day of the (brain)dead

I just got back from Europe. It was a working trip, and man oh man did I work my butt off. I'm still exhausted. And I haven't fully gotten over my jet-lag. I'm a mess. A walking zombie.

I got the house! I close on the 14th. I haven't yet given my 30-day notice to my landlord, so I'll have a couple of weeks overlap to move in. I'll be fully rooted at the new place by December 1.

Just in time to come to NC for a visit. I'll be there from December 6-9, more or less.

I'm playing my horn again. I'm tootling with a small community orchestra, and we're giving a concert on Sunday afternoon. I like this ensemble MUCH more than the last one.

I voted today. It felt good to color in that little circle for Barack. Several members of our tour group in Europe wore Barack buttons, and we constantly made friends because of it. People walked up to us --people from all over the world-- and excitedly talked about their hopes for us if Barack is elected. That's the thing I'm most looking forward to about his presidency: the world will like us again.

I AM FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW

i just bought a house. it's *gorgeous*, but it's also more than i wanted to spend. so i'm freaking out about that a little.

adding to my stress level is the fact that i'm leaving for europe on wednesday morning. so that means the house inspection is happening today. i'll have to submit repair requests tomorrow. and somehow hope my suitcase magically packs itself.

also, the banks are closed today (damn you, christopher columbus!) which means i cannot put my hands on my earnest money (which is currently tied up in a CD). i could write a check, but i'm out of checks. can you believe that?

i am freaking out a little, yeah.

also, on a whim, i bought david byrne tickets for his 12/8 concert in raleigh. RALEIGH! he is not coming to the pacific northwest, apparently. so i bought tickets for raleigh. which means i now have to find a plane ticket to north carolina, assuming i can get time off -- everyone wants time off in december. wouldn't it suck if i couldn't get time off for a concert i've already bought tickets to? yeah, that would suck.

i'm freaking out.

time flies

lord, has it really been a month since i last wrote? i guess it has been.

life doesn't really pan out the way you expect, does it? the friendship that stephen & i are trying to build is rocky... i find myself being a little less than tolerant of his point of view. still, i want to spend as much time as i can with hannah; she's a ray of pure light in my life. i want to find ways to hang with hannah that don't include stephen. i've told him as much. this makes us both sad.

as time goes on, i'm focusing in more and more closely on what it is -exactly- that i want out of a relationship. i plan on implementing strategies on obtaining that goal soon. after i get back from europe.

europe! i go to europe on wednesday!

this is one of the many perks of my job. i get a paid vacation in europe. free to me, plus i'm on the clock. life, in this regard, is grand. venice, verona and vienna. oh, and slovenia! i'm happy to be escaping for a while. i leave the 15th, and return on the 26th.

and i'm also still trying to find a house to buy. the short-sale that i made an offer on hasn't come to fruition. the banks are dragging their feet. (other things to worry about, clearly.) so i'm continuing to look... and i've found some interesting prospects. i suppose there's a possibility that i may put an offer on a house, then get on a plane to europe the next day. how jet-setty is that?!?

that's all for now. i apologize for the infrequent updates. i'm simply busy trying to re-orient myself as a single girl, looking...