Someone has some decency

Today is The Guy's birthday. I sent him a text wishing him a happy birthday for what it's worth. No reply, naturally.

The Guy's dog, a beautiful dog, who I knew from when he was young, and he only trusted me to pet sit him died recently of a brain tumor. We think that's what our dog had, but didn't go through with the treatment. Anyways, I have heard/discovered/received cards from friends who send cards when their pets die, so I sent one to The Guy. I got a nice Facebook message from The Guy's partner saying how touching the card was. At least someone has decency to reply. I appreciated a response from him. I just said our dog had experienced the same thing, and it was tough for us.

What I said to The Guy

I hadn't seen him since before the school year started. We tried to get together many times, and he canceled.

He invited us to his partner's birthday party. We were in. We were on our way to the party, we texted saying "see you in a few minutes..." and he canceled saying that the sent me a cancelation in a text the day after. He never did. I was upset and infuriated. This was back in November. We canceled weekend plans to attend this party.

We talked on the phone a couple times - always how busy he was - and how he is working hard.

We made dinner plans about a month and a half ago. We put an invite on the calendar. The day came, and that morning, after saying "see you tonight," go a text that he had to cancel because of work and his partner was busy. He canceled 4 times over the past couple of months. So I was mad. I decided to just go off on him and tell him how I felt. I told him I felt like a secondclass friend, and that's what my partner termed it. He said we never got a cancelation from the party because he probably forgot, and didn't care that much too because i'm a secondclass friend. I told him that. My partner said The Guy probably didn't know how to be a friend and have common courtesy about being friendly about canceling, and I told him that. I just went off about how I don't feel valued and how he could have common decency. All he said was "he is not going to change his plans for me, sorry."

That was the last I've heard. I know it was wrong to say all I did, but I said what I felt, and usually we can be honest and open with each other, and we always get over, or learn from what was said, so I said it. I sent him a text apologizing several times, an email, told him we can forget about what happened completely, or just move on. I even took a card and bottle of wine by his house around Feb 8 apologizing. Nothing. No thank you. Nothing. I have sent emails, called, and nothing. I am hurt because he is one of my best friends.

I have a couple of guesses - something is going on with his partner/their relationship, and he is hurting, so when I was bitching about him not telling us the party for his partner was canceled that struck a nerve. It could also be envy from the relationship I have with my partner. Or he could just be really stressed and backing out/avoiding, which drives me crazy. At least have the decency to send me a message.

Images of the future

So my mom had surgery last Wednesday - she had a hip replacement. She'd been having difficulty walking, was using a cane, and stumbling from side to side. 

I went down to the hospital to be with her before school Wednesday, and stopped by after. She was sleeping. It was haunting walking into the hospital wing and seeing my mom there laying in a hospital bed, in a dull blue gown. I went in Thursday to see her after the surgery, and she was tired, but in good spirits, but nodding off. I could only think I hope this is not something I ever want to see again. She is healing pretty well - using 2 canes at times, and doing physical therapy. She was released from the hospital Saturday night. That's the longest she was ever in a hospital. 

So I went to see her last night, and saw another image I don't ever want to see again. She was in her new chair, the kind that has the motor to lift you up and off the chair. Her usually well coiffed hair was not. She had no curls left, and had all of her hair in a bun on the top of her head. She just didn't look herself - and I know nothing could be done - but that image stuck with me and kept me up all night. I know our parents age, change over time, sometimes the progression is gradual and sometimes it is more obvious. But to see my mom in a way I have NEVER seen her over these past few weeks has been disturbing. I hope I never have to see this in the future...

Back in the days...

Hung out with The Guy yesterday. It was good times. Lots of talk about anxiety meds, politics, and our relationships. He finds it funny how antagonistic the relationship is between my partner and I. We argue constantly over little things, but in a cute way, and give each other a hard time.

The Guy had a training session with his trainer at his ritzy country club he has a membership to, so I got to tag along and look at all the hotties from the local high school and college, and work out.

Stopped by Trader Joes and then went back to his house where Rob had just shown up. We talked about a lot of things - mainly Rob's new ventures into nursing, and his new job at a doc's office. Got to talk about a  lot of interesting things like B12 injections. Glad Rob is doing so well.

Then we ordered pizza, ate, and talked, and watched something called Paranormal Witness. It was good - could easily become addicted to that show.

After dinner, and the bottles of wine started flowing, we talked about a lot - we got deep - we talked about cooking, common core math standards, our upbringings and how we remember being taught math in school. It was good that The Guy and I are on opposite spectrums of our beliefs for the common core standards, so that made for good debate. Rob and I grew up in the same city, and grew up with a lot of the same common friends, though we went to different schools. We reminisced about the places we went, people we knew, and that was fun.

He asked about one mutual acquaintance - actually, he is good friends with everyone int he family, and I am Facebook friends with most of the family, but did not like the girls, and I went to K-12 with them. They were mean, know it alls, and made fun of everyone. There were 6 of them, and 4 boys. He asked if I heard about the crash in a nearby city where a guy was coming home from work on his bike, and was struck by a man in a car. I said I had, since I remember hearing it on the news. Turns out their little brother, whom I did go to school with, was all over the news the day before because he had been arrested for mowing the guy over with his car, and I heard the name as the news was reporting it, but the name didn't register. The kid had a very unusual name. I didn't like the little brother, but what he did was tragic.

About 10pm I figured it was time to go, so I said my goodbyes.

Partying it up

Spent the better part of the month partying when I wasn't working.

Well, when I was working I was dealing with a bunch of crazy stuff. I had the Dept. of Corrections test this past weekend to be a corrections officer.

Also signed up to teach in the prisons.

And applying at local colleges.

