It is cliche to announce one's weekend as having gone by quickly, but mine whizzed by like a bullet train. Friday was host to a variety of activities, ranging from getting my back done (beach trip next weekend), to meeting with my manager to discuss my career and the opportunity for me to go to England in August, to excitedly loading software and files onto a new laptop (IBM T30) from the office. I'm excited about the prospect of going overseas to Europe for the first time, and don't mind doing it on someone else's dime. On the upside, the trip would likely be for a month, and that would definitely make it easy for me to do some exploration; on the downside, my long distance relationship with A* might temporarily be a bit longer. However, this is exactly the personal growth opportunity I've been looking for.
Regarding the new laptop, it's a beast! Heck, the thing is at least five times faster than my previous machine, has a built in wireless card, modem, and network card, and came with a DVD-player/CD-writer.
On Saturday, I attended a three hour skate clinic with Kim Perkins, the best endurance outdoor female skater in the US, improving my paceline technique and getting some useful pointers, and in the evening, a going-away party for my friend J*, who is returning to NYC having found suitable work.
On Sunday morning I awoke early to make it out to the Western part of Austin to attend a private lesson with Kim, where she inspected my technique, critiqued it, gave me three drills to work on and a lesson in downhill slaloming. After that, I prepared some music as later that afternoon I was to host a 'Name that Tune' style gameshow for my housemate's surprise-26th birthday party. I think he's an awesome guy, so when his girlfriend approached me about hosting the event, I was more than happy to participate.