It's a Festivus Miracle!

Drove my new best friend to the airport this morning...I love that I was out of bed at 5:10 AM, and back into it before 6. Having an airport (even if it's named after a conservative neo-capitalist with little understanding of economics) within a ten minute drive is such a bonus, especially because the FAA won't let them fly over our house! Convenient, AND quiet. Perfect.

Driving to the office started this last work-day off quite well, and the dunkin' donuts and coffee that were awaiting me upon my arrival pushed it up into "best-workday-ever"-land. Add to that I'm leaving around noon, and I think we have a winner.

It truly is a festivus miracle! You know, for the rest of us.

Weekend in the 'Burbs.

Nothing like renting a shiny new Chevy Impala (well, I didn't exactly get a choice, it was what they had) and heading off to the wilds of Northern Virginia to do some Christmas shopping. I remember why I hate Target on Sunday afternoons...and why I love IKEA. There was also quite a bit of home-improvement shopping, in order to have a freshly-painted, completely color-coordinated suite of rooms in which to display the Christmas tree and Festivus pole.

Add to the painting, grocery ordering, cleaning, tree-trimming, silver polishing, light stringing, and peppermint mocha sipping a hefty dollop of billable hours, and I think I'm going to need to sleep until I turn 29. Which, conveniently enough, is only 10 days after Christmas.

So close, and still so far.

From the Wash. Post this morning: "Former prez and heart patient Bill Clinton was seen the other day ordering himself a hot dog bagel -- a hot dog inside a bagel -- at Einstein Brothers on Wisconsin Avenue. He also ordered trail-mix cookies, which surely qualify as health food, and coffee. With Secret Service agents watching, he carried his own bag as he greeted customers, including two excited 11-year-olds, Emily Widra of Rockville and Madelyn Levy of Washington. "Hi, ladies," he said. "

I'm devastated!!!!!! That's a mere 2 or so miles from my office... I could have been there. Stupid Emily and Madelyn. They don't know how lucky they have it, for a number of reasons:

1) They were not at my workplace.
2) They got to talk to Bill Clinton.
3) They were at Einsteins.

I bet they didn't even get coffee with their bagels...What a waste.

Who Knew?

I suppose it's time for more posting...now that I've removed the last name from the blog, I guess I can be a little more free to, well, criticize - because let's face it, that is one of my strengths. Or, as I put it in my government KSAs, critical thinking is part of my "skill set."

It's nice to know that my musings have been missed. Well, "missed" is probably too strong a word..."noted," perhaps? Either way...

Well, back to the regulatory compliance salt mines...with my trusty venti bold drip with hazelnut at my side, all is achievable.

I'll save the discussion on Jenna Bush's impending faculty position at a DC Charter School for later - I'm giddy with comedic possibilities...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A205-2004Dec14.html

Too late.

Obama in 2008!

That's pretty much all of the enthusiasm that I can muster today. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.

I can't take this.

The waiting. The anxiety. The frantic refreshing of the CNN electoral map. My stomach has been in knots for days...please, please, please, Ohio. Please. Don't wreck it for everyone. Please.

To the Woman in Seat #23-A

American Airlines Flight 1240, DFW to DCA (Dallas to National Airport) - you were sitting behind me. A few minutes after takeoff, I noticed that you kept clearing your throat. While it was annoying (kind of like the person in your exam room who refuses to use a tissue and instead sniffs every 30 seconds), I was not terribly put off by your gargles and managed to focus on my extremely compelling "In Style" magazine. Soon, you became much more annoying and repulsive by insisting on coughing, choking, and gagging on whatever was coming up out of your lungs. Now, I too have had an upper respiratory infection during a flight. But in that unfortunate instance, I plied myself with nasal spray, decongestant, and antihistamine to the point where I was no longer an annoyance, let alone a DANGER to everyone around me. After two and a half hours of your spewing filthy germs at the back of my head, even my manic hand-washing after deplaning was apparently not enough to counteract your attack. By dinnertime, I was sick. And what are the chances that I would suddenly be stricken with a cough, stuffy nose, and a fever? Pretty good, after sitting in front of you.

