Where the heck have I been?!? Here are some updates:

1. I’m moving. Again. This is the 4th time I am moving since I have been in CA. I have only been here for a little over 3 years. This is my 14th move in the last 7 years. I think I am crazy. In fact, I will blame it on the moving.

2. My sister is doing alright with her break up. Every day is a different day and she has to deal with her feelings and I worry about her. But I have to take care of myself too. I think this is the hardest thing. I don’t want her to feel like a burden, but sometimes I want some alone time with myself and/or other people (including Winemonkey, who has been a trooper through it all).

3. Thanksgiving was great. I cooked quite a bit and drank just as much. I made a berry pie that everyone really liked, which is funny because it was made from frozen berries. I put candied walnuts on the pumpkin pie and that was a hit too. And my stuffing was just fantastic. I was satisfied with how my food turned out.

4. Poor winemonkey is sick. We are going away this coming weekend and I hope that he feels better before then. Plus I planned the best weekend away three weekends from now. He is going to be so excited. We are going to the opening night of the Nutcracker at the San Francisco Opera House! I get to wear a ball gown and he gets to wear his suit. I am so excited! If any of my readers know of a good restaurant in the city, please let me know! I have no idea where to take him to dinner before the show.

Winemonkey rented a car and took two days off from work to help me with my sister and her break up. Can anyone say “He’s the FREAKIN BEST?!?!”

‘Cause he is.

Break ups suck. I am glad that she is feeling better about their mutual decision.

p.s. Eminem’s new CD is out. I can’t stop listening to it. Me listening to Eminem is one of the mysteries of the world. In general I would be listening to jazz on NPR and here I am rocking out. It is one of my defining contradictions.

…Why it seems like getting 1 hour of sleep is worth it and then re-evaluating your decision after getting said hour of sleep and deciding: No Way!

Reasons why it seems like a good idea at the time:

1. You are having a conversation that feels right.

2. You are listening to the rain.

3. It seems only fair that if you are only going to dedicate one hour to writing a prelab, you should only sleep one hour before writing it.

4. You think that it will be easier to sleep over, but you can’t stop talking and just sleep.

Why you know it was a bad idea the next morning:
1. Your stomach is revolting against the binge. It is sick with every step. At least you hope this is because of the lack of sleep and not because you are actually coming down with a cold.
2. You get on the early bus and actually talk to people because you overhear their conversation and you have poorer judgement than usual because your head is in a fog. Plus they are stupid and you want them to shut up so you tell them that this IS the early freaking bus and to buy a damn bike if you have a 7:30 class next quarter. (I didn’t really say that… except I did confirm that we all were on the early bus).
3. You sit at your desk and write this post instead of doing the prelab – the whole reason you only got one hour of sleep!
4. You sleep through 10 minutes of your alarm and hope that you didn’t wake up your neighbors.

Here is a synopse of what has happened already today.

1. I got one hour of sleep.

2. Took the early morning bus.

3. Went to lab to listen to people talk about equipment that I have more experience running and more basic knowledge of. Technically, I went to lab, and didn’t touch a SINGLE thing today. I can’t even get started on this. I will talk about it for hours on end.

4. Got a call from Porter. She wanted to meet for coffee IMMEDIATELY. This lead me to one of two conclusions: She couldn’t wait to hear why I got one hour of sleep OR she and her boyfriend got engaged.

5. Met Porter for coffee. SHE AND HER BOYFRIEND GOT ENGAGED! I am so freakin’ excited. I can’t believe it!

6. I call my sister at work to tell her and her coworkers said that they got an email from her saying that she and her boyfriend got into a huge fight last night and that she wasn’t going to be able to come into work. So I can’t call her and tell her about the engagement.

7. Call her at home, but she isn’t answering her cell phone or her home phone. Now I am beginning to worry about her.

8. Well that brings me to right about now. And this very second, nothing exciting/irritating/worrisome/etc. is happening. Thank goodness. Or my heart might explode.

I am finally getting off the continent of North America. I am not just going to Mexico or Canada. I am going to Italy! In February. I am so excited. And I’ve got no one to share in my excitement. I have the pain of telling my boss that I am going away for 9 days. I am not looking forward to that either.

Of course, I also have a lot of domestic travel going on too. I am going home to PA for Christmas and about two weeks before that, I think I am going to have to fly to Chicago for work. I was hoping that this was all behind me, but I guess not. I HATE going to Chicago for work. And that is the weekend of Winemonkey’s birthday. I was going to try and get us tickets to see the Nutcracker in SF, but now I don’t know that I can make that happen. Which means, of the two of his birthdays, BOTH of them have been screwed up because I had to go to Chicago to do research. Bummer. Big Fat Bummer.

All I have to say is I hope we survive the next 4 years. And that I wish NPR did a better job telling me the weather in the morning. Instead of doing it once an hour, perhaps they should do it after every break. And I don’t care what they say, it is MORE important for me to know the weather than to cover the President’s press conference. Trust me. I know what is going to make my day better. I would rather know if it is going to rain than listen to a pompous man say he will fight for people who have the same views and values as him. What about the rest of us buddy??!? Do I not pay taxes too?!?

The best part, is that deep down inside, I don’t even follow politics, but his relection has shaken me THAT much. I promise that I won’t write about politics again.