Form vs. Function

yes, it's the age-old question - form vs. function.

See, I got a lot of moolah for Xmas. Which is nice, cuz I can choose a non-standard gift. And after considering a lot of things (here is just a small list: Wii, which would include Beatles Rock Band; Nintendo DSI; a new wardrobe with shoes; a new handbag; a new mattress; a new tooth, which I decided isn't really a gift; Sirius radio for my car; a new TV; a renewed subscription to match.com; a subscription to some other dating service; a trip to Switzerland; a trip anywhere; and new socks), I narrowed it down to 2 things.

1. FORM - a gym membership. This would be a recurring expense, but the Xmas money could take care of the initial fees and a couple of months. In the summer months, I have been pretty good with getting out there and taking some walks. But when it's cold or rainy, I totally slack off. A gym (a good gym) could take care of that. However, with gym memberships in my past, I have always felt like I was wasting my money, because I never keep up my enthusiasm for going. I'm good for say the first month, and then I go maybe 2 or 3 times a month after that. There's always some excuse. I admit, it's totally my own fault, but I hate that I wasted the money.

2. FUNCTION - a GMAT prep course. I've been trying to study for the GMATs for about 6 months now and I'm failing miserably. Much like exercising, any excuse will do. I was aiming to take the GMATs this spring but I'll never make that deadline at this rate. A course could put me on track and get me ready in time.

At this point, I'm kinda leaning towards the gym membership - I mean, who doesn't want to lose weight and look good? But a little tiny part of me says that the GMAT is the better investment. Hmmm... well, if you have any thoughts, please weigh in. Thanks.

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. --Groucho Marx

What's going on with me? Well, I use Twitter much less now. Prolly this summer, I was all about it, but now I've got all these random strangers following me, and I don't know what they want to hear. It's too much pressure being that funny in texts.

Ok, so there's more to my life than Twitter. Improv is going strong. Loving it. Got a great troupe and really getting to know them.

Work is crazy but that's cuz it's the holidays. Whadya expect?

Roommate is moving out. And it's prolly for the best. We found another roommate so all is good. My other roommate is good.

In fact, last night we had a conversation, in which I professed that the U.S. is moving towards a communist/socialist state. Capitalism has run its course, and we are starting to see our downfall. I predict that we'll have 2 or 3 more recessions, with very light periods of upturn in the middle that will give us false hope. Each of these recessions will serve to widen the gulf between the super-rich and the poverty class, and dwindle the middle classes (with most of them becoming poverty-stricken). When we've reached the point where we have virtually no middle class (or people who are posing as middle class, but actually deeply in dept - oh wait, no, we have that already), government will no longer have a substantial tax base. Unable to support itself, government has 2 options.

A. To be bailed (bought) out by the super-rich, thus creating a plutarchy (Plutocracy + oligarchy). Some would claim that we will/have become a "corporatocracy." But I think we've seen the start of the decline of certain corporations. Anything can happen from there on out; after all this is AMERICA! But it's worth it to mention that "Marxism-Leninism believes that all capitalist countries follow a plutocratic government mixed with imperialism, and that the only way to change it is through a mass revolution by the proletariat. The plutocratic government's social mobility deficiency is a result of exploitation of the masses, preventing the workers from moving up." I've copied that from Wikipedia. Anyhoo, this option puts us at a workers' revolt.

The other option ...

2. To take control of industries/corporations/businesses in order to support itself. These businesses become government-run and/or subsidized. (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bueller?) The government now controls prices, either through subsidizing or by being competitive (think FDR's New Deal), therefore they also control wages.* The middle class begins to expand again. Because profits from these industries go back in to the government's coffer, the services that government can provide expand.** Moreover, the industries that government now controls become part of the services that they can provide. It could start with something as small as ... say ... health care. Just saying.

*As long as government is not paying factories in other countries, which would be difficult given how many corporations have moved factories to other countries for cheap labor.

**Provided we have leaders who aren't lining their own pockets, which would be difficult given how many politicians line their own pockets.

Both options kinda put us right back at socialism/communism. I doubt we'd have violent revolutions, but maybe that's what people always thought before. You know what? I'm just rambling. But Obama said it was time for change. I think that change will come so slowly that we won't notice it, but it's coming. It's needed.

"Art is always and everywhere the secret confession, and at the same time the immortal movement of its time." --Karl Marx

"Well, Art is Art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does." --Groucho Marx

The most wonderful time of the year

Yeah, so I haven't updated in a while. I almost did it at work, but I thought better of it. Besides, very busy there what with the holidays and all.
I myself have been busy. I am LOVING my new improv troupe. They're a bunch of "guys" and that's actually pretty fun. Very supportive and conversational in that fantastical improvical way, that's just makes you have a crush on EVERY guy you meet that does improv. Some of you may not know what I mean, but trust me, it's a wonderful world when that's the case. My first show went pretty well, and I got a couple of compliments. It meant especially a lot to me that the rest of the troupe complimented my performance, because then I feel like I'm doing my part. They are hysterical and dying to learn my real age.
I'm also volunteering still. I've changed locations and the new location has a very different dynamic with the kids. To be honest, it's a lot harder now, but it makes me think that they really need good people and what I do there is that much more important because of it. So I'm sticking it out to see what can be accomplished.
I'm also prepping for the holidays. I've done a lot of my holiday shopping already (a FIRST for me!). I've got my tickets home. Ill be there two WHOLE days this time, so that's good.
AND I finally took care of my car. Got new tires and replaced the timing belt. Ready for the winter. In addition, Dec 24 is my LAST car payment! I'm so excited. What will I do with an additional $289 a month?
Oh yeah, pay for my tooth! That's right! Yeah, I get the screw put into my jaw on Dec 17. Wish me luck! God, I hope they knock me out for that.
And lastly, no dating lately. Sad, but true. Enh, I really can't devote that much to it during the holidays, especially with work. And, now with the improv and volunteering, it's near impossible. I'm exhausted. I can't even find the time to order new checks. Seriously.

185 BoA customers walk into a bar and the bartender says that he can't serve them, and they all say, "That's ok; we're used to being screwed."

For those of you who know ANYTHING about me, you'll be happy to know that I've auditioned for and gotten into an improv troupe! I'm very excited. It's something I kinda had to push myself to do and I wouldn't have been able to do it without some encouragement from some of you out there! (Thanks, Mesha and Rob).
So, wish me a broken leg, and maybe you'll see me on the stage sometime.

In other news ... well ... what the hell have I been doing with myself? Well, improv. I also have been writing a little. Casey, the guy who filmed the Sauron shorts, has a great idea for a more serious film, kind of a psycho-thriller. I've been trying to hash some of that out.

Work has been busy; we have a sale going on right now. I finally have an assistant, which makes work much easier, although I'm short-staffed. I've been hanging out with friends, which is always nice. No dating. Now that we're in sale and holiday mode, I've gotten off match.com. It's too hard to try to meet new people when I'm not really able to get away from work. But, as I said, I have been hanging out with friends. Kati from work invited me to Avenue Q, which was HI-larious, and gave me kind of a thing for puppets. I know ... it's weird. But I'm obsessed with learning puppeteering.

I've also been having money troubles. Not that I'm broke, but I just seem to be having a run of bad luck with banks. I guess with the recession on, they need someone to pick on. Booo!!! especially BoA. They really suck.

You know, I didn't ask if the improv troupe pays. Oh well. It's nothing new if they don't.

Life's little mysteries.

Yeah, been busy with work. Sorry for not updating. One should be coming soon.

Meanwhile, I got my hair trimmed today. And now I'm wondering how is it possible that little cut hairs end up inside my bra. That's weird.

Montreal 2009

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My visit to Montreal, Oct 16-19, 2009. I happened to catch a performance in front of their Notre Dame cathedral. I don't know what the song is.

Funny Story

So I'm in the grocery store last Saturday night, and I'm looking at the green onions. They're pretty ghastly looking and I'm trying to decide whether to buy them at all. There's only 4 left.
Suddenly a woman approaches pretty closely. I think that she wants to look at the green onions, so I scoot over a little.
Then she says, "Excuse me, I know you don't work here, but could you tell me what Ginger looks like?"
The first thing I thought was, "Why the hell do you wanna know what I look like? I don't know you."
Then it occurred to me ... "ginger." Yeah, I showed her where it was. And I told her my name was Ginger.
She's now telling the story of how she asked a random stranger where the ginger was, and her name turned out to be Ginger.

Voulez vous ... ?

I'm getting ready for my trip to Montreal. I'm pretty excited. A) I need a little vacation. 2) I'm kinda looking forward to seeing Vincent. Yes, Vincent. French-speaking, big-smiling, motorcycle-riding Vincent. And after a day like today, I really need that.
Yeesh, what a day at work! I was the manager-in-charge and man, did they make me earn my money.
And I'll really need that vacation after Tuesday. That's the day that they delve into my gum and jaw to decide if I need a new tooth. My jaw will be so swollen.
There goes trivia night.

I hope my dentist is proud of me for giving up caffeine.

Last night, I had a dream that my parents ran into N'Sync - the young ones. And then they danced with Justin Timberlake. And each time I tried to get my camera out to record these really great moments, they were done by the time I got my stupid camera to work (I really do hate this about my digital camera). It was so frustrating. And then they were all walking right by me and I kept trying to get Justin Timberlake's attention, but he walked a different direction. Instead, Joey Fatone was coming by and I leaned forward and offered my cheeck so he'd give me a kiss and he did! Only when we pulled back, it was Lance Bass and I was disappointed. I thought, he's gay and he's not interested in me! What with all the finely manicured facial hair, I couldn't tell the difference.
Then the dream took a dark and weird turn where I got off a plane that didn't work quite right and could have killed us all and followed a little girl who was hauling all kinds of heavy luggage into a Koreatown that was obviously in Japan.
Sorry, I will not be translating this one.

