It's important.  Also, you might get to hear a conversation similar to the one I overheard which went as follows:

Girl behind me:  Would you rather have two big spiders or like hundreds of little ones?
Her SO:  Two big ones. 
GBM:  Well, I didn't mean hundreds of little ones.  I meant like 70.
HSO:  Two big ones. 
GBM:  Oh.  I'd rather have little ones.  They have smaller mouths.

For the record, I vote no spiders.  At least not in my house. 

...because it was awesome!  First of all, it is the first weekend in about a month when I didn't have to worry about going into work, because I convinced Cool Boss to let me buy larger reservoirs for my current column study. 

Now, the good stuff.  Friday night I had planned on sitting at home and watching Joan of Arcadia, but Cdub called to say that one of our colleagues from Charlotte office had been in today, and she was staying over until Saturday morning.  Did I want to hang out with them?  Um, yes.  So, after finding said colleague a room (stupid football game and soccer tournament), we headed to Jack Astor's for dinner.   Then, since there were no good non-kid's movies out, we came back here to introduce her to the funny that is The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.   

Saturday was the Capital Area Handbell festival.  Many handbell choirs get together and work on music under the direction of one clinician.  This year's clinician was Tim Waugh, and he was fantastic.  By explaining to us the idea behind a piece that we were playing and changing the way that we rung it, he took a piece of music I had previously hated and turned it into not something I loved, but something that moved me.  (The piece is about the Oklahoma City bombing, so it's difficult to love.  But it is moving.)  The best quote of the day came at lunch, after I explained why if I chaperoned the D.C. Urban adventure again, I would not work with the chaperon I had worked with this past June.  (It was raining during our scavenger hunt, and he kept whining about how cold and wet he was and *coughcoughcough* he might be getting sick.)   The quote?  "There's nothing worse than a grown man whining."  Amen, sister friend.

Today had brunch with the girls, and then we went for bra fittings at Nordstrom's.  Turns out that I have been wearing the wrong size- right band, wrong cup size.  Y'all, I went up a cup size.  Apparently, Mom and TRgirl are flat chested because I have used up the family boob quota.  Although, TRgirl would look really strange with my chest.  Also, she has a flat stomach, so shut up TRgirl. 

Now I am doing laundry and cleaning.  Or, as Jasper would tell you, doing laundry and using the scary noisy thing.  You think he'd get used to the vacuum eventually.

Today on the earthlink home page, "Coach Wannstedt to Quit Losing Dolphins"

I mean, you think he could lose something no one would miss, like rats or something. 

I have a phone voice.  I was in the lab when I got a phone call.  I picked it up; it was a woman from the office where I had my Echo done (second opinion cardiologist appointment today).  After I finished speaking with her, my co-worker, who happened to be in the lab at the time said, "Oh my God.  You have a phone voice."  I said, "What?" and she said, "You have a phone voice.  Did you ever work in customer service?"  When informed that I had, she told me that's where it came from.

I suppose it could be worse.  She could have told me I have a phone-sex voice.

So, this weekend I headed up to Scranton, PA to see Goose participate in the Tournament of Bands ACC championships.  He is in the pit and plays some instrument that looks like a cross between a xylophone and a pipe organ.  No idea what it is called.  He was great, and the BMHS Marching Mustangs came in 7th out of 26 bands.  Not bad, I say. 

On this trip I learned that the CD player in my car is apparently controlled by Clear Channel Communications.  I had a mix CD in, and had set it to  "random".  Well, certain songs were played many times, and others were sadly not played at all.

Friday, after my cardiologist appointment (No, I don't have  a serious disease.  There is nothing wrong with my heart.  What there is a problem with is the transcription skills at my doctor's office.  Well, former doctor's office.  Because , seriously, when you send me a letter saying that I have a serious disease but you aren't going to treat it and it turns out to be a typo which you could have told me before I went to the cardiologist but you couldn't be bothered to return my damn phone call I am going to switch doctors.) I drove up to TRgirl and the BIL's.  TRgirl had the quote of the weekend.  "I don't think the Pope has ever pedophilia'd anyone."  We had excellent Mexican for dinner.  The next morning we met the BIL's father and nephew at the Waffle House for breakfast.  This is where my bad restaurant karma started.  The waitress dropped a plate of scattered, smothered hash browns on my leg.  On my one pair of jeans I had brought.   So, we went to the BIL's parent's house, where I washed my pants leg with dish soap and then got on the road to Scranton.

