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 . . .

Idyllic Weekend Weather

What a beautiful weekend for Labor Day! It's been a pretty good one and busy too. The highlight was Saturday I had lunch reservations with NOAAGirl, her DH, and Jeffro at Volt in Frederick, MD. The owner is Bryan Voltaggio of Top Chef fame. It took months to get a reservation, and I could only get lunch reservations at that. But no matter, lunch or dinner, it was a fabulous meal. We all had the 5-course tasting menu of heirloom tomatoes, goat cheese ravioli, scallops, beef strip loin, and dessert. Dessert was supposed to be cheesecake, but I wanted something else so they were able to substitute. What a wonderful meal, attentive waiters, beautiful restaurant, and best of all we saw Bryan on the way out! He was every bit as cute as he was on TV but unfortunately he didn't really appear to want to say hello. That was the only bummer.

Accentuate the Positive

I don't want to curse myself, but it's definitely been an interesting week, in a good way. I've been interviewing, and had more luck than I anticipated. I have a second interview tomorrow, and they are calling references so that is really interesting. We'll see if they make and offer and how much, though I am more interested in another job and waiting for them to come to town to do interviews. This has all been very anxiety-producing, but exciting.

The other really great thing is my college roomate, who I haven't talked to in like 10 years, contacted me through FB recently. I was surprised in a way, but I had sort of been following her and knew she was on FB so it wasn't a total shock.

So these are some really cool things. I needed some good stuff sent my way. I also went to a very fun happy hour last week, and we're doing it again tomorrow night. Yeah!

The Audi R8 is the coolest car ever. I wondered how much it was, but was afraid to look. Now I know why. The MSRP is $156K! Someone actually parks one frequently in Shirlington. Man I need to find out who it is and make a new friend!

Back from Boston

I was in Boston recently for a conference from work, and it just about took me a week to recover . . . the conference went well, it's just exhausting. Now I'm full into interview mode. Every year I say to myself "this has to be the last conference" and yet every year I'm still there. So I am trying to change that before the next one comes around. There's also change in leadership coming, and I do fear that we won't be able to get through another budget without laying someone off. So it's go time. I've had two phone interviews so far with a company out of town. I would get to telecommute, but the job has a lot of travel. They are coming into town in August to do in-person interviews, and they already told me that they want to meet me in person. I also have an interview with another company Monday, so I'm taking the day off work cause it's in the afternoon. I also just really want another long weekend.

In any case, it's hotter than hell here. I just wonder what these extremes mean. We had record snow this year, and now record heat. I just don't like it, I think the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Ever the optimist here ;)

Two Saturdays This Week

My conference for work is coming up and Thursday was a really busy, stressful day. The kind where you feel completely beat up by the time you go home. So I chilled that night and got myself ready to face Friday.

But when I got up, my brain did not want to face Friday. It told me that the day was Saturday. I turned my alarm off thinking, why did I set my alarm for Saturday? I took the dogs for a really long walk, thinking, why are people standing at the bus stop on Saturday? We stopped at the dog park, thinking why is it so empty on Saturday? I walked home and started taking my vitamins in my Sunday - Saturday plastic packet and noticed I was taking vitamins marked Friday. How odd that I forgot to take my vitamins on Friday, I thought. Then, with dread, it occured to me: Maybe today is Friday. Oh crap. Could it be? Are you kidding me? Am I getting really senile or something? I checked my cell phone to be sure, and it was indeed Friday at 9:30 a.m. and I was already 1/2 hour late for work and hadn't showered yet.

What a terrible shock, and such a disappointment!

I quickly checked my work schedule: did I have a meeting? No. Did I have something due: Yes. Crap, I need to go to the office. Otherwise I would have called in sick. I called my boss and left a really vague message about running late and that I would be in around 11. Am I going crazy? I was completely convinced that it was Saturday. Unbelievable. I think after my conference I need a serious vacation.

A Person Who Cares

I was walking my dogs tonight (what a gorgeous night!) and just up ahead this guy was walking towards another dog owner. The guy was walking very quickly. The woman had a small pug on a leash, and was trying to get out of this guy's way. She was standing on a hill, and in trying to avoid this guy, she slipped and fell down the hill in her sundress. The guy didn't blink an eye, just kept barrelling past. Didn't say "are you ok?" or "sorry about that" or anything. She was looking at him like WTF and I approached and said I couldn't believe that he didn't even acknowledge how rude he was by just about knocking her off the sidewalk. I said that I was sorry he was such a jerk and that most people these days just don't care and she agreed. Then she said "A lot of people don't care, but I'd rather be a person who cares." I thought that was such a great sentiment I had to put the story up here. I'm glad too that I'm a person who cares. Well, I try to be anyway ;)

Goal!

