Ow, ow, ow ...

Since Jeremy moved to Dallas and lives less than a half a mile from me, he's become my gym partner. I've realized that I pretty much have no idea what I'm doing in the gym, and he does. I've gotten a lot better workouts since we started working out together. On Sunday, we did backs and triceps, and oh ... my ... gosh!!! My back is so sore today!

My arms were a little sore yesterday, but it may be because I did biceps a couple days before I did triceps, so my arms were getting a lot out of it. When I went to get out of bed, though, was when I first felt it. My first thought was, "This must be what it feels like to be 40." Whew!

Now it's really starting to feel like cramps, which is funny because it's definitely not. It's really throwing me off, though!

At work today, though, Sarah told me she'd noticed my arms were getting really toned and cut. Woohoo!



And just so you know I'm not kidding about crazy Dallas drivers, when Jeremy was on his way home from the gym on Sunday night, he said someone threw a drink at his car. The only reason he could think of that someone would do that was the OU sticker he has on the back of his car. Jeremy actually started to follow the punks, but they ran a red light, and he realized also that they had two people in their car. He was the only one in his. He didn't get their license plate number, though. And it happened right by where the punks threw a drink at me.

It's Noodle!

At K's apartment























In one of his favorite new hiding spots in my apartment -- behind my couch.




















On my couch























I think this is my favorite one. He's so cute! :)

It's official: I'm the only person who knows how to drive in Texas

K's in Pensacola, Florida, with the boys this weekend, so I went to the horse races with ER and her boyfriend Dan and some of their friends on Friday night. It was pretty fun. They all went out to a bar afterward, but I was too tired! I came home and went to bed, cuddling with Noodle.

Yesterday I was pretty productive and did some laundry, cleaned my bathroom and got a pedicure! ER and I went to eat at the Cheesecake Factory -- yum! -- and to see Click. It's okay, but not what I thought it was going to be. I was expecting more of a comedy than it was.

After the movie, ER was tired and went home. It wasn't even 10:30, and I wanted to go out to a bar or something. I called a guy friend of mine and he was going to get dressed (he'd been watching a movie) and come over to my place, and we'd go to a bar together. I was driving on the highway and went to exit to another highway.

The exit was one of those typical Texas exits that's one lane that curls up and over to connect with the other highway, so there are concrete walls on either side. I'm not a slow driver, but there was this stupid SUV tailgating me. I hate being tailgated, so I put on my flashers to say, "Hey! Get off my @$$!" Well, the douchebag did for a second, then sped back up. I though, "Okay, if you're going to tailgate me, you're going to do it slowly." So I slowed down. He kind of backed off so I sped up again going along my way. (This was a long exit ramp. Like I said, it curled up and over.) My exit was the first one after the highway I was now on, so I stayed in the right-hand lane. Of course, the SUV behind me was speeding up to pass me because the lane had opened up. I was actually (I know, I know) rolling down my window to do something that I never do but felt was clearly warranted in this situation -- I was going to give him the bird.

Well, as I had my finger on the button to roll down my window, the car was speeding past me. I noticed the passenger had his window down. Next thing I knew, I heard something hit my car. I immediately watched the car fly past me and repeated the jerk's license plate number over and over as I dialed 991. I realized how flustered I was, hung up, continued repeating the plate and dialed 911. I told the operator what had just happened, and she transfered me to an operator in the suburb I was in. I repeated my story. The operator was really helpful, but she had to transfer me back to the Dallas operator, since I was very close to Dallas city limits. The suburb operator had told me an officer would be sent out. The Dallas operator told me that an officer would be on the lookout for the vehicle.

I said, "Wait, so is all this in vain? Are they going to get a notice or a ticket sent to their house? They were tailgating, and then they threw a full can at my car. They littered, and I hate littering. Unless some officer happens to come upon them, they're just going to get away with this?" She told me I could file a police report or start some investigation thing or something. I told her that was what I want to do. She gave me the number to call, but they're only open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The operator had said it was a 24-hour line. I left a message, and hopefully those punks will get a ticket or something. At the least, I want to find out who they are and talk to their parents.

I always tell my family back in Oklahoma that I'm the only person who knows how to drive in Texas. (Dallas is well known for its terrible drivers.) I am now more convinced it's true.

Busted!

K totally found my blog. Whoops. He'd actually looked for it a couple times. He knew about GFF's blog because he'd seen me reading it once or twice. I figured he'd check it, look for comments that read like something I'd say or a name that would be something I would have and find it that way. Nope.

