Does this make me a horrible person?

Two weeks from today I'm throwing Aaron a birthday "fiesta" at our favorite Mexican restaurant. There will be pitchers of margaritas, platters of nachos, and even a margarita cake (made by me of course). I've invited all of the usual suspects and told Aaron last night that his college roommate was going to come from out of town. He was glad I invited the guy and even more glad that he could make it. Then Aaron asked me the question that I was Dreading (yes, with a capital D). Had I invited his friend Alex*.

Now I like Alex, in small doses. And sober. But drunk Alex is a little too much for me to handle. He gets rowdy and loud and sort-of obnoxious.

Well, I hadn't invited Alex for this very reason. Flowing margaritas means he'll probably get pretty drunk, and since I won't be drinking I'll have a harder time dealing with that. But now I feel bad. I did email him this morning and invite him, but I'm really hoping that since the party is on a Friday evening and he lives quite a few hours away that he won't be able to make it.

So, this is where the question comes in - this guy is one of Aaron's very best friends and has been his friend for most of his life, but I really don't want him to come. Does this make me a horrible person? Hoping he doesn't come? Or does it just put me in the usual "bitch wife" position that I hate? You know, the annoying wife that all the husband's friends can't stand because she's not nice to them (and really I try to be nice to all my husband's friends and like about 99% of them) and who I strive not to be. I hope it doesn't make me the bitch wife. I really do.

*Alex is not his real name

"I don't know!"

Currently I have a dark purple bruise about the size of a quarter on my knee. While sitting in bed this morning watching the news, Aaron came in the room, looked at my knee and said "Ew! What the hell did you do this time?"

I honestly replied "I don't know!"

I know I'm not the only one who will look at some part of their body, see a big bruise and think "Where did that come from? I don't remember doing anything that would cause that." Maybe I just need to pay a little more attention, but, seriously: where do these bruises come from?

The first mystery bruise in my life that I can remember happened one day when I woke up with a black eye. I was about 3 or 4 and my mom freaked out. We figure maybe I fell out of bed (which was a frequent occurrence for me as a child, and why I slept on a mattress on the floor for many years) and hit my head on the rocking chair next to my bed, but we're still not sure exactly what happened. Regardless of how it happened, the rocking chair was moved across the room, just in case. That one was definitely the most memorable of the mystery bruises.

I most frequently get the mystery bruises on my arms and legs. That could be from my tendency to not quite make it through a door. What I mean is this: when walking out a door or around a corner, I frequently don't seem to leave myself enough room and run right into the wall with my arm or leg. This amuses Aaron to no end because he claims he's never seen anyone do that before. I know I'm not the only one who does this one though, because I've seen my mom and sister do the same thing. I think it's genetic, Aaron thinks it's a spatial relations problem - that I just don't know where I end or the wall begins. He also thinks I should pay more attention to where I'm going.

I just can't wait for the day we have a kid and they show up with random bruises (wait, that doesn't sound exactly how I meant it) and Aaron sees that it just happens. I'm sure my kids will run in to walls too. Or fall when they're just standing there. Yeah, I do that too. What can I say, I'm the true definition of a klutz.

That's Much Better

I got another full night of sleep last night. Halleluia! And this time I didn't even take a sleeping pill. Yesterday evening was wonderful, and after a full night of sleep today isn't looking half bad either.

One thing I really, absolutely love about Aaron is how he pampers me when I'm having a hard time. And it's not like he does big, sweeping gestures - he's just nice to me and does a handful of little things that make everything better. Like a delicious dinner that he made that was vegetarian because he noticed how much meat I had on the menu this week and knows that I like to have a few days when I don't eat meat. Or when I sit up in bed because I can't get comfortable and he rubs my back and shoulders. And his smile. It's just such a happy smile that lights up his whole face and I can't help but smile when I see it. Then, since he knows I fall asleep better when he's there, he laid down with me while I was falling asleep even though he had some things to take care of before he went to bed.

I don't know how I got so lucky, but I'm glad I did. That's one of my favorite parts of marriage. I do the same kinds of things for him when he's down or when I can just sense that he needs it. We take care of each other, and it's wonderful.

He's going on a business trip in a few weeks and he'll be gone for almost a whole week, and I am going to miss him so much its ridiculous. Luckily his birthday is right before he goes away so I get to pamper him a little before he goes.

Sorry for the randomness today. I know it's not exactly the most cohesive post I've ever written, but I'm happy and needed to express it. The small things in life really do make a difference, and plenty of sleep and the actions of a loving husband have filled me with joy.

