To Iowa, St. Louis, and BEYOND

We flew to Iowa last Thursday, spent the weekend there, and then I went on to St. Louis for a conference while the Studly Hubby headed back to Seattle. After the conference I took the lightrail (MetroLink) to the airport and a shuttle from the airport out to small-town Illinois to visit my Dad. Considering my trip was so complicated I was very impressed with myself for making it to the final leg (which is where I am now). I am getting a bit tired though. The conference, especially, wore me out. I gave a talk (which turned out GREAT) and had been expending a lot of energy and anxiety over it, so afterwards I sort of crashed. Plus it was in a new field for me, so I had to focus extra hard to practice the talk TO DEATH and while I was at the conference I wanted to seek out certain key people that I wanted to meet, talk to them about their projects, and think about all the new subjects etc. It was a big step forward though and will pave the way for an easier time at my next conference.

Now I am back on the path towards enjoying the slower pace of small-town Midwest living. Here you never have to commute more than 10 minutes, you know half the people you pass, yards are large, cost of living is low, and rich and poor alike all shop at the local Kroger grocery store. Don't get me wrong, I like Seattle a lot too, but this sort of life is also appealing.