2009ish

Before you ask, no I do not have plans for new year's eve. K will probably be here, and we will probably sit on the couch and watch a movie...is that a plan? That's as close as we get.

I never really do anything for new year's eve, and never really make any special plans. In my whole life I really have only had 2 new year's eves that are memorable for good reasons.

The first was the 94/95 crossover. I was only 14 so I was at home. But I was dating Adam then, and he came over to my house to watch the ball drop. We sat in the living room and watched the ball drop on TV and slow danced to a Boyz 2 Men song. The room was dark except for the xmas tree lights and we were alone. It was all cute and romantic and stuff. I loved it. Of course, he broke up with me like 3 days later so the romance was short lived.

The other one was 99/00. I spent that one with my boyz at a few different clubs in downtown buffalo. It wasn't anything too special, but we were all just so happy and so close and it was just a really great vibe. It's probably the most fun I have ever had going clubbing too. Everything was just very chill, and it wasn't snowing or anything. Nobody was fighting or sick or in trouble. It was just a perfect night. Of course, later that year one of "my boyz" raped me and totalled my car. Oh well, nothing's perfect I guess.

This will be my 3rd New Year's with K. The first year we went out for ice cream and K didn't take a lactaid pill, so he was sick the rest of the night. The next year K put $600 in an ATM and it ate the money and wouldn't give him a receipt. So that was no fun either. Hopefully, this year will be better!

Anyway, I hope that if any of you have plans they go well!! Have a great new year's!!

The Night Before the Night Before

Well, it's almost xmas. Things are pretty good. I am allowing myself two long weekends for the holidays. This one will be in buffalo with my mom and sister. Next weekend will be here at home, hopefully with K. I'm looking forward to seeing my mom's new house. Also, my best friend, R, got engaged and I can't wait to see her ring!! I am really happy for her, because I think she really has a good guy and that they have done this right. She wants to get married in June, and it is going to be HUGE so she has a lot of work ahead of her!! I just hope the wedding is more fun than stressful for her, but I highly doubt that will happen!!

So, anyway, I hope you all have a great couple of weeks! Be careful and have fun!!!!

So much...

It has been a crazy couple of weeks. Last weekend was awful. K got here friday night and I was so happy to have him here, work had been very stressful all week and all I wanted to do was lie on the couch with him and just relax. No dice. My boss called me on my way home friday night and told me I would be working all weekend - and he meant it. All night friday and eleven hours each on saturday and sunday. Not only did that mean no quality time with K, it also meant that my boss would be sending me nasty emails all weekend. By noon on sunday I felt like I was on the verge of being fired. I cried so much last sunday, and K was so sweet to take care of me. He was really wonderful all weekend. This past week wasn't too bad actually. I really laid it all out for my boss and said that he really needs to decide whether he thinks I'm awesome or terrible. I can't live with the back-and-forth crap and the fear of being fired all the time. Since then it's been better. Really, he wasn't mean to me at all this week. So that was nice.

Yesterday, though, was a great day. I got to take on my very first pro bono case - and it could NOT be more perfect for me. I will be suing cops for shooting a 19 year-old kid in the back. THIS is what I am meant to do, and I can't wait to kick some pig's ass. I know this will be a hard case. It's in the Florida panhandle, which s basically southern Alabama. They hate black kids and love cops. Plus, the state of the law is such that proving excessive force is next to impossible. But I am gonna try damn hard, and I am going to love it.

Yeah, so I guess I'm a little lonely...

I just got an email from one of my friends in Orlando, and it made me cry. It wasn't even a sappy email, I just miss her so much.

I know I felt this way when I moved to Orlando from Athens too. And, obviously, I made some wonderful friends eventually. The same friends that I am missing now.

Unfortunately, I think this time it will be harder to make friends. In Orlando at least I had a "class of clerks" that I was part of. Here, I am the only one in my class. Plus, there is just not a lot of free time to do fun things like Bachelor Nights or big lunches or even happy hours.

I am trying though. On Friday I am going to lunch with a girl named Lauren who works at another firm in my building. I met her in september at a continuing education class I took. She is really nice, although she seems a little, um, milder than me. Although, who isn't - right? So, anyway, she may become a friend.

But still, I miss Orlando so much it hurts sometimes. Not just the people, but even the places. I just miss it all.

On The Prowl

My mom is closing on her new house on tuesday. And now I get to start looking for mine! It's kinda fun, mostly because I am not in a hurry. Ideally, I'd like to have a house by September of 09, so I don't have to renew my lease. But I could wait until December if I have to.

So anyway, my sister is helping me look and so is K. I've decided that I can afford to be picky, so if I see something about a house I don't like, I move on. I definitely want a garage, and I would like a Florida room. A pool is not required, but if there is one it has to be screened in. I prefer dark kitchens - black appliances, dark wood, dark countertops. At least 3 bedrooms - one for K, one for me and a guest room. At least 2 bathrooms too. And on of the showers has to be HUGE. We want one of those rainforest showers.

So anyway, I'm house hunting. It's a blast!

Ouch.

On wednesday I hurt my pinky toe REAL bad. It was all bloody & swollen & gross. Poor me.

Yesterday I hurt my ankle somehow. It hurts the most if I point my toes, but it doesn't appear to be swollen. And yes, it is the same foot as the injured pinky toe.

Last night K and I had a fight. It wasn't too "serious" but it was long and loud and it brought up things that I don't like to think about. We made up and we are fine now, but it made me feel pretty icky last night. It's like I feel that we are in our own little world and nothing can touch us. But then, something does and it brings back all my fears. And truly, nothing did touch us. Our little world is fully in tact. But it's just that little knock at the door, the jehovah's witness that shows up during dinner. It reminds me that there is no steel dome around us.

Nevermind.

When I got home from work there were elementary age children playing in front of my building. I definitely need a kid who is at least 13.

Gifts, work and kids.

K got his xmas present from me yesterday. He really likes it, which is good 'cause it was REALLY expensive! LOL He is being very nice to me today, which is cute but not necessary. I don't want him to think I am buying his affections...although I wouldn't mind if he thought I was buying more sex-free weekends!!

Things are very slow for me at work and I have decided to just sit back and enjoy it. I have no billable hour quota this year, so I will let the hours go to those who need them and just chill out until January. Then maybe I can have a HUGE amount of work for the beginning of the year and I won't have to worry about it at the end of next year. It may put me on a decent cycle. Unfortunately, anytime I try to leave early that is when people call me. So I am diligently staying here until at least 4:30 everyday.

I may have mentioned to some of you that a lot of my friends are having babies in the next few months. Maybe the bad economy has led to more nights in?? I dunno. Anyway, it has encouraged my mom to try to convince me that I would be a good mother. It's cute to see her try, but I'm not biting. First of all, I really DO NOT want to be pregnant. And if I was, and I found out it was a boy, I would want to give it back. I know, it's wrong, but I'm being honest here.

Also, babies are cute for an hour or two, but after that they usually just gross me out. They are always dirty and sick. I just don't need that in my life.

I've decided that I would be perfectly fine with a daughter if she was at least 10 years old. That's when kids start to get interesting, ya know? I mean, I suppose they are not so bad after they start school. Maybe I could handle a 5 year-old. But really, you can't have a conversation with a kid until they're at least ten.

I think I would be a great mom to a kid around that age. And I think it would be fun. But I think that the infant and toddler years would just be so awful, that I would hate being a mom by the time it was about to get fun, ya know? So I guess what I'm saying is, if any of you have a girl that you get sick of in a few years, let me know. If your kid has a penis, you're on your own though.

T-Day Wrap-Up

Bolt is a GREAT movie!!! You should all go see it. And when you do, keep this in mind: K is Rhino. I am looking into getting him a hamster ball.

My mom is very cool most of the time. Usually she is very un-mom-like. But sometimes she can be decidedly Marie Barrone (of Everybody Loves Raymond). For example, when she insists, VEHEMENTLY, that I slice the cranberry sauce. Or when my sister tries on a dress and my mom tells her she looks "lumpy". Ugh.

K installed my new radio in my new car. It has bluetooth. Now I really look like a crazy person: talking to nobody without even having a headset on and sticking my finger in my ear every time I try to answer or hang up the phone.

Reasons for Hate

It never ceases to amaze me how creative hateful people are. They are constantly think up new "logical" reasons for their hateful stances. Today I refer to the anti-gays.

When I was in law school I was the Vice President of our LGBT organization. We hosted a debate on gay marriage. Our goal was to have a civilized intelligent debate by well-credentialed people on both sides of the issue. We succeeded and it went quite well. While we were planning it I was really looking forward to hearing what the other side would say. The debators were both well-known attorneys. One was a law professor and one was in private practice. I honestly wanted to see what the anti-gay argument would be. I assumed that I would learn something, that there would be some well-reasoned argument on the other side that I hadn't heard yet. I was wrong. Dead wrong. This man stood in front of our group and gave the same stupid reasons every ignorant redneck gives: it threatens the sanctity of marriage. Who will do the dishes? Who leads when you dance? Etc, etc. Just a bunch of crap.

Well, apparently enough people have discovered that these reasons are crap, so now the anti-gays have a new reason: if we let gays get married they will teach gay in our schools!! Our kids will be taught about same-sex relationships! They may even become tolerant of them!! GASP!! Well, don't worry your pretty little heads all you anti-gays. I am sure it will take generations before any of your lineage learns tolerance. Just like you are so proud that we finally have a "colored" president, maybe your great-grandkids will some day talk about how nice it is that the fags down the street had a little wedding for themselves. But fear not, I am sure you will be dead long before such "tolerance" touches your family tree.

Your Own Backyard

I got an email today from a co-worker who just got back from her honeymoon. I asked her where she went and she said:

"Cancun, Mexico! Beautiful beaches and great weather... hard to come back!"

Seriously??? You live in Tampa!! It was hard to come back to more beaches and great weather?? I have never understood why anyone would spend money on mexican beaches anyway, let alone when you live on the same damn body of water!!

