Hooray! [for lack of words]

The lecture went really well. Great turnout despite the rain. My mom's hairdresser did my hair/makeup - the most made-up I've been since I was a punk rocker for Halloween in my pre-teens. All my teachers showed up and were totally proud of me, which was SO amazing. My friends and colleagues came out to support and I felt like they all had my back - Frank had emailed me with fantastic advice, reminding me that it was going to a be a friendly audience and not one out to attack me. All sorts of interesting people showed up and the installation held; nothing fell down! There was a child crying briefly in the middle, and I felt kind of like a jerk for just plowing on thru the talk. I also felt like a jerk for talking for an HOUR instead of the 40-45 minutes I was supposed to do, but there was just so much to say ... and I didn't even get to all of it in the end!

But. It was fantabulous. And, to top it off, right before the lecture, I found out that Frank and I have been selected to receive additional scholarships from the Korea Fulbright Foundation!!! Michael and I were chatting when I found out; the perfect person to hear the news first, as he's seen the road I've been walking and how hard I've been working. I am beyond honored. Happily drowning in abundance and fully immersed in the "fruits of labor" while being out-of-my-mind grateful.

Oh, and I forgot my camera. Classic. But JL ran up and got hers and shot the whole thing as soon as she found out. It was all in all an amazing experience. She and Katherine helped me deinstall (Katherine was SO on task, which was great, since I was at about 5% functional capacity by then), and Linda and her friend gave me a ride home. I've been up for hours now cleaning up all my stuff and putting it away. Today really hammered home the "it takes a village" truth for me. I am so gleeful about how I can breathe easy now, and watch GA guilt free.