1) Why didn't I take auto shop in high school so I could learn how to fix my own car?  Mechanics rape you in labor charges.  Seriously.  "Here's this spark plug that's $12, but that will be $50 worth of my time to snap it in."

2) Why do we find it so gross when an adult lets out a loud burb?  Every time my little niece burps we say, "That was a good one, Emma!"  I think I'm going to start saying that every time I burp or someone around me burbs.  "That was a good one!"

If you follow my Facebook feed, you might see me posting something like this on a daily basis:

Stephanie Esposito Waiting for BART. Story of my life. My tombstone will say Here Lies Stephanie. She Hated BART

Yesterday at 7:30pm


Most of the time my friends ignore me, partly because they know I'm just blowing off steam, but mostly, probably, because, OH MY GAWD, could this girl complain about BART any more???!!!?? *

I was all set to blog on my recent adventures in Tahoe.  The annual industry trip that I always forget is soooooo crappy and full of hard work because the final day/night is always so fun.  There's also my little niece to talk about and introduce to the blogosphere and a million photos to upload to flickr.  BUT, unfortunately, I just don't have the energy to be witty or write more than this...

I am so fed up with the way my life is going and yet, I have no plans to fix it.  How do you fix something when you don't know what better is??  I feel completely stuck and yet can't believe I feel this way at age 28. Isn't 28 still young enough to start over and find a purpose in your life that makes you happy and makes you feel like you're doing something worthwhile?  I just don't have the energy to even think about starting over let only the energy to do it. 

Yes, I've complained about my "career" for years, but never before have I felt this taken advantage of or this hopeless asI realize that things will never get better or easier.

I'm done. But I have no where else to go.

Here comes my third go-around with 12 of 12. I super enjoy it, although I haven't gotten the best shots lately due to being stuck in the office during most 12ths, I still look forward to it and like feeling like I'm a part of a little blogger community.  Unfortunately, it looks like Chad, the guy behind the idea for 12 of 12, is making this the last year.  I'll probably still keep it up for fun every 12th, but I'll be sad that I won't be able to follow the other twelvers.

So here's the first installment of 2010. Enjoy!



6:50am - Someone made a good point recently about making my bed in the morning.  I don't make it as nice as him, but I'm giving it a shot.



6:55am - Comcast has all the local radio stations, which is great for me because my little alarm clock radio doesn't pick up Alice 97.3FM, and that's my favorite morning show. So I put it on when I wake up, pause it while I'm in the shower and can pick right back up while I'm getting dressed. Best part about pausing it - I can fast forward through the commercials just like any other DVR recording.  I'm a nerd.



12:01pm - Lunch from Focaccia.  Chicken, a little mac n' cheese and some green beans that are unfortunately accompanied by some yucky mushrooms.



12:02pm - Seriously, can we talk about how gross mushrooms are??  Bleh.



2:06pm - Dreary and grey outside.



2:33pm:  Look, I left the office. Too bad it was only to go down to the ground floor to pick up my dry cleaning.



2:40pm - And then I went up a floor to the little snack shop.  Grabbed me some Oreos. Oh yeah.




5:48pm - BART train. I think this is sometime after the Lake Merritt station (second stop after SF) because it's not as packed as it is while in the downtown SF stations.



9:11pm - Rainy.



9:27pm - One piece of pizza. That's all the food I have in the house. Good thing I'm not that hungry and it's too late anyway to have a big dinner.  Sigh.  This 12 of 12 is depressing.



9:28pm - You know the key to reheating a slice of pizza?  You have poke holes in it, including the crust. Heat on a 60-70% power setting for one minute.  Gooey w/out burning or turning to rubber.



10:03pm - Oooooh, don't make Sonny mad!!  haha


Happy January!

Clair is always really good at recapping the year. I'm not always so good at following suit, but I'm in the mood tonight...

Like Clair, I'm not big on New Years Resolutions.  When I was little I used to write out the things I was hoping for in the new year (usually that my current crush would notice me and like me back), but not really anything that I'd resolve to work for or do differently.  Unlike Clair, I'm not super healthy. I hardly have time to venture outside of the office for lunch let alone take a 10 mile walk or hike.  Not that I wouldn't enjoy it, but my free time usually involves sleeping. Or eating. Or laundry. 

