Like you need more diversions from actually working...

You all know that when I start getting addicted to particular blogs, I try to give a shoutout to them so that others can indulge in their witty repertoire. There are two I'd like to give a bit of free promotion. No, they did not pay me for the free plug...although if they are willing to send a check, I wouldn't make them feel bad by declining it. Momma always needs a new pair of stilettos!

• AndyBiggart.com - Baby's childhood friend who I've had the pleasure of meeting a couple of times. He's a Gator fanatic like Baby, but I suppose I can't hold that against him...or can I? Watch as this guy takes Tampa by storm!
• Mindy Does Minneapolis - Sassy broad I stumbled upon while stalking other blogs. Although I don't know her personally, I'd definitely love to grab a beer (or six) with this chica!

So go forth, my readers, and check 'em out!

When things just don't work out...

Baby and I had plans to meet up with Pocahontas and J.Smith in Playa del Carmen tomorrow through Sunday. It appears that work-related matters on my side are going to keep us here in H-town after all. Too much is going on with both jobs for me to take any time away. Sad...I know! The upside is that Baby is relieved that he will get to take a breather before he leaves for San Juan and St. Croix on Monday for the week...especially since he's been in Kingston all week and not getting back until tomorrow morning. It's been over a year since Pocahontas and J.Smith moved to Denver, so I'm extremely saddened that this is the second time that plans to visit with them haven't panned out. I'm so upset!!!

In order to make up for it, I'm trying to think of something Baby and I can do that will cheer me up. Something we can do Saturday evening or some place we can go. Seeing as college football is on Saturday, I am sure that we'll be doing that most of the day, but I would like to do something else. Hmmmm... I heard of a new bar called Blue Label Lounge that opened near Baby's house that sounds interesting. The website is pretty cheesy with it's "see and be seen" attitude, but whatever. We tend to always like new bars when they just open before they get over-saturated with the early-20's crowd who are still into overly-impressing each other. When it gets to that point, we usually stop going. Strange, huh? It really comes down to hating when bars are so crowded you can't stand in one place without someone bumping into you and spilling half your drink. Ridiculous.

Anyway, I hope the rest you guys have had a good week so far. Any fun plans for the weekend?

Thank The Almighty for Hot Men in Boxer Briefs!

Yesterday, I went to the Human Rights Campaign 2008 Gala Kick-off Party sponsored by The World of Calvin Klein at Macy's in the Galleria. They hosted a mini-fashion show and served hors d'ouevres and cocktails.

So let's be honest here. I really only went for the free food and drinks because we ALL know that these mall fashion shows never have models that look like their advertisments. Be real. If that were the case, I'd be a mall fashion show groupie. Regardless, I had a fantastic time. It's not hard to have a great time when you attend an event like that with four catty gay men...two of who believe they are so fashion-forward it's ridiculous. Let's just say there were a lot of "blue steel" looks (aka the Zoolander pose) given every time a magazine photographer took pictures. I met some interesting event promoters and HRC members/Gala chairspersons. I even signed up to get more information on becoming a member of the Houston chapter as well as possibly getting involved in helping with their Gala. You know me and getting involved in causes. Granted, I can't imagine where I'd find the time to participate, but we shall see if it's something I feel strongly enough to want to be a part of. I'm still undetermined.

After the event, our little entourage headed to our local gay watering hole for some Drag Queen Bingo and, of course, a few more cocktails. Giant actually won in the first round of bingo along with one other guy. Because there were two winners and only one prize given per bingo round, he had to choose a number between 1 and 100. He didn't choose the closest number so he got a "consolation prize" of three cd's (which were all three pretty sucky selections) while the other guy made off with a year's membership to 24-Hour Fitness. How's that for getting slighted? Drag Queen Bingo becomes a pretty big drag (pun completely intended) after the first round, so I headed home and was in bed before 10:30pm.

Although I didn't stay out super late nor did I drink copious amounts of alcohol, I definitely feel worn out today. Testament that my age is catching up to me. Gone are the days of going out on school nights and not feeling any twinge of wear the next day. What sucks is that I have a going away happy hour for one of my favorite guys in the office right after work today. It is only a 6pm-7:30pm thing since he has dinner plans with some of the senior guys at 8pm, but I would rather just go home and be lazy on the couch. Oh, well...

(And YES, I changed the template...AGAIN!)

Finally...I've settled on my template...for now

It's not great nor extraordinary, but at least the colors go better than yesterday's red, yellow, white, lavender, and hot pink - WTF kind of color scheme is that, right?!? I settled on red, white, and orange for the time being. I figured the red, white, and yellow was a bit too McDonald's for me ;)

I shall try to post more once I become inspired. The coffee hasn't kicked in yet...

I suck at this template thing!

As you can tell, I have been fooling around with my template today. I've pulled a Diana Banana by changing it at least 15 times today. I've tried the standard blogger ones as well as a few I've shifted colors on my own. Damn this process takes forever...AND...I still don't like it! The scolor scheme sucks!!! I suppose I should've known better that if Diana Banana couldn't do it, I was destined for failure. I like the red, white, and yellow together so I guess I'll keep working on it. It's hard not to become obsessed with perfecting it. Grrrr!!!!

Oh, well...to make me feel better. I will post a picture that makes me happy and will probably have to be pulled off should Baby EVER look at my blog.

I caught Baby snuggling with his parents' dog Morris yesterday morning. Aren't they too cute?!?!?

Fun game...even if I sweat my arse off!

Yesterday was a blast. The Gators won over Tennessee 59-20. It was awesome!!!

When we arrived into Gainesville yesterday morning, we had to make a quick stop at a Gator shop because the coach made an announcement that he wanted all the fans to wear blue. EEKS! I only brought an orange shirt with cute blue beaded accessories. Damn it! Thank goodness I found a cute shirt at the shop. Baby bought a blue shirt as well since his Gator shirt was white...had to show our support and all!

Once we were done with the impromptu shopping, we headed to one of Baby's friend's tailgate. These people weren't kidding around. As you'll see in the pictures below, they were completely decked out in orange and blue Florida Gator paraphanalia. Reminded me a lot of fun days of going to a few UT (Texas NOT Tennessee) tailgates. A big THANK YOU to AB (for lack of a better nickname at this point) for all his and his family's hospitality!!!

After a few beers, hot dogs, and other munchies, we headed for the stadium. OMG...it was soooooo hot! We sat on the west side of The Swamp, so we were in the shade. However, one of Baby's friends was sitting on the east side students' section which was directly in the sun for almost the entire game. We were absolutely drenched in sweat because of the heat, humidity, and surrounding people's body heat that we could only imagine how miserable the east side of the stadium must have felt. Luckily, there were a few open seats next to us, so we text Baby's friend to join us in the less sweltering section. By the time he showed up after half-time, he was half-dead and his shirt was completely soaked. Poor thing!

After the exciting game, we headed back to the tailgate for more food and to wait out the massive traffic. After a couple hours, we headed back to Brooksville. The drive wasn't too bad coming home, but we were exhausted from the heat and definitely did not smell the greatest. It was a good thing we both smelled gamey so that we barely noticed the other's aroma...haha!

Now we're crossing our fingers to get on a flight home. Baby has to leave for Kingston tomorrow for work, so it would put a major kink in things if we got stuck here an additional night.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Hope you all had a great weekend as well!

Off to Gator Country

I have been absolutely slammed at work all week. Ridiculously slammed. Thus, neglecting this poor little blog...and neglecting to read my fellow bloggers' updates. Which, by the way, a huge CONGRATULATIONS is in order for Diana Banana. She is now a newlywed! WOW!

