Pirate Master 6/28

While I still don't think the show is living up to its potential, things were somewhat more interesting tonight. A battle of "I don't like this person so let's vote them off" came up, with the backstabber not liking the flirt and vice versa. But for me, the backstabber tried to deny he was a backstabber, while the flirt has been upfront (with the camera at least) about flirting with the guys to get herself farther. I'll go with the person with a plan anyday. Even better, she snuck onto the roof of the galley and was eavesdropping on the guy while he was plotting against her, which made me love her even more. In the end, she won, which I thought was super sweet, and the guy was "cut adrift".

And "Let's see what you've done" is still the best tag line ever.

SYTYCD is also turning out to be one of my favorite shows. They are all so good that the competition for me is practically a distraction, and once again I think they let the wrong people go tonight, especially with the boys. But dang, the dancing is so hot, and the choreography is exciting and inventive. The girls are ridiculously sexy, and this is coming from the gay guy, I mean, c'mon. Dance is way underrated in pop culture, I think this show is, in general, more exciting than the average American Idol. Don't get me wrong, I think the singing is awesome entertainment as well, but when these kids throw themselves through the air it is just so, to borrow a new phrase, buck. Also, these kids have WAY more style than the Idols do, and that in itself is enjoyable. If I didn't work in a hospital I would totally go out and get a mohawk, I love that that is trendy now. (I've seen two here on the street in the last week, which is totally rad.)

Oh, also, last night at the CVS was this adorable old lady, with her hair pulled into a tight tight bun on the top of her head, and then for a hat she was wearing a doily, pink with white lace. She was about four feet tall so I had a good view behind her in line, and for some reason it just warmed my heart imagining her getting ready to leave the house and wanting to look good for her run to the CVS to get some bottled water and lotion, adjusting her doily in the mirror by the front door. I like the ladies to wear hats. Even if it is a, uh, non-traditional hat.

END TORTURE NOW!! END TORTURE NOW!!

Tuesday afternoon after a little more painting (our glaze didn't turn out the first time so we had to paint it over actually, but now we are on track) we went to our first DC rally. To my way of thinking, this one was a no-brainer, a rally to end torture in America, so I even got into it. The rally was just to the north of the Capitol Building, so it wasn't even that far. Which was nice, because it was pretty hot and humid out and just walking that far was plenty. A couple of thousand people showed up, some people behind us had bussed in from Albany NY, and they mentioned a bus from the midwest somewhere too, so then I felt even more lucky that I live here now.

Any event where politicians speak is bound to be somewhat boring, but due to the emotional nature of the topic people stayed fairly riled up throughout. The night before David and I had watched the episode of "South Park" where Cartman saves the town from hippies, so we were making hippy jokes throughout, but really there weren't that many of them, it was a big cross section of people, Democrats, Republicans, old, young, rednecks, snobs, all sorts of people.

Something fairly interesting in my political journey is how I seem to be getting more conservative as I get older, and yet the Republican party is moving away from true conservatism at a rapid pace, leaving me stranded somewhere between being an Independant and a Libertarian. I like a lot of socially progressive ideas, but already my limited experiences with health care are reminding me that I think people should have a good dose of personal responsibility for taking care of themselves. (And be free to make the "wrong" choices if they want.) But to me this torture thing cuts right to the chase. I can get over President Bush's veto of, say, stem cell research. Agree or disagree, there is a valid argument either way. But to me he (and Cheney and Yoo and Gonzales and Rumsfeld) are stained forever with all their fancy disassembling when it comes to torture. Every day it becomes more clear that they signed off on this from the very beginning, but it is still just that girl in the photos that is sitting in jail. They sacrificed her to save themselves, thinking that would be the end of it. What kind of leadership is that?

