santa claus parade

Apologies for the non-Blathering; things have been craaaaaaaazy around here. After much stress, looks like our permanent Internet access has been installed. We went with a company called Liberty Networks; other tenants in the building have been dropping by to see how our connection is doing (they might switch if we're happy...looks like we're the guinea pigs for this service :-)).

I'm typing this on my new Mac Powerbook G3. Bought it just in time; my old machine was going WAY flakey, crashing 4-5 times an hour. This morning, things collapsed fairly badly and I couldn't do any e-mail. So I've converted to my new machine much more hurriedly than I expected...still have to get some files.

My hours at the office over the past few days:

SAT: 18 hours
MON: 12 hours
TUE: 13 hours (Jeff, Doug & I are still working at the office, and it's past 11 pm)

My brain hurts. I -love- my new office, though. I can't wait until everything's settled down and we can get back to a normal schedule. Went to Home Depot tonight with Jeff and Doug to get lightbulbs (Brian made us some very cool light fixtures), a flashlight, a ponsettia plant (sp?), and some other odds and ends for the office. I've never been to a Home Depot before....wow, it was like a City of Hardware! Not as interesting as an office supplies store, but still pretty fun to explore.

Took Sara and Annie to the Santa Claus parade with their dad on Sunday (Ruth's home sick). I don't remember going to this parade before, though my Dad claims he took us when we were really little. Sara and Annie were SUPER excited. Sara had written a letter to Santa (once we get our new scanner hooked up, I'll post it online) and was clutching it feverishly in one hand as she sat atop Uncle Jeff's shoulders, straining to see when the parade was going to arrive. The parade was pretty long, at least in "kid minutes". Halfway through, all the parents with children on their shoulders were fidgeting and muttering, "When's Santa coming?"

I'm pretty jaded about Christmas, I admit, but even I started getting excited when the news rippled through the crowd that SANTA'S FLOAT WAS ALMOST HERE. I couldn't help it, not with all the super-hyped excitement all around me, all the anticipation.

Oops, gotta go. Almost midnight.