The HNS conference, as I mentioned, was awesome. Getting there, however, was a pain in the ass. I was supposed to take the red eye from SFO to Chicago, and thence to Albany. The plan was to make it in by lunchtime, so I could have plenty of time to hang out with my friend Heather, and enjoy the start of the event at a nice, leisurely pace.

It was not to be. Thanks to thunderstorms in Illinois and American Airline's incompetence (on a truly magnificent scale), I ended up sleeping on the floor at SFO and catching a 6:15 a.m. flight (my original flight was scheduled for 11:30...then 12:30...then 2:00...then 2:30...). Once I finally reached Chicago, I had to sprint between gates, just barely making my connection - they were about to give my seat to a standby passenger. Good deal, right? I made it, phew! Except...with all the machinations to get me to Albany, one thing was missing: my luggage. Yep, I got to the hotel at 5:30, without my luggage.

Thank heavens Heather had extra clothes that I could borrow (especially since I couldn't pick up my bag until lunchtime the next day). It's good to have girlfriends who pack extra, "just in case". The point of all of this? They just posted the Historical Novel Society conference photos and we were captured in a few of the shots. She looks great (as always), and I'm not looking too bad, considering.