I blogged a couple days ago from his computer. I thought I was being smart because I deleted the history. But his stupid drop-down menu on his computer remembered it. I figured I was fine because I only went to the page once. My bad.

Oh, well. He already knows pretty much everything that's on here, anyway. I just put more details sometimes on here. He originally told me that he'd leave a comment on my blog when he found it, but he didn't. He says that he's not going to read it because "it's like a diary or something that you share with 20 million people, or everyone else but me. But that's OK. Whatever." lol

I don't know that I believe him, though. Curiousity can get you sometimes. Heck, I'd cave if I were him!

I'm not in Oklahoma anymore ...

I must have done some heavy lifting tonight at the gym, because when I was leaving the parking lot and turning onto the main road, this dude was crossing it on a unicycle. With a backpack on. I must have been hallucinating or something.

Then, I went to Wal-Mart, and this guy ran a stop sign in the parking lot and cut me off. I honked at him, so he stopped his car in front of me. His window was down, so I'm sure he was yelling some kind phrases or making polite gestures or, at the least, giving me a friendly smile and thinking kind things about me and my future. There were two empty parking spots right next to one other. He took one. I started to take the one next to it, but I decided it would be against better judgement, since it would make it very easy for him to a) hurt my car, b) start an altercation (since he'd already shown he has a lovely temper), or c) shoot me. I drove around to the next row and parked in a more well-lit area. We made it into the store at the same time, so as I walked past him (he was kind of short, so he walks slower than I do), I said to him, "It's not polite to stop in front of someone like that. Or cut them off." I was still walking past him. He hesitated a moment and said something about a stop sign or something. I told him that I had the right-of-way and continued, since arguing with him wouldn't change the fact that he was an inconsiderate driver.

I was kind of scared, though, to go back to my car. I was afraid the guy had done something to it or that he'd be waiting to injure me or follow me to my apartment and do something there. I walked around my car just to be sure he didn't key something into it.

I kind of forget sometimes, but Dallas has the highest crime rate in the country. It's funny to think that it's safer to live in New York City. Or Chicago or Detroit. That's crazy! I mean, it's Dallas.

As I was shopping, though, I decided to leave the way that would have me drive by where he'd pulled out in front of me just to be sure there was no stop sign that I've somehow managed to miss every time I've been there for the past 361 days that I've lived here. Sure enough, he was the one with the stop sign. I definitely had the right-of-way.

Then, I was on the same main road I'd seen the unicycle on, and I was sitting at a stoplight. I wanted to go straight. The oncoming lane had a green light. Just as mine turned green, a car was running his red light to make a left-hand turn in front of us. I didn't honk at him. I decided I'd done enough honking. Then, however -- after I, along with the cars in the other two lanes, had started going because we had green lights -- this other car blatantly ran the red light so badly that all of us had to stop to let him go to avoid an accident. I honked at that bastard.

It's safe to say it's amazing I made it home in one piece tonight. I hope tomorrow is less eventful.

Freakin' floppin' flippin' A!!!

I was caught up -- and ahead! -- at work, so I decided to check my e-mail. I had two new MySpace messages and a new comment! Clearly, it was of utter importance that I check them immediately, so I did. And then I looked at a couple of my friends' profiles.

I was looking at Kristin's and saw CM in her top eight! (reek, reek, reek!). Dang it! I didn't want to join MySpace in the first place because CM was on there. Kristin told me CM had deleted her profile, and she had. But she came back! Why do they always come back?!

And why can't I just get over the fact that she's a part of K's past? His past -- as in, not the present and probably not the future. WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH ME?!?!

I guess I got bad karma from checking my e-mail and MySpace at work. I'll never do it again. For the next 15 minutes.

A turn for ... the better

ER, Emily and I had all planned to go to dinner last night, as usual (We're the Wednesday girls!). I'm working longer days this week to make up the hours I missed Tuesday taking Noodle to the vet, so I talked to both of them Tuesday night to make sure we were still going on Wednesday night. I told them whatever day we went, I'd drive to work instead of taking my normal mode of mass transportation so we could eat dinner at about 7 or so instead of 8. ER is in charge of a couple of programs for the summer and is sick of planning things, so she said she wanted simply to be told where to be and when. Emily and I worked it out that I'd get off work about 6:30 and call her to figure out where we would go. Then, we'd tell ER, and that was that.

