Grace? You Think I Have Grace?

Years ago a couple of us were watching a new Seinfeld episode. It was the one where Elaine is interviewing at the publishing house Jackie Kennedy worked at and at one point in the interview the guy mentions he thinks she has grace. Her delivery of the above line was priceless and became a catch phrase between me and my then boyfriend and his roommate after they told me I reminded them of Elaine. I've used it many times over the years as I'm often told I'm graceful. Some get the reference, some do not. Imagine my lack of surprise when I discovered today that I was born on a Tuesday.

Monday's child is fair of face
Tuesday's child is full of grace
Wednesday's child is full of woe
Thursday's child has far to go
Friday's child is loving and giving
Saturday's child works hard for a living
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day is fair and wise, good and gay.

Quotes From Today

I told Agie I said nice things about her on my blog. Her response: "What'd you type? That cranky bitch better get some sleep soon?". Guess I'm not the only one not sleeping.

Asked my friend how things are going with his boy. Talk turned to my boy. Conversation went as follows:
R: i saw where you were grumpy lately
R: and your man rescued you on his biek
R: bike
planb: He can be pretty wonderful sometimes.
R: maybe boys aren't as bad as we thought
planb: maybe :)

I went out pretty big last night drunk dialing Paul late into the evening. I mentioned to him that my head is hurting and it is a hundred degrees in my office. His response: "I amoverwhelemd with sympthy". I detected a bit of sarcasm and let him know what his Christmas present is going to be. A space bar.

Things To Be Thankful For

1. Family - Even though my dad didn't come through with a visit while Paul and I were in California (story to come - still mad and hurt) I can't tell you how great my family is. We have never been a super tight-knit family, even less now that my grandparents have passed and a number of us have moved out of California but man they will be there for you if you need them. I really feel sometimes as though I don't deserve them. Today I found out my youngest cousin is shipping out Sunday to serve in Iraq for a year. I will pray every day that he returns unharmed. He is such an amazing guy and only 18. Okay, next - I'm tearing up here.

2. Friends - I have said this many times and I hope I will continue to say it: my friends are the greatest group of people you will ever be lucky enough to meet. Case in point: I had gotten to the point where I was okay with being alone on Thanksgiving. Paul was with his family, I was originally supposed to go to Cairo with friends but didn't and the friends who weren't in Cairo all went home. Except for Agie, who upon hearing I was planning on roasting a chicken and making a Thanksgiving dinner for one (wow that sounds so sad and pathetic now) decided to drag me along with her and her husband to his coworker's house for dinner. It turned out to be a really nice time. The boys did all the cooking. Three, count them, three turkeys were made. One baked, one fried and one smoked and they were all delicious. And thankfully spaced out over the evening due to *ahem* "fortuitous" planning and various cooking times. All in all a very good meal.

3. Paul - Go ahead and get the schmaltzy "ahhh" out of the way. We good? Allright. I had a lot of time to let my mind wander this past week and one of the things I did was reread some of my old posts and im conversations Paul and I had when we first started dating. It reminded me of how much fun I have with him and how easy and comfortable it is to be with him. I will be the first to say it hasn't been all flowers and sunshine but no real relationship ever is. I would be bored silly in a week if that were the case. I digress. My point here is that I realized (not for the first time and I'm sure not for the last) that for all the times the man drives me absolutely batty, his good qualities far outweigh the bad and honestly some of those things that make me crazy are the very things that make me like him. I know, I know. It makes my head hurt too.

I Am Such A Brat Sometimes

Paul got home Sunday night from being away a bit over a week. I'm pretty sure it's the longest we've gone without seeing each other and it was kinda tough. I really missed the guy. We talked pretty much once a day, texted a lot but it was no fun. I was busy with work and social stuff for a lot of the time so I wasn't mopey or anything, but I was really excited about seeing him Sunday night. I hadn't been sleeping well (see below) and didn't really eat anything that day (hypoglycemia kicked in) so when the first thing he said to me was "can you put lotion on my back?" instead of a hug, kiss, big smile and something along the lines of "it's really good to see you, I missed you" I was a bit grumpy. I tried my almost best to not make a big deal out of it because I was really happy to see him and I knew how badly his back had been itching all day, but I failed. He was good and snapped me out of it without making a fuss (reason 753 why I like him) and we had a great night hanging out.

Unfortunately every morning starting from the Saturday he left to yesterday, I woke up around 4 am and could not go back to sleep. This was just a minor annoyance for most of the time he was gone since I was off work, but man did it suck yesterday morning. From 4 am to 7 am I was stuck on my back or side trying not to move too much since Paul hadn't slept well while he was gone (sucky bed at his dad's). I was miserable. So when Paul got up and was being all cutsey and playful after telling me he wouldn't go 5 minutes out of his way to walk me to the metro it annoyed me (see prior mention of week of sleep deprivation) and I finally just kissed him and said "I'm leaving" and walked out. I was kicking myself while walking (difficult, very very difficult - do not attempt at home unless under the supervision of a trained professional) when who should appear on his bike? My wonderful boyfriend of course. What? You were expecting Aquaman? Please, everyone knows he rides a seahorse. He rolled up to my trying not to smile face, kissed me and said "hey grumpy" (reason 1257 why I like him). So the day was saved and I am once again reminded how lucky I am to have him around.

