coming off the weekend high

i had one of those completely unexpected, utterly fantastic weekends - the kind that makes it a little bit harder to get out of bed on a monday morning, just because you wish that the fun could continue.

last week i was in a bit of a slump all week and extra disappointed b/c it was the one weekend i was in pdx in the entire month of january and i had no plans. i think i've fallen off people's radars these days as i'm completely unreliable due to the fact that i'm pretty much never anywhere.

friday, my friend the doctor and i headed out for a couple drinks which turned into many drinks, the doctor yelling at a man who was harassing me, a line of men waiting to buy us drinks after the yelling, a fall, a split open knee and a tear in my favorite jeans (not related to drinking actually) - it was one of those truly random and very fun evenings - you can't plan these things.

saturday involved walks and puzzles and me time, which ran into saturday night with an impromptu dinner party, some friends unexpectedly in from seattle and finally the chance to meet the notorious "LO".

sunday, a perfectly sunny day, sun roof open, reading in coffee shops, more walks, and "getting my life together" with the cooking and the laundry and the caulking of the bathroom window.

things accomplished this weekend: 1/2 of a 1000 piece puzzle, a new paint color for the bedroom, less fear of mold in the bathroom, much laughter and maybe a little bit of dancing to "pour some sugar on me".

how to focus on work when that happened?

you heard it here first

last night i swung by borders to finally, finally get a 2007 calendar. (for those of you that don't know me, you should know that having a calendar posted in my cubicle is paramount to the success of me. i need it to make me feel good about crossing out every day to note the passage of time). i've only been in my office 6 days in 2007 and everyday felt this huge gaping hole when i didn't have a day to cross off. the good news about waiting so long? calendars were only $4! and i got a great angry little girls calendar to match the book Nata got me a couple years ago for my b-day.

since i'd driven around for 20 mins. trying to find a parking space, i thought i would spend some time browsing the store while i was in there. i rounded the corner past the self-help section and there was that damn "he's just not that into you" book that everyone raves about. please note: i have never ever picked up this book before yesterday, but have secretly wondered what it was all about. so last night, i threw caution into the wind and picked that sucker up and starting thumbing through the first few chapters.

here's what i learned:

1. the font in that thing is huge! pretty much making that man feel like he wrote a really long and useful book, but didn't.
2. 90% of the text is fake emails with his responses. um, if i ever write a book it will not be in that format.
3. any guy who isn't knocking down your door, bringing you flowers everyday, calling you every minute, being pretty much a stalker is just not that into you.

which i guess explains why every single relationship or male encounter i have ever had has not worked out.

i like tights

just thought i'd share this little tidbit b/c i have a lot to say today.

i'm wearing a skirt today with some textured tights (i like to try to wear skirts a couple times a week - it's supposed to make me feel more feminine; sometimes it works). today as i was walking down the hall at work i realized why i really like to wear skirts with textured tights in the winter...it's b/c then i don't have to feel my fat legs touch ever - the tights keep 'em separated.

hooray, for the ridiculous invention that is pantyhose!

kicked out of the club

remember a while back when i went to dinner club? and how i thought they might not invite me back?

um, apparently i totally got kicked out of the club!!! at the end of last dinner club we decided on a date and location for the next dinner club. i came home and dutifully noted both on my calendar. as the weeks went by and the day drew near, my email was silent, no email reminders, no looking forward to seeing yous, no nothings. then, a couple days before the event i learned that i needed to travel on the date of the dinner club so i went back through my emails and tracked down the leader's info. i sent her a nice email saying i thought the next dinner club was rapidly approaching, i couldn't attend, but wanted to be included next month. no response. now i've emailed with this woman on several occassions so i know that it wasn't the right email address or that she didn't know who i was or...i think i'm getting the silent treatment - FROM MY DINNER CLUB!!!

seriously, i'm used to this happening when i go out with boys and they don't have the balls to tell me they're not interested or they met someone or there's football on or whatever, but my DINNER CLUB??? i'm hurt!

guess it's official, my chatterbox mouth is reason 8760 why i'm not allowed to leave my house. good thing big plans this weekend include recaulking my bathroom window.

little baby's growing up

this little baby is growing up so fast! today we upgraded to the new blogger so that she could accept comments from all of you even if you don't have blogger log-ins.

we might be asking for trouble here...

reflections on being alone

being alone is a great, liberating feeling right up to the point where it's not. the past few days have put me deep into thought about being alone. a little insight into what's in my head these days:

• i spent saturday morning curled up on my couch, tears running down my face, catching up on some dvr'd shows. for some reason this drama touched me a bit too much? as i was sniffling my way through two cups of coffee, i cherished my alone time b/c for once no explanation was needed for my tears.
• saturday night ended up being a girls night and i fumbled around my house at 1am not worrying about needing to be quiet or who might ask where i'd been.
• last night i came home from my third business trip in as many weeks and realized that i have not had someone (other than my mother) pick me up at the airport since 2003. suddenly lonliness snaked it's way inside and a bit of reality set in. while i love that no one ever asks when i come or go, no one ever knows when i come or go. no one was happy i was home, most people didn't even know i was gone...
• so, i spent last night curled up in a blanket, lights out, candles lit listening to my music while reflecting. for a melancholy night, i was definitely glad that no one asked what on earth i was listening to.
• today i woke up on the absolute worst side of the bed - perhaps a result of excess time in my own noggin. it would've been nice to have someone to tell.

