The Stars at Night are Big and Bright!

I arrived in Dallas, Texas this evening. Earlier than I thought actually. The flight I was supposed to be on was hopelessly delayed so they shoved me into an earlier flight. I crossed the arid Southwest in the early afternoon and touched down at DFW somewhere around 6pm. I was glad to get in earlier. The more time I have to settle in, the more comfortable I feel when I wake up and start working the next morning.

The flight was pretty smooth. Arriving in Dallas was a little rockier. Because I was early and couldn't get ahold of anyone at the opera, I ended up, somewhat grudgingly, taking a cab after standing on the curb in a state of semi-disorientation. It's so odd to drive through a completely foreign terrain in the back of a taxi. No matter how many times you've looked at a map, the streets still wind in confusing patterns and all of the directions seem to get switched around. Fortunately, all Midwestern cities hold similarities. We passed strip malls galore, churches, and the "President George Bush Expressway" before finally arriving at my corporate housing. Actually...we didn't even arrive there. We arrived at the apartment building next door. The robust cab driver pulled my three immensely heavy bags out of the trunk, left them in the doorway and drove off. As I watched him go, my eyes dropped down and I noticed the door mat with a completely different name than what I was expecting.

A little old man hobbled towards me with his walker and pushed the handicapped button on the side of the door. As he passed I said "I think I'm in the wrong place," asking him where my hotel might be. "Oh dear, you are in the wrong place," he eked out. "This is an apartment complex. You want to be next door." He hobbled past me pointing and I looked up the hill to the big hotel sign, then grudgingly lugged my 100 pounds of luggage down the street. Everything else had been so smooth and quick. My two bags were even the first ones out at baggage claim. Ultimately it's just not possible for me to have a smooth traveling experience. I've accepted this every time I travel. It gets exhausting.

So finally after a long, disjointed day of travel, a Cuban sandwich and a beer at Cheesecake Factory, and a somewhat delirious shopping trip to the local grocery store, I'm settled in and unpacked and sitting on my couch in my great little apartment. My bag is packed for the morning, my coffee's ready to brew and all of my papers are in order.

Let's get this show on the road.

Last Night in a Hotel Room for Months!!!

I'm at the Wyndham O'Hare, a mile away from the airport so I can skip over there in the morning and fly away from a month of hotel rooms. It can't come soon enough. I'm very tired of sleeping in these generic rooms with little cards all over the place telling me to hang up my towels and comforters I'm not comfortable sitting on and questionable internet access, ugly (or no) art, suitcase sitting there just itching to get messed up because I don't have the time to truly unpack....

But it ends tomorrow when I move into my apartment in Coral Gables and make myself comfortable in an uncomfortable city.

I've had several days with my family. My mom, dad and little brother drove up from Missouri on my last day of rehearsals so that we could see each other while we're all actually in the Midwest. I stayed at a hotel with them and we had a wonderful couple of days laughing and telling old family stories. I also finally convinced my father to let me buy the whole family breakfast this morning which was a big thing. I took them to the Original Pancake House and had a lovely brunch. I've spent many lovely Sunday mornings in that establishment with friends and family and it was great to revisit.

They dropped me off at the Wyndham on their way to visit my Grandmother downstate. I walked up to my room all alone and felt such a supreme sense of loneliness. There's something about being by yourself in a hotel that pulls that out of you. I wandered down to the hotel bar and had a Guinness and stared at everyone talking to each other. This was one of those hotel bars with a little too much smoke, bad decor, bad service...filled with all the local go-to girls (as in "for a good time call"...). It was wholly unsatisfying so I came back up here and did a little work.

Work will be easier tomorrow when I don't feel so uprooted. Thank god for my family time and John time that I had over the last two weeks or all of this would be much harder. As it is, I just keep thinking ahead to May.

I think I can, I think I can....

Guess Where I Am?

In a hotel room, in Chicago, with (this is where it gets good). . .

My husband!!!

Woo-hoo!