Next time, obnoxious woman in 23-A, visit Walgreens before you go. Thank goodness you didn't have ebola.

I Still Have A Minnesota Driver's License...

From the Washington Post, "Reliable Source" column penned by Richard Leiby:

"Garrison Keillor is urging fellow author, radio host and Minnesotan Al Franken to take the plunge and prepare for a U.S. Senate bid (as a Democrat, natch). "Al ought to give up radio, which is awfully hard work for a TV guy like himself, and establish residence in Minneapolis, near where he grew up, and get himself a late-model car and drive around and see the state. It's a wonderful place and, doggone it, people would like him," Keillor said in an interview published Saturday on Salon.com. "I'll do some fundraisers for him myself."

The man from Lake Wobegon calls Franken "a natural on the stump -- he has a terrific grin that makes people feel good, unlike so many Midwestern liberals who are about as warm as a concrete block." Keillor, an ardent foe of current Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, rules out a race of his own. "Writing is the best way to spend what time is left to me," says the 62-year-old. "Sit at my dining room table and try to write what is given to me to write -- a comic novel, a sonnet, a Lake Wobegon story, a parody of the president, a limerick about a lady named Reba who cried out in rapture, 'Ich liebe,' a rhapsody to homegrown tomatoes." You betcha."

But for the fact that uber-con Minnesota Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer doesn't count absentee ballots unless they're cast for the right (ask anyone about the Mondale/Coleman race, or click here), I would most certainly do my best to cast my vote for Franken.

Settling Down, Figuring Out

It's amazing how long it takes to get settled, once you move. There are the obvious steps, putting things away, painting, getting your mail forwarded, but there are so many other intangible things to do before you can really feel at home. Like meeting your neighbors, figuring out where the nearest grocery store is, and where the nearest 7-11 is when you just don't have the energy to walk all the way to Safeway just for C2, cream, and gum.

Trying to put my house in order makes me focus on putting my life in order. Now that I'm in the place where I want to be, residentially speaking, am I in the place where I want to be in other aspects of my life? Job, relationships, health, experiences? I think a little bit of self-examination, every so often, is a good thing. For me, I find that it's a lot easier to take inventory of all of these other things while I'm sorting through old papers and clothes. Finding reminders of goals that I once held, relationships that I once had (or still have!) helps me to figure out whether I'm happy with the track that I am on.

And in addition to being the catalyst for deep, penetrating soul-searching, throwing out half of your closet makes the room look really nice. I highly recommend it.

Presidentin' is HARD!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/administration/whbriefing/

Apparently, according to CBS News, President Bush has spent approximately 20% (254 days) of his term at his ranch in Crawford. Add to that his time spent at Camp David and in Kennebunkport at the Bush Family Compound, and you're looking at more than 40% of his term. FORTY PERCENT!!!! No wonder the White House is "self-conscious" about those totals.

I guess it's true that US Government workers really do get off easy.

Always the trendsetter

JanieMo, once again (as always), finding the very best o'the web...

http://www.sweetjesusihatebilloreilly.com/

"The plea for unity is not a call for uniformity. There must always be a healthy debate."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13338-2004Aug18.html

This article angers me. Whatever happened to healthy debate? Dissent is unthinkable to the current administration, right down to each and every town meeting and press event....

Got to love Dan Froomkin for pulling aside the curtain...Sorry, Wizard.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4943-2004Aug16.html

Feeling of the Moment

Someone else's fabulous blog posted on this subject today, so I figured I would take a ride on her train of thought.

