tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120221822009-07-09T16:16:50.146-05:00The life and times of a modern day travel agency owner.Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.comBlogger499125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-55752664299985112792009-07-09T15:27:00.005-05:002009-07-09T16:16:46.843-05:00

"I saw a bank that said "24 Hour Banking," but I don't have that much time." - Steven WrightOver the past several months I have been really paying attention to steps I take that allow me to be more focused and attendant. While I realize that some of these results may be anecdotal at best, I thought I would share them and try to get some feedback from things others have tried and had success with

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-42728239928042734412009-07-08T11:33:00.000-05:002009-07-08T11:34:29.572-05:00

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-39046703096223827722009-07-02T23:07:00.012-05:002009-07-05T20:23:24.269-05:00

As I've mentioned, I'm have big plans this weekend to get caught up on so many things that have been hanging over my head. I am to the stage of life where I know myself well enough to know that when I get to Monday evening when my family returns no matter how much I get done I will feel like it wasn't enough.So, I am going to continually edit this post throughout the weekend adding things I want

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-77231166228929945532009-07-02T13:03:00.003-05:002009-07-02T14:25:00.514-05:00

As you can imagine, moving thousands of people a year across this wonderful planet we call home, sometimes issues arise. The best situation for everyone is when we find out about the issue as soon as it happens, when we are able to still make a difference. Sometimes that doesn't happen though. For whatever reason, people don't always calls us when they run into an issue.We have three

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-66653956967356151142009-07-01T10:21:00.002-05:002009-07-01T11:29:09.618-05:00

Tomorrow Philip is leaving with the kids to go to Alabama and then onto Georgia to drop daughter off at Duke TIP. I will be enjoying five glorious days of no interruptions to the things I will get done. The house will be neat. I won't have to stop and feed anyone or referee fights. I will get caught up on many things I have been behind on.I will also miss them desperately and be glad to see

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-25350229518133022592009-06-30T12:09:00.003-05:002009-06-30T12:54:20.242-05:00

Coming soon to a television near you. (If you live in Plano or Richardson and have Time Warner Cable)

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-53168992829429266002009-06-28T11:18:00.003-05:002009-06-28T11:23:52.719-05:00

Yesterday Son told me that when he grows up he wants to build houses. When the houses are complete he intends to put a sign in the front that says "For Homeless". Then whoever doesn't have a home can come live there.I think when I grow up, I want to be him.

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-4122116849976221832009-06-25T15:30:00.002-05:002009-06-26T09:43:23.369-05:00

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-41761869539749366532009-06-25T11:23:00.002-05:002009-06-25T11:36:23.542-05:00

My sister in law forwarded me an email interchange she'd had with a friend. I thought she did a really fine job of describing my dear Father-in-Law. I got her permission to share it with you now:When my dad got cancer in 1991 he did not take the time off to recover as instructed. On the way to a followup appointment 6 weeks after surgery, he fell asleep at the wheel with the car on cruise going

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-69891247383147989902009-06-21T15:55:00.002-05:002009-06-21T16:02:01.013-05:00

My son's birthday was in April. In his class, to celebrate each birthday, classmates give a "gift of words" to the birthday boy or girl. These come to the student in the form of a message written on a strip of paper from each child in the room. Here are what the ones written to my son said:"You are the Pokemon master""Dear [Son], You were amazing yesterday at the preforments.""Happy Birthday [

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-23731778134939102302009-06-17T21:36:00.003-05:002009-06-17T21:59:27.281-05:00

Tonight Lacy found a duck in our pool. This video is but a small clip of the mayhem that ensued. At one point she fell in the pool. The duck was less than thrilled. We believe that the duck may be injured because she he can't get enough altitude to get out of the yard. When he tries to fly it becomes quite active between Lacy chasing and the poor duck trying to escape. In the pool he's

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-14866493426474025312009-06-14T19:00:00.002-05:002009-06-14T19:35:37.608-05:00

First of all, let me say that blogging about a politically charged issue is completely not the norm for me. This issue, however, directly and immediately impacts my life more than most issues do. I do not have a clear vision of what I believe should happen with health care reform. I am writing this post as a way to be clear on my thoughts as well as to ask my readers (there are 10's of you!)

