Pictures....

...can be found at the other place. :-)

As always, email me if you need the address.

An update

Jeez, people. I keep getting all these emails and what-not bugging me about updating.

You people act like I have something interesting to say. :P

I keed... :-)

Everything was beautiful. I'll hopefully have the pictures uploaded and available to post later on today or tomorrow.

Just a quick update to let you know we are both alive and well and still married. :-) The wedding was fantastic and the groom was very handsome. :-)

*smooches* to all. You were very much in our thoughts the whole time.

Greetings from Europe!!

Rotterdam, to be specific.

It's great and it sucks at the same time. Oh the great irony of life. :-)

First of all, I'm traveling with the network manager from my company -- super cool guy, and a great friend to have at my office. Anyway, he and I got to talking at one of our meals out, and I had mentioned my previous work history. This morning, on our walk to the office, he says "so, you said you applied a while back for a job with Royal Caribbean? That's based in Miami, right? So, you've wanted to work for a cruise line for a long time then, eh?" I answered yes, and told him the story of my application to RCCL that didn't go very far at all. Didn't even get through the resume screening process --- the folks at RCCL never even saw it. But that was back when I was 25. The world was kind of my oyster. (Even though I don't like oysters, but I digress...)

So then he says "well, if you are still interested in that kind of thing, I have friends at X Cruise Line in Miami and I can get you in there if you want. You'd be really good at it, too."

Oh -- and where were you 10 years ago, eh??!!! Now that I...now that I'm...well, now that I've put down roots, I get offered the dream job. *sigh* Of course, now that I have all the experience that I would need, it can't be done. Back when I was young and single and looking to move far far away, I wasn't qualified. Oh the great irony of life, indeed. Made me laugh just a little bit.

And in the past, whenever I'd been on these kinds of trips -- by myself, with folks from work or whatever -- I'm always the one who wants to drink and party and hit the clubs and no one ever wanted to go. Now I've got this gal traveling with us who tonight wants nothing more than to just go out and hit the town. Even at dinner, I had one glass of wine and she had 3 (you know me -- I could normally TOTALLY keep up with her, LOL). And then wanted another one and I was tired and said I wanted to go back to my room. "Oh, you guys are lame!" is what she said, and I have to agree. Well, with my current condition, I certainly shouldn't go out and party, but again, the great irony of life made me laugh just a little bit. I am lame, I'm totally lame -- I'm supposed to be the fun one, dammit! :P

Tomorrow we are going to Amsterdam (yes, we are actually taking the day off and going OUT -- we've been working a LOT since we got here, even as soon as we got off the plane. But tomorrow is a day off so the three of us are heading over to Amsterdam to probably take a city tour and tool around for the day. I saw a lot of downtown Rotterdam last night (in my quest to find a US to Dutch power adapter for this laptop) so we figured we'd just ride over to the big city and check it out. Again, great irony of life, the one thing I really wanted to check out in Amsterdam I probably shouldn't do. :P

I've developed a theory -- if it's fun or makes me feel good, I probably shouldn't be doing it.

Sounds like church, don't it?:P
(I keed, I keed....c'mon, you laughed a little, admit it.)

We teased this poor man here that we've been working with today -- he's the nicest guy too, and doesn't really"get" my sense of humor so I've tried to tone it down. *I* wasn't the one picking on him, either, just FYI. :P The gal I'm traveling with wanted to see the Red Light District in Amsterdam and he claimed he didn't know where it was and had never seen it. She just tore into him for that -- "OH YEAH, RIGHT!!! HAHAHAHA!" Poor, embarrassed guy. I felt bad for him actually, I think he felt a bit uncomfortable. :P

I told him I had a friend that I work with who could probably give us detailed directions to said district and probably even knew a few of the girls' names and particular skills (yeah, I'm not making that up). I rolled my eyes and scratched my head while I said it and he laughed and gave me an embarrassed, yet understanding, smile. I found his embarrassment to be quite charming, actually. Considering this country's avante garde attitude towards sex (FYI, the Nickelodeon channel here turns into porno after midnight -- WTF?), I thought it was kind of cute that he blushed and looked down at the floor at her teasing him.

I would love to post some pictures but I don't have the right cable to plug into the camera. Considering the great quest I had to go on to get the power adapter to recharge my laptop, I'm almost afraid to ask. Maybe I'll find one when I'm out and about tomorrow.

Miss you, friends and wish you were here with me. Now that I have the laptop back I'll be on Messenger and probably be in the bar tonight. If I can catch a nap, that is. The time difference is messing me up right now. :-)

*smooches* all around.

Words of Encouragement and Support: A request.

I could use 'em today.

Tell me a joke, or a good story. Tell me something uplifting and inspiring. Give me a little encouragement, if you can.

I'm feeling blue.

And high-maintenance. :D

Whatever, again.

And now I leave on the 29th.

For reals this time, I have tickets and everything. :-)

Oh and the other blog just got updated too. Might want to check that out.

WHATEVER!!!!

