Ahoy Maties

Click above for an outstanding trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean 2.

Life Has Changed As I Know It

Our IT guy just installed my blackberry. My plan is to not tell my boss it is up and working until he asks me the status again. We shall see.

Quote of the Day

To Agie from me: "I like your husband better than my boyfriend".

Don't worry Paul. It's only because he makes her hot toddys when she's sick.

Appropriate/Inappropriate - You Make The Call

Stephanie just came by with a donut from Steve's our little sandwich shop downstairs. Agie and I didn't realize Steve's has donuts and expressed our surprise. What can I say? It's a slow morning here. My boss then decided to poke my stomach and say "No more donuts for you". I probably would have been offended if my stomach wasn't getting flatter and more toned from all the running I've been doing the last month (training for a 1/2 marathon - yes, I know I'm insane but I have lost almost 10 pounds). So I poked his and said "Oh, no - more like no donuts for you". Jerk. That last part was just in my head.

New York State of Mind

I really should not be allowed to interact with people when I am this run down. Yesterday I awoke to the sound of my alarm going off at 5:30 am. I pretty much didn't stop going until I got back home at 1 am. We threw an event in New York last night and decided since our entire department was going to be up there we should have our committee meeting that morning. So my boss hopped on a plane Sunday evening and stayed overnight while the rest of us caught a shuttle flight at 8 am which meant I had to leave my house by 6:15 am. We got to New York about 1/2 an hour before the meeting started and after conferring with a coworker decided it would be best if two of us ran some errands while the meeting was going on so that things would go smoother for the evening. Luckily our errands were pretty much shopping so among other things, we had to go to Tiffany's. We spent a couple hours shopping, grabbed a slice for lunch, saw the tree at Rockefeller Center, waved to Katie Couric and made it back in time to head over to the venue to set up for our evening event.

We had about four hours to set up and we used every single minute available. Then 2 and 1/2 hours of the event, being charming, smiling prettily, standing in heels that I'd been wearing all day. The event was an outstanding success, great media attendance, member companies were happy, etc. We whisked off to the airport a bit after 9 to catch our 10:40 flight and landed back in DC just after midnight in the snow. I crawled into bed at 1 am only to awaken a short time later to my alarm.

I am exhausted and want nothing more than to crawl into my bed and sleep until tomorrow. My boss is coming into the office sometime after 3 (Why God? Why?) so I know it's going to be a hectic three or so hours until he has to leave for an event tonight. I am not looking forward to working with a well-rested individual who even at my best and most well-rested grates my nerves at times. So when I asked Paul if he had plans for this weekend and we got into the whole "you ask this every week why don't you just say hey I want to do this how does that sound" bit I got irritated with him and snapped a bit because really all I wanted to know was if he had to work either day.

I feel bad that I took out my frustration and tiredness out on him. He doesn't deserve my crankiness. I was just telling Jim last night how great Paul has been these last couple weeks since he got back from Thanksgiving in NC. It's not that he wasn't nice to me or didn't treat me well before, but something just seems different and it's been really, really great. So now I have to suck it up and apologize for being Crabby McCrabbs-a-lot. Dammit.

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.

Is Anyone Surprised?

Sulu is gay. Scooter will be indicted. Rove will not (as of today).

Tales of Concerts Part Two

Def Leppard and Bryan Adams at Nissan Pavilion. It was an interesting crowd to say the least. This outing was inspired by Paul's friend Jorge's love of DL. Melissa and I enjoy Bryan Adams and DL in a completely casual, hey the song is on the radio and we like to sing along with it kind of way. Chris and Paul went because we ladies were going. So when Paul over stressed how vital it was that I leave work early to get to his house when Jorge got there, I complied. Granted, I was a bit annoyed with how little thought Paul gave to the fact that I needed to leave an hour early from a job that rarely lets me do that, but I did it. So, I left work about 15 minutes later than planned and ended up taking a cab to Paul's because he had me so afraid of making Jorge miss part of this concert only to arrive at Paul's and wait for Jorge for a good 20 to 30 minutes. Needless to say I was not in a great mood at that point. All I needed to do was vent for 2 minutes and then I would have been fine, but Paul was not in a great mood either and when I started to say something he bit my head off and I backed away instead of creating more drama. Ugh. To add to this already bad situation, Paul thought Melissa was supposed to call when they were on the way to the concert. When it was about 20 minutes before the concert and she hadn't called, he finally listened to my suggestion that he call her. They were already there. Okay. So we get there, wait around and find them and miss about the entire Bryan Adams set. Paul and I went to get beer and food (neither of us had eaten which added to our surliness) and I tried to talk to him about it in totally the wrong way. "I think it's interesting that the one person you were making everyone stress out about being on time for is the one who made us all late". Yeah, not really the best approach I admit. So when Paul snapped at me in reply I oh so maturely walked away. I grew up and started acting like a big girl and said "Look, all I need is 10 minutes to be grumpy about this and for you to understand that I deserve that 10 minutes" and then everything was okay and we all enjoyed the show.

