Still Passing the Open Windows

(The title of this post refers to the book, The Hotel New Hampshire . . . no worries, it's a good thing.)

I did not realize that it has been almost a week since I last wrote . . .

There is much to write about, but I don’t seem to have the words or the energy at the moment. There are many things going on though – life just keeps plugging away at the Random household as we gear up for a season of increased activity.

A few weeks ago, Justrose had this in her blog:

“there was an interview in this month's national geographic with egyptian writer
alaa al aswany, author of the yacoubian building. it is famous in the arab
world, i know nothing about it, i probably won't read it. but he said this about
writing, which i loved:”

if i get scared, i cannot write, and if i write, i am not scared.

I am scared. I am not sure what the fall is going to bring.

Right now there are many opportunities that I could start to work on, but the implications of a few of those projects are frightening to me – they may mean a whole change in focus and more time out and about. Mr. Random will be very busy with grad school and running and soccer – and I am psyched and encouraging for him. My choir practices are starting up again, along with my ESL teaching, and I will be running around very busy too.

There is a project that I want to start to work on – my photo project – which could be quite fun and hone my skills while helping to document a “scene” that is going on in the DC area. Almost every ounce of my being wants to do this, but I hesitate. It is scary. It will take more time away. I don’t know if I will be good at it. People may just think I am a weirdo, and the pictures may turn out to totally suck. But I HAVE to try . . .

Gee, I seem to be talking myself into it, huh?

Anyway, it seems like the next year is going be a huge determining factor in how the rest of my life is going to go. It feels like the decisions I’m making now are “make or break.” So, I’m scared for that reason, too. I’m at the bottom of a hill, looking at three different paths going up a mountain, but I cannot see where they lead – I cannot see where they end because there’s some sort of fog or smog at the top obscuring the view. I really don’t want to end up in a place where it turns out I don’t want to be . . . but there is no way to be sure . . .

I’ll end here because I’m not sure if I’m making any sense. It is still a jumble in my head. Thanks for being a receptacle for my indecision . . . it does help a bit . . .

By the way . . . more random quotes today:

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.
--Denis Watley

It is better wither to be silent, or to say things of more value than silence. Sooner throw a pearl at hazard than an idle or useless word; and do not say a little in many words, but a great deal in a few.
--Pythagoras (582 BC - 507 BC)

Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot.
--D. H. Lawrence (1885 - 1930)

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
--Anais Nin (1903 - 1977)

Back to Randomness

Another meme going around is to go to this page: (http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3) and pick 5 random quotes that seem to fit you today.

Here are mine . . . and they are pretty awesome and fitting for my state of mind these days. How funky is that?

Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own
private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or
rather indicates, his fate.
Henry David Thoreau (1817 -
1862)

Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a
form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and
the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and
aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and
vagaries of the crowd.
Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964), Taken Care Of
,1965

There's no correlation between creativity and equipment
ownership. None. Zilch. Nada. Actually, as the artist gets more into his thing,
and as he gets more successful, his number of tools tends to go down. He knows
what works for him. Expending mental energy on stuff wastes time.
Hugh
Macleod, How To Be Creative: 10. The more talented somebody is, the less they
need the props., 08-22-04

Perfection is a road, not a destination.
Every time I live, I get an education.
Burk Hudson

She had an
unequalled gift... of squeezing big mistakes into small opportunities.

Henry James (1843 - 1916)

Other Random Updates:

*My friend, L, is going to be staying with her friend, J, until she makes enough money to find a place. Whew! That is quite the burden off of my mind. Thanks so much, Virginia Gal, for the offer of a lead on a place in Manassas!

*Oh, and to answer Virginia Gal’s comment – yes, NPR gets on my nerves sometimes too. Sometimes it seems like a parody of itself in all of its earnestness . . .

*I am still terribly out of sorts, but am muddling along each day. I’m not going to be able to go to Alabama to visit my grandmother until the end of September now, because of a lack of funds. I am terribly disappointed and but hope that late September will be a nice time to have a visit.

*Today I ended up having the exact same conversation with someone that I’ve been having with them for the past 6 months. It always gets resolved the same way, and yet, not. It is so hard to figure out how to resolve this in a satisfactory way for everyone, but until then I guess it will keep coming back again and again until someone gives in.

*Over the weekend, I read Isabel Allende’s Zorro. I started it Saturday night and finished it by 10 PM Sunday night. I love, love, love her novels – I love the music of her words, the tone she sets . . . her writing is what makes me want to write, to get better at writing, to tell a story in a way that makes someone want to keep the story going on forever. I have read mostly all of her books and at an event in 2002 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, I actually got to hear her speak about her life and her writing. (Mr. Random actually got to speak interact with her a bit: When Mr. Random was walking to the museum after parking the car, he noticed a woman who looked lost to where the entrance was. He took her to the correct entrance and opened the door for her – surprise! It turned out to Ms. Allende.)

*I am now reading John Irving’s Until I Find You. It is an encouraging sign that my brain is clearing out enough clutter to be able to read whole books again, not just magazine articles. I just wish my brain would declutter enough to actually WRITE something decent . . .

*Which reminds me that I really need to renew a whole slew of magazines. I’m probably going to give up Bon Appetit, and keep: Metropolis, InStyle, The New Yorker, Cooking Light and Sunset. Ugh, my Wall Street Journal is coming due soon too . . .

Until I blog again . . . hope all is going well for everyone!

Trinity Meme

Hey folks, let's lighten things up a bit! (Meme is courtesy of Justrose)

3 things that scare me:
Flying. Actually being stuck in a metal tube traveling many miles per hour, many thousands of feet up in the sky, with the possibility of crashing down. That may hurt a little, I think . . .
Losing people I care about forever
Being stuck in a rut – not growing or learning or being able to do new things or go new places

3 people that make me laugh:
My dad
Mr. Random
My friend, J.

3 things that I hate most:
Waiting in lines
Crowds
Being overlooked

3 things I don't understand:
Why religions that are supposed to stand for love and justice can engender so much hate and intolerance
Why TV news shows are so incredibly crappy
Why putting everything on the internet is supposed to be the schwartz.

3 things I am doing right now:
Watching the Random Cat sleeping curled up beside me on the couch
Nibbling on some of the tasty fig/date/nut bread that I made on Thursday night.
Trying to figure out what the next steps in my life should be

3 things I want to do before I die:
Travel to Europe and Latin America
Study Philosophy, Urban Planning and Architecture
Learn to play the violin and the piano

3 things I can do
Make a killer cheesecake
Be a friendly ear and a helping hand to those I care about
Edit other people’s writing (I’m lousy at doing my own)

3 ways to describe my personality:
Open, but guarded
Giving, but selfish
Optimistic, but moody

3 things I can't do:
Whistle
Swim
Tell a funny joke without totally ruining it.

3 things I think you should listen to:
The sounds of little children playing – one of the most comforting things in the world.
The ocean outside your window at the beach
Cicadas and birds in the woods as you are sitting or walking.

3 things you should never listen to:
Talk radio
People who don’t have your best interest at heart or are incredibly negative all the time
Someone telling you that you CAN”T do something because of some dumb stereotype.

3 absolute favorite foods:
Anything potato related – chips, fries, mashed potatoes, potatoes au gratin, baked, roasted, anything!
Anything Asian related: Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Indian
Anything Southern, but chitlins.

3 things I'd like to learn:
Flamenco dancing – it just looks cool
How to perform well on stage or in groups – I am really afraid of looking stupid or doing the wrong things
How to be a better artist – a better observer and better at expressing myself whether in my photographs or on paper.

3 beverages I drink regularly:
Diet Dr. Pepper
Ginger Ale (to settle my stomach – also goes well with Asian food)
Tea – I LOVE Teas!

3 shows I watched as a kid:
Little House on the Prairie
Anything on PBS during the day
Any music variety shows – Solid Gold, Soul Train, American Bandstand, Hee Haw, Laurence Welk – you name it, I watched it. I pretty much liked any type of music

Positively Positive

. . . That’s what I’m trying to be this week. Don’t know if it is working, but that’s the mantra I’m using.

My friend, L, called last night. She asked if she could stay with Mr. Random and I through the end of September until she can get her own apartment. Her sister, who she is staying with now, is moving in a few weeks to another part of Virginia. She said that she knew that Mr. Random and I are just getting over having Random Mum-in-law stay with us, but she really needs a place to stay.

I told her that we would think about it. When Mr. Random got home from running, I told him what happened. We were both incredibly conflicted about what our answer should be. Our first impulse was to say no, but we both felt like that was a selfish thing to think. We want to be good people and do the right thing, so shouldn’t we want to help out a friend?

We talked about how we were both going to be super busy next month – what with Mr. Random starting grad school, having weekend soccer games and training for the marathon, and me starting to teach ESL again, having choir practices and traveling for the early part of the month – plus working our normal jobs..

Mr. Random also would not feel right with a semi-stranger living with him in the condo while I was gone. Also, our condo is not very big and 5 weeks is a long time to share a small space with a non-relative. Now, if my sister wanted to come live with us for a month, that’s another story because, well . . .she’s my sister! And if our unemployed friend, C, had asked to stay with us, it would have been an easy no to say.

L is a sweet woman who has worked pretty hard to get through law school and was kind enough to let me visit her in New York (even though that turned out pretty lousy). We have talked for countless hours and I have given her tons of encouragement and advice over the years. I have tried to be as supportive a friend as I possibly could be.

