I am not a city girl

This truth cannot be overstated. I was never meant to negotiate the big city. I can do it--I'm very good at not getting lost--but damn, it makes me sad. Saddest thing to me is the throngs and throngs of people. Just not for me.

I'll never go to C's in NYC again. The pain and misery of Thursday's travel was simply not worth it. I won't go into the details, but I will say that it's the layers upon layers of travel that kill me. The drive to Chicago, the shuttle from the hotel, the schlepping around the airport only to do the same thing in reverse once I got to NY. The icing on the cake was getting dropped off by my million-dollar taxi at the wrong goddamn hotel. The "W" instead of the "Doubletree." Yeah, I can see how that would be confusing. Jesus.

I don't feel like I was even at the conference. I usually come away from C's with lots of ideas, too many ideas even, but this time I made it to only a handful of panels. And jesus h. christ on rubber crutches, if I'm scheduled for Saturday at 3:30 next year, I'm gonna cry. I've never not been on Saturday. So, Mike, Becky, Donna, I'm sorry if I'm cursing our panel by being part of it: we'll likely be on Saturday, last time slot.

Bitter much?

Nah.

The good: Got to spend lots of time with the life director, got to see good friends, had some good food (went off the diet totally). But the time, the money, the energy, the sanity that has been lost as a result of the travel: it won't all get reimbursed.

I said to the Wonka on our way home, "I feel like I need to make public how much this trip has taken out of me."

Wonka: That's what the blog is for.

It was so so so good to come home to my girl and to S. I've got scratches all over both arms from the welcoming committee, and I wear them proudly.

This trip, it hurt.