Pittsburgh!

So, I have been meaning to write an update for days now and I have just been enjoying myself soooo much taht I haven't done it yet. Lol. It is a bit weird to me that I can be enjoying working so much that I haven't posted. Of course, the enjoyment hasn't been had at work, it has been all the time not at work. I think I will start from the beginning. Monday was 'travel day' for me. My flight left for Las Vegas at noon, so I left for the airport at about 10am. I had to wait a couple of hours in Vegas before flying to Pitt so I called and chatted with my mom and I even had time to chat with my older brother for a bit, which is amazing since I almost never talk to him on the phone. Anyway, so as I was waiting in line for my turn to board the plane to Pitt from Vegas I noticed that the lady behind me in line looked familiar. I asked her if she just came from Portland and she said yes. I started chatting with her and she said she was from Pittsburgh. I mentioned that I had never been to Pitt before and asked if she had any suggestions about things that I should do while I was there. She said that there is a place that you can rent a kayak and go up and down the river. That was all she could think of at the time, and then we had to get on plane so I didn't see her again. I ended up not sitting by her and instead sat next to this cute couple from Pitt who were in Vegas for a niece's wedding. They were cute and told me that while I was in Pitt I had to make sure that I had a sandwich at the Primanti Bros and that I had to have a salad with french fries on it which is apparently something they do in Pitt. Anyway, I get off the plane and go to the baggage check and there is the woman that I met in line. She says "I am so glad to see you! We discussed it on the plane and we made a map for you of things to do while you are in town," and then she hands me a little map that she and her seat mates had drawn of Pittsburgh with numbers all over it, and a little key at the bottom with the names of things I should go. It was super sweet of them I thought.

Anyway, Judy was nice enough to let me sleep in on Tues since I was on west coast time. Still I was super tired when we got back home that evening because I had stayed up later than I meant to so Tues night I fell asleep about 6pm and slept until the next morning. It was glorious. :) So then on Wednesday I went for a little walk around the area that Judy lives over to squirrel hill area and that was super fun. It is a cute little area where they have all sorts of shops and a movie theatre and cool things like that. On Thursday I just stayed in and read a book and chillaxed around the house. Friday we went to Primanti Bros and then we went over the Incline (we went to the Duquesne Incline if anyone knows that there are more than one Incline) and that was super cool. You should look at the pics from it on my facebook if you get a chance - there was a great view of the city! Then we went and got frozen yogurt and that was yummy.

Saturday was busy. I slept in (yay!). Then I got to babysit some kittens outside for a while which was fun. They are super cute. Then I went down to the Phipps Conservatory and walked around there for a while which was really pretty. I took tons of pics there but I have been haven't uploaded them yet (don't worry I will!) and then I walked back from that and only got a little bit of a sunburn ;) (It has faded to a tan already!) Then a bunch of people from the lab came over to the house for dinner and that was fun. It was interesting to meet everyone's significant others. After everyone left from there we went to a concert that was being performed by a friend of Judy's ... or something. This country singer named Dallas Marks sang, and then he rappelled down from the top of a fire hall, which was daring but turned out okay (although his wife was pissed!) Today instead of going to church (I know, I am a bad girl lol) I slept in again, and then we went to the Cathedral of Learning and the Carnegie Natural History museum. After that we went to a taiwanese place for dinner which was awesome and then we went to see 'Inception' which I thought was pretty good (kinda Matrix-esque and mind blowing!).

Monday was good for work things. We ended up having a very successful day at work which was great, since I felt like we had sort of been treading water on the reason I came here until then. So that was good. Today we also had a good day at work and tomorrow will be good too (knock on wood!). And then that is it! That is my last day! My flight out is on Thurs morning at like 10ish (must remember to check in for flight 24 hours in advance!) and then I will be getting to Utah around 6pm on Thursday night (with a long and probably boring bout in Vegas in the middle - ugh). I am super excited to get to Utah because then I can see my family and enjoy a few non-work, non-boss days. Even the days off that I have had here have seemed a bit like work since the boss was still around. I am grateful that I get to stay in her house and that she has cooked for me and made sure I wasn't bored to tears while I was here, but I will be glad to not be with her all the time.

I am only going to be in Utah for almost exactly 48hours (give or take 10 minutes!) and I plan to make the most of it. I will be glad to see my mother who I haven't seen since she came to visit me at Easter and I will be glad to see my grandparents and other family members who I haven't seen in even longer than that. And then do you know what? I will be glad to go home! I miss my bed and my friends and my car and my office at work and my roommates and even my weather! Okay, that last bit might be pushing it, but you get the picture. I mean, if I was not working at all and this was a vacation it would be different, but since I am still doing work while I am here it is a bit stressful and it will be nice to get back to my un-stressful (heh - not exactly I guess) regular job. I don't mind training people but I will be glad when it is over. :D

So, that has been what I have been up to for the last little while. Hope you have enjoyed reading about it as much as I have enjoyed doing it!