I just took it in the shorts thanks to office/corporate politics.

No Netherlands for me.

At least not this week. Stay tuned, I may be getting on a plane NEXT Friday now.

*sigh*

And as if I'm not busy enough...

...with the flood of guests since the peep meet (I'm serious, almost every day since we saw y'all there have been people staying at our house)....


...I just found out I'm going to The Netherlands. In 3 days.

Wow.

Well, on the plus side, I'll probably have quite a bit of downtime in the evenings so maybe I can finally get the peep meet pictures updated.

Oh my.

A Toddler's Wrath

Something about this story struck me as both hysterically funny and infuriating at the same time.

Hysterically funny because the kid was just doing what toddlers do. At his age, everything is a toy and everything belongs to him. I also find it hilarious because I've been struggling with my own "how to approach the discipline issue" thoughts and have found myself mildly frustrated by them recently.

Infuriating because where was his mother?

Finding new and creative ways to destroy things is a toddler's job and after reading this? Somehow the cheerios deep in the couch cushions aren't that big of a deal. :-)

http://www.bnd.com/breaking_news/story/41918.html

How funny are the monks though?

"No problem."

I love it.

If you've never seen the Mandala, here's some more info:
http://community.berea.edu/galleryv/MandInfo.html

It's really amazing. Especially to see them working on it.

Although it is made to be destroyed shortly after it's creation, so the kid was actually helping them out. Maybe he's the next Dali Lama!!! :D

I DID IT.

Yeah that's right, you heard me. I DID IT.

Today? I am officially a professional success.

I got the job at the cruise line. I start on June 5th.

I am so excited I can't even come up with words to make a coherent post, so I'll just stop trying and leave it brief. I'll have more later when I can think straight.

It's just a really really big deal. It's awesome that I finally have a full-time, permanent gig with health benefits and such but, well this is more than I expected. Let's just say I've been dreaming about a job with a cruise line for a long, long time. This whole move has been so kismet-y, it's startin' to freak me out a little bit. :-)

More details coming but for now, I'm gonna do a little celebrating.

*smooches* all around.

Whoa! Almost a month!!

Dang. Working has indeed cut into my sittin' around time. :-)

Things have been suuuuuuuuuper busy lately and I have not been around the computer very much. (And that's not totally because somebody frequently hogs it for fantasy baseball :P) Also since the purchase and installation of the hot tub, well let's just say we aren't terribly productive on the weeknights. ;-) Plus, we have started taking the bus in together in the mornings (instead of driving) and not only does that take a teeny bit longer, but since we are walking around downtown (instead of me just picking him up) we've been lingering around bars and stores and generally just screwing around instead of just getting on a bus. :-)

The job is going very well. It's totally stress-free and very boring -- I love it. The people I work with are pretty fun and while I haven't really made any "friends" per se, I do enjoy hanging around them at work. We'll see -- I still have 2 more months here.

Speaking of jobs -- I applied for (and got a call back about) an analyst position at a cruise line. OMG! I returned the call as soon as I could but I have not heard back from them yet. :-( It's a bummer because I've been spending a lot of time in the robotics lab this week and I can't have my cell phone with me in there. So keep your fingers crossed that I can get in there for an interview. That would be a GREAT place to work but there may be some travel involved and I have questions for them about that. Let's face it, I didn't move all the way up here just to get on a friggin' boat half the year.

I'm not that worried about it though. Things will work out the way they are supposed to. The BF went through all of our finances the other night and paid a bunch of bills and damn...we are livin' lean from now on. But my paycheck showed up the next day and I think that made him feel a little better about things. :-) I'm pretty confident that once this gig ends, my contracting agency will find a new one for me. So they won't be repossessing our hot tub any time soon (at least not until AFTER the peep meet LOL).

I finally ventured out last weekend and got my hair cut. The same person has been cutting my hair for 14 years, and I had it cut one last time before I left California. I was putting off trying to find a new place for as long as possible, but I just couldn't stand it anymore. I wasn't too crazy about the salon itself, but the stylist was super-nice and she did a nice job. She is also kinda new to the area, she moved here from Savannah, GA about 6 months ago. She actually lives pretty close to us and told us of a couple of places to go and hang out. Maybe we'll give it a try and see if we can meet some people.

I'm excited that it's Friday -- the sun is even (kinda) out. I don't know if it will stay that way but it's nice for now. We have some fun plans for this weekend -- fun and kinda sad. Our friend is moving back home to Africa for good so we are going to try and spend a little time with him before he goes. :-(

Happy Friday everyone!!!

Happy Easter, Friends!!!

I'm such a Buddhist -- I totally spaced on it being Easter today. :P

Meaning I also forgot to put together a basket for Rambo. Or buy a ham. Or do anything, really.

It might be a good thing though as we got a little gift basket from the spa place and it had a couple of little plastic decorative easter eggs in there. I thought it was cute so I put one on Rambo's highchair when he was having his snack.

I'm such a dumbass. OF COURSE he picked it up and shoved the whole thing right into his mouth -- and it was just small enough to fit ENTIRELY in his mouth and most likely choke him.

