This Day is Out to Get Me!

This is definitely one of those days that if I hadn't have been in SUCH a good mood, I would be pissy and cranky.

I woke up at 5:52 am - 8 min prior to my alarm going off - this is one of my LEAST favorite things, I value sleep and want to squeeze every minute of it like getting that last drop of juice from a grapefruit.  But I know why I woke up - I was uncomfortably warm and needed water - thank you alcohol for the lovely dehydration you granted me!  And as I laid there, I fought with myself - do I get up, read my Bible (gasp, I know) and workout or do I hit the snooze button.  Getting up at this point would still leave me PLENTY of time and I'd probably be to work early as a result.  Because normally, I like to snooze for exorbitant amount of time - 1 1/2 hrs some days.  Well, the lazy side won - and snooze until 7:30 it was... hey, I didn't have a meeting until 9:30 - this was my tired self justifying my lazy a$$.

Either way, I'd decided what I wanted to wear - my white pants - it feels springy and happy and I knew I'd seen an idea of how to wear them on this fashion blog - awesomeness, you should check it out - http://www.frugal-fashionistas.com/.  The outfit was modified to what I have, but still, I think it works?  Confidence is definitely an accessory :) haha.

Coffee was next on my agenda - and of course I had to throw it out to coworkers, and got Beth's order in perfect time to add it to mine (a tall, 1 pump vanilla, whole milk, light caramel, caramel macchiato - this is a treat cuz some mornings, all I can get out is - tall vanilla latte).  Sigh, happiness.  Plus my ipod was playing some great music - oh wait, it's MY music... who needs pandora? :) - Sam's Town was giving me happy thoughts of the Killers concert, and I was rockin' out!

But as I was about to turn to work... I heard my phone - Wan texted how much she appreciated the offer... well, I couldn't leave her hanging and it wasn't quite 9 yet, plus, I justified, I needed breakfast and kleenex.  So off I drove to the Safeway.

Donut holes, kleenex, some draino (for home, not Wan's coffee), bananas and coffee later... I was back in the car.  Well, mistake - I had the drip coffee (thank the Lord it was only drip and not some sugary sweet/ milkiness) in the carrier by itself and on flipping a bitch.... it decided to flip one as well!  Crap!  Ok, put it upright... no napkins were available, so I rolled down the window and watched the coffee slosh :(.  No worries, I'd get it at work - still smiling.

Got to work, cleaned my car (I think Meredith liked the coffee, some had sunk in already...), and got ready for the 9:30 meeting (including getting some donut holes, they were rolly polly little buggers and a couple escaped my grasp :().  It wasn't raining, so we walked :).  The meeting ended early - woohoo! and I got to my desk in time for the Dbrief (cpe training on fraud, super fun!).  And while I was listening, I decided to check mint (yes, I am addicted, LOVE IT!) - hmmm, what's this RC Railway in AZ?!  And for $584 bucks!?  Yikes!  Well, turns out its a super nice hotel at the Grand Canyon - one that I did not visit.

A quick call to BofA - and withing 15 min, they were telling me they would credit my account, cancel the card and send me a new one! No disputing, no questioning... just believing me! Wow, gotta say, much appreciated!!  Though this will have been the 2nd credit card number I've memorized and had to give up due to some fraud... :-(

And now I'm smiling to some new music (Train's - Hey, Soul Sister - it was amazon's mp3 deal of the day, so the CD was only $2.99!) and waiting for Jon & Gayle to bring me my Vietnamese chicken sandwich - yum!  This day is not going to steal my joy! :)

Shane Co Away!

Ok, so maybe that title didn't work as well in writing as it did in my head, but it amused me enough to be retained as the blog heading.

