I'm in love ... with my trash can.

One day, in the kitchen at work, my friend Alexandra told me about her trash can and by the end of her story I was convinced that I needed one too.

Why is it so special? Let's start with some of it's features as highlighted on amazon.com:

• 50 liters capacity (13.2 Gallons). Commercial-Grade Brushed Stainless Steel.
• Built-in Infrared Computer Chip Controlled.
• 100% hands-free and VERY QUIET operations. (Open/Close buttons for manual operations).
• Fits standard 11, 12, 13 and up to 15 gallon garbage bags.
• Low energy-consuming with battery life up to 10,000 operations

What amazon doesn't mention is that if you go to Costco the cost of this amazing trash can is only $35!

I've only had it for a few days but I really am in love.

What's in a name?

I've had some questions about the name 'Nomadette24'. Pretty simple really ... a female nomad = nomadette, I was 24 years old when I first started using this name for email, signing up for listservs, etc. Hence - Nomadette24!

Not too mysterious!

Finally Caught Up!

My life has been a bit nutty since October 2007. Why, you may ask? Well ...

Let's start with my trip to Sri Lanka. I spent most of the month of October in Colombo and Batticaloa, Sri Lanka conducting a Humanitarian Protection assessment and trainings. I enjoyed meeting new people and learning about the Sri Lankan culture. However, I got pretty sick while I was there and once I got back to the US decided that I was going to stop eating meat for a while. It has now been about 3 months and so far so good! I've discovered a number of non-meat recipes that I really enjoy and will be including them in the 'Community Cookbook' that I will start working on this week. Thanks to all of you who sent in recipes!

November and December were filled with visits to Hanover and Savannah to spend the holidays with my family. I enjoyed playing tea party and star wars with Lily and Ian and also was happy to meet and get to know my new niece - Holly Rose.

Came back to DC in time for New Year's Eve at the Kennedy Center. I went to see 'My Fair Lady' on New Year's Eve and then rang in the new year with champagne and friends at the Kennedy Center party. January 5th ... my birthday, was spent at the Corcoran Museum looking at Ansel Adams and Annie Leibovitz exhibits with family and friends.

The real time sucker this winter was that I reviewed JET Applications. The review process started in December and ended just last week. I generally enjoy reviewing the applications and conducting interviews. However, the main problem is that the applicants don't know how to fill out their applications and it is extremely frustrating! How hard is it to follow instructions?!?

Now that I'm done reviewing JET applications I find myself with free time. So, this weekend I spent time organizing and cleaning my apartment. I went through closets and cleaned out old sheets and towels, clothing, etc. Next weekend I'm tackling my book shelves!

I'll let you know how that goes. :-)