Ahhh Home Ownership

Last night we had quite a strong rain and wind storm sweep through the state. In my pre-home owner life, storms were just fun. You got to sit and listen and watch, and then not worry about the clean up. Now, last night's storm didn't do an extreme amount of damage, but as I sit here on my day off, I am faced with throwing out most everything in the fridge that I JUST bought, following a 11.5 hour power outage, going through boxes in the basement because our "guaranteed dry basement" decided to leak a nice sized puddle of water right into our storage room, and I got the pleasure of cleaning up our trash bins outside that tipped over, consequently dumping little bags of dog poo all over our yard. Ick.

Like I said, compared to some storms, these are minor things, but they are also things I've never really had to worry about before. In the apartments the power came back quickly (I was usually in a city or apartment complex), I didn't have to worry about water or anything in the basement (we rarely had one, and honestly it wasn't our problem), and the external parts of the apartment were maintained by grounds crews or the landlord. This is an adjustment, for sure.

Let's hope for a mild winter. :)

The Meetiversary

Ahhhhh how sweet it is! Travel ended on Thursday and it has been awesome to just spend some time at home without that little voice in the back of my head telling me to get ready for my next trip. This weekend we deemed Saturday as "home improvement day." I painted the entryway while Jim and his friend Brian fixed our toilet (Brian's a really good friend, lol), and an exhaust pipe in the attic. We felt very productive. :)

Wednesday night we head to Hampden for the traditional Turkey Day festivities, which means off to the bars Wednesday night, dinner with my family on Thursday, and dessert with Jim's family Thursday night. I've always looked forward to Thanksgiving, but especially now since it is an indicator of another year Jim's been in my life. (Wait, put on your corny goggles, because here it comes...)

If you don't know the story of how Jim and I met, I think its a good one, even though I'm just a little biased. It was the night before Thanksgiving, four years ago, and I was driving up from Boston. I was well into Maine when I realized I forgot my license, which was a huge bummer seeing as we all (the HA gang) always go out for beverages the night before the holiday. I called my friend Eric, to see if he could stop and pick up my license and bring it up, and he said he wouldn't mind at all.

Fast foward a few hours. We're all at my friend Jen's house, dressed up and ready to go out, and Eric shows up. Without my license. It turns out after he picked it up for me, he dropped it somewhere along the way. Of course, I was quite sad, seeing as I would have to miss out on the tradition, but Jen talked me into going to the bar with my birth certificate to see if I could get in. I hemmed and hawed the whole way there, telling her there was no way it would work. I was ready to go home and sulk it out.

We got to the bar, and Jen must have batted her eyelashes at the doorman in just the right way, because somehow I got in. Awesome.

A little while into the night, my friend Matt tells me that Jim O'Brien was asking about me. I knew Jim from high school, but he didn't know me. The next thing I know, there's Jim, standing in front of me, not saying a word, and holding a beer out towards my face.

Awkward.

So I asked him if the beverage was for me and he said yes, and then I told him he should dance with me. And that was that.

Jim tells me that it was the only time he'd ever done anything like that, just buy a drink for a girl out of the blue, and that something just told him I was special and he needed to get to know me.

However, if you are a male, (such as my workstudy Tim), and talking to my now husband about this story, he will tell you he was out "looking to get all hammered and looking to get some and then he saw this hot chick and he knew he wanted to 'get' with her." Uh huh.

At any rate, it was the best Bud Light of my life, and no matter how you tell the story, the ending is the same, and four years later I am the happiest I've ever been.

Happy Meetiversary babe ;)

On the up swing!

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on Jim's mom Mary. She had surgery on Friday to remove the second aneurysm and the surgery was a success! She was in the ICU overnight, but has been moved to a regular floor where she'll stay for the next few days. Again, Jim and I want to thank everyone for the well wishes!