McCain didn't show, but several senators did (FYI Ben Cardin from Maryland was the best speaker). But by far the most effective was a woman representing a group of people who had been tortured by governments. In her case it happened in Guatemala twenty some years ago. She spoke most fluently about the dangers of letting your government have the power of detaining and torturing people in secret. She was a teacher, and broke down when she told us that under the double-talk definitions of what our President has signed off on, then what happened to her doesn't qualify as torture anymore. Under the new rules, her being forced to dance naked for guards, having them urinate on her and put out their cigarettes on her breasts doesn't even count as sexual assault anymore. Everyone loves using the ticking time-bomb scenario, but in the end the only point of torture is torture. It is evil on the soul, and I don't think we should sacrifice our troops souls. They deserve better. Our country deserves better. I so wish Elizabeth Hasselback could've been there.

Another thing I learned - people who like Dennis Kucinich, *LIKE* Dennis Kucinich. Wow. I hardly heard a word he said because of a few people around me who were screaming like maniacs through his whole speech.

Bonus: free t-shirts.

Visitors

We've both had family visit, but we had our first visitors from Albuquerque, Robb and Kelly. Robb is living proof that I am not the only one who spells Robb with two b's, so there. They were coming through on vacation with family, but they came over for dinner and to see our place, which gets closer to looking like a home every day. Then we walked up to the Capitol Building to see a few fireflies before they left again. It is always nice to get a few visitors, even if just for a few hours.

Birthing pains...

Bear with me while I try out a new look for the blog. I wasn't thrilled with the narrowness of the other look, I hate all that scrolling. So we'll try this for a bit and see how it feels.

Slept in until seven this morning. That is what Sundays are for, no? Gonna put a first coat up on our last wall in the living room, and then are going to go check out the Eastern Market.

White House

This morning we were up at six again, and decided to walk over to the White House. Without taking the tour, you can't get anywhere close to the front, but here is a pic of the back (which, because of the car port, many people assume is the front). I was actually much more impressed with the building next door, probably just full of offices for the White House staff, but a great looking building with lots of columns and such. The walk was over six miles, so we keep giving our legs daily workouts.

We also saw this, which just cracked me up for some reason.

On the house side, we finished three walls of the living room today. We were planning this really cool glaze finish, but the undercolor turned out so much better than we'd been thinking we decided just to leave it. We have one final wall and we're still debating if we'll use the finish on that one or not. The base color is this very warm golden brown, and we had a dark red rust color to wash it with, but we'll see.

Friday

Yesterday we got up and went jogging in the Mall. Not a long run, just a nice introductory jog. We both have new shoes and the last thing either of us needs is a blister. But it still feels good to be up and active in the morning again, it is cool and beautiful outside. Last night we took another walk to the Capitol Building, and the Army band was giving a concert on the steps. I wish we'd gotten there earlier, but we sat and got to hear the last 15 minutes or so of the concert. They were really good, especially the piccolos and the trumpets, wow! We just missed a similar concert a few nights ago, so we are going to go back earlier tonight to see if it is a regular occurence or just a special event. But people had brought lawn chairs to sit in, so it must happen with some frequency. Good grief I love where I live.

Now I hate to burst my sisters bubble, because she just moved into a new house in a little resort town in Arizona, and she wrote all excited that she had seen a raccoon in her yard. Well last night on the way home from the concert, we saw a raccoon. It ran across the street in front of us, and we followed it into someones yard and it stared at us for a while. We weren't stupid enough to get too close or anything, those critters can be mean when they're cornered. But he was beautiful. So my neighborhood has fireflies and raccoons. It isn't quite as remarkable as the wild turkey that lived in the park next to our place in Manhattan, but still it is a pretty cool thing in a city this big and dense.

Lincoln

Since arriving, we've been on a weird sort of schedule, staying up til midnight and sleeping in past 8:00 which, for those of you know me, is pretty late for me. So yesterday we decided to break the trend and were up at about 5:30. We were on the Metro just after six and headed down to the Washington Monument. It had rained the day before, so the morning was cool and clear, a perfect day really. The Washington Monument looked great in the morning sun, but that wasn't where we were headed. We kept walking West, but found the park to be closed for unknown reasons. We walked around the edge until we got to the other side and what we were aiming at - the Lincoln Memorial.

