Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Heh

This is awesome news: Zoo puts humans on display.

The last line of the article sums it all up, I love it.

I'm off to see a man about a horse. In Hyde Park, that is.

Monday, January 08, 2007

'doh

Thanks for your comments guys, I'm touched when I hear people are actually reading me :) Anyway, I'm an eejit...I will definitely send you bloggy invites but turns out I need your email addresses to send the invites too, and I can't seem to figure out how to see your emails from the comments (if that's possible at all). So, I'm sorry, but can you email me instead of comment? I'm srrussso at gmail dot com.

Thanks again! I'll figger all this stuff out someday...

Sunday, January 07, 2007

...on a jet plane

...don't know when I'll be back again.

I'm not sure if I'll be posting here much in the next several months, but maybe I'll pop in once in a while with a funny story or anecdote. I'm leaving for London tomorrow afternoon, with essentially a one-way ticket. From there, I'll travel on to Saudi Arabia with my employer to work as a private nurse for three to six months.

I'll be continuing to blog and write while I'm abroad, from a different blog, Arabian Nightshifts. However, it's one of those annoying invite-only blogs, as I don't feel entirely comfortable making it public, for just anyone to stumble upon. You know, employer privacy, national security, little things. But I'm not trying to shut you out, oh no! I want to share all that I can with anyone that I know. So, if you want to continue reading, and you want a fancy schmancy bloggy invite, just leave me a comment! Even if I don't "know" you, if I know your blog or we've made a vague passing acquaintance and I'm fairly sure you're not the Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I'll let you in. Oh, and if I know you for reals, as in, I know your birthdays and your mother's maiden name, you're getting an invite soon anyway once I get things up and running. My main motive in the "invite-only" idea is to not have it available on random search engines or to people just clicking through. Like, the muttawah (religious police) or officials in the Kingdom. Not a good place to offend anyone, if you know what I mean. Just trying to keep a low profile ;) I don't know a whole lot about innernet securty, but I figure this is fairly safe way to go. If I'm entirely off base, let me know, eh?

So yeah. I wish I could write an eloquent and concise post about how it feels to organize and pack up your whole little world, to systematically check out of This American Life for a short but indeterminate period of time, to say farewells and thank yous and love yous to all who matter to you but to keep wondering if you said it enough, but I'm sort of at a loss. I also wish I could explain how I'm still in disbelief about what I'm about to do, that I think I'm really super excited and thrilled to be embarking on this adventure, and that I hope that I remember how exciting this all is when I'm suddenly wondering what the fuck I'm doing and where the hell I am. But I can't, I'm just packing and checking things off lists, and going through the motions trying really hard not to cry, so I'm sorry I'm not doing a better job of writing about it.

Stay tuned, whether I see you over at Arabian Nightshifts, or when I'm back here, writing about returning to work at the Children's Hospital. And thanks for all the fish.

Schmoo


IMG_1889.JPG
Originally uploaded by rosebuttons.
These are my schmoos, my babies, my "pack," my favorite little creatures ever. This week and especially this weekend has been full of "lasts," which are bittersweet. Each wonderful moment with my friends or my family stings a bit as I realize that it's the last one for a long time, and I wish the moments would dilate so I can hold them longer, and imprint them on my brain to remember later.

And I can't get enough of these little guys, of their wet noses, or velvet ears, or soft naked bellies, even their wheezey, regular snores when they're sleeping cuddled next to me. Their liquid brown eyes follow me worriedly as I clean the house, drag out the suitcases, and make piles everywhere. So I stop each time I walk by then, and smoosh their faces, scritch the top of the heads, tell them they're best dogs in the world. But it just sucks, because I can't make them (or me) feel better by making sure we've got each other's emails, or promising to write and call regularly, or even by telling them when I'll be back. All they know is that something big is going on, their little world is changing, and I might be leaving. I guess that's sort of all I know, too.

Friday, January 05, 2007

And then there were three

Three days, that is. Until I leave. Eek.

This week has been filled with making lists, crossing things off lists, adding things to the lists...farewell dinners with friends, organizing bills and payments, mail forwarded, getting the car serviced and washed, getting my hair cut, my brows waxed, shopping...

But of course I still found time to lay on the couch, cuddle with the doggies, and enjoy my mindless cable TV. Thanks to Nicole, I found this: Effects of drugs and alcohol on spiders. Go ahead, just try not to laugh out loud.

Now I'd like to do some more of that laying on the couch with the dogs, but I must go and pick up my prescriptions before my insurance expires tomorrow. And then I must go to the Apple store and pick up Sims 2, because, well, why not? How else will a girl pass the time on transatlantic flights or those lonely nights in the desert? And maybe I'll pick up a pair of speakers, because as fabulous my wee macbook is, it does not seem to have great sound.

And I might be rather brave, or probably just a little stupid because it is 4:30 on Friday, and I am about to head out in the rain across the ship canal bridge, on my way to U Village. That will mean nothing to you if you're not from Seattle. And if you are from Seattle, I can hear you snickering at me.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Obligatory 2007 post

I hid on my couch and avoided any New Year's Eve celebrations this year, mostly because I was still sicky sniffly achey but also because I had decided not to succumb to the pressure of making plans, coordinating people, ensuring a good time, blah blah fish cakes. So Steph brought us some yummy pizza (with extra red sauce on the side, thank you!) and we watched Creature Comforts on the BBC, laughed at the goofy dogs, then parted well before midnight. Not a rockin' celebratory night by any stretch, but as comfortable (elastic waist pants were worn by all) and cozy as I needed. As Jodi said, it will turn into 2007 whether we celebrate it or not. And I figure that I've got a whole year of brand new exciting adventures ahead of me.

So lets see, is this where I'm supposed to make New Year's plans, or even resolutions? I think I'm going to pass on that one too. I've made enough plans (quit job, go to London, spend some months in Saudi Arabia, come home, get job back, buy a house, travel the world, buy myself a pony, etc) and resolutions only depress me because it forces me to think about what I want to change about myself instead of what I already pretty much like about myself. So, all by itself, with no lists or planning on my part, I think 2007 is going to change me and force me to look at and understand the world and myself in profoundly different ways. And hey, if I lose a few pounds in the process, that would be nice.