However, it was a little funny -- I didn't panic, I just reached out and squeezed his little cheeks together and the egg shot right out of his mouth. Crisis averted. *whew*

And I did go down to the store today and buy a ham. Uhhhh this is my first one I've cooked by myself soooooooo...well, just wish me luck. ;-)

Happy Easter everyone -- I hope you have all had a wonderful day with the ones you love.
*smooches* and *hugs*

Ahhhhhhhhhhh...the weekend....

And ahhhhhhhhhhh it's even better when you have a hot tub to get into. :P

Longest.Friday.Ever.

But totally worth it. :D Our new tub was all heated up and ready to go so I couldn't wait to get home! So after working all day (at a job I'm actually enjoying -- WTF? That's new!) and then getting horribly, HORRIBLY lost trying to go pick up Dingus after work, ahhhh we were able to step into our new hot tub.

IT'S GREAT. Just so great. I'll have pics and more details later. But for now? I'll just keep saying IT'S GREAT. :D

But that's not what I came in here to tell y'all about.

Today we had Rambo. And it was, without a doubt, the best day I've ever had with him. Strange, but still the best.

He was so much fun today. I say it was strange only because he kept staring at me today. I mean, STARING. He was sitting in his Daddy's lap drinking his juice and he didn't take his eyes off me the whole time.

We played together and he smiled at me a LOT and laughed a few times. But the best part?

Today was the day he reached out and hugged me for the first time. I've gotten a lot of hugs in my life, and I've given a lot of hugs...but seeing him reach his arms up for me, and then feeling them around my neck....wow I was hugging him so hard in return I was almost afraid I might hurt him!

(Then it was kinda funny later in the day cuz Dingus and I went shopping...in the shoe store this lady in line behind me had a little girl about Rambo's age who I was smiling at and talking to...and she reached out and hugged me too! Then I started worrying...."oooh maybe I just have a wierd 'hug me' smell going on today or something" LOL)

It was a great visit and we had a lot of fun today. We played and laughed and I fed him a snack and we hugged and had a wonderful time. I was very sad to see him go. But I'm very excited to go buy him some swimmy diapers and show him the hot tub on Tuesday. :D

And now we've taken our break and the tub should be nice and hot again so I'm going back out. More later. ;-)

Day One: It's Quiet, Too Quiet

Seriously -- this is the most laid-back environment I've ever worked in. WTH? Either this place is decidedly exceptional or I've been getting screwed blue all these years! In all honesty though, it's a great change from where I came from. Now that I look back on it, I'm not sure how I survived it with even this small amount of wits about me.

Initial thoughts:

Truthfully, I am GROSSLY overqualified for this gig. But as long as you're overqualified you might as well be overpaid and thankfully, I'm that too. ;-) All kidding aside, the work is insanely easy and anybody with the tiniest bit of computer exposure could do it with no problem. The upside to that is that I've got all the confidence in the world that I can handle this (and getting in over my head is one of my biggest fears) and it's certainly a nice change of pace from the "OMGWTFBBQ!!!111" environment I just came from. The downside is that I'm likely to get damn bored damn quick. Good thing I'm only working there for the next 3 months, eh? ;-)

As usual, no chicks. It sure would be nice to chat with a female every day but the guys that I work with are really really nice. One of the guys looks like Bill Engvall and sounds EXACTLY like Jeff Bridges. (That drove me crazy for HOURS until I was able to finally place the voice).

The campus is beautiful (apparently it's practically brand-new) and my desk is nice and clean and cool. It's nice and clean because they still dont' have a computer or a phone for me yet. :D As pretty as it is, it is kind of a pain in the ass to get to. But the cool part? I get to drive past the Space Needle every day. AND they had Nutter Butters in the vending machine!!!!

I do have to figure out my shoe situation though because I'm on my feet almost ALL day. My back is killing me right now. The hardest part about my job is going to be that, and trying to find my way around. The place is HUGE!!


All in all, it was pretty cool. I was actually quite proud of myself today -- I toned it down just enough so that I was funny but I didn't butt into conversations or was loud and obnoxious. (Yeah yeah I know I can get that way...what can I say? It's part of my charm.) I was confident, had a firm handshake, smiled and looked everyone in the eye and never let 'em see me sweat. :-)

Also -- I noticed one of the guys I work with struggling to fix an issue on a computer and I knew exactly what he needed to do. HOWEVER, I said nothing. Nobody wants to look like Little Miss Smarty McKnowitall on their first day. Even though I wanted to laugh and shoot my coffee out my nose when he asked me "do you know how to add a computer to a network domain?", I didn't, and just said "yes I've done that before" and moved on.

So all in all it was a good day but I'm exhausted and my back is killing me. I just got a pizza and Dingus is on his way home so I'm just gonna kick back for the rest of the night. More later. :-)

Oh and...

..my pee was fine. I got the job. I start tomorrow. :D

Reason # 5,469,539 why I love my boyfriend

Seriously. I couldn't love anything more.

