It is all a Blur

On Thursday afternoon, about one o'clock one of my VP's asked me to lunch. This is the first time he and I have been able to make this happen so there was no way I wasn't going to go. I work ALOT of hours, I rarely step away from my desk so I figure I deserve a nice lunch out. Besides, he was paying.

We went down the street to Momo's. We walk in, they greet my VP and he leads me to the bar. The bartender introduces himself to me while grabbing a beer for my VP who dines there quite frequently and is known by name. Then he orders me a beer as well. Anyone who knows me knows that I rarely drink, and never during the day because it makes me sleepy, but I think what the hell, one won't hurt me. Suffice to say, one lead to three and VP and I are getting a little hammered. After we eat (yummy chicken and pear salads) VP decides that we are blowing the rest of the afternoon off. I think he is joking but he isn't. He makes some calls up to the office and drags me over to Kingfish for drinks. Slowly others from work join us. It is around 3 pm now and I am a little tipsy.

I decide beer is out and order myself a Mojito. Mojito's are yummy, refreshing, light and dangerous. As I am swilling down my first my VP decides to make a game of it. He and I are going head to head, drink for drink till one of us calls it quits. Around my third Mojito (or my sixth drink) I am starting to feel like I may lose this one, but alas, I get a second wind when my Admin shows up to join me.

The conversations are getting a little crazy. We are loud and crass and having a blast. We are laughing and carrying on when my BF comes in. I can tell by his grin I might be in a little trouble for disappearing from work, but he sees I am having a grand time and reminds me that we are leaving by 5:30. Ah ha - that gives me another hour to put the VP down. At this point we are on drink number eight and I can see that I am actually doing ok while VP looks a little worse for the wear.

Stories are being told; my co-workers are enjoying the fact that HR is out with them, behaving like a dope and letting her hair down. Not that I am uptight at work, just a little more professional and guarded than most have to be, mainly because I help manage all the ER cases and that means I have to be good most of the time. So even though we are all on the clock, we are telling it like it is and not worrying a damn about the repercussions. Basically bad kids out to have a good time.

Drink number nine arrives and I start slugging it down when I look over at VP and drink number eight is only half-way done. He smiles at me and throws in the towel. I triumphantly down that puppy and do a little victory dance. I am the champion!

VP heads up to the office to get ready to go home and as I am walking out the bartender asks who is paying the bill. Initially we were throwing cash down (there are about 6 or 7 people there) but somewhere along the way they started a tab. She hands me the bill - $150. Hmmm, ok well I ain't paying it, I won. Considering the amount of drinks we all had, this is cheap but I am still not paying it.

Cool thing, one of my new managers takes care of the tab. A gentleman indeed. The next day we all kick down a little cash and settle the score.

As I walk around the office I notice all my cohorts in crime. We are all a little green. We are all shushing others for "talking too loud". We are all shoveling fat and salt in our gullets as quickly as we can. Others in the office stop in the kitchen and can tell who was out with us the day before by what concoction they are munching on. "Ah, HR got you too?" And a slight nod (because it hurts too much to do otherwise) is all they need to know that you don't mess with the queen of the Mojito's.

A Note to my BF

You owe me nothing for giving the love that I give

You owe me nothing for caring the way that I have

I give you thanks for receiving it's my privilege

And you owe me nothing in return

Everything is Everything

I had a very strange evening last night. We left the office early. Went and dropped the bike off for its first service and then I went to movie night with the girls. We had a quick dinner then went to see Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Let me just say that the movie was AWFUL. I mean I was so ready to walk out. What a waste of my time and money. Not even the loveliness of Brad and Angelina made it worth sitting through.

After the movie I went home and decided to check the email accounts I always forget about. So I checked my gmail. I had about a dozen or so messages, mostly Yafro notices, but down on the bottom was a notice from Classmates.com. Now I don’t remember signing up with them but I must have at some point because there was the email telling me it was my last chance to review a message from Ben G. Ben was a kid I graduated high school with in 1987. I am pretty sure I haven’t seen him since. I really liked Ben; he was (and I assume still is) smart, funny, talented and a genuinely good person. So I was thrilled to have an email waiting from him.

It was brief but sweet. It lead me to his website. That lead me to his pictures. And there were pic after pic of Ben just like I remember him. He looks the SAME. It was almost creepy. His great big smile in every shot. There were pics of him getting married! Pics in London and Paris. Pics of his bowling team. And then a picture of him with Shem and Anna. The title took me a minute to register. Shem T., R.I.P. I sat with that a minute. Shem had been in high school with Ben and me. He was a dear friend to Ben and someone I really admired. He was beautiful, sweet, and smart. Everyone loved Shem. I didn’t quite believe or understand what I was reading. Then I went to the next photo:


------------------Photo by Ben G.------------------------

I just sat there in shock. I realize I am getting this information ten years after the fact but still it broke my heart. I did a Google search next:

http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/20963/edition_id/431/format/html/displaystory.html

This is a wonderful article about Shem’s life. I was pleased to have learned a little more about what he did with his life before he passed away. Shem was just as I remembered him, a man who left a lasting impression on everyone he touched. That fucking rules.

