Now if only someone would lay out a delicious breakfast for me every day...

Oh yes, I forgot to post this glorious picture (a repeat for you Facebookers, but you know you love it):

Tey-has Parto Dos

Ok, so I may have left you all hanging - "Did she make it back? Is she pulled over on the side of the crazy Houston freeway clutching the GPS and rocking back and forth?"

Yep, it's over and done with, thankfully. Texas A&M was a beautiful campus, but very big - especially when you realize that your first appointment is in a building across campus from the one you thought it was in. I definitely had a few of those umbrella-inside-out moments too, as the weather proved that it's still winter in some parts of the country. The tornado watches on the morning news were a bit unsettling.

By the third campus, Texas State, my nice-to-meet-you demeanor was getting harder and harder to keep up, but I kept hiking up and down the campus. It was definitely strange to be eating lunch in a busy student union in a college other than U of A.

On the way home I stopped at the Alamo which is amazingly tucked right in the middle of downtown San Antonio. Sadly I didn't see the King of Hill episode about the Alamo until today, so I had to learn what I could from catching the ends of the tours. I actually liked the gardens the best. Lots of comments on the flip flops in the rain. I thought rain or shine sandals was a total southwest thing!

Now it's back to regular work - I had my first performance review today, that was quite interesting. All went well, it felt kind of like going through an interview all over again, except the secret was out, I had the job.

Now if you excuse me, it's time for guilty pleasure Wendesday... ehem... America's Next Top Model. I hear they're doing the next cycle with girls under 5'7". Hmmm maybe I should go for it? I've figured out that you can't be the mean one, because you'll get kept around just for drama, and you can't have a sob story, because you'll only make a few episodes before Tyra has milked it for all its worth. You can't do too well too quickly and you must learn and over come some random modeling problem they attach to you. So, I know the strategy... I'm ready!

The stars at night are big and bright

So here I am, on a business trip. I'm adventuring across Texas on a work trip, driving a Prius in the land of trucks. Things aren't necessarily bigger in Texas, but there are certainly are more country stations.

I'm visiting universities in southern Texas to talk to some of our authors and make connections. It's terribly intimidating, especially when I have to drop in on professors who never answered my polite e-mail asking to set up a meeting time. Mostly I smile and nod a lot and then hold out our flier. I do get to hand out business cards. Woo hoo.

My buddy is the GPS that my work bought for such trips. The computerized lady calmly tells me to stay right while I'm tensely dealing with Houston traffic. It does get annoyed when you ignore its instructions and dejectedly says "recalculating" until it finally declares "make a U-turn when you get the chance" and stops talking. Perhaps they can add a polite conversation function?

Houston looked like many big cities, but the countryside on the way to College Station (home of Texas A & M) was beautiful. White picket fences, cows, fields with dots of flowers.

Staying in a hotel alone is strange. I remember when we'd travel, all we'd want to do is sit and watch the cable, so to have it all to myself is kind of like "wow, here I am!" Continental breakfast is still my favorite part, though.

So, let me say it because I can - "I have an early meeting tomorrow." Hopefully I'll have some (good) stories to tell later!