What happens when no one else is home?

I think I have realized that I use smileys, exclamation points and "..." way more than just about any other blogger around. First I was going to promise to cut down on that, but then I decided not to:-) It's my blog, I can do whatever I want to!

Anyway, Munchkin slept at a friend's house last night. Smoking Hot Roommate and I met some friends for a bit, and then I went over and met up with The Boy and a couple of his friends. Good times, just sorta chill hanging out. SHR stayed at The Rocket Scientist's place (he has the flu, everyone send e-well-wishes:-)) which gave me the whole apartment to myself.

You remember how I wrote a PG-rated post about The Boy a couple of weeks back? Well, there was nothing remotely appropriate for the eyes of minors here... It is hard to go a full week without seeing him a lot, and the pent-up sexuality kinda bursts out. Add in a couple of drinks and the more basal urges take over...

So yes, I got really, really, really laid last night. In the living room, and the kitchen, and the bedroom. And then in the bedroom again this morning, and then in the shower...and I guess that is about it. And you know what? It was pretty fucking awesome! Totally hot, kinda primal, noisy, grunting, hair-pulling...yum!

I'm sure you were all interested;-) Lol... Yeah, I have been pretty good about leaving out the dirty stuff (I didn't mention sex once in Mexico!!!) but that's what I feel like writing about now. The odd thing is that I had kind of planned on several solid hours of fucking tonight, but I don't quite think I will be able to answer the bell for that one...I am a little bit sore;-) (TMI?)

That can only mean one thing...Oralpalooza!!! OK, I just made myself laugh writing that...and you can be honest, you laughed, too.

Anyway, that is enough for now. Hanging out with the girls all day:-) Should be fun. Munchkin is going to the movies with her friends tonight, and one of the other Mom's is on pickup/dropoff duty, so I am kind of off the leash again. The Boy and I still have a date, and maybe we won't be in such a rush to finish dinner now...lol.

I actually have a nice story to tell, but it doesn't really fit with the above, so I will hold it until tomorrow. So you have that to look forward to;-)

I'm not as cool anymore:-(

There is a really solid Bev-Niner reference over at Ally's place today. I still maintain that the greatest thing anyone ever said on that show was when Steve Sanders described The Flaming Lips by saying "I'm not really into alternative, but these guys rock the house!"

Turns out that Steve Sanders is not a bad dancer. And his cameo with David Silver in Domino as themselves was really good stuff... And Keira Knightley would be hotter if she just had a sandwich now and again (OK, if that is not a record for stream of conscious links in one blog, I dunno what is.)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...I had a bit of a sad-Mom "baby is growing up" moment yesterday. I assume it will be the first of many.

As I have written extensively (and been scolded for a few times) I take Munchkin "out" with me a lot. Like, to bars. I was going to write a defense of it, but that post does it pretty well...much better than I am ready to do now. [That is a weird by-product of blogging, you can go back and see things you wrote and think "Gee, I really said that well..." And for the 50th time, at least, go read "My Favorite Post", especially if you have daughters!!!]

Anyway, I am meeting some friends after work tonight for a couple drinks, and I asked Munchkin yesterday if she wanted to go. Usually she gets very excited by the idea of hanging out with the big girls and acting grown-up. Because of that, I was a little surprised when she said "No, I meant to ask you if I could sleep over at Best Friend's house."

And I kinda got sad for a second...lol. My baby sister doesn't want to hang out with me:-( And yes, I realize that this is a normal and healthy part of growing up and that it is good for her, and for me, for her to be a normal girl of her age. But that doesn't mean that I can't get a little sad when she first blows me off to hang out with her friends;-)

Not much else going on this weekend. Going out with The Boy tomorrow night, not sure if we have any specific plans just yet. I do know that I have only seen him for a few minutes a couple times this week, and I have the serious urge to do some really dirty naked things to him. I trust he is feeling much the same way;-) Maybe he can spend some time re-examining my tattoos...

Hopefully we can do some more pretend condo shopping on Sunday...I like that:-) Anyone have anything interesting going on this weekend?

I'm not the only one with siblings...

I feel like I think of great blog topics all day, and then forget them when it is time to write in the morning. I need to either write them down, or start writing blogs in the afternoon or evening instead. Or possibly, my ideas at that time of day aren't any better, but looking back on them now a day later I imagine that they were... I am not sure we will solve this problem.

I realize that I never mentioned (I don't think) when The Body's step-mom had her twins last month. A boy and a girl, both healthy and happy:-) To recap, The Body is one of my very dearest friends, first person I met in college, roommate for all four years, recently lived in LA and has (now) a grand total of NINE younger siblings (one brother, three half-brothers, five half sisters...) The twins follow the triplets, who are now about 5.

This comes up now because The Body is going to move back to Phoenix for a little while to help out. Not surprisingly, the two new babies have made things a bit overwhelming for her Mom and Dad (stepmom), so she is going to go back for a little while because she is a good daughter and sister:-) I think she plans on doing some cooking and shuffling the older kids to school and practices and stuff a lot so that her stepmom can be home with the babies all day and her Dad can be with them at night.

You know you are in trouble when it is a huge relief to ONLY have to take care of twin infants all day by yourself... So let's all give a quick shout out to The Body for being selfless enough to go pitch in for a couple months with the kids:-) She immediately becomes the hottest soccer mom in America. She can even make a minivan look hot!!!

Quick note on Tinkerbelle, too. She had a school play last night and many of her newly discovered aunts and uncles and a couple of cousins went to see it. This makes me wish even more that I knew my father's family when I was growing up. Ahh well, crying about it isn't gonna help... I am really glad that she will know them for longer than I did:-) They are great people and will be great to have in her life!

I can't wait for them to all come and visit next summer! That will be a trip...

I'm sick...with Sanjaya Fever!!!

First of all, Sanjaya's hair...clearly he drew his inspiration from the posters for '300'. Unfortunately, his singing this week was just bad, and not nearly the completely gut-busting form of horrific that makes him such a must-see contestant. He definitely got a lot worse by getting a little better.

And I think Gwen Stefani is gorgeous. Like, during the parts of her newest video when she is doing the Rapunzel thing, she cuts as striking a figure as any supermodel (it is like 1:30 in if you don't feel like watching the whole thing). Two days in a row with links to videos on YouTube...they should pay me!

Anywho...

I was having an IM conversation with Ella yesterday (actually I was having like three at once, but hers is the subject of this post) and something came up. I should warn you ahead of time, this is kind of a mushy post about The Boy, so if that ain't your bag...you may wanna skip the next couple of paragraphs.

She asked if he knew about this blog, and I said "Yes, he does. But he hasn't asked to read it." We were all talking about it on the beach last week, and I may have even mentioned it to him a while ago, so he knows that I write every day, and he knows that I write about him sometimes. He also knows that Big Sis and SHR both read. Hey guys:-).

