Chicago in Late Winter

Returning home always comforts my soul
I traveled to Chicago for a week of business meetings. Even though it was the week before St. Patrick's Day, there was still snow on the ground, and six more inches fell during my stay. I traveled with three other co-workers who were also attending the same meetings--and two of the guys have made several trips to the ADP office there--so having company experienced with the area made the traveling aspect easy. Although this was the second time in nine months I've had to travel, these are the only two trips I've made in the nearly ten years working for ADP.

My hotel in Hoffman Estates
Our office sits in the suburbs (Hoffman Estates) about an hour west of downtown Chicago, and our meetings were long and intense, so we didn't have an opportunity to get out much and explore--the snow and below-freezing temperatures failed to encourage as little outdoor activity as possible, too. The Hoffman building has been recently remodeled and reconfigured, which was nice to see because our Portland building will be seeing the same makeover during the next 18 months. I was also able to meet in person with some associates whom I normally only speak with on the phone. But for the most part I was in day-long meetings with the same core of people. I went out each night for dinner with five or six of the group, and it was great to bond and share stories and just get to know each other better. Then it was off to bed before waking up early (three extra hours for me: 1 for daylight savings, and 2 for being in the Central time zone) and exercising in my room and even running outside on three mornings.

I flew out Sunday afternoon to a cold and snowy Chicago and returned home Friday afternoon to a sunny and warm Portland--I couldn't rip my pants and coat off soon enough. Meg and Ian surprised me by greeting me inside the terminal, although they were lucky they found me at all. I was about to descend the escalators to retrieve my checked bag when I heard a voice in the distance calling my name. I sometimes run into people I know, but these people aren't usually gorgeous women. As I approached the woman, I realized it was Meg, making my welcome home complete.

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