FireCracker Realized
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Happy Holidays!
The time has come to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday. Enjoy the time spent with family and friends, and watch out for that coal in your stocking you naughty boys and girls! I'm off to see the family in the morning and look forward to some time away from Chicago. Who knows what is in store for me but I'm sure it will contain some of my favourite things and maybe even some time spent with friends I haven't seen in a long time.
Posted by Maple :: 4:25 PM :: 1 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
5 Weird Habits
I was tagged by Violet on this...
1. I play with my hair constantly, without any idea that I'm doing it. I think it helps keep it healthy and shiny since all the oils will travel down to the ends this way. Although, today it caused a lot of static during my meeting so I noticed it pretty quickly.
2. Lately, if I don't have the fan on when I go to sleep then I will toss and turn all night long. As soon as I turn it on, I fall fast asleep and feel great in the morning. I think it helps quiet the voices in my head.
3. I crave chocolate every night, but I can't eat it or I won't sleep so instead I make myself some tea to try and calm the cravings.
4. I can't tolerate when the toilet paper is on the wrong way. It's not a problem at home, but at work it will drive me crazy and I can't do anything about it because the rolls are locked into place. If I could, I would fix them.
5. I have a hard time spending money on important stuff that I really want, but have no problem blowing a ton of money on stupid stuff that won't last 3 days and I won't even remember buying. (Although I'm trying to fix this!)
So now I tag whomever would like to do this!
Posted by Maple :: 5:09 PM :: 0 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Oh my
I have been so crazy busy at work the last two days I've hardly had time to think let alone blog about anything. It always amazes me how it is all or nothing at the office and never an in between. I'm tired today since I was up late last night playing with my new laptop for work, trying to get it to work properly from home and this morning was spent getting all the important applications to work the way they were intended. I swear the IT guys are clueless sometimes! But all is well now and everything works! The remainder of today was spent on conference calls trying to figure out data for a new project and I'm starting to feel like I'm understanding things around me. I'm sure that will change tomorrow, but at least it feels good today.
Can't remember if I mentioned it before, but I'll be heading to CT in January for at least 3 weeks of meetings and planning sessions. Anyone have suggestions for things to do in the evenings? I've already got CG flying into NYC on the 20th for a little fun in the city, but we could use some suggestions on places to go and things to do. In my life, I've only spent about 5 hours in NYC and hit as many tourist attractions as I could, but some non-touristy ideas would be welcomed too...shopping, dining, drinking, dancing, etc. Even some off-broadway shows would be fun to try.
So what else has been going on? I got really, really drunk at the Santa Pub Crawl with Tosa on Saturday night. It was so much fun and dressing up was much better than I expected it would be. With 50 Santas around, it's hard to feel like you stand out, but everyone was unique. Sunday was spent recovering on her couch with puppy dog as my hot water bottle and pain killers to minimize the headaches. Monday, Spitfire returned for a short visit and we headed to a nearby bar for some dinner and drinks - Sprite for me and beer for her! I still was feeling icky so the thought of food during the day was not pleasant, so by the time I was home from work I was definitely in need of nourishment. And that's pretty much my life in a nutshell. Busy, but happy and surrounded by friends. Life is good!
Posted by Maple :: 7:26 PM :: 0 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Friday, December 16, 2005
Warning
This is a warning to anyone in Chicago looking for a mechanic. Do not go to the Lawrence Ashland Certified Repair shop unless you want money stolen from you. I went there today for an oil change because it was cheaper than across the street. I had never been there before but there were lots of cars there so it seemed okay. They managed to fit me in right away and finish in 15 minutes, but just as I was about to drive away, my instincts kicked in. Earlier in the day, I had put a $10 bill in my change compartment for my trip up to Milwaukee tomorrow so that I had some toll money. There was also a single and lots of change. Instinct told me to check to make sure it was all still there, but it wasn't. Some a**hole took the $10 bill but left the rest. I was pissed!! I put the car in reverse, parked and stormed back to the office. The guy who helped me didn't say much when I told him about it but he did go into the garage to a spot where I couldn't see him. 2 minutes later he returned with $10. The same $10 that was in my car, folded exactly the same way. My guess was it was the guy from the office who took it since he was the one to move my car and then it was up on the lift for the oil change and I watched as it was pulled out front. No matter who took it, I'm glad there were other clients in the office to hear about it so that maybe they'll think twice about it next time.
Posted by Maple :: 5:56 PM :: 0 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Yay!!
