Laughed until I cried

Sars' latest essay over at Tomato Nation just killed me: iTunes as prophet. I loved, loved, loved the section about her haircut. And the ending? Priceless.

Befuddled

I'm a little confused as to what's going on with D. Is he just taking it really really slow? Or is he only interested in being friends? Every once in a while he'll say something that makes me think he is interested in me (as more than a friend) but now we've seen each other twice and there have not been any unequivocal signs that he's warm for my form, as the saying goes.

OK, back up.

Yesterday evening as I was chillin' on the couch watching American Beauty and transferring it from TiVo to DVD, D called. He was heading out this way to drop his daughter off at her mom's, and I suggested he swing by on his way home. He called again at 9:30 to get directions and was here moments later. I was definitely not smokin' hot or anything - hair pulled up in a clippy thing and glasses on (although I actually think those are hot) and we hung out on the couch chatting for a couple hours. Not once did he make a move to get a little closer on the couch. At the end of the night, though, we had the patented hug...he is truly the most amazing hugger on earth, all full body contact and everything. And I swear there was a zing - a little split second when I thought he was going to kiss me, or I was going to kiss him, but then he left. Arrrrgh!

But...we are going out on Tuesday. So...? I'm starting to think that if I don't make the first move it will never get made. But at the same time, it is kind of fun not knowing. I'm enjoying the anticipation. My blood pressure, on the other hand, is sky high because I'm totally freaking out all the time over whether he likes me or not. Heh. I feel like I'm back in high school again.

And the bad news is that I'm coming down with the wicked cold everyone's been getting. Lloyd's had it for a while now and I am pretty sure he's the one who gave it to me. I am frantically taking Cold-Eeze (zinc lozenges) and NyQuil at night, hoping to stave off the inevitable. At least until Wednesday. Because I don't want to cancel my Tuesday night date with D!

Party time

Yesterday was Babydaddy's birthday. I cannot believe this is his last year in his 30's. Poor guy was sick and feeling like crap but he took Rugrat to karate class anyway, while I made him a fabulous birthday dinner of thick boneless pork chops (brined, natch), roasted asparagus, and cauliflower with gruyere cheese. Funny, was going through some old blogs yesterday and discovered that I made almost the exact same meal for him last year on his birthday.

Today is K's birthday, and to celebrate we (a fairly large group of us) are going out to dinner at some Italian place in D'ville, and then climbing aboard the party bus to SF, where we will imbibe copious amounts of booze at the Bubble Lounge, and possibly go elsewhere for dancing/whatever. I will be bringing sleepover stuff, because I'll undoubtedly be unable to drive home after such a night of debauchery.

But the best news of all is that I have lost almost 4 pounds over the last couple of weeks, thanks to the knitting diet. The knitting diet consists of knitting my sweater in the evenings while watching TiVo, instead of stuffing my face (which was the usual routine). And the icing on the cake is that I've made about 6 inches of progress on my sweater so far. :) I fully expect that it will be finished long before Christmas. I am racing along! Can't wait to start something a little more challenging next time (like a ribbed v-neck or similar).

Fear & Insomnia

I've been dealing with some wicked insomnia the past week. My usual routine is to go to bed shortly before 11 and read until I get sleepy. This usually takes about a half hour - less if the book I'm reading is particularly boring. But in the past week, I haven't been getting sleepy, or if I do, then as soon as I put the book down and shut off the light my brain starts going a million miles an hour. Yes, it's been a busy week for me, but I'm not under a lot of stress or anything.

Anyway, last night I tossed and turned for probably an hour before finally falling asleep. A few times I started to drift off, and then I realized I was drifting off, and of course that woke me right back up. I finally fell asleep and then at about 2:30 I woke up to a banging, rattly noise. There's been quite an increase in crime around here lately, so my first thought was that someone was trying to break into my house or the neighbor's. I went to the window and peeked through the blinds but couldn't see anything suspicious out front. I lay back down and the banging & rattling continued. I listened really hard and decided that since there weren't any human noises (like cursing or whatever) that it was probably an animal getting into the garbage cans. This isn't normal, although we do get quite an assortment of wildlife in the backyard. Finally I realized that the problem was that Rugrat had pulled the garbage cans in yesterday evening, but neglected to close the gate all the way and the gate was banging against the garbage cans. Of course a couple hours later, the noise woke Rugrat up and he climbed into bed with me. *sigh*

So all in all, not a great night last night.

