Back in the Spring Swing – the Weekly Update

I have not been trapped under a large piece of furniture, contrary to what one might assume.  Although if I were to be trapped under a large piece of furniture, I’d like to imagine it would be something ridiculously obscure like a sarcophagus or a pipe organ.  I became slightly obsessed with the idea of a sarcophagus while in elementary school after reading The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler and imagined that every kid lucky enough to grow up within train distance of NYC had one in their living room to stash book bags in.

And no, my imagination has run wild.  Unusual furniture is my thing – like the old auditorium seats in my media room that I found in a shop in Omaha (who in turn found them in an old barn in Iowa).  And now that I’m back into the spring swing, I’m starting to think about home again.  Ironic that my home thoughts kick in as soon as I’m back on the road.  I’m working on freshening up the front porch and making it feel like spring.

This morning there is new sod down in the backyard and I’ll be off to buy the rest of my herbs to pot (basil, dill, sage, oregano, thyme) as well as some lavender for my flower beds (love the smell) and more rosemary for both porches (keeps the mosquitos at bay).  And I’ve met with the landscaper to plan out this year’s upgrades – Asian jasmine behind the garage, drought-hearty grass to replace the washed out gravel in the dog run, fence repairs for the side yard, and some bedding plant upgrades for color on both porches.

I’m also in the middle of reworking my home office.  Since I’ll be giving up my Fort Worth office on May 31 (and really, after April 30 it will mostly be a packing/moving zone) I need to be ready to be productive from home in the next three weeks.  That has meant that spring cleaning around here involves rearranging things (some of the office furniture is coming home with me to replace older pieces here) and upgrading wiring/lighting.  Photos to come when I dig into that project.

After ten days without my personal laptop, I’m finally adjusting to working around that.  (Thanks for the traveling with only a work laptop advice, by the way!)  I thought I might have fried the motherboard but it turns out I just severed the wire that connects the screen to the main unit (the THIRD time I’ve done that to a lightweight Dell) and I will hopefully have it back this week.  And then maybe I’ll feel like I’m on top of everything again.

My week felt very normal again – stays in four different hotels in three different cities, nine flights, six airports, six states, 800 miles in cars, six Ubers/taxis, and too many 5 am wake up calls.  Nothing out of the norm for me.  And I forgot to take photos of that last hotel room (which doesn’t help my backlog of hotel reviews that are waiting to be written).  And yes, two meals eaten in secret rental car shame.  What’s been getting me by have been a couple of my quick and easy meals (I think I’ve made my honey sriracha chicken wings at minimum weekly lately) and some very meticulous planning.

In travel news, I finished my Delta Platinum Challenge this week so I’ll be writing up my update soon on my thoughts on Delta versus American (a hint… its now my habit to check BOTH airlines and book based on the better schedule/fare).  I am halfway to keeping my surprise Marriott Gold status.  And I’m still planning on going to Beijing for the weekend next month on my $440 mistake business class fare (upgraded to first).

But first, I’ll be planting herbs, plotting out my outfits for the next couple trips (thank goodness for all those Pinterest packing list ideas), and working on a few future posts so that we don’t run dry around here again.

Hope your week is amazing, productive, and weather delay-free!

xoxo