the ordinary life of an extraordinary girl

Having a damned if you do damned if you don't kind of afternoon. I'm hoping "do" leads to slightly shorter period of damnation.

Just a quick note that for Andrew's birthday we'll be going bowling at Lucky Strikes, downtown, near Rittenhouse, at about 8:30 (prior to that i'll be taking him to Le Bec Fin for dinner)

Please let me know ASAP if you'd like to join us for bowling, as we need to make reservations for that as soon as possible.

Where: Lucky Strike Lanes 1336 Chestnut Street
When: Saturday December 20th 8:30 pm
Why: Andrew's birthday!!!

Again, please comment here if you plan to join us
(crossposted to facebook)

Sorry for such short notice, but it took him a while to figure out what he wanted to do for his b-day this year. - Lots of things going on at the moment!

I'm finding that I'm house crazy these days... in the way I used to be boy crazy before I met Andrew. I see one, and fall madly in love until I get to know it a little better, and find out it's either too expensive, too damaged or in the wrong part of town.

Here's my latest crush

It's in the East Oak Lane neighborhood. We don't know much about it. The crime stats we've been looking at don't look TOO bad. Can anybody from the philly area enlighten us about East Oak Lane?

It isn't our beloved Mt. Airy, but a house like this in Mt. Airy would probably run more like 400K. I don't know how we would ever be able to afford that. East Oak Lane would be a 5 minuite commute to work for me. But it doesn't seem to be *near* anything (restaurants, shops, pubs). Though it would be a straight shot on the Broad Street Subway downtown.

It has a "children's play area" in the yard. I could probably keep my chickens there. (Have I mentioned I *really* want chickens? I don't know what's come over me)
I think I'll go stalk it after work (wow... finding a house really *is* like finding a date... err.. kidding... really...)

Last week was pretty awful. I spent the week feeling just heartsick over offending some friends at a halloween party. A & I even quarreled about it. So we spent Wed-Fri not really speaking to each other much. Saturday, we made up, somewhat, though I still didn't feel like attending another party just yet. We ended up at Tim & Jenn's place, helping them ready their house for sale. I must say, there's something that is either really theraputic or at least very validating of your state of insanity about peeling wall paper off a wall.

Sunday, A & I *really* made up, and then made a couple of quiches, using potato for the crust. I had some for breakfast this morning and it was fantastic.

On the bright side of such an isolationist week, I began excavating the dining room and my office. I finished the audiobook of "Girl with the dragon tatoo". I was a pretty good mystery, but I'm getting sick of the modern-day Deus Ex Machina being The Hacker Who Can Hack Anything.

Saturday, I begn listening to Chuck Palahuinuk's "Haunted". Lots of short stories within an over all story. And wow, the first one is... really... horrifying. and not in a "Boo! it's a ghost/demon/thing that goes bump in the night" kind of horrifying. It's gut-wrenching... literally. I haven't cringed that much over a story in a book... ever.. I think. And as the over-arching story develops, I just have to wonder if at some point Chuck did the Landmark Forum. Some of the scenario, and the things one of the character says...(what stops you in here stops you out there...) seem straight out of that course. It would be a really funny take on it.

I'm starting collect boxes, to box up stuff we don't use. Our place has pockets of clutter that are becoming intolerable. I'll be working on that more this week, Probably working at T & J's some more, and in general, being a Theatre widow, then a Hunting Widow this weekend.

Now when I hear Wire's "Drill", I can't help but thing of Sarah Palin. This makes me very sad.

Apparently, they played a show at Johnny Brenda's last weekend, but I had waay too many other things to do.

And from the "whiskey tango foxtrot" files:
My technician went out for a smoke break earlier today. This guy comes up and starts chatting with her, telling her he's a new father...then proceeds to HIT ON HER! I guess his baby mama bits aren't going to be up to it for a while, so he has to find something fresh...

I shake my head.

Tim recovered my music for me on iTunes, but I lost my playlists. ah well... I'll take that loss over the other.

No, not like that... well yeah, but that's not what I'm talking about right now. I'm talking about my addiction to Lush bubble bars and bath melts. I just went online and bought more. *sigh*

I'm a theatre widow today. I should be doing more evaluations, but...ugh... I can't right now. Instead I'm watching alot of Scrubs, and puttering around the house doing Laundry cleaning up taking out trash, etc.

I still can't decide if I want to go out or stay home tonight. We'll probably end up going out because I didn't get anything to eat at home.

I *did* find the MOST AMAZING coffee while at Chestnut hill market today: Maya Mocha Spice. It has the kick of chili powder in it! I can't wait to brew some for Andrew. While in line to buy the beans, I was gushing about it so much, one lady ahead of me bought a cup, and another was coming back for some of the beans as soon as she dropped off the rest of her shopping!

Also bought a quiche. My breakfast attempt this week will be to heat up a slice of quiche to eat before work. I have such a difficult time managing breakfast in the morning. Have you noticed that it takes longer to eat things you eat with a spoon, like cereal and oatmeal, than it does to eat something with a fork, or your hands? I really need to eat first thing in the morning too...and work is so busy, its hard to find time (though I have discovered that I can consume a cup of yogurt in the time it takes to walk from the Nifty Cafe to the Main Pharmacy) It's the most important meal of the day, and yet I can't ever seem to get it right. Still trying though.