I'm oh so exciting.

Anyway, my point is, I SHOULD probably make resolutions, however, I like to save those for Lent.  So instead, here's my recap of a year that every month made me say, "Wha?  Where'd that one go?"

January:
~New president. No matter which side of the political spectrum you're on; that was pretty historic. 
~End of the month brought my company's annual Tahoe trip - we had a 70s/80s themed party and I dressed up in the best outfit ever.  I need more opportunities to wear that wig.

February: 
~The summer of 08 weddings spilled over into Feb of 09.  Congrats to Penrod and Steph for having the schmanciest wedding I've ever been to.  I wish I hadn't had so much champagne and that I had danced more to the cover band, Tainted Love, but all in all, lots of fun.
~Nicole turned 21! The little sister I always wanted :-) So we took her to Vegas and we got some really awesome hats.

March:
~ I marched in my first protest ever.  From the heart of the Castro all the way down Market St to city hall - we waved flags and signs and joined together to represent love in all its forms.  And Lori and I kept receiving flyers for lesbian events and community organizations - we got a kick out of that. I DO, I DO support the freedom to marry.
~March seemed to culminate in a lot of first dates and trying out singles events.  There are a couple good posts on this subject. Check out the archives.
~A very pregnant Gabbers came for a visit and the whole gang got together to meet Paul.  Now they're all married and parents. So happy for them.

April:
~ I went to Europe!!  I've fallen behind on the recaps, but for what there is...this was the best night.

May:
~ More Europe...and then I was sick, and sick again, and sick AGAIN. I lost my voice (more than once), had to give up my solo for two performances with the Blackhawk Chorus, I had an allergic reaction to antibiotics over labor day and had to pay a co-pay to my inept doctor's office more times than I can remember.  BUT, since I'm trying to recall the better parts of 2009, I will say, that at least this year brought me a much needed allergy test that shed some light on my sinus issues, but mainly, I finally pestered my way into getting some good drugs that seemed to cure the persistent sinus infection and then got some preventative meds so hopefully I won't have another one for a very long time. Or ever would be ideal.  What's all this have to do with the month of May?  Well, there was that whole SWINE FLU thang...I thought I had that for a hot moment, but even though I didn't (Thank God), it led to me getting to the bottom of why I kept getting ill.
~ Claireoke Night.  Clair's first time singing Karaoke and there were plenty of friends in tow for a really awesome night.
~ I turned 28. Although I was sick (see above), it was nice to cross into an even year.  Maybe it's all in my head, but I find the even years to be a helluva lot better.  There was the annual co-May 14th-baby party with Clair, this time at the Irish Bank.  No boas this year, but still lots of fun.

June:
~My first Pride Parade. It was pretty darn awesome.
~Swoops.  For at least a month, the entire Financial District in SF was preoccupied with a little, but fierce, blackbird.  He'd swoop down and peck at anyone walking on his side of Front Street.  People would start to gather as early as 11:30am through the lunch hour, perfectly content to sit and watch and wait for his next unsuspecting victim.  I must say it was pretty entertaining, and no, I was never "Swooped," but I have friends that lived to tell the tale.
~ Kelly and Troy came for a visit and a certain someone walked back into my life...so far, I haven't minded the interruption.

July:
~Wine tasting in Russian River Valley with Jess, Lance and long-lost friend Kevin. Driving around in awesome, sunny weather in Jess' convertible was exactly what all of us needed.  Then Jess went and ruined it by moving to New Orleans a few days later.  I hate her. 
Not really.  I miss her.
~ I entered some photos into the Alameda County Fair, and someone BOUGHT ONE. I sold a photograph that I took!!!!  Whoo me!
~ Lake Tahoe trip with people I hardly know, but at the encouraging of Clair, went and had a blast.  Of course, there was that pesky car breaking down all by myself on the way up Highway 50 ordeal...but we won't bring that up.
~Meeting the Capt'n's parents.  Choosing to give this thing a shot.  Choosing happiness over my pride.  It's a good lesson.

