Relaxed After the Weekend

This morning when I went to work, I felt like I'd really had a weekend and refreshed after a long week last week that ended with an interview where I was:

1. Given the wrong address. The right address was all the way across DC. Needless to say, I didn't go.

2. Given the wrong time. Apparently the company didn't have me on the books until next week! Check out the apology flowers, which make me think I should interview after all.

I can't figure out what I did to feel so refreshed, my weekend wasn't much different than any other, but it sure was great to walk into work starting from a good vantage point of not being too stressed out.

Senseless, Sad Part of the Weekend

Saturday night people were looking for a lost dog when I went out to take my dogs for the last time. The girl said she lived nearby and had taken the dog's collar off as she went to enter her building. My question: Why the hell would you do that? The area is so busy, if you don't want a collar on, why not wait until you are in your apartment?

The next day the husband was driving around passing out flyers to dog people, very smart. I told him to email it to me as I knew a lot of dog people and I would help get the word out. So I spent the morning doing that when I really didn't have the time, but I knew time was of the essence cause this dog was a puppy and didn't even know her name.

That afternoon I had my writing group, and as I was driving home on the highway, there was a dead something on the side of the road that was black and tan--the dog was black and tan. I couldn't imagine what else it could be, as it couldn't be a raccoon or whatever and I just knew it was the dog. It was gruesome and so very awful. Now that picture is in my head...

I didn't know what to do, but felt I had to call the husband, so I told him what I saw and where. I told him I wasn't sure, but that he should go look and if he needed help to call the police rather than getting out of the car. Why did it have to be me who found the dead dog? What a terrible coincidence.

I wanted to know the outcome but I didn't ask him to let me know cause I felt kind of weird and morbid about it, but he did email me later that night that it was his indeed dog. So sad and negligent. I am just crushed as this was completely the owner's fault. I know dogs get away from people and that has happened to everyone, but to intentionally take off a collar for no reason when you live right off the highway? I just don't know how people are so stupid with their pets.

The Good Part of the Weekend

I've clearly been stressed, so this weekend I planned some fun things. Friday night I had a much-needed massage, which was delightful. Saturday I went to see my former neighbor who had moved to a single family house with a yard. My dogs came with me. Here's a recap of Saturday's adventures:

1. Two bottles of wine consumed mid-afternoon. How can a day be better than that? And the weather was to die for!

2. Dead animal carcass discovered and removed by my dog. SOOOOO gross!

3. Psycho former owner visit, telling the new owners about "hidden treasure" safe in the floor of laundry room and offering to take us on a tour to the former dog kennels. Adorable neighbors (see below) said she was a drunk.

4. Two adorable gay men next door. So fabulous! With a jack russell female dog named "Jackie O." I think that pretty much says it all.

Les Jeux Sont Faits

So a week and a half ago I decided to try radiation with my dog, as I felt he was getting much worse. Turns out, I was right, as the tumor had grown roughly 30%. Unfortunately, he had a bad reaction to what they give to put him under and his blood pressure was all over the place. They talked about possible kidney damage, but luckily that wasn't the case. I went for the 2nd radiation session this week, but the 1st hadn't done any good and the vet felt that the kind of palliative radiation I wanted to do wouldn't really help, so I decided not to do the 2nd. I am kind of out of options unless I want to do terrible chemo drugs. So I'm doing holistic stuff and that's it. The problem with holistic is it takes time to work, and I don't have time. They are saying 2-3 months at this point. It is just agonizing. My holistic vet is hopeful, but really, what else is she going to say? So time will tell, and I am just trying to spend as much time with my dog as possible and make his final months as good as they can be. Ultimately, I am at peace with my decision, as I feel I have tried everything and nothing is working, but it is so sad and depressing at the same time.

Where Does the Pain Go?

It's been a pretty rough week here again. Three people I know had to put their dogs down for various reasons. And a newly reconnected friend lost his wife this week, and it might have been the day I reached out to friend him on Facebook. A bunch of high school friends have connected recently, and I purposely didn't connect with him at first cause I found him annoying back in the day. But the more I thought about it the worse I felt dissing him, so I sent a friend request. And now I'm glad I did.

On my own dog front, I took my dog for radiation this week, and found out his tumor had grown 30% in three weeks. Not good. I started radiation because I felt he was really getting worse, and I was right. Unfortunately he had a bad reaction to the anesthesia that they used. His blood pressure dropped then spiked and there was a danger that he could have kidney damage. Luckily, that was not the case. But the bottom line here is that before putting him under again we need to assess whether the first dose did enough good to make the risk of anesthesia worth it or not. If not, I'm kind of at the end of the line here, and all that's left are terrible chemo drugs which I won't do, or holistic, which I am already incorporating. It's pretty hard coming to a place where potentially there is not much left to do.

Watching all the loss around me this week makes me realize that my turn is coming soon. I have been there before, and I will get through it, but it's not a good place to be. I always wonder how all of us deal with the loss, sadness, and pain that we are faced with every day. It's so hard to soldier on sometimes like nothing is wrong, but that is what is expected, and we have to find a way to live our lives in the face of so much adversity.

Good for Everyone Else (Or, Feeling Sorry for Myself)

So tonight my best friend texts me out of the blue that she bought an Audi. WTF? I didn't even know she was in the market for a car, and furthermore, how can she afford an Audi? (Though admittedly she has a thing for expensive cars and once had a Beemer, so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised.) Me, I drive a 15-year-old Honda Civic that I can't seem to give up, nor can I afford to.

Fast forward to walking my dogs and running into my neighbor H., whom various people have been gunning for me to get together with, just by virtue of the fact that we are both attractive, approximately the same age, and single. However, H. and I have been at many social functions together, and while he pays attention to me and is very friendly, he has never once asked for my number or for a date or anything. So I figured he just wasn't into me, and apparently I was correct as I saw him walking arm-in-arm tonight with a petite blond with long hair. I am an average build brunette with shoulder-length hair. I thought to myself, huh, that explains a lot.

Anyway, these great things in life seem to be happening all around me, and I am truly happy for my friend and her new car. But when is it my turn? Instead I have an ancient car, a broken budget, a dying dog, a job I hate, and no prospects for dating. I know I have made the choices that got me where I am, but sometimes I just have to wonder why. And what I am going to do about it.

Layer Up

This crazy cold spring is making me crazy. I'm still bundling up with complete winter regalia in the morning to walk the dogs--heavy coat, hat, gloves. I'm so tired of it. I just get so cold, that I always have to prepare myself with a layer more than most people. If people have no coat, I need a light fleece. If people are in fleece, I'm in mid-weight; they're in mid-weight I'm in my Michelin man coat. Getting so sick of it, spring please show up soon!

Why I Hate Decisions Part 2

So my new employee started Monday. I picked her over another candidate cause she had a lot of experience and came very highly recommended. I am already ready to get rid of her. She took like 4 hours today to do something that should have taken 2 hours MAX. It just wasn't that hard. This job is very busy and stressful and a lot of work. There is no way she is going to succeed or last if she doesn't speed her slow ass up. I don't know whether to give her this feedback so early on or give her time since this was her first "big" assignment. But seriously, it was like copying and pasting and I could have done it in under an hour. I wish I had chosen the younger candidate at this point. This is the problem with decisions, the grass is always greener and I always wish I had made the other decision. It sucks.

Why I Hate Decisions

So since my last post, I made the decision to:

1. Hire the person with more experience. I just don't have the time or energy to take on another newbie employee project. I need someone to jump in with both feet and take the burden off me after doing their job for almost 4 months. The person starts Monday, so fingers crossed.

2. Do surgery and holistic. The surgery, after agonizing about the decision, ultimately didn't work. The tumor was too invasive to remove. All that money down the drain and my poor dog having to recover only to decline in a few months. I could have put him down on the table, but I just couldn't do it. I should have done radiation, less invasive and less money. But also would buy less time. I did surgery cause I was just greedy--wanted him to stay around for longer. He is recovering well, but it all just sucks and I regret not going with my gut instinct not to do it. A decision that backfired.

3. Not go into business. It would be SOOO much work. I do enough fucking work between my job and volunteer stuff, I just don't have the energy for more, even if it will make me money. I need to have more fun.

Decisions

I have had to make some big decisions lately, and I am really struggling with them. I can't seem to make a decision when there is no clear-cut choice. I have always been able to see too many sides of the story, too many "what ifs." It drives me crazy. And my boss--got called out for this on my review. So there must be something to it. The decisions I've had to make recently:

1. Which new employee to hire? Two great candidates, just one slot. Both very different. I did finally make a decision but was I happy with it? No. I was glad to make a decision, and hopefully I will be happy once she starts, but bummer about the other person.

2. What to do with my dog? I have scheduled surgery, and also have a holistic vet coming. There are too many tough choices, and I don't want to do anything that will make the rest of my dog's life worse.

3. Should I join a colleague in business? It's kind of one of those pyramid things but with a reputable company and chance for real profit. There's not much risk to joining, but it would take a lot of effort. Do I have the energy though I need the money?

Why do I have such a hard time making decisions? For me, the grass has always been greener, and that's a tough way to look at the world.

You Can't Take It With You

A good friend of mine is battling cancer and while she lives far away, I have tried to stay in touch by calling, sending cards, putting notes on Facebook, etc. She is also a real dog lover and knows the story of my recent doggie woes. Out of the blue I got a card from her thanking me for all the support, and a rather large check to help with my dog's treatment. I was floored. This person who is herself struggling to get well is thinking of me and my dog and trying to help. I burst into tears when I saw the check, and promptly called her, causing her to burst into tears. I told her that was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. She replied "Well, you can't take it with you."