But there was a layer of uneasiness about L that we couldn’t quite verbalize.

So Mr. Random and I had been agonizing over this decision all last night and all day today. As we were taking our usual lunchtime walk, we came to a decision.

We are going to say no. And try to do what we can to find her a good roommate situation that she can be in for about 6 months or so. Because if she can’t afford an apartment right now, she probably won’t be able to comfortably do so by October, and then we really wouldn’t be able to tell her to leave once she was living with us. It would be a huge strain on an already stressful period, and we wouldn’t feel real comfortable with her there during this transitional time.

Am I horrible for not wanting to help out a friend in need? It’s OK if you think so – I already feel really bad . . .

Now to see what her reaction will be . . .

Nibbling Away at Sanity

I have just been in a “mood-most-foul” all week. I am trying to work on it, really I am! This morning I was reading through Justrose’s Blog and this statement leapt out at me:

the bottom line: i have a good life, and i just have to stop machinating
over it and live it, for whatever happens. i worry too goddamn much.

Or as my friend, J, so succinctly said:

I don't think there's a nice way to put it, but life sucks sometimes.

I just wish I could turn off the ol’ brain and not have to deal with anything for a while. I’m getting tired of dealing with other people’s baggage. I am weary of dealing with situations at work that were caused (or neglected) by my predecessors. I hate having to be aware of all the petty political machinations going on inside and outside the organization. I am sick of being in the loop, but not in the loop enough to actually be able to do anything. Middle management sucks . . .

And when I get cranky, I tend to either eat or starve. This time around I’m eating, I guess, which will undo all the good work I did the first 6 months of the year.

Semi-good news: I’m going to be teaching ESL on Tuesday nights again in the Fall. This time the semester will only be 10 weeks long – hallelujah! However, I’m hoping they are changing the curriculum slightly, since otherwise we won’t be able to finish everything in time.

I talked to my friend, L, last night. I hadn’t talked to her all summer since she had been busy studying intently for the Virginia Bar exam. She is just now starting to look for jobs, to tide her over until she gets the results of the Bar. Unlike all of my other lawyer friends, she did not work at law firms over the summers while she was in law school, and now she is having trouble finding work right away. I had offered to hook her up with some of my friends who could probably help her out a bit, or at least point her in the right directon, but she always declines. The way she described her encounters at various temp agencies did not seem encouraging either, since by what she said about her meetings with various folks, she seems to have a bit of a chip on her shoulder about interviewing for administrative positions – although that is what she is looking for at this point.

Talking to her made me want to go beat my head against a wall. Listening to her, I felt sad and angry, because I always thought she had more sense that that, but I then tried to remember what she was like to work with (L and I met while working at a ubiquitous DC trade association) and I guess I had glossed over that her attitude there was not exactly the best either . . .

. . . my, I still seem to have a lot of hostility . . . I’ll try to be a bit peppier later, I promise . . .

Not Seeing The Baby Panda

The heat has broken a little bit, so today Random Mum-in-law, Mr. Random and I decided to venture out to the National Zoo, to see the baby panda and to get a few souvenirs to take back with her for family and friends.

We started out a bit after 12 and went to the Café Deluxe for lunch on Wisconsin Ave, a bit past the National Cathedral. It was crowded, as it would be on a Friday afternoon, and it took us about 20 minutes to get a table. We had some lovely sandwiches for lunch – I had a grilled cheese with bacon and tomato, Mr. Random and his mom both had chicken with avocado spread. The restaurant was noisy, so I couldn’t hear much of what Mr. Random and his mom were talking about, but I made sure to smile and nod appreciable in between bites of my yummy sandwich and slender, crispy French fries. I was STARVING, and I had woken up with a most horrible headache, so I wasn’t really in the mood for walking around and making small talk, although I tried to be a sport as best I could.

Two interesting incidents happened during lunch. First, I sighted a low-level celebrity, Mark Plotkin – a DC political radio host – walking on the door. I alerted Mr. Random as discretely as I could (“Isn’t that Mark Plotkin over there?” I whispered . . .) and of course, Mr. Random craned his head back as subtle as a Mack truck to get a good look at him.

The other incident happened when I was left alone at the table when both Mr. Random and his mom went to the bathroom. I was casually looking out of the window, when I spied a small, white-haired, elderly lady curled up in a wheelchair coming out of the apartments next door. She seemed to be moving rather fast, and before I knew it (because I guess the sidewalk had a bit of an incline) she had crashed into the side of the silver SUV parked at the curb. Two seconds later, a woman came running out to grab the woman and her chair and push her away from the SUV and make sure she was OK. Meanwhile, I started laughing – but I felt bad about it, REALLY! – because I could not believe what I just happened to see . . . this poor little old lady, careening down the path right into a parked car, unable to stop – I guess she didn’t have the energy to put on the brakes – just like something out of a cartoon or Monty Python sketch. She seemed OK, but I guess her nurse wasn’t watching her too carefully, or things happened to fast to stop it. I am certainly going straight to Hell for laughing at that . . .

After lunch we drove over to the Zoo, which was not too far away. Mr. Random actually found a great parking spot on Connecticut Ave, a half block from the Zoo entrance, which was amazing, since we hardly ever find great spots like that.

Once in the park, we walked over to the Cheetahs, where we found one huddled in a far corner, under a tree, trying to bask in the shade. Then we strolled over to where the Pandas were.

There was a major line. A major line on the sun. A major line in the sun that wasn’t moving. A major line in the sun that wasn’t moving and that the Zoo person said that the wait would be about 40 minutes. Random Mum-in-law was already starting to wilt anyway, so we decided to come back later. So we went another couple of yards and then decided to go into the air conditioned gift shop. There, Random Mum-in-law bought a few souvenirs and then decided that we should probably go home. She really couldn’t take the walking or the heat. We had only been there about a half hour at this point, and she was quite disappointed that she didn’t get to see the pandas. We were more concerned about her health at this point and didn’t mind leaving quickly.

On the way out of the park, we had to stop several times for Random Mum-in-law to catch her breath and rest a bit. Luckily we had parked so close to the Zoo that Mr. Random didn’t have to go and get the car for us. We tried to put a happy face on the day, saying that at least she got to eat at a nice DC restaurant, see some neighborhoods that she normally wouldn’t see, and got to get some stuff to take back to the West Coast with her . . .

Now she is resting in the living room, still going outside every hour or so to smoke. Mr. Random and I don’t quite know what to do or say, but are very concerned about her health. She can only seem to walk a few yards before getting very fatigued. Even taking the humidity into account, we can tell that something isn’t quite right.

Has anyone had to confront a family member about their health? Should we just worry in silence? She seems to pooh pooh that anything major might be wrong with her – she just says that she is out of shape . . .

Tomorrow we are going to spend the day with my parents at their house . . . I hope that goes much better than today did . . .

Feeling Like a Caged Animal

Random Mum-in-law has been here for three days now, and it has been so hot and humid that we have not been able to do any of the sightseeing that we had hoped.

Last night we did go to the Ethiopian Restaurant, which was quite yummy and filling – eating meat and vegetables with handfuls of flatbread will fill you up rather quickly. Since I felt so full, and because I just needed to do a bit of movement after sitting around the condo all day and then eating a huge meal, the three of us decided to walk a little around Georgetown.

We did not make it more than a block and a half before Random Mum-in-law said that we needed to go back. She was having a hard time walking and the humidity was getting to her. It was very worrying to both Mr. Random and I since (a) we didn’t go walk very far and (b) at that point it wasn’t as humid as it had been earlier in the day when she kept going out on the balcony to go smoke every hour, almost on the hour . . .

Random Mum-in-law’s health is of great concern to us. She seems much more frail this time, her coughs sound just horrible, and she can’t do very much without getting very tired. Supposedly her doctor says she is fine, but we aren’t believing it.

I am trying to be a good Daughter-in-law and a good sport, but being cooped up with someone for three days is always very trying. Mr. Random and I are trying to be on our best behavior and trying to accommodate Mum-in-law’s needs as best we can. Normally, if we were home by ourselves, we would just brave the heat and go places or curl up in our respective places and read, write, watch TV, or surf the internet. We make full meals rather than just making ourselves a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when we are hungry. That, coupled with the lack of walking, makes me feel like I am going to gain 20 pounds by the time the week is over.

Now, I utterly adore Random Mum-in-law to death – but sometimes absence does make the heart grow fonder . . .

[Guilty rant over . . .]

A Visitor from the West

The Random Mother-in-law is in residence this week.

The Random Household is tidier than it has been in . . . well, years. The new paint in the bathroom has been touched up, new shower curtains purchased, matching towels adorning the towel racks, and my sea of random lotions and sprays has been taken off of the counters and put neatly into shelves and cabinets.

The kitchen, while still resplendent with the fugly wallpaper and counters, has everything neatly put away and actually looks functional. It isn’t though – Yesterday, while Mr. Random took his mother out to lunch, I stayed at home and actually made gazpacho, marinated some herb-crusted pork chops for dinner, and baked a fig-date-walnut bread from a recipe I found in Cooking Light. In making all these things I realized that our cabinets are just horrible – all of the baking-ware and mixing bowls are shoved into a tiny space, making it almost impossible to find what I needed without taking out half of the contents of the cabinet. And I need new measuring spoons and cups in the worst way – I haven’t bought any new stuff in about 8 years and a lot of my utensils have sort of disappeared through attrition.

