This not sleeping thing is hanging on. It's only been 2 nights so I am trying not to worry, but I am not an insomniac by nature. It must be all the impending change and the emotions/stress to go with.

I am starting to try to navigate the nuances of working remotely. I've done it before here and there but not for months at a time. I have to say, you would think that a person would be less aggravated when out of the office, but I find that I have even less patience for stupidity than I do in the office. Perhaps it is because when you are in the real world, removed from the dysfunction, you have space to think to yourself, "I don't need this shit." I bet this is why employers are loathe to let employees work from home. Such employees probably don't ever return.

Last night Childhood Friend and I had dinner and then coffee. It was great. We don't see each other or talk often but I love it when we do. It really is like no time was lost at all. She was kind enough to come to me in the not-too-enticing suburb my family now lives in since I am doped up on various vaccines and tired as all hell.

I arrived home to spend some time with my family before Boyfriend and I leave the country. I am very tired but also wired for some reason, hence being up, blogging, this late. I already miss Boyfriend and all of the vaccinations I have had to get for the upcoming trip are making me sick. So, not too conducive to sleep.

General "at home" guilty pleasures that I plan to indulge in:

• Reading issues of Glamour that are inevitably lying around the house. Someone subscribed years ago and I don't even know if they read it. I don't subscribe to or buy that anti-feminist garbage but whenever I'm home I check up on those 10 Things to Do to Drive Him Wild, you know, just to keep an eye on the ideological competition.
  
• Shopping with Mother at the Italian market. Antipasto, cannolis and vino ... oh my!
  
• Taking Little Sisters out to movies, restaurants, the library, you name it.
  
• Seeing really good friends.
  
• Traveling to the family's vacation home in another state where I can lie on the swing on the porch and read books undisturbed.

Latest news

• I have a few days left to pack everything up and put it into storage before going home to visit with my family.
  
  
• Friend From Work has turned me on to Civilization IV. How did I not know about this game before?
  
  
• CL Friend's baby shower was a great success. Woohoo!
  
  
• I have become a big fan of Offbeat Bride :)
  
  
• I leave you with this awesome video that I just love:

Belief-O-Matic

I don't know if you remember, but in the past I have taken Beliefnet's Belief-O-Matic quiz every so often, and continually got different results. First I was a Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestant or Quaker. Then I was a Quaker and Unitarian. I just took it today, 4 years from the last time I took it, and I am a Neo-Pagan and Unitarian. It's amazing how far we come (or fall)! I suspect this is because I kept answering about God being spirit and universal and not really a person, as well as the importance of goodness in life and liberal social policy.

1. Neo-Pagan (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
3. Liberal Quakers (93%)
4. Mahayana Buddhism (90%)
5. New Age (85%)
6. Hinduism (83%)
7. Sikhism (76%)
8. Jainism (72%)
9. Reform Judaism (72%)
10. Theravada Buddhism (68%)
11. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (67%)
12. Baha'i Faith (65%)
13. Taoism (63%)
14. Scientology (59%)
15. New Thought (59%)
16. Secular Humanism (59%)
17. Orthodox Judaism (48%)
18. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (45%)
19. Orthodox Quaker (44%)
20. Islam (40%)
21. Nontheist (34%)
22. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (27%)
23. Seventh Day Adventist (23%)
24. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (22%)
25. Jehovah's Witness (16%)
26. Eastern Orthodox (14%)
27. Roman Catholic (14%)

Boyfriend is sleeping, and this is my quiet time. I am drinking coffee, painting my fingernails party red, listening to Pandora and blogging. I love Boyfriend and, in fact, we probably spend more time together than is healthy, but these little quiet times (without the TV on!) are awesome too.

I saw Crafty Friend (I used to call her Artsy Friend but this seems more appropriate) the other night for dinner and knitting. She gave me a book of Wedding Crafts that she had picked up somewhere. So cute! She knows me so well, judging from her gifts.

Since we are leaving this apartment (and the country) in a few weeks, I need to go through all the crap I have accumulated here in the last 2 years. It's amazing how much you can pack into small spaces while living there. If I moved it all out, I bet I couldn't fit it back in ;) Closet full of yarn, bookshelf full of books, storage bins full of journals, greeting cards, photos, craft materials... It's incredible. And you know I don't want to throw anything away!

Step 1: Donate unwanted books to public library.

Step 2: Decide which books, yarns, DVDs, etc. are making the trip with me and which are going into storage.

I don't want to plan out much further until I get there; I'm overwhelmed enough already!

Boyfriend and I have just made the decision to spend several months abroad. We are leaving quite soon, and this big change made me reconsider my blog here. After all, I want to start a new blog that is not anonymous to allow my friends and family in the U.S. to keep up with my travels. I have been so open here that I cringe at the thought of it becoming linked with my real self, considering that the internet betrays us all and your boss, for example, can find out much more about you than you want to share after a few clicks. After much thought, I figured that if I couldn't write about my life here, there was really no point in continuing it. I was ready to retire.

I am hesitant, though. I feel that I would lose all of my readers, and that if I wanted to restart when I return at the beginning of next year, the momentum would be gone. No one would stop by anymore.

I am now thinking that I can keep the blog without discussing my travels or even where I am. (Mysterious, huh?) There are many other things I can share - my thoughts on life and spirituality, my wedding planning, etc.

Anyone want to vote? Will you still read or not interested?

I am throwing a baby shower for CL Friend, who is having a little girl. (We just found out early this week.) I only have a couple of weeks to plan this shindig and I have never thrown one before. I've attended a couple - both my mother's - but no games were played, no activities. I have been researching via the internet and people I know who have been to baby showers and apparently games and activities are important. The problem is, all of the common baby shower games that I have come across SUCK ASS.

• Everyone cuts a piece of yarn at the length they think will fit around the mother-to-be's belly. The person who is closest wins a prize.
  
  
• People have to guess what flavor baby food is by the color of it, without the jar around. Winner, again, gets a prize.
  
  
• There is a really disgusting game involving melting different chocolate bars in diapers and people have to guess what kind of chocolate bar it was before melted.
  

I can't have this kind of thing at her shower. Any suggestions?