Gypsies

Rita Jean purchased some ice cream from the turnpike gypsies and now we're back on the road!

Potty Break

These are the giant windmills as seen from the rest area. The sun is shining again.

"This is the longest I've been sober around you people...and I actually like you!" (Big Tom's acceptance speach)

Monsoon Turnpike

Hydroplaning Raining and Sunshine. All Jay wants is a smokey treat.

Burger King

we made our first stop at Burger King. Here we are (except me behind the camera). we had it our way!

Memorial Day Road Trip START

there r 8 but u only see 2. We forgot 2 get a pic before we left, will take @ first pit stop. Look out Pitt the U Street\bridge & tunnelers r on the loose.

Sunday Funday Bye Bye

Randy threw a great party on Sunday for Toya. The weather was beautiful and many of our friends were there to send her off in Sunday Funday style. I even have a photograph of Anthony doing acrobatics on the roof (He's in mid air - I may have to upload that one to this post later!) We lounged around his rooftop lawn and ate delicious food. I believe many bottles of champers were consumed! We were good boys in preparation for a long week and came home before 8:30 and went immediately to bed.

This week has been socially uneventful, with the exception of Toya's departure. I've been so very busy at work that I've unfortunately missed most of the festivities.

Tomorrow begins Memorial Day Weekend Road Trip extraordinaire! There are nine of us going so it should be a blast! I'm certain there will be some mobile blogging along the way! Be very afraid. Off to work.

Isle of Capri

so we are still at Greek fest but out of smokes...Randy bummed one. A really long one. He also caused a car accident with this giant cig, but you'll have to ask me about that in person.

Greek Festival

...this is us in a few years with a bottle of wine at the local festivals.

Dam Vegas

I intended to make this post on Sunday, but didn't get around to it. Angel, Tim, and I went out to Lake Mead on Sunday afternoon and took a tour of the Hoover Dam. This was probably the highlight of the trip! We drove to the AZ side and took a bunch of pictures, then came back to the visitor's center on the NV side. We paid for the tour to go down to the generators and through the tunnels and elevators in the dam. It was awesome! I wanted to take the $39 helicopter ride over the dam, but Tim and Angel would have nothing to do with it.

Tim went home on Monday and I laid by the pool and then had a beer ($1.50) at a bar down the street from the hotel. I took a long nap until my boss got here and then had a few drinks with him. I spent all day Tuesday and this morning at the round table discussion for work and am now getting packed up to head to the airport. We had dinner last night at Envy which was a phenominal restaurant. Overall it was a great trip for work and fun, but I am anxious to get back to the office and buckle down on all of our projects. I'm also tired of losing money in the slot machines :-)

Wet Vegas

Timmy left this morning and I sunbathed (or rather sunburnt) by the pool and finished my first book for the trip and started a new one. After playing in the water for awhile, my phone came so I can mobile blog again. I just left the Blue Moon and checked into the Renaissance and am waiting for Angel to come hang out.

Angel & Kenny

We went to a few fun local bars in the afternoon while we waited for Kenny to get off work. We first tried Flex but there was only one car in the parking lot. Then we both lost $11 playing the machines at another local hangout called The Escape Lounge. It was pretty dead and everyone had their face in a machine. Our final afternoon choice was the alleged oldest gay bar in Vegas called Snicks. While the website made it look like an old man hangout, the reviews in the local rags touted it as a fun conversational bar and we needed to find people to talk to! Research! This was definitely the place. We were greeted by a drunk azz local who was ridiculous. The bartender, Nick, was great. He introduced us to a few regulars and we ended up staying there for a few hours.

The highlight of the trip was going to Angel and Kenny's house. It is a really cool 80's contemporary, which is a style that Tim and I both adore. The moment she opened the door, it was like those seven years instantly disappeared. We went to dinner and then to a little local club called Freezone. The entire evening was spent with endless stories about homes, friends, family, and all the things that happen in seven years. It is amazing how much time can go by. We both agreed to never let this happen again and I'm trying to convince her to come East for a visit! I'm looking forward to today's adventures. While Kenny has to work, his son Nick, Angel, Tim, and I are planning a trip up to some mountain with great trails and views!

With the time difference, we were exhausted around 1 and went back to the hotel. We had then been going strong for 24 hours considering how early we had to get up for the flight. We ended the evening with a relaxing sit in the hot tub for about an hour. There weren't many people in the pool area-assume they were still at the big Pride Ball event. We, on the other hand, crashed hard.

Naked in Vegas

Well...not really naked, but I left my cell phone at home so no email or phone calls and no mobile blogging. This makes me feel very naked. Thankfully Toya was able to overnight mail it to me and I will have it again by Monday afternoon. I guess I subconsiously really wanted what happens in Vegas to stay in Vegas.

We arrived this morning. Our flight was 50 minutes early. Yes, I said EARLY. We went shopping and then to the Pride festival. It was nice, but I have yet to find one that compares to Columbus or DC. We just relaxed by the pool (yummy eye candy) and now we're taking a nap before meeting Angel and Kenny at 7:30 PM PT tonight!

