Monday, May 31, 2004

Monday, May 31, 2004

60 Minutes devoted 11 minutes of their show last night to photographs of the 800 men & women who have died so far in Iraq.  It was very sobering.  I took a moment today to honor the memories of all the people who have died in the service of my country. 

And then I vegged out with my book and my bag of Ruffles while Galahad painted upstairs.

Sunday, May 30, 2004

Sunday, May 30, 2004

Yesterday was pool day and today is movie day.

We watched The Last Samurai, which made me think quite a bit.  The movie made you root for lack of progress.  I wonder if today's progress will be looked at as a step in the right direction or dishonorable.

Afterward, we watched The Triplets of Belleville -- quite a cute movie.

Somewhere interspersed in the movies, we caught some of the Libertarian Party's National Convention live on C-SPAN.  Yes, I know this makes me a geek.  It also makes me wonder who to vote for come November.

Saturday, May 29, 2004

Saturday, May 29, 2004

Yay for a 3 day weekend! 

I haven't felt much like writing lately.  I got into a spat (dunno what to call it and I feel like I'm in 5th grade if I say a fight) with a friend.  It's more than a spat I fear.  It's a completely different perspective on life which makes me wonder if it's reconcilable and if so, at what cost to depth?  I don't really want a "how's the weather" type of friend.  Anyway, it's had me pretty bummed out.  I'm not sure how we've managed to be friends thus far or if in fact it was all a faรงade.  I sometimes blind myself to these things because I don't want to see it.
 

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

So much better today!!!  Migraine is still gone.  Sore throat is gone.  Fever is mostly gone.  So much work to catch up on though. 

Monday, May 24, 2004

Monday, May 24, 2004

I hurt.  :(  And thanks to my normal cool body temperature, the height of my fever is 98.7°F.  Doesn't that seem wrong?  My body is on fire, and I'm miserable.  I would think our digital thermometer is broken except that when Galahad had that nasty virus a few months ago, his registered 103°F or thereabouts. 

I'm piling in the ZMA (okay only 2 since I'm scared to OD and that's a zinc / magnesium combo for you supplement-challenged folks out there.)  I'm still leery of the vitamin C since I had a weird flush last night.  Galahad attributed it to the MSG in the wonton soup, but I have never reacted like that before.

And of course a sick day wouldn't be complete for me without it triggering a migraine. *%^(%%#%#!!!!  Imitrex for the win!

Sunday, May 23, 2004

Sunday, May 23, 2004

Yay, we got to sleep late and relax on our own.  It was cool out suddenly so we took a nice stroll through the park before going to catch our plane.  Somehow I started to get a scratchy throat.  Sigh.  I can't believe I packed all of my Vitamin C and forgot to take it most of the time.   I took so much today that I think my body had a weird reaction. We picked up won-ton soup on the way home from the airport, and I went straight to bed.

Saturday, May 22, 2004

Saturday, May 22, 2004

My family decided on doing Grant's Farm together today.   Sigh.  I'm not fond of tourist places, especially outdoor ones on a blistering hot day.  I also dislike poorly run ones.  Oh joy, let's combine all that into one fun day.  :p  Let's also make it free except for parking so all the riffraff will come, and my family will try to jam as many people as possible into one car to save a few bucks. 

Okay the baby goats and baby draft horses were cute, but I could have easily skipped the rest.   Galahad & I did decide to skip the Arch downtown when my family piled in to go see that.  We relaxed and chatted with my sister's boyfriend instead.  Wow, I completely see why she's so into him.  =)

We stayed up late talking to my sister, then said our goodbyes since we weren't planning to be back tomorrow.

Friday, May 21, 2004

Friday, May 21, 2004

Graduation Day!  I was so happy that it wasn't too early until I found out it was outdoors at the heat of the day.  Of course, I wore a stylish BLACK outfit.  At least it was sleeveless, but omg it was all black.  I put on sun block but didn't wear my baseball cap cuz it didn't match my outfit.  :p  Mostly I moved around a lot to stay in the shade.  I offered sun block to the girls in front of me who were too vain to put it on.  I was literally watching their lily-white skin sizzle before my eyes.  Finally the friend of the girl asked if she could use it on her little sister and put it on her friend also.  I wanted to go aisle by aisle and offer it to these pale mid-westerners.

We screamed ourselves silly when they called my sister's name.  I'm so proud of her!  I got all teary-eyed.

