For The Sheer Love of DC

Sometimes I am a lucky lady. I will truly determine that at the end of this week when I fly back to Atlanta at midnight so I can rise again early on Friday for an important meeting in Augusta that just had to be rescheduled because of The Masters.

I am in DC this week for training. Somehow I became one of the six lucky folks across this great nation to be involved in a pilot training program for my company. I ran around a lot this morning going to the store, finishing laundry and making sure I had all of my ducks in a row before I left. Once I arrived at the airport I found it to be a lot like a holiday weekend. I thought everyone went home yesterday. Apparently not because it took half a lifetime to get through just to get my E ticket. Then, it did take a life time to get through security. I had a my laptop because I do not dare check that. I was wearing my glasses which I am not wearing in my driver's license and for some reason most people seem to be wondering why I am traveling alone. Thankfully I did not wear anything that set the detectors off, that would have only taken me longer. The good news was that my flight was delayed. I was not really happy about that, however it did give me a chance to make some much needed calls.

The flight was the usual good people watching and listening. I sat next to a sweet young lady who is in the eighth grade at a boarding school in New York. I also got to see two bad examples of parenting and one good example. For some reason, I guess it is because small children are not use to planes and the environment within them, and I think parents find themselves in the same place and do not really know what to do with them. There were two small children near me who honestly screamed their heads off the entire flight. Thankfully it was only and hour and twenty minute flight. One child did the screaming out of sheer spit of his mom and the other was just truly scared and unhappy. The small child in front of me was wonderful. I am sure it had something to do with her parents' soothing voice and the fact that they sat there and talked to her about the clouds that passed by and what they were doing next. I made a mental note on how they were handling their young daughter, who was on her first flight. She was very good and a complete doll. She was wearing a red cotton shirt under overalls and her chestnut hair was in pig tails. Just before we took off, she poked her head over the seat and said hi to me. I could not help but say hi back to her.

So, now I sit in my room, which is more like a studio apartment and very nice. I got here safe and sound and I am pretty impressed that I did not have to get lost first to find out where I was going. I have only been to DC once and it was a long time ago so the area is really pretty new to me.

Now, I just have to have all of my stuff together for this week, which I do. I read through the course material, I made the appropriate notes and I am ready for some training.... Reading, movies, role play. Should be a good time. I think.