I have found time to FINALLY post. Granted, I am currently trapped on a plane right now on my way to Tampa, but that is besides the point. I arrived for my flight sans book, magazine, or work to do. EEKS! Two hours on a plane with nothing to do?!?! What am I going to do???? I can only read this Continental Magazine so many times (although it currently has a story about Costa Rica - a place I hope to visit one day). So I decided to write something and post it once I land and get a chance to log into blogger.

Anyway, I will let you kiddos know how the game goes. We're getting into Tampa at around 8pm and have dinner plans with Baby's folks. Tomorrow morning, we're getting up early to drive two hours to Gainesville for the game. It's going to be a freakin' blast. I can't wait!!!

Ok, gotta go...the booze cart is making its way to our row, and I've still got to dig in my purse in hopes for a $5 bill so I can have a personality drink (aka vodka cranberry) before dinner.

Now I've seen it all...

Drop EVERYTHING! Ladies and Gentlemen, I must introduce you to....

OhMiBod

You have to click on the link and read for yourself the wonders of this gem. I think this would make a great Christmas/birthday/you just feel like buying me something gift, don't you agree?

Finish the Meme

I got this off a MySpace post and also saw something similar on Scarlet Hip. Since I'm uninspired again today, I figured I could use it to fill the void...

My ex is still: a jackass.
I'm listening to: thunder outside.
Maybe I should: finish some more work.
I love: traveling to far off destinations.
My best friends: make more money than I do, but I'm okay with being "the pretty one."
I don't understand: Chinese because I'm not Chinese, people!
I lost respect for: Whoopi Goldberg. **She defended Michael Vick saying saying something similar to that "he was raised in the South and didn't know any better about how wrong dog fighting is". I don't see the excuse of "being raised in the South and not knowing any better about how wrong the KKK is" flying as a valid excuse, do you? People "KNOW" right from wrong...so stop making excuses. End of story.**
The meaning of my screen name is: that I want to tell you what I want, what I really really want...although Rice never made the Spice Girl cut.
Love is: a beautiful thing if it happens at the right time with the right person.
Somewhere someone is: wondering why I'm bothering with this meme.
I will always: wonder why I was cursed with such a huge noggin.
Forever seems like: commitment.
I never ever want to lose: my sense of humor.
My mobile phone is: often dropped on the floor.
When I wake up in the morning: I have to go to the bathroom.
I get annoyed at: people who encroach on my personal space. **Why you gotta be all up on me when we're standing in line, mister?**
Parties are: better when you (1) don't have to pay for them and (2) don't have to clean up after them.
My pet: now belongs to my mother.
Kisses are: amazing.
Today I: ran down the hall and tripped on my high heels. Typical.
I really want: to win the Texas Mega Millions Lottery - not picky about the jackpot amount, but the more the better.
I live: in a tiny apartment and have a landlord who calls me if he hasn't seen me for more than 3 days for fear I am dead in a ditch.
I work: a lot.
I think: too much.
I smell: Avon hand creme.
I listen: to all kinds of music, but mostly 80's and early 90's stuff.
I see: too much violence on the local news.
I sing: even when I shouldn't - karaoke, anyone?
I can: plan things with ridiculous amounts of detail in a short amount of time.
I daydream: about being happy, financially sound, and living on a remote tropical island writing a novel.
I fall: all the time.
I want: to be stress-free.
I cry: when I get frustrated.
I love: having my crazy family, Baby, and my high-maintenance friends in my life.
I sometimes: feel guilty for being unhappy about things in my life when others have it so much worse than me.
I fear: midgets.
I hope: to one day have a job in the PR industry again.
I eat: all the time.
I miss: Doc and Sparky
I forgive: almost no one once I cut them out of my life.
I drive: a Honda that bears a striking resemlence to a bumper car.
I dream: about the strangest things.
I kiss: Baby every chance I get.
I hug: just about EVERYONE.
I have: too much going on at all times.
I remember: when I had no responsibilies.
I don't: like unappreciative people.
I believe: in karma.
I know: more than I let on sometimes.
I hate: when people use derogatory terms and think it's either funny or okay to do so.

Thread v. Wax: The Big 'Brow Debate

Apparently, I have sparked some interest in the topic of eyebrow threading. I can't say which would be better for you, but I will let you know my experiences. Personally, I have very sensitive skin. Wax tends to rip layers of my skin off in addition to the hairs, so I end up looking like a red, blood-splotchy cromagnon as my forehead swells like a caveman.

With threading, the only downside that I have experienced is that the constant rubbing of the thread over the skin around my eyebrows tend to irritate it enough to create a bit of a bumpy, diaper rash-looking thing. I know, it sounds horrible, but this lasts for only about 2-3 days, but (to me) is totally worth it when it goes away. My brows are better shaped than with wax and I think that the hairs don't grow as fast. I usually end up needing to tweeze a few strays in about 2.5-3 weeks, but not many. As for pain, it makes your eyes water a bit, but nothing extreme. I guess it depends on your pain threshold. The concept is very much like those old Epilady products. The ones that would just basically pluck a bunch of hairs off of you at the same time. It's a smaller version of that. OH, and it only costs $5 to do. Not bad, eh?

I would suggest everyone try it at least once. It's such an experience to try things that other cultures do for beauty that are now being saturated in America. I'm sure every beauty regiment has a downside, so I suppose it depends on which ones you are privy to handling.

****

Also, here is another article about threading, if you're interested.

All Refreshed

We have lift off! As of Saturday morning, an end came to my horrendous PMS and Baby's reasons for questioning my "demon-like behavior" (as he so eloquently put it). All the ladies can relate to the weight being lifted off my shoulders and my sanity being restored.

Baby went fishing this past weekend in Jacksonville, Florida, and caught all kinds of stuff. He had great stories about their boat trip out in the Atlantic that I almost regretted not going. Almost. I am glad he had such a fantastic time. I'm sure it was well-deserved and very much needed after dealing with me and my mood swings for the 10 days prior. I am also glad I got to spend the weekend here in Houston I got caught up on some well-overdue one-on-one time with Grove and relaxed. Grove and I talked a lot about life and relationships on Saturday in between football, buckets of beer, and water moccasin shots. Who would've thought that we would've gotten so deep watching football? I blame the water moccasins. The conversations were a strong reminder of just how lucky I am to have Baby as well as how much I love him. I'm glad he came back Sunday night because I missed him so much!

Baby and I ran errands and then lounged most of yesterday. He accompanied me to the "Indian" part of town by Hillcroft and Harwin to get my eyebrows threaded. I love how perfectly clean threading gets your eyebrows. Baby was a sport by sitting and waiting as the woman went to town on my brows listening to Indian music wailing loudly throughout the little salon. I occasionally caught him staring at the ceiling with a perplexed look as if to try to understand what the Indian music was saying...too funny! Afterwards, we picked up a few things at the store and decided to hole-up at his house for the rest of the rainy day. We watched the movie Shooter with Mark Wahlberg. Pretty good movie even though the ending was a bit unrealisic, but it's the movies, right? And Mark Wahlberg being pretty easy on the eyes helped a lot, too.

Baby also made me dinner last night. He seared some sirloin steaks that he had marinated and made potatoes au gratin. He's such a great cook. I'm lucky I have a man that likes to cook as much as I do. Since I got off work from Job# 2 tonight, it's my turn to make dinner. I was thinking about this recipe for Pan-Seared Sea Bass with Olives and Tomatoes Baby and I saw on the food network yesterday while flipping through channels. It looked very tasty. Wish me luck...

