I'm Back . . .

Well, I'm finally back and blogging again. It was definitely a long week. I think I'm going to head to the pool this afternoon for a little R&R. I spent the morning doing some much-needed cleaning. So I survived my conference. It actually wasn't as bad as I'd thought. I'd been warned many times about how psycho my boss and this other lady would be, and there were some psycho moments, but not nearly as bad as I thought. Here are some highlights of my week:

1. Stayed at the Nashville Airport Marriott. Despite its proximity to the airport and $20 cab ride to downtown Nashville, this was a very nice facility with awesome chocolate cake on the menu and a bed to die for. You can even order the bed for a mere $1,100. I have the brochure somewhere, and I may seriously think about it.

2. Inadvertently challenged the CEO to do a shot of Patron tequila during our staff dinner the first night at the Stock-Yard Restaurant. Let me tell you, that is one awesome tequila.

3. Visited the Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole Opry for many years. Unfortunately, neither place had any live music while I was there. I also took a tour of the Country Music Hall of Fame, which was awesome. The woman I went with liked it, and she doesn't like country music. I recommended it to someone else, and he said it was better than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The featured special exhibit was Ray Charles. I thought the coolest things were Elvis's diamond and gold car, the gold and platinum albums on the wall, and of course the hall of fame itself.

4. Ate at B.B. King's Blues Club. My only free night, the company paid for shuttle buses to take everyone downtown. Since we were at the airport, downtown was a $20 cab ride, so I didn't want to go too often. It turns out my coworker and his friend went, so I had some people to hang out with. I had the pulled pork BBQ and it was quite tasty. There was live music, but it wasn't blues as you'd expect. Just some regular rock-n-roll band. The highlight of the restaurant was the restroom attendant who had almost died and was really thankful for her life. I had no dollar bills to tip her, so she said she'd settle for a hug.

5. Spoke in front of 400 people and didn't choke or pass out. I guess my Toastmasters experience paid off, as I was able to survive this very traumatic thing. The chair of the board of directors and many others said I did a good job, so that made me feel great. I feel even better than the whole thing is over.