Home - Finally

Sorry about the dearth of posts. I've been out of town for awhile. I had business travel in Detroit and I set up the trip to include a visit with my family in Ohio.

My trip coincided with my little sister Chris' birthday and I didn't tell her I was coming to Columbus. That was a tough secret to keep! My family planned a casual dinner to celebrate her birthday at her house. I showed up in a gorilla costume (courtesy of Steve, my brother-in-law) to surprise Chris. The costume was clearly made for someone bigger than me! My neck wasn't long enough to put my eyes anywhere near the eye-holes and the mouth hole was too low to see through. I stumbled up the stairs to the front door, hoping I wouldn't run into anything, and walked into the house, where I proceeded to grunt and howl like a gorilla. Chris was quite surprised to see a gorilla walk in and began to try to figure out who was inside the suit. I shuffled around, making gorilla noises and trying hard not to laugh, lest she figure out who I was from that clue.

I was bound and determined to stay in it until Chris figured out who was in the suit. I thought she would figure it out much quicker! It began to get really hot in the suit! Finally, Chris proclaimed in disbelief, "It's not Jen, is it?" I immediately whipped of the mask and we both laughed hysterically. Chris said it was the best surprise ever!

I had a great time visiting with my family and then took off for my conference in Detroit. I don't have much to say about that, other than it was exhausting. Standing all day in high heels, staying up past my typical bedtime to schmooze with clients and potential business partners.

After the conference, I spent another couple of days in Columbus with my Dad, two sisters and their families. Plus I got to have dinner with some old and dear friends. Very early Friday morning, I headed to the airport to fly back to Colorado, just in time to get my butt over to Buena Vista for the Adventure XStream BV 24 hour race.

More on the race in the next post!