12.26.2007
Too busy to post
With the holidays, vacations, etc. I am really busy right now. More after the first of the year... in the meantime, everyone be safe and happy!
12.16.2007
11.29.2007
New drink!
For the second year in a row, I will be hosting the Ho Ho Holiday pub crawl. Ho Ho Holiday 2.0 will commence on December 15, 2007 at 9:00 p.m. at my apartment in Cincinnati. Following several warm up drinks, we will head to a bar district and bounce from bar to bar in complete abandon. It promises to be as much fun, if not more fun, than last year.
In honor of Ho Ho Holiday 2.0, I give you the "Ho Ho Holitini", a drink that I developed in my kitchen after much trial and error:
1 part pomegranate vodka (Recommend Three Olives brand)
1 part Ruby Red grapefruit vodka (Recommend Absolut brand)
2 parts cranberry juice
Splash of club soda
Shake vodkas and cranberry juice over ice. Add splash of club soda and stir. Strain into a martini glass and enjoy.
Cheers.
In honor of Ho Ho Holiday 2.0, I give you the "Ho Ho Holitini", a drink that I developed in my kitchen after much trial and error:
1 part pomegranate vodka (Recommend Three Olives brand)
1 part Ruby Red grapefruit vodka (Recommend Absolut brand)
2 parts cranberry juice
Splash of club soda
Shake vodkas and cranberry juice over ice. Add splash of club soda and stir. Strain into a martini glass and enjoy.
Cheers.
11.26.2007
I heart National City
I was checking my credit card statement today when I noticed a pretty stiff late fee and finance charge on my account.... but my National City checking account statement showed that a payment had been posted to the credit card company on time. I called Capital One to figure out why I was socked with these charges when my bank statement showed the payment on time. I waited for 10 minutes before I got tired of waiting and hung up. So I called National City customer service to ask the same thing. I was patched through to an operator, the mistake (theirs) was explained and the solution offered within three minutes. Great customer service, and they are taking care of everything, to boot.
And that is why I heart National City.
And that is why I heart National City.
11.20.2007
Thankful
Hundreds of people stood in line in the pre-dawn hours of the morning. Some jostled babies on their hips. Some shifted restlessly in their wheelchairs. Some joked and laughed, talking to make the time go by. Some simply stood, this just one more task needing to be completed before the end of the day.
They were standing in line for food at a food bank. They were waiting to receive boxes of food that would allow them to make themselves and their families a Thanksgiving meal. Each box would contain a chicken, turkey or ham; potatoes, fresh produce and onions; canned fruit and vegetables; some kind of boxed dessert mix. Everything needed for a holiday meal.
They all had stories to tell. She was a working single mother of three who could no longer stretch the paycheck far enough to pay the rent, the bills and the grocery. He'd been in an accident and didn't have health insurance. She was married, with 2.5 kids and a dog and a house in the 'burbs, who just needed a little help getting by.
Their stories were all different, but they had one thing in common: They were all hungry. After all, hunger knows no boundaries. And so they stood, united by the fact that they wanted to feed themselves and their families, aware of the fact that they couldn't and resigned to the fact that they had to ask for help.
The line shuffled forward slowly, 20 people at a time. Volunteers collected information from them: Names, identification, number of people in household. The volunteers were careful, methodical. They had a kind word and a smile to share, but they had no tolerance for those who tried to take advantage of the system.
Through the door, up the ramp, into the hallway, down the steps, into the food room. The line shifted forward, inch by inch, one person at a time. Stepping into a large room separated by a long counter and a bank of computers, those in line knew they were close to the end. Another group of volunteers took their paperwork, then started doling out boxes of food, arranged neatly in crates behind them. Bags of produce came next. Then the prize: The turkey.
One man sat off to the side, in his electric scooter. A volunteer was coming to help him with his groceries. But he couldn't wait that long. He dropped a hand, shriveled and spotted, into a bag, rummaged around. He came out with an apple and bit right in. He was sorry he couldn't wait, but he was hungry. He hadn't eaten in a day.
I stood there, taking it all in. A few moments ago, I'd been thinking of how hungry I was, how I couldn't wait to get back to the office and dig in to the cup of yogurt I'd packed for lunch. Now I watched as an old man bit into an apple, chewing ravenously, and I felt ashamed. I didn't know the first thing about being hungry.
A volunteer came to escort the old man back outside. As he scooted past, he gave me a nod, his brown eyes sober. "Happy Thanksgiving," he said. There was pride in his voice. There were tears in mine. "Happy Thanksgiving," I replied.
-------------
Thankful. Grateful. Hopeful. That's how I am feeling this Thanksgiving. I wish the same for you.
They were standing in line for food at a food bank. They were waiting to receive boxes of food that would allow them to make themselves and their families a Thanksgiving meal. Each box would contain a chicken, turkey or ham; potatoes, fresh produce and onions; canned fruit and vegetables; some kind of boxed dessert mix. Everything needed for a holiday meal.
They all had stories to tell. She was a working single mother of three who could no longer stretch the paycheck far enough to pay the rent, the bills and the grocery. He'd been in an accident and didn't have health insurance. She was married, with 2.5 kids and a dog and a house in the 'burbs, who just needed a little help getting by.
Their stories were all different, but they had one thing in common: They were all hungry. After all, hunger knows no boundaries. And so they stood, united by the fact that they wanted to feed themselves and their families, aware of the fact that they couldn't and resigned to the fact that they had to ask for help.
The line shuffled forward slowly, 20 people at a time. Volunteers collected information from them: Names, identification, number of people in household. The volunteers were careful, methodical. They had a kind word and a smile to share, but they had no tolerance for those who tried to take advantage of the system.
Through the door, up the ramp, into the hallway, down the steps, into the food room. The line shifted forward, inch by inch, one person at a time. Stepping into a large room separated by a long counter and a bank of computers, those in line knew they were close to the end. Another group of volunteers took their paperwork, then started doling out boxes of food, arranged neatly in crates behind them. Bags of produce came next. Then the prize: The turkey.
One man sat off to the side, in his electric scooter. A volunteer was coming to help him with his groceries. But he couldn't wait that long. He dropped a hand, shriveled and spotted, into a bag, rummaged around. He came out with an apple and bit right in. He was sorry he couldn't wait, but he was hungry. He hadn't eaten in a day.
I stood there, taking it all in. A few moments ago, I'd been thinking of how hungry I was, how I couldn't wait to get back to the office and dig in to the cup of yogurt I'd packed for lunch. Now I watched as an old man bit into an apple, chewing ravenously, and I felt ashamed. I didn't know the first thing about being hungry.
A volunteer came to escort the old man back outside. As he scooted past, he gave me a nod, his brown eyes sober. "Happy Thanksgiving," he said. There was pride in his voice. There were tears in mine. "Happy Thanksgiving," I replied.
-------------
Thankful. Grateful. Hopeful. That's how I am feeling this Thanksgiving. I wish the same for you.
11.18.2007
Survey Says...
So this is stolen from multiples people... Sherry, Sarah, Dawn...
1. Name one person who made you laugh last night?
Matthew Perry (in a Friends re-run)
2. What were you doing at 0800?
Hoping to go back to sleep
3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Dishes
4. What happened to you in 2006?
I got a breast reduction, turned 25, got a new job and moved to Cincinnati
5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
"Who needs angels, anyway?" (Does it count since I actually sang it out loud?)
6. How many beverages did you have today?
Water, milk
7. What color is your hairbrush?
Silver-ish
8. What was the last thing you paid for?
Drain-O, silicone hair serum, wine and my book club book (Target = the happiest place on Earth)
9.Where were you last night?
At home
10. What color is your front door?
White
11. Where do you keep your change?
The parking meters in downtown Cincinnati
12. What’s the weather like today?
Football weather - crisp, cool and mostly sunny
13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Strawberry chocolate chip as made by Graeters ice cream. It is only available two months out of the year, but it is worth the wait
14. What excites you?
Working with my two favorite clients, making up recipes, cleaning
15. Do you want to cut your hair?
Nope, I am trying to grow it out
16. Are you over the age of 25?
Yes
17. Do you talk a lot?
Dear lord, YES!!!
18. Do you watch the O.C.?
No, but I watch Gossip Girl , which is essentially the same thing
19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
My youngest bro's friend is named Steven, so I guess I sort of know him
20. Do you make up your own words?
Wonky
21. Are you a jealous person?
Sometimes
22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
Andy
23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
Kristen
24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
Lori
25. What does the last text message you received say?
"Whoa whoa whoa. No problem. See u monday."
26. Do you chew on your straw?
When I am finished with my drink and bored
27. Do you have curly hair?
You tell me
28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
Work tomorrow
29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
Probably my co-worker Joe
30. What was the last thing you ate?
Apple cinnamon pancakes
31. Will you get married in the future?
Maybe
32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
Knocked Up
33. Is there anyone you like right now?
Brian in Minneapolis HAHAHAHA :)
34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
Right before I wrote this post
35. Are you currently depressed?
Nope
36. Did you cry today?
Not yet
37. Why did you answer and post this?
Because I haven't posted anything with substance in a while
1. Name one person who made you laugh last night?
Matthew Perry (in a Friends re-run)
2. What were you doing at 0800?
Hoping to go back to sleep
3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Dishes
4. What happened to you in 2006?
I got a breast reduction, turned 25, got a new job and moved to Cincinnati
5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
"Who needs angels, anyway?" (Does it count since I actually sang it out loud?)
6. How many beverages did you have today?
Water, milk
7. What color is your hairbrush?
Silver-ish
8. What was the last thing you paid for?
Drain-O, silicone hair serum, wine and my book club book (Target = the happiest place on Earth)
9.Where were you last night?
At home
10. What color is your front door?
White
11. Where do you keep your change?
The parking meters in downtown Cincinnati
12. What’s the weather like today?
Football weather - crisp, cool and mostly sunny
13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Strawberry chocolate chip as made by Graeters ice cream. It is only available two months out of the year, but it is worth the wait
14. What excites you?
Working with my two favorite clients, making up recipes, cleaning
15. Do you want to cut your hair?
Nope, I am trying to grow it out
16. Are you over the age of 25?
Yes
17. Do you talk a lot?
Dear lord, YES!!!
18. Do you watch the O.C.?
No, but I watch Gossip Girl , which is essentially the same thing
19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
My youngest bro's friend is named Steven, so I guess I sort of know him
20. Do you make up your own words?
Wonky
21. Are you a jealous person?
Sometimes
22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
Andy
23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
Kristen
24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
Lori
25. What does the last text message you received say?
"Whoa whoa whoa. No problem. See u monday."
26. Do you chew on your straw?
When I am finished with my drink and bored
27. Do you have curly hair?
You tell me
28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
Work tomorrow
29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
Probably my co-worker Joe
30. What was the last thing you ate?
Apple cinnamon pancakes
31. Will you get married in the future?
Maybe
32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
Knocked Up
33. Is there anyone you like right now?
Brian in Minneapolis HAHAHAHA :)
34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
Right before I wrote this post
35. Are you currently depressed?
Nope
36. Did you cry today?
Not yet
37. Why did you answer and post this?
Because I haven't posted anything with substance in a while
11.14.2007
Short rant
If I have my blinker on next to a parallel parking spot, it means I am going to park there. So don't come zooming up on my ass and then beep your horn at me when I don't move.
Bitch.
Bitch.
11.04.2007
This weekend
Halloween party in Toledo. Soooo much fun, as it included the following (in no particular order or relevance):
- A hot tub
- Flip cup
- Purple crushed velvet pimp suit
- Mysterious bruises all over my body
- S'mores
- Heart to hearts
- A bonfire
- Hangovers
- Looooong Sunday afternoon naps
- Fishnet stockings
- Make out sessions
All in all, a very successful and very fun weekend. Well done to Leia and Ryan on a great party. And to the girls and boys that I never get to see but love tremendously (including the gestating baby...): I love you and miss you and hope to see you again really soon! Thank you for making this weekend such a blast!!
- A hot tub
- Flip cup
- Purple crushed velvet pimp suit
- Mysterious bruises all over my body
- S'mores
- Heart to hearts
- A bonfire
- Hangovers
- Looooong Sunday afternoon naps
- Fishnet stockings
- Make out sessions
All in all, a very successful and very fun weekend. Well done to Leia and Ryan on a great party. And to the girls and boys that I never get to see but love tremendously (including the gestating baby...): I love you and miss you and hope to see you again really soon! Thank you for making this weekend such a blast!!