If he asks, he is welcome to read it. I don't really ever have much to say about him that he doesn't know. I don't think I ever really complain about him (here are some complaints: I wish he would stop biting his fingernails, I hate when he cracks his knuckles in front of me, and he shouldn't leave dishes in his sink...you have a dishwasher for chrissakes!!!) And, since I have a means of always finding out what he is thinking, I guess it is only fair that he be able to know what I am thinking. Not that I really keep these thoughts to myself anyway...

I was with some friends last Saturday and they were complaining about their husbands and boyfriends. I almost felt kinda guilty because I don't really have any of the typical complaints that women have. But at the same time, no...I don't feel guilty, just happy. [I should also note that I don't see him as much as most people see their boyfriends and girlfriends, and that might help:-)]. I am not real sure what my point in all of that is, I just felt like writing it.

Ella has also inspired me to spend more time in art galleries...lol. I don't know if I will really like it that much, but there are a bunch nearby and I feel like I should at least make the effort to look around. And if they have free food for openings, all the better! Not sure who I am gonna get to go with me, but I will find someone.

Anyway, Munchkin's birthday is next week:-) Last year she didn't really have a party, she just wanted to go out for pizza with a couple of her friends. But this year she is up for a little more of a party, so we are gonna have some bowling and stuff the weekend after her birthday. Should be fun...and pretty easy for me:-) Her brother is coming to visit, but shhh...don't tell her...it's a secret:-)

Gachapin

I think my love of The Killers is pretty well documented here...I feel like I mention it often. I know that critics and a lot of fans don't like their newest album as much as the first one, but I really like it a lot. It is kind of all over the place...there are hints of Scottish folk music, polka, 80's Pop, Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen and some Irish drinking songs all thrown in. And there is some good old fashioned rock and roll, too;-)

So, I like it for a couple reasons. First, I admire their ambition to jam as much stuff into one album as possible, without losing the melodies. Second, it has a dreamer's romanticism to it that is along the lines of the classic Springsteen "gotta get out of this small town" stuff. And oddly, I feel like the majority of it is written about girls and their dreams and the way they get broken in many segments of society. That is another issue I seem to beat on a lot (go read My Favorite Post again:-))

Anyway, they recently released a video for one of my favorite songs on the new album, Read My Mind. First, it is a killer tune;-) Second, it is all about kids growing up in a place, knowing that there is a whole big world outside of it, and trying to figure out a way to get out of where they are and into someplace else (...teenage queen, a loaded gun, the drop dead dream, the chosen one, a southern drawl, a world unseen, a city wall and a trampoline...).

Needless to say, it brings me back to a lot of memories.

Third, the video is super cute! The concept is just sort of them hanging out in Tokyo doing random things. The video features a starring role by Gachapin, a Japanese children's TV character. The first time I ever heard about him was when The Body went to Japan a couple years back with her father and brother and two of her sisters. Her little brother became totally obsessed with this little green dinosaur with buck teeth:-)

Anyway, Gachapin is really cute, and the part where he is trying to brush his two teeth but needs help opening the toothpaste is adorable.

So, that is my story for today...thrilling, I know;-)

Pretend shopping

Good morning all...I am sure that you were crying uncontrollably for most of the week because you didn't get daily blogs from me, but never fear...I am back to my daily self again:-) Dry those eyes!!!

The trip was awesome. The beach was beautiful, the house was beautiful, the kids were really well-behaved, everyone had fun. Other than the medical scare, everything went really well. The whole "have to go back to work" thing is a bit of a drag, but what can you do?

I had sort of a "moment" on Friday afternoon. We were sitting on the beach and I was kind of daydreaming and thinking about stuff. I am not really sure what everyone was talking about because I was only like 10% listening. Munchkin and her friends were swimming and I was kind of admiring the beauty of the sun sparkling off of the ocean. I got to thinking about how I ended up where I am, and about the little one, and honestly, I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I don't want to sound like I am bragging, but I am not half-bad at this motherhood thing;-)

Enough of that, though. Does anyone else like to go imaginary house shopping? I love it...I will almost always stop into an Open House if I walk by a sign. And since Sundays are Open House days, and this is a busy time of year, there were tons of them yesterday. It was a pretty nice day, so Munchkin, Smoking Hot Roommate and I went for a mid-day walk down Commonwealth Avenue (after stopping at Dunkin Donuts, of course).

I think we went into six different condos that were open, all kind of small and grossly expensive...lol. Two bedrooms and 1,000 square feet will probably run you somewhere close to $600,000. That doesn't include parking, either. A million bucks probably gets you 1,400 square feet, give or take. It is a little bit depressing, to be honest. Herb Chambers (for the non-locals, he owns a bunch of car dealerships) has his five story, 9,000 square foot town house listed for like $15 million...you know, just in case you are interested... (no, that one does not have open houses;-))

So, I think I have kind of a big work thing coming up. My role in it is not quite hammered out yet, but I think it will keep me very busy for the next month, at least. I think I will be traveling, too...but hopefully not too much. Smoking Hot Roommate is going to be traveling a lot as well (as always) which means I would have to figure out some child care issues. Hopefully, it is not too much to work out...I really don't want to beg out of important work things if I don't have to.

Anywho...hope everyone had a good week:-) Back to the grind...

Home sweet home

We are all home safely, soundly and tanned! We landed at about 7:00 last night, dropped Munchkin's friends off and got home at about 8:00. Some friends were out to watch the basketball game, so Smoking Hot Roommate, The Rocket Scientist, The Boy, Munchkin and I went over to where they were for dinner and to see them. Munchkin was close to falling asleep in the restaurant at about 9:00, so The Boy and I took her home and got her to bed.

She is really cute. On Friday night she asked me if we could get up really early and go for a walk on the beach, just the two of us. I told her 'sure', figuring that she wouldn't get up in time, but willing to go if she did. Sure enough, at about 6:45 she was shaking me awake and we walked WAY down the beach and back. She had a lot to say...she is a funny kid:-)

All in all, it was a great vacation! The weather was fantastic, the place we stayed was gorgeous, we got in some fun stuff and some cultural stuff (we went to the Mayan Ruins, which were really cool!) We also ate a lot, drank a lot and got lots of sun. A pretty good week!

I will have more tomorrow when I get back to regular daily blogging. But now I have a bunch of Mom stuff to do, so I will have to leave that for another time;-)

I made friends with an Iguana...

There haven't been any asthma attacks for a couple days now, so it has turned into a really great, relaxing vacation. The girls have been extremely well behaved, and basically have kept themselves occupied non-stop since we got here. I like that we are secluded enough that I can kind of let them do as they please and not worry too much. There are lots of little tide pools and fun things nearby, and it is nice to not have to watch them every minute to make sure they are OK.

Seriously...I got all kinds of comments the other day, and not one person said anything about The Brain Surgeon...Lol. He was easily the MVP of the day, and I feel like no one else was willing to give him his props:-) I guess he doesn't need any props since he gets to wake up with Big Sis every day for the rest of his life, but still... Show the guy some love, people!!!

