Busy Busy

I am feeling kinda guilty because I haven’t updated in a week or so, but my life is revolving around work right now so I don’t have much to say here. This weekend Fireboy is coming to town for two days, which I am pretty excited about. I haven’t seen him in three months and I could use some zen time with him.

In one week (or seven more sleeps) I am going to fly across the country and see my brother and his family for two days and then, I am going to see the SSM and stay with him for six days. A real vacation with my favourite guy, I am pretty excited and a little nervous. I can’t think of the last time I spent a week straight with a boyfriend or lover, I am not entirely sure it has ever happened before. Anyway, just one more week of work and I am taking a much needed break.

Woo Hoo!

Not much more to tell today, and besides I need to get into work now. Hopefully something interesting for the blog will come out of Fireboy’s visit.

Happy Friday!

TSG

Family

Today I had to go the hospital. I wasn’t feeling well this morning and walked out the door and thought, maybe I would walk myself to the clinic as it was only a four block walk. Within 50 steps from the house I had to turn around and get someone to take me to emerge. I knocked on GB’s door and said would you take me to the hospital, I am having chest pains. He hopped right up, found the closest hospital and fastest route and we were off.

We got me checked in pretty quick and they took my blood pressure and did an ECG. GB called Roomie to let he know what was going on, and assure her I was alright. Within 40 minutes GB was aloud back to see me. Within another 20 minutes Roomie showed up. I was very pleasantly surprised. She said she couldn’t stay at work knowing I was there. In the end, after blood tests and xrays and the ECG they determined that there is nothing wrong with my heart and that I must have strained the muscle in my rib. They gave me ibuprofen and told me to take it easy.

The whole day got me to thinking about family, not just the family we are born into but also the family we cultivate over time. For some it is focused around a romantic partner and for others it is friends and roommates. All of my life I have had amazing family around me, beginning with the one I was born into and continuing with the family I have cultivated over the last twenty years or so. Today I was reminded just how great my family is, not just Roomie and GB but all of my family.

Thank you Roomie and GB for making today much less scary and way more entertaining than it would have been if I was alone. And to the rest of my extended family, thanks for being there for me and letting me be there for you.

I am a very lucky girl.

xo

The Single Girl

Connections

I have been away for a bit, but don’t worry everything is fine. In some ways it is better than fine, I have been with my family for days and now I am on my way to spend time with my friends – or as the lady has been know to call friends – the family you chose. Being far from my family and many of my close friends is a tough thing for me at times and right now is no exception. The only problem with this kind of travel and visit is that I always end up over extending myself. This time I was thinking I wouldn’t do it, I am not telling too many people that I am here and I am only going to spend time with one or two people. I will relax I need it.

But no, now I have booked myself solid from the time I get there until the time I fly out. Apparently I like to be over extended. Truly I just want to see everyone and get a hug or two and feel connected. Relaxing at my friend’s house alone won’t make me feel better, lunching and beers and tea and hugs and pregnant bellies are what a really want and need.

What I have not been connected to in the past four days is the internet. Sometimes that was tough, but only because instead of watching TV these days, when I am bored I play on the internet. So my evening after all the old folks and young families went to bed I tended to get a bit twitchy but I am good now. It is nice to be here connected once again to my facebook, my email, my blogs, and to you my readers. You may not give me hugs, but you do make me feel comfort.

Oh … yeah … the wedding. No boys worth my time so I spent my evening with the Lady drinking beer and dancing. Way better than getting drunk and kissing some slob and regretting it in the morning. Don’t you think? I’m not sure either, but that is the way it happened.

Hope you all are getting your connections today.

The Single Girl

The long weekend Part II – I Don’t Know How We Do It

After our morning beer GB and I hit the road around noon, stopping at a discount store for some cheap bathing suits so we could enjoy the hot tub at the hotel. That’s right after roughing it in the woods and the rain for one night we were on our way to a hotel to enjoy a long hot shower and a hot tub and pool before heading to a 30th birthday bash.

