Christine's Countdown Begins � � � Monday, Aug. 11, 2003 * 01:48

Okay, I think we've seen enough of the flag of the great nation of Iraq for now.

I got my first google hit! It came from the 6th page of search results on Yahoo, following the query Legolas Pictures. #111. This is neat.

Not much else to say today. I've now done 13 loads of laundry and am currently trying to get it all folded or hung and tucked away. Last night, until 5am, I cleaned the bathroom, and now it's sparkling and lovely. John and I also went wraith hunting, saw a rabid deer with a black face, and pretended that the orange glow from D.C. was Mordor, and the white glow from a recreation area's baseball fields was Gondor. We even saw an electric tower that resembled Cirith Ungol. Fun stuff there.

Well, now it is officially Monday. If we count Monday as one day, Tuesday as one, and Wednesday as one, then Justin is coming home in 3 days. Thursday is the day he comes home, but that doesn't count as a day, because that day I will be so very busy getting a manicure / pedicure / brushing my hair / practicing smiling / driving to pick him up / etc., and it just doesn't count.

As a child, I used this method to count down to Christmas.

I had it down to a science. First of all, whatever day from which you're counting doesn't apply if it's after 3pm / after the end of the school day. So, let's say you begin on the 12th of December at 5pm. Really, that's 13 days until Christmas. But no! In reality, it is only 10 days! Because the 12th doesn't count; Christmas Eve of course doesn't count, since it is such a fun-filled and exciting day; and the day you go Christmas shopping doesn't count either, since you will probably get a peek at your presents, or else just be really busy wrapping presents. Don't even get me starting about how the counting is affected by Christmas falling on a Tuesday. That changes everything.

I had a lot of free time on my hands. I just happened to spend it drawing Christmas-y pictures on calendars and devising complex counting schemes.