We did a super fun thing today! If you are ever in this part of Mexico, take a day to go to Xel-ha and hang out...especially if you have kids you need to entertain. It is a really big, natural lagoon that has been turned into an "eco-water park". It is kind of like being at an amusement park, only instead of rides, there is a big inlet to snorkel in. It definitely has like a more interactive Sea World feel to it.

I don't know if all of the fish are naturally there, or if they feed them to get more of them in the lagoon, but it is really cool. The whole thing is probably like 10 feet deep or less, so if you just putter around, you can see TONS of really bright-colored, pretty fish. There are also like random iguanas walking around the on-land areas, which is kinda cool.

And there is some neat stuff like a waterfall you can jump off, some really beautiful caves, and an area where you can pet and ride dolphins (didn't do that.) There are also hiking and bike trails and you can rent kayaks, but we didn't do any of that stuff, either. Mostly, the girls swam and snorkeled a lot and chased fish around...Lol.

It was loads of fun...Smoking Hot Roommate and I took the three girls and everyone else stayed back at the house. The boys made dinner for all of us, because they are super nice and like us all so much:-) And because guys get really possessive if there is a grill involved. Munchkin and her friends all crashed right after dinner and went to bed almost an hour ago (it is like 8:30 now.)

I doubt I will be up real later, either. All that activity tires a girl out! And we have another early day tomorrow...we are going to see the Mayan Ruins inland, which I think is a longer drive. It is probably gonna be absurdly muggy and hot, but that will give me a great excuse to accost The Boy in the shower when we get back:-D

I doubt I will blog anymore from here, but you never know;-) I have to check emails, so I will check and post comments at least once a day, and I may write a quick note to shout out to whoever is my historic 5,000th visitor sometime tomorrow!!!

Donde esta el hospital?

Hi all:-) I hope everyone is somehow getting along without me...I know it can be hard! Not to make you too jealous, but I am sitting on a second-story porch, bare feet up on another chair, sipping a lunchtime margarita and eating a bowl of fresh fruit that is incredibly delicious. It is about 80 degrees, bright and sunny with a delightful breeze coming off the ocean. I can see Smoking Hot Roommate, Big Sis, The Boy's sister, her wife, and two of the girls are sitting on the beach. The Boy and The Rocket Scientist appear to be out on the jet skis. I have a feeling heaven is like this.

That's the good news...the bad? Ever been in a Mexican hospital? I have...and that's something I couldn't say at this time yesterday. But I was there all night, didn't get back to bed until about 7am and just woke up a little while ago.

One of Munchkin's friends had a really bad asthma attack. She has an inhaler, but I think the girls kind of overdid it yesterday, and maybe the change in air contributed, too, but she woke up in the middle of the night wheezing and coughing and couldn't breathe well. Needless to say, that was kinda scary.

The good news is that there is a doctor in the house (Big Sis' aptly named fiance, The Brain Surgeon) so I wasn't totally panicking. I have no idea what I would have done otherwise. But he took one look at the situation and surmised that she needed to get to a hospital, so he and I took her sometime around 1:00 or so. Also, good thing he speaks pretty good Spanish and can drive in Mexico and managed to find the way to the hospital...

I called the girl's parents (the two people we were skiing with a couple weeks ago) and they were remarkably calm about the whole thing. Obviously they were scared, but they managed to remain pretty composed and settled their daughter down a bit...part of the problem was that she was panicking at the same time. Again, they may have reached a whole different level of apoplepsia if The Brain Surgeon wasn't around.

So we got to the hospital, which was not at all as scary as I had imagined it might be. The emergency doctor that was there seemed pretty competent and the place was clean and pretty well maintained. The Brain Surgeon called his hospital in Boston to talk to the emergency pediatrics doctor that was on call, and the Mexican doctor didn't get at all snippy about talking to the American doctor to make everyone feel better. The American pediatrics doctor basically said "Yes, this doctor knows what he is doing and has it under control," which was very good to hear.

She needed some kind of a shot and a special kind of inhalation thing. She felt better almost immediately, and after an hour on the breathing thing, she was pretty much all better. They kept her there for a bit to be safe, during which time she fell asleep (which is a good sign) and at about 5:30 we left to go back to the house. I called the girl's parents on the way to let them know, and everyone kind of woke up when we got back home. I was kinda wound up, so it took me a while to fall asleep...which was just about when the sun came up.

So, that was the excitement for the night. The little girl woke up about 10 minutes ago, and I am happy to report that she is pretty much back to 100% and scoffed at the idea that she might want to cut her trip short and go back home early. She has some new medicine that she is supposed to take before she goes to bed just to be safe, and hopefully all will go well the rest of the time. The Brain Surgeon is still sleeping, but he gets mega-super-mad props for making everything all better:-)

Other than that, things are pretty fucking peachy. We had no trouble taking off on time Saturday morning, despite the storm. The house is absolutely gorgeous and I never wanna go back! It is in kind of a subdivision type area with some other houses nearby (but not too close!) and there are some other kids around for the girls to play with on the beach.

We met some of the neighbors during a little cookout last night, and basically have just bummed around on the beach for a couple days. That is sort of the plan for the rest of the week, too. Later this week we are going to try and go down the coast to a place called Xel-ha, which is supposed to be a super fun water-park kind of place with snorkeling and things. It is an "ecological water theme park." Has anyone ever been? And there is some thought that we should drive inland and see Chichen-itza. Anyone ever been there?

So that is about it. I have a couple of work emails to return, and then I am gonna go and spend a beautiful afternoon on the beach:-D Wish me luck!!!

Who is in your Final Four?

My little attempt to get Big Sis to chime in yesterday didn't work...she called me instead. She agrees with my "Mom-guilt" theory, but I don't think I should really relay the rest of what she said (how is that for needling her to put it in a comment?)

I am in an NCAA Basketball pool at work. For those paying attention, I am not at all a sports fan. I like to go to baseball games in the summer, and I know some football from dating a football player for a while (I will tell that story someday, it's actually sort of a nice story, but a little sad) but that is about it.

Originally, the guys at work were doing the pool for $500 a person, which was...ahem... somewhat over my interest level and ability to pay. The partners nixed that idea, though, so now it only cost $5, which is much more my speed!!! Since I have no idea how to pick winning teams (other than by the little number next to their names;-)) I turned over the actual selection chores to Munchkin and Smoking Hot Roommate.

I have to admit, it makes the whole thing pretty exciting. I took Munchkin to meet up and watch the games last night with a bunch of the boys from her school and their Dads (and one other girl and her Dad.) These are kind of the same people that we watched the football game with two months ago. Everyone seemed to be quite excited that Duke lost...I guess everyone hates Duke...I have no idea why.

The guys at work are knocking off at around lunchtime to go drink beers and watch the games all afternoon, and I am going with them. I have mentally checked out for vacation already, so it seems like a much better use of my afternoon. Normally I would just go ahead and get really drunk, then stumble over to get Munchkin, but since her two friends are sleeping over tonight, I should probably try and stay pretty sober;-)

I am all packed! I am so excited to go...it is supposed to snow here this afternoon, which makes the idea of a warm beach all the more enticing. Hopefully we can get going really early tomorrow and get some serious afternoon beach time in! The sooner I can get my little ass into a chair and a margarita into my hand, the better!

