It was a very busy and enjoyable weekend. The details worked out a little differently than I expected, but both days were fun.

Saturday we went to St. George Island in Southern Maryland for a skipjack cruise with Sean's parents and members of their ski club. Nice scenery, all-you-can-eat crabs and corn, and cold, cold wind on the water! (Sean's dad took this photo as we were on our way back to the dock.) After the cruise, we took a little detour on the way home and stopped by Sean's sister's house in to play with her sheep and poodles. It was funny to see 100-pound livestock running from a 4-pound pipsqueak poodle!

Today I went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival with a friend and her toddler. Another cold day, but entertaining nonetheless. People-watching at RennFest is an adventure in itself...the number of people attending in costume seems to increase every year. Note to self, start working on a costume for next year!

September 27, 2001

Given the current state of economic upheaval, we've all heard a few stories about companies behaving badly towards their employees. I think what happened today at my current place of business totally takes the taco.

The company I work for (which shall remain nameless) is going through another round of layoffs despite the company president's constant assurances that our stock prices are up, our cash flow is increasing, operations are improving, we're gaining business, etc. One of the people laid of this week was a major part of the on-site crisis team at the Pentagon two weeks ago---how's THAT for thanks?! Anyway, in the midst of the layoffs, the president of the company was just promoted to "CEO and president". Today, there was a company party to celebrate his promotion---complete with cake and balloons. Best of all, this party was located in the lobby hallway just outside of the elevators. In other words, all the laid off folks who are packing out this week got to pass by the party as they carried stuff to their cars.

Gee, the irony! You'd think a company that specializes in behavioral health and is staffed by clinicians would be able to demonstrate an iota of sensitivity and at least have the celebration in a less conspicuous area of the building.

September 25, 2001

Another photo from one of our hiking excursions: river rocks on the bank of a creek during a low water phase. I'm thinking of trying infrared film next time...

We narrowly missed a tornado yesterday. It touched down about a mile or two from where we caught the Metro into DC just half an hour after we left the area, and then followed the highway north to touch down near our home about an hour after that. Freaky! We never even heard or saw the high winds. In retrospect, maybe this explains why the dog refused to go outside for about an hour or so after we got home. I thought he was just being really stubborn...

September 24, 2001

No, this is not a repeated photo. I couldn't resist getting another picture of the morning glories on our fence. We now have three colors: deep purple, blue with purple stripes, and white with pink stripes. So pretty!

Today we both had the day off so we headed into DC and visited the National Building Museum and the Corcoran Art Gallery. Also walked by the White House, a first for me! There were so many police officers on Pennsylvania Avenue and around the Executive Office buildings (K-9 units, mounted officers, motorcycle cops, bicycle cops, plainclothes officers, and regular officers)...I wonder if that's typical or if patrolling was stepped up in response to the terrorist attacks.

September 23, 2001

Recently our weekends have included a lot of hiking with the dog. We get exercise, he gets to pretend that he's free. Today we went to Great Falls and Toby was allowed to swim for the first time. (Poodles were bred to retrieve waterfowl, you know.) He was a happy muddy mess, and absolutely adorable to watch.

Occasionally we bring along a camera when we walk in the woods. I still use my old Pentax K1000, though it's less convenient than the digital camera. Here's a photo from a few weeks ago; the texture of the interlaced roots was intriguing.

If you're still glued to the television watching the news about the attack and recovery efforts, do yourself a favor---turn it off and get out of the house for a while. This thing is far from over, and I'm inclined to think we'll all have many more opportunities to steep in the horror and sadness throughout the next few months. For now, live a little.

September 14, 2001

Slowly, life returns. Not quite normal, but coming out of shock. It's encouraging to see the American flags everywhere, especially on bridges and overpasses.

Yesterday, my coworkers gave me a birthday card, pictured to the right. I love it! This is exactly my sense of humor: goofy pictures and sarcasm.

I took off work today and spent some time in Virginia at Michael and Allura's house, doing exactly what I thought I wasn't going to do. What that means is that in a day or two there will be more photos posted here.

And tomorrow is my birthday party! Dinner and billiards in DC with friends! Woo!

September 12, 2001

After hours of watching the news yesterday and checking news webpages every half hour today, I just want to know exactly who's responsible and how badly they're going to hurt after we catch them.

Even with all the devastation so visible via the media, today I personally encountered an ultra-liberal American moron (college-educated, of course) spouting off anti-American government garbage and suggesting that Afghanistan doesn't deserve punishment. I'm speechless.

September 2, 2001

Finally, after months of waiting and almost giving up hope, this weekend I noticed brilliant blue-purple morning glories climbing the trellis in our backyard. I became enamoured of morning glories last year during a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in Chicago.

You may remember me commenting in early July about the impressive amount of wildlife that we've had in our tiny backyard this year...well, add two more species to the list. Early this morning, Sean discovered a hummingbird flitting about the flowers---a most welcome visitor to our garden. The other recent new animal visitor, not quite so welcome, is a mole who has been tunnelling underneath the yard. Apparently, this mole is undeterred by the outdoor activities of our dog and one of the cats. So far, we've resisted the urge to go "Caddyshack" on the critter.

August 30, 2001

We visited my brother in Winston-Salem this past weekend. Matt undoubtedly has one of the cleanest, best-smelling bachelor apartments that I've ever visited. (For the record, the messiest apartment I've seen belonged to a woman...you know who you are!) This probably stems from the fact that he spent four years in the Marines.