10.29.2007
With great responsibility comes great power
I was promoted today, sort of. Although I have not yet been officially promoted to the position of account supervisor, I am going to start taking on some supervisory responsibilities on two of my accounts, which is to say that I will now have one person working under me to take the bulk of the work, while I provide counsel and strategic direction as needed. Tomorrow, everything starts to change.
It scares the shit out of me.
I have always been ambitious, and I've always been driven to succeed. It's been my goal to be the vice president of public relations at some company by the time I'm 30. I have always believed that I would go far, but I guess I didn't really expect that it would happen to me so young in my career.
But at 26, while most of the people I graduated with are still account executives*, I am getting ready to make the leap into management. In fact, I am younger than my new account executive by 2 years.
It literally scares the shit out of me.
This is a really big step for me, both personally and professionally. I know that there will be challenges ahead. I know that I will sometimes succeed and sometimes fail. I know that I don't know everything I should probably know to be in this position. But I've worked my ass off to get here, and I deserve it.
The notion that I deserve it is something I'm coming around to.
The only bummer in this situation is that I will be supervising my two favorite accounts. The one allows me to really feel like I am DOING something... that I'm not just selling products or ideas, but solutions that will really, truly help people. The other client is my favorite because of the people... my "gay boyfriend" is my main client contact and I don't know how I'll go from calling him three times a day to calling him three times a month. Basically, I'll be DOING less work and OVERSEEING more work. Make sense?
Not only will the scope and responsibility of my work change, the way that I am viewed by my peers will change. This is what I am having the most trouble with. The girl whom I will be supervising is my friend. We eat lunch together in our little group of 6 almost every day. Her brother is trying to date me. I can practically feel the tension mounting.
Plus, the other girls at the lunch table won't feel like they can grouse about their jobs in front of me. I'll go from being a friend to a superior. I don't like the thought of losing my social network when my social network is so small to even begin with. I KNOW that this is the next logical step in my career and I have always known this day is coming. I guess I just thought I had more time to get used to the idea... I guess I thought that I'd become a supervisor at my next job, not right now.
(Here is where I have to stop myself from being so melodramatic. It's not the end of world, and I'm not even technically a supervisor yet.)
It is nice to know that my own supervisors have faith in me. I like knowing that they trust me to take this step and are willing to help me through it. It seems ironic that 2 months ago I got a nasty gram from them, telling me that I had a lot of areas to improve upon. I guess I made the improvements they requested, and then some.
I feel like I am becoming the PR professional that I am meant to be. At the same time, I'm feeling a lot of anxiety over leaving behind the professional that I am. I need to take the faith that my supervisors have in me and have it in myself.
But god, I'm scared shit less!
*NOTE: The typical progression of a professional in the PR field is as follows. The numbers behind each position indicate the number of years of experience each position generally requires. Note that I will celebrate my 5th year out of college next summer: Assistant Account Executive (1-2 years); Account Executive (2-4 years); Senior Account Executive (5-7 years); Account Supervisor (6-9); Senior Account Supervisor (10-15 years); Assistant Vice President and so on...
It scares the shit out of me.
I have always been ambitious, and I've always been driven to succeed. It's been my goal to be the vice president of public relations at some company by the time I'm 30. I have always believed that I would go far, but I guess I didn't really expect that it would happen to me so young in my career.
But at 26, while most of the people I graduated with are still account executives*, I am getting ready to make the leap into management. In fact, I am younger than my new account executive by 2 years.
It literally scares the shit out of me.
This is a really big step for me, both personally and professionally. I know that there will be challenges ahead. I know that I will sometimes succeed and sometimes fail. I know that I don't know everything I should probably know to be in this position. But I've worked my ass off to get here, and I deserve it.
The notion that I deserve it is something I'm coming around to.
The only bummer in this situation is that I will be supervising my two favorite accounts. The one allows me to really feel like I am DOING something... that I'm not just selling products or ideas, but solutions that will really, truly help people. The other client is my favorite because of the people... my "gay boyfriend" is my main client contact and I don't know how I'll go from calling him three times a day to calling him three times a month. Basically, I'll be DOING less work and OVERSEEING more work. Make sense?
Not only will the scope and responsibility of my work change, the way that I am viewed by my peers will change. This is what I am having the most trouble with. The girl whom I will be supervising is my friend. We eat lunch together in our little group of 6 almost every day. Her brother is trying to date me. I can practically feel the tension mounting.
Plus, the other girls at the lunch table won't feel like they can grouse about their jobs in front of me. I'll go from being a friend to a superior. I don't like the thought of losing my social network when my social network is so small to even begin with. I KNOW that this is the next logical step in my career and I have always known this day is coming. I guess I just thought I had more time to get used to the idea... I guess I thought that I'd become a supervisor at my next job, not right now.
(Here is where I have to stop myself from being so melodramatic. It's not the end of world, and I'm not even technically a supervisor yet.)
It is nice to know that my own supervisors have faith in me. I like knowing that they trust me to take this step and are willing to help me through it. It seems ironic that 2 months ago I got a nasty gram from them, telling me that I had a lot of areas to improve upon. I guess I made the improvements they requested, and then some.
I feel like I am becoming the PR professional that I am meant to be. At the same time, I'm feeling a lot of anxiety over leaving behind the professional that I am. I need to take the faith that my supervisors have in me and have it in myself.
But god, I'm scared shit less!
*NOTE: The typical progression of a professional in the PR field is as follows. The numbers behind each position indicate the number of years of experience each position generally requires. Note that I will celebrate my 5th year out of college next summer: Assistant Account Executive (1-2 years); Account Executive (2-4 years); Senior Account Executive (5-7 years); Account Supervisor (6-9); Senior Account Supervisor (10-15 years); Assistant Vice President and so on...
10.22.2007
Another weird dream
In this one, I was pregnant and had to tell my family that I didn't know who the father was. Talk about a nightmare.
10.12.2007
To Do List
Go to the grocery store
Go to Target
Wash, dust, Armorall and vacuum car
Get oil change
Clean house (includes dusting)
Organize book club
Buy book for book club
Call Dennis to see if I am going to the Bob Dylan concert with him (cross fingers)
Watch Bengals game
Make nice with boys upstairs
Clean closet
Purge refrigerator
Pay bills
Work out
Rejoin Match.com
Do laundry
Find out why vacuum has suddenly stopped working
Go to Target
Wash, dust, Armorall and vacuum car
Get oil change
Clean house (includes dusting)
Organize book club
Buy book for book club
Call Dennis to see if I am going to the Bob Dylan concert with him (cross fingers)
Watch Bengals game
Make nice with boys upstairs
Clean closet
Purge refrigerator
Pay bills
Work out
Rejoin Match.com
Do laundry
Find out why vacuum has suddenly stopped working
10.08.2007
Dreams
I had this crazy dream last night. I dreamt that I was driving along in a car, holding a baby. The baby (well, he was more like a two year old) was hanging his head out the window enjoying the sweaty summer breeze. The sun shone down on the car as we sped along a curving, dusty road towards the beach.
I stopped by a white fence – the kind of white, split-rail fence that encloses a paddock – to ask permission of the child's mother to take him to the beach. The mother (who incidentally was depicted in my dream as my friend Leia's mother-in-law) was on her hands and knees in the dust, a straw hat on her head and a small spade in her hand. She was gardening, digging among huge tomato plants and God knows what else. Leia was with her. I asked if I could take the baby to the beach. The mother looked skeptical, but I saw Leia nod to her, as if to assure her that I would not harm the baby. The mother said it was fine and the baby and I took off towards the coast.
We arrived at the beach and started walking towards the water. All of a sudden, the sky darkened and the water became tumultuous. Without warning, a huge wave came racing towards the shore. Everything began to move in in slow motion – me, holding a small child, being sucked suddenly and fiercely into a 100-foot wave with no possibility of escape. I rode along its crest, held high above the beach and the swirling water. I saw the people below, the mother and my friend Leia, gesturing frantically towards me, but there was nothing any of us could do.
I was held aloft by the wave as it carried me far, far down the beach. Suddenly, I felt the wave disappear beneath me and I was plummeting towards the earth. I turned on my back, towards the sky, and cradled the child in my arms. We landed in a palm tree miles away from where we started.
I could see the mother and my friend Leia wildly searching for us, combing the beach to find some indication that we were alright. My dreamland self tried to catch their attention – "We're okay, we're in the palm tree!!" – but it was of no use. The mother sobbed violently and blamed me for taking her child to the beach... and then taking her child away from her.
As the search party left the beach, I somehow found a way to shimmy down the trunk of the palm tree to the littered beach below. The baby suddenly (and inexplicably) became my youngest brother. Not a baby version of my brother, but the full-grown, 19-year-old current version of my brother. I was still cradling him. Together, we took off down the beach in search of the mother.
That's where the dream ended. I woke up tangled in my sheets, curled tightly into a sweaty ball. My heart was racing. My body was shaking. And I felt like weeping.
9.27.2007
Tonight's post brought to you by: Season Premieres
I eagerly anticipated this evening, for tonight marked the season premieres of my two favorite shows: The Office and Grey's Anatomy.
The Office was, of course, wonderful. The plot centered around Michael's bumbling managerial and driving style (Rabies, anyone?) and the are-they-or-aren't-they-finally-hooking-up Pam and Jim romance (they are!)
And then there was Grey's Anatomy. The best part of the episode was the last minute, in which George declared that he is in love with Izzy. Oh, and the previews. If this had been the first-ever episode of Grey's Anatomy, I wouldn't tune in next week.
Oh, and did anyone else notice that they discussed Dr. Burke's departure from Seattle Grace, but never once did they mention Addison's? And she has a spin off on the same network!
Ugh.
Going to my BFF Leia's for the weekend.... have a good one, peeps.
The Office was, of course, wonderful. The plot centered around Michael's bumbling managerial and driving style (Rabies, anyone?) and the are-they-or-aren't-they-finally-hooking-up Pam and Jim romance (they are!)
And then there was Grey's Anatomy. The best part of the episode was the last minute, in which George declared that he is in love with Izzy. Oh, and the previews. If this had been the first-ever episode of Grey's Anatomy, I wouldn't tune in next week.
Oh, and did anyone else notice that they discussed Dr. Burke's departure from Seattle Grace, but never once did they mention Addison's? And she has a spin off on the same network!
Ugh.
Going to my BFF Leia's for the weekend.... have a good one, peeps.
9.26.2007
Rotten meat closes I-471
I received a breaking news alert from Cincinnati.com this afternoon with the following headline: Rotten meat closes I-471. The opening line of the email? "A truck carrying scrap meat crashed on I-471 this morning, strewing a disgusting mess over the highway and causing a huge traffic jam."
While the outcome could have been much worse, it wasn't. Read the full story and tell me it is not the most hilarious story ever... and be sure to check out the picture gallery!
While the outcome could have been much worse, it wasn't. Read the full story and tell me it is not the most hilarious story ever... and be sure to check out the picture gallery!
9.24.2007
Rachael Ray - love her or hate her?
When it comes to Rachael Ray, people either love her or hate her. Maybe it's the cutesy phrases she throws around as freely as salt and pepper (EVOO, anyone?) or maybe it is her constant optimism; but something about her really bugs me. At the same time, she makes good food and she's really up-front about the fact that she isn't a classically trained chef. That, I really like about her.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
9.13.2007
Social experiment
Last summer, fellow blogger Nerdine performed a little social experiment that I would like to copy. She volunteered to send a postcard to anyone in the world who wanted one... real mail from Norway!!! While she admittedly had more blogger friends than I have (and, let's be honest, will probably ever have!), I have decided to follow her lead.
While it may not be as exciting a locale as Norway, anyone who wants a little square of Ohio can feel free to email me their mailing address and I will send them a postcard, posthaste. So what do you say? Want to be pen pals?
While it may not be as exciting a locale as Norway, anyone who wants a little square of Ohio can feel free to email me their mailing address and I will send them a postcard, posthaste. So what do you say? Want to be pen pals?
9.12.2007
Photos for your consideration
From ThinkorThwim.com:
After:
During World War II the Army Corps of Engineers needed to hide the Lockheed Burbank Aircraft Plant to protect it from a Japanese air attack. They covered it with camouflage netting and trompe l’oeil to make it look like a rural subdivision from the air. Man, the shit they think up!
Before:
9.09.2007
Comeback?