You may not know this about me but I am a bit of an evil genius. The party we were attending that evening was at the same complex as the work event I had to attend Friday night. When I was asked to help host our big supporter I said that I would in exchange for a room on the Sunday night instead of on the Friday night – as I had a friend I could crash with that night. Enough about my cunning, back to the story.

The drive was uneventful and we arrived at the hotel around 4pm. After a twenty minute shower and a quick check of the email GB and I settled in for an afternoon beer and a Simpsons episode. About fifteen minutes into the show I drifted off to sleep. Hey, even a hardcore party girl needs a cat nap every once in a while. An hour later I came to, a little groggy and GB let me know that it was time for the next party. As we walked to the pub I turned to GB and said “Truly I don’t know how we do it.” “Do what?” he asked. “All of this” I said as I gestured around us. “I know” he responded with a giggle. “Discipline … a lot of discipline and beer.” Then we enter to the pub for some great drinks and chats with old friends and new.

Around 11pm the pub was shutting down so we decided to move the party to a place we could all bring cocktails and drink for cheaper. We paid our tabs left the bar and wandered back to the complex. We sat around and enjoyed some more wine, music on the ipod and gentle conversation. I really thought I would be tired and toddle off to bed early, but no, the last time I looked at my watch it was 1:45am. Oy, now it is time for bed. The next morning, GB and I got up, donned out new cheapo bathing suits and had a great dip in the hot tub, where we again wondered how it is we these lives and then we packed up for the third time in three days and headed for home.

The adventure for the single girl does not end here. After arriving home, unpacking, feeding the dog and trying to nap I headed off to see the SSM for dinner. See, following the incident on Friday afternoon he messaged me and told m that he wanted to make me dinner to make up for everything. I Armed myself with a bottle of wine I headed off to his apartment not sure what to expect, or even sure what I was thinking going to his place at all. I was completely exhausted, a little hung over from the entire weekend and I’m not even sure I like him. I wonder what he will cook? Oh well, I was already half way there at that point. Too late to turn back now.

The evening was … well … really good. I had a bit of a panic attack and started to feel suffocated when I found myself back on couch with him after dinner. I quietly worked through my fears in my head and soldiered forward. I think you can fill in the blanks of where it all went once I calmed down and just enjoyed myself … At the end of our evening he wanted to cuddle and I think he was about to invite me to stay the night, but I stopped him and let him know I needed to go home. I wanted my own bed (he like many others has a bad bed), to be home for work in the morning and I needed a little space to myself. So I jumped up, called a cab and said my goodbye. As I made my way toward the door he once again planted a knee buckling kiss on me, pulled back, smiled and said, “You’d better go, or you are going to miss your cab.” “Right” I whispered as I walked out the door into the night and finally, to my home.

The Single Girl

Me Write? Nahhhh ...

On Friday I had to go out of town for work to host one of our big supporters. I was told if I wanted to I could rent a car instead of taking the bus – as the cost was about the same. I like driving, this is perfect I thought, I will rent a car drive out, get the wine do my hosting duties and so on and so forth. So I made a reservation with Budget and went about my day.

It was a really quiet day in the office as nearly everyone was gone early for the long weekend or working out of the office. I wasn’t being very productive and ended up chatting with the SSM for a few minutes complaining that I wasn’t very focused and I was hungry. He suggested that I come over to his place and have some sorbet and kill an hour before I had to head out of town. Hmmm, I’m not getting much done here, the boss keeps telling me to just get out of here … yeah I’ll go now! So I headed off to the rental place picked up the car and drove to the home of the SSM.