Matt is a relatively new transplant to North Carolina as a fairly recent police academy graduate, but he's starting to get "the lay of the land", so to speak. Our visit was short, but we managed to pack in a tour of Winston-Salem (from slums to mansions), a movie ("Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back"), dinner at a theme restaurant called "Cities", and breakfast at an area Waffle House (see photo). The Waffle House was an adventure in itself. Quite the showcase of recessive human genes...somebody ought to go cross-country photographing Waffle House staff and patrons and make it into a book.

Maybe next time we'll go for a longer visit and experience Winston-Salem "nightlife"...just hopefully not the same kind of nightlife that Matt experiences in his work!

August 21, 2001

We had a good weekend in Philadelphia/South Jersey. Went to the zoo, then saw "Ghost World" (see it!), had dinner at Catelli in Voorhees and hung out with friends of a friend. The visit was too short, but we had a great time.

Random memory: when I was 17 I had my fortune told twice by the same woman within a year. The first time, she told me that I would have a career in math. The second time, she saw a career in medicine.

I currently conduct research (analyze data, report statistics) for an HMO.

August 13, 2001

Much merriment this past weekend, despite the rain and steaminess. We spent all weekend among friends, although Sean didn't get to go to Atlantic City afterall.

Saturday evening I headed to Virginia---braving rain, traffic, an unexpected drawbridge and my sad navigational skills---for a photoshoot with Michael Woodward. After getting to his neighborhood, I realized that I didn't have his street address or his phone number on hand (great planning on my part), and therefore no quick or easy way to identify the correct house. Finally I decided to pick a house at random and hope that whomever answered the door could assist. As it turned out, Michael answered the door. How's that for luck or fate?

Michael is very skilled at making guests feel comfortable during the photoshoot, and he's an excellent director. I typically avoid having my picture taken since I'm never happy with the results, so I showed up wearing clothes that I detest and obnoxiously curly hair to make it even more of a challenge. A hundred pictures and a few hours later, I had about a dozen pictures that I really like. Thank you, Michael!

This is my favorite picture from the evening...great angle. (Michael said that my eyebrows "work really well upside down." Hmm.) You can email me if you'd like to see more, or venture over to Michael's site in a week or two after he's had time to post them.

August 8, 2001

Tonight while shopping at Victoria's Secret, a salesguy (yes, a GUY) approached me and asked in a very chipper voice, "Hi, what brings you in here tonight?" Had I been a little quicker on the uptake, I would have made a smart-ass comment like, "The unfortunate interaction of anatomy and gravity," or "Lack of a Y chromosome." Instead, I kinda stared at the guy before pointing weakly at a display of undergarments and muttering, "Uh, these."

August 6, 2001

Fresh, soft white sheets are the BEST. After exercise and a shower, I was really looking forward to settling down with a book in bed this evening. Had my book, hopped into bed...and immediately felt something cold, wet and icky on the back of my leg. Cat barf. It went through the blanket, top sheet and fitted sheet all the way to the mattress pad (fortunately, it did not seep into the mattress). Guess what I'm doing right now instead of reading my book or relaxing in bed? Laundry! (*insert sad face here*) Somebody please remind me why I have cats...

July 31, 2001

Last night I bought the weirdest pair of shoes I've ever owned: silver platform sandals. *giggle* They're to go with my other recent senseless wardrobe addition, a spaghetti-strapped, glittery white, crocheted, fringed-hem dress. It's obnoxious and a total departure from 99% of anything I've ever worn or would ever hope to wear. In case you're wondering, that's what I'm wearing in the photo to the left...

July 28, 2001

Had the poodle shaved yesterday, and the look is not attractive. Eep! We're supposed to have photos taken on August 11th by this dude, hopefully he'll have grown out a bit by then.

July 24, 2001

Sean has been at the first of his work's two annual conferences since July 18th. So far, I've been doing really well on my own: sleeping all night WITH THE LIGHTS OFF (huge progress there), taking care of the house AND yard (painting, mowing, cleaning up after pets and myself), even grocery shopping on my own despite the fact that the nuts seem to come out of the woodwork when I'm alone. Ladies, do you also have this problem when you're "out and about" without your S.O.s?

July 17, 2001

Our hot news du jour is that we acquired a Sony Playstation 2, including a much-anticipated game called Gran Turismo 3. Envy us!

On a recent impromptu trip to Barnes and Noble, I picked up a little book called "Royal Scandals", featuring true tales of the many perversions of the French, Russian, German, Spanish and British monarchies across time. It's an entertaining read. (Or as Queen Victoria might have said, "We ARE amused.") Highly recommended for the non-squeamish audience.

July 3, 2001

Continuing my angst-ridden reflections on the current state of my life, especially given the sucky past couple of weeks, my favorite daydream of late involves selling the house, cars and all worthwhile possessions, moving to a secluded cabin in the mountains of West Viriginia and living on the government dime. Perhaps producing a litter of spawn to tend a stringy herd of goats AND increase our welfare revenue... I should start using the terms "y'all" and "reckon" in preparation for this move.

Before I get a slew of whiny emails from all you "victims" of the new economy (i.e. "At least you HAVE a job...whine, complain, moan..."), let me just say that I consider your lay-offs to be fair retribution for those of you who were making asinine comments last year about how your company stock options would make you a millionare in 5 years. Bite me.