Month of May, 2002
Busy, busy
I feel like I've been racing around trying to get everything done the past few days. Maybe I just feel like that now because today has been one big race. I've finally had a chance to catch my breath. Thinking back over the past few days, I don't think I've really been racing around all that much. It was just today.
Sunday I spent all afternoon and evening with Summer and Greg's families. I had an incredible time as always. It's so wonderful that they accept me and treat me as one of their own. We had a great time celebrating Bill's birthday and boy was he surprised!
Ended up watching the HBO's In Memorial about September 11th that night. It was a very touching documentary even though it did have way too much Rudy Giuliani for my taste. It spawned a very interesting conversation with Kevin later that night. I had no idea he experienced it all from only a few blocks away. I will never forget coming home from work early that day and sitting on Kristen's bed watching TV for hours. I couldn't do anything but watch. Later that night and the next few days, I was amazed at how quiet it was outside without planes going overhead. Not something I had ever experienced before.
Monday I had planned on doing a little work around the house then spoiling myself with computer time all afternoon. Of course it didn't happen. I got engulfed in work on the den and I spent all day on it. It's still not officially done, but we're close. It will be finished before I go out of town.
Yes, another weekend trip is planned. Going to NYC to visit Kevin. But before then, I've got a Lubbock visitor! Tomorrow night, Kris will be in town. Busy, busy but lots of fun! I can't complain about having good people in my life.
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Quote of the Day
"TV is the Great Pacifier."
- Dave, Nick's friend
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Nightmares
Woke up dreaming about the serial rapist in the area. Relieved to read this morning they've arrested a suspect.
Long Weekend
Thank goodness the weekend isn't over yet. I really needed a long weekend like this.
Friday night I went dancing with a coworker and her boyfriend. I enjoyed myself though I drank too much. Ended up having an interesting conversation with one of the club owners, I think. Being at this club reminded me so much of my life when I lived in Houston and was going to Tonic all the time. I don't miss it at all. I had a good time, but I don't want my life to revolve around that. I'm sure there are good people there but having any kind of depth is impossible. Makes me thankful for Kevin.
Saturday I got up too early feeling slightly hungover and started painting the den. It didn't take long, especially since Karen helped. The color is absolutely gorgeous and one of these days, you'll have to come see it. (Yes, we'll have a Lucci House party sometime this summer, I promise.) After I cleaned up the paint stuff, I took a much deserved nap. Just as I was getting up, Summer came over. Man, there's nothing like a best friend whom you haven't seen in months to make you go in the front yard in your robe!
We went to Ragan's graduation party which was really nice. (Ragan
Goofing around the house this morning before heading off to Summer's father-in-law's surprise birthday party. Shhhh, don't tell!
Shopping with Grandma
Took Grandma shopping tonight. She needed to get a few things. Now, my grandma is 90 years old so shopping with her is a completely different experience than just stopping by the store "for a few things." It's good for me to go with her. I have to slow down and relax. She walks with a cane so she's a lot slower than I am. She has to contemplate her purchases. She brought along a very detailed list of all the sale items she wanted. (The list included brand names so she would know what to get.) And of course checking out takes a little longer than normal since she has to find the right card in her wallet. Being with Grandma gives me really good insight to what being older is like. I hope that she's happy at her age and that I can add to it just a little bit by being patient while we're shopping.
Feeling Fabulous
Spent a lovely evening after work enjoying the incredible weather. Weren't not in Texas anymore, Toto. It's just too gorgeous. I'm so happy to have the grouchies gone for a little bit. What is up with the past few days? I know I'm not the only one feeling it too. Are the planets aligned funky? Or am I just losing my mind? Summer fever. Thank goodness for gin and tonic, a cool breeze, and good conversation.
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Happy Birthday, jplay!
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Mini Cooper Crossed the Pond
What? Mini's in the US? I want one.
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Personified Machines
"Hold on, it's thinking."
Why do we personify our computers?
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Quote of the Day
"Boy, this new computer is a lot faster than the last one. I might have to get a seatbelt."
- customer
Texturing
I failed to mention I finished texturing the walls this weekend. YEAH!
Anyone feel like painting?
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DTR: Defining the Relationship
Kevin S. sent me the article, Are We Dating Yet, and said it would be interesting to hear my thoughts. This probably stems from having a great conversation at SXSW about dating with Kevin and Tim, in addition to the fact dating is a big part of my life. (Or maybe it's just that I'm boy crazy.) So I read the article a few days ago but never wrote anything.
