I'm back from California

I had to go to Long Beach, California this past week for business. I don't particularly like flying but I have to admit the flights were not that bad. I sat next to this man who had an 18 month old (from Salt Lake City to Long Beach). That little girl made me miss my kids so bad!!
So when I got to the airport there was a driver standing there holding my name on a piece of paper, I just laughed! Anyway he got me to my hotel, which was beautiful! I had the rest of the day to just enjoy myself. My hotel was across the street from the ocean so I went and walked along the beach, did a little shopping (I bought a $9 purse!!) and then went and ate dinner by myself at Outback. I don't really like eating by myself but since I was in a town where no one knew me I didn't care. The weather there was so wonderful. It was about 78 during the day and around 65 at night, and always a nice breeze.
I had meetings all day but the nights were mine to do whatever I wanted. A few nights I went to dinner with people from the meetings but I was taking advantage of having 4 nights of no responsibility, no putting kids to bed and a full night of sleep, uninterrupted...it was wonderful!!
On Wednesday they let us out of our meeting at 12:30 so I went upstairs and changed in to my bathing suit and hit the pool. I laid out there for 5 hours! I took a little nap, I read a book, I went swimming and just relaxed....I also got sunburned but it was worth it! I really enjoyed the time to my self, however, I was ready to get back to my family.
So, on the last part of my flight home from Atlanta to Jacksonville I was sitting next to this elderly man. It was late and the moon was out. It was the most beautiful moon I had ever seen. I couldn't resist so I told the man he had to see the moon. He looked out my window and said with the most eloquent voice "That is so beautiful!" Well, that began a long heartfelt conversation between the two of us. He is a Persian man who had fled his country a few years ago because of religious persecution. He left all of his worldly possessions behind, everything he had worked his whole life for. He ended up in Germany, where he endured more persecution because of his Persian ethnicity so finally he came to America. 3 weeks ago he took his citizenship test, and passed! Now he is waiting to recite the pledge of allegiance. He told me how much he loved America. He placed his hand over his heart and said "God Bless America!" I was of course holding back my tears but I repeated that same phrase back to him. I truly do love my country and it's amazing when you hear the horror stories that others go through in their own countries it just solidifies how wonderful the USA is. By the end of our flight we were knee to knee, hand in hand, engrossed in a beautiful conversation. He took my hand to his heart and said it was an honor to meet me. But truly, it was really my honor to meet him. He made me a little more proud of my country that day and allowed me to truly be thankful to my Jesus for allowing me to be born here. It was a great ending to a long day.

However, when I got to work on Friday my boss was wondering if I had attended any meetings since I was so tan :)