Rooooaaaaadtriiiiiiiiiiip!

So Saturday was essentially all driving. Conway to Little Rock airport to Houston. It was just a long day on the road. I got to Houston about 5 (yea I didn't get lost or anything--miracle!) or so and was immediately greeted by my homegirl, Jennifer. Missed the crap outta that girl fo realz. We spent the rest of that evening on various shenanigans including, red wine + peach schnapps (which is DELICIOUS and DEADLY), dinner at Alexander the Great (a Greek place around the corner--I had braised lamb shank and it was delightful!), a run to Walgreens for CHEAP wine (we only had that one bottle which was NOT sufficient to meed the needs of all of us, let alone the new wine fetish of Julia and Jen), and drinking said cheap wine while we lounged around in Jen and Julia's room listening to some choice tunes. Those in attendance included Jen and Julia (obviously), Maria, Anjelica, Aislinn, myself, AAAAAND.... Donnald! That's right, the man we all know and love, the pimp the men envy, the one and only Rap Master D! Also known as D Money, he is so fly he can get his nails painted pink and have no one even dare THINK of revoking his man card (lest he shame them to their core with his lyrical stylings). It was a great night.

Today we spent the whole day at a race track. Not the ponies but go karts! It was a long day because there were so many (70) of us but it was a good time. We got there at approximately noon and the final race wasn't until 6 (a whole 5 hours after we began... we had to "warm up" and then qualify...intense!) so we didn't leave until... something like 8ish. Woof. When we finally made it back to the Double Tree we ate some of the tastiest pizza ever and then we all pretty much dispersed to go either to bed or to work on our presentations (don't worry I'm done). It was just a fun day but I'm wiped, however my devotion to you dear readers has kept me up long enough to do some behind the scenes reporting. You're welcome.

Tomorrow: presentations and then one of our infamous dinners on the company tab. I'm hoping my liver can handle it...it's kinda out of practice after this very lame summer. I'll let you know how it goes... eventually.

In unrelated news I finished my first recreational book in ages. State of Fear by the almighty Michael Crichton. Very good. Thought provoking. I recommend it.

And finally we'll wrap up tonight with the usual countdown:

Houston: NOW!!!

Manhattan: 4 days!!!

SFKS: ONE week!!! (MOM IT'S SO CLOSE!)

Goodnight and good luck.

I used to long for days like this...why?

It's funny how when I was in the filed I used to dream about an office day, sitting at my laptop in the air conditioning wearing jeans and regular shoes and no hard hat. Today I had my dreams fulfilled and it was kinda boring. I think it would help if my project was a little more involved but I'm not complaining because the alternative is sleeping in a truck and lugging hose while sweating like a yeti.

I researched flow meters online, talked to people to get information, and started putting together my final presentation. I also Facebook'ed (a lot) and read some news online (Lindsey Lohan was released from prison last night in case you missed that earth shaking event) and listened to my iTunes. Don't worry I'm progressing just fine; I talked to Sharron and she told me so. She even thanked me for my enthusiasm. I'm glad she wasn't directly monitoring me...

Tonight is another Papa Johns night which makes me super happy (oh and lunch was Holly's--I had roast beef, mashed potatoes, and FRIED OKRA...yea...it was good!). I think I'm going to go to the gym tonight, too (who am I?). All in all this day (and likely this week) would be erased from the movie of my life but for now I'm ok with that. I'm just plodding along, looking forward to presenting on Thursday, packing all day Friday, and driving to Houston on Saturday to begin the final festivities with my new intern friends (who I miss a lot)! You know what Loverboy said: Everybody's working for the weekend... :)

Conway, Conway, where for art thou, Conway

So here we are at the end of the Kellyville training experience (kind of a decent band name there...) and we are all preparing (and by this I mean drinking by the pool) to head out to our locations. I am basically done packing and I have taken the Canadians to Braum's (they don't have it up there) so all that's left is for me to join the merriment down at the pool. I plan to play it pretty low key because I agreed to drive one of my fellow Conway-bound interns to the airport in the morning at the early hour of 6:30 (I'm so nice), but I can't skip out entirely because somehow, in three weeks, I have become friends with these some odd 70 of us. Who'd'a thought (who'd a? who'd of? who'd-a?...whatever)?

Brief recap of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday:

All you need to know about Sunday is that Toy Story 3 changed my life. I'm normally stone faced in any movie but I was a little misty at the end of this one. I'm crazy--I've accepted it. It was just that good.

Monday was a long and boring day of learning about D&M (drilling and measurements)...we basically sat around and waited for the bus between 3 and 5... so fun. Monday night we went to The Melting Pot for birthday fondue (Anna's birthday to be exact). It was AMAZING. I've never had a dinner of multiple courses or one that was mostly fondue style. Delicious!

Tuesday was even more boring that Monday (I didn't even think that was possible)--at least in the morning. The afternoon proved more enjoyable as we got our summer projects assigned to us. My project (drum roll please) is to come up with a volume chart for a new tank in Conway. I'll basically be dusting off what calculus I retained and integrating for volume and correlating it with the depth of the substance being stored. Feel free to be impressed (or vomit...either way). I can't quite decide if I'm excited about this or not. It's totally doable and practical which I like but it does have that element of calculus (the devil's work) to it. We'll see how I feel about it in the morning and in the coming week.

Now tomorrow I head to Conway to really get down to business. As excited as I am to get to work and really apply the things I've learned (how to lift heavy things properly), I'm going to miss hanging out with all these crazy interns here in Tulsa. The good news is that I'll see a lot of them in Houston in August for wrap-up. *Sigh*

Never take your friends shopping...