Today has been better though: D called me about an hour ago and we made plans to meet up next Tuesday again! :)

Miracle Worker

Yesterday I got a haircut with K's hairdresser, J. I have been going to JW for a couple of years now (and was quite happy with her), but one night a couple of months ago I got totally frustrated with my newly short hair and could not do a freaking thing with it. I was at K's house, and J was there with his wife as we were all going out to celebrate something or other. Anyhoo, J styled my hair and made it look darn good, so I swore that he would be getting a visit from me the next time I needed my hair cut.

I sit down in the chair with my hair all up in the clippy thing and proceed to tell him that I don't really want it any shorter, because I like it better long, but SOMETHING has to change because I hate the current haircut and I get these weird lanky bits in the front that don't do anything. An hour later, I walked out of the salon looking like a freaking goddess, because J is a TOTAL FUCKING ROCKSTAR. My hair looks SO good. And just like that, I've found my new hairstylist. I don't even care that the salon is half an hour away in WC.

Also last night, I met up with D, the guy I hadn't seen in ten years. It was great - we met up at the Cantina for Taco Tuesday, had a couple of drinks, a couple of tacos, and talked nonstop for almost four hours. He was just as I remembered him - except that he's shaved his head! It was quite a change, but it looks good on him.

Mom came to visit last weekend and we had a lovely time. Saturday we went grocery shopping and I made her the fabulous Yum Yum Chicken Enchilada Casserole (which I am getting pretty darn sick of now, heh). Aunt L came over to visit in the afternoon, and then the next day, Sunday, we went to the movies (Bridge to Terabithia - sob!) and then to Aunt L's for dinner. My cousin K was there with her boyfriend as well, so we all had a nice visit. Then on Monday (President's Day holiday) I dropped Rugrat off at daycare in the morning so Mom & I went to the gym and then to the salon for pedicures. And then, unfortunately, it was time to take her to the airport. As usual, the visit was too short. :( But it was nice while it lasted.

Old Skool

I found an old friend on myspace a couple weeks ago - a guy I haven't talked to in ten years. Turns out he lives only half an hour away from me, and also has an 8-yr-old child. We've talked on the phone a couple times but haven't yet gotten together; it will be interesting to see him after all this time. He was a really great friend to me back when I was young and stupid and in a very self-destructive phase, so I'm really looking forward to seeing him again.

I found the high-end yarn shop in WC this weekend, and spent a good hour and a half in there, browsing the gorgeous yarns and finally settling on some skeins of lovely brown and olive-green wool to knit my first sweater. I also got a set of double-pointed needles and a circular needle, and I'm off & running on the project. I hope it turns out OK; this is my first non-scarf project so I'm hoping I don't screw it up too badly. It's about an inch long right now, so I figure I might be done with it by next Christmas. Heh. Unless, of course, it goes the way of my counted cross-stitch project (the stocking that will probably not be finished until my first grandchild is born).

Rugrat is losing teeth left, right & center. He's almost got more gaps than teeth, these days. Doesn't do much to help his babyish pronunciation either. ;-) He's doing well in karate though, and currently is the only one in his class (gold belt), so he's getting some great one-on-one attention with the instructors. He'll be moving up to orange belt in about another week, so we're enjoying the individual instruction while it lasts.

And mom is coming to visit this weekend! Yay! Which means I seriously need to clean the house. Boo!

HP7!!

The seventh and final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has an official release date now: July 21, 2007. You can bet Rugrat and I will be down at our local B&N for the release party the night before!

Yum Yum Chicken Enchilada Casserole

My sister and her family came over yesterday for a visit. They are moving from Phoenix to Portland, and I was sorta kinda on the way. ;-) It was great to catch up with my sister, because I just don't see her very often; once a year is about all we can manage. Her daughter, who is autistic, has made a LOT of progress since the last time I saw her, and I was really enjoying spending some quality time with my niece. I didn't get to spend as much time with my BIL and my nephew, as they took off to visit BIL's Bay Area friends shortly after they arrived.