I know we've ALL heard the Shane Co commercials on the radio, and can probably quote the ending line for line w/ the announcer (...Shane Co, off of Hwy 217 across from the Washington Square Mall, open weekdays til 8, Saturday and Sunday til 5, online at Shaneco.com...).  
Yes, they are annoying, not to mention all the other jewelry ads we have to put up with - Fred Meyer, EE Robbins, and the dreaded Jared the Galleria of Jewelers (I'd rather let a carnivorous earwig eat my brain out).

They are usually just white noise and I don't like to station surf if I don't have to, so most of the time I put up with them.  Though I have to say, after my breakup, I couldn't and would change the station immediately (come on, it was like salt in the wound, a carrot in front of my face that I could never have... mean!).  But I got over that and it's been fine.  Until last night...

I'm not sure what it was that caused me such pain, but it was like a stab in the back, a scab picked off that hadn't healed fully.  The commercial was addressing the far distance to drive to Lynnwood, WA to get an engagement ring.  And Mr. Tom Shane in his monotone drawl, was saying it was worth it for their direct diamond imports that save you money (don't you tell me you don't have a friend in the diamond business!).

And his last line was something like: "isn't your girlfriend worth the drive" and my first thought was no, I mean, really, to a certain someone, I wasn't even worth the diamond let alone the excessive drive to get one.  I don't say this to be completely bitter, but he really did complain to me about the cost of a ring, many many times (its not the size or price that matters, its the meaning, right?).  So I just have to say that stupid commercial just reopened the wound that said "I wasn't worth it"...and now, I will return to my boycotting of those wretched commercials and their unintended reminders of my worth or implied lack thereof.

The Dating Game...

Well, I've been meaning to get this one out for awhile now (that's what she said? - Jason, you'll have to let me know if that was appropriate or not...it's feeling a little limp to me;-))...and be prepared, this guy was nice, but well, it's turned into something that Really Grinds My Gears... :)

Being as I've been single for going on 7 months now, and having a few dates here and there, but nothing to write home about (not that I would anyway...), I decided at the Phoenix concert, I would give out my number and try going on a date with a guy (I mean, really, if you don't try, you'll never know right?).  I know, I was being brave, but little did I know what I would be getting myself into....

For purposes of anonymity, we'll call this guy Fred.  Fred did the polite thing and gave me a call Sunday after the concert (I didn't answer, as I was with Jackie all day, plus, I have to admit, I am a phone screener, I hate talking on it, so why would I want to talk to a person I didn't know?! Unless I get to pretend to be a scary guy named Stewie who likes to pick up guys in my car...).  There were probably a couple of red flags I should have heeded from the concert

1. he was there with a group of friends, and his ex-gf happened to be there as well, he had to hide that he was getting my number, I'd had a little alcohol, my senses were a little off, and 
2. he asked if I gave him a fake, and then referenced that when he texted me later - not sure I've met too many confident guys who worry about that...).  

I hate listening to/ returning phone calls, I avoid it like the plague, so it said something that this guy was willing to pursue since he texted me on Monday (or it says desperate, you be the judge).  Now, I have to say, that I have been guilty of this before, and it always throws me back to "he's just not that into you"... but when you look through your chat screen, it should be about an 1 to 1 ratio, give or take a few.  I mean, really, if you are going to have a chat conversation, make it that.  If you want an answer to a question, let the person answer before asking the next question...but I digress...(and for all those non-iphone users out there, my messages are in green :))

I agreed to a date for that coming Friday night (and I wasn't happy to be giving up my Friday night to this guy, but no other night was available) - you can't tell about a person strictly from a text, I'd give him a shot.  But as the week wore on, and I got worn out by the text conversation (I mean, it was like he was trying to get to know me via text, dude, wait for the date!  I don't really wanna play 20 questions ALL FREAKING DAY!).
Friday came... and boy was I not looking forward to this date, I was beyond annoyed, and I'd made get out plans with Jackie.  My poor coworkers had to hear about this, and I'm sure were amused at my antics (I'm sure this single girl provides lots of amusement, maybe its just my plight in life?).  I asked where we were going, hoping to just meet up (I mean, who gets in a car w/ a stranger, I would *never* do something like that... haha, ok, that's a lie).  So Fred asked:

Either way, the date went actually ok.  He was a very nice guy, we had a nice dinner at the Icon Grill, and I was feeling ok to keep hanging out for a drink after, plus the half bottle of wine had me happy.  I wrote off the mad texting to the "he was just nervous" category... and ok with the idea of date 2, but not willing to go out of my way to make it happen (should have been another flag to me, as I believe that you make time for what you want to do, no matter how busy you are... case in point, I'm hanging out w/ a friend tonight to watch Family Guy :), even though I already have plans M, Th, and F).

So I hadn't committed to any times/ dates, etc, as I really didn't know what I had going on, and didn't really want to fill up every night, plus I knew I had plans to eventually see Avatar with Wan, collect on drinks from my Fantasy Football win, and umm, relax like a normal person! :)  Last week was much the same, so I wasn't quick on the response (and there was one night where I made it clear I was just getting home from work at 7, and wasn't feeling well, and he was like psycho crazy texter that night), and this past weekend I was out of town all weekend with K :) (see blog here).

I was beginning to realize his interest in me was a lot more than mine in him... he's looking for a serious relationship, whereas, I'm like seriously, do I want to be in a relationship?!  Another case in point - his worry about my responding to texts...

I left my phone at work last night, eh, no biggie, I've figured out how to use the oven timer to wake me up in the morning, but let me tell you, trying to snooze that way isn't very fun... ;-)... this also means, I wasn't getting any messages, no biggie for most normal, secure people, right?  I think the unread messages this morning might have pushed me over the edge...

And now, I'm not sure where to go... I really don't want a second date, but I kinda said yes before...how do I let him down? I've never been known to stick around for freebies... (or else I would have had some clothes from Brooke Burke...but that's another story), so putting up with this for a possible date next week seems out of the question.  But I would really like this monkey off of my back... as I'm pretty sure I'm not interested, because in comparison, when I am, responding makes it's way to the top of my list, and I look forward to hearing back from that person.  But Fred hasn't given me that chance, he's always 1st to text me, I like to feel like I have room to reciprocate the feelings.  Ok, I've reached the end of my rant, suggestions are more than welcome!

What is the difference between 10:55 and 10:35?

Ahh!  After a looong week at work (and boy, do I mean long!) and fighting a yucky little cold, the weekend had FINALLY arrived.  Friday night started it off right with a great concert at the Showbox SoDo with K.  Jack’s Mannequin put on a great show, I love a band that is talented and (at least seemingly) humble.  We called it an early night and agreed to meet up at 9:15 to head to the airport, for our 10:55 flight to Victoria.

 

The morning started out fairly productive for the both of us – I got a workout in, and K was able to get her coffee and breakfast (in retrospect, I should have skipped the workout and gone for the coffee first thing).  We arrived at my work parking lot, braved running across International Blvd, and while waiting for the shuttle, I decided to make sure our flight looked ok – urh-oh!  The flight was at 10:35! Yipes!!  It was currently 9:40… ok, I thought, no biggie… you only have to be there 30 min prior to the flight to check in… we’d be ok.

We arrived at the airport, tried the kiosk… and gulp, it was too late (hmmm, lesson #1 you must check in 1 hr prior to departure on an international flights!!)!  Ok, no biggie – I know how to circumvent this – list for the next flight and then have them switch us to the earlier flight when we get to the gate.  Time waster #1 – the kiosk wouldn’t print our passes….so we went to the agent – she was able to get our tickets and we were back on track going through security.