In other news, I'm giving up on my dentist. Every time I go, he's got a cuter hygienist than the last time. Seriously, what are my chances? If I get the cheaper crown lengthening, I won't get to see him for 6 months, til my next check-up. If I get the more expensive implant, I have to see him for the molding, but I won't be able to afford it and will NEED to marry a dentist by then. See how he could be the solution to all my problems?

Voulez vous ...

So, it's been a while. Wow, some things have happened.
My sister and my parents came up to visit last week. Both came at different times and within three days of each other. Go figure. That's just our way. My sister came for a weekend and I got to hang out with her and some of her friends from work. The opportunity to visit came up because of work, but she herself was not working. We just spent most of time chilling and eating. Wow, did we eat?
As if that wasn't enough eating, my parents visited mid-week and we ate some more. We did get out and see a little more. We went to Salem, Gloucester, and Rockport. It was nice to get out into some of the little seaside towns. We also visited the Witch Museum in Salem. As a former museum employee, it's not the greatest exhibit. But as a visitor, it's pretty entertaining. If you want good seafood though, there's really no need to go all that way; you can find a pretty amazing restaurant right in East Boston, called Off the Boat Seafood. Oh. My. God. It is without a doubt the BEST seafood restaurant that I've ever been too. It's all Italian dishes and served with a nice crusty bread. You wouldn't believe it was that good if you saw the neighborhood, but it was damn good. Even my parents thought so and they are hard to please when it comes to food.
Basically, I just got some quality time with them and I'm glad that they came.
I have friends going through massive changes in their lives. I think of them often. It's a great reminder that sometimes life can really throw you for a loop.
I haven't had a soda since I last posted. Yay me!
I just got an email from my "Return of Sauron" video collaborator. He has an idea for another short and asked me if I would like to collaborate on the script. I was really flattered and said that I would love to. So here's hoping that there will be more of me on the World Wide Interweb.
Work has slowed a little, but I'm still working hard to stay on top of things. Also, just checking out my options these days.
I'm trying to find the motivation to move on to new things, whether it be studying for the GMATs or going out with friends or getting back on match.com. My sister sent me a job listing that she found for the Smithsonian, and it really did seem right for me. And it reconfirmed for me, that I don't want to move. I like it here and I think I'd like to stay.
Meanwhile, I'm thinking of visiting Montreal next month.

It's really not that bad.

I just had the one coke. And it had been a REALLY long day - 12 hours and massive sales. So I told myself that I deserved it. And today I went back to ginger ale. So ... it's really not that bad.

Plus someone at work asked me if I've lost weight and I said, "I must be. Everyone keeps saying so."

So ... it's really not that bad.

What. Is. Up.

I totally stole that title from my lil brudder.

Anyhow, besides making videos, which I'm loving - it's the new scrapbooking! - in the last 3 weeks, I've only had 2 caffeinated sodas. That's amazing. It's actually been about a week and half since I had the last one. It was a little hard to wean off, but I've just about done it. I hope you're proud of me, Jen. Still, it wasn't enough to keep me healthy, I caught my first cold in a long time. Summer colds suck.

My friend Maryann had another baby!!! They left straight from the hospital to get the baby's passport, because then they are moving to SWITZERLAND!!! in less than a month. Unbelievable. So however busy I think I've been, Maryann has been busier.

It has been a little busy at work because it's back-to-school season. This means making money, but it's also stressing me out. Not because it's busy, but because I'm losing my passion and it's really reflecting in my work. I've been thinking about what I want to do next, and well, I guess it's time to get moving on it.

But in the spirit of finding new things to do, I have started volunteering. I happened to be cruising craigslist, for the first time in a long time actually, when I found an ad looking for volunteers for a children's Playspace. It's a transitional shelter for abuse victims that organizes an arts and crafts night for the kids there one night a week. They needed volunteers; it seemed perfect for me. This past Monday was my first time and I loved it!!! It really invigorated me. I can't wait to go back. It's been so long since I volunteered for anything like this and I'm glad that I did.

So that my friends, is what is ... up.

Jillian's Gift

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Kati and I went to Six Flags, but it wasn't nearly as much fun as being at Jillian's bachelorette party. We were sorry we missed it.

Chewing on the left side

Okay, so yesterday, I went to the periodontist, a very nice Harvard-educated lady, where the waiting room has a MINI-BAR (wow), and she told me that she doesn't know whether I'll need the crown lengthening or the implant. What's the difference? The price. (DEATH WALLET!)

Yeah, the waiting room has a mini-bar. There was a little fridge with bottles of water. There was an automated thermos of hot water, and then a variety of individual servings of Green Mountain coffee and tea (excellent coffee), in a little spinning caddy. Above the bar was a flat screen tv, playing One Life to Live. It made me think, "Maybe I can't afford this place." (DEATH WALLET!)

So we took a digital x-ray (DEATH WALLET) and she looked at it and can't really see how far down the crack goes. Both the crown lengthening (a crown that fits over the root canal but would extend below the gum line) and the implant (remove the entire old tooth and put a screw into my jawbone that has a entire fake tooth screwed into the other end) start out the same way. Basically, she cuts back the gum to reveal roots of the tooth. At that point, she'll have to decide which one is feasible. If it's not too bad, we'll go with the crown lengthening. If the crack extends to the fork in the roots, then the crown lengthening wouldn't necessarily stop a bacterial infection there and the implant is the better way to go.

Because I had a root canal done just last year, MetLife, my dental insurance, won't necessarily cover the cost of the implant. (DEATH WALLET/PANEL/INSURANCE/?) So the crown lengthening, would end up being a cost to me of $152, while the implant, even with the reduced insurance-negotiated cost, is $1689. ... yeah ...

I like my periodontist. She was very nice and honest about the procedure. She says I have excellent gum and hygience. And she was sensitive to how much it was going to cost me. So I guess I'll just have to trust her judgement on it.

No new tires for me.

Meanwhile, I go back to see my dentist/future husband in late September. He must never meet my periodontist because she was way cuter than me. And Harvard-educated, how can I compare with that. Although ... I did go to the same school as his brother. Go VCU RAMS!

In other news, did I tell you that my cousin from Korea is now going to VCU. She's staying in Rhoads Hall. She says she loves Richmond.

Red Sox with Kati

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We saw the Red Sox play the Oakland A's. Red Sox won 5-4. Drew and Ortiz hit home runs. Song is "Eye of the Tiger," by Survivor.

A tough pill to swallow

Some of you may not know, but my tendencies tend to be Republican. Overall, I'm an independent. I like to look at candidates individually and don't necessarily agree with entire party philosophies. But overall, I lean Republican.

It probably comes of having a father who's a loud Republican, who is himself a result of a father who was a loud Democrat. My father, in turn, produced my sister, who is a pretty devoted Democrat. Which of course led her daughter, my niece, to develop pretty staunch Republican tendencies by the tender age of 13. It's a vicious cycle. Of which, I've happily broken free.

The only time that I saw my father embrace something even mildly Democrat-ish, was when we were in Spain and Nathan got sick. We were directed to a hospital, where Nathan was x-rayed (twice!), and hooked up to an IV, while we waited for hours. As it turns out, he was only dehyrated, but since he was also diabetic, we wanted to be sure. At the end of the visit, I asked the doctor where to pay the bill. At first, she didn't understand our question. When I asked again, she shook her head and said, "No pay." I shrugged and walked out. When I told my father, his eyes got wide, and he said, "Hey, that's great! Let's get out of here quick!"

Since then, my father thinks that social medicine is a fantastic idea. You'd be hard-pressed to talk him out of it. I know that these things come at a great expense though: taxes. When I was traveling in Germany, I talked to someone who was telling me how great American colleges were and he wanted to go. And I told him how lucky that German colleges were free for him to attend. He responded that they weren't free - income tax is 70%! This is what the govt takes to pay for colleges, health care, roads, and all the other things that govt takes care of.

I had to ask myself if I wanted free college, free health care, paid vacations, and year-long maternity leaves, and all that other great stuff, at a cost of 70% of my salary? I don't know - it's a tough question.

This is really at the heart of all these people causing an uproar in all these town meetings. I couldn't understand why all of these people were so angry about universally available and affordable health care and health insurance. The very idea made them angry. The idea! It's still just an idea that the president has thrown out there and they are angry enough to cause violence.

"Death panels?" Please, they don't like the idea that the government will say, "we can pay for this; we cannot pay for that?" That already happens! If it's not insurance companies doing it, it's your own wallet! Right now, I have to decide whether I'm going to get a longer-lasting, but more expensive implant for my tooth, OR the less-reliable, but more affordable crown. Incidentally, at the expense of new tires for my car. It's a comfort to know that when my car slides across the highway and I'm killed in a particularly bad snow storm this winter, that my teeth will look great. I'm going to start calling it my "death wallet."

And there you have it. People are angry because they don't want the govt to say "the cost of this health care is too much." Neither do they want to fork over 70% of their salary to hear, "you can have any health care you want."

I am angry. I'm very angry. And if you know me, you know that I've always been angry about this. Why doesn't anyone say, "you can have any health care you want and it's not going to cost you 70% of your salary for life?"

Because NO ONE is willing to tell a doctor or a hospital or a medical supply company or malpractice insurance company or ANYONE else in the medical field (even amongst themselves), "you are OVERPRICED!" for fear that they will compromise the quality of care that they receive. They are hiding behind a veil of heroism and respectability, while they conduct a business of saving lives. A business!!! Does anyone want to compare the number of service industries that have lowered prices in the recession and are therefore paying less to employees, or even laying them off, vs. the number of medical businesses/vendors/suppliers/doctors that have lowered prices in the recession? I'll bet money that the cost of medical services, and its inflation, does not mirror the economy AT ALL.

I don't know what's going to happen. But if we're going to have the kind of affordable health care that the UK, Spain, Germany, Australia, Canada, and a number of other wealthy countries have, the government is going to have to step in and subsidize. And by subsidize, I mean, control prices. When the cost of everything can be reduced, from the company that washes the linens, to the malpractice insurance, then we just might have a shot of keeping everyone healthy.

