I'm kind of in mourning these days, after we got the news that Doc & Mrs Doc are leaving us in May instead of September. Upon banging my head up against a wall several times in a state of "not knowing what's meaningful again, dammit!" I realized that this is something that is on my mind a lot, making me sad a lot, and what what what, so again - something meaningful must be lying in there waiting to be extracted & appreciated.
And it is! The Mr. and I haven't had good friends like this in our midst for so long. I mean sure we have great friends, all over the world, great friends, yay, great, what have you. But the ones that you REALLY click with, and at the same time that are a daily part of your lives and therefore you get the most value out of - hey it's been a long time.
Back in our life in Australia, we used to have our own version of the Cul-de-Sac-Krewe (my moniker for our 2 sets of neighbour couples that we always hang out with who all lived within a kilometre or 2 distance of us at the time) in SPH & A, and Ad & TJ. The feeling where you just know that each weekend you're probably going to do at least *something* together, and it isn't weird to just lounge around in each other's living rooms drinking wine or watching something on TV... not everything is a planned "event", something you have to dress up for, it's just comfortable hanging-out-time. The regularity of it all (helped out by being in the same neighbourhood and therefore just a minute away at all times) fosters extra comfortableness between you, where you get to know way more about each other in much shorter of a timespan than when you're talking about someone you only see once a month or something. Then the close proximity of your locations makes quick drop-ins, or unannounced visits or even simple stuff like "we made too much chilli, do you want some?" so much easier than when you're across town... which means that the casualness is increased and therefore you don't have to feel like you're "on" every time you see each other.
Ever since we met Doc & Mrs Doc, and convinced them to move into our neighbourhood The Mr. and I find ourselves saying incredibly touching things like "wow, we're really lucky to have those guys down the road". Or, "I love that we can hang out with a couple who we have so much in common with". And once he even said to me "Ever since they moved in, I feel like our social life is back to where it used to be in Melbourne"!! And it's true. It's so hard to find people where you BOTH click with BOTH of them - not just the dude (like our situation with Jac & Mar, the other third of our C-d-S-K) or the girl (like our situation with Soo & Mx). For example, sometimes it's Doc that calls me about what to do on friday night, sometimes it's Mrs Doc calling The Mr. and vice versa. We feel exactly the same about both of them and to be honest, I'm not even sure whose number I'm dialling when I phone, because it really doesn't matter (literally, I have them both in my directory under "Mrs Doc" anyway).
Then there's the part about genuineness. There's nothing worth hiding from them due to feelings of skeletons in the closet or anything like that - there's no pretense, and this is on all levels, from being able to talk to them about ANYTHING, to not even attempting to clean up the place when they come over, if it's not convenient.
And then just plain and simple "good personnness". Their enthusiasm about everything is infectious and inspiring - from every time we suggest cooking something bizarre to planning hiking trips or camping. Everything with them is "awesome!" and "fantastic idea!" and you just really genuinely look forward to doing it together. Stuff that a lot of our other friends would complain about or just not even have the slightest bit of motivation for if you just suggest it on a whim ("let's build cornehole boards!" "let's walk for 20km!" "let's make a neti pot out of an ice tea bottle and squirt baking soda and water up my nose!" "let's see if we can make tamales!"). They're really like genuinely gung-ho people which is what you need around these parts when so many things really get you down about daily life and frustrations related to living in a developing country and dealing with complicated & difficult people all the time. I think that must be directly related to their profession, when they're surrounded by a lot of tragedy in the ER and death and illness and 24-hour-shifts and what not. Whatever it is, it's infectious and extremely valuable.
And the stuff we have in common is probably one of the most valuable aspects - when you're an immigrant and you hang out with a variety of locals & expatriates, you generally have a mix of people that you're either just friends with because of work, or because of some club or something or other. It's not because you grew up together and your lives intertwined for a number of years and you have all sorts of life events & interests in common. It's not because you shared experiences over the years and lived through good times & bad together. It's just a lot of "relationships of convenience". With them though, it's like we brought our own friends over with us from "back home" (wherever that is) or something. We all love food, we all love the outdoors, we all do sports, run, etc., we all have the same sense of humour, we all like (generally) the same style of music, we all like the same personality types of people, we're all animal people, we're all adventurous, etc.... and the majority of things we DISLIKE are exactly the same too. Made to order!
So yes, in conclusion, my quality of life and happiness is about to take an incredible nose dive, as these 2 have recently been laid off by the floundering, bankrupt hospital that brought them over here for what was supposed to be a fixed year-long contract. Come May, both me & the Mr. are about to be 2 EXTREMELY sad puppies. However. The meaningful bit is that like SPH&A and TJ&Ad, at least I know that the friendship will last over decades, and that we'll make the effort to see them again no matter where life takes us. I guess that should make me feel better, knowing that what developed was of such Quality that it will stick. It's just going to be really hard to be going it alone again, or I don't know if it's even worse or not - sticking it out with friends who just don't quite measure up. Sometimes I think it's almost better to be lonely than to have average or less-than-average friends around you. That's depressing, I know, but these are the thoughts you have when you have to say goodbye to your besties forever (well, "forever" as in they'll never be your neighbours again - that chapter is OVER).
At least we have (most of) March and April.
And it is! The Mr. and I haven't had good friends like this in our midst for so long. I mean sure we have great friends, all over the world, great friends, yay, great, what have you. But the ones that you REALLY click with, and at the same time that are a daily part of your lives and therefore you get the most value out of - hey it's been a long time.
Back in our life in Australia, we used to have our own version of the Cul-de-Sac-Krewe (my moniker for our 2 sets of neighbour couples that we always hang out with who all lived within a kilometre or 2 distance of us at the time) in SPH & A, and Ad & TJ. The feeling where you just know that each weekend you're probably going to do at least *something* together, and it isn't weird to just lounge around in each other's living rooms drinking wine or watching something on TV... not everything is a planned "event", something you have to dress up for, it's just comfortable hanging-out-time. The regularity of it all (helped out by being in the same neighbourhood and therefore just a minute away at all times) fosters extra comfortableness between you, where you get to know way more about each other in much shorter of a timespan than when you're talking about someone you only see once a month or something. Then the close proximity of your locations makes quick drop-ins, or unannounced visits or even simple stuff like "we made too much chilli, do you want some?" so much easier than when you're across town... which means that the casualness is increased and therefore you don't have to feel like you're "on" every time you see each other.
Ever since we met Doc & Mrs Doc, and convinced them to move into our neighbourhood The Mr. and I find ourselves saying incredibly touching things like "wow, we're really lucky to have those guys down the road". Or, "I love that we can hang out with a couple who we have so much in common with". And once he even said to me "Ever since they moved in, I feel like our social life is back to where it used to be in Melbourne"!! And it's true. It's so hard to find people where you BOTH click with BOTH of them - not just the dude (like our situation with Jac & Mar, the other third of our C-d-S-K) or the girl (like our situation with Soo & Mx). For example, sometimes it's Doc that calls me about what to do on friday night, sometimes it's Mrs Doc calling The Mr. and vice versa. We feel exactly the same about both of them and to be honest, I'm not even sure whose number I'm dialling when I phone, because it really doesn't matter (literally, I have them both in my directory under "Mrs Doc" anyway).
Then there's the part about genuineness. There's nothing worth hiding from them due to feelings of skeletons in the closet or anything like that - there's no pretense, and this is on all levels, from being able to talk to them about ANYTHING, to not even attempting to clean up the place when they come over, if it's not convenient.
And then just plain and simple "good personnness". Their enthusiasm about everything is infectious and inspiring - from every time we suggest cooking something bizarre to planning hiking trips or camping. Everything with them is "awesome!" and "fantastic idea!" and you just really genuinely look forward to doing it together. Stuff that a lot of our other friends would complain about or just not even have the slightest bit of motivation for if you just suggest it on a whim ("let's build cornehole boards!" "let's walk for 20km!" "let's make a neti pot out of an ice tea bottle and squirt baking soda and water up my nose!" "let's see if we can make tamales!"). They're really like genuinely gung-ho people which is what you need around these parts when so many things really get you down about daily life and frustrations related to living in a developing country and dealing with complicated & difficult people all the time. I think that must be directly related to their profession, when they're surrounded by a lot of tragedy in the ER and death and illness and 24-hour-shifts and what not. Whatever it is, it's infectious and extremely valuable.
And the stuff we have in common is probably one of the most valuable aspects - when you're an immigrant and you hang out with a variety of locals & expatriates, you generally have a mix of people that you're either just friends with because of work, or because of some club or something or other. It's not because you grew up together and your lives intertwined for a number of years and you have all sorts of life events & interests in common. It's not because you shared experiences over the years and lived through good times & bad together. It's just a lot of "relationships of convenience". With them though, it's like we brought our own friends over with us from "back home" (wherever that is) or something. We all love food, we all love the outdoors, we all do sports, run, etc., we all have the same sense of humour, we all like (generally) the same style of music, we all like the same personality types of people, we're all animal people, we're all adventurous, etc.... and the majority of things we DISLIKE are exactly the same too. Made to order!
So yes, in conclusion, my quality of life and happiness is about to take an incredible nose dive, as these 2 have recently been laid off by the floundering, bankrupt hospital that brought them over here for what was supposed to be a fixed year-long contract. Come May, both me & the Mr. are about to be 2 EXTREMELY sad puppies. However. The meaningful bit is that like SPH&A and TJ&Ad, at least I know that the friendship will last over decades, and that we'll make the effort to see them again no matter where life takes us. I guess that should make me feel better, knowing that what developed was of such Quality that it will stick. It's just going to be really hard to be going it alone again, or I don't know if it's even worse or not - sticking it out with friends who just don't quite measure up. Sometimes I think it's almost better to be lonely than to have average or less-than-average friends around you. That's depressing, I know, but these are the thoughts you have when you have to say goodbye to your besties forever (well, "forever" as in they'll never be your neighbours again - that chapter is OVER).
At least we have (most of) March and April.
Labels: Meaningful, mis amigos
What? This was written 2 weeks ago!?!?
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 25 January 2011 at 1/25/2011 09:46:00 am.
NB: OK in my defense - this was written 2 weeks ago and somehow it didn't get published when I clicked publish... and now only half of it is in my Drafts folder? WTF?!
oh well, so here's half of my musings from 2 weeks ago...
----
Meaningful take 2.
Right, so this is still hard for me. I have noticed over the last week that my main problem is thinking something, anything, every tiny little thing that even pokes it's head into my mind in terms of potential "meaningful stuff", just gets shot down by my brain. "Nah, that's just a sorta whatever-fine-okay thing." And I find myself waiting around for some other idea to surface that would be post-worthy.
...which is just stupid, because obviously if something was valuable enough to pop into that corner of my mind in the first place, it's got to have meaning and quality and worth and some sort of power that I'm not acknowledging. Which is worth further investigation and will most probably result in the realization that I'm not paying such small blessings or people or whatevers in my life their due. Which is kind of the point of this little exercise.
So I need to practice more, or something.
But anyway, let's go with one of those exact little "things" that happened last week (or before?) exactly the way I just described it: I got an email from someone that registered in my head and my heart and made me really FEEL something for a moment there, and of course now being on board with this new blog project of mine I was tempted to say "yeah, hey, that is definitely meaningful" but then the cynic in me got the better of that thought and it was dumbed down through no fault of its own by a bunch of "yeah but..."s.
So the email was from my little brother-from-another-mother (little BFAM?) Uncle A. He's been in India with his new girlfriend (an american medical student that he met in Malawi on his travels northward a couple months ago and subsequently spent 2 weeks with and fell in love with and made a plan to meet up in India for 3 weeks with last month.... but that's a whole 'nother story). He wrote a classic little BFAM email to me inculsive of a whole 9 sentences or something - cuz that's how he rolls - but in it he wrote about his heart ache of leaving the new girl behind, how much he misses her, and how he would even entertain the thought of uprooting and moving for her. Then, in the same email he made remorseful mention of how he feels sad about missing (of all things... can hardly believe this one...) wait for it... it's unbelievable....
... LJJ and the growing up period she's in the midst of right now, since he's been gone so long!? I was flabbergasted. Seriously? Let's just say I NEVER expected that. Not in a million billion years. EVER. This is the guy who Foreigner pre-emptively wrote "(You're as) Cold As Ice" for, in 1977... oddly enough, 7 years before his birth!
Ok, so where was the meaningful in this story?
Uhhhh, only on so many freakin levels!!!!
Firstly, the honesty. I crave honesty in my relationships and it's probably the number 1 value I hold dear when it comes to the people in my life that I really value. Honesty allows you trust, give in, be vulnerable, believe in that relationship because the other person is saying "look, I'm picking you as someone who's worth the truth, no matter how it makes me look. It inspires you to be more honest with the other person, which is a buttload of added value to the relationship itself. And most of all it purifies all the ju-ju that circulates between people in any relationship. And, let's face it. I kind of crave this in a little BFAM. My own worthless waste-of-time relationship with my own bio-sib is one big cess pool of anti-quality, mainly related to the fact that he is a two-faced liar who would sell me down the river to anyone he meets as well as betray with the drop of a downbeat. Not to mention happily foster a 1-way relationship in which he quite happily collects all the attention made available to him like freakin' trinkets, and then lies unblinkingly to the faces of those offering that which he collects. Family members, significant others, friends, anyone. Everyone's fair game. What that does, is creates a situation where I can't be honest to him and I become cold and stonewall-y all together. And stonewalling people is just another type of dishonesty - you're hiding stuff, you're putting forth a false face/personality, and you just rot under the lies and stinking bad mojo.
The honesty part of this story is about the fact that this little BFAM of mine is one tough cookie, emotionally. One of these guys who honestly believes that vulnerability is a terminal cancer that will bring you down. Someone who puts forward a tough exterior and uses (as I've learned over the last 6 years) cynnicism and insults and negativity to compromise for the fact that there's something missing. As I've recounted before, having been at the receiving end. But this is PROOF! that when he has love in his life, he actually has a heart of gold (I'm going to go with that, even though I've been burned before by him, the last time there was a gf and I thought... well, anyway). So for him to actually open up and say this sort of stuff, it really kind of bumps our spookily-frighteningly-sibling-like relationship up a notch on the meaningful pole. It's like a bit of confirmation that I'm NOT dreaming when I think that our *thing* is more than just a superficial friendship. It's evidence that specialness exists and all the shyte that we've been through together (inter-continental moves, breakups, dead dogs, desert breakdowns, family nonsense, etc etc) actually built something and created a platform in the friendship on which honesty is practiced.
