Did you miss me? I’ve been M.I.A. this week because a lovely woman has been working to fix my poor little broken blog and I’ve been afraid to log in while she is logged in because it could mess her work up. Apparently, the blog has been even more broken than I thought, because it’s still not repaired, but I’ve been given the okay to pop in here and post today. Ergo, here I am. Woo!
Boy, do we have lots to catch up on! I have been keeping a list, so here we go:
1. If you find yourself needing a little bit of entertainment today, pop on over and cast your votes for the Doodle 4 Google contest. I have no personal interest in this; I just think it’s neat.
2. Earlier this week, my co-workers saw Owen Wilson and Eric Dane (the guy who plays McSteamy on Gray’s Anatomy, for those who are as not-in-the-know about celebrities as I am) filming a movie scene on the corner of Broad & Walnut Streets here in Philadelphia. And I missed it.
3. I was feeling whiney and sad last week. I know I should get over the whole being-dumped-by-one-of-my-best-friends thing, but I am not one to get over things quickly, and it really is a big loss. I find it particularly difficult because I just don’t think there’s any way to fix things: I still don’t think I did anything wrong, I also have no intention of begging her to be my friend again (I have a bit more self-respect than that), and I also think even if we were to become friends again, it would never be the same and I would always wonder if I was living up to her expectations.
That being said, the good news is that I am not whiney or sad this week. Somewhere along in my grumpiness (which also coincided with PMS-y-ness), I realized that I am not as friendless or lonely as I thought. I have new friends who are reaching out to me (and to Rob), I made plans my PdG girls to get us all back in touch again (remember when I was going to the same Mexican restaurant on an almost bi-weekly basis and drinking ridiculous amounts of wine with Teenie, Oy Vey, and a non-blogger? I swear, it’s been MONTHS since I saw any of them and I miss them like crazy), and things overall are good. So – the whiney part of myself has shut up, for now. At least on the friend issue.
4. It annoys me when people tell me they “think outside the box”. I have to fight the urge to point out to them that if they really thought outside the box, they would be able to come up with a more creative and less overused phrase to say that. Unfortunately, my husband likes using this phrase. I love him anyway, though.
5. I am also easily annoyed these days by companies pretending to be something that they aren’t. Call a spade a spade, people. Specifically, I am referring to Weight Watchers’s “Diets don’t work. Weight Watchers does.” and Wendy’s's (? Can I put a possessive on a possessive? Hrm.) “It’s waaay better than fast food.” campaigns. HI! YOU ARE A DIET, and YOU ARE FAST FOOD! I know we consumers are fairly easily manipulated – myself in particular – but, seriously? Even I am not falling for that. HRMPH!
6. I received a package of five brand-spankin’-new hard-back books from my new best friend at Harper Collins. This is so freakin’ cool, I can hardly stand it. Although I admit: it would be a whole lot cooler if they decided to pay me in addition to giving me free books. But I’m not pushing my luck. Stay tuned for book reviews, just as soon as I finish The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which I’m definitely digging.
7. Linking to the photo of all those books in item #6 reminded me that I have lots of photo-related things to discuss. First, I have joined the Me: Put Together (M:PT) adventure masterminded by the adorable and extremely PT RA. As if she knew in advance that I was going to mention this today, she has conveniently posted a fascinating status report on the whole project, just for your reading pleasure. Check it out here. At first, I was intimidated by the idea and figured that I had no business being part of this, as I often feel decidedly NOT PT….and then I realized that this woe of mine was precisely why I should participate! And so I did. Well, for three days so far, at least. You should join it to. I also figure this will be nice to look back on periodically, since I’ve been watching my calorie intake and exercising more, and will (hopefully!) be able to watch my progress as I become willowy thin.
This brings me to another some more photo-related observations. You can see my M:PT entries here. You can also see that a photo I titled “body’s too lumpy to wear without a jacket” – got 69 views – the most views of ANY OTHER PICTURE I have ever posted on flickr. WTF, y’all? Why do you want to see that? ARe you checkign to see if I’m really chubby like I say I am? Or do you just WANT to see an unflattering photo of me?
Also, my niece and nephew have started smiling and showing other adorable facial expressions. Check them out here.
8. Lastly, the ice cream man has started driving his truck through my neighborhood on certain evenings. It brings back memories of my own childhood, of hearing the truck’s bell ring and of running through the house looking for change so that we could catch him before he drove away to another neighborhood. Except: in my memory, we didn’t have an ice cream man. Instead, ours was a sno-cone man. Personally, I think that rocks.
And that, my pretties, is just about it. Have a rip-roarin’ good weekend.
I am relieved that people other than me find my nerdy spreadsheet work fascinating, too! It’s so interesting what the data can tell us.
Now, off to squander this Friday on the Google doodles!
Yes, I DID miss you. And I fail to understand why the blog being broken also prevented you from signing on to gchat. Just saying.
I’ve been dumped by a friend too. It’s centermost of all my thoughts lately. So much worse than my romantic break-up.
And yeah, Wendy’s is 100% fast food, no two ways about it.
“Thinking outside the box” is SO 1997.
Also, I have been the dumper of a friend–a very close friend–before and I still have second thoughts about it. (It was over 3 years ago.) Ending friendships is tough.
I mean to add that I have been the dump-ee, too. Now I want to write a post about it!
First, OMG, cute baby overload. Those two are so adorable.
Second, I love RA’s stats. I am totally a lover of nerdy spreadsheet work and find the M:PT project fascinating. I wish I looked put together enough and had a camera and time to take pics to participate also.
Third, I did not get the lumpy comment. You must have had to see it in person to see lumpiness? I viewed that photo just because I thought the pattern and colors rocked. I had to go back and find the pic again to know which one you were referring to.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with feeling upset about the friend thing. My friend is going through the same thing with her sister and has asked repeatedly what she did and her bitch of a sister is all “you know what you did.” So third grade. Hang in there!
I missed you!
I am loving the books that HC sent me, so that is happy news. I was a bit worried that I was going to hate them and then have to write bad reviews and then they wouldn’t send me any more free books.
Also, I was dumped by my best friend over a year ago, and it still pains me. It also angers me, but mostly it’s sad to think about. It sucks, lady, and I’m sorry for you.
You know what I hate about Wendy’s? That stupid woman that’s handing out mail from her armpit and eating at the same time!!!!!!!!!! I want to smack her with those folders and steal her lunch.
Dude, M:PT is for people who don’t feel put together! Otherwise my pajama-loving self would be banned! It’s inspired me to make some purchases too. Mostly shoes. Too many shoes.
Your sidebar is back! And will comments work? Let’s see…
They do! Yay!! Good job, blog fixer lady!
Ooooh, Eric Dane in person? That man is just yummy on screen – can’t imagine the gorgeousness live!
I’ve never really been friend-dumped, but I have had a friend wander away until it just dissipates. (Well not since becoming an adult…)