UPDATED: To make today even better: 2 full hours of America's Next Top Model tonight. The first hour is a new episode, and the second hour is a season recap with previously unseen footage. I may just be in heaven. (And no, I don't know why I love this show so much, but I just do.)

Thank Goodness for a Full Night of Sleep

This is probably not a very exciting post today, but I'm busy so it has to be a quick one. They're actually expecting me to *gasp* work today, so I only have a quick second to post.

So, anyway, I've been having a problem with insomnia again lately. It's almost literally driving me nuts. It also seems that I passed it on to Aaron - Insomnia: it's catching in my house, so stay away. Aaron's been stressed about the not sleeping thing too, which I think makes insomnia a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more we worry about it the more likely we are to experience it.

So anyway, last night Aaron looked at me and told me that he had never seen me look more tired than I did right then. I guess I must have looked pretty tired because it seems that I'm always tired and looking that way. I've been struggling to stay up until at least ten o'clock so that hopefully I'll sleep better, but it hasn't really been working. I made it to ten last night, then took a sleeping pill (which I only take as a last resort or when I have a bunch of meetings the next day, which is what happened today) and fell fast asleep.

Of course, then I woke up at one having to go to the bathroom. I've been waking up at one just about every night to go to the bathroom and then I usually can't fall back asleep. I've even limited how much I drink during the day and especially the evening to prevent this. It doesn't work.

Well, after I woke up at one I laid back down and then my next thought was, gee, why can't I seem to fall back asleep? So I looked at the clock again to see what time it was. It was 4:30. I had fallen back asleep, but just didn't realize it. I fell right back asleep after that thought too and slept till the alarm went off.

So all in all it was a decent night sleep. Finally. Too bad it was peppered with moments of wakefulness and strange dreams (one of which freaked Aaron out so much when I told him about it that I swore I would never speak of it again). I have yoga tonight so that should help relax me so I can sleep at least as well as I did last night. Here's hoping tonight is even better.

"You know, the hangy thing"

About 2 months ago, on a visit to my parents, Aaron and I were sitting in my sister's car while she and my dad were making a quick stop at Staples, and a strange conversation began when Aaron yawned.

"I thought you had your tonsils out" I said.

He looked at me funny and replied "I did"

"Then why can I still see your tonsils?" I asked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he responded.

"I can see your tonsils. You know, the hangy thing. It's there at the back of your throat."

And that's where the laughter began. He informed me that the "hangy thing" weren't what tonsils are, that they were on the sides of your throat, that there were two of them (hence tonsils being plural) and he had indeed had them removed. I insisted that the "hangy thing" was your tonsils. I mean, how can I be 26 and be so grossly uninformed?

So when my dad and sister returned to the car, we asked them what the "hangy thing" in the back of your throat is called.

"Tonsils" my sister replied. Then Aaron started laughing even harder.

"Fine" she said, "I'll call my boyfriend" (who is pre-med, so we thought perhaps he would know). Unfortunately he didn't know what the hangy thing was called, but he did inform us that it was not your tonsils. So my sister hung up and commented about how she couldn't believe that she was 19 and didn't know that the "hangy thing" wasn't your tonsils. I reminded her that, hey, I'm 26 and didn't know either.

We decided that we had to find the source of this mis-information, so when we went home we asked our mom "Hey, you know the hangy thing in the back of your mouth? What is that called?"

"Tonsils" she replied. Ahhh...we have located the source. We all laughed because what of what she said when we informed her of the mis-information she had been spreading: "I can't believe I'm in my fifties and didn't know that isn't your tonsils".

It was dinner time so no one googled it and the conversation was forgotten until the next morning when all of the sudden it came to me. "Uvula" I said aloud to Aaron, who responded, "well, screw you too". He obviously had forgotten the conversation, or at least wasn't thinking about it at that very moment.

"That's what the hangy thing is - a uvula. I remember reading about it in the comments of a blog. See? I'm not just wasting time reading blogs, I'm learning too." So it was decided that the "hangy thing" was the uvula and we moved on.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. We're at the concert with my sister and her boyfriend (Mr. Pre-Med) and he says "Epiglottis". We all looked at him funny, and he says, "That's what the hangy thing is called".

We all fell into laughter, and informed him that he was wrong. Later, though, I had the nagging feeling that maybe I was wrong, but that feeling only lasted for a few minutes. Then last night, as I lay awake in bed, I started thinking about it again. So I googled it this morning. The "hangy thing" is definitely your uvula, and your epiglottis is the flap that covers the trachea during swallowing so that food does not enter the lungs.

See, you can totally learn things on blogs.