So when ER called at 4:21 yesterday afternoon, I told her that was the plan. I told her I had realized about 15 minutes before that I'd forgotten to ask WK if she wanted to go, but she's been blowing us off the last several weeks anyway, so I figured since she hadn't gotten in touch with any of us, this week would be no different. ER said she'd get in touch with WK. She said Emily wanted to go to the gym at 6:30, so we could go to dinner about 8.

Whoa. Back up. I told ER I had driven to work so we could go to dinner before 8. If I'd known we would go so late, I would have just gone the mass transportation route. With parking, gas prices and toll roads, it costs me about $12 to drive to work. I didn't want to have driven for nothing. So even though ER and Emily were in the same house, ER said, "Well, you can call Emily and talk to her about it." I think ER was slightly frustrated, as was I, but freakin' a -- we had made plans! For a reason!

I called and talked to Emily, and she said she had forgotten that's what the plan was. I asked if she could go to the gym earlier, and she said she was going with her mom, and that's when she goes. She had already told her mom that she would go with her (doesn't matter she'd already had plans before then ...). Emily said ER and I could just go without her. I told her I'd call ER and talk to her to figure something out.

I called ER back (again, they're in the same house), and we decided I'd call her back at about 6:15 and we'd just figure it out then. When I called her back, she said she'd talked to WK and she had other plans. She told me about their conversation. She had been kind of short with WK, but it was an online conversation, so WK may not have picked up on it. ER said, "I'm sorry if that sounded rude. Actually, I'm not. But I'm just sick of being blown off. I can only take it for so long before it's like, 'Whatever.'" She said that Emily had already left for the gym. ER sounded very irritated, and she even said, "We'll just go somewhere and those two bitches can find something themselves."

It always makes me uncomfortable when a friend talks about another friend like that. Not that I'm an angel and that I haven't done my fair share of venting about a friend. But somehow it seems that what's said gets back to the person and even if you just listen, your name is tied to it. AND it always makes me think, "If she's saying that about them, what does she say about me?"

So ER and I decided to go to Olive Garden. When ER got there, she seemed very cranky. I tried starting a conversation. "Did you have a good day?" "No." "How was your parents' house last night." "Bad." "Did you guys have fun on Saturday night?" "We wound up not going out." "Did you see Dan last weekend?" "Noooooo." The way she said that let me know she was frustrated with him about that.

She wasn't in a good mood, and she was throwing off any attempts at a conversation. I was sitting there thinking, "This is going to be a looooooong dinner. I should have just gone home." Well, she eventually started telling me everything that's going on. Little by little, it started coming out.

ER's brother died when she was in high school, and the six-year anniversary is today. Her sister is engaged now, and ER feels left out of the planning and all the excitement of it. She doesn't think her sister's fiance is good enough for her, and she thinks her freshly turned-21 sister is too young to get married. She finally told her sister that she feels left out of things, and they had a good talk about everything. ER is frustrated with her boyfriend, Dan. They have a very laid back relationship. They've been together for about 7 months, I guess. They still don't talk every day, and they don't see each other every weekend, even though Dan lives just under an hour away. They were supposed to go out with Emily and a group on Saturday, but Emily was too hung over and Dan had gotten food poisoning and didn't call to tell ER that he couldn't make it until 5 p.m. By then, she was showered, dressed and ready to go. ER had gotten in a fight with her mom earlier Wednesday afternoon (and I think on Tuesday, too). And the Mavs lost on Tuesday. ER's a Dallas girl and a Mavs fan.

ER was getting a little teary eyed a few times as she slowly told me more and more about what was bothering her. But she seemed much less cranky, which was good. And by the time dinner was over, she was telling me that she feels really lucky knowing she has Emily and me in the same city because she knows if she needed to, she could call either of us at midnight and know that we'd be there for her and that we'd mean it. She said she knows not many people have that, so she wanted to thank me.

At that point, I asked her if she wanted to go back to my apartment for some chocolate ice cream. So we did. While we were eating, we played with Noodle and she made a list -- a loose script, if you will -- of what she wanted to say to Dan to tell him how she's feeling and express that she would like to seem him more. When she left, she was smiling. Definitely a much better end to the night than I thought it would be when she first sat down at the table!

Good thing we didn't go with Jewel ...