More Catch Up

1. Tales of Concerts Part One

Weezer and Foo Fighters at the GMU Patriot Center. Originally, Agie and I were going to take our men along with us to this show. Her husband wasn't able to go at one point, then Paul and I broke up for those two hours in NC and I offered the ticket to Katie, then Agie offered her extra to her friend Cindy who is a hoot and a half, then I thought Paul would still want to go so then Agie offered it to her husband, then Paul thought Katie was going, etc.... When all was said and done Agie, Cindy and I went and I had an extra ticket which really kinda sucked but was 99% my fault and I ended up selling it for $20 or so to a scalper.

The girls and I had the day off from work (Thank you Mr. Columbus for "discovering" our great nation) so we headed out early with the thought of grabbing some grub and tailgating in the lot before the show. We stopped and ate some delish bbq, parked at the Patriot Center and broke open the bottle of wine. Keep in mind Paul had warned me not to drink in the parking lot since it was on a campus. Bringing up my numerous drinking in parking lot experiences I pshawed him...maybe even laughed a bit. During the second bottle of wine, the girls and I were laughing and having a great time. Such a great time that none of us paid much attention to the mini-van that parked behind us perpendicular to Agie's car. Nor did we pay mind to the two people in black hooded sweatshirts that walked up to each side of the car. We each thought they were more of the stadium workers being dropped off. Yeah, no. The woman on Agie's side leaned into the window, slid her badge out from under her sweatshirt and said "I assume you all are of age, right?". Oh, the look of disappointment that crossed her face when we said yes. Our word was good enough for her, but not for the Beer Garden peeps inside.

One of the many drawbacks of seeing a show at the Patriot Center is the way they sell "adult beverages". They have these things called Beer Gardens which are fenced in areas that you go to to purchase and consume alcohol. There are only about 4 or 5 of these prisons in the entire arena. You aren't allowed to take any beverages out with you. Basically, if you want a beer during the show you have to miss the show. It gets better. You get carded by a person at a table in front of the BG. They stamp your hand and put a wristband on you. Then you walk five steps to the entrance where you are once again carded while your wristband is checked. Then you enter the BG (which again, is completely walled in) where upon placing your order YOU ARE CARDED AGAIN. Because the double carding, wristband, handstamping and walled enclosure aren't enough. Sigh.

Anyways, the show was fan-fricken-tastic. Weezer and Foo both sound great live so it was worth any hassle. Weezer played My Name is Jonas and Foo played The One. Two relatively unknown but favorite songs of mine. I like to think they knew I was there. And of course, Buddy Holly, Undone, and Everlong.

At A Loss For Words

Paul has been under a lot of stress lately and very busy picking up extra shifts at his part time job. This has made him a bit grumpy and forgetful (both understandable under the circumstances). It sucks having someone I care about unhappy, plus I don't get to see him as much as I'd like, but IMHO I am being very understanding and non-demanding. The one thing I really like is him calling before going to bed. I like to hear his voice before I fall asleep (which given recent events I don't think is unreasonable - more later) and given what little contact we do have during the day is through im or texting on our phones, one one minute call at the end of the day isn't too much to ask, right? Not hearing the voice of the person you are involved with for an entire day (sometimes more) has an odd effect. It tends to make you forget things like how just a simple interaction with that person makes you feel better about just about anything or how funny they can be or the reasons why you like them. So when I got this im from Paul this afternoon I busted out laughing and smiled, remembering why I like the guy so darn much.

"My day got so much better now that I have underwear".