A post in which I am counting the days

SELF is this week!!

But there is still so much to do.

I woke up this morning feeling pretty well all things considered, which was a good thing. I was worried about having another week like last week. I went on in to work, and put things in order. I was sleepy, but compared to how I felt last week it was livable.

I had an email from Lady Beth today, charging me with finding reservations for dinner Saturday night. This involved getting everyone to send their RSVPs in so I could get a headcount, and then finding a restaurant that would suit everyone. It had to be close to the venue, reasonably priced but have good atmosphere (so I had to have a place with a functional website so I could see pictures), had to have at least one steak (I started wanting three beef options, but it just eliminated too many places), and had to take reservations for 14. For Atlanta that is a pretty tall order, but fortunately there are plenty of places there. The problem is that when you put in “American” food, you get the catch-all listings for all the restaurants that don’t fit under any other category. After reviewing 32 pages of restaurant listings I narrowed it down to about five, of which one was my clear choice. So after chasing down the last of the RSVPs I made the reservations. I hope this suits. It is almost impossible to please everyone in a situation like that. We’ll be eating at Feast Atlanta. It looks like a pretty nice place.

My picture was ready today! Actually it was ready on Saturday, but I hadn’t had time to get over there to pick it up before today. It turned out really great. I forgot the stupid online coupon though, so I had to pay full price. Dammit. It looked so good though that I didn’t mind. Too much.

I had a haircut tonight, and Russ had invited Jeff and James down for dinner afterwards. It’s always good to see them. We went to Miyako for dinner, and it was as great as usual. It was a most pleasant meal, except that I spilled a huge glass of ginger ale all over Russ. Sigh.

After we ate we went back to the house to visit. It was a lovely evening, but another late night for yours truly. I’m going to have to be really good tomorrow and Wed.

When I got home I hung Prometheus. It looks gorgeous!! I am SO incredibly tickled with it. I can’t wait to get the other picture!

Prometheus in the bedroom. I am just in love with it!

A post in which I cheat on my vow

I woke up this morning feeling extremely lazy. I was hoping I could take a nap because I really need to charge the ole battery, but I was hungry. I remembered that yesterday I had picked up a loaf or cinnamon raisin bread, and all I wanted was cinnamon raisin toast. After about 50 or so pieces I was ready to lie down, and blessedly, I did sleep for a while.

I had just woken up when the phone rang. Billy had found my phone (which I had left at their house last night), and said they would run it by the house since they were going downtown anyway. Billy hasn’t seen the bedroom since I finished it, and the house looked pretty sad overall, so I did a quick fluff before I jumped in the shower. I waited for a while, but no B&R. I finally figured out they had decided to come by my place on the way home. Meanwhile, my sneaky self had already decided I could use an invitation from them as an excuse to go out to lunch. I called Billy on his cell, invited myself down, and met them at Mass General Store. I was hoping they would be done already so I could avoid the temptation of the candy section. They have all this great old candy there.

They were done, and I met them outside. We went through a couple of the new stores downtown, which are really nice. I’m going to have to take my mom the next time she comes. There is a rock/jewelry store and a really cool bead place.

By the time we had done that we were ready to eat, so we decided to stroll downtown and see what struck our collective fancy. Nothing was jumping out and we decided to walk down to the Mellow Mushroom. It’s at the bottom of Main Street, so it’s a bit of a trek, but it was a beautiful day (if a tad warm) and there was a pesky little breeze flirting in and out of the buildings on Main St, plus there were plenty of purty boys downtown to peruse, so it was a pleasant walk for the most part.

When we got to the Mushroom we glad to get into the air and order some food. We ordered some sandwiches, and then waited for them for 30 minutes! But they were really good when they got there.

After a nice little nosh and a stroll up Main, I left Russ and the gang at their car, and walked back up towards mine, making a foray through Mass General to buy candy (I know). Every time I go in I vow to not buy so much, but they give you those big ole buckets. And it all looks so tasty! And I like the expensive ones too, not the little cheap ones. Plus John and Marshall had bought a big bag before I got there, and they got me started eating it after lunch. (Yeah, that’s the ticket, it’s their fault.) I emerged triumphant, $16 later (!!), and called Laura.

Kimblee and Laura have recently been awarded custody of Laura’s two teen-age nephews. I hadn’t known about this (although I knew it was under discussion) until I got the invitation to Jennifer and Christina’s pool party. I had already told them I couldn’t come, but they sent an invitation. When I opened it I discovered that it was a gift card shower for the new mothers, so I wanted to go by and see them this weekend.