He worked from home today -- because our new hot tub was delivered today. The hot tub that he bought and hoped would be a surprise (it was foiled because I wasn't working and caught the "pre-inspection" guy walking around on our deck). But that's not why I love him.

We have the most beautiful house. Which, with (mostly his involvement) is decorated beautifully.

He has been so patient with me while I'm not working. And understanding that I was very freaked out to be in a new place and it would take me a while to adjust. When I did land my interview? He celebrated that little victory with me.

And when that interview landed me a job? He celebrated again...and shared my victory with my friends.

Then my victory was spoiled by the drug test I had to take, (yeah yeah yeah, I know, whatever) and he was sympathetic and understanding. Sympathetic and understanding for the last week, and then he drove me to take the test.

Today he worked from home because our new hot tub was being delivered.

I got the news today that I got my new job, all is well. I was so happy that he was home to celebrate that news with me. :-) But that's not why I love him.

Our DirecTV guy came out today to fix our setup (again, long story). He was off the clock and he had his 5 year old son in tow. I forgot to mention to my boyfriend that D would have his son with him.

After spending most of the day outside with a flyswatter trying to kill all of the wasps and bees that were out there scaring me, D (our directv tech) finally showed up.

I introduced him to D's son. He was about to run out to run an errand and leave me and D's son to watch Spongebob. And I was totally OK with that!

But then he changed his mind and brought out this toy for us to play with, which we did...and then he said "oh wait, we have an Xbox"...which caused D's son to light up like a friekin Xmas tree.

So he didn't run his errand...instead he hooked up the Xbox (which I had completely forgotten that we owned) and sat there and played with this stranger's son for an hour. I brought out cookies and milk, they both ignored them cuz they were playing the game.

I couldn't love anything more.

If I ever get pissed off at him and tell y'all that and am ranting and raving and totally furious -- please remind me about today. Because I've never seen a sweeter, more patient, more loving, more compassionate and caring man than I did today.

:-)

Ooooooooooh!!! *angry fist*

Damn you, Washington!!! Seriously!!

Long story short: totally nailed my phone interview. Seriously...nailed it. At the end, the guy said "well, I have a few other people to talk to, but I'll be in touch".

Uh huh. 20 minutes later I got a phone call that I got the job. :P

Yeah! Yay! I rock! Just gotta work out the paperwork and he has to get the PO all set up and I have to take a drug test and woo hoo......wait, what? Drug test? Oooooooooooooooh.

So I put it off for as long as possible, which was today (Friday). Dingus is going to San Diego today for his fantasy baseball draft so I finally drove into "the city" today to have lunch with him. Then I was off to take my test. I made it into the city just fine and was quite proud of myself when I left...and then I got so, sooooooooooo lost. I drove around for two hours, stressed out as all hell, and then I just gave up. I just got on the freeway (going the wrong way I might add) and said "fuck it, I'm going home".

I had told Dingus I would call him when I was done with my test, and since I never took the test, I didnt' call. So he called me from the airport.

How much do I love Dingus?? An indescribable amount. When I told him I was lost, he didn't direct me towards the lab for me to take my pee test, nor did he direct me home -- he directed me towards the nearest tanning salon...which he knew I really wanted to visit (and couldn't find the day before). And he told me how to get home from there.

And he was right -- I found it, I bought lotions and I tanned...and you know what? I *do* feel better. :D

So now...Dingus is gone, I'm home alone, I had a very stressful day and oh! hey look! wine!!

:D

How are you???? :D

Who can turn the world on with her smile?

Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile
well it's me girl and I should know it
with each glance and every little movement you show it
Love is all around no need to waste it
Love is all around why don't you take it
I'M GONNA MAKE IT AFTER AAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!
*throws hat into air*

Straight out the gate I got a hit on a resume I submitted. I've already had a phone interview and they said they'll be setting up interviews later in the week and I should expect a call. It's a contract gig at a biotech firm -- I'll get to wear a lab coat and goggles!! I wonder if I can wear a pocket-protector too....

:D

My first Washington friend!

This is Milo. He comes and visits me every day. (We think he lives next door.) He desperately wants to come inside the house but I think that might be pushing it a bit too far with my own two kitties. In all fairness, they have been pretty patient with everything so far...

Picture post!

Here are some pics of the house:

Awwwwwwww, happy kitties!!

And our little 6-inch snowman we built with what was left on the ground:

ETA: Aaaaaaaaaaaand one more...at Dingus' behest (see comments):

Greetings from Washington!!!!

I'm here! I made it! And I just finished hooking up our DSL while I'm waiting on the DirecTV tech.