K and I took Noodle to the vet today. We found out lots of things: Noodle is about 4 or 5 years old; has a strong heart and healthy lungs; is a very patient, well-behaved cat (the vet said so!); aaaaaaaaaaand she's a dude. :)

A nutered dude.

When the vet said that, K and I started laughing so hard! K was like, "I knew we should have named him Juggernaut!" The vet left us in the room for a second to get some paperwork or something, and K started singing, "He's a manly maaaan ..." The vet and the other people working there totally heard him. lol He's a dork. :)

So for now Noodle's name is still Noodle. It's a good unisex name. I'm just glad the collar and pillow we had already bought are blue!

Life (already) revolves around the cat :)

Friday night with ER and Emily was pretty cool. We went to this bar that was a little less laid back than I like, but it was fun. It was very posh and swanky, and it played hip hop and had a live DJ. I prefer chilled out sports bars that play classic rock and fun '80s, '90s and today songs, but we had fun.

Saturday I was productive and got my to-do list done before I picked K up at the airport. It was so good to see him again! We grabbed a pizza on the way home and had just enough time to eat, chill for a few mintues, get ready and then head off to Grant's reception. It was great to see Grant again, and he really seemed to like K.

Sunday we slept in and cuddled and watched TV. I fixed us some hamburgers for lunch before we headed back to Louisiana to eat at Johnny Carinos and pick up his truck from the airport.

K was able to make an appointment to get Noodle in to the vet -- tomorrow at 12:30. Luckily, I was able to call my boss and rework my schedule for the week. I'll just make up the time I'll miss tomorrow the rest of this week, which will suck, but it'll be way better than driving five hours back to K's apartment when he's not here just to pick up the cat, turn around and head back. And this way, we'll know if she's been spayed or not before she gets to my place. Tomorrow she's getting all her kitty shots, and she'll get microchipped and all that fun stuff. So we'll know (hopefully) a lot more about her this time tomorrow. And then I get to drive her back to Dallas. Hopefully she'll take the ride better this time!

Good things

K switched his flight to where he's flying in now to Dallas on Saturday, so I'll go pick him up there. One of my very best guy friends from college, Grant, got married (destination wedding) last weekend, and we're going to his reception Saturday night. I'm excited because it's been about a year since I've seen him, and he's never met K before. So I'll get to see K tomorrow and my friend Grant, and they'll get to meet!

I went to ER's house lsat night for Emily's birthday. It was pretty fun and laid-back. We're going out tonight, too, which is exciting.

I mentioned to ER there that two people in the past week have told me that my hair looks like it's getting straighter, which is sad for a girl with curly hair. I said that I had switched conditioner, though, (Herbal Essences to Biolage) and maybe that had something to do with it. Emily had a friend there who worked at a spa, and she asked, "Is it a conditioning balm?" I said, "Yeah, actually, it is." She said it weighs your hair down, so that might be it. She told me about this good kind that's specifically for curly hair. And she gets a 45% discount! She's going to buy it today at work and I'll get it tonight. Perfect timing, too, 'cause I'm about out of the conditioning balm!

When I was driving home from ER and Emily's house last night, for some random reason, I wrapped my fingers around my bicep. When I used to do this, my fingers used to almost touch. There was barely space between them. Now, however, there's a good inch-and-a-half to two inches between my fingertips. Which is awesome because it means my bicep workouts are doing something. (FYI: I've always had skinny arms, and they're still girly looking. They're just more toned. Not Madonna toned or anything, but toned.)

Sunday night, I'm driving K back to Louisiana. I'll get to see Noodle, and we'll take her to the vet on Monday. Then, she'll come back with me to Dallas that night. K is having a guys' weekend next weekend, so Noodle will keep me company then. And the week after that (last week in June), K and I will go to Pennsylvania, so Jeremy is going to cat-sit for us. Woo hoo!

I'm pretty excited about all that stuff. Good things, good things. :)

Enough with the negativity!

I've complained a lot about my boss on here, partly because I really think it's my only outlet to do it. I definitely can't do it at work, or I won't have a boss or job to complain about!

There are people in my department who really make things better, so it's only fair to acknowledge them, too:

Dear Mike and Sarah,

You both make my day so much more pleasant.

Mike, I know I don't get to interact with you often, but when I do, you make me feel like you value my opinion. I think it's easy for a few others in the department from time to time to write me off as some fresh-out-of-college kid who doesn't quite know enough yet to be included in discussions or decisions. But you are great about that. If there's something I miss or get wrong, you let me know and tell me why it's done that way. If you change something, you let me know why. I respect that about you. It tells me that you respect me because you take the time to do that. I really appreciate that more than you know.

