I’ve just this very moment submitted my order for my free business cards from Vista Print.  It’s official.  I’m going to BlogHer.  Shoot, I’m even listed on the speaker list and if that isn’t the equivalent of being written in stone, I don’t know what is.  I don’t know if I’ll have enough $ to get from the airport to the hotel but details, details.  I was looking over the speaker list earlier and getting more and more nervous.  Because there’s some seriously awesome people on that list and that’s just a fraction of the people who will be attending and I am WAY scared.  But at the same time, I feel so honored and happy just to be going.  It’s really a strange collection of emotions, to be honest.

I mean, lets think about this okay?  I’ll be getting up at some ungodly hour (my plane leaves at 6am and we live about a half hour from the airport so you do the math) and getting on an airplane in an atmosphere of heightened airport security (more than usual, that is *sigh*).  I’ll be flying OUT of Reno (which in itself is pretty frightening) and INTO Denver (which we still tell stories about the LAST time we landed in Denver which was over 5 years ago) all by myself.  And they don’t serve meals on planes anymore, I’ve come to find out.  So I’ll probably be pretty hungry.  Then I’m going to be landing in a strange city.  I’ve been to O’Hare airport before (though, admittedly, it’s been a long time) but never to Chicago itself and I’m still not sure how I’m going to get from the airport to the hotel and back but I’ve got time to think that one through.  I’ll be going (somehow) downtown amidst all the tall, scary buildings (and probably tall, scary people to boot) to a hotel where I’ll hopefully be meeting up with my roomie.  Because I imagine by then I’ll be in desperate need of a familiar face.

I’ll probably also be experiencing no small amount of separation anxiety.   I’ve never been away from Liam for this long before.  Shoot, I get the shakes when I don’t see him for a couple hours straight, I can’t imagine a couple days.  I’ll miss Harry’s warm hugs and goofy sense of humor.  I’ll miss Kile the most, yes, even his snoring while I’m trying to sleep.  From the hotel, there’s some speaker training that’s going to go on (though I know very sketchy details about this at the most) and there’s a special speaker reception afterward.  So that ought to keep me busy, at least.  Then, the next morning, the conference begins.

My particular session isn’t until Saturday morning so I have a whole day at least to get all psyched out and nervous about it.  Isn’t that nice?  But I am looking forward to some of the sessions taking place on Friday and my only problem at this point is which sessions I’ll have to miss because I can’t go to ALL of them (dangit).  And then?  Another reception.  Or rather, cocktail party.  Which you know, means drinks.  I think by that point I’ll need at least one.  The whole thing starts again on Saturday except with the whole “I’m Speaking” thing which I’m trying to ignore at the moment.  It’s a lab segment though, and that’ll be a LOT better, considering the subject matter at hand.  I do a lot better when I can be more hands on, you know?  After another full day of too many sessions that I can’t possibly attend, there’s another cocktail party.  And more drinking.  And I think I heard rumors there might be fireworks.

Sunday we have another “ungodly hour” sort of morning since my plane takes off from O’Hare at 7:10am (so I guess maybe late night partying the night before is out?).  I don’t think I’ll mind too much since I’ll be on my way back to my boys and I’m sure I may be tremoring by that point.  I’ll get back into Reno (God willing) by noon.  I’m already looking forward to seeing the looks on my guys faces when I see them.

It’s 24 days from now.  Do you think I may be over-planning this a hair?