Oh, What a Night

So last night I did go to the "social gathering"...thankfully I had talked to one of my new quasi-friends (we're on the way to becoming friends, but it's still quite new) and she and a couple others I knew would be going to this thing. I was relieved. See, when my Crush and I spoke and I told him K-Dog couldn't come...he made some statement (I am still praying it was a total joke) about hitting on women and he hoped I'd have someone to talk to without K-Dog there. Sigh. Again, it was hard to know if he was really joking or not.

When I got there with my friend/coworker T (who happened to be in town) and saw all my new quasi-friends, I knew things would probably be fine...at least I had them and we could always leave. But it was weird, not gonna lie. We all felt like we were crashing the whole thing.

Finally my Crush came down to my end of this giant string of tables and was chatting with me for a while. He ended up sitting next to me when they brought his food out, so we got to talk more...and there was a lot of bickering and back-and-forth between us. And as usual, he ended up being quite sassy and basically insulted me a number of times, called me a few names, and told some other people that if I murdered him, they should grab his phone and call his sister. I told him that with so many people witnessing his sassy behavior toward me, I would be able to get off on Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity. Later he did tell me that he would never tease me and call me names like that in front of certain people/audiences, which has been my experience even with the joking and teasing we've done up to this point. I spent most of the night next to The Crush...at one point he bought me a drink (T too, but she just wanted water) and later he got a little touchy, but I'm not really sure I should make anything of it at all.

Anyway, T and I stayed with the group (who are clearly pretty tight and hang out often) until after 9:30...I know, so late, right? Hehe. It was for me. And dang it, I'm just pretty proud of myself for going!

Oh and it seemed one of the girls brought some young (under 21) friend with her and according to T, was really pushing her onto The Crush. During the second half of the night he was sitting between the girl and me. I'm really not so sure the girls on his other side appreciated me being there or the fact that I was getting as much attention from him (or the others) as I was getting. Whatever. 

It was very weird seeing him with his friends and acting all goofy and ... loud. He's usually so serious and calm and quiet. But it was good. I've wanted to get to know him outside of work...and honestly a part of that is so I can revise this darn idealized image I've had in my head.

So overall the night was a lot of fun and I met some cool people, had some fun with The Crush. He still wants to come out with K-Dog and I...so I guess we'll if/when that happens. I really hope he doesn't think K-Dog and I get as rowdy and goofy as the group did last night! Because we really aren't rowdy. At. all.

The night ended when they all decided to go to a bar for some karaoke. A couple of the guys wanted me to come and the one who kept calling me "Doc Heidi" all night practically yelled at me to "give a good reason" why I couldn't come out, but I just couldn't do it. I was spent. But was flattered they wanted me to come out and happy to have gotten to meet these people.

Oh...The Crush was chatting up some blonde at the bar at that point....I didn't even get to say goodbye. Kinda sucky, but whatever. Who knows, maybe he did that on purpose...

That's that, my friends. For now I'll chalk it up to experience and see what happens (if anything) later.

Vacation: Part II

Once again, I intended to blog sooner and more often than I have been recently. So many things have kept me from it: a 4-day headache and fluid-filled ears, a friend's birthday, my brother's visit & 4th of July fun with friends, a shiny new cell phone, an impromptu visit from family, studying...and the regular everyday life stuff. Whew.

But here I am, ready to finish my vacation post...even though it's not THAT exciting. I woke up on my Birthday to find my friend already awake. She had a present for me on the table and seemed super excited for me to open it, but we had to go to her post-op appointment, so really I was more concerned with getting her to the doc on time. I had plans to meet up with a friend I hadn't seen in a loooong time later that day and was looking forward to it. Par for the course, it seemed nothing went right that day. We were a mere 3-5 minutes late for N's appointment...but we ended up waiting over an hour to be seen for a very brief appointment!! Grr! N colored me a picture while we waited....probably to keep her mind off of her own increasing discomfort...poor thing.

After the doc appointment, we ran to the store for a few things and to pick up a prescription...which apparently hadn't been called in. Sigh. Just as we were getting ready to leave the store, they paged N and she went back to the pharmacy while I took the groceries out and brought the car around. N said we needed to kill 15 minutes and they'd have the script ready. So, we went to a couple stores next door. I ended up getting a new pair of sunglasses. My other friend called and said she had to do some work before we could meet. On one hand, this was a good thing since we were running behind; on the other, not so great because who knew when I would actually get to meet up with her and have some fun.  At some point during the day I also called another friend I was supposed to meet for lunch the following day. She made a mistake in scheduling and couldn't make the original time, so I was hoping I could at least meet her for coffee! Quite frankly, I was getting a bit cranky by this point because nothing, even loosely made plans, seemed to be working out. 