And Sarah ... oh, Sarah. You make me laugh. :) You are always so complimentary and so appreciative of everything I do to help you out. You do so much in the department, and it would fall apart if you weren't here. Yet you always make sure to thank other people and make sure they're recognized for what they do. I love it when you come into my office to vent. You don't do it often, but it makes me feel special that you know you can trust me, and I'm glad it makes you feel better to just get it out and that I can be there to listen.

There are definitely others I could include who make my job pleasant, but you two are definitely at the top of my list. I respect you both, and you make me feel like you respect me, too. And I really appreciate that.

More rants on the boss

Dear Boss,

You are making it very hard for me to like my job. Did you know you make me feel taken advantage of? You add more to my workload to the point that I have no idea what you're doing. What do you do all day?

I know it's hard to walk across the office to pass out papers, but it's good exercise, and it's nice to get out of your office from time to time. Especially since you keep it so cold in there. You wonder how I can eat pizza three times a week and still say skinny. I think it's from all the moving around the office I do for my purposes and for yours. You should try it.

And just once a month, even, if you could give me some sort of praise for something -- anything work-related -- that would be great. That's really all the fuel I need.

Please, when I step into your office to ask you a question, stop ignoring me and stop blogging long enough to let me ask you my quick question. After all, I'm doing a lot these days. You should know.

And for the love of God, when you leave my office, please close my door again. It's not heavy.

Sincerely,
Your disgruntled employee (who is not your secretary)

More 'wtf' moments ...

I was at work today, and my boss came in my office with some papers he'd printed out and copied to be passed out to certain people. He said to me, "Can you pass these out?" They only go to like four people -- me, whose office he was in, and two others whose offices he'd pass on the way back to his own. But sure, boss, I'll get the exercise.

And last night I was asleep in bed when I was startled awake by my cell phone, which was on my nightstand because K was supposed to call me when he got in from hanging out with the guys. I was surprised to see that I was getting a text message from Brad. I opened my phone, and the text message said, "I love you."

WTF?! I had replied to his message he originally sent me. He had mentioned a few other things in the 10 or so sentences -- one of which was the wedding of one of his best friends. I said in my reply, "It seems like a lot of people are getting married this summer and next summer. Hopefully I'll be in the next summer group myself." I figured this would come as no surprise, since I've been dating the same guy for quite some time. Brad is on facebook, and I'm on facebook. He's seen my profile, which has albums with pictures of K and me together, and my profile picture has been updated pictures of K and me since last August or so. And my "status" line says I'm in a relationship. I've put quotes on my profile from things I thought were cool that K said about our future. I wasn't telling Brad anything he didn't already know.

But I don't know if that had anything to do with the message or what. I imagine it was probably a drunken text message, but still, I can only come to one conclusion from both of my WTF moments for the day (or the first 10 hours of it, anyway):

Boys are weird.

I think my arms are going to fall off

I went to the gym tonight and worked out with my friend Jeremy (the one who moved down here about a month ago). I got him to go to my gym, so we're gym partners whenever I go -- I'm not as dedicated as he is. :)

It's good that I'm working out with him, though, because he knows what he's doing more than I do. For instance, whenever I go, I typically do the same thing, which isn't good because it's less effective because it just becomes muscle memory. Tonight, Jeremy and I did chest and biceps. (I did cardio on the bike while he did a few chest things, though.) My arms feel dead. I really think they might fall off. Or I'll wake up and they won't move.

I got an interesting facebook message today from Brad. It was kind of random because I haven't talked to him in several months, and it's been a while since we've even sent a quick message on facebook. Anyway, the whole thing was only 10 sentences. The first part was just about his brothers and his friends. Then, he said this: "And I finally hooked up with two girls at the same time."

Congratulations? Honestly, I felt nothing when I read that -- no anger, no hurt, nothing like that. I did feel a little sorry for him and slightly disgusted. Okay, really disgusted. Because I don't know what he meant by "hooked up with." His first kiss was with two girls when he was 16, so it makes me think he may have meant ... well, whatever. Anyway, I don't know what I'm supposed to say to that. Or why he thinks I would care or even want to know, especially since I'm just about the last girl on earth who would think that was cool or something. He knows this. I think it's sad that he's taking something like that so lightly.