Oh, Brother

This weekend is going to be a very busy weekend. We're visiting Aaron's parents on Saturday and then Saturday night we're headed to my parents' place. The main reason we're heading north for the weekend is a wedding shower, which is happening Sunday afternoon. This is not just any wedding shower - it's a shower for my brother and his fiance.

That's right. My baby brother is getting married! I can't believe he's old enough for this. I also can't believe I really haven't talked about this on here before, because the wedding is less than two months away.

I don't see or talk to my brother very often. He lives way up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, about 8 hours away from here. I usually only get to see him around the holidays or when I head up that way. We don't have a lot in common (besides our great love for our favorite game), but we do generally get along. When we were teenagers we so did not get along. But as kids we were partners in crime.

I was an only child for four years, and was hesitant to give that up, but when he came along I was thrilled to have a new playmate. In fact, when he was an infant I often got in trouble for waking him up from his nap because I desperately wanted to play with him. It was great!

When he was a little older he got to be a little more fun, and I didn't get in trouble for playing with him any more. When he was about two my friends and I would play a fun game with him. We'd put on our favorite "Cabbage Patch" album, turn up the volume, yell bite, and run. You see, whenever he heard the word bite, he'd come after whoever yelled it. It was kind of a painful version of tag, and he was always it.

My mom often tells the story about how we used to get up really early in the morning and she'd hear us whispering in the kitchen as I prepared us breakfast and then we'd turn on the cartoons. She'd come out to see what we were up to, and we'd be laying in front of the television, feasting on Coke and cookies - my favorite thing to fix us.

For most of our childhood, one of our favorite things to do was turn music on really loud, jump around (especially on beds) and sing. Last night as I was falling asleep I got one of our all-time favorite songs stuck in my head: "I'm My Own Grandpa". We didn't have the Jerry Garcia version, ours was the Muppets. But it was a great song nonetheless and we thought it was hilarious. (It kind of is)

My brother won't be down for the shower this weekend (he has finals to study for) and I'll miss him. I can't wait to head up north for the wedding, and I know I'll be a wreck when he's up there saying his vows. Good thing they didn't ask me or my sister to stand up for them because I know she'll be a crying mess too. I just can't believe he's old enough to get married, but I'm so completely excited and happy for him.

I've been thinking long and hard about what to get he and his fiance as a shower gift, but now I think I've figured it out. I'll get them something small off their registry, and then I'm going to make him a cd of our favorite songs from when they were kids. I hope (and I'm fairly sure that) his memories of them are as fond as mine.

Maybe it's not as stupid as I thought

It's more depressing instead and now I've Dr. Googled it and freaked myself out. I have what are known as patulous eustachian tubes. There's no known cure, and it could last for freaking ever. One possible cure is gaining back the weight, but I'd really rather not do that. I was all excited about my weight loss and the thought of gaining it back is pretty depressing.

Even worse is crying at work. Today totally sucks.

Talk about Stupid (with a capital S)

Well, I just got back from my appointment with an ENT specialist regarding my weird ear problem, and I think I have one of the most dumb problems ever. Really.

Okay, here's the deal. My ear has been bothering me for two months now, with a weird vibrating sound that happens when I breathe. This all started in late February and hasn't let up since. I've been to my normal doctor twice who has loaded me up on all kinds of medicines - decongestants, anti-histamines, allergy medications, and ear drops, so I've been feeling sort of medicine-head-ish for about two months. The whole thing, especially the vibrating noise, is really, incredibly annoying and then this week it was accompanied by pain and insomnia, so something had to be done.

We now think we know the cause of all my problems.

You see, your Eustachian tube is supposed to be closed about 90 percent of the time, only opening when you yawn or something like that in order to even out the pressure. Mine is stuck open. So, I need to get more congested, which means that the $80 plus that I've spent with my normal doctor trying to make it better has, in fact, been making it much worse. So that sucks.

The cause of the pain seems to be my TMJ flaring up because I'm so stressed out about the ear, and the TMJ is also part of what is keeping me awake.

But here's the best news. You want to know what the doctor thinks caused all of this?

Weight loss.

That's right, I lost most of the about 10 pounds I've lost in February and March, and that's why my ear is freaking out. Teaches me to exercise regularly and eat right.

So I have to stop taking all my medicines (hello, allergies, come on in and make me congested) and start taking an anti-inflammatory and prevacid (because the anti-inflammatory causes stomach issues) to make the TMJ better. This whole thing is too weird. I just hope everything gets better because I'm really tired of all of this. And not just because I woke up at 1:30 this morning.