No TV, no phone, no internet....bah, we've been living like savages!! :P

Well, it was a wild few days but I am finally here and settling in. The movers took FOREVER and it ended up costing a *wee* bit more than we had budgeted, but hopefully it will be worth it in the long run. They said it could take up to 2 weeks for my stuff to get here but we are hoping it will arrive in the next few days. I keep attempting to put what things we do have in the house away, but then I remember that this place is going to be filled floor-to-ceiling with crap pretty soon. I hope it does get here soon though so I can deal with most of it while I am still blissfully unemployed. :D

As Dingus said, the cats did great. I was amazed. They hated being in their carriers so we let them out once we were on the road. Dingus had set up this whole little "camp" for them in the back seat so they were pretty happy. They made some noises and moved around for about the first hour, but after that they were settled. They sat in our laps some of the time or just curled up in the back seat. No potty accidents, no barfing, no hissing, clawing or freaking out. But their lives have been so hectic recently that they haven't slept much and so these days they are VERY tired. Fat Bubba's tummy was a little upset upon arrival but at the last litterbox check he appears to be getting better.

The house is BEYOOOOOOOOOOOOOTIFUL! It's certainly the nicest house I've ever lived in and certainly not something I could ever afford in California! We have a HUGE yard with a beautiful deck that wraps around half of the house. We are hoping to have everyone over for a BBQ during the July peep meet and we are so excited about it, we already bought this kick-ass new patio furniture! It's a cool table with this lid thing in the middle and when you remove the lid? Voila! Firepit!! It's really pretty but also probably safer than a traditional firepit...on a wood deck, it's probably better to have the flames up off the ground a little bit. ;-)

It's raining today but that's the first time it's rained since I've been up here. Yesterday was really really nice which was a relief, because you can imagine my horror when we pulled up to the house and there was snow on the ground! SNOW! ...the hell? :O

I still have to set up the wireless router and deal with the TV guy so after I have that done, I'll upload some pictures for you. *smooch*

Update...

...cuz I prolly won't talk at y'all for a bit.

It's my last week here in California. I have two more days at work and a what seems to be endless packing still to do.

It's actually my last night living as a single gal.

And I spent it watching Prison Break and 24 as I always do. :P

Dingus arrives tomorrow night (super late) and I can't wait for him to get here. The house is a mess, there are boxes everywhere, I'm mean as a snake at work, and I'm just anxious to get on the road and get going.

I'm training the "new me" at work. A really nice guy too, super smart, great personality -- he's gonna do just fine. Today my boss asks me if it's "wierd" to be training my replacement. Then he proceeds to go on about how much he's going to miss me and how difficult it is to say goodbye.

Love you Bossman, but those conversations are best had when I'm drunk. Which I will be. On Wednesday night. :P

Tomorrow they are taking me out to lunch and then I'm going to get my hair cut. Basically a "goodbye" haircut with my hairdreser Melissa who's been my hairdresser for the last 12 years. I've already said I'm flying back every 8 weeks to get my hair cut...ha, he thinks I'm kidding about that. Then I'm off to K & J's house to have dinner and say goodbye to my friends, my little buddy, and my goddaughter. Meh...I'm not that worried about it. We'll see each other again..and often.

Wednesday night we are all going out for drinks. Lucky Dingus gets to hang out at the crap-house all day long trying to pack a little of what is left (and taking out the garbage....it won't stop raining here so I haven't taken out any garbage. Yeah, there's A LOT of garbage.) and then picking me up later in the day when I'm all drunk and weepy. What a lucky guy, eh? :P

Then we spend all day Thursday packing (because as my father pointed out, during our little fight on Saturday, I really should have been done by now, HE would) and then friends will be stopping by on Thursday night to say goodbye and help if they can.

Friday morning the movers come. (Thank goodness -- I wish they'd come now just to move some of the crap outta my way.) I've hired some folks to clean the place so basically after the movers come and we pack the car (with the poor stressed-out kitties) we are on our way.

Except then we have to stop at my parent's house 3 hours up the road on our way home. THEN we are on our way. :-)

I neglected to tell y'all that we applied for a rental house and we DID in fact, get it. I haven't seen it yet, but based on the pictures I saw and Dingus's testimony, I am going to LOVE it. I'm so happy that we are moving right into that place too. I'm filled with excitement about finally making the move up there, and then making into this great place that we wanted...and seeing it for the first time too. As a resident, and not a visitor. :-) He has already pretty much moved in. He called movers on Tuesday and they moved almost all of his things from our little apartment into this new house. I was almost jealous...damn!

At the time I first talked to Dingus tonight he said "29 hours to go and then no more visiting. Ever."

It's hard to imagine when we ran down all the (some unsavory) details about the past year. It's hard to believe it's finally happening and we are finally gonna be together like we wanted.

Exhilirating and scary at the same time. I feel bad for him...he doesn't want to watch me say goodbye to everyone, and he certainly doesn't want to watch me cry while I do it. But I want him there for the parties and the goodbyes, I want everyone to meet him. Because while I'll be sad to say goodbye to my friends, they all know that I am on my way to a better life. A new life -- a new start -- a new and happy future. And I'd like them to put a face with that future. They all want to meet him too. (Those who haven't already, that is.)