I talked to K after I left the gym, and he's doing well. He was hanging out with Tom and Kristin, his family and other friends after the wake. He said a ton of people came by. It was three hours long, and he said there were tons of people there the whole time. He got to see people he hadn't seen in a long time.

I'm glad he's taking it all so well. I hope tomorrow morning (the funeral) goes as well for him. I sent some flowers, so I hope they're pretty. I still really wish I was there. I miss K like crazy, too. I can't wait to see him and give him a giant hug. In four days I can do just that. If I can move my arms.

Can't ... concentrate

I cannot concentrate at work today. The wake for K's mom is tonight, and the funeral is tomorrow. I feel terrible that I'm not going to be there. I was okay with it at first, but K told me this morning he talked to Tom and Kristin, and since they're in D.C. now, they're driving up tonight and staying the night for the funeral. They had met K's mom once before a few years ago, so they actually know her better than I did because every time I met her, she was really weak. I think she was in better health a few years ago.

Anyway, I feel so bad about not being able to be there. I looked up tickets when I got to work from Dallas to the airport near his house in PA. To fly out tonight and come back tomorrow so I'd just miss one day of work would cost me at least $900. It makes me feel on one hand a bit better because there's no way I can afford that, so there's no way I can go and it's not my fault. But on the other hand, it seems hopeless and makes me feel awful that K is going through one of the toughest things in his life and I'm not there.

He can't fly back until Saturday morning, and he's driving straight to Dallas because one of my friends is having a wedding reception that night and we had planned to go. K said he wants to go to it still, so that's why he's coming here. And there's definitely more to do in Dallas than where he is in Louisiana.

One of the girls at work today when I was explaining why I was upset (and crying at work ... which I hate doing and have only done here once when I found out someone had stolen an entire box of my checks from the mail and gone on a shopping spree with it) said, "Well, he'll still need you this weekend. And look on the bright side -- after the funeral and everything, these next couple of days will be kind of touchy. If you were there, you'd be like, walking on eggshells or something. They'll be really hard, so at least by the time he gets here he'll be doing better."

I know all those things about the next few days. And that is why I want to be in Pennsylvania for them and not Dallas.

K's mom

K's mom died yesterday morning. I talked to him when I woke up at about 9:30, and he said she wasn't doing well. She was having trouble breathing and was wheezing. K called me I guess right after she passed. He was upset, of course, but he said that she went peacefully. His whole family was there with her. I've talked to him several times over the past couple of days, and he seems to be doing well. They all know that his mom is in a better place and that she's not hurting anymore. It helps that they knew it was coming and were all able to be there with her.

I tried to look up tickets to make it up there for K, but the cheapest ticket I could find was $863, and that even had two layovers. I didn't know if it would just add to the to-do list if I came, since they'd have to rearrange schedules to pick me up from the airport. I told K that I'd looked for tickets. He said not to think twice about it, and that that price was too ridiculous to pay to go.

I hate it that I can't be there with him because I know it'll be hard when they have the viewing and the funeral and everything. The viewing is on Tuesday and the burial on Wednesday. He's probably going to come back Thursday night or Friday morning and come to Dallas on Friday.

Anyway, hearing his family in the background and talking to K, his family seems to be taking it well so far. But I know things like that always become more real a few days later when it really hits you. I'm sure the funeral will be tough, too. So please keep K and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

I tried ... sort of

The Dallas Mavericks are in the NBA finals for the first time in the history of the team. Everyone in Dallas really seems to be excited. I went to dinner with ER and Emily at a bar where we could watch the game. I even turned on the TV when I got home in the second half to watch it. But I can't concentrate. It's basketball. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just a football girl. A college football girl. So pretty much January through August is a giant off season for me until the real sport starts back up.

I like basketball from time to time, and baseball games are really fun to go to, but football is definitely my sport. Sorry, Dallas. (But congrats for winning game 1 -- really!)

Dunt dunt duuuuuuuuunnnn ...

Today, I became one of Those People.