Anyhoo, I thought about making chicken enchiladas but then discovered that I didn't have enough tortillas to make enough for us all. So Sister & I improvised, and came up with the NOT DIET-FRIENDLY Yum Yum Chicken Enchilada Casserole:

2 cooked chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 small can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 jar enchilada sauce
2-3 tortillas, cut into strips
Shredded cheddar (or Jack, or Mexican Mix - whatever you have) cheese
Fritos
Sour cream (optional - for serving)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Take the 2 chicken breasts & shred the meat with forks. Mix together the can of soup, plus 2 or 3 chiles (minced) and a little of the adobo sauce (you will have TONS of the chiles left over; save them for another recipe). Mix enough of the soup/chile sauce in with the shredded chicken to make it like chicken salad or tuna salad consistency. You don't want your chicken swimming in the soup stuff, but you need enough to keep the meat moist & tasty.

Spray a 9" square casserole dish with nonstick spray. Pour in enough enchilada sauce to lightly coat the bottom of the dish. Lay slices of tortilla over the sauce to cover, then carefully spread the chicken/soup mixture over it. Top with more sliced tortillas. Pour more enchilada sauce on top (you'll probably have a lot left over - I think I used half a jar). Then add a layer of shredded cheese. Finally, crunch up some Fritos and put them on the very top. Pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes, until the cheese and sauce is bubbly. Then broil the casserole for a couple minutes to make the Fritos golden brown. Serve with sour cream. Will serve 4-6, depending on how often you go back for more. Heh.

Yum Yum Chicken Enchilada Casserole

My sister and her family came over yesterday for a visit. They are moving from Phoenix to Portland, and I was sorta kinda on the way. ;-) It was great to catch up with my sister, because I just don't see her very often; once a year is about all we can manage. Her daughter, who is autistic, has made a LOT of progress since the last time I saw her, and I was really enjoying spending some quality time with my niece. I didn't get to spend as much time with my BIL and my nephew, as they took off to visit BIL's Bay Area friends shortly after they arrived.

Anyhoo, I thought about making chicken enchiladas but then discovered that I didn't have enough tortillas to make enough for us all. So Sister & I improvised, and came up with the NOT DIET-FRIENDLY Yum Yum Chicken Enchilada Casserole:

2 cooked chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 small can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 jar enchilada sauce
2-3 tortillas, cut into strips
Shredded cheddar (or Jack, or Mexican Mix - whatever you have) cheese
Fritos
Sour cream (optional - for serving)

Take the 2 chicken breasts & shred the meat with forks. Mix together the can of soup, plus 2 or 3 chiles and a little of the adobo sauce (you will have TONS of the chiles left over; save them for another recipe). Mix enough of the soup/chile sauce in with the shredded chicken to make it like chicken salad or tuna salad consistency. You don't want your chicken swimming in the soup stuff, but you need enough to keep the meat moist & tasty.

Spray a 9" square casserole dish with nonstick spray. Pour in enough enchilada sauce to lightly coat the bottom of the dish. Lay slices of tortilla over the sauce to cover, then carefully spread the chicken/soup mixture over it. Top with more sliced tortillas. Pour more enchilada sauce on top (you'll probably have a lot left over - I think I used half a jar). Then add a layer of shredded cheese. Finally, crunch up some Fritos and put them on the very top. Pop it in the oven at 350 or so for about 30 minutes, until the cheese and sauce is bubbly. Then broil the casserole for a couple minutes to make the Fritos golden brown. Serve with sour cream. Will serve 4-6, depending on how often you go back for more. Heh.

*sigh*

The lockout karma is apparently still in full effect. I went out back this morning to have a smoke, and *somehow* the sliding glass door LOCKED behind me! How do I get into these situations? I was still in my jammies and robe (actually robeS, plural, for warmth) and had to go next door to the neighbor's to borrow a cheap butter knife. I managed to pry the damn door back open but this is seriously ridiculous, y'all. I couldn't use my hidden spare key because I have one of those slide-bar lock thingys on the front door (that I lock before going to bed) so there was NO other way to get back in the house except through that f'ing back door.

In other news - New Year's was meh, but I did manage to get myself laid at just about exactly the one-year mark (two days before New Year's). I basically set out to have meaningless sex simply to break my unending dry streak, and achieved exactly that: meaningless sex. Not great sex, but hey, it served the purpose. I couldn't leave 2006 without having sex at least once. It's just...unnatural. Mom asked me the other day when I'm going to have another kid. Ha ha, Mom. First I have to find someone I like, then I have to actually sleep with him. These days that's a herculean task in and of itself. So I'm pretty sure my childbearing time is far, far behind me.

