I'm taking a vacation from the internet - world wide web-o-sphere and blogging. How rustic eh?
It's time to recharge and this means I'm going to unplug.
Life is more than blog posts, .coms and constant updates and time wasting internet games and quizzes.
I'll be back one day, just not in the near future.
Julie and Julia
It was great. I saw it with my mom on Saturday afternoon. We had to pry ourselves away from the Ted Kennedy televised funeral and go to the local cinema. We made it just in time and it was a delightful movie.
I was probably the younster in the audience as the majority seemed to be 40 somethings and up - sisters and mother/daughter combos. But that's ok - I'd do anything for Meryl.
I liked the Julia side of the movie better but related more with the Julia side. Cubical commeraderie if you will.
My mom read the book and said the movie was way better - she didn't really like the book so I'll try reading it someday once I get through the stack of gotta read it first.
There are some other movies coming out that I'm excited about -
I want to rent The Time Travellers Wife.
I want to see Meryl next movie this year - geared for the mature audience "Complicated" i think that's title - or maybe it's "It's Complicated"
500 days of Summer
anyways if you don't make to see Julie and Julia - netflix it when it comes out - or tell your mom to netflix it.
Nothing really new to report- I'm sick of the heat but glad it hasn't been this way the whole summer.
I have nothingreally blog worthy or entertaining at the moment to discuss but alas a lame post to say that I am lame.
Gran Torino:
If you didn't catch it in the theater - you should rent it. I saw it twice in the theater and my mom just bought it with her "mother's day gift card" from my brother- how thoughtful brother. *rolling eyes* but in any case it's a good movie.
It's funny - but then you kind of feel bad for laughing since it's so politically incorrect - but everyone has known some one that is similar to the charachter of Walt. So in any case I liked it -
This was also the first movie date Clint and I had. I cried.
Nights of Rodanthe:
Another Nicholas Sparks book made into a movie. Old Love lost. New Love found. Richard Gere and Diane Lane are great - it's a little slow and if you want a perfect happily ever after you shouldn't look here. I also cried.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button:
Slow movie. Interesting adaptation of the short story, clever special effects but a sad story. I didn't cry but got a teary eye. yes, only one eye. I think I'm becoming more and more of a sap.
Side note: During Up! I also cried.
New In Town:
Cute chick flick movie with exageratte Minnesota accents. Funny but I think it might have been better if the leads Zellweger and Connick Jr were replaced with differnt people. No suggestions really other than that - and no I didn't cry during this one.
Last Chance Harvey:
A quiet romantic comedy for an older generation. It's mostly conversations similar to to that of Before Sunset with Ethan Hawke. The story is good but It was a little longwinded but a sweet story of a couple of sad people. No tears on this one either.
Still on the list to rent:
Marley and Me - expecting to cry
Bolt
hmm i had more written down - where did I put my postit note!
Ok so I have this guilty pleasure of listening all day to talk radio (107.1 Minneapolis- living life out loud). But the defect of this happens that I'm not hearing any fancy new tunes so today I think I'll go on a quest to find some music to listen to. and quite possibly I might step into 2001 and get one of those mp3 player thingamagiggers. So yeah I'm a little slow on the uptake but believe me if tapes were still available I'd be all about the cassette tapes - but I reluctantly moved on to cds and now i just might be time to move on to the digital era. scary but true.
I know you've probably heard of a bad hair day. Maybe a bad eyebrow day? Well today - I had a bad face day. Let me describe for you my issues,
1.
dark circles under my eyes: yes, this is an ongoing issue for me - since i turned the tender age of 10 really. It's genetic and I can't help it - but some days it looks like I beaten in some dark alley.
If I remember to smear on my VitaK before bed it's a little better but today was not that day.
2. pimples. I rarely get them but I've got three. One in the middle of my upper lip, one on my chin and one above my eyebrow. I tried a new cleanser recently and will discontinue use.
3. Dry patchy spots on my left side near my jaw bone
4. eyebrows - they were pretending to be centipede legs and wouldn't lay flat all day and no they are not in horrible shape I was waxed a week and a half ago... or was it a little longer - ok so I might have to remove a few strays but I'm not at the point where I need to wax them again.
5. the upper lip curse - this I know needs to be addressed - but due to the damn pimple I have dead center - I can't do anything with it but tweeze around it and I really don't feel like crying for an hour - getting half done and of course not as smooth and pretty as post wax (after the redness subsides that is)
So yes, I don't know if it's my horomones or if I slept funny but today was not a good face day for me. So now I'm off to get my beauty sleep. I hope to god it works since I see Clinton tomorrow.
So it might be that time in my life when I can't delusionally hope that 10-20 pounds will magically fall off. How did they get there. Well ok I admit it - I'm not the healthiest eater in the world,. I had a very strong addiction to king size kit kats for breakfast.
I've broken myself of that habit. But there are some things I will not sacrifice in the name of skinny jeans, like butter. I love my butter. I can eat buttered white bread (no, not toast- just bread) as a meal. I love the rich creamy goodness. I can pick out imposters with ease and I will not ever be a fan of anything but my sweet cream butter.
So since I won't give up butter or all chocolate - I've cut back the intake (minus of course this pms week from hell.) I tried drinking water - but I really need the bubbles - so maybe the next move is to bubble lightly flavored water.