:(

Last night at around 3:45am, I woke up and started having panic attacks, so I have basically been awake since then seeing as falling back to sleep never really happened. I'm beginning to have those "What am I doing with my life?" thoughts again. I'm sure it was emphasized by my moodiness of late, but I need all of you to send good mojo my way. I feel so out of sorts lately. Maybe I just need a drink...or eight. Baby will be gone for the weekend which should give me more space and time to put my life into perspective. Part of me is upset that he will be gone over the holiday weekend when I specifically asked "we" stay in town, but the other part of me is glad he'll be away as I'm thinking we're at the point where we need some time apart...or at least that I need some time apart. I'm not going to carry on and bitch a whole "woe is me" about how I've been feeling lately any more than I already have. Let's just say that although I put on a great face for the general public, I've been pretty sad lately. Makes me miss Doc living in Houston more than ever!!!

Reminder of why gay men make the best of friends!

I have officially entered the PMS zone. I've been irritable, mood swingy (is that a word?), and down right physically miserable with the swollen body, tender breasts, full-blown cramps, headaches, and massive fatigue. With that said, I am normally a very easy-going person. I usually take a tremendous amount of caca before I blow my top. But of course, once I do, RUN! HIDE! SEEK SHELTER UNDERGROUND!

Lately however, my tolerance level is at an all-time low. Every little thing sends me over the edge in about 15 seconds flat. That doesn't help with me and Baby considering he tends to not pay attention to my initial requests. Therefore, having to repeat myself leads to visions of pushing him down a flight of stairs. Often times I feel guilty for not being as laid back as usual, but then I have Doc right there by my side as my personal PMS cheering section in my near-homicidal tendencies. Short of helping me push Baby down those aforementioned stairs, Doc has been the perfect "Yes Man" in supporting me in my anger management issues lately. "Yes, you should put him in his place!" "No, you did the right thing by saying how you feel!" Even if I'm not right and completely irrational, Doc supports me in my manic behavior. There is something about the unconditional love of a best friend that makes your bad days all better.

Just an example of the ridiculousness between Doc and myself that reminds me how much I love him is the following excerpt from our catty email exchange yesterday when I was kind of feeling low (and, yes, I am a pretty superficial bitch in this email...and yes, I'm okay with that):

*****

Rice: Even these people found love... (attached photo of unattractive couple on their wedding day)

Doc: Who are these people? The boy is kinda cute -- in an ugly way.

Rice: I know the girl. I have no clue who the goober is, but they look so happy in love. I think I'm jealous...

Doc: "Happy in love," huh. See that's the problem. People like you, me, and Beyonce are always trying to be crazy in love. The ugly losers are only trying to be happy in love. Maybe there's something to learn from this picture. Shit, you know (head bobbing), none of us three could handle just being happy in love. It's just not fun and doesn't have a good beat (i.e., doesn't have that good ol' porn rhythm).

*****

Now who can deny such sage advice coming from a licensed psychiatrist?

We have pictures...

Since I have nothing to contribute today for blogging, I decided to post pictures from our trip to Brooksville. There really weren't many pictures, but I thought I'd share a few...

Because our 5pm flight was cancelled, we hopped on over to a completely different terminal to the Fox Sports Grill in Terminal E to watch football, stuff our faces with nachos, and have a couple of frosty beverages until our 9pm departure. That's Baby's sad, "What can you do?" face.

This is Baby giving his dog Morris (aka More Head) kisses

Doggie Butt *hehehe*

*Smiles*

Baby's family with a side of Rice Spice! My head looks HUGE in this picture. Why does my head look 3 times bigger than everyone else's?!?! I don't think it looks like that in real life...or does it? Hmmmm...

Brooksville Trip

***Written yesterday on the plane, but forgot to post it when I got home***

Our trip to Brooksville was a whirlwind. Sadly, our 5pm flight out of Houston on Friday was cancelled. We were unable to get out until 9pm. Seeing as we didn't arrive into Tampa until a little after midnight, there wasn't much we could do but go right to sleep. Arriving 5 hours late ruined our plans to eat at a premier steakhouse in Tampa Baby's parents were planning to take us, and it made the almost hour drive to Brooksville even that much more exhausting. Oh, well.

Saturday was more eventful. Baby and his sister took me on the "grand tour" of Brooksville. For those who grew up with me, let me give you an idea of what Brooksville is like. As my previous suspicions were that it would be a lot like Channelview, I was relatively correct. It is CV, a sprinkle of North Shore, and a lot of Pasadena/Deer Park minus the refineries. Strangely, it may very well have been smaller than CV - amazing, huh? Needless to say, I wasn't taken aback by the "small town" premise his family thought I would find so different from inner loop Houston. Being smaller than CV, everyone literally knew everyone. No joke. Driving down the streets in one day, they recognized at least six cars driving of which they knew the drivers. We even ate at a restaurant of which Baby went to high school with the owner.

After the driving tour, we headed back into Tampa about 50 miles away to go shopping at the International Mall. You all know my dislike of shopping, but Baby's mom did end up buying me some gloss and lip liner from Chanel as a gift. I argued back and forth about not wanting anything, but I had made the mistake in mentioning that I needed new lipstick that morning, and she remembered. It was extremely sweet of her. I actually ordered them two bottles of wine as a thank you for all their hospitality - an Italian merlot for Baby's dad and an Italian pino grigio for for his mom. Unfotunately, they won't receive it until the end of next week (damn holiday) because it was almost $30 more to expedite it to arrive only 2 business days earlier. Ridiculous, don't you think? I hope they like it regardless.

Anyway, after the mall, we headed to a steakhouse for dinner. Baby got a steak while the rest of us got seafood. It was fabulous by the way. Then, we headed home to watch some of the Tampa Bucs pre-season football game against the Dolphins. That was about it.

This morning, we had a quick breakfast and visited with Baby's grandmother who lives directly next door to Baby's parents. Afterwards we were on our way back to the airport for our 11:35am flight. I wasn't kidding that our quick trip could give someone whiplash. Baby got stopped by security at the airport because he triggered the explosive materials detector. They took him to a secured area to check him and his carryon with special scanners and hand picked through his bag. Crazy. Wonder if his chapstick in his pocket or the new cologne he was wearing that his mom bought him at the mall the day before had anything to do with what the machines picked up. We almost missed the flight!!! It's always something when Baby travels - cancelled flights, delays, missed connections, and NOW... cavity search for explosives!

To much saddness, I got some terrible news while catching up on friends' blog pages on the drive to Tampa airport on my blackberry. Banana had a horrible 30th birthday on Friday. I send her all of the mental hugs I can possible give. Also, I offer a supportive ear and a surprisingly super tear-absorbing shoulder if ever wanted or needed. I need everyone I know to send good thoughts and positive mojo her way!

Happy BIG 3-0 to Ms. Banana!!!

Seeing as I can't be there to help you throw back a couple of cold ones because I'm heading out of town today, I wanted to send you my birthday wishes via the best way I could think of...



Hot, huh?!?! Lots of love to you on your birthday, missy!

I'm officially a hot piece of ass

I'm sure that title caught your attention. Let me explain. You know how people randomly take pictures of or with "hot" people they really don't know or don't even talk to anymore and then love to show them to people to basically brag that they were around "all these hot people"...kind of like, "Check me out! I'm popular! I know all these people...and a lot of them are girls!" Usually that annoys the hell out of me, and I would consider that I would be offended. HOWEVER, it sorta happened, and I am flattered.

Again, let me explain... Many (and I mean MANY) years ago, I went out with this guy we'll call Wanderer because he travels and has lived all over the world. Before he left to live in London, we had already downgraded whatever we had to a friendship so we've stayed in touch from time to time. We've become more like that acquaintance that we only speak to if we've somehow bumped into each other (usually because we had been on the same mass forward email...or when either of us sends out mass email contact updates for when we move). He's a phenomenal guy. Very handsome, fun, exciting, a true goofball, etc. He has the same "settling down issues" that I once had. Although now I'm at a point where I have found someone to be with, Wanderer is still a soul out for having fun and globetrotting to find his next adventure...and his next conquest *wink, wink*.

