I'm back home again. Finally. I'm definitely worn out. But the trip was productive for each place I visited, and for that I'm happy. Next time I'm in Houston, though, I'm going to stay a little further away from the airport in a place called "The Woodlands". Maybe the hotels out there won't have mice.. Yes, you read that correctly. I had a mouse meander into my room Tuesday morning while I was ironing. He (or she - hard tellin' not knowin') poked its little head beneath my door, decided to join me, and came scrambling in. As you can imagine, I was stunned and just stared at it as it made its way across the room and disappeared behind the refridgerator. When I came out of my disbelieving trance, I went over to see what was behind there. Was it the main entrance to the local Mouse Martini Bar? Was the rest of the gang already there? I had to know! But when I looked, I saw nothing. Not a gang, no neon signs or arrows, not even a hole. It appeared to have vanished into thin air. Hmmm.. Needless to say, I was kinda creeped out for the next 2 days. Mind you, this was not my normal hotel. I only had it because absolutely everything else was sold out. You would think I'd have picked up on why this place still had rooms available!! My bad - lesson learned.. So next time - the Woodlands!
I met an interesting woman in the airport in Dallas on Thursday. I was waiting for my flight curled up with my book when this woman said "You work at MITRE? Where?". She had noticed my bag tag that has the MITRE logo on it. Turns out she works in the building next door, also MITRE, but on the intelligence and security side. It was fascinating talking with her about the things we do. We exchanged business cards and I plan to stay in touch. I love networking like that!
Through swollen and burning eyes I drove myself home from BWI around 11:30pm Thursday night. I was greeted by very excited pups and it took about an hour to calm them enough to go to sleep. I finally dragged myself out of bed at 11am Friday morning. I hate missing half the day like that, but I needed it. Repo and I went to Hard Times for dinner (of course). She told me of a new liquor her brother had introduced her to: Wild Turkey American Honey. I'd never heard of it, but she said it was a really good cordial so we picked some up on the way home. When we pulled into the driveway, the kids were still milling about trick-or-treating. I decided we should knock on Eric and Maggie's door and share our new found "treat". Maggie brought out the appropriate glasses for the event and we toasted to Halloween. The funny thing is, as we moved from their front porch (yea, there's cats in that house, so you know what that means - I get the porch!) to my livingroom, I had no intention of staying up late or finishing that bottle. But wouldn't you know it? That's exactly what we did!! 
I'm receiving updates from Robin periodically. Her grandmother is still hanging in there, but the prognosis isn't good. Her aortic valve is in worse shape than originally diagnosed, so it's all about time now. They have made arrangements for a HOSPICE bed and new accomodations at the same assisted living home. She may be able to come off oxygen, but that's unclear at this time. Robin has been spending lots of time with her and is grateful she was able to make the trip. She realizes this may be the last opportunity she'll get. On the lighter side, her aunt and uncle own a farm, and today Robin is watching her aunt and a friend show their horses! Her aunt took her riding for a little while this week, and the break was well deserved. She'll be home Sunday night, just in time for her second interview (she was called back in for the second round while in Portland)with a company she has high hopes for. So do I. She's been a very good sport about the whole job searching thing, which is without a doubt one of the most undesireable tasks to undertake. She deserves this job. Think good thoughts, folks..