I am amused by the sensory overload that started in the airport. More later.

Vegas Baby

We went to Duffy's anniversary party and then stopped to see the Box at Sollys. Running on 3 hours of sleep, but made it up! Getting ready to leave for the Sin City. Very exciting!

baby

T watching Pam's baby and I'm working from home...what an adventure we have today.

Movie Night

I had a productive trip to CA last week and got back late Friday night to crash early. Saturday I did the Gold Cup with Dave and Heather. Anthony was supposed to come along, but you know her...flight risk. I drove down alone because Timmy had to work. It rained and was quite unpleasant so we went back to Joanie/Richard's house and chilled out.

I've been working my ars off this week. Last night I had dinner at Tonic, which may be my new favorite place. Awesome bar food; tasty, and fast!

Tonight is Movie night! Gotta run and buy a card for Cat since her B-day is Friday and I might not see her this weekend. We're going West and they are going north.

Got my haircut today. Subari 'made' Andrea raise her prices to $35 so it now costs $50 for a cut and eybrow wax. My body is too expensive - perhaps I should cut off my head.

Later

Orange County Awaits

We made it back from Philly on Sunday in time for Bob Scott's 40th birthday party and then after 1 beer I curled up on the sofa and watched two weeks of Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty. Four hours of mindless escape into the tube. Last night Michael cooked out and invited us for burgers. They were delicous. I sure wish we could have a grill on our balcocny. As much as he likes to grill out, I'm not sure what he'll do if they move to a condo where grills are prohibited. I think it is a DC ordinance rather than condo policy. Apparently it is illegal to have a grill on a wooden balcony? I've not researched this so it could be myth.

I'm off to our office in CA for some problem resolution and relationship building. I'll be back on Friday night. It's a good thing we have a temporary roomy or Timmy would be bored. I have to travel in 2 weeks to an executive roundtable in NV so I'll be leaving him alone then too.

Patiently waiting at DCA for my flight.

Sunday Funday Philly Style

Actually...we're being good this morning because we have to drive home and go to Bob's 40th Birthday party this afternoon. We've left messages for both of our friends who are supposed to join us for brunch before we leave. We had an awesome time yesterday, visiting several key tourist neighborhoods. We drove through some with explanations about their significance with Merritt, parked in others and did some exploring.

Our first tourist adventure was a drive up Benjamin Franklin Parkway through the Fairmont Area. The street is lined with museums and provides a good glimpse of some cultural opportunities to explore in the city on a longer trip. I would have loved to visit the Rodin Museum. I captured a snapshot of the famous "Rocky" stairs at the art museum. The facade is under construction, but the stairs are certainly recognizable.

We Walked through Old City and did a tour of Betsy Ross' house. I mailed some postcards to Whitney and Cole. While we wanted to go through Constitution Hall, our tickets were for 4 hours later and we decided not to wait. We did a walk by of all the key historic places, but didn't go in most of them.

Merritt use to live in Society Hill so we spent alot of time walking the neighborhood and listening to stories about it. My favorite was the alley by the Countess' house where Merritt was rolled for his groceries.

We drove the full length of South Street and captured some excellent pictures. It reminds me of what the Short North in Columbus used to be. While there are still an abundant number of unique stores and destinations, the likes of Gap, Starbucks, and other mundane chains have moved in to parts of it. The conformity of America. Hate it.

As can be seen from yesterday's post, we had an authentic Cheese Steak in the Southside and also drove through Bella Vista and the Italian Market. It seems more Asian than Italian these days, but you can still feel the history of the neighborhood. One small street still had holiday lights strung across from house to house. Lots of aluminium awnings.

Fag world is along 12th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood. Our favorite pictures came from a stroll down Quince St. I can't imagine how they drive down the narrow cobblestone Streets in this city. They seem like alleys to me, but Merritt says we can't ever call them that for fear of offending the residents. We returned to this neighborhood and did all the bars in the evening.

Merritt lives in Rittenhouse Square. It is a lovely are filled with exquisite shops and magnificent Brownstones. We also saw some amazing old churches. One was quite gothic, which I love! We also found a little nasty bar called, "The Post," in an alley. Frightening!

Time to get ready for brunch at 11 with one of Timmy's old work customers and our friend Merritt.

The Continental

Dinner in Philly

fun in Philly

doing the sites with Merritt and have to dodo S Philly for a cheesesteak!

Hounddog's

fun times in cmh

what a beautiful day

for a cocktail or two!

Success!

It was a little frustrating to take the new MacBook and Airport back to the Mac store. They both worked perfectly fine. I have no idea what the issue was, but it may have had as much to do with the internet connection as it did with the system. I moved the modem into the living room so it is in the middle of the house. Perhaps there was too much interference in the bedroom with all of our gadgetry plugged into both sides of that wall.

Regardless, it seems to be working now and I have 12 more days to return it if I hate it. Time for bed - exhausted.