My cousin's wedding shower was last weekend too. It was great seeing all the family. Great food, and some bonding time with my cousins who live nearby. Mike and I are making plans to get together with them.

The weekend before we did a massive housecleaning for all my teacher friends to come over. It was only going to be just English teachers, but ended up inviting a few others. Wish I had invited M and B. Next time. We had such a blast. Started off the night with a cheese plate, jalapeño poppers, then had chili, bread, and all sorts of cookies for desserts. Wine and cheese was wonderful. Had such a blast.

Going to a drag Christmas party at The Guy's tomorrow. Trying to plan a weekend trip with him and Rob.

Going to the work Christmas party too tomorrow.

We went to happy hour yesterday after work to celebrate the kids being gone - today was a teacher work day. OMG. So fun. M and I sang Christmas carols. My sissy was there too- first happy hour she went to this year. We celebrated our favorite lesbian getting engaged. Everyone thinks it is beyond time for Mike and I to tie the knot, and they all want to have a party for us.

We had our first pep rally at school this past week. Was soooo fun. I was in 2 scenes - teachers performed to Beyonce's Single Ladies and Can't Touch This with B. B is my favorite guy. He seriously is so fun. He's a former police guy, great rapport with the kids, big supporter of me and my sexuality (his dad is gay).

That's what's going on in my world. What's going on in yours?

Twerking it...

Nope... I don't have any competition on Miley, but speaking of working your ass, I am giving P90X a whirl. I cannot complete the full hour of some of those crazy CDs, but I did do the 20 minute ab buster yesterday and 20 minutes of plyometrics today. Hey, I was sweating and tired by then, and 20 minutes is better than none, right? So I figure I'll do a little different bit of the workout each day, try a new CD, see what happens.

So I found a really good deal on a Prius C- $4,000 off on a 2013. Debating about buying... could get $8500 for my car leaving about $12 to finance, which isn't terrible. Its the top of the line with those funky vinyl seats, navigation, HD radio, and touch key ignition. Could also wait and see what my partner does when his lease is up, and we could go for 1 car, or get something more fancy smancy.

Shaved my chest and pec area last night since it seems to bother my BF. Did it laying in the bathtub... haha

Went to dinner with The Guy and his BF last weekend at the steakhouse, was fun, enjoyed it, lots of good talk and wine and food.

Saw Kesha in concert Saturday night. She's one crazy girl, she was fun, we had a lot to drink, and it was good. Lots of wine.

So much has been going on

School started... weeks ago. I'm teaching English this year. Never taught it. It has been a rollercoaster of emotions as my heart really isn't in it, but I'm coming around to accept the fact. I know why the principal moved me there - I am a dominant personality who sticks up for what I believe, and I don't take BS basically is what it boils down to... that and we lost 300 students due to new district boundaries and new schools.

New principal, new coworkers, new things to learn, tons of new planning and grading, tons of lesson plan writing. Ick. It makes me sick. I have not been sleeping. In 3 weeks I have only slept 2 nights, all night. Last night I fell asleep around 3am and was up at 6. The night before I slept all night. I woke up 5-6 times on Friday night.

Lots of drama at work discussing our first unit. I have a masters in curriculum - I am an expert with backward planning, and assignments building upon one another. Don't challenge me when it comes to that. I will stand up. I will be a bitch. I will tell you that you are wrong. I will challenge your idea and tell you why. I know I have never taught English, but I know when something is so clearly wrong and should not be taught. I understood her purpose, but it was completely inappropriate how she was choosing to do this unit. The reason I fought it is we are supposed to have common lesson plans etc., so if I weren't doing the same story than her there were going to be issues. I sure as hell was not going to do that. And I called many people who agreed with me. Oh, and in the end I get my way. But long week.

Family is fine. Sister still has no job. Lives at home. Graduated with a masters she finally decided to go back and get. Dad's retired. Mom is happy at work.

As far as my relationship goes with Mike. We had a rough patch about a month ago. I was looking at an inappropriate site and there were some hurt feelings/things we had to talk about. We are back on track and as happy as ever.

On a new anxiety med. Zoloft. It is not new for me. I had it. I didn't like it because all I did was gain weight. Prozac did nothing. Need to lose 10 pounds.

Friends... haven't seen a lot of them lately. Talked to The Guy and he is doing ok. His bf's grandma has had health issues, so plans with him are up in the air. Gonzo is constantly sick - comes with being preggers.

Been traveling a lot on the weekends - just random trips around the area, but it has been fun. Spent last weekend at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery picnicking and watching a movie with my man. Spent a night in a hotel after...

Few weekend trips coming up that I am thrilled for, and are keeping me energized and giving me things to look forward to during the week.

Eating a new breakfast. I cannot do another year of toast and peanut butter, or toast and jelly. I need a break from that. I'm into breakfast smoothies now with banana, blueberries, strawberries, or some type of berry, almond milk, nonfat yogurt, and a dash of vanilla or stevia. I'm still perfecting the perfect recipe, but it is keeping me full until lunch and I'm not having to get a snack in between. It's pretty healthy, so that's a good deal.

So yeah, need to lose 10 pounds. I love me my wine. The only sugars I'm eating are from the fruits in the morning from the shake. Lunch is a pasta dish, chicken dish, or some dish. Dinner is what Mike cooks.

The Ring

Here it is. I tried posting it last time and guess it didn't work out. And we have matching ones.

In other news, hung out with The Guy and his partner the other day. He talked about how we need to at least have something to commemorate our domestic partnership as it is a way to affirm it in front of friends. I'm going to bring it up to my guy as I think it would be fun, but he's very low key. Maybe a neutral point? We were trying to think of our friends...

