From NE to NY

I'm a little behind on my blogging, but I have good reason - I was home a total of 18 hours in the last 6 days.

The whirlwind started last Thursday night, where some of my band went downtown again to play for the Art Walk - I had thought last time was the last one, but apparently there was one more. A bit chillier, and not as many people walking by, but still fun.

But the traveling started Friday, when, at noon, I hopped in the car and headed southwest for Nebraska. It was a beautiful day for driving, and gas was $2.96 in Iowa, so all was good :) I purposely stopped a few times just to get out and enjoy the day and the fresh air. I arrived at my friend Paul's at about 6:30pm, and pretty soon the old gang was over at Paul's to play video games, watch movies, play cards, etc. Seeing my old friends is always a good time - after so much time together in our lives, when we get together it's just like old times.

Saturday I headed down to Lincoln to meet up with good friend and fellow Husker fan Will, to watch some football and head to a late 8:00pm game. By far the latest game I've ever been to - I think I went to one 6:30pm game once. Fortunately the weather was fantastic and we got there at 6:30. Unfortunately the Huskers have a ways to go - losing 17-52 to Missouri. Most of us in the crowd didn't really know how to handle this kind of game, as it never happens. But I have faith that they'll get better - and Missouri is pretty good this year. Many many thanks to Will for providing me with such awesome tickets every year - Will you da man!

Sunday was great because I got to sleep in a bit, have a nice breakfast with Will & Amanda, and then drive back to Omaha (via Dodge Street because I can never resist seeing how far out things are built now) to visit Grandma Bye. Grandma and I had a wonderful afternoon, complete with a trip to the grocery store. Many of you may not know that my grandma is actually my step-grandma (although all of that happened long before I was born). So strictly speaking we are not blood-related, yet I always feel like I turned out just like her - we are both the busiest people I know, getting together usually involves blocking off time on our calendars, and we think a lot alike.

I had decided not to drive back until Monday morning, so I had the chance to hang out with good friends Trevor & Karli for dinner (Spaghetti Works!), Rock Band, and Karli buying me coffee in the morning before I left.

I got going right at 7am, and got home at 12:30 - another nice day for driving (and $2.96 gas). A load of laundary, repacking, handbell practice, a few hours to hang out with Erin and the kittens, and I'm at the airport at 6:15am checking in and heading to New York for work. I had the chance to go to New York in March for a conference for the new project I'm on, and was happy to get the opportunity again. A bit rainy as we left Rochester, but flights were all on time, and it was nice weather landing in Westchester. I was out of the airport in about 5 minutes, picked up my rental Ford Mustang from Hertz, and made my way to IBM Yorktown to catch the second half of day one. Some very interesting presentations, and good to get to see the New York half of the project. Tuesday night everyone ate at a great little place called "HorseFeathers" in Tarrytown. Afterwards I caught most of the presidential debate (I've decided those things are worthless - everyone finds what they want to hear anyway and 2 minutes isn't enough to thoroughly answer a question).

Wednesday was day two of the presentations, and they were certainly very good. Toward the end of the day they provided refreshments for everyone, including the biggest strawberry shortcake I've ever seen (I bet even with all the people only 1/3 of it was actually eaten). I decided to drive around and explore since I had an all-paid-for car with unlimited miles, and saw some of neat parts of Westchester county - everything feels like it's in a nook or cranny, and there's something else around every curve in the road. I know it's really just because there are so many trees that you can't see anything, but it's still neat. I explored Mount Kisco (where I'm staying) and found a New York style pizza place and ordered some really good pizza.

Tomorrow is day three, and I'm spending the day at the Hawthorne site to meet with some more of the people I don't normally get to see in person. I had hoped to fly out Thursday night, but with how limited flights are getting these days, and because of the short lead time, there was nothing out of Westchester Thursday after 11:15am, so I am going to fly out early Friday morning. I will be looking forward to being home, sleeping in my own bed, and hanging out with Erin and the kittens!