January 29, 2006

Moments



This morning when I woke up, the state of the bed was this. I liked the look. It appears as a seriously slept in bed. Plus, there is the back story of the head board and how it got there, just last night. My new friend downstairs, GR, decided fairly at random while we were talking in her apartment that Craig and I needed to have this head board, which, incidentally her father made. She bent over in her seat on her couch and pulled it from beneath the couch. I kept insisting, Are you sure? and she kept reminding me, Did you see where I stored it? Truthfully a head board's place in life isn't beneath a couch. So, she and I proceeded to haul it up to my apartment, where we then rested it in place behind my bed, then pounced on Craig in the living room where he lay on the couch half-awake and informed him of the new bedroom development. There you have it, we've got ourselves a temporary and unattached head board. Thanks to GR for assisting us in furthering our interior design endeavors.*My week really flew by, what with AB in town for two days (I hope she really got a kick out of Richmond; we showed it off well, I believe). Craig and I were also made privy to some enchanting and exciting news, but it's premature for me to post about it just yet. In fact, it's premature for me to even mention it, much less announce what it is. So I will certainly cease to even talk around what it is. All I want to say is that if you live a clean and smart life, if you're a good person and do what you believe to be the right thing, life pays you back for all it has borrowed from you, sometimes with interest. Such is the case if the news turns into reality and Craig and I are given the opportunity we were told about this week.*So with AB in town, we managed to hit a couple of new hot spots here in Richmond. Tuesday we took her to 3 monkeys, where we've actually been before. I like the fact that this place is covered in monkey cartoons, and even Curious George makes an appearance on the back wall. We also went to a couple of other bars, ending the night at Accappella in the Hill, which is somewhat of a neighborhood pub but with a bit warmer appeal. I snapped photographs of AB and Craig, trying to record the moments that make up our later twenties so that we don't forget. Wednesday (the day we received The News) I drove back to the apartment for lunch with AB at Millie's. We had fantastic salads with Asian vinagrette and roast beef sandwiches with white cheddar and horseradish mayo. I returned to work for the remainder of my work day and then came home to get ready for Night Two with AB in Richmond. We took her to a place downtown called Capital Ale House, and frankly, our experience here left a bit to be desired. The service was haphazard at best, and even the beers (which are boasted to be World Beers, Best Taps in Richmond) were just so-so. But there was the mint jelly episode. I ordered a lamb burger for dinner. Lamb burgers are so good. The last lamb burger I ever had was in Bloomington, Indiana at the Irish Lion. This lamb burger, however, came with a side of mint jelly, which I would assume you'd spread on the lamb burger? But I passed. So after we had mostly finished eating, Craig decided to dunk a french fry in the mint jelly and try it out. If you haven't had mint jelly before, I wouldn't recommend running to your nearest lamb burger stand to try it, but I wasn't as disgusted by it as I thought I might be. It looks like green jello but tastes like an explosion of mint in your mouth. I dipped a finger in it, opting out of dressing up a fry in it. After all that we took AB to Rosie Connolly's, which is by far our new favorite. It's just so cozy. And following that, we returned to the apartment where Craig found bed and I stayed up with AB to be entertained by a few Friends on dvd. I was extremely excited to have AB in town. Visitors are always embraced by Craig and me. Specifically when they are of the Completely Cool Variety like our girl AB. It was so good to see her.*Last night before the head board incident, Craig and I experimented with the new slow cooker we bought (which, I'd like to note, is stainless steel and black so it matches our kitchen). It actually was an all day affair. We worked in the morning and then stopped in Ukrop's, which is Richmond's grocer, and picked up an eye of round roast. Craig invited our boss to dinner for some home cooked roast, mashed potatoes and green beans. The recipe I used is straight out of Southern Living (voted KB's Favorite Culinary Assistant) and called for mushrooms, onions, red wine, gravy mix, tomato paste and beef broth. Through most of the day we kept an eye on the thing as it slowly cooked (6 hours! slow cookers are such an enigma to me!) At one point, I was waking from a nap to find Craig was standing over me and he said, "The roast wants out." Sure enough, the lid on the slow cooker was hopping around and spitting juices onto our counter. The rest of its cook time, against advisement of Southern Living I took off the lid and ladled out the excess thin gravy that was causing the crock pot to jump. Nevertheless, our boss showed up and dinner was spread on the counter, cafeteria-style. The roast was, if I must say so myself, really excellent (and so easy, all thanks to Southern Living!) Craig and I might be riding the slow cooker train quite a bit now that we know of its convenience and end result.*In the meantime, today we worked out in the gym next door. Craig showed me all the weight machines and how to use them. I started most of them with 40 lbs. which is not too much, but enough to wake up my muscles a little. And tonight's menu is chicken tetrazzini, compliments of none other than Southern Living.*I wanted to note: today marks the first day we've been in Richmond that I have not made the bed. I'm trying to see if I can make it through without doing so. I'm a fiend for a made bed. But it's Sunday. Who is going to judge me if I don't make the bed on a Sunday?

