Greetings from Baltimore

Dan and I left on Tuesday night for our Shop Owner's Course here in Baltimore, MD.

Our plane was delayed about 4 hours before we left Milwaukee. Once we did get off the ground, our 737 bounced and jolted around in our not-so-friendly skies of a thundershower. All it took was a consoling hand rub and a prayer to God to smooth things out. The rest of the flight was a breeze! We landed at about 1:45 am. Arrive hotel, check in, lights out by 3.

Up at 6 am and ready to bring on the world at ATI!

It has been 3 full days of learning, reviewing, and meeting other owner's nationwide that deal with many of the same issues that we do.

My souvenir list includes a lengthy ACTION ITEM list and a new outlook on life. Main objective goal has been met! We had a great meeting with our coach, Geoff Berman today and we look forward to getting back to implement our new strategies for a better service experience for our customers and our technicians! Tally-Ho!

We had the opportunity to check out a local brewery, DuClaw just across the way from our hotel in the Arundel Mills Mall. All the way from Lake Mills...to Arundel Mills! Ironic. Really good food, and per Dan, fairly good beer!

My mom stayed with the kids so as to maintain a life as normal as possible for them while we were gone. Dan and I are very thankful to Jenny Krauklis and Renee Bachmann for getting the kids to school and for taking them for a night to get Grandma a break!

Another special thank you to EVERYONE at the shop for keeping the boat sailing. By the look of things, it was a speedboat with a big block in it. LOTS going on there. Not a surprise, though, as that is par for the course when we're gone!

Have had some time inbetween for reflection and discussion which has been valued since that type of time is few and far between (between kids, phones, friends, work, etc., etc.!)

It's been nice to keep in touch with everyone on Facebook! A nice treat we have never had while traveling before.

Now? I'm beat. I'm going to get up early and get my Couch to 5K run in before we head off to the airport. Feels kind of weird being in so early on Friday night in a big city, but I'm just beat and can't wait for my head to hit the pillow!

Looking forward to seeing the kids and Brady tomorrow, as well as family and friends. It's been a nice "break." A valuable one.