I have no idea why, but this was the monument I've been most excited about seeing. It was beautiful in the morning light, and quite a thrill to finally see. My camera battery died on me, but I managed to get in a few shots at least. We just sat a while, and watched all the joggers run up the stairs, pause for a second, and then run away again. (Almost everyone who ran by came up the steps, it seems to have an irresistable pull for people.)

We finally figured out why the park was closed - four army helicopters flew in and landed in the field. A guy in the first one got out and ran over to talk to some guy in a white truck. Then he got back in and they flew away, and the park reopened. I was, of course, insanely curious about what the point of all that was. Some early morning drill? Some high-intrigue delivery? Who knows, but it was fun. Stupid camera battery.

Pirate Master 6/21

Frankly I'm worried. Apparently the producers cast their show with people who had never seen reality TV before. All these people complaining that that things aren't "fair" and that people should only be voted off (I mean "set adrift") if they don't personally like them instead of for political reasons. First of all dudes and dudettes, you are supposed to be freaking PIRATES here. You don't complain about lying and cheating, you embrace them. Second of all, have you never seen how alliances work? Alliances, at least ones you are not a part of, must always be destroyed! That is the basic rule of reality television! Otherwise, you end up going home, complaining how unfair it was that they picked you and how at least you still have your "integrity" and are "proud" of how you played the game. To which I say, hogwash. That may have been a factor during the first maybe two seasons of "Survivor", but after that it just doesn't make sense. It isn't a show about virtue, it is a show about Pirates! I think the host should go around, and before anyone makes any kind of game-related decision, he should ask them "What would Jack Sparrow do?" just to give them a visual. They have permission to scheme without hurting people's feelings, which is why I love the show's premise. So all of these self-righteous "good people" need to G-O go.

On the other channel we have "So You Think You Can Dance", which I always assumed was something lame along the lines of "America's Got Talent", you know, something very middle-brow that relies heavily on mocking people to pass the time. But while the show's standards are lower than the gold-standard of "Survivor", it is hard to deny the magical moments when people come out and are just fierce on the dance floor. What some people can do and say with their bodies just makes me want to cry sometimes it is so amazing. There are so many styles of dance it is all rather subjective in the end, so I doubt I'm going to get too carried away with picking a winner. Although there are several I like more than others, there isn't a single Sanjaya in the bunch. And, like Idol, in the end it is still a popularity contest more than a real dance competition. But I'm sure enjoying the ride.

I've got some more to post (we went to the Lincoln Memorial, yay!!), but we are painting the living room today and I gotta get going...

A challenge...

To a certain reader of my blog, who shall remain nameless, because apparently she hates angels:

If this was merely an oversight I hope we can clear this up soon, because the way this works is that you are supposed to leave your crazy funny comments here on the blog, not gather them all up into an email to me. I mean, feel free to email me anytime, you totally rock and I can't wait to plan a trip to actually see you again. But no fair depriving the blog record of your totally awesome funniness. Tripping on your fancy inside stairs? Funny. Long John Silvers? FUNNY. Now your funny will just be lost forever on the email servers, rather than being preserved for all posterity on my posh arty blog.

And don't think I didn't notice your passive-aggressive bait about "maybe" starting your own blog. Go Nike and just do it! In fact, I hereby challenge you to a blog duel. Which sounds fierce but really just means we will read each others blogs and post funny comments on them. Sort of a you-scratch-my-blog-I'll-scratch-yours deal. But don't hesitate, or all will be lost! We stand on the edge of a knife and all that kind of epic Tolkien stuff. Anyway, I have it on high authority that Mr. Potato Head wants you to do it, and you don't want to get on his bad side if you know what I mean.

To anyone else reading this, I apologize for the oblique references, but for the sake of funny everywhere I had no choice.