I got there and liked his little apartment. It is a cute one bedroom looking out onto one of the major downtown streets. I took off my coat and shoes and plunked myself on the couch and began telling him about my day. It was nice he listened as I droned on about the mundane tasks I did and stroked my hair. Before long we were kissing. “I have to leave by 3:30 or I will be towed.” I said in a very serious voice. “No Problem” he said and we continued to make out on the couch for about an hour. At exactly 3:30 I hopped up off the couch and started putting on my coat and brushing my hair to leave. “Sorry but I really have to go” I said as I took a quick peak to make sure the car was still there. Yep, all good. I finished brushing out my hair put on my hat and went to the door. “Have a good weekend” he said and then kissed me with such force that I virtually melted right there in the doorway for about 5 minutes. “No really I am leaving now” I said as I regained my composure. He opened the door and I quickly made my escape.

I hit the street flushed from the kiss and realized my car – the rental car - was gone. There was a meter maid on the street so I stopped him and asked if he knew where my car was. “There’s a number on the sign miss” he replied and continued on his way. I grabbed the number and dialed as I did that I looked down the street and saw my car on the back of a tow truck three blocks away. “WAIT!” I screamed and ran down the street to catch him. “This your car miss” the man said. “Yes” I responded breathlessly “I’m so sorry I was around the corner it is only 3:40 … and I …” “We take all major credit cards miss. If you get in the truck I can process you here so you don’t have to go down to the impound lot” he said. “Great I have a credit card. I will just get that …” I said fumbling through my backpack.

We got in the tow truck and drove around the corner to a less busy street. He processed my fine – $75.00 - unhooked the car from the truck and sent me on my way. By now I was running about 20 minutes late so I thought I would try a different route out of town to make up some time. I got about 30 blocks and realized I didn’t have my overnight bag so I turned the car around head home ran in the house and grabbed my things and hit the road for real. The whole event left me so flustered that two hours later while having dinner with people from work one of my co workers asked me if I had a sunburn because my face looked red. “Umm … I must have got some sun on the drive out here.” I said as I touched my still flushed cheeks and smiled.

Later that evening after all the formal festivities were over I recounted the story for a few trusted friends. “Wow,” one of them remarked “you should really write this down it is a great story!” “You think? Write it down? I don’t know, I don’t really do that sort of thing.”

;)

The Single Girl

Enjoy it She Says – as though I have any control over it

So it was a date that I went on with the slightly strange man the other night. And you know what it was a perfectly normal date with a slight strange, but perfectly nice man. We met at the pub we like, had a couple of pints, split a pizza and talked for about 3 hours. All the usual stuff, history family, mutual friends, drinking stories, vomit stories, near death experiences, work … first date chat.

At the end of the night we walked for a few blocks until we reached the corner where I had to go north and he had to go south and we said goodbye. I told him I had a good time and we hugged and he kissed me on the lips. I was a bit surprised, and I think I pulled back a bit smiled and said thanks, or something equally lame and then good night and I put my hand on his arm and gave it a little squeeze. He then pulled me in and really kissed me. Right there on the corner of north and south we made out like two 15 year olds for about ten minutes until someone drove by and yelled get a room. This seemed like good time to make my exit so I pulled away and said I think I better go and wandered off towards my home.

Once home I was very quiet (which is unusual for me.) I asked GB how his day was as I checked my email. “Fine. Where have you been? Wait you had a date with the SSM didn’t you?” “Yep” I replied quietly and smiled in GB’s direction. “Well how was it … Oh Gawd. You like him don’t you?” GB groaned and looked up from his computer “It was good we had fun. I might like him. I’m going to bed.”

The three pints I had enjoyed at the pub allowed me to drift of to sleep fairly quickly but by about 2am their sedative effects were gone and I was left with a dry mouth and three slices of pizza sitting in my gut like a brick keeping me up. From 2 until after 4am I lied in bed thinking about the date and the boy and work and life and everything swirled and swirled as I tossed and turned wishing I could get back to sleep. I managed to get a few more hours before I had to get up and go into work but not enough to really function.

In the morning after having a cup of coffee in the shower to try and get me moving, I had a small freak out with Roomie as I told her about the date and grinned like some sort of Cheshire cat. “Aww it’s great.” She said and assured me that everything was going to be fine. “A good date is a good thing, remember you’re a commitment phob so relax and don’t think too much, this is fun. Right! TSG enjoy it.” Right, enjoy it I thought as I heading out the door to work.