It also doesn’t help that I only feel culinary when I have a lot of time off. Around the winter holidays, between Christmas and New Years, I become a baking queen. During the rest of the year, I avoid the kitchen like the plague – who has time after working all day, plus volunteering and doing whatever?

It really sucks that it is so hot – it rather limits our choices of what we can do. Usually I love walking around the museums of the Mall, or wandering around Old Town Alexandria, but neither of these is an option in this heat. It does not help that Mr. Random’s mom smokes like a chimney and doesn’t quite have the stamina to do much walking, even on cool days. We are going to an Ethiopian restaurant tonight – she’s willing to try it – which should be an interesting experience. My Dad is coming along with us, since my mom is out of town, so this should be super-interesting.

I am much more relaxed this week and am trying really hard not to think of all the work I have to do next week – when I do, it just gets me stressed out and upset. So I am trying to go with the flow as much as possible. I may even get off this computer and try to read a book . . . imagine that!

Fringe Benefits

The DC Fringe Festival is almost over, and my volunteering time is done. For each time that you volunteer you get a chip that you can turn in to get a free ticket to a show. Two of my chips I used last night to see a play that someone I work with was acting in – Thinking Under the Influence. The room that the play was held in was seriously no larger than a small master bedroom, and they managed to shove in there about 50 folding chairs for an audience and leave about 3 feet for the actors to work with. I mean we were really crammed into that room – it was about as edgy and small-time as you could get, as if someone decided to put on a show in her efficiency apartment, with no air conditioner, and fifty people showed up. And then add the 11 or so actors in the play . . .

The play was only an hour long and was pretty good – my only complaint was that the ending was rather abrupt. No one was quite sure that it was actually over when it ended and people just sort of sat puzzled for a few minutes. My workmate did a fine job, although it wasn’t a very good showcase of his acting – his role, while not small, was sort of cancelled out by the other ten actors.

Tonight we are going to see another short play, using up the other two volunteer chips that I had. This one is a comedy about how male friendships change over the course of the college years through the twenties. I gave Mr. Random several options and this was the play he picked. I actually was somewhat interested in seeing the Sahara Dance Company’s Belly Dancing performance, since I haven’t seen belly dancing live before, outside of a Moroccan restaurant, and I thought it would be fun and might inspire me to take some belly dancing classes or something. But, when I broached the idea by Mr. Random, he seemed less than enthused. I’ll just have to seek them out another time . . .

I’m so glad I got involved in the festival this year and I hope that I’ll get to help out again next year if it happens again. The response seemed to be quite favorable to the whole event, and many of the shows were sold out, or close to it.

The only problem that will have to be worked out next year is the whole issue of late seating. Even though it says quite clearly that we won’t seat anyone once a performance starts, I’ve had to deal with too many irate people demanding to be let into a performance late, because they ran into traffic or whatever and they already paid for the tickets. While I understand that traffic sucks around here, it is not fair to either the performers or to the audience who actually arrived early or on time to have to disrupt a performance just to find latecomers seats. Especially in the smaller venues, where latecomers can break a performer’s concentration and basically ruin the show. Just because you bought a ticket doesn’t mean that you can be nasty to people just because you came late. People just feel so entitled! And the shows are less than and hour long, so if you’ve missed 15 to 20 minutes, you’ve pretty much missed most of it anyway. Can you tell I’m way upset about this?

On a random side note, my hair is just a constant big ball of frizz and it is driving me just batty. I can’t complain though – DC in the summer means H-U-M-I-D-I-T-Y to go along with the 90 degree days. Southern California may not have this horrible humidity, but it doesn’t have the pretty greens either . . .

Another random side note: I think the Today Show is much better with the rotating hosts. I was never a real Katie fan. I especially love Campbell Brown and David Gregory together . . . I guess I have an affection for them because they were White House Correspondents and I have actually been lucky enough to meet them and hear them speak.

Yet another random side note: I guessed right on which famous boy band member was gay . . . I called that one a long time ago . . .

What Should I Write About Today

The week is officially half over – and yes, this was supposed to be the first week of my two week vacation. [Note: I originally typed “two year vacation.” I wish!]

I don’t know exactly what I was looking for during this time period, what exactly I wanted to happen. I had originally planned to go down to Birmingham, AL to visit my Grandma, but schedules and finances necessitated that the trip be moved to Labor Day weekend. Then I thought that I would take the two weeks off anyway – one week to have with myself and Mr. Random, and the other to spend entertaining Mr. Random’s Mom while she is here. It would also allow me some time to take stock of what’s been going on in my life thus far, and allow my brain some much needed rest – maybe even read a book or three.

The week started out hectic but promisingly. Sunday, I helped put on a baby shower for a co-worker at a local restaurant. We had over 20 people show up and a great time was had by all, except for the tallying up the bill part, but that always goes horribly when you have a big group. Monday, I spent the day with my friend, J, and actually got to see a play. We had Mongolian Barbeque for lunch, which was a new experience for me, although J said that out in L.A. they usually have noodles available too, and that it usually isn’t so expensive.

Yesterday was not as much fun. I felt really sore, achy and tired, so I pretty much slept on-and-off all day, and then I had a horrible experience volunteering at the festival last night. Nothing major, but I felt really bad about it and went to bed with a feeling of absolute dread for today.

It also didn’t help that Mr. Random had to go into work today. He was supposed to take today through the end of next week off – the rest of this week so we could spend some time together and also help get the condo ready for his mom to come. However, he is as driven as I am, and had to finish some things up that couldn’t wait until he got back. I have a feeling that he might have to work tomorrow too, but I’m hoping to be proved wrong.

So in the absence of Mr. Random, I decided to check my work e-mail and immediately regretted it, since I found out that a project which we thought was going to be put off until 1st quarter 2007, is now again on track for this November – which means more aggravation when I get back. It is frustrating and disappointing, and it continues to make me wonder if taking the new position was the right thing to do. I mean, I wasn’t going to advance in the old position, but at the moment I am not getting much enjoyment out of the new . . .

I feel so down and whiny today. I need to shut off this computer and do something else. If Mr. Random didn’t have the car today, I would drive somewhere and just walk around a bit, window shopping and people-watching – that usually perks me up a bit. I also do a lot of good thinking when I am walking - it is hard to do when stuck inside, with everything competing for attention. I would do some puzzles, but I am definitely not in the mood. I’d call someone up for a chat, but everyone is at work and busy . . .

Mr. Random is very excited that he’s going to be starting school soon, and wishes he could start right now. I envy the new experiences he’s going to have and all of the wonderful learning he is going to do. I don’t know why I’m so decidedly unoptimistic when it comes to me lately – I guess I just need to get through this sloggy summer and wait for things to pick up in the Fall.

Sorry to vent here . . . but if I can’t vent on my own blog, where can I vent.? . . .

Stating a Preference

Last night as part of the DC Fringe Festival, my friend, J, and I saw Bartleby at the Historic Synagogue at 6th & I. This modern adaptation of Herman Melville’s short story, “Bartleby the Scrivener” was performed by the small-but-mighty Journeymen Theater Ensemble.

It was one of the more accessible-sounding works offered at the festival, and I’ve always loved that story (Moby Dick, not so much . . .) so I really wanted to see it. Also, I would have felt horrible volunteering for all of these performances and not being able to actually see a production.

The setting was small and intimate – the room was basically the social hall of the synagogue and was about the size of your normal house-of-worship’s basement, with a good chunk taken up by the stage area, the “back of stage” and the lighting and sound boards. There were about 50-60 folding chairs arranged around the stage area. When you walked into the spade, in the middle of the stage were about a dozen wooden chairs, stacked up in a rather jumbled and top heavy way, balancing precariously.

I really enjoyed the show – I have not seen a lot of live theater lately, and especially not in such an intimate setting. It was so fun and immediate. The play was rather well written, not too many dead/incomprehensible spots, and the acting was well done. It takes place in a modern office, and while very funny in spots, a lot of the situations echoed common office happenings . . . and the way the play was written, you noticed that it wasn’t just about Bartleby, but how people in office environments act and interact.

Going to the play last night has made me want to see even more events like this. I know that there are a lot of cheap/free theater offerings in this area, so lack of funds really shouldn’t be an excuse . . . although it is. *sigh* It also doesn’t help that there are only so many hours in the day to do all the things I want to do . . . and there is always so much going on!

I have to volunteer tonight at the Festival and I’m hoping that I keep on having positive experiences this week . . . I could really use a positive break . . .

On the Fringe

You know, I’ve been intending to post all week on what a slacker I’ve been, but I was much too busy to write it . . . yes, seriously!

Life at the Random Non-profit is still a crazy mess – everything is still in flux, senior staff members are jockeying for power, and there is much uneasiness amongst the rest of the staff . . . besides there still being much, too much to do all of the time . . .

But now I am on vacation! I have the next two weeks off, although they are not really “off-off” since Mr. Random’s Mom is coming to town the first week in August and we still have much cleaning and many small improvements to do around the condo.

But this week shall still be fun anyway, because this week I am volunteering at the 1st annual DC Fringe Festival. To see what it is, go here: (www.capfringe.org). Most people don’t think of DC as an arts town, but there is quite the active visual and performing arts community here, and I am quite excited to be able to help out in the first year of what I hope will be many more Fringe Festivals. If anyone is in the area and is going to attend, leave a comment and let me know – I may be volunteering at the venue where you’re going to be!

