to a few more. Attended a few sessions, skipped the keynote and then practiced with my copresenter. When P picked me up, she drove me to the old hotel that M's family owns which is a few miles from M's house. It's an old hotel from the turn of the century back before there were any houses on this lake. It was very cool and then we drove back to M's before going to dinner(porkchops and mashed potatoes). When we got home, I helped M get some books from audible.com added to her ipod. She had owned it for like 2 years but never used it because she didn't know how to load things on her ipod.
Friday was the presentation and it was ok. It was a later session on the last day and we were pleased that 15 people showed up. I stayed for the closing keynote which was a presentation from the unshelved guys. Afterwards, P picked me up and we stopped back at M's house to have some lunch at the local co-op that P's been raving about. It was VERY nice to visit her. She is a retired art teacher and a little eccentric. As purple is her favorite color that's what she dresses in from head to toe. She's a bit of a recluse and I think suffers a bit from depression. She has a great dog named "Snapshot" since she also does photography. I hope to continue to know her. She was such a bonus while I was there.
After we left we drove back to St. Paul to meet with the attorney that has been helping us with the estate. I finally got the letters of testamentary to access the money to pay the builders for my Dad's house. I decided against going to his bank right then and we went to pick up some more paperwork from his partner. She continues to do poorly. It seems that her sister (the mother of her nephew who was also injured) is having a very tough time which is affecting everyone including her other son and possibly her marriage). UGH
After I dropped P off at home, I went to my 20 year high school reunion. That was pretty weird. I've got classmates who have had 3 heart attacks already, have had their 13 year old son pass away, one who doesn't expect to live beyond the next 5 years and one who wasn't able to come because she's pregnant with her 12th child (yes, I did mean twelfth!) She actually of a very conservative finnish religion. It was interesting to say the least. Most people were unremarkable (married and kids etc). Funny thing my cousin has worked with one of my classmates, they run in the same circles professionally.
Saturday morning I dragged myself out of bed and drove to the bank that my Dad uses to start dealing with that. I sure wish the attorney was better at communicating the process and what I need to do. Apparently as an executor, I've got to get a TIN issued for the estate which is different than my Dad's ssn. Thankfully the bank lady was gracious and I was able to do it online right there but it cost $10 to do it! What a hassle. We did have a great conversation about our local town (she also lives in the same town I do, but the bank isn't there). She's a progressive kind of gal too. She talked about getting together for coffee sometime. Interesting....
As I'm finally working on catching up on my life, I made myself clean the bathroom from top to bottom before I went to take a nap. P and I went to the annual halloween party which was pretty good great food, friends and bonfire. I enjoyed myself. P had a migraine but she toughed it out. She's been having trouble with migraines and thought it might be allergies. She is going to make an appointment to have her eyes checked and speak with her dr about her health.
Sunday we were going to sleep in but P woke up earlier than expected and I woke up because I missed her. We got ready for our couple's group and as usual, we were running late. Thankfully P had grabbed the leftover snacks we brought to the halloween party from the night before, except she also grabbed another container that she thought we brought too. She STOLE the cookies from the party! GRIN I thought that was hilarious. Couples group was good even if it was a difficult topic. After we got home, she went to bed and I ran errands catching up with groceries and etc. Dinner was a little behind so I made soup and sandwiches and off she went to work. I read through all the LJ but knew that I wouldn't have time to post until later (like now!)
I didn't want to go to work this morning. It will be better later. I hope.