For the last time, people.

BUY TICKETS TO THE YE FOR KIDS EVENT.  NOW.  RIGHT NOW.  DO IT.  NOW.

Details:

Young Execs for Kids
Mayfield Cottage
August 9, 2007
5:30-8:30pm

benefiting
The Council on At-Risk Youth

featuring
CJ Menge & the Inside Out Steel Pan Band
and
the dancers of TropicalEvents.com

$40 ticket price includes food & beverages

The menu is going to be unbelievable. . . you don’t want to miss it!

The Week in Review

Ok, I’m doing my best to at least update weekly.  Give me a break.  I’m barely taking the time to bathe.

Friday was the big party that turned out to not be anywhere close to as fun as last year’s big party.  It always sucks when you spend entirely too much money on something that you know is going to disappoint you.  Hey, but now I won’t be sad when I miss it next year!  Woohoo!

I had the hottest, youngest date in the place (take that, you).

The party ended earlier than scheduled, and we headed on over to the after party.  Which also was not so impressive.  Maybe I needed to drink more.  Some people drank plenty.

My Mo was the reason I was able to have such a hot, young date.  I love him.

Our DD wound up tossing us on our asses (well, that’s not true, but he didn’t drive us home, and thank goodness I stayed nice and sober).

He’s just lucky he’s so charming. 

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a single full shot of my dress.  It was cute.  Not to toot my own horn or anything.  AND, later in the evening I found, completely unplanned, that my hair actually matched my dress!  Yep, that’s right.  Grey hair.  At 30.

Here’s the best part, though.  On Saturday, Jerkface called and invited me to an impromptu lunch at Kona Grill (and OH MY GOD, it was like heaven).  I told him about the horrific grey hair. . . and as we walked out, he said, “Ah!  I see it!  Hold on!” and he yanked the fucker straight out of my head.  Which wasn’t terribly bad. . . but then he said, “AAAH!  SNIPPY!  THERE ARE MORE!”, and he yanked another one out before I ran away from him so he would stop.  I’d rather have grey hair than be bald, thanks.  But, it is good to know that I have a friend who is willing to help me grow old gracefully.  A guy friend, even.  Who will buy me a fancy lunch, and then pull out my grey hair, and will still love me just the same at the end of the day.  I hope.

A random something that’s been bothering me:  Is clipping your fingernails at work really appropriate?  Or necessary?  Or disgusting?  COME ON.  I concede that I have a few weird eebie jeebie issues.  Like, I gag at the thought of sharing a beverage with someone.  Even if I’ve willfully stuck my tongue in that person’s mouth.  But, seriously, am I the only one who cringes at the sound of someone clipping their fingernails.  AT WORK?! 

Why I’m boring

For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been working stupid long hours.  I’ve been working, coming home, running, going to bed, and then starting all over.  Seriously.  That’s all I have time for.

I’ve been trying really, really hard to get everything done by the YE for Kids event which is 3 weeks away.  And, by everything, I mean, everything.  Not just YE for Kids stuff.  But, personal stuff.  Volunteer stuff.  Getting to know my job well enough to be comfortable by then.  Everything. 

That’s proven to be pretty challenging.  I’m sleeping a lot less and my poor puppies are seriously starved for attention.

The sad thing is, I bet I’m only going to get more boring.  That’s just the course my life is taking right now. 

Well, I mean, there’s lots of not-boring stuff going on, but I can’t talk about any of it, which makes me boring for purposes of this blog.

Sorry.

I’m also out of good writing skills.  See, right now, I want to go to bed instead of blogging.  So, I’m writing like shit so you’ll be glad I’m not writing more.  Sneaky, no?

4th Photos

Sometimes, you don’t need words.  Sometimes, photos are enough.  I think that’s the case here.

Um, yeah.  We had a good time.

Still enjoying the 4th of July

As the photos begin to surface, I’m reminded what a kick-ass 4th of July it truly was this year.  Our friendly abs friend finally sent his photos. . . and holy crap, you can’t wait to see these.  H.O.L.Y. C.R.A.P.  It was a good time.  I tell you what.