One thing to know, if you are going to attend any Fringe Festival events, is that you have to get to your preferred performance early. Don’t show up 5 minutes late, wanting to get into the show, because the productions start promptly at the listed time, and we are not allowed to let anyone else into the room – this is at the request of the performers and directors. This makes sense because a lot of the rooms are rather small, and letting more people in to find seating is very disruptive to both the audience and the performers. Today I had a large family show up 15 minutes late to a performance, driving into DC all the way from Centerville, but we could not let them in to see the show. It may have seemed harsh, but this particular show was only 35 minutes long, so they missed half the show already anyway. Besides, if you were going to drive in from Centerville, wouldn’t you try to get into town super early anyway? Traffic is usually a bear, and you should always overestimate the time needed just so you get somewhere on time . . .

Also, if there is a particular show you want to see, try to reserve the tickets online first. At this point, a lot of the more popular shows are sold out already for the week and next weekend . . . especially if the production is in a small room in a venue. Someone I work with is in a show, and this afternoon I saw that his shows this weekend were sold out, so I was going to buy tickets online when I got home and – surprise! – it turns out that the shows scheduled for the rest of the week and on Saturday are sold out too. That sucks! I really wanted to see it, especially since this person hardly ever mentions what other productions he is in . . . and rumor is that he is a pretty excellent actor.

. . . I’m hoping that with the week off, I’ll have much more time to post and respond on other people’s blogs. I’m sure there will be more interesting happenings at the Festival as the week goes on and I hope to get to tell you about then . . .

Easybeats Running Through My Head

I’ve had this Easybeats song in my head all day and it won’t leave! I think the music was a bit ahead of its time – it’s one of those songs that still sounds great today, in my humble opinion. Have a great weekend, all!

Monday morning feels so bad,
Ev'rybody seems to nag me
Coming Tuesday I feel better,
Even my old man looks good,
Wednesday just don't go,
Thursday goes too slow,
I've got Friday on my mind

Chorus

Gonna have fun in the city,
Be with my girl she's so pretty,
She looks fine tonight,
She is out of sight to me,
Tonight....I spend my bread,
Tonight...I lose my head,
Tonight...I got to get tonight
Monday I have Friday on my mind.

Do the five day drag once more,
Know of nothing else that bugs me
More than working for the rich man,
Hey I'll change that scene one day,
Today I might be mad,
Tomorrow I'll be glad,
I've got Friday on my mind,

(Repeat Chorus)

Mediocre Housekeeping

I have about several very blog-worthy topics swirling around in my head at the moment, and no time to write any of them. Arrrrgh!

Good news is that the bathroom is finally painted – bad news is that the fresh new color makes everything else in the room look shabby. Didn’t get to buy dark stain for the vanity yet, which will probably end up being a project for the week I am on vacation.

It is also sickening to realize that whoever put up the hideous wallpaper in the kitchen also decided to install the kitchen cabinets right on top of it – thus rendering it almost impossible to get rid of said wallpaper entirely unless we get new cabinets. That would be the only reason that we would get the old cabinets down. The wallpaper is red and white striped with light, thin stripes of green. Doesn’t that sound lovely . . .

We need new cabinets, because although our previous owner did put in new cabinets before we bought the place, he bought the cheapest cabinets that he could find. It only looks like we have lots of cabinets – the way the cabinets are designed, the doors are much too narrow to get any large plates or pots comfortably in and out of the space. Each cabinet has two doors, with a wide strip of wood in the center that is the main culprit. If we were to cut down the middle pieces, we would have to get new doors to go over the newly-enlarged opening. This also assumes we cut the middle correctly. So I just want new cabinets and new countertops, too. The green “fake marble” brings me down. I’d also like more usable counter space . . . and new appliances . . . and a new floor . . . none of which are going to happen any time soon. ***sigh***

I did clean out my clothes closet a few weeks ago. It’s very liberating to be able to walk into a tidy closet. At least something in my life is properly organized at this point. Mr. Random took several bags of old clothes to Goodwill – some of the clothes now being a bit too big on me now. Hooray!

Topics I need to write about: attending my Maiden Name family reunion, a new reading list, a screed about my woeful reading habits, gripes about my pitiful writing output, and an examination of whether I have made a correct career choice. Whether I actually write about them is up in the air, but do know they are in the forefront of my mind . . .

Bonus thought. To answer my own question: During the time of the American Revolution, I most certainly would have been a slave – either out in the fields or inside mopping a floor somewhere. Would I have even known what was going on? Would I have even been able to weigh pros and cons, or would I have just thought that things would be the same no matter who was in charge? Would I have been able to read? . . . But if you were to say that I would be as educated as I am today, and have the faculties of mind that I currently employ, how could I not be involved in the revolution? How can you argue with the logic (borrowed a bit from Locke and Rousseau, if I remember correctly) so eloquently laid out before us . . . how could one NOT be moved by the promise of these words:

. . . We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety
and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established
should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all
experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are
sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are
accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably
the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is
their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new
Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of
these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter
their former Systems of Government. . .

Could this be written today? Sometimes I am not so sure . . .

Viva Italia!

Congratulations, Italy, for winning the World Cup this year! I was rather sad that France didn’t win, and that Thierry Henry had to leave the field hurt, but I was not sad to see Zidane leave as he did – that head butt was just SO uncalled for, and it is such a sucky way to end one’s career on the pitch. I felt so sad when I saw the French coach at the end, just standing on the sidelines, staring out in incomprehension at the team’s defeat. However, seeing the Italians win was wonderful, especially since this will be the last time that probably a lot of the Italians will be playing on the same team for a while – with the big Italian soccer scandal, the relegation of a lot of the Serie A teams to lower levels means that a lot of those players are going to be on the open market and will be scattered to the four winds . . .

I really enjoyed following all of the Cup games this month, and I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself now that it’s over. It was so much fun watching all of the matches and getting caught up in all of the country vs. country rivalries. Soccer is truly a worldwide game, and it is rare to get caught up in something that folks all around the world are following at the same time. More people around the world watch the World Cup than follow the Olympics. On to 2012 . . . in South Africa! Who knows, maybe I will have caught the traveling bug and might be able to see them in person . . . or, if the rumors prove true and the games end up in the States, I will totally be there . . .

Stand Together or Hang Separately?

Question of the day, relating to the past Fourth of July holiday. I’m borrowing from Marginal Revolution – sue me, I have a thing for economists . . .

(http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2006/07/would_i_have_su.html)

Let’s pretend that we are all living around 1773 or so. The American Revolution is fermenting here in the colonies. You are just a normal person, like you are today. You do not have the benefit of hindsight or can see into the future at all.

Would you have supported the revolution, or sided with the British?

This is a rather fascinating question, given all of the things that could have gone horribly wrong . . . what do you think? I’m curious to your answers . . .

What Does It Mean to Be an Adult?

I’m only asking because it keeps coming up in conversations that I’ve been having with Mr. Random lately.

He says that his life doesn’t feel “settled” or stable right now – all of our friends are having kids now and are well on their career paths, while he doesn’t like his current job and is going back to school. I counter that he’s had the same job for 12 years, has been married for almost 8 years, and 2 years ago bought property . . . how much more settled does he want to be?

I say that we shouldn’t compare ourselves to other people – we should do what makes us happy and forget what everyone else is doing. “Other people” aren’t the ones who have to live our own lives day-to-day. Mr. Random is really excited about going to grad school, but he still wants to be like everyone else – not for the sake of being like everyone else, he says, but because he feels like that is what needs to be happening now.

I, on the other hand, don’t feel that way. For the first time in 35 years, I’m kind of excited by how life is now. I see so many possibilities out there for us – so many things to do, so many places to go. After I had my miscarriage 5 years ago, I pretty much stopped doing everything that I had been doing and kind of folded in on myself in a way. Luckily I had some friends whose presence forced me to join the land of the living and do stuff, but it wasn’t until the past year or so that I’ve started to feel optimistic again. I’m not in a real hurry to have kids at this point – maybe in the next couple of years, but not right away. And if, because of my advancing age, we aren’t able to have any, I’d be quite happy to adopt.

Mr. Random does agree with me . . . but he still feels . . . I guess, an internal pressure to have certain things checked off the list by now. He doesn’t feel like a “true” adult yet. But I don’t think that having kids makes you a “true” adult . . . having a full-time job and mortgage and other bills to pay seems to fit the bill rather nicely. Also being old enough to appreciate some things that you couldn’t when you were younger – having greater amounts of wisdom to draw from when faced with situations and relationships. Being able to be a mentor to someone and help them along their paths . . . being able to have the freedom to explore new things and also the freedom to be able to hang back . . .

What does being an adult mean to you?

Singin’ in the Rain

That’s all we’ve been doing the last few days out here in Northern Virginia . . .

One friend of ours has been flooded out of his home and lost his car because the small creek behind his house has now become a river. We were just at his house on Saturday night, having dinner in his newly-landscaped small back yard, admiring the new screened deck that he just put on the back of the house. When the area clears out, and he’s allowed to go back to his house, I am sure there will be a group of us going with him to help clean up and try to lift his spirits . . .

Another person we know, a young man who just started working for my department, has been almost flooded out of his Capitol Hill English basement apartment – this after being stuck at the airport an extra day because his flight was cancelled due to the storms . . .

