blablabla random stuff and nonsense

1. I'll be in the Plovdiv region and desperately want to get together with other PCVs who'll be around. I'm thinking Tuesday or Wednesday night after Christmas. I want to eat Chinese food, dance, and laugh till I pass out. Who's in? email me!

2. My new favorite song is "Come to Jesus" by Mindy Smith. I loved it when it first came out. But I really REALLY love it again. I think Mindy Smith is great. However, I'm still loving "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine" by Switchfoot, and "Caught Out There" by Kelis (not actually her myspace, but you can hear the song there). I just wanted to share the joy of my favs. Oh yeah, and the other song with words I don't put on my blog (again, not really his site...). I guess these songs are either bitter hate songs, or sad healing songs. I'm pretty sure that the only bitter left in my mouth is no more than I've ever had (owing largely to my inability to deal with reality) and the sad songs make me feel good. They aren't an accurate reflection of the state of my soul or relationships, so don't fret friends. Oh, and Cyndi Lauper's new "Time After Time" with Sarah McLachlen (the site has three songs, forward to this one, it's worth it!).

3. I'm gonna use my crockpot tonight. I'm going to throw in chicken breasts, BBQ sauce (thanks Arin!), potatoes, and onions. mmmmm sound yummy? wish you had a crockpot? teehee!

4. I started a new blog using a popular server. I've been meeting lots of new people and it's been fun. I don't really blog there, but connect with people. It's more interpersonal than Blogger. SO, one of the people I have met is in the Army. Actually, he's currently in Iraq. He said that what I am doing (what WE are doing, for my PCV readership) is amazing. That brought tears to my eyes and does again as I type this. Some guy who doesn't know me, doesn't know much about the Peace Corps, think this is an amazing thing to do. This from someone who voluntarily decided to take a job in which he could lose his life, would have to be away from his friends and family for TWICE as long as me. I was like, "are you KIDDING ME???" Now I feel guilty for feeling sad these holidays.

5. I saw Harry Potter. I cried. I cried because I watched it without my best friend, the person I watched the other three with. I cried because it was my mommy's birthday. I walked through the center of Blagoevgrad later. I did some shopping. I walked by a TMC that was loudly playing music. It was something from the Nutcracker. I sat down on a bench and cried more. In the rain. I'm not making this up. I realized how pathetic I looked. It's just that the Nutcracker was a holiday staple in our house. As a kid, Tchaikovski was my brother's favorite!! Of all the music he could listen to, it was always Tchaikovski. And we know I'm missing the fammo these days. So, it was sad.

6. I was cheered slightly by the purchase of a new coat, knee socks, and a sweater.

7. I was cheered by not having any transporation problems even though we were passing through Predela in the snow.

8. On the way home, I got a text message that said, "where are you, can you get on Skype, Mloden wants to talk to you." ah, yes. thank God for GSMs. So I called my friend Mloden. I'm amazed at friendship. We chatted. We understood eachother. It was nice to know that when you leave people's lives, they don't forget about you. They even welcome you back, but understand that sometimes it's just too hard.

9. I slept in fabulously late today and loved it.

10. I made my retribution test for a class that was CRAZY! I enjoyed making the tests. Well, it was more of a quiz. But it was fun! I covered vocab, pronunciation (stress marking), and writing. It was review (over information we would have covered if they had participated - and yes, they were told they'd have a test) and included "production" elements. It was designed to be passable - I always hated those tests that were designed for failure.

11. It snowed here yesterday and it's sticking still. I'm not sure if I'm happy about this.

12. It is snowing again. I'm still not sure how I feel about this.

13. This post was brought to you by the letter F and the number 3.

14. Anyone know how to put streaming music on your blog? I found one place, but it limited the size really badly. Ideas? I know there are places out there that will host videos and music. Help please.