January 24, 2006

Travels

This morning I got my I'm coming today! note from AB. I told her it was like Christmas this morning, waking with the anticipation of my wonderful friend rolling into town on the train from D.C. I posted this image in honor of her, although she may not exactly appreciate the photo I selected (she informed me that she fell down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial last night in the heat of monument admiration mixed with nostalgia and some drinking). I want to take this moment to pay a tribute to travelers. In my short life I've seen more than my fair share of our continent's resplendence. When Craig was on the east coast working in Hartford, I flew to see him once a month for that entire year and a half. We consumed as much of New England as we could in that time: Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, New York City, New Hampshire, Vermont. We drove to Maine. We wandered through Mystic. Together we've seen Toronto and Montreal, Montreal twice. Then Craig moved to Syracuse and I to St. Louis. I flew to see him in Syracuse as often as my checkbook would allow. We spent an afternoon at the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence Seaway. We drove along the finger lakes. He came to St. Louis and I showed him Forest Park, Busch Stadium, the Arch, the Fabulous Fox. We've been to Phoenix, to Vegas. We lived in Atlanta. We spent my birthday last year in Nashville. See how these trips add to the sanctum of my experience, these memories? And we've barely made a dent in this country let alone another. Today my friend AB travels by train solo from a weekend in D.C. to a place she's never been. Is it any wonder we are friends, any of us who itch to see this world? Last night I dreamed of a subway tunnel. The train was not near and evidently could not be located. I stood amidst slanting cold damp concrete with several others, searching for something that could not be found (could a dream be any more literal or representative of my love of travel?) It's been some time since Craig and I went on a trip, but I say that, and isn't moving to a new state much like its own fantastic trip, extended stay included? (I am constantly thinking about this, I realize.) There are times where I slow down, my mind slows, and the inspiration isn't as free-flowing. I consider myself to have a decent range of words from which to choose if I want to speak, or to write. But when the pattern begins to repeat itself, become stale, that's about the time (which I know I've mentioned before) when I desire to get up and move. An old friend of mine once wondered if it's running from something. I like to think of it as running toward something. I apply this theory to relocation and vacation traveling alike. The constant musing of a person depends on variation, on a spectrum filled with unique color selections. Today I'm admiring AB for climbing aboard a train in a way she's never done before. She's got about 2 and a half hours on a train that will carry her from our Nation's Capital to the Capital of the Confederacy: how amazing and swelled with adventure is that! There was once a time when Craig and I had never been to all of those places I mentioned. But now we have. I didn't even include Chicago, or Indianapolis, both places where we have family. Or Ohio, where we have friends. Or Detroit, where we first met. I do lean on the arrogant side when it comes to what I've seen, but wrapped up in that is the feeling that I'm so fortunate. Not only have I been able to see and do all of this, but I've loved it all along the way. One day I will launch a project similar to what my mom did with my baby photos: scanning all of my photos of trips with Craig, burn a DVD, set it to music. I can only imagine, Craig and I will sit and weep over our good fortune for where we've been. Here's to travel, to loving travel, to living the travel life. And here's definitely to AB, who took her first Big Girl One Way Amtrak Trip today.