It’s certainly not Katrina-level devastation going on here, but it is pretty bad. Mr. Random and I are lucky that we live on the top floor of a garden-style condo building, located on high ground. Previously, we rented a townhouse that had a basement entrance, and we remember having to break out the buckets and bail out a few times after the storm drain got clogged and everything backed up into basement – almost ruining everything we had stored down there . . .

This morning seems to be beautiful – sunny with blue skies and fluffy white clouds, but there are supposed to be more rainstorms coming over the next few days.

Should we be building an ark? Or is this some sort of sign? I mean, I’m fairly certain that with all of the water we’re going to have lying around, we’ll definitely have a plague of mosquitoes swarming about this summer . . .

Are any of you being deluged with the rain?

Trying to Cut Through the Fog

The thing about not writing on your blog for several days is that when you do have time to write, you can’t because you want your next post to be so weighty and well-thought out that you get too freaked out to write.

That’s where I am right now . . .

My mind has been a muddled mess the past few days. Things at work have not let up much since after the conference and there are all of these weighty problems to solve. I am tired. I am taking off the last week of July and the first week of August, but we aren’t going anywhere, which bums me out to no end. There is plenty to do and explore here in the DC area, and I never tire of that, but I would like to go somewhere else and just chill-out for a while . . .

Now that Mr. Random is going to grad school, money is going to be a bit tighter than it already was, which will put a crimp in many travel pans I had. We’re very, very excited mind you – this is an awesome opportunity for him – he is one of 17 chosen for a program that gets hundreds of applicants. It will just be a little more hectic than usual and we’ll be taking on a bit more debt, but it will make Mr. Random much happier in the long run, and that’s what counts.

Everything is just so overwhelming . . . please send some happy vibes for me to calm down a bit . . .

Been Having Technical Difficulties

Sorry for the lack of posts . . . my laptop has been having problems with our wireless router, which means that at the moment that I am most likely to have time to sit down a write a coherent post, I've been unable to . . .

Much has been going on to catch you up on:

Mr. Random has gotten into grad school and will start in the fall.

I might be getting some sort of award tomorrow for my volunteer ESL teaching

I've lost 5 pounds since my last doctor's appointment in January.

My sister got into a Forensics program and will be learning to do CSI type stuff.

. . . Don't have time to elaborate, though. Hope to be able to later. Just wanted to let you know I've been thinking about you all and wondering if you're doing well!

The Life of the Party

Clicking around the blogosphere, trying to catch up on my blog reading from last week, I came upon this interesting discussion at Marginal Revolution:

(http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2006/06/when_should_you.html)

So my question of the day is: When you go to a party, are you the type of person who is there on-time, or the type of person who shows up much later?

I tend to show up almost to the minute – at most 5 or 10 minutes after the stated start time. I rather enjoy helping to set things up and hanging out with the host in a more relaxed atmosphere, getting to catch up a bit before the deluge of other guests comes. That way, I will already have had a substantial visit with the hosts and am then free to meet and greet all the other folks as they come. I also think it is more respectful of the hosts to show up more or less on time – otherwise, the hosts are just there twiddling their thumbs, wondering where everyone is . . . I know that feeling all too well . . .

When I throw a party, I try to have everything ready right on time, but inevitably everyone shows up an hour late. I’m not kidding – one time Mr. Random and I had a New Year’s Day party at our home, and everyone was supposed to show up at 5 . . . people didn’t start rolling in until 6 or so. During that hour, I was just mortified – didn’t we say 5 o’clock? Do people not like us? Mr. Random and I were at the window almost every other minute, frantic, wondering where everyone was . . . finally, one couple showed up, and as they walked in they were surprised that no one else was there . . . the rest of the folks arrived shortly thereafter . . . to this day, I don’t know why EVERYONE was late . . . I guess everyone was on “Democrat” time or something . . .

I am also a big believer in RSVP’ing . . . one time, we invited a whole bunch of our friends to come over for a party on a Saturday, and sent out the e-mailed invites about a month in advance, and by the Friday before the party I had only heard from 5 people that they were coming. So, of course, Mr. Random and I prepared for that many people. I was way too busy all day Saturday to check my e-mail again – I mean, why would I need to? Well, that night we were in for quite a surprise when 14 people showed up . . . the newcomers said that they did RSVP, and when I checked on Monday . . . yup, they did! . . . but, goodness, give me at least a day’s notice, pretty please?

I don’t know if this is just a D.C. thing, where no one wants to commit to anything in case something better comes along, but I think it’s rather rude not to let people know ahead of time if you’re coming . . . especially those of us on a budget who have to plan ahead very carefully what menu to have and how much food to buy . . .

So, question number two, are you an “RSVP’er” or a “show-up-if-I-feel-like-it”-er?

My Poor Excuse for a Summary

It’s going to be a little difficult describing how my week has gone without blowing the thin veneer of anonymity that exists here, but I’m certainly going to try . . .

The conference seems to have been a rousing success in the eyes of our attendees. There seemed to be great excitement within the field about the renewed attention that we are putting towards them, and about the increased possibilities for networking and technical assistance. All of the plenaries and workshops seemed to be spot on, and the awards ceremonies, dinners, and other fun events were very well received.

This is bad. Very bad.

Huh? What? . . . Well, let me explain . . .

The person who was in charge of putting together the conference this year was someone who antagonized the entire staff with pointless meetings, outrageous and ever-changing demands, more pointless meetings, and still left a lot of details to the very last minute, stressing out an already stressed out staff ten times more than was necessary. To have the conference be such a success means that his methods and madness will be considered to be entirely justified. Our meeting planning staff has vowed not to go through such an ordeal again, and we may lose more than a few hard-working staff members because of it. Now it wasn’t just this one person – there have been some new hires lately who have been most jerky to their staffs and this conference preparation just made an already bad situation worse. It has been dismaying to see so many of my friends go through such a horrible experience, and I don’t think they will take much more mistreatment . . .

That being said, I cannot personally complain too much. Well, I can, but for different reasons. My role in this conference was expanded from my usual role in past years, requiring so much more preparation and face time with attendees. Our first day, pre-conference meeting was well attended and highly thought of, even though my boss did not follow the agenda as she should have, which made the proceedings a bit hard to follow and feel a bit “clique-y” for those who were new to the field. (I know this because I tabulate the evaluation forms.) My boss is not big on lots of “planning” and tends to let things sort of be a lot more free form than I would like. Some people like that type of lack of structure, but most people don’t – if the agenda says something, people tend to want to learn exactly what is advertised . . .

The whole conference was so draining, especially since I had to be “on” for four days straight, from 7 AM through 9 PM each day. I am NOT really a people person . . . now while I enjoy helping people out, and answering questions, and getting to see people from the field that I usually only talk to by phone or e-mail, I can only stand to deal with people in person for so long. I am lousy at small talk. By Saturday afternoon, I was just about to lose it . . . I had to go sit in an empty workshop room for a half-hour, just to try to calm myself down and center myself a bit . . .

The last night’s dinner was both an awards dinner and a big send off for the past chair of our board of directors. It is an evening when we recognize some of the youth leaders in the field and get to hear about some of the amazing things that these 13-25 year olds are doing in their communities. I have always found it to be the most inspiring part of our conference. One high school kid wrote and starred in a 15 minute documentary that is now being adopted in all of the local schools in the area as a teaching aid. Another young woman started a program at her high school to help other kids be heard and be more accepting of differences. You can’t help but wonder if you could have done anything so amazing when you were in high school – I know that I was pretty clueless at that age . . .

This is all I can write for now. It isn’t as comprehensive as I had hoped, but I keep getting distracted with other stuff (such as the US’s lousy 0-3 loss to the Czech Republic today at the World Cup – well, I’m guessing they aren’t going to make it out of the first round if they keep playing so suckily . . . and their next opponents are Italy and Ghana, so unless a miracle happens, I wouldn’t place any bets on the US . . .)

It’s back to my normal randomness tomorrow!

She's Baaaaack!

Conference is finally over. Woo hoo! Thank goodness . . .

The final dinner ended at 9 PM last night. By the time I got home and put my pajamas on, I was in bed asllep by 10:30. Didn't wake up this morning until 10 AM, and so far all I've done today is watch World Cup soccer on TV and read the newspapers.

I'll try to say more tomorrow, but just wanted everyone to know that I survived and have stories to tell.

I hope everyone had a great week . . . anything interesting happen?

Purple Haze Fills My Brain . . .

This morning I forgot to take my allergy pill, which meant that by lunchtime I was a stuffy, sneezing mess. I keep an over-the-counter allergy pill in my desk for just such an emergency, but the pill always makes my extremely sleepy within a half-hour of taking it. I have to be incredibly desperate to want to take it, and with all of the conference preparations going on, I had to weigh whether or not I’d rather be sleepy or sneezy. I picked “sleepy” and hoped for the best.

Yes, I did stop sneezing, but I also actually almost fell asleep during a conference call this afternoon – one in which I was supposed to take notes for. It was in my boss’s office, which is always a bit muggy to begin with, and I forgot to bring water and some gum with me – my two must haves for keeping me awake. My notes were a smeared, indecipherable scrawl and it was so incredibly difficult to follow what was going on. Not that the topic was all that simple in the first place, but being exhausted didn’t help. Luckily, the call was scheduled for the end of the day, so once my part was over, Mr. Random poured me into the car and home I went, where I promptly fell asleep for two hours. I’m still a bit groggy even now . . . I hope it means I’ll definitely get a good night’s sleep tonight . . .

