cheese and hummus

For the past year or so every couple of months I get together with a group of women friends and acquaintances to hang out, watch a movie, and mostly eat good food. Last night we watched the lake house at brook’s new home. In my opinion it was a pretty bad movie, like many of the movies we watch. But when you watch it together with a bunch of women it somehow turned a bad movie into a good one. I mean, the concept is totally preposterous and it’s totally cheesy, but yet somehow if you willingly suspend your disbelief you can get wrapped up in it and find yourself rooting for Alex and Kate to get together. And I guess that’s what they want you to do. So it was fun. Both the movie and the gathering of women.

this change was hard

i had my first driving lesson today, as i mentioned previously that i would. halima and i headed out with me driving toward a cemetary at a few minutes before 7:00 this evening to catch as much driving time as we could before sunset. we pulled in just as it started to rain and halima commented that the rain was "no good for driving." but we shrugged it off and swapped spots in the car. she reversed out of the parking spot. turned around and started to head down the road. not 25 feet i noticed a weird rumble. "hold on. stop the car," i said to halima. opened my door and...a flat tire. that's right! totally bald. so instead of a driving lesson halima got a tire-changing lesson. we did really well too, except the bolts were too tight and we couldn't get them off. i called chris to come get us but in the meantime a nice stranger who just happened to be in the cemetary at dark got the bolts off and finished the change.

next lesson, saturday evening.

2 posts in 2 days! i'm back y'all

rundown of the day.

i'm sitting in the library/chris's work using their fabulous wi-fi. though for some reason i can't get on my remote server. so that limits the amount of work i can do, which i'm trying to think is a good thing.

it was a fairly good day. i only cried once. but it was in the office of my big boss and our HR person. i think they really felt for me and the struggles i've been having and they hopefully are going to step in on my behalf to ensure that things get a little better. that's all i'll say about that.

yea, today was a good day. cry at the start, not at the end. and no upset stomach.

who needs addictions?

those of you who know me well know that every morning i have a cup of coffee. not only do i have a cup of coffee every morning, but i religiously have a cup of coffee each morning. i set everything up the night before so that all i have to do is push a button in the morning and viola! instant awakeness.

well, for the past few weeks i've been having an upset stomach every morning. i thought maybe it was anxiety. but i decided this weekend to do without the coffee. so for 2 days i went caffeine-free! for the first time in probably 10 years. and i did okay. i think i might make a habit of it. i did have 1/2 a cup this morning just to put a little pep in my step. but i'm really thinking of just doing without it. for reals.

absence

man, i blogged more when i was in africa than i do now. it's not from lack of thinking about it. i'm just either working or brain dead and really haven't been in the mood to blog. thought about giving it up all together but then i feel like once i start something i should see it through.

so i'm back. with a picture from africa. as the title states, a store front in dodoma.

things of note lately? i'm going to be teaching a somali woman how to drive next week. that should be fun. or an adventure at least.

advice from a 10 year-old vet

"Well that is how cats are.You have to be strict when she is bad,and
you have to play with her and spend time with her.Try and set some
rules,like no shredding papers.If she doesn't listen,then hold her up
to the papers or whatever and say no! Bad cat! It might sound mean
but it works and it doesn't harm her."

*this was an email in response to a message i sent my 10 year-old niece telling her about how our cat is so cute but she's a terror. i thought it was particularly good advice. points well-taken, doc.

metros are some of my favorite places

Got at b3co.com!

thanks for the link, fuzzy. i've been on more metros than i actually thought i would've. too bad the city i now live in doesn't have one.

phooey

i'm sick for the long weekend. suckeroo.

i guess that's my body saying, "hey girl, get some rest!"

and the cat's going, "yea! it's cuddle time."

i guess i can deal with that.