On The Road Again!

A few days after returning from Hawaii I was off and running again. Thursday I flew to San Jose, CA to attend the CA Kindergarten Conference in Santa Clara. I was really excited, not having been back to CA since I was less than 2 yrs old (I was born in LA) except for stops in the LA and SF airports. Unfortunately, it was SOOOO cold (Gov. Arnold declared a state of emergency due to the cold spell). So I brought my NJ jacket and scarf with me. I had a lovely room at the Hilton across from the conference center. The first night I had dinner with an old friend (not old in age, old as in....we were friends when we were really little....ages 5 - 9, when we lived in the same building. Though I had spoken to Bruce two or three times in the past, I had not seen him since I was 12. I was supposed to go to his house for dinner and meet his family, but due to his mother-in-law's severe illness, his wife was preoccupied, so he came and took me to dinner. We had such a fun time, talking and reminiscing for over 3 1/2 hours. He is SUCH a nice person. We vowed to keep up our friendship. I am really looking forward to one day meeting his wife and kids. AND...he is a first time grandfather to a 7 month little girl! Hey Avi...didja hear that? Think you might like an "older woman?"

The conference was pretty good, although there were one or two sessions that I could have presented myself. On Sunday night I got to go into San Francisco. I viewed the Golden Gate Bridge from the lookout center

went to Ghiardeli Square (just walked around), Fisherman's Wharf (saw/heard the seals), and ate at Scoma's, a really good restaurant there...

Before leaving Frisco, I bought the cutest pair of silk pajamas for Avi. I really prefer NOT to get things that advertise where they are from, but I knew that these would easily be known as having been gotten in San Francisco. I just couldn't resist them. They are navy blue, and have a dragon on them. Alison was born in the year of the Dragon, so I thought it was perfect:

Monday I was heading home. I knew the weather in Dallas had been really bad the day before, and I was making a connecting flight there. I found out that with the delays in San Jose due to plans arriving from Dallas, I would not make my connection. American Airlines was really nice and switched me to Delta, going thru Atlanta. I had to wait several hours,thankfully in my hotel room, before the flight. But unfortunately, while I had 2 hours in Atlanta, I could not see Alison, Michael and Avi as it was a little late when I got there and Avi had just fallen asleep, the weather was bad...no need for them to schlep out. I got into Palm Beach at midnight, home, unpacked (of course) and in bed at 1:30 AM...up at 5:30 for work. Can't wait to catch up on mysleep.