14 posts tagged “joe”
And another birthday has passed. That's right, last Tuesday I turned 26. Before we discuss the passing of time, etc. etc., can we first say how much a weekday birthday totally blows goats? Because it does. I had to go to work and talk to people and not be drunk. Not being drunk on your birthday just seems so wrong. But alas, I am a grownup now -- allegedly -- so I have to play the part.
Actually, it is probably best that I was not drunk. For, in fact, I drank enough the weekend before during my lovely Nicole's Ghetto Fabulous Rock Your Sweatpants and Be A Hot Ghetto Mess birthday party. What did this awesome party entail? Chipotle, beer, bowling, tequila shots, giant double vodka sodas, more bowling and a whole ton of people, including surprise guests. And it was awesome. It was so awesome that when Joe and I got home, we ran into my Scottish Neighbor (name unknown - long story) and his girlfriend (name known) and invited them over for a couple of glasses bottles of wine and conversation about... something I don't remember. We tried to rope in my Italian neighbor (yes, my apartment building has turned into the UN), but he didn't seem up for it. Alas.
Anyway. So there was this birthday and it was great and very exciting. And now I'm 26. And I got a lot of phone calls and emails from all of my friends (hi friends!) who weren't able to attend said party and I've been super shitty and not returned any of them because I am self absorbed and busy. Mostly busy, but probably also self absorbed. Yes, 26 is the year of honesty.
Aside from my birthday, lots of other things are going on. I worked all weekend, so took Monday and Tuesday off and now I know why so many people have slacker jobs -- not working on weekdays is awesome! The stores are empty and no one pushes you at the shoe rack (tiny Asian grandmother, I'm looking at you!) and the lady at JCrew pays lots of attention to you and tells your boyfriend "she's a keeper!" while you are trying on skinny jeans. Yeah, for real, not working was fantastic. We parked downtown and walked to Chinatown, up to the Pearl and back downtown, hitting most of my favorite stores in between and buying indulgent birthday presents like Buffy comics, giant bulk bags of cashews and the aforementioned skinny jeans. Oh, and we almost stopped to harass Kobe as the Lakers were boarding the bus, but figured that we would probably get tackled if we yelled what we wanted to yell. But man, it was almost worth it.
Alas, today was back to real life, including a 10 hour day pushing paper, drafting articles, interviewing volunteers and all kinds of other shenanigans. And then I logged another hour and half at the gym because 26 is also the year of continuing to fit into the skinny jeans and, of course, traveling to Israel where I must look hot because there will be lots of pictures, so, you know, hotness must abound.
Have I mentioned I'm going to Israel? I am. For 10 days. Which is part of the reason why, as much fun as those hooky days this week were, I won't be taking any more of them for a while -- all vacation time must be saved up for my trip and even then, I have a feeling I am going to run out of the vacation time. I have it calculated out (of course I do) and think I will just make it, but that bars any illness or unforeseen issues. So I'm crossing my fingers there.
Okay, and then I got distracted for the last hour doing committee work, so clearly it's time for me to log off and go to bed. I will leave you with many pictures from my birthday extravaganza. Be jealous.
I have a dog that needs attention, so a quick update:
The DCCC never called me back. Surprise, surprise. The donation boycott shall continue.
Hillary won Ohio and Texas! I love me some Hillary. Yay!!
Kramer is staying with me (see above note about dog). So far, he slept a lot, we've played fetch, I fed him lots of chicken and he howled the whole time I was in the shower.
Joe is in Seattle for the weekend. There may be camping involved. Poor Joe.
The Container Store is having a tax prep sale or something like that. Of course, this led me to finally using my gift card there to buy storage boxes for my 2005, 2006 and 2007 receipts. Before I start on this project, I need to buy new file folders. But, for real, I am going to have some serious fun soon! Think of all the organizing!
The Bourne Supremacy is on. Mmm. Delicious.
I have been found. Hi Tom!
I worked an ACLU event last night. Like last year, Kristen and I ran registration and talked smack about people and then counted all the money. It was fantastic.