The Guy and Rob
Jack Off Buddy and his guy
J & B
Mike's coworker
Gonzo
Darla
Mike's cousin and aunt?
My cousin(s)/aunt/uncle - 1 to 6 of them
Parents?
My sissy from work

We had a nice dinner The Guy and I ran to Trader Joes to make. Chatted about everything and anything with him and his man.

Also hung out with my cousin that I'm closest with and another more distant cousin, Marquel, whom I've never mentioned before. He's like 3 years younger and we never really chatted until the past couple of years. He was so interesting. He said he knew I was gay all along, we chatted about that, he asked what it was like, what it was like not being attracted to girls, whether I found girls hot at all, and he's just one of those really interested people who tries to hear everyone's opinions and thoughts. Sex came up. He recently had his first time with his girlfriend. He thinks I'm one of those been there, done that types. Talked about family, friends, and school. Lots more too.

Rough Week

Tuesday of Last Week -
Went home to visit the family and get shots. Not a bad evening - I know Mike was a little disappointed I didn't come home.

Wednesday -
Mike texted me he was getting in at midnight and back at midnight. He walked in around 11:30 or so and I was long gone - fell asleep a while before he arrived. I was tired.

Thursday -
Up early, made some small talk with him, and he got up too, to give me a hat he bought me the previous weekend. We made plans to meet up for dinner. After work I left as quickly as I could to drive down to the south OC to meet him and his coworker, M, whom I'd met before. She was so excited to see me, as I was excited to see her too. Mike suggested we go to the beach for dinner, and head that way. Hit some traffic. Talk about my day. I had a girl get her period for the first time ever in my class the other day if that gives you an indication of the day that I had. 3 glasses of wine and mussels and other seafood. It was nice to chat, flirt, and make fun of Mike/him make fun of me. We talked about work, college, her kids, California, and more. After dinner we put our arms around each other and headed to get dessert. I got fudge and when Mike saw a toy that was appropriate for me, told her I needed it, and she bought it for me. I thanked her. We get dropped off at her hotel, back at my car, at about 8:30. We tell Mike we still could use a night out, but he was tired, and in pain after his rib. We drop his rental car off and head home, chatting about random stuff.

Friday-
Work was long, got out, and we hung out at home. Talked to The Guy about trying to make plans this week, but his health scare has prevented him, and his boyfriend was getting his wisdom teeth out. We made fish and veggies for dinner, and rice, since Mike was napping when I arrived. We did go out for dessert, and we had some treat - I forget what. We go to bed about 10.

Saturday-
Mike is up at 6 and I sleep in until 9. We shower and then get dressed. We go to the pet stores in his city, the next one over, and then we go to the shelter in RC. We go to the shelter by his house and a few more. We go home and look at kitties. Pizza for dinner.

Sunday-
We get up, go to breakfast at McD's by his house, which was so slow and disappointing. We head to the pet stores this time looking for litter and food, but it was all so expensive. We decide to go to another shelter and end up at one with a beautiful 7 week old siamese kitty. Mike said it was mine and we went to WalMart for some prepping things like a crate and food and bowls. We talk about the kitty and the plans all evening long while I lesson plan. We go to bed about 9 after I pick out my clothes and he packed for his trip. Talked about my concerns of bringing the kitty home alone.

Monday-
Long day at work. Kids are out of control. Admin is not in control. My kids are good. Long day. Drama over a few activities at work. Out of work, call my mom, and it turns out my sister's dog died today, which crushed me. The dog was at the gate this morning and my dad had to convince her to go and lay up on the grass, then my sister was getting ready to go to school when she again refused to move from the fence. When my dad got home from work he took the dog to the vet since she seemed off, and she had a stroke and died on the way. I'm crushed. We've had the dogs 11 or 12 years and both are/were very active. Both are sisters who can't be separated. When they were being spayed they had to be in the same crate because they couldn't stand being alone-despite being in pens next to each other. My dog knows something is up and is super lonely - I know it is only a matter of time for her. I thought my dog would die first given the number of health issues. Oh well, had to persist and get to the vet. I was not looking forward to it, but the kitty put a smile on my face. Got its nails trimmed, took it home and played with it in the office. It has been a bittersweet evening.

Getting into planning

I need to plan some dates for Mike and I. We tend to go to our favorite restaurants over and over. We have neglected a few of them, so I have a few dates planned.

Next time we will visit our favorite steakhouse.

When the weather gets cooler we will go our French restaurant.

One friday afternoon I plan to send him a text, tell him to be ready for me when I get home, and to be dressed up since we are going to a fancy dinner at a restaurant I know he has wanted to go to, but is very expensive. I want to swing that one as spontaneous, but also for a special occasion. We have I guess our anniversary-ish- as I don't know how long we've been going out. I would say we went to the next level about December nearly 2 years ago. Craziness! WOW! I've known him for almost 2 years - we started talking in probably September 2 years ago. I may, in the middle of next month, say that we've known each other for about 2 years, so need to celebrate.

I also want to go see my little cousins in Ok, as well as best friend, so am going to try to swing that for Thanksgiving Break.

Still need to track The Guy down and his boyfriend to do something with my BF and I.

Need to go with Blondie from work and her girlfriend on a double date.

Of course I am going to need a happy hour soon with my Sissy.

Visiting Friends

My BF was gone all last week, but I was pretty much over at his house to sleep since I was tired of people at times.

So here's a look at what I did do during my week.

I visited the chiropractor. I lunched with Blondie. I had some car maintenance done.