Say Cheese

The oddest thing happened last night when walking my dogs through Shirlington. This family stopped me and asked if they could take pictures with my dogs. There was a guy, 2 women, and 2 children--one in a stroller. Luckily my dogs are very social and love people and kids, cause these strangers were asking me to get the dogs to cuddle up to their kid, to sit with them. They were having a ball and snapping away on their camera phone, laughing. They even asked me to pose for a photo. While all this was going on, another couple approached and asked if they could pet my dogs. The husband of the first group said I should charge them. The first group barely spoke English, so I really couldn't get any sense of why they were doing this, and why it was so fun. Sometimes life is just too weird to figure out. So now my dogs are going to be popular in some unknown country, probably somewhere on YouTube. I should have charged them all!

Priorities

In my recent commentary on dating (see January 16), I made a comment about a certain married guy who was "interested" in me. It turns out that he called one of our mutual friends on Valentine's Day, yet I didn't hear anything. Interesting. So who knows what kind of game he is playing--is he adding to his entourage? I mentioned the call to him, and he claimed he was just "being nice." Uh . . . yeah.

Going Through the Big C

And yes I mean cancer . . . not me personally or my family, thank God. But my dog. Like family. He has two large masses in his lung. I had one $200 consultation with no definitive results, and it will cost another $600 in testing to find out what exactly it is, so I know what the treatment options are. Since my dog is 12 with a heart murmur, I don't plan to do surgery or anything too crazy, but there seem to be some drugs that can be administered at home that will potentially help shrink the tumors and give us more time. Cause unfortunately as much effort as people put in to trying to save pets with cancer, it never really seems to help . . . all you can do is buy a little time.

This has been quite a surprise cause he's still acting peppy and normal and you would never know he is sick. But I know it's just a matter of time before things get worse and that is a terrible feeling. Plus he's too young, it just is so unfair. At least when my other dog got really sick, she was 13-14 and really frail so my decision not to do anything invasive was a no-brainer, but this is less clear-cut, and it is hard to fight the instinct to do whatever it takes and drain my entire savings. So I'm just taking it day by day, but this has been a terrible blow during an already difficult week . . .

My Day in Reality

Per my little tag line above, this blog is about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Here are those truths today:

The good - I actually had a job interview and it went well. I heard from the recruiter that I will be called back next week for round 2.

The bad - I found out from the vet that my 12-year-old dog with a heart murmur has 2 large masses in his left lung. As the doctor said, "This is going to get bad soon." Thanks for the insight and the $200+ bill.

The ugly - A supposed good friend of mine who has been randomly avoiding me had invited me to a Superbowl party last night. The host has been sick, so the friend uninvited me, claiming the host just wanted to keep it small. In truth, it seems that was not the case, as reported by another friend who went to the party. He said if he knew I was uninvited he would have invited me. No worries, cause I had 2 other parties to go to including an invitation from an ex who has been texting me a lot lately ...

Double Blind Dating

So my friend who is dating the guy that I now covet invited me over to his place this past weekend to be sort of a double date for someone visiting from England. It was a fun evening of playing pool, dinner, drinks, and a fun board game called Sequence, though I lost miserably. The guy from England turned out to be much older, and not at all attractive. He was nice and funny, and of course the accent was to die for, but he is not someone I would consider dating. He, however, took quite a fancy to me and wants to see me this weekend before he goes home. Luckily I think I am busy, but why couldn't he be 15 years younger and hot like his friend?

Thou Shalt Not Covet

I went to dinner the other night with a good friend who hasn't dated in a while. She told me she met someone and while she didn't think it would lead to a serious relationship, she liked this guy and was having fun. It was good to hear that she was back out there and enjoying it.

Our outings typically end early, so I was surprised when she wanted to text said new guy and see if he wanted to come join us for a drink around 10 pm. It was a Thursday night so I thought why not stay out late cause tomorrow is Friday.

This guy walks in, he's a good 10 years younger than her and closer to my age. Very good looking, well-built, funny. We hit it off and he was asking me questions and telling jokes like we were on a date. At one point he took my hand and was telling silly fortunes. There was music playing, and while he danced with her first, he also danced with me. The end of the night came and they started smooching goodbye so I made my way to the bathroom and realized "I really like this guy!" But from the way my friend was acting all night, so does she.

So now I'm caught in this terrible crush on my friend's date. I am doing my best to realize it's not a good situation and move on, but I do admit to looking at his LinkedIn profile in the hopes that he would see that I did. I know where he hangs out so I could do something really stupid, but I won't cause I don't want to do anything to jeapardize my friendship. But what a total bummer!

In the meantime, there was this other guy at the bar that I recognized, he is a neighbor. He kept making eyes at me and asked me to dance when there was no music playing. He was pretty drunk and slurring his words, and at the end of the night he said "It was good to see you even though we didn't make out." Really?

13 Days to Crash and Burn (Or, Sad But True Dating Truths)

So much for NY Eve opportunities, it took precisely 13 days for things to end with the new guy. I don't know what is going on with dating these days except here are the top 5 truths I've unfortunately uncovered recently:

1. Everyone is lying. A lot. Three guys I broke up with last year were lying about other women, thinking I wouldn't find out. Guys, we're not stupid. You make stupid excuses, hide it poorly, and we're not supposed to know? Come on.

2. Dating doesn't exist anymore. Guys don't want to date or have committed relationships. In the DC area, where the ratio of women to men is ridiculous, guys have their pick of a lot of girls. And they go with that. And try to sleep with as many of them as possible with no commitment afterwards.

3. Real communication doesn't exist either. Guys think it's ok to ask you out or "talk" to you via text and never pick up the phone. Really? I used to refuse to go out via text request, but I realized if I do that, then I'll never have any dates.

4. Marriage is on the rocks. Of the current guys in my "flirtation rotation," two are married. One of them has approached me seriously about taking things further, claiming an "open marriage." WTF?

5. Age doesn't matter anymore. In the past few months, I have been out with a 23-year-old and a 60-year-old. And they were both equally as immature and didn't last.

Anyway, that's my assessment of what's going on out there. Anyone have similar experiences? Think I'm out of my mind?

A New Year, New Opportunities

I can't believe it's been over two months since I last posted. Things have been really crazy with work, holidays, etc. New Year's Eve was super-fun. I go to the same party every year with a group of friends. There's live music, food, drink, all for a really good price. I took a date to last year's party, and it was a disaster for a variety of reasons and the evening ended badly, as did the relationship a couple of weeks later. Ironically this guy who ruined my night last year was texting me this year to meet him at a party. Really??

So this year I went to the party by myself, and lo and behold I met someone there, much to my surprise. I guess there's a first for everything. Meeting a new guy on NY Eve, what could be better? He actually didn't talk with me much and didn't dance with me until I was about to leave with friends to go to another bar. He wanted to come so we told him where we were going and he actually managed to find us, and got my number. We went out the next day and have been out 3 times since.

I don't want to get my hopes up, but somehow this year I actually did feel different on New Year's Day, like things I was doing last year I couldn't continue to do this year. I don't know if it had to do with the guy specifically, but there was definitely some page that turned that night, and made it feel like this new year had some real possibilities. It was amazing to wake up and feel it is a whole new ball game this year. And that is a really great feeling.

The Me I Want to Be

Today at work I had a meeting with the marketing person from a law firm that we work with. I wasn't sure what to expect, and much to my surprise the woman was so much like me it was kind of scary. We had very similar spirits of travel, adventure, and daring, and wanted many of the same things from our lives. The thing is that she is actually living her life towards her goals and dreams, whereas I'm still in the thinking part about them. That is both cool and depressing. For example, for Christmas she is going to England and housesitting! For New Years, she is going to Italy. It gave me hope that maybe the things I want aren't as crazy and impossible as I might think. Maybe some of my dreams are really achievable. It's like she was a better-than-me version of me. We hit it off so well we went out for a drink, and promised to stay in touch and create our own adventures together at some point.

One Promise Too Late

I recently went out of town for work, and got to see a "coworker" whom I have an enormous crush on. We met a year ago and clicked instantly. I haven't felt this way about anyone in a long time. He's adorable, funny, considerate, and very Italian/NY/NJ which is something I have always been very attracted to, back to my Italian heritage. Of course, he's married with two teenage kids. I feel like we should have met like 20 years ago, and now it's as Reba McEntire says, One Promise Too Late (as an aside, this is a hilarious YouTube clip, could her hair have been any bigger?). I have no intention of being a homewrecker and complicating my life by getting involved with a married man--not to mention the distance factor--so the whole situation just sucks. My dating theory these days is that the guys I like are either too young, too much trouble (players), or too married. So unfortunately I am proving my theory right yet again, though at least he's age-appropriate and not a player, as I believe he's an upstanding guy and wouldn't step out on his wife, despite any aforementioned clicking.

9/11 Is My Birthday

So today is my birthday. I had someone ask me on Facebook what it was like, if it was hard to enjoy the day now that it's associated with such tragedy. The truth is, yes, it sucks, the day is forever ruined. To this day, people still react with shock when I tell them my birthday, like it was never a normal day before 2001. I am in a writing group and this is actually an essay that I am working on.

I have already cried twice today watching all the memorial stuff and reading things on Facebook. Although I enjoyed a massage and am going out to dinner at my favorite restaurant with one of my favorite friends tonight, I still can't escape the fact that today is what it is.

In my essay, I liken how I feel about the day to how I feel when a loved one dies: I feel a huge loss and sadness, both on a personal level and for the country and those who suffered and died. It is something that I (and the country) will never get over, but over time the pain lessens and the healing begins. I will always miss the innocence and sense of peace of my pre-2001 birthday, like I will always miss a loved one who died, but I have learned to live with and accept it and do the best I can to get over the sadness and move on with my life.

