oh yeah...

more peanuts for you to read. posted last friday (oops). clickety here and enjoy!

baby snowmageddon

if i’d known when i left school at 4pm that the snowstorm would wreak havoc on normal rush hour traffic, i’d have filled my tank before i got on the beltway. as it was, i had just enough to get me to ben’s, even if it took me twice as long as usual. when i realized, around 5pm, that my commute would take much longer than usual, i called ben. i estimated i’d be there around 6. we chatted till my phone ran out of battery and cut us off. a few minutes later, the real traffic hit: i was moving about one car length every fifteen minutes. two hours later, i started eating the dinner i’d brought for the two of us. i turned up the radio and attempted to dance, belted into my seat. thirty minutes later, i wondered how crazy it would look to jump out and make a snow angel on the shoulder of the highway. i definitely had time and i didn’t think anyone would honk. two hours after that, i silently cursed the people for whom the rules didn’t apply as they created their own lanes. five minutes later, i joined them and drove a whole mile in ten minutes. it was exhilarating. an hour later, four lanes of traffic (and a few invented lanes) funneled into one, snaking around jack-knifed semis and other distressed vehicles stuck in the middle of the highway. twenty minutes after that was a tree, stretched across three lanes. around 8pm, i started hoping that ben would eat without me. then i put a few pieces of gum in my mouth to see how big a bubble i could blow. an hour later, i irrationally worried that he’d go to bed before i got there and send me back out on the highway towards home. with a sore jaw, i spit out my gum. around 10pm, on the exit ramp 1.5 miles from ben’s house, my car heaved and sputtered and coughed it’s last breath of gas and refused to move one inch further. four kind strangers helped me push it through the slush to the side of the road. a fifth kind stranger said he’d watch my vehicle in addition to his while i hitched a ride to get gas for the two of us. i politely asked the kind strangers to drop me off near ben’s house, instead of the gas station. at 10:30ish, i knocked on the door of a very worried ben. five minutes later, i collapsed into the passenger seat of christian’s car and the three of us went in search of gas. two stations later, we'd filled the 5 gallon can and headed back to the exit, dodging a downed power line. christian drove as close as he could to the exit ramp and ben and i sloshed the block across the intersection to my car and the waiting kind stranger. it took another thirty minutes, much spilled gas, some very cold gas-covered fingers (ben’s), a bit of creativity involving a long drinking straw, and another kind stranger’s flashlight to decant the gas into the cars. at midnight, 2 blocks from ben’s house, a large load of snow fell on the roof of my (now breathing, moving) vehicle. 10 feet later, we noticed the power line stretched across the road (a different one), making it impassable. we turned around to discover that what we thought was snow falling on my car was actually another power line, now stretched across the road and blocking our escape. so i parked and we gingerly stepped around the power lines and walked back to ben’s, arriving around 12:30am, stoked the fire, drank some tea and finally fell asleep.

i promise this wallow* won't last

i've decided to make a mix tape**

please feel free to suggest your favorite break-up songs.

so far i have:

johnny cash "i see a darkness"

damien rice "delicate"

martin sexton "caught in the rain"

magnetic fields "i think i need a new heart"

imogen heap "hide and seek"

daniel bedingfield "gotta get through this"

the weepies "not your year"

annie lennox "why"

bright eyes "a perfect sonnet"

cheap trick "want you to want me"

iron and wine "the trapeze swinger"

leona lewis "bleeding love"

beyonce "single ladies"

mr. big "to be with you"

moulin rouge "el tango de roxanne"
the fray "how to save a life"
stevie nicks (and covers) "landslide"

jewel "you were meant for me"

what else?

*songs and songs only in the comments, please, or i will turn them off.

**did we really used to spend hours that way? weird.

thank you and have a nice day

what i did at work today - part 3

9 ish am - took cab to airport

11:20 am - flew to indianapolis and actually used the airplane bathroom. (ew)

1:30 pm - stood in line for rental car (aka the BIG suv, no minivans allowed)

2:30 finally arrived at the conrad hilton.

2:31 was greeted by jd (the valet), who remembered me from my month-long stay for the trial in may and noticed that my hair is now much shorter.

3:30 pm ate lunch (this is different. i don't usually take lunch)

4ish was greeted by kevin, who also remembered me from may, noticed my haircut and remembered that i like sprite zero and plain m&ms.

4:30 ish tried to log into the sidley network. hours later, i finally have access to the sidley network.

7:30 pm went to home depot to buy shelves for the war room

8:30 pm - went to dinner at mo's, a place for steaks. (i had the tuna)

10pm back to the war room to check on the exhibit downloads. they've timed out.

12:25 am - i am now watching letterman while STILL waiting for all the exhibits to download so i can get them to our vendor to blow back in binders to give to the judge. i'm tired. and my phone doesn't work. but this hotel is pretty sweet.