On Thursday I hung out with The Guy. It was good times. I had to take my car to get some repair work done on it. I shopped around at different dealers, and the dealer by his house is my preferred dealer because my mom knows everyone there, and we have bought 2 cars there before. I texted The Guy on Tuesday because I knew I'd be there all day with nothing to do. He told me to come on over to his place. Thursday morning came, he texted to be sure I was on my way. He had to go to work, so volunteered to come get me, picked me up, and then we went to his office. We chatted in the car mainly about the bus monitor incident, cars, and hybrids. He sets me up in an office while he fixes a printer. We head off to lunch after at the salmon place. We go to buy wine next door, and he ends up with an $80 bottle of wine that matched the wines/kitchen in his wine rack. We pick up the food, and meet his boyfriend. We eat lunch, make random chat, and then watch the Windows 8 keynote and keynote for the tablet with a keyboard they are putting out. We did that until my car was ready about 3:30, then he took me over to get it. We hugged and I said goodbye. I get my car, run into a girl who had my mom about 10 years ago when she was in middle school, and was so excited.

I go to the mall to shop, and run into someone else my mom knew from work. I pick up Mike at 6 - a few minutes late - because I ran into that lady at the mall. We go to dinner at Chevy's to catch up. He makes fun of The Guy, his boyfriend, and myself for being such nerds.

Spent the night together Thursday.

Friday we hung around together. He had a really bad day at work. His coworker made a huge screwup.  We go to Lay-z-Dog Cafe. That may be our new hangout. Delicious happy hour. Great pizza.

We woke up and had some fun on Saturday  - me laying on top of him. Saturday we visited our friends J & B. We stop at the mall I was at the day prior - I found some $220 Armani sunglasses for $48. I also saw some Prada ones that were $400 for $80. I may go back and buy them. Back to J & B. We went to their house, debated about the beach, ended up at their favorite fish restaurant. We had happy hour foods, discussed our vacation and thoughts on the cruise. We went to Cost Plus after where we ventured through the aisles, then off to another bar. We had 1 margarita each, then B figured since we were both on break we should have 3 mojitos to celebrate. They were good - and I don't like mojitos - I'm no rum fan. I really didn't like the rum the next day. I remember I paid for the drinks. I remember we went to Staters. I didn't remember we went to Trader Joe's, I vaguely remember my head out the window as I'm about to throw up. I remember being on the porcelain throne for a while throwing up. I remember Mike telling me a couple times that J&B were quite honored I was to this point, and it was only my 2nd time. Mike was asleep when I finally felt better, and went in to sleep with him.

I woke up Sunday feeling fine, yet extremely tired. I got up, showered, chatted, and didn't have a headache. Mike told me to go back to sleep while J and him went to get breakfast fixings. I slept for 2 hours and woke up to eat as they were finishing up. We chatted about hangovers and Mike's lost sunglasses that he ended up leaving in J's car.

I slept as Mike looked for his sunglasses, and we stopped at Nordstrom Rack where I found some $179 shoes for $19.

Back to Mike's where we lounge and he makes a delicious chili for dinner. Chili with potato. Hmmm.

Monday morning I have the dentist appointment. Damn hygenist was sick. Again. They only took xrays. I was elated, but Mike made me realize I should have been mad because that was a wasted visit.

I go home to visit the family where everyone is arguing and cleaning. I clean the bathroom, cut down a plant with my dad, and the hallway. My mom didn't tell me Linda and her friend Shana was coming over. She assumed I knew, so there was disagreement over dinner. I'd planned to eat with Mike. I think he was a little upset I didn't, but I was being guilted to stay because both of them wanted to see me. Oh, and then there was another issue. My sister's auto insurance is through the roof. Mike couldn't believe how much it was when I told him. I couldn't believe it either. It'd skyrocketed. Mine had went way up because of a ticket too. I am now paying nearly $1,200 every 6 months. I got a price quote with another insurance company and may be switching. I was subjected to the lecture too about money/insurance even though I give my dad money for mine. I'm hesitant to switch insurance companies because I'm happy with the one I have, but Mike assures me his insurance company, which happens to be the cheapest, is a good one. I go over to his house in the evening after Lind and Shana leave. Mike spends the evening packing.

Tuesday was good. I detailed Mike's car, got some car cleaning products at WallyWorld, and he took off for his flight before this. It'll be a surprise for him to see the car. I plan to whack the backyard later this week if my allergies permit. Family was in a better mood. Met up with them for dinner. Sister was a loon as usual. Creating false memories about the past. Belittling me for being stupid. I just pointed out to her that wasn't the case.

Today I'll help my dad in the yard and probably go over to the house to sleep.

Sleepover with the parents home

Despite a super busy open house the other night, Mike's parents were coming into town. I met them after my 15 hour day at the casino where they were having dinner. I enjoyed a beer while we talked and I told them about the night. We talked about layoffs, and my cousin who happened to be working. She didn't meet them as we didn't walk through that area.

After dinner, we go back to Mike's, and I arrive and go in to turn on lights before they arrive. Mike turns on the TV while they eat dessert. There is some show on- the I Love Raymond spinoff or something and there was an awkward episode on TV. Some girl was bringing her boyfriend home to meet the parents and they were going to stay in HER bed. The dad wasn't ok, and neither was the mom. I wanted to laugh and giggle as we were sitting there because I felt like the boyfriend did at the moment- where am I going to sleep, although I knew the answer- it seemed weird I would be in my boyfriend's bed and his parents would be around. He fell asleep on the couch after The Middle, and so I let myself. I didn't sleep well due to all of my anxiety with everything mentioned in the previous post.

I woke up and showered while everyone was still asleep - hope I didn't disturb them.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Long day at work, lockdown, then met The Guy and his boyfriend at their place. We had been planning on hanging out for a while, but someone had gone incommunicado, and I wasn't going to pass up this opportunity. We just sat and talked/joked around about whats going on in our lives for 2 hours or so. I asked them about doing a weekend trip together- boyfriends and boyfriends. They are down.