Obviously I get that when you are not on vacation you are busy with work, etc. and don't get time to go to the beaches as often as you like. But, if you are going to take a vacation to a beach, why spend all that money when you have beaches right here?? Just take a week off of a work and skip the airline hassle, the peso conversion chart and the possible montezuma's revenge!! You can even speak spanish all week if you want to!! Am I crazy here??

Crash

So, K got in an accident yesterday. He is fine, his truck is fine, but it really shook him up. It was COMPLETELY not his fault - someone ran into the back of his trailer. But it still really upset him and he has been QUITE unpleasant ever since.

It happened yesterday at 2pm. The strange thing is that, at almost the exact same moment it happened I was buying his xmas present. I know he is going to LOVE it and it's hard not to tell him about it cuz I know it would make him feel better but I also want to keep it a surprise. So I am doing my best to keep my mouth shut.

I hate when bad things happen like this, and he is so far away. There is nothing I can do to make him feel better. I just have to sit and listen and do nothing. It sucks. He's supposed to be here for thanksgiving, but that's still a week away. I just hope that, in the meantime, he calms himself enough that nothing else will happen, ya know? Anyway, so that's the scoop.

Dear K,

When we were little, I stood in front of you, looked you in the eye and made a promise. I promised that I would stand there in front of you, forever if I had to, to save you from yourself. I broke that promise almost immediately, but I'm not sorry. I was a kid and so were you. I didn't know enough about anything to be making such huge promises. And if I had kept that promise we would both still be standing there - not going anywhere. It wouldn't have done us any good.

But I'm older now, and I've learned enough about myself and you and truth and promises to make this one: as long as you are on my team, I will be on yours. I will help you take on anyone or anything that comes for you. I will stand next to you and hold your hand. I will cheer for you and I will hold you. And I will never let you keep me from protecting us. No matter how scared or how proud you are. That is my promise and I will keep it.

The two of us have changed in a million ways over the last two and a half years. We have made compromises we never thought we could and done things we never thought we would. Sometimes it seems too easy, and other times it is almost too difficult to bear. We have been more honest and more real than most people ever are. We have redefined our own ideas of what romance and love can and should be. We have been horrible and amazing. But the one thing that sustains: we are a team.

I stand with you today and look into our future together and know that it won't be perfect, but I believe it will be great. I love you and I love us, and this was worth the wait.

My President Is Black!!

Yeah, I know, I'm a few days late with the election commentary, but I didn't want to do a half-assed job on it.

Truly, I am so amazed and relieved with the results of the presidential election. I am shocked that there were enough smart, brave Americans to vote a black man named Barack Obama into the white house. I really thought our country was too ignorant to do it. My biggest hope is that this election has shown all the people who never vote that they should, that they can make a difference. We can keep the old ignorant self-serving white men down - we just have to make an effort.

I hope that Obama is kept safe and that he does a great job over the next 4, and hopefully 8, years. I hope this is the beginning of an American Renaissance. I hope our nation is made stronger, smarter and more tolerant. I hope we get some amazing federal judges over the next 4 years. I hope our education and healthcare systems are improved. I don't care if my taxes go up, if it means my quality of life and level of freedom go up as well.

My sister saw a sign that said "Rosa sat so Martin could march so Barack could run so our children can fly." It brought her to tears. I have to say, I think it's a nice sentiment. Of course, there are millions of other names that belong in there, but the point is the same. Our nation is progressing. Racism is not gone though - not by a long shot. Hate is still everywhere and we have a long way to go.

Which brings me to what DID make me cry the day after the election: the gay marriage bans. Yes ladies and gentlemen, gay is the new black. There was a time in this country when interracial marriage was illegal. That was shameful. So is this. There is no difference. These bans passed because of hatred and ignorance. How could the same brave, smart Americans that voted for Obama vote for these bans as well? I will never understand. In Florida, the ban passing just maintained the status quo for gay couples - except that it may have prohibited public employees from getting domestic partner benefits. But regardless of the legal effects, it is the social effect that makes these bans so devastating. When will people realize that intelligence and hate never go together? As a society we always outgrow these sanctions eventually - why do the same dance with every minority group? You may not be gay, you may not understand gay people, just like you didn't understand how a white woman could be attracted to a black man. But don't interfere with their lives just because you don't get it. Mind your own damn business. You don't mind if I marry an axe murderer or a drunk or charlie manson. You don't care if I get married in a chapel in vegas wearing sequined pasties. You don't care if I marry a rapist or even someone I've never met before. But I can't marry a woman??? How much freakin' sense does that make?

As much as Obama's victory filled up my heart with happiness and pride, the passing of the gay marriage bans broke my heart. I wonder how long it will take for the next minority to take the place of gay people - and I wonder what that group will be. You should too - you may be in it.

FINALLY!

That's Right, Bitch.

Yeah so my boss was falling over himself apologizing to me today. He better! He said "I was kind of in a mood yesterday about some stuff that had nothing to do with you." Yeah no kidding!! Sheesh! So, that made me feel better. I went on to have a productive and successful day. 

Ugh.

Okay, well I have figured out what is wrong with my boss. He doesn't pay attention to what he says or does. Like on Friday he told me that he needed me to make some edits to an affidavit I had drawn up, but insisted that I wait until Monday to do it and told me repeatedly to take off for the day. So I did. Then today I get an email from him, telling me that the affidavit needs the exact same edits he told me about on Friday but now acting like (1) we did not discuss this friday and (2) it needs to be done right now. So I say "Okay, well you said I should do this Monday but if you need it today I can do it now." and he responds with "we'll talk on tuesday." WTF???

Also, he has a terrible habit of forgetting to do things. He asks me to draw up motions and I do, and I send them to him, and then he never signs them or submits them. So there are like 4 motions that he has sitting in his inbox that should have been filed like 2 weeks ago.

It seems like all of this is the result of disorganization, which surprises me considering he is a partner. I would think he would be organized by now!! Grrr.

I Bought A New Car!!!

Yep. I sure did! A 2008 Kia Sorento LX in midnight blue with a gray interior. DB has never touched it, looked at it or put a dime into it and it is ALL MINE!!! I am really so giddy I can't stand it! This is the 1st brand new car I have ever had, and the first car I've ever bought with my own money. I love it. It's fabulous. It's dark out so I can't take a picture of it right now, but I will tomorrow and then you can all see how fabulously gorgeous it is!!

Home Sweet Home

I am back from Chicago. Thank goodness! It was a rough 48 hours and I am so glad to be back home on my couch. Safe, happy, comfy and warm. 

Turmoil

What a crazy week!!! I have so many stories to tell I hardly know where to begin! Well, we'll start with last Wednesday. I was feeling kinda icky, and my boss was out sick, so I decided to leave work early. BAD idea!!! 3 lawyers called me with "emergency" projects. Grrr. Then K got to town and I went to have dinner with him. That was okay, but wednesday night I was exhausted. Thursday morning I get to work and I am feeling better and things are not bad. K and I have a not too bad night at home together. Friday night we had a party to go to at the house of one of the partners at my firm. Friday afternoon I find out I will be working over the weekend because I need to get a complaint, motion for preliminary injunction and a bunch of other crap done by tuesday morning. Fantastic.

So Friday night K and I go to the party. Boring, but nice. K and my boss (CB) got along VERY well. But apparently K was upset that everyone introduced him as my "boyfriend". So saturday he decides we should go look at engagement rings. Um, yeah. So THAT was interesting. First we went to Jared where I picked out 2 that I really liked. The settings were $700 and $800 and the diamond they showed us was $3100...a bit expensive for both our tastes. Then we went to a place in the mail and found a ring (diamond and all) for $1400 that I liked, but we decided to keep looking around because we just started. That night K applied for a zales card but got turned down...so that made him sad. Anyway, we will keep looking.

Saturday afternoon we decided that I should start shopping for a new car too. We started at hyundai and I test-drove a Tuscon. I liked it, but again, we decided to keep looking. So on the way home we drove past a chevy dealer, it was closed but they had malibus and impalas on sale. So sunday morning we go back. We spend all day sunday between 2 chevy dealerships looking at malibus. Each dealer telling us the other dealer was lying to us. By sunday night I decided to settle on a black malibu lt with a sunroof. So Monday I start doing the financing crap. I apply for a BOA auto loan, and a GMAC loan. After wasting ALL day trying to get the figures on the GMAC loan I find out it is a total ripoff and I am better off with the BOA loan. The guy at GM tells me that BOA is lying to me about my payments, but he is an ass. Of course, by then, BOA is closed. So I tell them I will have to get back to them on tuesday. And THEN, you won't believe this, they tell me to sign the papers monday night - get the ripoff loan through GMAC - and then come back the next day and pay it off with my BOA loan. Um, no, I don't think so bitch. On my way home, talking to my mom, I decided that I hate these people. This dealership blows and I am not giving them my 20 grand. Ever. So never mind on that car.

Meanwhile, I got no work done over the weekend (shocking) but that's okay because on monday our client is back negotiating a settlement again. So now there is no rush on the complaint. Of course, yesterday, settlement falls through again and the rush is back on. So I had to get everything done before today when I am getting on a plane to go to chicago for my firm-wide new associate orientation. 36 hrs in the windy city in October. Great times.

