So, y'all thought I went and quit on you, huh? Psh, you wish. I've just been so damn busy with moving and work. Yesterday, for example, was spent going to eye doctors (him, not me), buying dishes, returning the first set we purchased and going back and getting one with more dishes at a lower price, hitting up Applebees for lunch (which was wonderful, even if the waitress did take my French onion soup before I was finished - tragic, eh?) and then showering and heading out to work. Of course, it's me, so anything that could happen, did happen. Because I woke up at 8:45 (after going to bed at 2 something), I was just a little tired and ended up getting a massive pounding beneath my left eye so he ended up driving me to work. I get to work and it's DEAD. I mean, zip, zero, nada, no calls. On a normal day, you don't get any breathing room in between calls. It's just one call after another and you can't even get a chance to take a sip of tea before the phone is beeping (ha, you thought we had normal phones that, like, ring? Nooooo. These god damn things just beep in the headset and unless you are on mute, hello customer!). Yesterday, it was about 20 minutes to an hour between calls. On a bad day, I can do almost 35 calls in a day. Yesterday? I did 9. So you do the math - 9 hours (approximately) and 9 calls - that's one call an hour. Needless to say, I was a little bored. Then the boss (and his ever present clingy and slightly off in the head girlfriend) came over and told me and Lex that we shouldn't take our lunches because we were going to be going home since it was slow. Hurrah! Except I reiterate - it's me, so anything that could happen, does. So, of course, I didn't end up going home early. They sent his girlfriend's team home but us? Ha. No. But it was all right, Lex still gave me a ride home and we stopped at Taco Bell to get dinner for, well, everyone and it turns out she used to work there so they asked if we wanted anything else added to our order free of charge. Then she dropped me off and I came home and had a dinner of chicken Caesar burritos and nachos. See? Very busy.

Today shouldn't be as busy. It's 8:15 right now and for some asinine reason, I woke up at 7:20 and couldn't get back to sleep. So here I am. Ah, yes, guess what, I found my birthday present! Well, actually, it's just something I wouldn't mind owning (aka I vie for it) and it happens to come out the day after my birthday. Coincidence? I think not. Actually, the whole birthday issue was discussed yesterday. Honestly, if Dad is okay (more on that in a moment) and they're still planning on coming up (erh, down) here for my birthday, that's all I really want. I want the day off work, I want to spend it with him and my dog (they're bringing the baby - be still my heart) and I want to go out to eat. That's it. I'm not really even picky as to where I go out to eat - hell, I just don't want to cook. So if someone else even cooks, that'd be fine. Plus my parents should be on their best behavior so seeing them might actually be a decent thing. Oh and they'll be bringing gifts. I'm all about the gifts when it's from them. It's all about making up for the past. Gosh, I'm unhealthy.

Hm. Someone putting the ashtray right next to the keyboard does not make for a pleasant Internet experience. Christ, I've sneezed four times now. I moved it and now that's much better. So speaking of cooking, I made baked macaroni and cheese yesterday. Did it the way I remembered, using sour cream AND milk and butter. It was divine, if I do say so myself. Decided I might need to start considering a career in the culinary arts. It sure as hell beats healthcare (and technology) and I already know what I'm doing, at least on a very basic level. One of these days this week, I'm going to make stuffed artichokes. If that goes over okay, I may very well head on down to put in an application at the Culinary School. Yeah, take that. I'm all on the ball and shit, what a refreshing change of pace. Especially if this one thing comes through. God, it'd be nice.

Can I just say that I love her? Seriously, even before she signed my guestbook with an amazing message, I adored the woman. She's a riot, she's interesting (after three years here, you start to realize there are actually a lot of boring diaries out there - my god, it was three years on July 4th - an anniversary of sorts for many things, it seems), she has talent, intelligence, chutzpah and shit, people wouldn't suck nearly as much if they were more like her. Damn, I'm so misanthropic when I want to be. Anyway, back to the praise. Hell, her 101 things list alone is more interesting than most ENTRIES by other diarists, hell, even by me. That and anyone who has ever dated someone who wasn't divorced yet but legally separated or going through a divorce (note to any ex wives or lovers reading this now - please check your IP address at the door, thanks!) can find a lot of solace (and all sorts of other mushy stuff 'cuz it really is a sweet story but maybe that's just me being all nerdy, who knows?) in the entire Showdown in The Desert story. Hey, take your inspiration from where you can get it, right? I'd say her fiancee is a lucky man but considering my whole bisexual thing, that'd probably get taken out of context and spewed out all over Diaryland. If I did say it, I'd just mean it in a complimentary and purely platonic way. She is cute though...

Yeah, now I'll sit back and wait for the email asking if I'm gay. Joy. So, Dad. Apparently he's having seizures. Well, we hope they're not seizures but he's passing out and last week, he passed out during dinner and Mom ended up calling 911 and they took him to the hospital. Does she call me? No. No, she EMAILS me on my Yahoo email address and I read it at work on my break. So I ended up leaving work early and driving home w/ him versus taking my car. Then a few days later, Mom informs me that he's passing out in the grocery store and forgetting where he is. Yesterday he had an MRI and a brain scan and they should have the results today or tomorrow. I really do hope if it is anything, it's just TIA or a side effect of the drugs versus something really horrible, like MS or cancer. The man isn't a saint but even after all the stuff he's ever done, he doesn't deserve that. I really do believe he has some mental issues and/or something that stemmed from his heavy pot usage that caused him to do the things he's done and while that doesn't mean he's not at fault, it surely doesn't mean he deserves to die. The same thing even applies for my mother. Certain other family members is another story but eh, we'll avoid going into that. Although the Fourth of July did come and go without too much of a fuss. Compared to last year, that's a damn good thing. I cried but only once and it was technically July 5th when I did so that makes it okay, no? There were a few more things that happened but I'm not quite sure if discussing them would be such a good idea so for now, I won't.

In the meantime, I'm off to get something to eat and then crawl back in bed and whine about this strange red mark on my wrist. It hurts, damnit. I'll write again in a few days, hopefully.

before & after