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Day 1048: Road Trippin'
Oct. 21st, 2012 09:32 pmI'm only home till Wednesday, and then I hit the road again, this time for the SPN ChiCon 2012. I have no idea who else is going to be there and am not sure where I ought to post asking to see which writers I (sort of know) are going to be there so I can say hi and gush over their work and maybe make some new friends.
So I spent this past week in San Antonio. It was, ostensibly, for job training. (And no, I didn't stalk Jared Padalecki's family. Job training, people!) I got about two days' worth of job training, for having been in the office five days. Because my second day there, the closing software server crashed. At first they thought it would be up in a couple of hours. When it wasn't, the chief loan officer took us out for lunch at a Mexican restaurant (I have been informed, by multiple parties, that while Tex Mex is very tasty, it isn't actually Mexican food, and you can get better Mexican food in Arizona). So the server was up and down all week, mostly down, which ended up working out for me because I came down with a nasty cold and eventually spent an entire day holed up in my hotel room, eating leftovers and chugging down OJ and watching Second Season Dark Angel. (Jensen Ackles wearing glasses and playing piano? WIN.)
On the days the server was down, I hung out with the really awesome woman who trained me, Karen. She likes to write, so we talked about writing fiction. And she loves Supernatural, so we were total fangirls. On one memorable occasion, she called over her writing buddy (a part time loan officer at another mortgage company) and we hung out for a couple of hours, brainstorming about their novel, talking about writing in general, and having an awesome time. She took me out to lunch pretty much every day - we got sushi and mochi ice cream, we went to an English pub, and we went to a Jason's Deli, which reminded me fiercely of Omaha. In the evenings she took me out to look around, like down to see the Alamo and downtown San Antonio and the River Walk. I didn't end up being able to see my friend Nick, but I saw my friend Andria from college. She and her husband took me out for Texas barbecue, which...wow. They say everything is bigger in Texas. It's because of the food. I got two meals' worth of leftovers from that meal. Seriously huge.
I also spent a good deal of time hanging around my hotel room (which was so, so much nicer than the Winchester special I stayed in for my last business trip) and writing, which was cool. I am kind of in love with the little keyboard my husband got me, that's for sure. I also finished Cassandra Clare's newest novel, and a friend's first draft of a novel. (It's a sad day when I like the unpublished novel better than the published novel, but there you go. I have friends who are quality writers.)
Probably the best part of my trip was, by far, hanging out with my sister and her husband and my super adorable niece. She can walk like a champ now, and a month since I saw her and now she can crawl, which is cute but also kinda worrisome. She loves me, though. She gives me goodnight kisses and she'll hug onto my leg when I stand up, and I love her lots.
A whole week away from my husband was kinda awful, though. I used to abhor the thought of sharing my bed with another person, but now sleeping alone really sucks. It was hard to sleep for the first three nights because I was alone. And when my alarm went off extra-early in the morning, I had no excuse to stay in bed a little longer because there was no one to cuddle with.
Still, I learned some really good things on my trip and should, server willing, be able to start my shiny new job duties first thing tomorrow morning. It was a good trip - I got to see a new city, drive a new car (my rental was a teeny tiny Fiat that had no guts, and those Texas drivers are crazy, so I was constantly afraid of getting rear-ended), and make a new friend.
And I made it home safely.
Other than a minor snafu with my luggage, I made it home safe.
So I spent this past week in San Antonio. It was, ostensibly, for job training. (And no, I didn't stalk Jared Padalecki's family. Job training, people!) I got about two days' worth of job training, for having been in the office five days. Because my second day there, the closing software server crashed. At first they thought it would be up in a couple of hours. When it wasn't, the chief loan officer took us out for lunch at a Mexican restaurant (I have been informed, by multiple parties, that while Tex Mex is very tasty, it isn't actually Mexican food, and you can get better Mexican food in Arizona). So the server was up and down all week, mostly down, which ended up working out for me because I came down with a nasty cold and eventually spent an entire day holed up in my hotel room, eating leftovers and chugging down OJ and watching Second Season Dark Angel. (Jensen Ackles wearing glasses and playing piano? WIN.)
On the days the server was down, I hung out with the really awesome woman who trained me, Karen. She likes to write, so we talked about writing fiction. And she loves Supernatural, so we were total fangirls. On one memorable occasion, she called over her writing buddy (a part time loan officer at another mortgage company) and we hung out for a couple of hours, brainstorming about their novel, talking about writing in general, and having an awesome time. She took me out to lunch pretty much every day - we got sushi and mochi ice cream, we went to an English pub, and we went to a Jason's Deli, which reminded me fiercely of Omaha. In the evenings she took me out to look around, like down to see the Alamo and downtown San Antonio and the River Walk. I didn't end up being able to see my friend Nick, but I saw my friend Andria from college. She and her husband took me out for Texas barbecue, which...wow. They say everything is bigger in Texas. It's because of the food. I got two meals' worth of leftovers from that meal. Seriously huge.
I also spent a good deal of time hanging around my hotel room (which was so, so much nicer than the Winchester special I stayed in for my last business trip) and writing, which was cool. I am kind of in love with the little keyboard my husband got me, that's for sure. I also finished Cassandra Clare's newest novel, and a friend's first draft of a novel. (It's a sad day when I like the unpublished novel better than the published novel, but there you go. I have friends who are quality writers.)
Probably the best part of my trip was, by far, hanging out with my sister and her husband and my super adorable niece. She can walk like a champ now, and a month since I saw her and now she can crawl, which is cute but also kinda worrisome. She loves me, though. She gives me goodnight kisses and she'll hug onto my leg when I stand up, and I love her lots.
A whole week away from my husband was kinda awful, though. I used to abhor the thought of sharing my bed with another person, but now sleeping alone really sucks. It was hard to sleep for the first three nights because I was alone. And when my alarm went off extra-early in the morning, I had no excuse to stay in bed a little longer because there was no one to cuddle with.
Still, I learned some really good things on my trip and should, server willing, be able to start my shiny new job duties first thing tomorrow morning. It was a good trip - I got to see a new city, drive a new car (my rental was a teeny tiny Fiat that had no guts, and those Texas drivers are crazy, so I was constantly afraid of getting rear-ended), and make a new friend.
And I made it home safely.
Other than a minor snafu with my luggage, I made it home safe.