Finally, N and I got her script and went home to eat lunch. She insisted on making me something and I opted for a grilled cheese and some soup. N wasn't super happy with how the sandwich turned out...

Oh well. It tasted fine. At this point, I was tired and just wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I changed clothes and went out to sit in the sun for a bit, even though I knew my other friend was probably waiting to hear something from me. Shortly after, N had the FedEx guy at her door with 2 boxes from ProFlowers.com (love them, by the way). She asked, "who are they for?" I looked at her like she was a little nuts and said, "For you. Who would be sending me flowers?" She got approximately 6 dozen roses- some miniature and some full-sized, in a variety of colors. Her mom and sisters sent them. They were so pretty!


A little while later, the doorbell rang again and N was handed another flower arrangement. This time it was for me! Apparently she and my brother secretly plotted via Facebook and he kindly sent me this pretty little arrangement. He wanted to send something small so I could carry it home with me. He wasn't thinking that I wouldn't be able to take it on the plane. He is still sad about that.

Either way, I really loved the flowers and carried them from room to room with me- if we were spending time in the basement to play Wii, I moved them there, or the dining room if we were upstairs for long. Plus, I took LOTS of pictures!

I finally left to meet my friend, but she was late meeting me because she had more errands to run and ended up trying on some stuff in another store. Sigh. Anyway, we eventually did some shopping, had a nice dinner and got caught up before she forced me to eat the most amazing cupcake I've ever had in my life. Seriously. I have no other words to express my feelings. Amazing.

Then I headed back to N's house, where she and her husband were waiting to force me to eat cake. I knew N had ordered a cake and she was very excited about it, but I had no clue what would be on it.

She said she wanted a garden scene because of my backyard and flowers. I wish you could see how 3D the frosting really was!! And it was a very good cake. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. I even ate it for breakfast the next day. :)

The next day (last day of my vacation) really felt like my birthday to me, since I'd be seeing so many friends throughout the day. I even wore a dress! Gasp! N and I met up with our mutual friend for coffee and then another friend for lunch. It was so good to see those women! I used to work with them at the Evil Empire and it was really good to know that not everyone there hated me (just my Evil, Wicked, Horrible boss) and that they really did still care about what was going on in my world.


Later that night, N and J took me to Fort Collins to Cafe Vino to meet my friends. It was a great night! Lots of hugs, friends, laughter, and some good food and drink.



The most frequently asked question while I was in Colorado was, "Why the heck did you come here for a vacation?"




My answer, "To see my friends. I missed you."

And really, that's all I wanted. To see my friends. To take a break from my normal routine. I definitely got that. :) Granted, it wasn't what N or I really had in mind when we planned my visit...but it sure was different.

The second most frequently asked question, "When are you coming back?"

I'm not sure when, but I will be back. Colorado will always hold a special place in my heart. And so will the friends I made there.

Coming Soon...

I will be writing a bit about my vacation....I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm workin' on it, I promise.

Until I get around to it, here are some pictures from the trip!

Stay tuned...

Loooooong Weekend!

It's a long weekend! Woohoo! I'm so excited!

As always, part of my weekend will include some of this

and this

and will definitely include a trip to the nursery for some more plants (I have a coupon for free stuff!)!

I also hope to enjoy a couple of these lovelies with some coworkers after work this evening

and some of this at a barbecue!

Mmmm.

What's on your agenda this weekend? Whatever your plans, have fun and be safe!

Up Close & Personal

My sister, her husband, and my nieces and nephew came to visit today and we took a trip to the zoo! I haven't been to a zoo in a long time, so it was kind of fun...though it was very sunny, hot, and humid and I felt like I was melting...and I got some random bug bite on the top of my foot and it itched and itched and then got all red and kind of swollen when I scratched it.

Anyhoo, the zoo isn't a huge zoo or anything, but there are some cool attractions, like Lucky the albino alligator, and the playful otters, and the giraffes. The beautiful, leggy, awkward-and-graceful-all-at-once giraffes. For just $1 you can buy a couple of crackers and feed the giraffes... so the kids and I did! Their tongues are super-long and they just kind of grab those crackers before you know it! Eventually, the taller giraffe came over and he'll allow you to pet him (the other giraffe has a bit of attitude and won't let you pet him), so we also got to pet a giraffe. He wasn't as soft as I thought he would be, and he was kinda dirty, but it was still awesome.

All in all it was a fun day and good to see my family. At the moment I don't appear to be sunburned, but we'll see if I'm a bit red tomorrow!