I'm in a Bad Mood Today

And no, it's not because I'm hung over from last night, which I'm not (see post from last night below). It's because I have a big presentation at work today, I haven't slept in two days, my ear thing is still bothering me (I have an appointment with an ENT specialist tomorrow - finally!), and the only thing that could make it worse has happened. I have cramps. Blech.

So, I don't have anything interesting to post today, don't feel like being creative, and I'll post the 6 Weird Things About Me meme tomorrow. If I feel any better and if there's no bad news from the doctor. Those are big "Ifs". Sorry for all the bitching and moaning. It's all I seem to be capable of at the moment.

6 Things Meme - Variation

So, Aaron and I were talking over dinner and I was telling him about the 6 Things meme that's going around and some of the funnier/cooler things I've read on other peoples' sites. (I promise I'll follow this up tomorrow with my own version) He thought this was funny and immediately came up with his own six things. And I quote:

"1. My third nipple, 2. My third eye, 3. My third penis, 4. Oh, wait, forgot about my second penis, 5. I have 7 toes, and 6. 2 belly buttons"

He cracks me up, so I thought I'd share.

Can you tell we've been drinking a little wine with dinner? Also? This is my first drunk blogging experience.

You're welcome.

Oh, what a weekend

I am so sad (yet again) that it's Monday. We had yet another fantastic weekend, although we didn't do either of the two things we had planned.

Friday night I left work early and worked out. When Aaron got home (early too, surprise!) we decided to go out to our favorite dive steakhouse for dinner, and then went to see "Thank You for Smoking" afterward. Dinner was wonderful, and I ate so much that I didn't think I'd ever be able to eat again. I was that full. Plus I had a raspberry margarita that was incredible, so I was feeling happy and a little giddy when we got to the theatre.

The movie was really funny and Aaron and I both enjoyed it very much. Aaron is typically a loud laugher, so much so that sometimes at movies people will laugh at his laugh. It's contagious. Well, at the movie the guy sitting in front of us was a louder laugher than Aaron. They'd both start laughing at a scene and then the rest of the fairly full theatre would start to laugh along with them. I think it may have made the movie even more enjoyable, if that's even possible. I suggest you go out and see it if you haven't yet.

There was one thing I didn't like though - the couple that brought their young daughter to the movie. There are some scenes in the movie that are highly inappropriate for kids, and I know that I wouldn't want any child of mine to see that movie until they were at least old enough to see R-rated movies. Maybe I'm just more of a prude than I think I am, but I don't think a 7-year-old girl should be watching semi-graphic sex scenes.

Anyway, hopping back off my soapbox, with the fullness and the alcohol running through my system, once we got home I wasn't up for much other than sitting around. It was a beautiful evening and so we sat out on our balcony and reminisced about childhood summers while watching the stars come out.

As usual, on Saturday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn, so we decided to do something instead of lounge around in bed. We got up and got ready and then headed to a park a little north of us for a hike. The trail we chose was a bit more challenging than we're used to, and even though it was shorter than our usual hikes we were exhausted by the time we were done. We ran a few errands and then went home and lounged for the afternoon.

Saturday night we decided to relive one of our favorite things from early in our relationship - "ghetto night". I know it may not be P.C. to call it this, but whatever. I went out and rented video games, "Roadhouse" and bought Aaron a 40 and me some wine coolers. Okay, so maybe it was more "redneck" night than "ghetto" night. Let it be known that I should never be allowed to rent video games because I came home with two of the most boring games I have ever played. It was really sad. So we turned those off and put in "Roadhouse" because I had never seen it before. It may have been so exciting that I fell asleep about half way through. Just maybe. I did finish it yesterday though.

Yesterday was a nice, relaxing day once again. Since we're going north to see our families next weekend, we decided to stay in town this weekend (gas prices are killing us and our travel plans!). I made a big brunch - scrambled eggs, canadian bacon, hashbrowns and cinnamon rolls - and then we cleaned our apartment from stem to stern. I love that clean house smell!

We also planned meals for the week and went grocery shopping. I know I'm a dork for this, but this is one of my favorite things to do. I tried a new recipe from the latest Gourmet (shrimp scampi = delicious!) and we watched our usual Sunday night line-up of shows.

So, yes, it was a completely fabulous weekend and I'm sad it's over, as usual. Next weekend is going to be a busy one - my future sister-in-law's wedding shower is on Saturday in my home town and then we're driving over to my in-law's house on Sunday - so I'm glad we had a chance to have a more laid-back weekend and time to spend together before this week. I really, really love weekends.

Fantastic Friday

I know, I know, it's really "Good Friday" but since we have recently defected from our church and have yet to find another one, we are without religion this holiday weekend.

