moar funny pictures

I’m in a writing slump, I guess. Even my continued travel hasn’t really provided fodder, and believe me, I’ve been looking for it. Things are fine at home, work is kicking my ass, I’m eating too much and not exercising enough, but…meh. Nothing is inspiring me to open up Wordpress and really write. I do have a couple more days of India to recap, but I’m working through those posts a little more slowly…it was the end of the journey, things were winding down, and my photographs were few and far(ther) between.

Annnywayyyyy.

Tonight, I’m sitting here in the hotel again, it’s 8:45 at night, and I’m drawing a complete blank. My day today went something like this:

- Wake up
- Eat breakfast
- Pack for the airport
- Watch some television with Mr. Hot
- Leave for the airport
- Get on the plane
- Get off the plane
- Get on the train…

YAWN. You get it, right? Nothing of note. Not even remotely interesting.

So, I’m going to ask you to pick a year between 1963 1969 and 1999. Why? Because I can’t remember anything before 1969, and anything after 1999 is too recent. I’ll drag out some memories and use that year as my writing prompt.

Help a blogger out, woncha?

—- And if you haven’t already entered, don’t forget to leave a comment over here for a chance to win a $200 Visa giftcard. —-

• Not traveling until early evening tomorrow.
• Perfect coffee, not too weak, not too strong.
• A freshly dried sweatshirt to slip on.
• The scent of rice cooking in the steamer.
• Winning a nearly impossible solitaire game.

—- And sizzling lunch sounds coming from the kitchen. —-

Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace in Small Things. Thanks to Schmutzie, as always.

Just some stuff.

• Work this week ended at 10:30 p.m. on Friday with the release of our contract draft.
• It’s all football, all the time, at my house this weekend. Both kinds. But Aussie Rules. However, if we actually got the AFL, we’d be watching.
• Oh, and basketball. Let’s not forget basketball.
• Spent this morning taking the dog for his walk through the woods. Now he’s asleep on the back of the couch and my ass hurts from walking up and down the hills in crunchy snow up.
• Mr. Hot mentioned Pamplona – where they run with the bulls. Then he mentioned something about Tomato Tossing. And I had to look it up. And it really exists. What’s weirder? That it exists or that my husband knew about it?
• I spend an awful lot of time lately browsing Ravelry and drooling over the photos of yarns.
• I see I completely missed DeLurker day, what with my being buried under exhibits 6, 6-A, 6-B, 13, 12, 17-A and 17-B, and the ever popular 4-C. Also, 3A through G about killed me. If you’re a lurker here, will you click comments and say Hi?

  

• My o key still refuses to work unless I really pund n it. Now my period (the punctuation mark, nt the other one) is acting wnky, to. I think there’s ptato chip crumbs in my keybard.
• I started my annual “This year’s taxes” folder today. I hate tax time. This year, I’m hiring an accountant – what with the severance pay and the self-employment-bit and the new job – I’m far too scared to actually go it on my own.
• I’m going to go knit now.

—- I think I just won the award for the lamest Saturday post ever. —-

It’s Hell Week minus 1 at work. Wait. That’s not exactly right. It’s Hell Week this week. Next week is Hell-er Week. (And week looks really strange after typing it 5 6 times like that.)

Hell Week means that I’ve got a kazillion documents that need to be read, edited, distributed, discussed, mutilated, re-written, re-discussed, ad-nauseum before Friday. Hell-er week means another round of discussions on those same docs. With a larger audience. FEEL MY PAIN, PEOPLE!

So, rather than neglecting the duties that keep a roof over my family’s head and allow Shortman to get the education that will, hopefully, allow him to support himself someday, I’m going to go take care of business. You understand, I’m sure.

BUT! WAIT! I’m not leaving you empty-handed. Go check out my Hot Reviews for a chance to win $200. No, really. You only have to come up with a tip for staying connected in 2010. That’s not hard, right?

—- Now – Go. Read. Put on your thinking caps and enter. Someone has to win, and if it can’t be me, it should be you. —-

Continued from here.

Friday morning came, and with it, the realization that we were finally in the home stretch. Once again, we loaded our butts into a caravan of, well, vans, and headed to the second-to-last site. As I was settling myself into my conference room chair (the BEST chair of the entire two weeks; I was keeping track), I figured out that my Blackberry was missing. Considering it was my only link to home, panic set in quickly. You know – the clammy hands, the buzzing head, the heart palpitations. Oh, wait. The head and hands things may have been the hangover from the evening before, but yea, it wasn’t fun.

An all-points-bulletin went out. Luckily, one of the drivers found it on the floor of the backseat. My heartbeat was back to normal and lots of water cured the rest.

Another 12 hour day ended with another dinner. Indian food again!

*****lalalalala*****

Saturday was supposed to be our rest day. Until, that is, those plans changed and we were told to be down in the lobby for a short visit to an Indian cultural center. “Short” turned out to be 6 hours of presentations and sightseeing – complete with quizzes to test what we learned. I was not amused.

I had planned on sleeping in, checking out the hotel grounds, and reading. Instead, I spent the day battling exhaustion and stabbing pains in my abdominal area (which, if they had been caused by, say, crunches instead of 10 days of Indian food, probably would have made me feel virtuous instead of slothy and gluttonlike).

Instead, I saw these musicians:

They were very good, but it’s not likely you’ll be hearing their music on the Top 40 anytime soon.

and these dancers (and no, I didn’t dance, I only posed):

I nearly fell over trying to stand on one leg. I grabbed the guy’s arm. Ewwww. Sweaty.

I got dressed in a sari:

Yes, it was comfortable and beautiful, and No, I didn’t buy one. It doesn’t work with the office dress code.

Saw this historic church:

One of only three in the world built over the grave of one of the 12 Apostles. (St. Thomas, in case you didn’t click the link.)

And the temple I showed you here.

I sniffed the salty air of the Bay of Bengal:

where this guy tried to sell us horseback rides.

and we all hoped that the typhoon predicted to hit the next day would pass us by. (It didn’t, but nicely waited until Tuesday evening when we were on our way home.)

After all of that, I begged off from eating dinner and went back to my hotel room. Within 10 minutes of pulling up the covers, I was sound asleep. I managed to wake briefly – long enough for a quick conversation with Mr. Hot (thank gawd for G00gle Talk) – before calling it done for the night. The next time my eyes opened, it was morning.

—- Sunday. A new hotel. One last vendor visit. Ten days down, just over two to go. —-