The much-touted comeback of Britney Spears fell a little flat during this evening's MTV Video Music Awards show in Las Vegas. Although I like the song (Gimme More, check it here...) I won't be lining up to buy tickets to her next concert. Was it just me, or did she seem a little confused and out of it at the beginning? Oh, and did you notice that she didn't even bother to lip-sync the entire song?! She's never been much of a "performer" when it comes to singing live, but she's always been able to fall back on her dancing. But even the dancing seemed half-hearted, like she was dancing in a pool of syrup instead of on a huge, huge stage. And (y'all know I'm a girl and gotta get my catty in...) she was not skinny enough to pull of the hot pants and bikini top. She's got a better body than I do, but not a good enough body to pull that off.
Update: Chris Brown's dance was out of control. Amazing.
Update: Justin Timberlake chided MTV for not showing enough music videos. He accepted his award from Lauren, Audrina and Whitney from "The Hills," an MTV reality show. Does anyone else see the irony in that?
Update: How cute was Miss Teen South Carolina making fun of herself?! Such as...
So, that's where I stand on Britney's big Hollywood comeback. Whew! Glad I got that out.
This post also marks my comeback. A lot has happened in the past few months, and you can chalk it up to a lot of stress at work, dating, life in general and a lack of anything substantial to say. To sum it all up for you, life has sucked lately. So forgive my lack of updating.
Work-wise, things have been beyond sTreSSfuL as I try to decide if this is a company that I really want to work for... and a city that I really want to live in. I have stopped looking forward going to work lately, and I think it has become obvious to the people that I work for that I am starting to just NOT CARE about the work that I do there. BAD LAUREN!
Dating-wise, Potential Boy and I decided to just date one another, but then the initial attraction began to fade as we got past the "getting to know you" phase and got into the "this is who I really am, can you deal with it" phase. The answer, at least for me, was "no." Seeing him started to feel like a chore... when that happens, it is time to split. We would haven't ended eventually anyway, as he wants to move to Seattle.
Life-wise, I have been very close to having a mental breakdown over the past few months. In fact, I've had multiple bouts of stuffy-nosed, red-faced, hysterical, hiccuppy, heaving, out-of-the-blue crying. It brings both myself and my mother back to my freshman year in college when I wanted to come home every weekend, which has basically been the case these last few months. Every time I see my family (and subsequently leave them) I cry most of the way back to Cincinnati. I don't have the friend base here in Cincinnati that I thought I'd have after a year of making a life here. I don't have any family to lean on or grab dinner with when I get down. I just come back to my apartment and feel sorry for myself.
So, my options as I look at the next few months involve everything from staying put and looking for a new job and hoping that it gives me the kick in the pants that I need to improve other areas of my life; looking for a new job in a new town where I do have family (either in back in Dayton or in Columbus, where my littlest bro goes to OSU, my dad works for OSU and my other bro now lives permanently); sticking it out at this current job until my lease is up on my apartment in May of '08 and hoping things improve; or giving it all up and crawling home to lick my wounds. And while I have always been one who enjoys feeling sorry for herself occasionally, it's never for long. I'm not a wallowing-in-self-pity-for-more-than-one-day kinda girl.
And, even though intellectually I know this isn't the case, making the Mary Tyler Moore decision to move to the big city and live the big girl life, only to call it quits a year later seems like such a failure. Like, "good job, you tried hard but you just can't hack it so pack up and go on back home." I know that moving to a new city to start a new job and living on my own for the first time and doing it all without knowing more than two people when moving to said city was a big, risky step that not a lot of people would have taken. But leaving seems like giving up. However, it may just be what I need to do for myself and my mental health.
Oh, and also? My Mr. Big is getting married. Yay.
That's pretty much my story, what's up with you?
Update: Chris Brown's dance was out of control. Amazing.
Update: Justin Timberlake chided MTV for not showing enough music videos. He accepted his award from Lauren, Audrina and Whitney from "The Hills," an MTV reality show. Does anyone else see the irony in that?
Update: How cute was Miss Teen South Carolina making fun of herself?! Such as...
So, that's where I stand on Britney's big Hollywood comeback. Whew! Glad I got that out.
This post also marks my comeback. A lot has happened in the past few months, and you can chalk it up to a lot of stress at work, dating, life in general and a lack of anything substantial to say. To sum it all up for you, life has sucked lately. So forgive my lack of updating.
Work-wise, things have been beyond sTreSSfuL as I try to decide if this is a company that I really want to work for... and a city that I really want to live in. I have stopped looking forward going to work lately, and I think it has become obvious to the people that I work for that I am starting to just NOT CARE about the work that I do there. BAD LAUREN!
Dating-wise, Potential Boy and I decided to just date one another, but then the initial attraction began to fade as we got past the "getting to know you" phase and got into the "this is who I really am, can you deal with it" phase. The answer, at least for me, was "no." Seeing him started to feel like a chore... when that happens, it is time to split. We would haven't ended eventually anyway, as he wants to move to Seattle.
Life-wise, I have been very close to having a mental breakdown over the past few months. In fact, I've had multiple bouts of stuffy-nosed, red-faced, hysterical, hiccuppy, heaving, out-of-the-blue crying. It brings both myself and my mother back to my freshman year in college when I wanted to come home every weekend, which has basically been the case these last few months. Every time I see my family (and subsequently leave them) I cry most of the way back to Cincinnati. I don't have the friend base here in Cincinnati that I thought I'd have after a year of making a life here. I don't have any family to lean on or grab dinner with when I get down. I just come back to my apartment and feel sorry for myself.
So, my options as I look at the next few months involve everything from staying put and looking for a new job and hoping that it gives me the kick in the pants that I need to improve other areas of my life; looking for a new job in a new town where I do have family (either in back in Dayton or in Columbus, where my littlest bro goes to OSU, my dad works for OSU and my other bro now lives permanently); sticking it out at this current job until my lease is up on my apartment in May of '08 and hoping things improve; or giving it all up and crawling home to lick my wounds. And while I have always been one who enjoys feeling sorry for herself occasionally, it's never for long. I'm not a wallowing-in-self-pity-for-more-than-one-day kinda girl.
And, even though intellectually I know this isn't the case, making the Mary Tyler Moore decision to move to the big city and live the big girl life, only to call it quits a year later seems like such a failure. Like, "good job, you tried hard but you just can't hack it so pack up and go on back home." I know that moving to a new city to start a new job and living on my own for the first time and doing it all without knowing more than two people when moving to said city was a big, risky step that not a lot of people would have taken. But leaving seems like giving up. However, it may just be what I need to do for myself and my mental health.
Oh, and also? My Mr. Big is getting married. Yay.
That's pretty much my story, what's up with you?
6.03.2007
Guts
I was doing my grocery shopping today when I almost literally ran over a very tall, very sexy guy in the grocery store. We both tried to dodge the other, failed, dodged again... you know the drill. Finally he stepped back and I passed him and we sort of smiled and giggled at one another as I rolled on by.
Fast forward a few minutes. I'm standing in the check out lane. The guy rolls in behind me. He starts unloading his cart - 6 boxes of pasta, 3 loaves of bread, 12 cans of frozen juice. He catches me eyeing his purchases and asks why I'm smiling. I ask about the multiple purchases. We exchange a few words about our relative purchases. I pay and exit.
As I'm walking to my car, I decide that if I see him in the parking lot, I'll run over and give him my number. Why the hell not, right? Well, it started to pour and I finally see him, but I'm already in my car and driving away and I'd have to chase him down to give him my number. So I drive away.
But the moral of the story is that I ALMOST had the guts to go up to a total stranger in the grocery store and offer him my number. Which shows a confident side of myself that I have never seen. Turns out this dating lots of boys thing is really working out.
Fast forward a few minutes. I'm standing in the check out lane. The guy rolls in behind me. He starts unloading his cart - 6 boxes of pasta, 3 loaves of bread, 12 cans of frozen juice. He catches me eyeing his purchases and asks why I'm smiling. I ask about the multiple purchases. We exchange a few words about our relative purchases. I pay and exit.
As I'm walking to my car, I decide that if I see him in the parking lot, I'll run over and give him my number. Why the hell not, right? Well, it started to pour and I finally see him, but I'm already in my car and driving away and I'd have to chase him down to give him my number. So I drive away.
But the moral of the story is that I ALMOST had the guts to go up to a total stranger in the grocery store and offer him my number. Which shows a confident side of myself that I have never seen. Turns out this dating lots of boys thing is really working out.
5.23.2007
From my window
(Editor's note: I've noticed that my writing in the past few years has become more about the mundane and less about the creative. Picking up tips from some of the "creatives" out there (who most likely know who they are, or could at least guess), I've decided to try to get back to my more creative roots. Here goes the first of hopefully may practice posts.)
The view from my window is extraordinary.
Farmers' fields roll in the wind, a patchwork of golden-brown squares with the look of toasted bread. The squares are caught at the seam by the sticky black pavement roads and power lines. Occasionally, lakes and ponds interrupt the patchwork, shining like a dime, a nickel, a quarter left too long in the sun. Rivers wind like varicose veins - blue, swollen, throbbing - across the tight-stretched skin of the earth.
Birds chase the shadow of the plane as the brown earth gives way to rolling hills and valleys of green. Trees rise up, making the earth look like a nubby green sweater over the form of a shapely woman.
All I can think is, "This must be what God sees."
The view from my window is extraordinary.
Farmers' fields roll in the wind, a patchwork of golden-brown squares with the look of toasted bread. The squares are caught at the seam by the sticky black pavement roads and power lines. Occasionally, lakes and ponds interrupt the patchwork, shining like a dime, a nickel, a quarter left too long in the sun. Rivers wind like varicose veins - blue, swollen, throbbing - across the tight-stretched skin of the earth.
Birds chase the shadow of the plane as the brown earth gives way to rolling hills and valleys of green. Trees rise up, making the earth look like a nubby green sweater over the form of a shapely woman.
All I can think is, "This must be what God sees."
5.19.2007
5.14.2007
Vegas, baby! (Part Two)
I won $2.76 from the penny slots in Vegas. I lost $20 playing War. (Yes, I'm serious!) I didn't play any Texas Hold 'Em because I was admittedly too timid and I was by myself the whole time so I didn't have anyone there to give me false confidence. I will attempt to rectify this situation by dragging SOMEONE with me to Indiana, where they apparently have Vegas-esque casinos somewhere over the border, or maybe on the river.
The trip was good. My room was 27 floors up and looked out over the strip. I could see the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood and in the distance, the Palms and the Rio (which is purple and blue and has a big, androgynous Prince symbol on the side.) No, I didn't take any photos. I forgot my camera.
I am going to Chicago next Sunday through Tuesday for another trade show, though, so maybe I will take some photos then. I heart Chicago, it is my favorite city in the world and I'm happy to be going! I have friends there so that will be fun to see them. Plus, the show is a restaurant show, so there will be food in addition to work. Yippee! For lunch, I'll get to just take a little stroll instead of going to a restaurant.
Other than that, nothing much is really going on. I am talking to some guys through Match but nothing has really materialized. The players (both past and present, as per the last official Cingle in the City post):
Miami Boy: Didn't work out. We watched a movie one night and made out. Things could have gone farther, but I didn't want to put out since we haven't really dated all that long. Good thing. He arranged a date with me a month ago and then broke with some excuse (legit or not) about running into a guy from his church that he really wanted to hang out with. I haven't heard from him since. And since he was the one to break the date, he should have to be the one to call, right? Anyway, I'm not all that upset. There are others.
Tommy the Talker: Tommy the Talker has turned into Tommy the Stalker. There are two signs that pointed to trouble. 1) He is a man over the age of 15 who still goes by the name "Tommy" and B) He would Not. Shut. Up. Seriously, the boy could talk for a good 10 minutes with only "uh-huh" and "you don't say" as encouragement. I politely lied and told him I was going to start seeing one person and one person only. He wanted to meet up with me while we were both in Dayton for Easter (random story, but I said no b/c duh, I'm with my friends and family) and has since asked me out twice. I do not return his text messages. If it keeps up, I'm going to have to tell him the real reason that I stopped seeing him.
Double M, aka Mike: God, I love this kid. In the "you're my brother or my best friend" way. Neither one of us was trying to move the relationship forward on any level, and so finally I broke down and said that we should just be friends. He agreed and I think we are actually going to try to be friends. Woo! Seriously, Mike is an awesome guy and I'm really hoping he comes through on this friends thing, because I have a great time with him and I'm pretty sure he feels the same way.
The Producer: Not sure if I mentioned him, but he is actually a music manager for a rather well known singer and is currently tour managin a rather well known alt-pop band. He's been gone for a month. We get along really well, I happen to love his employer's music and I hope that once he is in town we'll get to see eachother more often.