I’ll try to get them posted Sunday so you can see.  Seriously, that set of photos is home to easily half a dozen of my favorites ever of all time.

If Jerkface would send his, the week would be complete and we could move on to bigger and better things! 

But, sit on the edge of your seats, Internet.  You want to see these photos so you can be jealous about what super wicked fun times I have. . . and then maybe I’ll tell you stories about tomorrow. . . which I’m spending floating the Comal.  You may recall, we did this last year, and it was hilarious.  I hold high expectations for this year’s float!

Here’s the deal

Ok, so it’s more than stress that’s made me drop the weight.  I mean, duh.  I’ve also been running or walking at least once/day (several days/week, I run twice) and eating entirely better than ever before.

I believe I’ve finally moved into the world where I can actually survive without red meat.  And, do you want to know why I moved into this world?  It’s all because of one salad.

See, on the 4th of July, this guy (please disregard the CRATE of pyrotechnics, it was nothing, really. . . just your every day 4th of July fireworks. . . really. . . also, ignore the ornery look on his face. . . we were not setting off illegal fireworks, jumping in the car, and speeding off. . . really):

made me this salad (please ignore the very odd fact that I took a photo of my salad):

and it was at that time that I decided I really can live on salad alone, and I really don’t need any sort of formerly fuzzy animal on my plate.  Yay!

Let me tell you about this salad.  This salad started with lettuce, like any normal salad.  But that’s where it stopped being an ordinary salad.  The lettuce was topped with seared tuna, shrimp, red potatoes, advocado, boiled eggs, glazed walnuts, tomatoes, dried cranberries, and other things that I didn’t even recognize.  It had no dressing. . . and it needed none.  THAT’S how good this salad was! 

This guy got a little nervous when I said, “DUDE.  I’m moving in”.  He got really nervous when I said, “You have room for 2 kids and 2 dogs, right?”.  He started sweating when I said, “No, seriously.  We’re moving in”. 

Then we went and got drunk and watched fireworks and forgot alllll about that plan.  Damn.

We sat atop the parking garage of a local bar where they were throwing a big ass 4th of July party.  We were smart enough to purchase wristbands that allowed us all the food we could eat, and more importantly, all the alcohol we could drink.  We didn’t get out of control, and I was glad, because we had a really great, sober enough to remember yet tipsy enough to be silly time.

If we back up to when the party really started. . . July 3, you get an entirely different crowd and an entirely different set of photos.  I’m going to be really, really nice and not post the abs photo (unless I get permission, hint, hint).  But, just know this guy?  Has killer abs.  KILLER abs.

I have no idea how/why/when my ass became a viable topic of conversation for a group of people in a bar.  But, apparently, it was:

Maybe we were all discussing how much smaller my ass is than it used to be?  Yes, that seems reasonable.  “Hi, guys!  We’ve all been out drinking alcoholic beverages for a good 4 hours!  Can we talk about my ass now?  Here, I’ll turn around so you can admire my ass!  And take photos!”

Seriously, what the Hell was going on here?  It looks like someone is toasting my ass.  Cheers!

This might be me trying to figure out what the fascination with my ass was. 

It might also be me arguing about whether or not we all need to see some abs. . . and do you see how I’m acting like I have no comprehension whatsoever of his pathetic argument that we did not, indeed, need to see his abs?  That brilliant use of facial expressions won me that argument.  Bwa ha ha ha ha.  Maybe he’ll give me permission to show you his abs!

Just for grins. . . .and because I don’t feel like writing a whoooooole other post to show off, here’s the inside of my office building:

And, in this shot, you can see MY office. . . it’s the office directly to the left of the skylight.

Not too shabby. 

Speaking of work, I’ve been working late all week.  And, it’s been a little rough.  But, I really like my job, and once I get through the initial frustration of not knowing where everything is, I think I’m going to really feel at home there.  I mean, c’mon.  There’s a freakin’ waterfall right outside my window! 