I will have Internet, so I will probably check in a couple times from there. I have to check work emails regularly, so I will probably check in with blog reading a bit, too...and I will probably post a couple times if I feel like it. Other than that...I will see you all on the flip side!!!

Oh, and go Kansas, Memphis, Florida and Texas!!! And then Kansas and Memphis. And then Kansas!!!

Has anyone ever even been to Kansas?

70 Yesterday, 35 Tomorrow...

The nice weather led to a little cookout last night, which was really fun. Smoking Hot Roommate has been a super-awesome big sister this week and picked Munchkin up at school everyday...being away from the office means that I haven't been able to get there to pick her up at 5:00 every day. Honestly, she could walk and be fine, but that scares me just a little bit too much for now. It is only about a quarter of a mile, and it is a very public, very safe area...but it's a big city and I worry. In a pinch she could walk and I would make her talk to me on the phone the whole way...lol.

Anyway, they decided to get some stuff at the store and fire up the grill last night. When I walked in the door, they were just taking stuff off the grill...how is that for timing? They made chicken and steak and cheeseburgers...mmm.

Big Sis and The Brain Surgeon came over, as did The Rocket Scientist and his roommate. The Boy was a little tied up with work, but he came over a little later and ended up staying over. The stock market did NOT ruin my sex life last night;-) Good thing, too...another couple of days of getting cock-blocked and I was gonna fire bomb that place... (yes, Department of Homeland Security, that is a JOKE!!! Ha ha!!!)

I have an update on a kind-of ongoing story about living arrangements. To recap, when we moved here after school, we moved into a great 3 bedroom condo right near Boston Common. We lived there for a little over a year, and then SHR bought a new condo within a couple blocks of the old one. The new one is bigger (about twice the size) and somewhat more...um...I don't really know the word...I guess is is more "grand" if that makes sense. Meanwhile, she still owns the old condo, and her fiance (The Rocket Scientist) lives there with one roommate.

The simple version is that she didn't want to move in with him yet...she is gonna get mad at me for saying so, but the reason is that her mother would have disapproved if she were still alive. At least that is part of the reason (little back-up on that, Big Sis?) Smoking Hot Roommate doesn't do much without a plan, and she always looks out for me:-) so she had a long-range idea. The plan was that, when she felt more comfortable, The Rocket Scientist would essentially switch places with me and Munchkin.

So, he will move into the newer place with her, and Munchkin and I will move back to the old apartment. Eventually I would love to buy that place from Smoking Hot Roommate, but we can worry about that another time. I actually almost like the old place better than the new one...it is a little less impressive, but I think it is a bit cozier. I dunno...maybe because it was the first home I was ever really happy in, I will have to ask my therapist...hee hee.

Anyway...this has been a long, roundabout way of getting to the point. The point is that SHR told me last night that she thinks she would like to make the switch on or around next New Year's. That isn't really set in stone, but it is the first time she has put a firm timetable on it. Obviously, other than giving The Rocket Scientist's roommate enough heads-up so that he can find a new apartment, everyone involved is on a pretty flexible moving schedule.

So, that is on the horizon now, we will be moving sometime near the end of the year or thereabouts. Obviously, that gets to the next question about The Boy moving in, but I am not getting into that just yet.

I guess that was a lot of verbiage to get to "I am moving three blocks away in the next year,"...whatever, I can't be that creative when my mind is on the beach!!!

El Dia de San Patricio

Today was really gorgeous here! It sucks that it will almost certainly get back below freezing at some point...this will feel like such a tease. Unless it gets back to freezing while I am sitting on a beach:-P

Have I mentioned yet that I am going to Mexico next week? Not sure if it has come up...

I was supposed to have date night with The Boy tonight, but the stock market took another one of its nose dives, so he had to cancel. Yes, the stock market kept me from getting laid...what the fuck?!?! OK, maybe not...it is only 8:00, he could still come over when he leaves work. I am kind of bummed:-( I don't really see him that much during the week usually, so I don't like losing a night to work. Ahh well...he will be totally disconnected from work all next week, so I won't have any of these disruptions!

I have the most annoying cut on my thumb. I don't really know how I got it, but it is on my right thumb, on the left edge of the nail, near where it emerges from the skin. The problem is that I keep bumping it on things and it gets irritated. It is hard to pick anything up without using that part of your thumb. I suppose I could put a band-aid on it...that might alleviate my whining.

Anyone have any St. Patrick's Day plans? I am not a huge fan of St. Patty's Day in Boston...every bar uses it as an excuse for a $25 cover. I remember going to the Hong Kong in Fanueil Hall two years ago and they wanted $20 to get in....IT'S A CHINESE RESTAURANT!!! Dimples tells me that she has been in Southie each of the last couple years on St. Patrick's Day and it is not that crowded or expensive there. Go figure...the Irish neighborhood is less crowded than the rest of the city.

I doubt there will be substantial St. Patrick's festivities in Mexico, but I will make sure to tip a frosty one in tribute to my Irish heritage (I am such a mutt...I have like 10 different nationalities, I think I can celebrate every day as some kind of a holiday.) Munchkin is much more Irish than me, and has a super Irish last name. So really, I feel like I should celebrate on her behalf;-)

How is that for rationalizing binge drinking?

Cinco Dias Mas...

A weird batch of "catch-up" comments yesterday. I always assume that people read within a day or two of me writing it, but obviously not... I guess people catch up on a whole weekend's worth of posts on Mondays.

Munchkin feels better...she had a bit of a stomach bug, likely from eating too much junk on Saturday. Much of that is my fault...we had lunch at Finale, which doesn't exactly offer healthy food. Or even non-dessert food.

I am all caught up on everyone's blogs, even though I didn't leave many comments. Read this, unless you don't want to cry...super sad:-(

I am really getting excited for Mexico! It has really warmed up the last couple of days, but I still can't wait to get into a bikini and sit on the beach in the sun. I am paler than...well...then something that is really pale (a polar bear, maybe?) From what I understand, the house we are staying at is pretty well secluded with it's own beach, which means that I can kind let Munchkin and her friends run free without being too concerned about them getting kidnapped. That sounds really awful...lol.

I do, however, have to get through this week first, and it is going to be a tough one...really busy. I hate being totally disconnected all day. It is weird how much we rely on the Internet...without email I feel like I am barely on Earth. The days actually go by pretty fast, the work is interesting and I really like the two people I am with on this (Boss Foxy and one other person).

And ...um...that is about it. Boy, this is really a boring blog post... I will try and get into some trouble tomorrow and spice things up a bit.

