Garth and Tricia in Concert!

WMZQ announced this morning that Garth Brooks and Tricia Yearwood are performing on the mall for Live Earth on Saturday morning. Check out the info here. I am actually considering going, which is weird because I never do these sorts of things. But I'm hoping that it will be a little less crowded than normal due to the holiday weekend and no advanced warning about the concert to attract people from everywhere else. So we'll see! I'll keep you posted!

Celebrate July 5!

I feel like I've been celebrating all week, and indeed I have. Friends of mine throw a July 3 party every year, so I went to that, then last night I went to a party at Halstead Towers and watched the DC fireworks from the 15th floor pool/patio. It was a pretty fun time and I met some real characters.

Today I got a bunch of stuff I ordered from Amazon and I'm psyched to listen to new music. Check out the selections on the right side of my blog. I also got a drum book/DVD (came with a really cool wall poster) to help me with my playing. Check it out here: Groove Essentials.

Good Start

Well, it's been a good start to the weekend. It was quite a busy week, complete with taking a "Knife Skills" class through Arlington County. I thought the class would be teaching things like how to chop like an Iron Chef or something, but it was a lot more about safety, sharpening, etc. At the time I was disappointed, but looking back I really learned a lot and want to get a stone to sharpen my knives. The guy who taught it--aka "Meat Head" per an email he sent prior to class--was a retired Journeyman Meat Cutter, or butcher. So that was pretty interesting. This older, retired guy with tons of great stories including teaching women prisoners to butcher!

Last night Jeffro and I kicked off the weekend at our favorite sushi place, Matuba. Today I decided to get up early to get some stuff done before I went to visit my sister. I went to the car wash at 8 am(!) before the lines started, then got some muffins and coffee to take home. I got a much-needed pedicure, and then went to see my sister and have lunch with her then do some cleaning for her. Then I went by this pawn shop I'd been before and had seen this really pretty sapphire ring. I went today to see if it was still there and it was! I managed to talk the woman down $65 so I decided to buy it! So it's been a rather good day. Tonight we're going to see Honor by August, the Reserves, and Getaway Car at Iota. I'm actually psyched to see this show. But I'm thinking I might take a nap before I go, as I'm starting to lose steam.

8 Lbs of Blueberries!

How would you like to be the proud owner of 8 lbs. of blueberries? Well, today Jeffro and I made a trip to Butler's Orchard with NOAAgirl and her DH to go blueberry picking. I am so excited! The weather was just gorgeous and the blueberries were very plentiful and huge. A great crop! So now I have to dig up some easy recipes to get rid of said 8 lbs. of blueberries . . . today definitely made up for being inside yesterday doing some work. Tonight is my drum lesson, then Top Chef, then unfortunately getting ready for work tomorrow. The weekends go too fast.

Good News

I just got back from a doctor's appointment for my sister who has lymphoma. Good news! The scan showed that the cancer is gone for now . . . she still has a mass in her chest that needs radiation, but overall things are looking good for her. Of course, there's still a 50/50 chance of recurrence, but I guess we'll take it one step at a time. It would be nice if she were to acknowledge her good fortune with some new-found wisdom and stop smoking. Man, that just burns me that everyone has spent all this time and money to help cure her, and she won't stop. I can't even tell you how furious I am about it.

Ballet and Shopping

That's basically what my entire weekend consists of so far. My nieces are in various ballet recitals on Friday night, and two performances on Sunday. I love my nieces so I always go, but I can think of about a million better things to do with my time on the weekend. Like shopping. So that's what Jeffro and I did this morning. I have been wanting a glider for my patio forever, but have never been able to find one affordable enough or small enough for my tiny space. I found this cool glider at Home Depot, but unfortunately the box wouldn't fit in my car, so I decided to order it online. Check it out here. Then we went to Target and another garden place to get some cushions for it, some charcoal to barbecue, and some plants--including tomato plants. So we'll see if we can get any vegetables this year. I had already bought some basil, which is doing well, and cilantro, which isn't.

So tomorrow it's back to ballet, but hopefully first we'll make it to the Alexandria Red Cross Waterfront festival to see one of our favorite local bands, Catfish Honeymoon at 11:45 am.

Medical Condition of the Week

I feel like for the past two months I've had one health problem after another. I finally got rid of my contact dermatitis around my eyes (yeah, that was a fun, itchy time), and while I was at the dermatologist taking care of that, I had him look at this mole that was bleeding--never a good thing. He removed that and it turned out to be benign. Then I showed him this other problem I've had for a while, a lipoma, and he said "I can fix that." So since it's covered by insurance, I had it removed--excised to be precise--this week. It was an outpatient procedure and used only a local, so I was awake for the entire thing, which was really pretty gross as he dug this thing out of my leg. Considering its location, I thought it would be pretty painful, but it really hasn't been more than just a little bothersome, much to my relief. Ah, the wonders of modern medicine.

Speaking of medical conditions, my sister goes in for tests next week to determine how much her lymphoma has improved. She goes on Friday to get the results, and I think my whole family is going to lend her support. Say some prayers, everyone.

The Heat Is On

Well, today was certainly a lot nicer outside than yesterday, but I guess summer is really here to stay (yeah!). Jeffro and I are going to our first outdoor summer party at the Old Dominion Boat Club this evening, and I'm psyched to be spending the evening outdoors. Jeffro, on the other hand, not so much. I'm the kind of person that on a day like this I want to be outside all day and he doesn't so that's hard for me sometimes. So I basically just ran a bunch of much-needed errands today instead of going to do something great outdoors. Blah.

Tomorrow we're having brunch with MJ and Computerguy and then we have dinner at my sister's to celebrate my nieces' birthdays--two of them this past week. Last night we had dinner at Ravi Kabob on Glebe Road in Arlington, which was excellent. It was Pakistani food, but it was just about identical to Indian and absolutely delicious. Then we went to Springfield Mall to pick up gifts for previously mentioned nieces. I haven't been down there since they redid the mixing bowl, and boy was I shocked. To get to the mall, you don't even have to get on 95S at all anymore, you are immediately separated from all of the insanity that used to be a near collision course. I was very impressed and shocked, since I didn't like the change they made for the exit for 395N being a left-handed exit to a right-handed exit. I figured they just f*cked the whole thing up, but I guess not.

New Food Network Star

Everyone turn your tv on right now and watch the The Next Food Network Star! It will soon be going head to head with Bravo's Top Chef, which also starts this week. What a great summer of cooking!

I don't know about you all, but I had a very nice weekend, complete with a trip to Matuba (my favorite sushi place), my first visit to the pool, an unusual trip to the movie theater (I never get around to going) to see Knocked Up (just aiight, nothing to rush out and see), a trip to the Clarendon farmer's market on Saturday morning, and Music and Lyrics on DVD. A fun weekend, all in all!

