February 21, 2015

Classes Are Done!

February 21, 2015

As Ron and I sit in a Chick-Fil-A, I think after three days of classes, our brains are fried.   This afternoon after Ron attended the trade show, he and Stephen went to Half-Price Bookstore where he used a couple of gift cards and came out with a large box of books.  We are waiting at Chick-fil-A while Stephen attends his weekly Bible study and Ron was bemoaning the fact that he forgot to bring his Kindle.  We had just left Half-Price Books.  I suggested he go get a book out of the car.  Very embarrassed, he trudged out to the car for reading material. 

Poor Ron, I have laughed at him all weekend.  We stayed at the convention hotel while attending the classes and for some reason they put us sort of at the far end of the building on the top floor.  We have seen only one or two people in that section of the hotel the whole time we have been there.  I told him that maybe they remembered his snoring from three years ago and put us as far away from other guests as possible.  He did give me permission to share these stories.
 

We left home Wednesday morning and had a good drive to Dallas. The weather was wonderful and Ron drove so the heavy traffic didn't bother me - I slept some.  We arrived at our hotel ahead of the 5:00 traffic.  After unloading we relaxed having had a long drive.  We had stopped at Pok-e-Joe's on the way up to get lunch and neither of us was hungry so we read and went to sleep. 

Thursday morning (and each morning) the hotel provided us a fantastic buffet breakfast that was filling and delicious.  On Thursday, Ron and I were in a class together all day.  Our class fees included a lunch which was a buffet of sandwich fixings and was delicious.  The class was on the use of the computer program Quick Books which many small businesses use for bookkeeping, as do we.  I know the basics, but Ron doesn't so it was a good class for him to attend and I learned a few things.  The teacher had 15 minutes notice that he was needed to teach the class due to an emergency with the scheduled teacher.  He did a great job and was easy for me to hear and understand.

After class we went to the room and relaxed and waited until about 7:00 and went to the store where Stephen works.

We spent some time with him there until he locked up the store and then we drove to his house and got Kristina and went to supper.

It turned out to be a Christmas Dinner at Chili's as Kristina and Stephen gave us the Christmas gifts they had for us.  I got books and more books and Ron got a new Bible that has more footnotes than you have ever seen.

 

We had a good time and good supper but stayed out later than intended and kept them up late.  Kristina has a little bit of a long drive the next morning to the school where she teaches.  It was good to be with them and see them happy and doing well.

We got back to the hotel about 11:30 and went straight to sleep to be ready for another 8:00 a.m. class Friday.  We were up early for another of those great breakfasts.  Then to classes.  Friday we were in different classes.  Ron took a safe class all day and I took a class in the morning on Growing Your Business and in the afternoon on Locksmith Marketing.  Both were useful and the same man taught the marketing class who taught the Thursday class.  The morning class was small and I was on the front row, so I did fine hearing.  These are the best classes I have taken for the license.  They were useful to me, well taught and I did not fight to stay awake.

Friday evening we met Stephen and Kristina for my birthday dinner at Olive Garden since we couldn't be together for my birthday.  After supper we returned to the hotel and visited for a while before Stephen and Kristina headed home. 

Saturday morning was the same: great breakfast and 8:00 class.  We just had a one hour class this time.  It was harder for me to hear and less interesting, but necessary.  After class we returned to the room before going to the trade show.  I only stayed long enough to greet some friends and then I met Stephen and Kristina to go to Carrollton to do some shopping.  They had given me a gift certificate to the Quilt Store there and that made shopping extra fun. 

We looked around town at antiques and assorted other unique shops before having lunch at the Twisted Root Burger Co. and then we went to the Quilt Store.

Kristina and I both wanted to learn more about each other's tastes in colors and fabrics.  We had a good time shopping and I managed to spend my gift certificate before we returned to Dallas. 

Ron and Stephen had left earlier to go to the Half-Price Book store and Kristina and I shopped more before meeting them.  Then she left for a baby-sitting job and we went to Chick-fil-A with Stephen.  That is where I started this blog.