I got to work and wasn’t very productive between the lack of sleep, the three pints and the date. I messed up a bunch of work and generally looked confused as people talked to me about various projects. Around 2pm I decided it was best for all concerned if I just went home and had a nap, my boss concurred. After my nap I decided to call The Lady as we hadn’t spoken in days and I told her all about the date and the freaking out and hating the fact that I couldn’t concentrate at work and that I couldn’t sleep. “What is wrong with you? This is the part that everyone else in the world loves. The butterflies, the giggles, RELAX enjoying it. This is great. My god it was just a date, who knows what happens next. Don’t borrow trouble and sabotage a good time.”

So today I am working on letting the butterflies and giggles and far off gazes rolls over me in waves like they naturally want to instead of trying to stop the feelings dead in their tracks before they have a chance to form. We will see what happens. Wish me luck, I am trying here.

The Single Girl

Online Dating and Other Slightly Strange Encounters

I finally got around to registering for the online dating this weekend. I made a profile, answered all the questions, – which was extremely tough - and chatted with a few guys already. I think this venture is mostly going to provide funny stories more than any romance but we will see. I have received 15 messages, 12 invites to chat and made one date in the last 24 hours. Yes you heard it here folks I made a date with a guy. Well I am trying to make a date with a guy. We have chatted and tried to find a date that would work for both of us this week but so far it is not working out. I will keep you posted as things progress.

This weekend I also had brunch with the Slightly Strange Man. I did 5K on the treadmill and was starving for eggs but there were none in the house. I popped on to the computer and there he was online so I asked him if I could buy him brunch instead of beer. He was skeptical but agreed as he was hungry. It was a great plan, have brunch on Sunday so I could free myself up to have a drink with the online guy during the week. No go. SSM informed me over brunch that a deal is a deal and I am still obligated to have beer with him. GB thinks he has a crush on me, could be, I bet I will find out after the SSM has a few pints in him.

The rest of the weekend was pretty standard, hung out with GB and roomies BF on Friday night, attended a house party on Saturday night, and you know about my Sunday. It is going to be a busy week fair readers I will try to keep you up to date.

The Single Girl

I don't understand

As noted in my last post I recently put Awesome in touch with Fireboy’s Slightly Strange friend so they could talk about boy stuff I guess. In return for agreeing to talk to Awesome I promised The Slightly Strange Man a beer for his troubles. Seems fair, right? He is a nice guy we always have a good time chatting, what’s the harm really?

Yesterday I he sent me message asking me when I was going to buy him beer. We threw out a few different days but nothing was lining up including last night because I was going to a poker tournament. We continued along our idol chat for a while and then I said if I was kicked out of the game early enough we could have a beer after my poker game. Sounds good he said here is my number, give me a call. After an hour of poker I was out so I thought, beer, good conversation, slightly strange man, why not? So I called him. Here is an abridged version of the conversation.

TSG: Hi, it’s TSG. What are you doing?

SSM: Nothing really. I have a house guest here now and some people are coming over in a bit. And you?

TSG: Well I just went bust in the poker game, so I am calling like I said I would to offer you that beer I owe you, but I guess you can’t, unless there is a cash bar in your apartment …

SSM: No there isn’t a cash bar. I was just going to go to the liquor store and buy some booze and pick up a movie for the gang to watch.

TSG: Right … Okay well I guess … I guess I will have to buy you a beer another time. Later

SSM: Okay. Sounds good. Bye!


I don’t understand, he contacted me and gave me his number and told me to call … and then gave me the brush off. If this is some sort of mind game to get me to like him by acting all uninterested, it isn’t working. And it won’t work, because I’m not into aloof and artsy guys who ... oh wait … Crap.