Damn, Well . . .

Last night Jeffro and I went to the Birchmere to see a much-anticipated show, The Damnwells and Ari Hest. We found out at the last minute about a third opening act, Julian Velard. Initially, I wasn’t thrilled to have two opening acts, but I actually wound up liking Julian’s voice quite a bit. I wouldn’t say he was commercial or pop enough for me to actually purchase his music (sorry, Julian) but he has an absolutely wonderful voice that made me want to keep listening. I would describe his voice as Jeffro did of Melinda Doolittle on American Idol, like warm chocolate, velvety. I would liken his voice to Lou Rawls, for the few of you who might remember him from “You’ll Never Find” or “Lady Love” back in the 70s. Listen for yourself and see what you think.

Ari Hest was quite good as well, and his band was outstanding. Ari's voice had a bit of vocal effect on it, which probably isn't needed since he's got a fine voice that doesn't need crazy vocal production. Frequently, I thought Ari’s voice sounded like a non-country version of Mark Miller from Sawyer Brown. His bass player sang harmony vocals that really made the songs shine, and his guitarist/steel guitarist sang occasionally as well. There’s nothing I like better than good harmony.

Which leads me to The Damnwells. They are a great band, don’t get me wrong. The lead singer has a great voice, the guitarist/steel guitarist (yes one here too) was superb, and the songs are catchy. I was really looking forward to seeing them cause Jeffro plays their CDs all the time and I’ve gotten to really like them. They put on a great show, however, it was severely lacking in harmony vocals. I found out today that due to a recent change in band members, there was no one to sing backup. But last night I was gravely disappointed and that kind of ruined the experience for me. I kept telling Jeffro I was "crushed." But despite this, and a suddenly very slurring lead singer during the encore, I am still a fan of The Damnwells. They just need to polish up their act to include once again the brilliant harmonies that are so much a part of their recorded songs.

Kiwi Invasion

I can't believe it's been a week since I posted. This was a busy week, as they all are, made busier by a visit from friends of mine who have been living in New Zealand (kiwis) for the past couple of years. They originally weren't supposed to stay with me, but at the last minute their plans changed and they asked if they could crash here. It was actually fun having house guests. They were here from Thursday till today and we had some fun times and good eats. Thursday night was another visit back to Cap City and last night we ate at Panjshir II in Vienna, which was really good. Friday night, Jeffro's band, Jeter, played out at Bistro Europa and it was a good show. I just wish I didn't have to leave early, but I did because I had to work all day yesterday. So it's been a busy few days. But this morning I slept in, and all I'm doing today is going out to buy some plants to do a little gardening and keep things fairly low key. The kiwis left this morning and Jeffro is off doing band stuff, so I've got an entire day of peace & quiet. Well, except for my obnoxious dogs, that is, who are insisting that we all go for a walk NOW. Bye!

Birthday Weekend

This Sunday is Jeffro's birthday, and finally a weekend where we are not going out of town. Festivities started last night when we met a friend of mine whose birthday I missed last month at Cap City Brewery in Shirlington. Today we're meeting friends of Jeffro's for dinner (during the day I'm going to Home Depot to get plants for my yard and get a pedicure, yeah!), and tomorrow we're going to the Corcoran Museum (Jeffro's been wanting to see their new modernist exhibit) and to a secret place for lunch.

BTW, I'm STILL sick, going on week 3 or 4 now, I can't remember. I'm pretty sure it's a sinus infection so I finally got some antibiotics, but am not really feeling any good effects from them yet. Unfortunately, when I get an infection like this it usually takes something powerful like Cipro to kill it, but I am trying to hold out hope that this lesser one will work . . .

Idol Slip?

I'm so bummed about the outcome of American Idol tonight . . . Melinda Doolittle was sent home. However, we all got a warning about it from Ryan Seacrest. Was it accidental or not? Before a commercial break he said something like "when we come back, Melinda is going home," supposedly to mean that we were going to see footage of her visit to her home town. Or not? I think he was secretly trying to prepare us, cause as soon as he said it I knew she'd be kicked off. It sucks.

Rear Ended!

This morning driving to the allergist I was rear-ended for no apparent reason. There was a long line of traffic, and I'd been sitting there stopped for quite a while. So it wasn't like a sudden slamming on brakes or anything explainable like that, the woman just didn't feel like using her brakes, apparently. It took me a minute to figure out what happened, and thank God my airbag didn't deploy. There was no damage to my car, but her bumper looked pretty well ruined. So at least there was that. I didn't get her info, cause in the past when I've exchanged info I haven't needed it, but in hindsight I probably should have just in case. Cause now of course my back is hurting a bit.

Jeffro and I leave tomorrow to go to yet another wedding, an Indian wedding like we went to last year. Hopefully it will be a fun time, but I'm freaking out cause I have so much to do at home. I haven't vacuumed in weeks (if you own dogs that's a big deal) and we haven't been grocery shopping in forever. So somehow when we get back we need to do those two very important things or I will indeed lose my mind next week. Hopefully it will be a better week than this one.

And for all you allergy sufferers, there's a new antihistamine nasal spray called Astelin that I've been prescribed, so I'm gonna give it a try. I'll let you know if it's the next miracle drug.

Long Time No Post

Sorry folks, been sick and didn't really feel like posting last week. That was the sickest I've been in 2 years. Very nasty virus or something, and I'm still not feeling 100%. I really thought that I was going to wind up with a sinus infection. I even took Weds off work, but had to go in Thursday and Friday for a conference. So this weekend I tried to get some rest, but had to take my oldest dog to the vet for an ultrasound that I'd put off for a month cause I wasn't home at all in April. The results were better than I expected. Her liver enzymes have been increasing for a while, and we weren't sure why. Now we know:

1. Her gallbladder is messed up, essentially she has a gallstone and suspicious inflamed tissue.
2. Her liver is messed up, she has a nodule and suspicious inflamed tissue.
3. Her adrenal glands are enlarged, which could mean she has Cushing's disease, a disease that humans also get.

The treatment is 3 weeks of antibiotics and then rechecking the blood to see where things are. Of course, this whole ultrasound, etc. set me back almost $600. That was fun. Then I gave the dogs a bath, had a drum lesson, and didn't do much else this weekend.

I'm having a short week at work, thank God, cause I'm just not in the mood right now. I'm taking Friday off to go to a wedding with Jeffro. Of course this means I'll miss Mother's Day and my sister's birthday yet again as I seem to every year. I'm not in a good mood today, but going to a yoga class tonight, so hopefully that will cheer me up or mellow me out. My job is really getting me down.