Excited about MacBook

So it doesn't work and I was on the phone with AppleCare for over an hour. I went to Solly's to have a cocktail to soften my frustration and ran into acquaintances who own them and swear by them. If the appointment tomorrow at the Apple store resolves these issues I think I'm gonna love it.

MacBook

I rewarded myself with a new MacBook today. It took me all evening to get the Airport Extreme router to work properly, but I finally have a fast connection! After many years of PCs, I'm going to Mac for home use. Hopefully I'll be able to integrate all my movies and pictures into some fun DVDs!

Time for bed as I'm exhausted from staying up late with taxes the last two nights.

Taxes are done!

Here they are! Ready for the post office. I worked 12 hours straight on Sunday and 7 hours straight last night to finish them. Not bad for 2005 and 2006. That's what I get for being a procrastinator. Fortunately I will be getting money back for both years. I may have to pay some penalties for late filing of the LLC, but I will accept that for my stupidity in delaying. Overall I am pleased with the return and proud of being able to accomplish filing in 3 states and 1 city for both personal and corporate returns. I knew I could do it, I was just dreading the process. Thank god for TurboTax! After manually completing the 05 corp returns, I used TurboTax for 05 personal and 06 Corp/Personal.

Tonight I will celebrate - (yes I know it is a school night.)

Poste Moderne Brasserie Review

Editors Note: When I left the Poste Restaurant, there were no managers in sight to discuss my experience. I was told by the hotel front desk that no comment cards were available and that I needed to go online if I wanted to comment. I got the names and email addresses of two restaurant managers, Thomas Hanson & William Silcot, from the website. This email was sent to both of them and I received no reply so I was compelled to post it here (backdated to the date of the original email.)

Poste Managers,

I feel obliged to tell you about our experience at the Poste on Saturday for lunch. While the food was fantastic, obtaining it (especially what we ordered) was a terrible experience. The waitress took the order and then came back to the table because she forgot the requested temperature for the steak. We saw the food being prepared and two men started to carry it in our direction. They stopped and took it back to the counter. I thought perhaps something was missing or wrong, but I had a clear view of the counter and about five minutes later, the same food was delivered to the table.

My friend ordered Truffle Frites with her steak, but obtained Pomme Frites. They promptly corrected this issue, but neither the waitress nor the people assisting her noticed that I had not received my food. Oddly enough, at a table of only four people, they apparently thought I wasn't interested in eating. After I brought it to the attention of the hostess (who brought the corrected frites) the kitchen scrambled to get my order. From the looks of the staff and the review of the order on the terminal, it was fairly clear that the waitress had not entered the order in the first place. When my Grilled Chicken Cobb salad was delivered, I was shocked to find it did not include any chicken. I was not going to wait for this to be corrected and ate it without. The salad was delicious; it wasn't what I ordered. I asked the waitress to only charge me for a side salad since that is what it appeared I had received.

Other than water, our waitress didn't ask for another drink order until all four of us had bone dry glasses. With no offer of coffee or dessert after dining, the check was quickly placed on our table. I guess she thought we were done so we went up the street for coffee.

The waitress made half hearted apologies with every error along the way, but made excuses and blamed everything on the kitchen. I would have respected her more if she admitted her part in the errors. We are all human and humans make mistakes. I was also surprised there was no apology by a manager with such a large number of issues in a single dining experience. This is not the type of service I would expect at what I perceived was a higher level of dining establishment.

Your advertising talks about your competent and capable chef. Unless you also hire competent and capable staff to support him, your restaurant will not be ready for prime time. I'm disappointed we selected the Poste restaurant to entertain out of town guests.

Poste Moderne Brasserie - Hotel Monaco

**Copy of letter to the managers at the Poste Moderne Brasserie - I clearly do not recommend it**

Managers,

I feel obliged to tell you about our experience at the Poste on Saturday for lunch. While the food was fantastic, obtaining it (especially what we ordered) was a terrible experience. The waitress took the order and then came back to the table because she forgot the requested temperature for the steak. We saw the food being prepared and two men started to carry it in our direction. They stopped and took it back to the counter. I thought perhaps something was missing or wrong, but I had a clear view of the counter and about five minutes later, the same food was delivered to the table.

My friend ordered Truffle Frites with her steak, but obtained Pomme Frites. They promptly corrected this issue, but neither the waitress nor the people assisting her noticed that I had not received my food. Oddly enough, at a table of only four people, they apparently thought I wasn't interested in eating. After I brought it to the attention of the hostess (who brought the corrected frites) the kitchen scrambled to get my order. From the looks of the staff and the review of the ordering terminal, it was fairly clear that the waitress had not entered the order in the first place. When my Grilled Chicken Cobb salad was delivered, I was shocked to find it did not include any chicken. I was not going to wait for this to be corrected and ate it without. The salad was delicious; it wasn't what I ordered. I asked the waitress to only charge me for a side salad since that is what it appeared I had received.

Other than water, our waitress didn't ask for another drink order until all four of us had bone dry glasses. With no offer of coffee or dessert after dining, the check was quickly placed on our table. I guess she thought we were done so we went up the street for coffee.

