extra, extra

take a peek inside my journals

words

i've been working on a project. not quite ready to share (but trust me, when i do, it will be on a pretty big scale...) but it's had me reading words. lots and lots of words. twenty-seven years worth of words.

if you've read my blog at all, you know how i love words. i could eat them for dinner, a savory fritatta of expressions and emotions. yum-O! for this project, however, i've had to let someone else choose most of the words for me. and *this* has made me incredibly nervous.

oh words,don't fail me now...

whirlwind of good, part 4

(july 20, 2010)

my whirlwind updates are hopelessly out of order, but this news was just too good to pass up!!

today was our bi-annual Quality Assurance inspection at the hotel. we scored an Outstanding, which is our 13th Outstanding in a row!! (For those of you keeping track, that equals 13 inspections since I've been the General Manager, and ALL of thoe inspections have scored Outstandings). (I'm definitely keeping track!)

there is no way i could share this great news with the blogosphere without thanking my AMAZING team - the folks who get it done day after day after day.

and thanks to all of you who have continued to travel, even as the pursestrings cinched tighter and tighter. you make every day worth it!

whirlwind of good, part 3

(june 29 and july 5, 2010)

on june 29, Hampton Inn Southport celebrated her 10th anniversary. and less than a week later, i celebrated my own 10 year anniversary of employment. it's hard to believe i've been at one company for a decade. (there was a period of time shortly after college when i truly believed that a 2 year tenure at any job would be my max.)

wasn't i cute? the summer of 2000 was such a great time - i was newly married, new in town, working at a new hotel and about to find out there was a new baby on the way...



that "new baby" has since spent a lot of time at the Hampton Inn!



i've worked my way up from "guest service representative" to General Manager, and i've learned a lot about myself along the way. i've made reservations and made beds. i've hired many and have had to fire a few. i've crawled through a dumpster in the middle of the night, and climbed up on stage in front of thousands.

i can't help but wonder what's in store for the next ten!

whirlwind of good, part 2

(june 9, 2010)

jack's godfather is my best friend from college. chris lives in Maryland, which unfortunately makes it hard to get together. in fact, the last time he was able to get down to see us, jack was still young enough to appreciate a gift of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle underpants. (i should mention the underpants came with an action figure. as i recall, he appreciated the action figure a bit more than the underpants.)

last month, Chris had a quick trip that brought him to Raleigh, about 2 1/2 hours away from Southport. there is a long stretch of highway 40 that runs from Wilmington (just north of here) through Raleigh. along that strip of highway lies the Mad Boar restaurant. i end up eating at this restaurant more than i care to admit (mostly because a lot of Rotary District functions happen here.) it's a run of the mill sort of eating joint, with a bizarre mixture of Old English and Irish artifacts, smack dab in the middle of tobacco country, USA. on this night,it ended up being the perfect place to meet up with an old friend.


(chris and i, circa 1990)


(chris and i, 2010)


(chris and jack, who has now been dubbed "Elwood" by his godfather)

it was a Wednesday night. school was still in session. i was exhausted. we wouldn't have a lot of time to spend together. there were so many reasons to back out. but jack and i braved an hour long, white-knuckled drive through torrential downpours for a two hour dinner with one of my dearest friends in the world.

i can't think of a better way to spend Wednesday night.

can we talk?

it's been what, a month since my last post? over a month? i don't even know any more (although, thanks to the person from somewhere in Asia who keeps spamming my comments box. i have no idea what you are saying, but at least i know someone is stopping by!)

this summer seems crazier than most. i think i say that every summer. i BELIEVE that every summer. june was the month of incredible busy-ness, and i really, really wanted to sit down and tell you all about it.

but then July came, in a whirlwind of funnel cake and fireworks. and now July is half over (but not really, because July is the longest month of the year.) (is it the longest month of the year for you?)

i refuse to believe that i have let Facebook and Twitter squash my love of blogging, but i gotta tell ya, when i only have a few moments to travel through the internet, i tend to go where i can get in and out pretty effortlessly. for now, Facebook and Twitter are filling that need for me.

but i promise, they have not replaced my love of blogging.

or my love for you, my blogging friends.

so bear with me, as i set my sights on labor day and blaze a trail right through the rest of this summer!! hope to see you soon!