As I did some stalking on MySpace, I searched him out. Low and behold, he was there! I looked him up. He now lives in Brussels, Belgium. Mind you, I haven't spoken to him since my London trip for work last year, so I was curious to see what his page looked like. As I scanned the pictures, it was the same ole goofy Wanderer in different places with tons of different people. Somewhere buried within pictures of bikini-clad Brazilian hotties was a picture of Wanderer and Rice Spice from the last time he was in Houston. How awesome is that! He has never told me he was on MySpace, so I thought about actually emailing and teasing him about needing to ask my permission to use my likeness or something retarded like that. Looking at his current photos, he's gotten pretty thin for my taste. Last I recall, he became a marathon runner and stopped eating all kinds of unhealthy stuff so he leaned out tremenously - give up fried foods?!?!? The HORROR! I actually preferred him better when he had more meat on his bones. Anyway, I apparently made the cut to be shown on his page. I know it sounds cheap and all, but hey... no one can pretend it doesn't give them an ego boost to know that an ex still keeps pictures of you...AND shows them off!

Tampa Here We Come!

Well, not exactly Tampa, but a small town outside of it called Brooksville. That is Baby's home town. Since our plans to Denver for whitewater rafting were nixed because the flights looked terrible and because Baby preferred seeing his family over visiting with friends in Jacksonville, we settled on a mini-vacation back home for him. The impression I get from his description of his hometown is eerily similar to Channelview. It's a small extremely Southern town about 45-minutes outside of a big metropolitan city. Sound familiar? Although CV isn't any more than 20 minutes outside of downtown Houston, the "feel" of the different areas are very evident. I'm guessing that's the same thing I will experience there.

I'm not sure if we'll be staying with his folks or if we'll be staying over at his sister's place. I prefer staying with his sister seeing as I'm still a traditionalist at heart (don't choke, but it's my Filipino upbringing), and I feel strange staying at a boyfriend's parents' house. Although I use to stay at my ex-fiancee's parents' place all the time, I knew them better and saw them almost every month if not more. Basically, it took a while to get to that comfort level. I've met Baby's parents once...and we all remember my lovely projectile vomit at the museum story during the weekend of me first meeting them. So I guess I'm still not at the point of feeling comfortable about staying their house. Is that odd? I can walk into a room full of corporate executives and city officials to present keynote speakers, I can sing karaoke (poorly at that) in front of God and everyone...but I feel strange about spending the night at a boyfriend's parents house.

Regardless, I have never gone to Brooksville with him and feel obligated to do so since he has visited with the bizarro Spice family a handful of times in CV. Even though there is less travel involved to see my family (20-minutes by car versus 2.5 hours by plane), he nevertheless has sat through entire days filled with dealing with a rambunctious toddler niece, a baby who does nothing but spit up, a mother who subtly asks Baby why we're not closer to an alter without actually using those words, and a lecture from my father about how it will take a strong man to deal with his hard-headed and very independent second daughter.

Other than that, there isn't much going on the rest of this week. I have to work at both jobs today and tomorrow though...ugh! However, I can look at the bright side - at least it's not raining a torrential downpour like it had been over the last few months and it's not in the triple digits either...

5 Things About Me

Every so often when I browse through blogs or scan my friends’ MySpace pages, I notice a few people doing filler surveys or “About Me” things that often time are filled out simply out of sheer boredom but sometimes provides interesting information about the person I am reading about that I truly never knew. For example, Single Girl has an aversion to seats pre-heated with butt warmth. She will wait for a seat to cool off rather than sitting in it immediately after someone gets up. I found that, although highly unusual, quirky and a funny fact to know about her. I read another girl that I went to college with (no nickname for her yet) couldn’t stand any types of jelly or anything of the gelatainous nature. She must really hate the movie “The Blob”, I’m thinking…

Instead of doing the standard “10 Things About Me”, I decided to do “5 Things About Me.” It was taking way too long to come up with just five.

1. I can’t stop staring at Tom Cruise’s mouth. It’s like a train wreck I can’t take my eyes off. Have you ever really looked at him? Once I tell you this, you will never be able to watch a movie with him in it without staring at his mouth. His teeth are all shifted to the left where he has this one huge tooth right in the center of his face. Directly in the center! How bizarre is that?!?!? It creeps me out!

2. I fall all the time. Yes, at least 1/8th of my life is spent sprawled out on the floor. I have mastered the art of falling to where I don’t hurt the important parts like my face – very stuntman-esque of me. My lack of depth perception is to blame. This accounts for me bumping into things a lot as well. Door frames are usually not my friend.

3. I love to travel. Some of the domestic destinations I have visited are (west to east): Honolulu, HI; San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Scottsdale, AZ; Tulsa, OK; New Orleans, LA; Birmingham, AL; Knoxville, TN; Atlanta, GA; Panama City Beach, FL; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Miami, FL; New York, NY. Some of my international travels have been to: The Philippines; Peru; Cancun; Cozumel; Playa del Carmen; Acapulco; Nassau, Bahamas; Montego Bay, Jamaica; London; Paris; Berlin, Germany; Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

4. I have a fear of midgets. Mind you, I am barely over the legal limit to qualify as a midget myself. However…there is something about those circus freaks that literally makes me freeze and stop breathing. There is no need for people to be smaller than me unless they are toddlers. They have those little toddler sausage fingers that send chills up my spine. Daresay I could probably be medically diagnosed of having phobia of them if I ever actually went to a therapist and discussed my issues regarding the matter. **Sorry- no photo included. Photos of midgets are not allowed on my blog. I apologize if you are a midget and are offended, but this is my blog...so there!**

5. I’m allergic to most shellfish, but I still eat them because I L-O-V-E them!!! My reactions aren’t severe, but I may swell around the lips or get a rash. Sexy, huh? I keep allergy meds at all times in case I break out, but I refuse to give up on my love of seafood.

Effing Mood Swings

Friday night was blah... Baby's flight delays and cancellations landed him in Houston seven hours later than he was expected. By the time he got home and I was off work from a shift I picked up at Job#2 for a friend, we were both too exhausted to meet up with our friends. We grabbed a late dinner at BW3 in Midtown and called it a night.

We were much more productive on Saturday. We did a little shopping for Baby, went to the gym, and then met up with our friends at Grove's parents place to swim around in the pool and have a few drinks. The day turned out relatively nice.

As for Sunday, that was a whole different story. Do you ever just have those days where everything and anything annoys the eff out of you? From the second you wake up until you finally go to bed. Sunday was that day for me. Poor Baby didn't have a prayer. Everytime he said anything, be it "do you want to go out for lunch?" or "can you hand me the remote?" I just wanted to say, "Shut up! Please stop talking! GAWD you're so annoying!" Hehehe...how horrible, huh? Not that Baby was doing anything wrong because he didn't... I'm sure it would've been directed to anyone in my close proximity. I may have been PPMS-ing (seeing as it's 2 weeks before my "time", that would make it Pre-Pre-Menstrual Syndrome, right?). It got to a point where Baby asked if he did something wrong and why I was so mad at him. I finally told him that I should probably go home and have some alone time because I was irritated for no reason whatsoever and shouldn't take it out on him. He was ok with that, but I'm sure he spent some time yesterday afternoon replaying his actions in his head to double check that he, in fact, did nothing to spark the mood I was in. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading my book Middlesex, and doing laundry. I finally called him this morning to tell him the cloud has passed and I wasn't such a raging biotch today. I'm sure he's extremely relieved.

Poo!

Baby and I were originally scheduled to visit Pocahontas and J.Smith in Denver next weekend. Unfortunately, the return flights look like caca to go on standby, so the trip has been cancelled. We are so disappointed because we were looking forward to seeing the guys as well as seeing Coors Field for a baseball game. Oh, well... What can you do? However, we still have a possibility of seeing Pocahontas and J.Smith next month in Playa del Carmen - cross your fingers that our flights remain in our favor.