August:
~Dude, I was in a FlashMob. 

September:
~What happened in September??? I'm drawing a blank. Sorry September.

October:
~Catalina with the Capt'n.  Solidifying that I think he's pretty darn awesome.  We'll just forget that whole seasickness issue.
~The best damn Halloween ever + the most ambitious Ray of Light show yet and the most well-received production - Tommy.  We're what I like to refer to as "the little company that could."
~I moved...this wasn't the greatest moment, but significant none the less.  I did enjoy the Ikea trip and the accomplishment of putting it all together (almost) perfectly.

November:
~High School Reunion.  Awesome. Just awesome.

December:
~The end of the year. That's why December was great.  I was well for the holidays for the first time that i can ever remember.  Not even a sniffle.  Whoo for me.

And whoo for 2009. You flew by and yet, you took forever to finish up and let 2010 have it's turn.  Kinda like how I feel about every year.  Happy New Year bloggers and reader (hi mom).  Here's to more fun and more posts and just more of the good stuff. 

December 12 of 12! I need to look back at my archives, but I think I possibly made ALL twelve months! Even if I didn't - I know this wasn't a very active blog for 2009 and to at least give all of you something at least once a month was a feat in itself for me. I'll do the recap of 12 of 12 later this month, so that will tell me for sure how I did, but I just want to say that I think Chad's project is super awesome and I love doing it every month and sharing the 12th with a bunch of people from around the globe. Even if they don't all post on my blog or I don't find time to post to theirs, it's really neat (did i just say, "neat?") to be a part of this and I hope any one reading this that has a blog will consider joining us.



9:13am - I put up a valance in the horrible window that was allowing in so much light and heat that it would be impossible to stay in my room between 9am and 11:30am. Not very cool when you want to sleep in on the weekends. And while it's not super pretty and it doesn't block out everything, it totally works for now. Whoo for sleep!



11:12am - on the phone with Boom. We figure we should talk once every few weeks or so if we'd like to continue being best friends. :-p Hey, and look, I'm still in bed. Whoo!




5:08pm - Only took a few hours but I finally got up and dressed for dinner and a cocktail party with Cory. With the Capt'n out of town and lots of holiday festivities this weekend, Cory has been in high demand to fulfill his fake-boyfriend duties. This includes going out to eat, telling me I look pretty and making sure I have enough olives in my dirty martinis.




6:54pm - this is turning into an ALL Stephanie 12 of 12... Any way, this is NOT a dirty martini. I try to pace myself.




6:56pm - Elephant Bar in Dublin, CA. It has nice ambiance.



7:29pm - Cabernet Cheddar. Good, but I'm partial to the warm Brie. There was also a cheese called Drunken Goat - smooth, good with reds. Yes, i'm the girl that takes photos of food, but at least it's all pretty with the tree in the background.




7:45pm - Chris with her new hair-do and new (to her) dress. Hot mama! And I look like I should cut back on the wine. Good thing the martinis started soon after this photo was taken.



8:26pm - Cool candle floating in water with cranberries. The hostess, my friend Lisa, is super creative. I swear only ONE of those glasses belonged to me.



8:53pm - Cory - trying to look suave or aggravated by the pointsetta plant poking at him from behind??



9:02pm - I've been playing a lot of balls lately. I did NOT say "with balls." I know where you were going with that!




9:03pm - Lisa lives in the biggest house EVER. Gotta love the cheaper rent to large spaces ratio of living outside of the City.




10:40pm - Host and Hostess, Rasam and Lisa. Great party guys!




10:41pm: It took me forever to post, so you get a bonus shot of Lisa and me together.

Happy Holidays everyone! Try not to be an ass in the mall parking lot, ok?

LJ is having issues. Or maybe it's just my account. Hopefully will be able to post my 12 of 12 ASAP. Cause I went to a fun party. And I have pictures!

Bah!

There's this great idea going on in the blogosphere called "The Best of 2009 Challenge." The concept is that you're given a blog topic/prompt for each day during the month of December to recap your life as it was in 2009. Obviously we're nine days in, but I figured better late than never. Also...I didn't know how to quite respond to today's prompt, so I'm cheating and answering yesterday's.


