Day 43

Spent the day in a Nyquil induced fog watching junk TV and sleeping intermitantly.

Felt exhausted.

Day 42

Woke up feeling awful. Sore throat etc.

Went into work for a couple of hours. Got cough drops and nyquil from Walgreen's.

Went home and slept from 11:30-3:30.

Had soup.

Watched a few episodes of Deadwood, season three. Read a few pages of Ghost.

Passed out.

Day 41

Went to work obsenely early for meetings. Work is very hurry up and wait right now. Met a cute dude from another division.

Dropped by the Comic Stop to loiter with George and pick up some comics.

Stopped by a bakery in Mill Creek to pick up a quick sandwich and found that cinnamon rolls were half price and picked two up for fantastic breakfast with Lynn tomorrow.

Met Bonnie at the seamstress's house for the final dress fitting. Seamstress told me I was super skilled in the art of bridesmaiding. Should be by now. Was assigned to pick up the dress.... a wee bit nervous about this.

Came home and did my taxes and read some more Ghost.

Day 40

Snowed quite a bit and work was lonely.

Left early and made it home in time to watch It Takes a Thief while cooking dinner.

Watched the State of the Union Address while biking.

Went to the Stube for conversation and pretzels. Chris, Andy, and two new folks (Jenny & Ryan?).

Spoke with Amber, Grandma, Brad, and Megan.

Read more Ghost.

Day 39

Sean and I battled snow to pick Kim up and together we went to the Asian shopping center in Richmond. I was able to get yummy snacks that I haven't had since I left Tokyo, visited the two story Daiso, and ate delicious Beard Papa Cream Puffs.

We drove back down and the trip was pleasant with such good company (in spite of the incredulous border agent). When Sean and I arrived at the family homestead we found that cousin Laurie was in town. We had dinner and a fresh fruit tart. (Yay!)

I went home and unpacked while watching Mansfield Park on Masterpiece Theater (which makes me really miss Alistair Cook, Vincent Price & Diana Rigg).

I finished Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and it was a really good. I recommend it.

I started Alan Lightman's Ghost this weekend and it is continuing to be interesting, though it is a little melancholy. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant was melancholy too.

Today was exceptional.

Day 38

We had a nice breakfast (with an extra slice of bacon!) and Mother and I went out to do some shopping.

We made a pot-roast and watched The Life of Brian (unchanged) and The Protector (quite excellent).

We also made delicious chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies and exchanged Christmas gifts.

Today was also a good day.

Day 37

I left work early to go to Canada with Kim and Sean.

The trip was fun, and the border crossing quite short. We dropped Kim off at her friend's house and picked Mother up from work.

We went out to a wonderful Greek restaraunt with Mother and Darren. We then returned home to play games.

It was a good day.

Day 36

Had dinner & cupcakes with Steve. Very fun.

Spoke with Grandma, Mother, Megan, Sean, and Czabrina.

Packed while watching Chuck.

Day 35

Worked very late for a client meeting.

Made salmon patties for no reason.

Spoke with Addy, Bonnie, & Czarina (having girded myself for the conversation).

Didn't work out at all.

Read more of Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. Still very good.

Day 34

Spoke with Megan about her father. She'd called me yesterday at work to tell me that he had cancer and today we talked more about it. I'm very concerned.

Met up with Paul for Kidd Valley and more Eerie Indiana. That show should never have been canceled. And I'm going to die at 450 pounds. Hooray.

Read more of Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. Really touching- yet I feel like the characters are too charactery.

Spoke with Steve & Addy.

Day 33

Had my oil changed and my car thoroughly cleaned.

The weather was beautiful and Theo wanted an extra long walk.

Violated my used-only shopping plan and bought an expensive winter coat thus fulfilling my three year long goal of purchasing a winter coat. (Which trumps my 3 month used only goal, because I say so.)

Watched Veronica Mars and made brownies.

Spoke with Burke, Mebbie, Steve, and Addy.

Met up with a group of folks at the Stube for drinks. Lots of people showed.

Today was a good day.

Day 32

Had to run to my apartment at 7 am to make sure my alarm clock was turned off and it was.