Secondly, the love part. This is meaningful to me because seeing him being in love and knowing what it feels like... to love somebody... (yeah, that's right, the BeeGees wrote that song pre-emptively about him too! Amazingly enough this time a whole 17 years before his birth...) but I digress. It means that he's got a new facet to his life, a new depth, a new perception that he never had before which opens up a whole world of difference in how he's going to enjoy life from now on, regardless of if the relationship works/lasts or not. (these are such big-sib feelings here) Not only is it going to make him happy, it means that it'll give him perception.... all those times he balked at the idea of people being soul mates. All those times he rolled his eyes when me or The Mr. would mention that we believe in it. That kinda stuff.
Thirdly, the "I regret that I'm missing all this growing-up stuff" re: LJJ part. Sure, everyone wants to feel like their friends like their kid. But this really gives a whole 'nother dimension to the "Uncle A." moniker that we've given him from the get go. Again, in contrast to my biological sibling who has shown all of .00009% interest in his neice, this part goes a long way. It means a lot to me to know that there is some sort of emotion there, a genuine interest, some caring going on. Not in just the standard "how's the kid" question that everybody and their dog can ask without even listening to the answer (yes, I now know parents CAN actually get fatigue in the "let me tell you ALLL ABOUT MY KID" department, especially when it's usually just a disinterested rhetorical question), but in that "I feel like I have a relationship with her" manner. I never saw that one coming, not a mile away. Wow.
----
Anyhoo, that's all that was left in the Drafts folder. I think there was a "Fourthly" section, but I can't remember anymore. damn blogger.
oh well, so here's half of my musings from 2 weeks ago...
----
Meaningful take 2.
Right, so this is still hard for me. I have noticed over the last week that my main problem is thinking something, anything, every tiny little thing that even pokes it's head into my mind in terms of potential "meaningful stuff", just gets shot down by my brain. "Nah, that's just a sorta whatever-fine-okay thing." And I find myself waiting around for some other idea to surface that would be post-worthy.
...which is just stupid, because obviously if something was valuable enough to pop into that corner of my mind in the first place, it's got to have meaning and quality and worth and some sort of power that I'm not acknowledging. Which is worth further investigation and will most probably result in the realization that I'm not paying such small blessings or people or whatevers in my life their due. Which is kind of the point of this little exercise.
So I need to practice more, or something.
But anyway, let's go with one of those exact little "things" that happened last week (or before?) exactly the way I just described it: I got an email from someone that registered in my head and my heart and made me really FEEL something for a moment there, and of course now being on board with this new blog project of mine I was tempted to say "yeah, hey, that is definitely meaningful" but then the cynic in me got the better of that thought and it was dumbed down through no fault of its own by a bunch of "yeah but..."s.
So the email was from my little brother-from-another-mother (little BFAM?) Uncle A. He's been in India with his new girlfriend (an american medical student that he met in Malawi on his travels northward a couple months ago and subsequently spent 2 weeks with and fell in love with and made a plan to meet up in India for 3 weeks with last month.... but that's a whole 'nother story). He wrote a classic little BFAM email to me inculsive of a whole 9 sentences or something - cuz that's how he rolls - but in it he wrote about his heart ache of leaving the new girl behind, how much he misses her, and how he would even entertain the thought of uprooting and moving for her. Then, in the same email he made remorseful mention of how he feels sad about missing (of all things... can hardly believe this one...) wait for it... it's unbelievable....
... LJJ and the growing up period she's in the midst of right now, since he's been gone so long!? I was flabbergasted. Seriously? Let's just say I NEVER expected that. Not in a million billion years. EVER. This is the guy who Foreigner pre-emptively wrote "(You're as) Cold As Ice" for, in 1977... oddly enough, 7 years before his birth!
Ok, so where was the meaningful in this story?
Uhhhh, only on so many freakin levels!!!!
Firstly, the honesty. I crave honesty in my relationships and it's probably the number 1 value I hold dear when it comes to the people in my life that I really value. Honesty allows you trust, give in, be vulnerable, believe in that relationship because the other person is saying "look, I'm picking you as someone who's worth the truth, no matter how it makes me look. It inspires you to be more honest with the other person, which is a buttload of added value to the relationship itself. And most of all it purifies all the ju-ju that circulates between people in any relationship. And, let's face it. I kind of crave this in a little BFAM. My own worthless waste-of-time relationship with my own bio-sib is one big cess pool of anti-quality, mainly related to the fact that he is a two-faced liar who would sell me down the river to anyone he meets as well as betray with the drop of a downbeat. Not to mention happily foster a 1-way relationship in which he quite happily collects all the attention made available to him like freakin' trinkets, and then lies unblinkingly to the faces of those offering that which he collects. Family members, significant others, friends, anyone. Everyone's fair game. What that does, is creates a situation where I can't be honest to him and I become cold and stonewall-y all together. And stonewalling people is just another type of dishonesty - you're hiding stuff, you're putting forth a false face/personality, and you just rot under the lies and stinking bad mojo.
The honesty part of this story is about the fact that this little BFAM of mine is one tough cookie, emotionally. One of these guys who honestly believes that vulnerability is a terminal cancer that will bring you down. Someone who puts forward a tough exterior and uses (as I've learned over the last 6 years) cynnicism and insults and negativity to compromise for the fact that there's something missing. As I've recounted before, having been at the receiving end. But this is PROOF! that when he has love in his life, he actually has a heart of gold (I'm going to go with that, even though I've been burned before by him, the last time there was a gf and I thought... well, anyway). So for him to actually open up and say this sort of stuff, it really kind of bumps our spookily-frighteningly-sibling-like relationship up a notch on the meaningful pole. It's like a bit of confirmation that I'm NOT dreaming when I think that our *thing* is more than just a superficial friendship. It's evidence that specialness exists and all the shyte that we've been through together (inter-continental moves, breakups, dead dogs, desert breakdowns, family nonsense, etc etc) actually built something and created a platform in the friendship on which honesty is practiced.
Secondly, the love part. This is meaningful to me because seeing him being in love and knowing what it feels like... to love somebody... (yeah, that's right, the BeeGees wrote that song pre-emptively about him too! Amazingly enough this time a whole 17 years before his birth...) but I digress. It means that he's got a new facet to his life, a new depth, a new perception that he never had before which opens up a whole world of difference in how he's going to enjoy life from now on, regardless of if the relationship works/lasts or not. (these are such big-sib feelings here) Not only is it going to make him happy, it means that it'll give him perception.... all those times he balked at the idea of people being soul mates. All those times he rolled his eyes when me or The Mr. would mention that we believe in it. That kinda stuff.
Thirdly, the "I regret that I'm missing all this growing-up stuff" re: LJJ part. Sure, everyone wants to feel like their friends like their kid. But this really gives a whole 'nother dimension to the "Uncle A." moniker that we've given him from the get go. Again, in contrast to my biological sibling who has shown all of .00009% interest in his neice, this part goes a long way. It means a lot to me to know that there is some sort of emotion there, a genuine interest, some caring going on. Not in just the standard "how's the kid" question that everybody and their dog can ask without even listening to the answer (yes, I now know parents CAN actually get fatigue in the "let me tell you ALLL ABOUT MY KID" department, especially when it's usually just a disinterested rhetorical question), but in that "I feel like I have a relationship with her" manner. I never saw that one coming, not a mile away. Wow.
----
Anyhoo, that's all that was left in the Drafts folder. I think there was a "Fourthly" section, but I can't remember anymore. damn blogger.
Labels: Meaningful, mis amigos
How can I be so lame when my life is so awesome!?
3 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 24 June 2010 at 6/24/2010 09:53:00 am.
Good LAWD, it's raining blessings!
So just as I was having a mental breakdown about squeezing 400 days of activities into 3 short weeks at home, organizing get-togethers in 5 minute blocks, disappointing people, double-booking and arguing with the Mr. over how much WORK (as in office work) we're probably going to have to do while we're on "vacation".... the heavens open up! A virtual isolated thunderstorm of awesomeness ensues, and all "hail" breaks loose (to paraphrase SC JT) with each fat coconut-sized ball of stupefying wonder going KONK on my head, I realize there's far more to be grateful for than I realize.... and why dont we all just quit the bitchin' and get to celebratin'!! Seriously it was enough to make me want to give myself a spanking for letting stress and nonsense take over.
So just as I was having a mental breakdown about squeezing 400 days of activities into 3 short weeks at home, organizing get-togethers in 5 minute blocks, disappointing people, double-booking and arguing with the Mr. over how much WORK (as in office work) we're probably going to have to do while we're on "vacation".... the heavens open up! A virtual isolated thunderstorm of awesomeness ensues, and all "hail" breaks loose (to paraphrase SC JT) with each fat coconut-sized ball of stupefying wonder going KONK on my head, I realize there's far more to be grateful for than I realize.... and why dont we all just quit the bitchin' and get to celebratin'!! Seriously it was enough to make me want to give myself a spanking for letting stress and nonsense take over.
First of all one of the things I was really starting to sweat was how we were going to get onto Manhattan from JFK when we're arriving before 8am and our 2 friends (KC and Xena) that we want to see during the day we're there both have to be at their respective places of employment at that time and both said "get a cab!" and so I say fine, and then find out... "what the what!? a cab is $45 one way!" (I seem to have to keep reminding people we are spending African bucks, here, meaning essentially everything gets multiplied by 10 for us). That cab also needs to take us back in the evening which means $90 which means before we've even been in the country for one day we've spent nearly a hundred bucks USD... this does not bode well for a 4-week holiday that includes multiple "incidentals" such as this ahead of us. Nevermind the whole part about "what's the story with baby seats in cabs in NYC these days".... And KC warned me about the shuttle taking 2 hours to get to Midtown as well as being notorious for some reasons or another, so we were basically looking at a public transport headache (with luggage) as our welcome wagon into the country.
But then the awesomeness... just another reminder that I sometimes need, that I do happen to befriend my friends for a reason (because they are great!) and that they aren't just ordinary yahoos that I haven't managed to ditch along the way.... KC emails me yesterday "I'm sending a car service to fetch you. Driver will be standing at arrivals with your last name on a card. Just go with that guy. He'll help with yur bags, the car will have a carseat for baby, and he'll bring you straight to my place", and that I must not even attempt to pay for it b/c she's already put it on her Mastercard. WOAH. How freakin awesome is that? That is called true McCartney treatment. And I'm talking McCartney as in STELLAR. All this after she was already leaving her key with her doorman for us so that even though she has to work that morning, we can get to her place, let ourselves in, shower, nap, re-group, re-charge, re-programme the baby and just relax and invite anyone else we want to see in NYC (only 1 other person, Xena, really) over, and come and go as we please until she gets off work. She's also already offered to stock her fridge with baby-friendly stuff like applesauce and yogurt (I didn't even ask) as well as diapers and wipes so that we wouldn't have to tap into whatever source we were packing. As well as leaving her membership card to the Central Park Zoo (which is within walking distance of her digs) so that we could see the exotic red pandas if we so desire. Notwithstanding the fact that I don't believe in zoos, I thought this was super sweet since she is not what I would call a baby person but was clearly thinking in kid-speak for our benefit.
Then there's Uncle Brandong who's packed me up a sweet ass care package that he's mailing to said NYC friend KC, that will contain my USA phone number and recharge card as well as his other Garmin! Fan mail waiting for me on KC's coffee table when we arrive - just like he did for me last time at SheofDC's place when we flew into DC. Crazy generous AND HOW!
Said Garmin of Uncle Brandong is going to help us once we land in KC and pick up the Bwuddaman's Jeep.... which brings me to bless-ed Mister Bwuddaman who as I already mentioned, got his gf to come and meet us at the KC (not the friend, the city) airport that night at 0-dark-thirty and drive us all the way across the greater KC metro area where we get free run of Bwuddaman's apartment as we require for that night and the next day since he's on a work trip.
There was also the issue of transportation running me down. As I had mentioned before, The Bwuddaman's GF (who again I don't know but who was kind enough to offer us use of her car for the whole 3 weeks and she would confiscate her dad's) had to politely withdraw her offer the other day because she had not been aware her sister was coming into town for the majority of th time we're there and had already called dibs on their dad's ride. So I was a bit bummed by that because the way we are back home, there is no way we can survive without a ride as we need to be here there and everywhere ALL THE TIME, and yet again we'd be looking at big time USD in order to rent a car for that long. And VOILA again with the storm of good fortune - the Bwuddaman steps in and says take my Jeep as long as you need it, I'll use a work car. Holy mother of sweet soft tops!! Now that's what you call a winning streak!
THEN one of my friends from back home that I haven't been able to make time to see on any of my trips back since what, 2002, sent me an email asking if it's ok for her to drive allllll the way up from the southern part of the state for an afternoon to see us and bring her 2 cute little girls along because they would all like to meet LJJ and see us. And she says she knows we're probably overbooked so any day we want she will make it happen. That means no driving down there for us (which we were considering doing because that town, SPFLD, is where about 5 of my friends live and it would be fun to see them all at once but DAMN how do I fit it in!?) which means -whew- a few extra hours of relaxation instead.
This followed by a FB message from another of my friends also in SPFLD who offered to also drive up and see us on another one of the free afternoons we have. That's 2 offers from 2 friends to drive an 8-hour round trip just to hang out with us for not even 1 whole day. I'm just shocked and humbled! Not to mention feeling light as a feather right about now because these are 2 people I really wanted to see and was truly suffering under the weight of how to possibly fit it in, and seeing virtually no possible way short of spending 12 hours on the road the day of my fambly reunion because the only day left open that we would be able to swing a road trip down south would be the day before that - meaning one long-ass haul up to the very northeast of the state, from the very southwest of the state, in one go.
