I woke up before the alarm, logged in to briefly check for more Tour de Friends donations, of which there were many! My heart is so full from the generosity of my friends! By the end of the the day, I had nearly $1000 in donations! I am so grateful for the wonderful people in my life.
I met Jim in the lobby at 7:45. We stopped at Wired for Coffee on the way in to work. I got a bagel, Jim got a muffin.
We checked in and got visitor badges for the week. We went upstairs to see if Kim was in. She wasn’t, so we ate our goodies and had some coffee at her desk. By 15 after, she hadn’t arrived so we went downstairs to see if the classroom was open yet. It wasn’t.
There were a few guys waiting around for the class. It’s all men in the class, and a couple of them are hotties. (Bonus) Thomas arrived at about 8:25, I said hello, and he opened the room. The seats had been arranged for us, and I was in the front row, right in front of the instructor terminal. I got a chance to say hello to Brad before class started, too, and he had lots (drama!) to tell me.
In our introductions to the class, the final item we had to relate was, “If you weren’t in class today, what’s the one thing you’d probably be doing?” I said, “I’d probably be riding my bike, as I recently signed up to participate in an AIDS Ride from North Carolina to Washington, DC.”
Class was very good. Thomas is an excellent instructor. The materials are so organized, clear, and he is very articulate. And so well groomed!
We had lunch with Kim, each getting lunch from a different restaurant and meeting in the courtyard area to eat together.
We finished class around 4:00, and went upstairs. I connected to the network and got caught up on my mail. Kim took Jim around to meet the developers, and other folks here. I left them at about 4:30, and told Jim to call me when he got back to the hotel so we could get some dinner.
Back at the hotel, I sent out thank-you e-mails to everyone who donated today, and sent out all the TCW e-mails I had typed up and saved on the flight here. That felt real good to do!
I had a quick phone call with Robert. What a dear man, and again, as usual, he warmed my heart!
Jim finally arrived at 7:30, and we went to The Yard House for dinner. He had Chicken Encrusted with Parmesan, and I had the Fish and Chips. Killer!
I learned about his family a little — that his wife was from Bogota. He also told me about two other fun business trips he’s been on (with Tivoli) — to Rome and to London. That’s the most I’ve heard Jim talk about anything in his personal life in the almost 3 years I’ve known him.
I’m totally exhausted and it’s only 9:30 here. Beddy-bye time.