The weekend was horribly busy – Saturday was spent going to the art supply store to get some materials for an exhibit we are creating for the conference. I didn’t mind terribly since I LOVE art stores and can stare at the pencils and pastels and papers for hours. Afterwards, Mr. Random and I stopped off in Old Town Alexandria to see to see the tall ship, the Godspeed, which came this past week to help commemorate the anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia. If you’ve never seen an old tall ship before, you wouldn’t expect it to be as small as it is – and then you realize how cramped and scary it must have been to travel across the ocean in such a rickety little thing. It is next heading to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston, so if it comes to your neck of the woods and you are into that sort of thing, you should definitely go see it . . .

Last week, we found out that Mr. Random’s mom was laid off from the newspaper she’d worked at for the past 30 years. OK, the official term is that she “was resigned,” since they were trying to not start an uproar amongst the staff and she was planning to retire at the end of this year anyway. In fact, because she was about to retire, the company gave her a much sweeter severance deal than some of the other folks who were laid off. It was still a bit shocking, and Mr. Random’s sister, who also works at the paper, was very freaked out by the news and was quite fearful for her own job, although her own position is safe for now. Mr. Random is worried about his mom, just like I’m worried about my dad, since she has defined herself by her job all her life – especially working for a newspaper, where you are on call 24/7 – and we can’t see her just sitting around and hanging out at the house. She is probably going to get some consulting work from the paper, but for now she is still getting used to the idea of being really retired . . .

As you may know, a lot of other newspapers are laying off or buying out a lot of their staffs. The Washington Post has just let go a bunch of their older employees, many of whose column I always read during the week. I am quite dismayed by the mindset of those who own newspapers these days . . . in the rush to try to get everything online and put all their resources there, they seem to be ignoring the very reason that many of us still read the paper – the content. By letting go so many of their trusted writers, people who have devoted followings of readers and have many years of solid reporting experience, I feel that it diminishes the final product. While I do appreciate that many younger reporters will now get a chance to prove their mettle, it always seems a waste to let people go before their time. Will there be any more like Shirley Povich who made newspapers their life? I may seem overly upset about these things, but I am a great believer in the printed word – while I enjoy reading many blogs and websites, reveling in the opinions of many cool people out there who choose to put their thoughts out into the ether, I have an amazing respect for those who make writing and reporting their career, despite the lousy pay and the lousy hours. (Most reporters don’t make very much.) I guess because I know so many people in the business, I am quite sympathetic . . .

My, I’ve nattered on enough tonight! There’s more going on, but my sleepy brain is going off into odd directions. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Wish me luck this week – come Saturday night, it will all be over and I can finally get some much need rest . . . at least, until the next week, when we start getting ready for another conference in September . . .

I Hear You . . .

Many thanks to everyone who commented on my last post, with a special shout out to Eric from Theme Park Experience – Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your advice . . .

I’m still in the thick of things, so forgive me if I’m not updating that much this week. This past holiday weekend brought its own set of challenges to be dealt with, and the amount of angst I’m dealing with on all of these different fronts has been quite tiring . . .

Had a wonderful day yesterday, though – a lovely lunch with friends, a jaunt to the National Gallery to see a couple of the drawing exhibits, a toddle to Old Town for ice cream and a wander through Olssen’s bookstore. Once I got home, I was so exhausted that I fell right to sleep at 8 PM . . . or rather nodded off on the couch and had to be roused at 11 to actually go to bed . . .

I have more to update about, but will have to wait until I’m not as tired . . .

How was everyone’s Holiday? Anyone catch a movie or do anything cool?

Dancing Through a Minefield

I am not a person who seeks the limelight . . . except when I am.

I never want to be the center of attention . . . except when I do.

I want to be the maestro orchestrating everything behind the scenes, laboring in obscurity, the woman behind the curtain – the one far enough away to not have to take the actual slugs from the crowd, but still have enough power and control to get things done they way they should. I want to be recognized for all my hard work . . . but not too much.

What IS that? WHY is that? Is it another from of passive aggressiveness? A martyr complex of some sort? “Oh, watch her toil back there in obscurity, oh isn’t she wonderful to work so hard for a pittance?”

Is it because I am ultimately afraid of confrontation? To be out in front means that eventually you have to deal with people who are most unpleasant. I’m into making people happy – I’m a "go along to get along" type gal. You have to take a stand and defend it to people who may not be all that great to responding to reason. That’s why I would never run for office, you have to suffer too many fools – especially when they are standing there yelling at you for things that are so totally not in your power. When I worked on a local County Board race, people would come up to the candidate arguing about the death penalty and abortion and a bunch of other national topics. Um, hello? County Board? Nothing to do with those topics, nowhere NEAR those topics.

Anyway, my new position at work is a bit more political than any I’ve had in the past. Have to deal with people’s personalities, know the history of how we’ve interacted with them in the past, have to try to mend fences for things that were (or weren’t done) years ago, where a lot of residual anger has built up because of it.

Every day I have to tell myself, “They aren’t mad at ME, they are mad at the organization, they are mad at the situation – I can’t undo the baggage of several years of neglect in one interaction.” But it hurts. It is hard. My boss and I are here now and we are trying to do our best to serve our clients. But our clients aren’t having any of it, “We’ve heard this before and it didn’t happen, we give up.” “No. No! We are going to do it! We ARE doing it! See?”

It is very discouraging and I am getting very discouraged. I know that if I get through the next six months it will be fine, I will have reached the next level of my career, I’ll be able to handle so much more, I’ll have some real SKILLS. But I’m not sure if I can handle it in the short term, it is so overwhelming, so scary, so hurtful to think about . . .

We are having a conference in a few weeks which could turn out to be very ugly because there is so much pent up frustration and anger at our organization’s neglect of certain things – and I totally understand it, I’d be ticked off too if I were them – but we’re the ones who have to deal with it and I am . . . scared. I mean this is a situation where certain strong personalities in our field may actually stand up in the middle of meetings and cause a major ruckus because their agendas aren’t being addressed . . .

I’m getting ulcers just thinking about it. Adding insult to injury, my boss and I are the only ones who are taking this threat of ugliness seriously – no one else sees a problem . . . which is part of the larger problem in itself . . .

So, this is going to be a huge confrontation. And a huge opportunity. Will I meet the challenge? Will I be able to finesse the political minefield and start affecting positive change? Or will I end up in a fetal position in a corner and demote myself back to being just a scribe, researcher and jack-of-all-trades? . . .

Has anyone else been through something like this professionally? How did you get through the doubts and the fear? Any advice?

Queens for a Weekend

My trip to New York went . . . eh. My friend, L, was exhausted after her Law School finals and really did not feel like doing very much of anything.

The night before I came, I called and asked to make sure it was OK to come up. I knew she was tired, but she insisted that once I got there she’d be ready to paint the town . . .

So Friday night, after arriving at Penn Station and making our way to Queens by way of the ever lovely NYC Subway system, we just stayed home and ordered in Chinese food. One of her friends called and invited us to go out later that night – and I was totally up for it! Visions of Random Kath stylishly hitting the NYC clubs at 11:30 and having a few mojitos danced in my head! – but she told them she was way too tired. So we watched a lot of “What Not to Wear” and went to bed.

Saturday morning, my eyes flew open at 7 AM, raring to go. I’m so used to having Random Cat meowing in my face at that time that now I just wake up naturally. L was still fast asleep, so I got up and got showered and dressed and waited for L to wake up. I brought a book of Sudoku puzzles with me, so I polished off about 10 of them before getting bored and turning on the TV at 10:30 to watch "Paula's Home Cooking" on the Food Network. L finally got up at 11. We didn’t leave the house until 2, but part of that was getting locked INTO the apartment and having to get the super to let us out. The door was so old that the latch had worn down and wasn’t working properly. Excitement!

We took the long subway ride to SoHo. L made me bring along a bottle of water and a book, since she said the ride would take a while. The subway isn’t as clean as DC’s Metro, but it sure goes more places . . . and there was quite a diverse crowd on there. To get down to the subway is all stairs – no escalators – and I was amazed how many people were able to drag full double-strollers and shopping/laundry carts down all those stairs. The subway also uses something almost exactly like Metrocards and using the machines were pretty cool. Did you know that you pay $2 and can go anywhere in the system for that amount at any time, even if you transfer among trains? That seems like a so much better deal to me than DC, where you have to figure out how much the fare costs depending on where you’re going or if it’s rush hour. There were even stations that had places selling newspapers and snacks on the platform, and I immediately thought of the Seinfeld where Kramer would jump off the train, buy a Gyro really quick and jump back on before the doors closed. I always thought that was pretty cool . . .

Walking down the streets of Queens and riding on the subway brought me back to being 14 years old and living in Philly and riding the subway to school. Reminded me how much I missed being in the city and getting around so independently. Having lots of mom and pop stores and restaurants up and down the streets. The grime, the tell-tale urine-y laced smell, the crappy sidewalks, the diversity of people walking around – older people walking out in front of the synagogue in packs, group of kids on the subway train horsing around like my friends used to, people honking their horns in front of apartment buildings at all hours . . . it felt like . . . being home again. Being little again – the future stretched out before me and knowing that I could hold my own all by myself . . . My eyes grew wide, I had a spring in my step, I felt like “Yes! Let’s go!”