Anyway...wondering if I should have made my blog anonymous? There are so many things I'd like to say, but don't, for one of the following reasons:

1. I don't want people to hate me.
2. I would prefer to leave my current job voluntarily, not at the request of my employer.
3. It's fun to talk a little smack every now and again, and I feel a bit stifled.

Blogfodder

I need some. Perhaps my life just isn't as interesting as other people's...or perhaps I don't sit around and think the big thoughts that are blog-worthy.

Here comes the...

crazy! Why do some women get just *bizarre* when they start planning a wedding? It's almost as if weddings are an excuse for the self-centered to force everyone around them to indulge their every whim. I am such a fortunate girl in that my wonderful friends have done no such thing!!! Miss Sarah, the current bride-to-be, has been a dream of a bride. She, unfortunately, has not been so lucky of late with some of her acquaintances. "It's MY day...MY DAY!!!...If his parents aren't paying for anything, I'm not putting them on the invitation..I know this is my fifth shower, but I think that you should pay for me to have 80 people to dinner at a restaurant of my choice...You OWE me...If you bridesmaids all don't have your hair done the same way I'll just kick you out of the wedding..." Seriously. Grow up.

Feel free to share your favorite bride-zilla story! That's real-life entertainment. I hope they never found out how amusing they are.

Sudsarrific

Stupid broken dishwasher.

Ah, the Convention!

Long it has been since I've last felt so inspired, so racked by warm fuzzy happies as I have been watching the Democratic convention.

Obama...simply amazing. 

Chris Heinz - my hometown boy!!  He grew up in Fox Chapel, where many of my family still lives, where my Grandfather is buried.  The Heinz estate was on my dad's paper route back in the fifties, and they used to give my grandfather a bottle of scotch at Christmastime as a thank you for the handyman work he used to perform for them. 

And Philip, it's not necessary to expound on this, but it floors me that people would attempt to, in good conscience, argue with the ideals expressed at the Convention.  Tucker Carlson looked like a complete ass when he tried to do so...even his bow tie lost quite a bit of its appeal, in my estimation.

Living Room and Deck (with paint samples scattered throughout) 

New House, from C Street SE 

THAT'S News?!

Don't get me wrong, I *LOVE* the Washington Post.  But, yesterday, one of their front page headlines, in the "Entertainment" section, was "Dunst and Gyllenhaal Split."  Ok, seriously, who cares?!  Please don't misunderstand, I love US Weekly as much as the next girl (unless the next girl is my friend Joely), but I think there are more interesting things going on in the world, even in the "entertainment" world, than the fact that a B list movie star whose attractiveness peaked in "Bring It On" (and who needs to learn to wear a bra) and a guy who could do much better are no longer dating. 

ARGH!

Moving SUCKS.  I never get as little sleep as I do when we're moving.  I think I make too many plans - I think we can get so much done (tape and paint 3 rooms, get rid of all of our old/unattractive clothing, pack via an intricate system of alphabetizing and color-coding) and then we end up doing what we always do - frantically throw crap into boxes as the movers walk through the door. 

Although there is something exhilarating about the moving process.  Leaving home (be it EVER so humble), thinking about all the things that happened while you were there.  Especially this place - it was small and dark and cave-like, but it was our first place in DC, and we had such wonderful neighbors (well, 5 - the rest weren't so hot).  Things have changed so much for us in the past 14 months, I don't think we're the same people that packed everything into the truck in Minnesota and headed east.  Which is not a bad thing.

So tired

Moving...such a hassle, so tiring. So why do we do it at least once a year? It would make sense if we were running from the law...but we're not. We are merely running from a 600 square foot condo to a two-bedroom townhouse, from trendy Dupont Circle to the tree-lined rowhouses of Capitol Hill. Still convenient, still fun, but much more of a neighborhood and less of a need to straighten my hair when I go to the Safeway. And, closer to York, Pennsylvania and my very dear Janie and her wonderful Mike!! Hey, fifteen minutes is fifteen minutes, I'll take it. Now, if only we had a car...