Afterwards, we went to a reception that was indoors, thank goodness.  Apparently my outfit was indeed looking okay cuz I had male & female attention.  ;)  The woman had a nice pickup line but the man was just pathetic.  I almost wanted to walk over and give him pointers for the future.

During the ceremony, I ate 3 protein bars.  At the reception, I went back for 5ths.  Those little cocktail plates are annoying.  :p  Then it was back to my sister's house for more food and visiting.   It was so awesome to see my West Coast siblings and their families.  My twin nieces from Seattle are perfect --- so cute and so well-behaved.  My California nieces leave a little to be desired in the behavior category, but it was still nice to see them.

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Thursday, May 20, 2004

My brother called to ask how we were getting to the airport, what I was wearing, etc.  Hehe, nothing like waiting until the last minute.  I told him we had decided to just drive ourselves, and pay for airport parking since it was such a hassle to find someone to take us.  Of course they needed a ride, too, so we stopped on the way and picked him & his girlfriend up since we were all on the same flight.

I made sure we were there early enough so we could all eat before we got on the plane.  No blood sugar issues to deal with.  I was nervous about going through security carrying my fountain pen, but no one stopped us. Then, we met a really cool guy on the plane who Galahad exchanged numbers with when we landed.

We arrived safely and split up from my brother since we had rental cars from different places and were staying separately also.  We made it to the B & B, checked in, and went to eat at a scrumptious restaurant, Eleven Eleven -- recommended to us by our gay innkeepers.  Galahad raved about the glass of wine he had here.

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Yay!!!  I picked up the fountain pen today, and the monogram looks great!  I stopped by my friend's house afterwards to hang out with her before I left town.  Her cat had kitties, and omg, they are adorable.  :)

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

The pen salesman called and said the monogram didn't come out well.  They're re-doing it now.  I hope it's ready before I leave on Thursday.  :p

Monday, May 17, 2004

Monday, May 17, 2004

My territory for work was just doubled, and I am sooo busy now.  I like the people though, which means so far no complaints.  =)

Sunday, May 16, 2004

Sunday, May 16, 2004

I left buying my sister's graduation present to the last minute, so today Galahad and I spent 90 minutes picking out a gorgeous fountain pen for her.  I made the salesman absolutely crazy, I'm sure, with my nit-pickiness and my superficial leanings.  I love the one we picked.  It writes well, looks classy, and is monogrammed.  =)

Sunday, May 16, 2004

I left buying my sister's graduation present to the last minute, so today Galahad and I spent 90 minutes picking out a gorgeous fountain pen for her.  I made the salesman absolutely crazy, I'm sure, with my nit-pickiness and my superficial leanings.  I love the one we picked.  It writes well, looks classy, and is monogrammed.  =)

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

I had nightmares last night ---  scary-ass crazy ones that I won't go into.  It had my typical spirit animal guides in it, alligators & snakes.  I'm guessing it's because of that man who got beheaded.  No, I didn't know him, but it just saddens me that people do this to each other.  Factor in that I had a migraine and took Imitrex before I fell asleep, and it's a nightmare waiting to happen.  It freaked me out cuz I couldn't wake up right away and when I did, I wasn't sure where I was, so more panic and fear ensued.  :(

And like a complete dumbass today, I watched the video of his beheading this morning.  I felt like I owed it to him not to shy away from the horror.  And it was fucking horrifying.  Do yourself a favor and don't watch it.  Afterwards, I felt like I invaded his privacy by seeing such an intimate moment of his murder.

I still have the migraine and can't shake this funk.  :\

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Why has customer service gone down the drain?  Is it because companies don't emphasize it enough or because people actually care less about their fellow human than they used to?  I had an issue with the hotel I stayed at in Phoenix.  They weren't supposed to bill me for that specific issue, which of course they did.  I called them up and asked for the credit.  That was no easy feat either and pissed me off even more when they put me on hold for 10 minutes after I said no when asked if they could place me on hold.  Why fucking ask?  I finally got in touch with a manager after 3 phone calls.  He apologized profusely and promised to fix it and call me when it was fixed.  I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that he never called nor fixed it.  I called him again today, and he apologized, blamed Mother's Day, and promised again.  Shall I hold my breath?

