I get back to this just over a week later, which means a quick recap is in order. Sooo… 1.) The hotel rocks. 2.) Our panel was successful. And 3.) I’m super-psyched about our announcements and the fans’ reactions to them!

As I’m preparing for conventions, I always try to bank away a little extra cash in case I find something awesome in the dealers’ room that I can’t acquire via the workplace. This time was no exception, and in addition to finding some out-of-print manga my assistant needed, I found the limited-edition version of Replay, the greatest hits double CD for V6′s 20th Century subunit, and KAT-TUN’s “Rescue” single in one vendor’s 50%-off bin. Cheap CDs… GET!

That was my big purchase and a non-anime/manga one, which was a little disappointing, but most everything else I found could be easily acquired from the regular suspects. Oh, well. It was one of those rare shopping situations that was good for me and good for my bank account. (And I actually had to make a run to the bank for a post-trip redeposit. Go, me!)

The additional work stuff and networking stuff went well, I had the chance to meet and socialize with some cool new acquaintances, and early on Sunday, July 4, it was time to wing my way home. Or so I thought…

You see, after I’d checked in at the airport, checked my luggage and gone through security, I got a phone call from the airline. The first of my two flights was pushed back by two hours — which would cause me to miss my connection — so I had to entirely switch my itinerary. (This involved two phone calls, standing in two very long lines, and drama at the actual ticket counter that had fellow travelers glaring at the staff on my behalf for being so unhelpful. It’s funnier now than it was at the time.)

The first leg of the flight to my rerouted destination, Chicago, was fun once I finally got on the plane. A cute, young family — a dad, mom and five-year-old little boy — was in the three-seat row just in front of me, and the (young) grandma was in my row. As we were waiting for take off, I joked about keeping our fingers crossed that the third person in our row wouldn’t show up. She thought it was funny, and the mystery passenger didn’t!

I was still worn out from the previous evening’s exploits, so I settled in for a nap, and when I woke up, the little grandson was sitting between me and his grandmother. He was super cute and super polite and gave me a HUGE smile. “You were sleeping when I came over here!” To which I responded, “Even grown-ups take naps sometimes!” He nodded back very solemnly, and we chatted for at least an hour straight, much to Grandma’s amusement.

Although I don’t particularly want kids of my own, I do like them, and this little guy was awesome. He had great manners, and you could tell he was used to talking with adults, so it was easy and fun to talk with him about TV, music, books, work and school… just like you would with any other interesting person. :)

The second leg started out OK — we got to watch some amazing fireworks from the tarmac and runway of O’Hare airport — but the last 20 minutes, as we approached Des Moines, were dreadful.

There were storms rolling in and out of the area, and the plane bounced up and down like a roller coaster. The majority of passengers on my flight were students returning from a school field trip to Germany. All I could think of, until we were safely on the ground, was how that kind of thing was usually the lead on news stories about plane crashes. (Yikes!)

I got back home safely, though. Kitty-mon was happy to see me return, and we were both grateful I had the next day off. ;-)

All in all, a good trip!