My Time in Florida

I am back from my week-long trip to Florida.  It went fast and slow at the same time as the time with family went really fast, but the time spent at the conference went pretty slow and the days were long as I had client dinners that went until 9:30-10:30 at night.

The family time was wonderful, though.  The weather was a bit cool, but I still went to the beach in the afternoon on Friday and Saturday.  There's nothing like hearing the relaxing sound of the ocean.  While the temps were cooler, it was very sunny and it felt amazing to feel those rays of sunshine.

2 of my aunts and I

I also ate really well while I was visiting family.  Almost all of the meals were home-cooked and oh so delicious.  Another highlight was squeezing in a game of rummy.  I did not win any hands, but it was still fun.

On Sunday I had to head over to Orlando for my work conference, but I was able to stop in Tampa to meet up with Stephany for a coffee.  We've been reading each other blogs for years so it was really fun to catch up in person!

The work part of the trip was, well, work.  Last year when I was attending this conference, I was preparing to move to Charlotte, and a lot of people remembered that which means I had to answer lots of  questions about how I am liking Charlotte, which, by the way, is pretty much my LEAST favorite topic of conversation.  So yah...  That said, it was good to connect with other people that work in my industry and to learn more about a product that is utilized by a lot of my clients.

I flew back to Charlotte on Wednesday evening and am now trying to play catch-up after.  Between my trip home for work and my trip to Florida, I haven't been around much the last couple of weeks and it's catching up with me.  I'm over-tired and my tummy is a little upset with me as traveling with a gluten intolerance is always challenging.

But I'll be around for the next 2 weeks, which is both good and not so good.  It's good because I miss my bed and need to return to a normal diet. It's not so good because any stretch of time spent in Charlotte is hard on me, and it's been even harder on me lately since I don't see a clear path out of here.  It was made even worse last night when I found out my rent is increasing by $500 when my lease goes month-to-month next month.  Just when I think things can't get worse, they do.  I was stressed about finding a job before, now I'm even MORE stressed. 

Tell me something good or happy because I need some positive things to focus on to pull me out of the pit of sadness and frustration I am currently inhabiting.  Please don't tell me that God only gives me what I can handle or that there is some greater reason I am going through this.  I can't handle any positive spin comments on this relocation experience and I can tell you with absolute certainty that I am not better off in any way for having gone through this experience.  It has been AWFUL.  And expensive.