So, here I am, at the airport, waiting for my flight to board. Hopefully everything will go smoothly. I'll be back home around midnight tomorrow. This weekend I may go back to hyundai, and maybe honda and toyota. I tried my best to buy american, but once again GM shows why it is going out of business. Really what amazed me most is how blatantly they kept saying that other people were lying to me. It's really unattractive. Ya know? Anyway...so those are my updates. Looking at diamonds and new cars in one weekend is really stressful. I think I got a new ulcer. At least K made the weekend sex-free so the stress was somewhat lessened. But still, I could use about a 48 hour nap. So maybe I won't be car shopping this weekend!! ;-)

Daily Dose of Crazy

Okay, so I have a great secretary. But the one next to her is a crazy bitch. And I don't mean mildly crazy, I mean like hide-under-your-desk-when-you-hear-her-coming crazy. The first time I noticed it was the 2nd day of work, I was sitting in my office minding my own business, and I heard profanity. Crazy lady was yelling into the phone, using a plethora of words not often heard in a civilized work environment. Not you all know that I am NOT one to mince words. I routinely add a "fuck" to sentences that could clearly do without it. But usually not at work, and definitely not when screaming into the phone at work. So I hear her say, among other things, "Look Jackass! I don't know what the fuck you want me to do! Make up your mother fuckin' mind and then fucking call me!" Whoa. So, I thought to myself "I hope that lady is okay." After 2 weeks I have learned. She is not okay, she is NEVER okay. In fact, she has one of these arguments on the phone, at high volume, pretty much every damn day. In addition, she also yells at the lawyers she works for on occasion. That is even MORE scary! I am so glad she wasn't assigned to me!

The latest saga involved her planning a vacation with her significant other. During this conversation she told him "well, if you aren't going act like a NORMAL person than I am not going anywhere with you!" At which point, her significant other began studying how to be as abnormal as possible.

I think she is also a bit of a hypochondriac because she spends a lot of time printing out articles from WebMD on various ailments.

Today, I am pretty sure she threw out a bunch of things I printed. Luckily I am smart enough to just pretend I "forgot" to click print and go back in my office and do it again. I really think that if this woman "accidentally" drove away in my lexus I would just buy a new one rather than confront her. Seriously, she is that fuckin' scary.

Do you like it??

I made my blog prettier!!! At least I think it's prettier! What do you think???

The Election is Ruining My Life

So, I am so freakin' stressed about this election. But it's not the impending results that are ruining my life - it's the debates. All day monday, tuesday AND wednesday I was looking forward to a new episode of Bones. But ya know what?? It wasn't on! The freakin' debate was on instead! Ugh. So, I absolutely refused to watch the debate out of protest. Except that there was NOTHING else on!! So, I was forced to watch the damn thing. But, it ended up being beneficial, because I learned from John McCain that Colombia is our best ally in the western hemisphere. I had no idea!! I also got to see John McCain put air quotes around "health of the mother", which was awesome. Oh, and of course I got to learn about "Joe the Plumber", perhaps the most important man in the country. So watching the debate actually vastly improved my knowledge base. Unfortunately, it also gave me wrinkles. Yep, that's right. I woke up the next day and discovered wrinkles under my eyes. So, as you can see, the election is clearly ruining my life.

My "New Crowd"

So I went to lunch on tuesday with all the female attorneys in my office. We went to a sushi place, and I am not a sushi person but luckily they had "regular" asian food, so I was good. AND I actually did try a piece of a Florida Roll which was good. Anyway, let's get to the important part: the people. There were 8 of us:

Me, clearly the awesomest of all.

Laura, Christina and Angela, decently cool, funny and nice ladies.

Cheryl, who is nerdy & awkward but VERY nice. Like fall over yourself nice.

Then, there were "the blondes", who don't need individual names (particularly since 2 out of 3 of them are named stephanie). So, these girls are incredible snobs. I mean, I was just shocked. I rode with them to the lunch (not knowing that they were snobs) and the whole car ride was about their extravagant lives and how they were too good for things like Walmart or Home Depot. It was just absurd. One of them made a comment about how Walmart makes her sick because of all the white trash and I wanted to say "are you sick right now? because I'm in the car." But, because this is a new job and a new crowd, I just shut up. 

So, anyway, the verdict is that this crowd is not nearly as fun as my old crowd. But, there are a few nice girls that I can see myself going to lunch or dinner with. I'm just going to have to make a REAL effort to meet people outside of my office. I must devise a plan for this. Maybe I should try to meet people at Walmart.

You Don't Know Me

This has been a rough month for friends of mine. One found out she has MS, another one's father was killed in an accident and another one...well, had a terrible thing happen in his family. Intellectually, I know it's not about me. But just to be safe, if you happen to be communicating with any gods or other-worldly sources and they ask you if you are friends with me, you may want to say "no." At least for this month. Okay? Thanks.

Note To Self:

Your iPod is not psychic. When you buy an album on iTunes, the new music does not magically travel through the air and land in your iPod. You must plug the iPod IN and update it. Dumbass.

Go Me!!!

Move over "insensitive and cruel"! Here comes "clever and impressive"!!!! Yep, that is what my boss called me today! Clever and impressive! Woot!! I think my sigh of relief may have caused a tsunami somewhere! Not only did I get mad props for my analysis of the discovery issues in my 1st case, I also dazzled him with my writing! Yay me!!! Seriously, I am flying right now. 

Oh! And I am also awesome in a different arena. I got my Blackberry to sync up with my work email! The IT guy couldn't do it, but I did!! So-long 2nd Blackberry! I am, finally, a woman with only 1 cell phone. Yet another tremendous sigh of relief. 

The First Week

Well, I survived! It was actually a pretty good few days, with one major exception: my IT guy. Okay, so here's the story: on my first day they tell me that I need a blackberry. I already have one. They say the office can give me one, but it's an older model and I can only have 450 minutes per month for "personal use", plus I won't have internet or navigation or any of the other perks that I get with my sprint plan. So I said, no, I will just keep my own BB and pay for my own plan and use it for work and personal. She says that is fine, she will send the IT guy over to set up my BB with their system. So, he comes over, plugs my device into the computer, does some stuff and says "all set." Great. I go to lunch. At around 3 I try to call K. My BB won't let me make calls. It says "emergency calls only." I can, however, send texts. So I text K and ask him to call me. He does and it goes right to voicemail. So I can't receive calls either. Great. 

So, I call the IT guy. After several emails back & forth he decides that the only way to fix it is to completely reprogram my BB, which he can't do until the next morning. So I will have no cell phone that night. Yeah, I'm pissed. He says "well, if you enter your password incorrectly 10 times, the BB will wipe itself out and you can make phone calls, but you will lose any emails or pix you have saved. I say, fine, I don't care as long as I can call people! So, I do as instructed. Not only does it not fix the phone call problem, now I can't send texts either! GRRRRRR! So, I call my mom from my work phone and tell her I have no cell and I will call her when I get home, and I head home. Admittedly, seriously pissed off.

So, the next day the IT guy comes to my office and makes several attempts to get my phone to work. Apparently he can get it to receive emails from my work address but he can't get it to send emails. He won't let me try anything, and decides it is sprint's fault. He says there is no way to get around whatever sprint did to the phone, and so I can't use my BB for work. To be honest, I don't believe him, so I am gonna go to the sprint store today. In the meantime I have 2 BBs. The work one is AWFUL. It is really old and I have no idea how to use it. The other day I got an email on it and when I tried to read it, it called the person who sent it. Then it said "press esc to end call", only there is no "esc" button!!! Grr. So I am just really annoyed with all of that.

In addition to that, we have a REALLY old version of internet explorer. So I ask IT guy if I can upgrade and he says "No, because of our intranet. But I can give you mozilla." Whatevs. Fine, I'll take Mozilla. So he downloads that and says to me "you need to remember that we are the biggest firm in the world, so upgrades take time." WHAT???? Shouldn't it take LESS time since we are the biggest firm in the world? How hard is it to keep up with new browsers? The explorer is so old, it doesn't even have tabs! Ugh. I really can't stand this guy. 

But other than him, everyone is very nice and it was a good week. I have 2 cases that I am working on. Neither of them are too exciting, but I'm glad to have cases that feel manageable. My office is nice, and there are lots of perks to the job. So, I think it will be okay. The indefiniteness of my stay here still makes me nervous. But who knows, maybe in two years it will feel like home to me. 

Wow.

I found out today that a friend of mine has MS. I can't even begin to tell you how sad I am for her. I just can't imagine. 

The Day After Tomorrow

This is it. My last night where I don't have to set an alarm. Yeah, ok, I guess I'll still have weekends and the occasional day off, but this is my last REAL night of freedom. K left this afternoon, around 2. We had a great weekend. On saturday we went to the beach and watched the sunset, and ate at a seafood place on the water. Last night we went to see Eagle Eye, which was a actually a pretty good movie.  The rest of the weekend we spent just relaxing, eating and putting together some furniture. The apartment looks great, my closet is fairly organized and I think I'm feeling ready to start this job. K has been so great, he took such good care of me this weekend. My allergies are still bad and I've been a bit neurotic, but he was totally sweet. He even made this whole speech about what a great month we've had and how much closer we've become. We got to spend a lot of time together during my time off, and it's all been great. So, I think this month was good for me in lots of ways. Well, except of course financially! LOL Yeah, I'm kinda broke. But I'll be okay. Certainly better off than a lot of people in this country right now. So, here I go, making the big jump into private practice. Wish  me luck - hopefully I'll be able to blog again this weekend. 

Yes I Did!

Yep, that's right bitches, I got up close and personal with the one & only Barry O today. And by "up close" I mean as close as I was when I took this picture. And by "personal" I mean that I probably flashed him when I used my shirt to wipe the massive amounts of sweat from my forehead. That's okay, of course, because my boobs are awesome and I'm sure he didn't mind.

I am EXHAUSTED and totally sunburned. My scalp is sunburned. I put sunscreen on, but probably sweated it off in the first hour. The line was INSANE! Worse than super soap weekend at disney. But the crowd was awesome, and it was so great to see so many people in this little podunk town in western florida supporting Obama to this extent. The crowd was SO diverse - old and young, white and black, men and women. Really, it was great. There were only a handful of protestors...seriously like 5 people with McCain signs and one guy with an anti-abortion sign. That's it. I was surprised, I expected there to be more Anti-Obama people than Pro-Obama. I am really glad I went. It was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity and it made me more hopeful about the election. Unfortunately, it also made me a lobster.

