I'm here...

But not really....
I'm here in the tech room of the LLLI conference. I'm a day late and dollar short but HEY! I'm here!

Due to ugly weather on the west coast and in the Midwest my plane left an hour late insuring that I couldn't meet my next flight from Charlotte NC to Washington DC....... grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. (Is that new experience #6?)

I was offered a bench in the terminal to sleep in until 5:00am. zzzzzz (new Experience # 7)
THAT didn't work. I've gotten old enough that sleeping on the concrete thinly veiled in carpet is not and adventure.

Fortunately I met up with a lovely older woman who was willing to split a "distressed passenger" room at the Best Western. For $39.97 we had a shuttle to and from the airport as well as !! We arrived at 2:30 am showered and CRASHED until 4:30. I said good bye to my new friend Mary and met with some more lovely folks while eating fruit and fresh waffles for breakfast... What a cool invention... make your own waffles ... special thanks to those BW folks who laid out breakfast for us 2 hours early!!

Once at the airport it turned out the whole plane was devoted to flying 5 (five) people to DC... so we all got upgraded to first class!! Whoo hoo. I promptly fell asleep. (You'll see a pattern here soon)

We arrived an hour later to find our luggage was somewhere else! Ack! Feeling a bit worse for wear I found a taxi. That was a ride worth the money... if you like thrill rides... which got my adrenaline running... which kept me awake while I navigated the hotel itself.

I found my way to the room I'm sharing with a Leader from Minnesota (Susi) and Israel (Donna) and later in the week with Illinois (Jaime). After misdialing my new phone card number I finally reached my husband to tearfully declare I had arrived... leave a few messages for folks staying int eh hotel and check on my luggage.......... and zonked out.

Sometime later (I'm in asome time warp) Mz. Sandee, one of the techno wizards here in the techroom, returned my call and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. clean very cool clothes from a store near her and clean underwear. Mine were hanging up to dry in the shower so I was very excited about that!

So, after dressing in my new $10 dress and borrowed undies, meeting Katy from Alaska!!!! and her adorable baby Byron!!!!... having a bit of lunch I found my way here to the tech room.
Safe at last!!

more later zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz