I'm broke.

I blame Starbucks and the Human need for instant gratification. Or myself. Or the fact that I finished my Christmukkah shopping in record time instead of spacing it out as usual.

And I miss my cat very much.

To an Old Friend.

Thanks for being our best bud.

Thanksgiving

Look what I made!

Home for the Holidays (In record time)

This morning I was supposed to be at work at 6am. I planned to come in early so I could leave work around 1pm and head out to my parents' house in Warrenton before traffic got obscene (I'm not saying bad since traffic is always bad).

Set the alarm for 4:30am, giving me enough time to get dressed and pack for my Wednesday and Thursday night on the sleeper sofa. I heard the alarm, but made the mistake of turning it off. I rolled over at 5:59am on the dot.

Sprang out of bed, threw on something to wear, grabbed some already folded clothes from the clean laundry basket and shoved them into my messenger bag, popped my contacts in, brushed my teeth, slung my ID badge around my neck, and headed to work.

Locked the door and on my way out realized I forgot my purse. Came back in, grabbed my purse, and drove over to Skyline (where I work). Arrived at my desk at 6:24am. I think it's a new record.

This afternoon I have to bake pies. I've never made a pie before. Cakes, yes. Pies, no. Two pumpkin, a pecan, and an apple pie. Earlier this week I was under the impression that I was only making the pumpkin and pecan pies-- Mom called me and told me she bought apples for my apple pie. My apple pie? Must have missed the memo.

Hiking in PA

Yesterday, BR, Cherie, Aaron, and I went on the Hosac Run 8-mile hike near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It went like this: Up a ridge, down the ridge, switchbacks up the next ridge, hike along the ridgeline, double back a bit, and down the ridge we went up the first time. Like a giant figure-eight.


Aaron and BR.


On top of the ridge.


BR and Cherie.


GORP!


Awww.

The hike was a lot of fun, tricky at times, but a lot of fun. My legs were jelly afterwards, but my knees held up, which was excellent. The view was incredible, but looking and walking simultaneously wasn't an option as the terrain was hard to walk on. The leaves had already fallen, so the trails were covered. It made it a little slippery and you couldn't really see where your feet were going. We made it down the ridge just before the sun set and in enough time to stop by the "mighty arm of Gettysburg," our favorite memorial:


Because it's that cool. It's actually quite random and bizarre. An arm? With a saber? Sticking out? OK, let's do it!

After the hike, we drove into Gettysburg looking for food. BR told us to pick a place, so Aaron chose The Gingerbread Man on Gettysburg's main touristy drag. It looks quite nice on the outside: It's an old building with a large guilded sign over tavern-like windows; the menu is posted outside the paned glass door and it's surprisingly cheap. Well, cheap by Fairfax County standards. We chose non-smoking and were seated in the very crowded front section. The dark panelled walls were covered in framed posters and prints of paintings of the Civil War battle. A large Jesus-like painting of JEB Stuart hung above a family of five with small kids-- an ironic statement, or a proclamation of heroism on behalf of the Union Army as he showed up too late with his cavalry for battle?

There was a table of four seated cozily next to us. Although in modern garb, the two women (the oldest I'm going to guess was maybe 32) still had their hair pulled back in low curly buns held in place by what looked like antique combs. The men were older, in their mid to late fifties; one had the whitest, most frazzled long hair and beard. He was wearing blue jeans and a red and black flannel shirt-- like a Civil War Santa Claus almost. The other reminded me a little of Roman Polanski. He was shorter and I thought he was normal until I saw his shirt: take a seemingly normal, white Oxford shirt and then make the sleeves as full as possible only contained by his very cinched up cuffs. He was a Confederate; his vest was a grey wool. Their conversation consisted of the Battle of Gettysburg, no more, no less, for over an hour.

We parted ways with the Gingerbread Man and all it's Gettysburg history and headed south to Virginia. We were all pooped, and it was time for bed.

Oh, and if it's too cold for Aaron in the car, he'll tell you.

Lazy Wednesday

Tonight I plan on staying in and watching Pulp Fiction as it will be rainy and stormy outside.

I've never seen Pulp Fiction. I hear it's good.

Dangers of the Internet.

Since work's been really slow, I've been spending more and more time poking around the Internet and spending literally hours on Flickr. So much so, that this weekend I had a dream that I was using Flickr and having a cup of coffee and conversation with Jason Kottke. I woke up not only feeling weird, but like a total geek. Aaron didn't know whether to laugh or drive me to therapy.

This weekend was quite eventful (or not). Friday night Aaron and I watched my favorite Sci-fi movie, Forbidden Planet. It's been my favorite since I was maybe 8 years old. It's wonderful and the effects are amazing for 1956. It features a super-young Leslie Nielsen and a babe-a-licious Anne Francis. Forbidden Planet was also the debut of Robby the Robot of Lost in Space fame.

Saturday, we went to Tysons Corner. Aaron and I both needed dress-clothes for work. Clothes are so expensive. But hey, if they want me to dress in business clothing everyday, so be it. Not that I like looking forty. (Disclaimer: There's nothing wrong with being forty, it's just that I'm 22 and wear suits to work almost everyday.) Saturday night we got burgers at Red Robin, I got a new 5.8ghz cordless phone that won't mess up my wireless internet at home, and watched the new SNL.

Sunday I went home to see my family. My cat, Whiskers is going back to the vet; he's lost another pound in the past week. In six weeks he's gone from weighing 14lbs to roughly 7. My parents got him tested and the vet said it was a thyroid problem, but even with the drugs for that and an appetite starter?initiator? he's still not eating. Oh, and 14lbs wasn't fat-- he's a bigger cat and was really muscly. Our other cat, Dizzy is wigging out a bit because she knows something's up with Whisker-doo.

Portrait

Mallory took this picture of me at Burke Lake this weekend.

The Past Week

Wednesday: Maria Full of Grace, dinner with Mallory and Borders.
Thursday: Bike ride to Vienna, Yoga cool-down, read my book.
Friday: First Fridays at Dupont with Aaron, hung out at Carl's house.
Saturday: Home to see Dad, saw Jarhead with Aaron, Theresa, and Jason (who was home from Rochester).
Sunday: Breakfast with Mallory, went to the mall, Burke Lake, The Incredibles, and Firetrucks!
Monday (yesterday): Cooked for Aaron, Keith, and Bill-- Chicken, stuffing, green beans.
Tuesday (today): Voted for Virginia governor, Yoga class, watched Turtles Can Fly.

Yoga.

Last night was my first yoga class at the Sacred Well Yoga Studio (and Healing Center). I was a little nervous about going because I hadn't taken a yoga class since high school, but the minute I stepped into the studio (with shoes off, of course) I felt very comfortable in my surroundings.

There were all types of people there- old, young, slim, and not. We were a hodge-podge group of yoga beginners with all different body types and skill (by skill I mean balance) levels. It was good to know that I wasn't the only one who felt like falling over a couple times! The class was very relaxing; we spent the first 45 minutes doing basic stretches that felt oh so good. Later, I could see how the simple stretches helped me out because I had no problems doing the 'tree' or the 'warrior 1' pose when it came to the end of class. And yes, we all sweated a bit.

I'm definitely looking forward to next week's class. My instructor is so nice and very supportive of all of us in the class and she never hesitated to correct our posture or stance or whatnot (in a nice way, I promise).

Yay for yoga!