Cards

See my little button over in the right column? If you click on it, it takes you to the place in last post where I talk about my Single Person Christmas Cards and how you can get one (by e-mailing your address to disasterkitchen ((at)) gmail.com). I do have addresses for several of you from last year, but I will be more likely to remember you, and get your address right, if you go ahead and e-mail me again. Do it.

You can send me a card if you have one and feel like it, but you should feel absolutely no obligation at all. Just send along your address!

Last year, I posted 2007's card, but haven't yet posted last year's model. So here it is:

(Yes, I am wearing the earflap hat again in last year's card--and am in this year's, too!)

I spent most of the afternoon working on this year's card, so hopefully I'll be printing them and sending them out soon.

Oh, and I got more lights and put up some ornaments, so maybe I'll post some pictures of the tree, too!

Christmasy

I am back home, and delighted to be here, Winter Storm notwithstanding!

Actually, the snow feels very festive; David helped me bring home a beautiful (sustainably- and locally-grown) tree this afternoon, and although it's a bit short on lights and thus still undecorated, I am thrilled to have it glowing prettily and deliciously scenting my living room!

I've had my own place for the past six or seven Christmases, but have always returned to my parents' for my entire Christmas break from school, and thus have eschewed any decorating. But this year, whether because I was inspired by decorating at David's parents'; or because spending several weeks in Walla Walla is admittedly less tempting than spending them in sunny southern California; or because David's Real Job doesn't have quite the Christmas break my semi-permanent student gig does, and I don't want to abandon him entirely; a tree seemed like the right decision.

I'll get another string or two of lights, and then I can't wait to deck it out in my 25-for-$5 Target mini balls and the string ornaments I started tonight!* I also have silver and gold spray paint and lots of glitter, so we'll also see what else I might find to hang.

In other seasonal news, it's time to get in your Christmas card requests! As I did last year, I'll be sending real live cards to whomever would like them.** If you want in on the Single Person Christmas Card Crusade action, send your mailing address to disasterkitchen ((at)) gmail.com. Whether I know you in person or not, whether you're an avid commenter, emphatic lurker, or are visiting here for the first time, I'd love to share the Christmas love! So hurry and get those addresses to me--preferably within the next week (by which time, hopefully, I'll actually have the cards designed and assembled... ahem).

Merry Merry!

*Let it be noted that all water balloons are apparently not created equal; the cute little grenade ones Becca and I used were lovely and spherical, but the bag of assorted colored ones I picked up at Target tend, sadly, more toward the oblong/ovoid/generally pear-shaped.

**Though last year I forgot my dear friend Mandy, and still feel bad about it. Mandy, should I send you two cards this year? I'll try hard not to forget anyone this year!

Leaving Las Vegas

I am in the Las Vegas airport, where I managed, thanks to a miraculous absence of lines at the taxi queue, the ticketing counter, and security--as well, less happily, as a 40-minute flight delay--to arrive approximately two hours in advance of my departure. I would like more than anything to be in my own bed in Mpls (though I'm informed they're experiencing their first real Winter Storm of the year), but instead I have a red-eye to Atlanta. Yay!

The good news is that I'm ready to fall asleep right here at my computer (though the time in front of it would be more productively spent on my submission for writing workshop, due tomorrow...) and will hopefully get at least a few hours of snoozing in on the flight. I'm thoroughly exhausted from yesterday's race, the subsequent hoofing up and down the Strip, and last night's late show.

Everything is so big here, and so consistently-bafflingly far apart! The hotel/casinos themselves are emphatically labyrinthine, and although the distance between the Luxor (where we stayed) and the Venetian (to which we walked to claim our Blue Man Group tickets) is ostensibly only two miles, the peripatetics required to actually navigate the space (including dodging myriad meandering tourists and card-flipping solicitors, and unavoidable bazaar-esque roundabouts) makes it feel at least twice that. The blistered feet, tight calves, and sore quads did little to help!

The race itself was a pretty good time. It had been a long time since I'd run an entire race with a friend, and running with my sister (and much of the time with my brother-in-law) was definitely a highlight. We finished in 2:01:48, a bit faster than my Monster Dash time and quite a bit faster than my Lacamas Lake. It was very cold at the pre-dawn start, and had actually only warmed up to around 40° by the time we finished, but the sun did come out and the course was nice and flat, with good bands and entertaining scenery.

We forwent the after-race concert (has anyone even heard of Donavon Frankenreiter--?), but did get tickets to the 10pm Blue Man Group. Thankfully, it was more than entertaining enough to stave off our race-induced sleepy stupor--a really amazing show! I could throw some words at you to try to explain it, but I highly suggest seeing them whenever you can. Maybe I'll try to write more later. I definitely have more pictures to post.

At the moment, I'm thinking I'll remove my contacts for my upcoming flight, in hopes of getting as much rest as absolutely possible after quite the full and fantastic, but rather exhausting, weekend.

More Vegas!

Thankfully, Vegas--or at least my experience of it!--has improved vastly in the past 24 hours. Last night a friend from high school who lives in town picked me up and we went to dinner at a nice little Indian place. The food was pretty decent, and the atmosphere was lovely, but I can't decide whether the highlight was our great conversation (he let me pick his brain about this very strange city, and it was fascinating)--or SEEING ANDRE AGASSI!

So I'm sitting there, and I keep staring over M's shoulder at the next table. "I'm sorry," I apologize for my distractedness, "but that guy just looks just like Andre Agassi!" He's there with an attractive blonde woman, another big dude, and like five kids. Another half hour or so passes (filled with enough engaging conversation, thankfully, to keep me from doing too much staring) and I notice that they're getting up to leave--and that Andre is posing for pictures with the hugely smiling Indian waiters. M finally turns around, and confirms that it's him, all right, and that the blonde woman is Steffi Graf. Andre is the last to leave, after the picture taking, and walks quietly out, exuding cool. Completely awesome.

This morning I met up with Seester and Chris at the Luxor, where we checked into our room and grabbed some food before heading to the expo madness next door at Mandalay Bay. We fought crowds there for a while, picked up our stuff, and strolled a bit on the strip before calling it an early night. Now I'm going to sleep as much as I can; the race starts at 6:15!

Vegas

Dudes, I hate Vegas.

I think I'll like it better when April and Chris get here, but in the meantime, I have to keep reminding myself to stop grimacing.

Anyway, I'm on the ground and back in the Pacific time. I didn't even have to fly through Atlanta this time; I discovered this morning, to my great relief, that today's layover was in Milwaukee, instead. It was snowing there, and in Mpls, but not here!

The weather is definitely in this town's favor. I'll probably feel better about it in the daylight. And after sleeping.