The Trouble with Staycations

So this week I am on a "staycation" necessitated by lack of budget but need for a seriously long break from work. The good thing about staycations is that you can take the time to do whatever you want to do, explore things you have never explored, yadda yadda yadda. The bad thing is that you have no one to do things with cause everyone else is working and doesn't want to take off to entertain you so you don't feel so damn lonely. It's actually kind of all a big fat waste of time. I live alone and have no significant other, so I have plenty of regular "alone time" and trying to come up with things to do by myself actually kind of sucks. So although I've gone to the pool, and to a nice "beach," I can't help but feel that this 5 day depletion of annual leave really wasn't the best use of my time. I even tried to get a massage but scheduled with the wrong person so it wasn't what I hoped it would be. So I guess what I really want to say is STAYCATIONS SUCK! Next time I will just suck if up and spend the money to go somewhere to escape reality and my really horrible, boring, lonely, awful life!

Friend of Last Resort

It's been a really tough week, so I guess I'm feeling extra cynical today, but here goes. I have become pretty good friends with a girl in my neighborhood recently. She calls and texts a lot and we hang out sometimes. However, she often drops out of sight in the middle of a text stream, and I just get the feeling that she's found something better to do with her time. Like I'm her friend of last resort. When she's bored, no one interesting is responding to her, etc. she's up my ass. But when she has other plans, she goes MIA.

Ironically, she complains about a friend of hers who does something similar and only wants to hang out with her on certain terms and with certain people. Yet my friend doesn't always invite me to hang out with certain crowds. Occasionally she'll ask me something that is almost an afterthought, like "oh, a bunch of us are getting together, and I guess you could come if you're not busy." Yeah, thanks but no thanks.

Last night she was apparently bored and was going to have me over for some wine. I had plans and couldn't make it, and suggested tonight as an alternative, but I haven't heard from her since some texts around 4 pm. Oh well, guess she's not bored enought to hang with me tonight.

Dating by Text and Social Media

I got asked out last week by text by a guy I've met only a couple of times. He's a nice enough guy, but he spent last week frequently texting me (which I hate but have grudgingly accepted is the way of the world) without ever calling despite the fact that I had asked him a couple of times to call so we could discuss schedules.

It kills me that this supposedly interested guy texted me day and night, but he would never pick up the phone to actually talk. Call me old fashioned, but I'm not going out with you if you don't even have the balls, courtesy, nerve, decency, desire to talk to me, whatever, to call me.

So this week he asked me out again Monday by text, and by Tuesday I had decided I wasn't going to go out with him. He claimed he was going to call Tuesday night, but why was I waiting around for him to call? Somehow I felt the decent thing to do was tell him "in person" that I wasn't going to date him, but why did he deserve that courtesy when I didn't? Instead I turned the tables on him and told him "no" on Facebook. Not on his wall, but as a message. He apparently got my point, and put a post on his wall acknowledging that he just learned a hard lesson and apparently had to work on his communication skills and not rely so much on texting.

Incidentally, the main reason I wouldn't go out with him was because he was 10 years younger than me and I learned the hard way from past experience that is too young. Ironically, I think that his inability to deal with me as a person versus a text illustrates my point exactly. Next!

Beach Bust

I have needed a vacation so badly, and finally took a long weekend to go to Ocean City, MD, this weekend. I think I honestly haven't been there in over 20 years. I used to hate Ocean City--it was so crowded and took forever to drive down to the boardwalk. It was a total pickup beach at a time when I just wasn't interested in that. So needless to say I wasn't entirely excited to go but it was close and reasonably cheap. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how much Ocean City had improved--virtually no traffic!

My travel companion was a neighbor with whom I have traveled before. She had badly sprained her ankle this week, and probably shouldn't have gone but she insisted she was fine. Of course this meant she couldn't do much, walk far, or move fast, and expected me to wait on her more than I was prepared to do. Kind of infuriating.

I met up with other friends who happened to be in Ocean City that same weekend, and they are always full of drama and BS so that added to the ambience. One guy barely speaks to me cause I wouldn't date him years ago cause he's a total player. Another is completely stuck in his ways, yet to his credit we convinced him to do some different things. And the one girl wound up ripping me off inadvertently during dinner by not adding up her bill correctly, again all kind of infuriating.

Don't get me wrong, there were some fun moments, sunset dinner at BJs on the Water, now a new favorite; dinner at an old favorite Harpoon Hanna's; ice cream at Dumser's; and a really fun DJ and bar crowd at the Carousel, where we stayed. Again, that was a throwback to my youth.

I ate too much, drank too much, all the markings of a good vacation, but unfortunately it was just for a weekend, and it rained most of the time. I am trying to get away again at the end of the month, but having logistical and financial difficulties so I don't know if it's going to happen. Maybe the stars will align this week and I'll figure it all out...

A Day in the Life (and Death)

A while back I blogged about a neighbor who was dying, and last week she finally, peacefully, passed. She was suffering and wasting away, so as terrible as it is to say, it was a blessing. The viewing was Monday night, and the services were yesterday. I was unable to attend the funeral itself due to work, but I went to the viewing Monday and the reception yesterday.

Ironically, yesterday was a friend's birthday, a big one with 0's. He had invited some friends to celebrate at a local bar, so after the funeral reception, I headed over to the birthday party. What a weird day, and an odd juxtaposition of life and death. I was glad I could be there yesterday for both of my friends.

Obsessed with Ryan Lochte

Is it wrong to be obsessed with someone young enough to be . . . my nephew? I have to say I love, love, love Ryan Lochte. He so reminds me of this guy I really liked and almost dated recently. He had a really similar look and physique. What a pity it never happened.

The Other Side of Friendship

In my last post I blogged about friendship and how something as small as distance can make a big distance in a relationship. However, the flip side of it is, that sometimes distance or time doesn't matter at all. There are some people who matter so much that despite distance, or the amount of time since you've last seen the person, your feelings don't dimish or change. I am fortunate enough to have an equal number of friends in my life that qualify for this as I do people who move two counties over and I never see again. For that, I am truly grateful. My favorite example is my best friend who moved to Memphis 2-1/2 years ago. While I miss having her in the neighborhood, I know that our friendship will remain steadfast, and we talk on almost a weekly basis. So that, my friends, is the other side of friendship. The side that makes it all worthwhile.

Friends by Proximity and Marital Status

As much as I hate to admit it, most of my friends live close by and typically are single like me. As much as we try to stay in touch with people after they get married, leave the job, move out of the neighborhood, or otherwise move on, it's very hard in this day and age when people are so busy. Even though they may live only 15-20 minutes away, it's harder with schedules being so hectic to plan time together. I try to do a good job balancing, but it's not a perfect science.

So tonight we had a going away party for some neighbors who are moving to fricking Leesburg. Might as well be Hawaii, as I know I will never see them again. Not only will they be far away, but they have 2 young kids. Why would they ever call me? Even when they lived here they never called me, I just happened to see them a lot because they were . . . well, neighbors and I ran into them frequently as they walked their dogs. They are super nice people, but even though I offered to babysit after they had their first kid like 2-1/2 years ago, they never took me up on it. So there is no hope that I will see them unless they have some sort of party and invite me. Even then it would be tough to get there and back, and really unless they have a lot of single friends it might not be worth my time as I don't want to hang out with a bunch of "married with kids."

That's sad, but truly way things are today. I only have a certain amount of free time and if they're not close enough distance-wise and can't offer me any possibility of meeting a single guy, I might not go to a party all the way in Leesburg. That all being said, I really will miss them a lot, but I'm just trying to be realistic.

Good Hair Matters--on Men Too!

Hair really makes a look. Everyone talks about women's hair, whether it's colored, cut, upswept, whatever. Especially in Hollywood. But how often do people talk about men's hair? I just watched an episode of House tonight for the first time in a long time, and Jesse Spencer, who plays Dr. Robert Chase, has cut his beautiful, awesome, super-cool hair since I last saw him. For me, the spark is gone. Now he looks like any boring generic actor, whereas he used to look sexy, his green eyes sparkling and his Australian accent adding to his appeal. Now, he's just blah.

The same thing happened to me with George Clooney back in the day. When he was on ER and had that floppy, untamed, gorgeous head of hair, he was something--in his prime. Then he got that Caeser cut that I think looks hideous on every man, and immediately looked boring, older, and generic. I am used to it now, and with all the gray he couldn't have it long again, but it was definitely a terrible move 10 years ago.

Lately I have seen Nordic God Chris Hemsworth with shorn (yes, shorn) hair that makes him look boring as hell. What are these guys thinking?

And last but not least, I acknowledge a positive hair change. Dierks Bentley, who used to have longer, curly, goofy hair, recently got it chopped off and now looks sexy and dangerous. Congratulations, Dierks, now I think you are totally hot. I'm sure that my opinion on some random blog matters to this country superstar.

Procrastination

If there was a degree in Procrastination, I think I would have been a shoo-in for that major. I am the hugest procrastinator when I don't want to do something, for example, packing. I hate packing. I am leaving tomorrow for a trip and haven't packed a damn thing. Or cleaned the bathroom, or changed the sheets for the dog walker, or done any of the million things I will be panicking about tomorrow that will lead to yelling and cursing and misery. My poor dogs will just cower and wonder what the hell they did wrong. But tonight I have wanted to do everything but pack. At nearly 10 pm, I am starting to think about what I will pack, but I am far from even starting. And Fashion Police starts now, so I will have to watch that. While I pack, of course.

In my last writing group meeting, we talked about what we would do if we really hit the lottery big. Of course, travel came up, and housekeeping, but I think I would also hire someone to pack for my travels as I can't stand to do it myself.