Initially when I read it, I was annoyed. It didn't seem to say anything and it left me feeling like the author was pathetic. I probably felt that way because I took too much baggage with me on that first reading. Now that I've had some time to process, I realize my baggage is along and I can deal.
I should probably paraphrase the article at this point in the event you don't want to click on it.
A San Francisco appellate court defined a dating relationship as "is a social relationship between two individuals who have a reciprocally amorous and increasingly exclusive interest in one another, and shared expectation of the growth of that mutual interest, that has endured for such a length of time and stimulated such frequent interactions that the relationship cannot be deemed to have been casual."
The author gives her definition - "Dating is what you do before the relationship: the try before you buy...dating by its very essence [is] casual." Then she goes into a story about a dating relationship she had. To me it was the typical story, two people start dating, she decides she wants more, he bails. The point was they had very different definitions of dating.
Initially the article annoyed me because the woman looks stupid in the end like most women - wanting more than the guy wants. However, I realize this is a big part of the baggage I carry along with me. Let me put it this way, in all my relationship baggage, the biggest piece - the steamer trunk - is never wanting more than the other person. This probably stems back to the first time my heart was broken. I was in junior high and I was in love with Brad Knipstein. We had been friends forever but I wanted more. He didn't.
Since I learned this precious lesson at a young age, I was annoyed that the author hadn't.
Now that I have revisited this article, with more awareness of my luggage, I can think more about the definition. First, I wonder why a San Francisco appellate court felt the need to define dating. In my opinion, dating should be very little concern of the legal system. Second, since they have defined it, do I agree with that definition? The answer here is definitely "no," but only because they threw in that last part about "cannot be deemed to have been casual." Third, how would I define dating? Now we're getting somewhere interesting.
Dating.
I'm not sure I can define it. Damn, and that's what this whole post was supposed to be about! I'm hopeless (AND am dragging a steamer trunk behind me)!
There are some great definitions on Kevin's page. Reading those it made me realize we all use a bunch of words to define our interaction with someone else. However, we use the phrases differently. For me, "dating" means there's an interest beyond just friendship but it's definitely casual. "Seeing someone" means we've graduated from the casual thing to almost-daily communication. The same thing goes for "involvement." When things do get serious and commitment is decided on, the *B-word is the important one.
But who really cares? This is just the way I use these phrases. And you could use them completely differently. So, what's the point?
I think the point is this - communicate. When you are "seeing someone/dating/involved/etc" you have some sort of interest in them. You should like them enough to at least communicate what you think. Of course, I'm not saying bring it up on the first date and every date after that. I'm just saying, talk about it. You'll know the right time to have the "defining the relationship" talk. And you will both be better off because of it.
So don't I sound all mature and smart giving this great advice? Too bad I'm still a big dork and recently (only a couple months ago) reverted to the I'll-just-stop-calling method instead of just being honest. What is it that makes talking about it so hard? Is it all of our different definitions coming into play? Is it being scared of wanting more than the other person? Is it not wanting more? And what happened to "just friends" anyways?
Questions, questions. What's your definition?
* The B-word is boyfriend...I hope I'm not jinxed now.
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Feeling like today has been a long day.
Woke up early despite staying up later than normal. Stayed in bed for a good 30 minutes before heading over to Mom and Dad's to wait for the refrigerator repair person. Unfortunately they were scheduled in the afternoon rather than the morning (like I thought I had been told) so I turned around and came home. Tiptoed around for a couple hours while everyone else slept. Eventually I started working on the walls in the den.
I'm now feeling like this is the never-ending project. Sure it was just last weekend that I took the paneling down but today productivity came to a screeching halt. I thought I would be able to finish texturing the walls so I could paint tomorrow. Think again. First, I had to pull all the stray staples out of the wall. Of course all the staples that didn't come out with the paneling were the ones stuck in the studs. So pulling them out by hand took a lot of strength and time. Second, I had to repair the gaping hole in the drywall that was revealed once the paneling came down. Regan walked by and asked me if I punched it. Hell no, I know what a pain drywall is to repair! But it was my lucky day because I found a piece of drywall in the garage (I previously thought a trip to Home Depot was in order). Eventually the hole was patched and I started to texture. It was only then that I realized how uneven and poorly taped the drywall was. The texture wasn't going on thick enough to cover up these imperfections. So I began the long and painfully boring task of patching the walls. After what felt like an eternity, I completed the job and called it a day.