The waitress made half hearted apologies with every error along the way, but also made excuses and blamed everything on the kitchen. I would have respected her more if she took ownership of the situation and turned a negative into a positive. We are all human and humans make mistakes. I was also surprised there was no apology by a manager with such a large number of issues in a single dining experience. This is not the type of service I would expect at what I perceived was a higher level of dining establishment.

Your advertising talks about your competent and capable chef. Unless you also hire competent and capable staff to support him, your restaurant will not be ready for prime time. I'm disappointed we selected the Poste restaurant to entertain out of town guests.

interesting

A blue line train to Franconia picked us up at the U St. metro and this was on it. Didn't know lacey hoop skirts were in this season?

Drunk Kids Bowl

I actually only had 2 beers all night, but Tiff gave it a fun theme name. My scores were 70, 111, 129, and 88. I suck! We bowled too late and now I'm sleepy and have to drive home from Bethesda.

In Jail

That's the text I sent to Timmy last night! I drove to Pittsburgh yesterday to see Bill's new house and pick up the disk of pics from out canopy tour. Ridiculous. I then came to my parent's farm and went to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse in Wooster. We finished the night with a few drinks at the Old Jaol. Fun times.

Getting ready to get my baby girl at 10! Mom's going with me and I'm not sure what the day will bring.

Show me your treasures..

This really needs no commentary, but was seen in Millersburg, OH, on my way home for Easter.

Happy Birthday Michael

We celebrated Michael's birthday with a bunch of friends (~18) at Pollys. He got a carton of cigs and a fridge barrel of Heineken! Had only 2 because I want to go to the gym tomorrow. Doubt it will happen! Ben's chili bowl for din din!

Happy Birthday Jym

We celebrated our return to DC with a Sunday Funday style Sinful Saturday that culminated in a fun party for Jym. Too much champers and the night ended in madness.

Back to San Jose

We drove Miss Carriage back to San Jose and flew home. A bit of drama, but fun nonetheless!

I'll add more detail later.

J

Canopy Tour

Today was our canopy tour day. B/T went with me and the rest of the drunkies went to the beach and shopping. I had a great time, but recommend doing such an adventure early in the vacation when there has been little alcohol consumption and alot of sleep the night before!

Sailing is fun

We took an afternoon snorkeling, dinner, and sunset cruise. Wow

Ocean Pacific

...or rather Pacific Ocean. We spent mid-day at M/C's pool bar and then the afternoon at the beach. It was breathtaking. I've never seen nicer waves, a wider beach, or such beauty at the ocean. Swimming naked at La Playita (clothing optional beach) was also quite interesting. One must take the waves head on or back on. Nothing sideways will do. I'm sure you get the picture.

Manuel Antonio - Holla

We drove to Manuel Antonio today. OMG - the bridges, the roads, the cliffs, the one way places. Ridiculous. And to top it off, there was a detour through a shanty town.

M/C's hotel is awesome with a fantastic view. It is called La Mansion Inn and was quite secluded. They delivered champaigne and fresh fruit to the room shortly after our arrival. Very nice. The rest of us stayed at Villa Roca which is not quite as plush, but has an equally impressive view.

We ate dinner at Aqua Azul and ended the day in our pool. After nearly giving up, our clothes arrived at 8:58 PM

Alive and Well - but in the same clothes

The trip started as an adventure. Tim, Catrina, Michael, Anthony, and I decided to go out on Friday night (shock) and we all powered through except Timmy who went to bed so he could drive us to the airport.

Flight from DC - Philly was delayed 2 hours (walkway thing had a flat and couldn't pull to the plane)

They told us we missed our connection and would have to wait until today to get the 9:45 flight to Costa Rica. Fortunately our connection was delayed and like the movies, I ran like wild and got to the gate just in time for them to hold it for us! We made the flight yesterday, but our luggage did not. I tried to borrow clothes from Anthony, who was on a different flight, but a pair of shorts for each thigh wasn't working out so well.

Needless to say, in our travel sweats and t-shirts we didn't go out and explore the nightlife. We sat at the bar and drank a gagillion beers and vodkas AND had dinner. Total Bill $83 US for seven people. Friends - this is fantastic and this is at a 5 star hotel bar too. We finished the night in the casino, which was on the 17th floor with amazing night views of the city.

Ms. Carriage is fantastic. She wasn't the one in the pic I've been carrying, but similiar. She's sorta pale yellow green. Hysterical.

We're meeting everyone at 8:30 for breakfast and then driving to the beach. US Air says our luggage will be delivered to us this evening, but they don't electronically track baggage in this country so they said not to bother to call for status because they won't be able to tell us until it is dropped off. We may be going shopping because the four of us can't possibly wear these clothes another day. Thankfully our next hotel is clothing optional at the pool...it is an option. Better than stinky sweaty travel clothes!

Bill and Tom were on our connecting flight and Anthony had his own adventures on his flight, but that's a story for another day!

Hope all is well and hope my DC friends are showing Lisa a good time!