December 8 Moment of peace. An hour or a day or a week of solitude. What was the quality of your breath? The state of your mind? How did you get there?


There hasn't been much peace in my life this year. Sometimes I feel like between work, friends, theatre, relationships, fun, responsibilities, etc, I barely have time to breathe. Lord knows I barely sleep. I also don't have much time to pee or eat, and while these are basic necessities, I often push them off until the VERY LAST SECOND.

Um...but this is about peace, not about grossing you out.

I'm toying with two different moments...think i'll just write about both.

The first moment I remember feeling so peaceful and calm was during the trip to Florence. I wrote a little bit about it here. Pretty much the whole Europe trip was one big forced march (Not complaining! Just fact!). We were constantly moving, walking, running, climbing, getting lost, figuring it out, moving some more. But there was a moment. A brief moment where I said, no more, we're sitting and relaxing and enjoying...and we did. It was up at Michelangelo Piazza, watching the sun set over the Florance skyline. I pulled out my journal and wrote everything that I was feeling in that moment. There was a lot for me to think about on that trip; some feelings and lost dreams that I needed to sort out and put behind me and I hadn't found a long enough break in our adventure to just sit with myself and ponder. This was my moment. I think until my dying day I will remember the way the sky lit up with the last bit of sunshine and how the whole city of Florence glowed and sparkled. In this moment I breathed. The travel chaos stopped for me for a brief amount of time and I allowed myself to just be. I might have considered the whole trip a wash if I hadn't had that moment.

Also, without that peaceful reflection in Florance, I don't know if I would have recognized my second moment of peace when it occurred. This was just a couple months ago during my trip to Catalina to see the Capt'n (AKA - where the flowers came from). The trip was exactly what I needed. I let loose and had some fun with some new friends and a really great guy. Honestly, the whole trip was great and recharged me, but there was a specific moment that actually popped into my head first when I read this prompt and decided to blog on the subject.

The Capt'n and I took a break from the Catalina merriment to bring his dog back to the boat and relax a little before the big Buccaneer party going on that night. We sat out on the boat deck, enjoying a bit of silence and solitude together as the sun started to set. I just remember looking out over the water, breathing in that last bit of warm summer air and letting the lull of the waves entrance us. I felt content. No, happy. But, mostly I felt like I could be there forever.

And I started to hum. Nothing in particular. Just a trail of la la's and dah, dah's. I used to do this more when I was younger and more carefree I guess. I know I sing all the time - but that's different. I sing in choirs, or I sing because there's a song on the radio I like, or I'm in the shower, and what else do you do in there but sing and pretend you're trying to impress the American Idol judges? But this type of singing, the little hums and scats and not trying to impress anyone but just feeling the joy of singing for it's own sake - I do that when I'm most happy and at peace within myself.


Of course later that night the waves were so bad that I was sea sick for 24 hours...that wasn't so peaceful.

Getting onto the F-line heading to Pier 39/wharf, middle-aged woman gets on behind me and asks the driver, "can you stop right AT Pier 39 for me?"

The driver and I both chuckle and he says, "Yeah, sure."

You see, non-Muni people of SF, the F-line is specifically for going down to Pier 39. It's whole purpose is to stop AT pier 39. Don't worry, you can't miss it.

So I know a woman who receives flowers from her husband. Often. Like, ALL THE TIME. For no other reason (that I can see) but that she likes them and he likes sending them to her because she likes them. I once asked her how she got him to start doing this and she said that some guys just get it.

Now, I'm not saying that I want flowers ALL the time. I definitely don't need a bouquet every day, or even a grand gesture every few weeks or so - flowers cost a lot of money and they don't last very long. However, I do think it's super sweet to just send flowers for no other reason than to send flowers. No birthday. No anniversary. No "I'm Sorry." Just a gesture along the lines of, "these are pretty and I was thinking of you." They don't have to be a dozen, beautiful, long-stem, red roses...it could just be a single, pretty flower...but then again...





Red roses are REALLY pretty.