Trip to MN

Well, my trip to MN was very interesting. Kind of a huge waste of time, work-wise. We left on Tuesday to get things set up for a judging that was taking place on Saturday. There simply wasn't enough work to justify being gone that long and I was pissed cause I've been traveling way too much. We stayed in kind of a crappy part of MN, very industrial. The block we were on had a nice restaurant right next door to Sex World. No, I'm not kidding.

I did have a couple of really nice meals while I was there. I went to Jax, which is apparently a local institution, and had walleye, a fish that is only found near MN. I also had walleye and a great meal at Cafe Brenda, another restaurant that's been around for a long time.

I got together with a friend of mine that I met as a junior in high school and I hadn't seen since. Even though I don't really know her that well, we were never at a lack of conversation, and she took me on a driving tour of some of the local lakes around the city. It was really beautiful, and some of those homes must have cost a pretty penny. As opposed to the cool new lofts they're putting in near Sex World, which were running in the 100s and low 200s. It almost made me want to buy one as an investment and rent it out. I really envied people their lifestyle. A lot of people had an extra home on a lake, or lived right on a lake. Almost made me want to move to MN. But not quite. Too cold.

I didn't get back until last night, and had to work today, so needless to say I'm not very happy about all that. I have a scratchy throat and feel kind of crappy, so I'm trying not to get sick. I am going to a new yoga class at 7:30, and hoping that maybe that will transform my current malady into health. We'll see.

Thursday Night Fun

Jeffro's band, Jeter has a show coming up this Thursday, April 26th at Bistro Europa in Old Town Alexandria. They'll be starting around 9:30 and playing ‘til closing, so come on out with some friends, and get your Thursday on. No cover.

www.myspace.com/jeterband
www.bistro-europa.com

Minnesota Bound

I'm headed to Minnesota for work this week. I'll be gone all damn week and I'm not happy. I hope, at the very least, to get to see the Mall of America, touted as "the largest fully enclosed retail and entertainment complex in the United States." It should be an interesting trip. Have a great week.

Bathroom Done!

My bathroom was finished last Friday, but I had to go straight from work out of town, so I didn't get to see it until yesterday. They did a fabulous job, what an improvement!

Bathroom Pics, Part 2

This is my bathroom under construction.

Vindicated

Can I tell you how proud and gloating I am after my Tuesday night prediction of Sanjaya finally getting kicked off came true? Well, I guess I just did. Outta here until after this weekend . . .

Face the Fat Facts

This cool new site from the American Heart Association explains the fats in your diet and helps you to figure out how much of which ones to eat. What's really great is this fat calculator, where you put in your personal info and get a specific amount of fat grams to shoot for each day. This is the part I always find confusing, trying to remember what percentage of your diet fats should be and how many grams that translates into. This new calculator makes it easy. Just remember, though, just because it says 0 grams of trans fat on the label, doesn't mean there's no trans fat in there. If the amount is less than a certain amount, they don't have to list it on the label, but if you read the ingredient list, you see where they sneak the trans fat in . . .

Bathroom Pics

I got home from work tonight, eager to see the progress in the bathroom. Here's what I came home to . . . a demolition zone! Tomorrow they're putting in the tub. Apparently when the shower was put in years ago, they didn't line it with anything, which is why I had such a bad mold problem. The contractor said the entire drywall was moldy and rotting. Lovely! Glad I breathed in that air for the past 7 years . . . so now I get to go clean my downstairs bathroom, which we'll need to use for the next 3-4 days while everything is being installed. I can't wait to see the final product!

Crazy American Idol Prediction

Ok, I'm going to say that this week the impossible will happen . . . I think that it's finally time for Sanjaya to be kicked off. This was, by far, the absolute most abysmal performance of his to date, and there have been some pretty bad ones before this. We are getting down to the heart of the competition, and while I'm sure all of this has been fun for those out there voting for him just cause he's awful, I think there's going to come a point when America has to "keep it real" as Randy would say. I also think unfortunately LaKisha is at risk this week too. She took a very popular song by a former Idol winner and tried unsuccessfully to "make it her own." Just not a good performance. So we'll see if my prediction about Sanjaya is right . . .

What's On My Mind

I haven't blogged in a while, I've been busy as always. I haven't been feeling well, so I actually took a day off work yesterday cause I have a really busy 2 weeks ahead and couldn't afford to get sick. I'm even skipping a concert tonight cause I don't want to be out too late.

I had a bad day at work today, and I'm just not happy overall with my job.

I'm on the brink of finally getting my bathroom shower redone. It's a total disaster and I can't wait to get it fixed up. The problem is, the price is $500 higher than when I had it estimated last June, which really sucks.

I also want to gripe about the weather. I just cannot stand one more friggin cold, windy day. Is this not April? I'm so depressed about it . . . and yesterday in all that wind, the gate to my yard was completely destroyed. The only good thing about that is it's the condo association's responsibility to fix it, thank God.

This weekend I'm going to NY to visit my grandfather. He sold his house since it's hard to take care of after my grandmother died, and he's moving closer to his son, which is good. However, he chose now to do this and I'm just pissed about it. Couldn't he have waited until things settled down with my sister a little more? So I have to go up there and see if there's anything I want. Then next week I have to go to MN for work for almost the entire week.

Needless to say, I'm feeling pretty stressed out these days. I also was pretty upset about yesterday's incident at VA Tech. Having something like that happen is horrific, and the fact that part of it could have been avoided had officials closed down the campus really pisses me off. I just feel horrible for all of those students, who were looking forward to the end of the year. This hit me pretty hard, I think partly because we had a suicide on my hall my sophomore year, and that was just awful to go through. I can't imagine having to deal with a loss of this magnitude.

Martina on Idol Tonight

Don't forget to watch Martina McBride tonight on American Idol! I'm very interested to hear what she'll have to say to everyone's favorite contestant Sanjaya.

Ode to Zoe

A good friend of mine's dog died last night. I found out at work today and had to go into the bathroom cause I was crying. Non-pet owners might not understand, but often dogs are like children, especially those of us (like me) that will likely never have kids. Zoe'd been sick for a while with various and serious problems including congestive heart failure, so we knew she wasn't long for this world. My friend and I got our dogs around the same time 13 years ago, so this has been doubly hard, because I'm dreading the somewhat impending demise of my own dog. My dog is doing relatively ok, but when a dog gets to be that old, you just never know. I'm just so sad for my friend, and the empty spot in her heart and home that was Zoe. She worked at home, so Zoe was always around, which is going to make things even harder. This pic is the way I like to remember her, one ear up and one ear down. Zoe used to go absolutely nuts whenever I'd visit, and her mom got angry that she got so wild and crazy. But it just made me smile that she was such a happy dog. RIP, Zoe.