When I got there they were having gorgeous mojitos, which I delightedly joined them in. We visited and caught up, and Laura threw some salmon on the grill for supper. I helped Kimblee in the kitchen and kind of took over, as usual. She’s really good about that. We had a lovely supper and a visit, but we ate late. I was a lot later getting home than I wanted to be, which is the problem with my going out on Sunday nights. But it was well worth it. I love them both so much, and don’t see nearly enough of them. I’m on a short week next week anyway, and my neck has been going down. It should be fine.

A post in which I engage in my one sanctioned social function for the weekend

For some reason I woke up feeling like crap this morning. Can’t I even stay up a little without paying for it?? I did some work on my Fetlife profile, uploading pictures and hopefully checking for non-existent email. I did get a very nice email from an extremely cute guy who is doing a class on puppy play. He brushed me off, but he was very nice about it. After being in the trenches on the gay sites, it was a refreshing change. Gay men are absolutely brutal in their enforcement of the attractiveness caste system. You get out of your level and they will set upon you like baby birds pecking a deformed one to death. Well emotionally anyway.

I lay around for a while and eventually just decided I was as good as I was going to feel this morning. I headed over to the flea market on White Horse. Russ had asked that I make some baked beans for his birthday party tonight, so of course I was going to, but I had to go get some veggies first. I had a nice little veggie run (although I was there too late for glass), and came on home. I was feeling pretty energetic, so I went ahead and made up the beans. That was a help because I could just pop them in the oven later while I got ready. By the time I got done I was pretty wiped though.

I lay down for a while to try to feel like somebody, but eventually I had to get up and start getting ready. I baked the beans while I took a shower and stuff, and then ran out for gift cards. Russ had asked for them for his birthday, and since it was a co-party with Ben I had to get one for Ben too. I didn’t mind, but it’s turning into another expensive weekend. Especially for right before SELF.

My beans were in the oven, so of course Kmart, which had 89,000 Home Depot gift cards in stock at Christmas, had not stocked them since. CVS has also stopped carrying Home Depot cards. Great. That was what Russ had specifically requested, because that’s just the way my life works. I finally compromised on Visa gift cards and got home just in the nick of time to stop my beans from scorching.

I took my pills and stuff and headed on out. When I got there I was still feeling kind of yucky, but after a bit I started to feel more like myself. Marshall, John, and Aaron were down from NC for the weekend and the party. Miss Kat, dana, and Lori came also. Billy grilled out, and the food was wonderful. I went through the usual thing with my baked beans. Lori wouldn’t eat them because of the bell pepper in them, and dana said she just couldn’t eat them because of it. Miss Kat didn’t get any of her own, but she picked enough off of the leftovers on dana’s plate that I figure she liked them. It was fine. I made them for Russ anyway.

After we ate pretty much until we hurt the first time, they served dessert. John is a professional chef, and he had made two cakes, one for each of the birthday boys. They were fabulous! I don’t even like chocolate cake, but the chocolate on chocolate cake I ate tonight could change my religion. It was that good. They also had ice cream, which I have been craving for a couple of weeks. It wasn’t rum raisin, but it still went down awfully damn easy (again, no smart-ass comment necessary).

The weather by this point was absolutely lovely. There was a little breeze every now and again, and the temperature was just perfect to be outside. I barely went in the house at all. Jeff and James came down after they got off work, which was just extra fun. We spent the evening on the back deck just visiting and enjoying each other and the gorgeous evening. Loveliness.

A post in which I sensibly stay home

I actually woke up feeling pretty good today. It was a quiet day at work.

Well it’s another Friday night in the life of an internet stud, and I’m home. By myself. But that was my decision. I could have gone somewhere if I wanted to, but after this week I decided to take it easy and try to save up some energy for SELF.

I did go by the library to take the last Anita Blake book I read, Incubus Dreams. As I feared, they spent so much of the book screwing that they never actually got around to catching the bad guy – they had to leave that for the next book. I’m taking a break from Ms Blake for a while.

I checked out some other books and left. I wasn’t quite virtuous enough to eat freezer food tonight, and there was pretty much nothing at the house to eat. Well nothing I wanted anyway. So I went by Joy of Tokyo for cheap Japanese-esque food. I know it isn’t super healthy (I can’t eat it without guzzling down that “white sauce” they make for us round-eyes. It is just soooooo tasty; even if it is just flavored mayonnaise.) But I figure it still healthier than going through the Hardee’s drive –through for a 500+ calorie burger right? That’s my theory and I’m stickin to it.

There was nothing on telly tonight. I ate my supper and thought about reading, but I was too lazy. It was Friday night. I just was comatose in front of the tube until I turned on the computer.

Last weekend Myz Shea was talking to me about what I needed/wanted in a life partner. I’ve been putting off looking because I was telling myself I didn’t know what I wanted. But that’s not really true. I know exactly what I want, I'm just afraid he isn't out there. Myz Shea challenged me to start putting it out to the Universe what I was looking for. If you don't ask, you don't receive right? She had several ideas and suggestions, one of which was putting up a profile on Fetlife. Fetlife is kind of like Facebook only for kinky people. So tonight I started the process of Putting It Out There (no sarchastic comments necessary, thank you).

