Pictures

Could have been better, but since it was my first time shooting baseball I'm okay with the

results...

Of course I had to take one of the Phanatic

ominous sky

Not looking any better

And the rain comes

Trying to capture the swing

Still trying

How about pitching?

this is what happens when you are about to take a picture then something exciting happens and you jump up...

Limping into the Finish

Okay if I were to do an outline of the end of my day yesterday here it is:

Left work at 4:30 to head into the city for the Phillies game
Sat in traffic for 1 1/2 hours
Phone ran out of juice
Arrived at Don's precisely at 6 PM
Sat at parking lot gate for 10 minutes ringing the bell until someone let me in
Got out of car and wondered what was stuck to the bottom of my shoe
Further investigation showed it WAS the bottom of my shoe
Ripped half the sole off shoe and headed into the building
Couldn't call so had to sign in and go up to Don's door
Surprised Don
Babbled out the above and asked to use the bathroom

As you can guess (if you know me at all) I was a bit flustered by this point, so I made Don drive to the ballpark. It was the first time I'd been to the Citizen and I have to say it is much nicer than the Vet. We grabbed a bite from one of the vendors then settled into our seats which were pretty good, and luckily sheltered. I'm not a huge baseball fan, though I do root for the Yankees, but that's an odd story that goes all the way back to middle school. In fact they were playing last night in Baltimore and much to my joy the score was posted on the Wall o' Games so I could follow it. This became a source of amusement for Don. Still waiting on the out come of that one, they got rained out at 8-6 with the Yankees in the lead.

I have to say the game was excellent and Don got some good pictures, I haven't had a chance to go over mine yet. We kept scanning from the field to the darkening sky and wondering when the rain would hit. Around the 5th inning is when I noticed it. I have to say, I was impressed that none of the players got stuck in the mud bog that became home base. They soldiered on through the game, tied 7-7 at the 9th.

In what I considered an exciting finish, Rod Barajason on 2nd was replaced by Jayson Werth (I didn't know they had pinch runners, thank you to Don for the explanation) who soon made a run for 3rd. The exciting part was his graceful leap over the lake in front of 3rd base, to hit the base then go all the way home where he was enveloped by the rest of the team. It was pretty darned cool.

We opted out of fireworks for the sake of our cameras and made a run for the car. Two important notes here:

1-I had no rubber left on the bottom of my sandals
2-Stepping in a warm puddle is just wrong!

We got to the car and on the way back to his place Don revealed that there was an umbrella in the car and he'd walk me to my car with it...when I pointed out I was already soaked his response was, "Well, it's just the thing to do." And do it he did.

After a hug and another wait at the gate to be set free from the lot I was on the road and headed toward the next adventure!

Oatmeal

When making oatmeal it can come out thick or runny.

This morning's was thick.

A plastic spoon is not a good idea when eating thick oatmeal.

FYI

Alive!

Okay, the living room walls and ceiling are done, the window trim has been painted and just needs a detail and the doors to the closet have been painted. I even caulked the tub! Tonight I may stop by after the game and put the air conditioners in the living room and bedroom, we shall see. I have a feeling that I'm just going to sleep all of Sunday.

Last night I did get to see Charles though. I'm glad I did, and was mildly surprised that I got teary. We went out for a drink, which was awkward. The bar was pretty empty and allowed smoking, which I have gotten used to not being the case. The guy next to Charles was a tattoo artist that had been one of his competitors when he was working in the area, so that was weird. Plus he quite drinking and the only non-alcoholic beer they had was something from Old Milwaukee.

Okay, admittedly I have little experience with OM. I remember it as a white trash beer of choice from my youth. Apparently the non-alcoholic version was much like the regular...no particularly good. But then I also don't get the point on near-beer so who knows.

So there was a sniffy goodbye at the end of the evening, followed up this morning with a quick chat about how it was okay to be sniffy. As I said to Ms. Lydia, it's funny how we get attached to people.

Tonight is for me and for fun, so if I meet with success I should have some fireworks pictures for you tomorrow!

All at Once

Life is trying to kill me. Or at the very least get me to kill myself.