George is Gone!

I reported back in January about a new radio station, George 104. Well, believe it or not, it's gone already, changed over to some gospel station. Gospel? I'm very disappointed, to say the least. Apparently George is still around on some HD station, so maybe that was their ploy. Come in strong, get people hooked, ask them to switch over to HD. That really sucks!

In other news, I spent the weekend in NJ with Jeffro's family. It was a pretty good trip. This whole month is packed with travel. I'm going to NY next week to see my family, then going to MN the end of the month for a work trip. My goal in May is to stay home, have things slow down a bit, but we'll see if that actually happens. It's unlikely.

DC Wins Iron Chef

Congrats to local chef Jose Andrés from Jaleo and Zatinya, among others, who battled and beat Bobby Flay on tonight's episode of Iron Chef America. How exciting! There was a viewing party at Jaleo, I just wish I'd gotten my act together to go over there to be a part of the victory celebration!

Catching Up

It's been a while since I posted, guess things have been busy. Did I mention I finally did my taxes last week and I'm getting a huge refund? I can't wait, I already know what I'm doing with the money.

My weekend has been WAY too short. Yesterday I spent the day at the ballet. Before you get too excited, it was a ballet my nieces were in, so a bunch of kids in tutus. Yes, it was cute, but not how I wanted to spend the one really nice sunny day of the weekend. The good thing about yesterday was I got to spend a little time after that with my sister who has cancer. I haven't really gotten to spend much time with her since she moved back here. I had a few things to get off my chest, and I was able to do that. Despite that, we did have a nice visit overall.

Osmond Bros Reunion!

For all you children of the 70s, get ready for the biggest reunion of the decade--the Osmond Brothers! As another example of my great musical taste, I was a big fan of the Osmonds in the 70s, particularly Donnie & Marie. Read all the details here.

Martina McBride on Idol

Martina McBride will appear on American Idol on April 18. I'm so excited. Her new album, Waking Up Laughing, will be available on April 3, I'll be the first in line to buy it. You can take a listen to all the tracks here. I love it already!

The FL Update

Well, I'm sure you're all curious as to how the trip went this past weekend to get my sister and move her stuff and her 2 cats up here. Let's just say it was hell, pure and absolute hell. My sister left on Thursday with my other sister on the train to come up here, while my mom and I stayed in FL to finish packing the apartment, supervise the movers, and take the cats home on the plane.

The packing and move went fine, but the travel day was excruciating. Everything that could go wrong did. The vet gave us pills to sedate the cats but only one took the pill. Luckily, it was the meaner of the 2 cats. The vet had said she'd come over and help us load them in the carriers, but when we called her she was an absolute bitch and we had to beg and pay her to come over. (My mom and I are scared of cats and don't really know how to handle them.) Once the cats were packed up, we had an ordeal at the airport trying to check in with them, then when we got to security we were told we had to take the cats out of the carriers and walk them through the metal detectors with us! No one had ever told us this was the procedure. I just assumed we'd walk them through in the carriers, and they'd take that little wand and look over the carriers. Who in their right mind would ask you to unpack a nervous animal in the middle of the airport?

My mother just about flipped out, and the head of TSA was being a complete asshole. Somehow a nice lady from Jet Blue took pity on us and helped me to maneuver getting the cats out and through security, but I was shaking cause I was so scared that the cats would scratch the crap out of me, and/or get out of my grip and go running through the airport. Luckily, the drugged cat was practically comatose, and the other cat was so scared he was motionless too. It was pretty unbelievable.

After the inevitable delays, sitting on the tarmac for 1/2 waiting for a gate, and the 45 minutes waiting for bags, I finally got home only to have my very ungrateful sister get on my case for a very stupid reason. Just because she is sick doesn't give her the right to treat everyone trying to help her like shit, but that's basically what she's doing and it's getting very old very fast.

New Release from Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi, one of my favorite 80s bands, is going strong and set to release a new album June 19. Read about Lost Highway and Bon Jovi's upcoming live performances at the CMT Awards and on American Idol. Here's hoping they tour. They are amazing in concert and I've liked their past few albums enough to go see them again.

Thanks to Jeffro for the tip.

Haagen-Daz

Tonight I'm enjoying this great flavor of Haagen-Daz light, blueberry cheesecake. Even if you don't like light stuff, I guarantee you'll like "ribbons of blueberry and crunchy graham crust pieces are swirled throughout our creamy cheesecake ice cream" as described on the web site. With all the stress I've been under lately, I could eat the whole pint, but I guess I won't or Jeffro will kill me.

Need to go and pack and get ready for my trip. Have a great weekend, everyone!

FL Bound

Well, looks like I'm finally off to FL on Thursday to help bring my sister and her two cats back home. I doubt I'll have time to blog until after I get home this weekend. Have a great rest of the week!

Jeter Coming to Old Town

Ok, not Derek Jeter, but hey, that got your attention. I wanted to let you know that Jeffro's band Jeter will be playing out on Friday, March 9th upstairs at Bistro Europa in Old Town, Alexandria. They're opening for The Strohs around 9:30. Bistro Europa's got a cool vibe, plus it's metro-accessible, so come on out, and bring your friends. No cover.

Finally! Good News

It looks like my sister will finally be released from the hospital tomorrow. She's been in for at least a month now. While it's a huge relief, she still hasn't been cleared for travel, so no one's sure when she'll be able to finally come home. But the most important thing is she's made enough progress to finally get out of the hospital.

Ode to Rick Springfield

Being a huge Rick Springfield fan, I really enjoyed Jetifoblog's tribute and analysis. Plus links to some songs from Rick's time in the group Sahara Snow that I had never heard. Now I'm going to have to go out and buy that album! I love it that someone else has such appreciation for Rick's songwriting ability and live performances, instead of just dismissing Rick as bubblegum pop!

So if you're as big a fan as I am, why don't you challenge yourself to answer these 275 questions on Trivial Pursuit Rick Springfield edition?

Thanks to Jeffro for the Jefitoblog tip.

Luxury Living

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that I visited a friend of mine this weekend who works at Halstead Towers, a brand new luxury high-rise apartment building near Skyline. It's absolutely beautiful, with marble floors and counters, hardwood floors, and huge windows. There's a really cool club level that's like having your own bar on site, complete with pool tables, big screen plasma tvs, golf simulator, rentable wine cellars, and a killer view of Washington DC. Of course there's the requisite fitness center, pool, and hot tub. If you make much better money than me, and are looking for a cool new place to live, I suggest you check it out. I imagine that's where I'll be spending July 4 this year.