It's Friday and I don't have to work today! And I only have 4 more days of work this year!! That makes me very happy. Can you feel how happy this had made me??? Can you?? You should because I've got a silly grin going from ear to ear right now and I got a good nights sleep and I have a lot to look forward to. I love being happy and unfortunately, it doesn't seem to happen enough but I'm going to take advantage of it today. I'm going to finish my Christmas shopping, visit the post office so I get get out the last of my cards and shop for things for me! I love shopping for me, especially when I have free money. Lots of free money thanks to my boss giving me an AMEX gift card to spend. Which won't include my profit sharing and bonus I get in January. And then there will be all that overtime again next year since I'm working for the same client still. Although, that is starting to look better. We're trying to get a previous consultant back into the project and if she's there then things will be a little easier for me. I have work to do, which means I can't blog during the day anymore, but I'm busy so the days go by much faster. I've even gotten in at 8am every day this week which was insane, but by choice. On Monday I get a new laptop for work so that I'll be able to work from home occasionally, although it's mainly for my trip to CT in January. Three weeks trapped in a conference room with crazy people who schedule meetings from 7:30am-6pm, and usually don't take many breaks. I've already planned a weekend in NYC with CG to inject fun into that trip, so if anyone has suggestions on places to go and things to do, please let me know!
Okay...short post but I have to get dressed now and get out in the cold to finish my shopping!
Posted by Maple :: 10:10 AM :: 0 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
I am now in the festive mood. I went to my first holiday party this weekend and with the snow flying and carolers singing my mood started to lighten and I got the urge to decorate my home. This is the first time in a few years that I've actually put up the tree and thanks to CG's input and lighting skills my tree looks very pretty. I know it's hard to tell, but it's 4' tall with lots of lights, the tiniest golden hued balls all over it and a gold and white ribbon on top, since my angel looked a little silly. There won't be any gifts under the tree this year, but I may still wrap some empty boxes so that I can at least have it look like Santa is coming or...I may just wrap up the things I've purchased for myself the last couple of days so that I have something to unwrap this year. I have no idea why, but I really love to wrap gifts and make them fancy with ribbons and pretty paper. It is such a relaxing process and always puts a smile on my face. Unfortunately, with my family so far away, I rarely get the chance to get into the festive spirit in the comfort of my own home. I usually need to do the wrapping at the last moment and I'm limited to the supplies my mom has which do not fulfill my creative needs. This year I plan to change things up. I'll be bringing my own ribbon with me when I go home and my first stop leaving the airport will be to pick up wrapping paper and tape so that I can wrap to my hearts content. It is going to be so much fun!
Posted by Maple :: 9:50 PM :: 2 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Magic
I'm sitting here right now waiting for my laundry to finish when what do I hear on the radio? Under the Bridge - by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And then all these wonderful memories came flooding back into mind. I was hanging out with the 'Rats' in the basement of my dorm on the last day of exams. I had finished a week earlier but made a point of returning for the party. He was a friend of Christos and was so cute - a soccer player with an amazing body. Dark wavy hair and deep brown eyes. I'm sitting on the top bunk, he's across the room in a chair. Ours eyes lock during the song and we both know then and there that we were going to hook up that night. At that point no one else in the room matters. We've become entranced and seduce each other from across the room. The song ends and the spell is broken. Everything else comes back into focus and we forget about each other for a while. The party moves to 'The John', our campus bar and we grab a couple of tables, a ton of pitchers and the girls head to the dance floor. After a while, I return to the tables to grab a drink and he's there waiting for me. We talk for the first time and become engrossed in conversation, yet surrounded by lust. Our song is played again and we head to the dance floor to take our conversation to a different level. As the song ends, we finish our drinks and head for the door. It's time. He takes my hand and we walk back to my dorm and go to my room. We're finally alone and we take full advantage of it. It was absolutely amazing - until the condom broke. {sigh} It ruined what should have been an incredible night of sex and made it about dealing with the consequences. Since the moment was lost, he got dressed and went home. The next day it was back to reality. My first trip was to the clinic for the morning after pill and a discussion about going on birth control, followed by puking my guts out from the hormones and feeling like crap for two days.
We never spoke again, but I think I saw him one time on campus the following year. We both did a double take, but kept on walking. To this day I have no regrets, but I do wonder what his name was.
Posted by Maple :: 11:52 AM :: 0 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Work...really?
This will be a short post because I actually have work to do. Can you believe it?? I HAVE WORK TO DO! And not just a little bit that I should take my sweet time working on, but actual important stuff that should be done in a timely fashion. I feel important again and it feels so good.