I have cut back on McDonalds - this happened naturally I guess once my body hit the ripe old age of 27 I realized that McDonald's can only be consumed when in Rochester or LaCrosse or a once a year breakfast. The problem is probably eating out for date nights - it's not the easiest thing to do - but I have found a place that I will drag Clinton to - because it is both healthier and fun and you should check to see if you have one in your neighborhood. It's called Salad Creations. It's like subway for salads but has the one step up environment of a noodles or chipotle. I reacently had my first experience there and it was fun - and healthier than Arby's or at least more fiberous., Here's the link: http://www.saladcreations.net/
I'm just website woman today.
So I was an avid listener of ks95 for a couple years. But the morning show gal - is a little too self righteous for me and always banging her bible -- not exactly something I want to hear about on my hour long commute to work - (no this is not delilah that was ranting about earlier.)
So now - thanks to Jacque at work I have made the switch to 107.1Fm - It's hillarious talk radio.
It's great - so great in fact that I encourage you to take a listen or check out the website at least. I know I already put up a website for today - but if you are reading this you really must have 5 minutes to click here: it's a link to the afternoon show - which is a little more lively. But the morning show is a married couple and also entertaining since they are in two different studios.
Clinton doesn't particularily like Laurie and Julia but that's ok - we can listed to his radio station when he is in the car - and I can have funny talk radio for my 10+ hours of driving to and from work a week.
I don't know about you but sometimes I go into a store for 1 thing, usually under $20 - often under $10 and come out of said store spending over $40. Target is bad for this, so is any craft store.
The otherday I went to the grocery store to get : diet coke and a loaf of bread.
I came out with:
Diet Coke
Potato Chips
More Poato Chips
Vanilla Bean Icecream
Chocolate Fudge Sundae Icecream (yes, I know - I don't eat icecream - but I was craving it)
Loaf of bread
Chocolate frosted Cupcakes
White frosted cupcakes.
Gum
Candy bar
and $40.00 later I have satisfied all premenstural cravings.
Today was a little better - I was at work. I ate some heart healthy life cereal, some doritos were consumed to balance out the sweet of the cinnamon life and by lunch I was running a little low on diet coke - I luckilly made it out of the store for $12 - those chunky chips ahoy had my name on them - yes, two packages. Don't worry they are locked in my desk drawed for tomorrow.
I really hate it when I have to call some customer service center's toll free number - get put on hold and told that there are high volume calls and they reconmend I call back during a different time. I've called at various hours -- and they all seem to be high volume time. Grr.
I am a patient and understanding person most of the time. I however do not like it when I sign up online for a service but I can not cancel said service by clicking online - noooooooooo instead I have to talk to some english speaking person from India. Who is going by the name Kim or Tom or Dorothy.
Today I went to cancel my netzero dial up service. This subscription was to be a one month deal and today was the last day of the month - I being a procrastinator of course put this off. I only subscibed to netzero while I waited for my mother's preferred earthlink download disk to come in the mail. I really don't care, dial-up is dial-up - my mom likes earthlink, I like earthlinks format better, but really nothing is wrong with netzero either. I call the number - attempt to cancel the service with Customer Service Representative Kim. Kim is rude and curt from the get go but makes three attempts to convince me to stay with Netzero. I realize this is her job - I politely decline and state I would just like to cancel the service. She places me on hold. I listen to some bad elevator music. She comes back on said that it has been cancelled. I then proceed to request that my card which was prematurely charged be refunded. Kimmy must have had a bad day because she hung up on me.
I call back. Pissed off at Netzero. I go through the whole high volume bullshit - crappy music - and then I talk to Tom. I request a manager to report of course that Kim has hung up on me, get my refund and be done with Netzero. Tom is courteous and sympathetic to Kim's failure. He agrees to process my refund of $9.95 but the refund transaction to my card will take 2 billing cycles to appear on my account. I repeat back to him - "It will take 60 days for the $9.95 to be returned to my account?" Yes. "Is there any way to expidite that?" I can forward it to my superior. Ok. Please do. He gives me the confirmation number. Asks if I still need to speak with his manager about Kimmy. I go on hold for the manager. I get to speak to Dorothy next. Get the refund expidited to 48 hours. Complain about Kim and Praise Tom. But still I'm irritated with Netzero. I really didn't give two lumps about the $9.95 and probably would have just let it slide if Kimmy wasn't so rude, but after she hung up on me I went into the very rare bitch mode that of course is all powerful. So now I have to wait til Monday or Tuesday - check my account to see that the refund has been processed. Blah blah blah. Grr.
So in the land of this world wide web I've found a fun website to share.
http://www.divinecaroline.com/
It's fun, informative, check it out.
So my friend Mackenzie and I are starting a bookclub - and it has it's own blog woo hoo.
http://thesebooksarentforkids.blogspot.com/
Have you ever had that co-worker where you don't really know them - but you know that you don't like them.
There was said person working at XYZ let's call her Stomps. She is Stomps because she couldn't sit in her desk for more than 5 minutes, she lacked the ability to walk like a woman she Stomped around.
Well the Stomping has ceased. She is no longer there and it is Joy, evil evil Joy.
Also on a side note. I've mended the fence with Giggles. I don't have to like him - I can think he's annoying as all get out but he's not a horrible person - he's just socially unaware of his cubical surroundings and his ridiculous laugh. So bygones.
So tonight was a date night with Clinton. After our outing, I was driving home feeling like a goober - so I turned on the Lite Fm station. Delilah was ding her radio show. Some woman called in a requested a song that inspires. She gave her testimonial - now a prerequisite for having Delilah play a song for you.