The Week in Review

I was traveling for work most of last week, so I haven’t been able to blog. So here are some highlights to catch you up:

1. Sunny FL. I was in Orlando from Weds-Friday for a work-related class. I didn’t feel like staying at a boring old chain hotel, so I found this cute little place for the same price, Eo Inn and Urban Spa. The best part was that I took advantage of the spa aspect and got a much-needed back massage. My back was “a disaster” according to Mike the masseur. The inn was right on the border of Lake Eola, and I walked to my class every morning along the lake. Orlando actually has a cool, happening downtown area and I ate dinner one night at Hue, which reminded me of the Carlyle in Shirlington.

2. Belated V-day on Saturday. Jeffro and I never really had a chance to celebrate Valentine’s Day because I arrived back in town that day from seeing my sister in FL. So we decided to celebrate on Saturday by purchasing pretty decent tickets to see Keith Urban in August, and then we went to lunch at Farrah Olivia by Morou in Old Town.

3. Best meal ever. The meal at Farrah Olivia was by far the best I’ve had in a long time. I chose from their fixed price $28 lunch menu and had their black eyed pea fritters to start, pork loin as the main course, and lemon cheesecake for dessert. Jeffro started with goat cheese pot stickers, followed by scallops with truffled grits, and mocha mousse for dessert. His lunch might actually have been better than mine. Eating here was like being a judge on Iron Chef America. The food was exquisitely prepared, with great attention to detail in the presentation. The desserts were absolutely divine, and we ate every bit of them, even after having consumed all the rest of the food. The waiter highly recommended the Sunday brunch, so I’m curious to check that out soon.

4. Salsa. We also went that night to the Black Cat to see Jeffro’s friend play in the band Orquesta Ashe, a salsa band. They were pretty good, and if you like to salsa, check them out the first Friday of every month at Duke’s City Restaurant on U Street in DC.

5. Last but not least. My sister in FL is still in the hospital. She’s out of ICU, the chest tubes are now out, but she’s still filling with fluid and her breathing is starting to suffer again. They’re now planning on administering her 2nd dose of chemo today, and she may be able to travel in a week’s time. I doubt the doctor’s will approve her to fly, so I am likely going down there with my other sister to drive her back here.

Martina McBride in Concert

I know you're all thrilled to learn that Martina McBride is stopping in this area on her 2007 tour to promote her upcoming album, Waking Up Laughing. She'll be coming to Merriweather Post Pavilian on May 12 with Little Big Town and Rodney Atkins. Between her and Keith Urban coming to Verizon on August 17, this is definitely turning out to be a great tour season for country music lovers in the DC area. I also found out today that Keith is touring with The Wreckers!

Keith Urban in Concert!

Just announced! Keith Urban is coming to Washington DC on August 17 at the Verizon Center. Tickets go on sale next Saturday, unless you're a member of Monkeyville, which unfortunately I'm not cause it costs another $25.

PS -- did you catch him today on Today?

Bathroom Bust

Today as I was leaving work, I stopped in the bathroom on the way out, and as I tried to open the door to exit, the handle broke off in my hand! Luckily, since I was on my way out for the day, I had my cell phone with me, so I called my office and tried to see if there were any girls still left. No such luck. So I told the guy who answered that I was locked in the women's bathroom and he had to come open the door. Then I kept the door propped open and put a note so that people wouldn't go in the bathroom and get locked in. I'm sure it will be the talk of the office tomorrow, as the few remaining people tonight got a good laugh over it. One guy, who didn't realize I was on my way out and had my cell phone, asked, "how long were you stuck in there?" It was pretty hilarious. But only cause I had my cell phone and didn't get stuck in there for long.

Update on my Sis

Where do I even start? I flew down this weekend to see my sister in FL, packing in about 5 mins to catch the next flight. We were worried that she wouldn't make it through the weekend because she was swollen with fluid, couldn't breathe, and they hadn't started chemo. They finally started chemo on Sat night, which helped the swelling some. Unfortunately, she kept filling up with fluid and now she has chest tubes on both sides to drain the fluid around her lungs cause she still couldn't breathe. She has a great nurse who is forcing her to eat to stay strong and she's started some physical therapy cause she can't get out of bed. She's doing much better, but has a long road ahead of her before she's well enough to transport back to VA, which is the ultimate goal. I spent the other half of the time I was there packing up her entire life. It's very sad.

I managed to get home yesterday amid the complete pandemonium of the ice and snow storms. My flight kept getting delayed, but somehow I had good traveling karma and managed to get on standby on another flight. I just couldn't believe my good fortune.

More Bad News

I almost don't want to post this. It's almost as if posting it would make it truer somehow, and I don't want it to be true. It's also very personal. My youngest sister has just found out that she has an aggressive form of large B cell lymphoma, and her chances are only 50-50. Needless to say, I haven't felt like posting much. She lives in FL, but will be moving back here this month to start chemo. I'll likely be going down there next weekend to help her move. It's all very depressing.

Doggie Beach

Wouldn't it be great to be able to take your dog to the beach without getting fined or yelled at by non-dog lovers? Now you can. In Cyprus they decided to commission a beach just for dogs. I think with all the dog-obsessed people here in the States, we should work on making more beaches doggie friendly too.

Thanks to Jeffro for the tip.

Stupidity

I love how Google is taking over the world and now I had to switch my Blogger account to Google cause they forced me to. I'm so mad right now . . .

A Day of George

I tried posting this last night with no success . . .

My first George item relates to the newest radio station, George 104. It took over WGMS 104.1 (which moved to WETA 90.9), claiming to play music from the "70s and 80s and whatever we want." I took a listen today and was really impressed. One minute I heard a live version of "My Maria" by Brooks & Dunn, the next "Funky Cold Medina" by Ton Loc. Gotta admit, that's some variety.

My second item is a commentary on the State of the Union Address tonight. Was it me, or were there significantly less standing ovations than usual? I typically don't watch the address cause it pisses me off that people stand up and kiss butt every 5 minutes, but there definitely seemed to be a different mood this time around. It just cracked me up how most of the standing ovations seemed to be coming from only one side of the room. Other highlights for me: I loved the plethora of really bad ties, seeing Cheney sneak a mint or piece of gum, and Condi's really stern expression during her close-up. I also loved how George seemed to have no real grasp of the material he was talking about. But maybe that's just me.

Beer for Dogs

After a hard day of . . . well, lying around being a dog . . . your dog can now join you in having a beer after your hard day's work. Unfortunately, the beer is nonalcoholic, but apparently fit for human consumption. Leave it to someone in the Netherlands to brew this up.

Thanks to Jeffro for the tip.

Leggings for Men?

According to this article, leggings are the next big thing in fashion for men. As if they're not terrible enough on women, what man in his right mind would leave the house looking like this, unless he was going biking or performing in a ballet?