The Joys of Parenting

Dinner with the school parents was fun...the house is really spectacular, they did a phenomenal job restoring it. Every room has really intricate woodwork that had to be painstakingly polished, cleaned and sometimes repaired. I can't imagine how much work went into it, but the results are fantastic...it's like going back in time.

The rest of the night was fun, too. Nothing notable, just a good time with friends. Got home at maybe 1:30 and got to sleep a little on the late side, maybe 3:00 (hmmm...what went on during that lost hour and a half...hmmm?) Wait, I guess that was 4:00...

So, probably ten minutes after I fell asleep, the phone rang...Munchkin. "Hey kiddo, what's wrong?" "I can't sleep. I had a bad dream and I don't feel good." "Do you want to come home?" "Can you come get me?" "Yeah, I'll be there in ten minutes. Wake up Mrs. Nice Lady and tell her that I am on the way."

Fortunately, she wasn't that far away (for the locals, she was staying on Marlborough St. between Berkeley and Clarendon, we live in Beacon Hill). The Boy was being good and chivalrous and was worried to let me go by myself (I would have been fine, it is plenty safe) so he got up, too. And that is how I came to go for a super early morning/late night walk across the city.

And now I am tired:-P

Who's the best big sister in the world?

Warm days coming!

Apparantly no one has any questions for me, which means I either tell everything of interest, or no one cares enough to ask. To avoid crying, I will assume the first;-)

After seemingly months of bitter, bitter cold, today is actually really pleasant outside, so I have been out and about most of the day. It is a great day to live in the city!!! But now Munchkin needs a nap because we have been walking around all morning, and I am going to stretch my tired toes out on the sofa and check into blog world for a bit.

I know I have been a bad blogger all week...stupid work got in the way. It has been a super busy week, with lots of long days and late nights. Rationally, I can say that I am glad I get the chance to really learn a lot, and this is all experience that will reward me handsomely someday...but I still would rather have won the lottery last Tuesday!!!

Tinkerbelle's birthday is tomorrow. I sent her some stuff, none of which is exciting enough to blog about, but I think she will like it all. Munchkin's birthday is in a couple weeks, and I have to figure something out for her. Last year she said she didn't want a party...just pizza with a couple friends. But I think I wanna have a little more of a party for her this year...I will have to work on that.

Dinner with the school parents tonight. The people that are hosting bought a historic home about a year ago and have been doing a massive renovation/restoration since. They just finished a little while ago, and I hear that it is really spectacular. So I am looking forward to seeing it...I love old houses.

The Boy is coming with, and then we are going out with some of his friends later on. I think Smoking Hot Roommate and The Rocket Scientist are meeting us as well. Munchkin is having another sleepover at a friends house...this is one of the girls coming to Mexico with us next week.

That's about all. Tomorrow is supposed to be nearly 60 degrees, which is basically tropical for this time of year. I may have to break out some summer clothes to celebrate...lol.

Can anyone explain why daylight savings is so much earlier this year?

Answers (kind of)

You guys were kinda light on the questions, but I can give answers anyway:

From Billy:
Q: "Here's a question...is this the very bottom of the "i beg for comments" barrel?"
A: Not even close. The barrel is much deeper. When I start posting pictures of the tattoo on my stomach, then you will know that we are getting close.

From Ally:
Q: "And here's my question: Why do you think Billy is so bitter and/or feigns that he doesn't like comments?"
A: I think Billy has a crush on me, and this teasing is his effort at playing hard-to-get:-P Like boys who pretend to hate the one girl they have a crush on in third grade.

From Nicole D.:
Q: "Random questions, when is your birthday? What three things would you take to a desert Island?"
A: My birthday is July 22. Tinkerbelle's birthday is this Sunday!!! She will be 8:-) Hmmm...Daniel Craig, Clive Owen and a bottomless margarita:-P. You probably meant non-people. And saying "my iPod" is too easy. So, I will say Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, A Tale of Two Cities and The Killers' Hot Fuss (assuming I have some way to play it). Ask me that again next week and I may give a different answer. [Also, I thought about being super pretentious and saying something like "A copy of Lincoln's Second Inaugural"...you know, because Gettysburg would have been too cliche...]

On that subject...I am far from an English major, but the last third of A Tale of Two Cities is brilliant, and the last two pages are the best thing I have ever read. Seriously, the things that go through your head the moment before you lose it to a guillotine? There is a reason people still read that shit...

I actually read that because a guy friend gave it to me on my birthday during college. I think he kind of had a crush on me, but for my birthday he bought me two copies of that so we could both read it at the same time. Kind of a clever gift...I never would have read the book otherwise, and I always think of him whenever I am reminded of that book.

I also read War and Peace, which I am proud of. Well, I read most of it...it gets really philosophical at the end, and I couldn't quite finish it. I read like the first 1,400 pages and couldn't get through the last 50. That sounds really bad. Seriously Leo, I get it...things are random and you only get a limited opportunity to alter fate. And lots of people died at Borodino...did you need to say that so many times?

How was that for a stream of consciousness blog? Anyone have any more questions they want me to try and answer in the same long-winded fashion tomorrow? Let 'em rip.

Why does work always get in the way of blogging?

Stupid work is keeping my really busy this week...phooey! I didn't get home until about 7:30, and then had a million things to go over. Let's all thank Smoking Hot Roommate for picking Munchkin up at school...yay! And thank her, Munchkin and The Boy for making me dinner:-)

Actually, I am out with Boss Foxy and one of the VP's that I like a lot all week, so it barely feels like work. Well, I guess it feel like kinda fun work. The conference this morning was interesting...Munchkin's teachers had a bit of a thing to go over. I may cover it next week (or maybe not:-P)

Who watches American Idol? I am an addict, like about 30 million other Americans, I guess. I am rooting for Lakisha, I like her a lot. The girls are embarrassingly better than the guys. Really, none of the guys are that good, although I find Blake to be at least entertaining. And as awful as he is, Sanjaya has better hair than 90% of the girls I know.

Three or four of the girls are miles ahead of the guys. I would say Lakisha and Melinda have a leg up on everyone, and Stephanie is pretty good too, and so is Sabrina...a couple others are OK. Basically, black girls rule this year! The amateur porn stars sucks. And she can't sing, either...zing!!!

OK...I am not sure if I will get a chance to blog tomorrow, so I am shamelessly stealing a page directly from GreenLineBoy and opening the floor to Q&A. Ask whatever you want, and I will answer tomorrow or Friday when I have the chance. Stealing other people's blog topics is much easier than thinking of my own!

Oh, and Ally...Lidsay Bluth was Portia DiRossi's character on Arrested Development. I loved that showed and I hate that it got cancelled. HDTV shows it regularly, though, so that is good.

Work, Spaghetti, Mean Girls, Turtles and Lindsay Bluth

I am going to be out of the office for the rest of the week and I don't know whether or how much I will have the chance to check in, so I am taking the opportunity now. If I win Megamillions, then I will be out of the office indefinitely, but I will have all kinds of chances to check in... My guess is I will post tomorrow night, too...depends on what kinda mood I am in.

