way too busy for real writing, like "real writing" is what i normally do here, so here's a disjointed, draw your own connections entry for the short attention span fidgeters out there.

back from a lovely trip to st. thomas. it was supposed to me mom, sis, and me, but sis had a last minute job interview so delayed coming for a couple days, then the hurricane happened (actually, it didn't happen in st. thomas, but it happened close enough to give us strong winds so they canceled all the flights), then a bird hit the plane she was supposed to take from grandma's to atlanta, and she finally got there on thursday.

meanwhile, mom and i had floated in magen's bay, where the water is swimming pool calm, had chocolate/coconut/kahlua milkshakes at udder delite (what should have been a setting to nullify the effect of the bad pun was ruined by being next to the dairy (where udder delite gets their cream, presumably) so the shakes were enhanced with the smell of manure), eaten delicious food at randy's, and had mango daiquiris at molly malone's in red hook. all this in addition, of course, to sunning ourselves like iguanas by the pool.

speaking of which, i now have a lovely tan which, and this happens EVERY YEAR, i have to cover up because i come home and suddenly it's sweater weather. what up wi' dat, yo?

as usual, it was lovely. we got to stay in the main building of the hotel, which is unusual. they usually give us the crappy rooms way at the end of the farthest hallway because we get the cheap room rate. but this time the crappy wings were closed for renovation so we got to stay in the main building.

as usual, the food on st. thomas was crappy (aside from the aforementioned randy's and udder delite). shrimp tasted old, fish could have been "gorden's", and sauces were bland. and it's $8 for a hot dog. imagine! $8 for a mediocre hot dog! and you thought ball parks were pricy! mom can only take it for so long before she goes nuts and can't stop complaining and threatening not to come back next year. but we always do. we always do.

while we were enjoying our sun-soaked vacation in the islands, poor karl was at home living in the mess. good boy that he is, he did some cleaning and putting away of things. but the job is overwhelming. the kitchen is still a disaster, and finding a contractor is Not Easy (i know, all of you who actually own homes already know this). so we can't put any of the boxes and boxes of colanders and soup bowls and pasta ladles away, so they are all still hanging out on the floor.

the bathroom is basically done. we have to order the new sink and vanity, and paint. and get some sort of door for the linen closet. and see about the threatening leak from the bath faucet which we hope does not indicate a leak in the plumbing since the only way to get to the plumbing is to take down the tiling that was just put up.

the rest of the house still needs the poster putty taken off the walls, all the walls and sills washed, primed and painted, and furniture arranged and pictures hung. i wonder if we'll ever get to that point.

meanwhile, i'm trying to get some research done (ha!), write my statement of interest for the state department, get my security forms together (which entails remembering every place i lived, worked, and went to school for the past 10 years, plus getting a non-family, non-repeated reference for each of those places), and get the damn car fixed. it now has electrical problems (i think) which may or may not be the cause of the air conditioner breaking. but to justify spending the money to get the electrical stuff fixed, i'll have to get the rust hole in the wheel well fixed, because it won't pass inspection otherwise. but each job is contingent on the other not costing *too* much.

can i just skip ahead to the point where i have a fabulous new job and someone else is paying to pack and move me to a lovely local where i get to live in a beautiful house that has been recently remodeled?