Monday, May 10, 2004

Monday, May 10, 2004

Another Mother's Day I survived.  It gets less & less weird to not have a mother during this time.  I am so grateful to have a fabulous mother-in-law (well she kinda counts as that, right?), but I can't help but wonder all the what-ifs.  :(

Sunday, May 9, 2004

Sunday, May 9, 2004

Of course I needed to see Kill Bill Vol.2 today cuz I hate being left hanging like that.  We caught a matinee and still dropped about $20.    We were running late as usual, so we split up to save time.  He got the food, and I picked out the seats.  When I walked into the theater, it was fairly small, so I didn't have a lot to choose from.  I picked a row that was mostly empty and sat one seat away from some guy.  It was as close to the middle as I could get without intruding too much in his personal space or so I thought.  He didn't say anything when I sat down or I might have moved.  Next thing I know his girlfriend walks into the theater (I guess they had the same idea about splitting up), and she gives me such a look like wtf are you next to my boyfriend.  I just sit patiently and hope that Galahad shows up soon before I get my ass kicked by some Boca Bitch. :p  Meanwhile, all the other spots have filled up.  When Galahad went to sit down, I started to move my purse to the seat next to me (next to the guy).  He then tells me someone is sitting there.   Now we're packed in like pickles with no options. :p  Oh well, at least the guy who finally sat next to me was a cutie.  ;)  We fought for elbow room a few times on the arm rest but mostly got along okay.

Saturday, May 8, 2004

Saturday, May 8, 2004

Sooo good to be able to relax by our pool.  This was the 1st Saturday in 3 weeks I think that I've been home.  Then we watched the other movie he got, Kill Bill Vol.1.  That was excellent but kind of violent and gory in a cartoonish way.

After that, it was off to a Mother's Day dinner for Galahad's mom.    We were hoping to beat the crowd.   Apparently so were the other 500 people dining there.  =)  I had the Mezzaluna Ravioli, which was good but not as tasty as Galahad's.  Also, our waiter was cheap with the cheese.  I think he was just cranky with all the stress.

Friday, May 7, 2004

Friday, May 7, 2004

Galahad must have been in a weird mood cuz he rented Spellbound.  What a bizarrely fascinating movie.  Dunno if I would recommend it unless you're a geek like me.  :p

Wednesday, May 5, 2004

Wednesday, May 5, 2004

I thought about going out to the Tequila place tonight, but Galahad decided he would rather go to karate.  And I decided I would go hang out with a friend of mine who was severely bummed.  I don't think I managed to cheer him up, but maybe some small part of his mind was happy for the company.

Tuesday, May 4, 2004

Tuesday, May 4, 2004

We took our friend to the tequila place for dinner & drinks.  We hadn't been there in a while and learned there's some big tequila shortage now.  I remember hearing something about a shortage with the agave plants when I was in Phoenix 2 weeks ago.  Apparently there was some fungus that hit the blue agaves.  I also tend to think politics got involved in the tequila inflation.  When it became trendy, it was doomed.

Somehow we messed up the timing.  Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo when the real party happens there.  Oh well, at least we could talk a little bit and had a nice table to eat at.  I'm sure tomorrow will be LOUD and CROWDED.

Sunday, May 2, 2004

Sunday, May 2, 2004

Finally, we were able to sleep in a little bit although we had to get up before the free breakfast ended --- oatmeal and all the hard-boiled eggs I could eat.  =)  My father drove my sister and nieces back to Jacksonville airport right after breakfast since they were running late as usual.  They were a bit upset that they didn't get to go back to my niece's apartment to say goodbye, but it would have been a frantic drive to the airport if they had.

We got to my niece's in time to see my brother and my niece's fiancรฉ (hehe they just got engaged so I can say that now) maneuvering a queen-sized mattress from the 2nd floor into his borrowed SUV.  While it would have been amusing to watch them, Galahad jumped right into the fray to help out.  As usual, my brother didn't have the details exactly right.  :p  It's a good thing we decided not to ride with him because I would have lost my seat to the mattress.  After all this activity (watching counts, doesn't it? ;)) I was hungry again, so I suggested lunch.  Galahad and I were planning to hit the Korean BBQ place we had seen especially after my niece said they had a large Korean population there.  Who knew?  My first clue should have been the Korean Baptist Church that we passed.  =) 

