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?!?!?

Need your suggestions!

What is a good impersonal birthday gift? It would be for a female. We're more than acquaintances. Friendly. But not "pick up the phone/email regularly" friends. Friend of a friend but oodles of fun to hang out with when we happen to be at the same place at the same time.

For my birthday, she gave me a gift bag with Bath and Body Works lotion, an plug-in air freshener (what do I stink? ha), and something else that was little. So I need something equivelent to that level. Very impersonal because it's not really a point where we would normally give each other a gift, but still showing up with something.

All suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Daydreaming

Rain sucks! After all the rains we've had over the last couple of weeks, you'd think I should quit my job and start building an arc. So instead of dedicating an entire post to gripe about the weather, I will post about places I'd rather be or things I'd rather be doing. I figure that is more interesting than bitching :)

I'd rather be back in Peru riding horseback through the Sacred Valley and enjoying the landscapes of the Andes Mountains. Or I wouldn't mind...

...being in one of these resort houses in Tahiti. How effing nice would it be to have a stairway that led into that gorgeous water?!?!?! I've never been to Tahiti, but this pictures gives me reason to hope and pray I make it there one day.

On a less worldly travel note, I could easily be satisfied just snuggling and napping with Baby all day. I took this picture of him a couple of years ago when he fell asleep watching football. Awww....

Something I've always wanted to do is zipwire through the Costa Rican rainforest. How adventurous would that be?!?! To see such lush vegetation untouched by humans would be amazing. I wonder if there really is a cure for cancer lurking somewhere in all that forestry in some plant yet to be discovered.

I'd also rather be taking golf lessons right about now. I wish this sport wasn't so expensive to try to get into - golf clubs are not cheap and neither are hourly lessons or simply the cost of playing 18-holes. Baby plays on ocassion with coworkers but primarily with Noodle and Grove. I use to play a bit here and there, and even took a course in college. Not that I want to be a pro-golfer or anything, but I would like to be able to hold my own should the challenge present itself.

I would even prefer to be at the gym right now running like a hamster. I've been so off the healthy wagon lately that I feel pretty guilty. Maybe if I stayed in my routine, I'd be as thin as this skinny bitch in the picture.

My gluttoness side would much rather be stuffing my face full of cholesterol-ridden lobster. OMG! So yummy!!! Why does everything so tasty have to be so unhealthy?

I would also love to be visiting with old friends. Here are me, Sparky, and Doc last January in Birmingham celebrating Sparky's 30th birthday. This is the last photo taken of the three of us (*sniffle*). I see Doc every now and then, but definitely not enough. Sparky has been doing the new baby thing, so he's been out of pocket. Me in Texas, Doc in New York, and Sparky in Georgia makes for difficult planning.

Hanging out with my very cool 2-1/2 year old niece is pretty fun, too. Note the leapord-print shades and pouty "I know I'm the shiznits" lip. Nothing like an afternoon of singing Disney songs with her...seriously...I knew just about every song even before she was born. Now I get to use all this senseless knowledge on someone who appreciates it :)

So where would you rather be?

Weekend Review: Thursday thru Friday

I know the weekend doesn't technically start until Friday evening, but I had an early start on Thursday. Thursday night was the first night in a long time that I did NOT have to work at Job #2. Granted, the main reason I took a day off was because a co-worker/friend was having his last hurrah in Houston as he quits his job this week, takes the rest of the summer to travel to Russia and Europe, and then hunker down to attend graduate school at Harvard Business School. Yay for him! If only I were that smart!!! I know I'm no dummy and am extremely witty and wonderful, but Harvard smart? I'm realistic enough to know that is out of this Asian-who-hates-any-form-of-mathematics' reach.

I started off with what was suppose to be a quick happy hour drink with Grove at Front Porch in Midtown prior to the heading to Fedora Lounge where Harvard's get-together was to take place. Noodle met up with us right about the time when the skies open up. I was trapped at FP until the rain broke. What else is there to do when you're with two of your favorite guys in the world (outside of Baby and Doc, of course) in a bar??? You guessed it...ordered a pitiful excuse for a medium pizza that literally could've only been served at a bar, another bucket of beer and squeezed in Rumplemints (sp?) shots - YIKES! It was still daylight and no need for shots, but the deed could not be undone - Grove was on a mission to order them. It set the tone for what was to be an evil evening on a school night.

