My first business trip ever. In my very first job, working for the agency, my two co-workers were always flying off to the Vancouver office or Toronto. That was back when flights were cheap and budget cuts had not yet made it to the travel line. Now many employers have put travel bans in place so the team in head office that you talk to more than your own family remains faceless. Or at least legless if you enjoy the luxury of video-conferencing. I did a job interview that way once. What a waste of a perfectly put together outfit.
So the excitement over this trip had nothing to do with the destination. I'd have been bouncing around if they were sending me to Saskatoon. It was about getting on a plane for business instead of pleasure, checking into a hotel room downtown instead of a Super Eight with a coupon, having a per diem to buy food with, taking a taxi instead of having a relative pick me up and getting to be Jill, who flew in from Winnipeg. So many new fun hats to try. Also, a good excuse to buy new shoes and a suit when I was in America the weekend prior.
My mom took me to the airport on Thursday morning.
| ||
| From Toronto Trip 2011 |
| ||
| From Toronto Trip 2011 |
My boss came on the trip and it was her first business trip too, so we were both excited. The flight down started us off on getting to know each other better outside of the hospital walls. We bonded over blistered feet and a quest for all things heart shaped.
 |
| From A Heart for Kristin |
 |
| From Toronto Trip 2011 |
At 9:30 we retired to our rooms. I launched myself backwards onto the king bed and was disappointed that it felt like landing on a sheet of plywood.
 |
| From Toronto Trip 2011 |
It felt kind of lonely sitting there in my room. I read all my emails, perused my usual news outlets, sent a few texts out and wondered how the football game I was missing was going back home. Missing. Something was missing.
I eventually gave in and slid myself into the left side of the bed. The pillows were weird. Too soft. I doubled up and my head sunk into the synthetic feather mound. In retrospect, I'd say this was where my trouble may have began.
I dreamed that night repeatedly of being smothered in that bed with the extra pillows by a woman and a man on either side of me. It was really creepy. Sleep that night came in fits. I got up at 7:30 with only shreds left of my excitement for the meeting that day. I felt like a wreck.
| ||
| From Toronto Trip 2011 |
The meeting was great. We were done by four but my flight home didn't leave until eleven which left me me a lot of time to kill. My boss was meeting a friend for dinner so I was on my own. My feet protested, but I set out on a walk in search of some green space. I settled for a bench by a fountain where I pulled out my journal and let my soul flow through my pen. I play around with the various pieces of my life with a sense of determination like someone doing a Sudoku or crossword puzzle. On the one hand, life is chaos, but on the other, so many people and things have come into mine lately, just when I needed them, that I feel certain there is a melody and a chorus.
I closed my journal and put my puzzle away for a while to rest in my subconscious. I headed back toward the hotel and stopped in front of a $20 psychic reading place. My boss and I had noticed it the day before and decided we should try it for fun. The neon sign said OPEN but when I pulled on the door it was locked so I carried on down Dundas Street. I would try again later, but with the same results. Fate doesn't like cheaters. Or she wanted to save me 20 bucks.
I wandered in a circle, sometimes in the crowd sometimes out. I felt trapped and lost like a fish in a tank. Toronto is alright, but I don't think it's my city. But that could have been the blisters, exhaustion and dehydration talking.
2 comments:
OMG I just love that dress
Where did you get it?
Macy's last summer.
Post a Comment