I Can't Sleep

It's 3am. I don't know why I'm awake, but I am. I've been in bed, watching TV and trying to fall asleep for about 3 hours now. I really don't have anything on my mind and I feel fine...I honestly don't know what my problem is. But as long as I'm up, I may as well be up. Maybe I should go do some unpacking/organizing, but I don't feel like putting pants on and I don't like walking around with no pants.

I am supposed to wake up in 5 hrs to go see Obama at a park about 20 miles from here. I think I may be a little tired. I'm still gonna try to go though. I dunno if I'll get in, but I am going to try because I think it's something I should do. This election is scaring the crap out of me. The idea of McCain as president scares me even more than the idea of W as president. In fact, I think if the election were W v. McCain, I would vote for W. I can't imagine why anyone with even half a brain would vote for a republican after living through the last eight years. Even worse are people who lived through Nixon and W and are STILL gonna vote for McCain. Whatever happened to Darwinian selection?? How do these people survive?? Ugh. I dunno. I'm terrified. So, I feel like I should go to this event and participate as much as I can in this election. It may not help my cause, but at least I will feel like I gave it a good college try.

On a completely other note, while wondering around my new apartment in the middle of the night I realized something. I feel safer in this apartment for a pretty odd reason. In my old apartment I could lie in my bed, stare through my bedroom door and directly at the front door of my apartment. As many of you know, one of my PTSD nightmares involves andy coming in through my front door in the middle of the night. These dreams paralyze me. Being able to see the front door made these nightmares more frequent. In my apartment in GA I couldn't see the front door of my apartment from bed, but I could from my couch and I would have the nightmares more often when I fell asleep on my couch. Here, I can't see the front door from my bed or my couch and I haven't had one of those night mares yet. It seems silly, I know. I should feel more safe when I can see the front door, but I don't. It's irrational, but I guess that is what makes it PTSD.

So anyway, I can't sleep. I think I'm gonna get myself a brownie, maybe that will help. I know, more irrationality.

The Last Week of Freedom

I was quite productive today! Finally my bedroom looks like it should. It's a great feeling. I only have a week left of my "vacation", so I need to get my life in order. K will be here this weekend, so he can help me with the finishing touches - mostly things like putting furniture together. I ordered a VERY nice bookshelf for the guest room, and a matching nightstand. They are black with an antique finish, K and my sister both approved. They probably won't get here until next week, which sucks but can't be helped. 

Tomorrow I will do as much with the guest room as I can, so there is room for the new furniture. Then on wednesday I am going to see Obama!! Well, I am gonna try, we'll see if I can get in! Thursday I have a continuing legal education class all day, and on Friday K should be here for our last free weekend together. I'm trying not to be all "dooms day" about starting work, but it's hard. I know my life won't be mine anymore, it won't be free and easy. I just hope I can handle it, and if I can't I hope my next choice is the right one. Ugh. I need chocolate...

Yuck.

When I was a kid I used to believe that I was born with a cold that never went away. Being allergic to everything, that was pretty much true. Eventually, though, I got control of the perpetual cold. Until about 3 months ago, when my allergy medicine was taken away from me. See, I had been on Zyrtec-D for about 5 years. Now, Zyrtec is available OTC, but Zyrtec-D is not available at all anymore. And, yes, there IS a difference. So, basically, the medicine I had come to depend on was just taken away from me with little notice and no options.

I was doing okay, really, until moving day. Then my allergies returned with a vengeance. The day we moved my eyes were so bad I could barely see & my nose was bleeding. We hoped it was an extraordinary reaction to extraordinary circumstances - lots of dust & cleaning products. Unfortunately, my "attack" has lasted two full weeks. By yesterday I was barely breathing. It was awful. Because yesterday was the first day I didn't have a house guest, I was able to fully drug myself. I took benedryl and  slept all day, and today I felt a bit better. The problem is, I just don't know what I will do when I start work. I can't take benedryl...I will be a zombie! Honestly, all the OTC allergy meds either knock me out or have no effect. So, once my new health insurance starts I will need to find a new doc ASAP and see what can be done. Until then, I will be sniffling like a coke addict and carrying around a box of kleenex. Yeah, I'm hot.

Self-Indulgence

So I've been pretty self-indulgent this past week. Napping, eating out, watching TV and just being generally lazy. It's been awesome. I feel so happy right now! I mean, not that I haven't been happy....but this is just a light, satisfied, unburdened feeling. It's really great. The new apartment is really great. My mom will be here on saturday, and when she gets here we will start exploring the area a bit. I need to get a map today so I can start getting a better feel for the "big picture", particularly figuring out where the closest beaches are!!!

Yeah, so things are good, I'm gonna get back to being lazy!

All Moved In

So, we survived the move! It went pretty well, however the movers did do some damage to my furniture, but not NEARLY as bad as last time. Hopefully the insurance will take care of it without a problem. So, here's the recap:

K got here thursday night. Friday we spent most of the day packing. The movers showed up on Saturday morning and the move took a full 8 hours. I was REALLY tired, so K drove from Orlando to Tampa and I slept in the car. That was awesome. Saturday night we went out and bought ceiling fans and new shower heads and then came home and passed out! Sunday we had to go back to Orlando to clean the old place and turn in the keys. We also had lunch with friends and met up with K's friend AJ. AJ drives a truck for the same company that K does, so he decided to take a few days off too and help us out. We brought him back to Tampa with us and he has been a HUGE help! He helped K put up the ceiling fans and shower heads and has helped with the packing and cleaning. They will probably be here until Wednesday morning.

Anyway, so things are going very well. I think we will be happy here for a while. Right now, everyone is asleep, and I think I will join them!! Good night!!

Does anyone else hear that noise?????

Well, things are moving along. I spent most of today packing, but I wasn't too productive because they were putting new carpet into the apartment above me, which was soooooooooo loud it almost gave me a nervous breakdown! There were here for TEN HOURS! I left for lunch, but I couldn't leave for the whole day because I have a lot of stuff to do! Ugh. It sucked. I have a HORRIBLE headache now. But I took an aleve and a xanax, so hopefully I will feel better in the morning.

K will be here tomorrow night, which makes me SO happy!!! He can help me all day friday, so surely everything will be set for the movers on saturday. Woot! I really can't wait to see him. I'm so excited for us to make this move together, ya know? He has been so sweet and supportive the last few weeks. I really am pretty lucky. We also had a really good talk yesterday which made me feel even better about us. Not that I was having any real issues, but still it's nice to know how he feels once in a while.

I have SOOOOO much trash to get rid of! I wish I had a pick up truck! I know I could rent one from Home Depot, but it's not that serious. Just annoying. Really most of the packing is done, it just seems like a big mess so it's hard to see my progress! Tomorrow I am having lunch with a friend from work, so that will be nice. Then I will come home and pack some more!!! Yes, this is getting a bit repetitive.

Treasure Hunting

One of the best parts of packing up my life is finding stuff I forgot I had. Pictures, letters, all kinds of things! Today I found an essay I wrote. I think it may have been an early draft of my law school admissions essay. It's not complete, and I don't think it even remotely resembles the essay I ended up with. But, I did find a phrase in there, that I wrote, and that I find to be quite quotable:

"I have to live my life like I am going to live forever, I only have to love like I am going to die tomorrow."

Nice, right? I like it! And it really is true. Living like you will die tomorrow sounds fun, but it's incredibly irresponsible. And if you don't die tomorrow, the fun (and the money) run out fast. This is the lesson I learned when I was 20 years old. That I had to prepare for the future, because it would give me the freedom to enjoy today. It may sound obvious, but to me it was an important discovery. It meant I started protecting my body, my reputation and my money. And look how well that worked for me??!!

I really like most of this essay draft, so I think I will keep it! Put it in my memory box...which is quickly turning in to many many memory boxes!!

Summation

When I was 5 years old I wanted to go to law school. But I don't remember the wanting, I only remember my father telling me it would never happen. See, I had trouble learning how to write my name. I kept writing it backwards and nobody could figure out what the hell my problem was. My mom would repeat the spelling of my name over and over again, and I would still write it backwards. My father came into my room one day when he got home from work and said "You will never get into law school if you can't even spell your name right!!!" I remember crying and thinking "what will I do then?" Eventually, my mother watched me write my name and realized I wasn't spelling in backwards, I was starting on the wrong side of the page. It ended up being very easy to fix. But I will never forget that day. It was just the first of MANY times that my father would tell me that I would never get into law school. All said and done, I got into 13 of them. 

But I think that my father's continued warnings had a lasting effect on me. They made me afraid that every accomplishment was a mistake. When I got into law school, I was terrified that it was a mistake. I wanted to put deposits down on all the schools just in case, when I showed up on the first day, they said "oops. we didn't mean to send YOU an acceptance letter." 

Then, when I graduated, I was afraid they would take my degree away from me. I was afraid they would find out that my good grades were given to me in error and take them back. So I kept all of the proof - not just the grades but all the notes and outlines, to prove that I did it and, if I had to, I could do it again.

When I got hired for this job I was afraid too. I was afraid I would show up and my judge would realize he had called the wrong applicant. I was afraid that I wasn't as smart as he thought I was and that I wouldn't last more than a week.

But now, after these 2 years of working for him, I'm not afraid anymore. I finally feel validated. This is no accident. There was no way for me to get lost in the crowd. For 2 years I worked for this man that is known far and wide to be an intelligent and fantastic lawyer. He read what I wrote and signed his name to it. And nobody can take that away from me. I finally feel like I have earned my place in this profession, and that I don't need to prove it anymore. So when I was packing for my move, I threw out all of that junk. I don't need it anymore. Nobody is going to take this away from me anymore. It is quite a relief.

No more work!!

Today, I finished all of my work! I am still gonna go in tomorrow...mostly for my "goodbye lunch" at Cheesecake Factory! Also, JW's goodbye happy hour is tomorrow after work.

