Kansas City.... the arrival.

Oh Kansas City.... I had such high hopes for you. I mean after all its Kansas freakin City, Missouri! What could be more awesome??? Apparently there are a lot of things that are more awesome than Kansas City, MO. LOL.

So... I get off the plane into what can only be called the smallest "real" airport ever which was kinda okay since I didn't have to take any devilish shuttles to baggage claim or anything. I'm thinking we could just go outside and stretch my cute arm up like the Sex in the City Chicks... or like we do in DC and a cab would come and scoop me up. Not so! You had to make cab arrangements by telephone and a cab designated specifically for you, and not the other 100 people also looking for a ride would come and rescue you. OR you could call Super Shuttle. Super stupid Shuttle... The same super shuttle who broke my fancy huge red roll on suitcase when they dropped me off at my hotel. Seriously Mr. Super Shuttle driver of van 567??? If my bag is in the middle of a massive pile of suitcases, why would you try to grab the bag from the handle and yank it from said pile, rather than just taking the other three suitcases from on top of mine and carefully pulling mine from the top of the pile.

Its sad my handle had to suffer from such mishandling.

So... we arrive at the Hotel Phillips... a "swanky" four-star boutique hotel in downtown Kansas City.

I get inside my four-star room on the twentieth (top) floor of the four-star hotel that I would be living in for the next week and it dawned on me... four-stars in Kansas City, MO are rated a little differently from four-stars in the rest of the world. Hahahahaaaa. The room was cute, I'll admit. But I feel like one of those stars should have been removed due to my not having a refrigerator or microwave in my room. Granted the hotel is super old and such... but Ummmmm... welcome to 2010 KC.

I immediately got on the phone and gave the customer complaint office of KC Super Shuttle an earful regarding the murder of my suitcase by the driver of van 567. Hmmmph! After resolving that issue it was time to go find food... because, hello, its me!

Went to the hotel restaurant, because the owners of downtown Kansas City, MO have decided that the entire city should shut down at 5:00 PM. Even CVS closed by 5:00 which is uber stupid. The 12&Baltimore restaurant was super cute with free wi-fi! After a nice overpoured glass of Riesling... I was all getting used to the humdrum that was KC. BUT the highlight of my day was the beautiful Shrimp Po Boy Sandwich that I consumed at said restaurant. Heaven on the tongue!

God Bless you Kansas City! *dreamy sigh*

If you don't know where you are going... how will you know when you've arrived???

So I attended a training today about Creating your Brand. Making a name for yourself in the workplace. The instructor tasked us with writing our mission statement and I am embarrassed to say that I struggled with this assignment. What is my mission? Why am I here? What is my purpose? What do I want people to say about me when I leave? These may sound like easy questions but they are harder to put into words than I thought. I even struggle with the simple "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" question. I know that I have a place in this world but I need to figure out exactly where that place is.

Mission statements are essential in our personal and our professional lives. When I was in high school it all seemed so simple. I was going to be married by 25 and my career was going to be an elementary school teacher. Well... I am well past 25, not married and certainly NOT a teacher. I just don't know where I went wrong.

With 30 approaching so rapidly, I am charging myself to create and live by a mission statement for my personal life and for my professional life. I want to operate with a purpose. I want the destination of my life to be well known so that I know of I'm on the right road.

Stay Tuned... More on this later.

I'm such a girl...

Okay so I had a loooong day of shopping for back to school stuff with my BFF Saturday and got in later than usual. He was such a gentleman and followed me home since it was dark outside. I parked my car and had him drive me to my door since it was raining; I refused to get my hair wet. We pull up in the parking lot and guess who's waiting for us???

Baaaaaby... let me tell you I had a FIT! Uber terrified, I refused to get out of the car. I called my "Comforter", who is out of state, as if he could come and rescue me from this horrific scene. It was the WORST! These huge evil raccoons were climbing out of the dumpster and ran under a car that of course is parked directly in front of my door. It's like pitch black outside and raining, I have to pee like never before, I have to carry about 6 bags and a stupid ottoman and somehow get in the door without these monsters attacking me! I had on Flip Flops... they were right at ankle height... It was all way too convenient!

I don't understand where these little nasty greedy monsters came from. There are no woods near us. I live in the most un-raccoon-like area ever. Uuuugh... Beat It!

Then I'm texting some other friends to see who can offer a solution to this emergency that I am experiencing and one of my friends replied "Awww Raccoons are so cute. Just like a cat. Don't be scared" All I could do is shake my head and roll my eyes when I read such nonsense!

I ask you today... Is this the face of a cute precious little cat-like animal???

I had to reply and ask her what kind of freakish devil cats did she grow up with?!?!?!!!

So...I asked my BFF to honk his horn, to see if they would run back into the dumpster. At least that would let me know exactly where they were. No luck. They weren't the least bit affected by the noise. I sat in his car a good 15 minutes contemplating my next move while the raccoons moved back and forth between the dumpster and the parked car. Just dumb and greedy!!! I was so scared that I considered having him drive me to my mother's house to stay the night.

Finally we just decided to be brave and go for it. I, of course, asked him to carry all of the heavier items in first... give me the go-ahead to follow and then I would make my way out of the car. LOL. But not until he offered a FULL, Touch and Agree, Get all Into it kind of prayer to God asking for safety and declaring that we would not be attacked! In the end I made it in the house safely and then looked out of my window for the next half hour to see if I saw them again. My adrenalin was on 1000!!! I couldn't sleep and my heart was racing. After an hour or so I was able to unwind... so all was well.

I STILL feel like Nature owes me an apology and darnit I'm waiting!