And if you haven't picked up on this, this blog post is yet another feeble attempt to . . . wait for it . . . procrastinate. So with that I will sign off and say that I'm not sure I can post while I'm away, but that depends on whether I take this laptop or not. And of course, I am procrastinating until tomorrow to make that decision.

Things I Love: Toxic Complainers

Here is another installment of "Things I Love," an occasional rant where I talk about, well, fabulous things I love.

Tonight I was verbally attacked by my neighbor as we coincidentally walked in the building together after work. (First thing I love: Being yelled at after a hard day of work at my front door, for no reason.) He's been mad for a few days about some restaurant leaving flyers at our doors--we live in a locked building so he is justified in being upset. I am very involved in neighbood committees and for that reason some people think they can bring me every complaint and I'll have a solution or somehow take responsibility for it. Well, I'm getting tired of playing that role. Just because you're mad at something doesn't mean that I care or want to help you with your crusade. I have plenty of my own, thank you.

Anyway the other day he took his concerns to the board. Very good. However, something set him off again about it tonight, and he started going off about why the neighborhood citizens' association newsletter (which I contribute to) was allowed to be left at doors when other things weren't, and I tried to point out it's a neighborhood publication that benefits all residents. But he wasn't listening. Since I'm involved with the newsletter, I guess he figured it was convenient to make it all my fault. He was yelling to the point where I said "I'm tired of dealing with everyone else's fucking anger" and went inside, slamming the door.

I really love when people have nothing better to do than bitch and moan and complain, but they never get involved in doing anything to make a difference or a change. If he's that concerned about this ridiculous issue he should get off his very fat ass and get involved in the community instead of just bitching about it to people who are involved and don't deserve to be bitched at for no reason. Man, I was pissed and it took quite a while to calm down. Next time I see him and he opens his mouth, I intend to just hold up my "talk to the hand" and tell him I don't want to hear anymore. Asshole. And I'm going to stop being the nice neighbor and finally complain to the property management office next time his smoking smells up the entire building, and I have to suffer through secondhand smoke so thick you can cut it, just to walk to my door. Ok, that feels better. Thanks for listening. (And for those of you who know who I'm talking about, please keep this rant between us!)

When To Pass Up a Free Vacation

I recently found out that a group of friends of a good friend of mine is going to the Outer Banks in early September, and they invited me to go. My friend can't go, and I desperately need a vacation and want to go. However, while I really like these people, I just don't know if I would feel comfortable going without her. I think deep down she would be somewhat jealous if I went with "her" friends, plus one of the guys in the group is totally cute and if something were to happen with us (which is not out of the realm of possibility) I think she would be really pissed. So while this trip would be awesome--practically free, fun, and one of my favorite beaches--I think I better just say no.

Oh, Those Summer Ni-ghts!

I just got in from puttering in the yard . . . watering, weeding, etc. I have things I need to clean up and replant but that was too much effort for tonight. I have to say, there is not much that makes me happier than a warm summer night. I just love being outside, reading or hanging out and waiting for the bats to come out at dusk. It reminds me of the best times of my adolescence and early adulthood . . . sitting outside in the driveway with my best friend J., my sisters, and whatever boys we were dating at the time. We would sit outside for hours, talking, laughing, playing music ("Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard and anything by Guns N Roses), and sneaking our beverage of choice, wine coolers. We thought we were so cool and so grown up. And so sneaky--we always thought our parents didn't know, but I'm sure they did. Those are some of my fondest memories, back when things were much simpler and somehow, surprisingly, seemingly happier.

Am I Busted . . . or Is He?

These days, it seems the only men that I am interested in are completely and utterly inappropriate. The most innocent of which is my 24-year-old neighbor, who hangs out mostly with older relatives and friends who are about my age. This neighbor is adorable, friendly, built, and hot, with piercing green eyes, my favorite eye color. He recently got a dog, so we have been talking "dog shop" a lot. To get over my jailbait crush, I invited him and his roomate over recently to grill, as they had invited me to a bunch of parties. I also wanted a chance to cement a friendship, so I would get over the fact that he is totally awesome but totally age-inappropriate.

In any case, my condo is located right next to a very busy sidewalk that is right at eye level and entirely too close to my windows. People I know walk by and actually wave cause they can see right in when I am hanging out in my living room. Very annoying. Sometimes I hate my lack of privacy, and needless to say I never open my bedroom blinds.

But I digress. A couple days ago Mr. Jailbait walked by and looked right in my window and I think I waved. Tonight I caught him looking in again. He has a similar unit to mine close to the sidewalk, and I actively try NOT to look in his window when I walk by. But this is twice he's walked by, looked in, and I've been there looking back. So my question is, who is busted??

Setting Better Boundaries

Last weekend was insane in the DC area. A huge storm hit Friday night, rather unexpectedly, immediately knocking power out to millions--yes millions--of residents in MD, VA, and DC. I live on a great power grid with some local businesses, but even I lost power for nearly 24 hours. My family was out for a full 4 days in the middle of a heatwave with temps feeling like over 100 degrees.

On Saturday, after sitting in my hot condo all day, I decided to go out to dinner with a neighbor to get some A/C and food. Right before I left for dinner, my power came back on and I literally screamed for joy. My friend, however, didn't get her power and asked if she could spend the night. Of course I said yes.

On the way to the restaurant another friend called asking to spend the night and I just don't have a big enough place (or enough beds) to have more than one person/couple so I said no. She nearly cried, and I felt bad, but I just couldn't do it. This friend in particular likes to push boundaries and is very demanding. Basically she is not an easy friend and had kind of screwed me recently so I didn't feel that bad saying no.

But I told her she could come over the next day as I figured my other friend would have power by then. The next day she called and I expected her to say she wanted to spend the night but instead she wanted to bring over meat from her freezer that was going to go bad. A reasonable request. Then she said some of the meat wasn't frozen and would need to be cooked so she would cook me dinner. Under most circumstances again reasonable and nice. However, I was going for a much-needed massage and really just wanted to chill when I got home, instead of dealing with cooking and then cleaning it up. She pushed and pushed so I said yes, which was a mistake.

She came over with a huge cloth bag leaking blood everywhere from the already-defrosted meat. I had just mopped the floors that week and I couldn't believe the audacity of bringing a filthy dripping bag into someone's home to mess the carpets and floors. Plus I have two dogs, who were more than eager to help clean the mess. She set the bag on my clean kitchen floor to bleed everywhere. Disgusting. I about blew a gasket but held it together, though I did say something about it. She offered to clean it, but she is the worst housekeeper ever so I took care of it myself with some bleach.

We stuffed my freezer full of meat, and started cooking. I even brought out the grill to avoid heating the kitchen too much. She kept making all these complicated things, and there were pounds and pounds of meat to cook. WTF? It was 8:30 and we still hadn't finished cooking everything or eaten, and all the stress relief from my massage was gone. I was furious--I just wanted to eat and have her get the hell out of there, and I finally lost it. This was NOT how I wanted to spend my Sunday night before I had to go to work the next day. This was NOT how I wanted to spend the evening after the first real relaxation I'd felt in months. I let her have it. She somewhat apologized for being an imposition, but I'm sure given the chance she would do it all over again cause that's how she is. It doesn't matter how she puts someone out as long as she gets what she wants. On the flip side, however, she can be a very generous and thoughtful person, but often she has no common sense when dealing with other people.

I know this is my issue. I should have told her she could bring the items but not cook them as I really needed some time to myself that night. I would have had to cook the meat during the week, which I didn't want to do, or throw it out, but I guess that's the risk I should have taken. I still should have set more boundaries than I did. I should have said no and not ruined my night in order to help a friend. That's my biggest problem. I always want to help people out, but it often comes at my own expense and I wind up feeling resentful. So this is something I really need to work on. Next time, I will just say no, or set limits to what I am willing to deal with so I don't wind up getting upset in the end.

Family Time

So this week my cousin emailed me on FB saying that she was going to be in town this weekend, and she would love to see me. She was staying close to my sisters, who live about 30 minutes from me, so I figured we would all get together sometime. However, my family is terrible at planning anything in advance so I knew a plan would come together very late. It did, but I wasn't told anything about it. No one called me all day today and I finally called over to one sister to see what was going on, and the cousins were already there, dinner was planned, mom was invited, and I hadn't been informed at all. Nice, really nice.

Despite my attempts not to be pissed and offended, I am. It's just rude. My sister who was hosting has an iPhone for God's sake, she could have easily sent me a quick email or text to let me know that dinner was on. But no, nothing. So my other sister, who wanted to invite me, felt really bad, but she had believed my flaky sister when she said she would invite me. It's not that they intended to keep me out, it's that the flaky sister just didn't get around to inviting me.

Long story short, I got a text finally from my flaky sister, who even screwed up the text and had intended to apologize but didn't, and that was the end of story. Instead, I went and got a pedicure and went out for drinks with friends. My family is so aggravating and now I have to deal with the same flaky unplanned bullshit tomorrow. I left the whole day open, so we'll see if they even have the courtesy to let me know what is going on.

My theory is this is why you grow up and move away from family. It's just too much bullshit and drama to deal with on a daily basis.

Jackrabbit?

I live in an urban area, complete with buses running all day. Occasionally we see wildlife--I have seen a fox, opossum, raccoon, and rabbit. Today I saw the oddest thing I have ever seen--it had to be a jackrabbit. It was literally running down the sidewalk straight towards me and my dogs. At first I thought it was some small dog that had gotten away from its owner. Did it think it could take on a person and two 40-pound dogs?? It looked like it was charging us, with its big ears sticking straight up. Hilarious! I actually screamed a bit out of shock. Luckily at the last minute it decided to veer off and run away, but of course it sent my dogs into a tailspin and they wanted to give chase. My younger dog wouldn't stop looking for it, even after it ran across the street, where it stood looking at us as if to dare us to come over. How bizarre, I wish I'd been quick enough to grab my cell phone to take a picture!