It's been a good last week so far. All of the other clerks took me out to lunch today, which was GREAT! A drink was spilled again - still not by me! Woot!

The funniest part of the day, though, was when my Judge walked in while I was telling TW a story about K & his mom. He said: "CJ, when you leave do you think you could keep a journal and send us some kind of weekly update or something so we know what is going on with all this drama? Or, maybe I should just join facebook to keep up with you!"

HAHA! He so SHOULD join FB!!! That would be wonderful! But, he won't. Anyway, I told MH this story and she said I should start a blog! I said "Already got one!" I decided that she was safe so, I gave her the top-secret address. Soooooo, MH, if you are reading this: Welcome to NAPG!!!
You are in a VERY exclusive club! Don't fuck it up! LOL

Anyway, things are going pretty good. It looks like I may just call tomorrow my last day because there is no point in me coming in if I have nothing to do. I'm not sad yet, but I think it's just not really sinking in. It may not until after I move. But I am looking forward to moving in to my new place, so I just gotta keep looking forward!!!

My Last Week

Today was the 1st day of my last week at this job. I went in for 90 minutes and took the rest of the day off. Nice. I spent the day packing, so I made up for my weekend of excessive napping - kinda. I threw out a lot of stuff and donated a bunch to goodwill (18 pairs of shoes, 18 shirts and 3 each of pants, skirts and shorts). I have a bunch of VHS tapes to get rid of too. Do you think Goodwill even takes those? It's getting pretty difficult to find VCRs these days. Hard to believe.

I've been going through a lot of old stuff and I have determined that I need a few big photo albums. I have pictures going back like 15 years, and I should really organize them. Maybe that is what I will do with my month off...in addition to working out and tanning!! I intend to be sexy when I start my new job...they take pix and put them on their website, ya know!! That is a good incentive. At least, I hope it will be! I am throwing out a LOT of stuff, which is good. I feel like un-encumbering myself. I think that I am secure enough in my life that I can start getting rid of junk from my past that has accumulated over the years.

So, Friday is my last day, and then on Sunday I am going to Georgia for a Monkey Reunion!!! I am so excited! Only 4 out of 5 of us will be there, but still this is our first time together in 2 years! I can't wait! I'm glad to have something to look forward to this weekend, it will make the week less sad.

Unexpected Laziness

I woke up early today. Fully expecting to be hella productive. I planned to go get a pedicure, finish wrapping "goodbye" gifts for the people in my office, and then pack all day. Pedicure? Check. Gift wrapping? Check. Packing??? None. Not at all. Instead? Three hour nap!! I still can't believe it. I intentionally laid down for a nap, and when I woke up I thought "Hmm. I'm hungry. I'll go grab some lunch." I got up, brushed my hair, got changed, got in the car and looked at the clock. It was 4:30!!!! I definitely slept through lunch. Good lord. So, I went and got "linner", came home and continued to be lazy. I've done nothing productive all day. Maybe tomorrow.

U R Dumb!

This morning I watched a news story about the national conventions. The "big reveal" of the story was that when you check the box on your tax return indicating that you want to donate money toward paying for presidential campaigns that money is....what for it....used to pay for campaigns!!! EEK!!! What a scam!

They show this reporter telling people that their "tax dollars" go to pay for the national conventions (which they call "the parties' parties"...very clever). Everyone they talked to is shocked and dismayed. Like, wtf did you think happened when you check that box??? Did you think "presidential campaign" was code for "hungry children"??? It's ironic that people have ONE, clearly delineated, opportunity to earmark a portion of their tax dollars and they can't even understand THAT. Good grief.

Storms

We have been enduring Tropical Storm Fay all week. As usual, all of the predictions were wrong. They thought the worst day for us would be tuesday, so they closed down the courthouse and I got the day off. It was perfect because K got here at 3am on Tuesday and we got to spend the whole day together. It was an incredibly nice visit. Just a wonderful, relaxing and happy day. We watched a movie, ate Chinese food and slept a LOT. The weather wasn't great, but it also wasn't too bad.

Today is the WORST day so far. I am at work and K is gone, on his way to Pennsylvania. It's very windy and rainy...actually it wasn't bad for the middle of the day but both commute times were really bad! In fact, this morning the ceiling on the 2nd floor was leaking so bad that the people in those offices had to be moved to the 4th floor. (Why it wasn't leaking on the TOP floor, I have no idea.) Ugh. Anyway, I am caught up at work again with only one day and one week left. So, all I have to do is sit back & watch the storm.

Passing the Torch

Okay, so yesterday I did my little "orientation" for my replacement, TF. This guy is unreal. If you look up "douchebag" in the dictionary, the definition will read "someone cooler than TF." Seriously, I can't stand this kid. I am embarrassed to be seen with him.

I think I have seen him 6 times in my life, and 4 of those times he was wearing the exact same blue & white pinstripe seer-sucker suit with an ugly tie (he changes up the ugly tie). 

Many of you know about the fascinating chunk of lazy that is my co-clerk...well this guy is gonna blend in well with him. I think my judge may kill himself in the next year. 

Perhaps his most egregious failure of the day had to do with HR. Apparently a few weeks ago he inquired as to how he could make sure his pay checks started ASAP. So, they told him he could turn in his paperwork early so that it could be processed early. So yesterday I take him down to HR and they say "Oh. You're empty-handed? So you didn't bring in your paperwork??" and TF says "Oh! I was supposed to bring that in??? I thought we would do it electronically."

Why the fuck would they MAIL you forms if they wanted you to fill them out electronically??? And wouldn't you bring them in just to be safe???

Oh, and also, he is working for a law firm downtown right now, I guess until the 22nd. He kept saying he "works across the street." This is ridiculously inaccurate, unless by across the street you mean "across the interstate"...in which case you would still be talking about a bank and not the law firm he works at which is several blocks away. Anyhoo...someone asked him if he had just walked over from there and he said yes. At the end of the day I discover that not only did he NOT park at his law firm and walk over, he actually parked in the ghetto in a possibly illegal location. All day he had been secretly thinking his car may have been towed. Again, why the fuck wouldn't you park at your law firm that is "right across the street"????  God, I hoped he got mugged on his way back to the car. He looked like Colonel Sanders in that freakin suit!! I hope some self respecting black dude realized he just could NOT pass up that opportunity and took him out. Or at least asked him for fried chicken.

So yeah, that was my friday, giving Mr. I-wish-I-was-a-douchebag a tour of the courthouse and telling him what to do on his first day. Oh, and he asked me how long it should take him to write an order on, say, a motion to dismiss. I told him one day. Good luck loser.

Sudden In-Custody Death Syndrome

This is my new favorite imaginary disease. It was created by Taser Int'l. From the Taser website (reorganized for ease of reading):

Sudden in-custody death results from a complex set of physiological and psychological conditions characterized by irrational behavior, extreme exertion, and potentially fatal changes in blood chemistry. Promptly capturing, controlling, and restraining a subject exhibiting signs of these conditions may end the struggle and allow early medical care intervention.

Signs of Sudden In-Custody Death Syndrome include: extreme agitation, bizarre behavior, inappropriate nudity, imperviousness to pain, paranoia, exhaustive exertion, "superhuman" strength, hallucinations, sweating profusely, etc.

If a subject is exhibiting signs or behaviors that are associated with Sudden In-Custody Death Syndrome, consider need for medical assistance.

I guess this is Taser's way of saying "Taser's don't kill people, they were gonna die anyway!" I can see it now, "The subject was tased 10 times, but that was not the cause of death. This man suffered from incurable mortality." *Gasp!*

More New Stuff

Yesterday my trusty computer finally died. Well, it isn't COMPLETELY dead, but it spent more time freezing than running and I couldn't connect to the internet anymore. So I broke down and bought a new one. And, in true white-girl fashion, I bought a Mac. So far, I love it. It took a little getting used to for the first hour or so, but now I am sort of in the groove...and  like it! Yeah, it was a little expensive, but it's worth having a reliable computer. Especially starting my new job, I will need to have a quick and reliable computer to use at home. I bought the black MacBook, which is probably more memory and speed than I need but I decided to err on the side of more!

In other news I am continuing to pack and clean in preparation for the move. I have people coming over on wednesday so I have to make at least the common areas presentable! Unfortunately, I wasted most of my weekend dealing with technology so I didn't get much done. Right now, it's 2pm on sunday, so I can still get more done and hopefully won't have much to do tomorrow and tuesday. I've been so tired lately I really just wanna sleep all day! But I won't. I am getting a massage at 3 so hopefully that will reenergize me!

Where We Stand

Ever since the reunion, K has been telling people that we are "getting married." In fact, he even told his ex that he proposed to me. I guess it's not a lie...he has asked me to marry him many, many times. But still, there has been no down-on-one-knee-with-a-ring type of proposal. So, to me, we aren't really engaged. At least not in the popular sense of the word. Sure, I would be happy to marry him someday, if it made sense. But right now, it doesn't. He doesn't love me enough yet, not enough to cut his mother off financially. Not enough to get down on one knee. Not enough to stop talking to his ex.

I know he loves me probably as much as he can. And that's fine with me. I don't want or need a husband. But he wants a wife, and I wonder if he realizes just how far he is from having one. We have been looking at houses in Tampa and he thinks of it as "our house", but truthfully it will be my house. My name on the mortgage and the deed, me making the payments and me making all the final decisions. Until he divorces his mother, he is not gonna marry me. I just don't know if he sees that clearly. I think he may think I am "over" the stuff about his mother. I am, but that doesn't mean I am getting involved! I take care of me. That is how it's always been & how it will be for at least the foreseeable future. Maybe we should just have a commitment ceremony?? Can straight people have those? Or should I say, can a hetero and an anti-sexual have one of those? LOL

There It Is Again

Yesterday I had lunch with a friend who works at a local law firm with a VERY strange culture. Kind of like a highschool/reality-show culture. Everyone in everyone else's personal business, lots of gossip, and more than enough crazy to go around. I said to him "Ya know, if I worked at your firm I would be the least crazy slash most normal one there! That is scary." He said "You'd also be the happy one."