There was some drama at school today, and Munchkin was not really all that happy about it. Luckily, some spaghetti and chocolate cake made her feel better. Good thing the cake worked, because that is kind of my go-to parenting move, and I don't really know what to do if that doesn't make her feel better. Let's just say that my parenting repertoire is not as robust as a lot of people... But my older sister game is top notch!

Anyway, one of the older girls called her some kind of a name. She wasn't real sure what brought it on, but it had something to do with the now ex-boyfriend. The girl said something about Munchkin being a bitch or something. I don't think that really bothered her, but one of the other older girls told the first one to shut her fat mouth, and yada yada yada. Nothing more came of it, but she doesn't like to be the cause of conflict (who does?) and felt bad about the whole thing. And then she started to blame herself for breaking up with the boyfriend, so really I think she just wanted me to tell her she wasn't evil and such. The problem appears to be solved...

I have a parent-teacher conference tomorrow morning. This is when I go to the school and they tell me "She is perfect, we love her, all the students lover her, all the parents lover her and her grades are perfect." Hee hee...it's my blog and I am allowed to shamelessly brag as much as I want! And she's an orphan, she deserves people telling her how great she is!!!

Random final note: I love commercials with animals...lol. I usually ignore commercials, but I love the ones with animals. The Ellen Degeneres ones with all the animals in the office? Love 'em! When she asks the turtle to make a Starbucks run? Super cute (more randomness, I really like her with Portia DeRossi, for what it is worth). But my new favorite is the MasterCard one with the sick zookeeper and the elephant and the monkey go to the store and get him tissues, soup and medicine. I don't know if it makes me want to charge stuff, but I love the ad.

This could go in the top five most random blog entries I have ever written...

It is too cold for me to think

It is colder than a motherfucker outside...about 8 degrees and really, really windy. Munchkin suggested that we buy coffee for the nice policeman that works the crosswalk near her school everyday, so we did that. She is very thoughtful for a little nugget...the police man was very happy, and now I feel pretty sure that he will take extra care not to let us get hit by a car when crossing the street:-)

Brainy Jane had a quiz last Friday. There were 14 responses and only one correct answer...I will give you one guess who won;-) I have been thinking about driving the car that she has been thinking about buying me. Anyone need me to think about giving them a ride?

Speaking of pretend cars...Megamillions is $340 Million tonight. I bought a couple of tickets, and I can't wait to go Maserati shopping when I win. Think of all the time I would have to spend blogging!!!

I have a regular reader in Queensland, Australia...g'day;-) Oh god that was cheesy...but I invite you to say Hi;-) I wanna go to Australia someday. Actually, I would love to live abroad for a while, I think it would be really fun. The place would have to be English-speaking because I don't feel comfortable enough with any other language to live somewhere that spoke something else primarily. So, for the sake of starting a discussion, here are the cities I would most like to live in, outside of the US.

1) London
2) Hong Kong
3) Singapore
4) Sydney
5) I am not sure about #5...I would maybe entertain some non-English speaking places...Paris, Rome, Tokyo...or some really cool places like Mumbai, Sao Paolo, Shanghai or St. Petersburg...OK, I am way off track. How about I save time and say "Dublin".

At least, that is what I think now. I think London would be really cool...not that far from the East Coast, big, important city...

I was going to make a list of US cities, but outside of Boston or Chicago, the only ones I would really like to live in are New York and San Francisco. I like old, condensed cities that have lots of ethnic flavor and quaint neighborhoods. I like cities that expand upwards and not outwards... This is not to say that there aren't other places that I would be willing to live, but those are the only ones I would be really excited to move to. Oh, and Honolulu...lol.

Anyone have some others? And why?

Spa Day

For some reason, some of the dates on my posts are really off...anyone know why? The last two posts have dates that are like almost a full day before I actually wrote them. Can I change the times? Not that it really matters...mostly I just want the right dates going forward.

It was a really nice weekend around here, the weather was beautiful (for March). Smoking Hot Roommate was away all last week working, and came home Sunday morning. Her first words after she came through the door were "I'm exhausted, lets go get massages." You don't have to tell me that twice...

So we had some spa time, which is always a treat. I can't say that I was terribly stressed out before that, but I certainly was not when I left.

Speaking of massages, there is a CPA firm in the building downstairs from us that we refer a lot of work to. Well, at this time of year (tax season) CPAs work enormous hours under really important deadlines. One of the ways they deal with that is by bringing in a masseuse to give 15 minute chair massages to people to relax them. Since they are always trying to be nice to us, they have unofficially invited us to make use of their masseuse when she has some down time.

I gotta say...this is a corporate perk that more places should make use of. It is absolute heaven...15 minutes and you feel completely rested and recharged. I've done it twice so far, and hopefully a couple more before they take it away in April. It is not quite the same as laying down and getting an hour long rub down with warm scented oils, but it is a really great break during the day.

I may have a really busy week, and I may have to do some traveling, but I don't know for sure yet. I would rather not go anywhere, but I may need to...ahh well...I guess they do pay me to do something, after all.

Our Mexico delegation may be growing...so far it is me, The Boy, SHR, The Rocket Scientist, Big Sis, The Brain Surgeon, Munchkin and two of her friends. But Papa Bear may have some time off that he didn't expect, so he may come for all or part of it...and The Boy's sister may come, too, depending on whether or not she and her wife can get the time off at the same time. Anyone else wanna come? The more the merrier!!!

A PG-rated Post About The Boy

Once again...special shout out to my regular reader in La Jolla, CA for being the 4,000th visitor to my blog. Yay!!! She also gets a congratulations for recently discovering the wonders of semi-dorky boys...they are cuter, nicer, funnier and make MUCH better boyfriends than the generic hot ones do. That serves as a wonderful lead-in to today's topic.

I was chatting with Ally the other day, and I mentioned something about The Boy, and she responded with something like "I don't really feel like I know that much about him." That kind of took me by surprise, since I feel like I talk about him all the time. However, as I went back and looked, it seems like I mention him a lot, but I haven't really talk about him, per se. Obviously, that is a pretty big lapse on my part, and I would be remiss if I didn't rectify it in short order.

That means that today you (and by "you", I mean the small number of people who read on Sundays) get a really drippy love note about him:-) As a nod to Aaron's belief that I am a cheap slut incapable of non-sexual thoughts, I will keep this totally G-rated. (He didn't actually say that, he is much too polite for that:-)). This should also answer Aaron's criticism that I don't talk about non-Munchkin subjects enough. That part's actually pretty true...

Anyway, some background. He was born and grew up in a suburb about 25 miles north of Boston and graduated from high school there. He got the itch to go westward, so he went to The University of California in Berkeley. He worked in San Francisco for a little while after school, then came back this way to go to business school at Harvard (yes, I am name dropping to establish his smartness:-P). Since he graduated the second time, he has been working for a small money management firm in Boston in an analytical role.

