About to see THE Surgeon

So, I am sitting in the hotel/studio and it is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too early to be up. However, I have just slept for ten hours, so my body is kinda done. I'm a little nervous, but I am actually easily identifying it as just the general "I'm about to have surgery" nervous. Anyway, let me catch you all up on the trip in general:



I tried to flip my sleep schedule on Thursday because we were to be at the airport at 4AM on Saturday. So I got home early from work (after picking up my girlfriend's Christmas present and making a deposit so my checking account was in positive numbers before leaving). I finished a couple of things and then went to bed. I was up a little after four hours of sleep (I think). That makes it early evening (like 6 or 7 or 8 pm). I enjoyed dinner with my girlfriend and then she went to bed. I spent the night playing computer games and doing lots of frivilous stuff just to stay awake. She was up at about 5:30 am (which is typical on work days), and I went to bed shortly after. Unfortunately, I was up about four hours later and other than a small two hour nap, we were up until we got on the plane. The nice part is that we were able to clean together and played Legos Indiana Jones 2 together!! (we're doing pretty good, we're about half way done with the whole game!).
Anyway, her Mom picked us up and took us to the airport after my kitty (who is almost a year and a half old and had been cooped up in the house to prevent this is the first place), got out and wouldn't come back in the house. (and yes, my Beloved's sister, who is taking care of the house while we're away, got her to come back inside, later on Saturday). So we easily got on the plane (after my girlfriend was felt up. . .don't wear long flowy skirts to the airport).
We actually stopped in Chicago and TORE through the underground passage, but our flight had been delayed so we had plenty of time. We actually ended up in the waiting area with two mothers and kids that had left Albany airport with us, so we had a nice chat together. We also found out that the toilets in Chicago's O'Hare airport bathrooms have the plastic on them that is actually connected and you move your hand over the sensor and the plastic rings MOVE. It's kinda freaky weird and just makes me wonder if the plastic is actually collected or it's just one huge ring that keeps getting reused.
ANYWAY, we got into San Francisco airport and after a little figuring out, we got to the van. We only had a short ride down the highway, and we both agreed, California (scenery wise) is very similar to back east. There was a good sized mountain on one side and really just reminded us with our view of Troy (especially when you see is as you are riding down Route 7). The highway ride, itself, really just felt like I was traveling down the Jersey Turnpike just with a couple of Palm Trees thrown in.
HOWEVER, there were a few differences:A)The weather is soooooooooooooooooo nice. It's 105 degrees in Arizona right now. We're sitting in at 70, instead. I'm actually very glad that I brought my hoodie with me. The breeze is really nice!! It actually gets kinda sorta toasty in the sun, but it's nice and cool in the shade. and B)Everyone seems so friendly. The airport. . . okay, the airport was an airport and I wasn't impressed with them in there, but every where else, people have been really nice. and EXTREMELY HELPFUL.
After we checked into the hotel and unpacked in our suite (which is kinda big and has a kitchen and everything), we wrote up our shopping lists. One we turned in to the front desk (cause we weren't going to try to walk with milk and chicken and stuff like that), we walked over to Target. We realized we were hungry, so we went to a BBQ place that was part of the Target plaza. It was nice and they even sold the cookie cakes that I LOVE back home, but they were tiny!! I showed Amy how small the "Texas sized Cookie Cake" It's tiny. I got a laugh out of that, and the kid at the register thought it was cool that we were from NY. People out here aren't all that aware that NYC and upstate NY are NOT the same. OR that New Yorkers are actually pretty friendly ESPECIALLY when we are traveling. The weird part was that when you were done, you just left your dishes at the table and you get up and walk out. That's it!!
Then we walked back to Target and we did a little bit of grocery shopping and got GOOD snack foods. Okay, not really bad snack foods. We have microwave popcorn and single serve cereal and stuff like that. My Beloved got her coffee and we got stuff to make pasta. Yeah, the hotel actually has pots and pans in the kitchen and cooking utensils! IT IS AWESOME!! ANYWAY, we got back and realized that we didn't get a pack of playing cards, so we actually WATCHED TV. Yes, that may sound strange, but we don't have TV at home (at least no channels), so it was kinda nice to watch TV. So we relaxed and enjoyed not having to do stuff!! It was very nice.
I'm not really worried about the surgery yet (nor the appointment). I'm going to hop in the shower and then we are going to go up to breakfast (yeah, free breakfast at this place. And it is GOOD!!!!!!!!! course, I work 7 days a week, so I always do breakfast out of the microwave). Anyway, Time to get ready. . .