January 18, 2006

Flurries


Today is one of those dramatically windy days where the dirt actually flies into your mouth. It was windy last weekend, but this display of Mother Nature today beats last Saturday's wind storm to a pulp. As long as our older apartment windows are in tact when we get home this evening, I don't mind too terribly, although notably, I'm not a wind fan as a general rule. It disrupts the evenflow of the day.*The posted image depicts the snowy view from my parents' current home in Indiana. I shot this photo from their porch exactly halfway through Christmas Day 2005. Having nothing to do with the wind that whips through Richmond this afternoon, I wanted to pay respects one last time to this old neighborhood before my parents abandon it. They were in that house for 14 years, which, for our family represents an eternity. Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before...(life story summary to ensue). I was born in Illinois, about 40 miles west of Chicago. My parents stayed in Illinois only the first two years of my life before we moved to Ohio, where we lived until I turned 9. Then we hit Texas for a 5-year stay. We followed that with a move to Indiana, where my parents settled for much longer than either of them had sat still since they were respective children themselves. I ditched southside Indy for Bloomington (IN) after only 3 and a half short years as a southsider, and have since lived in Michigan (Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Taylor!), Missouri, Georgia, and now Virginia. I suppose I'm aiming to beat some sort of unspoken record although I'm sure I'm far behind others (especially those who can claim more than one country!) Anyway, back to present day, soon, when the southside of Indy house is sold and the papers signed, my parents will be relocating to Michigan (just west of where I spent my time) for however long. I've tried to be somewhat of a guidance counselor when I talk to them about their relocation. I remind them, as Craig and I have learned, it's okay to throw out, it's, in fact, healthy. It's okay to leave friends behind (especially now with the fancy tools we've got to keep in touch. Ask me about leaving friends behind before e-mail and internet access, having long distance friends, incapable of maintaining adhesion therein, too lazy or busy for pen and paper down the years). I've tried to express to my parents the sheer exhilaration of seeing a city turn into an ink spot on your rearview mirror and greeting the unfamiliar jagged skyline of a new city as it takes shape up ahead. It's never failed, when I've left a city, particularly driving myself alone in my own car, I've maniacally shouted Goodbye to the city, waving my hand wildly in the air so the city knows I'm bidding it its due farewell. Not that I can necessarily envision my parents recreating such an eccentric feat. Nevertheless, soon they will find themselves in a packed car, pulling away. It carries an air of slight sadness, that proverbial closing of one chapter. But the start of a new, the first sentence of the first paragraph of the first page, is alive with brilliant unchartered experience. I believe this. I think my parents do not disbelieve this, however I guess it might be different when you're not in your twenties anymore.*As an aside to all of this, and unrelated but because I want to remember this, today Craig was bickering with me about the fact that I hadn't picked up any 2 cent stamps yet so that we could drop our internet bill in the mail (postage recently increased). We were in the car on the way to lunch. I groaned that I hadn't felt like it yet. He started in about how he had been willing to put two 37 cent stamps on the envelope, but I was the one who carried on about wasting a whole 37 cent stamp. We continued back and forth like this for a few seconds and suddenly Craig leaned to shove his hand in his jeans pocket and I said, What, are you going to see if you have a dime? and he replied, Yes, so I can throw it out the window! He was seriously going to throw a dime out the window to prove a point, it made me laugh a lot. I love how well I know his wise assness. He can be such a know-it-all sometimes, which, to the shock of probably many, is one of the very many things I adore most about him. It comes in such comedic waves sometimes, the way he just insists that his word is truth coupled with his word choice to express it. He came by it honestly. Just ask him. But it's endearing all the same. I think about a third of my life is spent being amused by him, and really only a third of that third is a blend of amusement and frustration. Not such bad stats, really.*

