Updates Galore

When you wait a bazillion years to post on your blog, you end up with lots of little updates to share.  So sorry for the lull in my posts!  But there definitely has been lots going on, both at home and at work.  I'm going to blow through a quick run-down of a few of the blog-worthy events that have happened.  Happy Tuesday!

Boston
I went to Boston a few weeks ago for work.  This marked the first time I have been to Boston and also the first time I have traveled with work.  I was asked to help work at our booth for a sports analytics conference hosted by MIT.  I was only gone for a few days, but standing on your feet all day makes for very long days.  Regardless, I had a great time.  Now I'm gearing up for another conference we have soon, but this time it will be in Los Angeles and I'll be gone for a week. This will mark another first for me since I have never been to LA either.

I'll have to be honest, I didn't actually see Boston, except from out of the conference center's windows.  But we did go to the oldest pub in Boston for some drinks and scored some tickets to a Boston College hockey game.  Guess I'll need to go back some time to see all the great things this city has to offer.

Alas, here is basically the extent of Boston I witnessed...

Exciting eh? And here is our booth, which is where I spent all my time that weekend.

Couple pictures from the hockey game...

Will be interesting to see how much of LA I actually see and experience.

World of Wheels
Where else can you go to enjoy a nice, casual evening with your parents and husband that includes a convention center full of hot rods, motorcycles and scantly-clad women?  Well none other than the World of Wheels of course.  All jokes aside, it was a lot of fun seeing all the cool cars from the 50s, 60s and 70s.  And even more fun to see cars that my grandparents and parents had and drove back in the day.

This is a Chevy Impala, which my Grandma and Grandpa Kautz had.

And this is a Plymouth Belvedere, which my dad drove when he was a teen.

Taxes
I despise taxes, but I really like the feeling of when they're done and getting money back from the government.  Thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law!  We still owe you :)

Lance
A couple weeks ago Matt got to meet his idol - Lance Armstrong.  Lance was in Kansas City for the unveiling of the new naming to Sporting KC's new stadium - Livestrong Sporting Park.  Not only did he get to ride in an elevator with Lance while touring the stadium, but he also shook his hand and got several pictures taken with him.  Matt was on Cloud 9 for a few days.

No Time to Potty
My mom used to say there were days when she was at work that she wouldn't even get the chance to stop and use the bathroom because she was so busy.  I always thought to myself, "Well now, that's just crazy.  How can someone seriously be so busy that they can't take 2 minutes to run to the bathroom?"  Oh my, how the tables have turned, and now I completely understand.

If I haven't already said this before, then you get to hear it again.  My job is very high-stress with extremely quick, turn-around deadlines. For example - someone will walk up to me at 2 pm and say they need a brochure, and oh yea, they need it by 3 pm because they're leaving for the airport at 3:30 to get to a meeting tomorrow where they will be talking with a potential client.  So, if you felt like you had to pee before they walked up, you better believe you'll be holding it until after that brochure is finished, because from 2 till 3 you are scrambling to figure out what to put in the darn thing and get it printed and bound.  Whew, I'm getting stressed just writing about it.

This situation pretty much sums up how my days have been at work for the last several months.  I know I shouldn't complain because I am extremely blessed to have a good job that seems to be stable, so basically, I am simply cherishing the days when I have time to make the 50 steps to the restroom for a potty break.  It's the small things in life now-a-days.

iPhone
That's right folks, I finally got my much-desired iPhone!  Yippee!  And let me tell you, the wait was worth it.  I love this little piece of technology!

Free Dogs
As I already mentioned in this and this post, Neeko and Sophie went an entire week free of their kennels.  And they did great!  We are now onto week 2, so here's to hoping they can keep it up.

Good Recipes
I have made some great recipes lately, which I will be sharing very soon!

Backyard Crashers
Due to the late March snow, we haven't been able to get out into the yard yet, but we for sure have a plan in place.  I'm actually really excited about this because I am super tired of looking out our back windows at flower beds full of nothing but mud.  We have lots planned to make-over our pathetic backyard.  Here's my fabulous drawing of our plans...

If you can't make out what I was trying to accomplish, then here is a break-down:
Splitting the huge flower bed that lines the entire back fence into 2 smaller beds in the corners.  We will add some small shrubs and pretty flowers and add rock (our dogs like to eat and track in mulch - so annoying).  Then we will seed the remaining with grass.  That is the major project, but otherwise we have a couple other beds that need to be rocked and planted.

Anyone else have big make-overs planned for their yard this spring and summer?  We are also getting the exterior of our house painted this spring.  Going to be a complete transformation at our casa!