Friday, May 28, 2010

I just love setting myself up to fall.

I don't know what to do right now. Last night, I come home from a friend's house and find Gzilla on the phone (not unusual) with a shit eating grin on his face (tiny red flag).

Me: Who are you talking to?
Him: Jack.
Me: But that's a girl?
Him: Uhh... Laura (my best friend)

...

Weird, right? Kid can't lie to me. Can't say "My mom" or "Jack's girlfriend" (who is his female best friend). Nope. This idiot tells me the truth. Which means he's doing one of three things.

1. Trying to get dirt on his surprise party (unlikely)
2. Trying to plan something for me for my birthday (which is in July and not a milestone...26)
or 3. Something sparkly. You know what kind of sparkly I mean, and now upset that whole situation makes me.

Naturally, given the above reasons, I try my best NOT to think about door #3, which means that's all I think about. And now I'm paranoid. I start thinking that any time we go out could be "that time." The last time I thought that? When we went to Jen Carroll's restaurant for dinner? I was horribly depressed. I felt so stupid for letting me get my hopes up.

And what am I doing now? Getting my hopes up. I talked to Jack's girlfriend about it... and she tells me the one thing that I don't really want to hear. He's planning something really big for your birthday. Which is wonderful. That's absolutely wonderful. But guess what? I've spent most of last night and most of my work day today NOT getting my hopes up, accidentally got them up, and now I'm really upset. Again. And we're supposed to go out to dinner tonight with Jack and his girlfriend, and I don't feel like doing anything but eating ice cream and watching horror films.

It's starting to get to the point where I really start seriously thinking "what the hell am I doing?!" I really hate feeling like this.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

My Everything Hurts

Remember when I said I did something dumb and joined a kickball team? My first game was last night. Kickball. Why do my arms hurt if I was playing KICK ball?

It wasn't my TEAM'S first game, just my first game. My team's first game was last Wednesday. You know. THE DAY I got back from Ireland. Last week I came home, sat down for about 40 minutes, brought Gzilla some clothes to play kickball in, and then watched everybody play kickball. My body hated me because it just wanted to go to sleep.

This week, after having a mostly shit day that started with a check engine light and ended with me wanting to punch the next person who looked at my funny, I had to drive my car to the dealership (6 months old.. 4200 miles... CHECK ENGINE LIGHT? WTF?) then drive all the way BACK to basically where I work to play kickball.

We lost.

But we lost 10-8, so it could have been worse. Especially because the score WAS 10-4... and then we scored 4 runs in one inning. I did not score a run. But I did get on base! Twice! Once I even got to third! And I got someone out at second base! I'm awesome. And the team was played was really good. One of their guys kicked the ball INTO THE NEXT FREAKING FIELD. That's just wrong. But the highlight of my night wasn't losing at kickball, or even playing kickball. It was going to the bar afterwards with the team and just hanging out for a few hours.

But now, my everything hurts. I'm so out of shape. I can't handle it after one 7-inning kickball game. And I realized just now that because I got a ride into work by a coworker who happens to live by me, and I didn't pack a lunch, I don't get to eat lunch. Balls.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The Big One

Gzilla turns 30 this year, or as he's calling it, it is his 20-10th birthday. So naturally, I'm throwing him a surprise party.

Except that it's not a surprise party, because Gzilla kind of sucks.

He ASKED me to throw him a party. Um. How am I supposed to throw someone a surprise party WHEN THEY ASK YOU TO? sigh. So I'm planning this whole thing, and he is just uninvolved. He knows that it's happening, and he knows what day it is, but he doesn't know where it is, what I'm doing, or who is invited.

The whole thing is becoming very tricky because I'm not inviting any of his friends from high school, nor am I invited family. Just a few select members that we're close to. Why not high school friends? The ones we spend the most time with? The ones I get to play Kick The Ball with tonight? I'll tell you why. There are 4 of them who all have birthdays within 2 weeks of one another, and they're all turning 30 this year, so they decided to have a big bash Memorial Weekend. But Gzilla is tired of always having to share his birthday with 3 other guys (I never said he wasn't ridiculously selfish) so he's also doing something on his own. AND when they sent out the evite for the big bash this weekend... they left Gzilla out of it, and instead said that we're celebrating the birthday of this guy whose birthday is on SAINT PATRICKS DAY. I'm highly considering wearing a t-shirt that says "Happy Birthday Guy" on it, just to be a bitch. Haven't decided if I'm gonna or not.

