Here I am in Scottsdale at the Fairmont Princess living the life of the "High & Mighty". When Mel was cutting my hair this week, she told me that she was going to cut it in a style that could be combed in a sophisticated brush-back. That got a good laugh out of me and the infamous "rolling of the eyes." Who did she think I was???? I thought the girl knew me! This place is really something with every possible thing you could want at your fingertips. I could get spoiled fast-but it is not my style to enjoy being waited on. I get this "old fashioned guilt" thing going if I am subjected to too much of this life.
I got up for my 6 mile run this AM. Now we are in the desert, who would have thought that it would rain the entire time that we are here, but raining it is. I felt right at home while sweating and sloshing through the puddles. This place is very flat and I had to run on concrete sidewalks. Shades of what Houston will be like! Since I went pretty slow and the traffic caused stops every time I needed to cross a street, this is probably not a fair shot at what it will be completely like, but a close resemblance. You forget, when you are not subjected to concrete much, how hard that is on your legs & feet.
One of the things that we do while at these meetings is meet & greet. There is a small nucleus of people that we know from LA, but the majority of the 400 people you have never seen. This means smile, make conversation, be polite, smile, make conversation, smile, meet new people, smile, act interested, smile. I JUST LOVE DOING THAT! My mother's side of the family are a group of introverted people who can come across as charming, but find this kind of activity pretty exhausting. I have most of the day to get myself prepared for another round of this activity tonight, and I will need that time.
Last night I did meet BC's regional manager. HE IS A RUNNER! Bobby is always laughing about the fact that runners seem to be magnetized and instantly attract each other in a room full of people. Buster (he didn't look anything like I thought a Buster would) has actually had a long weekend of training with Jeff Galloway-noted runner's guru. WOW! He told me the tale and I loved hearing it about this weekend and his personal running goals and why he has those. He is a competitive runner and limits his runs to a maximum of 15 miles. It was great talking running with him, but I felt WAY out-classed. Most runners though do not make you feel bad about your limitations, but relish in your accomplishments. That is a very good thing.
While running I noticed the local flora and fauna. TRULY BEAUTIFUL! I should have my bird book with me as I spotted a few that I had never seen. What a treat! The interesting thing to me is the air here smells different. I could never figure out if it was due to all of the sand around you are the different types of vegetation. There are lots of eucalyptus trees-maybe that is it. How different!
It is nice to have the down time and since I am away from my home base, I cannot do anything about the long list of things I need to be doing. I did awaken very early this morning and felt God nudging me to pray for some of my favorite people. It was an honor to do just that!
Hopefully I will get some pictures at some point in time for you to see the beautiful desert and the old mountains that surround this trendy and modern time. Truly this is "retirement Mecca"-not my idea of retirement, but lots of others , obviously,think it is perfect.
1 comment:
I enjoyed all you had to say, but the only thing that stood out was about the bird and wishing you had your bird book. I did not realize you were a bird watcher. Maybe you could go on a bird-watching trip with the professionals (Dad and Laurie) sometime.
I totally get the "being social" thing. Caleb is DRAGGING me to a Christmas party tonight. I would much rather stay at home in my pajamas and play with my girls.
Love,
Adrian
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