The cool part is I made hotel reservations about a month ago, when Mom first told me this was a possibility.  Not knowing where the competition was to be held (well, beyond "Scranton, PA") I picked a hotel 0.5 miles from the competition site. 

Anyway, long drive, (pretty though!), arrive at hotel, give clerk my name (Note:  there were no vacancy signs on the door.  Computer paper with "No Vacancy" written on it taped to the door.), and he says, "Oh.  I gave away your room.  They told me you weren't coming."  Me (panicky vocce), "No, I only canceled Friday!"  Clerk, "I know.  I'm just kidding." 

So, I go up to the room, and Mom and Bud arrive momentarily.  They give me my cool Canon A75 camera (birthday present!  early!), and I took this picture of Bud.  Then we went to dinner at Ruby Tuesday's, where the karma kicked in again.  Slow kitchen!   Then we went back into the room to put on our warm clothes to go to the band competition.  Also, I got to drive the new Explorer.  Jealous!

Anyway, we soon found out that our warm clothes were not warm enough.  Holy cold, Batman!  But I did get this picture.

Sunday we had breakfast at a local diner, and I headed back to NC.  I stopped for lunch at an Applebee's in Damascus, MD where it took me  an hour to get a soup and salad.  Also, 15 minutes for a refill on my soda.  My waiter kept apologizing, saying they were very busy.  How odd for lunchtime on a Sunday!  Gah!

However, I did learn that the Starbucks Peppermint Mocha is very yummy. 

We had our big outdoor sampling event Thursday, Friday, and today.  Sara spent 2 days obsessing over her new car, and I spent the third day obsessing over something else (I am frustrated by it now and do not wish to go into it.  Actually, I am just frustrated overall, which is another reason for the no postings.)  Anyway, it's over!  Yay!  Well, for me.  Sara still has digestions to do.

So, yesterday I had a conversation with Mom where she said, "That's what Trump always says."  I kid you not.

I think when you have this conversation with your boss:

WG:  [Cool Boss], I can't find my sweatshirt.
CB:  It's in the lab.

it is indicative that you don't have a normal boss/employee relationship. 

And finally, I believe that I am the only person in the world who gets yelled at by their cat when they tell the cat that there will be no shower that morning.

Hope all y'all who are traveling have a safe trip.  I am off to the metropolis that is Culpeper.  Hopefully, I will remember to take pictures, unlike the Raven Rock SNAFU.

So, as you know, I went to Culpeper for Thanksgiving.  I stayed at Peg's, and we had dinner at Bob and Stephanie's (that would be my uncle and his wife).  Or, as my Grandfather told my mom,  "I am going to Bobby and Stephanie's for Thanksgiving, and [Watergirl] will be there too!"  Her mom cooked the turkey, and we all brought side dishes.  As usual, there was too much food, but all was yummy.  (See the Thanksgiving photo album for pics.)

Friday morning I went to Wal-Mart to get tires.     Yes, I was in the Culpeper Wal-Mart on Black Friday.  Not as bad as you might think.  That night, we watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 

Saturday I came home late.  Sunday I got up, read the paper, and went to work.  Then I stopped at church to pick up my greenery on the way home.  The house is now mostly decorated (I will put up the tree eventually), and Ri may have learned his lesson about not eating pine needles.  Of course, he's burnt himself with a candle three times, so maybe not.  Hard to say.

I decided to put the tree up last night.  Ri helped, but Jasper was upstairs sleeping.  When he came downstairs, he jumped sideways and looked at the tree like, "Holy crap!  There's a tree in the living room!"

So, I was just driving to handbell practice (which I didn't have tonight, but anyway), and the license plate on the minivan in front of me said "FAUX-FAN".  What does that mean?  Is the driver/registered owner an aficionado of fake things, or do they pretend to be fans of things they really aren't fans of?  Like rooting for NC State when secretly they hate State?  People, your license plates should not confuse me this much.

Also, I had brought my cotta and cassock home to wash, and since I thought I was going to choir practice, they were hanging in the backseat.  On the way home, I stopped to get gas.  This guy said, "What are you, a nun?"  Fuck yes!