As an alternate trip for next weekend, Baby and I are considering going to Jacksonville, FL. He has friends who live in JAX while my good friend Sparky and his family live a little less than an hour outside of JAX. We've both been trying to coordinate seeing these people for months. If all works out, we could kill two birds with one stone. We can fly in Friday night and spend time with Baby's friend and his wife, and the next day Baby can go fishing with his friend out in the Gulf while I rent a car and drive my happy arse to Southern Georgia to spend the day. I'd come back to JAX by dinnertime though. Good idea, huh? Hmmmm....hopefully, Sparky doesn't already have plans. I emailed him, but have yet to get a response. Baby is checking with his friend's schedule as well.

If all else fails and everyone in Florida has prior commitments, we plan on actually...wait for it...staying home on our free weekend! It would come as a welcome turn of events for Baby who has been traveling so much as well as for me to be able to actually clean and do ALL my laundry not just the necessities as I need them. I starting to wonder if my coworkers are noticing that I dress according to the colors that I wash. I'll go through a week of wearing nothing but lights because that's all the laundry I've accomplished doing, and then next string of days I wear nothing but darks. Soon I'll have to come to work in towels because that's the only load I finished over the weekend...teehee!

On a side note, I am meeting Blondie for dinner tonight. We haven't had a chance to truly catch up over the last few months, so it will be nice to see her. She's been dating this mystery dude for a couple of months that only one of our friends has managed to meet because of all our scheduling conflicts. The only thing I hear about him is that he's a big 'ol beefcake - huge muscles...must be nice ;) We have decided to meet at Zake for sushi after work. I LOVE SUSHI!!!

Lastly, I am on the hunt for some new reading material. Any suggestions? I hear the book Middlesex is good, so I think I may pick the book up after dinner tonight since Bookstop is right next door to where I'll be. I figure reading keeps me out of trouble, and it's cheap! If only books came with a side order of Blue Moon and orange wedges...I'd never leave the house! Diana Banana knows what I'm talking about!

MoBay Update

Montego Bay was gorgeous!!! Our resort was a typical all-inclusive with tons of kids running around, but we made the best of it regardless.

I arrived in Jamaica at around 1pm on Friday and waited patiently with my Harry Potter book for Baby's flight to land at 3:45pm. (Sidebar: Yes, Diana Banana, I FINALLY finished "the" book while I was in MoBay!) Baby had a driver take us to the resort, but by the time we got there after taking FOREVER to get out of the airport, it was already getting dark. Mostly it was because of the overcast that it was getting dark relatively early. Baby and I decided to have dinner then laid on some loungers on the beach talking and listening to the waves. I guess both us were pretty beat from our work weeks, so we decided to head back to the room and turn in by 10pm. WOOHOO partay animals! Hehehe.

Our view from our balcony facing the wedding gazebo and the ocean on Saturday morning

The next morning, we were up and out the door by 8:00am. We had breakfast and sat outside one of the restaurants watching the extremely calm water. We were very fascinated that there were absolutely no waves breaking on the shoreline. It was almost as if we were staring at a never-ending lake versus an ocean. We made our way to these very awesome floating rings that were anchored a bit offshore. These things were amazing. In the center of the floating rings, there was a trampoline-like bed which, when you sat/laid in it, the lining would sink into the water letting enough water in while you floated around staying cool but still getting sun - not that I need any more of a tan, but it was still refreshing for me and perfect for Baby's pale self ;)

These are those floatie rings with the trampoline beds in the center - we laid on the one in the far left. I've been trying to find them on Google, but have had no luck whatsoever

Another floatie ring thing with a woman about to get inside one - what the hell are these things actually called?!?!

Sun-drenched and sweaty after floating in the ring for about an hour

After lunch, we decided to do some kayaking. The resort offered free non-motorized sports such as the kayaking (one- and two-person kayaks), snorkeling, and paddle boats. We took a two-man out to the furthest buoy and realized after looking down into the crystal clear greenish-blue water, we should have grabbed some snorkeling gear and done some exploring while we were out there. Sadly, we decided we were too lazy to paddle all the way back to shore then paddle all the way back out and tie the kayak to the buoy and snorkel. We decided to just chalk the snorkeling to a loss. Once we got back to shore, we grabbed a few pina coladas and walked around the property. We did some over-priced souvenir shopping at the resort gift shop, and even stopped by the resort casino. Yes, there was a casino on the property. Albeit, it was the size of my living room and was strictly electronic slot machines, but we had fun there anyway. We played with $5 in quarters and got up to over $25, but since Baby doesn't know how to cut his losses, we walked out of there with nada. It was entertaining for about 30 minutes regardless.

The paddleboats and kayaks along the beach

We eventually headed back to the room and took a brief nap. It appears Baby and I have had the first vacation in a long time where we were just absolutely lazy. We usually have all kinds of sights to see and places to go, but this time we just hung out at the resort being leisurely. Later that evening after having dinner, we headed to the English Pub located at the resort. This Pub was really neither English nor a Pub, but I suppose since they had pictures of soccer players and horse races, they can call the place whatever they wanted. All they served beer-wise was Red Stripe and Red Stripe Light - what kind of English pub doesn't serve Guinness?!?

Here we are on the watching the sunset and some incoming storms slowly making their way from offshore

No make-up and all shiney...why does he not tell me I look like that before we leave the hotel room? I think I had too many pina coladas

Baby had this "bright" idea to buy the local's very popular Overproof Rum (126-proof - EEKS!) to mix in our frozen drinks ourselves - dangerous!

Yep...too much Overproof Rum. They were setting up the stage for the outdoor nightly performance. I decided to jump up on stage for a picture. Baby convinced me not to start an impromptu karaoke sing-along. He can be such a killjoy sometimes ;)

Baby and I headed back to our room thinking we'd take it easy for a little bit (and come down from our rum high) and then head out for more drinks at one of the resort bars later that evening. It started to rain pretty heavily and Baby fell asleep. I decided not to wake him, pulled some covers over him, got myself ready for bed, and turned in myself.

Sunday morning, we got up early. We packed up our things, had breakfast, checked out and spent our early afternoon at the airport. Baby's Air Jamaica flight back to Kingston left a little after 12pm, and my flight was scheduled for 1:30pm.

It was really nice taking a quick getaway weekend to meet up with Baby. I wish it could've been longer and that we could've enjoyed the city a more. But, what can you do? We both had to get back to reality. Work is so overrated, don't you think?

Ya Mon!

As I mentioned before, Baby is working out of Kingston, Jamaica until next Friday. Meaning he will be there through the weekend - our only time we get to really see each other due to our work schedules. He has called me everyday watching the flights into Montego Bay like a hawk since Job# 2 flies there. In a perfect world, the flights would remain open enough for me to fly standby tomorrow and return on Sunday. He would take a local carrier and meet me in MoBay - as the Jamaicans call it. The flights have remained relatively open (more than we expected), and Baby has been pushing me to meet him there.

Unfortunately, I would have to call in sick to Job# 1 (*cough*cough*) to pull it off. (Thus I will probably remove this post after today just to cover my tracks but still keep it on file to repost at a much later time for memory's sake...not that I think anyone at my office has my blog address, but you never know). The reason for this is that one of our HR people kind of screwed me over. Seeing as I have been with the company for 3 years as of this year, I was told I would be upgrading to 3 weeks vacation. Thus, I had already spread out a week earlier in the year and then took that whole week off last month to help my sister post-birth while my mom was out of town and her husband was off job-hunting or whatever...which left me with one full week at my disposal until the end of the year. Sadly, I was notified by the head honcho HR person that my intel was incorrect and that my 3 weeks doesn't start until January 2008. 2008?!?!? That meant I had already exhausted ALL my vacation for the year. YIKES! Me with no vacation time?!?! Had I known I only had 2 weeks, I would've only taken 2, maybe 3, days off to help my sister rather than the whole week in order to at least save a couple vacation days. However, I still have a week left of sick days. Therefore, I will all of the sudden become miserably ill tomorrow - granted, I've been building up looking like crap all week and barely wearing make-up (courtesy of Doc's suggestion to pull off said plan).

