It’s Just Carrie

Today was Jennifer’s 29th birthday.  She’s old now, too.  Not ancient like me but old nonetheless.

I went to Grant and Jen’s after work and played with the dachshunds for a while before we joined Grant’s parents at The Emperor’s Palace in Chesterfield. (Don’t get any ideas…Jennifer is the only person I will eat Chinese for.)  Actually I had Mongolian Barbecue and it wasn’t bad.  Grant picked out the sauces for me; he is usually really good at figuring out what I will like.  

After dinner we went over to Dennis and Alyce’s house.  It’s really nice including a jacuzzi and a theatre in the basement.  It was good to see them, it’s been quite a while.  And I love their dogs.  They are so cute, especially Kelly!  

So yeah, tonight was a lot of fun but the best part was finding out that G&J are for sure moving into the city in a few months and that they might live in a high rise.  That puts them in downtown, CWE, or Clayton which are all really close to me.  I would be so happy to have them near.  We even discussed how great it would be if they lived in the same building as me and James.  I would never have to leave!!  But even if they just move into the city limits it will be great.  Can’t wait!

It was a good weekend.  I was productive during the day on Saturday and Sunday and had fun at night.  

It was a movie weekend.  Saturday we saw The Dark Knight.  I loved it.  Heath Ledger’s performance was phenomenal in my opinion.  He embraced the character and was unbelievably good.  

Sunday was Mamma Mia.  Snooze.  It was okay but a rental for sure.  Why anyone would let Pierce Brosnan sing is incomprehensible to me.  Remington Steele and James Bond wouldn’t be caught dead singing ABBA and Pierce Brosnan shouldn’t either.

The upcoming week should be fun.  Tuesday is Jennifer’s birthday and she invited me to dinner with her in-laws.  Grant’s parents are really nice, and I’m looking forward to hearing how they like living in St. Louis.  Wednesday my friend Erin is coming to St. Louis to have dinner.  She moved to Orlando after college and I hadn’t seen her until last December when I was there for a conference.  Now she’s in Illinois visiting her family before she goes to China for two years.  This weekend I get some much anticipated Jen time, and I’ll probably try to make it to Chris’ party on Saturday (which you should totally come to with me, JPA!).  Hopefully Monica will be able to come to STL on Saturday, too.

My biggest hope for the week is that my cough will disappear soon.  I hate getting sick with a cold because I ALWAYS have a nagging cough for a long time after the other symptoms subside.  It happens like clockwork.  Sometimes it gets quite bad, sometimes it’s just annoying.  It’s probably not the best idea to sleep with a cough drop in your mouth but…

This morning as I was getting ready for work I noticed something kinda… funny, ironic, ?

The first picture is the front of a bottle of flat iron spray. It is supposed to protect hair from the 302-356 degree heat of the flat iron.  

The second picture is the back of the bottle, which happened to be facing me this morning as I was trying desperately to keep my eyes open while drying my hair. I’d like to draw your attention to the picture of a flame.  Below it are the words EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE.  

Does anyone else find it a bit ironic that the product I am using to protect my hair from burning is in itself extremely flammable?  It was amusing to me after four and a half hours of sleep.

I’m here.  I’m happy.  And now one of my best friends may be forced to move away.  F-U, Burrito!

this is from my bed.  it is appropriately fuzzy due to the lack of a tripod. it was a bit fuzzy to me as well.

So today I met several cute French men and an Argentinian one, too.  But… rings.  Dammit.

The best thing about living in St. Louis is ending my days with friends.  Jimmy came over tonight and Nick was here, too, so the four of us sat and talked for an hour.  I love it.  The frequency is decreasing as I knew it would but it’s great when things fall into place like they did tonight.  Now if only I could make it to that darn jazz concert!

I leave you with a text message conversation I had tonight because I found it funny.  I guess you have to know Mr. B to infer the correct intonation, though, so maybe it is only funny to me.  Even so, no one else lets me win this easily so it’s worth noting based on that alone!

Mr. B: The only thing that sucks more than the Marion county water district meeting? The Ralls county water district meeting.

Me: Sounds dreadful! The only thing that sucks more than West county is St. Charles where I spent my day.

Mr. B: That is worse. I fold.

Disclaimer: I really have nothing against West county, I just think it’s funny that city people hate the county and county people hate the city.  I do, however, hate St. Charles because driving I-70 at 6 pm is like dodging life-sized bumper cars.

I don’t feel good today.  Aside from a sore throat, it’s not really tangible, though.  