The Single Girl

It’s Okay (this is for J who worries about me)

I am for the most part a happy go lucky person. I don’t get sad too often, I am very social and I can usually find the bright side to a situation. All that being said, sometimes it is okay, even healthy, for all of us to be sad and last week I most definitely was sad.

I have lots of outlets for all 32 flavours of my emotions. The blog has proven to be a great place to air my grievances, triumphs and silly thoughts. I also have a great family and we are always there for each other. And last but not least I have my friends, who are amazing. All I have to do is ask for five minutes to talk through a problem or share a story and they give me an hour and a hug or a kick in the ass if I need it and the promise of more time when I need it. Thanks to all of you who read the blog and support me through it all. This single girl could not do it with out you. This is the last of the maudlin posts for a while, but I thought I would be remiss if I didn’t say thanks to all my peeps, supporters and anonymous readers.

Now back to what this blog is dedicated to … keeping the dream alive. After writing my post yesterday about my hotmail romance (oh crap .. that is much better title) I have decided I am going to dig into the vault and bring you some old stories about keeping the dream alive, until life gets interesting again(which should be Saturday!) So enjoy taking a sneak peak into some of the highlights (and low lights) of my life before the blog because it was interesting too. It all starts tomorrow.

Love and Respect,

The Single Girl

A Little Teary

All I want this weekend is someone to cuddle up in my bed and hide out with me. Spooning, watching movies, drinking tea and doing the crossword. I think it is being sick that has led me to this slightly sucky state of being. This is one of those weeks when I don’t want to be single. I want someone to rub my back, make tea and just spend quiet time with me. Then again, if I wasn’t single and feeling like this, I would want to be single and hide out by myself rather than try to explain my mood to another person who has needs and feelings of their own. And really, who has the time to actually spend an entire weekend hibernating and doing crosswords. Ah, the complexities of the mind …

I rarely cry. It’s true ask any of my friends – The lady even calls me hard heated Hannah because I rarely cry at sad films. But this week I feel a little weak. It could be my feeling ill, or the family stuff, or the end of my non relationship, or the Grey’s Anatomy episode I watched last night, or the January/February blues … or all of the above. I think all of the above is the answer. It was kind of scary when I almost cried in a staff meeting today over what outwardly seemed like nothing to get that upset about. I didn’t ultimately breakdown (thank God!) but it has led to my decision to treat myself to a sad movie at home tonight so I can get it out of my system and get on with my life – i.e. go for beer and pizza on Saturday and stop feeling sorry for myself.

I know there is a bunch of blah feelings going around as I hear it from friends, read it on blogs and see it in the faces of people on the street. It is strangely comforting knowing that people know how you feel and/or feel similar. It gives me a sense of kinship as we all claw our way through the beginning of 2007. I think (and maybe I am optimistic) it will get better once the sun is out for more than 2 hours a day and the slush is gone and there are flowers and bright colours on the streets.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a good weekend, or at least a good Saturday crossword.

The Single Girl

Pseudonyms

I have decided that I should see a counselor to help me to deal with some current stuff happening in the family. I think therapy and counseling are a very health and proactive way to deal with ones mental health. Just as we all go for physicals, check ups and different appointments to keep our body in tune there are times and reasons to talk to someone to make sure the mind is in tune. (End of public service announcement and my validating seeing a counselor).

So I called a reputable counseling service and got their machine for new referrals. The message tells you to leave your name and a number you can be reached at and for confidentiality reasons when they return your call you will just be told that “Alex” called unless you give express permission to use the services name. In theory this is a great idea but for me I would get a message that Alex called, and be like … who the hell is Alex? And never return the call.

Then I thought to myself I wonder if escort services ever do anything like this. Can you imagine the message:

“Um hi this is Bob the plumber calling. You called about your pipes … I wanted to let you know that I am available to umm … come and clean your pipes on Friday. Please call me back so we can um … get those pipes cleaned.”

These are the sorts of thoughts that fill my head during the day.