I kinda like this whole "happy" reputation of mine. And every time it comes up, it makes me smile - even bigger than I already am apparently!

Left Out

This is kinda odd...but lately there have been several events involving the people I work with that I have not been invited to, or invited to, but as like an afterthought. I'm not really "hurt" by this, but it is just strange, because it is so out of the blue. I'm not sure if it is intentional, or if people are just forgetting about me? I have no idea. Generally when something is going on, an email is sent to what you may call "the usual suspects". Hardly ever do people get left out, because you can usually just hit "reply all" to the email - ya know? But in the past week, there was one thing I was not invited to AT ALL, and two things where the invite was forwarded to just me later on. Of course, these are just the things I know about. It is very possible that there are 100 things I have been excluded from, but I was just completely in the dark.

Last night I found out about the thing I wasn't invited to at all. Today someone asks me if I am going to it and I said "No, I wasn't invited." She said "Well, you weren't not invited. N sent an email to some of us and told us to forward it to all the clerks because she didn't have everyone's email." I said "Well, nobody forwarded it to me." I mean, even if N wanted me to go, and really didn't know my email (which is completely plausible), it's obvious that nobody else cared to tell me about it. So I WAS not invited. I mean, it's not an event I really care to go to, but still, it is just another thing, ya know?

It makes me sad because I have been thinking lately about how I will miss the friends I have made here - and now I am forced to wonder if I really HAVE made friends here. I guess time will tell.

Planning

Well, it feels like things are officially in order for my move! I had lunch with one of the partners at my new firm a few days ago - so I still have a job! In light of that boost in security, I set up everything else. So, here is the plan:

Aug. 29: Last day of this job :-(
Sept. 5: Go get the keys & sign the lease on my new place
Sept. 6: Moving day!
Sept. 7: Come back to the old place, turn in keys & do final inspection
Sept 13-17: Mom comes to visit!
Oct 1st: Start my new job!

So, now all I have to do is set up utilities at the new place, switch over my renter's insurance, get a washer & dryer and switch my driver's license.

Oh! And pack. ;-)

I already got a bunch of boxes so I can start on that this weekend actually. I am really kind of peaceful about all this right now. I feel better now that the movers are reserved, and the paperwork is in place, etc. So, here I go! Moving again!! Always a new adventure!!

Good Boy

K called last night at 10 specifically to apologize for being such an ass. He said he just made that comment without thinking, but that he knows this is not all in my head. So good.

Also, I talked to my mom last night and she had a great idea! She said that maybe I could get a bio-feedback instrument of my own, that way I can track my own progress and not worry about someone else's comments. And ya know what? She was right! I ordered my own last night! This is awesome because, since I can't tell whether I am relaxing my muscles or not, I will be able to have a computer tell me and I won't even have to leave home! No co-pays, no referrals, no 7am appointments, and the best part: no lectures! Go mom!!

Nobody Listens!!!

So, I had my 6th, and possibly last, physical therapy appointment today. My insurance only approved 6 visits, and I can request more, but since I only have 7 weeks left at my job, I'm not sure it's worth it. Anyway, today's appt was a little frustrating.

Today's visit was dedicated to getting me to relax. My biggest problem is my inability to relax my pelvic muscles - which are constantly clenched. The problem with trying to relax them is that I don't know how to control them at all. So they hook me up to this machine that monitors my muscle activity, and it is connected to a probe that goes inside of me (I know, it's icky). Anyway, having that in me REALLY HURTS. I guess that if I learned to relax it wouldn't hurt so much, but how can you relax when you are in so much pain. Vicious cycle.

So today she talks me through a relaxation exercise, trying to get me to relax my whole body. After 20 minutes the computer says that I have barely relaxed my pelvic muscles at all. Plus, it still hurts. So, she asks if she should leave me alone and let me try to relax on my own.

Me: "Okay, but not for too long because this REALLY hurts."
Her: "Well, I really don't know what else to tell you or what else to try."
Me: "Maybe I'm hopeless."
Her: "Well maybe that is your problem, you have just accepted that this is how things are. You need to mentally be more hopeful and change your attitude....(continues to lecture me on my 'attitude' for a good 5 minutes)"

WTF???? First of all, I was being sarcastic. Second, SHE was the one who was giving up. SHE said that she didn't have anything else to say or try. If she had said "well, next week we can try ____." I would have said "GREAT, see you then!". Third, I had agreed to try it with her leaving the room, I just didn't want her to leave me hooked up to that thing for another 20 minutes! Is that sooooo unreasonable??? So, instead of 5 minutes more of relaxing I get the above-referenced 5 minute lecture PLUS another 10 minute lecture after I got dressed again. I was really annoyed.

To make it worse, I come home and START telling K this story. Instead of listening to me he interrupts and says "HA! I told you!!! It's all in your head! You want things to be this way!!!" I really thought my head was going to explode. I was so angry at him for having the same unreasonable reaction as my PT lady had, without even hearing the whole story. Of course, he says this to me and then 5 seconds later hangs up to go get dinner. So I am just left all angry and frustrated and it makes me feel like maybe I should just give up. I mean I have been doing all this work, putting in all this effort, being poked & prodded FOR HIM. I thought he was starting to see that these were physical problems, not mental. But I guess that was all an act. So, ya know what? If I don't want it to be better, then fine. I will stop trying. We can just never have sex again for all I care. He can go buy hookers. Because I am so not gonna keep expending all this time, effort and money when he still thinks it's just all in my head. God. I am so fucking angry at him right now!!!

The Rest of My Vacation

Okay, so I did spend a whole week in Buffalo before my reunion, and that was fun too! Unfortunately, I got this head cold on Monday, so I was kinda sickly all week. But still, we did okay.

When I got there it was the 4th of July, so after my plane landed I took a nap and then went out with my sister. We went to my BFF's new apartment for some snacks & non-alcoholic beverages. She made us very yummy drinks with sparkling cider & strawberries. Schmoe met us there and then the 3 of us went to the river to claim a spot to watch fireworks. Two of my sister's friends met us there, and eventually so did BFF, her boy, our friend N and his g/f and her son. We had a good time, though all the walking and hauling blankets and coolers was very tiring and my broken toe hurt a LOT! (Sister says it was not broken but it WAS!)

The next day we went to see Wall-E which was sooooo cute! I highly recommend it.

We also had a good number of nice meals out together (me, mom & sis) and did some shopping and sight seeing around town. Oh also, my sister locked her keys in the car at the marina, and we had to call AAA. That was an adventure. Too bad K wasn't in town yet or he could have broken in for us!!! (Can't you just picture it? "No officer, those white ladies ASKED me to break into their car. I swear!!" LOL)

I spent some quality time with BFF and her b/f on wednesday night, which is always great. I also got to catch up with a friend I haven't seen in 10 years, but who wasn't in my class (so not at the reunion).

K showed up on Friday night and we went to see Hancock. Saturday I took him to get his haircut and then I went and got my hair done by my friend Lisa, so I got to catch up with her some. Saturday night was the reunion and sunday I left!! So that was the vacay in a nutshell!!

I Am Awesome

So, my ten-year high school reunion is over. I survived, with flying colors actually. I was clearly one of the most awesome people there. Duh! The best part was making my arch-enemy, KST, cry twice!! Priceless. I wish I had video.

K and I both looked damn good if I do say so myself. And I had a lot of fun with Schmoe and JC (my best friend back in those days!). JC's b/f was a pretty nice guy too, so the 4 of us had a good time together. And - bonus - K's ex-g/f (E) like TOTALLY ignored us the whole time. She tried to talk to K once, but he just brushed her off and then actively avoided making eye-contact with either of us for the rest of the night.

I do regret not making more of an effort to talk to a few of the people there. I also regret not taking a picture of my $45 glass of coke...altho at the time I had NO idea that it would be the only thing I would be ingesting all night. The "dinner" we were supposed to get did not exist. Instead, there was an open bar, spinach & artichoke dip, chicken fingers, chicken wings, nachos and jalepeno poppers. Stupid me, I thought this would be just "appetizers" with actual dinner to come later. I was wrong. So, I ended up going to get food after the reunion, on my way home, at like midnight!

The night seemed to go by pretty fast, except for the slideshow which was like AN HOUR long!!! It was the same one they showed at prom, but I don't remember it being so looooong!!!!

Anyway, all in all it was good. I will write about the rest of my week later on. Right now I am HUNGRY!

Clean Slate

My blood test was negative!!! Woot! I feel so much better. And I cannot tell you how glad I am to know this before my vacation! Now I can really celebrate tomorrow! Ugh. I am so relieved.

In other news, I only had to work until 11am today! I spent the rest of the day packing, resting & relaxing. In fact, I just got out of the hot tub. :-)

So, I am all ready for my trip. I will try to blog while I am up there, as long as I have an internet connection! Have a great 4th of July everyone!!

A New Day

So I got the blood test yesterday, I won't know the results until sometime next week, but I already feel better - just knowing an answer is in the works. I hate getting blood drawn! I wished my mommy was there to hold my hand and carry me to the car afterwards! But I survived. Now all I can do is wait. My doctor did say that the chances of me having it are practically zero, but better safe than sorry, ya know?

Last night was my first good night's sleep in like 3 days, so I feel good today - physically and emotionally. I am looking forward to seeing so many people I love on Friday (mom, sis, Rita, Jocelyn, Mike, etc.). I think it will be a good day, which is great because I LOVE 4th of July! It's my favorite holiday.