#####

in other news...the other night after several hours of good conversation a man brushed some hair out of my face in conjunction with our parting hug. this seemingly innocent gesture was somehow surprisingly intimate so much so that i'm still thinking about it days later.

airport notes

i'm sitting in the portland airport eating the most over priced nasty airport salad - i know it's my meal for the evening, i don't get to my destination until late, so i'll eat every bite of it and try to pick out the really nasty parts.

i'm traveling again. gone today, back tomorrow, gone again in a few days. thank goodness i sort of kicked the cold so at least my head won't explode in flight - that would be gross!

at least i'm going somewhere warm and sunny (although i didn't really pack for warm and sunny knowing i will be inside a lot and coming back to pdx very quickly). the weather's still awful here (supposed to snow more tonight) and when i called for a cab to bring me to the airport they said it could be any time between 20 minutes and 2 hours - other cab companies i called didn't even answer. thankfully the cab arrived just shy of 20 mins. later and i was saved the chore of driving myself to the airport in this weather.

i'm wearing pink. i like pink. i put this sweater on (that i never wear b/c i think it's quite boxy) just for this trip. it's enjoying it's adventure, i'm sure.

that's all i've got - just some ramblings. i've been spending time this week using my real words to compose emails of actual substance and prepare for meetings to come. so tonight...ramble on.

snow day

it might be raining in baltimore, but today it's snowing in portland. i've been in my office 1.5 days since the new year - between travel and sick and holidays and snow the working from the office has been minimal.

i woke up this morning to inches on my porch railing and the news that it was best to work from home if you could. people are cross country skiing on the sidewalks and cars are sliding everywhere - kids sledding, people bundled up walking their dogs and everyone stopping in at the local coffee shop for a cuppa. snow makes everything better, it cleans the soul and the streets. people are friendlier (an unexpected day away from work/school can make almost anyone charming), and there's a sense of community that never exists in the cities. it's not as much like this in co, but in the nw where we don't get snow often, it brings us together and makes the experience that much more special. that's today for me. cozied with a cup of coffee and the stereo rocking out and working - it's a great day. i want to make snow angels and walk hand in mittened hand with someone.

it's cold. it's beautiful. it's tuesday.

the neighborhood in snow...

goodbyes make me crazy

tonight i said goodbye to a dear friend and ex-luvah who's off on quite a grand adventure (to tokyo).

i once went on a grand adventure with him - he's why i came to portland; the adventure being the possibility of a life together. obviously, that adventure didn't go so well.

the thing is...i'm terrible at goodbyes - i always cry and the tears rolled down my face as i said goodbye to this good friend off to experience new things. part of me is jealous b/c i'm staying here in portland, committed to whatever life i have here right now. and also a bit jealous b/c he's off doing something fun and new while i continue deal with mortgages and mold; it'd be easier if i could hide in the suitcase, just for the adventure.

at any rate, here's to KP! happy travels...

Vegas Recap

i'm back from Las Vegas and officially lifting the silence curtain that has hidden the blog for the last week. overall, it was a good trip both work and otherwise. i came home with a cold that has settled in my chest and i sound bee-yoo-ti-ful today.

so...for your friday, thought i'd leave you with my top 5 things learned in vegas (relating neither to work nor vegas itself):

1. it feels pretty darn good to ask for what you want, even if the outcome isn't quite what you were hoping for.

2. sometimes getting too drunk can result in a good thing.

3. sending out a buzzed email is a safe way of flirting.

4. a stuffed bleu cheese olive dirty martini a day really does keep the doctor away (although somehow this doesn't really explain why i am sick now)

5. sometimes you just need a great big bear hug from an old friend.

happy friday my dears - i have a long weeked and am going to try to get my voice back up into the female octave.

vegas, baby

i'm in las vegas for a week - have already been here for a couple days and prior to today had nothing to report other than the fact that my laptop bag had given me a giant raspberry on my neck while standing in the 45 min. taxi line at the airport. that, and the fact that i helped accidentally push a colleagues card (that fell out of her billfold) under a machine never to be found again. in other words my work focus is helping me to behave myself in vegas.

i don't ever talk about anything real on this site and i probably never will - i spend far too much time protecting the innocent as they don't deserve the points where their lives collide with mine, aired in this public forum. i don't talk about the way things make me feel or what i really think (unless it's a good funny story, usually involving something ridiculous i've done). i won't now either.

and not to turn this into the lamest cliffhanger of all time, my dear readers, but i'm going to step back from this for a few days. i'm going to write in my real journal, the one where i do talk about the real stuff. i met up with a friend in vegas last night and the encounter left me with a lot of things to think about and work through. even though all i want to do is work through it here, it's not the right thing to do so i'm going to sign-off from here until i return to portland and am able to share the same old silly megan stories.

that's where i'll be, in my head.

but if you need a good laugh picture this: i caught my heel on some tile in the Paris hotel today and did a face plant in the middle of the casino - my backpack nearly knocked me out and the colleague i was walking with thought i was joking around b/c of something she said. only i, would really actually fall. here's another bruise for the bruise collection.