Power Through

All the others are in bed. I am trying to wake them up because I was the undesignated self-elected power through boy. We have to leave for the airport in 45 minutes! Time to shower and roll out! Text messages are distributed...lets see what happens!

I will not miss my plane!

Vacation Kick Off

Peyton just cleared our table. I'm drinking vodka and everyone else is drinking beer. Just kidding-those are from the March madness drunkies, but I have had my share of drinks and shots. Definately a disproportionate (sp?) amount for the 1.25 hours I have been here since packing.

Ms. Carriage

Yup - the name is disturbing, but it won out over Vanorexia and a few others I probably shouldn't post out here on the interweb. Seven of us leave at 5 AM for Costa Rica in the AM. My sister and our new roomie are housesitting while we are gone.

Our agenda includes renting a 12 passenger van (I'm the designated driver) and driving from San Jose to Manuel Antonio through the rain forest. We're calling her Ms. Carriage and pray she'll get us through. Actually we just pray she is remotely modern. The pics of the vehicles on Central American car rental websites may not accurately depict our transportation. At this point we believe she is a Kia Pregio, or similar.

We've packed all the bug spray and sunscreen as required and will update as possible along the way. I'll probably end up backdating my journal entries as time behind a computer is not really on the agenda for our trip! In fact, not much is on the agenda besides sun, beach, cocktails, and a few zip-line and rappelling excursions. Fun times!

Welcome to America...I mean U St.

My best girlfriend Tish's sister Toya moved in with us today...well yesterday since the clock turned. Love the mobile blogging from Solly's Tavern.

Sunday Funday

We crossed the moat for Sunday Funday at Freddies where we had a nice buffet brunch and all the champers we could drink for $14.99 per person. Several enjoyed the fact we could smoke in side, but CS was sick and she would have enjoyed it the most. We celebrated RK's latest birthday. I think he's 35 (again.)

JM was visiting from Cincy and it was great to have her with us for the weekend. Fun times.

my mouth hurts

Gross. I despise DJ Lyons at this very moment, but he got hit by a train so my pain is better than his death.

Nine Years

I had some brunch with AY and then remembered it was our nine year anniversary. We promptly took a taxi to Whole Foods and then took this picture enroute to T's office. I had to bring him flowers on our anniversary! He wasn't too impressed that I had a few rounds of drinks with brunch, but I think he liked the flowers. They are pretty. We don't have any plans tonight. What exactly should one do to celebrate 9 years?

breakfast of champions

I like tequila

jim as laura

cardboard cutouts are so fun

Laura's Party

the hottest boys at the party...

White Party

It was time for some teeth whitening. Vanity? Excess? Perhaps, but lets see if it makes me feel more confident. It could even kick off another non-smoking attempt! Why not give it a whirl?

Flowers and Balloons

There are all these happy people with flowers and balloons on the Metro for their 'unsuspecting' lovers. It is fun to watch the silly grins on their faces as they realize everyone else is looking at them, some with judgement, some with jealousy, and some just to break up the monotony of the commute home.

The men are the funniest due to their slight embarrassment. One in particular, on the Yellow line, is transporting an enormous red devil like balloon character with flashing led lights on it. Perhaps he's going to get lucky with his little devil tonight! You have to wonder if all this is for love, tradition, or in reality just in hope of earning a little credito to be cashed in the sack tonight. I am so jaded.

We aren't supposed to do any flowers or gifts this year. The little Happy Valentines Day kiss on my way out this morning was more than enough. Kisses are infrequent after almost 9 years and a morning kiss even rarer. I suppose that's why it was so nice and I thought about it all day while surrounded with the red and pink madness of the holiday. With or without flowers, I am happy today.

Getting off the train and looking forward to movie night.

baked from scratch!

Aren't they pretty? I slaved away in the kitchen on a double batch for tomorrow's movie night and only ate 2.

Energizer

funny how tequila works like the bunny

yes

both wearing wigs and michael has on my brokeback mountain cowboy hat. a sunday funday continues...

energizer bunny

...still going

hotparazzi

prominent window seat at Solly's

bro & sis

fun times

bros in the city

having fun at Be Bar

Family in the city

My baby bro and my sis came to the city for some urban random fun. Perhaps not as fun as rescuing goats in OH. Sounds odd, but check out HOTTBEEF for the goat rescue photos. Hurry because they'll take 'em down soon.

Pancakes!

The only thing I ate yesterday was a few spoons of butternut squash soup from Trader Joe's. Their boxed soups, by the way, are quite delicious, inexpensive, and I love how you just pour out the amount you want at any given time and refrigerate the rest for up to 10 days! I woke up this morning with a craving for pancakes. Odd since I never eat them, but I figured acceptable since I've been unable to swallow and eating little this week. What I'd like to know is how we have a box of Jiffy baking mix that was best if used by 12/05. That's over a year ago. Have we not used it, or even looked at the box to think about using it in such a long time?