A way better way to spend a morning, or perhaps several weekends.

So this is a video of the sketch that I wrote. Hope you like it. It's in 3 parts, so go to blip.tv and search for parts 2 and 3. 3 is the best, but WATCH THEM IN ORDER! Otherwise, it just won't make any sense.

How NOT to spend a pleasant morning

Today, I watched one of the most depressing movies ever. Possibly even more depressing than the one about kids eating buttons because they think it is candy, which I never really saw because when my brother told me about it, I got teary-eyed and so I knew I'd never be able to watch it.

The movie that I watched today was called Nobody Knows. It's based on a true story about a mother who abandons her 4 kids in Tokyo to fend for themselves. Eventually one of them dies and the oldest brother doesn't know what to do, so he buries her in a suitcase.

OH GOD! it's so sad.

And I kept watching thinking that surely someone discovers these kids and some kind of authoritative figure comes and rescues the day.

But now I feel like an idiot that I really expected any kind of happy ending from a Japanese movie. They love pathos. They're sick.

But not as bad as Virginia.

Walked today. Soooo hot.

Kalpana's Birthday Pachanga

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A great time!

Loos toof

So aside from being obsessed with my dentist, what else have I been doing? Well, nothing. We had a really big sale at work, so I've been very busy with that. Too busy, really. Which just emphasizes the fact that I need an assistant badly. I have someone who would like to do it, but we have to see if she'll be approved. And then we'll go from there. In truth, I haven't been doing my job as well as I should have, and it may be because I haven't had an asst. I guess I've just been trying to keep the chaos to a dull roar all by myself and not very successfully.
So because work has been so challenging lately, I feel really out of it mentally. I had 2 days off this week and did nothing!! NOTHING!!! Not that it's new for me, or I've never done that before (oh, I have), but it didn't help me at all when I got back to work. I still felt as mentally drained as ever. I felt completely out of it.
Today, I think I'll take advantage of the good weather and try to go downtown. Well, we'll see.

Meanwhile, my temporary crown is loose again. Oh joy!

Dental work makes flirting very difficult.

OMG!!! the dentist noticed my haircut today. He said it looks "nice." That's code for "I wanna have babies with you!" Meanwhile, my mouth feels like it made love with latex.

Tooth Maki

I'm exhausted from work, but I just thought you'd like to know that I was out last night for sushi after work and ...

THE TEMPORARY CROWN CAME OFF MY TOOTH!

which means ...

I'LL HAVE TO GO SEE THE DENTIST AGAIN!!!

I'm so excited.

Cracked tooth and head

Yeah ... so ... since I was looking for a reason to go back and see my future husband and dentist, Thursday night I bit down on a french fry and cracked my molar (lower right side-the very back one). A freaking french fry.
I called the next day and made an appt. I could have gotten in on Monday but I pushed it to Tuesday since I had the morning off and it wasn't giving me very much pain at that moment. Of course, I couldn't eat with it so I was chewing on the left side of my mouth, which is very disconcerting. It's not a balanced diet. Really. And the gum around the tooth steadily got infected, until last night at 1:30 am, I woke from the pain, had to take ibuprofen, and put frozen peas on my jaw with an ice cube inside my cheek.
Finally, this morning, I saw the dentist and the ultimate analysis, I may lose a tooth.

This is seriously bad news. I'm not old enough to lose teeth yet!!!

But when he's telling me this, that's not what I'm thinking. What I'm thinking is that I'm secretly elated that I have a reason to come back and see my dentist even MORE. The thought even crossed my mind to pop off the temporary crown every so often so I can come back and see him ALL the time.

Of course, I'm not gonna ... DO ... that. That's ... dangerous. I would ... NEVER ... do that.

never.

Fredericksburg 2009

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In 2009, the gals and I went to exciting Fredericksburg, VA, to celebrate our birthdays - AFTER a life-changing trip to Ikea.  If only I'd gotten a picture of the gummy worms. 

Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee!

Another great moment today. Scored big laughs at a rally at work, despite other people's misgivings. And, in the spirit of laughing at other people, our laughs were bigger than their laughs.

And I wore a blond wig. How is that not a winner?

Love that dirty water!

Sorry that I haven't updated in a while, but it has been very hard to get back into the swing of things with all the rain around here. And then when the weather gets nice, I have to work!!! That sucked.
I haven't yet made the video of my trip to San Diego, but I'm working on it.
Things are getting busy at work with the sale, just 1 week away.
And I have a busy social life too - tonight I went to a Red Sox game. Too much fun. I'm thinking I might be able to make a video out of that too.
Next week, trivia.
So Boston's pretty fun. I like it here.

Now I'm brown.

Back from San Diego and a little bit sunburned. It was awesome!!! Pics and video are coming, as soon as I put it all together. In the meantime, check out Kalp's husband's profile for pics of the "pachanga" and more. Ultra-cute!

Two years in Massachusetts today!

No exercise this week, due to the never ending rain. I'd like to say that I was depressed by it (yes, that's weird, I know) because that would mean that I was aware of the weather instead of being cooped up at work all day, where I have no knowledge of the outdoors.
I had a big week a work this week, while also preparing for a big sale. So I am in much need of a lil' vacation. Hence ...
I am off to San Diego tomorrow and looking forward to it immensely! I promise lots of pics of the new babies.
When I get back, I mean to devote a lil' more time to dating. Now that summer is here (even with the rain), it'd be nice to be social once again.
In other news, my mother leaves for Korea on Saturday. I'm a lil' worried what with the crazies in North Korea and their nuclear capacities. It's like they decided that they were bored so they'd scare the world a lil' bit. What they couldn't wait two months until my mother was back home safe?
And finally, RIP Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Michael Jackson did not look 50 and Farrah Fawcett did not look 62, and in different ways. But they were icons. How many of us can be that?

And on the 7th day ...

I walked this week once. Not much else, been raining, which means no softball. BUT ... lots of heavy lifting at work prepping for the sale.

In other news, we won at trivia this week - free beer! I think we found our hangout.

Other craziness abounds, but all is good for me. I have tomorrow off and I am looking forward to it. I am also looking forward to seeing Kalpana.

Why not dance this year's final dance ... to the Pachanga?

well, I haven't been exercising much, but if it's any consolation, I haven't been eating much either. I've started taking Claritin because of the pollen and discovered that it all but kills my appetite and leaves me with cotton mouth all day. Actually, it might not kill my appetite; perhaps it's the millions of mints and breath fresheners that I use throughout the day because I have cotton mouth. I feel like I have morning breath all day long. It's gross. In other news, it's been raining a lot lately, so I haven't made it to the river.
I am prepping for a big sale at work and I'm determined to be #1 in the division. I know that it'll take a lot of preparation, which I've done, and a lot of follow-thru, which I suck at. So we'll see how it goes. Wish me luck. Other than that, work is going ok.
I haven't devoted much time to my other pursuits, i.e. studying for the GMATs but perhaps I'll really get to it after the sale.
Finally, I'm going to San Diego at the end of the month for Kalpana's 35th b-day celebration and pachanga. I don't exactly know what a pachanga is (except for a brief reference in Dirty Dancing) but I'm looking forward to it. Shhhh, don't tell Kalp, it's a surprise.

Down by the river

2 walks by the river this week AND softball practice. Nice.

Hopefully, I can up it to 3 walks by the river/week. AND my friend Kati wants to do Weight Watchers, which I will do with her.

Going good.

What does a yellow light mean?

Attention, Massachusettsians! Let's review:

A red light means "STOP."

A green light means that you may proceed.

A green arrow means that you may turn ... in the direction that the arrow is pointing.

A red arrow means that you may not turn in the direction that the arrow is pointing.

The lights are not suggestions for you to consider; they are rules that you MUST follow.

I realize that it can get confusing because sometimes there is more than one light to look at. They are also bright, shiny and pretty. But try to focus on the one that is designated for your lane and follow it.

A "lane" refers to that space between the lines on the road - that includes the dotted lines - that you're supposed drive on.

A "road" is that black surface with all the holes in it. Some call them potholes, others would call them caves. I know that it is hard to believe that you're supposed to drive on that, but, hey! you're the Massachusettsian. You should know that's what roads are like up here.

Spanish for Whale's Vagina

Ok, so I went for a walk today. Which I'm glad I did when I did. It was the whole shebang all along the river, although I did have a gag reflex from all of the pollen. Note to self: make sure the Claritin kicks in before heading out for a walk/run. Anyway, I just barely had time for it cause I had to fill in for the opener today on my day off. Boo. I left early cause I knew that it wouldn't be that busy, but I definitely needed another opener. And I couldn't have taken the walk after work because it rained cats and dogs later. So perfect timing.

I have also been catching up with old friends this week. Leanne and I talked last night and she seems in good spirits. My very best to her and her family. And I may be making a surprise trip to San Diego. We'll see.

Other than that, I haven't done much.

Except get my hair cut. It is very short. Like boy short. I don't have a picture of it yet. I haven't had a good opportunity or good hair day. It was actually one of the few times where I've managed to style it better than on the day that I got it. You know how usually the stylist does it so good on the day that you got your hair cut and you can never get it that nicely styled again? Well, that didn't happen this time. It's a good cut but she gave me WAY too much volume. It's like she didn't believe me when I said I have a LOT of hair so she was blowing it out with a round brush and trying to add height. Sigh. Anyways, I've managed to style it flat and it's a real cute pixie cut. I promise that as soon as I have a good picture of it, I'll let you see. Plus, I wanna update my match picture. No dates lately, but I do feel as if I have more of a social life these days. I guess I have my roommates and friends at work to thank for that.

Even though they haven't quite got their act together for softball yet. 2 weeks with no practice and I think we have a game next week. Hmmm ...