It went something like this:
Caller:
My name is Melissa and I'm a mom of three kids and we want you to play a song for us. We are at a new stage in life and need something that inspires us! We are moving into a new house, my first house, I'm recently divorced, I just bought a new car and I'm also a foster mom. I love being a mom and my life is going really well right now, but I've been listening to your show and I left my husband since my marriage didn't sound as picturesque and happy and blissful as your sappy callers claimed it to be. But one day I hope to find the one. I deserve it. I'm a good person and great mom.
Delilah: Well it sounds like you need to inspire us with all the positive thing going on in your life.
Caller: Well I do get lonely listening to your show without that special someone to love.
Delilah: Well do you believe that there is something bigger than you and me out there - who loves you more than you love your children?
Caller: I'd like to think so. I believe God has a plan
Delilah: Well you know God loves you and do you believe he loves you more than you can possibly know?
Caller: I hope so. It's so hard to imagine.
Delilah: He does and he has a plan for you Melissa and for your children and you are on the road t greatness with the positive energy you have.
Caller: Thanks Delilah. I love God and will be patient for his plan.
Delilah: It's hard sometimes but while we wait for God's plan I have a song for you.
queue music:
Song Played: believe by Cher.
Moral of the Story - Divas are Deities?
So after my last post being all somber and moderatly melodramatic - I think I need another post to bring back the smiles.
but I'm kind of at a loss right now for what to write. I know, normally you just can't shut me up and now I'm being quiet wtf?
So I will rant on about how stupid facebook applications waste too much of my time. Yes, that's right Sorority Life - addicting and stupid and yet - I am addicted to playing the games for virtual outfits. What is wrong with me?
I've also found this fun website for photos on the interweb - check it out sometime - http://vi.sualize.us/.
Happy Easter Headbutt!
On to making lemonade with life.
So it's approaching. One year since my dad died. Grief is funny - it sneaks up on you once you think you're ok and reached some sort of acceptance, something pops into your head when you least expected. A year ago - I would have said I have a pretty healthy grieving process - I've lost grandparents and aunts and uncles and great aunts and great uncles and pets and friends and yet nothing really prepares you for losing a parent. I don't know if I'm doing it right - but I get up each day, put my pants on one leg at time and carry on - that's the plan anyway.
Everyone deals with the grasp on mortality a little different. The religious are convinced that the loved one is in heaven and safe and good. I don't really believe in the heaven/hell concept. But if there is one adage my Dad referred to was - although pessimistic and depressing, 'You start dying the day you are born' and the other classic one was 'After you die - you just die, you are put in the ground and become worm bait.' So someone asked me - knowing that my religious convictions are on that border line between non-existent and recovering if losing my dad has brought me back to Christianity. I think that quite the opposite has occurred. My dad was not a religious man - he believed what he wanted to believe and what that was I'll never know. But in the end -- we all die, Jesus will not save you from death or becoming worm bait. I guess the biggest thing that happened was the confirmation that it doesn't matter. You can believe in whatever you want - and pray as hard as you want but it doesn't change things that have or haven't happened - it can make you feel better and that can cause change - but you don't get to pray for an undo.
This may seem juvenile or selfish but I jealous when I think about things in life yet to come and how it'll be different without having my dad. Like today for instance - Clinton's dad was on the phone with his granddaughter talking about the Easter bunny coming and what she got in her basket. My dad would have been a good grandpa - a little cranky but good but I'll never really know. Or when I'm watching a chick flick movie and the bride and father have the father-daughter dance- not that I'm a big wedding person - but now I'll never have that option for the dorky dance. It's also weird to refer to everything as my mom's now - my mom's house, having Clinton meet my mom - instead of meet my parents. Or like today - I talked to my mom on the phone while at Clint's - and she said to say happy easter to everyone. So I said to Clint's mom - that my mom says Happy Easter. She then inquires oh well what are they doing? I don't know how to reply - So I just say that my mom and brother and sister are just hanging out making cake. It some how ends up sounding like my parents are divorced or I'm omitting my dad on purpose - but I just don't know what they know and I don't always feel like sharing for fear I'll start crying and being emotional girl. Then Clint who refers to his parent's as the folks - said 'I needed to get back to my folks' place for dinner' as we were leaving the brunch - so maybe he feels awkward too - or it was just a singular/plural slip up. Then there is the other obvious possibility and that is that I'm cranky and irritable and overly emotional due to having my period.
I'm thinking this will be a regular reoccuring post topic. Amazon does it - netflix does it - and now I will do it- I will give you suggestions based on your likes and dislikes. I will use amazon as my guide but filter out all the crap and try to offer selections that I have encountered and or read in conjunction with new to me titles.
We will start to day with if you like David Sedaris you will like the following:
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman (current bathroom read, super funny)
if you liked Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress you'd like:
I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies): True Tales of a Loudmouth Girl by Laurie Notaro
(also hillarious in the narrative/essay genre ) if you like I Love Everybody and other Atrocious Lies you'd like:
Why I'm Like This: True Stories (P.S.) by Cynthia Kaplan, as you can see todays theme is essay and funny/entertaining slightly autobiographical rantings. I love it when books read like blogs.
if you like Why I'm Like this you'd like:
Leave the Building Quickly: True Stories (P.S.) by Cynthia Kaplan this is the sequil to the aforementioned Cynthia Kaplan - I want this chick to come out with a new book.
and amazon says if you like Cynthia Kaplan you'd like:
I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley ( it's on my to read stack but clint is currently holding the book hostage which is ok since I have a couple other books in the works at the moment.)