No, I'm not talking about the World Cup. I'm talking about my sponsorship goal at work. I actually met it this year, and it was $10K higher than last year. I'm so thrilled! Now if and when I leave my job I can leave on a high note, so to speak. The rewards? A nice fat commission? A bonus? No. Ice cream. But I guess I'll take that. At least it was acknowledged.

Last Chance Highway

Tune into Animal Planet for "Last Chance Highway," an 8 part series that follows a group of volunteers who rescue soon-to-be-euthanized shelter dogs. Part 1 airs on June 19th at 8 pm, June 20th at 1 am, 3 am, & 10 am, and June 21st at 8 pm. For a sneak preview click here.

Busy Weekend and Unsealed Lips

Things have been crazy as ever. This weekend was busy with gardening in between all the other fun stuff. Boy it was great to have Monday off!

Friday: shopping for my sister's surprise birthday party

Saturday: car repair in the morning, sister's party at night (she was very surprised!)

Sunday: gardening during the day, friend's BBQ at night

Monday: dog park, dog baths, pedicure, wine and dessert with friends

On a separate note, Belinda Carlisle, one of my favorite singers (lead singer of the Go-Gos!)from the 80s has a new book out: Lips Unsealed: A Memoir. Apparently she's had a really huge problem with drug abuse most of her life. It looks like an interesting read cause she struggled with self image and depression problems, and that just makes her so real. So I might have to pick up a copy.

Why I Hate Work

I have read a couple of interesting articles recently related to work.

The first is about how now that the economy is improving, people are quitting their hated jobs without having anywhere to go. I would love to do that. Check out the article here.

The other article was about the terrible health effects that it has on your body. I always thought that work is killing me, and it truly is. Check out the article here.

Then I saw an episode of House Hunters tonight where the person moved to Cabo in Mexico, bought this huge, great place for $350K that had a level that could be rented out. How sweet would that be?

And let's close this with one of the things I love from the past few weeks:

Why does your boss tell you to give someone a deadline of Friday then decide she wants it Thursday after you’ve already told them Friday? Then you have to go back and look like an ass and ask for it earlier.

Long Gone

I have been super busy this month, so I haven't been blogging much. Here are a few highlights of what I've been up to:

*Coordinated a pet happy hour in my neighborhood
*Helped put on a neighborhood day
*Pulled up two overgrown shrubs in my yard that didn't fare well over the winter
*Dug out two new flower beds behind my fence
*Purchased flowers and started to plant, waiting for the rain to subside!

I'll try to be better about blogging, but truthfully it's hard to keep up with all the "social media" stuff that you're supposed to these days . . .

NY Wedding and Shelter Stamps

Well, I just got back last night from my cousin's wedding on Long Island. It was a really fun time and I got to see people I don't see very often. I didn't stop dancing the entire night!

I also wanted to raise awareness of new forever stamps being issued by the Post Office to create awareness about adoption and shelters. Check it out and buy other really cute products here.

NYC

I was in NYC this week for a business meeting. I haven't been to the Big Apple in many, many years but it never seems to change. Here are some highlights of my brief time there.

Ate at Morimoto! I stayed my first night at The New Yorker Hotel, which was walkable to the restaurant. I had called ahead and asked if I could sit at the sushi bar, partly because I hate eating by myself at a real table, and partly because I knew I'd never get in at the last minute to the restaurant itself. So I sit down at the sushi bar and look to my right and THERE IS MORIMOTO himself, looking just like he does on Iron Chef. My jaw hit the floor and I had to resist the urge to call everyone I knew right then. Eventually, I saw that he was very personable and talking to other guests, so with some encouragement from my waiter, I stood up and shook his hand when he walked by me. He asked how everything was, and if the sushi chefs sitting right in front of me (two of which I recognized from TV) were doing a good job. What a thrill!

As an appetizer, I ordered some of my favorite spicy tuna rolls, and they were outstanding. By far the best sushi I have ever eaten. Then I ordered the black bean cod, which was also outstanding. All in all, a delicious and memorable experience! Oh and before I forget, I went to the bathroom before I left and the seats were heated. An unexpected and very nice feature.

Before I got in a cab, I went into the nearly-closing Chelsea Market, located apparently under where Food Network films. It was a cool indoor market that held all kinds of little shops and restaurants. And the stars from Food Network always shop there. Too bad I wasn't there during the day.

The rest of my trip wasn't nearly as eventful. I moved hotels and stayed at a Marriott right in Time Square/Broadway, which was really cool. They have closed off a street and made it more of a pedestrian area, so it was pretty crazy. One night I walked with my boss to the Apple store, and it was late, around 10, but you would have thought it was a weekend afternoon cause there were so many people around.