Day 5

Friday, Nathan was in town. That was super awesome. He was in town to help a friend with an anime convention and he managed to finagle all of Friday off. He was sore from loading, unloading, and carrying large cardboard boxes. I told him that if he moved around more, he wouldn't be so sore. I felt justified in saying this to him, because I went for a 3 mile walk that morning.


Woohoo!


Anyway, we went for a steak lucnh (enh) and then a movie. We saw Terminator Salvation. I love Sam Worthington. How are the Aussies churning out such good looking men? I do remember, though, when my friend Siobhan moved there for about 9 months and told me that the only good looking Aussie men were the ones in the movies. This is getting harder and harder to believe. I mean surely there is a ranch somewhere in the Australian outback whose sole purpose is to breed good-looking men. Like REAL men. Brauny, muscular, tall, heroic, brooding, and laconic men.

Basically, we just hung out for the rest of the day. Even though he was in town for the whole weekend, he and I both had to work, so it was the only time that we'd see each other. It was much needed because it's been a long week at work and even longer weekend. Lots of shoppers. But I'm doing alright with it and that should get me through the rest of the week.

Last night was a weird night for dreams. Early in the night, I had a dream that I'd had before. I dreamt that a kite large enough to hold me lifted me away and carried me over the landscape. It requires some skill to fly the kite; you can try to catch an updraft and fly farther. I don't really remember any other details. I can't remember if there was a purpose to the flying, or just something that I enjoyed. But always amazing to me is that the kite is large enough and I'm the only one that I know that can do it. Hmmm ...

Then I had another dream that I was trying to have a dept mtg and none of my employees would listen. They kept interrupting; they weren't paying attention; they only wanted to goof off. Finally, at the end of the meeting, I tell all of them that I'm ashamed of them and they have completely shattered my confidence in them. I cry. They see me crying. I think they feel guilty but I don't know that they change.

Then today I had a bad day at work. Hmmm ...

Pain in your left or right arm?

I went home for Mother's Day weekend. I flew down on Sat morning and back up on Mon morning. It was a great trip. We got my mom a Burberry handbag for her to take to Korea. She coupled it with the Louis Vuitton wallet that my aunt had given her. She's all like "oh, is this fashionable?" She's going to Korea in June. She's going to fly back with my cousin, who is coming to visit here. Let's just say it'll be busy for my family.
Speaking of family, right now, my sister Cheryl's got a lot going on. She had her gastric bypass surgery in April and everything went well. She had a lot of residual pain but it seems to be going down. Being on a liquid diet (as some of you know) is a pain in the ass, but she's doing it. Because she has no choice. Then 2 nights ago, her husband had a heart attack. Actually he had it earlier in the day and managed to go about his daily activities before thinking, "wow, I'm really feeling a lot of pain." When he came home from work, Cheryl didn't notice it at first, but then he said something to the effect of "wow, I'm really in a lot of pain," she said, "well, you're not normally a grayish color, so why don't we take you to the hospital." If this all sounds rather calm and rational, it's because that's how it was relayed to me on the phone. The good news is that he's going to be fine. He has to change his diet and exercise, of course, and the docs say he might be diabetic. He comes home from the hospital today.
I told Cheryl that this is a wake-up call. Maybe now together as a family, they will work on their health.
Well, I should talk, right? I mean, I was supposed to do the challenge with Jen and I didn't do a very good job of it. So I'm recommitting here, in solidarity with my sister and her family, exercise 3 times a week. Help me out, will ya?
This week, I didn't exercise 3 times, but I did do it once. My work has gotten together a softball team and we had practice Tues night. Wow, sore for 3 days. Not in my legs, because I have been walking, but all in my right arm and hand from batting. We were supposed to have another practice on Thus, but it got rained out. So, assuming the pain doesn't kill me, that'll be a form of exercise once or twice a week.

No pun intended.

The Lying, the Bitch, and the Wardrobe

Ah ... so much, so much, so much has happened.

Exercise? .... no.

dieting? ... even less.

blogging? ... shut up.

I just meant in the world in general. BUT ...

In an effort to switch out my winter/spring/summer wardrobe, I took the feather comforter off my bed and put it away because I thought that it was getting warmer.

NO.... I was wrong. New England is still colder than a stepmother's tit.

I wish I could call out for the "wine flu."

If you like seeing Hugh Jackman with his shirt off, or possibly even naked, then you will proclaim X-Men Origins: Wolverine a timeless classic. I think it is.

In other news, I did it.

Active tense

Day off. will walk. get drycleaning. study for gmats. redo resume. watched LOST. Cool. Very cold. still using feather comforter. warm? ever? summer? when?
Cheryl great. little pain. will live.
no money. really. NO money. will live.
clean room. must.
dating. dating. dating. sigh. will live.

Did I mention that I'm an Aquarius AND I was born under the water sign for the Year of the Ox?

Today was a beautiful day. Such weather we have not seen for a long time in New England. Wanting to take advantage of the weather AND my day off, I took some GMAT stuff, my Ipod, some drinks, and some Cracker Jacks to the river. I walked my usual 3 mile route and intended to stop and read some of the books. While walking, I saw that there were way more canoers than usual on the river. When I reached the far bridge, I saw that there was a canoe race on. As it turns out it's North America's largest canoe race. Who knew?

It was a pleasant walk and I wore my Ipod. I was listening to bluegrass. It just seemed the day for it. Eventually, inevitably, a song about heartbreak came on and it got me to thinking about that Baltimore ex-"boyfriend." Lately, I've been pretty active on Match.com, so dating has been at the forefront of my mind. I was pep-talking myself about how badly he treated me. How could he just stop like that? Then I thought about how instant my attraction to him was. And I wondered if I would ever feel it again. I wondered if I moved back to that area, would I try to see him again. I thought, well, I want to get promoted to one of the big stores in that area. I'd like to be a manager there. If that happened, would we even try? And then it hit me.

Like an asteroid.

Like an asteroid that could be responsible for ending life on a planet.

Or maybe even starting it.

I'm not going to move back there.

I'm staying here.

When I thought of myself as a manager at one of those big stores, I realized ... I don't want that job. I'm not interested. I'd rather stay here.

It was like a weight had been lifted. I don't think I really knew what that metaphor meant until I felt it today. So much uncertainty that I had felt for a while was gone. A path seemed to make itself clear. As clear as the one I was currently walking by the river. As clear as the one marked in the tarot cards.

I've finished with this job. A boorish way to say it is that I'm bored. And I get bored, I'll admit. I change jobs as soon as the challenge is gone. In this job, I still have improvements to make. I want to make them. But I'm not motivated to move upward in it. There's nothing more to achieve. And it will be too long a wait for a different job that I'll like in the company.

No, there's another job that I'm going to apply for. It'll be a radical change. I'm not sure that I'm qualified. I'll have to polish up the ol' resume. I haven't used it in ... 6 years? Yikes. I don't know why I held back from applying before. I don't think I was scared of them saying no, so much as I didn't want to find out that I don't have any options. But that's not true anymore either. After all, I'm studying for the GMATs.

The river was in the cards. It represented flow, change. Looking at it today, after my epiphany, I realized that the lesson is to keep moving forward. (Well, we've heard that before.)

The river always flows. Nothing can stop it. And there are no obstacles.

Have you ever noticed that? A river knows no obstacles. The water just flows around them. It always finds a way.

Think happy thoughts.

My sister Cheryl had gastric bypass surgery today. She is doing well, altho in pain. Send her your good karma. Thanks.

Yay and Argh!

I am still tweaked about my visit with the bigwigs. As I dissect it in my head, I'm trying to figure out what was it that made me react so. The results are not conclusive, but I'm feeling like I am not to blame.

The good news: I did the river walk (about 3 miles) on Friday, Saturday, and today. Feeling very good about that. Hope I can keep it up.

My cup runneth over.

Ok, Tarot card reading. 2 of cups, 4 of cups, 8 of cups, eclipse and sun, small dogs, rivers and flow. 8 of cups was leaving knowledge behind and taking a journey, trying new things. An eclipse in the sky. Darkness in light. Then Queen of Swords. Aloof and wise, reclusive and yet sought after for knowledge. Nice compliment. Then 2 of cups, upside down. Someone is offering me something, a cup. Take it. Upside down serves to emphasize chance of it. Then 4 of cups right side up. Eyes are downcast at 3 cups, while a hand from a cloud offers a 4th. Look up. Take it. Rivers in all cards. Representing flow. Finally, THE FOOL. Upside down. A full sun in the sky. About to fall off a cliff. A small dog yaps at me. Fool is traveling. Taking chances. Upside down represents surprises in store.

Basically, I came away from the reading that I need to trust my gut in taking a journey. This journey may take me away from things that I am sure of and knowledgeable about, which makes me afraid, but I should trust it because my knowledge will serve me. Also things are offered to me and I need to trust my instinct in these things. Look up from the cups, take new chances. Don't dwell on the old. When I asked about romance, she said that great surprises were in store.

Whatever that means.

It was a really fascinating thing. We all had it done and everyone ended up getting a reading that had an impact on them. Of course, it was appropriately vague, but eerily accurate. Try it sometime.

Tuesday, I had to go to a training class in Burlington. That was fun. We took a look at the mall and the other store. We ate tapas for lunch and saw the new electronic cigarette. For dinner, it was chipotle. I ended up staying late at work that night to prepare for some big visits the next day. My corp bigwigs were coming and I needed to work my floor. Per usual, I kept it to last minute.

The visits were not ideal. They, in doing their job, have a lot of suggestions. I, in doing my job, am a little defensive. Someone else at work said it best - they are idea people, not solution people. So they have great ideas, but not necessarily practical solutions. So I'm learning tact. It's always been a weakness for me. Let's face it, BS and tact go together like PB and J.

I had the callback audition for the troupe Wed night, right after their visit. It wasn't my strongest performance, but I did feel like I got a little back, when they let me perform an additional monologue at the end. Because time was short, they had asked if we could skip mine earlier, but later offered me the chance to do it after the audition. My biggest problem was that I wasn't contributing in my scenework. But to be fair, we were all doing that. The monologue went better for me, because it was just me. Anyhoo, I found out the next day that I didn't make it. And I would just like to say that she's Meshawesome for a reason.