The texture isn't finished like I had planned but maybe by tomorrow. So after a shower, I hopped in bed and watched The Usual Suspects. In watching the dvd extras, I was shocked to learn it was filmed in 5 weeks. Now THAT's the way movies should be made. Now I'm off to the Ridglea Theater to see Spoonfed Tribe.
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Daily Log
The weather cleared up and it was a cloudy but beautiful day. Work was hilacious. I don't know why but this week was worse than normal. I'd really like someone to tell me it's not going to be like this forever. But I have a bad feeling it's not going to get better. Maybe I just reached a breaking point. Thank goodness it's Friday and there's sushi to be had! Life is good.
It's Raining Cats and Dogs
Which means Tiger is pacing around the house, panting really hard, and shaking like leaf. Poor baby. I'm sitting at the computer wishing I didn't have to go to work.
The First Annual Kiss-Off
DFWBlogs Happy Hour
I had a blast last night hanging out with bloggers again. If you didn't make it, you missed out. There was a fabulous turn out and it appeared everyone had a great time. I haven't laughed that hard in a very, very long time.
- Highlights:
- I almost spewed gin and tonic everywhere after Lynn's comment about "industrial underwear."
- It's amazing the secrets people spill at bars. I learned Charles was late to his bar exam!
- But some secrets won't be told. Sam wouldn't tell me what he specializes in at work. "It's top secret."
- Josh sounds super busy with his CD MOM club. At least he's got all the Kid Rock tracks he could ever want!
- Someone needs to Fark Gary's comarison of Larry King and Yassar Arafat.
- I learned Kelly likes yard work even though she has a terraced front yard. (Wouldn't that be a pain to mow?)
- Mark stopped by for a twinkling. Love seems to be treating him quite well and I'm happy for him!
- It sounded like Denise has some good career advice for Karen. And she got plenty advice about sneaking off and marrying Charles.
- Meeting Griff was awesome after reading him all this time.
- Lauren was looking for votes which any smart woman should be doing!
- Moving to Dallas seems to be a good choice for Julie. Don't you love it when life confirms you?
- Be on the look out for Roger's new persona - MC DFort! Coming soon.
- Amy gets props for listening to me ramble about how she looks familiar.
- My contribution to the evening was bringing IT Guy with me. (Site coming soon.) I loved that people knew who he was based on title alone. See, Tim, titles are good!
- Won't someone add Dave to the list?!
- Both Connie and Amanda showed off new body art.
- Thank you, Leia, again for making this all possible.
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Flowers
May 15, 2002 - 3:42am
Thank you, Kevin!Posted in:Comments
Quote of the Day
May 15, 2002 - 12:53am"'Never' is much longer than you've ever known."
- DavePosted in:Weekend
May 14, 2002 - 6:46pmHad a nice productive weekend. It went too fast but now that I only have 2 days instead of 3, I think they're always going to go fast. Friday night I stayed home and watched Training Day. It was a surprisingly excellent movie. I think the best part for me was the story wasn't at all what I expected.
Saturday
I got up early and started working on the den. Our den had this horrible white paneling all the way around the room. But the paneling didn't reach all the way to the ceiling, so the two feet of wall between the paneling and the ceiling was sprayed with acoustic ceiling texture. Don't know if you can picture it but it looked bad. So Saturday I tore it all down. In the process I managed to break off pieces of both window sills (stupid, stupid) but I'm hoping I can glue them back on. Dad came over and helped cut up all the wood so we could put it out with the trash. (Cross your fingers they take it today.) So now all the furniture is in the middle of the den and the walls are bare. Pretty ugly but it's movtivating me.In the afternoon, Karen and I went to the mall to get Mom a Mother's Day present. As is typical, I found all sorts of new summer clothes for myself in the process. We did end up getting a gift (yeah, Karen for finding it!) and an awesome one at that. Came home and watched Serendipity. Cheesy romantic movie about fate and love. Should have known better than to rent a movie like that. But I talked with Autumn for a long time which definitely cheered me up. I hate that she's all the way out in El Paso because we need to hang out. It's so hard when your best friends live a million miles away. Saturday night ended up falling asleep as I was reading. Luckily I book marked my page just before I fell asleep .
Sunday
Since I fell asleep pretty early the night before, I got up plenty early on Sunday and mowed the lawn. Yes, I'm that annoying neighbor who's mowing while you're trying to sleep. (I hope I woke up the person who was mowing early Saturday morning.)After mowing and trimming the hedge, which is a LOT harder than it looks, I headed over to Mom and Dad's to cook. Afterall, it was Mother's Day and we didn't want Mom to lift a finger. So we had corn on the cob, green beans, yellow rice, salad, grilled salmon, garlic bread, grilled chicken, and cherry pie with homemade whipped cream! (Dad gets all the credit for grilling.)