Then I had a very auspicious skype conv. with my mother whom, I had been worrying about facing.... wait, make that DREADING... because I was certainly convinced she would have at least 900 expectations of our time and I was sure that this particular conversation would be where it all came out. But rather just the exact opposite occurred and she literally came right out and said the words "Look, I am not planning anything for you other than dinner with the F's on the 1st and the couple hours with the A's on the 4th. I just want you to know that." Wow. I just hope none of those lightning bolts of FANTASTICO didn't hit any of those flying pigs on the way down! Hell, she even encouraged me to leave the hospital where my Gramps is in KC early in the afternoon on the day after we arrive, (I was just SURE she was going to insist I spend the night there to look after the Gran) and come back to the hometown that day. What the...!?
So anyhoo, let it be said I am in top spirits about the upcoming holiday and no amount of work-work that I'm going to have to do (and The Mr. is going to have to do) is going to bring me down as clearly the powers that be are sending me all the signals that say it's all systems go for awesomeness. And the fact that I'm going to be busy hanging out with all of my friends every single day that I am back is NOT actually something to be afraid of stressing me out, it's something to look FORWARD to because let it be said that my amigos are FANTASTICO!!
Labels: mis amigos, trip planning
It's back again: Empty House Syndrome.... where you say goodbye to your friends who were staying with you and feel kinda sad and empty because there's a lot less bodies in the house and everything seems so quiet!
But in the Spirit of 2010: The Year of Positivity, can I just say pooh pooh to the lonliness and hoo-rah for the weekend being so great and even the Notorious Grump (AKA Uncle A.) was in good form and nary a cynnical remark was passed nor judgemental eyeball rolled! Of course GBF Jéan makes everything better, having him here was just fantastic and I dearly miss him having him around and despise Her Majesty's United Kingdom for sequestering him over there when he needs to be *here* hanging out with ME!!
It started out great, I kicked off the weekend with lunch out with The Mr., then a phonecall to Brandiggity friday afternoon on the drive home, which segued directly into meeting the boys in my driveway as we arrived precisely at the same time... GBFJ got a young baby thrown into his arms which immediately fell head over heels in love with him. We all planted ourselves firmly on the veranda with beers and a nice Ruby Port which he brought for us, and dined on my always famous Memphis style Pulled Pork sammidges and fries for dinner.... not much in the way of health consciousness but hey through good portion control and all that hard work over the week, I woke up the next day .8kg lighter than the day before, so rock n' roll hootchie coo for me.
Anyhoo, saturday it was sleeping til 10, hanging around for awhile drinking coffee, then we all 4 (and a half) went out for brunch at Delis and tooled around G-City a little, came home in the afternoon and went swimming, even though it was overcast and thus FREEZING (yeah, yeah, I say "freezing" when "freezing" means oh about 23C/73F... and enjoyed a bottle of bubbly in the pool before eventually heading out for Thai food at the crazy not-a-restaurant-restaurant in some guy's house in the ghetto. Which was delicious as always.... I do love that place. And love that it's only a 10 minute drive from our place (NOTHING is a 10 minute drive from our place!!) It is so bizarre though. They don't advertise, so it's only word of mouth to thank for anyone knowing it's there.... we think it's because they are harbouring these illegal Thai chefs in the back room. It is actually someone's house. They put a few tables up on the front porch. Comedy! Best food in town though. Then it was home for an attempt at Rummikub which failed due to 2/4ths of us being sick (not me!) and passing out from cold medicine, so all were in bed by midnight.
Then sunday we had my fantabulous orange cranberry coffee cake for breakfast, played some more Rummikub (for the fact that this was a pretty lame xmas present, it seems to have got a lot of action in my house - this weekend compounded with all the 3am Rummikub battles had between myself, Uncle A., and The Mr. over new years!) watched about 5 episodes of The Simpsons, and eventually pulled ourselves up and into town for tea/lunch at The President (hotel). Then back home and it was bye-bye to J & A. as they had to mosey on down southward.
The Mr. and I and the pups took a walk in the evening to give the baby backpack-thing a test run, which was quite successful even though said "baby" seems to have a problem disappearing into the vast cavern that is said "backpack"... she didn't seem to mind though, and simply peeked out the arm holes as we bounced her violently around the agricultural valley below our house for about an hour. I think we'll carry on with the front pack until she gets a little bigger. Although it gave me a great workout on my ass. Hmm, maybe it's worth trying to put a puppy in it instead, for next time...
And then back at home we had a light salad and a wee pity party for ourselves missing our buddies, and watched an episode of Rock of Love (my newest guilty pleasure.... OH I HATE IT.... OH I LOVE IT... OH IT'S HORRIBLE!) and NCIS (The Mr.'s newest obsession) and went to bed at a decent hour, hopefully to give him some hope of getting better after all this drinking-while-sick nonsense that has probably exacerbated his cold & sore throat over the weekend. He needs to get well post haste, we have 2 public meetings for work this week, back to back, including an overnight between the two, somewhere... not sure where... and our deadlines on the Monster Project are such that he's going to see serious panic coming up to the deadline at the end of the month and probably lots of midnight oil. Poor The Mr.
Inlaws coming next week! Ay yi yi!
But in the Spirit of 2010: The Year of Positivity, can I just say pooh pooh to the lonliness and hoo-rah for the weekend being so great and even the Notorious Grump (AKA Uncle A.) was in good form and nary a cynnical remark was passed nor judgemental eyeball rolled! Of course GBF Jéan makes everything better, having him here was just fantastic and I dearly miss him having him around and despise Her Majesty's United Kingdom for sequestering him over there when he needs to be *here* hanging out with ME!!
It started out great, I kicked off the weekend with lunch out with The Mr., then a phonecall to Brandiggity friday afternoon on the drive home, which segued directly into meeting the boys in my driveway as we arrived precisely at the same time... GBFJ got a young baby thrown into his arms which immediately fell head over heels in love with him. We all planted ourselves firmly on the veranda with beers and a nice Ruby Port which he brought for us, and dined on my always famous Memphis style Pulled Pork sammidges and fries for dinner.... not much in the way of health consciousness but hey through good portion control and all that hard work over the week, I woke up the next day .8kg lighter than the day before, so rock n' roll hootchie coo for me.
Anyhoo, saturday it was sleeping til 10, hanging around for awhile drinking coffee, then we all 4 (and a half) went out for brunch at Delis and tooled around G-City a little, came home in the afternoon and went swimming, even though it was overcast and thus FREEZING (yeah, yeah, I say "freezing" when "freezing" means oh about 23C/73F... and enjoyed a bottle of bubbly in the pool before eventually heading out for Thai food at the crazy not-a-restaurant-restaurant in some guy's house in the ghetto. Which was delicious as always.... I do love that place. And love that it's only a 10 minute drive from our place (NOTHING is a 10 minute drive from our place!!) It is so bizarre though. They don't advertise, so it's only word of mouth to thank for anyone knowing it's there.... we think it's because they are harbouring these illegal Thai chefs in the back room. It is actually someone's house. They put a few tables up on the front porch. Comedy! Best food in town though. Then it was home for an attempt at Rummikub which failed due to 2/4ths of us being sick (not me!) and passing out from cold medicine, so all were in bed by midnight.
Then sunday we had my fantabulous orange cranberry coffee cake for breakfast, played some more Rummikub (for the fact that this was a pretty lame xmas present, it seems to have got a lot of action in my house - this weekend compounded with all the 3am Rummikub battles had between myself, Uncle A., and The Mr. over new years!) watched about 5 episodes of The Simpsons, and eventually pulled ourselves up and into town for tea/lunch at The President (hotel). Then back home and it was bye-bye to J & A. as they had to mosey on down southward.
The Mr. and I and the pups took a walk in the evening to give the baby backpack-thing a test run, which was quite successful even though said "baby" seems to have a problem disappearing into the vast cavern that is said "backpack"... she didn't seem to mind though, and simply peeked out the arm holes as we bounced her violently around the agricultural valley below our house for about an hour. I think we'll carry on with the front pack until she gets a little bigger. Although it gave me a great workout on my ass. Hmm, maybe it's worth trying to put a puppy in it instead, for next time...
And then back at home we had a light salad and a wee pity party for ourselves missing our buddies, and watched an episode of Rock of Love (my newest guilty pleasure.... OH I HATE IT.... OH I LOVE IT... OH IT'S HORRIBLE!) and NCIS (The Mr.'s newest obsession) and went to bed at a decent hour, hopefully to give him some hope of getting better after all this drinking-while-sick nonsense that has probably exacerbated his cold & sore throat over the weekend. He needs to get well post haste, we have 2 public meetings for work this week, back to back, including an overnight between the two, somewhere... not sure where... and our deadlines on the Monster Project are such that he's going to see serious panic coming up to the deadline at the end of the month and probably lots of midnight oil. Poor The Mr.
Inlaws coming next week! Ay yi yi!
Labels: mis amigos
Too Much Damn Cake!!
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 12 October 2009 at 10/12/2009 01:19:00 pm.
Cake, cake, cake. That's all there is out there... nothin' but a big bunch of cake!
This weekend was great but i think i gained 2kg. And didn't exercise at all. Well except for gym on friday. But anyway...
Greek night on saturday night was fantastic - we sat with some other couples from the Hash, saw a bunch of people there we know, and ate a bunch of delicious food, cut a rug on the dance floor, broke some plates, and listened to Mr. Bouzouki play his li'l heart out. Oh and the belly dancing girls (to which there is no Greek relevance whatsoever, but they were there) were quite entertaining. The best bit was that there was free babysitting on the premises and the JooJoo Lady had the time of her life getting pawed by a bunch of clucky 5-year old "big girls" and 2 babysitter ladies who she charmed the pants off of and got held all night long. I saw a bunch of my clients there and that was weird because obviously they were getting loaded and that was just awkward but hey, now I have the mental image of them shaking their booties on the dance floor to take to all those meetings with me from now on. There was baklava. mmmmm....
Sunday we had to be up at 6 (BALLS!) to get to the Animal Peeps walk-a-thon and work there til 11 or so, which was fine, because given our disability (the Joo) we got the prized station that is the registration table, along with Soo who's 9 months preggers, so that was less work and more fun than flipping sausages or corralling kindergartners or project managing a bunch of bouncing dogs. And of course as is with all of our Animal Peeps events, there was coffee and cake. lotttts of cake.
Then it was straight over to our swedish friends' daughter's 1-year-old birthday party.... now that was bizarre. A bunch of adults our age who have kids older than the Joo, having brunch and cake and champagne in the back yard while the bunch of kids run around. It wasn't bad, it was nice, but damn, I found myself sitting there thinking: "holy shit. This is it. This is what *parents* do now. This is what *I* do now..." WOW. Talk about a freak out. Up until now we would've skipped these kind of things whenever we're invited. But now this it. This is the thing you do. Kiddie parties. Luckily all the adults were scandinavian types who were very cool, friendly, and very funny and totally sociable and had somehow managed amongst the lot of them, to raise extremely well-behaved kids. The whole time that we were there, none of the younglings pissed me off or spilled anything on me and to be honest even in the small space that was the townhouse, I didnt even really notice them at all - they were all out in the communal playground area doing their kiddie thing & not bothering me at all. The Joo sat nicely in her Bumbo next to the birthday girl (the youngest 2 there) until it was time for her nap, at which time she promptly went to sleep whereever I could find a soft place for her to lay down upstairs, and that was that. After it was time for her to wake up, she sat some more and flirted with everyone there until the cake was eaten and it was time to go.
Oh yes, there was a treasure hunt. An adult + kid treasure hunt. I was skeptical at first, but I put on my game face and we plowed our way through it. Swedes & Danes are funny that way. It was all very american in the way that it was a party and there were "organized happenings". Like there was also a sing-a-long there at one point too. Very interesting. I still question the relevance for a 1-year-old though. I mean H. (the birthday girl) is only 6 months older than the Joo. I can catagorically state that she didn't have a clue what the hell was going on, so it was obviously a THING for the adults, not her. Which I am not a fan of. But on the other hand, I'm remaining positive about this stuff - all in all I really like the crowd that was there, so I just take it for what it is: a party for the parents, celebrating the successful survival of 1 year with a kid. Hell, what am I talking about.... if they're serving champagne, you could invite me to a 3-hour college calculus exam and I'll be happy as Larry!
But dang, I think 4 different cakes is a little excessive for a birthday party.
We got home yesterday at like 4pm and were just so flat out wrecked from the weekend (and of course I didnt get any work or studying done) that we took a nap, and then it was like - bang - dinner, shower, read a little, bed. The end. Where the hell did the weekend go??
Tomorrow the Mr. is leaving me for Zambia for 3 days & 2 nights, for this next big project we stumbled into. Again I curse! what is it with this year?! We go years without having to be apart overnight, and then all of a sudden in one swift 3-month period, it happens twice. I curse my job! And I have to be in Maun for work all day Wednesday, so the Joo is going to have to stay with the maid, and then Thursday I have my new mindfulness course, and he doesn't get back til late at night, so she'll go to uncle Leto's house for a few hours. Luckily tomorrow night Soo has invited me over for dinner (sympathy work-widow dinner.... she has to go through it all the time) so me & the kid will go over after work and play & eat over there. That will be nice. The Joo loves going over to Soo & Mx's place because they've got the whole joint kitted out for this kid that they're about to drop.... TO THE NINES, MAN.... it's like a bleedin' FAO Schwartz over there... and has been for oh 7 months now or thereabouts.... makes our place look like a corporate waiting room. But that's good. I want The Joo to believe that she grew up in the ghetto so that she can appreciate the finer things in life as she grows to accummulate them on her own nickel. HA!
This weekend was great but i think i gained 2kg. And didn't exercise at all. Well except for gym on friday. But anyway...
Greek night on saturday night was fantastic - we sat with some other couples from the Hash, saw a bunch of people there we know, and ate a bunch of delicious food, cut a rug on the dance floor, broke some plates, and listened to Mr. Bouzouki play his li'l heart out. Oh and the belly dancing girls (to which there is no Greek relevance whatsoever, but they were there) were quite entertaining. The best bit was that there was free babysitting on the premises and the JooJoo Lady had the time of her life getting pawed by a bunch of clucky 5-year old "big girls" and 2 babysitter ladies who she charmed the pants off of and got held all night long. I saw a bunch of my clients there and that was weird because obviously they were getting loaded and that was just awkward but hey, now I have the mental image of them shaking their booties on the dance floor to take to all those meetings with me from now on. There was baklava. mmmmm....
