Minne recap

Well, obviously I was way to occupied learning about teeth while I was in Minneapolis to bother with posting. Thank goodness the Dental Conference is not in November, aka NaBloPoMo!

Minneapolis was great. I got there and it was refreshingly cold and drizzling. All the locals were complaining about the rain, but to me it was relief. I took the quick, cheap, easy light rail downtown and walked the 8 blocks to my hotel without my umbrella. After so many hours on a plane, it felt good to move and feel the atmosphere on my face.

Anthony joined me on this trip (he's always game to see a new place, and had never been to Minnesota before either), but he didn't join me until Friday. Luckily for me, a fellow blogger who lives in the Minneapolis suburbs was available and kindly picked me up for dinner. This was vastly better than trying to hustle a drug rep to take me to dinner or eating room service in my room (plus I finished my book on the plane).

Angie and I have been reading each other's blogs for about 2 years now. Its been a tumultuous time in her life, and I really felt like we were acquainted already, although of course we'd never met or even had a phone conversation. Of course I didn't really know her personally, but I knew her story. She was very much like I thought she'd be in person, although I underestimated her Minnesota accent. (That's OK, she underestimated my height!)

She asked me if I wanted to eat at this great gourmet pizza place she knew of, or if I wanted more Minnesota fare. "What is Minnesota fare?" I asked her. "Wall-eye?" Maybe a smorgasbord. We went to Pizza Luce, and it was great. I had a super locally brewed beer called Surly (you would've loved it, Lisa).

We did talk all night, got lots of the inside scoop on all our stories. I couldn't believe it when it was 10 pm already. Who knows if we'll ever get to repeat, but I hope so.

The conference started 8 am the next morning - all veterinary dentistry, all the time. I learned a new endodontic technique I'm pretty jazzed about, and also took a lab on bunny and guinea pig teeth. Their incisors are really long and curved, and are quite challenging to get out! Anthony came Friday afternoon. We ate at a good Indian restaurant, then I took him back to Pizza Luce Saturday. He loved it, too!

Here's what Minneapolis had that Austin does not: leaves with fall color, awesome light rail, snow bibs at Target, and tons of people in knit caps. Also, the Mall of the Americas, but we skipped that one.

Anth and I flew back separately, and both our planes were delayed due to weather (me - snow in Denver, Anth - high winds in Chicago). The kids were asleep when I came home, but we had a very happy reunion and hassle free routine this morning. Giggling, they tiptoed in to kiss their sleeping dad in bed before we were off to school.

We brought the cold weather with us. It was cold in the 40s, with gusting winds and driving rain this morning. I still took Francesca around the lake (in record time). Goodbye tomatoes, basil, peppers... come on, arugula!