Slightly tipsy but nowhere near drunk yet (thank GAWD), the rain let up so I was able to pick up Midtowner and head to Fedora Lounge. Fedora was packed with that typical crew who were Harvard's friends and acquaintances - young professionals, primarily men, all successful and some actually pretty good-looking. There were a few women sprinkled here and there, but the odds were definitely 4:1 in our favor. Although I have Baby, it's always fun to accompany my single girlfriends like Midtowner to "quality" meat markets such as these and watch her prowess in the hunt. Two Dewars and Sodas later, we hopped back into the car to meet back up with Noodle and Grove back in Midtown at FP again. They had a few other friends with them this time as we all eventually made our way to Pub Fiction then Swizzle. When it was all said and done, I awoke the next morning at 6am to an annoying blackberry alarm reminding me to get off of Midtowner's couch and hurry home to change and be at work by 8. LORD! What possessed us to be so ridiculous?!?! I think I had a momentary lapse in realization that I am already 30 years old and NOT 20 years old.

Dragging ass at work on Friday, Baby and I decided over the phone that the weekend getaway, be it San Antonio or New Orleans, was literally a "wash." Too much rain concerned me that the flights would be delayed, cancelled, or overall just a mess. We decided to stay in town and enjoy the comforts of partying with friends we haven't had a chance to party with all together in a while. Very fun, but again a VERY bad idea.

Baby and I had a phenomenal dinner at Ruth's Chris - he had some steak while I had Chilean Sea Bass topped with lump crabmeat and lobster butter sauce. Delish! Afterwards, we met up with Thai and Brit (one of our favorite couples - she is from Thailand, he is from Britain) at Fedora Lounge (again!). We were later joined by Noodle, Grove, Midtowner, and Rep. We then eventually made our way to The Heights' at the newer trendy bar out there called Kobain. Not sure if it's after Curt Kobain, but I do know they play a lot of rock music versus all the booty shaking/rap/pop stuff you hear everywhere else. Too many drinks, an overflowing amount of shots, and a bar tab that was astronimical later...we headed back to Baby's place for some afterhours drinking and dancing in the living room. Yes, it was like we were reliving college all over again. Ridiculous. Needless to say, I woke up to the a frightful kitchen decorated in an array of empty beer bottles, beer cans, half-empty cups, tumblers, wine glasses, and a few bottles of liquor and wine strategically placed all around the house - basically, the scene from Animal House. Lucky for Baby that I can't stand to see such filth and cleaned it all up by the time he, Noodle, and Grove had awaken from their drunken slumber.

Saturday was spent sitting on the couch watching the Bond movie Casino Royale (which by the way is VERY good), falling in and out of sleep to the Golf U.S. Open, making a quaint little fajita dinner at home, and then ending the night by watching Smokin' Aces (which is also a badass movie!!!).

Sunday was boring. More watching Tiger lose to some no-name from Argentina and recovering from Friday night. Then, at 6:00pm, I headed to Job #2 to work my shift at 6:30pm. Yes, I work Sunday nights again...ugh! Oh, well...

Happy Belated Birthday to MADAME!

I totally forgot to post this yesterday, but I wanted to tell Madame--



Not only did I miss the Vegas festivities, I also forgot to give her a shoutout on her actual birthday yesterday. Apparently, I suck!

So Happy Birthday to you...and my doggie (since you share the same birthday...hehehe)!!!!

Retro pic...too many drinks at Pocahontas and J.Smith's Going Away Party last year...typical.

