I don't even know where to begin.

Let's just say the job prospects keep trickling in, and i keep getting more an more excited about each one, as each gets closer to me getting it, and then someone else gets the job for a variety of reasons. The most recent is that they (this time, the architecture firm) wanted someone with a more senior level, and they were willing to pay for that. That's fine, and i respect that and believe that the right person most likely got the job. Apparently, though, they really liked me, so that's positive. All the feedback was great -- they just wanted someone with more years in them.

One company, a educational publishing house, is checking my references, and it's down to me and one other person. The one i'm MOST excited about, though, is a scientific foundation that donates scads of money anonymously to teams researching neurodegenerative diseases. I LOVE the people in the office, and their excitement and love of what they do every day was contagious. I hope i hope i hope... but, whatever will be will be.

Harvard still might pan out as well, and i had an interview this morning at the center for state and local government -- also a research place. So, all in all, i have some prospects out there that i am sincerely excited about, and eventually, one of them will be just as excited about me.

In OTHER news (sometimes it doesn't even feel like there are enough hours in the day for there to BE other news, but there it is), Q is alive and well. I spent Friday making sure she was alright during her second foot surgery. I was pissed to discover that no one had been at the hospital with her for the last one! What a shame! I would have taken that day off, too, had i known! Ah well. I was there this time.

Friday night, daN and i joined the Boggies to see none other than the illustrious Jon Stewart Live at the Wang Theatre. It was hillarious! We laughed. We cried. We balked. He's brilliant. Afterwards, they insisted on going to the Ritz Bar after we tried to find something else. And i have to say, i love the place. The coctails are certainly expensive, but they're all top shelf and delicious. I was impressed. The ambiance was quiet -- the kind of place you could actually sit down with some friends and have a pleasant conversation. The music was a pianist sitting in the corner wearing a suit and playing old jazz standards. It wasn't so loud that you couldn't hear what else was going on, but it was just loud enough. Perfect. And expensive. And the Bogs wouldn't let us pay. Grrrr. They keep doing that.

Saturday, daN and i had a lovely time bowling with Lee and Alan and some of their respective family members in celebration of Alan's birthday. It was a lot of fun! And it was great to see a couple of Lee's siblings, too -- with whom i used to spend quite a lot of time in late childhood / early teen years. They're a part of who i am, too. And i'm so happy to see Lee and Alan doing so well, loving their dog :) On Saturday night, daN and i went on a date to make sure that we didn't go a whole week without seeing each other. Lee recommended trying out this place called "The Pepper Club" in the Old Port, and it was great (Thanks, Lee!). Scratch that -- it was exactly what i wanted. I had a sweet potato rainbow chard streudle, savory with dried cranberries and walnuts, complimented by seasoned brown rice and a mesclun salad. I rounded it off with a glass of sangiovese. It was delightful. You can't find that kind of cool American fusion food in Boston, and if you do, it's $30 a plate. I was happy. This was more like $14 a plate, which is much more reasonable.

Sunday, we ate some more :) It was my Dad's birthday, and we met Dad, Jeanne, and Yulia for brunch at Slate's in Hallowell. Mmmm. I think i'd eaten there once before but forgotten just how much i enjoyed it. More experimental food, i got a strawberry cream cheese and almond omelette that came with home fries and a pumpkin spice muffin. Dad and i got bloody mary's and coffee, which was a fun celebrational thing to do. We had a wonderful time catching up and hanging out. Afterwards, we went to Gardiner to see what Dad has been doing with Grammy's old house -- he'll be moving into it soon after the floors are redone -- and it's quite astonishing! Now that all the 1960's furniture and 1970's shag carpeting has been removed, it's actually quite light and spacious, and the hardwood floors are gorgeous. It's really kinda neat.

Then, daN and i bid Dad farewell and headed to my Mum's new digs in Union about 2.3 miles up the road from daN's Mum's house. I have to say, Mum has done wonders with a trailer and has made quite a nice little home out of it. The area is absolutely beautiful, and the sunset was stunning. We had a really nice visit for a couple hours, and eventually we went down to daN's Mum's where we'd be crashing for the night in one of the spare rooms. Nate and Tara were there, so we got to hang out with them for a while, which was great fun. In the morning, daN's mum made some wheat free blueberry muffins! YAY! That and oatmeal with coffee made a lovely breakfast. We did the lazy morning thing, and eventually, daN and i set out for home, and sat in traffic for a while in doing so. Ah well.

It was a lovely weekend, and great to see the autumn leaves. There wasn't enough walking about in the gorgeous weather for my taste, but alas -- most of the times that we go up to Maine, more time is spent driving and sitting than anything else. Ah well. Someday it won't be that way.

Today, i cleaned here. I vacuumed, unpacked old boxes of crap, recycled stuff, washed the floors, put the dishes away, and that was an afternoon (during the morning, i was interviewing). I think i'm ready to do something creative now. Like cooking something. Hmmmm...