Fun at Union Station

This morning we headed to Union Station to meet David's sister and her youngest son for lunch. They are here on a school tour from Idaho, so were part of 50 8th graders and chaperones making a mad dash through NYC and DC. Unfortunately their tour was running late, so instead of spending lunch with them, we just got to chat while they ordered lunch to go and then had to take off for the Washington Monument. Even if it was brief, it was cool to see them. Actually I'm not even sure I did get to see our nephew Gage. There was a boy there who said he was him, but he was wearing a t-shirt that said "Witness Relocation Program" so you can never be sure, I hear those guys are pretty tricky. It was probably an agent in a lot of prosthetic make-up or something. He did seem a whole lot taller than the last time I saw him, so it wouldn't surprise me if wasn't really him. And besides, what 8th grade boy looks past all the pizza and burgers in a food court and orders sushi? I didn't discover the deliciousness that is sushi until I was treated to it by Baz Luhrmann in my twenties. (A starving artist never turns down free food, even if it is raw fish.) In 8th grade I don't think I'd even started eating vegetables yet. Anyway, it all seems a bit suspicious now that I look back on it.

When they ran off to see the monuments, we decided to check out the movie theatre. After spending quality time with family in the food court, we wanted to see a movie that would further uplift our spirits and, you know, make us better people for having watched it. So we went to Fantastic Four. Now, I haven't read any reviews for the movie, but this movie was so lame it even managed to diminish the Hotness of Jessica Alba and her super-cool force field powers. (Angelina is the only movie star who is consistently hotter than Alba was in "Sin City"). Movie producers, please take note, no one is interested in superheros who just sit around complaining about how miserable they are and how lame it is that they can turn invisible and save people's lives, when all they want is to be "normal". BORING!!!!!! (This means you Spidey!) Whine on your own time, not on my $9.25, all I want to see is the joy and fun in kicking the super-villan's butt, with a whole lot of special effects along the way. And maybe some kung-fu. That is what summer is about, not comic book movies trying to pretend they are Important and Meaningful. Just stick to Fun and Entertaining thank you very much.

However, the Union Station Movie Theatre did not disappoint in entertainment value. About ten minutes into the movie, this large family comes into the theatre. Parents, teenagers, babies, the whole gamut. The problem is, in a large theatre where there are only about twenty other people sitting ALREADY WATCHING THE MOVIE, they can't seem to find a suitable seat. They sit down, they stand up and walk around, they try a new seat, they stand up and just stand there a while to see if the seat gets more comfortable after they've gotten tired of standing, and of course are talking at full voice the entire time. At this point in the movie Jessica Alba is complaining about her wedding not being perfect, which couldn't possibly be less interesting, so I turned my attention to the family and the other people in the theatre, who were for some reason getting rather upset at the distraction. Some of the family sit in one place, and yell at the others to come sit by them, and the others yell back that no they should come sit by them, and then a couple from each group get up and trade seats across the theatre. Someone finally yells at them to shut up, and of course the family members are incredulous that someone could possibly be so RUDE to them, and about three of them tell him off while poor Plasticman is getting all rubbery in the legs because he is so scared about getting married (get it, weak kneed? But literally? Ah, the cleverness of the filmmakers astounds me).

Finally they seemed to settle. I think there may have been usher interference, but at that point the silver surfer showed up so I started actually paying attention to, well, not the story really, but the special effects anyway. Near the very end of the movie when it got really boring again when the Fantastic Four decide not to split up after all because, hey, they've learned something today, that maybe saving the world is more important than just being "normal", a couple of them - adults, mind you - got up and moved from somewhere behind me to two rows directly ahead of me. I don't know why, the movie ended about 3 milliseconds later, I'm not sure why they had to see the final shots from those seats, since they were talking and not paying any attention anyway. I love people. They are just so freaking weird.

Now they better not even *think* of showing up when I come later this summer to watch "Hairspray". No one and I mean NO ONE gets between me and my enjoyment of all things Allison Janney. But for this movie? Sweet.

Our place

I'm still not ready to share pics of the inside, but here is a pic of our place. The whole neighborhood is awesome, very Sesame Street. Ours is the cute blue one in the middle. I have a picture of David being a fabulous model on our front stoop, but I still have to figure out how to rotate pictures on here...

