Vacay

I just scheduled my first ever two-week vacation!

Where I work you have to arrange leave months, if not a year in advance in order for it to be valid should some emergency situation come to pass. They have a tendency to say "No more leave for the foreseeable future" and then you are screwed UNLESS you had applied for leave before the commandment came down. Then you are okay. That is why you have to do things as far in advance as possible.

So for the first two weeks in June I will be enjoying the Mediterranean in all it's blue-white feta cheese lamb olive glory. I'm going to Greece!

Wit

The most ]][================================

Sorry, Natasha decided to get her two meows in there.

As I was saying, what makes The Simpsons so clever is that the jokes are always taken one step further than you think. So once you think you've understood, the hilarity has only begun.

Homer, in the garage, contemplatively: Marge, it's going to be an all-nighter! So put on a pot of coffee. [pause] Drink it, and start making burgers!

Bugs!

I think now that the weather is getting cooler some bugs are coming inside. I have lived here since June and up until two days ago only saw one bug ever, and it was dead. But since Wednesday I have seen TWO bugs and let me tell you how quickly I vacuumed them up.

At work we have huge cockroaches. A few weeks ago I held the door for one. I was trying to enter the stairwell and I looked down and there he was, he just waltzed right into the hallway and didn't even say thank you.

Once a quarter, after they fumigate, the hallways are filled with dead roaches and when you step on one accidentally it's disgusting. My second in command says when it's quiet he can hear mice in the walls next to his office. My office is on the 5th floor (out of 6) and when it rains the ceiling leaks and breaks our color copier. Do not ask me how the ceiling leaks rainwater when we are not the top floor. Also, ever summer when they turn on the air conditioning, it leaks into our office and breaks our color copier. My building at work is very ghetto.

I am WIPED after a tough yoga class. And babbling about bugs and leaks. Time for a nice glass of Chianti.

Weekend

Woot! Holla! I have the whole weekend off! Yoga! Cocktail party! Nap! Kittens!

Asia Nora... sort of

As part of the multi-day birthday extravaganza that I am attempting to throw for Rob, we had dinner reservations last night. I didn't tell him where we were going, just directed him on where to turn until we got to Foggy Bottom and Asia Nora. Unfortunately, they couldn't find our reservation, and eventually realized that it had been booke at their sister venue, Restaurant Nora. I felt awful, partly because I knew when I made the reservation that it would be really easy to accidentally mess it up, so I made double sure to call Asia Nora... but alas, I did wrong.

The evening was nowhere near lost, however, as Rob and I had an excellent meal and half-bottle of Provencal red wine at Restaurant Nora in Dupont Circle. I wish I were better as describing food, because the tomato mozzerella salad, beef carpaccio, crab and avocado salad, filet mignon, veal medallions, lemon type creme brulee, and rasperries in sugar creme were to die for....

Tomorrow is the actual DAY and the present of presents awaits....

Friday

I am so in denial about having to work tomorrow. I have had two weekends off in a row and am getting spoiled!

Yesterday I had a private yoga lesson at the Astanga Yoga Center. It was fantastic! I got into some amazing poses that I had never been able to do before, like Upward Facing Bow and Half Bound Lotus. Also, you cannot beat the location - a 15-minute walk through the gorgeous and expensive residential neighborhood in which I am lucky enough to live.

I have a film tonight but not in the mood to watch it. I just laid on the couch for an hour while a warm little thing named Elena stretched her buzzing body from my chin to belly and took a nice long snooze.

Finding Their Voices

I'm in a narrative sort of mood tonight.

I went shopping after work today and found some super cute clothes for yoga. I've been taking classes at the Ashtanga Yoga Center in Tenleytown, a lovely 15-minute walk through a gorgeous neighborhood, perfect even in inclement weather. On Thursday I have a private lesson; my feeling is that a year of home practice has resulted in a few short-cuts, misalignments, and maladjustments. I'm worried that I may be impeding my progess in the long run, so I just want a little tune up, then it's back to group classes.

Natasha and Elena are discovering that they have voices! Aside from their pitiful yelps on the way home from the shelter, I've scarcely heard more than a tiny little "eh!" from them (the sound of which causes me to scoop them up in my arms and SQUEEEEEZE them!). But now, recently, they've begun "mew!"-ing and it is the most darling sound you've ever heard!

I know they're saying, "Mommy, I love you!"

Either that or, "Sheesh, can you go two seconds without scooping us up and SQUEEEEEZING us??"

Weekend

I actually painted the town on Friday! It had been a while, but a few friends and I decided to head out to Sequoia on the Georgetown Waterfront for the monthly Deaf Professionals Happy Hour. Was very fun. I took the bus from Tenleytown, right down Wisconsin Ave. At 11pm I waited all of 3 minutes for the bus. On Connecticut Ave I could have been waiting 40 minutes. I love the 32/33 bus line.

Not much on my mind these days in terms of complex or provocative thoughts. Just been trying to stay awake past 9pm. It's getting a bit better at work. I have every other weekend off - those in between I will work Saturdays. So I get my life back and still get to keep 10 or so hours of overtime per pay period.

Signing off now to finish up a quiet Sunday afternoon with kittens and my reading chair surrounded by windows with the cool breeze and maybe a glass of wine.