Dinner parties

THURSDAY

I head over to my boyfriend's about 1p.m after doing lunch with Gonzo and running errands like returning the hideous snow boots my mom bought me in the morning. So great to meet up with Gonzo.

When I arrive Mike is busy cleaning the kitchen and I help by dusting and vacuuming the entire house. We spend about 2 hours cleaning. It wasn't messy, but we were just thorough and detailed in the cleaning. Wt head out shortly after to get groceries. We were having a dinner party with The Guy and his boyfriend. We go to the grocery store with pasta in mind, but then decide to use up the potatoes we have, and so we got some fish. F&S was out of fish, so we went to Stayters.

We cleaned a little more, then started putting the appetizers together. We debated over the prepping of the fish. We settled on some lemon juice, salt, and pepper. He puts the appetizers in the oven, some brie bites, and everything is ready when they arrive. I greet them at the door, hug, and let them in. They were so complimentary about what a beautiful house Mike has. We all came in the kitchen and made small talk as we waited for the appetizers. Then we went in the formal living room to eat and chat. We talked about our vacation, me getting to meet the parents, what Mike does for a living, my sister, Linda, and a whole bunch of other random stuff. Mike and I took turns going back and forth to the kitchen to check on the food, then we ate about 9:15. We chatted for a while at dinner about cars, it turns out The Guy and his boyfriend just purchased a car together - a $40,000 Audi. They had it for 2 weeks before it needed a new engine. I am floored he got a new car - wow. Mike wanted to show off his pride, his Audi, and so we head out to the garage. They both loved it. The Guy also liked Mike's other car, but was disappointed to hear Mike wasn't completely sold on it. We head inside, hug, and exchange Christmas gifts. Mike, I know, was thrilled to finally get to entertain; and it meant a lot to me that he came out and didn't flake.

We cleaned up, then headed to bed. We were tickling each other, but were too tired and fell asleep about 12:30a.m.


FRIDAY

We are tired, but up at 7. I was super tired. I make us bagels. I told him I needed allergy shots and he decided to go with me. I drove. He told me I was a nervous nelly while driving. There was a big accident on the freeway, so we took surface streets. We got there late only because of the accident and they said to come back at 1:30 for a shot. We went to Kole's where Mike bought hand towels and other random stuff. We went to an old El Torito after before going back to get my shots. We had time to kill, so we go to Target. We head back to his city after. We go the long way around since he told me to- and stop at Kirkland's, Petco, and a few other stops. We were both tired, but I head out, as I wanted to get a haircut since I didn't think of having my mom's friend do it like usual, so I had to pay for my first haircut ever... lol. I ran to the dry cleaner for my shirts down the street and ran into the lesbian math teacher and her partner. Talked to them for a while. They were so friendly. I get back to Mike's and fall asleep. He tells me after I woke up that I was gone for so long, but I explained who I ran into. He woke me up I swear- he tapped me or something- I was in a deep sleep. He made spaghetti for dinner and rolls. We watch RHOA, but I fall asleep and thus am missing key elements to knowing what happens next week. We went to bed about 12:30 and we were both horny that I cuddled up into him, he kissed and jacked me off, then I flipped around and fucked him.


SATURDAY

We were up about 7:30. I watched the news to hear the latest on the 60 closure. We go in the living room for bagels, to finish our little sun catchers we were making, and then bake them. I had never done those as a kid- my mom dismissed them as messy and that they didn't work well. I was so amused when they did. We play on the computers, then get showered and dressed, we head to Lowe's, and Subway. Yummy meatball marinara. We stop at Big Lots and then Stayters again. We were going to do steak for this next dinner party, but Mike convinced me to do a roast for his rotisserie. We also get some salmon.

We go home and assemble the table for the party, Mike works on the appetizers, and voila, we are ready. I do the potatoes and prep the meat/put it on the rotisserie. A few texts to make us think my parents were going to be about 5 minutes late, but instead were 5 minutes early. Mike lets them in, I invite them in from the kitchen, and finish working on my potatoes. My sister was along. She was having her own crisis - she was getting like 100 emails on her phone. OH NO! That was a conversation piece for a while, then we sat down, and enjoyed the first 2 sets of appetizers- brie and pizza rolls. Mike gets up a couple times to put things in the oven. One of those trips as we were finishing up he dropped some lemon juice accidentally on the door of the oven and it shattered. He was not amused and was thinking it is an excuse for new appliances. While sitting my sister talked about her job offer, wanting to move, Chicago, her travels. My mom questioned Mike about his travels, his Christmas tree, and a few other things. When everything was done we went into the dining room to eat. At dinner we talked about my mom's school, my school, Mike's town, what we are doing in NY when we go back, and a little more about himself. We served cheesecake bites and then dinner was done. My parents left about 7:50. As they left Mike poked me and told me they were cute, but some alcohol would have helped everything. Yay for parent visit #2. And he met the sister and didn't think she was that bad. He's the devil's advocate, however. We were cleaned up by 8:15, and Mike and I watched TV for 15 minutes while he looked at replacing the oven door online.

At 8:30, we hugged, kissed, and then I headed out. I came home and packed my bags. Ready to go...

Limo to Margaret Cho

LOL... there's sooooo many good titles for this post, but so much to talk about.

I have been like a rockstar the past 24 hours with a limo, good food, drugs, my entourage, and good music.

