Mr. Random Thursday

I'm writing to you about my random Thursday a few weeks ago. At the moment, it didn't seem like such an odd day. But looking back upon it, lots of strange things happened.

I started my day like any other, but with the anticipation of a "first date". Usually, I'm not freaked out about dates in general. This one was different. I hadn't really met the guy before, but we'd had many conversations for several weeks.

We (he's been dubbed guy number 7) decided to meet at a restaurant between where the two of us work (which, for me is anywhere in the afternoons) and grab a few drinks.

I headed down to the area right after lunch so I could post up at Borders to work on some of the stuff for the marketing consulting company.

While at Borders, several randoms happened:

- Guy pulls up a chair next to girl. She proceeds to tell him that he needs to quit texting her and asking her out because she doesn't like him. He tells her that he's got "mommy issues" (wtf?) and needs someone around all the time. After all, she is the one that came on to him and gave him her number. She tells him that he's acting neurotic. And the banter goes back and forth for about 20 minutes. I enjoyed every second of this train wreck.

- As I was working at Borders, this extremely hot guy sits next to me and starts working on his computer and looking at a stack of books. I wanted to say something to him, but I didn't. As I contemplated talking to him, I asked Carrie what I should say. He packed his stuff up and left in that time, several hours later. She told me I could be "letting the love of your life walk out of that bookstore"...

- Super weird dude walks over and asks if my name is Rachael. No, weird dude, I'm not anyone you've ever met before. And usually I get Jessica... not Jessica either.


The night with number 7 went by insanely quick. We talked for at least 5 hours before we decided to call it a night. We haven't really had a decent conversation since, just a few random texts back and forth. He's almost been crossed off the list. Almost.

Because I kept thinking about Borders dude (we'll call him number 9) and had no way to reach him, I decided to post a "missed connection" on Craigslist. I never thought anything would come of it (and actually forgot about it) until I got an email a few days later. Seriously!? Does this ever happen??

We've talked a little bit but the guy is a work-a-holic. He goes out of town all the time and we haven't met up again yet. Not even sure if it'll go anywhere, but he's fun to talk to nonetheless.

Oh Mr. Random Thursday, how I have enjoyed you so...

You can find me in the...

I know, I know... a laptop is supposed to make me more accessible to the blogging community. I'm supposed to write more. Post up in a coffee shop and let the thoughts flow.

Well, I've been doing the posting up in coffee shops... but it's for the loads of work and no play! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love both of my jobs, it's just a lot of work! I come home and don't even want to look at the computer screen.

I shall tell you one quick, funny story and then go. It's a good one - promise!

So a few weeks ago, I went out with this gay friend of mine to a gay bar/club downtown. It was a lot of fun - and the part of town I hadn't ventured out to before. As any great wingwoman would do, I paid attention to the guys he was scoping out and offered my opinion and 'wingwoman services' (ie. befriending so the introduction is easier). It was great, we were meeting people, dancing all over the place, and just having an overall blast!

As we kept an eye on this one guy sitting on a stool, I kept noticing him getting really into the music but not getting up to come dance. I took that as my cue to talk to him and invite him to the dance floor.

The conversation went a little like this:

Me: "Hey dude! You look like you're having so much fun with the music and dancing... but you should totally come dance with us on the dance floor!"

Him: (politely) Yah, I'm having a great time! Thanks for the invitation, but no thanks!

Me: Are you sure? You RRRrreeeeaaalllyy look like you'd like to come dance with us. You're just over here bee-boppin to the music (well, I said something like that. It didn't sound as corny as it does written out!)

Him: I'm sure, thank you though! You guys have a great time!

I go back to my friend and relay the bad news. We blow it off and keep dancing. About 30 minutes later, out of the corner of my eye...

I see dude from the stool ROLLING out of the club in a WHEELCHAIR!

Yah. Read it again. ROLLING out of the club in a WHEELCHAIR!

I. Was. So. Embarrassed.

Of COURSE he looked like he wanted to come out on the dance floor to dance with us! Of COURSE he just sat on the stool because he couldn't get up. I cannot tell you how incredibly embarrassed I was at that moment! Insane!