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-53600692825700045742009-06-13T14:49:00.003-05:002009-06-13T14:52:15.388-05:00

The section of our client database that greets our agents each morning is something that we change a couple of times a week. I just put up a new one and here it is.

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-13752234743323837502009-06-12T12:52:00.002-05:002009-06-12T13:28:49.614-05:00

We got to go to Hibiscus Restaurant with some very good friends from Mexico. It was a great evening!

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-11414939442806810682009-06-08T14:03:00.002-05:002009-06-08T14:13:17.210-05:00

Recently one of our staff member's sisters decided to go on vacation. An easy enough proposition. Like many prospective vacationers, they looked into one of our fabulous all inclusive vacations. Because of economic implications, they ultimately decided that they would stay in a friends condo in Florida. I mean, everyone is watching pennies right now...right?So, off to Florida they went to

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-78975333036399968042009-06-05T11:02:00.001-05:002009-06-05T11:03:47.184-05:00

These just arrived courtesy of a wedding couple who got married in the lovely Riviera Maya last weekend.How nice and thoughtful! I'm so touched!

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-84830253171869238162009-05-31T15:34:00.002-05:002009-05-31T15:47:27.893-05:00

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-86564306422378102322009-05-29T17:16:00.001-05:002009-05-29T17:18:46.392-05:00

This is my screen on Clientbase. All of my activities are DONE!That sound you hear is a sigh of relief.

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-74912365132871643862009-05-26T18:51:00.002-05:002009-05-26T19:03:20.416-05:00

Today was 2nd Grade Wax Museum. Son chose George Washington as his historical figure. Isn't he great!?

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-43689024588269952342009-05-25T21:06:00.002-05:002009-05-25T21:13:40.322-05:00

I'll post more about my trip later..but for right now let me just quickly say that MEXICO IS BACK. Occupancy is going up nicely at all the hotels we visited. The planes are full and things are getting closer to normal.We had lots of fun and for now I just want to share two things.This is my very good friend, Susan. She has been a vegetarian as long as I've known her. One day she started

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-69880123837350478242009-05-16T15:46:00.002-05:002009-05-16T15:49:55.536-05:00

Yesterday was the 5th anniversary of the passing of my mom. For years, my sister Phyllis has said that she would come back to Texas so we could be together. True to her word, she came in Wednesday afternoon. Today all four siblings along with Daddy and his wife Jean are here together at my house having a lazy day in the rain.We did go to Mom's grave this morning. Here we are trying to get a

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-37974720456459090762009-05-10T20:22:00.002-05:002009-05-10T20:30:28.641-05:00

This year, the smartest travelers will take a vacation to Mexico. It is now common knowledge that the H1N1 hysteria was a massive overreaction. The lasting impact, however, is an opportunity for those smart enough to take advantage of it.The resort areas of Cancun, the Riviera Maya, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo have had fewer confirmed cases of the virus than most US states. At this

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-29020853247935341802009-05-06T10:02:00.001-05:002009-05-06T10:03:23.414-05:00

Daughter's Dance Recital from Catherine Banks on Vimeo.For grandparents, aunts and uncles. :-)

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-62151302751127263362009-05-05T20:33:00.002-05:002009-05-05T20:44:39.732-05:00

From an article on CNN.comIt's supposed to be one of the most popular days in the Mexican calendar.But with Mexico City a ghost town, and schools across the country closed until at least Thursday to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus, the government has called off Cinco de Mayo celebrations nationwide.I'm so incredulous I can hardly type. First of all, most people in Mexico don't even

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12022182.post-48510819770548139562009-05-04T20:52:00.002-05:002009-05-04T20:54:52.351-05:00

1) It's the FLU. Who hasn't had the flu? The CDC is even reporting that H1N1 is actually quite a mild flu. Additionally, we now have anti virals that greatly reduce the duration and severity of symptoms. Additionally, they are reporting that there should be a vaccine available by the fall, when flu cases take an upswing here in North America. We're not fighting a flesh eating bacteria here.

Catherine Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12526155990905312897noreply@blogger.com0