Living with dinosaurs...

We went on our nightly walk last night, and I got a picture of the street I most want to live on. Hey, a boy can dream can't he? I defy anyone to show me a street with a more awesome name.

Also, the fireflies were out in force, and I thought, "Hey, wouldn't it be a great idea to get a picture of the fireflies for my blog?" Seems like a good idea, right? Well, have you ever tried to photograph a tiny bug, just at the instant that it lights it butt up? Much harder than I'd anticipated. At one point we came across a bunch in this cute little corner yard. So I just stood there and started taking pic after pic, hoping that one of them would light up just as I clicked the shutter. Finally David came over and said "Robb, whoever lives here is on the verge of calling the police to report some crazy guy taking pictures of their house through the bushes". ::sigh::

So we went to a nearby park where David could get comfortably away from the embarassment that was me trying to take a photo of a bug. I tried for you folks, no one can say I didn't try. Unfortunately this was the best I could do...

Also, for those you of you care about the state of such things, the spider in my window is acting a little funny. He sits in his ratty day old web now until well after we go to bed, although there is always a fresh web by morning waiting for us. It has cooled down considerably and I wonder if that makes him as sluggish as his dinner is. It is supposed to heat back up again next week, I wonder if his old chipper self will return with the gnats.

Pirate Master 6/14

Why do I love "Pirate Master"? Because this one pirate accepted a $1000 bribe (in gold doubloons, natch) to vote someone off...and then voted for someone else instead! Also the music producer with the blonde dreds got voted Captain and suddenly turned all Madonna and spontaneously grew a British accent. Even better the other pirates all tease him about it, and he seems embarassed, but he can't stop! Delicious. While many of the production values are decidedly second-tier, they do sport what is probably the best ominous tag-line for a vote ever - "Let's see what you've done".

There seems to be a battle looming between to groups of power, and so far I'm really not inclined to care which side wins. There are people I like more than others, but in the game of pirates, the winner who should be whomever plays the hardest. Game on.

However I do find it super distracting that when they are searching for treasure, amid all the props of skeletons and chests and snakes and whatnot, that if they have to look underwater someone invariably is shown wearing a diving mask. Since when did pirates use masks to look underwater? Talk about wimp factor. The producers could at least do us the favor of editing crap like that out of the final show. I know it is all pretend, but come on!

Quick question - I haven't watched "24" since the first season, but what are with the commercials where Kiefer Sutherland is going all Obi-Wan? Is he stopping a bomb with The Force or something? I might have watched if I knew that was going on.

NCLEX countdown...

Ack! The paperwork *finally* has been processed, so I scheduled my NCLEX today for July 12th. It is farther off than I'd hoped, but still in time for my first day of work on the 23rd. That gives me four weeks to figure out how I can have me one of those movie montages where I learn everything I need to know in about 45 seconds. Otherwise I'm gonna have to really start studying again. I can't believe I've been out of school for two months already! Where does the time go?

I was really starting to get nervous about getting this scheduled, so I'm very glad to have it done with a firm date to look to. And once I finish I'll still have the whole next week to go on vacation up to New York or something fun stress free. Unless, of course, I don't pass. Statistically the odds are totally in my favor (thank you HESI and your positive predictive abilities!) but don't think that stops me from imagining the worst. For example today I had to look up how many mL's were in an ounce. My guess was right (30!), but still, that kind of crap scares the, uh, crap out of me. I'm really jealous of you guys and gals who have work-related NCLEX review. But I have fireflies on my front stoop, so neener.

Bugs

Again, I know I'm skirting the real issues, but I'd be amiss if I didn't mention the cool bugs we've seen so far. First of all, the coolest bug in the universe lives here, and of course I am referring to fireflies. They are all over the parks, but we even have some right out our front door, which makes me the happiest kid this side of Christmas.

