On getting stuck...

Last week, I attended a conference in Austin, TX.  It was my first time in Austin and I loved it!  I stayed at the conference hotel, which made it easier to get to breakfast (provided by the conference), and go to morning yoga (before breakfast).  Plus, it was within walking distance of a lot of lovely restaurants or in one case, a food truck - The Jalopy.  Had a wonderful hummus sandwich.  Austin has some great food and a lot of it is vegetarian and/or vegan.  I got to try truffle tater tots.  I'm not a total vegetarian, but it was nice to have those options.  However, the picture I've included is not vegetarian.  We had dinner one night at Ranch 616 and I got the fried shrimp tacos.  Yum.  All in all, not a bad food experience in the time I was there.

And, I got an unscheduled extra day to sample food.  Because of the upcoming move to Georgia, I'd decided to come back Wednesday morning, missing the last half day of the conference, but giving me two full days at work my last week.  Yes, this past Friday was my last day of work in my current job.  And, if you haven't guessed, I had to fly back on Thursday rather than Wednesday due to the tornados that hit Dallas.  I was realizing all of this when the American Airlines automated message called to notify me of my new flight at 1:30 AM.  Yes, AM as in the morning.  At first I was all over the place upset.  Then I realized I couldn't do anything about it and decided to just roll with it.  I called and rescheduled the shuttle and called the front desk to make sure I could stay an extra day.  Then, I went back to sleep.  This was about 2:00 in the morning and I was still a bit keyed up.  To add to the excitement, the fire alarms went off not once, but twice, at 4:30 AM.  Followed by a message a little while later that it a false alarm and not to evacuate.  After this, I realized I wouldn't be doing yoga my last day.

I did enjoy the day's sessions and then spent a lovely afternoon walking around Austin with a friend/colleague. We had lunch at the 1886 Cafe and Bakery (some of the best pizza I've ever had) and I got to stop at the lomography camera store I'd seen online.  I knew the store was in Austin, but didn't think I'd get to it on the trip.

While I was upset when I realized I would be staying for an unplanned extra day, it actually turned out to be a great day.  Bumpiest flight in a long time on the way back, but I got back. Made it through my last day at my job (sorta sad) and am now furiously organizing for the movers who will come next Monday to pack.

I leave you with a photo of fried shrimp tacos...

Fried shrimp tacos from Ranch 616