So of course we have great big plans, like everyone else, right? Um, yeah. We're staying home and I'm making brunch. For the two of us. Also, I'll probably buy too much candy for just the two of us.

Since we have such big plans, I asked Aaron if there was anything he wanted to do this weekend, since most of our friends will be out of town. He came up with "going to the driving range", so that adds about 30 minutes of fun to our obviously jam-packed weekend. I think we might go see V for Vendetta too. Whatever we do, it has to be more exciting than last night was depressing, because last night was depressing and I need to get away from that.

The night started out fabulously enough. I managed to drag my ass to the gym and get in a good workout, and Aaron came home with red wine and cheesecake, therefore negating the good workout. Plus he made spaghetti, and his version is delicious, so I was in heaven. Until we decided to watch a movie.

Have you seen "Million Dollar Baby"? I hadn't until last night. If you haven't I won't spoil it for you, but at the end of the movie I was a crying, sniffling mess. I think Aaron may have wiped away a tear or two, but when I told him it was okay to cry, he said he'd rather wait and get it over with when I fell asleep. It was that sad. I was still crying about fifteen minutes after the movie ended.

Also, was that Leila Ali who played the last boxer she fought? We were just wondering.

So, yes, this should be a fun weekend. Hopefully we can come up with something better to do other than stuff our face with Cadbury Eggs. Wait - is there anything better than stuffing your face with Cadbury Eggs? There might not be. Those things are awesome. Happy Easter everyone!

Oops...Let out a bit too much of the Crazy

Sorry about the whining complaining post yesterday afternoon. When I wrote that I was just about to lose my shit over my ear issue, which just goes to show that I should never be allowed on Web MD or any such site, because damn. It really brings out the crazy in me.

I had been reading about inner ear infections which can, apparently, lead to permanent (or temporary) deafness. And since some of the symptoms match what I'm dealing with, I was freaking the hell out. The fun thing about the Web MD brand of crazy is that it infects my husband too when I tell him about what I read. Now he thinks I'm going to go deaf too. So, we've decided it's time for me to schedule an appointment with an ENT doctor and get this figured out. Because I'm a worse-case-scenario kind of person when it comes to my health, I think that the ENT person will immediately tell me that I need tubes in my ears and then, surgery here I come.

Yeah, the whole thing really freaks me out. A lot.

Also, we're trying to figure out how to block me from all health-related sites so that I don't do this to us again, because while my husband can deal with me having a case of the crazies, he can't deal with himself having them too.

Have you ever....

had one of those days that just WILL NOT END?

Yeah, I'm having one. I am so mind-numbingly bored right now that I am thinking that taking a yoga class right now while incredibly sore sounds like a better idea than sitting here at work.

Compounding my long boring day is the bad idea I had for lunch, a.k.a. the fried eggplant sandwich that I thought would be good but which was really, really, incredibly not. Also, it was full of grease and my stomach? Is kind of queasy right now. To top it all off, I'm still hungry, but have nothing to eat.

Gah! Today sucks!

But enough of my complaining, because I'm sure it's annoying.

Wait, I have one more thing to complain about. My ear. The left one, to be exact. I have been having clogged ear problems for about 2 months now and it's driving me batty. My doctor says it's allergies or a cold and my eustatian (I have no idea if that's spelled right) tube is inflamed and so it's almost swollen shut and so there's this vibrating noise when I breathe and it's really, really, incredibly, completely freaking annoying. We've tried all different kinds of medicines and medicine combinations, and the doctor says that if it doesn't go away I may have to have tubes put in my ears! Surgery? No thanks. GAH! It's really bad today.

Have any of you ever had this problem (the vibrating ear-tube thing)? Do you know how to fix it? My latest attempt is to stop using my ear buds because on Monday I listened to my ipod for most of the day and then had in ear plugs at the concert for 2-plus hours and then yesterday the annoyingness was about 10 times worse than it has been in the recent past. Who knows. I just hope this works because I really don't want to have to do the ear-tubes surgery. So, yeah, if anyone has ever heard of this please let me know whatever you know about it. I will resort to begging if I have to. I just want it to stop being annoying and go away.

Okay. that's it with the complaining. Unfortunately that's all I have today, so there you go. At least this made 10 minutes pass fairly quickly, which helps with my first issue du jour.

Over-Stretched

I haven't written too much about it on here, but I've been on a shape-up mission since right before Christmas. I had slimed down before my wedding, but had gained ten pounds of the twenty I lost by my first anniversary. I really wasn't happy with this and so I decided to do my own little boot camp. It did work and I lost over ten pounds, although a few have creeped back on, and so I'm right at what I weighed on my wedding day.

