I had a wonderful trip to San Diego, now I'm trying to adjust back to Iowa time and Iowa climate!

Our trip out was pretty uneventful - I didn't sleep much the night before because I had to be up so stinkin early and was worried about oversleeping. We flew from Waterloo to Minneapolis, and as I had booked my seat next to my friend Karen who ended up not going, I had the opportunity to meet someone new. I joked as we were waiting, that pretty soon my big fat hairy seat companion would show up. Fortunately for me - there was no big fat hairy man - just Ralph, a very nice man from Houston who flies a lot for his job. He was very kind and explained all of the intricacies of flying on a small plane - he didn't laugh at me too hard, and I only grabbed his arm with a death grip once.

Our flight from Minneapolis to San Diego had quite a bit of turbulence, I don't know why, but I was more comfortable on the bigger plane, probably because it was less clausterphobic for me. I read a little, knitted a little, and slept through the worst of the turbulence. My travel mates were all surprised that I was able to sleep through all of the bouncing - but I had Sarah Brightman in my CD player, and my ball of yarn to rest my head on. It was all good.

We checked in to our hotel on Wednesday around noon, and then walked around scouting out places for lunch. We settled on a Bennigans, and were all quite happy to get some food in our bellies - it was after 2:00 as far as our tummies were concerned. With some advice from the waitress who seemed to enjoy calling everyone sweetie, love, honey - we caught the trolley to Old Town. We had a lot of fun walking through the historical sites and shops. The weather was gorgeous - in the 70's - lots of beautiful sunshine. We stopped for a happy hour margarita and then ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery - how decadent is that!!! We rode the trolley back to the hotel and settled in for the night. We stayed at the Marriott Mission Valley - and let me tell you, they have the most divine beds and bedding of any hotel I have ever stayed in. We all commented when we regrouped in the morning that the down comforters and the pillows were wonderful - almost like sleeping in a nest.

The annual Planetree conference kept us on the go - but we heard many great speakers, and it was truly inspirtational. Planetree is all about patient centered care, and making the hospital experience a truly healing experience for the patients, instead of an institutionalized/cold/clinical experience. It really is some wonderful stuff. Our hospital has been a Planetree affiliate for about 3 1/2 years, and it's made quite a difference, especially in how we designed our new building, and how we provide care. We left with even more great ideas for improvement.

One of our keynote speakers was Judy Collins. I didn't recognize the name, but apparently she was pretty popular in her day. She spoke, and did some singing as well - she's in her late 60's or early 70's and can still put on quite a show! We also had the pleasure of having Julia Sweeney speak to us - she was on Saturday Night Live, and she read from a screen play she had written. It was simply hillarious!!!

We did make it out on the town after the big fancy awards dinner. We caught the trolley and went downtown. It was quite funny watching us try to navigate the trolley system - now which stop to we get off on - which color do we take next? We made it downtown in time to scout out the gas lantern tap and have a drink, and then catch the last trolley back at 1:00 a.m. After such a long day, and a few drinks, we truly had a hoot!!

On Friday after our conference ended, we took the trolley to Seaport Village. It was really neat! We had dinner there and did a little shopping.

The flight back - from San Diego to Minneapolis - was terribly rough. Our landing left a lot to be desired - I really thought that I was going to revisit my breakfast! We had a three hour layover in Minneapolis. It seemed like it would be a long time to wait, but after we got lunch and walked through the airport and got ice cream, it was almost time to board the plane to Waterloo. The plane to Waterloo was even smaller than the one we had taken on our way out. It had only three seats in each row. I was a little bit worried after the really bad flight from San Diego, and when the flight attendant did his opening remarks, he commented that we could be in for a bumpy flight. Fortunately - this was the best leg on the flight as far as turbulence goes. It was very smooth flying.

I was very happy to see my girls and my husband waiting for me at the airport. I was able to speak to them every day on the phone, but I was ready for some snuggles! They all did just fine without me - although I think they're glad to have me back. The house was a little bit messy - but considering that Chris had no help at all - it wasn't half bad. I must say that it gave both of us a little better perspective regarding his RAGBRAI week. He now understands what it's like when he calls home at night, and it's crazy and we're in middle of dinner, baths, etc., and I understand what it's like when you get home and you're just plain exhausted and you have to jump right back in! Olivia waited until Saturday to lose her loose tooth - I was happy that I was home to see the booty that the tooth fairy left her!

I was a little taken aback when I heard the furnace kick on for the first time - my brain must have still been in San Diego - "what - why is the furnace on - it's so nice outside". Of course the furnace was on - they had snow while I was gone afterall!!

I am anxious to fly with the girls - I don't think that they should wait until they're in their thirties to fly. It's easy to be afraid of something when you have no idea what to expect, and I don't ever want them to be afraid of flying.

Tomorrow it's back to work. I'm sure I'll have a tremendous amount of emails and voicemails waiting for me, and it's Medical Staff meeting Monday, so it will be a long day as well!!!