This week at work is looking to be really busy, though I am unclear on how much busier things can get. But somehow, while doing all the other stuff that I have to do, I'm also going to Salem and Medford. The Medford trip is for an hour and a half meeting. It will take all day, because I have to fly there, have a meeting, and then fly back. Dad says Medford has a good steak house. I have a feeling I won't get to visit it on my trip.
I ran on Friday and I still hurt. Probably because of the sprints.But still. Ow.
I will now end with a joke that I heard on NPR and that made Patti laugh and laugh and laugh.
Why don't Episcopalians have orgies?
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Too many thank you notes to write afterwards!
So a couple of minor changes around here. New pattern (look, it's Portland!) and I even uploaded some new pictures. Want to see?
Joe sent me flowers at work for Valentine's day. And they weren't roses! Huzzah! I secretly feel bad for women whose husbands and boyfriends buy them red roses on Valentine's day. So boring! My mother hates roses (dad always gets her tropicals or tulips), but I don't mind them as much as her -- I just think they lack any thought. These, on the other hand, were lovely. I took a couple of those close up shots that I want to blow up and frame. If only I had more than 3 inches of bare wall space. But that is another story.
What did we do for Valentine's day? Why, glad you asked. Every year, Joe and I do the same thing and this year was no different. We played hooky from the world for a couple of days, staying at a hotel on the water, splurging for a big, fancy dinner and wandering all over the city to all the places we never have the time to go to. This included a very long walk along the river before dinner, which resulted in fabulous pictures.
The weather in Portland has been fairly incredible for the last two weeks and our hooky weekend was no exception. It was in the 60s all weekend and we went all over town to random antique stores, delicious brats at Otto's, Mississippi records, and all over the place. We didn't talk about work all weekend and, aside from the one completely insane guy we sat next to at the bar after dinner, it was kind of perfect. Yay good vacation!
The week after the vacation, though, has been slightly more hectic. Things at work have been crazy busy and moments to breathe have been few and far between. Today I had to run out early to get my eyes examined because I'm slowly going blind and I have so much work, I tried to log on when I got home. Of course, that didn't work out so well since my eyes were dialated and everything looked way too bright. Though I did still manage to write a couple of emails before I gave up. I am not a quitter! Oh, but I am going to need glasses. Not all the time, just sometimes. Because I am only sometimes blind. Or so confirmed the eye doctor.
Can we talk about that, by the way? With the really bright lights and that pointy blue glowing thing? What is that? Ugh. God bless them, but gross.
On a less disgusting, non-eyeball-related note, Joe's brother, sister-in-law and tiny nephew came to town and said tiny nephew decided that he liked me and declared this by calling me "That." As in, "Mommy, can I sit with That?" And sit with That he did. I mean, when That gives him all of her croutons because she still isn't eating the white devil, how can you not love That?
And now That is going to bed. Happy weekend!
As you may know, Joe and I work dramatically different schedules. Usually, I am asleep by the time he starts work and, uh, still asleep when he's done. He is usually asleep by the time I start work, though awake by the time I'm done. Of course, once I'm done with the gym, it leaves us about three hours of leeway between when I get home and when I go to bed/he goes to work/both.
The weekends are our respite. He only works every other Saturday and not on Sunday, which gives us Saturday afternoon (because he sleeps until noon after getting home at 4 a.m.) and all day Sunday to hang out, cook, watch TV and generally actually be in the same room, awake, at the same time. We also watch a lot of news and football during those hours. Just in case you were wondering.
Anyway, today was one of the Saturdays that he had off. I had a Bar Mitzvah in the morning, some brief shopping with my mom and sister after that, and then it was going to be Joe and Nicole for the rest of the weekend.
That was not to be.
First, I woke up this morning and there was four inches of snow on the ground. This snow was totally unexpected, both by me and the weather people. And, apparently, the rest of the city. I figured that though it was sticking, it was wet (as opposed to frozen) so I could get out, pick up my sister and proceed to the Bar Mitzvah.
That was before my flat iron broke. With my head only half done. You can imagine just how awesome that looked.
I figured that my venture into the snow to the closest Rite Aid for a new flat iron was a test run for picking up my sister. After driving about five blocks west of my apartment, the snow turned to rain and the driving was much easier. I hoped this was an excellent sign for the rest of the day.
