even the sun sets in paradise

The buzz from my vacation is nearly over - of course, that means the hangover is over too, which is a perk, but unfortunately the sunburn on my knees lingers, as do the little red ant bites deposited in random patterns across my flesh. But, I made it to ye olde Iowa, so I suppose that counts for something? And I slept almost eight hours in my own bed, which was v. welcome.

Today was utterly uneventful; I was out of bed by eight a.m. and took the last three hours in my apartment to finish packing, cleaning up, emptying the fridge, etc., etc. before going to the airport. I made it through security without incident, picked up a gigantic latte and an equally gigantic thing of yogurt (gluten-free airport eating is possibly the most challenging gluten-free experience, given that all the fast and easy sandwiches are barred to me), and boarded the plane almost on time. However, we sat on the runway for almost an hour, which was super annoying, and was made even more annoying because the dude sitting next to me continued to text/tweet/email not just on the tarmac (understandable, if annoying to my rule-abiding sensibilities), but while we taxied, took off, and until we reached an altitude where we no longer had service. Some judicious spying helped me discover that he's the athletic commissioner for the West Coast Conference; I will now rather loftily declare that I don't like to see someone who thinks rules don't apply to them in charge of a student athletic conference. Yes, I'm overreacting. But still.

sssanyway, I spent the rest of the flight to Chicago working on my super secret novella, which is continuing to develop in new and interesting ways. When I got to Chicago, I had approximately an hour and twenty minutes, so I traversed the vast underground neon-lit tunnel that is O'Hare's only bit of whimsy in the midst of what is usually an awful experience, and then made it to my gate. The flight to Des Moines was early, and I had the only empty seat on the entire plane right next to me, which was lovely. And I started reading a book on medieval mysteries (gargoyle research), which was super interesting. I got in at ten p.m., and so [censored] came to pick me up without the parents, and we made it home without hitting any deer, so there are small miracles. And now I really, really must sleep -- third bed in three days, but this one is comfy, so I'm looking forward to it. Goodnight!