They liked him

It seems like so much has happened since I last blogged. It’s kind of scary but I think I’m starting to fall in love already. I know it seems soon and kind of sudden, but the signs are there. I’m happy almost all of the time. I stop and listen to the birds when jog in the mornings. I have started jogging in the morning, actually we jog in the morning. Food tastes better and everything seems brighter. While I realize some might call it infatuation being a romantic at heart I like to think it’s the start of falling in love.

My friends got a chance to meet my guy and everyone actually got along. It was almost like the first day of school and show & tell rolled into one you know that excited, nervous feeling of can’t wait. He told a few really corny jokes which made me want to cringe, but he was charming and they liked him.

He got along well with my guy friends and they had fun talking about sports, I tuned out of that conversation… I can tell you who a few well-known athletes are and my local teams, but rules and stats, forget it. Amelie and Jilly mentioned that they liked how comfortable and relaxed he was, which makes for a good balance since I have a ton of energy and like to stay busy.

Since then we’ve all hung out a few more times and I met his friends which was also a bit scary, he took me cosmic bowling with his friends. They were so cool, they cracked a few jokes, told me some old stories and didn’t make fun of my horrible bowling skills. I have fun bowling but I really suck at it, true story I’m so bad I’ve gotten a gutter ball on the first frame using bumpers.

Would you believe his friends and my friends have hung out as well. We all went ice skating the other day to beat the heat. Yes Florida has indoor ice skating rinks, we even have a hockey team.

Everyone got along, my friends and his friends all acted like a bunch of little kids on the rink, but what makes it funny is that the little kids around us were better than we were. We were falling while the kids were skating circles and zipping by us.

While we all had a good time what’s nice is that we’re both doing a good job of balancing and blending, we spend a lot of time hanging out together but I still have time for my friends and he has time for his. I love spending time with him, but I don’t want to lose my friends in the process. I don’t want to jinx it by saying perfect but…

On separate note my latest fortunes have been repeats but I still have the gum… I hope I don’t regret my current hair style.

Will definitely keep you informed of any new developments, but for now I’m enjoying the fact that life is good.

Go,go gadget go

Well my latest fortune didn’t really give me any advice but it did give me something to reflect on…. “you are a bundle of energy, always on the go”.

Am I really always on the go and is that healthy? There’s always something to do work, eat, and play. There are 24 hours in a day, 8.5 are spent at work, and I confess to getting 7.5 hours of sleep at night, that leaves me with 8 hours of free time. Somehow I don’t feel like I have that much free time, 2.5 hours to eat and 1 hour to get ready in the mornings still leaves me with 4.5 hours. Hanging out with Jilly, Amelie, Sam or any other friends at night I’m left with 1.5 hours roughly. Somewhere in that 1.5 hour span of time I can commute to all of these places and write a blog, but no where in there does it include time to meditate. Thank god for weekends.

Last night to kick off the weekend I hung out with my coworkers at a karaoke bar close to work. On the one hand I work with a nice enough group of people to hang out with after work, but on the other, not a single one got up and sung karaoke with me. Mike, one of my coworkers claimed that he did not have enough drinks in him yet and a few others said that they couldn’t sing. Isn’t that the whole point of karaoke, to get up and sing regardless of whether you can or not?

In my experience the bad singers who are having fun with it are more enjoyable than the good ones who get really serious. I’m also biased because I’m a very bad singer but I do sound great in my car and the shower. Still I think everyone had a great time, and hopefully not all at my expense. I just wish at least one of the people my group had gotten up to sing. I probably should have invited Jilly out, I know she would have sung and the guys would have hit on her.

The point of me mentioning the karaoke is, well am I really at the right job with the right people? I spend a majority of time at a job that uses no creativity with people who don’t have the chutzpah to get up and sing. Being on the go constantly, am I spending my time wisely? I know I said it before but, thank god for weekends. Maybe I’ll go to the beach by myself and reflect today but before I do just have to share one last picture with you…

It’s all original color and completely untouched, sorry if it offends any non-gator fans. Gotta love Florida.

Rain, rain go away…

 

 

I hate to say that I’m a fair weather friend, but honestly there are times that I just want to stay in because it’s raining. Before anyone tries to pass judgement keep in mind I live in Florida where rain is usually accompanied by thunder and it’s slightly more dangerous friend, lightning.

While Florida is not the lightning capital of the world, Rwanda has that distinction, Florida is considering to be the lightning capital of America. My state doesn’t lead the list of per capita deaths by lightning strikes, last time I checked New Mexico topped that list. We rank somewhere around fifth, but still a lot of people die from that and I hope not to be one of them.

No going to yoga because of the long walk from Amelie‘s apartment to the clubhouse. Also not in the mood for ladies night at the cowboy place, since the floor would already be muddy even before most people have a chance to spill their drinks on it. So that means I’m staying in, either a good book or a video.

Times like these I miss having someone to cuddle up with on the couch and watch a movie. Of course I’m sure that my muffin top doesn’t need the popcorn and soda that would surely compliment the movie, it would still be nice. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a boyfriend though, I decided to give myself a break after my last relationship failure.

My friend Sam met his girlfriend through one of those online sites and Jilly has always gone out on dates from there, up until recently. I think that she met her boyfriend no one of those sites but I can’t remember, I’ll have to ask her. Maybe since I’m stuck in tonight I’ll try my hand at online dating. I hope I can find someone with a nice smile, who will like my smile.