Yesterday I learned that I do not in fact have Friday off. This gives me considerably less time to work on the apartment. But I figured I could get a good chunk done again tonight.

A friend just sent me a note that he was being deployed and leaving Friday. After the initial panic I thought to myself, "Since when do they give you 2 days notice before deployment?" So I called the little bugger and no, he isn't really being deployed. He's going to Ft. Indiantown Gap to play the role of a "civilian on the battlefield" for training exercises through September. But of course he'd like to get together before he leaves...and that would mean tonight.

See? Now I will feel like a schmuck if I don't make the time to see him, even though it's time I really don't have. So I will go right to Ambler from work, do some painting, run to North Wales for a shower then head out to see him for a few hours, come home and die.

If I survive I'll do a progress report tomorrow.

Amazing

I painted the trim around the windows last night, and most of the ceiling too. All this after helping Monie move my bed to the apartment (thank you thank you). I really should be sore today, and am a little nervous that I'm not. Does this mean my arms are just going to fall off tomorrow?

I gave up around 10 last night when I realized it was around 90 degrees in the apartment and I seemed to be sweating water with no salt content. May I say my face is still hot, which is also a bit disturbing, but in a more humorous way. I'll tackle it again tonight, though I doubt I'll get the bed put together as I took all the hardware to North Wales last night and forgot to bring it with me this morning. Ah well.

And in the boner move of the week I have the carpet folks scheduled between 9:30 and 10 on Friday morning and forgot that we are working this Friday. Jill, goddess that she is, offered to meet them and I took her up on it. Life is way to busy.

But I shall now join Jill in the I hate White Paint Club. How is it you can paint something white and it looks dirtier than when you started? 2 coats better do the trick on those windows or I'm going for teal!

Monday Monday

Monday morning found me heading back to North Wales for a nap then over to Ambler to prep for Monie and Lydia. I managed to get the downstairs cleaned out and mopped up, then headed back to North Wales to gather things and people together. After breakfast I headed back to Ambler with an extension cord and a fan and began the fun of spackling. I also patched the nasty spots in the kitchen ceiling and wall. I have a new skill! Assuming of course that the ceiling one holds. I'll know more tonight.

Soon Lydia was there and bless her heart began to clean. I headed out to meet Monie in NW to load up her truck with boxes. On the way I checked in with Jill who had survived the first night in the house and happily reported they had the bedroom together. Monie and I got 19 boxes into her truck and headed out. Those were loaded into the downstairs and we set about tackling the painting.

Well, first Monie went to Decks to pick up sand paper. Then we started to paint...after we figured out the power roller wasn't going to work and another trip to the hardware store. Okay, now really painting. I did the tight spots and Monie was a demon with the roller. Lydia survived a set of blinds falling on her and a towel rack making a break for freedom. She also went nuts on the mildew in the bathroom. The bathroom doesn't have ventilation but the only issue is the tub and it's caulking. No matter what you do the mildew comes back, so it gets recaulked a lot.

We called it a day around 5, with Lydia going to her family and Monie and I taking a truck load of trash to the dumpster. Then Monie was off to dinner and I grabbed a shower then dinner with a friend. We played poker until about 10:30 then I headed out to collapse. Lots more to get done, but a lot less then there was yesterday! And I would have thrown in the towel without Monie and Lydia. Thank you girls for not only being great help, but for also making me do things right. And thank you in advance to Jill for coming by on Friday.

Oh, and the most entertaining moment of the day once again goes to Lydia who announced she was going to the hardware store again. When I asked why she said she was painting the back bedroom because she just couldn't have me sleeping in there without it being painted. I pointed out that it was getting late, but she countered with just wanting to get it trimmed out. I then reminded her she was going on vacation at the end of the week and I wouldn't have time to get it finished either. At her sad look I promised that we would revisit it after she got back from vacation. It really was quite cute.

Saturday into Sunday

Oh happy day there was sleeping on Saturday! I got myself cleaned up and headed for a noon weigh in at WW. Happiness is losing 3.8 lbs, though I have no idea how. I am a scant .8lbs away from my first 10% loss and am very excited about it. My only delima is that I can't make this Thursday and I'd really like to do that at a meeting with Lissa. Jill is a sweetheart and said she'd come with me to the early weigh in on Friday, but now I've got carpet people coming in so...have to think on that.