So we got to SoHo, where we were met with a teeming mass of people and tall buildings and stores everywhere. This is the New York I imagined! We walked around for a little bit, but we both were starving at this point – she didn’t have any actual food in the apartment since she was trying to lose weight. We found a cool little restaurant, with a kind of diner bar downstairs and a main dining room surrounded by windows upstairs, whose name escapes me (but the back of the card said “lofts 520”). There I ate the best turkey burger I have ever tasted, honest-to-goodness, the patty being thick and moist and so, so flavorful. The fries were thin and crispy, but not too thin and not too salty. I would go back in a heartbeat . . .

After lunch, we walked around a little bit more and I was dazzled by all of the stores, and even more dazzled by the street vendors. I was able to pick up some interesting souvenirs for my family, the best being a framed set of pictures – one of John Lennon wearing a New York City T-shirt, next to it a picture of near his gravesite (I’m guessing) with “Imagine” written in mosaics. Mr. Random loved it and now has it hanging on his office wall . . .

After only an hour or so, L was getting tired of walking around, although I could have gone for the rest of the day. So we took the subway all the way back to Queens, where we had a message that some friends wanted to catch the 9:30 showing of "The DaVinci Code" somewhere on the Upper East Side. I got really psyched about that, even though I had no desire to see the movie, because – hey! It’s the Upper East Side! I’ve only heard about that place . . .

However, we later got another call that there was a mix up and they could only get tickets for the 10:45 show. L didn’t want to be out late, so she declined. She spent the evening researching bar exam-related stuff, while I sat in the living room and watched Sabado Gigante. I went to bed at 11 for lack of anything else better to do . . .

You see, I was trying to be the good guest, just rolling with the punches and trying not to seem bored or way disappointed. I stayed as upbeat as I could and tried to stay out of her way and let her do what she needed to do . . .

Sunday morning, L slept in again, but at 11 she asked if I still wanted to go to the Algonquin for brunch. Since my train was leaving at 2, and it would take a while to go into Manhattan and then wait to get a table, I declined that idea. So we went to the train station and had lunch at the TGIFriday’s. She apologized for being a lousy host and said she felt real bad about how the weekend turned out. She promised that once she passed the bar she’d bring me back to NY and we’d go all sorts of places then. I told her that I had a good time anyway and not to worry . . . I knew she was a bit exhausted and I was just really glad to see her . . .

On the way home, I tried to put a happy face on the weekend, but I still kind of wish I had stayed home . . . I felt totally in the way there, and there was an arts festival going on here in VA that I was sad that I missed. At least now I can say that I spent a weekend in New York . . .

Sometimes I think that my expectations are much too high for things like this. I mean, all I wanted to do was 3 things: see Times Square at night, go hang out in SoHo for a day, and have brunch at the Algonquin and pretend I was Dorothy Parker for a while. If I wanted to sit around and watch TV, I can stay home . . . in fact, I don’t even do that at home very much – I’m always finding stuff to do and places to go. I do feel for my friend, she had had a rough semester and was really, really exhausted, but when I begging off from coming, she insisted that once I came we’d definitely do stuff. I feel like such a horrible friend, but I also feel bad because the weekend really did suck . . .

I do hope to go back again sometime soon and get to explore a bit more and look at things more closely. Maybe stay in a bed and breakfast closer to the action and try to see one of the infamous Off-Off Broadway shows and catch a comedy night somewhere. Hit the MoMA for a day. Explore the Village. I better start saving my money now . . .

Heading Out

Sorry, everyone! It's just been an exhausting week, but now I'm almost on my way to NYC for the weekend.

I'm hoping to get to the Algonquin Hotel on Sunday, at least, and pretend I'm Dorothy Parker for a while . . .

The friend I'm staying with called me last night after she finished up her last take home exam, and she is totally exhausted, and wanted to know if I might be up for exploring the town a little on my own at some point . . .

So I have no idea how this weekend is going to go. All I know is that I'm getting out of town for a few days, and that is good.

I'll share the highlights of my trip with you all when I return!

The Loo in the Basement

I actually started to write a decently thoughtful post last night, but of course, it was the first time that our internet was doing fluky things, so no posting last night . . .

As usual, our weekend was busy. Saturday I went to the movies and saw “Art School Confidential.” I wasn’t very fond of the ending and I thought that the story could have followed a different thread and had a much more satisfying ending. However, any day that ends with eating at iHop is a great day . . .

Sunday, Mr. Random and I went to a bunch of open houses in the Del Ray area of Alexandria. There was one house which always looked really cool on the outside, but the inside was incredibly cramped and poorly laid out. And the basement . . . if you could call it that . . . a flight of steep steps leading to a very low basement – so low that even my very short self had to stoop to walk down there. Besides being way too low, the basement had a toilet sitting in the middle of the room, sitting next to the washer and dryer. Just sitting. Out in the open. Not even a screen in front of it. Not even a sink down there. Just a lonely, grimy toilet sitting in the middle of this dark, low, cluttered basement. There was only one other bathroom in the house, on the second floor, and it was tiny. The owners had redone the small kitchen rather nicely, but if it were me, I would wall off the basement and find a way to bring the washer and dryer upstairs. Of course, it was the most expensive house we saw, listed at that time at $749K . . . yes, you heard me right. For three tiny bedrooms, one and “one-quarter” bath, and a death trap basement, almost 750 thousand dollars . . .

We then walked to what looked like a rather small and unassuming bungalow down the street. A friend of mine said that we should really come out and look, since he thought it would be perfect for us, just from how it looked from the outside. When we walked in, my expectations were really low, but I was so, so surprised! The owner had ripped the house down to the studs and started each room from scratch and added on in the back a family room/master bedroom suite w/huge walk-in closet/screened porch and deck. There were wonderful hardwood floors, and gorgeously updated kitchen, a mudroom, two other nice sized bedrooms and a bath, all the rooms on one floor. It was as much my dream house as it could possibly be. It was full of light and shiny new. AND it was 30K less than the first house! If that house isn’t snapped up in the next week, I don’t know what’s wrong with people.

Now I can’t afford any of these houses, and I don’t believe that Mr. Random and I will ever be able to. After leaving that bungalow, I felt really depressed. I do love looking at open houses though. I love seeing how they are designed, how they are decorated, how people LIVE in them. So daydreaming is going to have to hold me over for quite a few years more.

. . . gee, that writing didn’t end the way I though it would, but I’m much too tired to fix it. I hope everyone’s week is going well. I’ll try to do better later . . .

Just Another Day . . .

It’s been a day. Not a bad day or a good day, but a day.

I picked up a pair of glasses with my new prescription this afternoon and it took me a while to get used to actually seeing things correctly. I can’t wait to get my new sunglasses and my second set of frames . . . I picked some really daring styles – well, for me they are kind of daring . . . My workday glasses – the ones I picked up today – are thin, burgundy framed, with small, square/oval lenses which work well with my skin tone. For my second pair – my casual/at home/weekend pair, they are thin, blue framed with small oval lenses . . . these will be a little more “coke bottle” than the other ones, because I didn’t want to spend the money to thin out TWO sets of frames. The sunglasses will be thick, but dainty, tortoise shell with small, dark lenses. It’s been dreary and rainy the past two days, so I am not as antsy for the sunglasses, but I definitely want them by my trip to New York next week . . .

My boss has extended an offer to a really nice guy who is going to do a lot of our admin and database stuff. Yay! I’m hoping that he accepts – it will take so much off of my shoulders, and I can start working on other things . . .

No one came into my office today and said they were resigning . . . I should now consider it noteworthy each day that someone DOESN’T do that . . .

Consider this another Random placeholder post . . .

Rearranging the Deck Chairs . . .

Two people are leaving the Random Non-profit this week to go on to other jobs. I took one of them out to lunch today just to give him a proper goodbye – he had been rather fun to work with and I am very sad to see him go . . .

When I came back from lunch, my boss’s boss came into my office and said that she was resigning to start her own consulting firm. I’m way happy for her and I think it will be a great fit – she’s worked her for 9 years and wants some new challenges. It’s also a good time to leave before the new CEO gets on board, especially if you don’t feel like going through yet another transitional period . . .

However, I am now wary of anyone who walks into my office and shuts the door. She was the 4th person in 3 months to come in and tell me they were leaving. I just assume now that if someone comes in and closes the door, the next words out of their mouth will be “I just wanted to let you know before it gets out – I’m leaving to . . .”

Today was a bit of a discouraging day for the above reasons and one more. My new boss and I are committed to improving our organization’s relationship with our grassroots. However, they have been neglected for so long that they are no longer paying attention to what we want to do. They have complained for a number of years that we have not been meeting their needs, and no one seemed to be acting on their requests in a timely manner. Now that we finally have the resources and the drive to do what they want us to do, they don’t want to hear it. I understand how they feel – they have been burned before – but I do wish they would give us a chance to improve things . . . some of them do know me and know that I do follow through on what I say I will do. Now I just have to try to do that for the whole field, and somehow let them know that we DO care and we WILL help them . . . I must not take all of this personally . . .

Thanks on the comments on yesterday’s post. I will try to work on Mr. Random to get him to take some time off . . . we both really need it, and him most of all. I am going to NYC to visit a friend of mine next weekend – maybe having the condo to himself for a few days will allow him some breathing space . . .

Any recommendations on what I should see in NYC? I’m already going to Times Square, and hope to spend a day in SoHo. I will be there from next Friday night to Sunday afternoon – is there anything else I should try to get to in such a short time period?

Fork in the Road

Today I tried to access the blog from work and it just wasn’t happening. I’m thinking it was a sign of some sort – that I really need to lay off the blog surfing until I get home . . .