Back to the thing *I'm* throwing. I've invited a boatload of people. Originally, Gzilla wanted only his college friends to come (they call themselves The Wolf Pack. It's weird), but then got all depressed and mopey that none of them would come, and whine whine whine, so I invited all of our poker friends as well. Well, then it became something bigger than my house could take, so I rented a hall. Already paid it in full, so I don't have to worry about it. Gzilla's mom is taking care of the food for me (because she's the shit!) but now I have a new dilemma:

HOW MUCH FOOD AND BEVERAGE DO WE NEED? I invited a good 50 people. So far, 17 have responded via facebook (and I think that includes me) and I think 2 or maybe 3 have responded via evite. What if I get all this food, and no one shows? How much do I get to drink? Do I get a keg? If I'm getting liquor, do I get big handles, or just 750 mL bottles? I DON'T KNOW!!!

Monday, May 24, 2010

I wish I were in Kindergarten. Then I could take a nap and it would be acceptable.

I'm not doing a LOST reaction post. I will, eventually. But I won't for a little while simply because I don't want to spoil things for someone who hasn't had a chance to watch it yet. I will say that I loved it. Gzilla hated it. But I loved it, and the more time goes by, the more I love it.

I haven't stopped since getting back from Ireland. I landed on Wednesday, stayed up until 10:30 at night (after essentially waking up at midnight after about 3 hours of sleep) so that I could catch up on the penultimate episode of LOST. Thursday I was back at work, and Friday I worked both jobs. Saturday I couldn't sleep in because I had to go to a wedding, and I still needed a dress and a present for the couple. After seriously debating whether I should go to the mall or wear the dress I've already worn to two weddings or the jersey knit dress that might be too casual for this very laid-back wedding, I decided to bring the dress already worn to two weddings AND go to the mall. I went into Anthropologie, and while I LURVE their clothes normally don't buy then because they are EX-PEN-SIVE. I found this ADORABLE navy sun dress with a cream layer underneath that peaked out because of the eyelits in the navy? Adorable. Fit perfectly. Half price. DONE.

The wedding was beautiful... it was a non-religious ceremony at a country club, and the actual ceremony took place on the pier of a lake. The bride's dress was made by a costume designer that they work with (the couple is theatre people) and before the wedding started the groom gets on the mic and says "For those of you who work with me, you will find this funny. For those who don't work with me, oh well. 10 minutes to places for the ceremony...10 minutes to places." That's what stage managers say before start of every show. So all of us theatre people responded how you would if you were in the production. "THANK YOU, 10!"

Needless to say, I'm exhausted. I'm actually worried that at some point this week I'm going to pass out at work. Maybe I'll be able to go home sick one day and take like a 4 hour nap or something. A nap sounds good.

Friday, May 21, 2010

We have to go back!

I couldn't very well have all these posts about Ireland without PICTURES. I can't put up ALL of my pictures (because there are like 150.) but here are just a handful.

While we took a tour of the Guinness Storehouse, I learned how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. I also learned that Italians will stalk you around the Guinness Storehouse and be completely blatant about it. There were a group of about 15? 20? Italian guys, and they basically circled us throughout the ENTIRE tour. You can see them over my shoulder at the tap learning how to pour their own pints.



This is the view from my best friend's balcony. Seriously. I woke up every morning to that and drank tea while watching the sheepies play. There was one baby lamb who would jump around. So cute.



At The Old Jameson Distillery, enjoying my whiskey with some cranberry juice. By the way, that's my new favorite drink. Jameson and cranberry. Delicious! I also drank my friend's because she doesn't like whiskey. Darn.



The one castle I got to see in Ireland was Malahide Castle. It's along the coast of the Irish Sea. Gorgeous.



This is Malahide town. HOW CUTE IS THIS TOWN? I feel like this looks like a postcard. In fact, I'm pretty sure I saw a postcard in the gift shop at Malahide Castle that was this street.



This is where my friend GOES TO COLLEGE. Seriously. That is actually the seminary, I believe, and I took that from the GARDEN that's on campus.



This is Wicklow. On my last day there (Tuesday), one of my new friends kidnapped me for the day and took me out to Wicklow. This was on the road on the way there. The streets were so narrow that any time another car came in the other direction, we had to pull off on the side of the road. And we were in this big honkin' Jeep. But he used to race cars on roads like this before he learned how to drive for real (seriously.) so I felt perfectly safe.



The place that he took me to was Glendalough. It used to be a monastery, and it's REALLY old. And absolutely beautiful. I seriously could have just sat there and hung out for a solid hour, but we needed to get back so that he could run the pub. Doesn't that just make you want to lie down in the grass and stare up at the sky for hours?