Potential Boy: For lack of a better nickname, Potential Boy has.... errr... potential. His profile struck me immediately as witty, funny and confident. We've exchanged a few emails. I have high hopes for this one, but I tend to have high hopes for all of the guys who might potentially work out and then I get disappointed when they don't work out. So we'll see.
Audi Guy: Sells Audis. Finishing his degree in Marketing. Seems handsome and down to earth in his profile and emails. We've exchanged numbers and will see how the phone works out. Potential drawbacks: He has a name that I'm not sure I can get behind (it's totally dumb, but I don't like the name Bruce. It conjurs up images of a gym teacher with a porn-stache and short shorts. Don't know why, so don't ask for an explanation.); in addition to the "bad" name, he owns a toy fox terrier. What self-respecting guy owns a miniature dog? Maybe he is secure in his manhood... that could be a good thing for my womanhood if you know what I'm saying.
And finally, Scott: I have no nickname for Scott. We've exchanged lots of emails and a few calls. We have little phone chemistry because he inserts his foot into his mouth regularly and I get annoyed with his inane questions. But his emails are fantastic! So I'm hoping that the bad phone chemistry is just nerves. I think we are going to meet soon, I'll let you know. Regardless, he also seems like a great guy so we'll see what happens.
I should note that I have so many current prospects because my friend Lil Kim at work is also doing the Match.com thing and we've begun to trade notes, and to compare dates to see who we might have in common. I went "wink happy" at her suggestion, so now I'm fully back into the swing of things after several uneventful (and sexless, as we know) weeks.
Okay, that is it from me! I'm headed to bed! Also, I'm taking recommendations for good restaurants in Chicago, though it is home to my favorite, Cafe Ba-ba-reeba! It's a Spanish tapas restaurant and it makes you want to yell "ole!"
The trip was good. My room was 27 floors up and looked out over the strip. I could see the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood and in the distance, the Palms and the Rio (which is purple and blue and has a big, androgynous Prince symbol on the side.) No, I didn't take any photos. I forgot my camera.
I am going to Chicago next Sunday through Tuesday for another trade show, though, so maybe I will take some photos then. I heart Chicago, it is my favorite city in the world and I'm happy to be going! I have friends there so that will be fun to see them. Plus, the show is a restaurant show, so there will be food in addition to work. Yippee! For lunch, I'll get to just take a little stroll instead of going to a restaurant.
Other than that, nothing much is really going on. I am talking to some guys through Match but nothing has really materialized. The players (both past and present, as per the last official Cingle in the City post):
Miami Boy: Didn't work out. We watched a movie one night and made out. Things could have gone farther, but I didn't want to put out since we haven't really dated all that long. Good thing. He arranged a date with me a month ago and then broke with some excuse (legit or not) about running into a guy from his church that he really wanted to hang out with. I haven't heard from him since. And since he was the one to break the date, he should have to be the one to call, right? Anyway, I'm not all that upset. There are others.
Tommy the Talker: Tommy the Talker has turned into Tommy the Stalker. There are two signs that pointed to trouble. 1) He is a man over the age of 15 who still goes by the name "Tommy" and B) He would Not. Shut. Up. Seriously, the boy could talk for a good 10 minutes with only "uh-huh" and "you don't say" as encouragement. I politely lied and told him I was going to start seeing one person and one person only. He wanted to meet up with me while we were both in Dayton for Easter (random story, but I said no b/c duh, I'm with my friends and family) and has since asked me out twice. I do not return his text messages. If it keeps up, I'm going to have to tell him the real reason that I stopped seeing him.
Double M, aka Mike: God, I love this kid. In the "you're my brother or my best friend" way. Neither one of us was trying to move the relationship forward on any level, and so finally I broke down and said that we should just be friends. He agreed and I think we are actually going to try to be friends. Woo! Seriously, Mike is an awesome guy and I'm really hoping he comes through on this friends thing, because I have a great time with him and I'm pretty sure he feels the same way.
The Producer: Not sure if I mentioned him, but he is actually a music manager for a rather well known singer and is currently tour managin a rather well known alt-pop band. He's been gone for a month. We get along really well, I happen to love his employer's music and I hope that once he is in town we'll get to see eachother more often.
Potential Boy: For lack of a better nickname, Potential Boy has.... errr... potential. His profile struck me immediately as witty, funny and confident. We've exchanged a few emails. I have high hopes for this one, but I tend to have high hopes for all of the guys who might potentially work out and then I get disappointed when they don't work out. So we'll see.
Audi Guy: Sells Audis. Finishing his degree in Marketing. Seems handsome and down to earth in his profile and emails. We've exchanged numbers and will see how the phone works out. Potential drawbacks: He has a name that I'm not sure I can get behind (it's totally dumb, but I don't like the name Bruce. It conjurs up images of a gym teacher with a porn-stache and short shorts. Don't know why, so don't ask for an explanation.); in addition to the "bad" name, he owns a toy fox terrier. What self-respecting guy owns a miniature dog? Maybe he is secure in his manhood... that could be a good thing for my womanhood if you know what I'm saying.
And finally, Scott: I have no nickname for Scott. We've exchanged lots of emails and a few calls. We have little phone chemistry because he inserts his foot into his mouth regularly and I get annoyed with his inane questions. But his emails are fantastic! So I'm hoping that the bad phone chemistry is just nerves. I think we are going to meet soon, I'll let you know. Regardless, he also seems like a great guy so we'll see what happens.
I should note that I have so many current prospects because my friend Lil Kim at work is also doing the Match.com thing and we've begun to trade notes, and to compare dates to see who we might have in common. I went "wink happy" at her suggestion, so now I'm fully back into the swing of things after several uneventful (and sexless, as we know) weeks.
Okay, that is it from me! I'm headed to bed! Also, I'm taking recommendations for good restaurants in Chicago, though it is home to my favorite, Cafe Ba-ba-reeba! It's a Spanish tapas restaurant and it makes you want to yell "ole!"
5.08.2007
Vegas, baby!
Okay, dear readers, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. Things have been crazy the past three weeks. I was added to two new accounts, bringing the total number of accounts that I am managing 9 - count 'em - 9!!! Unfortunately in the last three-four weeks, I have also had MAJOR projects hitting with some of the accounts that I was already on. So between big projects on my old clients and getting up to speed with my new clients, I've had little time for anything other than work and the occassional date. Even the dating has been few and far between, probably because I have been working 10-11 hour days. Whew!
On the up side, one of the new clients is taking me to Vegas tomorrow for a trade show. Woo hoo! If you've ever worked a trade show, you know how truly unexciting and simultaneously exhausting they are. It's 8 hours on your feet. Ick. Regardless, I am excited to be going to Las Vegas for the first time ever. I am going to play the slots in the airport, because I think it's funny. I have brought a LITTLE bit of cash to spend at the Hold 'Em table but I am too conservative with my money to truly spend a lot. Plus, keep in mind that I am still officially on a money diet since CHRISTMAS and am trying to watch how much money I spend. 'Course, I could hit the big time which wouldn't be better.
The dating front is... dry. I was seeing this guy Mike for a while and he was super nice, but there was no chemistry. We actually talked about it and agreed that we'd be better as friends. I went "wink" happy on Match.com last night and so we'll see if any prospects trickle in through that. Honestly, I think I am going to stop doing it and take the summer off to just have fun around Hyde Park. Loneliness and lack of sex might win out.
Speaking of sex... I need to have some. Not just want, NEED, cannot physically stand another day WITHOUT sex. I haven't done "it" since... let's see... September? D'OH! I need to have hot, sweaty, filthy, raunchy, dirty, only-in-it-for-the-O sex... and soon. Sheesh.
Sorry that this is a boring post, but yes I'm alive and while I haven't been super active on Blogger recently, I've at least been thinking of you.
On the up side, one of the new clients is taking me to Vegas tomorrow for a trade show. Woo hoo! If you've ever worked a trade show, you know how truly unexciting and simultaneously exhausting they are. It's 8 hours on your feet. Ick. Regardless, I am excited to be going to Las Vegas for the first time ever. I am going to play the slots in the airport, because I think it's funny. I have brought a LITTLE bit of cash to spend at the Hold 'Em table but I am too conservative with my money to truly spend a lot. Plus, keep in mind that I am still officially on a money diet since CHRISTMAS and am trying to watch how much money I spend. 'Course, I could hit the big time which wouldn't be better.
The dating front is... dry. I was seeing this guy Mike for a while and he was super nice, but there was no chemistry. We actually talked about it and agreed that we'd be better as friends. I went "wink" happy on Match.com last night and so we'll see if any prospects trickle in through that. Honestly, I think I am going to stop doing it and take the summer off to just have fun around Hyde Park. Loneliness and lack of sex might win out.
Speaking of sex... I need to have some. Not just want, NEED, cannot physically stand another day WITHOUT sex. I haven't done "it" since... let's see... September? D'OH! I need to have hot, sweaty, filthy, raunchy, dirty, only-in-it-for-the-O sex... and soon. Sheesh.
Sorry that this is a boring post, but yes I'm alive and while I haven't been super active on Blogger recently, I've at least been thinking of you.
4.05.2007
Century Club
This is my 100th post. So to celebrate, I thought I would list 100 things about myself to entertain (maybe?) my dear and faithful readers.
Okay, actually, I'm only going to write a list of 50. The first 50 things you'll read actually came from this post.
1) My favorite color is pink
2) I love to get pedicures
3) It grosses me out when milk gets dry and crusty around the lid
4) I like cream in my coffee
5) I stay in my pj's for as long as possible on Sundays
6) I'm a planner
7) I also like to be spontaneous
8) And I like to take risks. Calculated risks. Within reason.
9) When I love, I do so fully and without reservation
10) I'm sometimes tempermental
11) I think porn is funny
12) My favorite t.v. shows are "Grey's Anatomy" and "Gilmore Girls"
13) I like to keep my toenails painted
14) I'm funny
15) I'm only 5' 1" but my license says I'm 5' 2"
16) I'm a good rollerskater, but not a good rollerblader
17) I sliced open my knee when I was 6 but I never got stitches
18) I like to fly
19) I like all kinds of music, from Kanye West to Paul Wall to Kelly Clarkson and the Dixie Chicks
20) I think the best thing a man can do for his woman is respect her
21) I like to cook, and I'm usually pretty good at it
22) I'm really good at playing trivia
23) I like to drink beer
24) I love sushi
25) I was one of two white girls on my cheerleading squad in high school
26) I worry about making other people happy more often than I worry about making myself happy
27) I admire both of my parents
28) I have two younger brothers, 21 and 18
29) My two cars have both been grey
30) I'm attracted to dark-haired guys.
31) I will surprise you by looking as good in a Tshirt and jeans as a fancy dress and 3" heels
32) I look forward to wearing flip flops in the summer
33) I read the paper in the morning
34) I order venti nonfat decaf caramel machiatos from Starbucks, even though I feel a little pretentious doing so
35) I enjoy a Grey Goose vodka tonic
36) I cried when Princess Diana died
37) I love to go to art museums, even if my taste runs towards the predictabe
38) I love so many songs, I would be hard-pressed to pick one as a favorite
39) I remember where I was the first time I saw "The Sound Of Music"
40) When I get a big box of chocolates, I save the cream-filled ones for last because they are my favorites
41) I buy my sneakers in the kids' shoe department
42) I've been on vacation by myself
43) If I could pick anywhere in the world to go on vacation, it would be a beach
44) I like to take naps
45) I fell in love at 16
46) I don't like Seinfeld or Everybody Loves Raymond
47) I am obsessed with watching Friends and Sex and the City reruns
48) I am a shoe fanatic
49) I like flowers on a first date, but think roses are cheesy and predictable
50) I like to make lists
51) My family members are some of my best friends
52) I can crack open an egg with one hand
53) I can't stand anything cinnamon flavored
54) I'm good at Wheel of Fortune
55) My favorite author is Jennifer Weiner
56) I own a dictionary of American slang
57) I love the fact that I'm dating multiple people
58) And at the same time, I'm ready to stop!!
59) All of my candles are vanilla scented
60) I like to hyphenate
61) I am sometimes kind of a klutz
62) I can't eat a lunch item before I eat a breakfast item. Just can't do it.