Fast forward 30 minutes to me and my now totally straight hair leaving for my sister's house. Driving east, the snow got worse block by block, but my tiny Sentra was making it okay.
Until I got to the part where the road was closed.
Yes, with no warning, they had closed the road from my house to downtown (a fairly major artery in Portland). The police officer guarding the blockade was directing people up over Skyline, a usually treacherous road, but a really stupid choice in the snow. Also, a road that rises another 200 feet along the way. My Sentra was not going to make that. So I had to turn around and make a 12 mile loop to get to my sister's house, which is maybe a mile or so from where the road was blocked.
As we were approaching the synagogue, the weather was getting worse. Two minutes before arriving, my dad called to say we just shouldn't come. Too late. At least we weren't wearing heels.
Everything there was fine and much more family than I expected came into town, so that was nice. Also, they had a Sephardic cantor there from Spain and he was fabulous.
By the time we left, the snow was mostly slush. Two hours later, after shopping, I arrived home to find most of the snow melted. I started packing an overnight bag for Joe's when two things happened: 1.) the news said that it was supposed to freeze tonight and we were going to see another two inches of snow on top of that and 2.) Joe got called into work because Kevin (his counterpart) is sick.
And that is when our date night and weekend kind of went to shit. Until then, even in the snow, I had high hopes. Alas. Joe is now at work. I am now at home, waiting and watching and hoping that the freeze and snow are minimal and I'll be able to leave my apartment tomorrow. If the weather cooperates, Joe and I might get a good 8 to 10 hours awake in each other's presence tomorrow. If not... we are even more thankful for our unlimited minutes plan on our phones, I guess. I know all of this is fairly minor, but it is bothersome and y'all know how I like to complain about things that are bothersome.
Things that are not bothersome? Losing weight. Losing weight is actually totally awesome. Since January first, I've lost nine pounds. I think I have probably announced this to anyone who has eaten food in my vicinity in the last week and probably to a couple of strangers as well. What can I say? I like to brag. Anyway, the nine pounds is but the beginning, but has been remarkably painless once I got through the sugar, caffeine and white-devil withdrawl. For real, that sugar headache the first week was nasty.
Of course, right now I'm watching Ace of Cakes, so it's not like I don't still love my white devil. It's just that I don't want to eat it until my ass can get back into those skinny jeans. Aww, Harry Potter loves his Hogwarts cake. So cute! Ooh, Harry Potter is holding a glass of wine. Boozer.
You see? This is what happens when date night is unexpectedly canceled. Instead of being at Joe's house, cooking a nice dinner, watching movies and enjoying a fire, I am here, eating leftovers and watching Ace of Cakes. Which... isn't really that different, I guess, except that no one is offering to rub my feet. And that is a real shame.
I got up just in time this morning to catch the classic "Donna Martin Graduates" episode of 90210. I can't tell you how exciting this is. Poor virginal Donna gets caught drunk at prom (She didn't eat all day so she could fit in her dress! It was just two glasses of champagne! David's dad gave it to them!) and the evil school board tries to expel her because, conveniently, they had just announced a rule about drunk kids not getting to graduate. And then the class of 1993 - who cared not about the presidential election the previous year - are so mobilized, that they march (out of finals!) to the school board and demand that, well, Donna Martin graduates. And, of course, she does. Awesome.
Anyway. It's 2008. Things have been pretty similar to 2007 so far. Weather sucks, lots of work, and so on and so forth. So far, the biggest news is that I am off The White Devil. If you don't know about TWD, it encompasses: flour, sugar, rice, potatoes, bread, etc. It also includes things like fruit and carrots and corn and ice cream and all that other stuff. It sounds sad, but it's actually kind of awesome - I have tons of energy, I feel better, my hair is crazy shiny and, you know, I've lost some weight. But I've also been working out at the office gym a lot, which is great, but also awkward; watching senior executives work out in tiny shorts or bizarre weight belts or whatever other oddity walks through the door is really weird. But it does give me a lot of time to catch up on my magazine reading. That's exciting.