 

Found the fountain of youth

 

 

One of my fortunes over the weekend read, “Adventure can be a real happiness”. So my neighbor, Jilly and I decided to visit the Dali museum in St. Petersburg. I had not been able to go to it since they opened the new one and going on a mini road trip with Jilly sounded like fun.

We packed our beach bags and hopped on I275 with the tourist and the snow-birds to enjoy a day at the museum and then a stop over at the beach. The good thing about living in Florida is that just because it’s raining where you live, that doesn’t mean it’ll be raining where you end up at. The bad thing about living in Florida is the vast amount of people on the freeways that don’t know how to drive. I say this since it was raining when we left home and we almost didn’t make it there because of horrible traffic and people who forgot basic driving rules.

The Dali museum was beautiful and strange at the same time. There was a flowing mixture of glass that seemed to swirl out while the concrete form seemed to be a perfect square. To get into the museum you walk past what almost appears to be coral fountains and thru the gift shop. From there you ascend a spiral stair case where the art work is housed into separate wings.

I’ve never been an art critic and can’t really stomach the idea of art history classes, I look at a piece of art and just want pretty, but walking through that museum really makes you think he was brilliant and crazy at the same time. Jilly is the one who paints and she was in heaven, she kept talking about brush strokes and use of colors, blending and techniques. I just had fun looking at the creations of someone who was probably a bit crazy. They didn’t let you take pictures in the galleries so I have none of those to post, but there was a really cool bench outside.

Also on the way out we found this, the fountain of youth

After that a stop off at a wonderful Gelato spot, Paciugo. If you are ever in the area it’s worth a trip, I love ice cream but this was so much better. From there it was onto the beach at Fort Desoto, which is hands down one of my favorite beaches in this state, it’s not too crowded and the water is usually perfect. If Ami had come with us, she would have made us go to Clearwater so that she could find some guys to flirt with and a few places for cocktails, but Jilly just wanted a little R&R. So we had gentle waves, hot sun and soft sandy beaches. It ended up being the perfect little adventure.

 

Everything that irritates us about others can les us to understanding about ourselves.

So in keeping with my fortune cookie theme I’ve decided to look at all of the little behaviors that have been irritating me lately and see if I can overcome them and see the bright side of things.

My sister and her constant meddling makes me crazy, because she trying to replace my deceased parents. My parents had me later in life and both passed away, I think that’s she feels responsible for me and my brothers since she’s the oldest and she worries.

Amelie seems to need constant attention from her friends now, she won’t just sit down and deal with what’s going on.

My older brother Marc seems to think that I’m wasted my life and constantly feels the need to criticize everything that I do. He makes me feel like an irresponsible child instead of a growing adult, who’s still learning.

His twin, my brother, Jason is the one that only calls family when he needs something.

I find most of my coworkers to be lazy and unwilling to do our jobs, which none of us really likes, but that we’re all getting paid for.

Jillie has a free spirit that annoys me as much as I love it, in fact it’s one of her best qualities.

The same can be said about all of the aforementioned, I like to think that my family loves me and my sister’s meddling and my brother’s critiquing are done because they care. I love them and if Jason proves anything it’s that you help out the people you care for in the best way you know how.Both Jason and Amelie teach me that everyone heals in their own way. My coworkers always remind me of what not to do on the job, and are inspiring me to find a new job.

So while I’m sure that there are a lot more things about family, friends, and coworkers that irritate me, I take this fortune to remind me not to judge others so harshly and to remember that we’re all human. Also, to point out all of the qualities that irritate me, would make me feel judgmental, thereby making me irritated with myself. So this fortune also reminds me that we all see things differently and that there are two sides to everything.

Pleasant, talented, attractive personalities will cross your life & spark your imagination

For two days in a row I’ve woken up to sore, tired, achy muscles, and once again Amelie is at fault. Yes, I realize that I am an adult capable of making my own decisions and thus responsible for my own actions, but I also know that I wouldn’t have gone out drinking wine last night had she not invited me. Anyway, Amelie said she really wanted to go, so I agreed and invited my neighbor Jilly who brought a friend of hers Isabel, some wine, some socializing, some girl talk…

It started out innocently enough, we girls were going to a wine your week down happy hour at one of those trendy bar restaurants which turns into a club where they have wine flights, and samples of different tapas and various hors d’oeuvre.

Some people were leaving just as we got there so we were lucky enough to get a table, because that place was crowded with all types of people. As soon as we sat down Isabel was flirting with our waiter, Jilly saw some guys that she knew, so they stopped over and Amelie had fun flirting with them, while yours truly was completely tongue-tied. I’m learning how to speak up more, but it’s hard to overcome being shy sometimes, unless someone fills you with liquid courage.

One or two drinks is fine for me, but more than that and I’m drunk, I’m definitely a light weight. My friend Sam always said they are basically six types of drunks, the happy drunk, the angry drunk, the sad drunk, horny drunk, quiet drunk, and talkative drunk. I’m a happy talkative drunk, normally I quiet unless I’m around friends which makes sense since I’m shy.

From what I understand I was quite talkative last night, normally people with business cards intimidate me a bit but somehow I managed to meet a lot of new people as you can see. I was told somewhere in my pile of business cards there was a children’s book editor that I told my dream of writing children’s books too. Also somewhere in my stack was a very cute guy from Norway, but my memory of that is still a bit fuzzy.

So I’m still living up to my living by fortune cookies only I wish my body didn’t ache so much today. Thankfully I do have a massage schedule for tomorrow, can’t wait to see how that goes. Hopefully I can relax enough to enjoy it.