Anyway, so that's my story. I felt bad. And still do. But there's nothing I can do about it. The wheelchair was nowhere in sight, so it wasn't like I was taunting him on purpose or anything.

Oy.

Number Included...

I'm in a Buyer Behavior class at school and we have this fabulous project due on Monday. Unfortunately, because I go to a school in the city, not many people live near each other. Meeting up is usually a nightmare - work schedules, other classes, etc. hinder the meet greatly.

Finally, today, my group was able to meet. I created this survey (it's about luxury cars) and we distributed it at a "food court" near some businesses where we thought people might own luxury cars.

One of the guys in my group is seriously shy. He's incredibly cute but incredibly shy. So, it was me and one of the other girls to walk up to random strangers and get them to fill out our survey.

I walked up to a table with two men sitting there watching one of the tv's in the food court. I introduced myself to them and told them what I needed them to do. One of them was actually a Marketing executive for a HUGE corp. (can't tell you where cause it'll give my city away!!) let's just say, you probably come into contact with it at least once a day. Anyway, the guy sitting with him - I'm not sure what he did. I asked them to fill out their surveys and told them I'd return.

Upon my return, guy sitting with him said he needed to show me something on the second page... He said "See, where I circled 'single' for marital status... well, I put my phone number next to it for you..."

HAHAHAHAHahahahahha

Oh my God, I've never been so embarassed... it was hilarious! I didn't know what to say!! I walked away, red in the face, and told my group members when I got back.

Maybe that'll be part of our "findings" in the report... ahahaha!

Anywho - this is the time where school is absolutely killing me. I have so many projects/papers/tests, it's ridiculous. It'll all be over next Saturday though... hooray!!!

Email

I refrained from the subject before as to not call someone out on the situation. I don't think it is appropriate to put someone in their place (so to speak) in public, just as I would hope my friends have the respect of not doing the same for me.

But.

I got an email this morning. From M Moon's boyfriend.

A little background for you:

M Moon and I were friends for about a year and a half. We lived together. We did everything together. We were best friends. In fact, we had a "team" name and everything. Silly, I know, but that was that.

I went to San Diego with Carrie to meet up with her for my birthday and we made a trip to Vegas during my stay. Shit hit the fan while we were there and Carrie and I ended up having to bolt early because of what went down. It wasn't pleasant. It wasn't what I wanted to happen. It just happened. M Moon changed into a whole different person that I wasn't sure I liked anymore. I felt (and Carrie thought so too) that she was under the control of her boyfriend and not the same person we knew before.

Back to the email.

It was something to the effect of: "I apologize for whatever it was that came between you two that you're not friends anymore. I don't know what I'm apologizing for but I apologize for whatever you think I should apologize for. I don't think you need to apologize to her and I know she's not going to apologize to you." etc. etc. then "If she extended the offer of forgetting about the situation and just being friends with you again, would you accept it? She misses you."

My thoughts.

1. If she misses me and wants to talk to me, she can send me an email or pick up the phone and do the dirty work herself. I don't see Michael ever calling her and doing the same that her boyfriend has done.
2. If she's not going to apologize to me after I left the table open and airy with my "let's just agree to disagree and be done with it" then what's the point anyway?
3. She's a COMPLETELY different person than when we were friends before. Completely. I'm not even sure I want to be friends with the new her.
4. Did her boyfriend really just apologize for 'whatever I need to apologize for'?? Who does that?!

Your thoughts??

Update: Rude words that caused a dilemma

Just to update you guys on the situation with Rocky.

Rocky's new owner sent Michael an email last week telling him of the myspace page (up until this point, I was the only one who was supposed to know the info, but come on!!) along with another note saying that Rocky is doing alright.

Michael took this opportunity to set the record straight (that he wasn't in there for 14 hours a day) and tell him how grateful he was that he could give Rocky a great new home. He didn't ask him to change it - he just mentioned something in his really nice email.

He handled the situation so well... it was nice! So they exchanged a few emails and Rocky's page no longer says anything to that effect. All is well!