Later in the afternoon I went out to lunch with Connie, had a very entertaining waiter, then went back to her place where we muscled a couch and a love seat up her stairs...in heels. Why you ask? Because she couldn't get any of the able bodied men in her life to help and the furniture was in danger of becoming spider infested. It sounded a lot like a Lamaze class, with Connie at the head of the couch going up the stairs yelling "Push!" But we did it. Because girls rock. Even Monie agrees, though boy did she yell at me for doing that!

Back to the house to do some packing then I ended up in Collegeville again. I left a bit after midnight and, since I was wide awake when I got home, did some bills before I hit the hay.

Sunday was Jill and Dan's moving day...and I still have no idea how they got all that stuff into the apartment. The move itself was really well coordinated and I'm hoping to use their carry chain strategy for going up the stairs with my stuff. Amazingly we had them loaded into their new home by 1:30.

Chuck R is the winner of our comic relief award for Sunday. At some point he split is pants and in an effort to stop the little tearing noises every time he bent over he decided to just do a squat and get it over with. Oh it tore...just a little more than he was anticipating and with some surprising consequences he then went in search of a safety pin.

I headed home for a shower and a nap...thought about doing a nap then shower then nap again but it ended up as a straight nap. Once I was moving I managed to do some packing and get dinner. Got an SOS about 10:30 so I ended up on the road again. This is a long weird story, but I'm glad I went.

Friday Night

Friday night was the Asia concert with Don. I'll say this for him, he's definitely helping me get my classic rock on. We met at the Keswick at 6 and wandered to the Chinese place down the block for dinner. It used to be really great. Now it is just okay, and the bathrooms...beyond frightening. Anyhow, the company was great as always and it looks like we are going to the Philly's game this Thursday, then taking pictures of the fireworks after. Should be fun.

The concert was amazing. It was the 4 original members, who have each worked with great bands as well so there was a lot of material from their first album along with some Yes, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and even that MTV anthem "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.

Before the show we ran into one of Don's clients so after introductions they went on to talk lawyer stuff for a bit. Then Rhonda turned to me and said (hopefully), "You aren't a lawyer too are you?" At which point Don, bless his heart, excitedly says, "She has the coolest job!" How could I ask for a better introduction? Her husband joined us and was likewise happy to hear I wasn't a lawyer like his wife and Don.

After the concert we made our way through the crowd and as we cut our way through an isle a woman yelled out to me, "How was your Chinese?" I said fine and she replied that she thought she recognized me. I have no idea who this woman was or why she noticed me in the restaurant, but it was creepy.

So ended a rather enjoyable day. I went home and passed out knowing there was a lot more work to be done in my weekend.

What Day is it?

I confess to being convinced that today is Wednesday, but I couldn't tell you why. The weekend is a blur, but of mostly good things.

Friday was a busy day. On my way home from Collegeville I called Jill to see if she was in Ambler or Boyertown. She was in B-town so since I was halfway there already I headed up to help her paint for a little bit. Okay, in reality I just taped stuff off, but the company was good so hopefully that made up for my lack of paint.

Then I had lunch with the Lovely Lydia. We ran some errands before and after, most of them related to the new/old apartment. I don't know if she really wants the recommendation, but she is a great voice of reason when choosing paint and carpeting. She talked me out of lavender for the living room, and I chose a neat pale slate blue instead. It looks great. She also recommended we go to Specialty Flooring in Roslyn once we realized that an area rug really wasn't going to cut it.

For the record, Nick at Specialty Flooring is my hero. He gave me a great deal on a Berber carpet, installed with pad. He estimated about $700 but sent out the measuring guy to do a better job with the numbers. He was out yesterday afternoon and Nick got right back to me with a quote of $400 and change. Happy me! And they are installing on Friday. Whoo hoo!

Best moment in a hardware store goes to Lydia. She suggested I get ceiling paint, and I asked what it did. Once she looked at me like "I can't believe Liz is this stupid" I realized I was thinking SEALING paint. We had a good laugh over that one.