So with a lot of convincing and planning, I am heading to Jamaica tomorrow. Woohoo - although a nervous woohoo - a woohoo nonetheless! Baby has already booked his Air Jamaica flight to MoBay and made our reservations at Sunset Beach Resort & Spa for two nights - at the suggestion of some of his Kingston office coworkers. It looks amazing! Nothing like an all-inclusive resort where we can sit on the beach or by the pool and do nothing but stuff our faces and drink to our hearts delight.

Wish me luck that the flight home stays open so that I can make it home without having to call in again on Monday. That would be a bit more difficult to pull off, so I need all your fingers crossed for me!!! I feel a bit guilty about having to lie at work, but I consider this my good karma payback for helping my sister for a week. Even Sis says it's (1) a well-deserved break since I have been working my arse off, (2) I blew my weeks' worth of vacation not doing anything relatively relaxing but instead nursed her post-Cesarean self and played nanny to a 2-year-old and 2-week-old, and (3) I shouldn't pass up on an opportunity if the free flights were in my favor to meet up in the Caribbean to a hotel Baby already booked when all I have to do is show up - it's rare that the stars align that well. Probably why I'm so nervous that something is bound to go wrong. However, that conversation with my sister last night was the deciding factor that pushed me over the line of indecisiveness and into the "what the hell" side of the fence.

Again WISH ME LUCK!!!

A couple of things

Seeing it's been a while since I've posted anything of tangible value on here, I've decided that I will give a recap of a few things that have been happened in the last couple of weeks.

Two weekends ago, Baby's sister came into town. She was coming out of a pretty sad break-up, so Baby and I decided to fly her down. She visited for the weekend, and it was my first time meeting her. The meeting went well, and I had a lot of fun with her. I'm pretty sure she enjoyed herself, so we're hoping she will return for another visit.

The work weeks are boring so I will move onto this past weekend. Baby and I had a tame Friday night. We bought the movie 300 and snuggled on the couch while watching the Spartans kick some Persian arse. When the movie started, I was fascinated with the special effects, but it was pretty slow. Then as it progressed, it turned out to be a fantastic movie. I highly recommend it. Saturday, I had to work but met up with Baby and Grove for drinks at Molina's in The Heights after I got off. We later ended at Dark Horse. Let's just say that margaritas should never be your "starter drinks" for the evening. Yesterday, we had lunch with our friends and lounged at Grove's pool at his new apartment. We ended the evening stuffing our faces with wings at BW3 in Rice Village. The day was so full of activity, but it was leisure activity - the best kind.

Baby left today for 10 days in Kingston, Jamaica again for work. Sadly, the flights to Jamaica don't really look in our favor for me to meet him there for the weekend, so I guess I'm a single woman for the next 10 days...hehehe. Seriously though, I realized something yesterday. That after a few really nasty bumps in the road, Baby and I are getting to a good place in our relationship. A lot of changes were made on both parts (mainly his), and things are getting better every day. Of course now that I've typed that, the whole bottom will fall out. But honestly, I think I've fallen even more in love with him in the last couple of weeks which I didn't think was really possible. For the first time in a long time, I'm more than content in a relationship. I'm actually happy.

On a completely different note, I'm slowly chipping away at the last Harry Potter novel. I'm about halfway through with it. I know that I'm a bit slow compared to all my other friends, but the ONLY time I get to read is at bedtime. By that time, I only make it through a handful of pages before I wake up in the middle of the night having fallen asleep with the book on my chest or next to my head. So far, it's excellent! I wish I wasn't so damn tired in the evenings that I could stay awake long enough to read a good chunk of it.

Proposition for Diana Banana & Single Girl

I think I've come up with a way for us to still chime in our witty thoughts when we have no inspirations to blog on our own. How many times have you wanted to post something for the day but just can't think of anything blogworthy? I've been coming across that a lot more than usual lately.

So.... I've decided to try something if you ladies are willing to help. I was thinking since the three of us are blogger regulars, we could ocassionally combine our savviness in one blog. I'm not sure what the absolute direction of it would be, but we can start off by taking a current event of the day and going from there. Whether the topic is from the local/national/world news, entertainment/gossip pages, or separate notes of interest that have come up...or just something we want to bitch about. We can each take turns starting the topic and then the other two post within. Doesn't have to be a daily thing, but an "every-one-in-awhile-sure-why-not" kind of thing.

I have already started setting it up, and will forward you both the passwords to get in. What do you think??? Are you in?

I'm Not Getting It

I love the picture I found for the profile, don't you?

Another Harry Potter Funny Video

So SILLY... teehee

What do you think of it?

A few years ago, I started writing little mini-stories about my dating life - almost a diary of sorts so that I would never forget the bizarre experiences that I once endured. It was absolutely hilarious. It was kind of a combination of a few friends dating experiences, but mainly my disasters. I found the intro I wrote in a computer file I completely forgot existed. After reading it and some of the proceeding entries, it reminded me of how funny some of my experiences were. Something to make Single Girl not feel so alone in her dating mishaps. Here is just the intro. I won't really include the actual mini-stories as this post would go on FOREVER. Each chapter of my unfinished book was dedicated to an "interesting" character I came across in my single years. I only covered two or three guys, and sadly, that's when I stopped writing and forgot all about it.

I never really proofed it with a fine-tooth comb so I know that it can use some cleaning up, but it was just a free-flowing writing session... What do you think?

(the following italicized paragraphs are Copyrighted by Rice Spice ©)

MY INTRO

You should write a book. I think at some point or another, everyone hears that line from a friend or acquaintance who hears you recap an entertaining story from your life. Strangely enough, I hear that statement just about every time I discuss my dating experiences. Could it be because I’m completely hapless when it comes to attracting members of the opposite sex? Could it just be that I give off the pheromone that screams, “Unemployed men, come to me!”? Regardless of the case, I’ve done my share of meeting Mr. Right Now(s), Mr. Absolutely Wrong(s), and just plain psycho paths. So here I am chronicling some of the funnier points of my dating mishaps as well as some borrowed material from other 20- and 30-somethings trying to find love in all the wrong places.

I grew up in a small, suburban town outside of the energy capitol of America. After a virtually non-existent love life throughout high school due to strict Asian parent ideals, I moved on to college and entered the dating world relatively new to what it had to offer –the connection, the chemistry, the sexual liberation, and of course the heartache.

After my first semester of college, I met the man who was to be a pivotal part of my emotional growth. We dated off and on throughout my many years at the university, and eventually got engaged the year I was graduating. Life sadly took its toll on us, and the wedding was called off four months before my sashay down the aisle. Although I look at it now as one of the best things that ever happened to me, I felt my life had ended the day I handed back my diamond ring, packed the clothes I had in my closet, and walked away from a man I thought was suppose to be with me until the day we died…or at least until one of us got hit by a bus or something dramatic like that.

Eventually, this little lady bounced back from that devastating experience and re-entered the dating field as a heartless force to be reckoned with. I look back at the first five months of my break up and laugh at some of the things I did to cope with my misery. However other times, I’m mortified and baffled as to how I never end up groggily awakening in a bathtub of ice missing a kidney, as that was my mother’s biggest fear at the time. You’ve got to love a woman who watches way too much television!