I walked by the famed Magnolia Bakery but it was too early in the morning for me to consider cupcakes, and I was leaving in about 1/2 hour so I couldn't get one to go. All in all a good trip, I just wish I'd had time to stay and see more sites or catch a show.

Rude or Not Rude? You Decide

I'm invited to a family wedding next month, and received the invitation a few weeks back. The RSVP date is March 31, next week. I have been really busy and haven't had time to send the RSVP back, but this week, my cousin e-mails a bunch of us who haven't RSVP'd yet reminding us that we have only 8 days to reply!

Call me crazy and old fashioned, but I thought that:

1. I had until March 31 to reply.
2. Since the invitation was a formal printed invitation, a follow up e-mail seemed a little gauche.

My sisters were offended and wrote back nasty replies. The next day I mailed my invitation and didn't reply cause it seemed like it had been addressed by my sisters. However, today I got YET ANOTHER e-mail reminder. And boy, I let my cousin have it!! Cause I mailed the friggin RSVP already, and it's only been a few days so the RSVP couldn't have gotten there yet.

So I'm wondering what everyone thinks about this? Is it tacky as hell to ask for an RSVP before the RSVP is due? And to ask by e-mail? And twice in one week? Curious minds want to know. I'm just furious about the whole thing and have half a mind not to even show up now!

Vosges Hautes Glaces

The other night on a rare trip to Whole Foods, I discovered that my favorite chocolate, Vosges, based in Chicago, now makes an exotic ice cream, Hautes Glace! I wanted to buy the Red Fire, which is hot and spicy, but felt too guilty cause it's full fat ice cream and I would have eaten the entire thing. So I refrained, but I'm sure at some point I will have to go back for it!

Cincinnati/Memphis Trip

I just got back from being away for about a week. Sundae, my trouble dog, ate just about everything in my house. I had a good trip except for that little problem.

Cincinnati was a trip for work, and was pretty tiring. I have to say the city itself was nicer than I remembered. I'd been there once years ago. I didn't get to have any of the city's famous chili, but I did manage to have some Graeter's ice cream.

I went to Memphis afterwards to visit Funny Girl who moved there back in December. We had a great time, hitting all the popular sites: The Rock and Soul Museum, the Peobody, and Sun Studios. But the highlight was probably seeing Graceland. It was really pricey, but I wanted to go. It was amazing to see all of Elvis' gold records. What a legend. We even went to the Botanic Gardens on the only sunny day. Loved the barbecue at Corky's and got to see her brother-in-law sing at BB King's.

At Sun Studios I discovered the first song to officially be called rock 'n roll: Rocket 88. Click on the link to hear it and learn a little about it. I'm a little obsessed with it right now and bought a CD that had it on there. I can't believe I have never heard it since my dad used to love this kind of music. I'm recovering today and trying to get my life back in order. It feels like I was gone forever!

March Mourning

I absolutely hate the month of March. Not only is it the time when I'm just waiting for spring to be here, a very busy time at work, and the longest month ever, but for the second year in a row there's been a death in my family.

This weekend my last remaining grandmother passed away at the age of 92. I am grateful to have had my grandparents for as long as I have . . . I still have one grandfather who will be 95 this year. I wasn’t as close to this grandmother as the one I lost three years ago, but it’s still hard to accept death and the fact that you will never see that person again.

And in loving memory, today is the day I lost my beloved Pepper last year. I miss her every day.

Officially. Sick. Of. Winter.

I am so sick of this winter I could just spit. We have beat the all-time record for most snow in VA, over 54 inches total! If I wanted a winter like this I would live in Buffalo or something. There are just huge piles everywhere, it's hard to get around and walk the dogs, having to cross the streets like a maze to find an opening to get to the sidewalk. Then there's the post-walk cleaning up of the dogs again and again. Not to mention the trouble of trying to find an empty parking spot after leaving the lot. Oh, I am so tired of it all. And it's so cold, that whenever we have temps above freezing it feels nearly balmy. I just can't take it and don't know how many more winters I'll be willing to spend like this! Here's a photo of my back gate for your amusement. The gate is about 5 feet tall.

A Bit of Thanks??

To follow up on a recent, post, we did actually celebrate our goal being met at work during our last staff meeting. However, when someone exclaimed that they wanted to thank those of us who marketed the hell out of it (i.e., marketing) my boss very quickly jumped in and said that it was due to everyone's work and that's why we were all here having champagne. WTF??

Martina McBride - Shine Indeed!

