am i up to the challenge?

i'm on the road. i'm on travel. i've got the company laptop and went through a brief tutorial on wi-fi internet access at Starbucks this morning. i ordered a decaf white mocha, feeling guilty about testing the wi-fi connection without buying anything. i think the coffee gave me the shits and we never got a connection. so eventually when i got to the hotel five hours later i tried again. i tried the hotel's ethernet, but bailed when i got to the log-in screen because it costs $9.95 for 24 hours. i tried the free wi-fi line that i found, but did not seem to stay connected. i tried the iPass portal of the Starbucks across the street, but the computer wouldn't recognize the T-Mobile connection. i obviously have very limited computer skills, so i am paying $9.95. fuck it.

i had great plans for this trip. i brought clothes that i have to iron. i can't find the motivation to iron on the weekends anymore. Punkin is down to one nap a day, and i don't want to do chores during those precious minutes of peace and quiet. i wanted to go to Target and find birthday gifts for my soon-to-be 7-year old nephews, and something for myself. a new pair of jeans. i'd like some denim capris. i hate shopping for myself. i can spend an hour searching for a couple items of clothing, trying on about four items that meet my preliminary selection criteria (on sale. cheap. classic, because i'll be wearing it for the next 10 years), get frustrated nearly to tears, and put the items back and come home empty-handed. my few women friends know when they comment on a new item of clothing, it was undoubtedly bought by el Jefe'.

i'm downtown. i scoped out where the office is located. i found the parking garage where i will move my car tomorrow morning after incurring the $23.00 valet fee so tomorrow's parking can be validated. i happened upon a RiteAid and bought some snacks. since i bought snacks and Target is not downtown, i did not dare venture into Nordstrom's or Banana Republic. i spoke to el Jefe' and the Punkin, who can very clearly say "i miss you." it was time for their dinner, it's bath night, and i forgot to bring my cell phone charger. i'm sure the hotel could charge it for a fee! i'm not into dining alone, so i ordered room service. and then i went to the hotel's business center to print out my boarding pass. i was greeted with serveral notices referring to my credit card. i eventually found a "free" terminal where i could print a "complimentary" boarding pass. my printer options were B&W - $0.50 and Color -$1.00. i hit B&W, snagged the boarding pass as soon as it came out of the printer, and ran from the scene. they'll probably charge it to my room.

i bought something else at RiteAid, a 2-fer pregnancy test. i don't know when i'll tell el Jefe'. it won't be long (i made it a mere 24 hours with the Punkin), but i want a little time to let this sink in. i have to find another doctor because my gyn-ob no longer accepts my crappy insurance. and i'm sure the new doctor will want to do an amnio because i'm so fucking old. we didn't tell anyone about my pregancy with Punkin until we had results from the amnio. i need to look up when you start counting the weeks.

this is either the beginning or the end of my story today.