Welcome back, Nilly! Sorry moving was such a pain. How's the new place?

Oh my goodness, Nilly -- 13 floors is WAY TOO MANY. But I'm glad you're settling in a new place, finally.

Also: Happy birthday, Daniel!

Also also: Now I really need to do stupid work before I go to brunch, and holy cow, do I not want to do that.

Hi Nilly! That's way too much excitement, if you ask me?

Is your elevator set up for Sabbath service? A couple months ago a friend forwarded me a link to an article about how they're programmed -- something I'd never considered!

Timelies all!

Hi Nilly!

Woke up with sore shoulders and other places. This doesn't really surprise me, since I was on my feet from the time I got on the Metro to go down to the Mall to when we caught a Red Line train at Fort Totten(we were having no luck getting a Red Line train at Gallery Place, so we took a Green line train to Fort Totten and switched lines.). Most of that time was spent far too close to people I'm not married to, and my purse was on my shoulder the whole time.

Yipes Nilly, sounds like a brutal move. Glad to see you!

I am waiting for my coffee to finish brewing, then I'm hoping to get some grading done before the chaos of the day starts.

I tried to give myself a zombie manicure last night. Didn't do a good job, but I suppose that's OK. It only needs to last the one day as I'm fairly sure I don't want to teach with bloody looking fingers.

Good luck with the grading, Burrell. My attempt at working isn't going so well. Bleh! Maybe a shower.

Happy birthday, Daniel!

Is it also Jilli and The Adorable One's anniversary? If so, felicitations!

Allyson, I am reading Sam to mac at bedtime and we are both loving it.

Obligatory editor's pimpage: It really is a great readaloud book, isn't it? Except that since I was one of the editors I really can't in good conscience go to Amazon or Powell's or B&N and post a review saying so. So, all Buffistas who are reading it to their sprog and loving it, please don't forget to go forth onto the wider web and say so. I'm full of love for the whole story and for Sam and bursting with pride at Allyson's achievement, but I really can't go posting reviews. All I can do is pester the rest of you to post 'em.

You guys! It's so great to post with you!

How's the new place?

The new place is a whole room bigger than the first place (which means we now have a spare bedroom, and who wanna be our first guest? Um, once we finish moving the last remaining stuff from the temp place and straighten this place up, of course, so, um, who wants to be our first guest next week or so?).

It's finally - after a bit longer than two months in the temp tiny place, which was an excellent idea and solution for its time (after two, yup, not one but two, landlords broke their lease with us), but still so much Not A Home - um, where did my sentence go? Oh, yeah. So, the new place, even with all the boxes and unpacked stuff and not-yet-all-there stuff, still already feels more like home than the temp one, and it's such a great feeling. I was serious, who wants to be our first guest?

Is your elevator set up for Sabbath service?

I have no idea regarding the elevator at the temp place (it was kept in such bad conditions, I don't think they'd make the effort of maintaining this sort of service), and we never stayed there for shabbat (the place was too tiny and not-equipped for cooking and, well, Shabbat-ing), so I never had a chance to check.

However, the DH's parents live on an 8th floor, and their building definitely has a shabbat mechanism. It means that once it's activated, you can't get anything from pressing the buttons, and the elevator runs automatically - from the bottom straight to the top floor, and then down to each floor at a time, until it reaches the bottom again. Of course, there is a warning siren right before it closes, to make sure people manage to take care when entering and leaving, and it waits a bit in each floor. This way it's possible to climb upstairs (especially for elderly people, or mothers with babies in their strollers (is that the right word?) or just plain tall buildings), without having to change any situation of any electrical circuit or have a major workout.

Is it also Jilli and The Adorable One's anniversary? If so, felicitations!

If it's not, it should be, and that's good enough for me. Happy day, Jilli! Happy day, Pete! With lots of wishes for a wonderful year together!

I am reading Sam to mac at bedtime

Goodness, I leave the internet for a few weeks and Allyson's book is out? There's not enough "Yay" in the world (even with its internet all working and stuff).

Oh, does that mean I should be away more often? Because if that means that more Buffista dreams and things-they've-worked-so-hard-for are going to come true, I'm so willing to pay that price.

Happy everything to everyone!

Hi, Nilly!

We had tapas last night, and I was right, I don't like beets. But they were delicious, and folks in downtown Van were very cool. I saw the best Rorschach, along with a whole lot of other costumes.

Having a great time (my BFF's kid is EIGHT--I'm appalled that we're all this old), but my headache is starting to loom and not go away. I will be plowing through my pain meds unduly in a second. Just trying to put that off before I get up properly for the morning.