After a long day of getting A LOT of work done, I played some Spider Solitaire and Ben played some regular Solitaire on the baby computer (while we watched more West Wing).  Sad new for the day:  I had been using my old ibook when I didn't need a very portable computer (its hinges had broken, but they worked on and off, and everything else seemed ok) and today, the hinges got jostled a little, and suddenly the computer was dead (probably forever).  I had been saving on my geek stick all day (as well as emailing files to myself every time I made significant progress), so I didn't lose anything, THANK GOODNESS.

We are both determined to get A LOT of work done today.  No time for talking.

p.s.  Happy 2nd engageiversary, Ben :-P

Thursday night dinner.  Men on the couch. Women in the kitchen.  Make your own judgments.  

We ate leftover mac and cheese and orzo carbonara (made with turkey bacon, thyme and accidently too many peas) from the dinner we had hosted for my cohort the night before and leftover massaman chicken (which had been frozen since last week's dinner for my cohort.)  And Ben's cohort managed to prove, once again, that they are much better eaters than my cohort, since the leftovers are nearing completion:)  Thanks guys!!!

We keep being terribly surprised that we've finished rewatching another season of The West Wing so quickly.  We moved on to Season 4 tonight.  

Hoping (and confirming) that I looked as fabulously ridiculous as I felt with my oversized tridelt hoodie and huge white sunglasses (which were in my christmas stocking this year - thanks ben.)  Minutes after this picture was taken, I decided my hair was terrible, but it had been so hairsprayed (which I NEVER do) that my only option was to take the hairthings out, push it back, and stick the sunglasses on top of it.  It was a good look, all day.... 

Ben gets three posts in a row.  This is a picture of my tea mug from today, which is massive, but not quite as massive as it looks in this picture.  (Ben's hand is actually pretty far in the background, though I think the picture makes it look like his tiny hand is tapping on the edge of the mug.)  Anyway, I will tell you, gentle readers, a tale of woe.  I discovered a tea that I really really love.  You should try it some time, unless you hang out around Ben.  It turns out the smell of this tea (which I really really love) makes Ben feel really really sick.  This picture was taken after I poured out my sweet and spicy tea and replaced it with some morning thunder, an old favorite.

My husband is very sweet, but have I mentioned that he's crazy?  This is him being considerate enough to plug in my power cord despite the fact that he has restricted the use of his arms and his face by tying himself up in his sweatshirt.

I made Ben stop and get a butternut squash when he went out to buy paper so that we could print millions of pages of articles for our theses. (The paper was for the thesis articles, not the squash.) When he was at the supermarket, he bought a bottle of our favorite wine.  So, after a day of work at the cafe.... wine, broccoli soup, pasta with a tomato/ground turkey/turkey kielbasa sauce, and West Wing made for an evening of romance.

So, New Hampshire Public Television, our only consistently working television station (as well as the other station that we got in occasionally) changed over to digital and we had no more tv. So we went out and bought a digital converter and an antenna.  We were kind of frightened we'd get too many tv stations and would get addicted.  The verdict?  We only get NHPTV... But it looks superclear when it doesn't get all jumbly.  We actually don't really get any channels when we use the antenna (so we'll return that), and whether or not we get reception is entirely dependent on whether the cordless phone is on the charger, which lives above the tv.  

I think I already mentioned it, but this happens in the same door in our hallway ALL THE TIME.  

Meet my new baby computer. The battery weighs at least as much as the rest of the computer.  Also, we saw Banff tonight (for free!) and it was pretty good, but I didn't feel like the films chosen for our show were spectacular.

BEST DAY EVER!!!

The phrase I'm most known for was coined specifically for days when I wake up feeling like this.  For those of you who haven't been through many of those days with me, when I ask the question, "Do you know what today is?" or "Guess what today is!"  The answer is ALWAYS: the best day ever.  So, dear readers, I want to remind you that today is the best day ever.  You may be wondering why I plague the people I live and work with with this annoyingly optimistic catch phrase.   Well... because when I was leading my first backpacking trip and everything felt unbearable (to me, and probably everyone around me as well) - I decided that that day could be the best day ever if I believed it was....  and since that day, every day is the best day ever.... 

Poor Ben's computer will stay in this position to dry for the next week or so before we try to turn it on.  Tomorrow night, my computer will become his and Wednesday, my new baby will arrive.  Not the worst solution ever.  If the computer doesn't work, we'll see if our renter's insurance will cover the accidental damage at all.... We can hope... 

For one of my "cultural events" for class, I went to a church this morning and saw three baptisms.  We talked about the book of Esther and I was hugged and blessed by dozens of people I'd never met before.  It was an quite an experience.

Later in the day, I was totally clumsy and hit a glass of lemonade, causing it to fly directly into Ben's computer.  So much water went into the computer that when tilted, liquid literally POURED out of it.  Hours later, it was still dripping.  So yea.  I completely killed a very new computer.  Not the best day ever.  

At the end of the day, we went to the grocery store:

I was so excited to buy this onion because it was HUGE and I thought I should share that joy with you.