This past week I had the luxury to spend it in sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This was our national kick-off meeting for the Elanco dairy business unit. The weather was simply awesome! It averaged 80 degrees with clear skies and bright sunshine. As a bonus, our resort was right on the beach. I could have stayed forever, if only I had had Jared and Berlin (and eventually I probably would have missed Memphis ... I guess). I tried to take full advantage of the sunny, warm weather and walked every day, both in the morning and afternoon. I walked 20.5 miles in 4 days and it felt great! It was nice to walk and not feel like Randy from A Christmas Story.
My co-workers Ben and Walt were on the same flight with me going to Florida. They offered to go with me so I wouldn't have to travel alone or lift my bag. Which I thought was very thoughtful. A couple of months ago, they even offered to drive with me to Florida if I was not allowed to fly at this point. I'm truly blessed with a wonderful job and great co-workers. We flew direct out of Baltimore, which was well worth the drive to not have a connecting flight. Overall the flights going and coming home were fine. I had a sharp pain on descent into Florida, but it only lasted a few minutes and then went away. Still a little startling when it happened. It was amazing how active the baby was when taking off and landing. I'm assuming it was due to all the pressure changes. My feet did not swell going, but my ankles must have decided to stay in Florida, because they seem to have disappeared. Maybe they are on vacation with my belly button! Hopefully they enjoy themselves!
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| 32 weeks (and 2 days)! |
Back home in Pennsylvania, Jared was left home with the hooligans and the construction crew. This was the dry wall week. Perfect timing on being out of town if you ask me. Especially, since they decided to glue and screw the dry wall up. The house still smelled slightly of glue when I returned today. They did not get as far as originally planned, but it looks great. And finally I can visualize the space. We will be picking out paint colors this weekend.
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| From the base of the stairs |
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| Living space and Memphis's future "cat closet" |
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| Stairs |
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| Hallway |
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| Bedroom |
Jared was glad when I arrived back home (at least I think he was), but it was not near the welcome I received from my other love, Berlin. She was very excited to see me to say the least. Jared told me she did not eat her food right away while I was away, which made me really sad. If anyone has ever met my dog, they know food is the one thing she loves in life - hence the constant struggle with her weight. If only I could explain to her that I will always come back home. At least with the baby when I have to be away, I will be able to explain this to the little one and they will comprehend. Hopefully, they don't refuse to eat while I'm away as well.
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| This tired puppy will sleep good tonight! |
As a side note, to give everyone something to think about this week. We were blessed during our meeting to have the opportunity to listen to our President, Jeff Simmons speak. What a truly inspirational man and leader! I'm not sure we could have a better person leading our company and the fight against world hunger. During his talk, he spoke briefly about his recent trip to Kenya. Something he said really stuck with me and I wanted to share. He said the following, "More live with food issues than those that don't, but those that don't hold the key." What an incredibly true, yet scary thought!!
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| Constance(age 13)-walked 4 miles everyday to get clean water for her family |
One in six people are hungry around the world. That's more than 1 billion people! One in five children in the United States are considered food insecure - meaning they do not know when or where their next meal is coming from. This often means they do not have dinner or food on the weekends when a school lunch is not provided, on their table at home. Food is a basic human right, that everyone should be entitled to. Nothing made me realize this more than my mission trip to Uganda in 2007. Seeing children who are hungry absolutely broke my heart. We are all very blessed to not have to experience of going to bed hungry. And if it were up to me, no one would have to experience this, especially children. Everyone should watch and think about the following clip: Jeff Simmons Kenya trip. Also, if you're interested Plenty To Think About is a great site to learn more!
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| A very sick, malnourished little girl with malaria |
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| Children along the street in Uganda |
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