Friday the 13th...dun dun dun

Hi everyone!

Very quick update (1 minute to read or less): I've been working a lot but work is going well. I've also been able to see David more. Last Sunday we went to San Francisco with his aunt and cousin. It was fun. On Sunday, we plan to go see the new Harry Potter movie....the end.

Detailed and fun update:
Since the 4th, I've been working a lot although I finally managed to finagle one weekend day a week off so I can spend it with David. Last Sunday we went to San Francisco with David's aunt and cousin and went to the Exporatorium, which is an interactive science museum near the shoreline, nestled amid tall columns which would be a wonderful backdrop for taking wedding pictures (not that I'm planning to get married anytime soon, just that someone was taking wedding pictures there when we were there).

Then we headed to Chinatown to pick up some dim sum for lunch - we were able to find our favorite dim sum place again. It's called You's Dim Sum and it's right next to this restaurant called something like the little Paris Cafe or something like that. It's on Washington Street a block above the Wells Fargo Bank...I think.

David's aunt (I could probably actually call her Marta and not just David's aunt) took us to a performance of the San Francisco Mime Troupe (not actually mime). They are a theater group that does wonderful political satire and, to kick off their new shows, they perform for free in a park near the ocean (actually, everything is kind of near the ocean in San Francisco - their website is here). It was an excellent show, although we were sitting on a hill that was about a 75 degree angle, which was mildly uncomfortable.

After that, we were driving around San Francisco trying to find a taqueria that David's friends have raved about. After passing a taqueria that Marta thought looked interesting, it turned out that it actually was the place David was looking for so we had to stop. The food was good; I tried some of Marta's real shrimp cocktail (real like authentic, as opposed to fake). It tasted like a thin ketchup with avocado and cilantro.

Then we headed to Marta's house to go swimming in their pool. Marta and Dean (David's uncle, he's in Israel on business right now) have a house in a community that has a wonderful community pool. Then we went out for sushi and I tried mussels, salmon roe, yellowtail, crab, and something else...that I can't remember. Everyone was very proud.

This week has been more work - on Wednesday, we had a visit from the Vice President of Operations so we had to go around and tidy up the store as well as move out our new fall pieces, which are lovely, I might add. The tidying up meant that the first half hour of my day was spent sitting where the carpet and tile met and trimming the carpet where it was worn. What fun and goodness it was! Seriously though, I bet there's a reason they had me do it and not one of the experienced (read: not new) employees. But the visit went well, which was good, since our manager Grace had not really been sleeping so that she could get everything set up. By the way, Coldwater Creek is having a sale online - 60% off everything until Saturday night at midnight eastern time. If you're interested, e-mail me and I can forward the e-mail with the code in it.

Yesterday and today I've had off so I've been hanging around the apartment and cleaning. I've also been thinking more about graduate schools since a friend of mine e-mailed me a link about the Tufts Graduate School of International Relations (the Fletcher school). They offer a two year program for a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy. I've also been thinking more about a LLM or Master of Laws degree. Unfortunately, most programs only let you pursue this degree after you have a JD so I may also be considering law school. Let me know if any of you have suggestions - I'm interested in a program where I can continue my language studies and study immigration, Islam, and France. Although perhaps not all of those. We'll see.

So that's the most recent long update. In closing, I leave you with this funny animation - it's about a 30-second song that loops. You may want to turn down your sound on your computer as it is quite loud: You are a pirate!