Now, I promised a certain someone that I wouldn't ruin his rep, but I must say, I feel awfully special. And happy.

P.S. Happy Birthday Babe.

I was unexpectedly delayed at work tonight and thus had to settle for another fast-food dinner option for what's probably been the 100th day in a row. I honestly can't remember the last time I went to the grocery store and bought food I could make into a meal. I also can't remember the last time I ate at a table that wasn't my desk.

...I take that back, I got to go out on a great date right before Halloween and we sat at a real table. But other than that...not so much.

Anyway, so I went by my favorite Chinese food take-out spot in San Ramon and got my usual. They give you SOOOO much food at this place that it lasts me for at least three dinners and it's only $5. Total deal. The only thing about ordering from here is that I feel like I need to make them think I'm taking the food home to share with someone else, and not just little old me, so I always ask for "a couple of fortune cookies" to go with my order.

I love the fortune cookie. I wait till the end of the meal and I refuse to look at the fortune until I'm finished with the cookie, otherwise the fortune won't come true. Duh.

Usually they mean nothing - a bunch of wishy-washy, vague words. But I was intrigued by what I read on my little fortune slip tonight: "Your dearest wish will come true."

Here are my immediate thoughts/questions:
Was I supposed to wish before I ate the cookie?
What's my wish?
Is it a wish I've already made (like when blowing out my birthday candles) or something I'm supposed to wish for now?
What's the significance of "dearest?"
Will I know what my wish is when it comes true? If I don't know what my dearest wish is then how will I know if it has come true?
How do you make a dearest wish?
Do I need to make this wish NOW, or can it wait till I feel like I REALLY need it?
I don't want to waste any old wish on this fortune. What's something really good to wish for?
I wish I could figure this out.

Shit...did I just waste my wish?

Things I've done to get through this afternoon:

-went downstairs to deposit and pick up the mail, even though it's not my responsibility.
-checked my email a million times. Yep, still nothing. One million and one times.
-read the newspaper. The Chron has a new glossy front page. Schmancy, but I fear impractical and not going to appeal to people to purchase more papers.
-looked up New Years Eve party ideas for San Diego.
-checked out facebook and twitter, but had nothing worthwhile to say.
-responded to any loose end emails; mostly to friends planning events.
-chewed some gum
-spun around in my chair a little bit
-restocked the fax machine with paper
-read some blogs on the crackberry that I've been neglecting this week.
Checked my mail AGAIN.

Still 30 minutes left and everything I need to do that's work-related is pending and the people that need to approve it are probably gone for the week. Lame.


Sigh. I'm really not that big a fan of Fridays. Either I'm swamped or bored to tears.

Not to discourage anyone from reading further, but this may possibly be the worst 12 of 12 ever. My camera died, so half of these are camera phone photos. Also, before my camera died, I got exactly 15 minutes to leave the office in order to pick up a perscription and treat myself to a cooke (thanks Lori for the cookie gram!) and didn't realize I forgot my camera till I was on my way back. Oy, today was a mess. I'm honestly shocked that I even got 12 shots. Next month will be better...promise.

Oh, and check out Chad's blog for the 12 of 12 info and see all the other 12-vers.



6:50am - bought myself a jewelry armoire on clearance at Pier 1 yesterday while I was out with my mom. Score! I wasn't even looking and BAM, there it was. :-) Heavier than you can even believe; I'm shocked I was able to get it into the house and down the stairs.


7:38am - who says we don't have fall colors in California?



2:39pm - only break I got all day to walk down the street to Walgreens. This is a lamp post outside of the little pub next to Walgreens. Totally random wimsy in the middle of all that concrete and steel. Too bad it was on my camera phone and came out really washed out.



2:45pm - best cookies in SF. Hands down. Maybe best ever.



3pm - I miss the little fuzz butt, so I put the photo I took of her from a 12 of 12 forever ago as my desktop background.



3:14pm - You know when you're in a new relationship when every text on your phone is from your boyfriend...



5:59pm - Time for tennis shoes. Too bad I'm still not leaving.



6:31pm - ah, finally done. I spend way too much time looking at this hallway.



6:35pm - BART doors in action.