The Home Stretch

Yikes, I was cranky last night. I'm finding this to be the case not just in myself but most of my traveling colleagues. The "crank" started hitting me about two weeks ago when I was in Connecticut. I thought it was just me, but when I got to a fair one night and listened to the insane amount of grumbling from other reps, I realized I'm in good company. This is my second to last week of travel, and for many reps, the last week of the season. Today I was thinking about my very first day, back in September. I remember pulling up to at a school to a sea of perky individuals, well dressed, carrying their black rolly bags, smiling and cheerful, excited to take on the hundreds of students awaiting their arrival inside. This week, I notice we are all walking a little slower, looking a little sloppier, and hanging our heads a little lower. We're freakin' tired. It's been a blast, don't get me wrong, but after nine weeks of travel, I think we're all ready to be home.

So while I will try my best to keep a positive vibe on the blog over the next week, please do forgive me if I slip up a bit. I'm just sleepy, homesick, and ready for the next "season" of Admissions to start.

Dear Server,

Let me begin by saying that I understand the hardships of being a server. I was one for many years, and can appreciate the work that you do. It takes a lot for me to be upset by bad service, so this letter comes after much frustration.

I feel it is important for you to realize one basic fact: A "solo" diner is a human being.

A solo diner is not a nutcase.
A solo diner is not going to tip you poorly.
A solo diner is not some freak who has no friends to go to dinner with.
A solo diner is not an introvert who doesn't want to make eye contact or conversation.
A solo diner is not always in a rush.
A solo diner is not a waste of your time.

Just because you would never have the gall to sit at a restaurant by yourself does not give you the right to judge why I am there. Maybe I'm away on business, or maybe I just felt like getting away for a few hours. Maybe you should push aside your judgmental thoughts because believe me, they turn into quite judgmental actions.

Next time I sit down at your table, stand facing my table straight on, instead of to the side like I'm a quick pit stop on your way to the kitchen, (because we all know how quickly you can get an order from a table of one). Ask me how I am, and be interested in the answer, just like you were for that outgoing table of 5 behind me. Give me more than 2 minutes to peruse your menu, check on me when I receive my meal, and don't give me the check and tell me to have a nice night literally 3 minutes after I receive my meal, (like the arrogant &@#$% at the Olive Garden in Connecticut last week). Actually, all you really have to do is pretend there are two other people sitting with me, and by golly, you'll do just fine.

I too, server, am a human being. Treat me like one, and you'd be shocked at just how normal your "solo" diner really is.

Bad Blogger!

Yes, I know I've disappeared for a few weeks. I've sat down to write several times, but just couldn't muster up the energy. I guess you could say I've had "blogger's block." The past few weeks have been pretty busy. I spent an entire week split between Connecticut and Rhode Island, ending on Halloween, (which by the way left us with an extra TEN bags of candy when the 100 kids we were told to expect turned into 10 kids). Last week I began the week in Keene and finished it up in the White Mountains. It was great to be able to go to Keene for work. I spent Sunday night with two very good friends, Adam and Kristen, at my most favorite bar, Kilkenny's. I love getting together with college friends, we laugh harder than should be legal when we get together.

Tomorrow I hit the road again, this time to New Jersey for a whole week. I'm definitely excited to be going somewhere I've never been, but sad to be leaving for a whole week. Tuesday night however, I'll be heading to Atlantic City baby(!!!), so I will be sure to post some pictures and stories (of me gambling all by myself, hahaha).

Just a heads up to those of you who followed my blog at all this summer. Jim's mom Mary will be having surgery on Friday to remove the second anuerism from her brain. We will be spending Friday night in Boston with the family but ask you to please keep her in your thoughts. The surgeons will be going in through her head again, and snipping out the anuerism that did not burst. Its very good that she will be getting rid of it and won't have to worry about it anymore! She will be in the ICU at Mass General for a day or so and then in the hospital for hopefully no more than a week. I promise to keep you all updated via my blog like I did this summer.