if you like I was told there'd be cake or Cynthia Kaplan you'd like
Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs , this was funny and gross and funny and disturbing...
if you like that you like this:
Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs this one is also on the to read stack...
but I'm going to take a stab here and say if you like that you'll like this one:
My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands (Paperback)by Chelsea Handler
or the man version:
I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell by Tucker Max
and then onward:
I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris
this looks good too:
Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip--Confessions of a Cynical Waiter (Hardcover)by Steve Dublanica Aka The Waiter
and that is this weeks installment of If you like this then you might like this
Ok so I'm not a uber feminazi however the tits and ass window clings have got to go. Seriously, are you that much more manly in your big truck that is obviously overcompensating for your small Mr. Winky that you think you'll get all the girls if you have Barbie's silhouette posing with pointy boobies and windblown hair? And what about the Married women - can't you satisfy your husband enough so he doesn't need to display such juvinille red neck window clings?
Sheesh where am I? I guess it's a smidge better than the Get R Done window cling but not by much.
So yesterday while Clint and I were playing Sunday Scrabble at Caribou. There was this annoying 19 year girl who like really liked the like word like. Totally.
When will this teeny bop talk stop. I know the kids aren't watching Sweet Valley High anymore. Do they even realize what they are saying or is it a nervous twitch. I felt bad for her friend -
this girl didn't stop talking, didn't ask questions - just gave the play by play of her life for the last 5 months and said the word "like" about 5,000 with out exaggeration. I know I can talk a lot, I can dominate the conversation like nobody's business - I often interject with a off kiltered tangent- but I also can listen and let other people talk and have conversations versious a constant monologue about how I'm a psychology major but I don't like science like totally at all. And my roomates are so like totally awesome and like he's so like cute. Oh and by the like way like how are like you?
Another thing I don't get is speaking out loud in accronym. Do they even know the words or just the intended meaning? Perplexing.
Then I overheard something disturbing today. My co-worker who has a couple teenage girls was telling another co-worker about this new fad. It's call "I wanna be Rhianna" and so girls want their boyfriends to beat them up so they can show off the bruises. Pardon my acronymism but WTF? Domestic violence is now trendy? Sick and disturbing.
Why can't kids just be kids. Well it's because parent's spoil them to the point of boiling all of childhood out of them. They don't play, they don't imagine, they obviously FAIL at learning the proper usage of similie and metaphor. They probably think Metaphors are in the sky. They are given whatever they want because their parents want to make up for something that was lacking in their own childhood. This is a major diservice. I'm not saying that children should be neglected or have a hard life or be domestic slaves to the household. But parent's these days aren't doing them any favors by giving them what ever they want - cause then they come up with this crazy idea that they want bruises and abuse from their boyfriends so they can be more and more like the celebrities they idolize. Sick and wrong. The closest thing I can remember wanting to be like someone famous was a slap bracelet or hoop earrings. If any boyfriend gave me a bruise I'd slap him and leave him. Not ask for another cause Ashley has 3 bruises from her boyfriend.
So Saturday was a great adventure. 160 miles of metro highways, biways, county roads and getting lost. So my sense of direction has not improved. In any case it was good fun.
Saturday morning, I picked Clint up and we went to the very illustrious Pep Boys to purchase none other than some super head lights - they weren't the "brightest head lights in the free world" that the Pep Boys clerk suggested but they are nice n bright. Clinton did his super boyfriend duty by changing them in the Sports Authority parking lot. Gold Stars were given. Then we decided to go to the Mall of America- due to road construction we get lost, We decided to go there cause it's big and we had random things to find and it seemed logical to go to the biggest conglomorate of stores. On the detour of getting lost we passed exits for the following shopping places: Riverdale, Northtown, Southdale, Eden Prairie Shopping, Ridgedale, so basically everything except for Brookdale and Maplewood. We finally arrive at the Mall of Too Many People. We went, we shopped, we got peopled out and left. My objective of getting a new spring coat was achieved the other items - not so much.
Then we were hungry, I was also hot and smelly as I was wearing a sweater that was not condusive to the warmer temperatures. It was then decided, I needed deoderant and a shirt after we indulged ourselves at pf changs.
On the way to lunch- my sister called and I answered the phone. She wanted to know what I wanted for my birthday. I get off the phone, Clint and I eat lunch. My sister had texted me this bizzare message - I call to get the drama - when I shouldn't have.
So this weekend is pretty jam packed full of goodness.
Friday night consisted of going to play cards with Mike and then Clint came to play after he got off work.
The Clint and I ventured over to Perkin's for something salty - I'm having Lunar Craving Syndrom at the moment and needed something salty. We played a couple games of cribbage and talked. Checked up on our favorite perkin's waitress who wasn't our waitress last night. haha. ok not really.
Then I came home and my diet coke had kicked in which caused me to pop online for late night amusement. Eventually I made it to bed circa 3 am - who would have thought?
Saturday morning -8:30 pop up like toast. Realize that my clock that reads 7:30 is wrong and do some early morning math to add an hour from last week's DLS fiasco. Make mental note to change clock- but alas it has not been changed yet.
Got mom's hair all washed and pretty so she can make my brother take her to the grocery store.
Facebook - cause it's all rage. Speaking of rage, they changed the format and I'm a little annoyed but adapting. Now, I'll be heading to pick Clinton up for his boyfriend handyness so he can help me change my headlight. We'll run around and do some Saturday shopping. Grab lunch. I'll have to pick up the mail eventually at the post office as that is on my list to do. Then this evening we will be visiting Kenzie and Simon for birthday gathering goodness.
