We made it back from our Dallas trip just fine. Actually, we made it to Dallas just fine and without incident… just like we like it! Our Annual trip to Northern Texas started off with a 3 hour drive West to Nashville. Flying out of TYS is just way too expensive, so we can get tickets for HUNDREDS of dollars cheaper flying out of BNA. Only problem is that sometimes you have to leave at 5am in the morning!

Our stay this year was at the Sheraton instead of the Hyatt, as it had been the past 3 years. What this meant was that walking to and from the Convention Center was impractical given the Dallas Heat and personal Safety issues. This meant that we could take either A) The Provided Shuttle Buses or B) The Dart (the local innercity rail system). Although the Buses would keep us in our own Pink Bubble, the wait and travel time would increase 10 fold. So we went for the local flair.

Actually, I was sorta envious of the Dart, because I wish Knoxville had something like this. I enjoy public transportation, even though it sometimes scares me. It’s an excellent way to experience a city. Knoxville only has a Bus System, which is decent, but Knoxvile is so spread out that coverage where I live to commute to downtown is minimal.

Only a couple of times did we have any problems… one guy came up and started a conversation about why were there and when he found out he said that he was close neighbors to Ross Perot and Mary Kay while growing up, but he was harmless. When dressed to the Nines for awards night, an elderly lady asked where the big fancy party was. I gave a guy $2 to “get peroxide” because he had been turned away from the hospital and had a big abrasion (although not super fresh) on his knee.

Day 0 Checking In
We determined that we need to come in a Day earlier, so we need to fly in Day -1. I pretty much slept all afternoon long of Day 0 and so we missed a number of things because of that. We did get to eat at a nice Mexican Restaurant though and that was good. Mexican restaurants are better places to get Gluten Free items off the regular menu.

Day 1
We were running a little late to the Opening Ceremonies and so we missed the opening performance of the Performing Group, The Friends of Tyme. But apart from that, the Opening Ceremonies were excellent. Another good rule for Seminar is to win as many of the Luncheons as possible. MK runs contests throughout the Seminar Year and one level of awards is to earn a Luncheon. Well, this year My Lovely and Talented Wife won the It’s In The Bag Luncheon and so we ate well! Yummmmmmmy!

In the evening of Day 1 is the Kalicak Awards night. Sylvia (Kalicak) is our National Sales Director and so everyone in her National Area gets together for a catered dinner at the hotel and Awards are given for the people in Sylvia’s area. This one of the couple times a year that I dress up in a Tuxedo. I did get to take a bunch of pictures, of which I need to send to Sylvia. One of the other husbands had a sweet 70-200mm lens with Image Stabilization, but he confessed to always shooting in auto mode. To boot, he had a SpeedLite 430, which is definitely on my list of “To Get”.

So the night was great. I was very please with the 4GB card because I was not worried about the number of pictures that I was taking, and I was even using the Highest Setting mode. Maybe I’ll upgrade to 8GB because, you’ll find out in a paragraph or two that I maxed out my card.

Day 2

Day 2 is the Class Day. This is where the learning portion of the event is taken place. There are general sessions based on where you are and then in the afternoon is the ever entertaining Director’s meeting. This is where alot of the new stuff and technology is showcased. For the husbands, the company has events that they sponsor for those husbands who don’t want to sit in a room.

The husbands in national area where going golfing, in dallas, in morning and middle of the day. Now, they went to the best course in Dallas, so that was nice… but the 105F wasn’t from what I understood. I played paintball again. It’s been a couple weeks removed, from the event, but I went home with ALOT less welts than last year. I was much more efficient in my tactitical maneouvers. I’ll post a picasa album of some pictures that I took.

The evening of Day 2 is the Company Awards Night… another evening of dressing up in a Tuxedo! This event is held in the Convention Center, so while taking the DART to the Center, an eldery lady asked where the fancy party was. One of my favorite parts of the evening is the performances that the Friends of Tyme put on. This year, there was no Broadway Showtune medelly, it was all Music Industry performances. They did a timeline Rock music type monterage followed with an All-Country set.

Day 3

Closing ceremony… it wraps up the event and showcases the theme on the upcoming year. In the past, we’ve usually hit the road right after seminar ends, but this year, we decided to stay an extra day to give us a breather before getting home. Smart Choice. We ate in the West End district of Downtown Dallas for both lunch and dinner… definitely a place to stop at again even if we are at a different hotel.

I tried to meet up with my friend Nick who I went to high school with in Virginia but our schedules couldn’t mesh… poo. At least I know that I will be back next year!