Also exciting is that we have Wesley this week. In fact, he's currently laying on my foot, having dog dreams and twitching as he chases dream birds and wildcats. The other night, Joe took him out around 3 a.m. and they encountered a family of raccoons and let's just say that thanks to some quick thinking, the raccoons had a much better fate than the bird Wesley caught for us during one of our Sunday barbeques. Wesley has taken to me even more than usual this visit and tried to attack Joe the last two nights when he came home, which was both awesome and terrifying. Awesome because he usually doesn't really like women and loves me so much, terrifying because Wesley has killed wildcats the size of Joe and, really, I don't want blood stains on my carpet. So far, we're all still alive, though, so that's good.
Not much else going on around here. Happy 2008, y'all.
Dear Reader,
Are you there, Reader? It's me, Nicole. Reader, my life, I don't know what happened to it. Every week day, I get up at 6 a.m. I arrive at my office between 7:45 and 8:15 and then I do I don't know what until 5:30 or 6 at night. Whatever it is that I'm doing must be good, because I've only gotten chewed out once and, really, that was nothing compared to chewings-out at previous employers and it was my boss's fault and she apologized afterwards, so it's all good. Sometimes I go downstairs to the little sandwich place and the girls there already know my name. Sometimes I bring my lunch and the guys at QFC say, "Sushi for lunch tomorrow?" Sometimes I get insane phone calls from people who must have sad lives because they have nothing better to do than complain to me about Christmas trees or chocolate sales or posters. I draft a lot of documents that go into a vortex and eventually come back three weeks later, with either no edits or so many edits, the purpose of the original document is moot.
After work, I go down to the gym and exercise for somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour. I talk to the administrative assistant from the 15th floor while we change for the gym. While I work out, I read between one and three magazines, depending on how many articles are of interest. I have learned a lot about Mitt Romney, healthy Thanksgiving meals and why I hate Mike Huckabee (hint: it's because he's batshit crazy).
Once I am done working out, go home and eat something that Joe made me or something left over from the last time Joe cooked or something that I throw together from the pantry. Usually, there are a lot of vegetables involved, but sometimes it's filled with lots of things that I shouldn't eat, but I pretend it's okay because I just worked out for an hour. On the nights I don't work out, it's usually because I have a committee meeting or something else distracting after work.
I get home between 7 and 7:30. I inhale dinner, check Perezhilton, watch House Hunters, pester Joe (in person or via phone) and go to bed.
Weekends are slightly better, but involve a lot of sleeping and running errands that I can't do during the week. Last weekend, I escaped it all and went to Salem to hang out with the Riches and gave Joe his fix of tree decorating. I have therefore been behind all week this week, since all of my errands were ignored. This weekend I'll be collecting toys for work and then shopping for more toys for work. It sounds fun, and it is, but it gives me yet another reason to not shop for anyone else and, lo and behold, it's the middle of December and I've bought half of Joe's present and nothing for anyone else.
Reader, I feel like perhaps one day things will calm down and it won't be so crazy. But what if it doesn't? How do people have kids? Or serve on multiple boards and committees and actually attend meetings? Or work out every day? Do those people not sleep? Because right now, that is the only thing I can cut out unless I cut out the scant couple of hours I have on the weekend to actually sit in the same room as my boyfriend and watch football and make dinner together. I mean, I could cut out the House Hunters, but I watch that at 10:30 at night, so there's not a lot of other things that I can do then aside from perhaps reading or darning socks.
So, Reader, I'm sorry if I've been ignoring you. I fear it will not get better any time soon. This weekend, after I do all the toy stuff, I have alumni interviews for Brandeis and work for some of the committees I'm on and paying bills and then it will be next week and then I am going to the desert for a week. And then it will be 2008 and I will resolve to sleep more and lose weight and work more effectively so I am not tied to my desk. Reader, we can hope.
Happy belated Chanukah and Merry early Christmas!
In college, I (and many of my friends) used to write letters and haikus to procrastinate during finals. Or to goof off in class. Or to amuse ourselves because - people don't tell you this - sometimes college is boring. We probably stole this idea from Pamie, but I'm sure she stole it from someone, too. I mean, how many people have original ideas?
Lord knows I don't.
Anyway, here are the letters that I wanted to write in the last week.