January 16, 2006

Reads



Last week I ventured with a couple of new friends from the building, G and J, to Sette, a nearby (very nearby) gourmet pizza plus wine and martini joint. I say very nearby and I mean it in the nearest-by sense of the word nearby without it being next door. Anyway, we were indulging in a couple glasses of vino and somehow one thing led to another and we hatched book club. I've always aspired to become a member of a book club. In Atlanta, there was a slim ray of hope that I'd be invited to a book club in which Craig's co-worker's wife participated, however, the book club was, according to the word I heard, "full." (This left a question mark hanging over my head, but whatever, I decided I didn't want to be in their lousy book club anyway.) So here we were, G and I the primary ambitious book club wanters, inventing our own book club. (Unfortunately there are only 4 of us total, but we're all 4 interested, intellectual and love wine, so what more could we want??) Our first read will be a book called The Kite Runner, hot off the best seller list. A serious advantage to book club is the motivation to read something you might otherwise not pick up at the bookstore. So tonight begins my speedy read of The Kite Runner (we're attempting to finish it by the end of the month so that we can begin something new in February).*Our weekend was engaging. Friday G took us to meet a married couple called the Hintons. We all went to Bottom's Up Pizza down in Shockoe Bottom, a cute pizzeria that was flooded by Tropical Storm Gaston that hit Richmond in 2004. (They have a painted waterline on the wall that depicts the level the water reached in the building.) The Hintons are a sweet couple, pregnant with their first child. The happy father-to-be may as well double as a stand-up comic, a very funny individual. He was animated most of dinner and amused us with stories. Following dinner and beers, the Hintons headed home and Craig and G and I walked to Rosie Connolly's, which is my new favorite Richmond cozy pub. The atmosphere is perfect for settling into a booth with friends and having a few pints. At one point in the conversation, books were mentioned and we discussed several different books and midstream Craig said, Hey, is this what book club is like? Can I play?? He makes me smile endlessly. After Rosie's we started the walk home, and it was raining. In a way I cannot express it was like being in my own movie, me and my boyfriend and our new friend half walking half running through the cold rain after a warm stint at a near pub. We got back to the building and continued to hang out until nearing 4 a.m. Craig was playing samples of music we like on the computer and I was kneeling by the cd tower rattling off various artists G should borrow from us (because our music is just so perfect!) Craig asked from across the room, What's my favorite Kristin Hersh song? (after we had just mentioned she's my favorite musician). G turned to me and said in this very neat way, He really loves you, he has favorite songs by your favorite musicians? I filled up with this incredible pride for my relationship with Craig and music, an odd triangle we've always been, me, music and Craig. I've already mentioned it but it's a passion that flows very deeply in both of us. Anyway, Saturday morning we woke to pounding heads and pounding rain. Unfortunately, as much as we absolutely adore our apartment, we have unearthed its flaws. In the event of a rainstorm, we have a collection of enigmatic leaks down the face of our interior brick walls. For some reason I didn't let it irritate me too terribly. We chased them and smothered them with towels, I made eggs and toast and we showered to head to Woodbridge for the desk of Craig's dreams. Even in the rain we decided we wanted to make the trip. I grabbed the iPod for our travel and something strange, panicked and happy swelled in me while we drove. Sometimes I am overwhelmed with a sense of overstimulation, so much smart music, so many smart things to be thought and to be read, so much beauty in a drive with your companion while the wind tears across the highway and ripples leaves into circles overhead. I didn't confess this to Craig because it can't be explained well, or settled. It just has to chart its course and finish itself in my head. Panic coupled with happiness is an odd sensation. Anyway, we made it to IKEA, and I guess I was fairly disappointed in the place. Very warehousey, very crowded and cheap compared to what I hoped to find. Nevertheless we selected a desk, not the one we had seen and selected because that one would have been monstrously disproportionate to our living room. We made it home in one piece, my head reeling from the aftershock of staying up so late the night before, waking in a rain storm, feeling ransacked with three dozen emotions en route to Woodbridge, and we bickered about the desk, its location in the apartment, and so forth. G stopped by and we ducked out for a glass of wine at Sette. I went to the Market afterwards to buy ingredients for almond chicken for Craig (a new meal we're adding to the rotation, although it has a thick cream base which isn't necessarily going to assist us in our weight loss program, but nevermind that). And I wound up hanging out with G and her friend Jermaine some more later while Craig dozed and caught glimpses of football. Sunday we woke to go to breakfast at Millie's. G came along, and as luck would have it, Millie's was swollen with patrons, we likely would have waited over an hour to be seated, so we walked in the other direction to check out Cafe Gutenberg. What a divine little existence it has, Cafe Gutenberg. Craig even uttered the word cute, and he rarely, unless in reference to either me, puppies, or his nieces, uses the word cute. We had illy coffee (Italian espresso?) and G picked out a $3 book from the shelf to purchase. A Nick Drake cd was playing in the background. We each had omelets and we talked about various happenings. It was nice, and when we got home Craig hit the football hard. Indianapolis played first, then during its halftime we headed to the West End to meet a co-worker and his apartment friends to watch the Bears game from a bar. It was a good time. Enough beer to go around, and so forth. The only pitfall is that neither of the Midwest teams won. Damn. *Now I'm preparing for a week where I accomplish good things. The Kite Runner ought to be interesting. I have one week until AB visits from Atlanta, and as badly as I want the apartment to be absolutely perfect, I will have to do what I can to get the place together. As the TV season and football season conclude for the spring, we've joined a movie program again. I think I jumped the gun because we've had the same two movies sitting in the apartment unopened since last week. It's difficult to pack every single thing into one week. Being with a lot of people on a more regular basis again is life fulfilling. Friends are such important factors in feeling healthy. But I need to remember to stick to my resolutions, as well.*So little time.

