The Long Wait | Day 1

I never think that day one is going to be long. I can't wait for it to get here, and then I spend the entire day waiting for everyone to show up. Yesterday was particularly long, as one of my friends was stuck in the worst of the storm in Dallas and didn't know if she'd have a flight to Palm Springs at all. It took her (I believe) 24 hours to get here. Others are still stranded in Texas. Mostly I just hoped that everybody would be safe and I tried to keep myself busy.

That meant finding a pair of shoes to wear during my lecture. Ridiculous, I know. I brought three pair with me (yes, three pair for just that one event), but none of them were exactly right. I spent the better part of the morning running errands--how is it that I can go to Target before I leave and get down here and need to go to Target? Every. Single. Time. So I did that kind of thing, and then I got the right shoes in between getting updates from Ashley on what sounded like the worst travel day ever. And I walked up and down El Paseo. And God bless El Paseo.

So after spending a gratuitous amount of time browsing and trying on clothes I couldn't afford, I came back, took a nap, curled my hair so I wouldn't look like a troll anymore, and it was time to meet up with the herd.


It's good to see people. And when I delivered the letters that the graduates wrote to the new students, I was so happy to see that another group of wonderful people look like they're joining the program. I hope that they feel welcome and not too overwhelmed.

We had our opening party out on the patio despite the low temps. A few of us dragged a table over underneath a heat lamp, seemed to be the way to go. I will admit it now: 1) it is cold here, and 2) I am a complete wimp. It felt colder to me yesterday than Thursday. Perhaps I've lost my Sacramento tolerance after only one day. Or perhaps it was colder. Who knows. I already asked the hotel to bring me an extra blanket for my bed. On the ten minute walk back from Yard House across the street last night after dinner, I told Gallagher I might not make it, I just might lay down right there in the parking lot and give up. Let's hope I can survive the sub 40 degree temperatures long enough to graduate.