Dear New Job,
You are kind of awesome, except when you suck. When do you suck? When I have to be at the office at 5:30. In the morning. Yes, 5:30am. That is when you suck. The other times that you suck is when you don't let me eat lunch until after 3pm, you don't let me leave the office until I've logged 10 hours, when you give me no time to play Scrabulous during the day, and you deny me nice towels in the kitchen. On the other hand, you provide me with an unlimited supply of fifty cent sodas and an ice machine. And a not evil (yet?) boss.
So I guess you're okay.
Thanks for not sucking.
Love,
Nicole
PS: Can you please speed up moving my office? I can't install a white board until I move and I really miss my lovely dry erase pens.
____________
Dear Old Job,
For real, it's been over two weeks. Please stop sucking. Please stop removing things from my personnel file and pretending I didn't totally rock your socks off. Please just move on. I have. Have you heard about my new job and how it doesn't suck?
Also, please stop fucking with Kristen. MLD is gonna get you!
No Love,
One of the Many Who Have Quit In the Last Month
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Loving Boyfriend,
Next time you are attacked at the dog park, we are taking you to get stitches. Looking at that scab is totally sicking me out.
XOXO
Me
____________
Dear Colorado Rockies,
Suck it. No one likes you. You and your stupid thin air are nothing compared to the Green Monster. Also? No one on your team is any fun. Also? Your fans blow. They are just sitting there, being fat and infrequently - very infrequently, if you know what I mean - cheering when you decide not to completely blow. Just surrender so the Sox can have their parade and Hayden can tell me all about it.
With Contempt,
Nicole
____________
Dear Oldest Sister,
An entire box of JCrew cashmere sweaters? Best day ever! Thanks for the hand-me-downs!
Colie
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To Whom It May Concern,
This letter is in regard to the fact that my apartment has now been under construction for over one month. I understand that residing a building - and replacing the windows, installing air conditioning and installing all new doors - can take a long time and appreciate the hard work that you and your crew of very hard working (most likely) illegal immigrants are putting into the whole situation.
But here's the thing: while my apartment is under construction, all of my furniture must be moved at last 4 feet from each and every window. This means that all of my furniture is basically piled in the middle of my apartment, making it very difficult to live here, but even harder to clean. And there's a lot of dust from all of your sheet rock fun and I can't clean and do you know what that is doing to me?
It's really not okay.
Please speed it up. I can tell you are almost done. I will even leave cookies for the crew if you'd like.
Thank you.
Resident of (number redacted)
____________
Guy at Whole Foods,
No, I am not Israeli. No, I do not speak Hebrew. No, I do not want you to teach me Hebrew. I just want that yummy mix of butternut squash and yams that I asked for.
Thank you.
Your Afternoon Customer
PS: You did kind of make my day, though. Thanks for hitting on me.
____________
And now I will leave you with a haiku:
My, you are so kind;
Attentive, caress, rub, smile.
Alterations Guy.
Here are a couple of things that happened in the last two weeks:
- Joe and I celebrated our two year anniversary.
- My boss gave notice.
- They started construction on my apartment complex.
- I accepted a new job.
- I gave notice.
- I decided to grow my hair out.
- I went shopping for a lot of new clothes.
- I peed in a cup.
- Joe and I went on our anniversary trip.
- I got food poisioning from a scallop.
- I ate a lot of saltines.
- I decided that $166 a month isn't that much for parking downtown.
- I won tickets to Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter.
And here are some things that are happening in the next two weeks:
- Kelley and I are hosting Rachael's bachelorette party.
- My last day at work.
- Joe and I are going to Rachael's wedding.
- I'm finally getting that pedicure.
- My first day at my new job.
- I'm planning a breakfast event for 20 people.
I haven't updated because things are crazy. That is the long and short of it. Things, they are crazy. Things have been crazy since, like, the second week in August and have only gotten crazier since then. Like, cuckoo bananas, coco loco crazy and I can't talk about it, but thanks to everyone who listens to me as I try to verbally process. And by that, I mean bitch and moan. But "verbally process" sounds so much more positive and healthy.