Now that I've lost the weight I want to shape up. I've been trying to lift weights more often at my gym, but I've also added something new to my routine: a yoga class.

I've done some yoga before, but only with a video or some pages out of a magazine, and never a full hour-long class with an instructor. The classes are great, but I've come to the conclusion that I really think she's trying to kill me.

Standing on one foot with the other stretched way in the air while not touching the floor with my hands but instead wrapping them around my calf? Is a good way for me to break a bone, I'm sure. I cheat and put my hands on the floor because I don't have the balance or strength yet to do this. I do have some moves down pat, but others are still alluding me. The teacher praised the flexibility I have in my shoulders and used me as an example for downward dog, so that's good. However, I think the teacher was mad yesterday because I put my mat next to the mat of the other slacker in class so we both had the encouragement of the other to give up if it got to hard.

I did stick with the whole class and only gave up a few times, but man am I achy today. Last week was my first class and I couldn't move for two days afterward. This week I'm hoping to only be incapacitated for one.

What I want to know is why does something that is so good for me hurt so much afterward? I guess the old saying is right, "no pain, no gain". I'm going to stick with it because I feel good directly after the class and I know that it will help me achieve what I'm trying for, but this pain thing is for the birds.

The Luckiest

So there was big excitement last night. Something I have been looking forward to since before Christmas. Something big enough to make my little sister drive down to where I live on a school night and drag her boyfriend with her. It also involved Aaron, one of my favorite singers, and a taxi driver.

Last night, we went to a Ben Folds concert. And it was awesome.

I had so many thoughts during the 2 hour plus concert. I first saw Ben when he was the leader of Ben Folds Five back when I was 17 (holy hell, that was almost 10 years ago!), they were opening for Beck, and I didn't know who he was at that point. Brick had just come out on the radio so I knew that song when they played it, but I didn't know any of their other songs. What I did know was that anyone who can play the piano like that is cool in my book. That probably comes from 20 years of playing the piano, but it still does it for me.

Have you ever wished that you could record moments of your life so that you could remember every single detail forever and ever? Concerts are often like that for me. I have so much fun and enjoy seeing my favorite artists live. Even though I can't record the concerts, I do usually seem to remember everything I want to from the night. There are lots of things I want to remember from last night.

Ben is what I've decided to call fantastically geeky. I figure there's levels of geeky from disgustingly geeky (the gross nerds that no one wants to hang out with), to regular geeky (the kids who are smart and not exactly popular but not exactly uncool), to fantastically geeky (so geeky it's awesome and everyone wants to hang out with the geek). He's definitely fantastically geeky. If I saw him on the street and didn't know who he was I would label him as geeky. But he's also an awesome musician and singer, and really funny. He seems to have a great time up on stage and has a ton of energy. He didn't play my favorite song, but he did play a few of my other favorites along with some of his newer songs, which make me feel the need to go out and buy another of his albums.

All in all it was a great concert. Not the best concert I've ever been to, because that place is still held by the Weezer/Foo Fighters Concert I went to last fall that has caused partial deafness in my right ear, but which was totally worth it. But it was as good as I expected. It was my sister's boyfriend's first concert and I think he was impressed. (He's also fantastically geeky but also pretty and nice so he has it all going for him.)

The taxi driver was a big part of the concert. This guy is a taxi driver for a local company that was assigned to drive Ben and the band around town yesterday, and he's apparently also a musician. He definitely plays a mean harmonica, which is how he played in to the concert last night. Ben had him play a couple of songs and then had him add a couple lines to songs later in the night. It was pretty funny, especially since I think he's the guy who used to drive my friends and I to parties back in the day. It was pretty cool that he got to be in the concert.

The best thing about the concert was that I realized how awesome it must be to be a "rock" star. Or just a famous musician I guess. To have that many people know all the words to all the songs you play, things that you have created from your own mind, must be incredibly awesome. I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to ever want to be that famous - my piano teacher told me I was the only person he's ever seen that looked like she was going to throw up on the piano during recitals, because I was just that nervous - but it must really be awesome.

Even though we got home way past my bed time last night, I'm not too tired today, which is good. We had a great time and I would totally go see him again any day.

Seriously, Why is it Monday Already

Oh my goodness this weekend was wonderful! I am so incredibly sad that it's over that I'm considering trying to work from home today just to sort of extend the weekend goodness.

I don't remember Friday night too much but I think that's because I was tired and fell asleep at about 8:30. Um, yeah. I know I'm a dork, but that was exactly what I wanted to do on Friday night, so I did it. Aaron was happy because that meant he got to play video games, which he did until about 2:00 am. So we both had a fabulous Friday night.