Friday night gets it's own post because it was soooooo much fun.

Could someone tell me when I aquired the brain damage?

D'oh

The Good Samaritan in me was faster than my common sense this afternoon...

Sigh...sometimes I think I shouldn't be allowed contact with the outside world.

Well, time to quite possible make someone rather cranky! I'll fill y'all in later.

Quiet...

Too quiet...

I may, just may mind you, be able to go right home from work today and get something accomplished in my apartment! I'm very excited by this possibility.

pthpthpthpthpthtp

Okay, that title loosely translates into: Tired, Stressed and Unbelievably Busy. And it's not just me!

Jill and Dan made closing on their house yesterday, with just a touch of drama, so they are in full swing getting ready for their move on Sunday.

Don has just moved from his office in Blue Bell to the one in Philly so he's crazy with set up

Even my boss is moving!

And me, well I'm moving as well. What? Everyone else is doing it!

So as another week hits mid point and I wonder how I'm going to get myself ready for this move while managing to get through the day to day. The weekend offered an interesting introduction which now I'm trying to eek some time out for, be that good or bad. Last night I had every desire to watch Monie's soccer game...but didn't get out of work until 6 and by the time I would have gotten there it would be over. On my way home I was running errands when I got tagged by a somber friend wanting some company...and that's how I ended up watching movies instead of having dinner. It also explains why I was at Genuardi's at 6:30 this morning buying a gift card and a birthday card.

Tonight is taking Bill out for dinner to celebrate his 34th birthday-hence the card. I'm having a drink, or fondue, I haven't decided which. But that will give us a chance to catch up. He's been running between work, his place and his sick girlfriend's so he's pretty much in the same nutty boat as the rest of us.

And work? Oh yeah, we're busy. I started this blog around 7 while the coffee was brewing...it's now almost 3

Lemon

Sigh...why is it you don't notice the clear bottle you are drinking out of is moldy until you've just about emptied it?

When Life Gives You Lemons...

...Make lemonade.

But what do you do when life pelts you with them?!!!

It was an interesting weekend, of mostly good things. Friday was the Wizard World comic convention, otherwise know as Dan's Birthday Bonanza. It was a small bonanza, since I was the only sidekick, but it was fun. We wandered around, I bought things I didn't need but wanted anyway (who can pass up swords?). I also picked up a neat piece of artwork titled "The Dragon, the Fish and the Cookie that came between their love." It's way cuter than it has any right to be, much like my My Little Cuthulu shirt.

After the con I dropped Dan off then headed to dinner with Clan Reisse, Monie, Connie and Ian. Ian was the reason for the gathering, as he was in town from Maryland and we hadn't seen him in about a year. The Smooshie was our social director, walking around the entire restaurant making people wave and blowing kisses. Too adorable.

After dinner I headed home, chatted with a friend until 4:30 AM and then passed out. Saturday I went over to see the family Reisse again because we really didn't have much of a chance to catch up the night before. I ended up there for dinner, after which I was pretty tired-not as young as I used to be it seems-so I begged off on a movie with Connie and went home to do some packing and napping...neither of which happened.

I ended up talking to a friend again, and he was having a bad night so I took him out for tea...and got home at 5 AM. I think this cements that the days of the all nighter are over for me.

Sunday I slept in as much as I could, ran some errands and talked to Dad and was getting ready to head to Don's for gaming fun when I got a call from Connie. That girl has the worse Car Karma ever. So I headed out to rescue her after letting Don know I'd be missing another gathering...and feeling like a bit of a schmuck. But now Con has AAA so hopefully this will chase away the car goblins.

And this brings us to today...and the pelting...went to bed around 10, woke up with a screaming migraine. Once I could finally get my butt out of bed I medicated and staggered to work with my thumb in my eye. Oh, and there is this disturbing bruise on my leg...about the size of a lemon, raised and rather blue. And hurts like hell if even my pants brush against it, so between the pain and fearing I'd knick it and die there was no leg shaving this morning. Good thing I have a dr's appointment this evening, hairly legs and all.