6:41pm - this absolutely cracked me up. I'm sooooo a Taurus. "When you park it, you park it." LOVE that.



7:35pm - You'd think this is some nice, little bistro or something, but NO, it's McDonald's in San Ramon. When did they start making it look all snazzy??



8:39pm - Do you know what this means?? I finally have Cable! And a DVR! Ooops, it's after 10pm now, gotta start watching my recording of Project Runway. Till next month!

Hi Hi, I feel like every post I start out by apologizing for not posting. It's November, and typically I'd be posting every day as part of NaBloPoMo, but alas, my life is too crazy to focus enough on myself and my writing. It makes me sad, but I keep pushing on. I know eventually I'll get back to having some time for myself, for friends and for family, but for now it's been all about work, unpacking and Ray of Light.

Oh yeah, I moved. I moved on Oct 18th. It's been almost a month, and I'm still completely surrounded by boxes. My new roommate left a note on my bedroom door last night saying that she hoped I was okay because she hadn't seen me in over a week. She called me last Wednesday morning to make sure I was alive because I hadn't come home.

I hadn't been home because I stayed overnight in San Francisco for work. I was working late because of a large conference and big client party. Usually gigs like that are fun, but this one was ALL work. I'm still not sure how I survived last week.

Ray of Light did a fantastic and extremely successful production of The Who's Tommy. I am so overjoyed by how far this little company has come in the last nine years and I can not wait to see what's in store for us next. I know I'm only a small part of the company, and I put in what I can, but what I get out of it makes me so happy that it's pretty much always worth all the extra exhaustion that comes from volunteering for show after show.
Take a look at these great reviews: Here. Here. And here.  Plus we had a consistent 4 3/4 stars out of a maximum of 5 stars on www.goldstar.com given by the general public that came to see the show.

What else did you miss?  Oh, Halloween. I had THE BEST costume.  Well, maybe not THE best of all time, but it was sooo good.  Everyone had to do a double take - they didn't know it was me!


    

I was a cigarette girl.  Cute wig and hat, a corset and a box full of candy and other assorted goodies.  Me and my fav theatre family and a little Capt'n time; I don't think I can remember having a better Halloween.



Whoo hoo...Ahoy Capt'n!  ;-)  haha, I couldn't resist.

Photos of the entire night are on my flickr page.

Sigh...time for bed.  The Capt'n is insisting that I'm in bed by 9:30p every night this week so that I can get a good night's rest.  Eh, I'm only an hour late, plus he's stuck in the Gulf of Mexico for another 50 days.  :-p   So, pppffffttt.  Castle is on tonight! I can't miss it!!

Odd dream last night. I dreamt that Paula Dean died.

Completely random. I don't even watch her show, but I know she's the Southern woman that starts most of the dishes she makes on her cooking show with "a stick of buttah and two cups of sugah."

In my dream I read the headline, "Paula Dean dies unexpectedly," on MSN.com's homepage in the entertainment headlines area. I didn't click to get the full story, but the headline made me think it was a health related death and not some tragic accident or homicide. Considering how she cooks, could this be foreshadowing? Am I clarevoyant??

The whole thing felt sooooo real, like I actually read it. In the shower this morning I had the thought that I should email my friend Lori to warn her that she may want a different Halloween costume, because she's planning to go as Paula and it might be just a little "too soon." But as I thought about it, I realized that I hadn't been on my computer last night. So I checked the news when I got out of the shower and confirmed that I must have dreamed the whole thing up.

Weird, right? Why would I dream about the death of a woman I don't know and I don't even watch her TV show?

So I mentioned in my October 12 of 12 that I was in the middle of moving.  Tomorrow is the official big move day.  The U-haul has been rented and the boxes are packed and Cory is getting here at 11am to help me move my mattress, TV and wardobe boxes.  OK, I'll most likely make him help me move the rest of the boxes as well because what's the point of having a fake boyfriend if you can't make him do manual labor when you need it?