After all of the experiences I had with men, I realized something about myself. I was not a woman looking for a man who could take care of her. I wasn’t a woman looking for a man who could protect her. Those were things I was already doing on my own. I was looking for someone I could share my life with. Not someone I needed, but someone I wanted. Most independent, professional, single women of our day and age relate to such epiphanies, and then there are those who think what I just wrote was obviously something written in jest. I don’t frown upon women who view differently than myself because, honestly, who am I to judge? But, I at least learned more about myself through all my experiences. With age comes wisdom, right? At least that’s the cliché.

Now I will tell you this much. Having that point of view often times makes it damn hard to find someone. You either face his insecurities of feeling that he isn’t needed – a role ingrained in some men at birth as proof of his manhood and his ability to be the head of the household – and not understanding that the desire to “want” them is a much better payoff than needing them to take care of you. Or, you face a problem with yourself. Sometimes you end up being so detached that you make yourself emotionally unavailable. Thus becoming what you hated in the men you dated prior as you become this person who’s dead inside.

The following excerpts of my downward spiral of dating are not given in any specific timeline of significance. Not that I think that putting my experiences down on paper will simplify someone else’s dating woes, but at least I can put a smile on your face.

Trying to Understand the Harry Potter Phenomenon

It's a bit long, but too funny!

10 Places I've Been Kissed (Places not Body Parts)

To continue being unoriginal, I'm "borrowing" this from Babbling Brooke. It's pretty interesting when I started to actually think of cool places I have been while kissing. Here are a few in no particular order:

1. Atop the The Space Needle in Gatlinburg, TN
2. In a hotel elevator in Amsterdam
3. In front of The Clock Tower/Big Ben in London
4. Dancing on top of a box in an awesome dance club in NYC - wish I could remember the name...
5. On Paradise Cove Beach at sunset after ditching the lame luau in Hawaii- I took this picture!
6. A Parisian cafe with a view of the Eiffel Tower outside the window - cheesy, I know!
7. In front of a warm fireplace in a cozy house with windows facing the Andes Mountains in Peru
8. Underwater while snorkeling in Cozumel
9. At the Embarcadero in San Francisco while fireworks went off to ring in the new year
10. In an infinity pool overlooking Acapulco Beach

Where are some cool places you've had kisses?

History of ME

Seeing I'm still boring with nothing to report other than that I'm still tempted to spork my oculars, I've decided to steal a MySpace survey to fill the void. Lame? Check. Dull? Check. But what can you do? Maybe you'll learn something about me you already didn't know...

HISTORY:
01. Raised in: CV, TX
02. Planned baby: Yes, I was
03. Birth date: April 25th
04. Any siblings: 1 sister and 1 brother
05. Younger or older: Middle child. It explains a lot, huh?
06. Hair color: Black (currently with reddish/brown peek-a-boo panel highlights)
07. Hair length: Too long
**Where's "08"?**
09. Eye color: dark brown
10. Shoe size: 5-5.5 depending on the shoe style
11. Mood: bored, but content
12. Smell: Romeo Gigli perfume
13. Height: 5'0" on a good day (i.e., early in the morning after having been laying down all night. ha!)
14. Lefty/righty: righty

LOVE LIFE:
01. Do you remember your first real relationship: of course
02. Do you believe in love: I did, but then I didn't for a long time, but I do again
03. Why did your last relationship fail: he was a dumbass
04. Shortest relationship: does a one-night stand count?
05. Have you ever been heartbroken: yes
**Now where is "06"??**
07. Have you ever fallen for a friend: yes, that's how Baby and I started
08. Have you ever told them: yes, see previous answer
09. Are you afraid of commitment: EXTREMELY
10. You ever had a secret admirer: yes, I knew but pretended I didn't
11. Do you believe in love at first sight: I believe in chemistry-at-first-sight. Sometimes you can build from there.
12. Ever been in love: Very much so with Baby

THIS OR THAT:
01.Love or money: Love doesn't pay off debt, but if it's strong enough it makes being poor less depressing
02. Hard liquor or beer: liquor
03. One night stands or relationships: Teehee...I suppose relationship *I kid, I kid*
04. Television or internet: internet - you can watch tv on the internet now
05. Pepsi or coke: Not big fan of either, but Coke if I HAD to choose
06. Wild night out or romantic night in: Why can't I have a wild, romantic night?
**"07"??? I guess people are just deleting questions they don't want to answer**
08. Phone or in person: Depends on who I'm speaking to. Friends and family, I say in person. Bill collectors...not so much.
09. Aim or myspace im? I only IM at work with other coworkers so we don't have to keep calling each other

HAVE YOU EVER:
01. Have you ever been caught sneaking out?: yes, almost got sent to convent school in the Philippines for that one...eeks!
02. Have you ever skinny dipped?: yes
03. Have you ever done something you regret?: Who hasn't?
04. Have you ever bungee jumped?: yes
05. Have you ever been on a house boat? yes
06. Have you ever finished an entire jaw breaker? yes...why in the world is this question relevant?!?!
**Again with the missing "07"??**
08. Have you ever been streaking?: yes
09. Have you ever ran away? no
10. Have you ever caught your parents doing it? Never actually walked in on it...THANK GAWD! I would've vomitted all over myself!

Blah, blah, blah, words, words, words

Today, I am bored out of my mind. I am actually caught up with everything at the office from when I took last week off and don't have much to do today. At the beginning of next month, a few new guys will be starting in the office and my world will be hectic and disheveled all over again. The calm before the storm, so to speak. So until then, I think I will be fighting the urge to spork my eyeballs out simply out of sheer boredom. I've been giving myself senseless, busy work of reorganizing...but I fear I'm running out of that, too. One can only restructure files and play on the internet for so long, right?

Outside of chomping at the bit awaiting the unveiling of the new Harry Potter novel (Diana Banana and I are the President and VP of the Dumbledork Army), I have nothing else major to report. I may have to go back to London for the week next week, but that's not confirmed...and of course, if it's for work, then there won't be much to report on my blog while I'm there. I'm officially boring.

Best Birth Control...EVER!

So I completed a week of dealing with a little girl going through her defiant terrible two's and a newborn that wanted nothing more than to spit up on me and even shower me in urine one afternoon...ugh! Although I was only there to help in about 6-7 hour blocks at a time, I seriously questioned who would torture themselves by having multiple children. Then...they do something so precious that they almost make you realize how wonderful it would be to have them. *NOTE: I said "almost"*

I'll spare you all the Super Nanny details, and move on to the rest of my weekend.

Friday night was quiet. Baby and I grabbed dinner at a Thai restaurant, had a margarita on the patio at Molina's, then went home for some quiet quality time together.

Saturday afternoon, we met the gang at BW3 in Midtown for lunch. Noodle's close friend from high school came into town for the week/weekend to take a part of his medical board exams. We'll call him JR. It was nice seeing him. We hadn't seen him in over a year, and to be honest, I really didn't get to visit with him much that time around. JR and I got to talk a little more this time seeing it has been about 3 years since I had really spoken to him. He and his girlfriend are enjoying living in NYC while he is attending med school but are ready to get back to Texas. Baby and I ducked out while they stuck around for a couple of Sudden Death rounds of Golden Tee so that we could run some errands though - pick up my drycleaning, buy air filters for Baby's house, and other boring things.

Later that late afternoon/evening, we all went over to Grove's parents' house in Memorial to grill and play by the pool since they were out of town - so high school of us to throw a party when the parents' are away...HAHAHA! Grove's parents have such a phenomenal million-dollar home, that we always try to sneak in a little fun time there when his parents travel. Thank goodness they are retired and travel quite a bit *wink, wink*. Baby and I made Peach Sangria with white wine, peach nectar, triple sec, and a little sugar. We added fresh peach slices, orange slices, and blackberries as well so you could eat fresh spiked fruit with your drink. How summery, eh? It was a big hit with all those who were there. We also made an awesome recipe for grilled tuna steak that we found on the food network. It was oh-so yummy.

