10/29/14. The post where I finally have a moment to catch my breath.

10/29/14: wow.  I knew I was going to be busy the last few days, but it was even crazier than I expected.  Classes and presentations all day, official conference functions every evening, and then a little time for networking with colleagues.  I made time to work out a little each day and we did a lot of walking from the hotel to the convention center, which I hope mitigated all the eating and drinking I did.  I haven't seen a scale in five days, so I have my fingers crossed. (As does my friend who is waiting patiently to buy shoes, I imagine.). 

My foot behaved okay during the trip, but it started to get a little impatient in the last day or so.  Considering what I put it through, it did better than I had any right to expect.  And things aren't going to slow down any time soon.  After my flight lands, I have a few hours to unpack and then rehearsal for the upcoming musical.  The musical is Saturday night, and I am woefully underprepared, but I have rehearsals every evening between now and then, so I should just make it.  Tomorrow is also an important work day.  Fortunately, I have been able to stay fairly well caught up from half a country away.  The blessing (and curse) of modern technology.   And somewhere in all this madness, it would be nice to spend a little time with my patient, long-suffering husband, whom I've missed like mad.  Being an adult isn't always easy.  

Another pretty good experience in the security line.  This time I was prepared and told the first TSA agent about my implant.  He gave me a slightly exasperated look and said, "You can let them know when you get to the metal detector."  I started to explain that last time they had told me to be sure and tell the first agent, then I decided to just smile and move on instead.  I told them at the metal detector, and after a quick trip through the body scanner and a swipe of my shoes, I was on my way.  In front of about 700,000 people waiting in the regular security line.  I guess getting to the airport three hours early was overkill.  I was afraid that getting the implant would negate the benefits of having the known traveler number, but all has worked out really well.  I imagine the experience would be much worse if I were going through the regular line.  I'm glad the process doesn't take long, because turning the stimulator off for just a few minutes is bad enough.

I have another work trip coming up in a few weeks, and I am much more confident now that I've done it once.  The upcoming trip is the training trip I postponed when Mom got sick.  What a difference six months makes.