After lunch we took the dogs to the Pecan Street Arts Festival in Arlington. I ran into Jeremy, an acquaintance from Tech. Says he does a swing night on Wednesdays at Sons of Herman Hall. I'm going to have to check it out soon. It was fun to be outside, hear some music, but I was definitely disappointed in the art. Tiger and Sophie got so much attention while we were out. The funniest was the little girl who ran up, petted Tiger, and said, "Big!" then ran off again.
I spent the rest of the afternoon scraping ceiling acoustic off the walls. Then I spent an equal amount of time cleaning up all the white powdery stuff which was all over the den after scraping. Messy, messy stuff. But the walls are clean and ready for texture, which I hope to get to this weekend.
In order to celebrate my accomplishment, I headed off to Fry's for a new mouse. I'm so sick of cleaning the crap out of the roller so I bought an optical. So far I'm quite happy. On the way home, I called my friend Brian since I hadn't done anything social all weekend, we got together for margaritas. First we sat in his garage and watched the storm roll in. Feeling the temperature drop sharply was enough to give me goose bumps. Then we ran inside to check out what the Weather Channel had to say. We're such dorks.
Monday
Suddenly the week started and I was slammed as soon as I got to work. I think I looked up a total of 2 times all day. Luckily Gary came to save the day and took me to a great lunch at Tenaya. It was definitely, definitely the highlight of my day. Got back to work, was super busy and suddenly it was time to go.The evening was mostly uneventful. Karen and I walked the dogs since the weather here was absolutely perfect (70's). Then I spent the rest of the evening obsessing over the bug bite on my leg. Originally we thought it was a spider bite and I was going to lose my leg. After finally having some common sense, Kristen's friend, Courtney, called her aunt who is a nurse for us. Based on the symptoms (a puffy, red spot surrounded by a white ring and nothing else), she concluded I was allergic to something that bit me but it probably wasn't poisonous. Took a benedryl, put some ice on it, and called Kevin. The benedryl must have really kicked in because I fell asleep on the phone. This morning the bite is much, much better though it itches more than it did yesterday! (Is that a good sign?)
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Found in the Walls
May 13, 2002 - 12:15am
While taking down the paneling in the den this weekend, I found this in the wall. I wonder how it got there. I wonder whose it was. There are a million stories I can come up with about this one small object. But mostly I think about the frustration someone must have felt upon finding their deck of cards missing a three of clubs.Posted in:Comments
Note to Self
May 12, 2002 - 3:01amDon't watch romantic movies unless in love.
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Wanna laugh at someone else?
May 11, 2002 - 3:24amPosted in:Listening
May 11, 2002 - 12:42amYou and I have a strange relationship. I've known for quite sometime that I only half listen to what you're saying. Most of the time I'm distracted and maybe I'm just not that interested. Sometimes I even felt bad for feigning interest. But no longer. Today I realized that you only half listen to me too. It was being interrupted mid-sentence with a completely new subject that tipped me off.
Posted in:Zone
May 10, 2002 - 9:59pmI've been sitting here working. I just looked up and realized my phone rang but I never noticed. That's some crazy zoning. Time to go home and watch movies.
Posted in:Mavs 119 Kings 125
May 10, 2002 - 3:27pm
Tim and I went to a NBA playoff game last night between Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings. It's been so long since I've been to a sporting event, I had forgotten how much fun they are. (Even when your team loses.) Sorry, no, pictures of the foot long chili cheese hot dog I ate all by myself. At one point, we got to see Mark Cuban (not in person but on the big screen) and I want to know why someone that rich doesn't have someone to dress him? The most hilarious conversation all night was the one we had on the way back to the car. Tim and I discussed whether or not we would date Steve Nash. Tim said he'd do it for the team; whatever it takes to win. Now that's commitment.Posted in:Comments
New Comb
May 8, 2002 - 3:04pm
I got a new comb yesterday. It was definitely time for a new one as it was losing teeth left and right. Though I'm pleased with the new one, I feel bad for the old one. I've had it for at least 3 years. It's amazing how attached I can get to an inanimate object.Posted in:Comments
Feeling a bit weird at the moment
May 8, 2002 - 4:04amI don't really know what's gotten into me but I've been a bit moody the past few days. My emotions are all over and not at all consistent. I've caught myself worrying about stuff I know I shouldn't even think twice about. My stomach was in knots all day yesterday. Everything got on my nerves. I cried. Some days I wish I had better control over my emotions.