So maybe that improv troupe in Italy is exactly the kind of chance and journey that I should be taking with my cups of knowledge.

We'll see.

Go with the flow.

So yesterday we took my friend from work, Kati, out for her birthday at the Melting Pot. I know from experience this is a good birthday place. While we didn't have as enthusiastic a waiter, we did have an equally good time. AND it was ladies' night. You could get massages, Mary Kay, jewelry, all that women-y stuff, AND a tarot card reading. Ooooohhhhh ...
So we did it.
I'll tell you all about it in my next post. Today was a long day and I wanna get to bed.

Peeped out

Breakfast: a fish oil pill, water
Went for a 3-mile walk AND I ran part of it (prolly like half a mile). This is a big step up. Hopefully, I can get to the point where I'll run half of it.
Lunch: 4 peeps, a LOT of M&Ms and skittles
Dinner: a whole medium ham and pineapple pizza, coke.

Dinner was prolly overdoing it.

Anyway, I was hoping to catch up on some stuff today. I did do my laundry and go grocery shopping. Did they stop manufacturing Suave deoderant? Because I can't find it anywhere. So when I started considering alternatives, I noticed that they have one "clinical strength" deoderant for $8.99. $8.99?!? I have to imagine how much NOT sweating is worth to me. I'd like to go with $2.49.

While doing my laundry, I was reading my GMAT for Dummies book. This book was written by dummies. Seriously, the authors are so condescending but I can only remind myself that I should have known ... because it says in the title that it's for dummies.

Two things that I didn't get to were hemming my pants and practicing my banjo. I want to get back to that.

Now I'm tired and want to go to bed. It's going to be a busy week at work.

Working the numbers

Woohoo! Callbacks for the improv troupe - keep your fingers and toes crossed!

Thursday, I did manage to take a walk along the river. It was a beautiful day and I'm glad I could squeeze it in. I can't remember what I ate for breakfast but for dinner, I had an Italian sub with soda. Then later, I had a cheeseburger from McDonalds and a soda. The eating schedule was all wonky cause I worked a closing shift.

Today was a busy day at work cause the kids are out of school. Had a croissant and coffee for breakfast; a baked potato with butter and sour cream, ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce, tomato, pickles and sweet peppers, and soda for lunch; pork cutlet (donkatsu) with cabbage for dinner; and a soda.

Tomorrow should be just as busy. Sunday, nothing but Peeps and M&Ms!!! I may skip the soda.

You go, girl

I did not exercise today. I did not exercise yesterday. I have been eating like a garbage truck.

But I'll try again tomorrow.

I did try out for an improv troupe today. I'm getting better at the auditions. And there were FAR less people there, thus improving my chances GREATLY. I'm a numbers gal. I'll keep you updated.

Finally, I'd like to tell a story for a friend who's feeling nervous about the choices that she's made.

I tried and tried to get someone to go with me on my big trip around the
world. I was scared and I thought I shouldn't go alone. But I just
couldn't convince myself that it was a good reason NOT to go. And
I really, really, really wanted it. "Traveling around the world" was
something I had wanted my whole life. Even though people warned me not to,
I went and for purely selfish reasons. It's what I wanted.

While staying with relatives in Korea, my aunt went with me
to buy the ticket to Beijing. She was scared for me - she didn't
think that I should travel alone. The travel agent told us that the ticket
was non-refundable. This made my aunt nervous. But I swallowed
hard and told her buy the ticket. I thought, "Well, I have no choice but
to go now."

I was at the airport alone - there was no one to see me off
on this grand journey. I was scared shitless. I checked
my backpack. I boarded the plane. I clearly remember the
sound of the plane door closing. And I swallowed hard and
thought, "Well, I have no choice but to go now."

Each time that I got scared, I imagined a million ways that I could give up and go straight home. And trust me, bad things happened to me. More than most
know about. But I kept plunging forward until I had no choice but to
keep going forward. All I had to do was get myself past the point of no return.

Girl, you already did it. Keep going forward. The moment when you made your choice is a moment to celebrate your courage and your triumph over fear.

It was the moment when you made your dreams come true. Keep going forward.

I swear I had nothing to do with that earthquake.

My sister sent me this card. And truthfully, you all should be grateful.

Hope it was a cherry blawesome weekend!

ack! I guess it's been a while. Yesterday, I had ... lemme see ... stuff. Not good stuff. Vaguely remember a cinnamon roll, usual coffee, burger, baked potato, oh! And last night Jason's girlfriend made sushi. Very good. Quite good. Yummy. And I had sake with it.
I did manage to walk around the mall, and I've done it twice. Whenever I have lunch with Kati from work, we conclude our lunch with it. On Friday, I walked ALL around the mall. A shoe ended up on our display (we don't know how) that did not belong to us. Inspecting this shoe carefully, I realized that it came from another store. I believe that some child must have picked it up and carried it around. The mother discovered this later and put it down in our store, perhaps thinking (wrongly) that it belonged to us. So I walked to every store in the mall that sells kids shoes until I found the store that sells them. It was a lot of walking. So I chalked it up to exercise. The other store was rather impressed that I would take the time to return it. Yeah, I'm nice like that.
Today, I had a blueberry muffin made by Laura, no coffee, chipotle burrito with large coke, baked chicken with mushrooms and squash with stove top dressing - made by Jason. I didn't walk anywhere.

Little dentist babies

Breakfast: one fried egg (about 2 tsp butter), 2 pieces whole wheat toast, water
Lunch: gunk from teeth cleaning at the dentist and some sand (I am not kidding).
Dinner: Chipotle burrito, margarita (did you know they SELL this there?!), 1 beer, chips and guac.
Snack: coke and popcorn at the movies.

So I went to the dentist today and one day I would like to have his babies. I found this dentist through my dentist in Towson. He had gone to MCV and knew my dentist in Richmond, who had gone to MCV. So when I told my Towson dentist that I was moving to Boston, he gave me the name of a dentist they both knew from MCV. Well, that particular dentist wasn't there today, but his brother was, is dreamy AND gave me fillings for free. This was after he filled my mouth with sand. Actually, he used a mini-tooth-sand-blaster to remove the decay from around two old fillings (which was fast and painless AND didn't involve novocaine) before putting on new fillings. Since I couldn't remember if these were fillings from Japan (10 years ago) or fillings from my last dentist (last year), we weren't sure if the insurance would cover them. But he said if they wouldn't, they wouldn't worry about charging me. I'm pretty sure that means that he fell instantly in love with me. Because I did.

How does one go about thinking of reasons to see your dentist when he tells you that your teeth and gums are "great! I'll guess we'll see you in 6 months for another cleaning." But you're supposed to be in love with me?!? Couldn't you tell me that I needed a root canal or braces or something?!? Oh for the love of GOD, work with me!

Afterwards, I met my friend Kati and we went to the movies. I work with Kati and we have very similar senses of humor, which is why being the only 2 people in the theater to see Race to Witch Mountain was endlessly funny to us. When we walked in and saw that we'd be alone, we both started searching frantically for seats. "Where will we sit?" "Can you find 2 seats together?" "Can you ask those people to move over one?" Then when I went to the bathroom, I told her to make sure that she saves my seat. When I came back, I yelled from the back of the theater, "Kati, where are you? I can't find you!" When she came back from the bathroom, she said, "People are so rude. No one would get up to let me back in to my seat!" Of course, we commented very loudly on the movie (which by the way, is pretty good and perfect for kids AND adults), but halfway through the movie, 2 more people came in to see the film. Who does that? When they sat down, probably 10 rows in front of us, I leaned over to Kati and said, "Of course, they would sit right in front of us, blocking our view."

Actually, that was funny probably because of the 2 margaritas we had at Chipotle. Good times.

Happy April Non-Fool's Day

So I worked yesterday. I ate ...

Breakfast: small coffee with cream and Splenda (so much for the cleanse) and a croissant with strawberry jelly.
Lunch: a 1/3 lb burger with cheddar and bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, mayo. I didn't finish it. Fries, large coke (actually it was a Pepsi).
Dinner: some noodle dish that my roommate made from a box with shrimp and tofu. I had a little cause I was still full from lunch. 1 beer.

The good news is that we walked around the mall after lunch. Woohoo!

I have today off and I have 3 objectives:
1. Do Laundry
2. Go for a walk
3. Dentist's appt.

Later I'll probably go to the movies.

And I must apologize. I had meant to write an elaborate blog as an April Fool's joke. But honestly, I couldn't come up with anything really good. Maybe next year.

Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night.

Ok - I had today off.

Breakfast: small bowl of raisin bran, 2% milk, and kefir yogurt
3 mile walk, very brisk, along the river, nice weather out
Snack: some cottage cheese, a piece of cheddar cheese, lots of water (my hands started swelling during the walk)
55 minute massage, thank you very much.
Lunch: Chipotle burrito, small coke
Watched All About Eve - This is a wonderful movie with perhaps the cleverest dialogue ever. If you appreciate really smart humor, please watch it.
Dinner: Donkatsu (japanese pork cutlets, breaded and deep-fried) served with raw cabbage and donkatsu sauce (the nectar of the gods). I also had it with a little rice and white wine.

I'm trying to ease off of the caffeine temporarily to do a little cleanse of my body's toxins. I don't know how successful I'll be, since I'm not really a health nut of any kind and using words like "cleanse" and "toxins" is extremely awkward for me, but ... we'll give it a go.

The little voice in my head won.

No ...

I won't update ...

No ....

I don't feel like it ...

I don't want to update ...

Well, I refuse.

Yeah? Well, screw you.

(My deepest apologies to Jen.)

"Housework is like bad sex. Every time I do it, I promise I'll never do it again ... until company is coming."

