In Alabama

Quick post, since tomorrow I'm heading off with Karen and David to Auburn and leaving the computer behind in Huntsville, and I wanted to let you all know I made it out of the hotel this morning safe and sound (and told the woman who checked me out what had happened - the phone kept ringing last night every so often, without me answering it, until I finally unplugged it - for which she was very apologetic and said she was certain it couldn't have been any of the hotel's staff, and hoped it wouldn't turn me against the hotel.  I didn't tell her I had no intention of staying there again).  Drove down to Huntsville, stopping first at a Zappos outlet store in Shepherdsville, KY - I didn't even know Zappos had brick-and-mortar stores, but this one is in a small section of a very large "fulfillment center," so I'm wondering if the shoes that end up in the outlet store are returns, or slightly damaged, maybe.  They looked fine, but there were very few in wide - I tried on a pair of heels in my size that were comfortable, but in a grey/taupe suede that just didn't do it for me, and I eventually left empty-handed, which was fine, given what happened later... next stop was the Galleria mall in Franklin, TN, where I went to the MAC counter in Belk (which, if you're like me, you'd never heard of if you hadn't been in the South) and picked up some concealer (why my skin has decided that 48 is a perfectly good age to keep breaking out - not that it's ever stopped since I hit puberty - I don't know) and Viva Glam V lipstick (now a big fan of both V and VI).  Then on to Huntsville, where Karen told me a surgical scrubs store was having a huge sale on Danskos, so we went over there and I got a desperately-not-needed pair of deep crimson patent clogs for $87 (if you wear Danskos, you know that price is unheard-of good).

So, as I say, off to Auburn tomorrow: I'll get to have a look around the town during the day, basketball in the new arena tomorrow night, tailgating and the Auburn-Georgia game Saturday.  We'll stay with Karen's brother in Auburn.  Karen coached me through the fight song and some cheers this evening, but I'm still a bit shaky (it would help if I could start the song off consistently singing "fly DOWN the field" instead of "fly UP the field").  I'll come back to Huntsville on Sunday with Richard, while Karen and David go on south for a few days in New Orleans.  It's hard to get it through my head that this is a vacation.  While until last week I hadn't been working since July, none of those weeks of unemployment were or ever felt like a vacation.  And it's extremely, extremely odd to find myself not having to worry about work... to remember that I actually have a job now.  And I can actually not feel guilty about not working while I'm down here.  (Er... except for the part where I'm not being paid during this vacation, of course, but since I already started working, I'm not eligible for unemployment during it either... small price to pay!)

OK, everyone, let's practice... all together now... "War Eagle, hey!"