I was hungry. I made a half batch (so as not to waste 1/2 cup of milk if it tasted awful) and it was perfectly fine. It didn't taste old or odd or anything. I did, however, throw away the rest so as not to accidentally serve expired food to a guest. This also motivated me to look through the cabinets. We had six types of chocolate powder, the oldest of which expired in 2002. It was in a cute tin so we probably didn't really check the date, but please. Fortunately we rarely drink or use powdered chocolate and they each looked like we may had taken a teaspoon out in their early years. I purged the cupboards and threw away a few dozen cans and packages of various food related items. Had to be done.

T is at work and will be leaving for Ohio when he's done. He took Monday off to meet with the developer of the condo there. Mold has infested the exterior walls and he is negotiating either a repurchase or reconstruction of the unit. What a freakin' mess. I'd love to help, but I don't have time. He needs to be responsible for something other than the laundry and his beer drinking anyway. That was mean, but didn't someone once say it wasn't mean if it was true? And this is happiness. Nearly nine years of happiness.

JT Satisfaction

Yeah I know...no cameras. This is clearly an amateur camera phone shot. It cracks me up how the glow of the camera phones in any concert audience these days will almost trump the spotlight.

The show is satisfying, but not a 10. Cat is giving it a 5...I say 6. Tiff says too little dancing and I say too many clothes. He's cute and all in a shirt, vest, and jacket, but can't we get a little of that Justin body? There doesn't seem to be much diversity in the choreography, which surprises the hell out of me. He does, however, have a fantastic mix of ethnicities and body types in his dancers (both male and female.) Yes, the 'thick' ones aren't as prominent as the itty bitty waists, but they are there.

I like how a center stage puts the action closer to more people and I'm sure they like how it can increase the ticket prices, but I'm not such a fan of him performing 'behind the curtain' for so much of this show. He is, as you can see, digitally superimposed via the video broadcast onto the curtain, but it psychologically separates me from my JT. I want nothing but air between us as he performs. You judge my claim of ownership? The $114 ticket gives me the right to claim anything I want for this brief moment of time. He sells himself to each of us to do with as we like in our heads. The more we pay, the closer we get to our fantasies. I am doing dirty things, very dirty things. (Don't tell my boyfriend.)

JT Anticipation

It has been a long week. I ended up with icky Strep and have been trying to quarantine myself. Dr. M said I should be able to attend the concert tonight without being contagious. I did offer to wear a veil as an alternative method to attend if he said I couldn't go. He laughed.

I did need some rest so we missed the opening act (Pink.) We have decent seats in Section 102, Row K at the Verizon Center (which I can't stop calling the MCI Center btw.) Perfect view if you ask me with the center stage layout. I guzzled a half a glass of wine at RFD with the girls and am feeling a little loopy on my medication and an empty stomach. Perhaps I am merely quivering with anticipation for JT.

Nah...even I'm not that gay. I might ordinarily say nobody is that gay, but all I have to do is look around. Holy gayness in the nation's capital. It is all the gays, some chubby teenage girls, and a bunch of early 20's Hollywood wannabes with fake Gucci bags who've had far too much liquor that they can't handle. Ridiculous

I'm sitting by a Latin tattooed hottie. Yummy delicious. Perhaps his girlfriend will go to the bathroom and he'll want to cuddle up with me. Not a chance.

Trader Joe's and Short Hair

I took the car in for its first oil change, which was free. I thought that was nice. Of course Mazda is nothing like Mercedes where they are all free to 50,000 miles. Work was crazy today as usual, but I didn't work very many hours. Since I dropped the car off and had a Dr. appt mid day, I called it a 'sick' day. I did work constantly via PDA even when I wasn't there, but don't want the man to think I'm taking advantage of my situation. I guess that's what differentiates my work ethics from some of the others.

Lisa did hit bad snow last night driving home, but she made it safely. Timmy is in the air right now returning from Seatle and I have to pick him up at BWI at 10:45. Tomorrow everything will be back to normal. Last night when I couldn't find anyone to hang out with me for Sunday Funday, I realized how lonely it can be without him. I did end up grabbing Eric after his shift for a few drinks and then Tish, Tara, and Vera joined me for a few. We went to Helix and then Grillfish. I was out for about four hours. I did get my head buzzed off too. I so wanted to grow the curly hair out again until it got cold and hats made my head a frizzball.

I shopped at Trader Joe's tonight on my way home from work. I do love that store. I bought a few meals worth of food and a case of wine. It was time to restock the wine cellar.

Time for a little nap. I should leave work at 5 every day! Funny how I called it a sick day to be able to do that.

Lazy Day

T is still in Seatle visiting our friends with a new baby. My sis just left to drive home after a fantastic weekend that included fun dining, shopping, touristing, and just hanging out. The weather kinda sucks so I hope she drives safely and it doesn't take her too long.

Everyone is having a lazy day so I'm just vegging out with the tv and doing the same.

Funny thing - Forever 21 now sells boy clothes. I bought a shirt there - I am much too old to be shopping at such a store. Funny.

Brunch!

Lisa ends a fabu weekend with brunch at Playbill! Will add more later.

The Washington Auto Show

There will always be a place in my heart for a VW. Having fun at the Washington Auto Show withT. We are having a car show date before he leaves for Seattle to see our friends and their new baby for the weekend!