Two Perspectives

Today at work, standing in front of the elevator, I watched a man enter as the down arrow flashed. About 40 feet down a hall, a woman calls for him to hold it, but he's already stepped inside. The doors close. I'm still waiting for the up arrow to flash; the woman stands next to me and runs long-decorated-acrylics through her hair.

"Maybe he didn't hear you," I commiserate, while at the same time she snarls, "People who work in this building are such jackasses."

Cooling Down

Lovely weekend. Two yoga classes, a couple hundred pages of the book I've been trying to make a dent in, lots of tea, lots of sleeping, lots of Rob.

I am really looking forward to the colder weather. All this rain has made me crave fall clothes: scarves, soft, feminine sweaters, cheeks flushed.

In Which the Author Rediscovers the Joys of Being Hidden

I have three days off. THREE whole days.

I haven't had more than one day off in a row in seven weeks.

I am so happy! I have a weekend filled with yoga and not much else. It finally stopped raining, but actually I like the way a rainy weekend forces one to stay inside and be quiet. When it's raining, I'm much less likely to be coerced into going on some zany adventure with my friends.

At this hour on Saturday, the long weekend stretches out in front of me. It will never end!

I Am Uncool

Today I made a most embarassing purchase at Giant: a granny cart.

Yes. Do not laugh. I will be turning in my car at the end of the lease and not getting another, so I am trying to forget that my car exists for the most part so that losing it is not a shock. And now that I have to buy 20 lb. bags of kitty litter for my little darlings, I will need some help in getting home from the grocery store.

I tried to carry a 20 lb. bag of litter home once. It was not a good idea.

And yes, today it was raining, so not only was I pushing a granny cart up chic Connecticut Avenue, I was doing so while huddled under an umbrella.

Embarassing!

Excess!

I now have FOUR remote controls.

Television
DVD player
CD player
Window air conditioner unit (???)

Who needs FOUR remote controls?

How many do you guys have?

This Chick Loves Nik!!!

Thanks to my lovely, beautiful, and engaged to be married mom for letting me know that my all-time favorite NHL hockey player, the illustrious Niklas Lidstrom, famous for his left-handed slap-shots from the point, will take over as Captain of the Detroit Red Wings in the wake of Steve Yzerman's retirement.

Yessssss.......

Quirk

Reading a new issue of National Geographic always gives me a headache. I think it's the way they treat the paper. I dread turning a page - the big whiff of chemicals.

Funny Games

Several years ago, Michael Haneke's film The Piano Teacher traumatized me severely. It wasn't until recently that I was able to sit down and watch it again. I've since decided to face Haneke head on, and a few minutes ago finished his more recent film, Funny Games.

I'm not sure where to start, except to perhaps paraphrase Haneke himself by saying that this is a film reserved for those who need to watch it. If, he says, the viewer is upset with the film by it's end, he would simply ask, "Why did you stay to finish it?" And indeed he presents some interesting concepts that an ordinary person might need to be walked through - or, more likely, might wish he had never be shown.

The genuis of the film is the way Haneke makes the viewer an accomplice in the violence. You'll see what I mean if you watch it. And beyond that, he generates the most acute frustration, as you realize that the victims are acting in a tragedy but the aggressors in a comedy. Watching the interaction is maddening.

Between this film and last night's Janghwa, Hongryeon (A Tale of Two Sisters) I'm in need of some serious comedy.

Little Girl Home

Natasha went in for her spay this morning. Rob was my hero as always and dropped her off for me because I could not arrange to leave work. I don't know who I was worried for more - Natasha under the cold, hard medical lights or Elena, home alone separated from her sister for the first time.

When I got home from work Elena plastered herself to my ankle and would not remove herself. She held onto me as I changed clothes and followed me into my bedroom. On the bed, she mrrow-ed pitifully and marched up and down my body. Finally she curled up pressed into my armpit for a little snooze. We woke up and I got ready to pick up Tasha - Elena stood with all four paws on my right foot as I brushed my teeth.

Natasha is home now and doing fine, grooming herself right in front of my monitor, in fact. I usually shut them out of my bedroom at night, but I think tonight I'll let them sleep with me for a while at least. I'm sorry that I have to go to work tomorrow and leave them alone.

Why I Do Not Like Accepting Rides

1. I know that it inconveniences the other person. Each and every time I have given another person a ride, it has been an inconvenience. This is not to say that I've minded in the least - in fact I'm often thrilled to be able to help. But I would be lying if I said that it even once fit perfectly into my schedule or made the day easier. That said, I cannot stand being an inconvenience, even if I'm relatively sure that the other person is genuinely happy to help.

2. I become extremely embarassed if the person I ask is not available to give me a ride. This is because if a ride is denied then I am not only stranded, but stranded publicly. All I can do is murmur "That's okay, I'll figure it out" and slink away in my own humiliation, knowing that another person knows I'm stranded and is secretly thankful that they're not me.

It Begins!

DC Restaurant Week.

Rob and I and two friends of ours are heading out twice this week - tonight to Ten Penh, and Thursday to DC Coast. I can't wait.

God Answers Prayers

I've always known it to be true, but today it is SO true. Now the question is, can I walk down the path that I prayed would be illuminated?