Back Yo Yo!

*cough* Oh, I know... I don't look much like a gangster, but I probably have something in common with those goofy childhood toys that couldn't be controlled by anything but skilled hands... *shifty*

So I had a FABULOUS trip. Living in poverty, I really only get the chance to travel when my work pays for it, and I LOVE it when they send me somewhere that I KNOW someone who can show me a good time.

Llama and Penguin Paint the Town

So a couple really nice things happened Wednesday morning. The FIRST was that a baby skunk was in our yard and was very amusing to watch snurfle around our yard as I waited for my driver (okay, so he's my bosses driver, but she shared him). And there was no person in the middle seat on the long leg of the flight (Detroit to Dallas) so I could sprawl a bit... okay, not a BIT, but a bit... and THEN, when I got to my hotel, even though it was only 11am, they let me check in!

I did my obligatory work thingy-do, then Stacy came to the hotel (all excited about her FAB parking spot). She claimed to have a poor sense of direction, but I am google map queen, so we walked from there to Stubbs for (DELICIOUS) barbeque.

Note: Google Maps does not warn about the 'rough' part of town. Not sure what it was exactly, but there was a largish group of needy people waiting for SOMETHING, and police arresting somebody else... It was never frightening, as nobody approached us, even for a handout, but it was a little bit one of those...erm... wrong neighborhood... moments...

The barbecue was FAB!!! (and the company more so—my face STILL hurts from laughing so much three days later)

And then we came back to plug Stacy's meter... and then we walked up and down 6th a bit (erm...) and then up to the Capitol building. We discussed joining a group of kids for an official tour (debating how much Spanish we spoke, as it seemed that may need to be the tour language), but then learned we could have an official tour all on our OWN... I'm sure we scared the woman, but it was really interesting to get some Texas history. I'd had no idea Texas was once it's own country... that the people of Texas had lived under 6 flags (not the theme park, though it took a while to establish that detail): Spain, France, Mexico, Texas, the US, and... erm... I forget the 6th... Oh right... the Confederate flag—they were on the WRONG side in the civil war *cough* (my great X6 grandpa was a Vermont sharp-shooter and I am a northerner all the way through).

Yup... pretty penisey... Leigh, explain this...

The capitol building (above, behind Stacy and I) is cool... almost identical to the Michigan one, for good reason, it is the same designer! (a Michigander no less)... The Texas one is the biggest capitol, though not the tallest... Louisiana has the tallest, though according to her, Louisiana's looks like a penis... okay, so maybe that wasn't the words she used... but she implied it... Stacy and I might have used the word, though Stacy probably used the words Meaty Thunderstick... (did I use that term out of context, Stace?) *giggles* (see, pretty much everything is giggle material for Stacy and I)

After the capitol tour, we went back to plug the meter... it might be possible you are detecting a trend, though it's a little early to be sure... and we went to an art gallery... Austin artists... whereby I proved I was dark and disturbing and Stacy proved she's a nut... It's all about interpretation, sort of like those pictures that can be two things at once... I really dug the dead body display... I'm serious... it was subtle, and surely it means I'm edgy and mysterious that I spotted them *shifty*

Then we plugged the meter... walked 6th a bit more discussing bats—see, Austin has the largest urban bat population in the US and we thought maybe we'd like to SEE it, but we weren't sure where they were. We tried (TWICE) to go to the bat bar to find out, and then proved once and for all that THERE'S NO HARM IN A U-TURN (Yes, we were walking, but it still needed to be said) when we went BACK to The Chupacabra for Margaritas... The gal at the Chupacabra knew where the bats were, but it didn't keep me from having two...

Then we went back to plug the meter... *shifty* and register for my conference (they didn't allow check-in until 5). It's possible we were loud and obnoxious, but nobody brought it up later, so at least I've got that going for me.

Then we walked down to try to see the bats, who unfortunately insisted on sleeping until sunset, and Stacy had to pack for a 5am drive to Dallas (Hopefully her peeps were stellar at their competition) so we gave up.

Conference conference conference

Then FRIDAY, I got to meet CAROL!

Stolen from here

Now Carol and I don't have the same zany history as Stacy and I do, but it was FABULOUS to meet for a bowl of soup and cup of coffee... chat books—mystery strategy, pantsing versus planning... learn about each other—she's FABULOUS! I really enjoyed it!

I have a few more topics from my conference, but I think I will sprinkle them a little. I hope to make a good run at catching back up with my peeps (meaning all of you) this week. It's sort of strange being gone... I've lost a follower here... SEVERAL on Twitter... though I think there there is a software somethingorother that drops people who don't post statuses or something... SURELY I can't be more offensive ABSENT than PRESENT otherwise...

I am glad to be back and looking forward to catching up!