She might kill me

She might kill me but I took a photo as she nestled in front of the fire. We essentially stayed in all weekend until this evening. Had a few glasses of wine at Pollys and Sollys and now settling in by the fire with spaghetti nite with friends. This one is done!

Three times the PAIN

I mentioned yesterday that the Military Challenge class I took at Vida Fitness kicked my ass. Well I am very sore today. Antwoin makes it miserable to fail - for example - After completing lets say 3,000 squats, he makes the class hold it in down position. The first person to collapse has to do 100 more in front of the class. Brutal. I love it. My goal is to be able to breeze through his class, but I'll spend many more weeks struggling through it and embarrassing myself first I'm sure.

I purchased an exercise ball at Target to work on my core early in the week, but I'll have to rest before the Saturday Military Challenge class. I've decided to take Matt's class on Tuesday and use Thursday for working my upper body. It is strong enough to recover by Saturday for the Military Challenge class where my core is not.

R and I had lunch at Freddie's Beach Bar in Crystal City. Their menu is hysterical. I ate a "Girlfriend" and he had a "Mermaid. What a riot. Beyond the food, it was rather strange to be able to light up a cigarette after eating. It has only been a few weeks in DC, but I am completely comfortable with going outside to smoke; I embrace the DC Smoking Ban. It tempers my smoking and I can wear my couture to the bars. I smoked like a chimney at Freddies, not because I wanted to, but because I could. I hate VA smoking laws - yet another reason to avoid crossing over to the other side.

No major plans for today. It was great to be exhausted last night. I had a tiny bowl of homemade chili with M/C and fell fast asleep on their sofa before 10 P.M. Around midnight I crawled home and nestled into my own bed for a fantastic night of rest. I've been up since 7:30 and am ready to face the day!

Three times!

So I'm not doing so well with the smoking, but I did eat healthy ALL week. I only went out for drinks on Thursday (work event) and only had a few. In addition, I went to the gym Tue/Thu/Today this week and took hour long classes (That's three times - my target). Holy crap. I'm sore. The military style class I took today kicked my ars, but I'm going to shed some pounds and get in better shape before Costa Rica if it is the last thing I do.

Running to Target for some household crap and then helping Tisha move this afternoon. Should be fun...that is if I can lift my arms by then.

New Beginnings

Well I fell of the wagon on the smoking recovery with the holiday weekend. With the visitors and the going out and such, I didn't even make an effort. I'm up early this a.m. and about to head to the gym for a class. Perhaps I can make it through today without a smoky treat and will get back on that very shaky wagon.

Have a great Tuesday world -

Dottie's at Eastern Market

Look...It is Michael and his gays! We had brunch at the Banana Cafe where 18.95 will get you a buffet of delicious food and as many mimosas as you can drink. We were here a few weeks ago and the shaved head guy (don't know his name) was a much better server. This time, we had another guy and the champers didn't flow as freely. We took the visitors to Eastern Market and had to pose in front of "Dottie's" store.

We had a fantastic time last night...too much to write about, but it did include convincing a cabbie to put 10 people (yes TEN) into his car and making a pit stop at the host hotel for MAL weekend. Jack was having a good time, but Anthony and I were a bit out of place. Anyhoo, many others will join us throughout the day as we chill in Capital Hill. Tonight a giant group of us will invade the Phase for Sarah's last hurrah. Very sad to see her go...very sad.

Visitors from Ohio!

Yeah! It is a long weekend and my friends Jack and Dottie are here from Columbus. We went out last night and I am on my way to work this AM (unfortunately.) They will be here until Monday when I don't have to work for MLK day. It is fantastic to see them and I am very glad they came.

Last night we did the U St. / 14th St. Bars and zipped over to Halo on P. Jack loved that place and I do too. I only wished it was early enough for half price happy hour. $37 for a martini, two beers, and a mixed drink is a bit excessive, even for DC. Tonight we will do Be Bar and 17th Street. Timmy hates Be Bar, but it is becoming one of my favorites!

Lord knows what we'll get involved in tonight. Fun Times!

Sunday Funday

What's this? Could Laura and Iris be displaying nurturing motherly instincts? Lissa, Milian, Baby Flora, Tim, and I met them for brunch at the Beacon Bar and Grill. Was great to get everyone together, and as you can see, the girls were fascinated.

The brunch - AMAZING. Including tip it was around $30 per person and this includes obnoxious unlimited amounts of Bloody Mary's and Mimosas. The waitress just set the bottle of Champers on our table at one point. Fantastic! The food was superb in selection and quality.

...there's always a story with the DMV

I waited in line barely long enough to snap the photo and mobile blog it. The cruise director motioned me on to lane 5. Not surprisingly this was the handicapped / senior citizen line, but I didn't care because I was motioned around the 1 car in front of me. The inspector came up and asked me to 'beep the horn,' which I did. Then he told me I passed and that I should drive around to the front and park in the exit to lane 5. No break light check, no turn signal check, no tire check, nothing. Just beep the horn and pass. Welcome to DC.

