I've had a mad few weeks.
Professionally and personally, it feels like I've barely stopped, and this weekend was the last thing in the diary for a while before heading back home to Ireland for some much-needed quiet time.
After getting home on Friday afternoon following another week away with work, we headed down to Dublin Airport for the flight to Leeds ahead of Saturday's game.
Then came a delay of just under three hours.
By the time we eventually arrived in Leeds at around 2am, tired doesn't really cover it. Somewhere along the way I genuinely started asking myself the question every football fan who travels ridiculous distances to watch their team has probably asked at some point.
Is it really worth it?
Spoiler... yes it is.
The perfect Saturday in Sheffield
After not nearly enough sleep, a short train journey took us into Sheffield and things immediately started looking more familiar.
A Beres, a few pints in the Hillsborough Tap and then the brief, soggy walk down to the ground. We took our seats hoping that Wednesday could deliver the result we needed.
In the preview I wrote that getting an early goal could be important. Bromley had made a good start to life in League One and I felt that if Wednesday allowed them to settle into the afternoon, they could make things really difficult.
So Wednesday scored early.
Then they scored again.
And again.
And again...
What followed was one of those afternoons at Hillsborough that doesn't come around very often.
Sheffield Wednesday 7-2 Bromley
Callum Slattery got things moving after just seven minutes, converting after good work from Louie Barry.
Mason Burstow doubled the lead on 30 minutes with his first Wednesday goal before Jamal Lowe made it 3-0 shortly before half-time.
If Bromley hoped the interval might allow them to reset, that idea lasted roughly 15 seconds.
Barry scored his first Wednesday goal almost immediately after the restart and had his second three minutes later. Lowe then added his second of the afternoon before substitute Gabriel Otegbayo headed home number seven in the 81st minute.
Seven.
Wednesday hadn't scored seven in a game since beating Burnley 7-2 back in 2003.
There was some frustration at the end as Victor Adeboyejo converted a penalty before an unfortunate Otegbayo own goal made it 7-2, denying Wednesday the emphatic clean sheet that the first 75 minutes probably deserved.
Henrik Pedersen wasn't particularly impressed with that ending either. He praised the hunger and mentality his players had shown for most of the game but made clear afterwards that giving away two easy late goals wasn't the standard he expects.
I actually quite liked hearing that.
At 7-0 it would have been very easy to switch off, enjoy the afternoon and dismiss the final few minutes as irrelevant. Pedersen clearly didn't.
This wasn't just about seven goals
You can look at a 7-2 scoreline and assume everything Wednesday touched went in.
It didn't.
Wednesday had 29 shots, 15 on target and 22 attempts from inside the penalty area, while finishing the afternoon with 70% possession.
This was comprehensive.
Barry was exceptional. Two goals and two assists don't really require much embellishment, but there was more to his performance than the numbers. He tormented Bromley after the break and the early signs of a player finding form and purpose in this new squad.
Jamal Lowe produced two goals and an assist of his own, Slattery continued his impressive start with another goal as well as an assist, and Burstow got his first Wednesday goal alongside an assist.
Billy Mitchell deserves a mention too. He did plenty of the less glamorous work in midfield, recovering possession and allowing the players around him to do their damage.
Then, with ten minutes remaining, there was a first Wednesday appearance for Ali Al-Hamadi. He didn't have long, but even managed to force a save before the afternoon was done.
There will be significantly tougher days ahead, but for 70-odd minutes this was about as complete a performance as you could reasonably ask for.
A difficult afternoon for Bromley
I said before the game that I didn't think Bromley would simply roll over, and despite what happened on Saturday, I still don't think they're going to be the whipping boys of League One.
Their rise has been astonishing.
Their average home attendance last season was 3,953, up from 3,111 the previous year and just 2,585 three seasons ago. To bring around 800 supporters to Hillsborough therefore represents a significant proportion of their regular home support.
And they were excellent.
Seven goals down away from home and they continued backing their team. When Bromley eventually gave them something to celebrate, they celebrated it.
Their manager Andy Woodman was understandably furious afterwards, describing their performance as a disaster and saying his side had been weak, meek and unrecognisable from the team he'd seen previously.
Maybe the occasion got to them. Maybe Wednesday simply caught them on the perfect afternoon.
Probably a bit of both.
But one terrible result doesn't suddenly undo Bromley's rise through the pyramid or mean they don't belong at this level. They'll learn far more about themselves from afternoons like this than they will from comfortable victories.
Their supporters certainly deserved better than they got from the team on Saturday.
So what does it mean for Pedersen?
I know what some people will say.
It's only one result.
It's only Bromley.
And, to an extent, that's fair.
One 7-2 victory doesn't answer every question surrounding Henrik Pedersen or suddenly tell us exactly what sort of season Wednesday are going to have.
But equally, you can only beat the team in front of you.
Wednesday didn't just beat Bromley. They dismantled them.
There was intensity, movement, creativity and, finally, ruthlessness in front of goal. Several of the new arrivals made significant contributions and, perhaps most encouragingly, Wednesday didn't settle for three or four once the game was won. They kept attacking.
The debate around Pedersen shouldn't have been settled by a handful of games at the start of a new season and it isn't settled by one huge victory either.
But if you're going to criticise him when things aren't working, you have to give him credit when they are.
Saturday worked.
More than a scoreline
After the final whistle we headed into the Wednesday Tap for a celebratory pint.
As if the day hadn't already delivered enough, on the way out we bumped into David Hirst and Henrik Pedersen.
We had a good chat about the game, offered our congratulations and grabbed a photo.
And that, really, is why the answer to the question I'd asked myself somewhere between Dublin and Leeds was so obvious by Saturday evening.
These are the days we remember.
Of course I'll remember Wednesday scoring seven. I'll remember Barry tearing down the left, the goals going in and Hillsborough enjoying an increasingly ridiculous afternoon.
But I'll also remember the journey, the Beres, the pints, getting soaked on the walk to the ground and unexpectedly chatting to Hirsty and the Wednesday manager afterwards.
Football isn't always about the scoreline.
Sometimes it's the entire day.
And after the few weeks I've had, I couldn't have asked for a better way to finish this one.
Now, finally, it's time to head home.
