Thanksgiving number 1

My sister, Amanda, and I are in Truckee now visiting my mom. We're lounging while she bakes, occasionally looking up from our books to try to convince her to sit down. It smells like banana bread and squash right now.

We're having a Thanksgiving meal tonight with some of her friends, since Amanda has to work on the real holiday and we're all together. We are about to undo last weekend's constant exercise, which is okay by me.

Lessons learned: I will never starve here.

The end

After two years, I have finally finished the book "Snow Falling on Cedars."

I read the majority, save for about the last five pages one summer a couple years ago. Then I mysteriously lost the book. I meant to steal into a bookstore and read the end at some point, but I never got to it and sort of gave up.

I just so happens, my sister is reading it now. I stole it while she was studying for her nursing exam. It was a little tricky to remember all the little details that have slipped from my memory, but I got the gist.

Lessons learned: I finally know the fate of Mr. Miyamoto.

Vacation tri-athalon

I'm not good at the relaxing vacations.

My sister and I have been going since she stepped off the plane last Friday afternoon. I'm paying for it now.

We went to a party with some of my work friends Friday night, and met a couple of them for breakfast the next morning. Then we went hiking in the wilderness area nearby where I live. Sunday after church we did a 30-mile bike ride, the last hour of which was in the dark.

Monday we went for a run and took a little time by the pool before packing up to go camping Monday night and climbing Tuesday.

Amanda joked that she felt like she was in fat camp. Yeah, because she really has gotten chubby for a skeleton.

Still, it felt a little like our hardcore old days, just with more neck pain and sore muscles.

Lessons learned: She may have a different last name now, but she's still hardcore.

Crossing my fingers

My sister, Amanda, is coming to see me tomorrow!

Maybe I shouldn't write this, or I might jinx it. Usually I'm not so superstitious, but my sister has a travel curse, and I am definitely tempting fate. Especially considering she only has a half-hour layover. Normal uncursed people would probably arrive on time and slip onto their seat on the next plane with their luggage right behind them.

I am predicting a tsunami will overrun Great Falls, Montana, where she lives, and wipe out the entire five planes that make up the airport's fleet. They will put her on a bus to Missoula to catch a second plane, but the bus will be hijacked by members of a Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization. My sister is pretty savvy, so she will escape and hitchhike the rest of the way to catch her flight.

By then of course, she will have missed her connection and have to stay over night in Salt Lake City. But, there will be a cold snap that selectively freezes all the fluid lines in every plane flying to Sacramento. (I don't even know if there are such things as fluid lines in planes, but if there are, they will freeze.)

In the meantime, she will discover a new rule passed overnight requiring passports to travel to California, and realize that her passport is in storage back in Montana. After having it overnighted to her, she will arrive only to find out her luggage was sent to Guam.

So I'm being over-dramatic, but I've learned to expect the unexpected when my sister gets in a car or airplane.

Lesson learned: I am not as creative as her real-life curse.

Mined

I was sifting through my Google alerts that come to my work e-mail the other day when I came across a link to story about prescription drug abuse and its increases in the past few years. I wrote a story about teen deaths a few months ago, so I've sort of been interested in the topic ever since.

As I was reading the story, I came to a quote that looked really familiar from a law enforcement officer in our county. My first thought, being that I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, is that the officer just repeated his words to this reporter. When I read on, I found about five or six more quotes that were in my story, along with paragraphs of information that he had pulled from my story and rearranged ever so slightly.

My editor wrote the Web site where it was published, and the guy replied that our charge was ridiculous, that we didn't understand the Internet or plagiarism. Hmmm, last time I checked, taking someone else's ideas and putting your name on it is plagiarism. That hasn't changed with the advent of the Internet. Well, glad I could make someone's day a little easier. The irony is, the company that publishes the Web site is called "Truth Publishing."

Lesson learned: Truth has changed.

Last minute concert

I proved that I still do have a bit of spontaneous youth left in me this weekend.

A couple friends and I had planned to go see Ingrid Michaelson this weekend in Sacramento since I got back from Berlin. But a week and a half ago, Jess told me she couldn't go. I made a last ditch effort with a text on Thursday, thinking it was fruitless. On Friday, she pulled through, saying she had a baby sitter for her daughter and was ready to go.

So we braved the downpour in my Cavalier Saturday night and snagged some fast food on the way. We got there in time to stake out a spot right next to the stage like a bunch of groupies in the small venue she was playing at.

As usual, Ingrid was amazing. She has a few new songs I had yet to hear. The lyrics are always witty and interesting, and she has a knack for a catchy melody. I got to meet her afterwards and get my picture taken with her, grinning like a 14-year-old girl at a Justin Timberlake concert.

We figured the show would go to about midnight, and we would get home by 2 a.m. But 2 a.m. was closer to when it finished. We pulled in at about 4:45 a.m., a little foggy, but happy we had gone.

Lesson learned: The four hour drive was worth it.

Ramping up

A local ski resort puts on a video premiere every year before the season starts to wet our appetites for snow. I went for the first time Friday night. Watching snowboarders weave down rippled crests and launch over cornices did serve a little bit like a snowboarding aphrodisiac. Before it was even over, I began to plot ways to save money for ski tickets and dream up possible trips for this winter. Now I just need to fuel up my helicopter.

Hopefully, the weather cooperates with my plans. If the forecast has any merit, I may be sticking to strapping up and hopping around in my living room in my snow garb.

Lesson learned: Pro snowboarders may not make great prospective boyfriends, but they are pretty to look at.

Voting count down

Election night is usually an exciting time in the newsroom. We order pizza. We watch the national results on TV. We goof off as we wait for the results.

Well, thats what all my coworkers are doing. I'm sitting at home watching it all play out all by myself because I got chosen as day reporter. I really shouldn't complain that I'm not working right now. Most of my coworkers thought I was lucky to be leaving at 5 p.m. Still, there is something about covering an election.

Lessons learned: Politics aren't as fun to analyze alone.

Rocking out

This year for Halloween, I decided to get back to my true self: a punk rocker. I highlighted my hair pink, wore black boots and draped on the chains.

I had four parties to go to in two days, so there was no wasting any time. The first was on Friday night, which was an appetizers and game night. Then I went out with my work friends up to see a band at a local brewery.

Saturday night we headed up to another coworker's house for a Halloween party. We had to duck out a bit early for a second party in a nearby town, which is usually the place to be on Halloween. They had a great DJ and I spent four hours dancing in six-inch heels. I could barely walk when I was done, and I looked like I stepped out of a rain storm before I even stepped into one after it was all over.

Lessons learned: I can't wear six-inch heels two nights in a row.