Sunday we had to be up at 6 (BALLS!) to get to the Animal Peeps walk-a-thon and work there til 11 or so, which was fine, because given our disability (the Joo) we got the prized station that is the registration table, along with Soo who's 9 months preggers, so that was less work and more fun than flipping sausages or corralling kindergartners or project managing a bunch of bouncing dogs. And of course as is with all of our Animal Peeps events, there was coffee and cake. lotttts of cake.
Then it was straight over to our swedish friends' daughter's 1-year-old birthday party.... now that was bizarre. A bunch of adults our age who have kids older than the Joo, having brunch and cake and champagne in the back yard while the bunch of kids run around. It wasn't bad, it was nice, but damn, I found myself sitting there thinking: "holy shit. This is it. This is what *parents* do now. This is what *I* do now..." WOW. Talk about a freak out. Up until now we would've skipped these kind of things whenever we're invited. But now this it. This is the thing you do. Kiddie parties. Luckily all the adults were scandinavian types who were very cool, friendly, and very funny and totally sociable and had somehow managed amongst the lot of them, to raise extremely well-behaved kids. The whole time that we were there, none of the younglings pissed me off or spilled anything on me and to be honest even in the small space that was the townhouse, I didnt even really notice them at all - they were all out in the communal playground area doing their kiddie thing & not bothering me at all. The Joo sat nicely in her Bumbo next to the birthday girl (the youngest 2 there) until it was time for her nap, at which time she promptly went to sleep whereever I could find a soft place for her to lay down upstairs, and that was that. After it was time for her to wake up, she sat some more and flirted with everyone there until the cake was eaten and it was time to go.
Oh yes, there was a treasure hunt. An adult + kid treasure hunt. I was skeptical at first, but I put on my game face and we plowed our way through it. Swedes & Danes are funny that way. It was all very american in the way that it was a party and there were "organized happenings". Like there was also a sing-a-long there at one point too. Very interesting. I still question the relevance for a 1-year-old though. I mean H. (the birthday girl) is only 6 months older than the Joo. I can catagorically state that she didn't have a clue what the hell was going on, so it was obviously a THING for the adults, not her. Which I am not a fan of. But on the other hand, I'm remaining positive about this stuff - all in all I really like the crowd that was there, so I just take it for what it is: a party for the parents, celebrating the successful survival of 1 year with a kid. Hell, what am I talking about.... if they're serving champagne, you could invite me to a 3-hour college calculus exam and I'll be happy as Larry!
But dang, I think 4 different cakes is a little excessive for a birthday party.
We got home yesterday at like 4pm and were just so flat out wrecked from the weekend (and of course I didnt get any work or studying done) that we took a nap, and then it was like - bang - dinner, shower, read a little, bed. The end. Where the hell did the weekend go??
Tomorrow the Mr. is leaving me for Zambia for 3 days & 2 nights, for this next big project we stumbled into. Again I curse! what is it with this year?! We go years without having to be apart overnight, and then all of a sudden in one swift 3-month period, it happens twice. I curse my job! And I have to be in Maun for work all day Wednesday, so the Joo is going to have to stay with the maid, and then Thursday I have my new mindfulness course, and he doesn't get back til late at night, so she'll go to uncle Leto's house for a few hours. Luckily tomorrow night Soo has invited me over for dinner (sympathy work-widow dinner.... she has to go through it all the time) so me & the kid will go over after work and play & eat over there. That will be nice. The Joo loves going over to Soo & Mx's place because they've got the whole joint kitted out for this kid that they're about to drop.... TO THE NINES, MAN.... it's like a bleedin' FAO Schwartz over there... and has been for oh 7 months now or thereabouts.... makes our place look like a corporate waiting room. But that's good. I want The Joo to believe that she grew up in the ghetto so that she can appreciate the finer things in life as she grows to accummulate them on her own nickel. HA!
Labels: animal peeps, mis amigos, The Mr., work
Organizing my Music, organizing my life
2 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 17 September 2009 at 9/17/2009 11:44:00 am.
...is a frickin nightmare! I've got so much damn music! All these mp3s that need organizing! Hell I have a 16G iPhone and it still won't fit everything - so I have bits and pieces on the iPhone, I have bits in my iTunes, I have a bunch on the computer, some on CD, everywhere... it's everywhere! And I am so NOT a clutter-hound, I like my stuff organized. So this is just weighing on my conscience that I have stuff all scattered about, some of which I haven't even listened to.
Just another thing to add to the bloody list. grrrrrrr.
I miss my friends again. Am just thinking all the time about Adelly's impending singlehood and how many cool things she's going to be going out and about and doing... all the live music, all the dinners and arts & cinema events, etc etc. I tell you what it's darn near enough for me to want to move to Houston. And then there's everyone in DC... again, enough with the Restaurant Weeks and Cinemas on the Greens and rooftop parties already! you're killin me, kids, you're killin me! Can't everyone just stop having fun until I get some?!?! Sometimes I still think of living in DC one day, but am still completely clueless as to what I could actually DO as a JOB there... and the amount of money I would have to make in order to have the lifestyle we have become accustomed to is just mind boggling. not sure how that one would pan out.
Yesterday I came home from my very long, very hot, very sandy, very exhausting weekly trip up to the Dust Bowl of BW, stripped down, jumped in the pool, and thought about how nice it would be, if this time next year Adelly and Brandon would be here and we would be sipping pina coladas (ok that might be an overshot, let's say boxed wine, or hell, a nice Bombay martini - I can make those) on my big flat rock out in front of our house, watching the sunset and planning to do the same thing again tomorrow. Ahhhhh, other people's vacations... how enjoyable they are for me!
I was talking to T & A on the phone the other day and again reminded of how BAD i want to go to their wedding in Aus... again, another rendezvous with great friends and some TIME OFF for me and the Mr., which would soooooooooo do me good... but alas we're still passportless over here on the Joo front. GAG! Not to mention the surprise party for M. that I really want to go to in Joburg in October - hell I just need to get to SA soon, that would be enough for me. Some civilization, some good food, some friends... ahhh
It is ALMOST the Mr.'s birthday!
OK bad segue, but.... I am back in the throes of studying. I have committed to myself that this semester I will not let everything pile up into one big cluster f%$@ that kills me at the end of November. So I am off and running again with the wake-up-1-hr-early strategy. AND I need to come up with a thesis topic. Haven't got a clue on that one yet.
On the Animal Peeps front, I just can NOT get motivated to write articles and to update the website. It's also weighing on my conscience. I hate having that kind of guilt. The kind of guilt where you know you should be doin something and you know that something is actually not rocket science nor is it terribly time consuming or painful, but you still just can't bring yourself to kick it off. That's like the "you're pathetic" type of guilt. Not the "you've royally f'ed up" type or the "can't sleep at night" type, but more like this nagging, "you're lazy and lame and just get it over already" type. What is my problem!? I am so dilligent about everything else... this is my last year on the committee, so I only have to get through 5 more months or so... come ONnnnnnn!
One thing is for certain, I have definitely learned to stop taking too much on. Damn, I mean one needs some time to stop and smell the roses for pete's sake! I gotta have time to strum the banjo and sit on that big flat rock and drink sundowners. My yoga teacher is pressuring me to do Teacher Training (which by the by would include me taking a MONTH of my time down in the Cape... as if!) because SHE's pissing off and there's no one else in town who can fill her shoes... I nearly caught myself agreeing to consider it, the other night after class.... why? Because I CANT SAY NO! Which, ironically, is exactly what I give my dear husband a lecture about nearly every other day. Hello pot, it's me, kettle. But then as I drove home the first sentence of this paragraph came to my mind (probably as I was just getting ready to give the Mr. a lecture about it!) and I think I can get up the balls to firmly, yet politely, decline... the next time the subject comes up. The difference is that The Mr's weakness is all work-related, and mine is all personal-life related. The geriatric string quartet is probably going to call me up next month when Violinist gets back, and guess what I'm gonna say "YES!" Of course I am! Because I CANT SAY NO! ughhhhh. Can someone just sign me up for a class in how to say "no"?..... I'm sure I could squeeze it in somewhere.... oh wait....
Frickin Kanye. What a jackass. And Serena. Both of them. Idiots.
OH but you know what I'm looking forward to... a few weeks from now.... which involves neither international travel nor saying YES to inflating my already annoyingly full schedule.... the annual Greek Night right here in G-city! We have missed it 2 years in a row now because we were gone. FINALLY, it's at a good time, AND 2 of our new friends from the Hash are actual Greeks so we will go with them & sit at a big fun table with other Hashers. Plus there's free babysitting at the venue. Awesome. Tzaziki, Bouzouki, and plate-breaking. Now that's my kinda event. OK sure you shouldn't have to pay 400 bucks to break plates and eat garlic, but hey I love Greece and need to be with my people!
In the meantime we bought a yuppyland 1-BR condo on the Plaza in KCMO and I have to say I envy my future renters because this place is fantastic. I also have to thank SheofDC for letting us borrow her bank account (since my pathetic hometown bank will not do int'l transfers!!) to run the money through. But other than that little glitch, it all went down smooth as silk and I highly recommend buying property in cash because boy howdy if that doesn't help you drive a good bargain in these times of financial turmoil and property owners needing the cold hard green stuff. Compared to our place in Ireland (mortgage, etc), this thing went off like butter. One of my brother's friends may rent it straight away and if so, then hey, it was no sweat off my back from start to finish. Touch wood.
That's all for now.
Just another thing to add to the bloody list. grrrrrrr.
I miss my friends again. Am just thinking all the time about Adelly's impending singlehood and how many cool things she's going to be going out and about and doing... all the live music, all the dinners and arts & cinema events, etc etc. I tell you what it's darn near enough for me to want to move to Houston. And then there's everyone in DC... again, enough with the Restaurant Weeks and Cinemas on the Greens and rooftop parties already! you're killin me, kids, you're killin me! Can't everyone just stop having fun until I get some?!?! Sometimes I still think of living in DC one day, but am still completely clueless as to what I could actually DO as a JOB there... and the amount of money I would have to make in order to have the lifestyle we have become accustomed to is just mind boggling. not sure how that one would pan out.
Yesterday I came home from my very long, very hot, very sandy, very exhausting weekly trip up to the Dust Bowl of BW, stripped down, jumped in the pool, and thought about how nice it would be, if this time next year Adelly and Brandon would be here and we would be sipping pina coladas (ok that might be an overshot, let's say boxed wine, or hell, a nice Bombay martini - I can make those) on my big flat rock out in front of our house, watching the sunset and planning to do the same thing again tomorrow. Ahhhhh, other people's vacations... how enjoyable they are for me!
I was talking to T & A on the phone the other day and again reminded of how BAD i want to go to their wedding in Aus... again, another rendezvous with great friends and some TIME OFF for me and the Mr., which would soooooooooo do me good... but alas we're still passportless over here on the Joo front. GAG! Not to mention the surprise party for M. that I really want to go to in Joburg in October - hell I just need to get to SA soon, that would be enough for me. Some civilization, some good food, some friends... ahhh
It is ALMOST the Mr.'s birthday!
OK bad segue, but.... I am back in the throes of studying. I have committed to myself that this semester I will not let everything pile up into one big cluster f%$@ that kills me at the end of November. So I am off and running again with the wake-up-1-hr-early strategy. AND I need to come up with a thesis topic. Haven't got a clue on that one yet.
On the Animal Peeps front, I just can NOT get motivated to write articles and to update the website. It's also weighing on my conscience. I hate having that kind of guilt. The kind of guilt where you know you should be doin something and you know that something is actually not rocket science nor is it terribly time consuming or painful, but you still just can't bring yourself to kick it off. That's like the "you're pathetic" type of guilt. Not the "you've royally f'ed up" type or the "can't sleep at night" type, but more like this nagging, "you're lazy and lame and just get it over already" type. What is my problem!? I am so dilligent about everything else... this is my last year on the committee, so I only have to get through 5 more months or so... come ONnnnnnn!
One thing is for certain, I have definitely learned to stop taking too much on. Damn, I mean one needs some time to stop and smell the roses for pete's sake! I gotta have time to strum the banjo and sit on that big flat rock and drink sundowners. My yoga teacher is pressuring me to do Teacher Training (which by the by would include me taking a MONTH of my time down in the Cape... as if!) because SHE's pissing off and there's no one else in town who can fill her shoes... I nearly caught myself agreeing to consider it, the other night after class.... why? Because I CANT SAY NO! Which, ironically, is exactly what I give my dear husband a lecture about nearly every other day. Hello pot, it's me, kettle. But then as I drove home the first sentence of this paragraph came to my mind (probably as I was just getting ready to give the Mr. a lecture about it!) and I think I can get up the balls to firmly, yet politely, decline... the next time the subject comes up. The difference is that The Mr's weakness is all work-related, and mine is all personal-life related. The geriatric string quartet is probably going to call me up next month when Violinist gets back, and guess what I'm gonna say "YES!" Of course I am! Because I CANT SAY NO! ughhhhh. Can someone just sign me up for a class in how to say "no"?..... I'm sure I could squeeze it in somewhere.... oh wait....
Frickin Kanye. What a jackass. And Serena. Both of them. Idiots.
OH but you know what I'm looking forward to... a few weeks from now.... which involves neither international travel nor saying YES to inflating my already annoyingly full schedule.... the annual Greek Night right here in G-city! We have missed it 2 years in a row now because we were gone. FINALLY, it's at a good time, AND 2 of our new friends from the Hash are actual Greeks so we will go with them & sit at a big fun table with other Hashers. Plus there's free babysitting at the venue. Awesome. Tzaziki, Bouzouki, and plate-breaking. Now that's my kinda event. OK sure you shouldn't have to pay 400 bucks to break plates and eat garlic, but hey I love Greece and need to be with my people!
In the meantime we bought a yuppyland 1-BR condo on the Plaza in KCMO and I have to say I envy my future renters because this place is fantastic. I also have to thank SheofDC for letting us borrow her bank account (since my pathetic hometown bank will not do int'l transfers!!) to run the money through. But other than that little glitch, it all went down smooth as silk and I highly recommend buying property in cash because boy howdy if that doesn't help you drive a good bargain in these times of financial turmoil and property owners needing the cold hard green stuff. Compared to our place in Ireland (mortgage, etc), this thing went off like butter. One of my brother's friends may rent it straight away and if so, then hey, it was no sweat off my back from start to finish. Touch wood.
