You know, Columbus Day was a whole lot cooler when I was a kid. We got to do stuff for school like color pictures of Columbus and his ships, read books about his voyage, or make little models of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, depending on how old we were. It was a special day, a mark on the calendar that meant a break from the ordinary autumn education routine.

Now, it's like, "Oh, Columbus Day. No mail." End of story.

Hmph. Wonder if there are any downloadable pictures of Columbus and his ships I could print up and color?

Vacation was amazing. I thought Recon would be fantastic, but it exceeded my every hope. We all got along swimmingly (even when in the hotel pool!), and the whole weekend was like a really long sleepover that revolved around Combat!. I have so many wonderful memories of Recon, but most of my readers here have heard them already, so I won't bore you with further elaboration.

And after Recon, I got to spend a whole week with with my parents and Grandma O. We went on a few short excursions, but spent most of our time relaxing and lolling about in the sun. It rocked!

Now we're trying to readjust to living at night and, for me at least, it is not going well at all. I seem to be sleeping in little 4-hour chunks here and there. I have to work tonight, though, so maybe that will help straighten me out. Grrr.

I'm free! Freeeeeeeeeee! As of right now, I am officially on my giganimous vacation! Yes, yes, yes, oh happy day!

Forty-eight hours from now, I will be near the airport. Fifty hours from now, I'll be seated on a plane bound for Atlanta. Fifty-four hours from now, I'll be in the Atlanta airport, meeting all sorts of my Combat! fanfic friends for the first time and reuniting with DKoren! A thousand huzzahs!

And in one hundred twenty-six hours, Daddy will pick me up at the airport in NC!

Ahhhh. I'm breathing free air. No work for two weeks. How glorious! Day after day of unadulterated bliss! My toes wiggle ecstatically at the mere thought!

Avast, ye scurvy dogs! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Yo ho!

If ye've been flounderin' a bit in yer piratical speech, here be a handy video to help ye get yer ship back on course.

Alas, me best pirate matey at work jumped ship last week. I'll be piratical alone again this year, I'm afeared. Tis a cryin' shame, and no mistake.

Don't be forgettin, ye scurvy lubbers -- tomorrow be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Arrrrr!

I have a cold. Came down with it Tuesday night, actually. That didn't stop me from holding my own little Glenn Ford Memorial Double Feature on Wednesday, however. Watched my beloved Blackboard Jungle first, then followed it up with The Big Heat, which I'd never seen before. It was a delicious bit of noir, and after watching it, I can definitely say: no hot coffee in my kisser, thank you very much!

Anyway, brain has gone quite loopified. And I'm only taking Advil Cold & Sinus! Of course, it's still the good old kind with pseudoephedrine in it....

Sad thing is, now Cowboy has the cold too. And we've both lost our voices. We now communicate in pantomime and the occasional stage whisper. And well-coordinated sniffling.

Rejoice, all ye lovers of Warheads! Rejoice! Right now you can buy a big bag of 225 Warheads for less than $5 in the Halloween section of Wal-Mart!

I love Warheads. Back when I was in high school, you could get bags of them at the grocery store, at gas stations, at Wal-Mart, wherever. Bags of like 20, not 225, of course ;-) Freestargirl, Jewels, Heidiana Jones and I would buy them before we went to a movie together, and sneak them into the theater. A dark theater is still my favorite place to eat Warheads. My favorite is the black cherry, although sour apple is super good too. My only complaint about them is that they don't stay sour long enough -- you get to the sweet center much too soon, and it sticks around far to long. More sourness, please!

But lately, I can only seem to find Warheads around the holidays. In fact, last year I could only get them in little batches of about 8 inside plastic Easter Eggs for a dollar an egg or so. So I went ahead and bought two whole bags of them tonight! That's 450 Warheads! Wooooo! Sour City, here I come!