Yours,

The slightly warped Single Girl

Home for the Holidays (part 3) – Or Overheard at My House on Christmas Night

Okay I know I said I was going to write the funny things said by my family but I am bored with that idea and worry that the bad grammar and miss pronounced words and phrases uttered by my French Canadian Sister in Law are only funny to me and my family. In any case I still have one final story from the holidays so here you go.

As we all had the Norwalk virus on Christmas Eve we had to cancel our usual evening of drinking and partying with family friends. Along with the drinking … and the partying we normally have a gift exchange. One of those games where you can either open a gift or steal one of the gifts that is already open. You have all had to do that at a Holiday party or family gathering … right? If not you get the basic premise. Sadly as we did not do an exchange so no one got a present.

This upset my Aunt greatly as she had bought what she thought was an amazing gift for the exchange. So Christmas night most of the family was feeling well enough to lie on the floor in the living room so we could at least pretend that we had managed a visit with each other and celebrate Christmas. At some point my Aunt brought down her gift for the exchange and told us someone should really open the gift she had purchased for the party the night before. I love opening presents so I agreed to open it and had the following conversation while holding the mystery gift.

Aunt: Do you know what it is?

TSG: Is it a sweater clip? It looks kind of like a sweater clip …

Aunt (with a bit of a giggle): No, guess again.

TSG: OMG is it roach clips?
(my aunt has been known to have hoot or two after dinner so it is not such a strange guess for me to make.)

Aunt: No (glaring at me as if to say please don’t refer to my dope habit in front of my mother). Guess again

TSG: I have no idea …

Aunt (looking in the direction of my 85 year old grandmother): Ask your Nana?

TSG: Nana do you know what this is?

Nana: They look like nipple clips to me dear…


And they were in fact a set of nipple clips. Now tell me does your Nana know a set of nipple clips when she sees them … I didn’t think so.

I promise I will get a photo of the clips and post them for you all very soon.

The Single Girl

Home for the Holidays (part II) or Norwalk-a-thon

No more than 24 hours after I posted home for the holidays part one I came down with the flu – which I am assuming was the Norwalk Virus because it apparently was going around town.

Early on Christmas Eve I woke up at around 3am and started puking my guts out. I came downstairs, not wanting to wake or worry the family to find my brother on the comfy couch, so I took my place on love seat and hoped the nausea would pass. It didn’t and I ran to the bathroom and began one of the worst days of my life. As I was lying on the bathroom floor, I worried about waking my poor sleeping brother – who I assumed had been kicked out of bed by his 18 month old son. Not to worry, he was up before and enjoying the same ritual I was over at the kitchen sink.

The only thing worse than throwing up on Christmas Eve is listening to your brother throw up on Christmas Eve as well. At first I felt bad worrying that he was sick because he heard me get sick but it turns out he started throwing up a good 2 hours before me. At first no one was afraid of us they all assumed that we had drunk too much home made wine and were being appropriately punished. Nope, it was Norwalk and they got theirs for accusing both of us of being unable to hold our liquor.

It got pretty bad. First Lu, then me, then The Lady, then the baby, then my Sister in Law, and finally Nana all were crushed by the Norwalk. Some how my father managed to not get the flu, but then again he had the flu shot so he deserves not to have the flu. The saddest part is that we didn’t open presents until almost 4pm on Christmas Day because no one could muster the energy to get out of bed. My dad pointed out as we were opening gifts that we once opened presents at 4 one other time … but it was 4am not 4pm.

On Christmas morning I was wrapping gifts for Lu and we had the following exchange:

Lu: Thanks for wrapping my presents.

TSG: No problem, but the hair straightener is going in a bag, I don’t have the energy to figure out how to wrap that.

Lu: Done. Have you ever, in all your 30 years, been less excited about Christmas?

TSG: No, never. You?

Lu: No. This sucks. Lu groans and lies down on the floor having used all his energy for that one brief exchange.

(From down the hall The lady sheds a tear listening to our pathetic Christmas dialogue but can not move for fear of expelling toxins for the 23rd time in twelve hours.)

