Today’s my first of three days at TWU’s campus in Houston. I’ve never been a tremendous fan of the city, but in the last couple of years I’ve been here four times (including this trip) to meet with and train our Web people here.
My morning began painfully early — the alarm went off around 4:45, and I was vertical and moving by 5 a.m. — because, Lord knows why, I booked myself on the 7:30 flight out of Love Field. I was on the ground in Houston by 8:30, had my car and was on the road by 9:00, and arrived to campus around 9:30 already feeling sluggish.
But — as Daniel was quick to remind me when I IM’d to say I was ready to go to my hotel (at 9:30 a.m.) and take a nap — once I get started teaching, things improve quickly. I had an excellent bunch of people in my 10:30 a.m. class; we adjusted today’s schedule a bit because the entire campus was summoned at the last minute to a 1 p.m. awards thing; and the rest of my day on campus consists entirely of teaching a class from 2-3:30 and then leaving. Not bad for a day’s work, eh? 🙂
I’ve never before ventured outside TWU’s two buildings at the Texas Medical Center for anything, except to park, but since I was starving and the weather is gorgeous, I ventured across the street to the “commons” building, where I found yummy food (a grilled chicken sandwich to die for — and I rarely say that about *any* kind of sandwich!) and ample sunshine. I ate my lunch sitting on a concrete barrier / flag stand thing, probably getting sunburned in the process, and enjoyed the breezy, mild weather. Seriously, it’s *GORGEOUS* in Houston today.
Gorgeous and Houston being two words I never thought would appear together like that. 😉
Given the time I woke up, I suppose I should be more grateful than I am at how little I appear (thus far) to have forgotten. My genuinely stupid screwups — at least, the ones I’ve discovered so far — involved bringing AC adapters for every electronic device I own, but forgetting the devices themselves. I currently have in my possession an AC adapter, docking station, and splitter cable for my iPod — which is at home. Also in my bag is the AC adapter and USB cable for my PDA — which, you guessed it, is also at home. Oddly enough, I realized while queueing for the plane this morning that I’d forgotten my headphones, so I thought to myself, “Well, so much for listening to the iPod.” It was an hour later before I realized I didn’t have the iPod, either.
Whoops.
One of my professors *thoughtfully* posted an assignment today that’s due Saturday — as in, five days away — so I now have a stack of reading to do for that. Otherwise, I have the next two days (ish) stretched out in front of me to fill with all the fun I can stand (when I’m not working, of course). I’m thinking about catching an early movie tonight and then going to buy “Bridget Jones’s Diary 2” before heading back to the hotel.
I genuinely love being at home and love having Daniel and Rags there, but it is nice every once in a while to get out of town, even if it is for work, and I’m hoping this week’s Houston trip will continue to be the same sort of pleasant surprise that this morning has already been.
Amazing what a little sunshine can do for you, no? 🙂