Lesson #2 always check your gate, cuz regardless of how many times you fly, it’s always best to know where you’re going (and international flights leave out of a different part of the terminal).  Time waster #2 - but we didn’t check, and I needed coffee, so I got some coffee and K got some magazines.  We walked to the C gates and I realized, oh shit… the Victoria flight is usually out of the south satellite.  So with full coffee in hand we booked it about as fast as any Ditgen’s have.  We didn’t push past the people going down the escalator (time waster #3) and JUST missed the train.  But the time was just 10:15… so really, they just started boarding at 10:10 (the standard 25 min before for them).

We raced up the escalators to see our gate and it was … deserted.  There was no one around.  The door was shut.  It was still 10 min prior to take-off, and the plane was outside getting ready to depart.  Seriously!?!?!?!  We debated on what to do… it was 4 hours until the next flight.  We figured we’d at least head back to the main terminal, and on the way, we checked how full that next flight was…there were zero seats available.  Karissa suggested, hey, we could just drive.  It’s only like 4 hours…and we’d make it up there before the next flight even departed.  Ok, let’s do that.  Then we won’t have to cab it or anything.  Yeah! This sounds like a decent idea!

So we called back the hotel shuttle, got in the car, set up the ipod, searched the directions and off we went!  Road trip!  Cool huh?  It was a beautiful day, and we’d see places we’d never been before.  Around noon, I was like, hey, we should check what time the ferry is to know if we needed to hurry or dilly-dally.  And the futile search began…lesson #4 there is only one ferry (the Victoria Clipper) that goes to Victoria in the beginning of February.  We somehow found the “magical” weekend from Port Angeles, where the Washington state ferries were out for 10 days on dry-dock and the private ferry didn’t begin service until May. 

Ok, well, there’s still another option - Anacortes!  Maybe we can just head there; it’s not super far… We had gotten all the way to Poulsbo at this point, and while trying to find a place to pull over to figure out directions, we saw a fish park – cool we’re road tripping, photo shoot!  

We then turned into McyDs to get a soda and some fries (we still had a couple hour drive ahead of us, we needed sustenance – and just wanted to say, one of us got 1 fry, while the other had the rest… ).  Bad news - the ferry from Anacortes didn’t start until May either!!! WTF?!?!?  How do people get off that island in the winter?  Well, we weren’t about to drive to up to Vancouver and over…. Sooooo I guess we’ll take a look at the flight?

Ok, there were 2 seats available… and we were getting up there!  We had an uncancellable hotel, so I did what I figured was the best option given our luck – and used my “precious” positive space passes (I mean, really, the whole thing was my bad) – and finally, we had confirmed seats to Victoria :).  It was a little after noon at this point, and we were back our way to Seatac.  Karissa decided to be a little more proactive and check in online… and no go.  Ok, let’s call reservations and have them check us in over the phone!  Ummm, they told us we had to do so at the airport and a supervisor would be needed.  At this point, we’re feeling the time crunch…we knew we needed to be at the airport at least 1 hr in advance to check in…and it was getting late.

I have never purposely sped so much in my life.  Our giggles over the ridiculous-ness of this situation started to subside and the realization that we could not make it started to sink in (oh and we both started to have to use the bathroom, as we’d both had coffee and hadn’t stopped at the airport).  Drive Meredith like you’ve never driven before!  Our plan was set, we’d go to the departures, I’d jump out and go start the check in process while K parked the car in the airport garage – making it was more important than the cost at this point.

Yikes! The Customer Service line was long…I think, maybe, just maybe I’ll be able to use the kiosk.  And thank the Lord… It worked (it was rather odd though, it’s like it remembered us because, well we were supposed to be on that 1^st flight and it didn’t require our passports to be scanned).  With both boarding passports in hand, all I had to do was wait for Karissa to come back.  We met up, made it through security, went straight to the gate, and checked in with the gate agent (who lectured us on not being there before – trust me, WE WANTED TO BE!). 

After 4 hours of unnecessary stress and hilarity, we were finally on the aircraft headed to Victoria.  And we were not in any danger of missing the concert.  The weekend would go on.  All I have to say, 1) is even when you fly often, don’t forget to double check anything, and 2) you learn a lot about a person’s character through stressful situations.  And I have to say, my cousin has to be one of the best people I know.