Yesterday was...boring. We spent the morning presenting our findings on wind energy knowing that the oil/gas team was going to slay us. Good news is, when you put me in a corner I come out swinging. We did a good job and our class was reasonable and since our moderator didn't insist on sticking to the unanimous decision (or any well defined decision for that matter) we never officially lost. We spent the afternoon in a "round table" and doing "one on one interviews" which translates into we spend a good three hours just sitting in our classroom sporcle-ing and napping.

We came home and I got a nap in before making shake-and-pour pancakes for Jennifer and I. Those things are tastier than they sound. We then spent time trying to round people up for a night at the Dusty Dog. We got several people interested and were going to be on our way when we were informed we had to wait for birthday cake in honor of Eric's 21st. Once we all made it to the Dog there was some drama over people not quite as old as Eric (was going to be in 30 minutes from when they ousted him). Finally everything was fine and we had a grand time buying him drinks and carousing with the middle-aged clientèle of the establishment. Things were great until we went to go home and some guy had parked literally touching my car. Good news was he somehow managed to touch it but not put any kind of dent in it. The "mark" was deemed so slight that we could buff it out with some turtle wax which Kevin helped me purchase this morning. That is on tomorrow's agenda. Special shout-out to Kevin for being the ringmaster of our little drunk circus and being a super sport about everything including dealing with the guy who can't park his car.

Today was shopping with the girls. It was deadly. When you take your friends shopping they can help you justify every purchase you consider. I finally have a swimsuit (which I needed because it's HOT as all get out here) but I also have a couple of skirts, two shirts, a pair of sandals and a new set of Sperry's (those were on sale and I've always wanted them and I assure you I thought that one through thoroughly and the fact that Kayla and Jennifer were also buying Sperry's had NOTHING to do with that choice). We also went for cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory. Amazing as you would imagine. I can now personally recommend the White Chocolate Carmel Macadamia Nut Cheesecake. It may have changed my life.

The plan for tonight is line dancing. We were going to go to a rodeo but found out we missed the boat by a day. But for those of us who want a good "midwestern" experience, line dancing is the next best thing. I'm pretty excited about it. I need a reason to wear my new clothes anyway...

TGIF and Weekend!

Friday we got lucky and got to leave the training center early! We spent the day learning to lift things safely and use stairs properly. We also wore drunk goggles to play catch and rode "The Convincer"--an apparatus that simulates a 4-5 mph crash into a brick wall. I did not actually ride it because it looked VERY unpleasant and since I already wear my seat belt and was convinced by watching alone, I opted out. One girl is sore today for it so I'm glad I passed.

When we got home I promptly took a much needed nap. After napping we made a WalMart run (I needed a geek string for my safety glasses--don't judge) and and then joined the intern bar-b-que. Much booze was consumed by most of the interns and shenanigans ensued. There were water balloons and super soakers and people being shoved into the pool. I avoided that bit but it was fun to watch. After a while a group of us decided to go on a little exploratory mission to a little dive "piano bar" down the road called The Dusty Dog. Let me tell you people, it was a winner. The clientele may have been largely middle aged but the group of us girls loved it anyway. Sometimes you need to have girl talk and the Dusty Dog proved to be a good place for "all the single ladies" to pow wow. Good times! We made it back in time to see the remaining shenanigans and have a few heart to hearts with the remaining drunks. Again good times.

This morning, several of us ladies went to get pedicures. We're thinking that when we are in the middle of our month long camping trip style internship, we will look down and what remains of our pedi's and think to ourselves, "oh I remember when I used to be girly and take regular showers and have access to a bathroom...*sigh*" Afterward we went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch soccer with a BUNCH of fellow interns. It's nice because in spite of the little clusters that form we still hang out together in large hordes now and then. In case you don't know the game was USA vs. England and it was a tie at 1-1. I don't really follow soccer but it was fun to hang out and pretend I knew what was going on. I sat next to Donald (Rap Master D) and he was less a fan. Very irritated by the tie. He's accustomed to hockey which affords more violence and harsher penalties. He's hilarious when he's griping about stuff.

After the game we fulfilled a dream of Jennifer's; we went to the circus! It was magical. Aislinn, Kevin, and Jennifer had never been to the circus and Kayla and I were happy to take them. There were elephants and tigers and zebras as well as the standard horses and dogs. Acrobats and tightrope walkers (who made Kevin very nervous) and all the usual circus fodder were in attendance. We also got to see two women simultaneously fired from a double barrel cannon. Spectacular. We acted like five-year-olds and got Dippin' Dots at intermission (Mom, I know they're ridiculously over priced but I wanted them and I'm a big girl now so I got them. They were delicious) and screamed and clapped with the best of them. A dream come true.

Post circus, we went to dinner and then I did laundry. A bunch of people are going "clubbing" but it's the intense people and I know I can't hang with them. Several others are boozing in the pool now and let's be honest, I can't ride with them either. Forrest-Gump-Peter is drinking enough to kill a moose and I anticipate him doing serious damage either to himself or the Stratford Palace Kingdom. The boys are gross and keep peeing in the pool so again... there's no real draw for me to stay. Instead I'm lounging at Jennifer's watching The Holiday and blogging for you my loyal readers (Mom, Scarlett, and well... possibly Jennifer).

Tomorrow should be pretty low key also, including Mass and general lounging. If anything else exciting happens I'll try to let you know.