So there you have it: Pelted by lemons and trying to keep up with the juicing. There are other lemon issues, but we can chalk them up to boys being idiots which is not anything new so I wasn't really surprised.

Objects in the Rear View Mirror...

Thank you to Greg and Meatloaf for this blog title...lol

So I have this skill. I'm really excellent at meeting people who are broken. Perfect strangers really. Something happens and we end up talking about broken hearts. It can be a guy or a girl...and they don't know me from Adam. And I settle into empathy mode and start reciting the truths I know, mainly that things will get better in time and to try to handle things with grace. Also, being alone isn't fun, but it isn't the end of the world either. You learn the most about yourself when you aren't part of a couple, and that leads to better relationships in the future.

So as I sat there last night passing on this information I sort of kicked myself in the butt. I've been fussing over how I should feel about my ex's engagement...and Greg, that endless font of wisdom that he can be, said that while he would expect someone to be a bit sad over this, the sheer surreal quality of this entire relationship probably meant I wasn't. You know what, he was right. I felt like I should be sad...or something...but there's just been so much weirdness and stupidity over the past 2 years, I think I'm just done. I wish him luck, but sink or swim it really has nothing to do with me. And that is just how it should be.

I realized as I told the latest stranger that things would get better that I needed to remember how far I've come, and that my life really is better and I'm pretty happy in it.

So if you're heart has been stepped on and you are feeling like the world is falling around your ears, pick up the pieces you think you will need and drive on. No use staring in the rear view. The only thing back there of any importance would be a cop, and you know what? You'll hear the siren.

Strange Days

My ex husband just called to tell me he put a down payment on an engagement ring.

He lost his job a few weeks ago.

He's known his girlfriend only a few months

She has 3 children

He swears he's confident about this decision


Strange Days

Pictures From Sunday

So here we have intrepid photograher Don. The true purpose of watching the race was so he could work on getting some cycling shots. I just followed along carrying stuff and snapping the odd picture of my own. It's fun to be a Girl Friday.

While we waited for the race to start we came across a tremendous amount of geese...

I even found a lady bug....

...but then the race began.

If you look closely you will notice that the officer in the sidecar isn't completely IN the side car. I don't really have a theory on why his leg was hanging over the side.

And here they come!

And there they go!

Here the pack comes off of Fountain Green and back on to Kelly Drive

Around the curve off of Lemon Hill

Finally back on to Kelly again to finish the run.

PS

The bat is still in Connie's house...I believe she slept with her head under the covers

It's the Little things

Connie called late Tuesday evening and with no preamble launched into "How do I get a bat out of my house!?" How should I know? Do I look like I play with bats in my spare time? It has been suggested that I am a little batty, but I maintain only around the belfry area. I gave her the few suggestions I could think of and wished her luck. I did offer to go over and help, but she thought she had it under control.

Before the Bat 911 I made brownies...they are okay, but not the chocolatey goodness I was hoping for. This being the case I made back up cookies for Don and brought the brownies to work where they have become a chocolatey part of Amanda's breakfast (along with leftover pretzels from yesterday).

This morning has been rather comical thus far. I got to work only to realize I'd left the office keys at home. Since the door had been repaired I had no choice but to sit on the step like an out of luck latch-key kid until Gene arrived to let me in. Of course he had a minor heart attack when he saw me out there, thinking something more had gone wrong with the door.

Once I'd made it into the office I started my morning puttering. Start the server, turn on Beverly's oh so slow computer, bring mine on line, check messages and perhaps most important of all, make coffee. With Tony out due to surgery I'm the first one in most mornings so I've taken on his coffee duties.

My boss came in early because she's going to be out most of the morning. As she was making her tea I heard a panicked cry for help: The coffee pot erupted. I don't know what happened, but it was everywhere. So I cleaned up the mess and tried again, this time without incident.

Around 8:30 Ron our plastics sales guy called to tell me to tell Beverly to tell Will that Ardia told him to tell Beverly to let Will know that the plastic we needed would be coming in today. If you're confused imagine how I felt.

