The wonder of Craigslist

I had, of course, heard of Craigslist before. But we had never used it. Tonight, I understood just how wonderful it is.

After eight years, our Kenmore vacuum cleaner crapped out. It really started about a year ago, when something went wrong with the plug; we attempted to fix it, and we sort of did, until we plugged it in the other weekend and it blew a fuse. We think it had something to do with our fix-it job.

It's a great vacuum cleaner and we figured any handyman would be able to make it almost-new again. The problem is, we're not handy. But we felt really bad just dumping in the landfill. So we decided to try our hand at Craigslist to give it away free to a good home.

Within 24 hours, we had several bites. And, as of 8:00pm tonight, our Kenmore has a brand-new home to someone who seemed to know exactly how to fix it. We felt good that we were able to help someone out, prevent something from going to waste, and find an easy way to make room in our house. Craigslist just might be one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century.

I have a feeling this could become addictive...

What I learned in France

Scott and I spent a week in glorious France, starting our trip in Paris, driving through Provence and finishing along the Riviera. It was a wonderful week and it was fun to see other areas of France besides just Paris.

This is what I learned while I was there:

French women don't eat. This is actually a hypothesis I've had for some time and I test it out each time I visit France. So far, I haven't found one instance that refutes this statement and I chalk it up to caffeine and cigarettes. Both of these are appetite suppressants and both of these are the only things close to eating I've seen French women do. This, I believe, is their secret. I've seen plenty of women in France eat; they just aren't French.

55% of Philip Morris sales must come from France. Everyone in France smokes and they all smoke Marlboros. We saw a few 14 year olds smoking, too. This supports my argument above.

You can spot an American a mile away. It doesn't matter how they are dressed, you just know they are American. I can't figure it out...someone can look French on the outside -wearing the right clothes and shoes - and even be speaking French. But you just know they are American (confirmed when they switch to English). I don't know if it's in the way we talk or in the way we walk, but Americans are easy to spot.

France has a roadway hierarchy: Mopeds, people, cars. With mopeds being on top. They can squeeze between traffic, cut you off, run over a person. It doesn't matter. They are the supreme being.

France is beautiful in the fall. The weather was gorgeous. The vineyards were blazing. The wine was tasty. I can't imagine a better time to visit an already beautiful country.

A walk back in time

A few weekends ago, Scott and I went up to visit our good friends Elizabeth and Chris. It was just a wonderful visit, getting to see them and watching how big Chase has grown. And they unwittingly unleashed a monster - after a fun-and-curse-filled night of making pasta from scratch, I have now gone out and bought a pasta maker. (The one I purchased, however, uses electrical power to crank the pasta out...all that hand-cranking was the cause of the cursing).

This was the first time I was back in DC with Elizabeth since 1998. That sounds so weird to say...that the last time I hung out in Georgetown with Elizabeth was last century. Anyway, I did a little rummaging and scrounged up a few pictures from that last visit, back when we were just wee college freshmen. We've come a long way, baby!

Thanks to the Bevacquas for a very fun weekend! We hope to see you back in DC before the next century!