So there I was.

I had three days off in a row this past week and I have been itching to see my friends Danielle's new baby. And I have been dying to see my bff from high school, Kristy, and her cute family. And I have been in a strange funk lately. I figured it would be great to get out in the car with just me the road and my ipod and just think a few things out --road trip therapy. To let myself think about the boys and the friends and the job and the location, and just spend some quality me time. So I decided to take a spur of the moment random road trip. Kristy and Danielle knew that I was coming, but my family did not, I thought it would be fun to surprise them by just showing up. So I leave at 0330 on Thursday morning --12 hours without sleep, planning on getting to Kristy's house at about 1300. About 100 miles into the drive, there is this most random scenic outlook post. Every time I pass it I wonder what on earth there is to scenically view, there is nothing for miles around and it's pretty flat, so I figured you could get the same effect from looking out your windows as you drive. Well, this time, since I was being random and spontaneous anyways, I decided to follow the exit and see what was up there. It actually was really pretty, especially since the sun was just coming up.

BUT, as I was slowing down and turning off on the exit to go to this new scenic outlook spot, my car made a noise reminiscent of chewbbacca in the star wars movies. It was an awful grinding sound, but it was only there when I turned my wheel slightly to the left. Since it went away when I straightened out the wheel and was not there when I turned right, I figured it would be fine until I finished the remaining 600 miles. I mean, how often to you veer left while on the freeway, and besides, but check engine light wasn't on, my gas mileage was the same, and my breaks appeared in perfect working order. So I turned up the volume on the stereo and continued singing at the top of my lungs to the music. BonJovi, Kenny, and lots of good random mixes. The sound continues when I try to turn the wheel left, but everything else is wonderful. I felt instantly rejuvenated by all the clean country air and wide open spaces. And there were SO many baby cows along the way! I said hi to all of them. I am by no means a country farm girl and have never even been to the south, but I decided listening to Rodney Adkins, 'What I Love About the South' and 'These are my People' was in order. Good times.

Fast forward the rest of the morning, and into the afternoon. I pull up in front of Kristy's house and she and her two darling boys are sitting in the front yard 'watering' the plants. Kristy is actually watering, the boys are enjoying playing with the wilting flowers she had pruned out. Hugs and kisses out of the way, we sit and chat on the front yard, and got caught up like old times. This to me is the test of a true friendship. We have been friends forever, but haven't lived in the same state for years, or seen each other in ages, and every time we talk on the phone or see each other it is like no time has passed at all. There is never an awkward moment where you have to wonder how to fill the silence. So we chatted, and we ran to the fabric store so she could get new fabric for AMAZING bags and accessories that she makes... you must check them out ...go here now! Do it!! We also stop by this most amazing grocery store with aisles and aisles of the bulk bins that you thought were so magical when you were little. Turns out, they're still pretty entertaining! They have EVERYTHING in these bins!

When we were done Brady was getting off work and we all went for a picnic at the falls by their house. Pics to be posted later. We really just had an entire fabulous day of chatting and playing and making mint covered oreos... and chatting some more. I woke up and left after a yummy breakfast of muffins made from the bin mix from the grocery store ...SO good!! The nose continued in my car, but I was only 2 hours from my parents house now, so I figured it could totally wait till then. So I get to my parents house, walk in, and the surprise was priceless. Hugs and kisses out of the way, I tell my mom that I need to take Nellie (my car) to the shop down the way from our house. She follows me, I explain to the man behind the desk what was going on, and we leave. We're sitting home waiting for Cody and Chelsea to come over so we can all go to lunch, and the mechanic calls. The conversation goes something like this:

Mechanic: "So we have your car here, and the ball joint is completely shredded from one side of your car. It will take x-amount of dollars for parts and labor."

Me: "Sounds great. And it can be done today? I'm leaving early in the morning."

Mechanic: "Yeah, that will be no problem. I took it out for a drive for a couple minutes, heard the noise, and was scared that I wasn't going to make it back to the shop!"

Me: "Yeah, so it's probably not great that I drove it 700 miles from Seattle?"

Mechanic: "LIKE THAT???!!!!" *I can just see the look on his face here ...it will mirror the one on my dad's face when I tell him. Not looking forward to that* "It's a wonder you made it all that way like that. We'll get it fixed."

Me: "Thank you!"