That's all for now.
Labels: animal peeps, mis amigos, music
It's the first "normal" weekend since we've been home, so now I'm experiencing the weekend through a whole new pair of eyes - the kind that has to wake up and make bottles at 7:30 am on a saturday now! Well ok we were doing it in Windhoek too but you come home and something in your subconscious tells you it's all going to be "back to normal", even though you know otherwise.
ANYWAY, now that I'm UP at this ridiculous weekend hour, I realize how much time I have to do stuff.
One thing I just finally got around to was deleting Jeremy's number out of my phone. That was the most horrible, surreal, awful feeling I've had in a long time. While we were away, we got the news that he died from complications with pneumonia and H1N1. It was so tragic. Just before we had left town, we were at a wine tasting and talking to a girl who also knew him who told us that she heard he'd just been admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. That night on the way home then, I called him and left a crazy voicemail message on his phone telling him to get better and joking around about "how dare you get pneumonia and not tell me?!" etc etc. I had been working on some songs that we were going to get together and play soon... (Jeremy is the guitar playing friend of ours who I have played banjo with + his Irish music-playin' buddies). Anyway we got the email while we were away that he died. We missed the memorial service and it's really sad because he was actually supposed to do some ecology work for us on one of our jobs, and now we have to get another ecologist and everything... meaning it won't be me and him and The Mr. going up into the bush to do that site visit we had all been talking about for months... bringing the guitar and banjo and a giant bottle of brandy.... -sigh-
So what do you do when someone dies who you have in your email addresses, cell phone phonebook, etc.? I mean it does no good to just leave them there - nobody is going to answer the phone if you call that number.... so finally this weekend I got around to deleting it and it was just very, very bizarre.
On another macabre note, just before we left Namibia I tracked down the riverbed where The Joo was found... we went and took some photos and figured it was the least we could do, what with her ever having any interest in her past... it's not like we can tell her who her biological parents are or anything, but hey she can at least see where she was born. It was surprisingly NOT in a poor township or anything. It was actually in a somewhat middle-class suburb with a mix of good & bad houses and a large mix of people from working-class whities to black yuppies and a bit of industrial estates. We'll never know exactly what stretch of the river bed the policeman found her in, but we took a bunch of photos of all the different parts of it. I got the biggest "vibe" from this place right here:
(this is the name of the neighbourhood on the "welcome to" sign)Keeping with the macabre... is it wrong to be slightly happy when one of your best friends finds herself single again, because it means she might actually be able to come and visit you?!!??!?! I'm sure the answer is "yes it's wrong" but dammit I just can't help it. I see that God has closed a door and by golly the window that it has opened up is the fact that the Ex is no longer around to put the kibosh on her international galavanting!!! I see all sorts of potential here. Namely the part where I get personal gain from it!!! Oh I can just feel the flames of hell licking my ass for even having this thought but hey. Smoke em if you got em, kids.
OK how did this happen... I made a giant pot of delicious posh coffee and here I sit, typing, and have forgotten all about it. Just goes to show you what happens when you take a sleeper-inner and make 'em wake up at some bloody ridiculous hour of a saturday morning.
Labels: mis amigos, Namibia
Bodily bodily bodily!
2 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 19 June 2009 at 6/19/2009 09:29:00 am.
It is friday and by gid it feels like friday.
My gym burned down so I won't be going to gym after work, which means I can get home super-early and finish my preparations for the dinner party with the Cs tonight. I am going with a WHEAT FREE GREEK/MEDITERRANEAN menu (crikey!), as follows:
A trio of appetizers including:
- Baba ghanouj, Tzaziki, and a variety of olives (with pita bread for dipping for those of us wheat-eaters, and gluten-free crackers + wheat-free rye bread for Ms. Celiac, for dipping)
Main course of:
Kleftiko (aka "stolen lamb") slow cooked with potatoes and carrots in individual foil parcels - heavy on garlic, heavy on rosemary, heavy on HELL YEAH
Supported by a greek salad.
And for dessert:
- Flourless cheesecake on a wheat-free crunchy cookie base, drizzled with a very greeky lemon/honey sauce.
I put the kleftiko together over the course of last night and this morning, which means all I have to do when I get home tonight is whip up the Baba ghanouj and Tzaziki, and get some help from my very beautiful sous chef (the Mr., obviously) on the cheesecake. I'm thinking of cutting it into little squares to serve on the wheat-free crunchie cookie squares (which have already been purchased) because my cake mold is round, but the cookie squares are (obviously) not-round.
Last night was Wally's (fellow Animal Peeps committee member) birthday party which was pretty cool - a very weird mixture of Germans and Batswana. The most bizarre combination ever. But fun. I got to know the city's No. 1 local crazy-cat-lady picture framer very well. She's a trip. We may be on the verge of starting a book club. Wally had some caterer who specializes in only bruchetta, make the finger food trays. Who knew you could do so much with slices of french bread? There was a curry chicken one, some with blue cheese, some with brie, even a prosciutto & melon bruchetta. Great idea. I'm going to remember that one... seriously, you can make an entire 4-course meal out of just bruchettas, with all the food groups and everything. The caterer even had wheat-free ones (because the Cs were there too) all prepped as well!
Then saturday Soo & Mx are having us over for dinner at their place, so it will be a weekend of good eatins. Soo is like what, 7 months preggo now? So who knows how much longer she's going to be on the social radar, hopefully we can pull these things off at least a few more times before she drops a baldy on our lovely blossoming friendship!!
Sunday is the "neighbourhood bbq"... I put that in "quotes" due to the fact I am fairly certain that this thing will start at 1pm and end promptly at 2. If I were a gambling woman I would also probably head down to my local bookie and ask him to lay a few Pula on Me & the Mr. being the youngest couple at this shindig, but no bother. I'm extremely interested in sticking my nose into this business of "who lives in what house" because as yet we only know like 3 of our neighbours. There could very possibly be a cool cat lady or burned out hippie vegan or other such eccentric person of interest hiding out in any number of these funky little cottages in the trees on the mountain. We'll see. The fact that our landlords (the hosts) don't drink should also prove to make for an interesting spread and effect on the level of social-lubrication that gets reached.
In other news I realize I really need to get out of the EIA business. I think everything happens for a reason and the fact that I'm more than 1/2 way through this new Masters' degree now is probably just right on time for allowing me my way out. If I can start now just turning down the spigot on the EIA work, it should give me just enough time to gently transition me into the EHS side of things by the time I graduate at the end of next year. I have just SO HAD IT with the government crap and the idiot ass-hats in unwarranted positions of power who are just eternally out to get my goat and kill my buzz... these 23 year old kids who feel like they need to flex their muscles and have NO idea what they're talking about, but yet have the power to screw up every single project we work on and (more than anything) PISS ME OFF. I just need out. I can't deal with this aggro. The worst part is, it isn't just a BW problem - I hear from my old pops that he has to endure the exact same BS back in the states too. I guess assholes are just the same all over the globe.
So anyway, I'm going to miss the Hash this sunday b/c of the neighbourhood bbq, which sucks - 2 wks in a row now. And there's no gym to go to! So today at lunch we shall climb K-hill, and then I don't know but we'll have to be creative over the weekend, concerning the road to fitness. The Hashers are having our "Christmas in June" next weekend, and they asked none other than yours truly to be a slutty Mrs. Claus. This could truly be interesting. Long Tall Swedish Boy is going to be Santa. I think they probably thought the photos would make nice on a scale of irony (honestly, that guy is like 6'10"). I need to check into securing some fishnets, I reckon.
Ah weekend. I feel like celebrating. What, I don't know, but I may have to do something drastic like make some long distance phone calls or something - which reminds me - fathers day. agh! I best get on that too.
My gym burned down so I won't be going to gym after work, which means I can get home super-early and finish my preparations for the dinner party with the Cs tonight. I am going with a WHEAT FREE GREEK/MEDITERRANEAN menu (crikey!), as follows:
A trio of appetizers including:
- Baba ghanouj, Tzaziki, and a variety of olives (with pita bread for dipping for those of us wheat-eaters, and gluten-free crackers + wheat-free rye bread for Ms. Celiac, for dipping)
Main course of:
Kleftiko (aka "stolen lamb") slow cooked with potatoes and carrots in individual foil parcels - heavy on garlic, heavy on rosemary, heavy on HELL YEAH
Supported by a greek salad.
And for dessert:
- Flourless cheesecake on a wheat-free crunchy cookie base, drizzled with a very greeky lemon/honey sauce.
I put the kleftiko together over the course of last night and this morning, which means all I have to do when I get home tonight is whip up the Baba ghanouj and Tzaziki, and get some help from my very beautiful sous chef (the Mr., obviously) on the cheesecake. I'm thinking of cutting it into little squares to serve on the wheat-free crunchie cookie squares (which have already been purchased) because my cake mold is round, but the cookie squares are (obviously) not-round.
Last night was Wally's (fellow Animal Peeps committee member) birthday party which was pretty cool - a very weird mixture of Germans and Batswana. The most bizarre combination ever. But fun. I got to know the city's No. 1 local crazy-cat-lady picture framer very well. She's a trip. We may be on the verge of starting a book club. Wally had some caterer who specializes in only bruchetta, make the finger food trays. Who knew you could do so much with slices of french bread? There was a curry chicken one, some with blue cheese, some with brie, even a prosciutto & melon bruchetta. Great idea. I'm going to remember that one... seriously, you can make an entire 4-course meal out of just bruchettas, with all the food groups and everything. The caterer even had wheat-free ones (because the Cs were there too) all prepped as well!
Then saturday Soo & Mx are having us over for dinner at their place, so it will be a weekend of good eatins. Soo is like what, 7 months preggo now? So who knows how much longer she's going to be on the social radar, hopefully we can pull these things off at least a few more times before she drops a baldy on our lovely blossoming friendship!!
Sunday is the "neighbourhood bbq"... I put that in "quotes" due to the fact I am fairly certain that this thing will start at 1pm and end promptly at 2. If I were a gambling woman I would also probably head down to my local bookie and ask him to lay a few Pula on Me & the Mr. being the youngest couple at this shindig, but no bother. I'm extremely interested in sticking my nose into this business of "who lives in what house" because as yet we only know like 3 of our neighbours. There could very possibly be a cool cat lady or burned out hippie vegan or other such eccentric person of interest hiding out in any number of these funky little cottages in the trees on the mountain. We'll see. The fact that our landlords (the hosts) don't drink should also prove to make for an interesting spread and effect on the level of social-lubrication that gets reached.
In other news I realize I really need to get out of the EIA business. I think everything happens for a reason and the fact that I'm more than 1/2 way through this new Masters' degree now is probably just right on time for allowing me my way out. If I can start now just turning down the spigot on the EIA work, it should give me just enough time to gently transition me into the EHS side of things by the time I graduate at the end of next year. I have just SO HAD IT with the government crap and the idiot ass-hats in unwarranted positions of power who are just eternally out to get my goat and kill my buzz... these 23 year old kids who feel like they need to flex their muscles and have NO idea what they're talking about, but yet have the power to screw up every single project we work on and (more than anything) PISS ME OFF. I just need out. I can't deal with this aggro. The worst part is, it isn't just a BW problem - I hear from my old pops that he has to endure the exact same BS back in the states too. I guess assholes are just the same all over the globe.
So anyway, I'm going to miss the Hash this sunday b/c of the neighbourhood bbq, which sucks - 2 wks in a row now. And there's no gym to go to! So today at lunch we shall climb K-hill, and then I don't know but we'll have to be creative over the weekend, concerning the road to fitness. The Hashers are having our "Christmas in June" next weekend, and they asked none other than yours truly to be a slutty Mrs. Claus. This could truly be interesting. Long Tall Swedish Boy is going to be Santa. I think they probably thought the photos would make nice on a scale of irony (honestly, that guy is like 6'10"). I need to check into securing some fishnets, I reckon.
Ah weekend. I feel like celebrating. What, I don't know, but I may have to do something drastic like make some long distance phone calls or something - which reminds me - fathers day. agh! I best get on that too.
Labels: food, HHH, mis amigos, work
I just love autumn so much and it there is NO good reason for it, but it always makes me just look around and take stock. I'm sure a lot of people do that in spring, what with "the season of rebirth" and all, but for me it's gotta be the beautiful weather and jaw-dropping beauty of my favourite part of the year that makes me get all thoughtful and whatnot.
Everything just seems to be in its place now, everything feeling like where it should be: I've just finished climbing a giant Kilimanjaro at work that has been weighing on my conscience and shoulders since well before Xmas... the Mr. and I are moving on to making new friends after the old ones have left... the Animal Peeps have a new committee with fresh energy and less aggro on board... one of my BFFs has a new relationship that makes him happy and brings out the best in him and is introducing him to the concept of POSITIVE... one of my other BFFs who had a hard winter is back on track with her man and not only seeing the Lovin' In her Baby's Eyes but also feeling the love of all the people who worship her, from that Greatest Ego-Booster of All Time that is The-FB-Wall-on-Your-Birthday (and I know from experience how big a case of the happies that induces! Love seeing my friends get it too)... another one of my peeps-of-the-heart has a smoke-free hubby in the works, one of her life dreams being realized... my new dog plays fetch like a champion (and we only just figured this out)... my new house is awesome and feels like HOME... Podgey got a J-O-B in his new land of residence and WILL BE OK even though it's only 3 months to start with, it's a real J-O-B... I am pretty much OWNING fitness at the moment, my new crock-pot is the answer to all my prayers in terms of new kitchen inspiration after a long dry spell, and hey, if I can't be in Memphis, at least I can make slow-cooked Memphis-style shredded pork shoulder BBQ sandwiches with cole slaw. With a side order of Taj Mahal - I dusted off the old man after (how many years?) of ignoring him, and lo and behold he still rocks my world and puts a smile on my face when I wasn't intending on one being there. Have been listening to his "Maestro" album this week and I don't know what kinda power the Taj has over me, but who needs Prozac, really, when you've got Mr. Mahal.... not many artists can make you happy by singing the blues... I think it's because most of TM's blues singin' on that album is actually about love and lovely things. No one dies, no one gets dumped, and hell, Los Lobos and Ziggy Marley make appearances. And of course The Mr. is at his all time peak of lovableness. I just want to eat him up right now because he's just the best. I don't even know how to describe it other than being married to him gave me the first opportunity to ever use the word "blessed" in a sentence, with an actual understanding of what the definition of that over-used and under-appreciated word is.
