Perfect weekend

Friday night - Richmond Braves game. Good 'ole hometown fun. And we even won.

Saturday morning - Extreme abs class at the gym. Workin' off those last few.

Saturday afternoon - Sitting outside drinking a PBR and watching the VCU Rugby "Oldies vs. Newbies" game. Lots of 5th year seniors kicking the crap out of 50 year old alumni. Sure, rugby may not exactly be my scene, but I'll jump on board of any excuse to drink beer outside on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon.

Saturday night - A Midsummer Night's Dream, followed by drinks and dancing at one of my favorite local jazz spots. Complete with flirting and being asked out by one of the bass players for the symphony.

Sunday - lots of time for lounging and making this for breakfast:















Scrambled eggs with fresh basil, tomato, and feta. Pilsbury biscuit. Heaven.

Life is too good lately.

You're trying too hard

"I just want to fit in with everyone."

DG, we've all heard you say this several times by now. And sadly, therein lies the problem.

Most people clue in to the fact that the harder you try to get someone, or a group of someones, to like you, the deeper your self-dug grave gets. Your uncomfortably loud laugh at comments that aren't even funny becomes obnoxious. Your overuse of words like "sweetie" and "honey" starts to sound like nails on a chalkboard. Your, while perhaps well-meaning, severely misguided advice falls on completely deaf ears. Your constant attempts at mimicking phrases or patterns that you have observed come off as desperate.

It's completely unpleasant for everyone involved. The people who are being annoyed are, first of all, constantly being annoyed. Then they are constantly feeling bad for the eye-rolls, constantly trying to brace themselves for whatever will come out of your mouth next, constantly gossiping, and then constantly trying to brainstorm ideas that will make the situation better and make you calm down. Because they don't want to behave that way towards you. This office dynamic isn't fun for them either. But they can't help it because you are driving them CRAZY.

And we can't even comprehend how miserable it must be for you. Because you're not stupid. You have to be getting some sense of the fact that all of your efforts just aren't paying off. And you must have been pretty uncomfortable in the first place to have launched this full on make-them-like-me campaign.

All of this could probably come to an end if you would just stop trying so hard. Why are you so hell bent on getting these people to like you anyway? Who cares what they think of you? You don't know these people - and if you keep going like this, you never will. You have a much better shot at it if you'd just chill the fuck out and let these friendships form naturally.

You can't force it. No matter how hard you try. So just stop. Before they kill you. Or find a way to get you fired.

Out of sight, out of mind

Today's world moves fast, and I am one of those people who can definitely keep up with the other runners. I'm a complete victim of the MTV-era - used to lots of different images and stimuli coming at me quickly and then vanishing, and having to process and move on. I think fast, talk fast, get bored fast, and am constantly looking around for something, or someone, new.

When I got the email from Lawyer McDreamy this weekend, I was perplexed. Now, Lord only knows what he meant by saying that he "misses" me. Maybe he hasn't had as much luck getting other dates as he thought he would. Maybe he is still looking for a group of friends to slide into. Maybe he realized what an idiot he was to have not snapped me up when he had the chance... ahem. Sorry. Anyway, I'm not sure that I'll ever find out, or really care. I do intend on emailing him back at some point, and maybe even getting together, but after I got over the initial surprise of the email I realized something.

I hadn't missed him. Sure, when we first stopped seeing each other, I had a rough few days. I was disappointed and mad at him for... well, for disappointing me. (Eloquently put, huh?) But you know what happened? I moved on - fast. I hung out with friends, I went to Europe, I started a new job, and within a week he was no longer even on my radar.

Next!!

So thinking about that got me thinking about what Jack's grandfather said. It's not about finding someone you can live with, it's about finding someone you can't live without.

There are certain men in my life who constantly reappear in my psyche - the high school boyfriend, the piano player from Boston, the wedding hookup, the guy I worked with for a few months in college - these guys pop back into my mind on a semi-regular basis because of the connection that we shared. Even though some of them I only knew for a brief amount of time, they all have one thing in common - when I met each of them I was blown away by the connection that I felt. They all seemed to get me, even when they barely knew me. And even if those relationships didn't work out (yet), it's that connection that I felt that keeps me coming back for more. Keeps me looking. Keeps me from wrapping myself up too tightly with one of the "out of sight, out of mind" guys.