Rude words that caused a dilemma

Michael had a dog and couldn't keep it. There's more to the story, but that's the jist. He just couldn't take care of him any more. He felt bad that he couldn't spend as much time with him as he wanted to... so I found a place for him to give him away. He took care of him, he really did, it was just time. It was a sad day, because Michael really cared about him but knew what was right for him.

So I got with one of my coworkers and made it happen. She had a friend who wanted the dog (he's already got 4 dogs, 3 cats) and we arranged to meet at her house to pass him along. Keep in mind, Michael paid lots of money for this dog... and didn't ask for a penny in exchange.

We met the guy and he seemed really nice, really good with Rocky (the dog), and owned a tattoo shop nearby. They exchanged email addresses and the guy said he'd put up a myspace page or something soon so he could check on his progress or something. As you can imagine, it felt really good knowing that Rocky was going to a caring home like that.

Until the myspace page was created.

Here's the excerpt that is quite rude.

I am a puggle---part pug and part beagle and I am a year and a half old. I was adopted by a nice family with a house and a yard to play in----no more spending 14 hours in a stupid crate! Yay! My parents are named [edited for privacy] and they are very sweet to me---my daddy bought me treats, new toys and a fancy collar with skulls on it! It has a tag with my name on it---ROCKY!

This story is SO embellished and exaggerated it's ridiculous. Rocky never spent 14 hours in a crate! He was only crated while Michael was at work (MAYBE 8 hours) and that's completely normal and non-cruel. He has had treats... toys (that he destroys, by the way)... and a collar with his name on it!! But he makes it sound SO bad... like he "rescued" this dog from Michael Vick or something.

It's just unnecessary and rude is all. And Michael is pretty upset about it. It left a very bad taste in his mouth, and that's not the way it should be. I feel so bad for him.

Now here's the dilemma. Should we say something to him about it? Or should we just let it go? I know the guy just wants to look cool in front of all of his friends but Michael wanted to show HIS friends the myspace page because they all loved Rocky. Now he can't do that because it makes him look like an asshole - that he wasn't.

Oh, what to do, what to do?

Que faisons-nous?
What do we do?

Brave Woman!

Today was quite a blah day outside. The sun is in hiding and it's cold and miserable out there. Lovely, since I just had my car washed on Monday and it poured last night. Either way, today was most definitely a 'soup day' in every sense of the word and since I've been sick recently, it was a wise decision.

I've been avoiding Panera like the plague due to a certain incident that took place there a few months ago. But today, I didn't want to deal with the mall parking and walking just to avoid that particular Panera to get some soup in the cold, rainy weather.

So I braved it.

I went where no woman would have ever dared go!

And I came out quite alright. Yes, the lady who made the comment about my weight was there today - but she most certainly didn't recognize my incognito disguise. Sunglasses, a hat, and a scarf wrapped around my head.

That'll show 'em!

Meanwhile... update on the 140 lb'er... I have lost another lb or so. (let's call it a 152/153 fluctuation!)

And, let's not forget our French phrase of the day, shall we?

Il fait froid!
It's cold!

One reason I'm happy about being single

My little sister is going to be in my hometown's little miss pageant this weekend. She's a part of the 5-6 yr old girls even though she'll be 7 next month. She's SO excited, and because of that, I'm excited for her.

For the past few weeks, we've been dress shopping, done a mock hair and make-up session, and the whole nine. Tonight was a rehersal where former "queens" showed the little ones how to do the walk and where to stand, etc.

My mom and I sat with my sister in the auditorium until it was her turn. There were several people there that graduated with or around me.

They all have kids. IN the pageant. (And I didn't graduate too long ago.)

[Conversation heard from a row back]

Guy I graduated with: Yah, ya know... marriage is really tough. Things change. It's really weird. You, are you married?
Girl I graduated with: Nope! Not married. .... But I was!
Guy: Oh really?
Girl: Yah. I got married in the middle of 06 and then divorced at the end of 07.
Guy: Well, what happened? Cheater?
Girl: Nah, he just spent WAY too much of my money and changed the person he was.

WOAH. These people are only 24 years old and both have them have already been divorced once? One of them has step-kids and kids of their own?

I am SO glad I didn't go down that path. This is DEFINITELY one reason I'm happy about being single.



And... let's not forget... the French Phrase of the day...