And all of them, as much as they may blubber and cry and hold me are all pushing out of the door and on my way. They agree it is also what's best for me. :-)

So, I'll prolly be offline the next few days, as I get all my shit together and put in a truck, both here and at work. But when I get up there, and he goes to work, I'm probably going to need a little company and a little reassurance. So I'll see ya on Monday. :P

It makes me giggle just a bit that he doesn't like to hear about how tough it is for me to say goodbye. And I'm sure it's going to be hard on him to be at the party and WATCH me say goodbye -- in my overly dramatic, I'm totally drunk, I love you guys, kinda way. What he forgets is the one thing that I worry about and need to be reminded about.

I just hope I'm good enough.

Unintentionally hilarious office moments.

So this afternoon the entire corporate office receives this email:


Good Afternoon Company Name,

Sorry but the Men’s and Lady’s restrooms in Department X will be closed till further notice. Please use other hallways.

Thanks
That Guy

(names changed to protect the guilty)

We've been laughing uncontrollably all afternoon.

Apparently, I can't smoke within 25 feet of the front door, but peeing in the hallway is just fine. What kinda place is this??!!

So which hallway is the men's and which is the women's? Do we have unisex hallways?

I fully expect that before this day is out, the hallways will be littered with toilet paper rolls and seat covers.

That poor guy. The can is open and the worms are everywhere...

Me no feel good.

(Probably because I'm starving to death waiting for my boss to get done with his meeting...he's supposed to be taking us all to lunch today.)

Tell me a joke.

The Point of No Return.

OK, fine. I'll post about it. Whatever, WELTEK. :P

It's true. I've officially given notice and my last day at my job is Feb 28. I had originally told them the second week in February, but they asked me to stay until the end of the month and I agreed. So for now, the moving truck officially pulls away on Saturday, March 3. I'll be walking my 30 day notice over to my landlord this Saturday. (She will be bummed.)

There's a few reasons why I haven't posted about this yet -- one of them is that, yeah, I'll admit it. While I'm excited about it -- I am freaking out a little. Well more than a little. But less than a lot. ;-)

Next Tuesday, all of the district managers for my company, the remote users (well half of them, the GOOD half) I support, will be in the corporate office for a meeting. I agreed to go over to the meeting location to assist with the set up for a training session. I volunteered for the job because, as I told my boss, I want the opportunity to talk in person with the Northwest rep (in case I need to work in one of our stores for a while) and...because it will give me an opportunity to say goodbye to all of them in person. Once I uttered those words, the reality of all that's happening right now totally hit home. I'll be perfectly honest -- when I go to that meeting and make that little announcement, it's going to take every ounce of strength and will I have inside me not to cry. Almost all of them have no idea that I'm leaving, that I've even been contemplating it, and they are gonna react. This is the same group of people that randomly gave me a standing ovation for all of my help over the year at the last meeting I was at.

*sigh* It's gonna suck just a little bit. As are the next few weeks. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to go, I definitely WANT to go, I'd go today if I could....but saying goodbye is going to be very very hard. Sooooo....I get to drop Dingus off at the airport that morning and then go do THAT. Whooo. Better have a cocktail or two on hand for that night.

I've lived in the Bay Area my whole life. I've worked at this company for 7 years. (I just right now realized that today is my anniversary. How odd that I missed that all day long. I just fired off an email to my boss...that ought to at LEAST be worth a free lunch, LOL.) I'm totally tight with my landlord and she and her family have helped me out a LOT in the time I've lived here. I've spent the last two years fixing up this little townhouse to be something at least *kinda* cute. (Yeah it smells like pee....whaddya want? It's cheap!) I have a shitload of friends here who I have the luxury of jumping in the car to run over and see pretty much anytime I want. They all know me and love me and have forgiven me for the way that I am. :-)

As Marge Simpson would say: "I've dug myself a happy little rut here!"

I know it's natural to have these types of feelings -- it just seems like when I say them out loud sometimes people look at me and say "WTF? This is what you WANT. So shaddap!" Or they look at me and say "Oh no, are you sure about this?"

Yeah, I'm sure! It's just gonna be tough, is all. Saying goodbye totally blows. And I've already told everybody that I don't wanna hear any of that "oh we'll keep in touch" shit if they dont' really mean it.

I'm not going to have any friends up there. I mean "in person" friends. I mean "hey wanna go to a movie tonight?" kinda friends. "I could totally use a manicure" kinda friends. "Let's get the hell out of here and go get a margarita" kinda friends. "C'mon over and have a glass of wine!" kinda friends.

But the cool part is, I know if I need a "OMG I am TOTALLY FREAKING OUT, HELP ME" kinda friend, I know exactly where to go. :D And it doesn't even require a plane ride.

Oh and yeah....I have no job. There's that, too. But at least I know I can go work in one of our stores if I need to. Granted, it would totally suck, but at least it's money. And it's only temporary. And I'm good friends with the district manager up there, so it'll probably be OK.

Sooooo....I'm giving up my job, my independence, my home, my friends, my family....and saying goodbye.

And for what?

For the love of my life.

