Posted February 29th, 2004 by Michelle

I need to say, first and foremost, that the Oscar sweep by LOTR is the most deserved ever. I obviously wished that Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom had been on hand, but it was great to see the hobbits and the fabulous Peter Jackson all together, and to watch every facet of those movies honored over and over again. Just incredible. My kids are going to think that the only cool thing about their mom is that she witnessed these movies when they first came out, that she watched Peter Jackson win his Oscar. I’m so proud of all those folks, seemingly the entirety of New Zealand, and so thankful that they made these movies. I know it may be sad and weird, but the Lord of the Rings trilogy improved the last three years of my life.

I started my new job on Friday, went to a particularly raucous wine dinner Friday night, worked my last day at the winery on Saturday, and then attended the Frog’s Leap Year Party (or whatever the heck it was called) Saturday night well into Sunday morning. Needless to say, I have a cold. The party on Saturday was insane. The owner of Frog’s Leap Winery throws it every leap year, and it is treated like a New Year’s Eve. Clearly my New Year’s this year was pathetic, so I was ready to be amongst revelers, and my god did this party deliver. There were some 700 people there, a billion gallons of wine, great food, and one hell of a band. Elizabeth and I saw a lot of people we knew, and met a whole host of new friends. Near the end of the night, as I was busy destroying my feet on the dance floor, a short bald guy grabbed me and started swinging me around. He was incredible- in control but wild, such a good leader, so much fun. Perhaps it was the drink, but by the end of the dance I was a little bit in love. In the middle of a second dance, he begged his leave, saying he had to help his friend (who was, oddly, the tall and bald one). Something was going terribly wrong in their night, and I saw them leaving a few minutes later. “What’s your name? Where are you from?” I asked my dance partner. He told me his name and then said, “Washington. Washington D.C.” What do you do? “I work for the White House”.

“NOOOOO!” I cried. “Oh, yes!” he said. I turned and walked away, and remember thinking to myself, “I could almost fall in love with a Republican if he dances like that.” Clearly, that, if nothing else, is a sign that I’d had too much to drink.

I’m not entirely ready to write about my new job. There are politics involved that are almost overwhelming, and at this point I’m not entirely clear on what it is I’ll be doing. I start my first full week tomorrow, and I hope to have a better sense of it by week’s end. I hope I like it.