Snowy day

It keeps snowing. I think snow is pretty but I dislike how it shuts one in. Good thing I'm in a cleaning mood.

I've been waking up ~3am every night briefly. Usually I sleep uninterrupted.

Today is Vicente's bday.

We almost could have lost another bird due to my sister's foolishness just now. She let our neighbors' labs into the house, and the puppy almost got Joey. Man oh man. This blog is like therapy for me, for real.

Hopeful trip to France

Yes, May (or June) would be a lot more ideal, warmer, sunnier weather but if my chief aim is to speak French, one can do that year-round :).
Gosh, I'm gonna have to buy a nice camera. An SLR like my sis' would be nice.

I'll be there before Easter :) (April 24). Bakeries and shops should have nice window displays.

Is it worth $150 in train fare to make it to Italy briefly to savor some good pasta, bread, gelato, and hopefully, ambiance? Genoa is the closest big city to my friend. I just know it's known for salami.

Oh, wonder if I should buy one of those small video cameras. We have a video cam but it's cheapo. If I'm gonna go, I want quality images. Because who knows the next time I'll be back.

Ok, nix that

I'm not used to writing much by hand anymore; my hand gets tired when I write in my journal. I like typing.

So... I think a trip to France is meant to be. I'm getting signs. Like today a Canadian teacher from my time in China uploaded pics of her time in France. I don't know what she's doing there currently with her Scandinavian boyfriend but she rarely uses Facebook. I also received the Junior Year in France alumnae bulletin today. And then Donna emailed me low fares on Iberia Airlines (cheaper than Air France!). These are from NYC, though, which is inconvenient. I will check how much from RIC but probably at least $100 more.

I am full. 2 nights in a row I went out to dinner with friends and had eyes bigger than my stomach. Why do I torture myself?

I may close this blog

and just use my hand-written journal instead. First, I need to save and print my entries.

Verbose dad is annoying! He's extremes, it seems: either little to say or neverending! He just told me to fake enthusiasm at job interviews in the future. Kind-of a bummer that I wasn't offered the job I "interviewed" for yday but I wasn't planning on taking it anyway because I found it too administrative, boring in nature. Ironic that I was posting a LinkedIn status that I decided not to take it and then get the call from the temp agency. The agent asked me some ?s about my experience for her own info and said the way the job was originally presented is different. I doubt she'll have many more offers anytime soon but it's good we "reconnected," in a way.

Cloud Nine

Yday I looked up the definition of "cloud nine" to make sure I was using it correctly. (I wanted to use it to explain my state since dating and to offer an explanation why I'm not on top of event dates). I ended up using "head in the clouds" instead, which is probably more correct. Just now I saw on NY Times that it was used at the end of an article that caught my eye, about a huge mass wedding in Taiwan because of the auspicious date, the number 9 meaning "longevity."

My Swiss friend is here!

She arrived by Greyhound from Philly. Even though we saw each other twice last year in NYC, it's a whole different feeling to be driving her in my hometown. It's really neat! I feel fortunate that I have wealthy friends who are able to come visit me :). After Richmond, she will go to Washington. I wish I could go with her. Maybe I could somehow take Tuesday off.. could take a sick day if I have any left. I was tempted to take a sick day yesterday because I had gotten home at 1am and knew cleaning was still necessary before she came but remembered I did that before New Year's day last year, jeopardizing the double pay status of working on a holiday. Actually, it may be both the day before and after one must work; must check.

We went home, where my dad greeted her in French, forgetting she's Swiss German. She gave us some Swiss chocolate (Lindt), and I wondered if she had actually brought it from Switzerland (b/c it's what we can get here). She later said she bought it here. Makes sense.. it's summer.

Then we went to the Indian restaurant near work. There is one near my house and another near my high school, but I figured the ambiance would be best there. There was a private function going on in a room when we got there. Also, a cute, chubby 1.5 yr old Indian boy in his mom's lap kept me entertained. The food took a while to come out, I guess partly b/c we ordered Tandoori. The veg masala dish was frozen mixed vegetables, which made me think I could make it at home. So, not that impressed for the price I paid but Viviane liked it, and we both left full (at 10:00pm!)

I thought of walking in Carytown and Maymont today. Yesterday I got a text that a friend of a friend is inviting people to her lakehouse on Sunday-- that'd be awesome!

This dating thing

Is a pretty great distraction. It causes me some anxiety, of course, because it's new but overall, it's a good anxiety. It's so nice to feel he likes me exactly as I am. I suggested we jog together at his place tomorrow then make dinner and watch "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" (one of my favorite movies from childhood).

Makes me feel old when I'm somewhat attracted to and feel I get along well with an amiable distant cousin who turns out to be a senior in HS! hahaha