He is really close with his family...he sees him Mother and Father regularly, and they are both fantastic (for a "how not to impress your potential future daughter-in-law", check in with Ella, and send her an e-hug...tough week). As I have covered a few times, he talks to his twin sister at least daily. That is, when they are not communicating by brainwaves...

He is not quite as close with his older brother and sister, but they all get along fine. His parents still live in the house they have been in for about 30 years, but they are both retiring soon (he is an accountant and she is a teacher) and are toying with the idea of selling the big house and moving into Boston to be closer to the two kids that are here. Both he and his sister would really love that, I think.

So...what is it that I love about him? Let's see...he makes me laugh, he is really, really funny. Not in a "class clown, center of attention" kind of way, but more in a really sharp, quick, witty kind of way. And he is really smart, even beyond the academic pedigree. He works incredibly hard, which I appreciate and admire. This has been the sticking point in several previous relationships of his...he is a borderline workaholic. It is something that I sort of like... I think that ambition is hot;-). At least for now...ask me again if we have kids someday...

He is also really good looking, too! He is a little bit on the tall side, and very lean. He's got black hair, green eyes and he may kind look a little bit like Christian Bale. It's not a real resemblance, but if I had to pick a famous person he looked like, that is the best I can come up with.

I love that he is so thoughtful, and that he always seems to know how to make me feel really, really special. Whether it is something he says, or a gesture, or just a little touch or a smile, he makes me feel like I am the only girl in the world. I have my share of quirks, many of which probably scare a lot of guys, but The Boy seems to be well-equipped to just roll with them. I don't need the attention or the affirmation that a lot of girls need, and I think that sometimes may come across as disinterest. He reads me very well.

Mostly, he just treats me like a princess and never complains about the fact that Munchkin comes ahead of him sometimes. He is perfectly willing to make a Saturday night dinner date into a party of three, for example. And in a much larger sacrifice, he understands and accepts that my "life schedule" is pretty dramatically altered on account of the surprise motherhood. In that sense, our relationship is gender-reversed...he is ready and willing to move faster and I am the one who tends to hesitate to move through new stages of the relationship. But it is certainly not out of some doubt about him.

And finally, I really like me with him. He makes me feel better about myself, helps me feel more confident and has absolutely made me a more thoughtful and compassionate person. I am a better person having known him.

So, I anticipate that there are some of you wondering if he is "the one." I feel pretty comfortable at this point saying that yes, he is (and we have spoken about this, so it's not news). I can absolutely envision marrying him and signing up for the "happily ever after." I think he will make a great husband and a great father, and I consider myself extremely lucky to have him as a part of my life. I do have some idea of a timetable, but I will keep that to myself for the time being...a girl has to have some secrets;-)

(Anyone who knows me just laughed at the notion that this would be my one "secret"...)

Anyway, that is a little more about The Boy...hopefully this gives you a little better idea of him. Feel free to pry if you think I have left anything out, I kinda like talking about him;-)

Hot Date!

Munchkin and I had a really fun date last night:-) We picked up pizza and brought it to The Boy's place and got to spend some time with him. He was a mess...lol...he looked like he spent the week in boot camp. I think he said he got like 10 hours of sleep after Monday night. Munchkin insisted on tucking him in on the sofa before we left:-)

We went to see Bridge to Terabithia, which is a book I never read. If you haven't read the book...umm...actually, I won't say anything, I don't wanna spoil it. I hated that everyone told me before The Sixth Sense "You are gonna be so schocked by the ending! Such a great surprise!" that I went in looking for it and knew within 3 minutes what would happen. So I am not going to give away any part of it. Anyway, it was pretty good, and falls into the category of "kids movies that are entertaining on their own, and therefore a real treat to take a kid to."

Since we had just eaten, we only got a medium popcorn (total approximate volume, 8 gallons) to split, and a medium Diet Coke (roughly 624 ounces). Then we took the way back corner away from anyone else because we like to talk during movies...:-D I probably think that is a lot cuter than anyone who has ever sat next to us in a movie...

After the movie, we met three of my friends who were having some drinks before they went out boy-hunting. The door guys let Munchkin in as long as we stayed at a corner table and left by 10:00. Also, my friends are gorgeous and they were completely dolled up and the bouncers clearly would have done whatever they asked...lol. So we hung there for a bit, I had a martini, and Munchkin had a 7up and Cranberry in a martini glass:-) Then she got really tired, so I skipped dessert and took her straight home and to bed.

She actually had a lot of girl-talking to do with the girls at the bar....she broke it off with the boyfriend at school. More than anything, I think this actually left her feeling relieved. She doesn't like to hurt people's feelings, but I guess he took the news pretty well and now they are "just friends". Ahh...love is a fickle beast.

Complete change of subject...

Did anyone watch The Black Donnellys on NBC on Monday or Thursday? I mentioned this the other day, but forgot to remind you or mention it again. I saw it Monday night, and I have some comments.

First, it was pretty good. They stuffed a lot into one episode, and I don't know if they can maintain that. It is a bit cliched, and their version of New York strikes me as, well, absurd...but it was an entertaining hour.

Second, I totally know those kids! Not the exact people, obviously, but I absolutely knew a mess of kids like that growing up. Kids who were basically nice, polite kids, but didn't have a whole lot else to do and ended up getting in all kinds of trouble basically out of boredom. The only thing missing is that the kids should be MUCH more reverential towards their mother. Irish boys are likely to stab you if you say something bad about their mother.

Third...the lead character Tommy (his real name is Jonathan Tucker, and look at that...he is from Boston) could seriously be BFFb's twin brother. They look almost exactly alike! They have really similar mannerisms, too...really it is kind of freaky. So yes, girls...I have a single friend who looks just like that and is willing to fight people to defend the honor of girls he cares about:-) And he needs a girlfriend! Sign up via email or IM...hee hee

This has turned into a long post for a Saturday. The Boy is coming over later to hang out, and I am very much looking forward to it! And not just for sexually devious reasons (Munchkin's party isn't until 3:00). Truth is I really kinda miss him. We have a couple different parties to go to, so we will sort of be socialites tonight.

And that, basically, is everything...have a good day!

School Days

As promised, today you get a fun post! I have a note from each of my sisters that is cute and funny. Also...it is really gross outside; 40 degrees, pouring rain, windy...lottsa fun!

I talked to Tinkerbelle's Mom on Saturday after I heard about my father, just to let her know I was coming and to make arrangements to see them if I could. She was just getting ready to sit Tinkerbelle down and tell her, so we talked a little bit about what she was going to say, and that she didn't think it was a good idea for her to go to the wake and stuff. I told her to give me a call when she was done, and that I had Monday night and all day Tuesday before the memorial service free.

She called me back a bit later to let me know that everything went fine. 'Belle was a little upset, but not really (the concept of "father" is kind of nebular to her anyway), and she was really excited that I was coming to visit. And then she said "Do you wanna go to school with her Tuesday?" Um...YEAH!!! How cute is that?