C'est un cadeau
It's a gift!

[UPDATE: My little sister ended up WINNING the pageant!!! :) Hooray!!]

Taking the STO- out of Storage

Today, I picked the 7 yr. old up from school. As we were passing by buildings they'd recently torn down in our upscale "neighborhood" [I use the term loosly, because it's more of a metropolis than a neighborhood], she mentioned they tore down the "rage" building.

Hmm. The rage building?

I asked her what exactly she meant and she proceeded to tell me, "Well, it used to be the storage building but the S and the T and the O fell off, so it's the Rage building."

I laughed so hard I had to cover my mouth. It was histerical.. until I heard...

"Ms. America, you laugh like Santa Claus when you cover your mouth like that."

Oh. Right. Mental note: never do that on a first date. On second thought, ever again.

Grandparents say the darndest things...

Today, there was lots of interesting conversation around the Thanksiving preparations. I was told how the dog's urine turned to blood and they found crystals in it - and had to take her to the vet right away. Now, normally, someone would tell this story with the least amount of detail. Not my grandmother. She has to tell you everything she thinks and then what she does and completes every single detail for you. I think it's great... but there are some things I just don't want to know.

It was especially rough this summer when she had surgery. I got to hear EVERY gory detail of the surgery and the side effects and how much she urinated and didn't and where it wasn't comfortable... the whole nine.

[yep, if I have to hear it, so do you!]

I just don't know why older people feel the need to tell you every single gory detail of their medical conditions. Perhaps it's that they've lived long enough they don't really care what other people think of them? I know they didn't used to tell me all of this stuff. Perhaps because I was too young at that point? Who knows?

Words that inspire dieting

Today has been quite rough. I have been absolutely slammed at work with requests from every different angle and can't keep up. Last night, I decided to get a new whiteboard for my cubicle so I didn't have to have as many sticky notes (brilliant idea, by the way).

I get to work this morning and figure out I don't have the proper 'hanging materials' to put this thing up. It required a trip to the hardware store. I ran by there just before lunch and got a fix for it and decided I'd go across the street to Panera to grab soup and a salad.

Four or Five years ago, I worked at this specific Panera for six months or so. It was one of those "in between" jobs but I knew everyone there and was friends with some of them.

Back to the situation at hand. I order my soup and salad and wait for it at the other end. Thus far, I hadn't seen anyone I knew while I worked there. You have to give your name when you order so they can call it for pickup.

"ERIKA!"

It was ready. She looked at me and smiled and said "oh HEY!! How are you??" It was a large black lady who'd worked there when I worked there - and was still there. I told her I worked down the street, etc. And then... the next words out of her mouth...

"Wow. You've put on some weight."

I had to ask her to repeat herself because I thought I didn't quite hear her right.

"Wow. You've put on some weight," she repeated.

Did she really just say that to me?? I was too stunned to come back with anything intelligent like "well, what's 20 lbs when you're already 250?" or "wow. you've gotten old." - Or it could have been that I'm just not that mean.

My response. "oh, thanks. Have a good day" - and bolted out the door.

Those words were good enough to inspire a new diet. I was just looking at the professional headshot I had taken for work a few days ago and thinking I should watch what I eat a little more carefully. This just confirms it.

Diet, here I come.

Awkward Question #1

Answering the question "how long have you two been dating" when you're in front of each other has always been awkward for me. Especially when you've just begun 'dating' and you haven't really defined the relationship (this always happens to me).

Sitting on the couch with Aunt, Uncle, and newly appointed boyfriend (Sam). Sipping on cocktails having a great conversation when it turns to the dreaded question.

"So," my aunt turns to me, "how long have you two been dating?" Sam shoots me a grin across the room and I reply "Um... I'll let him answer that??"

His reply: "6 months." Firm and steady. Straight out of his mouth.

Sometimes men amaze me.

I hadn't even counted (isn't that a girl thing?), nor did I know when we officially started "dating" and definitely didn't want to blurt out the wrong answer.

Since he doesn't live here (Quite a long story that can be filled in at a later time) and we'd 'lost touch' for about a month or so in that 6 months, I didn't even know where to begin.

He's a good catch. ;)