NY Resolution: Month 1

Well, I have successfully held to my New Years Resolution for January.

I am 3 weeks through my 5 week dance classes (in case you feel so inclined, here's what I've taken - Lindy Hop and the Blues).  As I finish up these classes, I think the goal will be to keep dancing!  (and by the way, I went last night to the Haiti fundraiser dance after class, it was a hoppin' joint!  As I was leaving I noticed how loud the live band was and how I'm sure the neighbors probably didn't appreciate the music as much as we did inside ;-), I tried to find a website for the band, as they were fantastic, but I was unsuccessful - either way they are the Careless Lovers).

And while I have to say, I've been good about tracking my budget... not so sure it's working as well as I had intended.  I guess that just goes to show me, just since I have a budget, it doesn't mean my finances will improve.  Take for instance my Food budget.  This was a relatively hard one to set up! I mean, there are multiple categories - groceries, fast food, restaurants and the oh-so-evil alcohol & bars.  How much is reasonable for 1 person to spend on groceries in a month?  When do I start saying no to hanging out with friends to stick to the budget or how do I determine what is logical in the first place?!  Hmmmm, which led me to wonder.

What is the balance between going out with friends and being a homebody?

My determination is that being single is ridiculously expensive (and extremely painful to my liver... I think my life is kinda like Man vs Wild, except its Natalie vs Liver).

Over the past month, I've spent as much on food and booze as I have in rent.  Yikes! (Just think how many pairs of shoes that could have been....)  I thought December was bad due to the holidays, and this month would for sure get better...but I guess not.  I rationalize that I will never make friends or meet people in Seattle if I stay home.  And even if I attempt to save money by having friends over, I'm never going to meet the man of my dreams in my apartment (unless Edward magically jumps out of my books (wait I think I just referenced Twilight and Harry Potter in the same sentence, awesome, I'm a teen freak), or I could start a fire to get the fire department there...but I'm kinda guessing either of those scenarios will happen anytime soon).  

I also have friends in Seattle who aren't part of the same groups, so in order to stay in contact with all of them it necessitates going out with all of them separately...(note that in the list below, I haven't had happy hour with coworkers or hung out with Jeanne at all!)

For example, let's review the past few days:
Friday - Date (I'll recap later) - shared a bottle of wine, few drinks - relatively cheap for me, still bad for liver.
Natalie 1, Liver 0
Saturday - Monica's 30th Bday bash w/ Karissa and Lynsey - started out drinking at Lynsey's, moved to Kell's to finish the night off by buying more drinks...hey! some were for others
Natalie 1, Liver 0
Sunday - Met up with Sara for a business meeting...and a couple of beers
Natalie 1, Liver 0
Monday - Dancing - no drinks
Natalie 0, Liver 1
Tuesday - Drinks with Jackie
Natalie 1, Liver 0

Now, I'd say this is pretty common, except, I usually end up paying for alcohol on Friday nights as well, and have spent more than a couple Sundays glued to football at my local sports bars (Buckley's and Spitfire).  I know bartenders by name at both of these, as well as Zig Zag and the Local Vine.  Me, a regular?! Whaaaa?!

I tried thinking back to when I lived in P-town, and I remember spending lots of girls nights at Hillary's, with the occasional dinners at BWW, a few concerts or work outings (with Uncle D covering a lot of tabs... shhh!).  But don't think my spending was that extravagant.  And I think this was mostly because I had a boyfriend, or at least the majority of my girls did...

Which brings me to my conclusion... I spend way too much on alcohol & eating out - trust me the restaurant expense was just as much.  I know, it's a huge revelation, but it's true.  Now... on to figuring out ways to stop it!  Because, while my resolution was to keep a budget, I think I should make it to stick to one instead... :)