SATX v. NOLA

As you all know, I made reservations for San Antonio for the weekend for Baby's birthday. We're suppose to do The Riverwalk thing and simply just be together for a couple of days away from Houston. I noticed on the weather websites that rain is expected ALL weekend. Maybe not much, but enough to make trekking from the hotel to any of the historical sights and The Riverwalk somewhat inconvenient. Nor would we get to use the rooftop pool and hot tubs the hotel we're staying at is popular for - the only ones in the downtown SA area. That would suck! No point paying the slight upcharge in hotel difference for that amenity if we can't use it :(

So, I tried to develop a back-up plan. I came up with New Orleans. It's still close enough that it's a short flight back home and (worse comes to worse) driveable with a rental car should we not be able to get a flight back on short notice if my sister goes into labor while we're gone. I'm hoping she can hold out until after the weekend, but no matter how much I've negotiated with my unborn nephew through my sister's belly, he refuses to give me a direct answer.

I haven't been to NOLA post-Hurricane Katrina. I hear that as long as we stay near the French Quarter, which was pretty much untouched by the rains, we'll be alright. The rest of NOLA, however, still looks like Bagdhad. So my plan is to stay at Loews New Orleans Hotel. I would never have picked this place thinking it would be over budget for a quick weekend getaway because it is uber nice...5-Star, I think. However, there is an awesome deal on Hotels.com that I plan to jump on once I confirm with Baby that this destination is ok with him. I figure that since this hotel is only 3 blocks from the French Quarter, we are still walking distance from everything but not in the middle of the craziness. Also, Harrah's Casino is directly across the street. If we get rained out while we are there (which looks like may also be the case), at least Baby can gamble away to his hearts content at the poker tables...while I, on the other hand, will enjoy the free beverages until my face is smooshed and passed out onto a slot machine. Since Baby LOVES gambling and it IS his birthday trip, accessibility to Harrah's is the closest thing to taking him to Vegas - which I said was out of the question since I'm on Baby Watch. We can even set up a couples massage at the hotel spa to give us something to do indoors if it really turns out to be washout weather. Whatever the case, I'm seeing a little more fun in our options with the New Orleans idea even though I generally am not impressed by that city.

What's keeping me from finalizing NOLA as our destination this weekend is that the hotel in NOLA has a 72-hr cancellation policy. If I book now and can't make it because of my nephew's debut into the world, I get charged for it. So, I'm going to hold off until tomorrow night to make those reservations. I still have the SA hotel reservations since cancellation is 6pm the same day of arrival for that one just in case. I'll cancel those the second I get the NOLA hotel confirmed. GAWD! This little runt is ruling my life, and he hasn't even been born yet! JEEZ!

I know I shouldn't, BUT...

*****I decided to remove this post and save it offline just in case "someone" finds me the same way I found them. Thanks to all of you for letting me rant because it was just such a "you've got to be kidding!" story.*****

Happy Birthday, BABY!!!!

Today is the celebration of Baby's 32nd year of life on this planet. Makes me feel young and vibrant...somewhat of the spring chicken nature compared to his two-year headstart over me into decrepit-ness. In all seriousness, when I think of Baby and myself getting another year older, sometimes I do think we have (dare I say it) grown up over the last year like staying in on Friday nights watching cooking shows that he's Tivo'ed so that we can plan what gourmet meal we're making for Saturday. And, then of course we start doing things that make me wonder if we'll ever grow up like going to a toy store to buy gifts for 2-year-old niece and end up playing with all the games ourselves and tossing footballs back and forth down the aisles much to the store workers' dismay. I suppose the give and take of that nature will keep us from becoming too boring and tired too quickly (*crossing my fingers*).

--

In the past year, Baby and I have gone through a lot that has made our relationship take on a new meaning for me. As many of you know, we hit a major rough patch last fall. One that I personally believed was my rebirth into being single and fabulous. Just when I was at a point of moving forward with my life, somehow he kept showing back up to remind me how much life was sadder and much more empty without him. I use to think, "DAMN HIM!" But now, I want to say "Thank you" for doing that. Eventually, we worked out our differences and decided that what we had was worth putting our guards down (or at least my guard) and giving it a second shot. I am extremely glad we did. Otherwise, I wouldn't have him in my life today...and the thought of that really disheartens me. Although there are times that his points of view have me scratching my head, there are the times we're together and nothing else matters that more than make up for that. We obviously understand we will never see eye-to-eye on everything because we're both in our 30's and pretty set in our ways, but our fundamental beliefs about life, love, and family are the same. Now that is what is EXTREMELY important. If you're ever around Baby and me, many of you will see that he is the yin to my yang, the light to my dark, and that we're truly a testament to opposites attracting. But through all of that (and the ever-so-infamous bitching I'm good at), in the end, we really do just "click."

