i was holding out for as long as i could, but now i must rant: what the hell is the deal with the damn gas prices?!! i let my tank get down to almost fumes because i couldn't bear the idea of spending $2.39 per gallon on gas, but i finally had to relent. i spent almost $30 today filling up. i can't afford that! i got in a discussion with one of my coworkers this evening about the consumption value of our commodities... and it was really frustrating because if i didn't have to buy gas, i wouldn't! i would love to be able to rely on public transportation, a bike, or my own two feet, but the reality is that i can't. i wouldn't be able to get to soccer games, choir practice, my parents' house, the grocery store, etc from where i live without having to be on a bus for hours. it's just not realistic, sadly. but then i have to succumb to the horror that is when i fill up with gas that's $2.39 a gallon. *sigh* man, how i wish i had a hybrid car....

also in the rant portion of this post: hello, home ice advantage? where are you? would you mind showing up for game 7? you can stay away for one more game, but we'll need you for game 7. thanks for listening.

this weekend was good but busy... had my two choir concerts, from which my brain is still addled with wedding music galore. i like most of the music we sang, but i really don't need wedding music on the brain. ahh well. anyu and apu came to the friday concert, and kat, judy, and robert came to the saturday concert. thanks for coming! i'm glad to have an audience :) i hope you all enjoyed it. saturday night we headed down to seth's birthday party in burlingame, but by the time we got there it was already pretty mellow.

....early sunday morning, liz, marla, and anne showed up at my house around 8:15am, when we proceeded to head to downtown sf to catch up with bay to breakers. for those of you who may not be familiar with bay to breakers, it's one of san francisco's two opportunities to act like bourbon street or a huge frat party (the other is halloween on castro). the 7.5 mile run/walk/party was littered with streetside bands, keggers pouring out of houses along the way, crazy dressed up and undressed people parading through the streets, and hordes of people pulling barely-disguised kegs in shopping carts. oh yes, and there were serious runners too, but they were long gone by the time we joined the fray. ahh, but there was much to see. i especially liked the pacman keg cart and the windblown man. topping my list of things i didn't need to see: naked old man with elephantiasis... in his penal area! yikes. i don't want to think about the bodily functions of that guy. we all had a good time walking and people-watching, but decided it was time to head out when people started to get out-of-control drunk. turns out a bunch of people i know did bay to breakers (or crashed it, like we did)... there were upwards of 100,000 people doing bay to breakers... about 45K paid and 60K crashing. wow! even with all the crashers, that's one hell of a fundraiser.

and this week will be full of project transitions, evaluation meetings, and fun with other nfwf staffers.... this week we have most of the portland office, matt the evaluation guy, and lorraine the government relations guru all in town. that meant a lovely dinner tonight on nfwf. yum! we went to trattoria contadina in north beach, which was delish. and likely quite expensive, considering there were 16 of us. heh. oh well! :D

and now, i must sleep.