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Quote of the Day
May 7, 2002 - 4:38pm"I was trying to Adobesize it."
- a customer in reference to creating a pdf filePosted in:Comments
Whine
May 6, 2002 - 5:01pmNothing like coming back to work after a week and your first phone call lasts an hour.
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Real Ultimate Power
May 6, 2002 - 2:25pm
- link via KevinPosted in:Comments
Home
May 6, 2002 - 1:48amI'm back home again. This time I should be around for quite awhile. It feels like I've been gone for an eternity. But good times were had all around! Now I just have to spend some time with Tiger since he missed me the most.
Posted in:Meeting Peter
May 3, 2002 - 7:04pmI'm back in Dallas but not for very long. Heading off to Houston today for Alison's birthday celebration tomorrow night.
From Wednesday
I just had the most incredible coincidence happen to me. The conference is over, I finished talking with a group of people and was waiting for the elevator to my room. When the doors opened up, a man got out, looked at me and said, Are you Erica? He didnt look familiar but Ive met so many people this week I might not remember. He said his name was Peter. I couldnt think of any customers named Peter. Then it hit me, this is Peter from Dallas. Holy crap, what a coincidence!I knew Peter was going to be in Vegas this week because he mentioned it on his website. I dropped him a comment saying I was too and that we should get a drink. Ive never met Peter nor really talked to him but I read his page. So he driopped me an email and our trips werent going to overlap much. Still wed try to get together. This afternoon I got email from him letting me know where hed be so we could get together. I wrote back with my info but only had small hope that we would connect. Then all of a sudden I bump into him at an elevator.
We sat down and talked for a few minutes before he was off to take care of work. I think I was shell-shocked the whole time that he recognized me and we were sitting together across the country from our homes. The really wonderful part was he said that before he was getting on the elevator he thought how weird it would be if I was on the elevator with him and if hed recognize me. That sounds like premonition to me!
So if timing allows, we might get together tonight. Even if we dont, I have an excellent story to tell for sure.
Posted in:Comments
Last day of the Conference
May 1, 2002 - 7:32pmHad a hard time getting out of bed this morning. Just didn't feel like working. Things are winding down today so I'll make it. Feels like a lot less people here than there have been the past few days. Or maybe everyone is just sleeping in.
I wanted to sleep in because I went out last night. After my presentation (which I'll get to in a minute), I helped pack up the exhibit booth computers. Then I went to dinner with Tim and Damon, a couple guys from the Arizona office. We had Mexican food at the Mandalay Bay hotel. The Mandalay Bay had some very hip looking bars and restaurants. Definitely someplace I'd like to go back to. We moved on to Luxor which is just an amazing piece of architecture. Then on to Excalibur and New York New York. Then we hit Treasure Island before coming back to the Mirage. Vegas is such an amazing place with so many things to look at. For someone like me, who has no interest in gambling, it's just a big eye candy adventure! Of course I took lots and lots of pictures.
Tim and Damon have similar work duties as I do but totally different products. It was awesome to sit around and talk about work but not just my work. We told lots of funny stories and I even got to hear a bit about their families. Damon and his wife were engaged for 12 years before they actually tied the knot! And Tim met his wife over the phone (through a friend). So cool to hear those stories and get to know some really cool guys. If they had space in their group, I'd be super tempted to move to Arizona and work with them! Living in the desert sounds SO good after enjoying the air here in Vegas for the past few days.
Oh, the presentation! I almost forgot to mention it. Well, I had to adjust because I couldn't get network connection in the area I was in. But I was prepared for it and just changed to the backup PowerPoint. The two presenters before me were super dry (good information just not presented well) so I vowed not to do that. I got up there, said what I had to say in an interesting way and suddenly it was over. It went far too fast but 15 minutes really isn't that long. A lot of my
workers came by to watch and support me which was really awesome. Then afterwards everyone was very complimentary. I think the best compliment I got was this morning when a sales guy said, "Erica, I heard you yesterday and wow, I didn't know you could do that!" Hehe, there's a lot of things he probably has no idea I can do! So I feel like this conference has been really good for showing off some of my skills that normally don't get shown off. I feel really good about myself and my performance these days. I feel like I'm good at something. It's so amazing because when I was teaching, I didn't ever feel like I did anything well. It was probably just insecurity (that I seem to have grown out of now) as I adjusted to being out of college. Yesterday's presentation was just reassurance that life is going along as it should. I'm so lucky to be where I am.
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