Good Times, great memories.


Tomorrow the final installment of home for the holidays where we review some of the best quotes from my family.

TSG

Home for the Holidays (part I)

I have been trying to log into blogger for about 12 hours but between a bad connection, the endless traffic of people and the lady pulling out the master list every other hour and saying what do we have to get done today it is hard to get enough time on the computer to write anything. I must warn you now that I am writing directly onto blogger as my parents use Microsoft works and not word on their computer (I didn’t even think that program still existed) so my word doc of the blog is of no use to me.

So far the trip is as expected, tiring and so much fun, but today’s post- and probably the last one before the holiday is devoted to my trip to get here. I must begin by thanking CMG for the ride out to the airport and the cocktail in the hotel bar. Nothing like preparing for a long trip with a pint of Coors Light and a good chat.

I entered the security line in front of a very young man (19ish if you are wondering what I believe “very young” to be) who was humming. After a minute or two I realized that he was actually humming Leaving on a Jet Plane. So I was forced to say ... are you actually humming Leaving on a Jet Plane? And this very young and sweet young man replied "yeah! I am so excited I am going home and it is like only my second time on a plane, I don't even know what to do at security." I recommended he put his coat and belongings in the bin to start. "Should I take off my belt?" he asked ... "Sure" I said "it couldn't hurt." Then I asked him where he was going and what he was doing that brought him here. He told me he was going to bible college and I thought to myself ... of course you are … and made my way through security and nicely moved on from the innocent young Christian.

While wandering around the airport and wasting time I caught the eye of a nice looking guy sitting at my gate. We played the eye game ... you know ... look at each other, look away, look back, repeat. I left the seating area to get water came back and was left with no choice but to sit beside this guy as there was almost nowhere else in lounge to sit. We instantly stuck up a conversation (CMG and OQB this story does not end with me joining the mile high club so don't get your hopes up) and waited for the line to die down a little.

Once on the plane and waiting to get seating he noted that someone was sitting in his seat and I noted that it looked like the seat beside me was free if he wanted and he accepted. All sounds great right ... well it was until two minutes later when some punk kid told me that I was in his seat. Turns out not only was I in the wrong seat but in the wrong row so I was forced to leave the company of my potential new friend.

After we landed we struck up a conversation again for a minute or two commenting on the weirdoes waiting for luggage that really should just go out and have that cigarette ... for every ones sanity. Then I ran into a ex co-worker and ended up talking to him for two minutes as I watched the mystery man orbit in my general direction. Then the strangest thing happened, as the conveyer belt started and the luggage began to tumble down my suitcase was the third one off. This NEVER happens. I mean really, when you are in a rush and want to get out of the airport as quickly as possible you are there for longer than your flight, but when you have an attractive man you want to give your email to, your luggage shows up almost as fast as you. So I grabbed my bags made a hasty goodbye from the work friend, walked over and wished Mr. Man a happy holidays, got his name shook his hand and left.

I have been torn over how I feel about the goodbye. I wonder if I should have given him my email or number, but I also think, if he didn't ask for it, maybe he didn't want it or it wasn't meant to be. Either way it is still one of the better plane rides I have had in the recent past. Many more adventures here, but tomorrows work list is long and I must get some sleep.

Soon to come in Home for the Holidays part II (sometime after the holiday)

• Memorable quotes from the family (sneak peak - The Lady while we were having lunch my first day here "Who in the world could I have been with that I would have wanted only one glass of wine?")
• Going to Fireboy's Christmas party - well crashing really
• To the airport and back again
• And many other family hi-jinks
  

The Single Girl

Holidays and other random thoughts

I can’t describe how excited I am to go home to the clan. My little brother arrived at my parents place three days ago and I have been jealous ever since. I have talked to him and the parental units at least twice a day since Saturday. Last night Lu and I were taunting the lady but it just wasn’t the same as actually being there to egg each other on and see the look on her face as we teased her.

