Mood:  caffeinated

Frustration and grumbling tummies.

I got back last night from my 3 days of Federal Appropriation Law Training in Wilmington. Appropriation Law…sounds exciting doesn’t it? I think I would have rather had bamboo shoots shoved under my finger nails. The instructor was FANTASTIC but the material she was teaching was very boring. I had to drink tons of coffee and eat two bags of lemon heads just to stay awake.

The first two days of class we had the dredge guys (ships that maintain the intercoastal waterways) with us. They were a riot and kept me laughing a good bit. I was the only one there from my project so I hung out with the folks from Jordan Lake. We stayed at the Wingate Inn which is my favorite hotel in Wilmington. They have fresh baked cookies at the counter when you check in and feather comforters on the beds. Each night I would meet up with the two people from Jordan Lake so we could eat dinner together. It was always a big deal when deciding where to eat because no one wanted to be the one to make the decision. I selected Elijah’s the first night so I tried to leave it up to the other two on the other nights. Well Wednesday night, John from Jordan decided to ditch us and went to Quizno’s so that left Carmen and I to try to pick a place to eat. We decided to drive to Wrightsville Beach to see what was there. I knew of two places to eat there, the Oceanic and the Dockside. So I decided to head to the first one. Well there were people lined all the way out the door so we deduced the wait would be too long. So we headed to the Dockside and after driving around to find a place to park we glanced at the menu and decided it just wasn’t appealing. We stopped at two other places but the food was too expensive. So we drove back to Wilmington and ate at the Outback behind the hotel. LOL I try to avoid chain places when on travel because there are always tons of great local places to eat but I was tried to driving around and trying to get Carmen to make a decision.

The drive back last yesterday was long. Distance wise it is only a two hours drive but when you a by yourself and it is pouring down rain it feels like you are on the road for an eternity. I got back to the office at 5:30 and grabbed my vehicle and drove over to pick up Potter at the doggie hotel. He was so happy to see me but I could tell he was exhausted. As soon as we got in the door he walked back the hallway to the bedroom and curled up on his bed. He didn’t move from that spot all night. He didn’t even try to just up in the bed with me. We talk our CCC test next Wednesday at 8:15. Keeping my fingers crossed that he passes.

I am off for the next 3 days as I get ready to start my 10 day straight duty shift. So I better get going and try to get some of this work done that has piled up on my desk while I was away. Hope everyone has a great weekend.