down with the sickness

So, I'm sick. It started in my throat and permeated (I love that word) throughout my head and chest within a day.

I admit that I was kind of complaining about it when I got into work on Monday morning, that is until I got a really big slap in the face (not literally, thank goodness) that put things in perspective. This week is our sector's Diversity and Inclusion week - which, I think, is sad that we need to remind our employees to celebrate diversity, but that's a completely different topic. Anyway, the speaker to kick off the week was a Holocaust survivor, Nesse Godin, who shared with us her story from when she was 13-17 years old during the Holocaust. It was amazing, inspiring, and horrific. I was completely enthralled with the fact that she did not feel the need to shock us in order to awe us. The stories she told could have been extremely worse, and although she alluded to certain sights she saw, and even shared anectdotes of specific days she remembers, she reminded us that some things are just better left unsaid.

Man, did I feel stupid after I left. Here I was whining because I missed ice cream after a meeting...

Now here I am, at 9 p.m., sipping on some theraflu, hoping to induce me into a drug-minded sleep. Just grateful for being alive! Grateful that I can appreciate diversity without someone telling me to do so. Hopeful that our world will never let anything like that happen again.

Can I change gears a little now? I'm also excited. I get to go to Texas this weekend for work (which means it's FREE!) and participate in an event for a few days. This is very important for me, as I'm kind of pinch hitting for my manager, who is unable to go. I know I'm expected to provide a lot of input and feedback, as I am representing her! So that's me putting on my corporate hat.

Then, the day after I get back from that, I get to let my (newly cut) hair down and throw on some flip flops, and head to Costa Rica for 5 days! I am especially excited about this trip, as I am going with Natasha, and although we have a structure in place of what we want to do - this is going to be a trip of relaxation and adventure. The things we have set to do are:

• Hike the Arenal volcano
• Zip line down the volcano
• Hot Springs/La Fortuna waterfall
• Canopy Tours
• Go to a banana plantation!
• Observe all 5 species of turtles on a Carribean coast beach

Did you know there are only 5 species of turtles in the world? I did not. But those are the things we are going to do - and everything else is just extra. My life is wonderful, how could I be complaining about a silly little cold? Pssh...