Missing in Action

I've unfortunately been super MIA the past few weeks -- I've been on more airplanes in the past 2 weeks than I usually travel on in a year.

Where to begin?  A brief synopsis:

My last day at work was a Tuesday and despite the awful hours and not so great management, I was surprised by how bittersweet it was.  For almost 2 years of my life I was surrounded by some pretty awesome coworkers that became great friends and confidants as well as experiences that helped build my professional career.  For that, I am forever thankful.  My last day was commemorated with brownies, cake balls, and a farewell party at one of our favorite bars after work.  It was more of a 'see ya later' than a farewell as I've already seen everyone a couple times since quitting. :)

Two days later I jumped on a plane and headed to Palm Springs, California to start my new job at one of the major tournaments for the l.pga.  In a nutshell -- California was beautiful, super liberal (more so than this Texan could have imagined), and a great experience.  I really like my new boss who was there to train me, and I've already learned a lot about forecasting on-site for the tournaments.  I get to eat breakfast and lunch with the players and walk the course if the weather is nice.  The hours are long, and when bad weather is imminent the stress will be high, but I am thankful for the experience and look forward to the challenge as the sole meteorologist on staff.  My next stop, Mobile, AL at the end of the month.

Winging my way to the coast

Sunny Cali-forn-ia

View from my hotel

I returned to Texas the following Monday and got word from my aunt that she randomly received tickets from her boss (associated with the B.raves) for the Sunday round of the Masters in Augusta, GA.  You generally have to be born into or fork out thousands for a ticket, so my dad and I jumped on the once-in-a-lifetime chance and booked a last minute trip to Atlanta for the weekend.

I had already made plans for a girls weekend in Corpus with my friends Claira and Libby, so I had to cut that a bit short, but still made it down to the Texas coast for about 18 hours.  It was great to see the girls and see Claira's home -- which will shortly change when they find out where they'll be transferred to in a month.

We checked out the Marine airshow on base

Downtown Corpus beyond the water

After getting back to Houston Saturday night we did a quick turn around and set out for the airport to make our 7.30pm flight to ATL.  We left for Augusta early the next day and made it to the Masters by around 9am.  The course was beautiful and seeing iconic players like Tiger, Freddy Couples, Phil Mickelson, etc was something I'll always remember.  Unfortunately we couldn't bring any cameras or cell phones on the course, so I couldn't get pictures.  The course was beautifully manicured with awesome azaleas & dogwoods blooming everywhere.  We were able to walk almost every hole and sat in the grandstands behind a couple of the holes.

The thing I found the most interesting was how stream-lined everything was.  It looked like an amusement park, or Disney World, on the inside with little nice green huts for bathrooms, concessions, and merchandise every few holes.  In between these areas were the holes where you could walk.  Also amazing was how cheap the food was!  I was expecting to pay and arm and a leg, but it was quite the opposite.  We had the famous pimento cheese sandwiches and sweet tea -- a very authentic experience :)

We sat behind the iconic 12th hole at Amen Corner

My cousin Andrew and I

Our Augusta group

After a long day full of excitement and sun, we headed back and I was able to spend the next day with my grandparents and we had a nice dinner with some family that came over.  I forgot how beautiful the season of spring is -- especially in Atlanta.

Cherry tree

My grandparents' house

I love the dogwoods and azaleas

We landed on Tuesday night and I went immediately to Minute Maid to see the Cubs v. Astros game with some of my old coworkers.  Go Cubbies!  We unfortunately lost to the Astros, but won the other 2 games this week.  Sadly, Minute Maid was filled with more blue shirts than Astros shirts.  It's been a great few weeks, but I'm looking forward to settling down and getting things organized before the next adventure begins :)

Our seats behind home plate