Wake Up Laughing

. . . is the title of Martina McBride's next album, due out April 3. I'm sure I'll buy it the minute it's out, since it's her first "real" release in a while. Her last album was a compilation of old-time songs. Unfortunately, though, according to this Billboard article, she's not coming to DC on her next big tour. Maybe I'll buy tickets to the Richmond show and go visit and drag along my friend BadHairDos.

Obsessed with Idol

Last night marked the true beginning of winter for me--the premier of the 6th season of American Idol. With the cold weather (finally), it's time to hunker down and give in to the national obsession. It's the only thing that makes winter worthwhile. And now, I have exactly 45 minutes to finish some much-needed vacuuming before the craziness begins for a second night this week.

Cake Love in the Neighborhood

I just discovered local food blog Metrocurean. According to this and Warren Brown's blog, Cake Love will be opening this spring in Shirlington! I am so excited, even though this will mean every other bakery in the area will probably go out of business.

Here's what's going on this manic-depressive rainy long weekend. Tonight: ordering in Chinese and watching a movie. Tomorrow: funeral in PA for a friend of Jeffro. It's very sad, he was very young and is leaving behind a 6-year-old child. Sunday: dinner at Carlyle, my favorite restaurant, with a friend. Monday I hope to go shopping and use some gift cards I got for Christmas.

The Perfect Food?

I made a Target run today during work, because at my new job I have a car and I have an hour for lunch so I can run errands like this, and discovered what could have been the perfect food: chocolate flavored Bubble Yum. I adore gum and I adore chocolate, so I thought "what could be better?" Apparently that's what Hershey's thought too, as they apparently own Bubble Yum. However, despite the potential, I had serious doubts. The verdict: I would say that it wasn't as terrible as it could have been, but it wasn't as great as it could have been either. I likely wouldn't buy it again, but as a gum addict I have to buy all new flavors. Plus, it was a fun topic of conversation for the office.

For the record, I've been at my job almost a week and I still like it. I think I'm going to try a later schedule next week to see if I like that better, but overall things are going pretty well. Plus my old job wants me back to consult at $100/hour, and I can really use the money, so I agreed to one Saturday per month for the next three months.

Day 2, So Far So Good

Well, I've survived the first two days of my new job. And best of all, I don't hate it yet, although I was freaking out a bit today when we had this long meeting that gave me a headache. It's just hard being new and not knowing anything. These people have worked together for years and know everything. Which, in the long run, will help me. Everyone seems really cool, they laugh a lot there, which is something I'm definitely not used to. Apparently my boss is really hands-off, and doesn't supervise much at all. My first day, I went to lunch at A La Lucia, owned by a former employee of Galileo. It was pretty decent, but I should have gotten something more exciting than what I did. I guess that means I'll have to go back. Today I had a fun outing to Staples, where I got over $300 worth of office supplies, including this cool, comfy new chair. Tomorrow, I get to wear jeans and leave the office early, since we close at 3 on Fridays. How fun is that? I must say I'm also loving the 20 minute commute through back streets of Alexandria. Overall, a good initial experience all around.

Happy 2007

Well, hopefully it will be a good year. It's been quite the drama-filled end of 2006, with a trip to New York Thurs-Sat. for my grandmother's viewing and funeral. There was the usual family b.s. to deal with, traffic coming and going, and excessive money spent on a hotel. Ironically, for Christmas my grandparents had given me just about the exact amount of money that it cost to stay in the hotel, so I guess that was timely. My grandfather is actually holding up ok.

New Year's Eve was fun. Jeffro and I went to the Old Dominion Boat Club's annual party where local band, Harmless Prank, played. They were excellent and played a great selection of songs. After the festivities, the Boat Club served their awesome breakfast, with killer biscuits, eggs, sausage, and hash browns. It's like going to Denny's after a night of partying.

Since we didn't get home until really late, and I sadly cannot stay up late any more, today we spent most of the day just sacked out on the couch watching movies, which was actually great. Tomorrow I'm supposed to have the day off due to Ford's funeral in DC, but since it was supposed to have been my last day of work, and since I haven't even taken my personal things from my desk, I have to go in by myself and get things wrapped up. It kind of sucks that I won't get to say goodbye to my coworkers, but that's life. I'm not putting off my start date (Weds) yet again, since I already had to delay it by a day. I'll just have to leave them an email. This has definitely been the weirdest couple of weeks and I'll be glad to put all this behind me.

As a PS on the "Let There Be Peace on Earth" song mentioned in my last post, my aunt had chosen it as the recessional hymn for the funeral service. I had never told her about my experience on Christmas, so that was quite a coincidence.

Catherine, the Great

This post is in tribute to my grandmother, who died on Christmas morning. She was 90 years old. Needless to say, this was not the happiest of holidays. I am so sad that I didn't get a chance to call and wish her a Merry Christmas and I hadn't talked to her in a while. I hate regrets. There are always regrets. Apparently her health had really been declining for about a month, and everyone in NY knew she wouldn't last much longer. Of course, no one told the family down here in VA. They didn't want to upset us. So apparently it's less upsetting when someone dies more suddenly than you expect them to . . . but I digress. My grandmother was a warm, funny, neurotic, wonderful lady who was always upbeat and loving. I have some really great memories of her, and I will really miss her. I'm heading out of town Thursday for the services on Long Island. May she rest in peace, and may my 91-year-old grandfather find a way to get through this.

As an aside, I heard a song that I used to sing in church on the radio yesterday, before I learned that my grandmother had died, and wondered why they were playing it, since it wasn't a holiday song. It was called "Let There Be Peace on Earth," sung by Vince Gill. Of course, the message is a very holiday message, but I had never heard this on the radio before. I like to think it was some sort of mystical acknowledgement of her passing.

Happy Holidays!

Here's the latest scoop on what I've been doing:

--Went out Weds night with my best friend to Las Tapas on King Street in Old Town, Alexandria. Highly recommended, great food and flamenco dancing.

--Friday was the last day in the office with the boss. She's on vacation and won't be back until after my last day at work, Jan. 2. I hope next week is quiet as I wrap things up. I have a lot of files to clean up.

--The new job sent me a nice little Christmas gift, very classy move!

--I'm finally done Christmas shopping, although I have to actually pick up the last gift tomorrow.

--My sis is in town from FL, so I'll enjoy hanging out with her.

--Jeffro's mom is coming into town tomorrow for holiday festivities. Needless to say I spent all day cleaning and I'm exhausted!

So basically all I'll be doing for the next two days is eating, drinking,and being merry. Hope you'll be doing the same! Happy Holidays!