Tomorrow I get to see Ava and she just passed her boards! Yay Ava! Then who knows what - else - but then there will be laundry to do and Sunday Scrabble with Clinton.
Monday is possibly another cribbage night. Tuesday will be NCIS and Laundry night. Gosh this month is just flying by.
So the big 28 is just around the corner. It happens to fall on the last day of the first quarter, or the day before April Fool's day.
I love birthday goodness. But as this is not a milestone birthday - and it happens to fall on a Tuesday.
The best and worst of being 27:
Book:
Best book read this year - wasn't anything pulitzer prize winning or intellectually profound, nope it was probably the two books of essays by Cynthia Kaplan - funny anetdotal stories. "Why I'm like this" and "Leave the building quickly"
Worst book: I attempted on several occaisons to read Love in the Time of Cholera - and failed miserably.
Movie:
Best movie: I really enjoyed Nights of Rodanthe, I went to it with my mom.
Worst movie: Ironman
Song:
Best song: Lobsterman's Wife - Ingrid Michaelson
Worst song: Umm so many to chose from, I really hated that Kid Rock song about Summer. It made me barf a little in my mouth.
Life event:
Best: Revaluating was it is real and what isn't real and what's important. Almost a direct result of the following:
Worst: My dad passing away.
Meal:
Best: Oh well anything that didn't make me sick of course - donut wednesday was a nice staple for awhile til I started to grow my own version of a donut.
Worst: I got sick from Jimmy Johns once. And Chinese another time - but they were pretty close together so I could have had the stomach flu.
Love lesson:
Best: That love lessons present themself when one is on recess.
Worst: That secret relationships are only cool in the 5th grade.
Family lesson:
Best: That I've been promoted to the strong one.
Worst: That I've been promoted to the strong one.
So yeah - 28 can't be worse than 27. A few changes I'm preparing for: wrinkles, sore joints, and gray hair.
Now for the Kristen birthday wish list:
I could be like my brother and list a 5 page list of everything I've ever thought I once wanted and or needed. That would be annoyingly greedy and I really don't care.
I like cards. I like lots of random things and I am now too old to require a present. I'm not going to wear a pointy hat or anything.
But if you must - I like thoughtful presents, i.e. my brother or sister could get me books or dvds or music, as the standard what to get Kristen default gift and I'd be a o k with that.
A certain Alien could go with any of the standard "girlfriend" presents or something completly original. I'm not that hard to shop for, I like almost everything - and I appreciate the thought no matter what it is. And if this Alien was doubtful he could always ask Gwendolyn or Mackenzie for ideas.
My friends could call me on my birthday or completly forget - I'm past the it's all about me parade. I'd like a phone call or a card in the mail but I won't hand out demerits.
Here is the remaining news from February:
So I went on a dating spree.
I had the follow up dates with Matt and Jim. Contact with Jim just fizzled out. The 2nd date with Matt was weird and awkward for several reasons. So much so that here is a list of things for guys to do to make a 2nd date uncomfortable.
Things Un-Dateable Guys Do on 2nd dates:
- Proclaim with in moments of meeting eachother for dinner that you have to cut the evening short. It's 5:30 - should I suggest going to McDonalds for a quick meal?
- State the reason for the unexpected early night - is that you have to meet your friends to go drinking after the hockey game and your friend from Milwaukee popped into town this weekend.
- Order excessive amounts of alcohol - aka 3 or more tall alcoholic beverages. I may not be into you, but I'll worry about you driving away none the less.
- Talk about hockey as if I am a Pro-Hockey player currently filling the void in my life by being a goalie for The Wild.
- Flag the waiter down to have the bill separated by seat. Pay for it like a big boy or wait it out until I grab for the bill.
- If p laying cribbage at a restaurant - do not lose one of the other person's pegs by being klumsy/drunk. Replacement cost is about 3 cents but seriously.
- Do not say you are walking someone to their car only to walk them to the bathroom, hug them and say you will call.
- Instead of calling lurk endlessly on the dating site that we met on. Where is the block feature?
Ok so that was a bad 2nd date. No 3rd date desired. Onward.
Ryan. Ryan is pseudo interesting. He works in publishing historical trade books. He plays the fiddle. He seems normal and like he has the ability to have and hold a conversation. Which right now - is becoming the #1 quality on the list. I'm so sick of the pointless banter, the 20 question games, seriously just read the ridiculous surveys on facebook if you want to know what my favorite color is. So we make plans to meet February 15th. I get sick. Horribly sick in the I really don't want to move let alone do anything else sick. I cancel. We continue chatting exchange phone numbers - schedule a phone date for when I don't sound like a man.
I go to work on Monday, only to leave at 12 as I am still to sick to function. I have my acrylic nails removed on Tuesday. Talk to Ryan. He is not a phone person, I am not a phone person with people I do not know. Talking to people I don't know - that's part of my job, also part of my job is to make as many short but to the point phone calls a day. So the conversation is short - ok - and we have plans to meet on Sunday. We chat some more throughout the week and by Thursday - I've lost all interest and want to go on a dating hiatus and just read chick lit and eat sherbet and call it a way of life.