On the plus side? 24 last night rocked. I was waiting for Jack Bauer to mention "fava beans and a nice Chianti." Yay for the new season of fabulous no-repeat TV!

HAAAAATE

I am FURIOUS with the fuckers over at Integrated Alarm Services. I called back in July, wanting to cancel my account with them because I never use the damn thing, and they told me "Oh, your contract doesn't expire until January 16, so you can either pay us a big ass block of money now to get out of the contract, or wait and send a letter and cancel it then." So I opted to cancel it later. They told me to send a letter 30 days before the contract expires. Fine, I sent off a fax today - yes, it's a couple days late, but it's JUST a couple days. Now they're telling me that I needed to send the letter 90 days before the contract expired. NINETY days. No. They are giving me the fucking runaround and I am sick of this shit. It's not like they didn't know I was going to cancel. They did have notice, y'all. I am FUCKING PISSED. I am considering actually changing my bank account to keep them from getting their grubby fucking hands on any more of my money. Haaaate!

And if that's not enough, Rugrat's GATE teacher is retiring in January, and nobody seems to know what's going to happen to the program. They're certainly not hiring anyone yet. They are taking this time to "re-evaluate" the program. Translation: they can't afford to do anything and they are stalling. Haaaate!

This is not a good day. Not good at all.

CPSIL update

OK, CPSIL has gone off the deep end. Babydaddy tells me that she told PBIL she "made a mistake" when she left him. So she...wants to get back together now? After being separated for over a year. And after having vicious screaming matches with him all the time, in front of the kids. And after deciding that her kids are expendable and she doesn't want to deal with them anymore. And after making every excuse she could think of to get more money out of PBIL and at the same time spend less time with HER OWN CHILDREN.

And now she wants to get back together?

I hope PBIL tells her to go take a flying leap. The woman needs to be institutionalized.

Books, books & more books

Last year I started keeping track of the books I read. This year, so far, I've read 133 books (although seven of them I either did not finish, or am still reading). I knew I read a lot, but more than 11 books per month, on average, is probably a little excessive. Maybe I should cut back next year and do something a little more productive with my time, like keep up with housework or, maybe, find a date. Heh.

Anyhoo, the standouts on my list this year were (in the order I read them):

• The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini - this book was fabulous and heartbreaking
• Something Borrowed and Something Blue, both by Emily Giffin - fun chick-lit fluff, but with substance; taken together, the books form two sides of the same story
  
• A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey - not exactly non-fiction, but VERY well written and compelling
• Undead & Unwed, by Mary Janice Davidson - another fun fluff piece, this time about a rather shallow young woman who becomes a vampire
• The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls - disturbing non-fiction memoir
  
• Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger - a coming-of-age story about the bonds of family and duty
  
• A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving - another lovely coming-of-age story, focused on faith
• A Dirty Job, Christopher Moore - more fun stuff: a man who becomes one of Death's helpers (Christopher Moore is always a good bet for offbeat, humorous "horror" stories)
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer - powerful story about a boy searching for clues to his father's past after he dies in the 9/11 attacks
• Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro - creepy but hopeful at the same time

I hope one or more of these books ends up on your 2007 list, if you haven't read them all already!

Pulp Fiction...the really short version

You must click here.

I laughed for a full five minutes after watching this. Because I am twelve years old.

Gossip

Remember crazy pseudo-SIL (CPSIL)? I haven't talked to her in a year, at least. But the other day, Babydaddy told me her latest psychotic tale. She's decided that she "can't handle" her kids anymore and is foisting them off permanently on her ex-husband, my pseudo-BIL (PBIL). Apparently, CPSIL is convinced that the kids hate her, they don't appreciate anything she does for them, and she's certain something is wrong with A, the youngest, although the doctor has told her repeatedly that he is fine.

