Getting back into the swing of things Part 1

I've been a busy bee. But, if you ask me what I've been doing, I would probably leave out a lot of information. September passed me by and I can't for the life of me recall what I did without consulting my planner. And, so here we are in October.

I left on October 1st to Atlanta for a conference. I didn't register for this conference beforehand and was told I couldn't register for the pre-conference session I wanted to attend onsite. Oh my, did I say a lot of Hail Marys. I was lucky enough (maybe the right word would be blessed) to register for both the pre-conference and the conference. Whew! Those Hail Marys worked! I spent the next three days learning. 

Then I went on vacation. My vacation officially started on October 5th. But, let me backtrack a little to how this vacation came to be. When I found out that my god-daughter Allie was accepted at Seattle University, I could already picture visiting her. When it was definite she would attend, I told my boss where she was going. Lucky for me, my boss knows my family. She wouldn't mind if I stopped in Seattle to check on Allie. Yes! 

I've known since the summer that I would be vacationing in Seattle. Vittoria knew as well and I made her promise not to tell her sister. I pretended that I still needed permission from my boss the weekend before I was to depart for Atlanta. I called Allie while I was in Atlanta...on Thursday to be exact. I told her I was stopping by for a visit. Great surprise for her! 

After traveling all day and taking over an hour to get my rental car, I drove to Seattle University. She lives in the same residence hall I lived in while I was there. I waited a bit for her to show up from her adventure to the waterfront with a new friend. Oh, it felt so good to wrap my arms around her! 

Sunday found us at St. Joseph's Church at 9:00am to attend Mass presided by my good friend, John Whitney, S.J. Afterwards, we went to IHOP for pumpkin and red velvet pancakes. We ventured to Westlake Center to hop on the monorail to Seattle Center. We made our way up to the Space Needle and she got her first birds' eye view of the city. 

We got this free digital photo taken for free on our way to the top.

After spending the day together, she went back to campus and I had dinner with my friend Will. Will and I have known each other since we were 16. We had dinner at 5 Spot in Queen Anne and drinks at an undisclosed location. Top secret. 

Monday found me perusing Joann, Michaels, Best Buy and Old Navy while Allie was in class. Then we drove to Northgate Mall for lunch at Red Robin...YUM! Bought her a trench coat style jacket for $16! Bargain!! I grabbed dinner from QFC down the street, put some clothes in the laundry down the hall and settled in to watch the season 3 premiere of Hart of Dixie. Serious business.

The weather outside is something to be desired. Gotta find out what's going on and whether or not we have to batten down the hatches for a storm.

Stay tuned for Part 2.