23w2d

This was one long week. We had people from around the world in town for a week-long conference. Monday through Wednesday afternoon were spent in a hotel downtown sitting through presentation after presentation. Some of it was focused on soft skills, other pieces were technical. And because of my current work situation, instead of sitting through all of the presentations and just listening, I also had to present a couple myself (which I just found out about the week before). Others had months to prepare for their presentations and I found myself presenting topics that someone else had prepared the slides for. Not the ideal situation. It was also the first time I've spoken in front of that big of a crowd (70 people) and had to use a microphone. All in all, it went off swimmingly. During the first presentation, I must have been nervous because Apple and Banana were kicking up a storm. It was a little distracting!

We started each morning at 7:30am or 8:00am depending on the day. Monday night was a mandatory dinner. Tuesday night was a Rockies game (which I skipped). I was pretty sore all week and it was difficult to sit in those hotel conference chairs all day long. On Tuesday, they found me a "more comfortable" chair. It was more cushioned, but deep and the back leaned back pretty far. Not the most comfortable thing for a short person to sit in, but I didn't want to complain after they went to the trouble to find something more comfortable for me.

Wednesday afternoon around 3pm, we all headed up to Vail for the rest of the week. I drove myself so I would have total control over when I left Friday and wouldn't have to go back into town since I live on the West side of town. By the time I checked into the hotel Wednesday and got settled, I had about 20 minutes to rest before it was time for dinner. Dinner was just a 5 minute walk (for a normal person) in the village, but it took me about 15 minutes to get there and I was exhausted, huffing and puffing the whole way. I definitely noticed a difference with the change in altitude. Dinner didn't end until about 9:30pm and then I had to walk back to the hotel. The village is all cobblestone and, while it is beautiful, it is pedestrian only, so there was no option to drive or take a cab.

I slept horribly Wednesday night. While everyone else thought the beds were supremely comfortable, it felt like I was sleeping on concrete. I tossed and turned all night and woke up sore. Thursday was another day of presentations and break-out groups until around 3pm. At that point, we met to kick off the team building activity. It was a pseudo amazing race where teams had to complete different challenges around town. I knew I wouldn't be up to running around Vail with a team, so I settled for sitting at one of the stations and watching all of the teams come through. Unfortunately, as soon as I got in the car with the coordinators, my boss called and asked if I could join a conference call. So they dropped me back off at the hotel and I spent the rest of the afternoon in my boss's room on conference calls. Dinner was another lengthy affair that lasted until 9:30pm.

I didn't sleep well again and by yesterday morning, I was ready for the week to be over. We had one more presentation from 8 to 9am and then it was back to my boss's room for another conference call. I was excused from the call 10 minutes early so that I could go get my massage. In the meantime I accidentally locked myself out of my room and had to lug all of my work stuff down to the spa with me. My massage was at 11am and I had to be on another call at 1pm. The massage itself was nice. They had one of those cool pregnancy cushion contraptions with pieces that move around to accommodate lying on your back, side or stomach (with cut outs for the belly and boobs). The cushion was really comfortable. But of course, it was hard to relax and calm my brain down in between phone calls and a hectic day.

Without all of the actual work going on, the idea was that you get your massage and then go eat a leisurely lunch with others in Vail and hang out for a couple of hours enjoying the scenery before heading home. No such luck for me. I didn't want to sit at the hotel for the 1pm call because I didn't know how long it would last and I knew I would have work to do after the call. So after my massage, I rushed to pack up, check out and was on the road by 12:30pm. The call lasted until 2:30pm, 15 minutes past when I got home. I then spent the rest of the day working from home and finally stopped around 5pm.

I slept pretty good last night back in my own bed with the proper configuration of pillows and our 4-inch memory foam pad. I really missed my bed. Today we are trying to make final paint decisions for the dining room, master bedroom, and the niche in the family room. I'm expecting a call from the painter this week to let us know he's ready to start. We also have a vet appointment for Scout today (just normal routine exam and shots). I haven't seen our vet since I got pregnant, so I'm going to go with B today when he takes Scout in. We absolutely love our vet and she's gonna freak when she sees me!

For your viewing pleasure, below are this weeks belly shots in addition to a shot of the stroller and car seats that B put together last weekend. Enjoy.