A few hours later I heard a small crash in the shop, not unusual and every time I call out to make sure every one's okay I get the same "Yes, just moving stuff" answer, so I didn't this time...leaving Connie's foot stuck under 14 sheets of plastic. She did manage to call my name and together we shifted things around so they were no longer threatening to kill her.

Next Will came into my office and announced that the microwave wasn't working. Much like the bat call I wondered why I would be someone who looked like she could fix this. Yes, I take care of our computers, but microwave tech support is a wee bit out of my field...but I gave it a shot. I've ascertained that the socket is fine (the toaster works in the same outlet) and that behind the microwave is apparently where mice prefer to go potty. Knowing this I wouldn't use that microwave again even if I could have gotten it to work.

So there was a de-pooping of the area, which we will not tell our mouse phobic boss about because she will not return to the office, and luckily there is a back up microwave. Will we throw this one out? Who knows. We keep the weirdest stuff around here.

Now if I can just make my cookie drop without incident I'll be a happy camper.

Go Wednesday! If Tuesday's a monster then you, my friend, are a clown.

Yup...

It's Tuesday.

This is the lower entry door to my office...













The glass you see shattered around the steps used to be IN the door...

This is the rock that broke the door...













And this...well, it's just the universe sticking out it's tongue

Wheee....ow

So the weekend was mostly uneventful. Friday I did myself in moving some furniture from my boss' place to work while trying not to kill her f-ing pushy sister. I spent the rest of the day passed out with a headache, a chunk of Saturday too. I'm going to say the new meds have something to do with it, as I'm not supposed to be over exerting in the sun now and I forgot that little detail.

Sunday was a bright and early day. I met Don in the city around 8 AM and we walked down to Logan's Circle for the Commerce Bike Race. He was trying out some new photography ideas and I was along for the walk on a nice day...and to hold stuff. We basically walked the bike route (though thankfully not all the way to Manayunk) and aside from one spot at Lemon Hill, where I just couldn't do the hopping of the stone wall and rather steep hillside, I didn't have any trouble. In that case I just went the long way around to the top of the slope and he headed up the short way when he saw me get to the top. I couldn't help muttering "You're a gazelle" as he got closer to me.

So here is the race route. We walked from Logan to the bridge before Manayunk, then back to Lemon Hill, through that loop and back to Don's place at Spring Garden and 18th. About the time we hit 20th Don quietly admitted to being tired and hungry. It was about 12:30, so we got lunch at the Chinese place by his building, realizing as we sat down to wait that there was every chance neither of us would be able to get up. Miracle of miracles we did manage to get out of the booth and up to his apartment where we went over his shots as we ate. It was a fun morning, but by 2 he was starting to nod off and I knew that if I didn't get going I'd be napping on his couch.

I think the worst was trying to get out of the car when I got home. Oh the pain! Later that evening Connie called to see if I wanted to get dinner. She had gone on a 7 mile bike ride that morning, the first time she's been on a bike since middle school, so she too was walking stiffly. We looked like we were about 80, but at least we could laugh about it!

When I got home I had an e-mail from Don about a discovery he'd made while looking at his pictures. At one point a pair of men and a woman cycled past us and we thought it was interesting because the way the race is staggered that really shouldn't happen, but oh well. As he was cropping the photo he realized they didn't have numbers...they had just jumped into the race!

Life is Interesting...

...and I don't mean that with any sarcasm at all for a change! Monie and a friend are MCing a talent show next month, with the winner getting $1000 to go to the charity of their choice. It's a good cause and sounds like a lot of fun. Sadly I won't be able to attend but I did get a sneak preview last night.

As MCs they needed pictures taken for a write up so I was very flattered when Monie asked if I would do it. Last night we trouped to her friend's amazing loft in the city to take the shots. He answered the door in a stunning sequined gown and the hottest metallic tangerine sandals! Oh, did I mention they are doing this in drag?

After some primping (getting various body parts that shouldn't be prominent smushed down and gluing on side burns) we headed to the roof. I have to give the guy credit, for someone who was not comfortable at all in women's clothes he pulled it off well. I think the humor and good cause helped with that. Monie was comfy with her role as Buck Wilde, almost a country western version of her Danny Zuko. If I had to compare them to famous people I'd say she looked like a short, blond Hugh Jackman and he reminded me of Mila Jovovich (but that could have been the glasses).