The Problem with Being Right

My hairdresser and I have had the same two arguments over the past several years. These are the kind of arguments where no one is going to win, but you argue for the sake of arguing because it's fun. Lately, however, the arguments have turned too serious, and so I have decided to avoid the topics, outlined below.

1. Coloring my hair - This topic is fairly innocuous, or at least it started that way. My hairdresser loves to do color. Well, quite frankly, what hairdresser doesn't when they can charge twice as much (no offense to my hairdresser friend BibaGirrl who reads this). I don't want to color my hair for many reasons, cost being just one of them. I don't like sitting in a salon for hours. I don't have time to sit in a salon for hours. I like my haircolor and don't want to change it. I thought my hairdresser was wrong and magically I would never need color. I want to cling to the last vestiges of my youth while I still can, etc.

So this used to be a joke until I started getting noticeably greyer. I know I'm fighting a losing battle and I'm pissed because it's starting to affect how my hair behaves and how dry it gets. I'm pissed because my hairdresser is right, and I know my hair could look better if I invested more money and time, but I just don't have it in me to do it yet. Things got to a breaking point a few months ago, with my hairdresser really getting on my case to the point where I told him "I'm sorry if I'm your worst client with the worst hair ever." My feelings were honestly hurt, and I stopped talking to him in the chair and stopped being so friendly. Point taken, argument dropped for a few visits, although last time he kind of cautiously put his foot back in the water to see if I would react.

2. Children - I have never, ever in my life wanted children. Thankfully I am approaching an age where it's no longer a strong biologic possibility, and people who want to date someone my age are not likely to be looking for kids. Before he got married, my hairdresser would argue with me that of course I wanted children, I just had to meet the right person, they were so wonderful, it would make my life happy, yadda yadda yadda. He just couldn't get it through his thick skull that a woman could possibly be serious about this.

Fast forward to him being married with a terrible two year old. Every time I see him I ask about his kid, and at first it was all sunshine and light. She was an angel, she could do no wrong. Over time, he couldn't believe how difficult she was, how stubborn, how much his life had changed. I started joking with him saying "I told you so--this is why I don't want kids. They ruin your life." At first it was funny, but as time has gone by he seems more and more depressed about his life, so I stopped teasing him about it. He just told me his wife and kid are going back to their native Turkey for the summer. I said I was sorry that he was going to be a bachelor for the summer. He said that he wasn't, he needed a break. Yikes! For once in my life, I wish I wasn't right.

The Power of Music

I have had a hell of a week, just about the only thing getting me through these days is really excellent and loud music. Each morning, I blast a favorite CD as I enter the garage at work to get me pumped up and ready for the day. For some reason I always have a song running through my head, and often wake up to that internal radio. That typically inspires the music of the day, which usually turns into the music of the week as I play the CD over and over again. Recently it was Journey's Greatest Hits, and as I blared "Separate Ways" in the garage, then got out of the car to head into work, a co-worker told me "rock on." Music has the power to bring together new friends.

Yes I still buy CDs. and maybe that shows my age, but I don't care. If I really like an artist, I want to hear all that they have to offer. I want to become a fan and know everything that they have recorded. Every now and then, I will hear an obscure song in a movie or store, and I love the feeling of being able to identify it and sing to it when no one else can.

The highlight of the week was the Martina McBride concert at Wolftrap on Wednesday night. David Nail was the opening act, and I have liked his singles, but now I think I'm gonna go for the CD. He has a unique voice, writes his own songs, and is totally hot. What's not to love? Music has the power to expand us and open us to new experiences.

Martina was exceptional; this was probably the best I have ever heard her, and I have been to a lot of her concerts over the years. She really got emotionally involved in each song and the sound seemed to rip from deep inside her. She is a very tiny person, with this enormous voice, and it was almost a religious experience watching her and hearing the great acoustics at Wolftrap. She got her first standing ovation unexpectedly after the song "Love's the Only House (Big Enough for All the Pain)." Up until that point the audience was sitting there like a bunch of boring old farts, but this song really spoke to everyone. What do we do with all the pain in life? How can we cope with it? These are questions I have frequently been trying to answer in my own life, particularly this week. These days, especially in this stressful area, everyone seems to be going through so much crap and everyone is in pain. By the end of the song, the audience was on its feet, expressing appreciation for the beautiful performance, the powerful words, and the much-needed empathy and wisdom. Music has the power to make us feel, to unite, and to soothe.

About 3/4 the way through the concert I was dancing in the aisle so I wouldn't block anyone's view, and a woman was leaving early and walked past me. She stopped, handed me her ticket, and said, "front row." I looked at her in shock. She said again, "front row" so I thanked her, just about fell over, and asked the usher if I could move. I was escorted up front, where I watched the rest of the show in awe, and yelled and waved to Carolyn Dawn Johnson at the end. CDJ is a solo artist in her own right, very popular in Canada, and I was thrilled to see her singing for Martina again, as she had done in years past. She waved, and my magical night was complete, thanks to the power of music.

Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?

So as a follow up to my last blog where I alluded to a less-than-perfect weekend, here is the story. I hadn't heard from my pilot friend all week until Friday afternoon when he texted me at work about the weekend. At first I was excited--it seemed he was fishing to get together, so I finally took the bait and suggested getting together after a happy hour I had that night as he lived nearby. I also said I was free on Sunday. His response: We'll see. We'll see? Really? Not really the response I'd hoped for. Not really sounding like a guy who is interested. Then the texts stopped abruptly.

But giving him the benefit of the doubt I thought I would text after the HH and see what was going on. However, before my HH, I saw him out and about and on the phone making other plans (he didn't see me) . . . after my HH, I saw him at a bar courting a table of girls (again he didn't see me). At the HH was a guy I used to like who I didn't really want to see again after he blew me off a while back. Not a fun night. I just can't deal with all the game playing and BS, so I basically texted fly boy not to contact me again as I really got the impression he was just out looking for the best opportunity, and clearly it wasn't me. My sister says I'm too dismissive. He texted back that I didn't have a clue what I was talking about. Me, I trust my gut and I know what I saw. I have a clue and only dismiss men who aren't worth my time, which is just about all of them. Are there really any decent ones left who aren't married or gay? The older I get, the less I believe, based on much anecdotal evidence. Just how many frogs do I need to kiss?

Sun Baked

This weekend was really busy--went to a happy hour Friday night, which was a disaster I will write about later--then had a baby shower and graduation/birthday party Saturday. The shower was in MD, down a bunch of winding country roads, which made me really wish I had a convertible. Two nieces had birthdays this week, one of which just turned 18 and then graduated Friday night. What a big week for her, and a great time to celebrate her life and success.

Today I spent most of the day outside, and boy am I wiped out. My dogs and I were out for like 3 hours early this morning, then I spent 4 hours at the pool. I am just beat, so I will save my happy hour disaster story for another time, when I can write it in a more coherent way.

Perfect Timing

Tonight I went out to dinner right after work, which I don't usually do because of the ridiculous guilt and responsibility I feel towards my dogs. But I was dining with a friend who has cats and also feels too much guilt and responsibility, so we usually meet right after work, keep it short and catch up for an hour, then head home. Tonight was rainy all throughout dinner, which would have been the time I would have been walking the dogs. By the time I got home the rain had stopped and we got to take our usual 2+ mile walk between the rain drops. The moral of the story: Sometimes bucking the routine and doing something for myself benefits everyone.

Letting Your Garden Grow

As a follow up to my June 1 post, my neighbor who is dying of cancer emailed me today, much to my surprise. As a little background, she and I both have dogs and would run into each other frequently in the neighborhood. In recent years I have been doing more and more gardening, and I always admired her garden out back and eventually we got to talking about it. She even gave me some of her plants. So today she emailed to say she was recycling some gardening magazines this week and thought of me. She planned to have her husband leave them on the front patio if I wanted them, and recycle them tomorrow if not.

I was flabbergasted. This woman, who has actually had a setback and is not able to have visitors this week as she had hoped, thought of me while she was "cleaning house" and took the time to contact me to offer me something she knew I would enjoy amidst everything that she is going through. In her email, she told me about her worsened condition, even making a joke about looking like a sick cancer patient. I did go pick up the magazines, and left a little gift basket filled with things that might help keep her and her husband entertained, as she is apparently no longer able to walk.

I am in awe of her strength, spirit, and sense of humor when facing her own mortality. She is truly an inspiration and I only pray that she does not suffer needlessly. I know I could never face that situation with as much grace as she is, and I only hope she is well enough to visit before it is too late.

The Love and Fear of Flying

This weekend I had the craziest and most fun experience I've had in a long time. It was my neighborhood's annual margarita party, which is generally a fun time. Last year, after the party, a bunch of us went out and had a great time and I wound up hanging out with this really cute guy.

So this year we all decided to go out again, and we were supposed to meet my friend L's friend Jim in a nearby bar. As we walked down the street to the bar, L stops a guy and says "where are you going?" so we all assume it's Jim. It turns out she's just messing around and didn't know the guy, and he played right along, which was hilarious. This guy winds up coming out with us and is acting like a jerk, which I kept calling him on. He said that I hated him, and I agreed and said I did. We argued about him being a Republican and me being a Democrat. At the end of the night after all the bickering, we discovered that we were attracted to each other and he took my number and asked if I wanted to go flying the next day. Flying? Turns out he's an ex-Navy pilot and flies for recreation now.

