i read this and it brought back an odd memory.

when i was in college (eons ago, in the '80s), i too, had the same aversion to having christ pushed on me in pamphlets on campus, especially since i am a red sea pedestrian (or an RSDenizen, as would put it, which would require that i grow gills and live in the water.) one day, though, i observed something that i found useful later on. a friend, who also hated being pestered by the zealots, was approached by one of the aforementioned freaks. he was pelted with many invasive, religious questions. finally, exasperated, he turned and exclaimed, “jesus was a test tube baby.” i am not sure whether they thought he was insane or they were offended by the statement, but after that, no one bothered him again.

the rabbi from the conservative shul called me back. she told me that they have a lot of intermarried couples there and that they have been opening up a bit because no one should be ostracized for the different family traditions that exist in their home.

i told her how she had made a huge impression on BC when we went to a tot shabbat a few months earlier. and how BC wanted a rabbi on her birthday cake. (i put hello kitty on it instead.) the rabbi cracked up.

i think that's a good sign, don't you?

10) i have not had to listen to lee greenwood sing “g-d bless the USA”

9) i watched BC run through GapKids, pointing at all the decapitated mannequins, screaming “look, mama, look at the headless baby! look at the headless little boy.” etc. (okay. so i am a little twisted. but so is she.)

8) i've only looked up a few times when i hear planes overhead.

7) BC and I were hysterical as she tried on hats in bloomingdales. ladies hats. a woman who overheard us giggle remarked, “you better watch out for her, mom. she loves fashion.” i informed her that this child is clearly my grandmother reincarnated. she has never met a shoe, dress, or perfume she didn't like. (yet.)

6) we got out of the disney store unscathed AND with a birthday present for leah, to boot.

5) after aforementioned purchase, i found my credit card, which i couldn't find in the disney store and so had to use a different one.

4) we talked to grandma and grandpa, who are both well, wacky, and contemplating travel.

3) BC painted the loveliest watercolor. i couldn't tell you what it is (oops, there go my mommy credentials – i guess i am supposed to be able to know in my heart exactly what everything she creates is), but i love it and i want to frame it.

2) BC is napping. ::Doing Happy Dance::

and the #1 reason why today has been good so far…

1) no one seems to have gotten hurt. to paraphrase those brilliant bards at Faber College (and who out there knows THAT reference?), “peace is good.”

in my research on the smithsonian national museum of the american indian, i have hit a weird snag. i have info all about the welcome center (as the museum will not be completed until 2004), but no one actually has decided what the address is for the place. apparently, this is a situation. meanwhile, my little publishing tool needs an address and zip to calculate the neighborhood, etc. since it is between 3rd and 4th on independence ave; and since it is near VOA, i think i will dub it 300 Independence Ave, SW and give it the zip of VOA (whenever i find that.)

jeez. can't anyone in this town make ANY sort of decisions?

if i ever disappear on people mid-IM, or if i don't seem to respond to e-mail, it isn't because i am having any sort of hissy fit or am simply being rude. it is simply because my #@%#@$%@#% IBM Stinkpad cuts out (cutting off my power supply), which, i believe, is due to the fact that the AC Adapter is fucked up. (hence, the aforementioned EBay auction entry.)

do not, under any circumstances, take it personally. unless, of course, you are scally.

(just kidding, scally. really.)

today is my half-birthday. i am 3x and a half.

be nice to me. or else i take my cane and beat you senseless.

i am sad. why am i sad?

because in between listening to the plumber blow up my basement bathroom (i just flushed my upstairs toilet and i thought it, too, was going to explode) and writing up the entire kennedy center schedule, i have run out of my favorite decaf vanilla tea.

i love love love this tea. my dear friend katrin, who has since moved back to her native Germany, used to make tea in a teapot for all of us product managers back in the day. it was the one civilized moment i could look forward to in the midst of the insanity that was AOL in 1999-2000. and now, my seemingly never-ending stock is gone.

so please, on behalf of all that is good in the world. please, send me some. decaf.

heehee. i am bidding for computer equipment on EBay. (okay, so it is only an AC Adapter. but hell, i need it, and the store wants $90 for it.) i am so excited. and nervous. i hope i get this thing. i need it to keep my @#$%@#$% IBM stinkpad from cutting out on me night and day.

first, i made a potato kugel. then, i made a honey cake. then, i made an apple-filled challah. then, veggie-corn chowder. i think i better make some food for ME now.