Once we were done our femme fatale got out of his evil panty hose and took us for a drink. Much to my surprise he too knew the joy of being on blood thinners (I was beginning to think I was the only person in the area under 80 that had this fun) so we compared notes a little, the 3 of us talked a bit about civil union vs marriage and had a few laughs on top of the sober subjects.

All in all, it was a unique evening and a very, very enjoyable one. And to satisfy your curiosity, here is one of my favorite shots:

Hm...

Last night my case of lethargy continued so I decided to make cookies. I'm not precisely sure why, but I thought it might snap me out of the feeling. It's a very relaxing, homey thing for me.

For me cookies are a dangerous thing to keep around the house, so I had already assigned these homes. I'd bring one box into work, drop one off to Don and the other to Andrew. Don works about 15 minutes from where I do, so I could save them until today. Andrew lives around the corner from me, so I thought I would give him a call to see if he was up for a drive by baking once the cookies were done.

Andrew got back to me shortly before 10, he'd been at church but was up for the food drop. When I arrived I saw him playing Wii golf with his dad...and he was still in his suit from services. It was really quite amusing. I handed off the cookies, wished him a happy Tuesday and headed home.

Connie is the keeper of the work cookies. I told her it was her decision as to whether Will got any since he bogarted the last batch. She was excited about both the cookies and the power.

And I just delivered the final box to Don at lunch. Don who probably thinks I am stalking him. I had hoped just to leave them with the receptionist, but life doesn't work that way. As I walked toward the building the front door opened and of course it was Don walking through it. He put on his sunglasses against the noontime glare, completely unaware that it was me wandering toward him. I announced the aforementioned stalking fear, laughed when he asked what the hell I was doing there, gave him the container and wished him a happy Wednesday. Oh yeah, he's totally confused.

That's the trouble with random acts of kindness, we tend to be suspicious of them these days. I just felt like baking, and thought of some folks who weren't on diets who would enjoy the result.

Gee, wonder what perplexing thing I will do next?

First I have to finish de-bedazzling my pants.

Interesting

I have long advised that if you don't want someone to know about something then don't post it on the internet.

Especially if what you are doing is illegal.

And for crying out loud don't use the same username for all your accounts!

We all have little odds and ends we wouldn't want people to know about without us being able to explain...like yes, I frequent bondage gear webstores. Why? We need colored rope for the puppets we make, and it happens to be the same type preferred for bondage games. But if you had just met me then found my user account wouldn't you be full of questions you would be embarrassed to ask? Now of course I use our company info, but it's still a good example.

If you want to have some fun put your name, username or email into a Google search, add a little common detail like "PA" or some hobby you enjoy. You'd be surprised. I found elementary school pictures of a friend, and I'm fairly sure he doesn't know they are out there for the world to see.

I haven't decided if I'm going to tell him either...but then, I'm evil...hee hee

Good Grief

So the sister blog to this one, One Maiden's Tales, has been a bit neglected of late. To be honest, I've had better things to do, but today I was poking through and found out I have 2 comments on stories. Comments from a stranger (as far as I know), but I think it may be a Nigerian. Here is the first comment I read:

"why didnt you just break down to him.. i mean he doesnt take any signs?"

My response was to ask if she felt I should have started crying, or if she meant "break it down". We see here how nouns play an important part of making the point of a sentence.

Second comment:

"i have a question: have you other thought of just waiting to meet the right guy , i mean being with someone who see i know that you wann be with them? Dont you want it to be real not over the computer?"

Admittedly I got snarky with this one. After once again letting her know that I was guessing about the question she was asking, I wrote that the point of dating was to meet someone special and I wasn't clear on how to do one without the other. And wouldn't meeting someone for said date make them real? I suggested she work on punctuation, spelling and grammar.

