This Elevator Is Making Me Dizzy - OR - Adventures in Hotel Travel

This is it.  This is the day. 

This is the day of the WARRIOR DASH!!!!  Let us rejoice and be glad it's finally here.  Let us also keep our thoughts from the idea of what lies ahead and remember that we signed up for this so we will do it, gosh darnit.  Because our stomachs have recently been filled with banana, bagel, and coffee, and the butterflies that take flight when we think about the Dash don't exactly sit well with all that food.

But hey, it was a continental breakfast....I had to take advantage of it!  Even if that did mean eating more sub-par food than I actually wanted to.  It's one of my weaknesses.  I have a soft spot for a good continental breakfast, and by "a good continental breakfast" I really mean, "any continental breakfast."

Is it the packaged muffins?  Maybe it's the 2 types of cereal they offer - bran flakes or corn flakes - that have probably been in those containers with the plastic scoops for at least a week.  Or maybe it's the packets of hot cocoa.  I love hot cocoa.  And coffee that tastes like it was brewed in a gas station.  I love that stuff.  (Really...ask my friends.  I really love gas station coffee.)

And how could I pass up the opportunity to sit awkwardly with other hotel guests while we all watch ZzzzzNN - I mean CNN - against our inclination?  I suggested changing to the Disney Channel, but no one jumped on that idea, which is strange since half the people eating looked to be under the age of twelve.  I couldn't have been the only person there wishing we could catch a rerun of Wizards of Waverly Place.  But, unfortunately, the little soccer team either didn't hear me, or they just didn't care, and shortly after making my suggestion my mom and I went back upstairs. 

My mom is here!  Did I tell you that??

She felt sad for me that I had to come on this trip on my own (my co-warrior, Lara, got sick, and I do hope she is feeling better!), so my mama decided pretty last minute to come with me.  It's been a long time since I've had hours of one-on-one time with my mom, and it was pretty great!  The drive up definitely passed more quickly than if I had been on my own, and it was really great to have someone to laugh with.

Which is a good thing.  Because from the warning from the clerk about the bed ("Now, you do realize there is just one bed, right?") which was the first clue that the "queen size" bed was not actually a queen, to the crazy blinking wrench on the thermostat ("Mom, I think that means the AC can't turn off!!"), to watching a fully grown woman walk around the hotel in boxers and a t-shirt ("Isn't it strange how in a hotel people do all the things they would NEVER do at home?  Like walk around a public place in their underwear?"), to the conversation with one of the soccer moms in the elevator ("Yeah, our girls are headed to a costumed soccer tournament.  They're the Zombie Grass-Fairies."), there's been no lack of laughable things. 

Side note:  I want to be on that soccer team.  They sound extremely cool.

And here's to hoping that I can laugh my way through the WARRIOR DASH!!!!  Because now, just thinking about it, those butterflies are taking flight again.  So Mom and I are going to hit the town for a bit, do some sight-seeing.  (It shouldn't take too long here...my view from the hotel window is the back of the hotel's facade.  And the freeway.  And some weeds next to the freeway.)  I promise I'll blog about the Dash.  If nothing else, you'll get to hear an awkward story of the day I decided to be a warrior.

Till then, think good thoughts and send some prayers up for me.  They will be most appreciated.

In Which I Look At A Song

I'm putting a plug for a facebook friend into this blog.  Forget the fact that we've only met in person once.  I am excited for him.  I am so glad he is following his dream, and since I, myself, am a bit of a dreamer I fully support him.  And will do what I can to help.  And so I am putting a plug for Antony Bitar in here....

I know a few songs about getting butterflies in your stomach but I can honestly say this is one of the best.  Yeah, I can go into how much I love his use of staccato with the piano, or the syncopated rhythm (I do so love variety in my music!).  I can sigh about the whimsy that enters the song with the strings.  I can mention the fact that the melody lends itself nicely to tight harmonies and is perfect for humming along.  I can tell you I think it's awesome that he stayed true to himself during the video process - I was pretty stoked to see that prayer rope on his wrist in the video.  And I can wax poetic about Antony's voice, itself, with its smooth and, strangely, comforting tone.

But I won't.  The reason I think this song is amazing is really because of two lines.  See, songs that talk about getting butterflies tend to be cute, and this son is no exception.  The difference here is that with all the imagery Antony puts into the song - you can easily put yourself in the singer's place - there are two lines that cut through and strike my heart.  It is because these two lines this song is - officially - the top played in my iTunes library...By a lot.  They are, "It's the feeling you get when your eyes first meet, a little glimpse of what it feels like to be complete..." and "...lead you to your destiny and really show you all of me..."

As someone who is very single I can attest to the drive of these concepts.  I know when I see someone who does, in fact, give me butterflies my imagination soars and I create a future.  It's amazing...Suddenly you feel strangely more alive.  Or at least more awake.  As if, suddenly, you are aware of so much more and can feel so much more.  And, let's be honest here, who doesn't long to show all of us to someone?  We want so badly to be able to have that intimacy with one person - one person who will see us and accept us and tell us that maybe, just maybe, we aren't so bad after all.  Mayhap we do deserve the butterflies they give us.  We want to connect - God didn't make us to be alone.  He made us to be with others. 

It's undeniable:  Butterflies are fun.

So, without further ado, please enjoy the song, itself!  Here is "Butterflies," by Antony Bitar: