anticipation

Tomorrow is my first day of training at the Health Federation of Philadelphia's Headquarters (that's right, HQ) which begins at 9 A.M. sharp. I should be sleeping, but simply had to share some highlights of my first week here.

- I got Greta (my 10-year-old VW Jetta) back on Thursday after my 4th trip to IKEA. She is running well so far and we're all rooting for her to last a while longer. My room here is a little more set up, though my bed still isn't actually in the frame and my walls are bare. Oh right, and the total lack of a bookcase. Even though I brought very few (boxes of) books here, I still need one of those. And Greta had several treats in her trunk from one of my many attempts to move stuff, including my fondue pot, wine glasses and a box of 96 Crayola crayons. You know, the important stuff.
- I now live within 45 minutes of Elyse, so I attended her party in Wilmington Friday night. I had to take a long detour due to construction on I-76 but actually know my way around the suburban outskirts of the city pretty well by now, thanks to my adventures in between hotels the other week. That's right, I go out of the state to party. It's weird to be so close to so many other states: NJ, DE, MD, and a mere 80 miles from NYC.
- I attended the Red Bull Soapbox Race in my neighborhood on Saturday during the torrential downpour brought on by Tropical Storm Hannah. It was pure madness. Hopefully I can borrow some photos to properly illustrate the insanity of the event.
- Today marked the Eagles' season and home opener against the St. Louis Rams. This entailed me and my roommates (along with one of their boyfriends) sitting in the living room with two pizzas, 34 buffalo wings, 10 BBQ wings and a 2-liter of Pepsi. The Eagles won and the Phillies won their makeup game during the same time. Yes, Philadelphia is a sports town. Richmond is not. One of my roommates is a sports journalist, so I'm already learning players, records and other such trivia. Say what you will, but it's a fun way to spend Sunday afternoon.
- I've had some good phone converstions and e-mails with people recently but have very little to offer since I haven't started and have yet to get hopelessly lost in the city (yet). This will change. Call me. Or make my gmail inbox fuller.
- Cheese is really, really expensive here. The more gourmet, less mass-market ones are actually pretty comparable to what I'm used to paying, but Kraft, Sorrento and the other makers of low-quality shredded cheese products sell for quite a bit. If you come visit, please bring cheap cheese, Virginia wine (illegal to ship it directly up here and it's not in the wine & spirits stores) and assorted 6-packs of beer (you have to buy it by the case at beer distributors here; I long for beer runs at 11:45PM to Sheetz). I will in turn show you the wonders of Tastycakes, Amish produce, and cheesesteaks. Yum.