Me

PS Ben if you are reading this, email me!

911

My mom and I watched Fahrenheit last night. This is a truly fascinating piece of work by Michael Moore. Many people are not comfortable with the way that Michael presents material but I am always impressed with how deeply he researches any subject he is interested in.

Now granted, Michael is anti-Bush to the nth degree. But then again, so am I. However, even if you believe in Bush and his politics I think this film will at least make you question what has happened in this country for the last five years. I was taken aback at how convoluted and deceitful the Bush history is. The money involved, the players, the lies.

Be warned friends, if you are squeamish or have a hard time seeing children die, this film may be too difficult for you to watch. The reality is in the film though, and I thought the least I could do was watch it without covering my eyes.

Sunday Kinda Love

What an amazing day we had. Woke up super late due to the fact that I had a poor nights sleep. D and I decided that since it was so lovely out we would go for a long ride to Petaluma. We rode down Lucas Valley road the 20 miles or so to reach downtown Petaluma.

The ride there was gorgeous. Serene and comfortable. We stopped once to look at one of the most lovely vineyards along the way. After that it was a straight shot to downtown and a leisurely lunch at McNears. I had a great big Shrimp Cobb Salad. D had a HUGE Fish & Chips.

While we sat there I turned to the couple next to us to ask them a question and one of the women started chatting with us about motorcycles (our helmets were on the table). Turns out one of the woman is a local comedian by the name of Heather Gold. Her GF, Stacy performs with a 60's Go-Go troupe called The Devilettes. Both women were awesome and D and I are going to be sure to catch both of their shows this month.

Then it was time to head back. We took the back roads again and kinda snuggled all the way home. Every now and then D would shortstop so my boobs would press against his back. That's the kind of big kid he is.

Once we got home we changed into workout clothes and headed to our gym. This is the first time I have done a full on cardio workout with D and it was cool. We did 30 minutes on the bikes and then 30 minutes on the treadmill. It is nice to look over and see my man sweating it out with me. I will aim for four nights a week, maybe more if D can drag me there.

When we got home mom had cooked a super yummy turkey meatloaf and made a huge salad. We ate light, since both of us were still full from lunch, and just hung out with mom for a bit.

Finally D and I climbed into my bed to watch a movie and just be close. An older Sci-Fi called Brainstorm. I can't even tell you what the movie was about, I was so tired and so content just being cuddled that I was mostly asleep during it. Made for the perfect ending to a perfect day.


Kisses

I Feel the Need for a Shower

My lovely BF insists on calling me his GF Unit; or, now his PGF Unit (Pretty Girlfriend Unit). To my BF, this is a wonderful, albeit, geeky nickname. OK, now I don’t know about you, but to me, a Unit isn’t cute. It is:

* An individual, group, structure, or other entity regarded as an elementary structural or functional constituent of a whole.

* A group regarded as a distinct entity within a larger group.

* Male genitalia.

Am I wrong here? Does it not feel dirty to you? A pretty penis, yep, that’s me.

On to other news. I finished cleaning up my Dell DJ. It has SO MANY wonderful songs on it. 2,158 to be exact. Songs from when I was a teen, songs that make me dance around work and have co-workers giggling in my wake (what do they know anyway!) It makes working away the hours so easy, singing along, wiggling in my chair. OK, maybe being laughed at is appropriate.

So on Sunday my lovely sister will have 20 years of sobriety. TWENTY. That is amazing. She is amazing.

Kisses

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYN!

First off, and more important than anything else I have to say...HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY LYN!!



You rock girl! Wish I could be there to celebrate with you.

It is raining in SF. Makes me sad, no riding in this morning on the back of my man's bike. I enjoy the rides so much, it is freeing. He is also a pain in the ass when he can't ride! All cranky and shit. OK, not really, but I do so like making fun of him.

D is finally filing visitation paperwork for his daughter. His ex has had way too much control over him and his family when it comes to spending time with his daughter. It is obscene how she behaves. Bribes were not unheard of (always at her prompting that she "needed" something in exchange.) Begging, pleading, threats from her; it has been nightmarish. Thanks to my friends and family this will no longer be an issue. His daughter will be free to visit her dad as the courts see fit. I am sure that there will be challenges, but that is what the police are for. Being in contempt sucks from what I have heard.

I feel compelled to push a writer I adore. Christopher Moore. The man is a comic genius. I have read every book he has ever written, of which there are not enough! He has made me laugh out loud more times than I can count.

My all time favorite book of his is:



I have read this book twice now, and it is a work of art. Not one page went by that I did not fall more and more in love with this mans style and technique. Do yourself a favor and pick this book up. Pass it on to everyone you know, they will love it.

Kisses