awkward

I have a friend. A male. A coworker. I have respect for him because: 1. he's smart 2. he's funny 3. he's a good dad and seemingly a good husband. However, I'm starting to feel weird around him. He seems to be going out of his way to have lunches together, to find common interests, stuff to talk about, to get into my beeswax, to flirt? I can't tell exactly, because he's rather introverted. At first I didn't think anything of it, but now it's getting awkward.

a music review

I don't often assert my musical preferences on people. I mean, yes, I have them, but music is so subjective, why should you listen to what I have to say about it? However, there's an album that I've been waiting for for quite some time, and it was released last Tuesday. Needless to say, I ran over to Target the first chance I got (last Saturday), and Sammy and I have been bouncing around to these fine tunes ever since. Yes, people, I still buy cd's, even though I'm quite proficient at downloading music and I do own an ipod. There's just something so tangible and satisfying to me about having the disk case with the artwork and lyrics. Anyway, here's a snippet from the album's review on Amazon.com, "Sometimes it's O.K.--even important--to put aside your reluctance to embrace artists who make teenage girls scream. It happened in 2006, when Justin Timberlake scraped the sludge off pop and left something shiny behind, and it's happening again in 2007..." I couldn't agree more. I first heard this band a few years ago in concert before I ever heard them on the radio. They just happened to be opening up for another one of my all time favorites, John Mayer, and I was more than pleasantly surprised at their performance. Hell, even Stevie liked them! To me, they embody the perfect blend of pop, funk, dance, and sexy, yes, ala JT. I love it. Who is it? you keep asking... it's Maroon 5, with their new album It won't be soon before long. Last week after they performed their new single, Makes me wonder on American Idol, I let Marge borrow their first cd, Songs about Jane for the day. I love seeing a 60 year old lady grooving at her desk all day. Anyway, notable songs on the new cd are tracks 2, 3, 6, 7, 9 and 10. As the reviewer on Amazon said, Makes me wonder is "catchier than fire". So true. And track 3 Little of your time makes you boogy wherever you are. I suspect that I left a whole interstate full of people laughing this afternoon as I could not quit dancing to it while speeding down I-95. So, if you like pop music, dance, or "sexy", go download it, buy it, whatever, just give it a go, you won't be sorry.

Memorial Day

Well, I'm sure you all have lovely tales of Memorial Day involving cook-outs and days at the beach. Me? I slaved away at work, as usual. So sad, right? But really, it wasn't that bad. The nice thing? No meter maids on holidays, so I parked in a 30 minute zone ALL DAY LONG, right in front of the building, without paying the meter. Dang, I shoulda taken a picture of my car with the expired meter, and taped it to my windshield for tomorrow! That woulda been too cool! I swear those little Interceptors just circle my car like vultures, waiting for the meter to expire. The other cool things about working on Memorial Day? No traffic, and a quiet day at work. I just answered questions and reviewed files all day. Easy! So when I say that I "slaved away" at work today, well that was a gross overstatement. And I sat out in the square for well-over my hour lunch break, chatting with Courtney about antique books and rubber cars. There's one bench in Madison Square that is now very sunny because one of the oak trees fell down in a wind storm a couple months ago. If I had stayed out any longer, I would've needed sunscreen. Here's the square, before the tree blew down. Now the tree in the left foreground is gone, and I have a new favorite hot spot.

But Happy Memorial Day. Please remember those troops that have laid down their lives for our freedom, and please pray for those that are protecting our freedom this very minute. Stay safe, Scotty!!!

belated Mother's Day report

Well, yesterday was Mother's Day. It wasn't the typical fanfare, but I was glad for it. A nice quiet day. Peaceful. Charlie got up and made breakfast, crepes. He's twelve for God sake, and he's making crepes!!! Steve came home early from work and took me out to pick out my Mother's Day foliage. Traditionally, if I don't receive some electronic gadget, then I get a special plant/shrubbery. So this year Stevie bought me a trellis and two clematis for it. I also got two beautiful red lantana to go in my hangy baskets out front. But perhaps better than any of those presents was something I did with Sammy. I remembered the gift that we had gotten him for Christmas, the "hit away", and I finally figured out how to set it up. He stayed outside for about 30 minutes, practicing. Then today, again, he practiced batting before his game. And this evening, I got the best present... he had his best game ever! Three at-bats, he got zero outs. The first up he hit a text-book bunt right down the third base line. The second and third ups he hit SOLID hits to right/center field, getting on base each time!!! I tell ya, the look on his face and the confidence that he gained... that was the best Mother's Day present EVER!!!

a sigh of relief

The countdown is over and she is gone for six months. I can finally breathe. I dropped her off at the recruiter's office at 8:00am, and I sang all the way home. In those last few minutes, I actually felt love for her, and hope. It is a new beginning.

t minus two!

Two days left!!!! This is a very good thing. I can hardly face her today, ever since I saw the latest picture on her MySpace. She leaves very little to the imagination. I was so pissed when I saw it, I could couldn't get anymore work done for the rest of the day. I think I'm going to set her computer on fire. That would be cool.