Great Christmas CD

Looking for some cool new Christmas music this year? I stumbled on this new CD by accident in my recent holiday shopping excursions. Bath & Body Works Make-A-Wish Holiday CD is on sale for just $10 for a 2-disc set, plus $1 of each sale goes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. It features hot artists like Rascal Flatts, Rob Thomas, and Mary J. Blige. Pick up a couple stocking stuffers and make a nice holiday charity donation at the same time.

I spent most of this weekend Christmas shopping, but I timed it so the stores and roads weren't too crowded. However, I'm still not done. Three gifts left and counting. I also went to see the tree downtown, went to an Asian-themed Christmas party, and put up a little fake tree this weekend. I am exhausted! As far as work goes, 10 days left and counting before I start the new job.

Affirmation

Today made me realize why I really want to leave my job. It was quite a hellish day, with many tech-support-like phone calls that just drive me crazy. I also had a call from a customer who couldn't figure out how to use the website. I just deleted that message, I just couldn't deal. There's nothing I hate more at work than to be continually interrupted by phone calls. That is, unless it's to be continually interrupted by my psychotic boss.

I try to shove these tech calls over to the tech guy (go figure), and he tries to pawn them off on me. It's a constant battle and I'm just sick of it. Never in my life did I imagine the title "marketing director" would entail taking this ridiculous calls and being the friggin webmaster. If I never see another website in my life, I will be ever so happy. On top of that, a project I've been trying to finish has been hit with delays and now more delays or more costs. I just about lost it today. I need to figure out exactly how many more working days I have left until I can get out of there so I can post a big countdown.

New Year, New Job

Well, the counter worked. I got the salary I wanted, and accepted the position. I gave notice at my current job, and I start the new one January 2! Yeah! I can stop searching for a job now. I think it's going to be a great environment for me and I'm gonna start counting down the days!

This was a busy week, I had to give a speech in Toastmasters, which went ok. Jeffro and I are going to see some music tonight. I haven't done any Christmas shopping, so I'm on my way out today to join the crowds and hopefully get some stuff done. I'm about 1/2 way done with my Christmas cards.

And PS - Happy Birthday to MJ!

Offer Extended

Well, even though I have an interview with another company tomorrow by phone, I got my first offer today. It was not quite as good as I'd hoped, and I actually countered. They are going to get back to me tomorrow. So we'll have to see what happens. I was so excited to get the offer, until it was less than I wanted. But my fingers are crossed that they'll come through. If I accept, this means starting January 2, I will be starting the new year with a new job!

Wish me luck tomorrow, as I have this offer to deal with, a phone interview, and a speech to give at Toastmasters. Talk about a full day. Guess I'll go draft my resignation letter just in case.

Where U At?

How has an entire week passed since I blogged? Guess I've been busy. Let's see. Since we last chatted, I still haven't heard about the job I was excited about. Things are progressing, as they have called references, sent me benefits, etc. So we'll see.

To thicken the plot, however, I got a call today from what would be a very cool organization to work for. So now I'm kind of hoping the other job delays a little more so I can interview with this one! I'm so fickle.

This weekend was ok, the best part was eating out on Friday night, December 1 in Shirlington. Jeffro and I went to Guapo's and it was so warm we sat outside! Ironically, the next day I went to an oyster roast at the Old Dominion Boat Club and the Boat Parade of Lights in Old Town. A pretty nice time, but cooooold.

This week is going to be tough to get through, but then my office empties out for a convention next week, so hardly any of us will be there. The intern from hell is still from hell. I thought I would just about throttle her today with her incessant stupid questions. She just doesn't friggin get it. How is she ever going to get a real job? I feel sorry for her. Maybe I'll just kill her first, and she won't have to worry about it. I can't tell you how pissed I was at her today, and I got to the point where I nearly rolled my eyes every time she set foot in my office to jokingly remark, "You're never going to get any work done." Duh, bitch.

A Day in the Life

Well, it's been a crazy week so far. Here are the highlights:

The good:

• Today I had a second interview with a company I liked a lot. So my fingers are crossed that they make a decision soon--me!
• I launched our revamped website at work.
• The intern from hell is improving slightly.
• The boss is out the rest of the week.
• I submitted a quick little story to the Washington Post. Let's see if it gets picked.

The bad:

• The dog has diarrhea. Again.

Turkey Talk

My Thanksgiving was pretty nice and un-drama-filled, unlike a friend of Jeffro's that we had coffee with the day after Thanksgiving. We drove to New Jersey late Wednesday night, but apparently not late enough since we hit a ton of traffic. Turkey day was celebrated at a family friend's house. We visited some other relatives, and wanted to visit a friend in the hospital, but Jeffro came down with a cold so we couldn't do that and we wound up leaving earlier today instead. The highlight of the trip was going to our favorite used CD store, Tunes. I traded in some CDs, got a $5 credit and spent only $12 of my own money on this stack of great CDs that I'm working my way through:

Chicago: Greatest Hits 1982-1989

Peter Cetera: World Falling Down

Best of Corey Hart

Phil Vassar: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1

Diamond Rio: Greatest Hits, Vol 2

Since we hit tons of traffic again today, we took a nice detour through Southern MD on Route 301 instead of staying on 95. Hope everyone had a safe and happy turkey day.

Work Week from Hell--Happy Thanksgiving!

I've had the craziest week. I had a new intern start Monday and I kid you not, she is terrible. She's like 40-something years old, going back to school. She's worked on a Mac, so she barely knows how to use an IBM. I had to teach her HOW TO CUT AND PASTE BY RIGHT CLICKING! Oh my God, with that kind of help, I'm sure I'll get a lot done. Then she put some info into a template, mispelling the title of it, and lost the entire thing. Lord. She was supposed to help me with this big web update project, but I don't want her anywhere near it.

That's why I spent most of today and yesterday updating our entire website, which everyone was supposed to help with. Because sometimes help just isn't help. So I'm just wiped out. Then they decided not to let everyone go early today because they were giving us Friday off. What stupid, frigging cheap grinches! Finally at 4:00 when I thought I'd go cross eyed, they finally relented and let us have a free hour. How generous!

Anyway, thanks for listening to my vent. I gotta go pack cause we're joining the legions of people traveling today. But hopefully by the late hour we get on the road, it will all be cleared out.

I have an interview next week, and I pray I get the job, cause I'm not going to be able to handle working with this intern.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and a great long weekend.

Elvis Has Left the Building

I had the day off work on Friday for a Stephen Covey class on time management and planning. The only thing was, I wasn't expecting this workshop to be 8 hours of how to use the Covey planner. We literally all sat there for like 45 minutes putting the planner together. Except we'd gotten our planner in another class and had no planner, so I just sat there and watched everyone else. My boss thought it was a waste of time and left during the first break. She was going back to the office and gave us the option of staying in the workshop or going with her. Even though it was 8 hours of wasted time, I opted to stay. After all, a day out of the office is a day out of the office. I have to say, I did learn some stuff about time management that might be helpful, but I think an 8-hour workshop is excessive.