I get off work yesterday and have a text from my cousin asking me if I want to go to Disneyland. I said "we'll see," but didn't give her a definite answer as I was just getting home and had a few things in my mind from work that I needed to deal with before I could think about going. About this time around 3p.m. I get a call from The Guy, which totally perplexed me. Friday, date night, and I get a call from him. We chit chat for a moment and then he asks if I want to go to see Margaret Cho with him, his boyfriend, and Jeff. Zach was supposed to go, but was sick. He told me to meet at his place at 5. I have a few errands to run since I was suddenly going out for the night, and run those. The Guy calls asking if I can pick up Jeff since he is mostly on my way. I said sure. That made me a little late getting to The Guy's at 5. It was a pretty cool drive with Jeff. We found stuff to talk about, which doesn't always happen. We talked about the new DMV licenses and how long it takes to get your license now in the mail.

We pull up to The Guy's house and there is a limo outside of his wing of condos. Jeff jokes there's our limo. I said with some hesitance, in a funny way, "of course!" Jeff and I walk in and the party had started long ago. All you could smell was pot. I run to the restroom and everyone takes a few hits, then the entourage heads out. We all have on our jeans and black zip down jackets. It was pretty hot. I was kind of stunned this whole time- we're taking a limo to a concert? Who does this kind of stuff? Apparently The Guy did this a few months back when the 4 of them went to another concert.

I sit next to The Guy, which is just because of the order we got in the limo. He suggests we move seats so his boyfriend could sit next to him, and that was alright with me. That put me in the DJ seat. I got to control the radio. I found 1043 MYFM and they were playing Katie Perry's "Teenage Dream." We had a serious discussion about Katie. We give her a lot of props. She has really catchy songs, which is why we like her. Her music is also so happy. A lot of the music pre-Katie was sort of a downer like some of Pink's stuff came to mind in the discussion like U+Ur Hand- we like the song, but it's a downer. Katie's stuff is all happy.

The Guy and Robert trade seats with me to adjust the air in the limo, which we were having a hard time doing. Then I started really having a blast. They asked me what each song was that was playing on MYFM. I am the musical guru- I know it all. The Guy asked who was playing as it came on and I told him it was Daughtry's "September." He told me how good I was. Apparently there was a RDS display to show in the limo. I told him I was. I said I was like Shazam. We talked about the 90s movie Shazam and debated whether it was Sinbad or Shaq in the movie- I said Shaq- and after googling it discovered I was right, just like Shazam. I identified and kept everyone abreast for their listening pleasure of what was playing- we heard Pink's "Raise Your Glass," "I Ran," by Flock of Seagulls, "Photograph" by Nickelback, Santeria, "Live LIke You're Dying" by Kris Allen, and some "Stay" by Lisa Loeb.







We were also belting out the songs as they came on, and the rum and coke/Pepsi in the limo helped all of that happen. Jeff had 2 half rum and half diet cokes and was wasted. We talk about how we need a sunroof to stick our heads out of, and we were so having an AbFab moment where we thought we might have to just use the emergency exit as a sunroof.

We get to The Wiltern about 6:45 and we are let out by our limo driver. How fun was that getting out and being stared out like "who are we?" That was fun. We decided we were The 4 Boys if anyone asked.

We wait outside the Wiltern for a few moments, but the line was sooooooo long and Jeff and I had to go to the bathroom so bad. He flirted with the cashier at Dennys to let us use the bathroom at Dennys. It was hilarious in the bathroom- Jeff used the urinal and SO I went in the stall to do my business. I didn't close the door and Jeff felt he needed to protect me from any guys who wanted to rape me- that's how I knew he was gone. LOL. My teacher bladder as I call it was full and I was taking a really long time, and Jeff was becoming increasingly worried that I would be raped.

We get outside and The Guy and Robert are about to walk in. We walk in and make our way to the snack bar for the M&M bag cookies and to the HRC booth for = stickers and our Legalize Gay shirts. We get those, make our way upstairs to our seats, and then Robert and I head to the bathroom. While on our way he asks me about an acquaintance we both have in common and we talk about other random friends. SOOOOOOOO FUN AND COOL THAT HE KNOWS THE SAME PEOPLE I DO. The people he knows are much more of the party people and very much on the party scene, but I know them as I did go to school with them. We go get more M&M cookies, then head back to our seats. I get back to my seat and Jeff wants me to go to the bathroom with him. I go with him and he comes out of the bathroom telling me how worried he was I would leave him and he'd have to "rely on the kindness of strangers."

We get back to our seats and the show is about to begin.



The opening act is pretty funny- John Roberts opened and he wore the wig seen in this video and used many different wigs to tell basically the story of his life and all the different types of girls you meet. It was pretty funny.



Oh, and the Margaret clip above was just at the point where it was kind of getting funny. The joke between The Guy and everyone the rest of the night was about the olive oil squirts and bombs it makes. We were all laughing pretty much the entire time. The ending was good- she had the LA Gay Men's Chorus on stage with her singing one of her songs. Yes, Cho sang and played the guitar, and even sang country. She has a good singing voice.

Back in the limo we decide to just head home. Again, I am Shazam, and I provide all the song titles. We heard some Hella Good from NoDoubt, Apologize by One Republic, and a few others. The Guy's boyfriend has a high voice like mine, but dang, he can belt out a tune pretty well. I'm jealous. The Guy talks about what a stoner he has become and how he is constantly high. I believe it. He talks about pot brownies, lollipops, and all sorts of other things he can now buy.



We get back to The Guy's place about 11:30. We are all hungry and he orders 3 pizzas from Round Table while encouraging everyone to do pot with him. Some did... let's just say some people there were higher than a kite by the night was over, some people were really touchy, others became very feely. I had some good and interesting conversations with everyone I do have to say. I enjoyed discussing all of the celeb gossip with Jeff- are Jake and Taylor meant to be? It was a sight... everyone was still friends today. I shudder as it was not a scene I really like to be around mainly because pot possession/being under the influence of pot could cost me my teaching credential just like that. I was so exhausted by the time things were winding down as it was about 2:30a.m. and didn't feel like driving Jeff back to his place- his actual house- not where he was when I had picked him up earlier in the afternoon, so I sort of told him I am spending the night. I just laid back on the couch and closed my eyes. I felt really spacey trying to fall asleep- I think it was just me being uncomfortable about the whole situation. I felt bad for not taking Jeff back to his place, felt bad for staying with The Guy, and other stuff like that. Gah, guilt. Part of it was my fault for being a little adventurous...

