the thermostat over on the warm side of the office says that it is 63 degrees in here, and the one next to it says it is 61 degrees. why doesn't it warm up in here? the heat is set for 75 and it appears to be in order. I am, of course, sitting on the opposite end by the bank of windows trying to type this with fingers that don't quite feel the keys like they're supposed to. the chill is setting in.

On the plus side, i have a warm lunch today. Ryan made manicotti last night for dinner, but i had already eaten grilled cheese and tomato soup... sooo good.

okay, i'm getting hungry now. and i'd better do some work now before i freeze up.

i'm suddenly busy. well, not quite yet, but my weekly schedule just got a lot of entries. i just received an acceptance letter to... college? no. but it felt like it. i got into the mass choir at church. I'm required to be there sunday morning, sunday evening, tuesday evening, and wednesday evening for rehearsal. plus special holiday rehearsals and outreach events. i passed the entrance interview and audition. three cheers for Josh. i think i'll go out tonight and party to celebrate. the fact that it's really a birthday party for a friend of a friend of a friend will not diminish my festive spirit.

wow, what a friday night that was. i should be a social planner.

so have you detected the sarcasm yet?

the funny thing about last night is... i liked it. i don't quite understand working all week and then wanting to do anything but go straight home on friday. i've always been like that. i never really felt up to friday night happy hour during school, and especially not going out somewhere else after that. give me some television and some home organizing.

so here is the evening: grocery shopping, and then going out for pizza. ridiculous, i know, but i really wanted a few slices. a little tv on tape from the other day, since nothing is on the tube friday nights. with that over, i tackled the fridge. no, not eating again; i switched the doors so now it opens into the room instead of into the corner. yeah, i still try to open the door the old way. next, i believe, i rebuilt part of my cubes so that it forms a night stand for my bed now that i've moved the stereo into the living room. then i relocated the bicycles in the living room and setting up some shelves for the new roommate with some found objects, wood and CMUs. finally, i took down my mini blinds and scrubbed them in the tub.

i'm sorry you had to miss the excitement. note the sarcasm returns.

It's my last day in New York before I leave for the Holiday, and I've managed to finish most of my Christmas shopping. One project didn't get finished (and I'm still deciding what to do about it), and I need to buy another thing once i get to Sheboygan, but otherwise I'm DONE.

Overall, I need to do better next year. A few things are arriving in the mail, and since I didn't order them soon enough, they'll probably arrive too late for the Christmas morning paper ripping. So sad. And I was thinking of doing Christmas cards, but they never happened either. I considered turning the idea into New Year's cards, but... too little too late, probably.

I'm getting excited; it's almost here:

ONE week until Christmas!
TWO many things left to do (and buy). (i know... too)
THREE more work days until I'm outa here.

I miss my 5 week Christmas vacation. Speaking of which... the movie of that title was on TV tonight, but it just isn't the same after they censor it. I guess I need the DVD version.

I hope I even have a Christmas vacation. The flights are pretty dang full already for the holidays. I guess I've always traveled much earlier, and have thus skipped the rush. Aww, there's three seats left; what am I worried about?

I almost bundled up to go outside for my fourth shoveling of the storm, but I decided that it can wait until tomorrow. The snow just keeps piling up; 14 inches is a lot of snow. Luckily, my Wisconsin roots have prepared me for this sort of thing.

That's where my quirky obsession with shoveling developed. I know that it's supposed to be a chore, but I look forward to it. Perhaps my parents tricked me into enjoying it; I remember jumping out of bed to get outside before my mom had shoveled all the good stuff without me.

When I moved into this apartment in June, I noticed right away that there was a shovel in our seedy little entryway. And with only three apts in the building, I knew that shoveling duties would be up to me. Nobody's going to balk at that.

So I'm a little off... get over it.

Thanksgiving weekend is nearing its end, my tummy is trying to deal with all the chocolate chip cookies that I've added to the mounds of turkey dinners already crammed in there, and I need something to take my mind off the fact that i have to return to work tomorrow morning. So I thought I'd start a blog. If my sister-in-law, Tracy, can do it, why can't I? Well, we'll see if I figure out what to do with this or not.