63) I can recite Psalm 23
64) I hate doing laundry
65) I like to think of myself as a complex woman, but in reality I'm disturbingly simple to understand
66) I talk too much
67) I like to light candles, turn off the lights and the phone, and curl up on the couch by myself
68) I coined the phrase, "I'm not emotional, I'm just sensitive"
69) I can't sew
70) I can be a jealous woman
71) I have won local and regional awards for some of my work projects
72) I have two hanging lanterns and a standing lantern in my apartment
73) I LOVE watching football
74) I'm an active listener, most of the time
75) I stole a lava rock from Maui
76) I like funky jewelry
77) I can be really, ridiculously self-absorbed
78) I like puzzles
79) I hate to be late for anything
80) SOME might call anal
81) I take lemon in my water
82) Tuna is my favorite seafood
83) I love the first snow of the year
84) I inherited my father's body and my mother's looks
85) I was born in Mobile
86) I consider myself to be crafty and creative, but not artistic
87) The Office is now my favorite show on TV (next to Grey's Anatomy)
88) I don't like to dust, but I love to clean
89) I don't like going to the mall just to browse
90) One of my favorite vacation memories is of watching the Stanley Cup in Cape Cod with my mom
91) I love Post-Its
92) If I could have one music "gimme" it would be Eminem; if I could have one film "gimme" it would be George Clooney
93) I like to plan out my menus at the beginning of the week
94) I'm not into the whole "organic" thing
95) I don't save my CD jewel cases very often, unless it is for a CD I really like
96) I never think to order Chinese
97) I make excuses
98) I like "Cheers" type bar
99) I have the best friends in the world
100) I'm thankful
Okay, actually, I'm only going to write a list of 50. The first 50 things you'll read actually came from this post.
1) My favorite color is pink
2) I love to get pedicures
3) It grosses me out when milk gets dry and crusty around the lid
4) I like cream in my coffee
5) I stay in my pj's for as long as possible on Sundays
6) I'm a planner
7) I also like to be spontaneous
8) And I like to take risks. Calculated risks. Within reason.
9) When I love, I do so fully and without reservation
10) I'm sometimes tempermental
11) I think porn is funny
12) My favorite t.v. shows are "Grey's Anatomy" and "Gilmore Girls"
13) I like to keep my toenails painted
14) I'm funny
15) I'm only 5' 1" but my license says I'm 5' 2"
16) I'm a good rollerskater, but not a good rollerblader
17) I sliced open my knee when I was 6 but I never got stitches
18) I like to fly
19) I like all kinds of music, from Kanye West to Paul Wall to Kelly Clarkson and the Dixie Chicks
20) I think the best thing a man can do for his woman is respect her
21) I like to cook, and I'm usually pretty good at it
22) I'm really good at playing trivia
23) I like to drink beer
24) I love sushi
25) I was one of two white girls on my cheerleading squad in high school
26) I worry about making other people happy more often than I worry about making myself happy
27) I admire both of my parents
28) I have two younger brothers, 21 and 18
29) My two cars have both been grey
30) I'm attracted to dark-haired guys.
31) I will surprise you by looking as good in a Tshirt and jeans as a fancy dress and 3" heels
32) I look forward to wearing flip flops in the summer
33) I read the paper in the morning
34) I order venti nonfat decaf caramel machiatos from Starbucks, even though I feel a little pretentious doing so
35) I enjoy a Grey Goose vodka tonic
36) I cried when Princess Diana died
37) I love to go to art museums, even if my taste runs towards the predictabe
38) I love so many songs, I would be hard-pressed to pick one as a favorite
39) I remember where I was the first time I saw "The Sound Of Music"
40) When I get a big box of chocolates, I save the cream-filled ones for last because they are my favorites
41) I buy my sneakers in the kids' shoe department
42) I've been on vacation by myself
43) If I could pick anywhere in the world to go on vacation, it would be a beach
44) I like to take naps
45) I fell in love at 16
46) I don't like Seinfeld or Everybody Loves Raymond
47) I am obsessed with watching Friends and Sex and the City reruns
48) I am a shoe fanatic
49) I like flowers on a first date, but think roses are cheesy and predictable
50) I like to make lists
51) My family members are some of my best friends
52) I can crack open an egg with one hand
53) I can't stand anything cinnamon flavored
54) I'm good at Wheel of Fortune
55) My favorite author is Jennifer Weiner
56) I own a dictionary of American slang
57) I love the fact that I'm dating multiple people
58) And at the same time, I'm ready to stop!!
59) All of my candles are vanilla scented
60) I like to hyphenate
61) I am sometimes kind of a klutz
62) I can't eat a lunch item before I eat a breakfast item. Just can't do it.
63) I can recite Psalm 23
64) I hate doing laundry
65) I like to think of myself as a complex woman, but in reality I'm disturbingly simple to understand
66) I talk too much
67) I like to light candles, turn off the lights and the phone, and curl up on the couch by myself
68) I coined the phrase, "I'm not emotional, I'm just sensitive"
69) I can't sew
70) I can be a jealous woman
71) I have won local and regional awards for some of my work projects
72) I have two hanging lanterns and a standing lantern in my apartment
73) I LOVE watching football
74) I'm an active listener, most of the time
75) I stole a lava rock from Maui
76) I like funky jewelry
77) I can be really, ridiculously self-absorbed
78) I like puzzles
79) I hate to be late for anything
80) SOME might call anal
81) I take lemon in my water
82) Tuna is my favorite seafood
83) I love the first snow of the year
84) I inherited my father's body and my mother's looks
85) I was born in Mobile
86) I consider myself to be crafty and creative, but not artistic
87) The Office is now my favorite show on TV (next to Grey's Anatomy)
88) I don't like to dust, but I love to clean
89) I don't like going to the mall just to browse
90) One of my favorite vacation memories is of watching the Stanley Cup in Cape Cod with my mom
91) I love Post-Its
92) If I could have one music "gimme" it would be Eminem; if I could have one film "gimme" it would be George Clooney
93) I like to plan out my menus at the beginning of the week
94) I'm not into the whole "organic" thing
95) I don't save my CD jewel cases very often, unless it is for a CD I really like
96) I never think to order Chinese
97) I make excuses
98) I like "Cheers" type bar
99) I have the best friends in the world
100) I'm thankful
3.26.2007
Bullies
For almost as long as I can remember, I have struggled to fit in. I've always wanted so badly to be a part of the "in" crowd, but it seems that I've always fallen short. I believe that it is that deep desire to be one of "them" that has made me vulnerable to the bullies that dogged me through most of my adolescence.
I was in the 5th grade when my family moved to Dayton from Alabama in the middle of the school year. The social networks in our tiny, 16-person class had already been established. With such a small class, there really wasn't a lot of room to move around in the social stratosphere. If you were popular, you were popular. If you weren't, you simply existed.
The queen bee of the 5th grade was a girl named Kelly. I'm not sure what made her so magnetic, but people flocked to her. Maybe it was her powers of manipulation, and no one wanted to piss her off so they did whatever they could do to keep her happy. But regardless of what made her popular, we somehow became friends. I felt so lucky; here I was, new to town and already I had a friend and she was the most popular girl in the class.
A few months before the end of the year - I remember that it was spring, and that it was sunny - Kelly, our friend Teresa and I were crammed into the bench of our school bus, being transported from our tiny Catholic school to the public school, where we would mesh with the public school kids for the short ride to our respective neighborhoods. Teresa was against the window. Kelly was in the middle. I was painfully relegated to the aisle, my heavy book bag still on my back, struggling to balance against the sway and pitch of the bus as we rumbled towards the public middle school.
I kept asking Kelly to move over a little, and she kept refusing. I was half-sitting in the seat, half-hanging in the aisle. So I wiggled into the seat a little more, scooted a little closer to Kelly in the hopes that I'd be able to stabilize myself for the rest of the ride. Bad move.
I sat there, shocked, helpless and confused while Kelly repeatedly hit me over the head with her fist. "Stop scooting over! There's no room for you in the seat!" she kept saying. Her punches pushed me farther into the aisle. By the time I even thought to cover my head, we'd reached our destination and Kelly shoved past me on the way to her next bus.
Thinking that there must be something I could do, I reported Kelly and her actions to the bus driver. But there was nothing she could do except write Kelly up, give her a demerit of sorts. She hadn't seen it... therefore, it hadn't happened.
And so rather than risk further humiliation, I simply let it go. I didn't even tell my mother until years later, when it was too late for her to do anything except cry for the little girl who was too hurt and embarrassed to admit she'd been beaten up at the ripe old age of 10. Surely she would have done something... I suppose knowing that she would is what kept me from saying anything in the first place.
That experience with Kelly marks the start of a long and difficult journey through middle school. As if bad bangs and braces weren't enough, I was often humiliated and made the butt of cruel jokes in order to satisfy the senses of humor of my "friends." I was routinely tricked and made to cry at sleep overs. I was the recipient of more than a few crank phone calls. And that first experience was not the first time that Kelly beat me up. All this, despite my very best efforts to fit in, to MAKE the other girls like me.
Certainly whenever there was a chance to turn the tables and give one of the other girls a taste of their own medicine, I took it. Those chances were few and far between. And it's not like my entire childhood was intolerable. In fact, by the 8th grade, the two other social "rejects" in my class and I had formed our own little happy, unpopular group. We learned to fight back by assuming an air of superiority and indifference. The act was even marginally successful. But a lingering sense of self-doubt and vulnerability still left the door to our self-esteem ever so slightly ajar; and as a result, despite our best efforts, we were still occasionally flattened by the mean girls in our grade.
The cruelty bestowed upon me in my formative social years has never fully left me. To this day, I worry that when I walk into a room of close friends sharing a joke, the joke is at my expense. My friends are all warm, funny, amazing people and I consider myself lucky to have them in my life. But sometimes, I find myself doubting or disbelieving that they would pick me. I immediately turn into that insecure 5th grader.
Luckily, my friends put up with me when I get neurotic and feel unloved.
Regardless of the way those girls treated me, I think I've turned out okay. As for Kelly and her merry gang of marauders... I'm not sure where they've ended up in their lives. A small part of me hopes that their lives are miserable. Concocting all the ways that they might be miserable, however, would take more energy than they are worth.
I was in the 5th grade when my family moved to Dayton from Alabama in the middle of the school year. The social networks in our tiny, 16-person class had already been established. With such a small class, there really wasn't a lot of room to move around in the social stratosphere. If you were popular, you were popular. If you weren't, you simply existed.
The queen bee of the 5th grade was a girl named Kelly. I'm not sure what made her so magnetic, but people flocked to her. Maybe it was her powers of manipulation, and no one wanted to piss her off so they did whatever they could do to keep her happy. But regardless of what made her popular, we somehow became friends. I felt so lucky; here I was, new to town and already I had a friend and she was the most popular girl in the class.
A few months before the end of the year - I remember that it was spring, and that it was sunny - Kelly, our friend Teresa and I were crammed into the bench of our school bus, being transported from our tiny Catholic school to the public school, where we would mesh with the public school kids for the short ride to our respective neighborhoods. Teresa was against the window. Kelly was in the middle. I was painfully relegated to the aisle, my heavy book bag still on my back, struggling to balance against the sway and pitch of the bus as we rumbled towards the public middle school.
I kept asking Kelly to move over a little, and she kept refusing. I was half-sitting in the seat, half-hanging in the aisle. So I wiggled into the seat a little more, scooted a little closer to Kelly in the hopes that I'd be able to stabilize myself for the rest of the ride. Bad move.
I sat there, shocked, helpless and confused while Kelly repeatedly hit me over the head with her fist. "Stop scooting over! There's no room for you in the seat!" she kept saying. Her punches pushed me farther into the aisle. By the time I even thought to cover my head, we'd reached our destination and Kelly shoved past me on the way to her next bus.
Thinking that there must be something I could do, I reported Kelly and her actions to the bus driver. But there was nothing she could do except write Kelly up, give her a demerit of sorts. She hadn't seen it... therefore, it hadn't happened.
And so rather than risk further humiliation, I simply let it go. I didn't even tell my mother until years later, when it was too late for her to do anything except cry for the little girl who was too hurt and embarrassed to admit she'd been beaten up at the ripe old age of 10. Surely she would have done something... I suppose knowing that she would is what kept me from saying anything in the first place.
That experience with Kelly marks the start of a long and difficult journey through middle school. As if bad bangs and braces weren't enough, I was often humiliated and made the butt of cruel jokes in order to satisfy the senses of humor of my "friends." I was routinely tricked and made to cry at sleep overs. I was the recipient of more than a few crank phone calls. And that first experience was not the first time that Kelly beat me up. All this, despite my very best efforts to fit in, to MAKE the other girls like me.