The move has come about for a couple of reasons - mainly that my roommates are married now and they'd like to live as a couple and not like three roommates, which is definitely the situation we're in. Works out great for me, but I know they're itching to have the place to themselves.  Also, they're trying to have a family, so whenever that happens, I'd have to leave anyway since my room would be the nursery.  So there are no hard feelings, I'm not being kicked out nor am I leaving in a huff because Dan used my bathroom again...and didn't flush...again. 

Honestly this is really hard.  I like it here (regardless of the issues that come with living with an oblivious male) and after four years here this really feels like home.  I'm comfortable and relaxed here - considering how zany my life is, it's such a comfort to come home and really feel like I belong here.  Of course I hope this will be the same case with the new place I'm moving into, but you never know, and that's unsettling.

I'll be basically keeping the same situation - renting a room from someone that owns and lives in the house.  I'll have my own space, my own bathroom (with the promise that I'm the only one using it), I won't have as big of a closet as I do now, but I'm gaining a sliding glass door that leads to a perfect little patio over looking a golf-course style lake.  Lovely.  In fact, as I was building IKEA furniture in my new room today, I had the door open and could hear all the little ducks in the lake splashing and quaking and it made me feel so relaxed.

Speaking of IKEA building...LOOK AT ME!!

     

This only took me THREE HOURS, but it was soooo worth it. I love it. 

   

These only took me an hour....ok, and a half.  And don't look too closely at that bookshelf, I know that middle, non-movable shelf is backwards, but I couldn't take the whole thing apart at that point. That's the bad part about IKEA furniture - once you secure those little screw fasteners over the bolts, it's pretty much impossible to remove them.  Plus I'd already nailed the back to the shelf, so even if I'd been able to take it apart and reverse the shelf, there would have been nail holes all through it.  So I went to Home Depot and got a stain to match the wood and I'm going to make it look a little less janky.  I hope.

So I'm back home...home for at least one more night.  I'm trying to keep it together, but every time Shelby comes in and looks at me with her big puppy eyes I want to cry.  The cute, little fuzz-butt is definitely the hardest part about moving.  I know I'll see her again and visit with and go out with Lyn on occasion, but I'll never be back here with Shelby on my bed or have her greet me when I walk through the door after a long day at work or know that even if I'm coming home to an empty house, there's always a Shelby-dog to keep me company.  Not that she'd protect me from anything or anyone, but she's comforting all the same.

Shelby is fast asleep next to me; Lyn is home and Bug usually sleeps with her, but it's almost like she knows it's my last night here and is keeping me company while I'm sad. 

Ok, time for me to sleep. My back is killing me, my arms are sore and I've got so much left to do tomorrow.  OY, where are the moving fairies??!!??  This is when I need a real boyfriend.  Between Cory and a real boyfriend, just imagine the manual labor I could get done.

How long do you suppose the top button of my fitted button-down was undone today? I work with mostly boys (yes, boys), who would never think to tell me that I'm completely exposed, that is, if they even noticed, but then there are two of my bosses. More mature, but just as likely to not say a word, mostly out of embarrassment that they can TOTALLY SEE MY BRA. I was with them for the last hour or so of work and I'm mortified that I was very likely flashing a good amount of cleavage in their direction.
Or maybe that fedex box that I grab and held against my chest as I hurried out the door did it...? I didn't notice my indecent display until after I grabbed the box and stopped in the restroom before heading to the drop-off box and then BART.

Yeah, that's it. No need to worry. Heh heh. Um...right?

Sigh. :-/

At least you can always count on me posting a 12 of 12, so you know you get at least one post a month from me.  There has been just absolute craziness between a short trip to see the Capt'n, packing for my move this weekend and the all around zaniness of my office and workload. OH! and Ray of Light is producing The Who's Tommy, which opens this weekend.  If you're in the SF area and want to see the show for free - all you have to do is sign up to usher/sell concessions.  www.roltheatre.com or email me at stephanie@roltheatre.com


Back to 12 of 12 - check out Chad's BLOG for more twelvers and all the details.



12:46am - working on the volunteer schedule for Tommy. 



7:22am - up and ready to leave the house. Decided to take a pic of the current state of my room - lots of boxes. Furniture gone. So sad. :-(



1:57pm: Stuck inside all day.  Not by choice. Would have braved the new, cool, overcast skies to have been able to get away for a few minutes today. But, sadly, no such luck.