I am empty when he's not around, no matter how full my life may look by reading what I wrote above.

I was at a friend's house last weekend, and we were sitting around drinking wine and talking. That's pretty much what we do. :-) This was our conversation:

Her: "How long have I known you now?"
Me: "Well, lessee. We met in 1999 so that would be....8 years now? almost?"
Her: "And I was at your wedding."
Me: "Yes. Yes you were."
Her: "And we've hung out A LOT over the years."
Me: "Yes. Yes we have."
Her: "I have NEVER seen you this happy. Seriously."
Me: "Really?"
Her: "Yeah. It's obvious. You're talking about moving AWAY for chrissakes, and you're still glowing. And I've seen you smile a LOT, but I've never seen you smile like that. Ever."

So there you go. Yeah, I'm freaking out a little. I haven't written about leaving because I was afraid of expressing that. Like it would make me look less serious or something. But everything I'm feeling is natural and normal. Saying goodbye is always hard.

As long as I don't have to say goodbye to you guys? I think I'll be OK.

Now I gotta go...I got more boxes to pack. :-)

ETA: And yeah, I get how funny it is that I posted about Adult Swim yesterday...and then today's whole debaucle in Boston happened. I'm sorry....I know it's not *really* funny and believe me, I've been made to feel like shit for even remotely giggling at it. If that helps at all.

I hope it does because the news anchor here in the Bay Area just said "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" out loud and I giggled again. It's not so much the situation that's making me laugh, as it is watching the professional news types trying to cover it. I think you have to be an ATHF fan to find this funny. And there aren't a whole lot of us....

Stuff I really like.

Adultswim.com

Oh I love it. I can sit here at the office and enjoy cartoons any time I want. :-) Also, the official trailer for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force is out and viewable on the site.

Perscription Migraine Medication

Seriously. I wish I could marry it and make it happy for the rest of its life. About an hour ago I was convinced I wasn't going to make it through the end of the day. I'm still amazed that I made it into the office this morning. My co-worker has the same prescription that I do (which ran out) and offered me one of his. Now I feel great. The piercing pain over my right eye and crippling nausea is gone. I even ate lunch.

Fark

There are a great many personalities over there, not all of them pleasant, to be sure. But there are a few of them that make me laugh until I cry. Specificallly today it was the guy who made the Ghostbusters reference in the 9/11 thread. I normally wouldn't expect to find comedy in such a discussion but "you're right, Ray. No human being could stack books like that" was so well-placed...I'm still laughing about it.

My Bed

While I am feeling better, I still can't wait to go back to bed. I haven't had a decent night's sleep in a few days, and it's starting to make me a little crazy. Plus, my bed is really comfortable. :-)

All better.

Stupid hormones!!!! :P

I'm feeling much better today, even though I was awoken this morning not by the sound of my alarm, but by the sound of my cat puking on the bed. That's not usually a good sign. :-)

So other than the fact that I have to stop at the store for laundry soap on my way home tonight, so far, the day's OK. ;-)

Now we can work on cheerin' up TxMomma. :-)

Tell me a joke.

I'm having a very bad day. I won't bore you with the details -- plus, I'm totally menstrual right now so every little tiny thing that happens is like, HUUUUUUUUGE. I get that, so I know it will pass and by tomorrow I'll probably feel great. :-)

But for now, I feel lousy. So...tell me a joke. Or a funny story. Or send me a picture of Hayden. All shall work equally well to make me feel better. :-)

Right now I am watching Miami Vice, the movie. blech. Whatever. I'm OK with the choice of Jamie Foxx as Tubbs but Colin Farrell? Feh. I can name about 14 actors right off the top of my head which would have made a better choice. Even Don Johnson, if he toned up and lost a little weight. The story isn't too bad -- similar to the show only more hardcore. And it's the "unrated" version. LOL, which for me instantly translates into "more boobies". Hopefully there'll be a man-butt or two in there just to somewhat even the playing field. :P Eh, it's worth sitting through just for all the shots of Miami. *sigh* I haven't been back in 4 years, when I used to visit every year. And today I miss it and really wish I was there. *waves to Alice and Clueless*

*smooch*
How you?

Happy New Year, Friends.

I had been thinking about this post all day. I've been thinking about this past year a lot lately. Everything I had been thinking can pretty much be summed up in "go fuck yourself, 2006". And I was prepared to sit down and type that very thing -- albeit in much more detail.

It's 25 minutes into the new year as I type this, Dingus is asleep, I'm enjoying the usual new year's champagne buzz, and I've got cartoons on the TV. I was preparing to type out all my thoughts on 2006 when I fired up the computer, and I decided to check my email. I was clearing out a bunch of spam, and it's that new clever spam that buries itself in your inbox way down at the bottom -- even though it's new, and even though you have all your shit sorted by date. So I had to page through all my old email to find this one stupid message that needed to be deleted.

As I did, I randomly came across a message from Dingus dated August of 2005, when I was in Vegas for training. It was a music file. As soon as I saw it, I remembered it clear as day...sitting there at the computer, loading that file, waiting desperately to hear what the song was that he liked that he said reminded him of me.

