Barb’s Burblings

My car? Rocks. In the traffic going up to Baltimore on Wednesday, my car averaged over 50 miles per gallon. Whee! I discovered tonight that its highway average is just about 50 mpg, so it’s city driving pulling its total average down to around 44 mpg. Anyway.
Anyway, I had a lovely Thanksgiving. Although it was a bit odd when, at around 2:30, the power went out (it was quite windy). Luckily, Joan thinks ahead and had actually already cooked most of the food; it just had to go into the oven to warm up. So we wound up heating the food on the grill. And then, just as the final platter was placed on the table, the power came back on. It was definitely an unusual experience. The food was good and the conversation as stimulating as always (though it did involve learning a bit too much about my cousin’s bowels).
Though it did get a bit weird when, after my cousin made a comment about Bush’s infamous “Shame on you, shame on me” speech, my grandmother made a snide comment about Kerry, which caused me to give a speech about Why Bush Sucks. My grandmother didn’t really have a comeback for anything I said. But the cool thing was that it didn’t turn into some huge deal; we just moved on from there.
What I am really thankful for is the fact that even though my parents live in Oregon and my sister lives in Ohio, I still have family close by that I can spend holidays with, and be able to sleep in my own bed that night.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, and to all a good night.

I realized this morning that I have slightly under a half tank of gas, and I was contemplating whether I should fill up before I head to my grandmother’s tonight. It’s not that far, really, and I’m not concerned about running out of gas…it’s just that fear of sitting in traffic, staring at a gas gauge at it drops closer and closer to the E.
Then came the epiphany. My car won’t be using gas while sitting in traffic! Whee! Hurrah for the Prius!
I’ll probably wind up getting gas tomorrow morning, though.

I didn’t think it would happen, but it did. I am smitten. I have found The Perfect Manuscript. And ohh, how I adore it. It came in something like 6 months early. It’s 10 chapters long, the longest of which is only 21 pages (most are in the 14 to 16 page range). To give you some reference, most of our manuscripts have chapters in the 50 or 75 page range. It has long case studies, which I love. It has no references because it’s a workbook. It has no tables. The only thing I need permission for are the case studies, which the author has already obtained. I inventoried the manuscript in something like 20 minutes. I want to run away with this book and have 10,000 of its babies.

My company’s holiday party is always a lunch. We get out of work at noon, go to a nice restaurant for lunch, receive our $10 gift cards to Barnes & Noble, listen through some boring speeches about people who’ve had major anniversaries that year, and get some door prizes, culminating in the gift of 2 plane tickets to anywhere in the continental US. It usually ends around 2:30 or 3, and we have the rest of the day off. So it’s nice.
But one of the nicest things about it is that it’s just the people who work here. No significant others. This morning I opened my email to find an invitation from my department director inviting everyone in the department to a holiday party at her house–and significant others are welcome. Argh. I’ll go, and I’m sure I’ll still have a good time (and I imagine that, unlike the company holiday party, there will be alcohol at this one), but…I don’t know. Maybe it’s just that I’ve been a little sensitive lately about my whole “being single” situation–and Thanksgiving will be GREAT for that! (”No, Gram, still don’t have a boyfriend … Yes, I certainly hope you’ll be alive to make it to my wedding, too.”) Oh well.
Speaking of parties, there was a lovely one last night at my apartment, though it was Becca and Steve who did the cooking, and Carrie who did the cleaning. It was tons of fun, and just emphasized to me that I’m really thankful for having such great friends.
Current song in my head:
“My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison

I’m completely hooked on Snood. It’s like crack. I can’t stop playing.

I watched The West Wing tonight for the first time in quite a while and saw a commercial for A Christmas Carol: The Musical. It looks, to be blunt, horrible, and all I could think of was the movie Scrooged.

Frustrated with how the election turned out? Sars and Wing Chun have set up a site for how you can get involved.

…Mr. Jon Stewart, shortly before his infamous appearance on Crossfire.

Congratulations to DC United, winner of the MLS Cup! It’s their fourth championship, but their first since 1999; they had previously won 3 titles in 4 years. They beat the Kansas City Wizards (and heeeey, I just got that!) last night, 3-2. I did make it to a game this season, seeing United beat Crew (sorry, Kath!). Anyway, hurrah for United!

As promised, here are my pictures from my trip to England. Whee!