The End of Summer

I remember when Labor Day used to hold some solid significance as far as the end of summer. School starting back up, pool closing... you know, all that. These days, I rarely use the pool, and work goes all year round. The big significance of Labor Day weekend has shifted, for me, to the start of college football and the onset of fall. Not that I don't love summer, but this year was brutal, and even I'm looking forward to some cooler temperatures!!

Yes, the new Kindle. I had been debating it, but recently I realized that carrying around books when I'm traveling is a pain in the butt, as is going to the book store, or ordering books. I love the feel of a regular book as much as the next person, and I've always been a big reader, but I've found in recent years that I'm just not reading as much as I used to. I've been listening to books via audible.com downloads to my iPod for a little over a year now, and that's awesome - at the gym or on road trips it makes the time go much faster - but when I'm just sitting around, I like to read books. I finally decided to take the plunge and order a Kindle. Of course, I made that decision right after they announced the new model, so there was a backlog of preorders, but my Kindle showed up at the house on Friday, about a week before I expected it. So far, I'm absolutely loving it. There's no backlight, so my eyes don't strain while I'm reading. Its small and light, so it tucks right into my purse. And when I'm done with a book, I can get another one from my computer or even right from my Kindle - it connects to my WiFi network so I don't even have to hook it up to the computer. They even have a model that will hook into the AT&T 3G network. Check them out at www.amazon.com, and here's a picture of mine:

A couple of weeks ago Matt and I got to attend a Yelp! event at Madame Tussaud's wax museum in DC for a little birthday bash for Michael Jackson. We had an absolute blast. They gave us free run of the museum - the only thing we didn't get to do was make our own wax hands - AND some local vendors were kind enough to donate some beer, wine, and a few snacks. We had so much fun taking pictures with the wax figures and hanging out with some really awesome people. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the evening:

Ronald Reagan and I are pals, even if his wax figure does have Blago hair.

Johnny Depp is a little intense for me, I think.

We hung out with Morgan Freeman.

I want this sign for my bathroom at home

This Labor Day weekend has been a blast. Between absolutely beautiful weather, the arrival of my new Kindle (YAY!), Texas and Florida State starting out the season with wins, and a little Jammin Java songwriters circle last night, its been a really good weekend. The only thing that could make it any better at this point is a Navy victory over Maryland this afternoon. GO NAVY! BEAT MARYLAND!