solstice

The thing I love the most about my drive to and from work is the Schwebel's factory right by the highway. Especially in the winter, the smell of warm baking bread is heavenly. It fills the car and makes me want to inhale some warm coffee too. :)

George and I took the afternoon off work to go car shopping. We're hoping to find a used 3- or 4-year old Honda Civic without too many miles on it. We worked out a budget and it looks like we'll be able to afford the additional car payment without giving up anything else we want to do. There won't be as much left over for saving as we'd hoped, but I'm not complaining. It's rather trivial to gripe about money when the world population has suddenly decreased by 114,000. That number makes me feel so sad and small.

The shortest day of the year is supposed to be the winter solstice on December 21, but it always feels like December 31 goes by much faster. Tomorrow night we'll start off New Year's Eve with new friends (some of George's classmates) and finish out 2004 with old friends (from high school/college). But our New Year really began back on August 30 when we both returned to college for second degrees. It definitely changed our lives and our future plans. So we're not thinking about 2005 yet; we're still working on today.