One post to catch up for all that time I’ve been away

1.  Go buy tickets for the Young Execs for Kids event.  Really.

2.  What’s with all of the men lately asking me if I’m married/have a boyfriend, and then asking why when I respond negatively?  AND THEN TRYING TO EXPLAIN TO ME WHY I SHOULD.  For fuck’s sake, y’all.  I have enough to deal with right now.  I guarantee you a man is the last thing I NEED. 

3.  I hate men who need some sort of superficial validation of their self worth. 

4.  I have finally dropped that final 10 lbs. . . and then some.  I’ve stressed myself into weight loss so significant that I had to buy new jeans.  And lots of them.  My waist is currently 3″ smaller than it was just a few months ago.

5.  The 4th of July was unbelievable this year.  I decided to carry the new “birthday week” tradition into holidays, so I enjoyed a 4th of July week.  I have awesome friends who entertained me every single night of the week.  It was crazy, it was sincere, it was fun, it was memorable.  And, it was a damned good way to spend the holiday.  I have photos, but to be honest, I’m not sure if I’ll ever find the time to share them with you.

I got to see my Longhorn Nation friends, and a good friend who has moved away (and his abs), and a good friend who made me a really good salad and gave me a smurf and sent me a photo of a smurf in a blender, and some girls who made me laugh my head off.

6.  I’m enjoying long hours and lots of extra special stress with the new job.  But, I still really like it. 

7.  What am I forgetting?

Beaten and bruised

Yeah, that’s right.  Where were all of you when my fascinating, amazing business partner and I moved all half of her shit yesterday?  You weren’t there helping, that’s for sure!

I have bruises on my arms and legs.  Thanks a lot.

This blog has gone to shit.  I’m aware of the problem, but alas, I have no time to rectify the situation. 

I have stories, but they’re going to fall out of my head before I have time to tell them.  I’m sorry. . . but this whole “real job” thing really does take more time and energy than I anticipated.  I feel bad for all of you suckers who have been working these “real jobs” all along.  You should really consider taking 5 years off.  You’ll have a whole new appreciation for life.

So, last week, I had to dig into my past a bit for reasons we’re not going to discuss on this blog (but don’t worry, they’re good reasons).  I, very begrudgingly, had to make a phone call to my ex-husband. 

During the initial conversation, he wasn’t as nice as he could have been, and I hung up the phone thinking, “FOR CHRIST’S SAKE, GET OVER IT ALREADY” because it’s been five years since I left and he’s remarried and seriously.  But I understand why I’m not his favorite person in the world, and I just figured I’d deal with the reality that we’re never going to be on good terms with one another again.  Ever.  And, I could live with that because I’m not the one preventing it.  I’ve been willing to be friendly for years.

Much to my surprise, he called me later in the week to follow up on the reason I called him.  And, then we talked for 1.5 hours about a lot of things we should have talked about a long time ago.  We explained things we should have explained long before it was over.  We apologized for things we should have apologized for 10 years ago.  We acknowledged the things we were too proud to acknowledge when we were younger.  And, a weight that I didn’t even know I was carrying was lifted. 

We caught up, and we got to know each other and how different we both are now.  And, I’m proud of him for having the strength to completely turn his life around, I’m happy that he’s happy, and I’m glad we didn’t stay together and make each other miserable for the next 50 years. 

We laughed a lot and told a lot of stories.  We’ve both changed a lot in the past 5 years, that’s evident.  But, we’re also still very comfortable talking to each other, and I think a thousand years could pass and that would probably still be the case. 

The reason I called him included needing a huge favor from him that I was not even remotely comfortable asking for, but the motivation behind the request is a million times stronger than my discomfort, so I called.  And, I half expected him to tell me to go to Hell and hang up on me.  But, he didn’t.  He listened and he agreed to help.  That, alone, is a testament to what a different person he is now.

I always suspected I’d be able to count on him if I really needed to. 

I guess I should’ve asked him to come help us move yesterday.