Mike, my cribbage partner and I are out playing cards and I confess that I am done. Dating sucks. It's such a crapshoot and he's showing me his "leads" on eharmony, okcupid, plenty of fish and match.com. He has 27 leads open - 27! I can't even deal with 3. I'm definitely not in the mood for dating. Notes on facebook have replaced my internet time spent browsing profiles of losers in loserville looking for love.
I get a message from a acquaintance from high school. He plays cribbage as well and wants to play sometime. Cool. Okay this way If I'm on a losing streak with Mike I can play someone else and maybe not lose.
So Saturday February 21st. is what would have been my Mom and Dad's 30th wedding anniversary. My mom is okay but this day is a little harder than most. My parents dated for darn near and eternity - They were married in '79 but they started dating in '71 and that's a long time - and they weren't perfect by any means, and they didn't have the June and Ward Cleaver marriage but they loved eachother and so I hang out with my mom.
That afternoon I met up with Clint for cribbage - we catch up on the last 10 years of life over several games of cribbage and coffee and Caribou muffins. We are both hungry and so we go to Potbelly for a sammich - he pays since I drove us the 2 blocks of parking lots to get there. We both smoke, which is refreshing - since my attempts at quitting have been futile and my only friends that smoke are at work or to far away to qualify for smoking buddies. We wander around Borders. Mock the Twilight Phenomenon. Have real conversations that don't feel like 20 questions. Super a new friend.
So I drive us back to his vehicle - we talk and he asks what I'm doing tomorrow. I have previously ranted about the dilemmas of online dating and how I'm giving up on the ridiculousness of it and that reading fluffy books and frozen treats and scramble are now higher on the list of things I can waste time doing. I say I have a crappy internet date to go on, that I don't want to go on, but being Minnesotan I feel obligated to attend since I've already cancelled on him once. Clint then replies that if it's as horrible that I think it is going to be - that I should call him and he'd like to take me out on a fun date. I am caught of guard. I thought I just made a friend, our little meeting has similar parts of anatomy of date - but this was just a reuniting of acquaintances and making a new friend.
Via the wonders of facebook - we plan a get together for Sunday, despite the out come lunch with Ryan. We actually make several plans to get together and things to do, places to see etc.
Sunday, I get up, get ready, go to meet Ryan for lunch. The restaurant he has chosen - is the Vineyard. It was a happening place in the day, circa 1985 - I know this because my parents would go there on dates in my childhood. It's a mom and pop steak house stuck in the eighties complete with Ivy wall paper. But the service is good, the food is good the atmosphere on a Sunday though - has seemed to attract a large number of people in sweatpants and windpants.
So lunch with Ryan - he was really fixated on me living at home. I explained that sure, I once had lofty goals of moving out and being free - but now that I have lost a parent, I am content staying at home and taking care of my mom and making things for her as easy as possible. That the lack of privacy is not a selling point but I love my mom and we are closer that we have ever been and I'm ok with my current situation. Do you think that would satisfy him? No, let push the issues and make things awkward. "So when do you think you'll move out?" Listen buster - I am supporting my mom, it's not like I'm living in this responsibility free bubble, I pay property taxes and have home repairs, the only difference is the house isn't in my name at the moment. I'll move out when my siblings can buck up and take my place. Awkward silence. The next conversation was a long one - on the very enlightening topic of Sierra Mist. Yes, a conversation about sierra mist. The bill comes, it sits there awhile. The topic shifts and I am more and more annoyed by him. He wants to grab coffee, I entertain the idea but then confess that a nap sounds more appealing. He pays, we leave. There is the a gold star given to Ryan - not out loud or anything but he gets the award for the most awkward hug ever. There was the go for it - the turn away - the turn back - and then the hug. I waited in my car til he left and then headed home.
I took my nap - but before I did I called Clint to see if he was still up for Wings and Trivia - he was - we settled on 4 for the time to meet. We had wings, but we did not play trivia as trivia on Sunday was Nascar themed trivia. After that we went and played cards - still in this never ending conversation about life, the past ten years, work, annoyances etc. He of course wanted the update on the Pity lunch date. I told him the horribleness of it. Meanwhile, the former danceline girls from our graduating class bombard the coffee place. Along with a Men's bible study- we took that as a sign to flee and wander around Target to kill time, finish our coffees. After that we went to the grocery store to pick up bananas and milk and then he dropped me off at my car and we were both looking forward to getting together on Tuesday.
Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 I get a call. From my mom. She is crying and says that she has fallen and hurt herself and that she can not move her arm very well. Without a 2nd consideration - I am on my way home to her to take her to Urgent Care. On my way home I call my brother, tell him that mom is hurt and I am on my way home. That she slipped on the step and that he needs to pick up salt for the icy spots. He takes this a nagging and says he will. I call Clint and tell him that we might need to reschedule that my mom has fallen and I have to take her to urgent care and although that will be a quicker wait than the emergency room, who knows how long it will be. He is okay with this and sincerely worried about my mom. I get home take a look at her arm, say that she needs to have an xray since I have no professional medical opinion and she is in severe pain. My mom's a tough lady and has a high pain threshold but she is crying by just sitting there. So I get her in the car, buckle her up take her up the road to Elk River's urgent care. We sit and wait. She eventually goes in and see the Dr. - I am in the waiting room with sick people for an hour or so.