But also, we have one window that is missing a screen, and a friendly spider has taken up residence. Actually he isn't friendly at all, he is a bloodthirsty monster, but since his victims are all fluttery little pests I don't seem to mind. I'm not usually into spiders at all, and this one is certainly no beauty. But I happened to catch him just as he was starting to build his web, and sat and watched him for twenty minutes as he built the whole thing and started eating the aformentioned fluttery pests. He didn't even suck out the good parts, he just ate them whole, chomp chomp. Attracted by the room lights, it was a huge smorgasbord for him too. Next morning I looked at the web, and darned if he didn't lick his plate clean even. Last night, he tore down the old web and built a new one from scratch. Again, spiders aren't really my thing (unless they are of the fishing for ants variety), but he was just such a hard worker I couldn't help but be impressed.

Are you a tourist if you live here?

I still haven't taken any pics of the house (its buried in boxes, but the painting is coming along so we're getting there), but our first night here we went on a walk with my mom over to the Mall and the Capitol Building. This is within easy walking distance from my house! As an added bonus there were even baby ducks in the reflecting pool. I know you are jealous, but don't worry, you can always come visit.

The perfect picnic spot...

I'm sure I mentioned that the trip was pretty uneventful. We did pass a few spots of interest: the biggest cross in the Western Hemisphere, the birthplace of Carrie Underwood, you know, important stuff like that. But there was one thing that especially caught my attention (and almost made me crash as I rushed to take a photo)...

A new beginning...

First of all, I have to say I did surprisingly well with not having internet access for over a week. I was expecting a total meltdown, but perhaps I'm not as thoroughly addicted as I thought. So that came as a welcome surprise.

Otherwise, other than some general soreness and occasional crankiness, the trip went quite smoothly. David drove behind me in the Matrix, and we just drove until we got hungry or tired. Just into Texas we drove through the remnants of what must have been a pretty intense hailstorm, with hailstones that were several inches deep along the highway. Glad we missed that! Otherwise the weather was on our side the whole way which was great. And yes, we even made it to Maryland in time to see "Pirate Master", so all was good in the world. ::grin::

Our friend Tom had dinner waiting for us, shrimp and hamburgers cooked on the grill - delicious.

Friday morning we picked up my parents who had flown in to help, and we drove down to the new place. We were a bit apprehensive since we had never actually seen the inside. When we arrived they told us the maintenance guy was still fixing a problem in the sink, and would we mind waiting? The day we moved in turned out to be the hottest and most humid day of the year, threatening to break heat records. Though we arrived at 10, we weren't able to start unloading the truck until 1:00. But they docked some money off our rent for the inconvenience which was nice, and then when we got inside we were just so pleased nothing else mattered. Brand new carpets, huge windows, good water pressure - the place is awesome. Twice as big as our apartment in Albuquerque. It only took us about 90 minutes to unload the truck, and though it was fairly brutal, we survived. A big shout out to my parents for their help! Several neighbors came over to welcome us which is always a good sign. There is a neighborhood association meeting every month, so we'll probably go to at least a few of those just to get acquainted with people, cause I sure like having friendly neighbors.

We've already started spending my future paychecks and have done a lot of shopping for paint and window blinds and, of course, new plants. (Most of the ones we brought along seem to be doing ok, with just a touch of sunburn on a couple.) Still on the market for a new bed and a washer/dryer. Finding a stackable w/d is going to be a challenge, if anyone has any tips let me know. We found a decent one at Sears, but they wanted $240 for delivery/installation. What the heck?

Sorry this post is kind of rambly, but it is just a lot to catch up on. My parents left last night, just in time for us to watch the most boring Tony Awards show in recent memory (you know when the best musical number in the show is sung by a former American Idol winner, something just isn't right). But congrats to our friends Heather, Matt and Leenya in "Company" for their surprise win for Best Musical Revival! Also Tom introduced us to the delightful game of throwing rolled socks at the TV whenever someone is boring or stupid or bad weird (as opposed to good weird, which I applaud). That is a tradition I could get used to. heh

Now it is time to really get started putting the house together. David is upstairs painting the guest bedroom so it will be all ready for you. I'm still waiting to schedule my NCLEX, but I should really start studying in earnest, cause it shouldn't be long now. Again, I apologize for the rambling post, my mind is in a thousand different places at the moment. But things should start to straighten out very soon now. And as soon as they do I'll start to post some pics.