I’m not sure what my deal is.  There’s just something not quite right.  Contributing factors are that I’m still bothered by the fact that me being honest with  a good friend has been turned into a joke.  And I feel disconnected from someone whom I had gotten quite close to.  But still, I can’t put my finger on exactly what the big picture is.  Oh well, this too shall pass.

I did have a lovely dinner with my friend Jason and his kids, Elijah, Heidi, and Hailey, tonight.  I only met them for a short time but in that hour I could tell that they are terrific kids.  It was a lot of fun, and it made me miss my kiddos even more.  They are 6, 4, and almost 1 now.  Where did the time go?  I’m looking forward to seeing them at B’s wedding but I fear that they will have already forgotten me, and that will crush me.

I went home to visit my mom and sister this weekend.  My mom ordered carpet and laminate flooring which resulted in several hours in Lowe’s on Saturday.  Erin and Jeff came down for dinner that night and we all hung out for a while.  Today mom and I got a quart of the paint she thought she wanted in the kitchen and, after painting a section of the wall, we decide that it’s definitely not the right color.  Next time I go home the house will look different which will be weird.  

It was kinda fun to go through a bunch of stuff from high school while I was home.  I found some letters that my great uncle had written me which is really cool because I think I somehow lost the ones he sent me at MU during one of my many moves in Columbia.  I’m still mad at myself for that; he wrote about battles he fought in WWII and all kinds of great stuff.

On my way back to STL tonight I stopped in Columbia and had dinner with Kim, Beau, Mike, Amy, and Lily at Addison’s.  It was great to see them all.  Lily was grumpy so I didn’t really get to play with her but what can you expect from a 5 month old?!  I was planning to go to bed early tonight but when I got home Ryan and Nick were here so I ended up hanging out and here I am at midnight again.  I should have gone to bed when I started to the first time though.  If I had I wouldn’t be thinking about what I am right now.

On a happy note… I might have a chance at a 3G iPhone at the advertised price.  It has already been whored around a bit but I think I can deal.

Tonight night turned out much better than I expected and it all started with some Facebook flair!  

Ryan, James, and I watched What Lies Beneath tonight.  It’s been a while since the three of us have hung out.   Perhaps since New Year’s Day on the way back from Chicago and that was tense due to the bad weather and stuff.  Not that it matters, I just tend to notice groups and the dynamics when the combinations of people change since I took several classes on that subject in grad school.  Anyway, enough of my sleepy rambling.  It’s a great movie and was fun to watch with someone who has seen it 50 times and someone who hadn’t see it and doesn’t like scary movies.  I saw it once before but still I chose my seat wisely so there was a hand within reach when necessary.  I ain’t no dummy!

Next up: The Village.  Ryan is trying to get me to agree to The Descent I’m not sure about that one.  Maybe in the daylight when I can stay awake for a couple of days.  

I think, finally, I am starting to settle in a bit here in St. Louis.  It’s still a stretch to say it feels like home but I am starting to feel more comfortable in my surroundings.  

It hasn’t been that long since I had to go weeks and sometimes months without seeing my friends in St. Louis but when Jimmy left town for a few days, I missed him.  If I don’t see him soon I’m going to have Jerod put out an APB!  Same goes for Grant and Jen - when I don’t see them for a while (like a week) it feels like an eternity even though we have gone for months without seeing each other the past couple of years.  Kinda funny, or maybe codependent, I’m not sure.   

My bedroom still isn’t completely unpacked but that’s because the remaining boxes require me to organize the closet first and that hasn’t been at the top of my priority list.  My friend, Ryan, and I had a “date” to see Hancock tonight.  The movie was… Good?  Not really.  Bad?  Not necessarily.  Well?  It was entertaining.  That’s the best way I can describe it.  And, of course, it was good to see Ryan which doesn’t happen enough.  He’s ’special’ in that he is probably the only person who can toss popcorn at me during the movie without annoying me.  That’s my Ryan.  (The preview for the new Bond movie made me want to watch the last one again… who wants to watch Casino Royale with hot Bond on my awesome couch?)

I received some really good feedback at work today and last week.  That’s very comforting since I always feel like I don’t know or do enough.  I am definitely getting more comfortable there as well.  Sarcasm, my specialty, has even reared its ugly head a time or two.  I know it’s hard to believe but take it in.  I love that, while I still despise the concept of morning in general, I don’t dread going to work.  It’s very refreshing when I think “I have to go to work tomorrow” and my next thought is “cool” rather than “f#*k” as it has been in the past.

Speaking of my hatred for the AM… I think it’s bed time.  I promised myself that I will be asleep before 1:30 tonight unlike last night.