Gone Rogue

So I've been AWOL for a while again... sorry about that. I've been enjoying what summer vacation I get. Kyle visited me in Manhattan when I got back which meant I didn't sit down and type up anything. I then journeyed to exotic St. Francis (SFKS as I've been known to call it...) where I have hunkered into the buttery soft leather couches my parents put in our living room and realized I left my laptop cord in Manhattan so blogging has stayed by the wayside. Woops.

Manhattan is LOVELY... I just missed it SO MUCH! Kyle and I visited his friends...in Aggieville, and Pillsbury Crossing (I've never been so I can cross that one of the ol' bucket list). We also went and saw The Expendables (because as girlfriends go I am fantastic) which was pretty good (Kyle might have LOVED it) and saw Kate and Dad on their way to (and from) Atchison. All in all it was a pretty stellar weekend.

I came home Sunday (sans laptop cord) to hang out with the fam and meet our new dog Jackson (who we call Jack, naturally) who happens to be the cutest, most awkward dog ever. I love him already. The family is pretty busy living their lives so I sleep in and bond with the couch but I do get some face time with Aly...by visiting her at work. She's across the street at the "St. Francis Aquatic Park" (if you want to see the reason behind the sarcastic quotes, I'll show you on google street view why it's so ironic) where I used to "work" (best gig ever). I've tuned up my "tan" and even reconfirmed that I can still do a "one and a half" off the diving board (kind of... I think I may bruise a little from my less than graceful entry).

Last night we also went to dinner at Big Ed's just because I requested it (my family loves me...and steak). Tonight I made them Pioneer Woman pancakes so I think we're about even. On tomorrow's agenda is mani/pedi's for Aly and I (a late birthday present...) and then I think I may head back east. Mom's trying to talk me out of it (which I respect) but I have stuff to do in MHK so it's anyone's battle at this point. We'll see.

For now I close with this: I have been told that this blog shouldn't die with my internship ending. Should I chose to keep this up, a problem arises: what do I call this after I'm not having intern adventures? I'll probably keep the URL (to make my life easy) but the title should probably get a facelift. I'll be thinking on this as you should be dear reader(s?). If you have any wicked ideas please feel free to post them in the comments section and help a sister out. I can only be so creative on my own.

Peace, Love, and Chicken Grease, Sam

That's a rap!

I am still alive. THE interns kind of own your life when they get together so I have been AWOL and I apologize. Here's the low down on our wrap up:

Monday we all presented our summer experiences and projects. I started the day off right by getting on the wrong shuttle with Chris and Donald and going to the training center instead of the office. Don't worry we got the shuttle driver to come back for us and take us but he didn't know where. Fortunately we had a dream combination of people in this predicament--Donald knew the address, Chris had an iPhone, and I was willing to talk to the driver in broken English. We got there which is the point. Luckily in spite of that start, mine went really well--I was the last of the Conway kids to go and we all had basically the same experience so I was pretty sure that people were going to be clawing their eyes out by the time it was my turn but on the contrary they seemed to enjoy my take on things.

That evening was dinner out on the company tab and this meant free food AND free margaritas. Love this. It was a great knight, hanging out with my new people and eating AMAZING Mexican food. Nirvana I tell you. Afterward we just went back to the Double Tree to hang out and drink some more in various rooms. We just wanted to hang out together... Awwww.

Tuesday we had to get up (in spite of some of us having had epic nights...not me but...well we'll leave them nameless) for exit interviews. Again mine seemed fine. It was over fairly early so us girls went to our free lunch and then decided to go shopping. Cute dresses had by all (well nearly all anyway). After shopping we collected a bit of sun at the pool before dinner at...get ready...The Hobbit Cafe. Yep. It was Hobbit themed. I had blackened fish tacos which were AMAZING and we also all had a seasonal German beer they had... it was dark and serious...like a beer smoothie. Also AMAZING. We wrapped that night by again knocking back a few at the good ol' Double Tree with all our new besties. Good times. Until people started trickling out and we had to say goodbye. It wasn't quite tearful but it was sad for sure. Crazy how much you can get attached to and miss people you only met a couple months ago. Le sigh.

I spent the whole day Wednesday driving to Wichita in convoy with Eric. It was a long day... but we made it to Justin and Kevin's and enjoyed the company in spite of the fact that the air conditioning was on the fritz and we all dearly died of heat stroke. I bandaged the wound by making PW pancakes (obviously) for all of us this morning. I rock.

I made it back to Manhattan today and I promptly went to lunch with Emily, Susan and Bre. The Palace knows how to throw down a pizza. God bless them. This afternoon Emily and I went to the new city pool (aquatic park/wonderland) and worked on our tans. Or freckles. Whatever. We capped off the day by eating La Fiesta... I enjoyed a healthy sized margarita. I seem to have missed enjoying a good bev on this dry summer...