Ah, friends, food, dogs, exercise, autumn, love, the blues... REALLY DOES IT GET ANY BETTER?
of course it does! and I know that! and it will! But for now, I just had Tom Petty's "It'll All Work Out" in my head, and even though he writes it as a forlorn tune about unrequited love (always my favourite rock n' roll song topic), but the main text is the point: "That's the way it goes, It'll all work out".
"Now the wind is high, and the rain is heavy
And the water's risin' in the levee
Still I think of her, when the sun goes down
It never goes away, but it all works out..."
I'm out. Happy friday!
Everything just seems to be in its place now, everything feeling like where it should be: I've just finished climbing a giant Kilimanjaro at work that has been weighing on my conscience and shoulders since well before Xmas... the Mr. and I are moving on to making new friends after the old ones have left... the Animal Peeps have a new committee with fresh energy and less aggro on board... one of my BFFs has a new relationship that makes him happy and brings out the best in him and is introducing him to the concept of POSITIVE... one of my other BFFs who had a hard winter is back on track with her man and not only seeing the Lovin' In her Baby's Eyes but also feeling the love of all the people who worship her, from that Greatest Ego-Booster of All Time that is The-FB-Wall-on-Your-Birthday (and I know from experience how big a case of the happies that induces! Love seeing my friends get it too)... another one of my peeps-of-the-heart has a smoke-free hubby in the works, one of her life dreams being realized... my new dog plays fetch like a champion (and we only just figured this out)... my new house is awesome and feels like HOME... Podgey got a J-O-B in his new land of residence and WILL BE OK even though it's only 3 months to start with, it's a real J-O-B... I am pretty much OWNING fitness at the moment, my new crock-pot is the answer to all my prayers in terms of new kitchen inspiration after a long dry spell, and hey, if I can't be in Memphis, at least I can make slow-cooked Memphis-style shredded pork shoulder BBQ sandwiches with cole slaw. With a side order of Taj Mahal - I dusted off the old man after (how many years?) of ignoring him, and lo and behold he still rocks my world and puts a smile on my face when I wasn't intending on one being there. Have been listening to his "Maestro" album this week and I don't know what kinda power the Taj has over me, but who needs Prozac, really, when you've got Mr. Mahal.... not many artists can make you happy by singing the blues... I think it's because most of TM's blues singin' on that album is actually about love and lovely things. No one dies, no one gets dumped, and hell, Los Lobos and Ziggy Marley make appearances. And of course The Mr. is at his all time peak of lovableness. I just want to eat him up right now because he's just the best. I don't even know how to describe it other than being married to him gave me the first opportunity to ever use the word "blessed" in a sentence, with an actual understanding of what the definition of that over-used and under-appreciated word is.
Ah, friends, food, dogs, exercise, autumn, love, the blues... REALLY DOES IT GET ANY BETTER?
of course it does! and I know that! and it will! But for now, I just had Tom Petty's "It'll All Work Out" in my head, and even though he writes it as a forlorn tune about unrequited love (always my favourite rock n' roll song topic), but the main text is the point: "That's the way it goes, It'll all work out".
"Now the wind is high, and the rain is heavy
And the water's risin' in the levee
Still I think of her, when the sun goes down
It never goes away, but it all works out..."
I'm out. Happy friday!
Labels: mis amigos, QSI
Today will be a good day.
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 29 April 2009 at 4/29/2009 08:20:00 am.
I have been rather uninspired to blog lately, and yet I'm busy enough that there's lots of things going on that probably deserve to be written about for my own journaling sake, I just need more motivation (or time)!
First of all the annual Queen's Day party spread put on by the dutchie embassy was last night and it was pretty fun, except for the fact it was a reminder that all our friends have flown the coop. Normally all 3 of our MIA BFFs would've been there - Ubs b/c her FIL is dutch, and P & G because they are the dutch. I'm feeling really annoyed and sad these days about the fact that our social life has basically just about vaporized since the new year, because of this. Like we were thinking, when Soo & Mx had to back out of our Easter trip, we would have probably only had 2 other friends that we actually like well enough to invite them to go instead, here. And of course they couldn't get the time off work, but still it makes me think... why am I spending my young adulthood in a place where I have no buddies?!?!? G-city is really like a small country town when it comes right down to it, and it's hard to think optimistically about finding like-minded people our age to hang with, particularly when it's such a transient society and everyone's coming and going with the wind, on their UNDP contracts or their Peace Corps training sessions or their World Bank grants, etc.
Anyway I was just lecturing Brandon on the importance of being positive the other night, so I'm whipping myself into "chin up, kid" mode and have resolved to just press on with optimism. Taking a page out of my own book, as it were. Replacing the negatives with positives, etc. This coming Saturday I invited Soo & Mx over for dinner, they haven't seen the new place yet and we need to bond because I gotta look after my slowly dwindling peeps. Pro-active, that's me.
Tonight we have the Annual General Meeting of the Animal Peeps Society, which could turn into a kerfuffle with a dash of uproar and a sprinkling of aggro, but I'll be interested to see exactly what happens. Elections will be held, grievances will be aired, disgruntleds will be grunted. Watch this space. All I know for certain is that The Mr. is not going to stand for Treasurer again, but we're probably both going to be on the committee another year. Then THAT'S IT. Fer real. One more year.
I'm enjoying Twitter. I joined up because of Brandon and came on totally green - didn't even know what the hell he was talking about. But it's grown on me. Not because I'm obsessed with telling the world all my ego-ridden deep and meaningful thoughts every 10 minutes (tweeting), but because I like seeing all the tweet roll of all the people I'm following throughout the day. All my favourite sports teams' notifications, the 2nd love-of-my-life Jeffery Donovan (aka Michael Westen from Burn Notice), and of course my mates. It makes me feel like I'm in a society of friends again. Ahhhhh human contact - and I don't have to scroll down 20 pages of FB news feed to see what my few twitter friends are doing, nor surf the web to find out if the Cardinals actually beat the Cubs...
This weekend we put in some hours manning the Animal Peeps booth at the mall and adopted out a few pups, cooked some nice dinners, went on a big hike up the mountain we live on, and logged some good hours at the gym. It was all rather relaxing and nice to finally have a 2nd weekend at home. Working a lot with the new big pup J., and he's getting to be a really good boy. We nearly have the difference between "sit" and "lay down" nailed. Onward!
First of all the annual Queen's Day party spread put on by the dutchie embassy was last night and it was pretty fun, except for the fact it was a reminder that all our friends have flown the coop. Normally all 3 of our MIA BFFs would've been there - Ubs b/c her FIL is dutch, and P & G because they are the dutch. I'm feeling really annoyed and sad these days about the fact that our social life has basically just about vaporized since the new year, because of this. Like we were thinking, when Soo & Mx had to back out of our Easter trip, we would have probably only had 2 other friends that we actually like well enough to invite them to go instead, here. And of course they couldn't get the time off work, but still it makes me think... why am I spending my young adulthood in a place where I have no buddies?!?!? G-city is really like a small country town when it comes right down to it, and it's hard to think optimistically about finding like-minded people our age to hang with, particularly when it's such a transient society and everyone's coming and going with the wind, on their UNDP contracts or their Peace Corps training sessions or their World Bank grants, etc.
Anyway I was just lecturing Brandon on the importance of being positive the other night, so I'm whipping myself into "chin up, kid" mode and have resolved to just press on with optimism. Taking a page out of my own book, as it were. Replacing the negatives with positives, etc. This coming Saturday I invited Soo & Mx over for dinner, they haven't seen the new place yet and we need to bond because I gotta look after my slowly dwindling peeps. Pro-active, that's me.
Tonight we have the Annual General Meeting of the Animal Peeps Society, which could turn into a kerfuffle with a dash of uproar and a sprinkling of aggro, but I'll be interested to see exactly what happens. Elections will be held, grievances will be aired, disgruntleds will be grunted. Watch this space. All I know for certain is that The Mr. is not going to stand for Treasurer again, but we're probably both going to be on the committee another year. Then THAT'S IT. Fer real. One more year.
I'm enjoying Twitter. I joined up because of Brandon and came on totally green - didn't even know what the hell he was talking about. But it's grown on me. Not because I'm obsessed with telling the world all my ego-ridden deep and meaningful thoughts every 10 minutes (tweeting), but because I like seeing all the tweet roll of all the people I'm following throughout the day. All my favourite sports teams' notifications, the 2nd love-of-my-life Jeffery Donovan (aka Michael Westen from Burn Notice), and of course my mates. It makes me feel like I'm in a society of friends again. Ahhhhh human contact - and I don't have to scroll down 20 pages of FB news feed to see what my few twitter friends are doing, nor surf the web to find out if the Cardinals actually beat the Cubs...
This weekend we put in some hours manning the Animal Peeps booth at the mall and adopted out a few pups, cooked some nice dinners, went on a big hike up the mountain we live on, and logged some good hours at the gym. It was all rather relaxing and nice to finally have a 2nd weekend at home. Working a lot with the new big pup J., and he's getting to be a really good boy. We nearly have the difference between "sit" and "lay down" nailed. Onward!
Labels: animal peeps, mis amigos
New technology, not so blog friendly
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 16 March 2009 at 3/16/2009 09:20:00 am.
Help i cant blog from my iphone! This thing is perplexing. It keeps me so "online all the time" which is great but typing out long strings of text on the touch-typer is a pain in the hole. So i keep putting blogger off.. In favor of the FB and txting and browsing, etc.
Anyway in other news last week was unruly freakin chaos. I had 5 commuter flights in 3 days, inluding one from joburg to gabz which, due to weather flew me TWICE to gabz and back becos we couldnt land! Meetings out the wazoo. Finally got into the office on fri afternoon, exhausted. The good thing is that The Mr. was involved too, so we didnt have to spend any nights apart, due to our master scheduling wizardry. Arent we supposed to be in a recession? Did i not hear something about that? Ow! Too busy. Busy all morning with the Animal Peeps event so couldnt even catch up on any sleep, blast it! Sunday HAD to wake up and get to gym... Shirking my fitness duties in this time of pressure too. Gained 2kg since the big house-move alredy. Ahhg!!!!! I just need a break. And it aint even on the horizon. Inlaws descending on us this weekend now! WT.....??
Otherwise, i'm now officially down one bff here in BW. Again. Now they're effectively all gone. Petra's last party was sat. and then she came round for a more personal good bye dinner last night. We sat out on the stoep and drank wine and tried to get her is as positive a frame of mind as possible about going back to holland. I told her every time she gets gloomy missing BW, just to think about how she can ride her bike everywhere and how the lines at the bank arent 90 mins long or how the grocery store has more than 3 kinds of cheese.
The party sat. was good fun albeit sad. P. combined it with the Mr's bff, G. who is also leaving this week's going away party. So it was double sadness all around. Boo hoo! Now we're both bff-less. Please send new mates!
Anyway in other news last week was unruly freakin chaos. I had 5 commuter flights in 3 days, inluding one from joburg to gabz which, due to weather flew me TWICE to gabz and back becos we couldnt land! Meetings out the wazoo. Finally got into the office on fri afternoon, exhausted. The good thing is that The Mr. was involved too, so we didnt have to spend any nights apart, due to our master scheduling wizardry. Arent we supposed to be in a recession? Did i not hear something about that? Ow! Too busy. Busy all morning with the Animal Peeps event so couldnt even catch up on any sleep, blast it! Sunday HAD to wake up and get to gym... Shirking my fitness duties in this time of pressure too. Gained 2kg since the big house-move alredy. Ahhg!!!!! I just need a break. And it aint even on the horizon. Inlaws descending on us this weekend now! WT.....??
Otherwise, i'm now officially down one bff here in BW. Again. Now they're effectively all gone. Petra's last party was sat. and then she came round for a more personal good bye dinner last night. We sat out on the stoep and drank wine and tried to get her is as positive a frame of mind as possible about going back to holland. I told her every time she gets gloomy missing BW, just to think about how she can ride her bike everywhere and how the lines at the bank arent 90 mins long or how the grocery store has more than 3 kinds of cheese.
The party sat. was good fun albeit sad. P. combined it with the Mr's bff, G. who is also leaving this week's going away party. So it was double sadness all around. Boo hoo! Now we're both bff-less. Please send new mates!
Labels: me the techgeek, mis amigos, work
Day 18: and only 2 more to go!
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 25 February 2009 at 2/25/2009 05:03:00 pm.
OK so yesterday's list = finished.
Gym = gymmed
Other blog = blogged
Carpet guy = hounded
On top of that, carpet = done and dusted, being installed on saturday amidst all our UNpacking in the new place. But that's fine by me. I just want as much done as possible before SheofDC comes a knockin on the thursday! And that's going to be hard because there's no weekend (to do stuff) between the moving wknd and when she gets here.
For example, I gotta find some lino for the upstairs bathroom. You can't tile it bc the floors are all wonky warped wood (with existing shocking pink flowery 1950s granny-lino on there already!) If SheofDC sees that crap on there she's gonna puke all over it. And we're gonna attack my house with the wrath of re-decoration while she's here so I don't want the fruits of our labour in the upstairs bathroom to have to rest on a canvas of ugly old pink flowery linoleum. But am I being too optimistic to think that it can be sourced, purchased, and laid in 3 days???
And curtains. I've been losing sleep the last two nights (well that and having intruders trying to break in at 2am last night doesnt help) over CURTAINS! All the windows in the new place are different sizes. There's more of them. Some rooms have 2 sets of windows! AGH! what do I do!?!?!? I can't sleep without total darkness.... and all these things take time.... blast it! And we were going to buy Petra's dining table, but she's in SA til the 10th, so won't be able to pick it up and move it in, meaning I'm without the NICE dining table, and have to make do with the ugly old ghetto one. AGH! It's like the end of the world!!!
