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Freeway – I live really close to one.  When I got laid-off from my job, I used to walk the dog around 5 pm and notice how it became a parking lot, thinking to myself, “I never want to do that again.”  I can hear the cars a little bit during the day and night.  Mostly it acts as a nice white noise, but sometimes late at night, a hot-dogger goes speeding by and if I'm trying to sleep, it can be a tad annoying.  Tonight, as I was sitting at the computer I heard a crash, said a quick whisper hoping that no one had been hurt, and then went back to what I was doing. It was a jarring moment, and I weirdly felt connected in some way to some random human being that I’d never met or even seen while I sat inside my house.

Turkey – Oh!  My thanksgiving turkey leftovers are starting to smell funny, and I am SO sad.  I love turkey.  It’s my favorite of the meat offerings.  I’ve actually lost weight this week because I’ve eaten almost nothing but leftover turkey.  Turkey-turkey-turkey.  Mmmmm!  Maybe I will go buy and cook myself another one.  Why do we only celebrate this holiday for one day a year?

LAZY! – As in me and the dog. I find myself feeling tired every night around 6 pm when I finish up with work.  I could take that walk I wanted. I could read a book.  I could practice my fiddle, but this week I find myself snuggling with a half-sleeping dog – who spent most of the day wanting to play/cuddle, but now just wants to nap as well.

Rates – Anybody else out there do contract work?  When I took on my new client, I found myself researching rates, and what’s on the internet is abysmal as far as information goes.  My opinion is that anything above entry-level lawyering should go for a $100/hr or more, and that’s based on what I and the handful of other contractors I know get paid.  Looking at the internet, you’d think $50/hour was a fair rate. Fifty bucks an hour?  I got paid more than that before I went to law school? (Keep in mind that as an independent contractor, you pay all your own taxes, health insurance, and any retirement benefits – so fifty bucks an hour is somewhat of a rip-off.)

Lint Roller – When my baby sister came for Thanksgiving, I made her a little care package box of things she could keep at my house.  You know – shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, etc.  I also geared it to her personality and included antibacterial wipes, hand sanitizer, and this adorable mini-lint roller that I *knew* she would love.  Today, after washing a pair of slipper socks that was part of the package, I pulled down the box to put the socks back in their spot and noticed that baby sis had absconded with the lint roller when she returned to Austin.  It made me smile, and also made me laugh that I could have such a good friendship with someone who loves lint rollers and hand sanitizer.  I don’t even own a lint roller, and hand sanitizer? Well, I only use that when I’m camping…in the woods…with no plumbing…and sometimes not even then because, heck, I’m camping in the woods.  Why would I need to be “hygenic” in those circumstances? The woods are probably safer than most department stores when it comes to germs.

Ok, maybe I'll go pick up that fiddle...if I can make it past the cute snoring puppy that's on the way there.