Other than that, we kept it pretty low-key. Baby and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie yesterday. It was AWESOME! Baby loved it, too...even though he refuses to read the books, it's nice that he still enjoys the movies with me. Afterwards, we hit the gym for a little over an hour (can you believe I went to the gym 4 times last week???), had a quiet dinner at home, watched a couple of episodes of TiVo-ed Man vs. Wild, and turned in early.

***Btw, I LOVE Man vs. Wild! I got Baby hooked on watching it. If you've never seen this show on the Discovery Channel, you need to watch it. This guy is insane!!! He gets dropped in various wilderness locations (e.g. the French Alps, Florida Everglades, Rocky Mountains, Iceland, Moab Desert, Austrailian Outback, etc.) and shows you how to survive and find civilization/rescue. It's so intense! I think YouTube has a few episodes on it. I'm so in love with this true life Survivor/MacGuyver it's not even funny!!!***

New Job Title for a Week: Super Nanny

As you all know, Sis just had her second bambino two days ago...and, no, we're not Italian. I just like the word bambino. My mother is usually there to help with her c-section recovery, but has to be in the Philippines for the next couple of weeks to take care of some final details of the house she and my dad are building over there. Since my brother-in-law will be on-call for possible job interviews Sis needs someone there to help with the kids - a newborn and an almost 3 year old. Being the wonderful siblings that we are, I have taken Week 1 while Bro has taken Week 2 of my mom being out of the country. At first, I was extremely disappointed that I would be giving up an entire week of vacation puling babysitting rather than sitting on a beach somewhere sipping a tropical drink with a little paper umbrella, but family comes first.

Baby is gone all week to Kingston, Jamaica as of today through Thursday. Too bad he's not going Montego Bay or any of the other resort towns. Kingston is rampant with crime including the highest murder count by ratio of population. Scary, huh? Baby will have to have an armed guard escort him everywhere. Poor Baby is a walking target for some crazy Jamaican trying to make a buck thinking they'd get a hefty ransom for his butt. Yikes!

Anyway, seeing as I was off work and he'd prefer not parking his car at the airport all week, I took him to the airport by 5am this morning. Eeks! Do you realize we had to be up at 4:15am??? Oh well. It actually was THAT bad, and I got to see Baby before he left so I'm not complaining too much. Luckily, Sis has decided to stay an extra day at her in-laws, so she didn't need me today.

After taking a much needed nap after getting back to my place, I went to the gym, got my oil changed, returned some clothes at a store across town that I otherwise never have time to get to (thus taking over two months to finally return the stuff), went grocery shopping, and cleaned. I know it sounds boring, but being that productive in just one day for me is AMAZING! I'm usually running from one job to another and can barely squeeze one minor errand in between.

Well, tomorrow is set to start my Super Nanny duties. I'll keep you posted if this proves to be an additional birth control method by convincing me I should never spawn. Tah tah for now!

Dream Interpretation

Earlier today, Diana Banana discussed her strange dreams last night. I commented about how I, too, have recently suffered some bizarro nocturnal imageries. My dream is actually pretty funny in hindsight, but I was mortified throughout the dream.

It started off that I was somewhere out in public - a restaurant or a bar of sorts - with a group of friends and strangers, I think. At some point, I drank or ate something I was allergic to and my gums started swelling. Not my face, not my glands, not my lips...just my gums. Yes, freakish, I know. I started looking like a chipmunk unable to fully close my mouth because of how large my gums have gotten. I was trying hard not to let anyone notice that I was starting to look like one of those cartoonish Gomer Pyle hillbillies breathing through my mouth and drooling everywhere about to say, "Kyuh, kyuh...well goooooollly!" Of course, I knew my cover was about to be blown. I felt like that person who was naked in front of a bunch of stangers - all freaked out and people staring at me. It was that same horrific feeling. Then, I woke up.

Per Single Girl's suggestion, I went to the website Freaky Dreams for a dream interpretation. Here is what they had to say:

Words like restaurant: Choices. Nourishment. Changes in favor of your well being.
Words like or: Restricted vision. Cloud. Screen .Looking to hide certain feelings.
Words like bar: Relaxation. Indulgence. Irresponsibility. Pleasure. Guilty of foolish actions.
Words like friends: Joy and consolation. Aspect of self ready for integration.
Words like strangers: Outsider. Unknown. Mystery needs to be revealed.
Words like swelling: Internal pressure. You become filled with an emotion.
Words like face: Repair of self image. Vanity. Renewal. Part of identity ready for a make-over.
Words like mouth: Nourishment. New attitudes. You will soon have news from interests you are anxious over.
Words like naked: Public display. Exposed. Vulnerable. Loss of ambitions.
Words like up: Feminine projection. Improved image. How do you want to be seeing in the outside world.

Interesting...

Outside of the dream there isn't much else going on other than more damn rain. I'm really not looking forward to swimming to my apartment after work. I hope you all have a great weekend even though we're expected to have yet another torrential one!

Single Girl, This is For YOU!

NOW THAT'S A 'STACHE!

I'm Back, I'm Alive...Sorry for being M.I.A.

Hello my dear faithful readers! I'm sorry that I've been missing in action lately. It's been kind of a 3-fold reason why I had taken a hiatus.

The first being that Baby and I had a huge blowout about two weekends ago. Something Diana Banana and Single Girl were aware of. (Sidebar: Major apologies to Diana Banana for having to witness it as well as having to be stuck in the middle of it. Grove was so out of it that he barely even remembers a tussle even happening. Classic.). It was probably the second worse fight we had ever had - yelling and screaming all in confused drunkeness. After it was all said and done, both parties had done things they could've done better or not at all... and most of all, things were blown way out of proportion on a situation no one can even fully verify. I know I'm writing so vaguely, but those involved know what I mean. In the end, major apologies were given, and the typical male that he is...Baby acted like nothing happened a couple of days later. Why I ask you are guys so ridiculous?!?! Diana Banana and I already discussed their need to hurt someone when they are hurt... if only there were a pill to fix that. Regardless, that situation is over, and we've pretty much dealt and gotten over it. Sorry if I haven't returned phone calls...it's partly shame on my part that anyone even knew we got that ugly in our fight. I needed time to feel like I could show my face again. So here I am... I'm back!

As for the second reason I've been so out-of-pocket is because of this new guy in my life...
Lars Willem Alexander Lantaco Richel was born last Monday, June 25th, at 1:08 p.m. With a name like that, he better be famous! Ha! My nephew was 7.5 lbs and 19". Absolutely adorable. I've found time to see him three times since he was born, which if you knew my schedule, tells you that it was almost miraculous that I could find time to see him more than once. I love the smell of newborn baby head. It's like new car smell. I just love it!

The third reason is that I've been super swamped at work - primarily Job #1. As of late Wednesday or early morning Thursday of last week, Job #1 shut our server down for upgrades. Unfortunately, myself and three other people in the company never got back online when they came back up. I've been unreachable by my work email until about yesterday when they figured out the problem, and I was slammed with about 200 backdated emails. Nice. Working without a work email address in a company that sends a lot of work electronically makes it pretty difficult. So I was jumping back and forth calling people to tell them to use my Gmail account until further notice. Now I'm still back-peddling to tell people they can now use my work email again. Yes, a major cluster fuck! It's all calming down now, so I can stop ripping my hair out for now.

So there you have it. My explanation for pulling a Hoodini act on all of you. Now I need to catch up on all of your blogs so I know what's going on in your worlds.

I hope everyone has a Happy Fourth of July tomorrow! I know I will. Can you believe I managed to get off work from BOTH jobs?!?!?