Surprisingly, everyone was up for it including my brother who is a new Atkins Evangelist.  Before you wonder that we have such different genes, nope we don't.  He's not quite as skinny as I am but only because he works out religiously and therefore has muscle mass.  I have been eating in a similar fashion to Atkins years before that ever came out just to manage my hypoglycemia better.   My brother is just now learning to deal with at in his mid-40's.  Hehe, better late than never.  It's kind of humorous since he's so in shape and never ate junk food to begin with.  I eat dessert sometimes when the mood strikes me, but I know when I can and can't put sugar into my body.  Maybe my brother will figure it out by 80 or so.  :p  Actually, my diet is similar to several diet plans out there now.  It's called eating healthy without being a fanatic.  :p

When we walked into the Korean place, we took it as a good sign that we were the only round-eyes in there.  Most of us got bulgogi, while a few people got chicken.  Twenty minutes later, 3 people got their food.  Twenty minutes after that, we started getting worried.  The next 4 came in very slowly to the point where the first people were done already.   We asked to speak with the manager who conveniently wasn't there.  Next, I saw someone getting smacked around in the back.  Since they sat us by the kitchen, I had a clear view.  I started to have misgivings about complaining to the manager (who had returned by now) especially when our waiter said he would take a couple of lunches off of the bill.  The food was excellent, but I don't know if I would go back.  I suspected that perhaps our food was late because we weren't Korean.

Since lunch took about an hour longer than we had planned, we said our goodbyes in the parking lot.  However, we had ulterior motives.  We made our way to Kanapha Botanical Gardens, which has Florida's largest public collection of bamboo.  I was kind of foolish when I believed Galahad that we would go in, see the bamboo, and leave quickly.  I declined to bring our water with us, too.  About 30 feet into the trail (the bamboo being smack dab in the middle of a mile long trail), I started having reactions to all the plant life blooming.  I got so weary and had the Dorothy in the Poppy field syndrome.  I was regretting not having water so I could take an Excedrin to counter this.  I was pretty sure a migraine wouldn't be far behind.  By the time we got to the bamboo, I could barely stand up straight.  Laugh.  I'm yawning as I type this.  I decided to be brave and swallow an Excedrin dry.  It was either that or drink from one of the dog dishes set out.  I managed to get one down okay but decided not to push my luck on a 2nd one.  Lucky for me they created the park with old people in mind so they could rest frequently on lovely stone benches in scenic areas.  We skipped the 2nd trail since we still had to drive back home plus I was barely hanging on.  Galahad was thrilled he got to see the giant bamboo, so he was happy to leave.   Now we have to decide which type we want in our backyard.  =)

All in all, it was a fun weekend.  Pretty much any weekend that I can squeeze in 3 Cool Hand Luke references is a good time.  =)

Saturday, May 1, 2004

Saturday, May 1, 2004

We were late as usual and ended up racing down the interstate at close to 100mph to get there in time.  Fortunately for us, the doors were not locked at 8:45 when we got there.  Parking killed a good 15 minutes --- otherwise we might have made the 8:30 deadline.  And, to throw salt in the wound, the ceremony didn't even start at 9.  Her mom had arrived early and saved us all seats, lucky for us since it was packed.

My niece finally walked across the stage at about 10 am, and we screamed for her as loudly as we could.  I'm so proud of her!  I had tears in my eyes (haha big surprise there from Ms. Sensitive).  We persuaded her to sneak out early so we could all go to lunch cuz breakfast was so long ago already.  :p 

My other nieces who had flown cross-country for this were very well-behaved considering they had about 4 hours of sleep and are both at difficult ages to begin with.  I had been warned by various siblings that they seemed unruly.  Overall, I had no complaints and was very happy to see them.  My 16 year old niece had a crisis at lunch.  I tried to talk to her and listen to her problems.  My heart really goes out to her.  That's such a rough age, and she's trying to cope with so much shit in her life.  She dried her tears and went back inside to make the best of it.

Afterwards, we all traipsed back to my niece's apartment and descended like locusts.  Galahad and I passed a fruit stand and bought a watermelon and some boiled peanuts for everyone to share.   Laugh, most people (including my niece who's lived there for 4 years) had never tried them.  They are very much a Southern thang.  My brother and I scarfed most of them down since we were the hungriest.  :)

Since I'm newly into bats, we jumped all over the opportunity to see a gigantic bat house on campus that houses 100,000+ bats and watch them come screaming out at dusk.  My 6 year old niece was incredibly sleepy and cranky by then, and I'm somewhat ashamed to admit I called her Cranky Pants to her face and told her to chill out.  I'm such a bad aunt.  :p   You might be wondering why she was there.  Somehow, most everyone caught Galahad's and my enthusiasm for the bats and we all caravanned over there after dinner.