What a week.

AHA!!! I am totally awesome this morning. I was up early, into work early (7 AM!), and it's cool outside with a heavy cloudy sky. IT'S FALL! And I'm in love. <3

Sorry I've been AWOL for the past few days, it's been insane. Tuesday, I was up at 4:45 AM to ride with my coworker to Greensboro for a conference, which lasted all day - and then I gymmed it and then did something that night... I don't remember what. I must have been at the gym pretty late. Wednesday, I did some work early, packed up, and was off to Asheville/Hendersonville.

It was a long and gorgeous drive - it was surreal, driving into the mountains at sunset. Ahh! I was glad to arrive at my hotel though, which was really nice. And I mean REALLY nice. So, when I get there, somebody is giving the concierge a hard time - he apparently gave her a hard time last night too, but he must have short-term memory loss or some kind of dementia, because he couldn't remember it. She was very flustered, but I waited patiently and eventually checked in. When I got to my door, I was so excited about throwing my crap down and bounding delightedly and unrestrainedly into the king-sized bed, but when I unlocked the door...

There was an old man with his shoes off lounging in the study chair in front of the TV, watching Fox News. ::shudder:: I backed away slowly without making any sudden movements, and fled back to the concierge, who was once again swamped with irate, overalls-clad rednecks grilling her because the prices were so high. When I finally got to her, she explained that the Sockless Man had been put in 215 (my room) to begin with, decided he didn't like it, was moved to 114, and then decided for some reason to stay in 215 without telling anybody. BAH! So, I was put in a completely different room - no king, but a study and two queens. Yes, a little blonde 5'2" woman absolutely requires two queen-sized beds. A tiny corner of one of the beds to be used as a sleeping nest, and the rest of it and the entire other bed will serve as....

TRAMPOLINES!

Fo rillz. Anyway. I was absolutely famished, and after unpacking some stuff and putzing around on the internets for a bit, I went out in search of victuals. I found myself at an Ingle's, which is apparently THE place to be on a Wednesday night - the locals were loitering and shopping to their hearts' content. I bought myself some dinner, returned to my room with a throbbing headache, and ended up randomly falling asleep at 9:10 in the middle of a conversation with Steven (who has been having all sorts of operatic success! EXCITEMENT!).

When I woke up at 5:10, I spent about 2 hours just dillydallying. Chatted online, watched the news, enjoyed some coffee and Cheerios, then packed up, checked out, drove to location, and gave my presentation... It was grueling. Brutal. I have never presented to a bitchier group of people in my life. Two or three in the class wasted everybody else's time complaining about nitpicky details that I have nothing to do with and absolutely no control over, and one older lady was inappropriately rude and was called out by her peers for it. The presentation went about a half-hour over time, but I always enjoy public speaking, even if my audience was that difficult.

When it was done, I was so happy to drive home. It was exquisite - the mountains were gorgeous and colorful, the sky was pristine with a few lingering vapor trails, traffic was light. ::sighsighsigh!:: I got so sleepy that I had to stop at a rest area and take a 30-minute nap... Which was also exquisite. I was parked in the dappled sunshine under a maple tree and there were birds singing and a cool breeze. I arrived in Durham just as S was getting off work, and together we went to his parents' house to retrieve Alundra, went out for sushi at Kurama, and were quite content for the rest of the evening.

Tonight? Who knows! A long gym session, and then perhaps out for dinner - or video games, or a movie... Something relaxing after a week like this.