I listen to The Bone online when I'm at work. It's the online version, so the station doesn't include its commercials since companies are only paying to reach those in the listening area. There are a few companies that I guess do choose to pay for online commercials. And since no other commercials but those two or three play (in addition to the station's own fillers so we're not listening to dead air), I hear the same ones at least 20 times a day, which can get a little obnoxious. There's one commercial for a Chevy place called Friendly Chevrolet. It has this really annoying, honky tonk jingle that's annoying by itself. But that's not enough. There's this guy who, right before the jingle plays, growls "Driiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive Friendly!" The thing is, the guy almost sounds like he's burping or something. It gives me a mental picture of some beer-bellied guy wearing a stained wife beater, and if I had a car company, that's not the image I'd want people to associate with my establishment.

Anyway, after a good month of hearing this obnoxious commercial, I decided to make a request on behave of the hundreds (at least) more who feel the same as I do. I e-mailed the company and tactfully requested that it consider changing the way the quote is said. I know, I know -- it's quite ridiculous. But so is the commercial. I promise. If you don't believe me, click on the Bone link above and listen for no longer than 20 minutes. You'll hear it, and you'll understand. Trust me.

I also renewed my lease today. The office had put my renewal forms on my door last weekend. My apartment changed ownership a couple weeks ago, so I wanted to scan the lease to make sure nothing big had changed. (And my mom taught me to always read stuff before you sign it!) I was on my mode of mass transportation earlier tonight, so I decided to pass the time being productive. Well, while I was reading my lease, I found a couple mistakes in it. One of them was worded in a way that meant the opposite of what they intended. It basically was worded to say that if I purposely stained my carpet or was so careless that it looks like crap when I move out, the apartment is responsible for the fees. What it meant to say is that they'll take care of anything that is normal wear and tear on the carpet. Any negligence, carelessness, accident or abuse beyond that is my reponsibility. So I marked that sentence and wrote, "Is this correct?"

I know, I know. I'm pathetic. Don't worry -- I alreay know. When I told K about both of those things, he said, "My gosh. You're going to be one of those old ladies. ..." I promise, though, I won't be. I hope not, anyway.

Not that I'm superstitious, but ...

boy am I glad today is over. I just don't like the date!

I had a pretty decent day as far as days go. Today was my short day at work, so I got home earlier than most days. ER and I were supposed to go to dinner tonight. She called me while I was still at work, and I told her I'd be leaving soon and would call her to figure out where we wanted to go. I called her several times after I left work and on my way home, but she didn't answer the phone. I decided to just go home and started cooking myself some chicken. She called when it was almost done (after the Foreman heated up and the chicken, which had been frozen, was pretty well cooked) to see if I still wanted to go.

We always do our girls dinner on Wednesdays, but ER had called me last Thursday to see if I wanted to get pizza. I had already planned to go to the gym and pack for K's, so I told her I'd take a rain check and we could hang out one night this week. Yesterday, we decided that night would be tonight. One one hand, I felt kinda bad for just coming home and starting to cook, but on the other, I'd talked to her a little after 5 and told her I'd call her back soon. I tried until 6:15-ish to call her, and she didn't answer, so I gave up.

I went to the gym tonight. One of my friends from OU, Jeremy, moved to Dallas a couple weeks ago and actually lives about a half a mile from me. I got him to start going to my gym. We tend to go about the same time, so we work out together sometimes. We did back and arms tonight. It's nice having someone to work out with. Especially a guy who knows more about different machines and techniques, since I pretty much have no clue.

And I braved the elliptical for the first time since I'd dislocated my knee. I feel pretty good!

I miss K, though. I always miss him more when I know I won't get to see him that weekend. And I miss the cat, too, to top it off. I've made a to-do list for the weekend, though, so I get things done and won't be sitting around doing nothing. I might even do a little shopping this weekend (Bath & Body Works sale!) ...

Lesson learned

It is not a good idea to go to lunch with a friend from another department at work and vent about your jobs the majority of the time. It just makes it that much worse when you get to work and see that your boss has left a simple task that he could do on your desk for you to do because he's being lazy.

Memo to boss: I have a college degree, and I'm not your secretary.

The end.

Prayers, please

I'm back in Dallas, and I really miss K and our cat. I was originally planning on going to Louisiana again this weekend, but K will be in Pennsylvania. His mom is not doing well at all, and basically it looks like she just has a matter of days. K's really close to her, so it's going to be very hard for him. At the same time, he says his family has been expecting this for a while. I know he knows that she'll be better off and she won't be in pain anymore, but it's still never easy to say goodbye to the ones you love.

I know this will be a tough time for him and his family, so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

I love this cat ...