A little girl and her mom come in. She is carrying a pot. She looks healthy. The mom looks tired. The little girl is playing with her pot. I ask the little girl if she likes to cook. She states that she does. Ahh ok - security blankets are thing of the past. The mother pipes in and says that she has been vomiting since Friday - and the pot is to catch the throw up. Ahhh. I see. The little girl goes into how you throw up in the pot so mommy doesn't get mad and then she makes fake throw up sounds. Gross but funny. The mother than offers that she has been Throwing up since Friday, it's Tuesday. The mother continues that she hasn't seemed sick - but just gets sick at night. The little girl pipes up that she got sick after recess and art class was fun, she made a monster- it was a red and purple and green - to be scary it had orange eyes. The little girl is a nonstop chatter box - but it amuses me and she is entertaining the other people in the waiting room with her rambling. She is also really excited to see the doctor in the white coat and is convinced that they aren't really doctors. It's cute.
So my Mom gets out of the drs office and she has broken her arm - but it's not her forearm - but her upper arm. Gladly it's a clean break. Not so gladly - all that can be done - is wearing a sling and taking pain meds. I think this is the answer she received because she does not have health insurance - but we won't go into my tangent about that now. We run to the gas station to pick up some items - cigarettes and diet coke and head home. I call my brother on the 12 mile journey home. State the mom has broken her arm and requested that you pick her up some beer. He flys off the handle. He proclaims "I have an ingrown toe nail" and scolds me for not calling him while he was out earlier. I hang up the phone after some choice words - and he calls back momentarily letting me know that he will indeed pick up the beer.
We get home - he has salted the driveway and so I get my mom back in the house and ask her to sit and be still. I bring in the items from the car, purses, diet coke, jackets etc. Figure out dinner - and my brotehr gets back from the beer run - with mucho hostility - he's just not sensitive and can not deal when there are things that are unexpected. My mom tells me to go on my date and so I do.
Clint and I met at Caribou from there he drove to Red Robin, and afterwards we went to a movie. Things are going well and we are both interested in eachother. Tuesday night I get home at 12ish - which is incredibly late for a Tuesday night. I tend to my mom and her needs for getting comfortable and do some laundry - run around - finally going to bed at 3 - to get up at 5:45.
Wednesday I am a complete zombie. I make it through the work day -barely. I get home and crash - but wake myself up out of sleep with involuntary body jerks. Zombie aerobics if you will.
Friday night I have another date with Clinton, we are going to a theatrical comedy performance. Making Love like a Minnesotan - Sleepless in Shakopee. We meet up at Home Depot this time - he is there waiting for me in the parking lot, I get in his car and we go out for a sandwich and then head to uptown. We run into a minor problem with parking and friday night traffic in the area- But alas we park and and walk a couple blocks - the Brave New Workshop is hilarious and highly recommend that if you are in the cities for a night and you want to be amused this is a great option.
Afterwards, it's still early enough to hang out but as the sidewalks of suburbia have rolled up - we decided to go out for a piece of pie at Perkins. We go and eat pie - drink coffee and play cards. We discuss how we like each other and poof - we are in a relationship.
Saturday I meet my friend Mike for crib and we dish about our love life news - he has a new girlfriend Dana and she is a creature unlike any other - being as she is 26 and Mike was the first hand she held. She's also very pretty - so obviously it's a religious conviction thing. But still weird - so we dish - then I scoot to meet Mackenzie for coffee and catch up - things are good. She was friends with Clint in high school so she is all giddy and happy and being a goober. It was fun. Then Saturday night Mike, Clint and I played cards. Also fun - til I got sugar and caffeine overload and had to come home to zonk out.
So that's the scoop on February.
So being single for Valentine's is the most exciting thing in the world- but thank goodness it's on a Saturday so I have the option to sit all day in my pajamas and eat oreos and doritos without abandon and no one is any the wiser.
Last years Valentine's with Dave I was a emotional basket case , must have been ovulating or something. 08
The year before that was Valentine's with Matt, I was on the verge of breaking up with him and so that wasn't that much fun either. 07
The year before that I think I was single and my mom and dad bought me a box of chocolates.
06
So this year - I'll have to plan a great anti-valentines day outing or something ... any ideas?
So I had a couple dates this weekend - 2nd dates with Matt and Jim.
Matt is officially out of the question. He's may have a great job but he's stuck in this post college drunken stooper - and he thinks going dutch is the way to go - and I think this is tacky. He'd be ok for a buddy to hang out with but he's Super City when I am obviously Super Not-So-City
Jim has not been eliminated from the island. He's funny or laughs when it is appropriatly funny- he demonstrated great sense of direction when we had to switch from plan a to completely unplanned plan b. He's the nice guy - that probably hasn't dated that much because he's a little shy- date three is planned for sometime this week. He's actually quite sweet and no delicate hands and gives good hugs- not the paper wings hugs. And I must confess I must be a little sweet on him or completly done with online dating since I've given up searching for new victims on the dating parade. We'll see. I've set myself up for disappointment before - so I'm just going to hold back - and see what happens.
Ok so more to report next week.
So I'm back swimming in the dating pool officially now and have a couple dates to report on.
The date with Jeff. Jeff is a nice guy, he's funny and smart. However he has been married before and has two kids. This is not a deal breaker - but it does complicate things.
We agreed to meet for dinner at one of my favorite "nostalgic things hanging on the wall" places.
There was a little problem however, there was a snow storm so It took Jeff a little longer to get ther than he origanally anticipated. He did however call and text location updates with pretty accurate ETAs.
Conversation went well, dinner was over and so we agreed to go have a cup of coffee and play cards. He had been bragging that he was a cribbage master and that he was going to kick my butt so I was looking forward to the challenge. His picture was a little inaccurate. He's balding, and has delicate looking hands and an odd shape about him. Think, average middle and skinny limbs.