Have you ever watched "Can't Stop the Music?" It's the fake biopic about the Village People. Have you ever asked yourself, "how could America have been so naive?" "Was Hollywood prudish or were we?" Have you ever been totally surprised how much really obscene innuendo that you missed in a seemingly quaint movie? Have you ever seen "Lover Come Back," or "Pillow Talk?" Have you ever found it really, really, really hard to believe that Rock Hudson was gay and Doris Day was not? Did you ever ask yourself did the writers of these movies know that Rock Hudson was going to be in this movie AND that he was gay? Have you ever wondered if Bruce Jenner ever realized at the time (because surely he does now) that short, short cut-off denim shorts and a belly t-shirt are not a good look for an Olympic decathlete? and that this outfit is roughly akin to what Lamar wore in Revenge of the Nerds when he was throwing the javelin?

These are just some of the thoughts that I had while watching "Can't Stop the Music" and "Lover Come Back" because nothing better was on.

Yesterday:
Breakfast - blueberry muffin, coffee with cream and splenda
Lunch - frozen enchilada meal with coke
Dinner - we went out to celebrate my roommate being officially debt-free. I had quesadilla appys, sweet potato fries, half of a pulled pork sandwich, and half a tiramisu dessert. Oh and 2 blue moons. We also played trivia. We came in 4th. We might have done better except that Jason fully believed that Titan was a moon of Jupiter and I had a nagging suspicion that it was Saturn's. But I couldn't justify it and we put Jupiter.

It was Saturn.

Also we couldn't remember the name of the movie Minority Report. I knew that was the movie, but I couldn't remember the name. Clue: what Steven Spielberg movie was originally conceived as a sequel to "Total Recall" and is written by the same author? There was more to the question but that's the gist of it. Also, we missed the 2nd quarter bonus. What actor was originally approached to play Michael Corleone in Godfather? Hint: the person he thought was his mother was actually his grandmother. He thought he was born in New Jersey, but actually he was born in NY, NY. Also he was born in April 1939. He's been nominated for more Oscars than any other actor. A movie for which he won Best Oscar, also won Best Actress. His smile has been described as "sharp." There were more hints. We guessed Robert De Niro, but it was Jack Nicholson.

Can you imagine? Jack Nicholson as Michael Corleone? He might as well be gay.

So chard to handle

Breakfast: bowl of Raisin Bran with 2% milk, water
Lunch: 1 fried egg, 2 pcs whole wheat toast, water

Went for a walk - about 3 miles, 1 hour, with roommate and her friend. Very nice, along the river, saw geese fighting and mating.

Snack: green grapes, 1 can coke

FINALLY did my taxes - can you believe it took me 4 hours? Well, actually trying to repair my computer took about an hour and a half. Then it took me about an hour to decide that I didn't want the Turbo Tax Premier; instead I wanted the cheapest one. I owed federal taxes and I get a nice chunk of change back from the state. Weird. I'll have to change my federal withholding.

Dinner: another can of coke, sauteed swiss chard (rainbow) with prosciutto and butter; salmon with dill (lots of dill), olive oil, and lemon, grilled in my lovely pan from Ikea!; a yogurt and dill sauce for the salmon; homemade whole wheat bread with butter - I'll be honest, I had 2 helpings of this. When the whole dinner was done, it was so good, that I had to pat myself on the back. Literally. I was craving that salmon all day.

Did I tell you that I started taking a fish oil supplement? My dr. said that my good cholesterol was low and I need to eat more Omega-3s. Hence, the salmon. But I decided to go with the supplement also because I don't eat fish all that often. I think ever since living in Japan, I'm just not that into it. But ...

I got the salmon at a fish market and all that fish certainly did entice me. Maybe this summer I'll explore ways to cook fish.

Another thing that I've promised myself is that I'm going to write down the recipes that I come up with. I'll have to remember to note that I don't need that much butter when sautee-ing chard. And if you haven't had it, it's my new favorite vegetable.

Buy this stuff without me actually having to convince you.

Breakfast: a bagel and a half with spread (lox and veggie); 2 cups of coffee with cream, one with sugar, one with the pink stuff
Lunch: no lunch, worked right thru it, was 3:30 pm before I realized.
Dinner: cottage cheese, about a cup, 2 cokes, salami (lost count), corn chips with salsa.

It was a productive day at work. I got to leave on time, if you don't count the fact that I didn't take a lunch. It was my fifth day in a row and man, I was dying. I have tomorrow off and I can't wait. If it's not too cold, I'll take a walk along the river.

How crazy is New England? Yesterday it snowed for about 5 minutes and then melted right away and the sun came out. People were wearing flip flops. Hmmm ...

Personal note: TV commercials suck lately. I mean, I am sick of those Orbit commercials. Why would that kind of gross-out induce me to buy minty gum? Or there's another commercial about a cellular service that entails a grown man being carried around in a Baby Bjorn. Was this supposed to entice grown men who don't want to grow up? Is this a significant sector of the consumer market? I'm disturbed.

Junkpunch

Breakfast: 1 bowl of Raisin Bran, with 2% milk; several swigs of kefir yogurt (yay!)
Lunch: P.F Chang's lettuce wraps, Fried Rice with combo meats (only ate about 1/4 of it - the rest is in my fridge - to be honest, it's just not that good), 2 glasses of coke.
Dinner: Sourdough bread cubes with colby cheese, salami, 1 can of coke, 1 beer

I don't know how many waters I had today. It was so dry in the store, I felt like I was running to the water fountain every 10 minutes. I usually have an empty bottle that I can fill up, but I don't know what happened to it.

Work was busy today, but I wish it had been busier. As it was, I got a lot of work done in the stock room.

Tonight I watched most of "What Happens in Vegas" and I laughed so hard at the extra scene in the credits where she punches his junk. Oh my god, I laughed so hard.

Liar, liar, pants on fire - ow, my ass is burning!

I'm going to lie to you and tell you that the reason I haven't blogged lately is because I've been working sooooooooooooooo much. I'm going to lie to you and tell you that I've been eating soooooooooooo good. I'm also going to embellish the amount of exercise that I've been doing ... "I've been exercising a LOT! Whew! You'd be so proud of me!"
Yeah, and you won't know anything at all about the sliders and crispy green beens and 2 beers that I had after work on Thurs night (while watching the first half of the VCU-UCLA game - damn we almost had it!) Or the big ol' crappy cheesesteak that I had for dinner last night at an equally crappy beer garden. OR the quarter pounder with cheese that I had today! Yeah! You won't know anything about that.
What I will tell you is that I worked a "rounder" on Thursday (yes, I did that on Tues too), which means that I worked from open (or 8 am) to close (roughly 10 pm). I did have a 3 hour break in the middle, which I used to go home and try to nap but ended up watching Sense and Sensibility instead. Lovely movie. Actually, I got to work at 6:50 am on Thursday because that was the day of our bigwig's visit, which went great. I was the nighttime manager and I had to stay until everything was all done, which is why I was there til 10 pm. Which explains perfectly why I had to go to TGIF's after and get a couple of beers and sliders.
On Friday, I managed to work a normal day although the boss did catch me coming in late. I almost left on time. Almost. Today I got there at 7:30 am for a special event and I left about 5:30 pm. Almost. Hopefully, I can finally get a decent night's sleep because (surprise, surprise!) I have to work tomorrow.

I can't wait til Easter's over.

I WAS invigorated by my walk on Wed, so I am trying to do more of it. That is NOT a lie.

No, seriously, it's not.

In other, totally random news: The final episode of Battlestar Galactica rocked. I loved it! How much do I love Tom Welling - enough to watch the entire season of Smallville again on my Itunes! Was anyone else proud that Obama had actually heard of VCU, let alone picked them to beat UCLA? I'm so sorry that my alma mater let you down, Obama. And finally, when I was leaving work yesterday, one of the employees said as I was walking by, "there's goes our little singer." When I turned and smiled, she said, "Oh my god (imagine a thick Boston accent too) did you hear about Natasha Richardson? They dimmed the lights on Broadway for her! It's so sad." And it is. But ... secretly ... I was so flattered that her thought process had made the leap from me to Broadway.

I'm not gonna lie, I was thrilled.

Spin me right round.

So much is going on with the world. It's crazy and I'm confused. AIG, Natasha Richardson, Stewart and Cramer ... I can't take it anymore. Did you know that VCU in in the NCAA tournament? The sky is falling!

But what I'm concerned with most is ... my diet and exercise routine.

Breakfast: bowl of apple jacks with 2% milk.
Lunch: all the beef out of the leftover beef and broccoli (chinese) that I made last week. The broccoli was just too mushy.
Snack: 1 bottle of coke and and a big bag of chocolate-covered pretzels
Dinner: salad with romaine and iceberg, red bell pepper and italian dressing, 3 slices of cheddar cheese, 4 slices of salami, 2 cans of coke.

In response to your question, Jen: I can't give up the coke. I might could convince myself to drink less, but I can't give it up for diet. (yuck) Besides my goal is to increase my exercise, not necessarily change my diet.

So ...

I walked 3 miles today. The weather was nice enough. I walked to the library and post office, then took the route along the river and back. Round trip is about 3 miles. And it's a lovely walk in all seasons. Right now, it's bare-leafed and raging river, but it'll be nice to see the change as the year goes on. I stopped at the dry cleaners on the way back. So the whole trip felt productive. All in all, about an hour and a half of walking. My legs and feet hurt. I meant to get my taxes done, but ...

In other news:
Kalpana had a baby girl!
I got new eyeglasses (2 pairs of them!).

"The Return of Sauron"

I'm so sock of blogging. I'm so sick of it.

Ok, not really. I just don't want to exert the brain power necessary to recall what I ate today. But suffice to say, it was not good. I did take a 20 minute walk to CVS though.

In other news, I just heard from the director of our little short and he expects that he'll have a fully finished project in about a month. Woot!