This weekend has been fairly productive. I got some much-needed things done around the house. Last night was fun, we went to the Old Dominon Boat Club to see Elvis impersonator Michael Hoover. He puts on a good show, if you like Elvis music. The whole thing is a little silly, but it was a fun time and I even got one of the scarves that he gives to the ladies.

Today is mostly errands and drudgery, but I have a bookclub meeting tonight to discuss The Painted Drum, which was pretty interesting. I can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow. I have an intern starting and we're kicking off a huge project, so I'm really NOT looking forward to it, even though this is going to be a short week.

I Love Short Weeks

Well, I had an interview yesterday, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, and an out-of-office training on Friday. Gotta love these short weeks. Next week our office decided to close on Friday, which means I don't have to continue digging into the vacation hole that I'm in. Despite all this, however, I have been incredibly busy at work and have gotten almost as much work done this week as a normal week.

My interview yesterday went ok, but I'm not sure I like the organization/position. We'll have to see. I continue to send out resumes, but things are definitely slowing down as the holidays approach. The job interview I loved last week is trying to find a time for me to come back, but it might not be until after Thanksgiving.

Not much else new and exciting to report this week.

It's a No

Well, I heard back from one of my job possibilities--the one I had two interviews with. The answer was no thank you. I was upset in a way because the job was 5 minutes from my house, I really liked the person who would have been my supervisor, and well, quite frankly I would rather have been the one to say no to them. So that really sucked and made me doubt myself now. Maybe yesterday's interview didn't go as well as I thought? But they did ask for my reference list, and today I did get a positive email back from one of the women I met with, so who knows. She "looked forward to talking with me more in the coming weeks." I have to say I am getting really sick of all this interviewing crap and just want a resolution in the way of gainful new employment.

Busy weekend ahead, looking forward to having tomorrow off even though I have to be at the allergist by 9. I think I have a phone interview, I might go visit my friend MJ who is working, and I have tons of errands to run, like buying birthday gifts for my niece and my mom. This weekend we're visiting friends on Saturday night for dinner and I have my first drum lesson in weeks on Sunday.

Country Gone Wild and Life in General

Well, I'm sure you've all heard the controversy over Monday night's CMA Awards, where Faith Hill was caught on tape getting mad that she didn't win--and rightly so. She should have won instead of first time out, undeserving, American Idol Barbie doll. But trying to play off that she was just joking instead of owning up to being human and being upset that she didn't win isn't flying with anyone . . . overall, the CMA awards were very disappointing. Brooks & Dunn won every friggin thing and I got so sick of seeing them at the end of the night. If you're up for 20 million awards, you shouldn't be the host. Isn't that a conflict of interest or something?

This week I have had two interviews, one that was just so-so and one today that was just phenomenal. If only I could get lucky enough to work for this company--provided the pay and benefits are right. They have a very laid back attitude, come in whenever you want, work through lunch if you want to leave earlier, work from home if you need to, whatever. I just love it. Most of the people have been there 5+ years, which can be a good or bad thing, but they seem open to new ideas and creativity. So keep your fingers crossed, as I had a very good vibe about them. Plus they are like 20-30 min commute.

Tonight I'm waiting for the next Lost episode to begin and will finally do a little much-needed housework. Just need to live through tomorrow then the long weekend begins!

Gone Country

This is a huge week for country music fans. I'm sure there are tons of y'all out there. Tomorrow night, Monday, November 6 at 8 p.m., ABC presents the 40th Annual Country Music Awards. It is THE award to win if you're a country singer. Not so coincidentally, two of my favorite acts and CMA nominees are releasing new albums on Tuesday. Sugarland releases their second album, Enjoy the Ride and Keith Urban (who will miss the awards cause he's in rehab) releases his fourth album, Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing. So you won't catch me blogging tomorrow cause I'll be glued to the TV. And Tuesday night I'll be at Best Buy spending a giftcard I got a couple months ago for my birthday that I have been saving for just this occasion.

Colonial Weekend

This weekend Jeffro and I visited my alma mater, William & Mary. It was the first time I'd been back in probably five or so years, and a lot has changed. There is a lot of new construction on "new campus." I got to show Jeffro my campus (far superior to his alma mater), where I lived, took classes, all my old haunts. It was a pretty decent time, except for the frigid weather on Saturday.

Sunday the weather was prettier, and we spent part of the day walking around DOG Street, as we students liked to call Duke of Gloucester Street, the main drag there. We had lunch both days at The Cheese Shop, which is absolutely the best sandwich place in the world. Just ask Jeffro, he agreed that it was pretty amazing. It's moved to a new, larger location since my college days, and seems to be just flourishing. We bought some colonial souvenirs and spent way too much time at the bookstore on Sat, but all in all it was a good trip. I just wish we'd had more time to spend there.

Tomorrow it's back to the grind, and I have an interview first thing in the morning. I'm pretty psyched cause it's a great organization. Wish me luck.

Victory is Mine!

Tonight was the board meeting to address the parking issue and I won! I can't tell you how ecstatic I am after all the hard work and agony that I have gone through. It passed unanimously, as it did with the parking committee. I found out tonight that this was the first parking petition to ever pass the parking committee unanimously. Wow. I must say, the arguments I presented were pretty impossible to refute, and we had several other homeowners show up to support it. It takes effect December 1 (they wanted to make it Jan 1 initially but then some board members argued and decided to make it earlier!) and I can't wait to tow the first violator. I am so thrilled after all the stress of this week.

What stress, you ask:
1. I feel like I'm coming down with a cold. Woke up this morning feeling miserable, still feel that way. So it's lots of echinacea for me and maybe calling in sick tomorrow or Friday.
2. I had my second interview yesterday. It went pretty well, not earth-shatteringly well, but good enough. They say they'll make a decision by the 17th, which is weeks away, but that is probably good because . . .
3. I had a phone interview today (not a good fit), I have two other interviews scheduled for next week and one other interview pending for a job I was really interested in. What is up with that? I'm totally a hot commodity right now. Hopefully I can use all this to my advantage to negotiate a fabulous salary and benefits.
4. Took my dog to the vet for various problems and was told he might need a root canal (they do root canals on dogs?) and they want to biopsy this weird thing on his nose.

To end on a good note, how amazing is this weather? I wish it could be like this all year long. Well, I guess it could if I moved to CA. I hope the weather lasts through the weekend, when I am supposed to go to Williamsburg for a tiny bit of R&R. That's all I got.