So we the game begun. He didn't really know how to play. He's played before but we had to play in lesson format with me counting and showing him how to peg and in the end I obviously won.
We finished a couple games. And decided we should part ways. We hugged. He called to make sure I made it home okay and we ended up talking for a couple hours on the phone.
So it didn't work out with Jeff romantically but we continue to be facebook friends.
A date with Matt, we exchanged a couple emails and decided it was time to meet. We met for drinks - and that led to dinner. We had plenty of things to talk about and he is very attractive and smart and funny, manly hands. I even broke the usual Kristen rule and we went dutch. I normally think going dutch is tacky but somehow it was normal. Things went well at the end of the date. Our 2nd is tentativly scheduled for Friday night.
A date with a different Matt. He's from a small town in Iowa. So we met in St.Peter, MN for lunch. We had been talking for quite sometime - and somepeople are just better online or on the the phone vs. in person.
We met at this dive place, which I like and all he could do was complain, complain complain. Ok so it's not a fancy place - calm down and have fun. He looks - well he was wearing a crappy walmart sweater - and jeans and looked very Iowaesque. He was both trying to be cocky and know-it-all and at the same time came off as really insecure. His table manners were attrocious. Conversation was forced and I was pretty certain that he was a douche bag in the forst 20 minutes of meeting him in person. So I was ready to leave after that but the Minnesota girl in me is too nice to say so. So we went to this coffee place to play trivia pursuit and that was equally unenjoyable. I taught him how to play cribbage and then I was done. But he wanted to continue on with the date. Ok there is nothing to do in St. Peter after 4 pm so we went to the very sophisticated Makato... to go to a movie.
We go to see InkHeart. I want to see the Clint Eastwood movie but I don't want it to be ruined by going with this guy so I pick the movie I know nothing about and fits into the proper time slot. We walk around the mall for a little bit then go to the movie.
In the theatre, I was taking off my coat and getting as comfortable as I can get - when I must have shifted in my seat -- Matt then took this as I want his arm around me. In addition to his unwelcome arm around me - he is also clamping on my shoulder, super grip style. Grr. After sometime - I decide that I need to remove his arm from my body and be a big girl and hold his hand. He plays with my hand. Like a 10 year old holding his first girlfriends hand. All the tracing of my fingers and then kissing my hand. PS. He has delicate woman hands so I'm grossed out more than you know at this point. So I say, my arm has fallen asleep. I pull it away and shift away from him. He puts his arm around me and clamps down pulling my toward him. "Come over here" is what he says- He then asks "So you like me huh?" Um hell no. But the nice girl that I am says a shy maybe afraid he will go psycho. Now he's pulling my into his chest and I"m awkwardly cramped and have the arm redt digging into my ribs - but it would have been bad form to get up and switch seats.
The movie was ok - should of been a rental. We leave the theatre go to the bathroom so I can have cold wet hands and deter him from any hand holding. He drops me off at my sisters place and gets out of the car and hugs me good night -- it's not a normal hug as he did not compensate for my height -I was basically face first into his chest. Did I mention that he smelled like my brother - and looked like my friend Geoff from highschool. Alas - nothing but this good blog entry came out of the date with Matt from Iowa.
A date with Jim. Jim and I met at a metro midpoint between our offices and homes. We had great conversation and laughed a lot over a great burger and coke. Finished eachothers sentences etc. We have our 2nd date scheduled for this week. He has nice hands too.
So I have this friend/former roommate from college who happens to be a new mother. And we talk on the phone from time to time. Let's call her Amelia
Today we had a conversation to play catch up - She's living in her new apartment with her boyfriend, Dick who I think is kind of a jerk, self centered,etc. I've only met him once and the weekend I stayed with them in Milwaukee. He was moody and crabby - and this can be understandable as this was the 1st week their baby came home from the hospital. Ok so maybe he's grown up a little bit and put on his big boy hat? Noooo.
I feel bad for Amelia . I mean - she's with this guy - who I'm sure has endearing qualities - but as far as I can see he's just an a-hole.
They are new parents and he is still satisfying all of his wants before his child's needs. Road trips with the guys, a motorcycle, a new car they can't afford, and he hasn't proposed to Amelia. He says he's saving up for the perfect ring and then they will start saving for the dream wedding.
*side bar*
Now recently Ava posted about how she's downsized her dream ring - which is shocking. But really impressive. And I agree, I mean it's not about the ring, yes they are pretty to look at - but when it comes down to it - it's a marriage that you want in the end - not a pretty bauble.
Bonus points if you get both - but by no means should a big fancy ring be a requirement. Amerlia I'm afraid is still Coo-Coo for Karats. I've never been a big wedding person but again if that's your dream - so be it - but again not about the wedding, it's about the marriage.
*end sidebar*
So maybe this is just me - but if you are living with your boyfriend for years and years and you have a baby - complete with two baby showers. Can you still have the big traditional church wedding filling pews upon pews with hundreds of guests?
I mean, I get - it's the symbolic begining of your lives together forever amen - but your lives together have already started - family has started. Maybe I'm out of touch, or too much a realist but isn't it a lot of time, effort and money to put into a 1 day long celebration and party. (i.e. college fund for the kid or perhaps a down payment on a house?) I'm not saying they can't have a church wedding - I'm saying that maybe they should look at something smaller - more intimate and not just a meal in exchange for presents? Ok maybe that was mean or maybe I'm just incapable of being frivoulous.
