oh, my, starry-eyed surprise

I feel silly for getting addicted to a song because of a commercial, but the Diet Coke commercial featuring Paul Oakenfold's 'Starry Eyed Surprise' has me surprisingly hooked. I love it! And it is most definitely better than the retarded Burger King commercial w/the Hootie and the Blowfish dude singing some ridiculous song about the Tendercrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch sandwich, while technicolor people do stupid things in the background. I told Claude and Terry that we should have a party before we leave in which we reenact that commerical, but that was promptly quashed.

I worked a lot today (it was painful to be in the office by nine, since I didn't even get back to California until after eleven last night), then came home and did a load of laundry, ate some chicken pot pie, and watched Terry watching the Stanford/Utah women's basketball game. She's quite impassioned about basketball, and so I had a bit of mild fun teasing her during the game. The game was never particularly close, or I wouldn't have taken my life into my own hands by interrupting her :)

I meant to finish chapter six of my romance novel tonight, but I got caught up in the TV instead, and I also spent a considerable amount of time coordinating my calendar w/Terry and Claudia so that we could set the dates for the major fun things that need to happen before I leave. Expect housewarming parties, beach barbecues, and Loro special dinner to come your way in the next five weeks!

I'm really quite chipper, considering that I'm packing up to leave for a third-world country. I'm just excited to have some adventure again; nothing particularly insane had happened to me for awhile, so I was definitely due. I have to get my shots and my malaria pills tomorrow, and perhaps the pain will make this all seem a bit more real and sobering. For the next few weeks, my mantra will have to be 'work harder, play harder'--I have tons to do at work to get ready to transition, and I have even more to do at home. Between packing up all my stuff for the trip, putting away my clothes and souvenirs so they don't get dirty while I'm gone, settling all the change-of-country things like insurance, visas, doctors, and dentists, and buying clothes that may be comfortable in the 100+ degree heat, I could fill the next month with work and errands alone--but I have massive plans for fun, and I want to do as much of it as humanly possible. Let's see how much work and fun I can pack into every hour between now and my departure!