My flight to Seattle was late, the car they gave me is like a tin box but having a nice Sanskrit tattoo on my arm got me a killer deal on a hotel room at The Westin Bellevue (where I had a reservation for M-TH but not for Sunday night) after the telephone reservations agent told me they couldn't find a discount room or extend my Microsoft discount for Sunday night. Having been up everyday at 4ish, I was looking forward to some sleep but it escaped me yet again. I was excited to practice with David and see JumpsThruSeomday (now jumping thru beautifully) so I got up at 4am, dressed, threw down a cup of coffee (come on, I haven't slept more than 4 hours since last Wednesday night) and drove into the city. I got a bit lost but finally saw someone walking down the street with a black mat and followed her in. The new studio is nice actually but we had to wake David up to open the door. It was cold so I put myself right by the heater and got down to business. I had no time to waste. I barely recognized David when he came in as he's cut his hair really short. I had a wonderful practice. I was so happy to be doing Mysore, so happy to be at one with my mat and practicing internally.... David came me an amazing adjustment in Supta Kurmasana... he actually got my legs up and over the back of my head and I held them there on my own after he was done. He helped me get back up and then I held Dwi Pada and went into, what I felt, was a beautiful Titibhasana out. While I was doing Ustrasana he told me that I was pushing my hips too far forward, that I needed to pull them back and do more from the back. It was an interesting adjustment that I had a hard time holding actually. Laghu... wasn't as easy as it had been in the grass in San Fran but I think that's because by the time I get there, I'm pretty wiped out. I moved to the back of the room for finishing... did 3 backbends and stood up. I dropped back and stood up a couple times and then decided that was it... I get tired and I wasn't sure I could pull it off again so I just did drop backs. David does dropbacks a lot different than Tim does and it's always interesting to feel it out.

After practice I bought some tshirts, David's CD (which Andrew plays guitar on), asked after Catherine and raced back to campus. I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open during the all day conference I had on campus. I literally had 5 cups of regular coffee (the jury is still out on whether or not regular coffee has a more caffeinated effect on me), two sodas with caffeine and I was still finding myself unable to keep my eyes open. I met loads of interesting people, learned a lot about the developments Microsoft is planning and ended up out doing the social thing until very, very late or, rather, very early this morning....

I had some wierd things happen to me yesterday... I was the only female in a room of male developers at the Software Design Review I went to. The ONLY female developer. A MSFT female employee made mention of it a couple times to me. Everytime I opened my mouth to speak, this guy at the end of the row would interrupt me. I took the higher road and did not say anything although I felt like calling him on his shit... but the experience reminded me of just what being a girl in this male dominated field is like. I tend to thrive in it... I am not usually treated any diffferently (that I can see)... and ended up in a lengthy conversation last night with a peer about the fact that I, apparently, don't see the "looks" and vibe.. I guess I'm oblivious to it out of choice. Personally I don't think it is there... but, if it is, so what... it isn't something I want to pick up... it isn't something that concerns me and it certainly isn't something I will allow to enter my sphere of professionalism. Silly really but my friends were genuinely surprised that I said I don't notice it.

I also had some wierd emotional highs and lows yesterday... I'm still reeling from practicing with Guruji and feeling the sadness of not following my bliss. Being here in Redmond only reinforces how different my life is this year... but in a high I realized it is all what we make it and I'm just making it for now...

I'm now sitting listening to Mr. Gates do the KeyNote for OfficeDevCon. I've admired my picture on Ashtanga News and agree -- you really have to see Guru The Movie. I hope to make it to practice with David again this week... I hope to find a place to sleep... I may have to take a nap in my little tinker toy car.