Saturday we were in our pajamas until about 5 o'clock. I spent the day doing laundry and Aaron cleaned the bathroom from floor to ceiling. Then we went out for dinner where I got a teensy bit drunk on an awesome Long Island. At the pub where we ate they have a two-Long-Island limit, which is meant for normal-tolerance people. I have a one-Long-Island limit there because I'm drunk after half of one. But, it does make for a fun time and interesting conversations. For some reason I always end up talking about sex at that bar. Loudly. Which often attracts the attention of people at nearby tables. Luckily this time we sat at a table off by itself so no one had to listen to my somewhat raunchy (at least to the prude that is me) conversation.

Yesterday we didn't do much outside of a hike at a park we've been wanting to check out. And by park, I don't mean swings and slides. This is a full-out nature park with hiking, biking and skiing trails, canoe rentals for the river and pond, and lots of other fun activities. We brought our friend Molly with us and went for a hike, enjoying the wonderful weather yesterday (55 and sunny - perfect for a hike). We hiked along the trail at a speedy pace for about five miles, enjoying the blue sky, the green starting to appear on the ground and in the trees, and the smell of spring in the air.

What we (and by we I mean Molly and I) didn't enjoy were the snakes. (EEK!)

I saw my first snake when cutting through the woods to another path and freaked. Aaron laughed at me but then later when there was a rustling in the bushes he jumped. It made me feel a little better about being scared of snakes. Then, when we were almost back to the car, we came upon another snake, or should I say FAMILY OF SNAKES. Double EEK! I hurried along with Molly while Aaron, along with some random woman who wanted to see what he was looking at, stopped for about five minutes to watch the snakes writhing around in a bundle. He was sad we didn't have the camera with us because he would have loved to have a picture of that.

I was not sad about that.

So, that was my weekend, and it was not nearly long enough. Although the fun (and major-league excitement) does continue tonight, but I will post more about that tomorrow.

The Fun-in-the-Sun Season has Truly Begun

Last night my friends and I participated in our favorite spring/summer activity. We went to a baseball game. Locally we have a AA farm club team and going to their games is incredibly fun.

For one thing they have two of my favorite things there: ample people-watching opportunities and hot dogs.

Last night was opening night, but it was also "Thirsty Thursday" so there were tons of college kids there getting drunk on $2 beers. There were also about 10 sorority date parties happening. So basically it was one big party, and, oh, yeah, there was a baseball game or something happening too. At least that's what all the college kids thought. We actually like to watch the game, so it was pretty obnoxious, but we still had a good time.

To celebrate the first game of the year, I had a foot-long brat, which was delicious. I also spilled ketchup down the front of my shirt twice, but it was totally worth it. Aaron and I didn't drink, but our friends did, so they were pretty entertaining to watch too.

I'd have to say the funniest thing about last night was all the kids in tank tops, shorts and sandals. On campus about this time of year, any day that heads north of sixty degrees means you'll see copious amounts of skin. Guys running around shirtless playing frisbee or football on any large green area they can find. Girls walking around in shorts and tank tops with flip flops and peroxide blonde ponytails. As my sister once said, spring has sprung the sluts.

Well, it was just barely north of sixty yesterday and the game started at around seven. It was about sixty-one degrees out when the game started and when you were sitting in the sun it was very pleasant. But the sun didn't last long and neither did the warm temperature. It quickly fell to about 50 degrees, so there were about a thousand shivering girls around the stadium. Idiots. I mean, I'm sure there are quite a few of them that, technically, are probably not idiots, but wearing that little clothing to an outdoor evening event in Michigan is just dumb.

I was wearing two shirts, a sweatshirt and regular shoes and socks. The average date-party attendee was wearing (for guys) a long-sleeve shirt with shorts and sandals, or (for girls) a short skirt over capri leggings (!!!!) and a tank top. Oh, and a LV or Coach purse. Who brings a fancy purse to a baseball game where there is beer everywhere? Every so often we would hear a screech as someone's bag was "completely ruined!"

It was a very entertaining night, and we got home a little after ten and snuggled into the warm bed for a great night's sleep.

Oh, and the home team won their opener.

I Can't Believe I'm Telling this Story

Heard in my kitchen two nights ago:

"Every time you walk behind me my ass clenches"

It was Aaron who said this, not me. The reason he has that reaction is we have this little game we play where we smack each other on the ass and then run away before the other person can smack back. We also do sneak attacks, where you sneak up on the other person and smack them before they know you're there. Usually it's just a light smack, nothing that really hurts. It really is fun. But the other day I got him really good and he's still a little afraid of me. Which is awesome!