My final blog from Albuquerque...

I'm getting ready to pack up the computer for the move tomorrow, so this will be my final post for a bit. We move in to our new townhouse on Friday, but I'm not sure how soon we'll have internet up and running. We will be leaving here Monday afternoon after we finish packing up the truck, and will arrive at our friend Tom's in Silver Spring, MD sometime on Thursday. Should be a pretty easy drive. We wanted to do a bit of exploring along the way, and hopefully we'll get to Tom's in time to watch Pirate Master! heh

It feels weird saying goodbye to Albuquerque. We've been saying goodbye to so many good friends over the past few weeks. But saying goodbye to the city is just as hard. We went to the zoo yesterday, and talked to the "Can I have a cookie" bird for one last time. Very sad. Today is my day to be melancholy. Tomorrow I'll be excited with the new adventure. But today I'm already missing things. A few guys have said they are coming to help us pack up tomorrow, and we're gonna get everyone breakfast burritos - I think it is only fitting that the last thing I eat in Albuquerque is green chile.

So Albuquerque, it's been a great three years. At least it isn't such a final goodbye to all our new friends, because you cats can come visit us in DC. ::grin::

Happy Trails!

It's My Party

Cy and Jane Hoffman were too kind and threw us a going away party last night. I won't recount all the teary goodbyes, but we had a great time. (And dang that food was GOOD!) But here are some of the pics that turned out, we love everyone who was able to make it! Thanks for such a fun night.

Move update

So, as usual, our plans are changing a bit at the last minute. We stopped by the U-Haul place and I got a look at the monster truck I have to drive, and decided towing our car behind was going to be too much. Also we liked the idea of having a bit of freedom as we go across to go to restaurants and do a bit of exploring. So we ditched the tow dolly, changed our reservation to Penske because it was cheaper (and we've had great experiences with them on our prior moves), and decided to leave a day early to give ourselves more time to enjoy the drive. David will have to drive the Matrix now, so the actual driving part will be much more boring. (Thank goodness for cell phones!) But instead of leaving Tuesday morning, we're going to leave Monday as soon as we get the truck packed up. That way we can drive less hours each day (still arriving Thursday night to our friend Tom's in Silver Spring) and be able to jump in the car and explore a little. Maybe we can have dinner on Beale Street in Memphis, or go see Graceland, or whatever. If I was towing the car we'd be trapped to whatever was right off the freeway. And the car gets such good MPH that cost wise, even with gas so high it isn't that much more than the tow dolly cost to rent.

So anyway, that is the plan. We packed most of the kitchen last night. Finishing up the painting this morning. We're making great progress on everything, just one step at a time.

Yo ho, yo ho

This week was entertainment Christmas, with not one but two most excellent adventures with pirates.

First up was the third Pirates movie with the indelible Johnny Depp. I'm forgiving of summer popcorn flicks in general, but even with its flaws, this was still way more fun than Spidey 3. The visuals alone were awesome, but it also had that perfect blend of action and comedy. Kudos to all the supporting characters who have made me laugh through three movies. Now I just have to pray they can actually convince the cast (or should I say bribe) to come back for another sequel. Not a two-movie sequel I hope, just a regular one. Cause that would rock!

Next up was "Pirate Master", my new Survivor on the seas. And can I just say, in my best Cartman voice, sweeeeet. Super sweet. After the first challenge - where the winning team found $40,000 in buried gold treasure - they elected a captain, who immediately was given half the take. The guy they kicked off stole their compasses in a failed effort to save himself. The crew can mutiny against their captain. And they are living on a working ship that they have to run. Looks like next week the captain bribes one of the crew - with real money mind you - to be his spy. It just couldn't be any more delicious. I hope they all are plotting hard like that. If so, this could easily be my favorite show ever.