Sure, Lawyer McDreamy was fun. And who knows, there might be more fun for us in the future. But I learned that I can live without him a bit too easily.

Balls in the air, frat parties, and surprises

For a good part of the two hour drive back home from DC this morning I brainstormed different ways to blog about my last twenty-four hours.

One idea that I had was to write about the value of having a lot of balls in the air at this point in my life. Being single and being in sales aren't all that different in those respects, and this week has been a good one. I currently have eight contracts pending at work, and was asked out three times this week - once in Richmond, once in Fredericksburg at a wine tasting yesterday, and once in DC last night. Who is to say whether any of those things will work out, but one has to assume that the more things pending, the better your chances are of something working out in your favor. (On a side note, neither the Fredericksburg or DC guys seemed at all bothered that I didn't live in the same town as them. Kinda flattering...)

Another thing I was all ready to blog about was the fact that going to DC for the night has become the adult equivalent of going to a frat party in college for me. It's something I do when I want to escape from the reality of my life for a day. It's definitely not my scene at all, but the boys are cute, the drinks keep coming, and I always come home a bit lighter in step and ready to face what is really going on.

But neither of those ideas will really be expounded on. I'm too distracted right now. Because when I turned on my computer and checked my email I was in for the biggest surprise I've had in a while.

This guy sent me an email saying that he misses me. (Keep in mind that he is also this guy.)

All good news comes with a price

The good news: I've recently lost 5 pounds and am well on my way to being back down to my fighting weight.

The reasons why: No longer sitting on my ass for 9 hours a day in cube-land, and the fact that I've taken up jogging.

The unpleasant side effects: Tonight while huffing and puffing along my favorite trail in a nearby park, a bird pooped on me.

Diarrhea Girl

It wasn't my fault. I had just spent the majority of the afternoon listening to my new coworker ramble on and on about the most obnoxious and random topics I've had the misfortune to be subjected to. In the space of about ten minutes I heard all about her "narcissistic whore of a mother", the burlesque show that she is currently rehearsing for, the Invisa-line braces that she wears, and her mini-van that she owns named Penelope. All of this in ten minutes. Imagine how bad the rest of the week had been.

So what is a girl to do in this situation? She calls her gay husband who lives 3,000 miles away and vents.

"Jason," I screeched into the phone, "you don't understand! This girl has the worst case of diarrhea of the mouth I've ever heard! The rest of us in the office are trying not to gang up on her and make it a three-against-one situation, but it's just not easy. You have no idea what it's like to have to sit in there with her every day."

"That's really terrible," he chided, "you guys shouldn't make fun of her if she's sick. She can't help it if she has diarrhea - that's no picnic, you know."

I laughed. Hard. He had missed the "of the mouth" part and thought that we were totally catty bitches (no laughing in the peanut gallery) who were ridiculing this poor girl for an intestinal problem. Sadly, he was mistaken.

Unfortunately, it seems that her problems run far deeper than a few loose bowel movements. And because we share a very small office space with her, apparently so do ours.

By the way...

...did I tell ya'll that this guy emailed me last week?

How's that for random?

Baking is in, blogging is out

I was unable to resist the temptation to pick up some fresh strawberries when visiting with one of my new clients, and realized that I would have to do something cool with them. Hence my homemade strawberry shortcake.

Eat your heart out!

Before:






























After:

Congrats, Rees!

Today I got my first big sale at my new job. Until now I've gotten little sales, but today was my first big one.

Boo-yah!!

This is like a new high. God, it's nice to like, be challenged by, and get excited about your job.

By the way, this is our new favorite company in Richmond.

Quotes heard this evening

"Son, always look for a worthy opponent." - words of advice to my friend, Jack, from his Grandfather, about finding a wife.

"It's not about finding the one you can live with, it's about finding the one you can't live without."

I think those are both quotes to live by.