Denver

I'm sitting in a Starbucks that's part of the hotel where I'm staying here in Denver.  I'm drinking my morning savior - coffee - waking up.  And I'm listening to my Coldplay station on Pandora.

Man, oh, man did I sleep well last night.  I needed it.  By the time I finally closed my eyes it was almost midnight here so given the 2-hr time difference from Charleston it was way past my bedtime.  The adrenaline of getting ready to travel, getting last-minute things accomplished at work, flying here, doing the meet-and-greet at Hamburger Mary's and being excited for my GF's Masters Degree stuff yesterday had worn off and I was worn out.

Thankfully the traveling was uneventful.  I only had 35-minutes between connections in Atlanta which is cutting things close given the size of the airport and the inclination for delays arriving or leaving there but everything worked out.  It was a very pleasant day.

Weather here in Denver is perfect this weekend - high around 80 or so and sunny.  I'm loving it already. A friend is coming to meet me for breakfast, someone is picking me up at noon to go to the Gender Identity Center picnic, and we need to be back at the hotel by 3 to begin preparing for the evening events.

I brought 2 dresses - one black and one red - for the gala tonight.  I figured I'd decide based on how I was feeling at the time.  Red stands out.  Black is classic.  If I needed to make that decision right now I'm in the Red zone.  We'll see how things progress today and if anything changes.

We stopped by one of the local bars and it was just beginning to get busy there at 11.  I don't miss the days of going out to bars until all hours.  I don't miss the craziness of bars in general, unless there's live music or some other interesting diversion going on.  But going to a place that smells with people who are drinking too much and pushing one another because they're packed too close together has no allure for me whatsoever.  I guess that makes me either an old fart or someone who has finally matured to the point of asking "Why?".  No need for that.

There are several bars in Charleston that I visit from time to time.  I know all the bartenders there by name.  They're relatively small, quiet bars usually attached to one of the nicer restaurants.  They're nice places to go and unwind, not places to go to get wound up.  Anyway - I haven't been around a bar like that in a long time and it reminded me of how far I've drifted from wanting to do that.

I'll probably update this later if I have the time.  My friend is getting here in a few minutes so I need to get ready.  She calls me every single Sunday - without fail - and it's nice when we have the chance to actually meet up in person.

Until later...