Okay, maybe I am in a bit of a cranky mood today...or perhaps just easily annoyed

Bored

I have done little today... As usual my evening will be more hectic than my work day... But, for the sake of something to keep my brain from rotting, here is the weekend in review. A weekend that was full of the best of intentions, yet got few of them accomplished. Friday Connie, Jill, Dan and I went to the carnival at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Ambler. I've gone for the past few years with J and D, this was Connie's first time. To summarize:

• Parson's Porch (the raffle) didn't have much I was drooling over, though I hear Jill and Dan did get 2 of the items they wanted. You go guys!
• Jill and I wanted to ride the spinney rides...but the ticket prices had gone up so much we opted not too.
• Even the game prices were steep, but I did play an odd ball game with Dan. And no, my skills have not improved.

Dan pointed out that some of the prizes seemed inappropriate for a church fundraiser. The airbrushed (likely non-licensed), pimped out Loony Toons characters saying "If you see a cop tell a brotha" seemed particularly wrong. As I passed 3 officers I turned to the group and asked if I should locate a male of African American descent and alert him to their presence. Just insulting and stupid on a lot of levels.

With the threat of impending rain we opted to have dinner at Friendly's instead. The food was okay, but the punning was superb! Even Connie popped in a few good ones (we are still initiating her in the way of the pun).

After dinner the deluge began, and I ended up staying at Connie's for a bit while it passed. I love her zoo. The animals are hilarious and I love her bird Sebastian. The storm had passed by the time I hit the road and my own animals were pretty happy to see me.

Saturday I went over to Lydia's with Connie so she could meet their new dog, Shadow. Shadow is the most laid back 8 month old black lab I have ever seen, and Connie will be house and dog sitting for them when they go on vacation this month. Jack showed me every toy he had and Zoe drew a disturbingly funny picture of me naked with a Mohawk and really big ears. Go figure. It was a relaxed visit, which is always nice, and while the girls were talking about dog stuff I had a chance to chat with Ralph-something that happens rarely but is always welcome.

Connie and I ended up calling Andrew to see if he wanted to join us for pizza before seeing Pirates of the Caribbean, then trouped out to meet him. I must say the bruscetta pizza I had was amazing! After dinner we discovered a line around the building for the movie and opted for mini golf instead. It was a generally fun game, with Andrew scoring the gold jacket which was no surprise.

Finally we crashed at Barnes and Noble for coffee and called it a night around 11. I was up until 2, but that is a story for a later date.

Sunday I was a complete slug-a-bed, having plans only in the evening. Monie and I had dinner then she was nice enough to come grocery shopping with me. Home Depot was also on the tour schedule, but after groceries I was done. Home Depot is draining enough without it being a rainy Sunday night. So that excursion has been put off once again.

Monie, ever the sweetie, has offered to help me with the new apartment on the 25th, as has Lydia. By the time the actual move date arrives we may just have a few odds and ends of fur nature!

So, nothing epic in the weekend, but a good one all the same.

Not Quite There

Wednesday was an adventure for multiple reasons. Con and I made a deal to go to Home Depot and Friendly's, and managed to get Andrew to join us for dinner even though he'd eaten already. He was there when I arrived, but Con was missing. She called shortly to say her car had an issue (really bad car karma there) so I headed off to collect her and Andrew went to keep an appointment at the gym.

Connie and I did dinner then checked on her car, which decided to behave. I headed home, then didn't feel like packing so I called Andrew to see if he was in for the night, and if not would he like to go for a walk? He was game, but we wandered around his neighborhood since he'd focused on his legs at the gym and if he collapsed I'd have a shorter way to drag his butt home.

It was a great night for walking, warm but not too sticky. I even spied a toad in the grass (one of my favorite creatures) and managed to catch it, call attention to it's cuteness and let it go before it decided to pee. A small victory, but a victory none the less. So there was good conversation, some wildlife exploration and exercise-all good things. After a bit though we were both having some soreness in the lower extremities so we headed back to his place, then I headed home. Once in the care I realized we'd walked for over an hour.

Thursday dawned and and my right leg was not happy at all! Muscles that weren't accustomed to being used for that length of time since before my little mishap were very sore, but at least I now have proof they still exist! So yes, I over did it, but it was fun. And this morning I'm pain free so nothing foolish was done. Next time I think we'll take a shorter route.