the out of towners

I had 1.5 visitors for the past two days. An old coworker of mine from SF took the train from Oakland to Chicago, and his friend met us via a plane from Boston. These friends are 50+ years old, stoners, hippies, protesters who have been beaten and arrested...they have all the coolest stories. I took them out for drinks Tuesday night, and took the day off on Wednesday. We went to Millennium Park and Navy Pier on Wednesday. I had never really gone through Millennium Park, and never been to Navy Pier. It was nice to do some touristy stuff that I normally don't do. My coworker's friend left mid-Wednesday and my pal and I went to the Map Room for beer then got dinner. He met Nate (and approved), and then we went to sleep because his train to Detroit left super early in the morning.

It was nice to see an old pal, although I'd rather have been the one visiting rather than the host. I am someone who really needs some downtime away from people each day, and you don't get that with visitors. Other than my high school besties who totally wouldn't mind if I took a nap, I'd rather not have people visiting for extended periods. Oh well, it's good to see old friends and do stuff out of the ordinary.

Today I am taking Audrey to Beagle Camp aka Natalie and Matt's house for the weekend. Nate needs a break from dog sitting, and Audrey needs some play time with other doggies. Then I'm off to a work conference that I really would rather not attend. It's about teaching theory and library instruction, two things that are on the last of my list of things I like to do at work.

Worse, we have to stay in dorms and the daily events go from 7 am to 10 pm all the way until Wednesday morning. So no text messaging and no internet until bedtime until next Wednesday. I'll die. Hopefully I'll find someone cool to talk to, but I doubt it.

Then my brother visits. That'll be a good time. Still, I would really like a weekend off to just hang out with Audrey and sleep in.