An Update In The Form Of Random Thoughts

I can get used to actually spending entire long weekends away from work. I just wish the get-togethers with friends weren't happening out of fear and/or sadness, as was the case with the get together this past Saturday for Mike, who leaves for Iraq on the last week of October.

I've been invited to the ceremony that's held the day Mike departs, which is usually reserved for family. I'm both flattered and uncomfortable with this invite. For the better part of three years, I've been seriously censoring myself around people I know, given that my beliefs are very different from the vast majority of them (none of which read my blog). This has probably made me appear a little closed off to some of them. At the military base, I'm going to feel like a cornered animal.

For a wordsmith, I've been very negligent about what the last words I'll say or write for him before he leaves will even be. Instead, I've been focused on helping him prepare. Tonight, I'll be hunting down cameras for the new laptop he got this past weekend. With any luck, they'll be purchased tonight and installed by Sunday.

I'm also searching for Reverse Reese's--the ones that have chocolate inside and peanut butter outside. Not just the Halloween bites. Anyone know where they are, I'd gladly reimburse y'all--and then some.

The debate Friday, of course, was a spectacle, as I predicted. Bush just decided to be more loud and obnoxious, which must sit well with his supporters who watch pro-wrestling. The look of the woman who asked G.W. what mistakes he thinks he's made was priceless, as he decided to shout his way through the answer, almost avoiding the question entirely.

It's a train wreck, and I'm watching the final crash tonight, as Bush has fewer places to hide than Kerry does.

I finally got my old files out of my now defunct old computer. I now have all the articles I either wrote or half-wrote before my near-financial ruin back in 2001. I will probably be using the AuthorsDen site to post a few of the more relevant ones. I'll let you know when they're up.

I have to thank Lynne again for not only getting me to Mike's going away party but also carting some new furniture to the apartment, including a small table and chairs, so I can dine like a somewhat normal person. After spending most of Monday cleaning and arranging, my living room looks part-cafe, part-extension of my bedroom. Fine by me. If the new roomies don't lift a finger to help, they can stay stuck in their rooms at night, for all I care. I do have to invite more people over soon.

Off shopping now.