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Change of Plans

I don't know if you've been following news of the ash cloud at all...but I've been stranded in Ireland. My original flight home was scheduled for Sunday...cancelled. Then I was put on a flight on Tuesday, but there was a seat on the Monday flight, so we switched it to Monday...cancelled. The Tuesday flight is now BOOKED, so the earliest flight out that I could take was tomorrow, Wednesday. So far, everything looks good. All of today's flights have left Dublin Airport, so that's a good sign. I should be home Wednesday afternoon. Three days late. Darn.

In my extended stay, I've managed to be awesome at Quiz (pulled a question OUT OF NOWHERE only to get one wrong later. We still won the game, but didn't win the chance to get the jackpot of 750Euro. Balls), I sang backup vocals during band rehearsal, and I'm going to the Wicklow Mountains today.

For the whole band thing, my friend used to work for this company that is launching anew product that is sort of like an iPad except it displays music tablatures? It's called an iTab. The launch party is Thursday (I'll miss it..) and my friend is singing backup vocals for BOBBY KIMBLE FROM TOTO. She's also doing Stevie Nick's "Edge of Seventeen" with another friend. The girl singing lead on that is a for serious musical genius. I helped pick out where the harmonies were (because I'm awesome like that) and then at rehearsal with the whole band, they asked me to fill in for the other girl who couldn't make it. It sounded DEADLY. I'm really jealous that I won't get to see it on Thursday, and they were actually a bit bummed that I wouldn't be there to sing backup vocals. Then we hung out with the band while they practiced some of the other songs they're doing... Brown Sugar, Don't Stop Believing, Cowboy Song, Boys are Back in Town, Hold the Line, and Sultans of Swing. It was like my own private concert in song random apartment in Ireland. I was in complete heaven, let me tell you. Seriously. That was my life yesterday...singing backup vocals at a band rehearsal IN IRELAND.

I'm excited for today, though, because I was bummed that we didn't get to go to the Wicklow Mountains last week. I was going to go solo since my friend has band rehearsal and has to do a ton of schoolwork, but one of her friends offered to drive me there (which is way faster... by like an hour at least) and give me a tour of Wicklow himself. It's going to be gorgeous. I just wish the sky was as blue as it was yesterday. It's a bit cloudy, and looks like rain. Maybe I'll be lucky though and it will be as warm as it was yesterday. I didn't even need a coat or a sweater.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Safe and Sound

I made it to Ireland okay. It still hasn't hit me yet that I'm IN Ireland, and I'll be here for officially 24 hours in about 30 minutes. I still haven't adjusted to the time, really. My first day was fairly uneventful. We came back to my friend's apartment, and IT HAS THE MOST DOORS I'VE EVER SEEN!!! I think there are 8. Possibly 9. And they're all right next to one another. Basically, my friend's apartment is a farce.

She has a gorgeous view from her sitting room.... a field of sheep! I'm in heaven. I fully intend to take many pictures of this adorable sheep. They're grazing right now. We walked all over her town yesterday (my legs are a bit tired) and today is Day 1 of Dublin Exploration. We'll see how good I am at pouring a pint of Guinness.

I also saw her ex yesterday... he decided to impose on us. We went to dinner, and he left her with the check! Jerk! But you'd be proud (as would Gzilla). I didn't ACTUALLY harm him, and I was mostly nice... but I did get all of my little digs in. And let him know to be nice to my friend since they gave me all these pretty metal weapons at dinner. The worst part of it is, he's so damn charming! I didn't want to see him, because I knew that if I did, I couldn't stay mad at him for long.

I don't think I'll be able to post any pictures until I get home on Sunday, but I will be taking plenty. Don't worry!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Thems Fightin' Words

I realize that I can be the not nicest person in the world. I am mostly polite, but I don't tolerate stupidity, nor do I tolerate ignorance or flat out rudeness. And I'm not afraid to let you know how I feel about that anymore.

Last night, I was RIDICULOUSLY lucky and managed to score 2 seats at the Flyers game. I'm a huge Philadelphia sports fan, mostly Phillies, but I do love me some hockey. Something about dudes on ice skatings beating the crap out of each other really turns me on. Anyway. I'm really excited, because I've never been to a hockey play off game before (so the Flyers are in the playoffs for the Stanley Cup. We beat the NJ Devils to advance to the second round... and we're now playing the Boston Bruins).

We get to our seat, guy behind us flirts with me in front of Gzilla, I give an awkward smile at him... and then realize that he's wearing a Bruins jersey. As are all of the people sitting next to him. I SURROUNDED by GD Boston fans. Great. And these guys are LOUD and OBNOXIOUS about it. Less than 3 minutes into the game, the Flyers score off of a deflection. Gorgeous goal. The Wachovia Center erupts. Orange is everywhere. It's great.