I've been doing better about bringing frozen Lean Cuisine to work for lunch though. Next step, get back into bringing my own bottle of water from home. Need to find that bottle and give it a good washing before Monday.

Of course the quickest solution to my morning woes is just to wake up earlier, but no can do. I just can't manage to get up before 6 am.

Now waiting for laundry to dry, then meeting up with Jenny_fur. We have a party to plan!

Still haven't decided whether to go out or stay in tonight. Guess I'll see if Andrew has an opinion when he gets home tonight.

Friday: birthday actual

I broke the first rule of Birthday, which is NEVER WORK ON YOUR BIRTHDAY. I didn't take the day off this year because I took 4 days off in Jan. a week off in March and I'll be taking a week and a half off in May. So I didn't think I could afford the time.

So I worked. and it SUCKED. From the moment I walked in, I was like a half dead carcass wandering past a nest of vultures: They all attacked
"Did you get that vancomycin order?"
"I have this STAT TPN!"
"Where's my..."

*sigh* and it only got worse from there. Was busy all day. I had a bit of a breakdown... that feeling that no matter how hard I work, how fast, how efficiently, how, accurately under increasingly stressful conditions... it's never enough.

I came home feeling thoroughly beaten.
There was a package... for Andrew.
I took a bath to leech out all the badness of the day...curled up on the couch to semi nap and just rest myself a bit. Then Andrew came home. With absolutely lovely flowers. and 2 bottles of very nice champagne. The Package was his gift to me.

He said it was just a silly gift,
( But really it was full of WINCollapse )

We had some champagne, and then _antipathy_ and majormagik came over to discuss music for the wedding. We were also joined by the lovely christianet It was a good and at least somewhat productive meeting.
Then we stopped by Tim and jenny_fur's house, as they were having a hockey party, but the game was over, the flyers had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, apparentLY, but it was nice to visit with them, and mr_velvex, who gave me an awesome hat for my birthday.

Scatterday:
Woke up semi early, not feeling entirely special, but had to get downtown to find birthday gift for faerie_nocturne, ate at Reading terminal, then had to head back to Mt Airy, as I had an ill-timed manicure/pedicure/eyebrow waxing at 3p. (Ill timed as I thought Andrew would be at work, but as it turned out he didn't have to go in). So we didn't accomplish going to the bank, or the shopping spree at lush or the dinner at Tria but we opted instead for a lazier, more slow moving afternoon, getting ready for faerie_nocturne's party at evinumen's house. That was a pleasure, as always to see all of them, and their friends. It was a really delightful crowd, and I had a blast seeing everybody there. Sadly I had to leave at midnight because I had to get up and go to work Sunday.

AT 5 F@&(%ING O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING.
Stupid computer downtime. Here's how it always goes: They take the computer down at 2 or 3 am or something... tell us it'll come back up at 5 so we have to be there. We get there at 5am, sit around until SIX when the computer ACUTALLY comes back up (one time it was 10 TEN oclock before the fracker came up!) then I enter my one or two post partum orders that are standard orders with a stool softener and some Advil on them, that a MONKEY could enter. and the go home.

Well this time the computer actually came back up at about 5:15. I still only had one order from my area, but at least this time it was a NICU baby. I still managed to frack it up by entering everything on the wrong twin before I noticed it. So I entered one order, twice, and was done. There was a bit more waiting around, during which I napped in a chair, and then they released us. then it was back in bed for me until 11:30

We woke up, lounged around a bit and went for brunch at Silk City Diner. They actually serve fantastic Huevos Rancheros, and the best Bloody Mary I've ever tasted. So we had some of that, before we parted ways so that Andrew could go to rehearsal. I am currently dyeing my roots, which are really overdue.

But for a small, rather uneventful birthday, it really was still a great deal of fun.

And something is in the air... Spring? Love? Change? Pollen?
Whatever it is I'm damned allergic to it

I need to be doing my taxes right now.


No seriously.

Right after I have a bath.

I promise.

We were watching some new (to us... yay wedding presesnt!) AbFab last night, and we kept commenting to each other how familiar Saffy's little nerd friend looked.

That's because it's TOSHIKO from "Torchwood"!!

Wow... did she ever... bloom.

Sorry folks, No birthday party this year. Bigger Party to plan. I just can't give a rat's backside about my birthday this year with planning this wedding. I'm giving the whole thing a miss.

Really rich food for dinner + no lunch + a night of insomnia = sick day. The worst thing about the insomnia is the panic that comes with it at 4:30 in the morning... that I can't get back to sleep and I'll never be able to function with this lack of sleep. At least calling in handled that bit. Also next time we have our Easter Bunny dinner, I need to make sure I eat lunch first. Bunny is very rich, and eating too much too fast because I'm starving led to an unhappy tummy most of the night and into the early morning.

The bunny was absolutely fantastic though. Andrew gets better and better at it every year.
Next year though, we also have to make sure to order the rabbits ahead of time. There were some tense moments at the butcher shop not knowing if they'd have enough rabbits for us.

We also had magneticfieldz and sindia joining us this year. Very pleasant company indeed.

And we watched "Being There". or most of it anyway. I sort of got lost when I went to help with dessert. I'll have to re-watch before I return it.

I'm feeling much better now. Slept until noon. ate a bit. and if I can get all the dishes cleaned, the day will not be a total wash. so to speak.