--

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Baby!!! And, I love you!

Here we are in Las Vegas for Pharmacist and Medic's wedding almost 2 years ago

There you have it...me being somewhat mushy. I think Diana Banana is rubbing off on me with all her sweet talk about Chris.... ugh! ;)

~~~*~~~

PS. Major apologies to Madame since things beyond my control didn't allow me to make it to Las Vegas this weekend. When you get back from Sin City, I'm taking you out for dinner to make up for it. I want all of the details - where you went, what you saw, if Pocahontas dressed in honorary costume when visiting the Liberace museum, etc....

Friday Entertainment

I am suppose to leave for Las Vegas tonight for Madame's 40th birthday celebration. Woohoo! However, there have been some bumps in the road. I'm hoping I can meet up with them this weekend regardless. Since I am super busy today, I can't really get to the nitty gritty of posting, so I thought I would leave you with this little clip. I will post again soon...promise.

Noodle sent it to me earlier this week, and I found it so funny that I forwarded it to Doc and asked him what his parents' deductible was. HAHAHAHA!

Could there be any more birthdays?!?!?!

As much as I love a good reason to eat, drink, and be merry, I've decided that birthdays are going to be the death of me. My jam-packed calendar of birthdays, anniversaries, and major parties began in mid-March and will extend until the end of this month. With each month containing at least 4 events/parties/get-togethers I had to attend (yes, had to, or I would've been run over by a car if I decided to no-show). Throw in a vacation to Peru, and there we have a recipe for my being run ragged. This month is no different from the last. My brother's birthday is tomorrow (we celebrated this past weekend), Madame's birthday is being celebrated this weekend in Vegas (5th annual 35th birthday!), Baby's birthday is on June 11th, my sister is due to give birth to my nephew on June 15th (which, btw, is also my parents' anniversary), two going away parties for friends going off to Harvard and UT for business school, and my sister rounding out the month with her birthday on June 22nd.

July, August, and September are my off months of no birthdays or major activities. I've decided that I am not allowed to make new friends between now and November for fear they may have a birthday, a wedding, or a birth of a child that falls in those months. Jeez!

Speaking of birthdays, as I mentioned previously, Baby's birthday is right around the corner. I haven't decided what to get him or if we should just take a day trip somewhere. Part of me is mortified at the thought of traveling somewhere since I just got back from a vacation and have yet to fully recuperate. Although, I thought it would be very romantic to go to San Antonio for one night - fly up Saturday morning, sightsee a bit (haven't been to The Alamo since I was 8 years old), do the Riverwalk thing, have dinner and drinks, spend the night somewhere along the Riverwalk, and head home the next morning.

When Baby and I first started seeing each other on a level as more than just friends, we kept it very hush-hush by not telling our friends of the times we went out and even took a weekend getaway to San Antonio together. We did meet up with some of Baby's friends who were there on business from Florida, but we never told our friends here in Houston that I accompanied him. For all they knew, I had to work that weekend...which, at the time, was usually the case. Because we still weren't sure where our relationship was headed, we didn't think we needed to get our friends' hopes up (or down) about whether or not Rice Spice and Baby were going to be something exclusively official. Eventually, we went public with our relationship when (a) our friends started to put two and two together and (b) we decided that we really did care about each other and wanted to pursue the relationship further. So in a way, this trip to San Antonio would be nostalgic to the very first time we went somewhere together...on our secret rendez vous...hehehe.

If I decide not to do the San Antonio thing, I'm at a loss for gift ideas. Again, what do you give the guy who has everything?

My Dream Job

Single Girl had commented that I should work for National Geographic or the Travel Channel since I love to travel, learn about the places I will visit, and educate people about the things I learned on each of my journeys. I will admit, that has always been a dream of mine...for the most part.