Now I sit here amidst my stuff (I am a little appalled that I have THIS MUCH STUFF!) procrastinating putting it all away by writing this. I thought about continuing this to included the things I learned this summer, the best memories, the this I may miss or not miss... but then I realized that Kyle will be here tomorrow and my room makes me look like a hobo so I need to just suck it up and save all that mushy stuff for another day.

Coming soon: Lessons learned in the oil field, Things I'll miss about Conway, Things I won't miss, and a Greatest hits list of memories. Look alive.

I'm running out of clever titles for the boring days

So we decided not to work in the office today because the work to be done didn't require it. We slept in, I made PW pancakes for Anjelica and I, and then we went in to the yard just long enough for her to talk to someone about her project. I spent that time in the parking lot reading a book so no one would see me sitting around doing nothing (they don't like that... they prefer you to hide).

I polished up my presentation from the comfort of my couch and then I went to the pool to try to correct my tan lines (I swear, one burn, one time and you can't fix it! You either have to re-torch yourself or live with your circus pattern) before I bonded with the couch some more.

Productivity spiked again a little before 4 when I took Anjelica to the hair dresser. I came home and baked thank-you-cookies to kill time before I went to pick her up. Knocked out two tubes (one of them JUMBO sized thankyouverymuch!).

And thus brings us to the present, where our heroine sits on her couch watching Sinefeld. I'll finish baking at some point, perhaps read some more, watch SHARK WEEK and then go to bed. Looking like an intense night. Risky since I present tomorrow at 1pm but I like to live on the edge.

Accidental day off...

Today has been AMAZING. We went in at 9 and spent half an hour drawing up cement job layouts and when we were through there was no one around to tell us if we'd done a good job or what else to do so we went home. We stopped for a treat at Starbucks (no coffee pot in the apartment...not ok) and then we realized, WE HAVE THE DAY TO OURSELVES!!! I did something I haven't done in a while...I went to the gym. I know crazy days we're living in. Working this kind of schedule is changing me. I'm doing crazy things. To balance my craziness I then spent a little time pool side trying to iron out the weirdo tank pattern I've been rocking from the Fourth of July parade. Hopefully I made some progress. Time will tell.

I'm showered and dressed (again!) like a real person. I'm going to put on some makeup (gasp!) and go to evening Mass tonight since we'll be leaving for frac in the morning (not sure exactly when but it will be EARLY PANTS!). When I get back Anjelica and I have decided to go to Los Potrillos for mexican food and margaritas to give ourselves a last hurrah before we give our lives to frac. I'm going out in style! I keep acting like I'm being sent away to Siberia permanently... I'm so dramatic sometimes.

Frac Approaches

I have been spelling it wrong I think. I believe I should have stopped at the c (frac seems to be how everyone abbreviates it). Oh well... I'll press on.

Today we were supposed to have the morning with Reggie but he didn't have much to work on so we cleaned trucks early and helped him when we were done. We watched him test a truck and fix it and test it again. Actually we went to lunch in there (Taco Bueno which is my new favorite!). After lunch we also got Reggie to explain to us all the frac trucks and the basic set up of a frac job. That was our task for the afternoon--figuring out all the trucks in the yard (name and purpose). We also went through the coil tubing trucks with Eric (a coil tubing guy obviously). We're saving cement for tomorrow because we kinda know it already and tomorrow we have to diagram a job anyway.

Because it was a slow morning and we worked ahead we got to leave at 3:30. This meant we were home during daylight and we went to the POOL! I have been swimming precisely twice this summer which is horrifying considering my history with aquatic activity. it was a much needed swim. To top it off we ate Pioneer Woman pancakes again. Those things can change lives. For serious they are amazing. PW, I love you. After we ate pancakes (from heaven) we went to see Inception. Spoiler alert: It's AWESOME. Ok kidding about the spoiler part but not kidding about the awesome. (Dad, you would like it a lot. Go see it please. I'm sure it will come to Francie eventually. Do it. ) And the best part? I put on REAL CLOTHES for this. We're talking, JEANS, and NOT A T-SHIRT. I even wore MASCARA! Big night on the town! I haven't worn mascara in...weeks. I wear almost exclusively athletic shorts and t-shirts (don't even talk to me about a real bra...). Getting really dressed was kind of amazing in itself. Listen to me... I'm going slowly crazy.

Tomorrow we get to diagram the cement job and make sure we know about the cement trucks (that we already know so intimately... sleeping in them will do that). This shouldn't take long so we're going to treat ourselves to sleeping in and going in a little later than 7 and we're thinking we'll be out early again as well. Not sure what we'll do with our extra time but I'm sure we'll try to make the most of it. Frac starting Sunday is like a mini death sentence--you have two days to live and then... they own you. But it's only for a week and if this internship is teaching me anything, it's that I can go with the flow and tough it out for a week. Wish me luck!