January 12, 2006

Passages

I'm beginning to realize, byway of the repeated paths my dreams follow, that in a previous life I was a divorce attorney. Craig, Craig, Craig! Stop cheating on me in my subconscious! It happened again last night. I realize I mumble about dreams in these entries often. It's not that I want to maintain a sleep journal, either. But I wake up sometimes in physical pain from these dreams. Last night we were in a vacation resort together. He was explaining to me that he'd be coupling with Julie of Alabama for the weekend and that I was not to indicate that he and I are in a relationship together. Julie of Alabama was sweet, long brown hair and brown eyes, nice smile. She was wearing a smooth Polo shirt and a plain ironed skirt. She clearly loved Craig, if not as much as I. As the vacation continued, I concluded that I would do everything in my power to imply my love for Craig without spelling it out. At one point I asked her to shoot a photo of me, Craig and another male friend along on the vacation. Later I found out she played tennis and I decided that, not a tennis star, I would still beat her at her own game. Standing in a greeting card store browsing cards, I made a comment to Craig, Weren't you supposed to break it off with Julie of Alabama on our previous vacation to Lauderdale? This is the point where Craig announced to me that Julie's father had phoned him earlier that day and invited Craig to quit his job and pursue his daughter Julie's hand in marriage. Craig was at a loss, his eyes even welled up a little. He said that in the South, marriage is extremely serious and is considered more prestigious than profession. Here I am playing the role of myself in this dream, standing there in hopeless shock that he might seriously be considering marrying someone other than me! I wish I were able to illustrate the exact shade of red of desperation when observing someone you want to be with engage in romantic communication with someone other than you. In the dream he touched her arm, he smiled down at her with such nice eyes. I woke up with a choked heart and cried out.*If I was not a divorce attorney previously, perhaps I was abandoned. My fear and stress of abandonment far outweighs any experience I've had in this life. Whatever the case may be, the fear surfaces intensely while I sleep.*This week is slower than usual. Friday we're going on a "double date plus one" with some new friends in the Bottom (one other couple plus one cute single girl who, well, doesn't mind being so single, for the moment, at least). Saturday we're traveling to Woodbridge, Virginia to shop at IKEA for a desk. Craig located one he desires and it's a temporary solution to our problem. Sunday we're heading west to some bar where a co-worker and his apartment community friends have rented a room to root the Chicago Bears to victory in the playoffs. I'm dragging along aforementioned cute single girl, if she decides she wants to, in the event her Mr. Right is hanging out that day. And if not, she'll help me get through a day of football!*As for tonight, Richmond's own Canal Club welcomes Appetite for Destruction, a Guns-n-Roses cover band. Based on a lot of previously mentioned love I feel for Craig, I'm accompanying him to this event. A few co-workers are coming along, also. It's not exactly my thing, but hey, I've certainly hauled Craig to his share of chick rock shows, now, haven't I? This morning he was like a kid on Christmas day, shiny eyes, so excited to see a cover band of a band he loves. Guns-n-Roses certainly manages to bring out the 80's metal enthusiast in all of us, I imagine. Hopefully we won't run into Julie of Alabama at the show.*I suspect the reason I selected the posted photo is two-fold. First of all, Craig and I have been miserable photographers and have shot nothing of interest in the past month or so with the new camera (snapshots of family during the Holidays are by no means uninteresting, but I also do not post photos of people in my life on this page). It dawned on me, too, that our new camera isn't exactly the camera I want to own. I've been eyeballing a slew of photographs shot by some friends, and by people I've never met as well, with softened background effects and glowing lighting. Our Olympus isn't capable of such touches. I've tried. I've read manual pages. I've tried. It appears that the best way to shoot a delicious photograph is to purchase an expensive camera. Our Olympus doesn't correct red eye as it promises. The lighting is never satisfactory. I've tried. Nevertheless, it gives me reason to save money. Besides, Craig's pocket or hands hold the new Olympus when we go anywhere. He is the Possessor of the Camera. He's made it abundantly clear that he thinks I suck at photography, but I will show him...I will save up for a fancy Nikon (someday) and take pictures that he might like. Operative words: might like. Anyway, the second reason I posted this is because our apartment hallway is my favorite thing in our apartment, a delicate passage. Its walls are blank, and used to be empty, anyway, as appears here, only now we've got this damned Oriental runner that I have tried and failed to like. Craig doesn't seem to mind that this rug we bought matches nothing else in our entire apartment, but I never lied to him, I made it clear from the onset of his interest in it that I did not want it. Relationship is compromise, no one ever uttered those words enough times. That's why I'm going to save for a Nikon and let him continue on with his Olympus, in the name of compromise.*On an unrelated but important note, Very Happy Birthday to my Dad today.