Walked Theo, it was nice.

Sean and I loitered in the hot tub for a long time then walked Theo again.

Brad and I caught The Sarah Conner Chronicles. It was ok, but I strongly feel they should have picked someone more angry, strong, and wiry for Sarah. She is supposed to be the original scarily badass mom.

Read more Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant.

Day 31

Watched cartoons. Ran to the dog-sitting house to let Theo out.

Met up with Bonnie, Jannette, & Dani at the seamstress to help Bonnie with bustling the wedding gown.

Had lunch at Panera with Grandma and ran a few errands.

Picked Czabrina up from the hairdresser and had dinner at Rialto. Our favorite waiter was working and wanted to know where Ron was.

Then we went to Target for no reason at all. Eventually we cruised back to Czabrina's and watched Scott Baio is 46 & Pregnant and Celebrity Rehab. The shame is thick.

Today was a good day.

Day 30

Jim & I got dinner at this amazing Greek place in Cap Hill called Byzantine. I had delicious stuffed eggplant. We also had yummy flaming cheese for the appetizer and everyone said oooooooooh.

Then we headed over to the Cinerama to see Cloverfield. We went to this store across from the theater and picked up some Dramamine since the movie is hand cam filmed. In line at the theater we ran into Steve's friend Bill. Cloverfield was awesome.

Jim 2.0 and Paul joined us, but Ron & Czabrina were late.

After the movie Jim & I met up with Jason (Deuce) and a cool friend of his from out of town at Dragonfish.

Super awesome day.

Day 29

Had several stressful events at work... and also cake. Yay cake.

Had a video conference at work and was shocked at how pallid and bleh I looked on camera. I think I need to start highlighting my hair again.

Tutoring student canceled on me. Which gave me time to tidy my apartment a bit and wax some things....

I started Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler, and I think I will read the rest. I was certainly quite interested, although finding something to follow Castle Waiting is not easy.

Spoke with Czabrina. Very good conversation.

Day 28

Had my car door fixed and was told that it was broken in a botched break in. My cup runeth over.

Met up with Jim for BBQ at Cowgirl BBQ (quite good) and watched a few more episodes of Lost.

Started a book about consumerism and found out that it was really a book about being able to get rid of stuff you should get rid of. Very disappointed.

Spoke with Mother, Burke, & Steve.

Day 27

Car was completely iced over and took until 10:15 to defrost enough for me to crawl in and start the engine. Good Times.

Ran over to Brad's after work to take a conference call from Google and watch movies. Brad still wasn't home at 8:15 so I left.

Had brownies and ice cream with Chris & Andy and checked out vacation rentals.

Started book one of I Luv Halloween. Didn't like it and won't bother reading any further.

Spoke with Mother.

Day 26

A client stood me up today. Was all ascramble at work today.

It was snowing/sleeting and I decided to go home and hibernate.

Ate more of George's delicious Christmas present. It is truly some excellent bacon.

Watched Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant and tidied. (This show is awesome!)

Spoke with Steve & Burke.

Worked out and watched Good Eats and Big Bang Theory.

Passed on drinks at the Stube to finish Castle Waiting. (Which was awesome!)

It was very sleety/snowy when I went to bed.

Day 25

Packed up Christmas materials, mopped, and reorganized a cupboard; while watching disk one of season two of Big Love and two episodes of Dr. Who (new).

I also watched Miss Potter and it was good, but I found the moving animals and Zellweger's reactions towards them... creepy.

Helped make turkey noodle soup and dumplings for family Sunday dinner. J stopped in, but left right away. Got great recipe of chocolate chip waffles and signed up for a hike and gem hunt. Watched Ugly Betty and did laundry.

Read more Castle Waiting.

Day 24

Watched cartoons (Viva Pinata, TMNT FF, Skunk Foo).

Met with Kim and Also Kim for waffles and loitered about all day.

Spoke with Amber.

Saw The Orphanage at the Varsity with Andy. Very well made, terribly scary. Quite nervous walking back to the car.

Read Castle Waiting until quite late.