Speaking of healthy, today I "raced" for a cure. I actually just walked (slowly for a lot of it - the new course is very curvy) with Kelley around Portland after paying $35 for a t-shirt and some tiny power bars. Oh, and a banana. Of course, that money actually went towards breast cancer research so I think that's great and the tiny power bars are just so cute! Plus, bananas are delicious.
I figured racing for the cure was a nice way to start the new year. That's right, it's the year 5,768 by the Jewish calendar, starting last week. Yesterday was Yom Kippur, and I had an incredibly easy and calm fast, which was nice. I also managed not to be sick on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur this year, which might be a first for this decade. But, yes, I figured with the new year and the atonement and everything else that racing for the cure was a nice way to start things out. That and cleaning my house. 5,768 is the year of Nicole's cleanest house ever!
As usual, I really liked Yom Kippur. It's always nice to take a day to reflect on the past year and set some goals for the next year. As usual, being more patient and less snippy is always a goal, but I've also tried to adopt a couple of mantras to help me through each day. My three current favorites are:
"No more drama."
"I can't help when other people suck."
"I cannot control how I am perceived. I can only control how I am presented."
That last one is from Tim Gunn and I kind of love it. It's applicable in so many ways!
On that positive note, recent fun and exciting things include the Justin Timberlake concert (MLD was there!), my adorable niece Lucy coming to visit (and bringing along her mom and dad, who are also fun), Joe coming back from vacation and visiting the new Trader Joe's by mom and dad's house. You see how my life is fairly mundane? No more drama!
Ahem.
Anyway. Now I have to got to the store to buy many delicious things for dinner this evening. And then I will nap while Joe cooks. People. This is the life!
Happy 5,768!
Okay, so this past week has been one of those crazy rollercoaster rides, with the ups and downs and crazy and I am so thankful that I have amazing people around me to assure me that though I am surrounded by insanity, I am, in fact, sane. Of course, the crazy hasn't been helped by the fact that we have a brand new event on Thursday the 16th and (TMI) I'm on my period and, you know, those two things already make life crazy enough without everything else that's going on.
Look how many times I used the word "crazy" in that paragraph. Un huh. That's how it's been.
This weekend has been comparatively peaceful, calm and wonderful. We took my dad out for his birthday dinner on Friday night to Fenouil which was, of course, fantastic and amazing as usual. We went for gelato afterwards and then I stopped by Joe's bar for a drink and a very long phone call with Gwen, who really needs to visit me and, more importantly, needs to bring Paddington to visit me. I need more fluffy in my life! After I got home, I had another very long and fabulous phone call with Jeanine that kept me up way too late, especially considering I still have my bellydancing class at the crack of 10:30 on Saturdays.
After class on Saturday, dad and I went for birthday sushi (with a coupon!) and ate really good spicy mussels and eel. Then I went over to my aunt's house to let out her and my cousin's dogs, who are totally insane and jumped all over me and cut my legs and fought like bears and then went and ran into the pond. All in the first three minutes of being there. Seriously. These dogs are nuts. Adorable, but nuts.
And then I cleaned my house.
Yes, that's how stressful things have been. Even though I cleaned everything a week ago (the full clean - dusting, mopping, scouring, etc), I cleaned again because, you know, it's soothing. And then I did lots of laundry and cleaned up all the files on my computer and organized all of my receipts and, yes, can you tell I was having some OCD time? Joe is out of town this weekend for a gig, so it was all cleaning, organizing, sorting and all sorts of other fabulous relaxing things that only I find relaxing.
Of course, then I had to go visit the dogs again, with the jumping and barking and scratching and then I lost one of them in the house because she decided she was scared (she's scared a lot) and needed to hide under the bed. I don't know.
And then I came home and passed out in my very clean house and felt so calm and at peace, it was awesome. Today has been more of the same, save for the fact that my phone has been blowing up all day, which makes it really hard to be lazy and pass out on the couch. That's right. I'm ambitious.
I just want to enjoy my quiet time before I go back to work tomorrow and get sucked into the vortex of this event. Is that too much to ask?
Maybe so. But in the meantime, I'm going to eat leftovers and plan my next move in the online Scrabble game I'm playing with Gwen. Oh yeah, I am exciting.
