I finished the top for Pentagon papers tonight. I don't have any photos, because it's dark and it's late and it's Friday and ... do I really have to make more excuses here?

... yeah, thanks.

I need to flip the quilt top over, trim any seam allowances that are too large, and then press it ... but of course, pressing it means re-filing all of the fabric that I've pulled out this week to finish PP. It does seem like every round of tasks comes with seventeen codicils these days, but it is what it is.

I knew I'd flown one too many times this past week when I walked up to the coffee stand and said, "Oh, when did the coffee machine break? It was working when I was here a few days ago..."

I spent a few days in Washington DC, at Matthew's house. It was an actual vacation, albeit a short one. I felt vaguely ashamed at how I roosted on the couch for the entire weekend, barely moving, but I wasn't ashamed enough to actually get up and do something about it.

My vantage point:

(What is the game of 'seven words'? See this entry for explanations, or to contribute potential words.)

Jeff and I sat turned in our seats, angling backward to better hear what Andy was saying. Sometimes the rush of the Metro sucks the words out of the speaker's mouth, pulling them out through the cracks in the side doors before they have a chance to reach your ears. In some areas of the green line, you have to work to catch them before the slight vacuum pulls them past your ears, unheard.

Andy had a good bit of fun at my expense the first time he took me on the metro. Having grown up in an area where the total amount of 'public' didn't exceed three hundred humans, mass transit was something I had only seen in television and movies.

We're back from our weeklong sojourn to the East Coast. After the drive (must remember to tell everyone about the Land That Time Forgot in Tennessee that we found) our brains are pretty much the consistency of...well...oatmeal.

But I got to play in the snow. Most snow I've ever seen in my life. For a lifelong southerner, this makes many things worthwhile.

Photos and coherency soon.

First, before you read, see these photos of the Washington Monument that we took. You may now resume your regularly scheduled entry. - Amy.)

Broad view, Heather:

Close-up view, me:

We slipped away shortly after seven a.m., in more daylight than I expected for this early on the first of February. I took the first leg of the drive, slanting us east from Huntsville toward the sudden outcrop of hills just south of Chattanooga.

Got home at 4:30 Central time today, having driven since six a.m. Eastern time. (For those of you unfamiliar with US time zones, that's eleven and a half hours total.) Traffic in Chattanooga and Huntsville was worse than metro DC, due to the number of bad wrecks I saw today.Rule #1: if you are driving a truck, and you are hauling a heavily-laden U-Haul trailer, it is most definitely in your best interest to obey the little road sign thingies when they yell things like "Sharp Curve Ahead - Slow To 40 MPH, You Dumbass." Mr.