Wednesday, March 23, 2011

I'm Back

Yeah, I know.  You didn't even know I was leaving*, but I did and now I'm back.  Tada!

Anyway, yesterday was eleven hours on the road, on my feet, on the road, on my feet, on the road... followed by several hours on the couch trying not to move.

The day started like just about any other trip we take to the city - albeit an hour early.  Daughter and I load into the car and wave at my husband while he stands on the porch.  We turn our wheels west and off we go.  The only really eventful thing on the trip out was the cows.  Some farmer's cows were loose and headed for the highway.  I saw them getting ready to cross, saw the semi headed at them from the other direction and got images of a whole new definition of ground beef.  I started to honk my horn in rapid bleats until we passed the herd- at which point the lead heifer (steer, yearling, feeder) got the shit scared out of him and led a stampede in the other direction.  Yay.

Anyway, we weren't headed off on our usual trip to get books, see the doctor and eat lunch.  Nope, yesterday was the day for Daughter's first trip to CSU since she actually got accepted and junk.  We were signed up for the Admitted Student Information Session and Tour.  My typical two hour trip stretched another 45 minutes to get us up to Ft. Collins.  We sat in the 45 minute info session and then took the walking tour with a cute little blond girl from California leading they way.

Daughter got to see the inside of the College of Business - where they have an actual stock ticker running around the top of this one room designed to mimic an actual trading session.  She was totally jazzed by that.  And then we saw the brand new (or newly refurbished) Rec Center.  The pool alone was jazz-worthy, but all the equipment she'll have free access to sent her into a new level of glee.  And then she saw the Student Center and the library.  She's in heaven and can't wait to head off to school in August.

Me?  I just wanted to sit down.  I haven't walked that far or stood for that long in years.  I'm glad my daughter's happy, and I would've walked another mile if she wanted to see more, but I was so glad when the girl said the tour was over and directed us back to our car.  I almost cried when I finally slid into the seat.

But we weren't done.  Next stop, B&N where I snagged copies of Wither by Laura DeStefano, The Liar Society by Lisa and Laura Roecker and a paranormal I've been dying to read (whose name escapes me at the moment).   (7:52pm - It was Visions of Magic by Regan Hastings.)

By this time, we've completely missed lunch.  We've gone straight through hunger to that place where you're too hungry to eat.  And we still had to get back to Greeley for my 3:15 doc appt.  Off we went.  Along about 2, we hit the town and slid into TGI Fridays.  Rushed through lunch because we had to hit Borders before we left town - if only to say our last goodbyes.

Borders in Greeley, CO will only exist for a few more weeks.  Right now, it's totally depressing.  And not just for what isn't there anymore.  Sure, the romance section was completely empty and the kids section was gone.  But the fact that SF/F was still mostly full made me want to cry.  I had the sudden urge to rescue all the books by my favorite authors - buy them up and find them good homes where people would love them.  I felt bad leaving them behind, but I just couldn't take them home.  (Gack, I almost feel like I stopped by the animal shelter.  I never want to leave any of them behind either.)  I picked up a few books by authors I'd never heard of, said my loud goodbye at the checkout and left.

Then off to the doc's where I got my quarterly poke.  Going into my doctor's office is like Norm walking into Cheers.  Everyone knows my name and loves me.  The doc herself gave me my shot, complimented me on how great I looked (which was weird because it was incredibly windy yesterday and I was tired to boot), and asked whether I'd lost weight.  (I haven't but it was nice that she asked.)

Next, we turned ourselves east and headed for home.  After in a quick stop at Walmart for printer paper and another hour past that, we slid into the driveway, and I slid onto the couch.

All that and I still didn't get Night Magic by Jen Lyon.  Stupid B&N said they hadn't gotten it in yet.  Stupid Borders was going out of business and therefore didn't have any new titles.  Stupid Walmart?  Well, I don't know what the hell their problem was.  Now I have to order the damn thing.  Thank god for Amazon.

So anyway, I'm back.  I'm bushed.  And today will be spent recuperating from the happy ordeal.  I'll also try to make the rounds to all the blogs I missed yesterday and hit all the Facebook entries I missed. If I miss you or don't comment, please forgive me. 

How was your day yesterday?  Got any big plans or anything coming up you want to share?


* I try not to tell the world when my house is going to be empty for a whole day.  Call me paranoid.  Really, go ahead.  It won't be the first time.  ;o)

3 comments:

  1. Big plans? Well, I do have a new book out today...

    (See my blog for the deets if you're interested.)

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  2. I wondered yesterday when I didn't 'see' you on my blog - it sounds like it was very full day (I'm tired just reading about it).

    I wish I had taken fuller advantage of the stuff offered to me at University. I would kill now for free memberships to a well-equiped gym, racquet courts and an Olympic size pool. But I am so excited for your daughter - I loved University and all the friends I met and all the classes I took. If I could, I would go back to school full time - there's so much more to discover...and I would have that free exercise membership!

    Oh, and I totally get your despair about the books - I felt exactly like that at the used book store. So sad.

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  3. Omigosh...I still remember the first time I walked on campus after being accepted at my college. It was freaky. It felt like a parallel universe. Hope she had fun!

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