Certainly whenever there was a chance to turn the tables and give one of the other girls a taste of their own medicine, I took it. Those chances were few and far between. And it's not like my entire childhood was intolerable. In fact, by the 8th grade, the two other social "rejects" in my class and I had formed our own little happy, unpopular group. We learned to fight back by assuming an air of superiority and indifference. The act was even marginally successful. But a lingering sense of self-doubt and vulnerability still left the door to our self-esteem ever so slightly ajar; and as a result, despite our best efforts, we were still occasionally flattened by the mean girls in our grade.
The cruelty bestowed upon me in my formative social years has never fully left me. To this day, I worry that when I walk into a room of close friends sharing a joke, the joke is at my expense. My friends are all warm, funny, amazing people and I consider myself lucky to have them in my life. But sometimes, I find myself doubting or disbelieving that they would pick me. I immediately turn into that insecure 5th grader.
Luckily, my friends put up with me when I get neurotic and feel unloved.
Regardless of the way those girls treated me, I think I've turned out okay. As for Kelly and her merry gang of marauders... I'm not sure where they've ended up in their lives. A small part of me hopes that their lives are miserable. Concocting all the ways that they might be miserable, however, would take more energy than they are worth.
3.06.2007
I suck at life
Okay, I don't think that I suck at life. But I do suck at updating. Here's where I'm at:
I turn 26 tomorrow. I'm officially closer to 30 than I am to 20. Last year wasn't too crazy of a celebration because I'd just had my surgery a few weeks before and was still in the recovery process. This year, my parents are coming down to eat dinner at a fab Thai restaurant near my house, then I am meeting up with Miami Boy for drinks.
Speaking of Miami Boy, being Cingle in the City is fun. I also have a date on Friday with Tommy. I don't have a nickname for him yet, I can't think of one that is appropriate enough. He kind of reminds me of an exboyfriend of mine from college. They are disturbingly alike in both physical features and personality. Spooky. But Tommy seems nice and he took the initiative of setting the first date so let's see what he selects as our dinner destination and then maybe a nickname will divine itself from there. I'm also supposed to have a date with a guy I've nicknamed Double M because his first and last name both start with the letter "M". Lame, I know. Anyway, I have been a HUGE slacker about calling him and I'm not really sure why because all signs point to "Yes" with him. Eh.
In other news, I have started the count down to the following milestones:
1) The end of my car lease. Yes, the Gray Ghost 2.0 is going they way of the original Gray Ghost when I turn it in later this month. It was the first car that I bought new, and was the first car that I bought myself. So it is kind of sad to see it go away, but I'm excited about getting another new car. I'm looking at the '07 Accord and also the '07 Corolla or Camry. I would LOVE a new car, but everything is just so expensive! I don't know how I lucked out getting the car payment I did for my Civic, but those payments are NOWHERE to be found.
2) The end of my apartment lease. My landlord - painfully loud and inconsiderate as he may be, sometimes - is going to give me a couple of different options. My rent is going to go up by "$50 at most" but I won't hold my breath until I see the final offer.
3) The one-year anniversary of my employment in Cincinnati. Where I am guaranteed a raise. I hope it is a healthy one, since I am going to have to find at LEAST an extra $100 a month to pay for the car I want and my apartment, unless I want to move apartments and I really don't think I want the hassle. Plus, I loooooove the location and I looooove my place and if I stay here another year then I can finally have a reason to paint the bathroom and decorate my bedroom a little better and MAYBE even buy a painting for my living room. See, I'm just getting settled!
In other news, I went to a Borat DVD viewing party at a friend of a friend of a friend's house who is also the friend of another friend. Wow! Basically, this guy Andre is friends with my friend Megan's friend Jenny. Jenny and Megan knew him in high school. Andre also knew my friend Libby in high school and recognized me from a party that both he and I attended at Libby's house in high school. As it turns out, we also both went to the same college (Yay! Miami!) and he only lives two blocks away now. Random, right? It's a whole six-degrees of separation thing.
And finally, one quick observation before I head off to bed: I am in a really good place in my life. I love my job, I have great friends and an amazing family. I'm Little Miss Date Girl lately and things have just sort of fallen into place. And while I might not have the PERFECT life, I have made something for myself that I am proud of and that, sometimes, others envy. I'm content. And that's a pretty good way to be, now that I'm closer to 30 than I am to 20.
PS (I promise this is the last thing): I am going to get better at writing posts. I am going to write entries. I am NOT going to use this as my personal "let me catch you up on my life and what is going on with me" diary all the time, the way I have been doing the past few months. I'm going to write "real" posts and when I can't think of anything witty, insightful or charming to say, then I'll babble about my life. Though Cingle in the City updates are sure to continue.
I turn 26 tomorrow. I'm officially closer to 30 than I am to 20. Last year wasn't too crazy of a celebration because I'd just had my surgery a few weeks before and was still in the recovery process. This year, my parents are coming down to eat dinner at a fab Thai restaurant near my house, then I am meeting up with Miami Boy for drinks.
Speaking of Miami Boy, being Cingle in the City is fun. I also have a date on Friday with Tommy. I don't have a nickname for him yet, I can't think of one that is appropriate enough. He kind of reminds me of an exboyfriend of mine from college. They are disturbingly alike in both physical features and personality. Spooky. But Tommy seems nice and he took the initiative of setting the first date so let's see what he selects as our dinner destination and then maybe a nickname will divine itself from there. I'm also supposed to have a date with a guy I've nicknamed Double M because his first and last name both start with the letter "M". Lame, I know. Anyway, I have been a HUGE slacker about calling him and I'm not really sure why because all signs point to "Yes" with him. Eh.
In other news, I have started the count down to the following milestones:
1) The end of my car lease. Yes, the Gray Ghost 2.0 is going they way of the original Gray Ghost when I turn it in later this month. It was the first car that I bought new, and was the first car that I bought myself. So it is kind of sad to see it go away, but I'm excited about getting another new car. I'm looking at the '07 Accord and also the '07 Corolla or Camry. I would LOVE a new car, but everything is just so expensive! I don't know how I lucked out getting the car payment I did for my Civic, but those payments are NOWHERE to be found.
2) The end of my apartment lease. My landlord - painfully loud and inconsiderate as he may be, sometimes - is going to give me a couple of different options. My rent is going to go up by "$50 at most" but I won't hold my breath until I see the final offer.
3) The one-year anniversary of my employment in Cincinnati. Where I am guaranteed a raise. I hope it is a healthy one, since I am going to have to find at LEAST an extra $100 a month to pay for the car I want and my apartment, unless I want to move apartments and I really don't think I want the hassle. Plus, I loooooove the location and I looooove my place and if I stay here another year then I can finally have a reason to paint the bathroom and decorate my bedroom a little better and MAYBE even buy a painting for my living room. See, I'm just getting settled!
In other news, I went to a Borat DVD viewing party at a friend of a friend of a friend's house who is also the friend of another friend. Wow! Basically, this guy Andre is friends with my friend Megan's friend Jenny. Jenny and Megan knew him in high school. Andre also knew my friend Libby in high school and recognized me from a party that both he and I attended at Libby's house in high school. As it turns out, we also both went to the same college (Yay! Miami!) and he only lives two blocks away now. Random, right? It's a whole six-degrees of separation thing.
And finally, one quick observation before I head off to bed: I am in a really good place in my life. I love my job, I have great friends and an amazing family. I'm Little Miss Date Girl lately and things have just sort of fallen into place. And while I might not have the PERFECT life, I have made something for myself that I am proud of and that, sometimes, others envy. I'm content. And that's a pretty good way to be, now that I'm closer to 30 than I am to 20.
PS (I promise this is the last thing): I am going to get better at writing posts. I am going to write entries. I am NOT going to use this as my personal "let me catch you up on my life and what is going on with me" diary all the time, the way I have been doing the past few months. I'm going to write "real" posts and when I can't think of anything witty, insightful or charming to say, then I'll babble about my life. Though Cingle in the City updates are sure to continue.
2.14.2007
Another Valentine's Day Tribute
Here it is, folks... a revised edition of the Valentine's Day post I did last year, with some tweaks and modifications for 2007. Whether you are single or attached, enjoy this day as a day to tell someone that you love them... and, drink lots of wine.
Valentine's Day. The day to show that "someone special" just how much you care. Valentine's Day. Otherwise known as: The day that single people everywhere surrender to being Alone.
Ah yes, the most loving of holidays. The proliferation of hearts, flowers, candlelight, jewelry, chocolate and sappy Hallmark cards. Innocent symbols of love? Or indications that the Apocolypse is upon us? Either way, on Valentine's Day, couples exchange these love symbols with fervor of epic proportions...thus reminding single people that they aren't just single anymore. They are Alone.
The historical roots of Valentine's Day and its patron Saint Valentine are wide and varied. Though its hard to say how accurate many of these tales are (I found at least three, just on the History Channel website), it is safe to say that Saint Valentine was a martyr. Like as in, murdered for whatever Christian cause he was supporting. Dead guy as the patron saint of the lover's holiday? Not very romantic.
Remember back in Kindergarten, when the valentine's exchanged were of the cherry lollipop and Care Bear variety? Ah, the innocence of childhood, so quickly forgotten.
By the time I'd reached high school, I'd succumbed to the over-commercialization of a holiday dedicated to showing the ones you love that you care. I bought into the credo that to show someone that you cared was to heap upon them lots of gifts, cards, candies and flowers. I quite literally bought into that, vis-a-vis the carnation sale where my friend Allison and I would "anonymously" send each other secret admirer carnations; after all, to not receive a secret admirer carnation was to experience a form of social leprosy that no highschool kid in their right mind wants to experience.
The thought that always crossed my mind, and continues to do so, is this: Shouldn't the people we love already know we love them? Do we really need a holiday to remind them?
Hallmark, Russell Stover and the Sierra Lione diamond society would have you believe differently. They push cards, candy and jewelry on us at overwhelming speed (and prices). The effect of all this "love" making? Single people who feel Alone.
Sure, I get an envious pinch around my heart when I see a couple so obviously in love. But I'm content with being single. I like where I'm at with myself. Being single isn't so bad. Being Alone, on the other hand, is. Having been single - and at times, Alone - for the majority Valentine's Days celebrated in my lifetime, I've devised lots of ways to get through V-Day unscathed. So I present for your reading enjoyment: The single person's guide to surviving Valentine's Day Alone.
1) Buy yourself flowers. Shamelessly. March right into that store, hold your head high and pick out a nice mixed bouquet. Or go to that guy on the end of the exit ramp to Main Street in North Dayton (you know, by the BP station?). $7 will get you half a dozen roses - a steal! No, really, a steal - I'm pretty sure he gets them off the back of someone else's delivery truck, if you know what I mean. But you don't care! You're confident enough to buy yourself flowers and find joy in your fabulous single self.
2) Buy a big box of chocolates. To share. Yes, with others! Resist the temptation to eat the whole box yourself - if you do, you'll just feel fat afterwards. Fat and Alone on Valentine's Day? Not a good combination. If you share like your mother taught you, people will be stopping by your desk/cube/office/counter all day to praise your thoughtfulness (and good taste). Cupcakes also work. Or one of those fab cookie bouquets.
3) Call in sick. Claim a 24-hour virus, or something gross and obscure like scarlet fever. Call early in the morning, because that just-got-out-of-bed, haven't-spoken-to-another-soul-or-had-coffee-yet husky voice is convincing. Then go back to sleep. Stay in your pjs all day. Okay, yes, TECHNICALLY this one could be called "Wallowing in Self Pity". You could also refer to it as "Treating Yourself Well." Going to the spa helps, too.
4) Call up your single friends and have a party. Have dinner. Exchange cherry lollipops and Care Bear valentines and share your war...er...past Valentine's Day stories. Get rip-roaring drunk. Call in to work sick the next day and pretend it is because you had too much sex with your significant other to disguise the hangover that you'll be nursing all day.
5) Hang out with your family, if you can. Call your mom. Or brother. Sister. Aunt. Someone who makes you feel loved every time you talk to them. Feeling love is the best medicine against feeling Alone.
Be well, my fellow singletons, and Happy Valentine's Day. Here's to being single...but not Alone.
Valentine's Day. The day to show that "someone special" just how much you care. Valentine's Day. Otherwise known as: The day that single people everywhere surrender to being Alone.