New Plan

Here's the new plan. I am going to update my blog with the most recent and current happenings and then slowly but surely fill in the gaps with my missing stories (I've been home and broken into [well, my apartment not me] and Thanksgiving and..... and no blog) so I do not fall even further behind. This whole catchup thing has kicked my ass.

Four Letters. Starts With "L"

A friend and I were talking about when and how to say ILY for the first time in a relationship. She is adamant that the female should wait for the male to say it. As a female, I can see her point. You don't want to say it too early and scare the guy off thinking he's dating some ticking child bomb who is just looking for a husband or an unstable thing who falls in love with every guy she sleeps with. On the other hand, I have been the recipient of a premature ILY and it scared the crap out of me and got me thinking that the guy was off his rocker (which, incidentally, turned out to be not true - I am just that lovable).

I think (as I believe the majority of the free world would) that it shouldn't be planned or thought out, but it should happen spontaneously when the feeling strikes you. Now granted, saying ILY for the first time is quite possibly one of the scariest things ever - not only are you apprehensive of the recipient not saying it back (or worse only saying it because you did, not because they mean it) but you are also scared that the recipient will say it back and I do believe that is scarier than the first option. If it is said back in earnest that means you two have broken down each other's walls, arrived at a point where you know each other better than most others (at least enough of the good and bad to know that nothing short of cheating, abuse or killing puppies in fields of dandelions for sport would change how you feel about them) and being that emotionally close to someone is scary, no matter how well-balanced you are mentally. It is one of the best feelings in the world though.

I have never gone into saying ILY with the expectation of hearing it back. I think it takes away the beauty and honesty of it if you go in with motives other than letting that person know what they mean to you. Some of the best ILYs have knocked both the giver and receiver off guard - said in the heat of an argument, during a laughing fit or worst of all, when you realize you are losing that person. I guess it really boils down to this. There are enough games played (both intentionally and unintentionally) in relationships without adding this to the mix. If you love someone, tell them. You never know when you won't get the chance.

Reason 532430 to Hate FOX

Argh. I am beyond upset. This news is worse than the Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem fiasco (seriously, The Angels Angels of Anaheim?). Arrested Development gets cancelled and Stacked does not?!?!?! I'm sorry. I don't understand. Perhaps you need to not be nominated for and win multiple Emmys to remain on the tv. Well, that would explain Paul Moyer.

In HIS Shoes

Among the many activities that have kept me from updating my blog was the Annual 17th Street High Heel Race a couple weeks back. My coworker Christine invited a few of us to her soon to be former apartment which overlooks 17th Street to watch the race. Here's the deal for those of you not in the know:

D.C.'s annual High Heel Race takes place each year on the Tuesday night before Halloween, allowing men to dress in short skirts and strap on their high heels while they prepare to sprint down 17th Street between P and Q streets. The race is in its 18th year.

Starting around 6 p.m. people gather to watch the drag queens parade down the street to show off their outfits. At 9 p.m. sharp, a pistol shot begins the race and the drag queens run a two-block dead sprint north towards Q Street. The racers who actually do the sprint finish in about 90 seconds.

Click above for a link to some pictures of the evening.

Mark, You Are So Excited!

"More Aquaman news: The WB will give Aquaman the Smallville treatment, but it won’t be a spinoff launched by the recent fish-boy cameo on that series. The new producers promise that the character “won’t be talking to fish or riding a seahorse,” which will basically reduce him to an above average swimmer who wears orange spandex to class. [Variety]"

Fear the Blog

I resolve to never let my blog get this outdated again. The daunting task of getting this thing up to date is near overwhelming. The more I get behind the more I avoid updating. Vicious circle. Ugh.

Tales of Concerts Part Three

Chris Isaak at the 9:30 Club. It was a spur of the moment decision to go. I emailed some of my friends to see if anyone was interested and Heather replied yes so we went. I am so glad we did. Not only did it afford us the opportunity to catch up (she'd been out of the country for a bit) but we also got to get up close and personal with Chris. He has a tendency to walk through the crowd at his live shows. Good strategy - it keeps this girl coming back for more. It was almost as fun when the accordian player (accordianist?) came through the crowd. He took a drink from someone's beer and a hit off a cigarette. The band is fantastic - same one from his show. They've been together 20 some years and it shows. They played everything from Roy Orbison to ranchero (Mexican polka, not the sauce). One bad thing about the show - and I never, ever thought I would say this - I hate tall people. I actually felt somewhat short. And before you ask, no I don't feel any sympathy for the small people.