Right well anyway I see the writing on the wall. I know what's gonna happen. It's gonna be all-systems-go-meltdown with me in Moving Mode from saturday morning til the sun goes down on Wednesday. Just as well the month of self-betterment will be over then, because there won't be time for anything else. My husband is going to crumble under the psychosis of a woman re-decorating her new nest. I always make fun of him because he only has a certain threshold for the number of hours he can organize, clean, and decorate.... and I dont. I can go all night like a crack addict in these situations. House Nazi.
List for today:
* try and order that shower curtain for SheofDC to deliver to me
* pay for carpet (done)
* write aunt P.
I have to write my Aunt P. because she just delivered the news to me and the rest of the fambly that my very favourite 2nd cousin is getting divorced. We'll call him Uncle Mike. Let's just say that Uncle Mike was hands down, my mentor of coolness growing up. I literally mourned when he got engaged and married to (notwithstanding the fact she is a great girl and i always liked her) his soon-to-be-ex., because I just didnt think that any chick was cool enough for my idol.
Well it looks like it didn't work out after all, even after what, 15 years of marriage. I just wonder what it was - they were such a cute couple and totally in tune with each other and complete like-minded personalities. It's scary. We all thought they were the golden couple. I just don't know what the story is. ~sigh~
All I know today is that i'm celebrating because crazy landlord wench actually just gave us our deposit back. And bought 1500 bucks worth of stuff off me. And no aggro involved. Nice.
Gym = gymmed
Other blog = blogged
Carpet guy = hounded
On top of that, carpet = done and dusted, being installed on saturday amidst all our UNpacking in the new place. But that's fine by me. I just want as much done as possible before SheofDC comes a knockin on the thursday! And that's going to be hard because there's no weekend (to do stuff) between the moving wknd and when she gets here.
For example, I gotta find some lino for the upstairs bathroom. You can't tile it bc the floors are all wonky warped wood (with existing shocking pink flowery 1950s granny-lino on there already!) If SheofDC sees that crap on there she's gonna puke all over it. And we're gonna attack my house with the wrath of re-decoration while she's here so I don't want the fruits of our labour in the upstairs bathroom to have to rest on a canvas of ugly old pink flowery linoleum. But am I being too optimistic to think that it can be sourced, purchased, and laid in 3 days???
And curtains. I've been losing sleep the last two nights (well that and having intruders trying to break in at 2am last night doesnt help) over CURTAINS! All the windows in the new place are different sizes. There's more of them. Some rooms have 2 sets of windows! AGH! what do I do!?!?!? I can't sleep without total darkness.... and all these things take time.... blast it! And we were going to buy Petra's dining table, but she's in SA til the 10th, so won't be able to pick it up and move it in, meaning I'm without the NICE dining table, and have to make do with the ugly old ghetto one. AGH! It's like the end of the world!!!
Right well anyway I see the writing on the wall. I know what's gonna happen. It's gonna be all-systems-go-meltdown with me in Moving Mode from saturday morning til the sun goes down on Wednesday. Just as well the month of self-betterment will be over then, because there won't be time for anything else. My husband is going to crumble under the psychosis of a woman re-decorating her new nest. I always make fun of him because he only has a certain threshold for the number of hours he can organize, clean, and decorate.... and I dont. I can go all night like a crack addict in these situations. House Nazi.
List for today:
* try and order that shower curtain for SheofDC to deliver to me
* pay for carpet (done)
* write aunt P.
I have to write my Aunt P. because she just delivered the news to me and the rest of the fambly that my very favourite 2nd cousin is getting divorced. We'll call him Uncle Mike. Let's just say that Uncle Mike was hands down, my mentor of coolness growing up. I literally mourned when he got engaged and married to (notwithstanding the fact she is a great girl and i always liked her) his soon-to-be-ex., because I just didnt think that any chick was cool enough for my idol.
Well it looks like it didn't work out after all, even after what, 15 years of marriage. I just wonder what it was - they were such a cute couple and totally in tune with each other and complete like-minded personalities. It's scary. We all thought they were the golden couple. I just don't know what the story is. ~sigh~
All I know today is that i'm celebrating because crazy landlord wench actually just gave us our deposit back. And bought 1500 bucks worth of stuff off me. And no aggro involved. Nice.
Labels: mi familia, mis amigos, the bet
Day 15: only 1 week left
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 20 February 2009 at 2/20/2009 12:03:00 pm.
Well OBVIOUSLY I brought in Digital Fortress for Leto. It was the last thing on my mind before going to bed. So that's no problem.
Today:
* Bring home highlighter
* Email podgey
The only other thing I really have to do is start PACKING. That is SO not cool. I hate packing. And packing also means for the next week I'm going to have to start living without the stuff I've packed. I guess i just need to pick 7 outfits and keep them handy, and I dont know what I'm gonna do about dishes, etc., but hey. I'll have to figure out something.
Podgey has a really fantastic idea, as he's one of the casualties that has fallen due to my internet embargo between 10-4 (excluding lunch).... it's: "every day you just put 'email podgey' on the notebook list!" now why the HELL didn't I think of that?!?!?
Last now was the last time we will have eaten dinner with my remaining BW BFF, Petra, at our existing residence. sniff, sniff.
She brought over a giant spinach & cheese quiche, and a gorgeous salad with feta, capers, and butternut. yum. I opened up one of my prize Pinot Grigio bottles and we dined under the jalapeno chilli lights out on the stoep. sniff, sniff
COULD SOME MORE OF MY FRIENDS FROM OVERSEAS PLEASE COME TO BW?!?!? PLEASE??!?!
Today:
* Bring home highlighter
* Email podgey
The only other thing I really have to do is start PACKING. That is SO not cool. I hate packing. And packing also means for the next week I'm going to have to start living without the stuff I've packed. I guess i just need to pick 7 outfits and keep them handy, and I dont know what I'm gonna do about dishes, etc., but hey. I'll have to figure out something.
Podgey has a really fantastic idea, as he's one of the casualties that has fallen due to my internet embargo between 10-4 (excluding lunch).... it's: "every day you just put 'email podgey' on the notebook list!" now why the HELL didn't I think of that?!?!?
Last now was the last time we will have eaten dinner with my remaining BW BFF, Petra, at our existing residence. sniff, sniff.
She brought over a giant spinach & cheese quiche, and a gorgeous salad with feta, capers, and butternut. yum. I opened up one of my prize Pinot Grigio bottles and we dined under the jalapeno chilli lights out on the stoep. sniff, sniff
COULD SOME MORE OF MY FRIENDS FROM OVERSEAS PLEASE COME TO BW?!?!? PLEASE??!?!
Labels: mis amigos, the bet
OK I've lost count of days but I think it's 6.
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 09 February 2009 at 2/09/2009 03:11:00 pm.
Let's get this out of the way first:
Today
* Groceries
* Find out WTF is wrong with This American Life download (it aint' going)
* Contact B.bush campground for 8 April
* Check up on university course
----
OK back to life.
This weekend was pretty fun. Friday we went out for dinner at the Lantern with the Chinese lads on friday, which was a riot in itself. It always is. They spend a buttload of money on stuffing us, and get drunk off of 3 glasses of wine. Then the guys around here proceed to refer to me as "Miss Jirr" for the next week at least, thereafter.
Saturday we spent in town doing everything. From dropping off the recycles to shopping for I-dont-even-remember-what. Then we came back home, got ready, and then went to a dinner party, one of the large slew of P.'s going-away events that is about ready to start flowing.
This weekend I finally gave in and let the Mr. convince me (finally) that he should step down as Honorable Treasurer for the Animal Peeps this coming fiscal year. I had been denying it and denying it for so long, trying to convince him that these are just the growing pains but that he'll get into the swing of things if he just hangs on, but alas. I think it's terminal. It's just that he gets all cranky and angry when he has to do the accounts, and fair enough, he has to put up with so much CRAP from the committee and them not keeping him in the loop and too many cooks in the kitchen, etc etc., I just don't want it to be something he hates. But that means I'll probably also step down and just continue to volunteer and stay on as editor of the newsletter, but not on the committee. I'm sad about not pushing through, especially since i'm not normally one to let the bastards get me down, but one of the reasons we agreed to be on said committee was because it would be something nice to do together, and, well, hey when one of you is miserable then you're both miserable, and - life, and 2009 are too short. The year of no aggro is underway, I guess.
I give Tropic Thunder 1 and a half thumbs up. It may not have been the laugh-fest I imagined, but it did allow me to realize that my best friend in Ireland looks like Jay Baruchel, which meant it was almost like watching a movie with Podgey - bonus!
And finally, my divine husband has planned what is surely to be the 2nd best valentine's day ever (the first obviously being the one last year when all our mates were here and we went to Madikwe)... we're going away for the weekend to this place. he got a last-minute deal on it, and aside from the fact that they allow children (highly unusual at safari lodges), I think it's going to be fantastic. Maybe even the leopards will be out and about celebrating the big cheesey day. I just can't believe we're making it to Madikwe 2x in 2 years! Normally this place is way out of our budget zone.
I had a dream last night that boggled my mind. It was about someone I have been struggling with coming to terms with either a) giving up on ever talking to again, or b) trying one last time to actually rectify the burnt bridge (which I believe I am the one primarily responsible for). It was so vivid, but in said dream, I was able to finally after 9 years apologize for a bunch of stuff, say everything on my mind, set things straight, and forge ahead. It was so therapeutic it was like a weight off my shoulders for the first time in years. But alas, I woke up and realized that it wasn't real life. Struggle. Struggle....
Today
* Groceries
* Find out WTF is wrong with This American Life download (it aint' going)
* Contact B.bush campground for 8 April
* Check up on university course
----
OK back to life.
This weekend was pretty fun. Friday we went out for dinner at the Lantern with the Chinese lads on friday, which was a riot in itself. It always is. They spend a buttload of money on stuffing us, and get drunk off of 3 glasses of wine. Then the guys around here proceed to refer to me as "Miss Jirr" for the next week at least, thereafter.
Saturday we spent in town doing everything. From dropping off the recycles to shopping for I-dont-even-remember-what. Then we came back home, got ready, and then went to a dinner party, one of the large slew of P.'s going-away events that is about ready to start flowing.
This weekend I finally gave in and let the Mr. convince me (finally) that he should step down as Honorable Treasurer for the Animal Peeps this coming fiscal year. I had been denying it and denying it for so long, trying to convince him that these are just the growing pains but that he'll get into the swing of things if he just hangs on, but alas. I think it's terminal. It's just that he gets all cranky and angry when he has to do the accounts, and fair enough, he has to put up with so much CRAP from the committee and them not keeping him in the loop and too many cooks in the kitchen, etc etc., I just don't want it to be something he hates. But that means I'll probably also step down and just continue to volunteer and stay on as editor of the newsletter, but not on the committee. I'm sad about not pushing through, especially since i'm not normally one to let the bastards get me down, but one of the reasons we agreed to be on said committee was because it would be something nice to do together, and, well, hey when one of you is miserable then you're both miserable, and - life, and 2009 are too short. The year of no aggro is underway, I guess.
I give Tropic Thunder 1 and a half thumbs up. It may not have been the laugh-fest I imagined, but it did allow me to realize that my best friend in Ireland looks like Jay Baruchel, which meant it was almost like watching a movie with Podgey - bonus!
And finally, my divine husband has planned what is surely to be the 2nd best valentine's day ever (the first obviously being the one last year when all our mates were here and we went to Madikwe)... we're going away for the weekend to this place. he got a last-minute deal on it, and aside from the fact that they allow children (highly unusual at safari lodges), I think it's going to be fantastic. Maybe even the leopards will be out and about celebrating the big cheesey day. I just can't believe we're making it to Madikwe 2x in 2 years! Normally this place is way out of our budget zone.
I had a dream last night that boggled my mind. It was about someone I have been struggling with coming to terms with either a) giving up on ever talking to again, or b) trying one last time to actually rectify the burnt bridge (which I believe I am the one primarily responsible for). It was so vivid, but in said dream, I was able to finally after 9 years apologize for a bunch of stuff, say everything on my mind, set things straight, and forge ahead. It was so therapeutic it was like a weight off my shoulders for the first time in years. But alas, I woke up and realized that it wasn't real life. Struggle. Struggle....
Labels: animal peeps, mis amigos, the bet
Laughter Therapy
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 02 February 2009 at 2/02/2009 07:29:00 am.
Adelly was the first one to introduce me to the concept of laughter therapy, and I can truly say that she's onto something there. Friday I was feeling really bummed about coming to terms with the fact that my job doesn't inspire me to actually DO THE WORK, and I was bringing everybody down (and by everybody I mean "The Mr.".)
Just after the work day was over, we were facebooking around (me and A.) and had just caught Bean posting on his status that he didn't think there were 25 things anybody wanted to know about him. Hysterics, I tell you. Hysterics ensued. On his wall...
(all I can say is that it made everything better. OK, it's no standup comedy but I nearly wet my office chair - probably due to the fact this was all happening in real time - and lo and behold, honestly EVERYTHING was better after that. What can I say, it doesn't take much!)
Peter doesn't think there's 25 things anyone really needs to know about me.
Me at 12:41, on 30 January.
pete loves Gabby...
A. at 17:26, on 30 January.
pete likes the sound of shufflin' feet
A. at 17:27, on 30 January.
pete likes toothy flossy action
A. at 17:27, on 30 January.
pete has been known to leave his underwear on the table
Me at 17:29, on 30 January.
pete wants to know if you're wearing eccos
Me at 17:30, on 30 January.
pete likes the tummy-drummy
Me at 17:31, on 30 January.
pete used to hang out with me at that sports bar in the Lake of the Ozarks reading jazz bios
A. at 17:32, on 30 January.
Pete+Mr. Bean=separated at birth?
A. at 17:33, on 30 January.
pete makes a mean baked chicken with rice
A. at 17:33, on 30 January.
pete likes lesbians
Me at 17:33, on 30 January.
pete used to ride Vanna White...
