Colorado in Ten Minutes
As expected, there’s not much in the way of available internet connection here in CO. I’ll keep this entry up and post it when I find a good connection.
Monday:
I couldn’t sleep at all on Sunday night. Nerves, butterflies, petrifying fear … call it what you want, I was too anxious to sleep. Woke up at 5:30 so that I could get to Ventura in time for my dad to take me to LAX to catch the plane. Ended up beating the traffic (on a Monday morning in LA, no less) so we had a leisurely breakfast before he dropped me off at the gate. I was early for the flight – LAX lines were much quicker than expected. Slept on the plane after nearly completing the crossword in the inflight magazine. The rollerball pen started bubbling at the high altitude and ruined it. Grrr. Silly puddle of black ink.
DIA wasn’t bad – despite warnings and horror stories, it was surprisingly easy to navigate. Shane and Danya (his girlfriend) picked me up and I began my tour of Fort Collins. Jen (one of Shane’s roommates) joined us and we wrought much havoc upon the minds of Barnes & Noble browsers while Shane was in rehearsal. Had a wonderful time. After dropping Jen off at home, Danya and I helped Shane unpack, set up, and clean up 35 computers in the lab he supervises. This lasted from about 10 to 3. Crashed hard, slept till 2 the next day. Which as I’m sure you have deduced, was…
Tuesday:
Jen and I helped Shane load his broken motorcycle onto a trailer so he could take it to the shop, and then I was dropped off at conference headquarters around 4:30. Petrified, stupefied – afraid that I wouldn’t know anyone. Jordan and Shonda had just left for the evening, so I was pretty much alone once Shane left for rehearsal. Ducking out at 5 for the 4-H USA webcrew phone call didn’t help. As it turns out, Elvis came into town on Thursday, so I was able to actually do a teensy bit of work on the project this week. Dinner was a barbecued picnic, followed by the opening assembly. Craig Zablocki was GREAT! High energy, good message, got the audience up on its feet with improv games and icebreakers. Awesome.
Dale and Melissa are both staff members at the CO state office – met Dale in ‘Porland’ this February. Melissa was stressed, but it turns out that this is the normal state of mind for her at 4-H events. Sound familiar? Helped her clean up the office a little bit, then went with Shane and Danya to a local shop – Walrus Ice Cream. Delicious. Got to sleep around 2.
Wednesday:
Woke up at 6. JORDAN AND SHONDA! *bonding* Coffee’s a good thing. Walked some Little Angels over to the ropes course, then returned to help out at HQ and reconnect with friends. Subway sandwiches are best when cut to an edible size. Melissa is scary when she’s holding a knife. Sleep is a gooood thing. A very good thing. Helped Shane with his improv workshop, nearly crashed in the middle, had much fun regardless. Delegate Drama as we were unloading some stuff at the dorm, then went out with Shonda and La Plata County to dinner. The dance was fun. Go Nametag Nazis! Breaking up the dancers who get a little too close (Shonda has some great phrases for that) and hanging out with everyone. Jordan and Shane were egging each other on allllll day long. So much fun!
After helping Jonathan (one of the county agents) clean up his DJ equipment, we hung out at Melissa’s house from about midnight to 3 AM. I haven’t laughed so hard in years. Seriously – my muscles were sore the next morning (got up wayy too early, again) and and… FUN! I really love these people. Warm, welcoming, funny, generous, caring, awesome. Amazing. I suppose the post-conference letdown this time is bitter because this time I know I probably won’t see many of them again. I know I’ll see the ones here at Fort Collins again in August and at other conferences, but not the others. Good memories.
Thursday:
Yep, another early morning. Shane woke me up – an amazing event in itself, but then we were the first ones there! Proof miracles exist, I suppose. Helped get some workshops set up, then curled up for a twenty-minute catnap. It lasted me through the day, too! Woke up and David had arrived, so we talked for an hour before taking Shonda for farewell sushi. She left for New Zealand this morning – won’t be back until November! Spent the time reassuring her that she’d packed well enough, that she’d have fun, that we’d all see each other again… then hung out with everyone until the 3 PM Blitz of unloading Headquarters into the various storage areas. Apparently I’m a Godsend and Awesome and Indispensable – they’re trying to talk me into returning for more conferences. I think I just might.
…since then…
fun fun fun.
Now I’m in Denver Airport on a wifi connection. More later when I hit NY. Too much fun!
Plane just arrived – I’ll be Bach Soon!
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