Graduation Re-Cap #2--Heading into the Week

I left off Re-Cap #1 with "All I could think of was that two women would be sharing this tiny room & tiny bathroom for a week."

We immediately went back to the Front Desk, where we learned that yes, they know we requested 2 beds and yes, they knew I was sharing the room with another woman for a week and no, there were no bigger rooms in this hotel. Club Quarters is a hotel for business travelers, who usually are alone in the room for only 1 or 2 nights. I am used to business travel with the Ritz-Carlton. Soooo, we went back to the room so I could sulk and Bryan decided to check our bank accounts online while he waited for me to get over it. Hey--we only have $45 left in one of our checking accounts? WTF? Bryan had used the bank card for the room guarantee--and they put a hold on the full price of the room for the full week. Um, we were supposed to split the cost between 2 people? This left Bryan with no cash for the week. We decided not to talk to the non-helpful foreign guy at the front desk and wait for the shift change to sort it out.

My team-mate turned room-mate Ms. Hoffman showed up, along with one of our campus team-mates. The front desk swiped a card of hers as well, but she wasn't as concerned as we were about what the front desk was doing (she must take better care of her finances--really, she's just not nearly as high-strung as we are). I was happy to meet her for the first time in person ever--we were distance students, so all we knew were each other's voices from the endless phone calls and on-line chat sessions associated with classwork and lectures. And she is also a fellow blogger--primarily focusing on her family.

After giving presentations and participating in lengthy discussions all day at school Monday, the School of Business held a huge gala at the Library of Congress.



This was something stright out of a movie--it was huge, it was breath-taking, and it must have cost a fortune! No wonder my tuition was so friggin' high! There were tables of heavy hors d'oeuvres with huge flower arrangements, open bars, waiters carrying champagne everywhere, and a live band. I cannot tell you how cool that party was--and it was free. Like I said, tuition was steep. But OMG was it worth it, if only for this! I felt like royalty.