4:57pm: Still stuck. My co-worker brought me a little chocolate to say thank you for the extra help today that kept me inside and chained to my desk.



6:19pm: Back in the east bay. I always think of the cranes whenever I think of Oakland.  Still overcast - rain is on its way.  Hello fall.



7:07pm: Took a trip over to Pier 1. Interested in getting a bedside table that's both small, but can be used for multiple things - drawers for personal affects, a shelf for my laptop, and extra space for more storage.  I liked this one because the bottom shelf is fitted for wine bottle - would be a good three-in-one cabinet for my new smaller space.  Price is a bit...OUCH.




7:16pm:  This one wouldn't have as many uses, but it's soooo cute!



7:34pm:  Took another small jaunt over to Cost Plus. I like this one a lot, but it may be too large for the space I plan to put it in.  Grrr...decorating is HARD.



7:43pm:  These caught my eye.  I fell in love with Marzipan when I was in Toledo in April - none of the little shops in Spain had any marzipan like this.



7:47pm:  Oooo, liked this one too...unfortunately it's not for sale.  It was the cabinet in the woman's bathroom.  Dagnabit.



8:03pm:  Going a bit nostalgic with an old John Mayer CD.  Go ahead...laugh...he may be smarmy, but he's a damn good musician.

ok...and he's cute. 



8:18pm:  Finally - DINNER.  A little stop off at San Ramon's Orient Express.  It's the best chinese...so much for soooo little. $5! This will feed me for three dinners.



Bonus shot!  Figured I needed to get in at least one self-portrait for the month. My favorite PJ shirt :-)

Happy how-the-hell-is-it-already October!

New guy at work that's all of 22 and I are the only ones left in the office and so we crank up the radio to 103.7 The Band - all awesome, rock-out, sing along to, fantastic band anthem songs.
One of my favs of the evening begins to play - Billy Joel's "My Life." I kinda do a little jig and realize new guy isn't as happy as I am. How could he not be?? Awesome song, reminds me of...ah man...

ME: "Hey (new guy); name the sitcom this song was the theme song for."

NG: "Uh...no idea."

ME: "Bosom Buddies!!"

NG: "Wha??"

ME: "Bosom Buddies. Tom Hanks? Sitcom? Cross-dresser? 80's?

NG: "No clue."

ME: "Why ya gotta make me feel old?"


Sigh. Anyone else get the reference? Bueller??

So I'm on my way back to Oakland from LAX airport and my flight is slightly delayed. The fact that I had an insanely slow shuttle driver taking me to the airport after my ferry from Catalina came into San Pedro at a snail's pace making me 20 minutes late, I feel a little annoyed that I ran through the airport to find that my plane isn't boarding for another 30 minutes. Bah. BUT, just to continue with my annoyed behavior (only for sake of blog fodder of course) I will now list the types of airport people I have encountered so far tonight that bug me. Ahem:

Slaker surfer dude in board shorts and flip flops who keeps going back and forth in front of me to get more Starbucks. He's dragging his heels and the sound is almost as annoying as his thinning, stringy, dirty hair.

The large Indian family that keeps getting up as a whole group, grandma, parents, kids and luggage to go to the bathroom, head back to their seats, go check the desk to see if we're boarding yet, go back to their seats, go get Starbucks, go back to their seats. HEY! Send one representative! Your group keeps making a big breeze as you pass by me and you're making me cold.

The twenty-something blondie in 5-inch stilettos and rolling bag talking on her speaker phone as she walks by. Why do I care that you're saving Daniel a seat and he thinks that's cool? Also, what's with the heels? What will you do if you have to make an emergency landing?? At least wear sensible heels if you need to look nice. Leave the high-class hooker heels in your bag.

The woman I was behind exiting the bathroom. You don't stop in the doorway and block everyone's path while you figure out which direction to go. As a person that's perpetually lost, just step aside, it makes the world a much happier place and keeps me from plowing through you.

Any other type that I'm missing? That was kind of fun. A little amusing.