Refreshment

I have been distracted the last couple days, and I have wandered away from my packing. It was something I needed - I was really starting to stress. In fact, I couldn't go a day without making progress in the packing arena. I wasn't sleeping well, and my whole body ached. But now, after a 2 day break, I feel refreshed, relaxed, and ready to finish getting ready. All I can say is thank goodness for distraction. I feel like a new woman.

But now, I am looking forward to this New Year's Weekend - I can't wait to see Lamont and Simon again (yes, it's only been 2 weeks since I saw them in NY). I just didn't expect to see these wonderful men so many times in December/January before I left. What a lucky chick I am to have such wonderful people in my life!

And then, after the weekend, I am back to the packing (hopefully balancing my recent new distraction with my packing needs). I can't believe I am only 12 days from leaving! I know this is going to be a great week and a half. And I have to remember to live it up, stressfree, and have some fun.

No regrets.

Bring it on, Guinea.

My friend, Bryan, is a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kyrgyzstan (sp?).

He sent me this picture, and even though I am in Colorful Colorado, I am jealous:



Soon, I will be sending home pictures like this. Well, not of mountains like this, but of foreign lands. I can't wait to go!

Night with the Girls

I love my CC girls. Whenever we get together, I feel great. Even if the whole group isn't there, it is wonderful (although we did miss Aimee and Larissa tonight!)

Anywho... Abbey is in town for the holidays so we made sure to get together and do something special. Want to know what the special thing was? Make biscuit pizzas. I was not familiar with this method of pizza-making. When deciding to do this, I believe my conversation with Anna went like this:

(please remember, my brain isn't working properly. It is on Winter Break after a TOUGH final quarter at grad school)

Anna: We should make pizzas on biscuits.
Me: Huh? Like biscuits?
Anna: Yeah, we used to do it in 4H. We can get those rolls of refrigerated biscuits and make pizzas. You just put your sauce and cheese and toppings on top and bake it!
Me: Ummm. Ok. Sounds good.

(long pause)

Me: Do you like roll out the biscuits?
Anna: Yeah, of course.

(still processing)

Me: Ok, can we get turkey pepperoni to put on top?

End scene.

But I wasn't the only one. When Abbey, Anna and I went to the grocery store, Anna recited the list of things we need for pizza: sauce, cheese, biscuits, turkey pepperoni, and Abbey interrupts with the same kind of questioning:

Abbey: Wait, why do we need biscuits?
Anna: For the pizzas.
Abbey: Oh, ok.

(pause)

Abbey: Wait, huh?
Me: I had the same problem.

It was a great night and I feel ready to leave.... no. That's a lie. But I will see Abbey and Anna for breakfast and a movie tomorrow morning, so I can squeeze in some more CC girl time before January 10th.

Here are some pictures from tonight:

Abbey, Sarah, and Anna:

Anna:

Sarah, the Sous-Chef:

Me, Mya, and Anna

Milton Friedman on Charlie Rose Tonight on PBS

Tonight, after a day of eating out and shopping for Guinea, I stumbled upon the Charlie Rose show on PBS and the guest tonight was Milton Friedman. This made me put down the remote control and hang around channel 6 for awhile. Here are some observations:

Milton liked to pick his nose every couple minutes. After awhile, you would see him raise his finger towards his nose and then the producers would switch to a different camera shot where we couldn't see it. But we all knew what Milton was up to.

Best quote of the evening:

"The biggest mistake Ronald Reagan made was selecting George Bush as his running mate."

Second best quote:

In response to the question, "so, in essence, are you a libertarian?" Milton says,

"I like to say that I am a republican with a capital 'R' and a libertarian with a lower-case 'l'."

When asked if he thought anything about Jimmy Carter, he said he never met him and then, when asked about his thoughts on Carter's post-presidency work, Friedman brought up "that house building thing." I think a man who has received a Nobel Peace Prize deserves more respect than that, don't you?

Surprisinly, we agree on numerous topics, but we come to these conclusions through very different lines of thinking. Things we agree upon:
*High government spending is baaaaaad. Although I only think that high govt spending on certain things is baaaaaad (ie, military spending or fresh lilies on the White House Xmas tree) .
*Milton and I agree on the elimination of farm subsidies
*We also think that legalizing but regulating all drugs would actually be better than the current system
*Flat tax rates are the way to go - ok, we have the same reasoning on this one. In fact, I quote good ol' Milton when i discuss this topic.
*Alan Greenspan is a god.
*George Bush Sr. and George Bush Jr. both suck.

Overall, it was a great show. I would love to sit down and chit chat with Milton myself, but for now, the Charlie Rose interview will have to do.

I am going to miss olives.

Got my flight to Philly

I am leaving January 10th, 12:48 pm from DIA. Direct to Philly. Staging starts the next day!

I am so excited!

Pittsburgh

This past weekend I went to visit my family in Pennsylvania/Ohio/West Virginia. The last few times I have spent time with them have been amazing. Although my mother and I are VERY different from those back near the Ohio River, and although I am pretty sure a few of them think I am CRAZY, I can relate to them in a way I just don't relate to the other people in my life. I guess most people feel that way about their family.

Anyway here is what I did this weekend:
-I got to see Heidi's wedding dress (she will be married this summer, and I won't be there)
-I got to know her fiancee a bit better. After all, he will be family next time I see him
-I got to play Mario Cart with Alicia.
-I got to eat Lee's spaghetti and meatballs, sans meatballs (we got there too late).
-Oh, and most excitingly, I got to go to the Ohio State High School Football Championships, where my cousin, Nick, played starting Linebacker for the WINNING TEAM! He's 6'4" and over 200 lbs (at age 16). In the picture, he makes all of us look like dwarves:

Ok, the picture isn't uploading, but imagine this: a bunch of tiny people next to two gi-normous football stars smiling whatever is beyond ear to ear (Joe on the left, Nick on the right).

Overall, it was the perfect trip.... until our flight was cancelled yesterday. I was lucky enough to spend 12+ hours in the Pittsburgh airport. At least they have great shopping. All I can think is that maybe I got the bad-airport kharma out of the way before this week's trip to DC!

It's weird to really start saying good-bye. I am going to miss them.