I went to see Martina on Sunday night, and wow, what a great show. That was probably the best she's ever been, and I've seen her about a million times so that says a lot. She played for nearly two hours, and it was a great mix of her old and new songs, ballads and upbeat tunes. The only "bad" thing I have to say is she didn't sing "I Just Call You Mine," her current single, and that surprised me a bit. She ended with Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer, which was such a fun surprise. I started cracking up when they played the first chords, cause I couldn't believe she was going to play that, and the friend I was with thought I was nuts. In any case, here's a photo I took. She came out to a stage right by me for a while, then out into the audience. It was a really awesome show. She's back in the area on Feb. 20 in Baltimore, and I have half a mind to get tickets and go again!

More Things I Love

We hit a huge goal at work today. A goal I was mostly responsible for achieving, and largely responsible for surpassing. Yes, surpassing, which was very exciting. Because we hit the goal and people were excited, the person processing the orders was told that she could leave work early. Um . . . all she did was process everything. So somehow due to her great processing we achieved the goal? I don't think so. Yet did anyone even think to tell me that I did a great job achieving the goal? Not a one. I didn’t get sent home early. Bastards. So I just left work early anyway.

Lady Antebellum New Release

If I wasn't so annoyingly busy this week, I'd be purchasing Lady A's new CD, out today, Need You Now. My first free night is Thursday, so I guess I'll try for then. In the meantime I'll have to be satisfied with the sampler snippets on Amazon or iTunes. Sigh.

Things I Love: Another Installment

I love it when your boss knows you probably haven’t done something and they really are asking you to do it, but for some reason they can’t just come out and ask you to do it. My boss last week came in my office and said, “I’m sure you’ve probably already done this, but the CEO is looking for blah blah blah.” Ok, now “blah, blah, blah” was never discussed with me, nor is it something we’ve ever really done before, nor do I see any great need to do it, so I don’t know why she thinks I would have already done it?

I just hate this passive aggressive bullshit. Just say “the CEO would like you to do X by X date” and be done with it. How hard is that?? I love work.

Peed Plumbing

I saw a truck with this name on it today while walking my dogs. Really? Really! You gotta wonder if it's a family name, or just something someone made up who thought it would be clever marketing. I just think it's weird.

About My Staycation

We're more than a week into the New Year already, where does the time go? I had an entire week off work for the holidays, and didn't have any plans, so I had a "staycation." I have to say, it was really awesome. Got to do some things I hadn't gotten around to in forever, saw family, and spent a lot of time with the dogs. We're working on training a lot right now, and it's pretty slow going. But it was still great to be home. I have to say, it really chilled me out and made me able to get back to work and actually be productive and not hate it as much. So yeah, staycations! I highly recommend them.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday this year. Though I'm not really feeling it, I'm trying to get in the spirit by listening to Christmas carols. Check out my beautiful poinsettia from Funny Girl's mom. Can't wait for 2009 to finally end!

Country Christmas

Well, 2009 has certainly been an interesting and terrible year, and it couldn't be over soon enough. I've been meaning to buy Christmas cards and start writing them out, but I realized that I have very little good news to share with people this year. Matter of fact, this year's events kind of read like a sad country song:

My old dog died
My boyfriend left me
My best friend Funny Girl moved hundreds of miles away

So I'm thinking about trying to formulate that into a funny little message somehow so people won't get my card and be severely depressed. Hoping for a creative inspiration!

Things I Love

Here is another installment of Things I Love, my way of lashing out when I get really angry over something stupid that someone does at work. Today it's my boss being totally passive aggressive. She has no business even being a boss if she is as much of a chicken shit as what she showed today.

I wrote some copy for a promotion, and left it with her around 12. Around 12:05 she called a coworker into the office and closed the door. Paranoid, I assumed they were talking about me, but then thought I was being ridiculous and just dismissed it.

Around 1 I had a meeting with her and a different colleague about a different subject, but I saw the copy on her desk with comments written on it from her and the person she had a closed-door meeting with. However, she said nothing about any of this while I sat there.

I get back to my desk around 1:30 after our meeting, and there's an e-mail about the copy I had left with her. She said that basically my copy wasn't treating the audience with dignity (which in and of itself is completely not true), but she said it so sarcastically that ironically I felt I wasn't being treated with dignity. I was really upset, looked at the time it was sent, 1:03, probably just as I was sitting down with her for the meeting. If she had problems with what I wrote, why didn't she have the balls to say something while I was in her office? Instead she sends me a mean e-mail when she's sure I won't see it till after I meet with her.

And BTW, just because you use cute emoticons all over your sarcastic and mean message, doesn't mean it's going to soften the blow ;) :) Bitch.