Running Away from it all...try it you'll like it!

Stress manifests itself in me in the following ways...

--Cranky, hair trigger
--Loss of any and all self-confidence
--Withdraw from friends etc
--Pulse racing, jittery, physically strung tight!

I was all of these times 100 when I got on Amtrack last Thursday

And then I breathed a huge, long sigh of relief...

Have you ever traveled by train?
It is delightful!
At least it was for me at 1:00 pm on a Thursday afternoon
I had the car all to myself, I kicked off my shoes and propped them up in the seat across from me
Spread my stuff out all over the table
and enjoyed the view!

The only thing that would have made it better would have been if I didn't  have an assignment due for my Masters class that day...
But regardless I was thankful to have 3.5 hours of uninterrupted time to work on it!






I was headed to Seattle for the 2012 NCSS (National Conference of Social Studies)
I was staying in the heart of the city and I was looking forward to some of the speakers -

Rick Steves!
Travel guy!
This man has made his living for the past 30 years by traveling to Europe 4 months out of the year and writing about it as well as filming a TV show...
Needless to say I admire him greatly! ;)

He was a very interesting speaker as well, sharing his insights after traveling the world for 30 years you learn a thing or two!

I was most excited about listening to Sandra Day'Occonor! She spoke about how she had to offer to work for free before a law firm would hire her! Can you imagine! If you don't know she "grew up" to be the first female to sit on the Supreme Court! She is funny and witty and not at all a stuffy lawyer!

The woman on the far right is Gerda Weissmann Klein - hands down the most inspirational! At 15 she was a young Polish girl when Hitler invaded her country.  She would lose her entire family and survive 3 years in a concentration camp before being liberated by the Americans even marrying the soldier who rescued her!  Her talk at an immigration ceremony where 20 immigrants were swore in as American citizens simply brought me to tears! And reminded me that we should be proud of America it goes much deeper than our politicians!

I don't remember the guy in the middle - he wrote speeches for Bill Clinton - he was the moderator.

In addition to listening to inspirational speakers I stayed in a lovely room on the 17th floor.  It was lovely because instead of someone making a mess behind me someone actually showed up every day and cleaned up after me!
Remarkable!

Another thing I loved was getting up at 6 am every morning and going for a run in the city...
I absolutely love getting up early -
No traffic, the vendors focused on setting up for the day, the lack of people...I love it!

Have you been to Pikes Market? It is wall to wall people, jam packed and frankly a bit overwhelming! This is what it looked like Friday morning at 6:30 am...

The same area 12 hours later...

I have a thing for pig heads...
I was thrilled to find this little gem! Complete with the fake eyeballs!
He looks so happy!


Tonight is the first night of Thanksgiving vacation...
It won't get any better than this moment
Tomorrow will be about running errands, getting ready for Thursday...

Thursday will be Thanksgiving...

Then the madness begins!!!!!!!

I received my first Christmas card in the mail today!
There is no stopping it!

Frychik