september

I think it will be easiest to just write a list.

-Labor Day weekend spent painting the apartamento. We wanted khaki and brown, but we got beige and taupe. Still looks ok though. Jon rearranged the place. I’ll take pictures one day.

-Got our white trash on and spent Labor day in Jersey at the Wild Animal Safari and Six Flags. Turns out I don’t completely hate roller coasters – just the ones with the huge downward plunges. We’re thinking Hershey’s Park in Pennsylvania next year, early summer – maybe get some friends to come with.

-New callings; Jon’s the Ward Mission Leader and I’m the RS Secretary.

-Started my first class. I’m in love. I picked a good one to start with. We’ll see how the work load is; you never can tell in the first class. I’ve already ordered a bunch of Africa books to immerse myself in, starting with the history of post-colonial Africa. So much more interesting than it sounds! A large part of our grade comes from a formal debate on Darfur, which I don’t know enough about. Here’s my current book list:
The Fate of Africa
A Problem from Hell; America and the Age of Genocide

Darfur; A Short History of a Long War
Not on Our Watch; The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond
And for good measure, The Poisonwood Bible (thank you Brittany)
And I bought myself a back to school skirt. Yes, I sometimes shop at Talbots.

-My office moved from the 15th to the 14th floor in out building. I now SHARE a cubicle with Benjamin. We’re pals so it’s going to be fine. In addition to shared cubes, there are no enclosed offices; just see through open top “officles” that look like gym showers – frosted plastic walls and sliding doors and all- for all of senior management All our furniture is made of post-consumer waste and is entirely recyclable. It’s a noisy floor and the only identifiable positive is that I finally have a flat panel monitor; but at what price?! :o)

-Jon took a one day trip to DC for a property tour while his boss was in Europe (one day I’ll be the one flying to Paris to meet my husband for the weekend…) and he came back with a construction worker’s hard hat and safety glasses.

-We spent an afternoon wandering Brooklyn and now Jon would like to move there when we buy. He still wants high rise living, but I’m so smitten with all the brownstones… Sigh.

-I went to my first baby shower.

-I started my new job.

-Started in on a nine month lecture series called Africa: Conversations with a Continent. It’s put on by the 92nd Street Y (Young Men’s Hebrew Association). Each lecture will feature a different country. This first one was on Tanzania. An anthropologist from Brown spoke on marriage and divorce, and then the UN Ambassador from Tanzania gave an abbreviated history of the country. I’m not smitten by the idea of going there, in addition to South Africa. Still working on selling Jon on the idea. -We started going to the gym at 5:30 am a few times a week to make sure Jon makes it there at all.

-I went to the filming of the Colbert Report with my new friend Angie and co-worker Christine. The wait was ridiculous since they had to rewrite the show after McCain put his campaign on hold, and there was no place to sit, so we stood from 4:30 – nearly 8 when they let us into the studio, but it was so much fun once things got rolling. Stephen is a laugh riot and the guest was a whack job. You can see Angie and me at the start of the show. Back row I’m in pink and she’s in blue.
Click here to see the show.

I’m sure I missed something, but those were things I meant to blog about, but never got around to.