Ah yes, the most loving of holidays. The proliferation of hearts, flowers, candlelight, jewelry, chocolate and sappy Hallmark cards. Innocent symbols of love? Or indications that the Apocolypse is upon us? Either way, on Valentine's Day, couples exchange these love symbols with fervor of epic proportions...thus reminding single people that they aren't just single anymore. They are Alone.
The historical roots of Valentine's Day and its patron Saint Valentine are wide and varied. Though its hard to say how accurate many of these tales are (I found at least three, just on the History Channel website), it is safe to say that Saint Valentine was a martyr. Like as in, murdered for whatever Christian cause he was supporting. Dead guy as the patron saint of the lover's holiday? Not very romantic.
Remember back in Kindergarten, when the valentine's exchanged were of the cherry lollipop and Care Bear variety? Ah, the innocence of childhood, so quickly forgotten.
By the time I'd reached high school, I'd succumbed to the over-commercialization of a holiday dedicated to showing the ones you love that you care. I bought into the credo that to show someone that you cared was to heap upon them lots of gifts, cards, candies and flowers. I quite literally bought into that, vis-a-vis the carnation sale where my friend Allison and I would "anonymously" send each other secret admirer carnations; after all, to not receive a secret admirer carnation was to experience a form of social leprosy that no highschool kid in their right mind wants to experience.
The thought that always crossed my mind, and continues to do so, is this: Shouldn't the people we love already know we love them? Do we really need a holiday to remind them?
Hallmark, Russell Stover and the Sierra Lione diamond society would have you believe differently. They push cards, candy and jewelry on us at overwhelming speed (and prices). The effect of all this "love" making? Single people who feel Alone.
Sure, I get an envious pinch around my heart when I see a couple so obviously in love. But I'm content with being single. I like where I'm at with myself. Being single isn't so bad. Being Alone, on the other hand, is. Having been single - and at times, Alone - for the majority Valentine's Days celebrated in my lifetime, I've devised lots of ways to get through V-Day unscathed. So I present for your reading enjoyment: The single person's guide to surviving Valentine's Day Alone.
1) Buy yourself flowers. Shamelessly. March right into that store, hold your head high and pick out a nice mixed bouquet. Or go to that guy on the end of the exit ramp to Main Street in North Dayton (you know, by the BP station?). $7 will get you half a dozen roses - a steal! No, really, a steal - I'm pretty sure he gets them off the back of someone else's delivery truck, if you know what I mean. But you don't care! You're confident enough to buy yourself flowers and find joy in your fabulous single self.
2) Buy a big box of chocolates. To share. Yes, with others! Resist the temptation to eat the whole box yourself - if you do, you'll just feel fat afterwards. Fat and Alone on Valentine's Day? Not a good combination. If you share like your mother taught you, people will be stopping by your desk/cube/office/counter all day to praise your thoughtfulness (and good taste). Cupcakes also work. Or one of those fab cookie bouquets.
3) Call in sick. Claim a 24-hour virus, or something gross and obscure like scarlet fever. Call early in the morning, because that just-got-out-of-bed, haven't-spoken-to-another-soul-or-had-coffee-yet husky voice is convincing. Then go back to sleep. Stay in your pjs all day. Okay, yes, TECHNICALLY this one could be called "Wallowing in Self Pity". You could also refer to it as "Treating Yourself Well." Going to the spa helps, too.
4) Call up your single friends and have a party. Have dinner. Exchange cherry lollipops and Care Bear valentines and share your war...er...past Valentine's Day stories. Get rip-roaring drunk. Call in to work sick the next day and pretend it is because you had too much sex with your significant other to disguise the hangover that you'll be nursing all day.
5) Hang out with your family, if you can. Call your mom. Or brother. Sister. Aunt. Someone who makes you feel loved every time you talk to them. Feeling love is the best medicine against feeling Alone.
Be well, my fellow singletons, and Happy Valentine's Day. Here's to being single...but not Alone.
2.11.2007
I am remiss in my updating duties
I realize that I suck at updating lately. It is just that I have been so busy that all I manage to do when I'm at home is sleep, or watch a little TV then sleep. So here is a quick "Cingle in the City" update:
Short Guy - After four very successful dates, Short Guy and I had a conversation a few weeks ago about our joint hesitancy to be in relationships sometimes. He expressed to me that he is like Brian from the TV show, "What About Brian" - that he will see something that is "wrong" with a girl, focus on it and eventually use it as a reason not to date her. So a few days after that conversation, I received a lame, "It's not you, it's me" email from him about how he thinks that he isn't ready to be in a relationship yet, and that is is not only afraid he will hurt me because he will flake out, but also afraid that I will hurt him because I'm not ready to be in a relationship either. Hello?! I'm on Match.com for goodness sake - I think that indicates my willingness to be in a relationship!!
So I graciously responded that I understood his reasons and would respect them, even though I think the whole situation kind of sucks because I actually really like him. Then I followed up with a drunk dial last weekend asking, "But what's wrong with me?!" ARGH! He actually then emailed me back with a "Nothing is wrong with you, I actually really like you which is why I don't want to be with you, because I know I'll hurt you" email. To which I have not responded, and will not respond to. I've also taken him out of my phone book so that I cannot irresponsibly drunk dial his tiny ass, which I was actually starting to like. Whatever.
Miami Boy - Miami Boy went out of town the weekend after our first date. Then I was out of town the following weekend. Then he was out of town last weekend. This weekend he was in town, but we have been trading voicemails for the last three days. In fact, we have been trading voicemails for the past two weeks. Everytime he asks me out, I have plans and vice-versa. I'm hoping that next week (which isn't busy for me, compared to the last few) we will finally be able to get back together. He smells nice. And is also very hot.
Boston - Boston is a guy that I have recently started talking to. We have spoken on the phone a few times, but he is really shy so it has been hard to get to know him. I think he is better through email, when he has time to think about questions and formulate responses. We'll see.
So that is kind of it for me on the guy front. I have not been keeping up with Match that much because I have been crazy at work and all this other stuff has been going on, but I think I'm going to use today and tomorrow to dig out of the winks and emails that are sitting in my inbox, waiting to receive responses. I'll let you know if there are any candidates.
By the way, it is worth noting that this coming Wednesday is Valentine's Day. This date is important to me for three reasons: 1) Last year, I wrote one of my (in my opinion) best and most favorite posts EVER for Valentine's Day, which I am planning to update for this year. 2) One year ago Wednesday, I underwent a life-changing surgical procedure, also known as a breast reduction, which was the best decision I ever made. My new boobs and I will celebrate this year. I should probably address that in a post this week, too. 3) I am going to see "Breaking Benjamin" with my brother, as a Valentine's Day present to myself. And him, who is too broke to afford tickets.
Also next week I am going to try to have dinner with a friend of mine from college, Julia B., whom I haven't seen since probably Junior year at Miami. She and I ran into each other at a happy hour event on Friday and ended up hanging out all night. She was always a blast in college, but we grew apart because we didn't have the same group of friends, didn't live near each other and all those other lame excuses that you can come up with for growing apart from someone. She is one of those people that I say, "I'm going to call you" and actually mean it. Yay for connecting with old friends!
Speaking of which, my friend Laurel is moving to Cincinnati this summer, which I am very excited about. She was my next door neighbor Freshman year, and we lived together in the same corridor Sophomore year and in the same apartment Junior year. We also grew apart Senior year when I lived with new people and, admittedly, stopped talking to a lot of my "original" friends. I stopped talking to most of them because our EVIL former roommate, "She who shall not be named", was a looney who someone managed to bust up an entire group of friends at will, then graduate with no friends of her own. It is unfortunate that we let such a shallow and meaningless person come between us, but I'm hoping to rectify the situation when Laurel does move down here.
Also, I am going to call my friend Corey from college, who lives in Cincinnati and also lived in our corridor Freshman and Sophomore year. I have been meaning to do it since I moved down here, and since I'm currently in the spirit of connecting with old friends, I am going to try giving her a call to hang out, too.
So maybe next week will be busy after all. :)
Short Guy - After four very successful dates, Short Guy and I had a conversation a few weeks ago about our joint hesitancy to be in relationships sometimes. He expressed to me that he is like Brian from the TV show, "What About Brian" - that he will see something that is "wrong" with a girl, focus on it and eventually use it as a reason not to date her. So a few days after that conversation, I received a lame, "It's not you, it's me" email from him about how he thinks that he isn't ready to be in a relationship yet, and that is is not only afraid he will hurt me because he will flake out, but also afraid that I will hurt him because I'm not ready to be in a relationship either. Hello?! I'm on Match.com for goodness sake - I think that indicates my willingness to be in a relationship!!
So I graciously responded that I understood his reasons and would respect them, even though I think the whole situation kind of sucks because I actually really like him. Then I followed up with a drunk dial last weekend asking, "But what's wrong with me?!" ARGH! He actually then emailed me back with a "Nothing is wrong with you, I actually really like you which is why I don't want to be with you, because I know I'll hurt you" email. To which I have not responded, and will not respond to. I've also taken him out of my phone book so that I cannot irresponsibly drunk dial his tiny ass, which I was actually starting to like. Whatever.
Miami Boy - Miami Boy went out of town the weekend after our first date. Then I was out of town the following weekend. Then he was out of town last weekend. This weekend he was in town, but we have been trading voicemails for the last three days. In fact, we have been trading voicemails for the past two weeks. Everytime he asks me out, I have plans and vice-versa. I'm hoping that next week (which isn't busy for me, compared to the last few) we will finally be able to get back together. He smells nice. And is also very hot.
Boston - Boston is a guy that I have recently started talking to. We have spoken on the phone a few times, but he is really shy so it has been hard to get to know him. I think he is better through email, when he has time to think about questions and formulate responses. We'll see.
So that is kind of it for me on the guy front. I have not been keeping up with Match that much because I have been crazy at work and all this other stuff has been going on, but I think I'm going to use today and tomorrow to dig out of the winks and emails that are sitting in my inbox, waiting to receive responses. I'll let you know if there are any candidates.
By the way, it is worth noting that this coming Wednesday is Valentine's Day. This date is important to me for three reasons: 1) Last year, I wrote one of my (in my opinion) best and most favorite posts EVER for Valentine's Day, which I am planning to update for this year. 2) One year ago Wednesday, I underwent a life-changing surgical procedure, also known as a breast reduction, which was the best decision I ever made. My new boobs and I will celebrate this year. I should probably address that in a post this week, too. 3) I am going to see "Breaking Benjamin" with my brother, as a Valentine's Day present to myself. And him, who is too broke to afford tickets.
Also next week I am going to try to have dinner with a friend of mine from college, Julia B., whom I haven't seen since probably Junior year at Miami. She and I ran into each other at a happy hour event on Friday and ended up hanging out all night. She was always a blast in college, but we grew apart because we didn't have the same group of friends, didn't live near each other and all those other lame excuses that you can come up with for growing apart from someone. She is one of those people that I say, "I'm going to call you" and actually mean it. Yay for connecting with old friends!
Speaking of which, my friend Laurel is moving to Cincinnati this summer, which I am very excited about. She was my next door neighbor Freshman year, and we lived together in the same corridor Sophomore year and in the same apartment Junior year. We also grew apart Senior year when I lived with new people and, admittedly, stopped talking to a lot of my "original" friends. I stopped talking to most of them because our EVIL former roommate, "She who shall not be named", was a looney who someone managed to bust up an entire group of friends at will, then graduate with no friends of her own. It is unfortunate that we let such a shallow and meaningless person come between us, but I'm hoping to rectify the situation when Laurel does move down here.
Also, I am going to call my friend Corey from college, who lives in Cincinnati and also lived in our corridor Freshman and Sophomore year. I have been meaning to do it since I moved down here, and since I'm currently in the spirit of connecting with old friends, I am going to try giving her a call to hang out, too.
So maybe next week will be busy after all. :)
1.21.2007
Cingle in the City - Dating Diary
Sunday, January 7, 2007: Went out with teacher guy today. He was cute, but there was something missing. It ended with a "talk to you soon." Then two days later, I get an email from him saying that he has several dates that week and that he'll "get back to me." Seriously?! I'm telling you people, I am not un-dateable. Whatever. Haven't spoken to him since.
Tuesday, January 9, 2007: "Full of Himself Guy", who later became known as "Douchebag Lee", called to make sure we are still on for drinks tonight. Realizing that I was dreading meeting him, I did what any normal person would do. I cancelled. Actually, I told him that I had met someone else and wanted to see where it took me. So I cancelled and I lied. Oh well. He asked me to rate his looks on a scale of 1 to 10 based soley on a grainy picture of him in a suit from the profile that I viewed once. Who does that?! NEXT!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007: Today was my first date with "Short Guy". He suggested meeting a wine bar near my house. He likes wine! And not the crummy pink stuff out of a box, either - real wine!!! Dinner was great, as was coffee immediately after. He kissed me. It was awesome. However, I wore a conservative pair of heels and I was almost as tall as him. Sigh.