When I saw that email, I teared up. And then I looked around. At where I was sitting at this very moment. Where I am now. Where I'm going to be. And I realized how very lucky I am.

Suddenly, I don't hate 2006 as much I did this morning. Some very very bad things happened, yes. But some very very good things happened too. Perhaps I should be more focused on those.

"Things don't always work out the way we plan." (Brian Griffin, "Family Guy".) But I believe, they work out the way they are supposed to. Even if it's ugly and unpleasant and painful and shaming and scary and lonely. It just does.

Right now, at this moment, I have everything I've ever wanted. (Well almost...if my kitties were here in my lap right now, I'd have *everything*.) ;-)

I got to go to Niagara Falls. I got to meet some amazing people there who will be friends of mine for life. I got to stay in a BEAUTIFUL place, which was host to these friends, all sitting around talking like we'd known each other for a lifetime. And I got to enjoy the most romantic moments of my whole life there with my boyfriend.

I had a friend come visit me, and stay with me, and spend Halloween with me. I got to talk to my friend face-to-face, and have coffee together in the living room, which is something I thought I'd never get to do. I got to take her to TWO parties and introduce her to my boyfriend and watch them as the two of them cracked jokes and made me laugh til I thought I'd pee my pants. I love you, Arkie. So much. And your visit was one of the brightest highlights of this year for me.

I had friends over at my house to watch the Dolphins play. (And actually WIN...which is a miracle in itself LOL.) I took them wine tasting and we had pizza and watched TV and laughed and laughed and laughed. We made a connection which is going to be there forever. I found the big brother I always wanted, and the younger sister as well. And I got to spend some time with my friend Carey -- the first time she and I hung out by ourselves, actually.

I love you too, Weltek and Nolay...and I teared up tonight watching Brett give his last interview after the game. Not because I'm a huge fan of his (even though he totally looks like my cousin, Robbie -- weird) but because I knew you too were watching it and probably a tad emotional. ;-)

I connected with my friend JayneB too, this year. Painful and awkward as it might be, it was still a good thing. She is going through a rough time as well, and she turned to me and our friendship deepened (is that even a word? well it is now) because of that. She taught me about Buddhism and has helped me through some of the roughest times this year. She is one of my closest friends and I credit the events of 2006 for that. And I will always be grateful. I love you too, JayneB. :-)

And then there's Dingus. When I think of 2006, to tell the truth, the first thing I think of is January 29. When he fooled me by calling me on the phone and making me think he was miles and miles and miles away, and I couldn't hear him well so I started to walk outside to have a conversation with him. As I was making my way to the door, he was walking in. I will never ever forget that moment. I still remember exactly how he looked, exactly what he was wearing. I still remember how he adjusted his baseball cap just a little bit as we first made eye contact. I still remember how I looked at him, and then said "I'll have to call you back" into my phone and snapped it shut. I still remember how I went just a little weak in the knees when I first saw him. How I suddenly lost my ability to talk. I had planned all day all this cool shit to say and all I could come up with was "um, hey hi...yeah we need to go over there...cuz...the people...yeah, that's um, where they are." I still remember thinking that he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, he was so tall and handsome and had the most beautiful eyes. Took my breath away, it did.

And he still does. Sometimes I sit and stare at him and think I can't possibly be worth all he's given up. And I can't possibly be good enough to be with someone so beautiful, and sensitive and kind, and smart, and loving. I wake up in the morning before he does...and I spend a moment staring at him -- I want to touch him, but I don't want to wake him up.

He's not perfect...but he's perfect for me. I think Salt 'n' Pepa put it best -- "he's the God-sent original, the man of my dreams." :D

And then I look around here, at where I am right now...and I'm overwhelmed. I need to shut the fuck up. All my "oh 2006 just sucked so much ass" -- no, no it didnt. Maybe it's true, "God never closes a door without opening a window".

If I had it to do all over again -- I'd gladly go through this door to have this window opened again. To have my friends visit, to bond with my new friends, to meet and love him.

The divorce, Greg's death, Black Tuesday (which I *still* think about every day....oh please God, make that go away in 2007), "Disgusted" -- at this moment they all seem like blips on the radar. As our illustrious leader would say "in the history books, this will be just a comma".

Time to close...in my champagne-induced state I can't make any more sense, but I hope I made my point. This has been a great year. The next one is going to be even better. Send out all your prayers and positive vibes for me to find a new job and get my butt moved up here. I want to be sitting here in the easy chair, in front of the huge TV, with a big fat-ass, spoiled cat in my lap. :-) I want this to be my home. As scared as I am, I KNOW it's the right choice. And I'm ready -- so let's get this party started.

I love you, friends. All of you. Thank you for making 2006 one of the best. Some very bad things happened, yes. But out of those bad things, some very wonderful things happened too. And I think that 2007 is going to be full of beautiful, happy and healthy times for us all.

That's my wish, anyway.

I love you. :-)