Since we moved our offices, the office manager is making us all print to the same printer room, which happens to be at the other side of the building from where a number of us sit, a fact which really ticks a whole bunch of us off. I wish the Random Non-profit wouldn’t be so darn cheap! I almost want to run to Staples and but my own printer, just so I don’t have to wait for someone to get finished printing out the phone book to get my 2 page outline that I need for a meeting . . .

The days are so busy now – filled with many more meetings. Plus, my new boss is a major talker – there is no such thing as a one minute conversation with her – so meetings take a bit longer than before. I am still overwhelmed, but it is starting to settle into a routine. Hopefully, we will be able to hire an admin pretty soon and be able to apportion duties accordingly . . .

They still have not found anyone for my old position and many things have just been left hanging. I’m feeling kind of bad about that, but there’s nothing I can do since I have my new duties that keep me very busy. I do hope that they staff up that department again very soon . . .

Mr. Random is having a bit of a crisis . . . the type of crisis a lot of us are going through right now. He is trying to figure out what is in his future, what is he meant to do. He feels really demoralized because a lot of things that he has wanted to do, he doesn’t feel that he is good at, and he doesn’t know what to do now. As a child, he wanted to be an astronaut, but wasn’t very good at math or science . . . physics, same deal . . . design, it doesn’t come naturally to him . . . writing, same thing . . . I try to get him to try new things, network, get himself out there at bit more and expose himself to more things, but he just isn’t that interested. He enjoys his soccer games and his running but doesn’t have many other hobbies. I, on the other hand, try everything and love everything, and my problem is the opposite – which way should I go? I am at a loss on what advice to give to help him, other than being as supportive and encouraging as I can. If he doesn’t get into the school program that he is applying for, I have a feeling he is going to be utterly inconsolable . . .

This is something that I am worried about . . . at the moment I am very excited by many possibilities while Mr. Random isn’t. He is looking at all of our friends, with their houses and kids and decent jobs, and is not feeling like an “adult” in comparison. I, on the other hand, am making peace with where I am and don’t necessarily want what those folks have. I mean it’s nice, and I do want it someday, but right now there’s just so much to do and try and places to go. I have a feeling that at some point I am going to have to compromise what I want and put things on hold for a while to pop out a kid or two, but definitely not right now . . .

Mr. Random and I do talk about what we are thinking and feeling often and are trying to balance out each of our desires with those of the other . . . we don’t want either one of us to end up bitter, but it is hard sometimes . . . What do we want our future to be? I guess after buying this condo, and me not being happy with it but knowing that it was as good as it was going to get, has made me not want to have to make another decision that I know that I’m not going to be happy with . . .

Reading over what I just wrote, it sounds much worse than it is, but it has been upon my mind quite a bit and we are trying to puzzle it out and try to figure out how to make the situation better for the both of us . . .

There never seems to be a perfectly dull moment when nothing is going on, it seems . . .

Hitting a Wrong Note

The weekend is almost over.

I just got finished looking over Mr. Random’s first draft of his personal statement for applying to Journalism school. It was a rambling mess that needs a lot of work, but there are kernels of good stuff in there. Personal statements are incredibly difficult things to write – so many influences go into what makes you want to do something that by narrowing it down to one or two items sometimes leaves out some important information that an admissions office may find compelling . . .

This weekend went OK . . . I mean, we got our errands done, we bought paint for the bathroom, I had my eyes checked, ordered new glasses, I went to lunch with my friend today . . . but it all seems so . . . off . . .

Today I had to sing a solo in church – it did not go well. I was so nervous – I should not have been nervous, but I was petrified to do it. Everyone kept saying not to worry, no one was going to stone me, but when the moment came – I mean I did it, but I was not happy with it. The reason I sing in the choir is because I love singing and have a great time doing it and people can tell that. Starting the day in sheer terror is never a good thing . . . I’m a supporting character, not a soloist – a background singer. I help make the whole group sound better, but I’m not ready to be out in front. I’m a Pip, not Gladys Knight . . .

However, I really need to get over my fear and try to do more things like this. I told the Music Director that next time maybe a duet would be best . . . I feel more confident if I’m not singing by myself. It may be a good way to ease me into solos . . .

Today would have been a good day for a good old-fashioned “hang-out and just chat” with my friend, but it didn’t seem in the cards today. We did have a lovely lunch, ice cream and bookstore haunt, so I can’t complain too much . . . any time out is a good time . . .

I thought I was going to write a bit more, but will have to wait until tomorrow. I still haven’t been sleeping too well, and now I think it is finally catching up with me. I’m really hoping this week isn’t too stressful . . .

Random Happenings

Many things to catch you all up on today!

First of all, I’m at home today. I’ve had a massive headache for the past two days which I considered a sign that I needed a day off. Right now I’m watching Ellen, a show which I LOVE, but never actually get to see except on holidays. She’s doing a “Cinco de Mayo” show and showing scenes from Olvera Street, the oldest street in Los Angeles. I think Mr. Random and I ate at the Mexican restaurant she filmed from, and now I’m all excited at the recognition – I’m just cheesy that way. “Hey, WE ATE THERE! THAT’S SO COOL! I KNOW WHERE THAT IS!” It takes such little things to make me happy . . .

I remember that on that trip I bought a little black backpack purse off of one of the street carts for $10 and it was one of the best purses that I ever had. Not too big, but big enough to hold my essentials easily. Small enough that I could tote it around and not have my arm go numb. I told Mr. Random at the time that if it lasted more than a month, I would be happy – it lasted about a year. I have now devoted my life to finding another purse like that . . . I guess if we go back to the West Coast this summer, we have to go back to Olvera Street and I have to buy 5 of those exact purses from that cart . . .

Second of all, the office move is over. Mr. Random and I came in on Sunday afternoon and unpacked our offices to start getting ready for Monday. The new building, though smaller, is actually a lot nicer and we have office windows that ACTUALLY OPEN. Some of you must know how exciting that is, to actually have the ability to let fresh air into the room. I have a lot of trouble with recirculating air buildings – I get sick all of the time in those - so this is a happy relief. Since the offices are a lot smaller, I had to lose a bookcase, a guest chair and a filing cabinet, but otherwise I have my office set up exactly like I had it before – all of my Arts Festival posters up on the wall, along with my colorful Matisse and my Margaret Bourke-White picture. I have a big picture window with two smaller windows at the bottom that can be opened to get fresh air. There is a huge radiator/air conditioner unit right under the window which can be used to heat or cool the room to my desires, but also takes up a honking amount of room behind my desk, and I can’t put any anything on it, like plants or books, because it’s basically a heater. I used to have a small file hutch in my old office behind my desk there that I used to keep my plants on, but they all had to be relocated and I can’t get used to not having those files right behind me anymore. And now my office is right off the reception area, which means (a) a lot more noise and (b) I have to keep my office incredibly neat all of the time. Otherwise, my office is set up exactly the same as my old office – comfortable and colorful. Mr. Random’s office is across the building from me, which is great! – but he still wanders over to my office about 8 times a day to just say hi or to chat . . .

Third of all, now we have a wireless router, so I am now writing this from the comfort of my bedroom. This is so awesome, we should have done this sooner! . . .

Now for the most exciting thing . . .

Last night, one of my husband’s cousins from random South American country was in town and had dinner with us. He is the youngest son of my husband’s father’s younger brother, and I had never met anyone from that part of the family before. Mr. Random hadn’t seen M since M was 4 years old, and now he is a tall, dark-haired, very handsome 22 year old who is going to college in Canada and was in town to visit a friend from school before joining his family on a vacation in Russia. (They are the very well off part of the family . . .) We were both very nervous before meeting him that we would run out of things to say, but it was quite a lovely dinner and he is quite a sweet, earnest young man, speaking with a very heavy Spanish accent. We showed M our wedding pictures since he was unable to come, and he was glad to see the family that he has not yet met. He talked a lot about his two older brothers, his mom and dad, and how different it was going to college in Canada after growing up in random South American country. He is going to do a semester abroad next year, spending the spring studying in Paris (lucky dog!) . . .

I wish that my youngest sister could have come up and joined us – they are both about the same age and I think they could have gotten along wonderfully. After seeing her picture, he actually asked about her and seemed a bit interested. She could certainly do a lot worse! . . .

I am so glad that meeting him worked out so well. When Mr. Random and I got married, we were both a bit miffed that none of that part of the family came up for the wedding – the wedding of their only Random cousin, the son of the dead brother. They sent a card, but I was furious with his Random uncle . . . especially since they have traveled to the states a few times since then and never once wanted to see us. I know I have to get over it, but I think it is sad that Mr. Random has an uncle who he does not really know and does not seem to want to know him. Luckily his Uncle T has been more than awesome and like a second father to him, but still . . .

. . . Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We will spend ours trying to fix things up before Mr. Random’s mom comes to visit us in June. I will try to get a little more rest in, if I can . . .

Placeholder

I have not forgotten about you all . . . It’s just been super busy these days and I have not much time to write. I’m glad to see that Virginia Gal is back, wanted to say “Hi” to Merci and Justrose, and give a shout out to Tree of Knowledge who wandered over from Cheese and Responsibility (which needs to go on the blogroll as soon as I have time.)

The weather has been just lovely. My evening schedule was supposed to ease up this week, but it didn’t and I don’t know when it will. However, I should have something pretty interesting to write about after this dinner I’m going to tonight . . .