Hopefully I will have my test results before the reunion, because then I have to decide if I inform other people that I know slept with that guy. Mind you, both of these people (EG and KST) are people I hate. KST is the person I hate most in the world except for DB. K says I should just say "Fuck them." because they wouldn't tell me if they knew. In fact, it is likely that KST did know and didn't tell me. But, I am better than them and I want to keep being better than them, so I am inclined to tell them. I think he is worried mostly that if he could have it, then they will know his business. So, if I find out I don't have it then I will pull them aside and just say "AL had Hep C, I don't have it but you might. Go get checked." and that's it. Well, with KST I may put it in the form of a question so as to ascertain whether it is news to her or not.

Anyway, like I said, I am feeling much better today. Just bored as hell with no work to do! Hope you are all having a good day!

Even More Nervous

Eight years ago I was raped. Last night I found out the guy who did it has Hepatitis C. I don't know when he got it, and chances are slim that I could get it from him anyway, but I am going to get tested today. I didn't sleep last night. I just cried & cried. K was great about it, he isn't mad at me just mad at that guy, but I wish I could've told him in person. I wish he was here. Today is going to suck. Cross all of your digits & appendages for me please.

Nervous

In one week I am going "home" and in 2 weeks I am going to my ten-year high school reunion. I am excited, but also nervous. The part I am most nervous about is K's ex-girlfriend (E) being there. I guess I am just apprehensive about all 3 of us being in the same room at the same time. I am afraid that K will treat me differently in front of her. I'm afraid at seeing how he treats her. I doubt she will start a fight with me or anything, but I know she is going to try to come between us. I know she will try to interrupt us and pull him away from me. On the one hand I want to tell him my fears, but I don't want him putting on an act because of what I say ahead of time. I want to see how he behaves naturally, I want to know how he really feels in his heart when he sees the two of us at the same time. I hate the fact that I am so insecure when it comes to her, but how else am I supposed to feel? They were together for 8 years, and she is clearly still interested in him. He says he has no feelings left for her, but he also won't just drop her. I dunno. I am just nervous about it all. Plus there is the fact that he plans on drinking that night, so he can't come home with me, so I will have to worry that he might go home with her. On the one hand I think, no, that is ridiculous. But on the other hand it seems completely plausible...even unavoidable. He is gonna be drunk, he always wants to have sex, she wants to break us up - am I stupid to think for a single second that he won't sleep with her that night?? I feel like even if I stay as long as he does and drive him back to his truck, or wherever he is gonna sleep that night, I won't know what will happen next. She could show up after I leave. But, I guess that could happen anytime, right? Ugh. Do these fears EVER go away??? I hate myself when I feel this way.

Dangerously Tame

As most of you know, my Monkey came to visit me last weekend!!! We had a fabulous time! She got here thursday at around 11am and left Sunday evening. We did a perfect amount of adventuring, eating and being lazy on my couch! It was a really great visit, and I wanted to write about it sooner but I was in trial the last 2 days. So, here is the long awaited summary!

On Thursday I picked her up from the train station (Yes, she took a train. She is a little crazy!) and we went straight to my apartment to drop off her stuff. Then we had a very yummy lunch at Tijuana Flats and then a lovely journey through the botanical gardens! We saw lots of flowers as well as butterflies, ducks, turtles, birds and lizards! We also saw a sign that warned us that alligators may be present and we should not feed or touch them as it may make them "dangerously tame". We loved that sign and it became our theme for the weekend! After that we went home and took much needed naps on the fabulous new couch! Then we came back downtown and had dinner at the new brick-oven pizza place and walked around the lake, where we saw swans and ducks and strange people.

Friday I had to work for a few hours in the morning which was perfect because Monkey slept until 10 because she was still recovering from the train! After I came home, I changed into adventure clothes and we went to Animal Kingdom! FABULOUS! We did pretty much everything there is to do and saw way too many animals to list! We even ate lunch at rainforest cafe! I had a great time riding the rollercoaster and the dinosaur ride with her because it was all new to her so she was genuinely scared (in a good way). Really a great day! We got rained on at the end, but that was fine, because we were just leaving anyway. We came home, took showers & mini-naps and then had dinner at Crispers.

Saturday we went to the Merrit Island Wildlife Refuge and the Canaveral National Seashore. We saw more birds and lizards and a BABY ALLIGATOR!!!!! So cute. We also saw more strange people. Unfortunately we got chased off the beach by storms, but still a pretty good day. I know we wnet to Steak & Shake for lunch after that, but I can't remember what we did after that! (Monkey will, I'm sure.) At night we walked around the plaza by my house some and got ice cream at Marble Slab.

Sunday we went for breakfast at Perkins and then spent the afternoon at the Art Museum. That was really cool. The featured exhibit was William Joyce, who is a great children's book illustrator and does the drawings for Rollie Pollie Ollie. His stuff was really cool. There were also a lot of local artists featured and just some really cool things. It was a great way to spend the afternoon, and the rain came while we were inside this time! Haha! Then we went shopping in downtown winter park and had lunch at a restaurant down there. I think we finished up that day shopping at Florida Mall, I got shoes & jewelry for my reunion (but maybe that was saturday? I dunno I am getting old).

So that is the story! It was a great weekend and i have lots of pix on my computer at home, so I will put some up on here later & the rest on facebook or myspace. Probably not until tomorrow though because I have plans tonite! I hope you all had a great weekend too - although it couldn't possibly compare to mine!!!

Mission: Reunion Dress

Last night I went shopping with three friends from work (JS, CS and MH) to find a dress to wear to my 10-year reunion. We had a blast!

I wanted something not too fancy, that made me look skinny, and cost less than $100. We started a JCPenney. I tried on like 20 dresses and bought one: $39.99 and looked great! I only had one small reservation about it, so I decided that we would keep looking just in case. After dinner at CPK, we wentto Macy's. I tried on dresses ranging from $70 to $150, but we all agreed the dress I already had was better than any of them. I just needed a better bra.

I spent the next half hour with my 3 friends staring at my boobs from all angles, and taking turns pushing them together. It was hilarious. The lady working there tried to help, but she was a tad bit annoying. See, my one boob is MUCH bigger than the other. Probably a whole cup size. So it's pretty impossible to get them to look completely even. I accept that. But the Macy's lady kept blaming the dress. It is NOT the dress, it's the boob. Trust me.

We eventually narrowed it down to two bras. How to decide? One was $53.00, the other was $9.99. Seriously, I will NOT pay more for the bra than I did for the dress. So, I took the cheap one and we left the mall after it closed! LOL (Of course, this meant I had frantic voicemails and texts from my mom, my sister and K all wondering if I was dead because it was 10pm and I wasn't home yet!)

The dress is black and white, so we decided I should get some colorful accessories to go with it. The girls say red, mom says yellow and T says turquoise. I am thinking pink. ;-) I'll look around and decide eventually.

The best thing about last night was really determining which styles looked good on me. Oddly it ended up being the opposite of what I expected. So that was really neat...it was like my own personal makeover team!

So, anyway...lots of fun was had by all. Tomorrow will be a FABULOUS day because my monkey is coming to visit!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!! So, you may not hear from me until next week.

Just FYI

The Incredible Hulk is a very good movie. Ed Norton is amazing and hot even when he is big & green. You should go see it.

The Happening is a horrible movie. There is nothing good about it (well, except some pretty funny death scenes). I thought I could watch Mark Wahlberg read the phone book & not get bored. I was wrong. Don't bother seeing it. Don't even rent it. Tell your friends.

Thanks For The Hugs

I needed them. The weekend ended up getting better, and we ended on a high note last night. I even gave him my ring back. I won't go into all the details, but we had 3 fights. All 3 times he was wrong, which he admitted eventually. However, all 3 times I also broke up with him - telling him to get out & take his stuff. I shouldn't have done that. I need to work on that. I am way too willing to "cut & run." I really am turning into a man! LOL

So, I guess we forgave each other & we are okay now. Unfortuantely I had terrible nightmares last night, so today will be a pretty tired day. Oh well. I will go to bed early tonite!

Nothing Good To Say

We have been fighting alllllllllll weekend. K is still here, so I won't write the details until Monday. I don't know if this is break-up fighting or just regular fighting, but I did take back my class ring from him....

Grumpy McAttitude

On Monday, the last day my mom & sister were here, K was in a VERY grumpy mood. He had "that voice" and was being all short with me, so I was like "go be grumpy, call me later." The grumpy mood lasted through Tuesday, and I found out Monday afternoon what it was about (his mother - of course). So by Tuesday night I said "why don't you go pout for a few days and call me when you are better." Twenty minutes later the mood was gone. This morning we are 100% back to normal. Good.

But last night my mom was asking me how I can just disregard his attitude like that - why doesn't it ruin my day? Especially if he doesn't tell me why he is grumpy - don't I worry that it's me? That he's mad at me? And I said "Nope." She was amazed. I said when I was 17 I would have worried, but now, I really don't give a fuck. The probability that his bad mood is about me and I don't know it is about 1 in a million. And if it is about me, so what? He'll get over it, or he won't. Not much I can do about it. If he wants to discuss it, he will. If not, he's a grown up, that's his deal. This amazes my mother, she says "You have become so patient and mature. I guess I never grew up like that." True. She didn't.

And this brings me to my next story....for those of you that don't know, my judge gets caricatures done of all of his clerks and hangs them on the wall in chambers. Well, mine was unveiled this past sunday. I feared I would be all nose, hoped I would be all boobs, but ended up being all smile. Everyone said it was "perfect" because I am always smiling and laughing. And I thought "Hm. That's funny, because growing up I was known for being depressed and suicidal and writing poetry." I think I like my new persona better. ;-)

So, I guess my mom is right. I have grown up, and become a happier, more patient and more relaxed person. Can you imagine what a dark anxious bitch I used to be???? LOL

What A Week!!!!

Well, the fam is leaving today. We had QUITE a week! Mostly it was fabulous. And the biggest news: my sister is OFFICIALLY a Florida resident!!!! We got her driver's license today! She is hoping to go to grad school at either FSU or UF. Very exciting!!!