Tuesday I left work early so that I could sign up for my tennis lessons again. I really miss playing and I was desperate to get into the class I wanted so I got to the park early to get a number - 87 - and I still had an hour before they started the registration process. Not a good sign, especially since there were about a hundred screaming kids running around the room playing tag and driving me crazy. All I wanted to do was sit and read my book in peace, but there were 4 kids in particular that just had to get as close to me as possible. So close that many times I had to move my chair or have them sitting on top of me. I was ready to kill someone after 1 hour, but I had to stay 3 whole hours to complete my registration! 3 hours of hell before I could escape and return to the silence of my car. Only 2 good things came of the torture - a return to tennis and confirmation that I never want children. That experience was the best form of birth control ever!
Posted by Maple :: 10:18 AM :: 0 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Monday, December 05, 2005
How do I do this again?
Sometimes blogging can be a very difficult task for me where I just can't find the words to express how I'm feeling and do justice to how I feel. This past weekend, there was much to blog about yet I felt like my mouth was taped shut and my hands were encased in cement. Part of me still feels this way, but I will attempt to put into words all that transpired.
I'll start with Thursday, and the decision to start working out again. As mentioned in a previous post, CG challenged me to a little competition to help get us both in shape prior to Spring Training in March. In theory, it's a great idea, but she has an unfair advantage considering she'll have a personal trainer to help kick start her program. I do not have that luxury, but I decided to test my motivation Thursday by going to the gym and seeing how I did. I started strong by spending 55 minutes on the elliptical machine, another 15 minutes or so doing some stretching and then headed into my old yoga class to try and de-stress. It was a great plan in theory, but the outcome was not so pleasant. It wasn't the regular yoga instructor and the one filling in had a very different idea of what was to be done. She was tough, and there was no such thing as relaxation allowed in her class. The poses she made us do made me realize that my muscles are way to stiff to work properly and I kept falling over, eventually giving up and just doing the easy poses that I remembered. After about 20 minutes, I started to feel bad, kind of dizzy and nauseous, so I decided to just sit and rest for a little while thinking it would pass. After 10 minutes, I decided I had to give up and go home. I hopped on the train and 3 stops later I rushed off, found the nearest garbage can and tossed my cookies. Of course, the garbage cans on the platforms have lids, so I had to project at an angle to get most of it in the can which was not an easy thing to do. So much for getting motivated to go back to the gym.
Saturday was a much better day. It started with a trip up to Evanston to pay off my car loan - YAY!! - followed by a trip to Target for a little xmas shopping. I have it pretty easy this year since I've only got to pick up gifts for my niece and everyone else is getting gift cards that my sister-in-law was nice enough to purchase for me. It's much too hard to buy items here and bring them on the plane, so I decided to make my life easy for once. Originally, I thought I would do a gift card and a little something extra to unwrap, but then I realized that I spend too much on gifts already and add the cost of airfare and I'm broke before you know it. This year, I'm keeping it simple.
After running the rest of my errands, I met up with CG for a little more shopping at the One of a Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart. There was a lot of walking, running from strange vendors and sampling of cakes, candies and hot buttered rum. I really enjoy going to this show, but it's impossible for me to spend any money there. The items are unique and I usually love the jewelry, but I just can't justify the cost. Maybe if it wasn't during the holidays things could be different, but at this time of year I just can't do it. So from here we headed out to dinner at Mambo Grill followed by some drinking at Fado and this is where things became a little bizarre. CG and I were upstairs where it was less smoky and were busy chatting and watching the college football game on the big screen not far from where we stood. CG's niece is a cheerleader for one of the teams so it was hard not to watch and try to spot her. As the night went on, we had a few guys try to chat us up but we really didn't give them the time of day. I can't speak for CG, but I definitely was not in the mood to meet someone that night and was just looking to get out and have a good time hanging with CG. At some point, we managed to get a spot at the bar and 2 guys who had made an attempt earlier in the evening finally got CG's attention. Bob ended up being a really nice guy and I thought he was pretty interesting. Doug on the other hand was quite the opposite. He started out distant and ended up sulking on a stool somewhere behind me almost falling asleep. Eventually he got his second wind and that's when it all went down hill. He started berating me for being so closed off and distant. For not allowing myself the chance of meeting someone. Telling me that I have issues and I'll never find someone if I keep it up. All I could do was laugh. It was hysterical considering the guy never even knew my name or anything about me. And maybe the reason I was so closed off was because I knew he was an idiot and didn't want him to get any ideas. As for issues, doesn't everyone have issues of some sort? I know I do, yet he claimed he didn't. He was so full of sh*t and it really took away from the evening. Too bad Bob didn't have a better wingman, he would probably do better without him around.
Posted by Maple :: 12:20 PM :: 0 Comments: ---------------------------------------