Surrender Dorothy

Ok, so how do I classify the exercise that I do as part of my job, i.e. selling? I mean, I sell shoes for a living. That entails getting up & sitting down at least 3 times for every customer; running to the stockroom at least twice for every customer; and then on a day like today, I had at least 15 customers. This doesn't even include the trip up to Alterations, in order to make holes in a leather strap to buckle the shoes onto a narrow foot. As busy as today was and on days like it, I come home with legs sore.

So that's gotta be quantified somehow.

What did I eat? Good question.

Breakfast: coffee with cream, no sugar, and a pecan roll.
Lunch: roast beef on ciabatta with organic greens, tomato and garlic aioli, potato chips, cookie, and a bottle of coke

That was at work. I participated in the store rally this morning and I used an Irish accent. I'm so multi-talented. I had another new employee start today, but unfortunately he didn't get as good a training as yesterday's new employee. But he was a good guy because he just jumped right in and started selling. Just what we needed. After work, I went to see a middle school production of Wizard of Oz with some friends. I didn't really have a good reason to do it other than the fact that one friend has a crush on the director. While I enjoyed the production immensely - it was so cute you could just die - it's a little creepy that we were there to see it and didn't actually know anyone in it. I'm not gonna lie; I felt creepy. But I liked it. The play, not the creepiness of it. After that we went to dinner at TGIFs.

Dinner: Prime Rib Stroganoff (noodles, ribs, mushroom gravy and sour cream); half of one of Jill's sliders; some crispy green beans with the sauce that they serve with it; one beer; one mojito; and a couple of bites of Jill's sundae.

Poor Jill.

Last Operations under the venue of the shopping center known as the mall,

Breakfast: none ... which would technically make
Snack: = breakfast: 1 banana muffin, 1 small coffee with cream and Splenda
Lunch: McDonalds cheeseburger, small fries, apple dippers, and large coke

20 minute walk around the mall, which really just led to me shopping in stores. Very dangerous. On the upside, the walk kept me updated on what new stores are in the mall. On the downside, there are no new stores in the mall and less of the old stores. Yikes, the recession is hitting hard.

Dinner: 2 pieces of pizza (gourmet pizza bought by roommate) and bottle of coke.
Lots of water.

Today was a good day at work. I actually did a lot of walking today. AND, I would like to point out, JEN, that it was in brand new shoes. (So was the walk around the mall). That's gotta account for at least 5% more calories burned.

I had a new employee start today and I got the chance to train her really well. Normally, I get new employees right when I'm busiest, hence the reason that I need new employees. But it also means that I don't really have the time to devote to training. But today, I got to give a full tour of the store; we visited all the right departments; I went over the entire stockroom. I'm sure she thinks it was overwhelming, but hopefully, she'll remember it if it's ever mentioned again. There's more training for her tomorrow. And I have another new employee that I hope works out. He was supposed to be there today but ...

Check out my friend's husband's new movie coming out in Japan. The trailer is on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=56487262346&ref=mf

It's so weird to think that the Americans are the bad guys.

Game night

Breakfast: 3 frozen waffles, with syrup with last of Kefir yogurt.
Snack: 3 chocolates (oops, I actually had 5 chocolates yesterday but I forgot) with water
Lunch: 2 hard boiled eggs with salt, water
Snack: 1 bottle of coke
Dinner: salad with romaine, iceberg, red bell pepper, and onion with sesame seed dressing, mashed potatoes, rice with gravy, pork ribs with a dry rub that I made up myself.


The dry rub was very salty. I used Kosher salt, white pepper, turmeric, cumin, coriander, thai curry powder, and garam masala. Next time, I will leave out the cumin and use less salt. From the drippings, I made a little gravy with milk and butter.


Today, I sat around and did nothing for a long time. Then I did my laundry, dropped off my dry-cleaning, and called Mom & Dad. I made dinner and I made enough for everyone. So Laura invited her friend Jeff over. After dinner, we played a game called Carcassone, which is named after a town in France, where Laura happened to live for 5 months. It is the oldest walled city in Europe and was used in movies like Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. It's a fun game, kind of like Risk but easier. I won one round.


No exercise to speak of, but I did walk from the laundrymat to the dry cleaners which was about 20 minutes total.

Sorry, I missed yesterday.

Yesterday was interminably long.
Breakfast: 1 Egg McMuffin, 1 hash brown, orange juice
Snack: 1 bottle of coke
No lunch:
Dinner: 1 salad with shrimp, squash, hearts of palm, tomatoes and dressing, coke, cup of mushroom bisque, with bread and butter. I really didn't like the salad.

The reason that I didn't have lunch is because I only gave myself one break while at work yesterday. And I was at work from 8 am to 10 pm.

Yes, I'm crazy.

Today was less long.
Breakfast: fruit salad with melon, strawberry and pineapple, provided at company meeting, decaf coffee with cream and Splenda
Snack: Bagel with cream cheese, 2 hard boiled eggs, apple juice
Lunch: Chipotle burrito (same as before) with coke.
Dinner: shrimp with beans and rice, 1 beer, and water
I actually had a lot of water today. And I left work a little early.

Thankfully, I have tomorrow off.

They didn't believe that I minored in Chemistry.

Ooooooooohhhh. Today was bad.

Breakfast: 3 swigs of kefir yogurt before work, water. 2 donuts at work, small coffee with cream and splenda, 1 glass of crystal light ice tea. (provided for the manager planning meeting)

Lunch: 2 pieces of sbarro sausage pizza, 1 bottle of coke, 2 glasses of lemonade. (provided for the manager planning meeting also)

(the manager planning meeting was a lot of sitting.)

Dinner: TGIFridays sirloin steak with mashed potatoes and wild mushroom gravy, 2 blue moon beers, 2 glasses of water, and a chocolate peanut butter cheesecake. (necessary after the manager planning meeting)

But I got to hang with Jessica and Kati, so that was fun.

Linda owes me lunch.

Ack! I forgot that I had a piece of gingerbread for breakfast on Saturday morning. Maybe that's why I was so hungry. Got my metabolism going.

Today
Breakfast: 3 frozen waffles with syrup (no butter), water, 4 swigs (or thereabouts) of Kefir yogurt; 2 slices cheddar cheese

Then I got called to work. One of my employees called out and we were too busy to be down a person. Not to mention, two people can't do it alone anyway. The worst of it is that I missed the volleyball game. Man, it was busy at work!

Lunch: plain croissant, bottle of coke

Dinner: Chipotle burrito - tortilla, rice, black beans, bell pepper, onions, fresh tomato salsa, steak, sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and lettuce; 1 bottle beer

I love Chipotle. But I swear the service almost sent me thru the roof after the day I had. I think maybe the beer calmed me down a little.

Snack: three pcs Dove chocolate, water

Are the makers of Dove chocolate the same people who make Dove soap?

Loopy

Breakfast: A couple of swigs of Kefir yogurt; a ham & cheese croissant; small coffee with half and half and Splenda.

Today I taught 4 kids how to tie their shoes. It was exhausting. And really, mothers shouldn't try to help.

Lunch: (McDonalds) cheeseburger, small fries, apple dippers with caramel, large coke.

My roommate came to see me at work and was completely blown away by how awesome we are.

Snack: bottle of water

I ended up staying at work until 8 pm. OMG, my feet hurt. And while I didn't technically walk around the mall, 10 straight hours of selling shoes (not to mention the hour and a half of teaching kids to tie their shoes) has to count for exercise.

Dinner: a can of Ravioli, water.

I'm beat. I'm going to bed.

Bloccori

Ok, so today, I didn't get to eat until about 1:45 pm. I know, I know. I should eat breakfast. Well, normally I'm able to get away and get a coffee and muffin around 10 or 11, but my opener was late this morning and it was busy in my dept. So I didn't go. I normally can't go to lunch until about 2, but I switched my lunch with hers and went a whole 15 minutes early (whoopee.) I wasn't actually that hungry but I kept zoning out and couldn't concentrate. When I finally went to lunch, I couldn't stop yawning. I almost took a nap in the food court. I don't know why; I got a lot of sleep yesterday and last night. I'm guessing it's just that afternoon siesta feeling. But it's 9:30 pm now and I just want to go to bed. Maybe my body is trying to regenerate and I need massive amounts of sleep. Maybe I'm eating something that's making me sluggish. Here's today's diet:

Breakfast: We covered this - NONE. (Oh no, wait, I had 2 slugs of the Kefir yogurt before leaving for work.)

Lunch: Salad with carrots and orange bell pepper, 1 slice cheddar cheese, about 2 tbsp of dressing (which I packed myself - very proud of this); 1 small meatball sub with provolone cheese (bought this in the food court - not so proud of this). 1 20 oz. bottle of regular coke, 1 large M&M cookie.

Snack: 1 bottle of water; 1 pc of snickers candy stolen from Audrey's candy bowl. Another 20 oz. bottle of coke for the car ride home.

Dinner: 1 serving of beef & broccoli (about 1 1/4 cups) stir fry (homemade) with rice (about 3/4 cup), 2 glasses of water. Used up the frozen broccoli that no one seems to remember buying. Made enough for all the roommates.

So I guess I haven't exercised this week. But on the verge of falling asleep in the food court, I consider myself lucky that I made it back to work after lunch. I will have one more glass of water before going to bed (verrrrry soon) and I will try to take that walk at lunch tomorrow.

Enh, we'll see.

You'll feel a slight pressure.

Ok, so Jen wanted me to do the Self Challenge and I signed up for it and then ...

I didn't check in for like 2 weeks. So today I finally check in and ...

it's so slow. And there's so much stuff on it, I can't be sure what it wants me to do. I gather that the point it that it will tell me to do stuff every day and I should do it. Also, I can record each day what I ate and any exercise that I did. There's like a little blog section but ...

I already have a blog. So what I will do is ...

use this blog to share that stuff with you. I will update it each day so that Jen can make sure that I'm doing it. Honestly, I just keep forgetting to check in with the other website each day. I want to have better habits and exercise more. I really do. In fact, I just had a regular check-up with my doctor and (aside from a quasi-confirmation that the other doctors are idiots) her recommendation is that I need more exercise. Also, I have low good cholesterol and I can fix this with exercise and a diet rich with Omega-3-or-4-or-5-or-something. So ...