Robert has to go to work at 5:15 and I move my car from behind his so he can go to work. I fall back asleep until about 9. It was 11 or so before The Guy began stirring. He had awaken about 5:15 to do the dishes, light candles, and say goodbye to his boyfriend. I just laid on the couch and dozed.

At 11 or so we got up and ate some leftover pizza. Jeff and The Guy played WOW while I played on my phone. We watch some "Law and Order SVU" and "House." I had never seen "House," and let me say I HATE IT. House had some good 1 liners here and there, but he's the kind of guy I just want to slap because he is so unproductive. The Guy was taking hits all day. It was pretty relaxing. The Guy's boyfriend gets home about 5 and plays WOW for a few hours before everyone decides they are hungry. He says he'll make chicken enchiladas, so The Guy and he take off to the store to get the ingredients. He makes them in the kitchen while everyone hangs back watching "House." The enchiladas turned out pretty good. He used a green sauce, and a can sauce instead of red sauce. They were mostly gringo enchiladas, much different from my chicken enchiladas, but they were good. La salsa con tomates helped make them good.

After we eat it is 8p.m. and Jeff wants to head out. Yay! The Guy gives me my Christmas gift- its a little box- I'm guessing an Apple TV, but I'm not sure. It could be anything. What we do know (Jeff, Robert, The Guy, and I all determined) is that it was bought on amazon because it was professionally wrapped by amazon. We discussed our lack of wrapping abilities- well, except for me. I can wrap. The Guy said everything he orders on amazon this month regardless of what it is is being giftwrapped because it helps put him in the holiday spirit, and for $3.99 each item it is a good investment. LOL. I wish I'd brought my gift for The Guy since he had mine. I'm sure we'll meet again soon and I can give him mine.

Jeff and I head out. We talk about AUX ports in cars and how some have them, some don't. As we are heading through Fontana the traffic in the fast lane starts to slow. It slows a couple times and I get nervous as people may have not been paying attention. I see a car swerve from the fast lane to the center divider area to the right lane. This guy was all over the road. I was 3 cars behind him. We follow him for about a mile, then Jeff says he'll call 9-1-1. I'm glad he did. Apparently the guy was probably very drunk and we were not the first to call. We get a call from a CHP officer as we were driving and he asked where we were because he was using us, who eventually passed the drunk driver for our safety to gauge where we were so he could go pull the guy over. I was surprised though how far down the freeway the officer was in relation to where we were when we made the call. I guess that's simply because of who was available and in the area, but I can assume they got the guy. I hope.

I dropped Jeff off and told him I had a great time, then took off. I got home about 9:30.

Great convo, great friends, true friends, good memories, and a night of laughter. What could be better?

My friend from school on facebook commented how my life is so boring after I said I was going to go see Margaret Cho in a limo. lol. I love how my life is so unpredictable. I have those moments sometimes where even I don't know how my life will be in 5minutes because I may be suddenly doing something totally different and going somewhere different.

And so completes a successful weekend with The 4 Boys!!!

Harassed him enough

I have spent the past couple weeks harassing The Guy. I mean that in the nicest way. A text- "what's up," "where are you?" "can you help me by letting me use your video camera?" After the texts and 20 calls he had no choice but to message me back. He has replied lately, so gotta give him credit. We did agree to hang out some day this week last Friday. He texted me at 9:54 this morning, and I immediately cleared my schedule to do so. I didn't have anything important really, only allergy shots. I told The Guy 2:30. And the harassing was alright because I know, and he knows how he has to be pushed and "reminded" a lot, but is glad in the end. LOL

I got out of work early. Linda and I are ahead on planning, and we even got all of our grading done. We just have to input the scores tomorrow. She let me leave an hour early. I was ecstatic. I left at 2:10.

I get to his place and he was taking a nap. He immediately got up, we hugged, and he brought out the food. He got sushi for us. He got the healthy sushi at the place up in his town. We had spicy salmon with cucumber and cream cheese, and spicy salmon/tuna. The salmon/tuna was best. I don't get cream cheese in sushi. We sit and talk about me being placed with Linda for student teaching. He got the biggest kick out of it. He told me about talking to his trainer friends, and how Robert came up with an idea for an iPhone app. He really did find a niche, and The Guy ordered books, explained his idea, and the steps he's taken to start writing an iPhone app. I'm so envious that he is able to program- I really want to see what happens as it takes shape. That just sounds sooo cool.

We go out to the jacuzzi and he tells me more about his iPhone app, how Robert is starting his first day in nursing school, and how he is so self motivated. The Guy tells me Josh replied to his texts this past weekend, so he thinks Josh was dumped or something.

Once The Guy goes for a dip because he smelled nasty he claimed, he got the video camera out for me. As a part of the documentation for the state I have to videotape a lesson, write up everything that happens in the video, how I differentiate instruction for 2 focus students, etc. I have a video camera here at home that is VERY old and would not work because I have to upload it to the internet, and don't have the abilities with the old camera I have. His camera is the size of a regular camera. I told him, and will treat him to lunch when I return it. I am so thankful for this because he is saving me tons of work.

