man, it's been a long couple of weeks!

this week i went to phoenix for work. it was the EXACT same temperature there as it was here in chicago. sheesh. apparently they really really really needed rain and i just lucked out and arrived during some of the coldest rainiest days in awhile. oh well. at least the "conference" i was there for went well. i put quotes around conference since there are indeed speakers and panels and breakout sessions and all of the other fun things you get at a conference, but the main reason that this particular event is so important is the networking. and when i say networking i mean both really good discussions about how to move our industry forward AND drinking way too much until way too late. luckily i had a lot of restraint this time and was in my room and in bed before my coworkers even left the resort to go out bar-hopping (after the resort bar closed). they were hurting each morning that we were there.

one of the highlights of my holiday season so far was a surprise serenade at the american airlines gate last sunday. i think most of the people waiting for the flight were grumpy and exhausted. if you're flying on a sunday it's either because you have to be somewhere for work on monday (which sucks because then you're working on sunday by flying out early) or they were heading back home from a trip, which is never the fun part. i mean, you *know* when people are flying on a sunday they're probably not leaving for vacation, because then they would have left friday or saturday. so anyhow, all of us grumpy folks are waiting at the gate, drinking our starbucks (mmm... peppermint mocha...) when the gate attendant announces that he'd like to get us all in the holiday spirit and then launches into one of the most beautiful renditions of "the most wonderful time of the year" that i've ever heard. that guy had a voice like warm honey and it made everyone within earshot smile.

you know how there's usually something that finally sparks you, and you realize that it's time to start feeling festive? well, that was it for me -- the beginning of my holiday season 2004.