Saturday, November 24, 2001
We ended up going out for dinner last night to celebrate Dave's birthday (we're now the same age for 46 days, and then I'm older again), and went to bed pretty early. Today has been spent in a flurry of cleaning and tossing in advance of our move. The front room of our apartment has become a repository for newspapers and boxes for stuff we bought or got in the mail, and because Montclair will only pick up cardboard once a month and we consistently forget to put it out, it's been piling up for quite a while. We broke down all of the boxes and tied them up, and then wrapped all of the newspaper in bundles, and took all of it over to the recycling facility. Then we took everything out of the front closet and weeded through to throw whatever we could out, and I cleaned the carpet in there, since it smelled a bit musty. Now I'm doing laundry and organizing all of the paperwork for the house in one of those big accordion files. Whew. It's nice to have a four-day weekend. Tomorrow we're supposed to go to Dave's folks for dinner, and then we were planning to go to the Nutcracker, but it appears that the performance is earlier than we had been told, and we may not be able to make it. I'll be a bit disappointed if we can't go, since it's been a tradition for me since I was a wee tot to go and see the Nutcracker every year. My parents used to take me to the Pennsylvania Ballet performances at the Academy of Music, and I've always wanted to see the New York City Ballet production at Lincoln Center, so I hope that this all works itself out.
04:53 PM EDT
Friday, November 23, 2001
Here's an essential link that I swiped from Kim -- a guide to the air times of all of the holiday specials. My favorite holiday movie ever is on tomorrow night. I still can't believe that Dave's never seen it.
07:19 PM EDT
There was apparently some sort of kerfuffle outside of the local Target this morning, when some latecomers tried to cut in line for the early-morning opening. Police were called.
I do not understand.
07:02 PM EDT
OK, I'm actually going to venture out to pick up a few things. Unfortunately, the shopping center where I need to go does contain a Toys BackwardR Us, but it's at the far end of the parking lot from where I need to be. Hopefully, I'll survive unscathed.
10:59 AM EDT
Many of the malls and stores in this area opened at five a.m. today. That's just completely insane. I'm not going within a five mile radius of the mall today, because I don't want to contribute to the madness. I do have some errands to run, but I need to figure out where I can go to get stuff that won't cause me to be stuck in the Black Friday traffic/parking/stupid people hell.
09:15 AM EDT
Thursday, November 22, 2001
Well, I'm ensconced in front of the TV in my office in my warm flannel pajamas and my giant fuzzy blue slippers, watching the Macy's parade. Heaven, it is. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate. I hope that your travel is safe and quick and that your celebrations are filled with laughter and love and good food.
10:18 AM EDT
Take the Affliction Test Today!
12:16 AM EDT
Wednesday, November 21, 2001
And once again, Suburban Joe cracks my ass right up.
10:56 PM EDT
Yet another really freaking stupid criminal.
05:05 PM EDT
You know, maybe I should just move to Portland. Congratulations to the police department there for remembering that little document called the Constitution.
10:50 AM EDT
A bunch of the Austin online journalers have collaborated on "Thanksgiving Blows", a series of entries about the Holiday O' Turkey. Funny stuff.
10:44 AM EDT
I love the way that Word's spellcheck keeps trying to change one of my clinical research organization's names to "cilantro."
09:54 AM EDT
Tuesday, November 20, 2001
The traffic gods must have seen my earlier post. Tonight's commute was hell, I tell you. HELL!
06:42 PM EDT
Yes, I know that the color in the lower left-hand block is all hinky. No, I don't know how to fix it.
04:29 PM EDT
In a thinly-veiled and desperate attempt to get some commenting going, I'll bite: What is everyone doing for Thanksgiving? Turkey, tofurky, or other? Stuffing, filling, or mashed taters? Fill me in.
In a break with almost lifelong tradition (OK, we did this last year, too) Dave and I are heading to PA to go out for dinner with my parents and a bunch of their friends at one of our favorite restaurants. No prep, no cleanup, but alas, also no leftovers.
And Dave has to work on Friday, which is also his birthday. Waah.
11:59 AM EDT
You've really got to watch out for those bananas.
11:45 AM EDT
Did everyone take today off? I suppose I shouldn't complain, since traffic was light, and if it's this empty today, then leaving early tomorrow when the boss is out shouldn't be a problem at all.
09:40 AM EDT
Monday, November 19, 2001
Bad cheerleaders. No biscuit.
06:59 PM EDT
Oh, I can't believe it's almost three o'clock already. Where has the day gone?
I woke up really early this morning to get on the road by 7:30, since I had a five-hour "Employee Orientation" scheduled at 8:30 at the hotel across from my office. Yes, I've been working here since August 22. No, I apparently haven't been sufficiently oriented yet. I managed to check my email and voice mail before heading over to the hotel, where I got play a game and listen to members of the senior management tell me things that I already knew. It wasn't so bad, I guess, but I really had a lot of other more productive things to be doing with my time.
My boss is out after tomorrow, so we're cramming in as much meeting time as possible to get some agreements and other things out the door, and to plan strategies on some litigation-ish issues. Tonight, I'm going home and getting into my jammies and vegging in front of the TV. We ran, ran, ran all weekend, and I need some down time.
Oh, the movie! Loved it. Even though I realized (apparently like a lot of others), seeing it onscreen, that it's essentially Star Wars. The casting was wonderful, the CGI was terrific, and the music and sets were just spot on. Odd note: In looking at IMDb after the film, Dave and I realized that Mini-Me was the head goblin in the bank scene, Wicket the Ewok was the levitation class instructor, and S.R. "Wanna take a ride?" Hadden was Mr. Ollivander. Aside from the chatty kid behind me who kept referring to Alan Rickman as "Professor Snap," it was all in all a great evening.
02:50 PM EDT
Sunday, November 18, 2001
...and we've just made a last-minute decision to go and see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in an hour or so. Hopefully the mobs will have died down just a bit.
07:10 PM EDT
Was there a blizzard warning issued today of which I am not aware? I just ran over to the grocery store to pick up some stuff, and the place was packed to the gills. Now, I know that Thanksgiving is this week and all, but man, dinnertime on Sunday is usually my guaranteed "park right up front and zip up and down the empty aisles" grocery time.
06:01 PM EDT
Held In Contempt is now Greymatter-enabled, thanks to Duane. I bow to his coding goodness.
04:12 PM EDT
It's not as interesting as Meet the Press, but hey, whatever works for you, right? Yesterday, we slept late and then got all dressed up in our finery to attend the Devils-Flyers game. Well, the outfits were for later, when we drove to PA to attend a surprise 60th birthday dinner for my parents, but we must have looked kind of silly in nice outfits at the arena. Anyway, I digress. The hockey, in a nutshell, was pretty sad. There were tons of Flyers fans in the building, and the Devils lost 3-1. Enough said about that. Ahem.
Anyway, we trucked off to PA and had a lovely dinner with my folks and about ten other people, and then stopped briefly at my parents' house to show them some pictures of the new house, courtesy of my laptop and a CD Dave burned with photos from the digital camera. They were very excited about the house prospects, and then we left them to drive back here, seeing quite a few meteors on the way. Today, we're headed to yet another hockey game -- the first rematch of Devils-Avalanche since Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals back in June. It promises to be a nice, grudge-matchy kind of game.
Oh, and I think I have bronchitis. The fun just never stops.
11:32 AM EDT
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