And then the Flyers gave up. I have no idea what the heck they were playing, but that wasn't hockey. The passing was pathetic and sloppy, they wasted 6 power plays, and our goalie wasn't as awesome as he has been. We lost 4-1. And I've been to hockey games where the Flyers lost before, but this was just bad. And the douches behind me made everything worse.

We went out to get food, and found two of them in our seats when we got back. Gzilla and I had talked about moving up a row so that they weren't directly behind me anymore, since I was starting to get very testy and Gzilla was afraid he was going to get punched because of my anger? But when I saw those two guys in my seat... and saw the look on the face of the girl who was sitting next to us "help me, PLEASE!" I couldn't let them do that. So I sharply said "Excuse me. I'd like my seats back, thanks."

Then, flirty loud guy tries to get my attention my poking me. IN THE SIDE BOOB. He dropped a $20 and it was under my seat. But who pokes a stranger in the SIDE BOOB? Who pokes any woman in the boob, side or not, and stranger or not! That is not acceptable!!! I gave him some shit (like I should) and did eventually give him back his money (what? I know I'm a bitch, but I'm not rude). Gzilla was pretty proud of me though that I didn't get into a blowout with these jerks, I didn't get punched or punch them and get arrested, nor did I get Gzilla punched. But I did hold my own against these guys with the smack talk.

In all honesty, they were obnoxious, but they weren't wrong nor did they cross the line (except for that poking my side boob thing, but I honestly don't think he did that on purpose. At least I hope not). At one point, Aaron Asham (a Flyer) made a shot towards the goal, and from our angle it looked like a goal, so we started to get excited until we found out that there was no goal, so obnoxious guy yells "OPTICAL ILLUSION!!!" That was actually pretty funny.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

This was a good idea.... right?

I think I may have done something epicly (is that a word?) dumb.

I joined a kickball league.

I am mostly unathletic. I used to be a cheerleader, but that was about 10 years ago. I used to dance, but haven't in 4 years. I don't exercise, despite trying Jillian Michaels in January. And I genuinely LIKE exercising (in the I like how my body feels AFTER way, not during) but refuse to get up early to sweat.

Gzilla talked me into it. And our very pushy friend that we play Quizzo with. So for the summer... I get to play kick ball on a team with a hilariously offensive name every Wednesday. I haven't told ULTA yet. I'm supposed to get a review tomorrow (I don't THINK I should be nervous about that)

Our hilariously offensive team name? Chaos Under New Terms.

Despite my lack of athletic skill, both Gzilla and our pushy friend feel that I would be better than most girls? Maybe that's because I'm fiesty and competitive. I have oft dreamed of becoming a Roller Derby girl, but Gzilla says that I'm not hard core enough for Roller Derby. I really think I could kick ass. And I would totally have some punk knitting name. I can't think of any bad ass knitting puns at the moment, but I'd find one!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Welcome to hell

We're at the start of hell week for me... squeezing two weeks of work into five days. It's already gotten better than it was going to be... I almost lost all of my Friday because I almost had to drive up to NYC, pick someone up for the station, and drive all the way back to Delaware... in one shot. That's about 8 hours in a car. Thanks, but no thanks. Luckily, I was able to avoid that long ass drive and now just have to pick someone up from the train station that is a mere minutes away.

I picked the busiest time of the year to go away on vacation. This is the week of our big charity event at the station, and we're supposed to volunteer our time during the week. Well, not gonna happen. Sorry, kids. You can't take my Thursday and my Friday away from me this week, but I'll gladly give you all of my Saturday.

So far today, I really want grilled cheese for lunch, but no way of getting any. I have to be my boss today because his daughter is sick, which means all of my work + all of his work. I have a crushing headache that makes me want to fall over (but a bit better once I drank some Dr Pepper). AND I have so much to get done that I don't know where to start, hence blogging.

I've been slacking a bit on my knitting as of late... I am halfway finished my Vine Yoke Cardigan, but I need to wind more yarn! I'm also 1/3 of the way finished a top secret project I'm working on for a knitting swap that is based on LOST (what? I know. I'm uber nerdy). And then I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this past weekend (and met some LOVELY ladies from ravelry!) and bought TOO MUCH YARN! I haven't even used the stuff that I got from LAST year's MDSW! But it was so pretty!!! And so soft!!! I just need to figure out what to do with 560 yds of worsted superwash merino that is black, grey, and white. Thoughts? Not enough for a little short-sleeved cardigan.