It is a neat-looking site, and there are certainly some interesting looking people on there. I was in expectation of being fresh meat (as I was when I first signed up on Bear411), but no flurry of activity ensued. My friend Kimberli was on though and she accepted my friend request almost immediately. I set up my profile and messed around on the site finding people I know, etc until the system told me to take it easy, they were limiting my activity until they confirmed that I wasn’t spam. So I signed off and went to bed. But Stage 1 of putting the Universe on Notice is completed.

A post in which I am still paying

I woke up today feeling like crap again. I’m worried. This was the worst morning yet, and my neck seems to be going down. But I’m hurting worse than ever. I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve picked up a secondary infection of some kind, and if I should go on to the doctor. I don’t want anything to mess up SELF! I would be so pissed.

I got month-end finished today, which was excellent.

Rue McClanahan died today, which made me sad. I love The Golden Girls, and I watch re-runs a lot of evenings while I eat dinner and stuff. We’re down to one Golden Girl now, which makes the world a less nice place to be. Oy. Mortality rears it’s ugly head yet again.

I ate at home again tonight. I was preparing to turn in after changing out a load of laundry when I realized I had a message from Myz Shea. My phone was on silent and I had forgotten it. I got ready for bed and returned the call. We talked about how our respective weeks were going, and she did the “check-back” that a responsible and caring top will do after a scene, particularly when you play as seldom as I do. It was nice to talk to her. I’m looking forward to seeing her again next week.

A post in which I settle the picture issue*

Well I woke up feeling terrible again, but I girded my loins and went back to work. I got a lot of work done today, all things considered.

I heard back from Mom today. She received her nightgown, and seemed to like it a lot. I love sending surprises like that. And I am truly grateful for her.

My painting from China arrived today. It wasn’t the best painting in the world, but for $56 you kind of get what you pay for. Most of it was pretty good, but I was disappointed with the face. I guess that would be the hardest part. After work, I was feeling a bit better so I ran it by the framers on the way home. They had a nice pre-fab frame (which is a bit cheaper) so I left it to be stretched and framed. I should have it back by Monday, Justin.

While I was there picking out my frame, I was casting covetous looks at a really nice frame they had. It was big, beautiful, and impressive, but it was a $300-$500 frame. At least. As I was checking out, I asked about it, and to my great surprise found out it was part of liquidation from another frame store that went out of business, was on super discount markdown, and was the size I needed! After some dickering about storage, I bought it. The corners on it are made to look like gilt rope lashed the frame together – it is absolutely perfect for the Samson picture I wanted to order. I was waiting to see what the first painting from this place looked like before I ordered another. I went home and immediately ordered the Samson picture I had fallen in love with earlier. I had said before that I was waiting to fall in love with a new picture for over the fireplace, and this one is going to be spectacular! My only problem now is that I may once again end up with a picture too large for the place I want to hang it. If so, I’ll just move all the pictures around again, but I really hope this one fits over the mantle in the living room.

When I got home I virtuously ate less-cal freezer food for supper. I went online to check my messages and ran into a buddy online. He came over for a visit.

When he left, I was once again exhausted. I changed the sheets, switched out a load of laundry, and went to bed.

A post in which I begin to pay for the weekend

I woke up this morning feeling like hammered shit. I am certainly paying for the weekend. Despite having had nine hours of sleep, I was still exhausted. I was sleepy all day. There was nothing to do but take my pills and tough it out. I had month end reports to do.

I made it about halfway through the day before I lost my head of determination. I just knew I couldn’t be doing my best work. I slacked off a bit and left some for tomorrow. I was so tired and achy that I was worried about accuracy. My head was kind of swimmy too.

The best thing that happened today was that when I checked the Kohl's website, they did have The Shorts in my size!! I was very excited, and ordered two pair. I can't wait for them to get here!

When I got off work I couldn’t decide what I wanted to eat. I wanted to go over the Silver Bay, but it’s right by Miss Kat and dana’s house. I wasn’t up to visiting tonight, and I was afraid if they found out I had been so close and not dropped by their feelings would be hurt. I ended up stopping at the Clock (at least it wasn't chain fast food, right?) and getting a seafood plate. It was more vile than I had expected. But after consuming 1,800 calories or so, I was sated.

Dad called tonight, apparently to tell me that I could borrow the Town Car whenever I wanted. I think that was his way of telling me he felt bad about last week without actually apologizing. I considered taking it to SELF, but with the worry about something happening to it, the extra gas it would take, and the fact that we wouldn't be able to smoke in the car, it turned into a bad idea. I changed out a load of laundry and fell in the bed.