I have always had a love/hate relationship with flying. I love the beauty of seeing the country by air, the sense of freedom. I hate that I'm thousands of feet off the ground with nowhere to go but down if something goes wrong. I told him I would call in the morning with my decision, as I already had plans with someone else. When my friend heard about the opportunity, she said I should definitely go flying and that we would get together another time.

So today, I had the BEST FIRST DATE EVER. I took a leap of faith, put aside my fear of flying and typical "rules" about dating, and put my trust in J, who definitely knew what he was doing as a pilot. We had a great time--a totally unexpected, fun and sun-filled day, laughing and enjoying time together. It was so easy to be with him, I definitely feel like I am still flying.

Speeding Ticket

Unbeknownst to me, I apparently got a photo speeding ticket a couple of weeks ago going to a work-related press check that was like 30 miles away. I would never have even been on that road if it wasn't for work. Apparently on this highway the speed was 45, and I was going 57. Really? The ticket is $125. So unfair. I'm going to drive it again to see if the speed limit was posted where I got on, and if not try to fight it. But this really sucks, I haven't had a ticket (other than parking) in like 10 years.

Living for Today, Letting Others Know We Care

I found out this week that a neighbor who has struggled with cancer for the last few years has opted to stop treatment and is getting hospice care at home. While the news is (unfortunately) not a complete shock, it is very sad and she will leave behind a very devoted husband and pup. Part of the reason she decided to come home was so that she could visit with neighbors that she cares about, and I feel so honored that she wants our company. Starting next week, a bunch of us are going to take shifts visiting and getting a chance to say goodbye. So this got me to thinking about life and how suddenly it can change, and how rarely we tell each other we care. For example, I saw that an old boyfriend recently looked me up on LinkedIn. He didn't contact me, but I decided to contact him anyway just to let him know that I hope he is well and happy. He was one of the rare good ones out there. So we'll see if he writes back. No expectations, but it just seemed like the right thing to do at the end of this difficult week.

Corroborating Witness

Today I was a court witness, or as they called it "corroborating witness" for the first time in my life for a friend going through a divorce. She is a great friend and I had promised her I would do it, and what a weird experience. The "judge" grilled me more than I thought she would. Her husband was also there, and while it was great to see him, as we were always friends and the divorce is an amicable one, it was also bittersweet and signified the true ending of an era. A bunch of us used to always do things together and those are truly some of my favorite recent memories. I really miss those times and sit here tonight reflecting on life and how much things change, whether or not you really want them to. You have to just keep moving on and persevere, but sometimes it's hard to know what to do with all the sadness and loss.

Weekend of Relaxation and Fun

Lately my life hasn't consisted of either relaxation or fun, to the extent that I forgot I could even have some. A girlfriend and I took the weekend to tour VA wine country in her cute VW bug convertible. With a base in Harrisonburg, VA, we visited the Valley Fest Beer & Wine Festival where we fell in love with musician Mike Davis and raced down the highway blaring Bon Jovi alongside some JMU students. The next day we visited Afton Mountain Vineyards, which was so beautiful (pictured) that I didn't want to leave. We enjoyed lunch on the patio and glasses of dry riesling, very rare. Our other favorite vineyard was Keswick, which was really pet-friendly and boasted a beautiful chocolate sauce infused with wine. The roads were beautiful country roads through the mountains, and riding around with the top down it was easy to forget your cares. Monday I went to a cookout for Memorial Day, and had a fun time with friends who are quick-witted and entertaining. There was tons of food and drink, and even a couple of cute guys to flirt with. All in all, a great way to end a great weekend.

Sad for a Life I Never Met

My neighbor and fellow dog person, who has become a very dear friend, told me today that her favorite cousin committed suicide. This is someone she had been wanting to fix me up with. Apparently he was more depressed than people ever knew. He left behind a teenage son--how very tragic for the family. I really feel terrible for my friend, and wish I'd had the chance to meet this cousin she so admired, though I guess I would be even sadder tonight. You just never know how much a day can change everything.

Weekend with Nothing to Do

Just once, I have had nothing planned this weekend except for the Pet Happy Hour I organized last night. It was awesome, very fun time. I organize this every year for my condo association. It was a long, tiring day, so I didn't plan anything else this weekend. I am trying to finish my garden planting, and my house is a wreck so I am trying to get things back into some semblance of order. I have gotten a lot done, but all on my own schedule. Which is nice and much needed. If only the dogs would just be a little more low key things would be almost perfect. Tonight I wanted to grill and sit out for a while, but my neighbors have people over and they are outside, so it's kind of awkward, so I am inside watching a movie instead.

Mad at Blogger

Ok, so I had created this special blog template with all these things in the sidebar, and for no apparent reason and with no warning Blogger changed it yesterday right after I made an adjustment to the template. Now my sidebar has nothing interesting anymore and I have to figure out how to recreate it. Fuckers.

Sunday Night

Is there anything more depressing than Sunday night? Sunday night without wine, maybe. Luckily my friend J came over and helped me to make sure I had plenty tonight. We laughed and cracked up about crap that happened this weekend, and she got to see some plants that I just bought for my garden. I did a little planting today, so that was nice. Still have a lot to go. How is May here already? Anyway, it's after 11 and I need to get my beauty rest. The dogs are restless so I guess it's time to finally get to bed. Night all.

Things I Love

Things I Love is an occasional rant about things that really bug me. Usually it's about work, but today's rant is about my friend K, who calls me repeatedly but doesn't ever leave a message. This really pisses me off, and I have told her in the past that it bothers me when she doesn't leave a message cause I don't know how urgent her call is. She has had a lot of stress in her life recently and I've been there for her. So when she has called in the past I would typically call her back if I saw her number on caller ID. But you know, my life has gotten really stressful and is she there for me? No. When I ask her why she doesn't leave a message, she makes up some dumb excuse why she didn't leave a message, like she didn't think I'd be home but thought she would check. Well, if you don't think I'll be home, don't call me. She also called last night, Friday, at like 8:30 pm. After working a full week, I don't want to deal with her shit for an hour on the phone, and her calls are never less than an hour. She doesn't work so she has no idea how hard Friday nights are--I am either too tired and don't want to spend an hour on the phone, or I'm trying to go out and have a social life. I also have told her not to call on Friday nights but again she apparently doesn't care. Matter of fact I think the previous "no message" call was last Friday too. Will she ever get a clue? Apparently not. I would tell her these things again, but past experience has shown that she doesn't listen and will do whatever she wants anyway. So I will do what I want and ignore her. There, I feel better now.

Crazy

I have been at my new job almost a year and it has gone by so fast. It's been very stressful--first the company got bought out and I lost out on stock options and profit sharing. That has been sort of taken care of with a new bonus plan, plus a free parking space. So I am finally sort of over it. However, I've been dealing with a crazy employee for the year too. He has been out of work more than at work, and had sort of a mental breakdown around the holidays. He's brought union grievances against me and my boss. Now he's being evaluated for being "fit to work" which at first he was, but now he is not. It's a long story. The worst part is I am having to do his work, and now this is dragging out indefinitely again. He's been out more than a month. I can't take much more of this. I desperately need a vacation. I am taking tomorrow off, and hopefully having a long weekend will help to get me through this month until I can get a break . . .

Happy Birthdays

My father and grandfather (his dad) both had April birthdays, only 2 days (of course many years) apart. That made it easy to remember as a kid. They are both gone now, my grandfather just this past July, so these past few days have made me a bit sad. My father has been gone a long tme, but my grandfather died in July, just after his 96th birthday. Thinking of them both this weekend.

Ridiculous Story of the Week

Ok, there is a girl in my neighborhood who jogs incessantly, hours on end. Everyone thinks she's crazy--she runs in the middle of the street and doesn't pay attention to cars. She's not even training for a marathon or anything, she is just jogging off emotional problems. In any case, one morning this week I saw her behind a tree. She was not very well hidden, and she definitely saw me walking right towards her with my dogs. She proceeds to pull down her pants and do whatever business she was doing behind this tree on a major street in my neighborhood. She was down for quite a while, so I am thinking she was doing some serious business. The thing that makes this so crazy is that she lives like 1 block from this spot, so why didn't she just jog her little bare ass home and take a crap there??? Insane. This just confirms it.

Where Do the Weekends Go?

Here I sit on Sunday night, wondering where my weekend went. A very common occurrence. The weekend virtually flew by, while I have very little to show for it, yet the work days just drag. I have so much to do over the weekend that I hardly have time for fun. And the fun sometimes doesn't even feel like fun because it means I have less time to get the things done that I need to. Fun becomes just another obligation.

I guess this likely means I'm in (yet again) the WRONG JOB. And now, I have some work to do for this wrong job. So I will end my weekend working, but at least sipping very nice sangiovese at the same time.

How do you all cope with the workday blues? The job you hate? The Sunday night blues?

It's 2012?

I can't believe I haven't posted since November! I hope everyone had a great holiday. I am just glad that they are over and hoping that 2012 will be better than 2011 . . .

Four-Day Weekends

I have to say, I loved having a 4-day weekend over this past holiday. It is so hard to compress your life into a 2-day weekend; working just sucks the life out of you that you need more than 2 days to recover. I was busy most of the time, but also had time to get most chores and things I needed to get done. I went back to work actually feeling refreshed, unstressed, and happy. What a miracle! Now if only all the weeks were like this . . .

