Finally an Update!

I have been really bad about writing lately, and I apologize for that.  Its partly because I always feel like I need photos to make my posts more interesting, and I haven't been taking many photos lately.  I'm not sure why other than I feel a little awkward taking photos of people that I work with or just met . . . and it's hard to take photos of yourself.
In any event, that may just be an expectation that I have to get over.
So I have now been studying Spanish for 3 weeks.  For some reason that sounds like so much longer than it actually is.  And I feel like I should know Spanish better than I do.  Perhaps I just have higher expectations of myself than are realistic.  We just learned past tense on Friday, but only for verbs ending in -ar.  But we only really learned how to conjugate -ar verbs in the present tense, too, so I guess that fits.  The nice thing is that class is mostly all in Spanish, so that is definitely beneficial.
Other than that, life is pretty easy.  I go to work from 8:00 in the morning until 2:10 in the afternoon, then I have homework that I do in the evening.  But I'm basically free to do whatever I want from 2:30 (factoring in time to travel home) until I go to bed at night!  I would have to say that one of the best jobs in the world must be studying a language.  It sure beats paying to learning a language!!!
Today was a pretty long day for me.  I left my home around noon and didn't get back until nearly 9:00 pm.  Gizmo was really freaked out.  I think he thought something happened to me.  I'm usually only gone a few hours on Sundays, and even on a normal day I'm not gone that long at one time.
Anyway, I hope this isn't too boring for you all.  And I do plan on doing some back entries because I had a great time over the holidays.  That's just where the lack of pictures has affected my motivation to write...

A Second Try at Pumpkins

Scrapping pumpkin out of it's shell, with Gizmo sitting nearby.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, as I'm sure you already know.  I am making pumpkin cobbler for the dinner that I am going to, so I decided to try cooking pumpkin again.  This time, rather than peeling it prior to cooking it (like I did the last time when I ended up slicing a good chunk off my thumb) I just cut it into smaller pieces and then cooked it.  After it was done cooking, I scraped it out of the shell.  It was MUCH easier than last time.  So, if you ever decide to cook fresh pumpkin, don't try shelling it prior to cooking . . . it is much too dangerous.

All Dressed Up With Somewhere to Go

The requested dress code for the event
was a cocktail dress.  I didn't need
any other excuse to wear my most
formal dress.

Tonight I went to a Fashion show with some friends.  I'd never been to a fashion show before, so I was really excited to try something new.  The fashion designer was a Russian.  She had some really interesting designs with a traditional Russian influence.  One of the models looked like a dancer as she walked, she was so graceful.  Some of the models walked so fast it was almost like they were trying to get off the runway as quickly as possible.  It was great.
After the show, there was a dance party.  It was a lot of fun.  My feet are already sore from dancing, and I think my legs are going to be sore, too.
When we were done, we went to get something to eat.  We couldn't find anything that was still open, so instead we got some hot chocolate from a grocery store and went back to my friend's house.  There we made hot chocolate and little pizzas.  It was good.  I had a great time.

Aimee and me at the Fashion Soiree

This one seems particularly Russian to me

This one seems to have a Scottish influence.

Christmas is coming!

New Car!

Not MY CRV, but one that looks exactly like my CRV.

I got a new car today!  I'm pretty excited about it... It is the nicest car I have ever owned, but also the newest and most expensive vehicle I have ever owned.
I got a Honda CRV.  It has a sun roof, and a 6-disc changer, aux port so I can hook in my Ipod, stereo controls on the steering wheel, and LOTS of room.  This is also the first vehicle I've owned that has had a remote door opener.  I like that.

Yes, that is a TV in the women's bathroom

So, the dealer was supposed to deliver my car because the dealership is located about 60 miles away, but there was a little snag.  Instead, someone drove all the way down to Falls Church to pick me up and drive me up to the dealership.  It made for a LONG night.  But, it gave me the chance to really get to love my car, and get to know the roads around here a little better.
Oh, and if I hadn't gone up there, I may never have seen a bathroom with a TV in it!

 If you'd like to know what I've been learning at work, check out this youtube link. A man set the questions to the application for an immigrant visa to music.  Luckily I don't have to know the questions by heart!

Holiday Service

Getting close to the end of the sorting.  The boxes
in the background contained salvage food
that was sorted into various categories. Then
the empty boxes were stacked.  I think we went
through 8 pallets of boxes.

Today I went to the Capital Area Foodbank with some of my friends to do service.  There was another group there, so we quickly got through the food.  We sorted something like 40,000 lbs of food.  It was quite fun.  Half are time was spent learning how to sort the food.  They had some interesting distinctions.  For example, most canned beans went into canned vegetables, but baked beans and refried beans went into the canned meat bin.  Most fruit went into the canned fruit bin, but single servings went into snacks.  I understand that they want to be consistent for packing purposes, but I guess that's why it takes an hour to teach people how to sort the food!
I miss doing service.  I would like to find more opportunities to do service.