you know it's not the same as it was

I am back in ye olde Iowa after a great week in Chicago. I woke up early this morning and was able to hit breakfast before the rush...and before they switched from serving breakfast to serving their insanely priced Easter buffet. Then I went back to my room and wrote for a couple of hours, which felt great. Even with that unusual productivity I was able to get out the door around 11 so that I could start heading west. All in all the hotel was nice and I would stay there again, and I will certainly have to go back to Chicago (hopefully when the weather is warmer and I can do more walking around).

After I got out of the city proper, I spent a couple of hours talking to Katie, which certainly made the drive go a lot faster. We parted ways when I got to the world's largest truck stop, mostly because I desperately needed to go to the bathroom. I then availed myself of the Taco Bell inside the truck stop so that I could eat something that was relatively gluten free (albeit a far cry from the meals I gorged myself on in Chicago). And then I finished the drive with a couple more stops for bathrooms and gas, and made it home a little before six.

When I got home I unloaded my car and then [censored] and I went out to Mom's house for Easter dinner. I had donated some hamballs to the cause before I left, and Mom outdid herself in terms of accompaning them. She made scalloped potatoes, baked beans, layered lettuce, and deviled eggs, so it was a real feast. And the weather was nice today for both a drive and a lovely dinner, although it promises to get rainy later this week.

After dinner, I relaxed a bit, did a bit of unpacking, and generally procrastinated from the very idea of getting back to the day job tomorrow. But that's a problem for Future Sara (in ten hours) - right now I'm going to bed. Goodnight!