So, I won't bore you with all the stories, just the run down. My sister and I did Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios (f/k/a Disney/MGM Studios). It was soooooo hot we spent everyday drenched in sweat! But we are so amazing that we managed to do everything we wanted to do at Magic Kingdom in like three hours...and then we just hung out and did some stuff we'd never done before. Animal Kingdom was equally successful and included lunch at Rainforest Cafe. On Friday, we did the Studios and it was PACKED!!!! We got to ride the new toy story ride TWICE...the first time we waited in line for 80 minutes!!!! That is the longest we have ever waited for a ride...but it was all indoors so it was air conditioned & we really didn't have anything else we needed to do. The ride was a LOT of fun...it was more of a game than a ride, but it was great & I can't wait to go back and play more!!

On Saturday, my mom went with us to see the Postsecret exhibit in Melbourne. It was okay...a lot of the secrets I had seen already, and apparently I am the slowest reader in my family, so at the end I kinda just gave up and went to join them. The coolest thing was that they showed both sides of some post cards that had writing on both sides, and so that was cool. After the exhibit we had a FABULOUS lunch at a local restaurant we just happened upon, and then we went for a walk on the beach.

Yesterday was the party at my judge's house - my "goodbye" party. It went pretty well. My judge gave me a great present - a leather-bound version of the book Scottsboro.

I also got to see my caricature, which will go on the wall in chambers for all time. It was better than a feared, but still kinda scary! I have a HUGE smile, but I don't look fat, so that is good. Plus my nose is like barely visible, rather than huge like I feared. I guess it's fine. People say it looks like me - but I don't see it at all!

My judge said some very nice things about me, and my family said he was crying when I gave my goodbye "speech" - which was more of a rambling than a speech!

So, anyway, everything went pretty well!!! Now I am ready to sleep it all off!!

Before I Disappear

My sister is flying in today!! WOOHOO!!!! So, likely no blogging for at least a week. Yesterday and today have been CRAZY busy at work. Right now it's nap time, but I am too excited to nap, so I am blogging. (Yes, we do have nap time at my job. It's a great job.)

I am totally looking forward to the next 3 days at disney with my sister! My mom gets here late thursday night, but she will spend friday by the pool while sis and I finish up at disney. Then on saturday we are going to see the postsecret exhibit in Melbourne and on Sunday my judge is having my "goodbye" party - like 3 MONTHS before I leave!!!! LOL He's crazy. I won't be back at work until Tuesday.

Not much is going on in my world. I have been having INSANE dreams lately though, and I would like to write them down, but I don't have time right now.

So, anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know I am alive & you should hear from me again in about a week!!!

Scarves = Terrorism

Either Rachael Ray or her stylist, or both, are terrorists. Apparently they missed the latest Fox News memo announcing the connection between scarves and terrorists. Or maybe they DID read the memo and chose the scarf on purpose to communicate their sympathies to Bin Laden! So sneaky!!!

Either way, this new fashion rule is going to be difficult to adjust to, since white people love their scarves. But, I guess truly patriotic white people already knew about this and threw out their scarves on September 12, 2001. So this will really only be difficult for people who live in blue states.

Back to the Grind

For a week at least! This has been a CRAZY month!!! First K was here, then JG, then K again. This weekend I went to Ft. Lauderdale for my friend's daughter's 1st birthday. But today I was back to work and VERY BUSY!!! I was working pretty much non-stop from 7:30am to 4:30pm....which is very unusual for me! I did get to go grab quizno's for lunch, but that was my only break. I even worked while I ate!!

At 4:30 I was totally caught up, so tomorrow should be less busy. But Thursday we have 5 sentencings & a picnic. Then on Saturday I have to go to Tampa to meet with the leasing people at my new apartment. Then next Tuesday my sister will be here!! Woohoo!!! We are gonna spend 3 whole days at Disney World!! Yay!!! My mom gets here next thursday, and K may be back next saturday. On Monday (the 9th) they all leave and I will take a VERY LONG nap!!!

But the craziness will start up again at the end of June when I have a bench trial (which is a lot more work for me than a jury trial), and then in the beginning of July I am going to my hometown for my high school reunion!

I think this summer is gonna fly by, which sucks because it just means that the end of this fabulous job will come too soon. So I am gonna try my best to enjoy every moment of it.

Mini-Vent

I'm watching the How I Met Your Mother from a couple of weeks ago. In this episode Ted finds out that his g/f didn't have sex for 5 years and all of his friends freak out. Like going 5 years without sex is such a big deal. That's how long I went and actually, it was great and it flew by. It really bothered me to watch this episode and the things people said about this girl. How she "needed" to get some, and how desperate she must be. It was just ridiculous. I guess for guys it's a big deal to go five days without sex, but I think that most of the women I know could easily go years without sex and not have a problem. I mean, when it's not in your life, it's just not there. Other things are going on, it's really not that big of a deal. I mean, I realize that not everyone hates sex like I do, but I still think that most women could give it up without much of a problem. I'm not sure why female actresses don't say to their script writers that women don't really talk that way. I mean, I knew guys who were shocked that I didn't have sex for 5 years, but all of my girlfriends thought it was no big deal. I just hate how TV shows make it seem like life without sex is miserable. GRR!

Let's Do Some Math...

This morning, at 6:20am, a local radio station gave out 8 gallons of free gas to the 1st 105 people to show up at a particular gas station. Gas in Orlando is about $3.75/gallon right now, so that works out to around 28 dollars worth of gas. People started lining up at 11:30 last night for this free gas. That means they waited for 7 hours to get 28 bucks!!! That's $4/hr. Well below minimum wage.

Why would people do that??? I mean, sit in a gas station parking lot for $4/hr??? Would they take a job that paid like that??? It's like the crazy people who camped out at Ikea. I just don't understand it.

I Heart David Cook

How excited am I about American Idol????? VERY excited! I have been loving Mr. Cook all season long, but I never thought he would ACTUALLY win!!! This marks only the 2nd time in seven years that AI has gotten it right! (The first time being season one with Kelly Clarkson, of course.)

I didn't watch the entire 2 hour extravaganza, but the parts I did see were pretty damn good. I LOVED David Cook with ZZ Top!!! David A. with One Republic was kind of a disaster though. Also, I don't think I realized that One Republic was white until last nite! LOL I was excited to see George Michael but I didn't like his song...it was like he was singing a speech or something. Very "I'm in a musical."

Besides the end result, the highlight of the night was Paula standing up and shaking her booty during like EVERY SINGLE PERFORMANCE! I wonder if the people sitting behind her were warned in advance that their seats had an obstructed view!

I am a little worried about David A. - I hope his father didn't beat him last night. But I think he will still get a record deal, make one album, and disappear into the night. I really don't think he has any long-term potential as a pop star.

As much as I love David Cook, I was worried that the teeny bopper vote would outweigh the people who actually listen to the music. But I was blissfully wrong! I'm sure it didn't hurt that the David A. fans had to be in bed by 9pm and couldn't vote as much as the grown ups! LOL Myself, I only managed to get through 5 times on Tuesday to vote. Still, he won by 12 million votes! Woohoo!! I am so excited, I can't wait for his album!

He's Baaaaaaack!!!!!!

Yep, it's true. K is here again. No, you are not being punk'd. He is sleeping on the new couch as I type. Crazy, right? I think he should be gone again by Thursday...but it's almost starting to feel like we live together! LOL

Wow.

Talk about your great weekends! Mine was fabulous, thanks for asking! Here's the recap:

Friday: Left work at 4 to go get my newly delivered camera. Then went to happy hour with peeps from work. The food was good, though over priced & the service was terrible. But the company was great and I had fun! Then I went home to my couch!!!

Saturday: SHOPPING! Yes, I continue to stimulate the economy. You're welcome. I bought extra memory for my camera, some new clothes at Target, 2 new purses and baby gifts. Then I went to downtown disney to renew my annual pass. The rest of the day was spent where?? You guessed it! On my couch.

Sunday: DISNEY WORLD!!!! With one of my monkeys (JG) and her hubby (ironically, also JG...so we will call him H for hubby!). We had a great time! I met them at the Disney Hollywood Studios (f/k/a Disney MGM Studios) at 8:30 am. We rode Rockin' twice, Tower twice, did the movie ride, the backlot tour and muppets 3D! Then JG and H went to take a power nap and I went to Best Buy (bought a new bluetooth) and the Outlets (blazer & halter top).

Then I met JG & H at the Magic Kingdom for more fun times! There we rode Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mt., Spalsh Mt, the Mad Tea Party ride and this Buzz Lightyear thing in Tomorrowland. At 8pm it started to rain, so I headed home but JG & H stayed to ride Space Mt. I got home by like 9:30, but I was EXHAUSTED!!! And soaking wet, and smelling like ass.

So, there are at least 3 stories of me being a polak that should be told:

1. On the Mad Tea Party ride, H was in charge of the spinning. And he spun us like a mad man!!! And I was laughing and leaned my head back and my $200 prescription sunglasses fell off my head! Nice. Luckily, H also stand for "hero" because he spotted my glasses, spinning around us on the ground. H Kept watch on them until the ride stopped & then jumped out & rescued them! YAY!

2. We went on Splash Mountain. JG & H sat in front to protect me from the splashing. No such luck. They came out slightly sprinkled on. I was SOAKING WET!!! Literally, I could ring out my shirt and water came pouring out! My ass was wet, my back was the worst. It was AWFUL! So, I was lookin' sexy for the rest of the night.

3. We stopped to get a fast pass for a ride (I forget which one). I put my ticket in, and the fast pass comes out. Then the wind picks it up and it FLIES away from me! Those of u in the know are aware that you can't get another fast pass until like an hour or two later! So I had to chase it! So, picture me, running around with my ass in the air and my nose to the ground chasing a tiny piece of paper around the park. Again, very sexy. Yes, I did catch it. Phew.

Still, even with me being a walking mini-disaster we had a FABULOUS time!!! Now I am exhausted & the chances of me drooling on my desk at some point today are about 75%. Hope you all have a good monday!