I always wanted to write for a travel magazine - traveling the world to exotic destinations (tropical and/or historical) and tell the tales of my adventures as well as provide insider tips. That type of work, from my understanding, was mainly freelance. Translation: not a steady paycheck. That, my friends, I can't imagine living without. Therefore, I work my 8-5-er just like everybody else.

When I plan a vacation, I am absolutely meticuluous. I try to keep all the prices within reason (actually, as cheap as possible without losing out on quality), and try to hit not only the major tourist attraction but also getting to experience some local secrets off the typical beaten path. I utilize every travel site and travel bulletin board to search out the information I need, and 9 times out of 10, I am able to tailor an itinerary to the best interests of all those traveling.

Any of my friends who have taken a trip with me will attest to my attention to detail, and almost OCD way of coordinating a vacation. All they have to do is tell me the few things they want to include within the days of our trip, and I plan the whole thing. Controlling much? Yes, but in a good way :) You think I'm exaggerating, but Baby and friends will tell you that I hand everyone a typed itinerary for everyday of the trip upon our departure from Houston. I. Kid. You. Not. It's not an hour-by-hour itinerary or anything to that anal degree, but it will outline what time we have the one major touristy thing to do for the day and what hours are our free times to do whatever....oh, and prices of everything so we can keep a tally. To give you an idea, here is an example of mine and Baby's itinerary for Peru. Yes, I typed and gave him an itinerary a couple of days before we left to prepare him for our holiday. The format is a bit off due to blogger, but you get the drift.

~*~

Rice Spice and Baby's Itinerary
IAH-LIMA-CUSCO-SACRED VALLEY (URUBAMBA)-MACHU PICCHU-CUSCO-LIMA-IAH

Wednesday, May 23rd--
3:50 p.m.- Depart IAH
Continental Airlines – Flight# 590

10:34 p.m.- Arrive LIM

HOTEL FOR 1 NIGHT
Recommended –
Hotel Basadre Suites ($70) (we didn't end up staying here though)
http://www.hotelbasadre.com/
Confirmation# xxxxxxx
011 51 1 4422307 – Phone
Free car from/to airport
Cancellation policy – 48hrs prior

Thursday, May 24th--
1:15 p.m.- Depart LIM (~$58 USD ow)
LAN Peru flight# 39
www.lan.com

2:30 p.m.- Arrive CUZ

***TAKE CAR/TAXI TO SACRED VALLEY – URUBAMBA ($25 through KR)***
Recommended –
Kuychi Rumi ($100/night for a house + $25 for start-up kit – start- up includes basket of oranges, papaya, bananas, apples, tangerines, pineapple, cheese, ham, eggs, butter, bread, coffee, tea, milk, sugar, salt, pepper, Andean cereals, yogurt, drinking water, and napkins – enough for breakfast and snacks for a couple of days)
011 51 84 201169 – Phone; 011 51 84 9690952 - Cell
Contacts: Claudia or Rodrigo
http://www.urubamba.com/webing/home.htm

Until end of day- Relax in Sacred Valley to acclimatize

~*~

So there you have it. Proof of my anal rentative travel planning. All in all, it makes for a smoother trip in the long run though.

I found a blog called Reason to Wander a few months ago about a couple chronicling their trip around the world. I wish I was as brave as they are to do what they did just to be able to fulfill a lifelong dream before they are too old or physically unable to make it happen. A young, married couple decided one day that they should travel the world for a couple of years. So they sold all of their belongings - cars, house, gave away pets, quit their jobs, etc. - and headed out on their journey. Crazy, huh? I propositioned Baby while we were in Peru of this idea. Although he thought it was very cool, he didn't think either one of us were geared to just drop our lives to travel without a stable income. Alas, he is right. Even if we saved up, used all our savings, borrowed against our 401K's, cashed all the loose change we have in jars, we wouldn't be able to sell all our personal belongings nor his house. It's just the concept of not having something to come back home to when you're done with the adventure that scares the bejesus out me. As you can tell, I am a planner. I would need a plan on where we would end up, and "homeless" is not an outcome that sounds pleasant for my final entry in my travel itinerary.

What is your dream job?