Good news! K got my laptop to turn on! I still think it might be a good idea to consider getting a new one, but it's nice to know that the thing will turn on. (Pathetic, I know -- but there are so many other things I'd rather spend money on than a stupid computer when the one I have works just fine -- when it turns on, anyway.)

K and I are both totally in love with this cat. Unfortunately, we can't decide on a name for her yet. She's Siamese, but she's really sweet, which is evidently unusual for that breed. We have it narrowed down to four: Pepper, Jubilee, Jewel (because her eyes are this crazy bright blue) or Noodle. I think it may come down to either Jewel or Noodle. Both are great -- Jewel really fits her eyes, but it may seem too snobbish, which she's not. And Noodle is just fun and awesome. :)

K is being so cute about her. When we've left his place this weekend, he actually turns on music so she'll have something to listen to. :) He bought all these toys for her on Friday while I was driving down. It's adorable. :)

In case you were ever thinking about taking a cat for a 5-hour car ride, let me say it's not a good idea. She was great for the first hour and a half or so, but then she started meowing a whole lot. Next thing I knew, she was circling in the carrier. I didn't know what was going on, but I had my suspicions. I was saying, "Cat, what are you doing?" And all of a sudden, there was this awful smell. She had pooped in her carrier. Luckily, there was a little pillow in there that Emily had given me for the carrier. I had to pull over at this whole-in-the-wall gas station because of course I was like 20 miles from the nearest town. She managed to keep herself clean, which was impressive. Pretty much after that, though, she was not crazy about the ride.

She is the most adorable kitty, though. She loves being held and cuddling. She purrs constantly, and she also barely sticks her tongue out quite a bit. It's so cute! K asked if there was something wrong with her or if she was mildly retarded. I think she just does it when she's purring. Or maybe she has a Gene Simmons tongue or something. :)

She's also playful, and she really likes to lick for some reason. :) She's so adorable, though, and I think I'm really going to miss her this week back in Dallas.

While my laptop is back in service, I am very sad to say that my digital camera appears to be messing up. I don't know if the lighting is really bad in K's apartment, or if something is off on my camera. I've tried to take pictures of the cat, but they've all come out really dark. This usually isn't a problem with my camera. Whatever the problem is, I hope it gets better because it'll make me really sad to not have a camera. If there is a problem, though, a camera is something that I would spend money on.

Blurbs

• I was having several maintenance problems at my apartment, and the people I talked to in the office did not seem competent because they were all telling me different things and nothing was getting done. I finally got in touch with the assistant manager (it was much tougher than you'd think) yesterday. I e-mailed her a bulleted list of everything that has happened in the past almost-year. I briefly and tactfully explained everything. I guess I got a hold of the right person, because everything is getting fixed!
• I finally braved wearing a skirt to work today because it's always so cold. It's actually not bad!
• My laptop (which K hates and insists I get a new one or let him get me a new one, which I don't want him to do because it's not his job to buy me new electronics -- especially expensive ones) has decided to stop turning on. It's kinda old, I guess, but it does what I need it to. Well, it used to. I think the power connector ... thing ... is just too old or something. This is the fourth time this has happened, but it's the second in one week (before then it was two times in the course of the past year, I think). That's kinda scary. Especially since my laptop has all my digital pictures on it. I'm taking my computer to K's because he has an external hard drive and can back them all up. And he got my computer to turn on last weekend when it was doing this. I guess it likes him better. Just for that, I might have to get a new one! :)
• I'm going to Louisiana today to spend the weekend with K. I was originally planning to leave from work, but ...
• We're getting a cat! ER called me today. Her roommate, Emily, had found a cat a few days ago and brought it home. It had no collar, and it wasn't microchipped or anything. They posted fliers, but no one has responded. ER knows I like cats, so she called me asking if I want one. K and I both love them, and we've talked about how awesome it would be to have a pet. I'm afraid I'm not home enough, but cats are easier and don't require as much time as dogs. This cat needed a nice home, so I called K. He's all for it! His roommate said he was fine with having it at their place, since it's bigger than mine, there are two of them who live there and they're home more than me because they live closer to work. K's roommate's only request was that it not have a girlie name. I have always wanted a pet named Jubilee, but if that didn't fit the pet's personality, the name would be Boomer (for Boomer Sooner!). I figured it was only fair for K to get to help decide, since it's his cat, too, and staying at his place. K said we should name him Juggernaut (in honor of XMen 3). I think it's just funny enough to be awesome!