01.30.04 - 4:10 p.m.

Hooray! I have visited half the United States! Rhode Island looks so sad and unvisited up there in the northeastern corner. Maybe Dan and I will swing by in June on our way to Maine.

create your own visited states map or write about it on the open travel guide

16 more work days till vacation. Two more hours of work for the week. So sad to count it down this way. It has, however, been such a bad work week that I can't think of anything but quitting time. If only I had the Flintstone dino-bird whistle to blow at 6pm.

My whole week leads up to Friday night, when I can lie on the couch and breathe a sigh of relief. Sunday night is always bad because I have work in the back of my mind -- like Angela Chase said about "that creepy '60 Minutes' watch that sounds like your whole life ticking away." Saturday is always filled with should-do this, should-take care of that, but on Friday I do not feel obligated to do anything at all.

Even though I am bringing home fashion copy and will have to call an expert on Saturday, it will be worth it. I will not have to leave the house at all. I will cook and clean and maybe convince Dan to knock a few more episodes off from the Alias second season. And then people will come over and we'll watch TV and the Survivor All-Stars season will REALLY get underway (watching the first part of the episode was such a tease!) and I won't wander around like a lost kitten without a home on Thursday nights.