So she called first thing Monday morning to get everything straightened out with the school, and then Tuesday I picked 'Belle up in the morning and took her to school for the day. So much fun!!! Second graders are just the cutest things ever! At the beginning of the day I had to go to the front of the room so that Tinkerbelle could introduce me "This is my big sister, AM. I never knew about he until last year and we just met!" And then all the kids say "Good Morning, AM!" in unison.

I actually managed to get some work done because I didn't really have to pay attention during the reading and math sections of the lesson;-) And I ate lunch in the cafeteria with her and all her friends, and then when the day was over, we went home and had our afternoon snack...two cookies and a glass of milk! Super fun, and I am really, really glad I got to do it. She is really a cute kid.

OK, on to sister #1. I wanted to take her to the movies this weekend ("Bridge to Terabithia" for the curious), which she was all for. I suggested that she may want to invite The Little Dreamboat for their first real nighttime date. Yeah, not really all that interested...lol. I got a really non-committal "Eh, I dunno. I will think about it," from her. Then after school yesterday she told me that she thinks she is done with having a boyfriend, and just wants to go to the movies with me and no one else. She is gonna be such a heartbreaker...

That is a lot of the weekend plans. We are going to the movies tonight, and she is sleeping over at a friend's house tomorrow after yet another birthday party. I haven't seen The Boy for more than a quick hello since he dropped me off at the airport on Sunday, so I am looking forward to a quiet night with him tomorrow (and by "quiet", I mean that I plan on fucking him like seven times...) I am not sure what we are gonna do...we can figure it out tomorrow.

Kinda random note on that... Like everyone who's job is related to the stock market, he has had a brutally long week and is in need of some sleep. But at the same time, I haven't seen him since Sunday. So, as you might expect, we end up in a "What do you wanna do?" stalemate where neither of us really knows whether the other one is saying what they want, or what they think the other wants. Like, if he says "Yeah, come on over," does he really mean that, or is he just worried that I would be kinda ticked if he said he just wants to sleep. And if I say "Just go to sleep and I will see you tomorrow," do I really mean it or will I be mad that he doesn't want to see me? Really, I'd like to see him, but I am not that needy that I can't wait a day...he was in the office until after 11:00 pm three nights this week...I understand that he just wants to crash.

These are the kinds of things that are sometimes really hard to communicate in a relationship...wouldn't it be great to have a translator that could tell you exactly what someone is thinking, even if they can't or won't tell you? Ally said via IM last night something about not being able to "read his mind"...

Tada!!! Cue up the twin sister with the weird psychic connection...she says "No, I think he really just wants to go to bed, but he doesn't want you to get mad because he hasn't seen you all week." Seriously, this is like the coolest party trick ever...

Problem solved. If he gets done with work early enough, then Munchkin and I can bring him dinner on our way to the movies and he can fall into bed by 7:00 or so (or, more likely, fall asleep on the couch watching TV.) If not, then I will see him Saturday for the whole night.

Incidentally, it has been brought to my attention that I have actually told you all surprisingly little about The Boy. I seem to have covered the sex a lot, and some of the high-level stuff, but haven't really told you a ton about him. Clearly, a horrible oversight on my part, so I am going to try and write a more detailed post about him this weekend...so you all have that to look forward to;-)

So, that is about it...Happy Weekend, everyone. 14 days until we leave for Mexico:-)

(p.s. Special shout out to my loyal reader in La Jolla, CA...you are visitor #4,000...yay!!! Now, go find yourself one of those dorky boys:-P)

Wake me up, before you Go-Go

I will assume from the lack of comments that you all think I am an evil bitch...I guess the truth had to come out at some point;-) And if you had any doubts, how is that for a horribly tasteless Blog Post Title?

Today I am going to talk about the wake, which was Tuesday night, because it was really weird. But, after this, tomorrow you get a really fun post, I promise!

First things first, there was a brief memorial service, which was really just a designated quiet time for my Aunts and Uncles to meet, share some thoughts, and read some things that they felt appropriate for the occasion. To be honest, I felt really out of place... They all knew him, loved him, will mourn him, and feel a sense of loss over his passing. I felt like I was infringing on their time together to say goodbye to their brother.

After that, all my cousins (including Tinkerbelle and her Mom) joined us for dinner. That was actually really nice...nothing fancy, but a good chance to see everyone and say 'Hi'. One of my cousins is a senior in college, and he has two interviews in Boston next week...I think it would be really neat if he moved out here. I am single-handedly trying to relocate the entire Chicago metropolitan area to be closer to me...Lol.

My expectations of the wake were not remotely close to the reality. Honestly, I didn't thin it would be that big a deal. I figured that the people who came would largely be friends of my Aunts and Uncles coming to show support and pass along good wishes. I didn't think I would know many people at all, and outside of the BFFs, I didn't really expect that anyone would come just because they knew me.

The weirdness was really in two parts. First, it is really hard to explain that you didn't have a relationship with someone in a very short time. Typical example: A seemingly nice middle-aged woman approached and said "Hi, I am Sally Smileyface, I am Sweet Aunt #2's neighbor. I am so sorry for your loss." Now, Sally Smileyface obviously knows my aunt, and they have been crying briefly...likely because she has a brother the same age and it made her think of him and yada, yada, yada.

Well, it is really hard to say "I appreciate it, but I didn't really lose anything. Please, spend time with Sweet Aunt, she needs you attention more than I do." The alternative is to either feign sadness (I am not a good actress) or look like a cold-hearted bitch. Now, repeat that scenario like 70 times. So, I ended up with a whole bunch of awkward "Thank you for coming," moments.

This is why I think it is a really good idea that Tinkerbelle didn't come. It was weird enough for me, and I can't imagine how confusing it would be for a seven-year-old who never met her father. It would have been a lot of conflicting emotions.

A surprising number of people who identified themselves as my father's friends showed up as well, and none of them were as shady as I would have imagined. I guess it is sort of a self-filtering process...only people who are moderately respectable think to show up at a wake anyway. I guess I was surprised that he knew that many normal people. I had a really, really interesting conversation with a guy that was one of his best friends in high school and who he had remained in touch with, if not really close. I guess it was nice to see him from a little different, less-useless side.

What really surprised and sort of overwhelmed me was the number of people who showed up just to see me. A lot of old friends from High School came, and it was really great to see them. I don't really know how they found out (my father's name is spelled differently than mine, so you would have to read pretty deep into the obituary to get to "He leaves behind a daughter, AM, of Boston, MA") but word must have gotten around somehow.

The Judge came with his wife, an old boss that I still talk to came, some old neighbors, some of my Mom's family, two teachers. Again, I don't really know how they all found out (do people really read the obituaries that much?) but it was good to see them all. As the night went on, and I saw more and more people that I didn't expect to, I started to get a little more emotional about the whole thing. Not about my father, but about all the people who can do really, really nice things that you don't expect them to. And about how important it is to just show up and be present sometimes.

I know people often feel like they don't know what to say at wakes and funerals. Really, just showing up is 95% of the good gesture, and everything else is just a detail.