lately...

okay, so i'm kinda tired of the states posts... i'll get back to them eventually, just not today...

i've been kinda busy with a craft/project i've been working on lately... i volunteered to make the dresses for my former roomie's wedding... i'm crazy, i know... but i just couldn't imagine myself wearing an off-the-rack, walmart skirt (with a pattern on it, no less) in a wedding... and while i have nothing against walmart clothes, i feel a wedding party should not wear them... i also knew i could make skirts less expensive than we could order real bridesmaids outfits, and i could guarantee on time delivery... so, that's what i've been spending my time doing lately... and while the skirts aren't perfect, i think i've done well... hopefully, i'll finish them up this week, and get them shipped out to the others on saturday... go me!!!

i also spent a few days last week in seattle for a meeting... the weather was so nice there... no humidity, and just the right temp... not even any rain... i hated having to come back to the horrible DC heat and a stuffy office...

my good friend james moved back to SWVA yesterday... he had been here for a year... we had fun, but it was time for him to do what was best for his career, which meant moving away... i'm cool with it... not as crushed as i thought... but today is only the first day of him not being around... it will really hit me when i want Cheesecake Factory and he's not here to go with me... but hey, i guess this could be a good thing... everytime we got together, we were eating... so now i can save some $$$ from not eating out so much, and maybe lose some poundage by eating home cooked meals instead...

chris's mom is coming to visit next week... i'm waaaay excited... we're going to do some touristy DC stuff and then head to NC for the weekend... i can hardly wait!!!

and i think i'm ready to be back in an apartment by myself... my roommate (and her animals) are on my last nerve... i don't like waking up to cat vomit suprise in the floor, or being scolded because i put something that smelled good to the dog in the trash can and he went in after it... and if i have to pull all of the stuff out of my closet one more time so she can get to her stuff in the very back, i'm going to scream... there is an entire extra room upstairs, why can't she store her stuff in there??? i have limited storage space as it is, and even now there is stuff just sitting in boxes on my floor because i don't have anywhere else to put it... i think she and i will be having a chat soon...

ooo... and to end on an up-beat... i ordered a pair of shoes for the walk (and training)... i even got to choose the colors and they're personalized... i can't wait for them to get here!!! and in two weeks i'm going to start my first fundraiser... so be sure to check my AWBC site for info...

okay, back to work...

a very long rant about my day...

okay, so yesterday wasn't the best day ever for me... just when i thought my day was beginning to look up, i got a swift kick in the rear...

so, yesterday morning i had to go to court over my license plates being stolen (over a year ago)... this is the third time i've had to go because the guy charged is MIA (when he was caught with the stolen tags he was ticketed and let go... and hasn't been seen since)... luckily my job pays for time spent at court for things such as those... so anyway, i get to the courthouse, and as usual, there is no parking... so i have to park along the street... parallel park at a meter... a meter that only takes quarters (i'd grabbed a handful of change before leaving the house in anticipation for having to park at a meter... unfortunately only 3 quarters in the bunch)... so i park and put in my quarters for an hour and a half time... i worried a little bit, and tried to find a business along the street open at 8:15 am, but no luck... so i decided to chance it on having enough time...

now, i don't know why they tell you to be at court at a certain time when they aren't even going to begin the check-in procedure till 30 min after the time you're requested to be there... so, it's now 45 minutes after i parked (only 45 min left on the meter) and the check-in is going super slow... about 15 min into the line, the state's attorney calls out about 40 names and sends those ppl down to the community service office with her assistant... when the names were called, the ppl stepping out of line were obviously younger than me... which left me wondering, "how can so many young ppl be here this morning? maybe they're having traffic court as well this morning..." so, i get checked in and seated (in the most uncomfortable benches) and wait patiently for court to begin... an hour and 15 min after i arrived, the show was finally underway...

the state's attorney started calling the names of the ppl she sent to the community service office... one by one they would step up and the judge would berate them for underage drinking and throw the book at them... and for each person he would tell the same story about how many teens are killed each year due to underage drinking (and driving) and ask them what they thought of themselves and what their parent's thought of them... some of them seemed really sorry (probably sorry they got caught, not sorry they did it - isn't that the way it usually goes??), and others were totally oblivious to the fact that this was a serious charge... one girl (ditsy blonde) was providing lots of entertainment for us... the judge asked her to explain what happened the night she was cited... the convo is as follows:

ditsy: oh, well, you see... we were at this party... and i had a couple of beers...
judge: how many is a couple?
ditsy: maybe one or two
judge: would you say you were drunk?
ditsy: no, i wasn't drunk
judge: missy, it says here your BAC was .15, that's almost twice the legal limit
*gasp from the court galley*
ditsy: *giggles* well, it doesn't sound good if i say i was drunk...
judge: so, again, how much did you drink?
ditsy: *confused look*
judge: it takes 2 beers to have a BAC of .03, how many does that mean you had?
ditsy: *motions as if to count on fingers*
judge: that means you had 10 beers... TEN BEERS!!! and if didn't think you were drunk, you have a serious alcohol problem, and i'm recommending an alcohol treatment program for you...
ditsy: in my defense, i had one of the lowest levels at the party!
*laughter from the galley*

we were all in shock that this girl had no clue... the conversation between the two continued and provided more entertainment for the rest of us... it was great fun to watch... i had forgotten just how silly teenagers could be...