Normally I'd park off to the side, but lane 5 is by the door and there was a car parked between 4/5 so I did as I was told and parked in the exit. Another man came up and started screaming at me. I told him I'd already been inspected and that I was to park at the exit. He says not in the lane, "..if somebody hits you I have to fill out a report, and it's near the end of my shift and I have no time for paperwork." I asked where I should park and he directed me to the sidewalk. Now I thought perhaps I should park legally at the DMV, and I thought I was following instructions, but no. I was wrong.

After receiving my horn check sticker, I mean inspection sticker, I went inside to renew my tags. Now they did expire in July, and I thought perhaps they'd question me, but they did not. He asked if I wanted one year or two. Last time I checked you could only renew motorcycles for one year at a time and I believe my inspection sticker is for one year. I figured if he offered, I'd take it, so I said, "two." I paid him the $129 and he hands me a receipt. He then fiddled around in the drawers and said he was out of stickers so he'd just give me a windshield sticker. Now I realize that some motorcycles have windshields, but WTF? I advised that I had no windshield and he said they didn't have 2009 stickers for motorcycle plates yet (of course they don't because they only renew for one year at a time) and that I'd have to go to the C St. location and request one. I told him I didn't have time and asked if he had a 2008 sticker I could use until then. He did.

So I left the DMV with a 1 year inspection, a 2 year registration expiring in '09, a windshield sticker (which I can't display) and a license plate sticker showing '08. LBJ - and that's all I'm gonna say about that.

Oh ... one more thing ... Fenty has his pic up on the website already - he should be so proud of this city. Did I mention he's really hot? I don't know why, but it feels dirty to say that; as if he's related to me or something. Just because he's the mayor shouldn't make it dirty to lust after him...should it?

I went to Eastern Market to get Lisa the other half of her typewriter earrings and some hot sauce for Todd. That place has some sauce with serious kick and flavor. The sample dude in the store remembered me from a few weeks ago when I bought some for Steve. I'll have Timmy mail that off to Chicago next week. Time to work. Yes...I'm working today. Uggh.

DC vehicle inspection

Yes. Even the Vespa has to be inspected. Here I am waiting in line. This must be a great time to go because there is only 1 car in front of me.

failure

it was to be expected....

cheating

We both tried to have a smoke and Jake stopped us by crashing our lit cigs to the floor. After a great deal of arguing, Jake gave us each a hit of his Marlboro Red and we demanded a picture. Here it is.

trump

My friend Scotty manages at a fantastic restaurant (Grillfish) and he brought a brownie with a sparkler. It trumps the sheetcake and 25 friends singing happy birthday (out of tune)

Happy Birthday Tisha

Celebrating Tisha's birthday (belated because she was out of town for the holiday) at Polly's Cafe. Surprisingly, it doesn't smell like dead rat, despite the smoking ban. I haven't smoked yet. Yet.

Going home

...just waiting for it to blink! I need my tubular chariot to arrive and inject me back into to the city where I belong. It was a more reasonable day (perhaps 10 hours) but I'm ready to be home.

Duffys Irish Pub

Yummy delicious dinner; very strange. I ate a vegetarian Irish Burrito. Never heard of that before. Essentially potatoes, onions, cheese, and mustard sauce in a tortilla. Also comes non-vegetarian with corned beef. I'm still craving a smoke, but it is measurably easier with the DC Smoking Ban keeping the bars and restaurants smoke free. It may not be popular with my social circle, but I am embracing the ban!

Dinner, two beers, and now off to bed. It is better to sleep than smoke!

I'm still standing

No I didn't have a Wild Wednesday or anything like that. Just another long stressful 12+ hour day with a 5 minute lunch at my desk. I'm still standing because I have not had any smokey treats. This is just the end of day two I realize, but you have to start somewhere.

There's nobody on the train...not sure what I'm doing for dinner.

I will survive

I didn't leave the office all day...not even to eat. I was there for nearly 11 hours of non--stop action. The craving to smoke grew quite strong and I am pretty much dying on the train.

I plan to go have some food and then to bed. We're skipping trivia night at Stetsons for a variety of reasons, including some football game LW has to watch. We didn't study anyway! A few weeks ago we won the "Participation Award," which was a lovely ribbon for us to proudly display! We might not win, but we positively have fun trying!

Not sure if I'm going straight home to eat frozen food or if I'll buy something out. This is the first night I might be able to catch the Yellow line all the way to U Street. Very exciting! Perhaps today's excuse to dine out???

No Smoking

Well here it is. The first non-smoking day again! I don't usually have one until mid morning so I shouldn't even notice for awhile. Psychologically it is killing me. I can't even focus on my Express paper today on te train! I'll be at work shortly and that should take my mind off of it.

The train is dead because the Federal Government is closed for a day of mourning. They are having the service for President Ford today at the National Cathedral.

My 2007 smoking picture

Happy New Year

Having fun with friends at Michael & Catrina's house. We are ringing in the new year with a Mexican theme party and an Ab Fab Marathon! Fun times!