Gratitude

[stormkeeper_lovesall]

 
Sitting in a hotel room in Las Vegas, let's do some gratitude!

Unrelated to the trip:

- Saturday was perfect. Doris was off. We spent the day cooking, and binge watching Ted Lasso. It was a rainy day. We did end up deciding to skip two things: a local board game potluck (not with the usual game night people but with new folks) and a reunion of an LGBTQ group I was in literally 30 years ago. Would it have been great to go to either or both? Yes. At the same time, I don't regret the lazy day at home with Doris and it is definitely what she wanted. She's less social than I.

Related to the trip:

- The Hot Logic has been working like a charm! (Packed it in my suitcase. You just plug it into an outlet and it heats your food for you. I've used it every day here since the rooms don't have microwaves; nor are there any in the lobby). The food here has been decent but expensive. Found an Indian place with a couple vegan options, ditto a taco place and a place with the Impossible burger. Some of the convention food has been decent too. They even had a vegan dessert option at the convention Mon and Tues (but not today for some reason). And oooh inside the Canyon Ranch spa is an all vegan restaurant. The prices are insane and it's only open Wed-Sun from 7am-2pm, so I only ate there once. And even I thought it was way pricey. 

- Coworkers are great...the people at my booth, the CTU folks, the RMHC folks. Several managers recognized me from classes. The managers really are lovely. Here I worked the most with Lisa (my boss), Kari, and Wendy  - and all are awesome.

- The room is nice and quiet for a hotel room. One of the quieter ones I've stayed in for sure. The bathtub is perfect, with a sloping, comfy back.

- Got a massage Monday night. They did a scalp treatment and it left my hair very silky since. I also got to use their sauna and steam room.

- Found time to lift weights at the hotel gym yesterday. Step counts have been crazy each day here - ranging from 15,000 to 18,000. With NO ellipitcal or any other cardio

- I left home on Sunday morning. Doris had just finished her bread loaves, so she packed a few slices for me. I enjoyed one at O'hare as I waited to board my plane. Thank you, Doris!

- In the past when the company did conventions, we had a more strict dress code. I often wore dressy flats which were better than heels but still not comfy at all. Not when you take 18,000 steps a day in them. Everything has relaxed now and I am in gym shoes the whole time

- Got a ton of time with Kari and she's great. Tuesday AM we saw the sun rise at a state park.

But.....but I need to mention that I still dislike Las Vegas. Crappy air. Las Vegas hotels have a SMELL to them. Shitty cigarette smoke pumped out, a fakey smell pumped in to try to cover it. My throat is scratchy and I am coughing a bit too. And despite the positives about about the hotel, they do not provide a coffeemaker in the room. So I order hot water each morning which costs $12. And my company is damn well paying for that since they sent us here. And everything is expensive and I hate the crowds and casinos. And everything is so wasteful, all the bottled water (though the convention food has compostable plates and cutlery).....Okay, done. You saw the positives I listed above. Plus I get to fly home tomorrow and am glad to have a job.