Day One: Columbus, Ohio

Well, Day 1 of 6 is complete, and it was a pleasure of a day! I awoke in my sweet little condo, which I grew increasingly fond of as my time to leave (briefly?) drew near. I did a very precise job of packing the Honda Fit (whose name, for those of you who don't know, is Veronica Fiona), leaving one of the back seats down and making a bed for The Dog, of which I was rather proud! It was so cute! AND everything fit. The Dog, however, had other ideas. After maintaining her "worried" look, which any dog owner would recognize ("am I coming with you this time? if I look cute, could I come with you? would you like any help that would require me to hop in the car now? Now? NOW???),  she was overjoyed when I snapped her leash on and led her out to the car. The adorable worried look soon changed to a look of, dare I say, derision? when she saw the cozy seat, which was not up to The Dog's Standards of Size and Comfort. So, sighing deeply, I repacked V. F. in a far less organized manner so that The Dog could have the passenger side front seat. Which was not covered with anything so nice as a dog bed. She looked pretty happy...until we got underway and she realized that the front seat IS NOT comfortable for a dog. We drove most of our eight hours with her nose pressing against my right ribcage, which made her happy and me cold with strangely placed wet spots. :) She's now happily dozing in the corner of our lovely room at the Drury Hotels in downtown Columbus, Ohio.

 The highlight of the day was to stop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to see J, A and their daughter,  E. It is always SO marvelous to see them. E had grown SO MUCH since I'd seen her last year, and was such a perfect mix of J and I  with a personality all her own. She was smart, charming, grumpy (late nap time, thanks to Aunt K!), adorable (with HEAVY emphasis on adorable!!) and in love with The Dog. It was so neat to see my two dear friends and their equally dear daughter. The Dog enjoyed the time being "touched" by E and reconnecting with her old buddy, Molly the Dog. Hopefully she isn't cognizant enough to think every day will be like that. :) I enjoyed connected with dear friends. There just isn't anything like falling back into easy conversation with smart, kind, awesome people who you're lucky enough to be friends with. J made a DELICIOUS beef stew, and we sat outside in the sun and talked. It occurred to me, while we sat there, that THIS is what life is about: connections and friendship that run deeper than time or distance, that are a true delight to the soul. My soul was filled up with the E's, and made the rest of the drive to Columbus heavy on smiles and wonderful memories!

  So I am now in Columbus, Ohio. I have made it to my Day One goal! I'm at the Drury Inn right next to the Convention Center, and am ready to clean my face, brush my teeth and gorge myself on disgusting (but wonderful!) reality TV of the Real Housewives variety. Since I don't have cable at home, and won't have a TV for the next 3 months, you can be DARN sure I'm going to take advantage of free hotel cable to watch crap!

 One last thought: Cousin MG is still in the ICU. She's spiked a fever and her white count is elevated. An elevated white count means that (unless they're banded neutrophils, indicating short term immune response time), her body has been fighting an infection and is now trying to mount a response. She's scheduled for surgery Monday. Please send all your good thoughts/wishes/meditations towards my cousin/aunt, a woman who deserves to come through this tragedy and laugh again with her loved ones, as I was lucky enough to do today with my friends.

 Tomorrow: Davenport, Iowa and the C's!!