My goal is ...

Increased exercise: at least 2 30-minute workouts a week. I know this isn't a lot but it's doable and can be upgraded later. I can achieve this goal by walking during my lunch break at work when the weather is cold. Just walking around the mall. The great thing about this is one of the other managers wants to do it with me. She kinda has a goal of more exercise as well. So hopefully, we can hold the other accountable. When the weather warms up, hopefully I can go back to walking along the river and maybe increasing it to 3 or 4 times a week. Also I plan to reintroduce salmon into my diet. I've been kinda off salmon every since moving back from Japan (can you blame me?) I happened to have bought an AMAZING grill pan at Ikea (during the birthday weekend) and it would be awesome for salmon. It would be salmawesome. So if you have any good salmon recipes, please share.

To start it off:
Thursday, Mar 4
Breakfast:

• 1 1/2 bowls of Capn Crunch cereal with 2% milk

Lunch

• Fried Egg sandwich with 1 slice cheddar cheese, 1 egg, on 2 slices whole wheat bread.

Etc.

• 2 glasses of water so far.
• a couple of swigs of my Kefir yogurt

No exercise yet, but I am going to clean the bathroom, do laundry and go to karaoke! Exhausting.

UPDATED! Didn't do laundry but I did clean my bathroom AND my room. Oh, and we went to karaoke.

Snack

• another bowl of Cap'n Crunch
• 2 slices of cheddar cheese

Dinner

• 5 pieces of tuna nigiri sushi
• 6 pieces of salmon maki
• 1 pc shrimp tempura
• 2 pc sweet potato tempura
• 1 pc broccoli tempura
• 1 beer
• 1 coke (laced with rum so that we could sneak it into the karaoke place)
• 1 bite of Jillian's Snickers bar

I'd like to thank the academy ...

Even though I once worked at an improv theater and was in a show pretty regularly, I'm fairly inexperienced at performance. I haven't done any other kind of theater. I've never sung professionally. I always get stage right and stage left mixed up. But I've had moments that make me see why people do it, what makes it so addicting, and why they'd give such long Oscar speeches.

When I worked at the museum, I was giving a tour of the historic house once. It was a large group of retirees, about 15-20 people. They took these kinds of trips all the time. They had booked the tour well in advance. Because it wasn't one of our regularly scheduled tours, the assistant director of education (me) gave it. I was used to giving tours of the house and enjoyed it immensely. I always tried to bring the place to life and place the visitors in the time and place for which the house was meant. Halfway through the tour, my boss quietly joined and listened in on the tour, hanging onto the end of the group. When it was finished, the group applauded me. That was the only time that I'd gotten applause for that tour. As we left the house, they each one shook my hand and told me how much they enjoyed it, which meant a lot because they'd visited a lot of places. Later, my supervisor mentioned that she'd never gotten applause on a tour. I felt proud.

When I was in grad school, I was a TA for a semester and one of my professors (my favorite professor) let me lead a lecture for her art history class. I did the research and pulled the slides. My lecture was on modern art. I'll be honest, art history classes can be snooze fests. Imagine that you're sitting in the dark in an overly warm auditorium listening to someone talk about stuff that's at least 100 years old, and rather esoteric stuff at that. I gave a great lecture. And the class applauded. My professor listened to the whole thing in the back. Afterwards, when I was getting my slides, she mentioned that she'd never gotten applause for any of her lectures. Well, you can imagine how that made me feel.

I remember one particular show when I was performing improv regularly. I was doing my favorite character, Tikka Masala, in Good Bad Worst Advice. I was bad advice. On the final question, I made one of the other performers laugh so hard that he had to turn away. The audience was with me, laughing so hard. We had yet to give the worst advice. And when he did, he set me up for the perfect call back to an earlier joke. It was the high laugh and the perfect way to end the game. I'll never forget how great that felt.

Today at work, I performed in our pep rally this morning. Another manager and I put together a Broadway song with revised words. We had a little choreography. We had a pretty good harmony. When we rehearsed, we didn't sound bad. The performance went great. When we got to that final note and held it, they gave us a standing ovation. They cheered and hollered for us. It felt every bit as great as all those other moments. We alone of all the managers got a standing ovation.

In every unforgettable instance, I earned the applause of my audience and the envy of my peers. One without the other would not have been nearly so sweet or memorable.

You wish you were me.

Is there a good 185 joke for "Barack Obama?"

Is it possible for me to be funny-ed out? I think it might be. Tonight I went to an audition for a short form improv group. I had fun if nothing else. There were about 30-40 people there for 2-3 open spots in this group. Can you believe it? And these auditioners were good. More than half should be performers. I'm currently writing another sketch. I'm being extremely lazy about it. I guess because I'm still trying to decide whether to stage it. Sadly, going to the audition meant missing volleyball. Damn.

In other performance news, I'll be performing at a lil' pep rally at work this coming Saturday morning. We are taking a Broadway show tune (my favorite kind of tune) and changing the words to make it about work. We'll throw in costumes and choreography. "And I'll get my Uncle Bob to let us use the barn!" It'll be swell. I'm actually kinda looking forward to it. I've been practicing the song in my car.

Actually, I sang a lot yesterday. My roommates (who can now be classified officially as "roommawesome") took me to dinner at a Korean restaurant and then to ASIAN STYLE KARAOKE! Yes! Our own little rooms! No performing for drunk bar crowds or listening to "Friends in Low Places" (although I do like that song). Instead we sang only what we wanted, which in our case included some Thai songs by Jason's girlfriend. YOU CAN'T DO THAT IN A BAR! Unless it's a Thai bar. Yes, we sang lots, my roommates brought a cake into the place, they tried to get me drunk, but I was so stuffed with korean food, that instead I was just happy. I wore the tiara.

This was after a totally amazing trip home. It wasn't very long, but it was long enough to see some old friends. Luckily, I saw Mesha before she went in for surgery. Sadly, it might be a while till I see the results of the surgery in person. Hopefully, she can visit Beantown and show it off. If only Carson Kressley were going to be here. I got her some jello for her convalescence. Like I told her, "it's for sick people."

I saw MaryAnn, her son and her mother. I visited them at their house. Which is exactly where I love to visit them. I wish that there was a word for MaryAnn that encapsulated her energy, zaniness, compassion, humor, and wealth of trivial knowledge. I think the word might be "NKOTB fan." She has passed this love on to her son. When she puts on an NKOTB song, he comes shrieking into the room, quivering with excitement, and begins to dance. Sadly, he might have to start food therapy (I am not making this up). But he's so darn smart and so darn cute that I'm sure he'll learn to love chicken fingers.

I saw Jen and Leanne as well. My mother says that we're boring and she's right. Our idea of fun was Ikea ... ok, it was fun. We're nerds, what do you expect? We had a lovely dinner at Melting Pot with a very enthusiastic waiter - reciting the menu for us was like a dream come true for this guy. Don't even get me started on his passion for clearing the table. We all wore tiaras to dinner and donuts. Later, we ate Krispy Kreme donuts (only HOT ones!) Jen gave us an album with photos of our past trips - very cool. Next year, we should have fondue ... in Paris.

I saw some of my old Val Gal friends. Seeing them is a treat because that's when I really feel like I'm in Richmond. Together they are the perfect slice of life in Richmond - ghetto, elite, Southern and fabulous. I met Christina in Croaker's Spot. That restaurant is the smell of heaven.

And I went to see Billie. Same old Billie. It makes you wanna love her more. I really do wish that I got to see her more often. I didn't get to see her son, but he sounds wonderful. She's doing well, although she broke her wrist, which didn't get diagnosed for weeks, so she worked with it, taking lots of painkillers, waiting for the pain to go away, until finally she went back to have it reassessed, they discovered that it was in fact broken, put her in a cast, and then told her that she couldn't work for 4 weeks until it healed. This kind of thing happens to Billie all the time. You gotta love her.

Finally, I did get to see my family. I prolly coulda spent more time with them, but they did get to see me for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'll prolly see all of them over the summer or sometime in between. I love and miss them. But I really wanted my vacation to be about catching up with old friends and reminiscing about old times. I'm so glad that I did. It'd been a year since I saw Jen and Leanne, 9 months since I'd seen Mesha, and I don't even remember the last time that I saw MaryAnn, Billie, and the Val Gals. I mean to keep these friends for life, so ...
Speaking of old friends that I should see, Kalpana called me today! She's been put on bed rest til the delivery. Working too hard means that she's dilated an inch. I think she said 3 weeks til she's due. I'll let you know as soon as I do.

Tuesday, I'm going skiing (finally!) Laura wrangled it off and asked if I wanted to go. I made some switcheroos at work, so I think it'll be good. I'm excited. And then hopefully, we'll go to trivia that night. We'll see. If not, there's always karaoke.

185 skiers walk into a bar and the bartender says, "We don't serve skiers in here." And the skiers say, "But we just needed a lift."

185 Thais walk into a bar and the bartender says, "We don't serve Thais in here." And the Thais all say, "But we came with Mai." Get it, Mai Tai? Get it?

185 Melting Pot waiters walk into a bar and the bartender says, "We can't serve you here." And the waiters all say, "But we're so fond-of-ue." Get it? Fondue? Get it? ...say it quickly.



185 people with broken wrists walk into the bar and the bartender says, "We can't serve you here." And the 185 people with broken wrists say, "Are you going to cast us out?"

185 Orthognathic surgeons walk into a bar and the bartender says, "We don't serve Orthognathic surgeons in here." And the Orthognathic surgeons all punch him in the jaw.

185 donuts walk into a bar and the bartender says, "We don't serve donuts." And the donuts all scoff and say, "Like we would eat donuts?"

12 NKOTB fans walk into a bar and the bartender says, "Is that all?"

I still got it. If you have any good ones, please share.