January 06, 2006

Stuff



It isn't often that I mess around on line looking at items I cannot afford to purchase. Today, however, while waiting around for co-workers to finish a meeting so that we could grab lunch, I messed around on line looking at items I cannot afford to purchase. I discovered these exciting and aesthetically cool cocktail glasses, which my office mate pointed out are wasting volume. Nevertheless, I fell in love with their simple beauty and even though they are inexpensive, Craig and I rarely drink cocktails much less have kitchen cabinet space for 4 of these exquisite art forms, so I did not order them. We have, however, been hosting parties again lately. Nothing formal, but for the Rose Bowl we invited co-workers and building residents over for drinks and appetizers. I find great pleasure in appetizer-making, and even greater pleasure in witnessing party attendees enjoy appetizers. Wednesday I did not make anything unusual, but I still took great pride and felt happy to host guests. There was wine, beer, and later, shots from the fifth of Jack Daniels that remained on our counter from the previous gathering in our apartment building. It was a lot of fun. I think all involved enjoyed themselves.*As for our new year and its commencement, so far 2006 is moving along well. We've only gone to the gym once, but will return now that we've broken ourselves in. I have created several new music mixes, one which includes a quiet Ani DiFranco song I found from long ago, two basic acoustic songs by lesser known Joe Purdy, who has a song in an episode of Lost as well as one in Grey's Anatomy (we received the first season of Lost on DVD from my family and have been catching ourselves up on what we missed last year) and a song by an old favorite from college, Neutral Milk Hotel. The iMixes I put together are ideal motivators to work out. When Craig and I went the other day, I climbed aboard the ski machine. Oddly, I've never skiied. I needed Craig's assistance with the panel of many buttons that may as well have been marked in Latin, they were so confusing to me, and once he got me moving, the Pod was blasting good music into my brain and I was sure I'd be the best worker-outer ever! But 10 minutes seem to take 10 years to drag by, and the following 10 were even longer. At least the intelligently constructed iMix that I listened to while I sweated through my first work out of the new year did help somewhat. I kept thinking to myself, in jagged fragments, panting in my mind as well as from my exhausted lungs, Just one more song, one more song.*Anyway, despite our many apartment purchases since we returned to Richmond, there are still items left unbought that we need (translation: we want). After promising myself to minimize my spending in 2006, I went ahead and ordered our new Dell computer. It should be on its way. And to house the Dell, we're going to need a desk. And the desk, Craig desires, should look cool. These are luxuries, yet imperative components of a home. See how one can become consumed with stuff? It's unreasonable for a woman my age to want so many things. I've got my health, my heart, my mind and my Craig. Why do I also daydream about cute clothes, neat jewelry, a manicured hairstyle? And gadgets? I own so much already in an ethereal sense, why do I look at stuff and want it so badly? Two days ago I received a call from my best college friend JZ. She asked me to be her Maid of Honor this June! How inexplicably excited I am for that, what a treasure to be asked to do that for her! When I feel down about not having new clothes, new this, or new that or the other, I try to push the material weight of wanting to the very back of my list and remember things like being asked to be Maid of Honor for a girl who means the world to me. Or tonight, maybe Craig and I will watch more episodes of Lost and have dinner together. Or Sunday we're attending the work holiday party (a little belated) at a 4 star brunch in the Jefferson Hotel downtown. So really, as badly as I wanted to wave the plastic card filled with money across the computer to buy stuff today, I don't really need to, when I have so much in my hands as it is.*Those are really cool glasses, though.