2007 kick-off

hello, hello, hello….and welcome to aught seven. here’s the update that you, my faithful readers, have been waiting for. please note: this post is about eleventeen hundred words long so you have that to look forward to.

first off, can we talk about how thrilled i am that 2006 is over? not so much my favorite year – there were definitely some highlights – a new condo, a new (and very cool) kitty, great fashion (ha!), some good tv, trips to NY, DC, AZ, TX, CO, Germany and many, many trips to WA. overall the bads far outweighed the goods and i was more pleased than ever to remove the ’06 calendar from my wall and place the clean slate of ’07 in plain view.

before we begin on all things 2007 let’s recap where i’ve been while you’ve been thinking i was MIA. after my last post, i pretended to take some time off work to celebrate the holidays – that was really a funny joke b/c i worked pretty much full time getting ready for the event whose plane ride has provided me with ample time to give you this update. i was able to host some family members in the teeny tiny condo over the holidays – three people + one bathroom + one broken back = too small of living space. i did get a Christmas tree for the first time in 3 or 4 years and it pretty much crowded out the remainder of my living space in the condo. two days before my break i had “fudgetastrophy 2006” the moment when i decided it would be a good idea to make fudge for my co-workers and neighbors for xmas treats so…at approx. 10:30 one night i embarked on a fudge making adventure only to end up with a disaster, fudge all over the stove and kitchen floor, a never ending growing marshmallow mess and fudge that really ended up being like ganache.

for 2007 one of my goals is to re-focus on my love of cooking and all things fancy food. i started on it a bit early as you might remember from this post, but decided to take it a bit further on xmas day. i made my holiday guests a delicious-o meal (if i do say so myself) of home infused pomegranate vodka martinis, garlic mashed potatoes, seared flank steak with a red wine, mushroom and bleu cheese reduction and my fabulous green beans. for dessert we stuffed ourselves with pears in red wine sauce and vanilla ice cream followed by kahlua in our coffee and homemade bailey’s courtesy of rosie – yum! in this new year, my hope is to encourage all those around me to enjoy at least one link-made meal per quarter. i hope some of you can make it.

just two hours after my xmas houseguests were dropped off at the airport, i got a call from a couple seattle friends looking for a place to stay so T and a new friend T swung by and picked me up for drinks and fun in the neighborhood.

reality check: i officially think this post now sounds like a year-in-review xmas letter and since i don’t believe in these things and would never send one i guess you can say that it’s seeped in and appeared on my blog.

i brought the new year in with an unexpected bang this year (wherin i may have unexpectedly kissed a boy - but we won't discuss this here). T & T were still in town and another friend K had arrived from Sacramento. Our friend G had a fun little soiree at her house and T, T & i ended up becoming the official party. my legs hurt for the first three days of the new year. (i guess that’s what you get for waving your ass in the air for approx. eleventeen hours on the NYE). i’m hoping to receive some pictures from the evening and may post here. apparently, i spent a good hunk of the early hours of jan. 1 doing something on the floor and i KNOW my famous patented dance move came out more than once – oh dear! gueessing these folks won’t be having me to any of their parties in 2007.

i’ve spent this week frantically preparing for this trip and knowing i was immediately going to go MIA again. i have at least one major work trip planned for every month in the first half of this year (so overall i guess it’s good y’all don’t know where i live in case you’d gotten some crazy stalker symptoms).

2007 already has a mantra – open and optimistic. i’m hoping to really embrace this in regards to oh-so-many things so when my negative nancy rears her ugly head remind me, okay?

i’m also hoping some of you out-o-towner punks will make it to the great pdx this year – would love to see your cute faces in my area.

2007 also brings the promise to share many funny stories in the form of frequent updates on this blog – you can expect that even with the open and optimistic I’ll still manage to make a fool of myself, quite possibly more than usual.

so readers, welcome to the aught seven – hope your holidays and new years were fruitful and that you’ll remain loyal to my shameless ramblings on the old “no kool-aid here.”

the big post

is forthcoming, i promise.

i'm headed out on a plane for another biz trip tomorrow and plan to use plane time to compose the massive post that you're looking for.

i know i disappeared for a couple weeks here...i've been many, many feet under water with work (mostly) and holidays and company and new years and all of it. there's much to share....wait for it. :)