Being sick is not very fun.  Especially on a game weekend!  That seems to intensify the sick feelings more, and hinders recovery efforts.  The game itself was really good, the Bison pulled off a win in literally the last seconds of the game.  Pretty remarkable!  I can honestly say that doesn't happen often.

So I started getting sick on Thursday.  It got worse over the weekend until it hit a peak last night.  Today was not very fun also.  It seems like I always start to feel better towards the end of the day, and then I sleep and after I wake up I spend half of the day coughing again.  Ew.

Being sick also makes me very irritable.  If there is anything that has been bothering me for up to the previous month, it haunts me whilst sick and thus I am not a very fun person to be around.  Thanks to all who put up with me at these times.

Hopefully I will kick butt on the history test tomorrow.  I was too sick to go to the review session tonight...hope that doesn't affect my grade too much.

Today, Willy and I got up really early (4:00 AM!) and went to the airport to catch the first of our flights.  We flew to Salt Lake City, and caught our connection to Albuquerque, NM.  We arrived on schedule around 10:30 AM.  It was a fast trip and not too bad.

We got our rental car and headed straight for the convention center.  After driving around a bit to look for parking, we gave up and went to Wendy's for some lunch. (Insert Embarrassing story...ask me later!)  It is weird with the one hour difference!  The city is pretty nice, the city is surrounded by mountains.  There are no tall buildings except for the hotels in the city center.  Most of the houses and businesses are stucco; sorta pueblo style.  Our hotel is nice; small, but clean and comfortable.  The hotel is about 2 miles from downtown.

We finally headed over to the convention center after lunch.  We parked in the ramp because we didn't want to waste anymore time finding parking.  We picked up our badges, and walked around awhile.  Then we headed to the exhibit hall...

The exhibit hall is a flurry of noise and people.  Noise from people just generally being loud, and also from them playing numerous instruments from many vendors.  We walked around a bit scoping where to begin.  I started with Altus flutes, then worked my way to Arista, Powell, Miyazawa, and Muramatsu.

Now for the exciting part!!!  I ended up finding my headjoint today, and after many hours of playing and comparing and deciding, I have purchased a lovely sounding headjoint that puts my old one to shame.  What a good day!

I also picked up some music for the little gal I teach and a piccolo orchestral excerpts book.  However, besides the headjoint, my favorite purchase of the day was my new folding music stand!  It was $12, and it is amazing!  It looks and works fabulously, and comes with a bag.  Excellent choice.  A much-needed upgrade from my old silver 12-year-old folding stand.

Tomorrow, more masterclasses and clinics and concerts.  Wow, there is so much to do here.

adios.