Wow, I am sooo exhausted! What a trip! The conference was amazing. It was a leadership training course and we covered such topics as diversity, culture and leadership essentials. It “sounds” boring, but it was pretty interesting. The instructors were a hoot and we played some practical jokes on one another. I learned lots and met alot of great people. I was also lucky enough to meet up with cpo’s one and only ladybug_mom aka Cara. Let’s start from the beginning shall we?
MONDAY
We left PEI at 9:00 am and made it to Fredericton a little after noon. It took us 15-20 min to find the Delta after arriving in Fredericton. We were only blocks away too….I wish I was a little more familiar with the city! We spent the afternoon learning about diversity and then headed to Franks diner for supper. I had the “quick catch of the day” which consisted of fish (haddock), fried clams, french fries and coleslaw. It was delicious! We followed supper by a tour of the new store on the other side of the bridge. It sounds weird, but any time we are away for conferences, that’s the first thing we do!! It’s actually interesting to see how other stores are set up and how the differ from your own store. After leaving the store, we got lost. We must have circled the same area for more than 30 minutes. I was starting to get car sick, but there was just NO WAY I was giving up my delicious supper! After driving circles for what seemed like hours, we FINALLY made it to the hotel. Our district manager has a GPS for travelling, unfortunately for us it was NOT in the car!
TUESDAY
After what seemed like an endless day of learning, we heading to the Regent mall for supper and a little shopping. I had Japanese at the food court. It was delicious!! I love sticky rice. I wish I knew how they make it. Once we were through, it was time for another quick tour of the older store in Fredericton and then my favorite…..SHOPPING!!! My first stop was the Children’s Place. I really hope we get one on PEI soon!
WEDNESDAY
We were a little more active this day of our conference. It’s nice to get up and move around a little. Sitting for 8 hrs straight is agonizing! After the course, I met Cara in the hotel lobby and we headed to the Diplomat for supper. It was funny to find out we both LOVE lobster. She ordered the lobster sandwich and I had lobster chowder. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, the waitress brought our desserts. M-m-mmmm……cheesecake. It was soooo good!!! I had cappachino and Cara had turtle cheesecake. They even drew a pic of a turtle out of choc/caramel sauce beside the slice of cheesecake. You’ll have to check out her blog for that pic!
After taking a few more pics, we said goodbye and discussed getting together over the summer. Feeling absolutely stuffed, I decided to go for a walk to work off some of my supper. It was absolutely gorgeous. I couldn’t get over how warm it was outside. I took pics of the saint john river, a bald eagle and a very curious grey squirrel.
I headed back to the Regent mall for more shopping. I was a little leary of how to get there and decided to take a cab. BIG mistake. I ended up getting this creepy guy named Kevin, who asked me to refer to him as “LUCKY” because he could “get er done!” I’m not sure exactely what he was referring to nor was I going to ask. He told me to be sure and ask for him when I called for a cab to go back to the hotel….ah, no thanks!!!! I used a totally different cab company who perceeded to take all the back streets. Made me a little nervous, but he was very pleasant to talk to and I made it back to the hotel safe and sound. I didn’t sleep very well the night before so a few of my co-workers headed down to the pub for a brewski (coors light)…..mmmm, did that hit the spot!! I think I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow!!!
THURSDAY
After another day of learning, we headed back to Franks diner for some more delicious grub. We didn’t get AS lost this time and narrowed our driving time down to only 10 min of confusion. I guess the saying “the third time’s the charm” is true, because we made it back to the hotel without a hitch!!
FRIDAY
Our last day! It was nice to get away, but I was really starting to miss my family. I had a great week getting to know my fellow peers and we had a blast!! Next month, we have a district meeting for our division only. It’s only one night away, but I am REALLY looking forward to it. We are a pretty crazy bunch, so I am definitely bringing my camera! Not only to record some funny moments, but I figure I may be able to use the photos for black mail at a later date…BAAHHHAAAWWW! Â
Below is a pic of the whole crew!
Cara aka “ladybugmom”
us outside the hotel
the bald eagle
nosey squirrel
saint john river
