Wed Nov 9 - Okay, so I still stay out way too late with friends and I'm still capable of nearly falling asleep with my fingers poised over text messaging that I got home safely. But I did get home safely, I did send the "I'm home safe" text message, and I did get a little more than five hours sleep. Hmm, not bad.

So I drove through three counties, for just over three hours, and through three known nasty heavy traffic bottlenecks to cast my vote. I hope you all cared too.

Anyways, although I made it to voting in time, I did not make it in time to get to the studio too. So I met Saul when I did get to the Westside and we went for late coffee and side dishes. We skipped Denny's and Norm's and tried out a restaurant called Swinger's (please, let's avoid the obvious jokes and snickering, hmm? It's still a family-show folks, and my Mom *is* reading along, thanks! *giggle*). They've actually got a fabulously yummy latté that I highly recommend, and a quinoa zucchini side dish with more garlic than Adrienne has ever served me in a whole meal. (Please tell me, Adrienne, that you can eat quinoa—we'll have them make some up without the squash. You have *got* to taste this!)

Class keeps just getting easier and faster, and not because of my book (which is one of my least worthy projects ever) but because my classmate, a new tech support gal, is experienced with our software already. I cannot believe how much work I still have to do on this book, and how lucky I got that there weren't any paying customers this time. But wow, do I have so much work to do for the next two weeks. I'm going to be paying in spades for a while.

(Where does that phrase come from, anyway?)

After work I headed over to Michele's salon to get my color updated, and she did a lovely job. It's a little darker than last time, and although she loved doing the ends flipped up in the back, I'm not sure about that detail. But otherwise we still had a lovely evening chatting and updating my hair.

And the electrician finally made it over to our apartment (after 9 pm! isn't that a little late??) to help us troubleshoot how our electric bill could have gone from 16 kilowatt hours average per day in August to over 23 per day in Sep and almost 29 per day in Oct, with no change in our lifestyle. I'm terribly embarassed to say I now know why my room never seemed to cool off, or why it seemed like there was heat trapped at the ceiling around all the boxes on my loft bed frame. Apparently there's been a thermostat dial in my bedroom all along, that I never noticed (but which was sort of in plain sight next to my desk but not quite behind my door) that was turned up all the way, this whole time. Yes dearies, I've been running radient ceiling electric heat non-stop for G-d knows how long, running up our electric bill and overheating my bedroom and wondering why an open window and a small fan never seemed to cool off or air out my room. I cannot believe I'm such a dork. Well, I'll never overlook a thermostat again.

(Is radient ceiling electric heat just the most ridiculous method for heating an apartment you've ever heard of? Nevermind, don't bother answering.)

But best thing about getting home this evening would have to include that I've actually *been* here and enjoying my roommate's company, getting a few odds and ends done, and just relaxing. Mel and I got to chat about things, run to the grocery store together, chat some more, and just hang out a bit. I really *Really* ought to do that more often.
* * * * *

Oh, and one more fun note for the end of the day. Mariam shared a link with a bunch of us fiber junkies on an email list, and I have a new humor addiction I simply must share with you. http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/ is the site for the "Yarn Harlot," a gal in Toronto Canada who's addicted to all things yarn, knitting, spinning, etc. and has just the most wonderful writing style. I find myself laughing along with her projects, foibles, and day-to-day parenting stories as much as I enjoy reading Bob's stories. The silly thing is that I know Bob in real life, but Steph's Yarn blog is just someone I've been reading over the internet today. (Isn't technology funny?) So she's definitely part of my "try to read often" list of internet journals.
* * * * *

Finally, on a more somber note: I thought nothing of my mom going overseas for work, even though the Middle East is a dangerous and volatile place. This morning I'd even received another "things are going well here" email, and a link to a photo album of the beautiful hotel she's staying in. Then in the afternoon, I got a disturbing "I'm okay, don't worry" email. Because my Mom? She's in Amman, Jordan. There were three suicide bombers in Amman, Jordan today who targetted the hotels of Westerners. Fortunately, my Mom was across town. But my Mom was *across town!!* from three explosions that, last I had heard, killed 67 and wounded 300+ today. My brain cannot even begin to wrap around the idea that my Mom could have been on the other side of town. But she's okay. So I'm partially torn between relief and grief for the 367+ other families who are not okay today.

* * * * *
Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Mom. And Larry. And my entire family. And the weird luck that Mom was on the other side of town.