It is going to be a big Christmas in my world. Everyone is coming home. I am sure regular readers have come to understand my love of a good party and that I do not generally fear the wrath of a hangover, but I am a little nervous about the size and scope of the holiday cheer that awaits me when I walk through the doors of the homestead. I learned to love parties (attending, throwing, crashing … you name it) from my parents and spending time with my party mentors is always a great time. Mix together a dash my friends, a pinch of their friends, a spoonful extended family, a dollop my one year old nephew and a heaping serving of alcohol and you have my recipe for a fantastic family holiday.

I just came to the realization that I haven’t turned on the TV in 3 days. Usually when I have the house to myself it is always on just for some noise, but for the past few days I have been too obsessed with both David Sedaris and various blog reading to even think of turning on the tube. For those that don’t know me, three days without even turning on the weather network is something akin to a miracle, or more realistically one of the signs of the apocalypse. I am now determined not to turn it on before I leave town – which is tomorrow so it shouldn’t be hard.

Other things I contemplated writing about and may in the future but just couldn’t fit in today:

• How beautiful the sunrise is as I walk to work in the morning. It almost makes going to and from work in the dark worthwhile - almost.
• OQB is disgusting, hilarious, a great shoulder to lean on and kick in my ass all at the
  same time and I wouldn’t have it any other way. And he totally needs to get his own blog and call it Ass … the final frontier.
• People who send Christmas cards make me feel somewhat unorganized and inadequate. I sometimes wonder if I should continue to be friends with people who are that organized.
• As much as I love having the house to myself – not even the dog is here – I can’t wait until Roomie and GB are back.
• My life was never this interesting when I lived in the Centre of the Universe, why is that?

Love and Egg Nog for all – if that’s your thing

The Single Girl

The things that keep me up at night

I had some trouble sleeping last night. Part of it of course was the email from Awesome and trying to figure out how I want to proceed but there are other things that are filling my mind as well. My dad is sick, like getting chemo treatments sick and this week he has a cold with a cough so bad that he can barely talk. He already had a cough that was kind of scary so this is worse, especially with a compromised immune system. Dad of course is a rock and is sure it will all pass like any cold does, but me, I worry.

Anyway my brother Lu (not his real name but a nick name I gave him way back in high school) called twice yesterday to talk cause he too is worried. Two calls in one day from my brother is a big deal. Don’t worry too much folks I think dad will get through this cold, but it all continues to be scary for the entire family.

Then I watched Desperate Housewives, my god I wasn't ready for that AT all. That might be the most action packed episode I have ever seen. Ok maybe that shouldn’t be such a big deal but I can get really into things be it TV, Movies or the theatre it can really change my blood pressure. And that episode left me absolutely giddy.

So after all of these things my 11pm bedtime was not going to happen. I did try to go to bed but quickly gave up and went back to the TV and some spider solitaire. GB gave me the remote after a few minutes and went upstairs to go to sleep, or so I thought. Instead we ended up MSNing for 25 minutes, sitting 2 rooms away. GB was musing about this boy that was chatting with him and whether or not to rekindle the flame of the wee lad. We bantered back and forth about the pros and cons of revisiting that particular crime scene but never really resolved anything. At about 12:30 I asked him if he could recommend a book from his bookshelf and he said, I will be right there. So we picked a book together from his excellent collection and I read until after 1am and then continued to let my brain churn in the dark until about 2am. The alarm at 6am came mighty early this morning let me tell you. I snoozed until about 6:45 as it is not a gym day but I am still a little curious how I will manage the entire day.

I do have to thank GB for the book but more importantly for bringing the coffee grinder into our home. I don’t know how I lived for 30 years without freshly ground beans every morning. It truly baffles the mind. I don't think I will ever be able to live without one again.

Finally the Comments are back. I was feeling a little silly and precious last night when I posted but all is right with the world now. So feel free to send me your thoughts and musings about any and all topics.

Happy Monday!

The Single Girl