Mortified

I feel like a laugh today, and nothing makes me laugh more than embarrassing stories. So today, I'll share mine but you have to share yours too.

One of my most absolutely embarrassing moments happened when I was a sophomore in college. There was this guy I had a really big crush on named Chad. He and I had a biology class together my very first semester in college and I immediately developed the crush on him. Later I befriended a guy named Matt who I later found out was Chad's best friend.

It was perfect. I got to hang out with Chad all the time without looking too desperate because I was Matt's friend. One night Matt invited me over to their fraternity house for a wine and cheese party they were having. Chad was going to be there so I got really done up. Tight, low-cut shirt, my best jeans and some rockin' shoes. I looked great and felt great. Well, the wine and cheese party was more Boone's Farm and bricks o' cheddar, but it was fun. We each had our own bottle of Boone's and I finished mine off pretty quick because I was nervous. I'm pretty shy and so being around Chad made me introverted unless I was drunk. When I'm drunk I'm everyone's best friend.

So I finished my bottle of Boone's and headed out to the back deck to see if Matt and Chad were out there. They were and I walked up and started talking to them. So there we are, talking, drinking, smoking and laughing. I should also mention here that I had not eaten much that day. So I was really drunk, smoking and laughing really hard at a story Chad had just told. All of the sudden I started coughing, and then it happened.

I threw up all over Chad.

So much for ever having a relationship with him! Matt about died laughing at me and then took me inside to clean me up. I didn't see Chad for the rest of the night (he had probably headed home to get cleaned up himself). I was so embarrassed. Mortified actually. I threw up all over my crush!

Well, it was probably better that way because he ended up dropping out of college to become a delivery person for UPS. I later confessed to Matt that I had a huge crush on Chad, to which he said, "Really? I thought you hated him!" This is because when I flirt I am totally sarcastic and jokey to the object of my affection, so apparently I was mean to this guy for over a year and then I threw up on him. I really never had a chance.

Okay, your turn.

Just Call Me Susie Homemaker

So yesterday at work was Boring (yes, with a capital B), so when I got home last night I was feeling fairly industrious. Really, what it was is that I needed to actually do something.

So I set to work.

First, I started to finally make the pie I was supposed to make last Thursday. It takes about 4 hours total to make, so I needed to start it early. After I started the pie, I emptied the dishwasher, put away the dishes in the dish rack, and did our dishes from the night before (because we are sometimes lazy).

Then - I started our dinner for tonight. That's right. I made tonight's dinner last night. It consists of a lot of chopped up vegetables and chicken, so I chopped the vegetables, put them together with the chicken and put it all in the refrigerator with directions for Aaron to make it tonight while I'm at my new yoga class.

After I made tonight's dinner, I made last night's dinner - grilled cheese and tomato soup, nothing difficult. After dinner I did all the dishes, finished the pie, and put new sheets on our bed.

Gah! I'm exhausted just thinking about it all!

Tonight I'm tackling my closet which is a mess. I don't know why I've become so productive lately, but I'm glad I have and I know Aaron is too. Especially since he got to sit on the couch last night while I was doing all of this and he got to eat a slice of his favorite pie.

Which turned out amazing, by the way.

I wonder if this all gets me any closer to my secret dream of becoming the next Martha Stewart.

Time Changes Suck

Well, I'm at work suffering from the time change, meaning I'm barely awake and functioning, but pretending to be both of those things. Time changes always kill me and it will be about 3 days before I'm back on schedule.

This weekend didn't go nearly as planned, but it was very nice. Friday afternoon my friend and I planned a walk for when she got out of work. Then, on my way home from work Aaron called and asked if I'd like to head up to my parents' house for the weekend. I told him I'd check with them to see if they'd be in town, but I had already made plans. When I was almost to my apartment I saw a big lightning strike, followed by an echoing thunder clap and an immediate downpour.

So much for the walk.

So I called Molly, apologized profusely and cancelled our plans, called my parents who were in fact very excited to hear we were coming for a visit, and called Aaron back to get his packing list so that we could make it there in a reasonable time frame.

Besides yet another horrible allergy attack, it was a wonderful weekend - being spoiled by my parents and eating way too much really good food. We played our favorite game (yes, we're dorks, and proud of it) for a couple hours each day, and I got in a couple of naps while Aaron and my dad played a computer game. We also got to go to the museum where my mom works to see a couple of their exhibits that are ending soon - a motorcycle exhibit, which was pretty cool, and then they also have "Sue" the T-Rex, which was pretty impressive.

Now all I need is another nap and I'll be perfectly happy.