So my family thinks I'm funny --albeit slightly retarded for actually driving my car like that, but they were really just glad to see me. We go shopping and I have dinner with Danielle and meet her beautiful new baby boy and her boyfriend. Company was fabulous, food ...not so much. I get home and repeat the same surprise scene with my dad, and then my mom tells me that when she and my sister picked Nellie up form the shop, she was making an awful squealing noise. This is not good. I have to leave at 0330 to make it back in time for a short nap before working the next day. My dad and I take it for a drive to check it out, and my dad informs me that I CANNOT drive my car with the awful squealing that is taking place on the tire that they fixed the ball joint on. Long story slightly shorter, my random road trip to surprise my family resulted in me flying home today, and my dad and sister taking a random road trip of their own to return my fixed car to me on Monday. They will stay at my apt Monday night, and leave the car at the airport when they fly home on Tuesday. This way, the car will be there for me when I fly back from Disneyland on Wednesday. Wow. Good times right?! I think I'm going to need a new car before I decide to take many more random spur of the moment road trips. For now though, I'm off to work, where hopefully someone will have a miraculous idea on how to pop my left ear that I was sure was going to explode when we started the descent into Seattle.

Meh...

I'm still alive :) I just haven't felt much like blogging lately. I'm heading on a super short (timewise) and super long (mile wise) road trip this weekend to visit a couple friends and their new babies ...maybe I'll feel like blogging later.

I'm not ready

So tonight I said goodnight, and we'll see you soon to my blind date from 7 days ago. I'm not quite at the point where I can tell you about it without a bunch of blubbering girl emotion with lots of tears behind it, so give me a while --maybe next week. The date went well, and we hung out pretty much all the time that I was not working or that we weren't sleeping since then. I liked him, we had a good time, I learned a lot, and I am a better person for knowing him and he flies 3000 miles away in 5 hours. Such is my life :)

...So...

The date went well. Really well. I'll write more later --perhaps after rounds two and three on Monday and Tuesday. Next Friday is gonna suck!

A different take...

So here I am. I'm sitting home wasting time online, captivated by the TV show Gangland on the History Channel. Have you ever watched it? Fascinating! Anyway, I'm trying to keep my mind off my blind date tomorrow. I need to try harder because my attempts thus far are failing miserably.

I've actually never been set up on a blind date before in my entire 26 years of existence. I have never complained about that fact, I have really been ambivalent about the whole situation. On the one hand, everyone has an awful blind date story, and I didn't feel a need to have one of my own. On the completely opposite end of the possibility spectrum, several of my friends have met their spouses when they were set up on blind dates.

I am still ambivalent about the fact that it's a blind date. And really, I don't think of it as a blind date since we've talked via facebook and myspace for the last month. One of the nurses I work with is setting me up with her married daughter's ex-boyfriend who's coming in to town this weekend from Boston. This will surprise many of you. First of all, I'm going out with someone older than me. Second of all, he's white. Third of all, he's from Boston. Some of you are now wondering why this is weird. Well, I tend to gravitate to younger men, I am very much a tall dark and handsome (dark as in ...well dark) person, and --well if I need to explain the Boston thing, you don't know me well enough to be reading my blog :) If this applies to any of you out there, I'm glad you're reading, but I'm not going to waste my time explaining. You'll have to figure it out for yourself.

So, here's the thing. I'm nervous. Not that it will be awkward, or that it will be weird, or that it won't work out. Rather, I'm nervous that it will work out. This is the over-analytical girl part of me that will analyze every possible situation before it could ever presents itself. So here's my preemptive disclaimer: I realize that this is a first date with someone who lives on the other end of the country that in all likelihood, I will never see again. I know.

But I'm moving on. And I'm nervous to move on. For the first time since my last relationship, I'm actually excited to be meeting and going out with someone new. And I'm nervous that I'm excited. In a weird twisted way, I don't want it to work out. I won't be able to handle going through that again if it works for a while and then ends. Thinking about delving into another relationship and the possibilities that that entails is exhausting, and I just don't think I'm there yet. So I'll go tomorrow and try my hardest to act like a normal person, and I'm sure once I'm there it will be fine.

I'm not sure what the point of this post is, but I needed to vent for a minute. My best friend here is my last relationship. While we're still best friends, I don't think he's my best option to talk it out with. My best girl-friend here is at work and not the biggest fan of my the just-mentioned friend, so I can give myself the speech she would give me, but I still can't talk to her about it until she's off in the morning. And Daniellita's phone is off ...I'm hoping for her sake that she's not having her baby :) So I vented to all of you online. Posting about my first blind date experience to come later ...for better or for worse :)

I want one!

An Australlian of my very own! Without violating too many HIPPA laws, 37 yo single male with gorgeous dark complexion and brown messy sexy hair of just the perfect length, a propensity for bmx bike stunting and racing, and the good fortune (okay, my good fortune, for him I'm sure it sucked) to crash while performing said stunts. He ended every conversation with "cheers then" in an accent that made me forget where I was going next. Clearly it was meant to be. Too bad the nurse that sent me on break discharged him without giving him my number! The nerve! Ah, well. Such is life :)