I have major, major issues with this. First of all, knowing CPSIL as I do, she's probably just got a boyfriend who doesn't want her kids around and so she's dumping them. Or maybe they just cramp her style - she can't go out and party as often as she'd like with her friends. Doesn't matter, really, the point is: you don't get to delete your kids from your life and still be considered a decent human being. Those poor little boys are being abandoned by their mother and her excuse for doing this is that they don't appreciate her? THEY ARE LITTLE KIDS. Of course they don't appreciate what she does for them, no child under the age of 18 appreciates what their parents do for them (you know, not until they move out and have to fend for themselves). That is no excuse. And they probably do act up more around her, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. She's high-strung, impatient, and obviously not responsible enough or emotionally invested enough in her children to put them first. I'm sure they pick up on that. But what REALLY galls me, what absolutely horrifies me, is that she was desperate to have children. She pushed PBIL into it, she went through fertility treatments to get pregnant with those little boys, and now she is ready to throw them away like they're trash. And what will happen to those boys when she decides in six months that she misses them, or (more likely) her parents guilt her into trying to get the boys back? It will completely fuck with their heads, and then she'll throw them away again when she gets tired of being a mommy.

I...have no words. Just NO FUCKING WORDS. She is inhuman. I hope PBIL gets sole custody of the boys and a restraining order against the bitch.

Oh, and CPSIL was trying to get PBIL to carry more than his share of the load before this, and she somehow used ME as an example -- something about how Babydaddy and I have things worked out, and how CPSIL and PBIL should do things differently (obviously something to her selfish advantage) because what works for us must work for them. Ummm...no. I don't know what point she was trying to make, but she made it sound to PBIL like CPSIL and I are still great friends and talk all the time, when...no. Not happening. And for her to try and use me as leverage in her fight with PBIL is just totally fucked and completely irrelevant. What works for one family is not necessarily going to work for another family. And what she doesn't seem to get is that I LOVE MY SON and would NEVER abandon him, and both Babydaddy and I are committed to making things easy on Rugrat and therefore we get along and are flexible with each other. Plus Babydaddy is a good friend and a great person. Whereas CPSIL is completely fucking out of her mind.

That is all.

Vegas recap

I went to Vegas this past weekend for a reunion of sorts - a bunch of people that I used to work with all got together to get drunk and gamble and stuff.

I arrived just before 10 PM on Friday and waited at the airport for a while as the people I was meeting up with were all on delayed flights. We caught a cab together to our hotel (the Strat, way at the far end of the Strip) and dropped off our bags and jumped BACK in a cab to the Bellagio for our midnight meetup with the group. Had a few drinks, some late night food, and back to the hotel to sleep at around 4 AM.

Saturday morning I awoke bright and early at 8 AM, not even hung over. Yay! We cabbed down to the Luxor for a semi-group breakfast buffet, and then folks went their separate ways. I did a little shopping at the Venetian, then headed for the Mirage and my spa day with A, one of my old project managers. She and I got luxurious pedicures, then I hung out at the spa (AWESOME steam room) until my 4:30 massage. Took a shower, did my hair, then hopped a bus back to the Strat to change for the evening into the lovely lavender silk top I bought at BCBG that day. I got ready in ten minutes (I know!) and jumped in another cab with the guys at the Strat, and we went to Ellis Island for a BBQ dinner with the whole group. Fantastic BBQ, by the way. Juicy chicken, delish beans & corn on the cob. Plus microbrew beers that were pretty damn tasty. A group of us left Ellis after a couple hours and headed to Mandalay Bay to drink some more at House of Blues, and then watched the guys play Pai Gow (while we drank some more). Had a nice conversation with JL, who managed to fly in from LA after his motorcycle broke down and he missed his meetup with JW, who was driving from LA. Then we moved on to the Monte Carlo, which was kind of funky because I was following part of the group and didn't realize that they were heading back to sleep at their hotel - the Luxor. I ended up cabbing separately to the Monte Carlo and meeting up with the group again as they played...craps? Blackjack? I dunno. I put three dollars in a slot machine and drank some more. There was (obviously) lots of alcohol involved in this evening, but I don't think I embarrassed myself too much. ;-) Stumbled back to the room around 3, I think.

Sunday morning I woke up around 7 AM and couldn't get back to sleep because H was snoring like a truck driver. LOL. Grabbed some coffee and biscuits & gravy at the cafe in the Strat and then headed to the airport with a group of folks. The airport was a mob scene, but I managed to check in & get through security in about an hour. I got separated from the rest of the group and they didn't make it to the gate until it was almost time to board! And...that's it. Flight home was uneventful. I took a nap when I got home, and Ryan was wonderful - played quietly in his room while I slept for a couple hours. Then I went to bed early. Ahhh, bliss! Sleeping in my own bed...