so, finally, my case is called up... now remember, i'm not the one bringing the case against the dude, i'm just a witness for the state prosecution... so the state's attorney says "it doesn't look like mr. giatan (using his real name, since he's been a pain in my ass) is going to show up again today... we want to compensate you for your loss... unfortunately we can only provide compensation for the amount of the stolen item... so if you'll wait here, an officer will bring you your money and you will no longer be needed in this case... the state will take care of mr. giatan and this case..." as she said that, an officer came over and handed me a twenty dollar bill and told me i was free to go... it was the oddest thing... but i was just happy to finally be out of there, and to be done with the whole mess, i didn't question it...

walking back to my car, i braced myself for a parking ticket... i only had 1.5 hours on the meter, and i had been parked there for just over 3 hours... i was so excited when i approached the car and there was nothing on the windshield... i decided to take a look at the meter to see exactly what an expired one looked like (mostly to see if it would be super visible to police just driving by)... i was curious, shoot me... anyway, after looking at the meter, i walked behind my car, and for some reason looked down... and there it was... my heart sank... someone had hit my baby... her beautiful berry red exterior now had a huge scuff of white paint across the bumper... i looked around to see if anyone might have witnessed it, but there was no one... i wanted to cry... after a long day in the courtroom, to come out to this... it was devistating...

i took some time to get to work, just because i knew going in hopping mad like i was wasn't going to be good for anyone... after i had calmed down, i called my insurance company... i started a claim for a hit and run, and was reminded that for such things i had a $250 deductable... thinking to myself, i decided that the damage to the car (since it didn't appear to be scratched or dented) probably wasn't enough to total $250... so, i called my mom (genious that she is) and she suggested that i try buffing the white paint off with some car wax... and that's what i tried when i got home... and it worked!!! there's only a small scuff left, and unless you're right on the bumper you can't see it... yay for mom!!!

and when i was home, all i wanted to do was talk to christopher... we haven't really had a good chat lately (he's been so busy/tired) and i just wanted to connect with him... well, yesterday there was a malfunction in his jet, and he wasn't feeling so great when he got home... so i didn't really even have him to vent to... *sigh*... maybe he'll be better today...

one good thing that came of my day is my Avon Walk for Breast Cancer personal webpage... you should check it out... it will track my fundraising progress, and i'll update regularly telling you how the walking is going...

if you have read this far, i'm amazed... you must find my life interesting (or at least entertaining)... lol

California

i've only been to cali once... unfortunately, things happened and i had to cancel my last trip... maybe i'll get out there again soon... but the one time i was there, it was pretty cool... it was also the very first time i'd flown in a commercial airplane...

it was the first real long trip chris and i had taken together after a year of dating... he wanted me to see where he was from and maybe even meet some of his friends... we did so much it's hard to know where to start...

i guess we'll start with my love of the beach... i'd never seen the west coast so chris decided to take me to the beach one day... the wind was really blowing and it was kinda chilly, but it was nice and sunny and the sand was super hot... chris had warned me that the water would not be a good swimming temp... but i was determined to at least put my feet in the water... so, i trotted down to the shoreline and waited for a wave to roll in over my feet... HOLY COW WAS THAT WATER COLD!!! it was like ice... when chris said "not swimming temp." i was thinking "well i don't swim in anything colder than bath water, so it could still be fairly warm" and there were other ppl in the ocean, some without wet suits even... and since the sand was super hot, how cold could the water be, anyway??? well, chris got a good laugh out of it, and still does...

we spent one day of the trip in san francisco... that was pretty awesome... a lot of walking, but awesome anyway... we walked around the piers, ghirardelli square where the chocolate smelled so nice, along the bay, through a park area, and even visited the Exploratorium... and what is a trip to San Fran without riding a street car??? exactly... so, the return trip to the ferry was by exactly that...

after we returned to the car, we were on a new quest... a quest for beer... and not just any beer, THE beer... and ya know what, with a map to the brewery printed right on the bottle, it's pretty easy to find...

we also visited the jelly belly factory, bodega bay, the Charles Schulz museum, and hiked among the mighty redwoods at Armstrong woods...

like i said, an awesome trip and i can't wait to go back!!!