Falling Back

It has been a most interesting weekend, with lots of unexpected drama. I found out the *real* reason my niece is grounded . . . found out that a foster father shouldn't be and now wondering what to do about that discovery . . . and found a source of unexpected wisdom in someone you wouldn't expect it from. She said she had a card for me that said something about "When one door closes, another opens. But you can only take advantage of that open door if you stop looking back at the closed door." Wow, is that applicable to my life, or maybe I've just had too much wine tonight? I am always the "grass is always greener" type of person. What would have happened if I'd made this choice instead of that? Guess I need to start letting go of some of that thinking . . .

I also am exhausted after supposedly earning an extra hour of time this weekend, after turning our clocks back an hour. The problem is, no one told my dogs,and they had me up twice in the middle of the night to go out, so I woke up completely zonked. I have a few more things to accomplish tonight, then I'm going to try to relax!

Estate Sale Finds

I went to an estate sale today and bought a couple of really cool things. Usually at an estate sale you don't find many good electronics, but apparently this person did a lot of stuff with computers and there were a lot of electronics to unload. I wish I'd gone earlier in the day as I'm in the market for a new PC and laptop, and apparently there were many of those to be had. But I did get a large, very nice flat screen monitor for just $25. You can't beat that.

Other items I purchased included an old-school phone that doesn't require power to work, for those rare times when the power goes off; a nice crystal candy/nut bowl, as I was just looking for one last week when I had guests over; and a copy of The Breakfast Club for $2. Nice!

Cancellations and No Shows

I was supposed to have breakfast this morning with 2 people from my neighborhood. I volunteer a lot of my time to neighborhood projects, and this meeting was to touch base about that. The meeting was supposed to be at 9 am. Who wants to be anywhere Saturday morning at 9 am? Not me. But like the schlump I am, I showed up, without having checked email first. No one else showed.

I waited 1/2 hour and figured they must have rescheduled or cancelled. I had just confirmed this like a day ago, and checked email last night to make sure it wasn't cancelled. I am supremely pissed and sent a very terse message to the people involved.

I am getting to a point where my time--even 1/2 hour--is too valuable to waste. Earlier this week I busted my ass to get to a meeting at 7 pm, which is really hard for me given work constraints and the dogs. Me and one other person showed up. Again, really pissed.

The lesson here is, my time is too valuable to just be giving it away like this. I told the folks this morning that I wasn't willing to reschedule. And I think I'm dropping the other thing from Tuesday. I have got to get a better handle on my life and my schedule, and I am starting to figure out how. Just say no!

I Have Followers?

I noticed that I actually have some followers of this blog, and people who seem to check it daily. I sincerely appreciate that, as I didn't realize that anyone really gave a crap. It reinspires me to put some interesting things up here to keep you all entertained, so I will do my best to try to post more often. I think these days we all get caught up in our emails, Facebook, etc. that require more immediate attention, and blogs have sort of fallen out of favor.

In the spirit of rekindling my blog, I will tell you some of the stress I have been dealing with over the past three weeks.

Work - I have an employee who is--well, let me put this delicately--crazy. He has thrown me under the bus with my boss more than once and has been ranting and raving about his job, what a bad manager I am, etc. etc. Over a two week period, during our busiest time, he got no work done and then we found out he did something slightly illegal. All this put together means . . . wait for it . . . I gave him a written warning and disciplinary action has been taken. Not sure what is going to happen, but this warning is a first step towards getting him fired. Now mind you, I have been at this job for like 5 months, and I just don't need this shit or stress!

Personal - I found out my ex of 6 years who "never wanted to get married" is now engaged to someone he met online less than a year ago. WTF?? (Sorry if you are reading this, but it's my blog so tough shit.) Then I meet this cute guy who is Italian and seems really cool. However, his baggage? He is going through a divorce, supposedly has 6 kids, and when I looked him up on FB he seemed to already have a girlfriend. Again, WTF? Are there no straight, single, eligible, decent men left? I didn't think so. Anyway, people wonder why women my age are bitter. I have no insight into that.

On top of all this I have a guy who has been after me on and off for 10 years, who decided that the weekend I found out about aforementioned ex was the weekend he was going to "charm" me into finally going out with him. Boy was he wrong, and wound up unfriended on FB. I am tired of being fucked over!

But on a good note, it is Friday and I am getting a massage tomorrow. So maybe things are looking up after all.

My Shockingly Bad Review of Martina McBride’s New Album “Eleven” (Revised)

I have made slight revisions to this post after seeing Martina in concert 6/13/2012 and listening to the CD a bit more. Parts of it have grown on me, parts of it I still hold my original feelings . . .

I have been a fan of Martina McBride for at least 10 years now and she is awesome and I love her. However . . . her latest album just came out last week and it is taking a long time to grow on me. I’m not sure it ever will . . . not sure it’s something I’ll crave listening to. That’s how I know when a CD is really good, when I can’t get the songs out of my head and I can’t wait to listen to it again.

Apparently, she has been writing songs and co-wrote most of the songs on the album. Well, I’m wondering if she should stop writing and concentrate on what she does best: sing. There are two main problems with the songs on here:

First, there is not enough new. A lot of the songs sound like other songs she has already done.

Second, the writing is often bland, not descriptive enough, and uninteresting. I really enjoy songs that have clever lyrics, descriptions that make you feel something. These lyrics don’t have enough to say.

Here is a brief review of the songs on the CD.

One Night – This could be a really awesome, fun, rocking song and was a great way to kick off the June concert referenced above. The one thing I don’t like is that parts of it are too similar to “Ride” from her last CD. There’s a part where she sings the word “Sky” with exactly the same melodic descent as “Ride.” It’s a shame cause it ruins the song a bit for me.

Always Be This Way – This has a sort of reggae beat, which is a little odd. The song is kind of catchy and sweet, though a little saccharine.

I’m Gonna Love You Through It – This is a tear-jerker about a woman with breast cancer. It’s her “statement song” on the CD. During the concert, she dedicated it to "The Survivors" and that simple dedication really made me admire her for always taking on tough issues.

Marry Me – This is a remake of Train’s song, which I adore. I don’t love her singing it. However, the end is cool when she duets with Pat Monahan, who I love, love, love. But more of the song should have been a duet.

Broken Umbrella – This song is full of horns and sounds very old-fashioned and boring. What is she doing with adult contemporary??? It’s so awful, saccharine, blech! I still felt that way during the concert, this was my bathroom break song.

You Can Get Your Loving Right Here – This is supposed to be her “sexy” song but again the horns! Not a big fan of this song.

Whatcha Gonna Do – This song kind of evokes the feel of "Whatever You Say" from years ago. It's a pretty good song about a relationship (man) that can never make up its mind. Are we on or off? Boy do I understand that. I love the sarcastic “whatever” in this song.

Teenage Daughters – This was already a radio hit. It is a pretty clever song, especially if you have teenage daughters.

Summer of Love – This is about a summer romance, and she wanted to evoke a “Strawberry Wine” feel here, and I originally felt it didn't quite work but the song has grown on me. I would have liked to see her perform it to see how she delivered it, but she didn't sing it.

When You Love a Sinner – This song title and melody have the potential to be interesting, but I originally thought the song didn't say quite enough to make you feel. Not sure I was right on that call. It has some good lyrics in it, but I want to know more of the story behind it. She’s been with her husband for like 20 years so obviously and hopefully it’s not about him.

Long Distance Lullaby – This is actually a beautiful song to her family when she’s on the road.

You’re in My House Now – Has the potential to be a sassy song, but there are like two measures in each verse where she goes "la la la la, la la la la, la la la la la la," like she just forgot the words or was too lazy to write them. WTF?

Closing Time – It’s an interesting concept, likening closing time at a bar to the end of the relationship. It evokes an old-fashion country feel. But I feel like it was better live as one of the closing songs--on the CD it's a bit too slow.

Ask the Boy – WTF? This song makes no sense. I originally thought I didn't like it cause I didn't know what was being asked of the boy, but in listening to it several times, what bothered me is that she switches tenses in the song. She talks about "me" in relation to the boy, but they says something like "if you just ask the boy." Who is the you?? What happened to me? That part really makes no sense. The melody is kind of interesting, so if it made a bit more sense, it could have been better.

I Give It to You – The first word was Jesus. Enough said. Fast forward and the CD is finished. Bummer.

RIP, Reed

I found out last Friday that a neighbor and former board member on my neighborhood association's board passed away unexpectedly. He had a heart condition, so this was not totally implausible, but still quite a shock and sad. He was only 45. The night he passed away, we were supposed to have dinner but I rescheduled cause things were busy, and he was just getting back from vacation. I thought, we'll just do it another day.

Well, there is no other day, and I'm really sad. Though, I admit I would probably have felt worse if I'd gone to dinner then found out he died right afterwards. It just all sucks no matter how you look at it.

Tomorrow is his funeral in DC. I would like to go, but practicality won out. I am new at my job, he's not a familiy member or boyfriend where it would make sense to be there, my dog is sick and I have to conserve my time off to deal with that, etc. I hate it. I hate the fact that life in DC is so annoying and work is so all-pervasive that I feel I can't even ask for a few goddamn hours to honor a neighbor who was a good guy and a good friend. So, I wanted to let it be known that while I cannot be there in person, I am there in spirit and heart. RIP, Reed.

Giant Rant

First of all, I hate grocery shopping because it takes precious time out of my very-time-crunched weekends. Second, the prices keep going up, while sizes keep going down. I am soooooo frustrated cause I try not to eat out during the week so I can "save money." Ha. I went to Giant today so I can get their Shell gas miles, and everything I bought, just about, was way more expensive than last time I was there. Blueberries were like $3.99 a pint! This price is fine in winter, when there are no blueberries, but summer? They should be like 2 for $4! WTF?