Me at 17:34, on 30 January.
pete has many nicknames - one starts with "Sweet Dick"
Me at 17:34, on 30 January.
pete loaned me Black Power
A. at 17:35, on 30 January.
pete suffers way too much from Jewish guilt and angst
A. at 17:36, on 30 January.
pete wants to hear if you have any new jokes
A. at 17:39, on 30 January.
pete used to be a copy boy at UNT
A. at 17:41, on 30 January.
Pete is from Statesboro Ga, from the great song "Statesboro BLues"
Me at 17:42, on 30 January.
pete needs regular grooming
Me at 17:42, on 30 January.
pete can dance if he wants to
A. at 17:43, on 30 January.
pete loves Jimmy Buffett after his best friend Adela introduced him to "Son of a Son of a Sailor" one day in Galveston TX
Me at 17:43, on 30 January.
pete used to live in PIIIITTSburg KANSAS! PIIITTTSburg Kansas!!
Me at 17:44, on 30 January.
pete is a 2-pot screamer
A. at 17:45, on 30 January.
pete can't hold his liquor (my note: technically, this is just a duplicate of the one above)
A. at 17:49, on 30 January.
pete is grateful for us completing the 25 things project for hiim and is going to buy the next round when he sees us again!
Pete at 19:09, on 30 January.
I'll buy the next round and perhaps I'll buy you guys some lives while I am at it.
Just after the work day was over, we were facebooking around (me and A.) and had just caught Bean posting on his status that he didn't think there were 25 things anybody wanted to know about him. Hysterics, I tell you. Hysterics ensued. On his wall...
(all I can say is that it made everything better. OK, it's no standup comedy but I nearly wet my office chair - probably due to the fact this was all happening in real time - and lo and behold, honestly EVERYTHING was better after that. What can I say, it doesn't take much!)
Peter doesn't think there's 25 things anyone really needs to know about me.
Me at 12:41, on 30 January.
pete loves Gabby...
A. at 17:26, on 30 January.
pete likes the sound of shufflin' feet
A. at 17:27, on 30 January.
pete likes toothy flossy action
A. at 17:27, on 30 January.
pete has been known to leave his underwear on the table
Me at 17:29, on 30 January.
pete wants to know if you're wearing eccos
Me at 17:30, on 30 January.
pete likes the tummy-drummy
Me at 17:31, on 30 January.
pete used to hang out with me at that sports bar in the Lake of the Ozarks reading jazz bios
A. at 17:32, on 30 January.
Pete+Mr. Bean=separated at birth?
A. at 17:33, on 30 January.
pete makes a mean baked chicken with rice
A. at 17:33, on 30 January.
pete likes lesbians
Me at 17:33, on 30 January.
pete used to ride Vanna White...
Me at 17:34, on 30 January.
pete has many nicknames - one starts with "Sweet Dick"
Me at 17:34, on 30 January.
pete loaned me Black Power
A. at 17:35, on 30 January.
pete suffers way too much from Jewish guilt and angst
A. at 17:36, on 30 January.
pete wants to hear if you have any new jokes
A. at 17:39, on 30 January.
pete used to be a copy boy at UNT
A. at 17:41, on 30 January.
Pete is from Statesboro Ga, from the great song "Statesboro BLues"
Me at 17:42, on 30 January.
pete needs regular grooming
Me at 17:42, on 30 January.
pete can dance if he wants to
A. at 17:43, on 30 January.
pete loves Jimmy Buffett after his best friend Adela introduced him to "Son of a Son of a Sailor" one day in Galveston TX
Me at 17:43, on 30 January.
pete used to live in PIIIITTSburg KANSAS! PIIITTTSburg Kansas!!
Me at 17:44, on 30 January.
pete is a 2-pot screamer
A. at 17:45, on 30 January.
pete can't hold his liquor (my note: technically, this is just a duplicate of the one above)
A. at 17:49, on 30 January.
pete is grateful for us completing the 25 things project for hiim and is going to buy the next round when he sees us again!
Pete at 19:09, on 30 January.
I'll buy the next round and perhaps I'll buy you guys some lives while I am at it.
Labels: mis amigos
GAH! Another one bites the dust!
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 20 January 2009 at 1/20/2009 01:08:00 pm.
OK now this is just not funny anymore -
so it's been a known fact that my best mate in BW (P.) is fleeing the country to go back to design school in the Netherlands. She leaves in March.
But now 2nd best mate Ubs has just called and broke the news that she's moving back to Aus as she's had a few disastrous jobs in a row now and is gatvol. AAGGHHH!!!
WHY ME?!!?
I guess I should just be glad that SheofDC is coming over in March and GBFJ is coming in April and that notwithstanding either of those things, my next semester starts in February and I'll be up to my eyeballs in studying again so no time for anything fun anyway. BOO HOO!
(and so ends my pity party for the day).
so it's been a known fact that my best mate in BW (P.) is fleeing the country to go back to design school in the Netherlands. She leaves in March.
But now 2nd best mate Ubs has just called and broke the news that she's moving back to Aus as she's had a few disastrous jobs in a row now and is gatvol. AAGGHHH!!!
WHY ME?!!?
I guess I should just be glad that SheofDC is coming over in March and GBFJ is coming in April and that notwithstanding either of those things, my next semester starts in February and I'll be up to my eyeballs in studying again so no time for anything fun anyway. BOO HOO!
(and so ends my pity party for the day).
Labels: mis amigos
Best news since _____?______
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 19 January 2009 at 1/19/2009 10:26:00 am.
Just as I was starting to mope a little about that whole "all my best friends aren't in this country" thing, we get the best news ever - Indeed it looks like 2009 is going to be a lucky year (fingers crossed)!
The background is that this weekend my old CRAY_ZEE housemate from back when I was doing my Masters in Pretoria (Miss M) was up with her husband Jakes (they also were one of the 6 couples of our friends from that year who later got married after meeting in the same space-time continuum at UP as me & the Mr. - I swear there was something in the water that year).
They live in Uruguay (her country) but are currently back in SA (his country) on holiday, for 2 months, so they rambled on up here to Botties to see us for a few days. We had a great weekend, and they're still here til tomorrow, before going back down to SA. It was awesome to have friends hanging around, chilling in the backyard, talking, laughing, doing the trivia game thing, etc etc. It was like an extension of our big american holiday, only at home!
Anyway to make a long story short, while they've been here on this part of the globe, they just went ahead and... you know... bought a house (across from his parents - I KNOW - another story all together) on the beach, he's taken a job, and they've decided she's gonna go back to URG and pack up all the stuff and dogs, etc. (while he stays here and gets started on the new gig, poor things), and move back over here by June/July! HOT DIGGITY!!!
OK I know that "Durban" does not necessarily mean "BW", in fact, we're talking roughly 12 hours driving, but if you meet in the middle (Jozi/Pta) or fly, it's literally JUST around the corner. I am SO HAPPY! This means I will have that good old friend in my comfort zone (not to mention in one of our favourite holiday destinations) that I've been craving, finally, and we're talking the couple-thing here to boot... i.e. we all 4 get along and love hanging out together, etc., it's not just a "me & her" thing. And in a way it's like stepping back into 8-9 years ago when we were all living a decadent hedonistic life as students, even though we've all grown away from (and grown up after) the binge drinking and slacking off and sleezing around. It's so amazing to have shared that part of our lives together and then grown up & got married & moved abroad and are still on the same page as each other after all these years.
Score 1 for 2009!!
The background is that this weekend my old CRAY_ZEE housemate from back when I was doing my Masters in Pretoria (Miss M) was up with her husband Jakes (they also were one of the 6 couples of our friends from that year who later got married after meeting in the same space-time continuum at UP as me & the Mr. - I swear there was something in the water that year).
They live in Uruguay (her country) but are currently back in SA (his country) on holiday, for 2 months, so they rambled on up here to Botties to see us for a few days. We had a great weekend, and they're still here til tomorrow, before going back down to SA. It was awesome to have friends hanging around, chilling in the backyard, talking, laughing, doing the trivia game thing, etc etc. It was like an extension of our big american holiday, only at home!
Anyway to make a long story short, while they've been here on this part of the globe, they just went ahead and... you know... bought a house (across from his parents - I KNOW - another story all together) on the beach, he's taken a job, and they've decided she's gonna go back to URG and pack up all the stuff and dogs, etc. (while he stays here and gets started on the new gig, poor things), and move back over here by June/July! HOT DIGGITY!!!
OK I know that "Durban" does not necessarily mean "BW", in fact, we're talking roughly 12 hours driving, but if you meet in the middle (Jozi/Pta) or fly, it's literally JUST around the corner. I am SO HAPPY! This means I will have that good old friend in my comfort zone (not to mention in one of our favourite holiday destinations) that I've been craving, finally, and we're talking the couple-thing here to boot... i.e. we all 4 get along and love hanging out together, etc., it's not just a "me & her" thing. And in a way it's like stepping back into 8-9 years ago when we were all living a decadent hedonistic life as students, even though we've all grown away from (and grown up after) the binge drinking and slacking off and sleezing around. It's so amazing to have shared that part of our lives together and then grown up & got married & moved abroad and are still on the same page as each other after all these years.
Score 1 for 2009!!
Labels: mis amigos
Back to Reality pt.2
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 13 January 2009 at 1/13/2009 07:45:00 am.
There were lots of successes in the big ol' trip. One main one was that I survived 6 days at my parents house with NO AGGRO. That might not seem like much to the rest of the planet, but I haven't had spent time with my parents without any aggro since... what... I was 12???? All I know was that it was a combination of 2 things. Everyone growing up, and compromising. I'll be the first one to admit that I have not exactly reached the pinnacle of the QSI, but I'm getting there. Being positive and taking the high road helps a lot. Planning early also helped, I think... have a strategy and put it to work. It also makes other people do the same, I guess. It reminds me of that episode of My Name is Earl where Earl realizes that if he goes back and makes up for stealing his ex-gf's prosthetic leg, and helps his other ex-gf flip her trailer right-side-up again, then his current wife will buy him lemonade and lemon cream cakes.
Anyway the other success was the Mr. and his time there. I have a whole new husband, one that is relaxed and rejuvenated. We had the best time ever and it was such a positive impact on "us" because it was a full 4 weeks of nothing but what WE wanted to do, and relaxing. Not one of those typical holidays where you spend 2 days getting there and back, and one week trying to relax, but only about 2 days of actual relaxing before it's all over. This was full-fledged HOLIDAY.
AND he got along with all my friends really well (well, DUH!)... I'm mainly talking about those he hadn't met yet, most of them he had. It made me feel really good when I asked him (after we got back) who he missed the most and he said probably Brandon. "I finally felt like I had a best friend again" which I thought was sweet. ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh how I just wish I could import all my buddies to BW. Then everything would just be all rock n' roll, all the time!!! Or is that just naive??
Anyway the other success was the Mr. and his time there. I have a whole new husband, one that is relaxed and rejuvenated. We had the best time ever and it was such a positive impact on "us" because it was a full 4 weeks of nothing but what WE wanted to do, and relaxing. Not one of those typical holidays where you spend 2 days getting there and back, and one week trying to relax, but only about 2 days of actual relaxing before it's all over. This was full-fledged HOLIDAY.
AND he got along with all my friends really well (well, DUH!)... I'm mainly talking about those he hadn't met yet, most of them he had. It made me feel really good when I asked him (after we got back) who he missed the most and he said probably Brandon. "I finally felt like I had a best friend again" which I thought was sweet. ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh how I just wish I could import all my buddies to BW. Then everything would just be all rock n' roll, all the time!!! Or is that just naive??
Labels: mi familia, mis amigos, QSI, xmas 08
Some People are just so Great
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 26 November 2008 at 11/26/2008 09:36:00 am.
We got the shock of our life yesterday when the Mr. went to go collect the post in town. There was a big ol' package from Australia, which is a shock in itself. We had no idea what it could be but when we opened it up, it was so amazing that there were even tears.
Good old Steve & Madongles had taken this photo and gotten it blown up and put onto an absolutely lovely canvas and sent to us:
Apparently it was 2 months in the shipping, but it got here safely and then just rocked our world & get all teary out of nowhere!!
Amazing. People who do nice things for no reason other than out of the kindness of their heart are my biggest inspiration right now. We talked about it on the way home last night and realized that we've both had a couple weeks of backsliding in the big Self Improvement Quest (from here on to be referred to as the QSI) but that these sort of things are the perfect inspiration to combat the nonsense that develops from complacency and stress, causing you to slip back into bad habits of negativity and lack of compassion.
I cite example 2: Just had SheofDC tell me yesterday that a package arrived for me from Missouri at her place (woo hoo!). I know what's in it already, it's my new Phone for the USA Trip that used to be Brandon's but is now being bequeathed to me so that I have a phone with a number and even some minutes loaded up on it already, so that we can be mobile during the month of December. AND his GPS (so we don't get lost trying to find our way back home from the east coast) which he's letting us borrow while we're in the States. Unreal! New gadgets await me before I've even hit the homeland soil!!! Annnnnnnnnd we're back in excitement mode for the holidays!!
The universe is obviously throwing goodness at me in the form of reminders of how good my buddies are. Inspiration taken! I've now got the good juice to move forward, thanks to all these little bits and pieces that really do help so much...
Good old Steve & Madongles had taken this photo and gotten it blown up and put onto an absolutely lovely canvas and sent to us:
Apparently it was 2 months in the shipping, but it got here safely and then just rocked our world & get all teary out of nowhere!!
Amazing. People who do nice things for no reason other than out of the kindness of their heart are my biggest inspiration right now. We talked about it on the way home last night and realized that we've both had a couple weeks of backsliding in the big Self Improvement Quest (from here on to be referred to as the QSI) but that these sort of things are the perfect inspiration to combat the nonsense that develops from complacency and stress, causing you to slip back into bad habits of negativity and lack of compassion.
I cite example 2: Just had SheofDC tell me yesterday that a package arrived for me from Missouri at her place (woo hoo!). I know what's in it already, it's my new Phone for the USA Trip that used to be Brandon's but is now being bequeathed to me so that I have a phone with a number and even some minutes loaded up on it already, so that we can be mobile during the month of December. AND his GPS (so we don't get lost trying to find our way back home from the east coast) which he's letting us borrow while we're in the States. Unreal! New gadgets await me before I've even hit the homeland soil!!! Annnnnnnnnd we're back in excitement mode for the holidays!!
The universe is obviously throwing goodness at me in the form of reminders of how good my buddies are. Inspiration taken! I've now got the good juice to move forward, thanks to all these little bits and pieces that really do help so much...
Labels: hounds, mis amigos, QSI