Bragging

Whose son is a freakin' genius? MINE! Rugrat was accepted into the Gifted & Talented Program last week. Students have to score 98% or higher on the exam to get in, and my kid did it! Wooohooo! Classes are held once a week - at another school, dammit - and it should be interesting to see what he thinks of it.

Yay, Rugrat! Way to go!

Ha ha, suckas!

The Republicans are scrambling now...vows of "bipartisan cooperation" are being made all over, now that the Dems are back in town. House? We got it - hell, we ROUTED those muthas in red. Senate? They're still counting (and recounting) the votes in Montana & Virginia, but it's looking good, y'all. Real good for the folks in blue. Finally...an end to the right-wingers running roughshod over the rest of us and our civil liberties.

And Rumsfeld resigned! Good lord, the joy just keeps on coming.

Two more years, y'all. Just two more years until we take back the White House.

And in other news, Britney finally, FINALLY lost 170 pounds of asshole and dumped that idiot K-Fed. I'm not a big Britney fan, but watching her sliding down the slippery slope from angelic, virginal teeny-bopper to sleazy, white trash, gum-poppin', Cheeto-eatin', overweight married mother of two was painful. Talk about disillusionment. In fact, I think it sort of mirrors the state of our nation. The last two years have been awful, but lo & behold, yesterday we pulled it out. We took the first decisive step towards turning it around - both the country and Britney.

Did you vote?

I cast my ballot this morning around 11 AM. I'm not going to get all "patriotic! woo-woo" on you, but I do think that it is a wonderful blessing to be able to vote. I'm not very active in politics - I don't go to city council meetings or anything - but I do believe that the ability to let your voice be heard, via voting, is an incredible honor and privilege. And a duty. It is your duty as a citizen of this country to learn about the issues on the ballot, to learn what the different politicians stand for (or purportedly stand for; we all know that once they gain office all bets are off), and to make the best choices based on your values and beliefs.

With all that said, WOOOO f'ing HOOO! Looks like the Dems are taking back the House...and the long, hard reign of the elephant will finally be over. For now, anyway.

Here's hoping for an Obama-Clinton ticket in '08!

Halloweeeeeeeeen

Guess it's time to play catch-up. I haven't done much in the last month, just same-old same-old. I did meet an old friend in Livermore last weekend - someone I hadn't seen since high school. He has gorgeous eyes, but a jacked-up grill. I totally forgot about that. Plus right now he's pretty much starting over in life - no car, living in a friend's "spare" room, working a low-paying job, etc. It was nice to chat though, and catch up on the last fifteen (!) years. I found out a bunch of people I knew in high school are dead now. God, that's depressing.

Rugrat's going as Blade (a vampire, who's a vampire hunter) this year for Halloween. The obsession with all things monstrous continues. He started karate classes at the beginning of the month and he loves it. It also seems to be helping quite a bit with his bossy-ness and his acting out at daycare. There haven't been any issues now at daycare or school for almost a month. Thank goodness.

The weather's turned cold, suddenly. It was in the 80's just last week, and now all of the sudden it's not getting above the mid-60s. Freakin COLD at night, too.

Dad & stepmom moved to Arizona last weekend. They bought a place in an "active senior community" and sold their house and moved. Active senior community. Gah. Hard to think of my dad as retired, but there you go. Time marches on, I guess. And it does sound like a pretty damn cool place, what with their state-of-the-art computer lab and fully stocked woodworking and pottery rooms and all that. There's a full gym there, and just all kinds of rooms geared towards specific hobbies. It's all included in the homeowner's association fees, and guests get free access too, which rocks. But, damn. Now I'm the last one left in the bay area. Sister & Dad both in Arizona, Mom in SoCal, and I'm left here all alone. :-(

So for Thanksgiving this year, since we won't be at Dad's partaking of the fabulous gourmet feast, Rugrat and I are going to volunteer at a church-sponsored soup kitchen. It should be an interesting change of pace. And it means that I won't be making a huge T'giving dinner for just the two of us. I need to talk w/Babydaddy and find out what his plans are for T'giving.

And lastly, I'm heading off to Vegas in a month. The people I used to work with, at my last (now-defunct) company, are organizing an alumni reunion there, and it should be loads of fun. A weekend of booze & gambling & partying with some great folks, hopefully celebrating the Democrats retaking control of Congress and leading us out of the Valley of Darkness that has been the US for the past several years. VOTE, y'all!