Then I go to check out and I use their recyclable bags to earn the 5 cents per bag. The stupid woman loads all the large things into one bag--two large containers of OJ, one 1/2 gallon of milk, 2 tubs of yogurt, etc. and I make a comment and she's like "oh I can change it for you." Well, duh, you shouldn't do it in the first place, you motherf*cking idiot! I am not the bionic woman with endless strength. I was quite pissy to her, plus I was furious at the prices so she's lucky I didn't just let her have it for the complete unfairness. I stopped going to Shopper cause they were so idiotic, Harris Teeter and Safeway are WAYYYY overpriced, so what am I supposed to do?

Sonny, Tony, Grandpa

It is with great sadness that I post about my wonderful grandfather's passing this past Thursday, July 27. He was 96 years old, and lived 4-1/2 years after my grandmother's passing. He was doing pretty well up until a year ago, then things got tricky after some surgery that I felt was unnecessary but others apparently did not. He was never the same after that--how is a 96 year old going to recover from surgery? Really?

Grandpa was sharp-minded, right until the end. I spoke with him last about 2 weeks ago, and he remembered that I had a problem in my basement with these hopping crickets. He was at my house only once, about 10 years ago, but he remembered these bugs and was giving me advice on how to get rid of them. He also thought I should white wash my basement. It was the most awesome confersation, and somehow I knew it would be our last.

I will never forget how amazing he was . . . smart though he'd never gone to college, handy, sharp as a tack, opinionated, Democrat! (old people are never Democrats), a major Yankees fan. He was a big music fan, and taught me all of these old songs as a kid. To this day I still remember the words to "I Love My Baby" and "I Took My Girl." He always took us to get Slurpees as kids, and told us the story "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" no matter how many times we asked.

I leave tomorrow for the services in NY. My grandfather was very well-loved, there will be a lot of people there to pay respects, and it will be very hard to get through cause there will be a lot of tears. He was my last grandparent. It's the end of an era and I'm so sad . . .

July 4 Beach Weekend

This past weekend I hit the beach with NOAAGirl and we had tons of fun, starting with riding in her cute little red VW bug convertible. We were loving the attention we got as we rode with the top down, rocking out to great 80s tunes.

We left Saturday morning and it took a while to get to the beach. Saturday night we hung out on the Rehobeth boardwalk, having dinner at the awesome Pig and Fish. We shared the fried green tomatoes and pork tacos as appetizers, and probably could have stopped right there cause they were so awesome. But we got entrees, I had the swordfish (sustainable, of course) and NOAAGirl had tuna. My swordfish was out of this world, cooked just perfectly. The Rehobeth boardwalk was quite a spectacle and we earned our place in hell by people-watching and making fun of everyone who walked by.

Sunday we spent the day at Bethany Beach working on our tans. At night we went to Matt's Fish Camp, which also was outstanding and had a cute young waiter who was flirting with us. We drove to Cape Henlopen, recommended to me by a cute coworker, and watched the sunset from the beaches there. Then we cruised through Dewey back to Bethany where we hung out at the boardwalk and had more Kohr Bros. frozen custard.

Monday we left for home, and were determined to find Evolution Craft Brewing Co., on the way. It turned out to be closed, and we were peering inside sadly when a guy with beautiful blue eyes came out from the back and let us in. NOAAGirl bought a "growler" of a beer she'd loved the night before, and then we got samples of another Summer Session, which I wound up buying. Score! It was the perfect ending to a really fun, flirty, and fabulous weekend. Best of all, there was no traffic on the way home, unbelievable!

Quittin' Time

Ok, I have finally found a new job and accepted it! I start as of May 31, after taking a few days off for Memorial Day.

First, I am thrilled to be making more money. A lot more . . .

But second, I am very sad to be leaving some coworkers I truly love. As much as I complained, I am having a hard time dealing with all of this. The wine is helping, but not enough :( Maybe the brownies in the oven will help more. Today was a hard day having to tell everyone.

Hopefully I am making the right decision. Time will tell. But it is a great opportunity, one I cannot in my right mind turn down. But it is hard.

Getting the Last Word

I can't believe I haven't written since the crazy dog lady incident. But I got my revenge on her! I came across her and her dog playing this morning with another dog. She was letting it romp, etc. and the other dog owner was laughing delightedly. Oh, how I wanted to march right up to her and say "I thought dogs weren't supposed to play like this" but I didn't (cause then I'd be a crazy dog lady).

In any case, I kept walking and lo and behold she wound up walking right in front of me. I could not bite my tongue, and commented that I thought she didn't let her dog play like that. Huge pause . . . she didn't know what to say since she got busted! So she said, "Well, your dog jumps a lot." Which she doesn't, no more so than the dogs that were playing this morning. Great comeback.

Then she said "Well, you won't have to put up with us much longer we're moving." What an idiot, giving me such a free opportunity! So of course I said that was the best news I'd heard in a long time. And kept walking. I win!!

Ok, crazy . .

So I had this run-in this morning with this dog owner who never likes her dog to play, she says the dog gets upset when they play too rough or some crap like that when it's pretty obvious the dog is having fun. I have always thought she was a bit odd, her husband too. They're like this psycho couple. In any case, I approached her this morning and my dog really likes hers and they started playing.

The woman said she was pressed for time, so I started to leave. Then she turns and says "You know, your dog plays too rough, you should discipline her. Dogs aren't supposed to play like that. You should read some books." I just stood there in shock cause I'm like, where is this coming from? Who disciplines their dog for playing? And what books are she reading that tell her that dogs don't like to play that way? If they didn't like it, they wouldn't do it and most dogs in my neighborhood do.

I should have said to her but thought of it too late, "Maybe you should stop reading so many damn books and let your dog be a dog." Ok, crazy . . . and what right do you have to tell me how to parent my dog? F*ng bitch!

Thrown Under the Bus, Survived

WARNING: CO-WORKER RANT AHEAD!!

It's been a long time since I've put up a work rant, so it's about time. I don't think I can let this go until I vent about it. There is a particularly unpleasant co-worker in my small office of 14--not a good situation. Let's call him "Mark" cause, well, that's really his name.

Mark hates me, thinks I am incompetent and lazy. Which I am not. Nor does anyone else at work think that. He is a pompous ass. In any case, we have had many run-ins but it's been a while.

Today, a board member emailed Mark to tell him that he was having trouble finding some info on our Web site, which I maintain. He thought the information should be more readily apparent, he had some marketing tips for us, yadda yadda. (It's always so much fun when everyone tells you how to do your job.)

So of course it's immediately my fault--not the board member who probably didn't look real hard to start out with. Mark forwards the message to me and my boss as FYI. Then he responds to the message seconds after forwarding the "FYI" telling the board member that he would "work with me" to correct the problem and he would welcome marketing advice. As if that wasn't bad enough, he copied his entire department, my boss again, and the CEO. That's like 6 people out of the 14 on staff. Way to throw me under the bus, fucker.

To his credit, the board member wrote back and said something to the effect of: if only Mark had copied a few more people it would have been the entire staff on email. Ha! What a burn! (Yes, that expression shows my age.) I was so gratified to have Mark called out on throwing me under the bus. I win!

Goodbye 2010

Can't say I'm sorry to see you leave. I wanted to quickly post my favorite Christmas gift of 2010 from Funny Girl Goes Blog. The complete series of the Brady Bunch! I'm a fanatic!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I just don't have much time to post these days, so I thought I'd put up a quick post to wish everyone a happy holiday!! I'm off to start the festivities with an Italian fish Christmas Eve dinner. Then tomorrow it's basically presents and lots of food . . . and Sunday to recover!

Do You Know Where Your Christmas Spirit Is?

I admit I've been having a hard time getting into the spirit this year until this weekend. I went to the Gaylord resort at National Harbor, and they have a lights and fountain show along with Christmas music. The best part was hearing the screams of delight from the kids there whenever the fountain sprayed. It was really adorable, and made it a wondrous event . . . that along with the hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps ;)I think I'm mostly done with my shopping after this weekend. What a relief. It's thankfully a short week, I have Thursday and Friday off, and a retirement lunch that will take up most of Tuesday. Maybe, just maybe I can make it through to some much-needed time off.

Fuck Facebook

I am a victim of the stupid Facebook bug this week, and they have still not fixed my account. Now I'm getting another error that I may have been a victim of phishing. Right . . . I am beginning to think they are never reinstating me and I've been talking to various reporters to make a stink about it. I am completely pissed off and want to get reinstated just so I can quit . . .

701 Restaurant

Had dinner with a friend last night at 701 and it was fabulous! Started at the lounge with a pumpkin spice martini - like having dessert first! I had a Fig & Arugula Salad with goat cheese, crisp guanciale, grilled red onions, vanilla vinaigrette--what a yummy surprise the vinaigrette was. My friend had Grilled Baby Octopus with salsa verde, roasted breakfast radishes and usually I'm not an octopus fan but this was delicious. Not at all rubbery, cooked and seasoned to perfection. For my main course I had the Eco Friendly Pork Loin & Belly with cider & tobacco braised pork belly, celery root puree, savoy cabbage, and grain mustard. Absolutely to die for. Dessert was "Apple Pie" with vanilla bean ice cream, milkado sticks, and salted caramels. It sounds like a lot of food, but the portions were really reasonable and I didn't feel awful when I left.

The nice surprise was the piano player, playing soft tunes in the background. All in all, a fabulous experience, I highly recommend it!

Long Time

I just don't seem to have the energy to post much these days. Things have been pretty busy, here are some recent highlights:

1. Went to Chicago for work, didn't get to the restaurants that I wanted to :(
2. Went to a great Halloween party!
3. Loved Rick Springfield's new autobiography Late, Late at Night
4. Found out my grandfather has congestive heart failure, don't know how long he has. I'm pretty bummed about it and am trying to make a visit soon . . .