don't wake me up

I'm in Vegas! Which, sadly, means I'm not in Vieques. It also, sadly, means that I have to work tomorrow. Granted, I don't have to get up super early, and my first official event isn't until four or five p.m., but I have a lot of catching up to do before that. And since I have to check out of the room that I just checked into in about ten hours, I really should sleep.

But first, my day, since you care so much. I spent a v. leisurely morning getting ready to leave, since I decided to prioritize a shower and packing for my twelve-hour travel adventure rather than cramming in a trip to the beach with Steph/Ritu/Bill. I'm glad I made that decision, since I hate being dirty when I get on a plane, but it sounds like they finally saw just a little bit of sun (and a whole shitload of sand crabs) on the beach, so I'm glad Ritu got at least one nice half-hour for her birthday. We packed up, bid a fond farewell to our rastafarian landlord, and went to the Vieques airport, where everything was v. leisurely. And by leisurely I mean we were able to eat lunch at a cafe (the only cafe) outside the airport (which the car rental guy claimed had been rated the best airport cafe in the Caribbean - it's possible, I suppose, although their score would go up if 'colorful staff' is a criterion). Also, there was no security of any kind. Also, I still don't love small planes.

But we made it back to San Juan in one piece, where we had to check our bags again and go through grown-up security rather than the non-security procedures on Vieques. We also parted ways with Steph; Ritu, Bill and I were on the same flight to Atlanta, but Steph was on a flight a few hours later on a different airline, so we said our sad goodbyes. I was almost sadder to say goodbye to Ritu and Bill before the flight, though, for entirely selfish reasons; they were in first class, and I was in what was supposed to be economy plus (not bad, but not first class). But at the gate, the agent moved me across the aisle to accommodate a family, which I wouldn't have minded at all, except it turns out that across the aisle was no longer economy plus. First world problem, I know, but I was super annoyed. Also annoying was that I intended to work all afternoon, but the wireless didn't really work on either flight, so I got nothing done.

However, I did finish THE AGE OF MIRACLES (amazing - postapocalyptic, starring a middle grade protagonist, but it's definitely an adult lit novel). I also did some journaling and some writing of zee secret non-gargoyle young adult book. I also slept. And I had a lovely interlude with Ritu and Bill in Atlanta; we had equally long layovers, so the three of us had dinner at a v. nice sushi place in Atlanta airport, and the two glasses of wine I had were a valiant but futile effort to dull the pain of saying goodbye to them. Then, we parted ways, and they headed for NYC while I headed for Vegas (and the New York New York hotel, oddly enough). I'm only here for one night; tomorrow, I move to a new hotel for my conference, and there I'm sure everything will be crazy once again. Now, though, I must sleep - goodnight!