Day 1 - Fun in the Sun

On an all-expense paid trip to a Russ Reid conference in California, I send my jealous staff some greetings:


Hey everyone!

What a day! It started VERY early with a taxi ride from a man who used to volunteer at Dallas Valley as a Maintenance Man, and whose children attend Western Christian College. Oh and they both got a job at McDonald's.

A short flight to Minneapolis with a great seat and the very worst tea; I couldn't even drink it. I sat next to Mary-Louise Read from Estevan. Vicki, she knows a Schnell but not your parents, Ross & Lee. I helped her fill out her customs form.

Then as I was coming through customs I noticed a flight to Orange County 3 hours earlier than mine. Could I rush through the airport and beat the clock??!! I passed everyone on the moving walkways, looking like some kind of madwoman, I'm sure.

I get there, winded, out of breath, having not eaten any food for a very very long time... lo and behold, they said I could get on! BUT, the flight was nearly 4 hours and I was squished between two men.

Anyway, we chatted a bit. Accent man was British, and I learned all about his most interesting work history. He had a brief marked, "Confidential" so I was trying to sneak peaks. He's an inventor!! Numbers man was frustrated because there was a misprint in some kind of newspaper puzzle that is only for people like Jack and Paula. You have to get 10 numbers in
a row, both up and down, in 10 columns, and none of the numbers can be in the same row. See, I'm going bonkers just trying to explain it!

I read a two year old issue of Harvard Review. It's a $25 magazine so I finally got my money's worth. I was soooooo bored on the plane. Have you ever seen the Seinfeld episode where Elaine is losing it and screaming in her mind, "I'M SOOO BORED!!" etc. Well, that was me. For sure.

Speaking of Jack and Paula, WELCOME HOME! I missed you both very much!

So, then it was off to the hotel, just a few minutes away. My eyes were BEAT RED and SOOOO sore. They still are, actually. Visine has now helped some. At this point, I was a wreck, for various reasons. At any rate, I checked in, met the Vancouver crew: Maurice, Dwayne, and John; worked on my speech for tomorrow, then back to the John Wayne Airport to get my luggage.

I missed the shuttle back (the driver waited as long as he could but he had to get to his other government job helping senior citizens!) because they were so slow putting the luggage out. So, I went upstairs to buy a magazine and talked to a lady who is very mad at the Trinity Broadcasting Network (a Crouch couple who are in some kind of homosexual lawsuit?) At any rate, she got felt she got ripped off by these people because she tithed to them and never got
any "blessings" in return like they promised. Unless you count the Disneyland 50th anniversary sweatshirt from her mother and the sneakers, too. Yeah, so that was interesting.

Then, back to the hotel, with a Hispanic driver that talked so fast I couldn't understand him! And he forgot to shut the luggage door so had to pull over and fix that. He kept ignoring the beeping and this Danny Barrett sound/look alike and I are thinking, what the heck?

And then registration for the conference. Met the Quebeckers. Yeah, I spelled that like "duck." Sorry, Jon. They brought 5 people!! (It's a new CEO in case you didn't know.) And inside my Russ Reid bag are two books, one by Boundaries dudes, Cloud/Townsend called, "How To Handle the Difficult People In Your Life" LOL and the other called... ready for this, Becca? "BLOG" Yes, so it's my happy day!!

Which brings me to the present. Now I am paying through the nose for internet because KEN WOULDN'T LET ME BRING THE LAPTOP FOR FREE INTERNET IN MY ROOM.

I am at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine California. Apparently I can't play chess on this computer... We'll have to see about that! My number is 949-225-1234 and my room number is 623. You can call me for free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, if you do it from my house. lol.

So, now that I feel guilty, I better go. Tomorrow is Russ Reid Canada Day. I'm looking forward to it very much. Bye.

Michelle
xoxo