Sunday, January 14, 2007: Went out with "The Doctor", a guy I have been talking to online for a few weeks now. We had coffee and conversation for three hours. THREE HOURS! I was a little hoarse afterwards. He asked me immediately out to dinner for that night, but I already had dinner plans (with some fresh shrimp that I had bought the day before). We agreed to meet up on Wednesday for dinner.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007: Another date with "Short Guy"! This time, we went to a little holte-in-the-wall bar down on the river, overlooking the Ohio shoreline. You know the type of place, I'm talking about - blue smoke drifting from the cigarettes of the regulars hanging in the air like a veil. Conversation was good again. So was the beer.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007: I haven't heard from "The Doctor", so I thought I would give him a call. Got his voicemail. Left a message asking if we are still on for dinner tonight. Never heard back from him. Something doesn't add up. Also, the number he gave me is a Florida area code, but he claims to have lived in Cleveland before moving to Cincinnati. Hmm.
Thursday, January 18, 2007: "Miami Boy", a guy who went to school at my alma mater (Miami University) and who seems really familiar to me, asks me out for a drink on Friday evening. Unfortunately, I already have plans. We play phone tag before leaving messages for one another as to which day next week will work for our schedules.
Friday, January 19, 2007: Date #3 with "Short Guy". This time, I take him out to a steak dinner. I manage public relations for a high-end steak chain in Cincinnati, so I took him there. As a result, we get the VIP treatment and I look like a rockstar. Plus, most of our meal is comp'ed. Niiiice.
Saturday, January 20, 2007: I got two back-to-back calls from "The Doctor" today. On the second call, he left a message as follows: "Hi Lauren, it's NAME CHANGED TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT. We haven't talked in a while, I thought I'd give you a call and see what you're up to. Maybe we can get together soon." Okay, wait... we had a date planned and you stood me up. Now you're calling me like nothing happened. Are you insane? What's wrong with this picture? We'll see about that.
And so there we are. I am still active on Match.com, but I feel like between "Short Guy" and "Miami Guy" (please, God, let there be chemistry between us because he is AWESOME on paper!) I've got a pretty good thing going. Strangely, the more dates I go on, the less and less I want a boyfriend. I find that I like being single. I like dating. I like the thrill of meeting someone for the first time and seeing what happens.
Happy dating to you all!
Tuesday, January 9, 2007: "Full of Himself Guy", who later became known as "Douchebag Lee", called to make sure we are still on for drinks tonight. Realizing that I was dreading meeting him, I did what any normal person would do. I cancelled. Actually, I told him that I had met someone else and wanted to see where it took me. So I cancelled and I lied. Oh well. He asked me to rate his looks on a scale of 1 to 10 based soley on a grainy picture of him in a suit from the profile that I viewed once. Who does that?! NEXT!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007: Today was my first date with "Short Guy". He suggested meeting a wine bar near my house. He likes wine! And not the crummy pink stuff out of a box, either - real wine!!! Dinner was great, as was coffee immediately after. He kissed me. It was awesome. However, I wore a conservative pair of heels and I was almost as tall as him. Sigh.
Sunday, January 14, 2007: Went out with "The Doctor", a guy I have been talking to online for a few weeks now. We had coffee and conversation for three hours. THREE HOURS! I was a little hoarse afterwards. He asked me immediately out to dinner for that night, but I already had dinner plans (with some fresh shrimp that I had bought the day before). We agreed to meet up on Wednesday for dinner.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007: Another date with "Short Guy"! This time, we went to a little holte-in-the-wall bar down on the river, overlooking the Ohio shoreline. You know the type of place, I'm talking about - blue smoke drifting from the cigarettes of the regulars hanging in the air like a veil. Conversation was good again. So was the beer.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007: I haven't heard from "The Doctor", so I thought I would give him a call. Got his voicemail. Left a message asking if we are still on for dinner tonight. Never heard back from him. Something doesn't add up. Also, the number he gave me is a Florida area code, but he claims to have lived in Cleveland before moving to Cincinnati. Hmm.
Thursday, January 18, 2007: "Miami Boy", a guy who went to school at my alma mater (Miami University) and who seems really familiar to me, asks me out for a drink on Friday evening. Unfortunately, I already have plans. We play phone tag before leaving messages for one another as to which day next week will work for our schedules.
Friday, January 19, 2007: Date #3 with "Short Guy". This time, I take him out to a steak dinner. I manage public relations for a high-end steak chain in Cincinnati, so I took him there. As a result, we get the VIP treatment and I look like a rockstar. Plus, most of our meal is comp'ed. Niiiice.
Saturday, January 20, 2007: I got two back-to-back calls from "The Doctor" today. On the second call, he left a message as follows: "Hi Lauren, it's NAME CHANGED TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT. We haven't talked in a while, I thought I'd give you a call and see what you're up to. Maybe we can get together soon." Okay, wait... we had a date planned and you stood me up. Now you're calling me like nothing happened. Are you insane? What's wrong with this picture? We'll see about that.
And so there we are. I am still active on Match.com, but I feel like between "Short Guy" and "Miami Guy" (please, God, let there be chemistry between us because he is AWESOME on paper!) I've got a pretty good thing going. Strangely, the more dates I go on, the less and less I want a boyfriend. I find that I like being single. I like dating. I like the thrill of meeting someone for the first time and seeing what happens.
Happy dating to you all!
1.07.2007
Cingle in the City
Okay, so it is finally time for some details on this little Cingle in the City project that I have been working on. For the past month, I have been using Match.com to connect me with local Cincinnati singles. Now, I have to admit that prior to joining an online dating site myself, I felt like online dating was fine for some people, but not for me. It seemed like a last resort. I am now officially eating those words - online dating is not for "desperate" or "last resort" people. It is a for people who just genuinely want to meet others but don't necessarily have the opportunity to meet them in traditional ways, or who are tired of meeting people in crowded bars and clubs.
I was inspired to join an online dating site when a friend of mine - an attractive, smart, great friend of mine - met her current boyfriend online. She was going on dates 3 or 4 times a week before meeting this particular boy. She convinced me it would be worth a shot.
Here are the past and current contenders, with names changed to protect the innocent:
"Young Boy": Young Boy is a year (or was it two?) younger than me and a student at UC. From his pictures and emails, he seemed really cool. We met for coffee a few weeks ago after exchanging a couple dozen emails, IMs and phone calls. Although he was a cutie, we had no chemistry. We both walked away knowing we wouldn't be seeing eachother again.
"Old Guy": Old Guy is on the older end of the age spectrum that I put down in my match criteria. Okay, so he's 30, which isn't even old. He was cute and funny in his emails and great to talk to on the phone. We met for lunch before Christmas and had a nice lunch... good conversation and not a lot of awkwardness. However, he wanted me to come over to his house like two days after we first met and when I said I wasn't comfortable doing that, he stopped talking to me. Whatever. Not worth it.
"Teacher guy": Teacher guy is someone I'm actually meeting for coffee today. Based on his profile and the emails we have exchanged, he is a 100% match for me in every way possible. Teacher Guy is a teacher (duh) in inner city Cincinnati. He loves the arts, music, books and many other things that I also enjoy. We'll see what happens when I meet him in person, but my hopes are high!
"Short Guy": Short Guy is a little shorter than I usually date, based on his profile (5'5"). Now granted, he is still taller than me in heels. His emails have been great and we are definitely on the same wave length. He has a great heart and a great sense of humor, which really shines through in his emails. Plus, he enjoys cultural things like the symphony and art museums, but he is also a guy's guy. I'm so excited about this one! We are going to try to meet this week.
"The Big Sneeze": The Big Sneeze is someone who'd I'd be interested in if he reciprocates my interest. With Match.com, you can "wink" at someone to show that you are interested and then if they respond in kind, you start exchanging emails, etc. I winked at The Big Sneeze (this code name is based on his username...) a couple of days ago, but I haven't heard back from him. So we'll see.
"Full Of Himself Guy": Full of Himself Guy and I are supposed to have a drink tomorrow, but the Ohio State/Florida game is tomorrow and I don't want to miss any of it so I think I am going to try to reschedule. Full of Himself Guy makes tool-ish comments like "How would you rate my looks on a scale of 1 to 10", "I have a pretty nice apartment, so I wanted to show it off..." and giving me every gory detail of his dates with other girls. Hello?! Dating 101, dude: Do not share the details of your dates with a girl who you are also trying to date. I already screen his calls and get annoyed when I talk to him on the phone, but I think it is worth seeing him in person before I decide that it won't work out.
In addition to these guys, I have met a lot of other men online - doctors, engineers, biomedical researchers, lawyers, etc. - who are well-balanced, successful, nice guys and who have a lot to offer a girl. It has been an interesting experiment and now that I have finally opened myself up to the full process, I'm having a lot of fun with it. I'll keep all of my cyber friends as up-to-date as I can as I enjoy my adventures as a Cingle in the City. But it has taken up an amazing amount of time, and since I'm also busy with other aspects of my life, updating this blog has been a little challenging. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to get back into Blogger, so have patience!
I was inspired to join an online dating site when a friend of mine - an attractive, smart, great friend of mine - met her current boyfriend online. She was going on dates 3 or 4 times a week before meeting this particular boy. She convinced me it would be worth a shot.
Here are the past and current contenders, with names changed to protect the innocent:
"Young Boy": Young Boy is a year (or was it two?) younger than me and a student at UC. From his pictures and emails, he seemed really cool. We met for coffee a few weeks ago after exchanging a couple dozen emails, IMs and phone calls. Although he was a cutie, we had no chemistry. We both walked away knowing we wouldn't be seeing eachother again.
"Old Guy": Old Guy is on the older end of the age spectrum that I put down in my match criteria. Okay, so he's 30, which isn't even old. He was cute and funny in his emails and great to talk to on the phone. We met for lunch before Christmas and had a nice lunch... good conversation and not a lot of awkwardness. However, he wanted me to come over to his house like two days after we first met and when I said I wasn't comfortable doing that, he stopped talking to me. Whatever. Not worth it.
"Teacher guy": Teacher guy is someone I'm actually meeting for coffee today. Based on his profile and the emails we have exchanged, he is a 100% match for me in every way possible. Teacher Guy is a teacher (duh) in inner city Cincinnati. He loves the arts, music, books and many other things that I also enjoy. We'll see what happens when I meet him in person, but my hopes are high!
"Short Guy": Short Guy is a little shorter than I usually date, based on his profile (5'5"). Now granted, he is still taller than me in heels. His emails have been great and we are definitely on the same wave length. He has a great heart and a great sense of humor, which really shines through in his emails. Plus, he enjoys cultural things like the symphony and art museums, but he is also a guy's guy. I'm so excited about this one! We are going to try to meet this week.
"The Big Sneeze": The Big Sneeze is someone who'd I'd be interested in if he reciprocates my interest. With Match.com, you can "wink" at someone to show that you are interested and then if they respond in kind, you start exchanging emails, etc. I winked at The Big Sneeze (this code name is based on his username...) a couple of days ago, but I haven't heard back from him. So we'll see.
"Full Of Himself Guy": Full of Himself Guy and I are supposed to have a drink tomorrow, but the Ohio State/Florida game is tomorrow and I don't want to miss any of it so I think I am going to try to reschedule. Full of Himself Guy makes tool-ish comments like "How would you rate my looks on a scale of 1 to 10", "I have a pretty nice apartment, so I wanted to show it off..." and giving me every gory detail of his dates with other girls. Hello?! Dating 101, dude: Do not share the details of your dates with a girl who you are also trying to date. I already screen his calls and get annoyed when I talk to him on the phone, but I think it is worth seeing him in person before I decide that it won't work out.
In addition to these guys, I have met a lot of other men online - doctors, engineers, biomedical researchers, lawyers, etc. - who are well-balanced, successful, nice guys and who have a lot to offer a girl. It has been an interesting experiment and now that I have finally opened myself up to the full process, I'm having a lot of fun with it. I'll keep all of my cyber friends as up-to-date as I can as I enjoy my adventures as a Cingle in the City. But it has taken up an amazing amount of time, and since I'm also busy with other aspects of my life, updating this blog has been a little challenging. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to get back into Blogger, so have patience!
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