The Guy shows me his thoughts for his iPhone app, then we go get the dogs. On the way to get the dogs we stop at the car wash so The Guy can get his car done. We talk while there. I tell him about Eddy, Keith, and Jack off Buddy/his boyfriend. He was glad to see that I'm getting out and meeting people. He told me how to lure Eddy into bed. He told me to give him a kiss next time we meet. The Guy told me how to give the perfect kiss. You need soft lips and relaxed lips. He had me touch his lips with my finger to get the idea. LOL. Then we talk about how to flirt using body contact because Eddy is not a very contact type guy. LOL. So now I have homework.

We get the dogs and head back home. He asks if I want dinner, and he gets some turkey sausage out, cuts it up, cooks it. Then he adds marinara sauce and a goat yogurt instead of sour cream, some elbow macaroni. It was sooooooooo tasty. And some fresh parmesan cheese on top. Yum! We ate and I told him more Linda stories, we talked about how naive she is, how crazy she is, and her OCD. We talked about my observations and how they've gone really well so far- I had the principal come in the other day and my advisor before that.

After dinner I help him tidy up the kitchen area and do a trash run. I help him install his really high tech door locks that are computer controlled. He also set his thermostat because that same program controls that. He has a smart house. We talked about more random things, and I thanked him for the camera. I got home about 9.

Jeff's Birthday

The Guy messaged me on Saturday morning asking if I'd pick up Jeff as his birthday present. I knew I was going to be asked, and so I said it wouldn't be an issue.

The Guy and I spoke a couple times Sunday before I went to pick Jeff up. I was early on my way to pick up Jeff, so I stopped at Ashley Furniture and ran into a coworker, talked, and that was perfect because The Guy needed me to stall in picking Jeff up for a surprise which I later found out was Jeff's cake. They were in the middle of trying to put it together.

I get to Jeff's at 3:45 and meet his mom since he's now living at home. She was drunk. She has been like that for the past 5 days according to Jeff. We gather all of his laundry and head over to The Guy's. We talk in the car about random stuff- him living out there, his birthday, and listened to the music in the background courtesy of KIIS FM and 1043 MYFM. We listened to some Material Girl and other random stuff. The Guy tells us we need to pick up pizza, and we do so.

We get to The Guy's at 4:30. Zach (The Guy's best friend) and Robert (The Guy's boyfriend) are there. I bring in the pear cider and we all drink one. A friend of Jeff's shows up a few minutes later. We all drink and eat the appetizers The Guy bought and made. The Guy made some delicious 7 layer dip, which was not as good as mine, but still really good. We ate some artichoke spinach dip, veggies, and a few other things. We also had some pizza. We stood around as Zach talked about being drunk, alcohol, being Mormon, and snapped pictures of everything. We retreated to the couch and listened to Faith Hill in the background, talked about how we all have a love affair with Faith Hill, even if it is a closet love affair, and how she has great thighs. Hahahaha.

There Will Come A Day- Faith Hill


We sing Happy Birthday to Jeff and he is surprised by his cake. It is made of a rice krispy bottom, ice cream, brownie, M&Ms, a tiara, and a wand. Bonus points if you can identify the type of character, or this character looks familiar to you as you have been killed by Jeff's character in the game.... hahaha



Robert had to take off to get a few things, so we all watched the pilot and 3-4 episodes of the first season of "Modern Family." It was pretty funny. I've seen a few episodes here and there before. Zach takes off during the 3rd episode and Jeff and I have to wait around for his clothes to finish in the washer and dryer. The Guy and Robert retreat to the office where they are getting high. They took their little vaporizer thing they bought at Home Depot because they couldn't go to Target or Best Buy because of the controversy over political donations. The pot smell doesn't linger with that vaporizer, so you can "smoke" in the house. They were both out of it within a few minutes. It was funny. They played some WOW, I played on my phone, Jeff played WOW on the couch next to me. The Guy was getting tired about 9 and went to lay down. Robert stayed up and looked at videos on youtube, we friended each other on facebook, and we shared funny facebook status messages. My friends were overdramatic last night. One friend "had a tough weekend and needed Jesus Christ." Another friend was having an FML (fuck my life) moment where they realized they had to sell their Dodgers tickets for some game this week. About 10p.m. the clothes are done. Jeff puts the clothes in his basket, and we hug The Guy in bed, then hug Robert and take off.

Jeff and I had a pretty good conversation in the car. I told him about my interviews, he told me about how he has a great job with few hours designing business cards, but has so much down time all he does is play WOW. He told me now he is tempted to go back to school since he is 26 and can finally finish his degree since his parents refused to pay for him to, and he made too much money to get financial aid. He has a year and half to go for a chemical engineering degree. I told him that was pretty impressive and encouraged him to. I told him about Rick, as he had texted me while we were driving. He encouraged me to ditch and ignore him. We get back to Jeff's about 11. I help him with his laundry in the car, wish him happy birthday, then we hug, and say goodbye. He jokes that he can't wait to hear about Rick and I getting together.

Sitting and talking at the kitchen table

The Guy texted me Monday asking if I was free for lunch Wednesday. I texted him back yes, of course, when have I refused food? This was after I texted him and called him a couple times trying to get together, but he's being bad at picking up the phone again. I can continue to harass him about that he said.

I texted him about 9 this morning asking when we'd meet, and he said 3 today. That was perfect for me.

I got to his place and he was in the bathroom obsessing over his looks because a face mask he used yesterday caused a rash on his face. We hugged, then he got us some Hawaiian punch or something that was red and tasted like that that he had in a pitcher. We sat down at his kitchen and table since he finally had kitchen chairs and he told me how he was so anxious. He just sort of vented about everything. Loves his boyfriend Robert. He told me how he was on edge with him earlier this week when he found photos of that guy The Guy went to visit in Wisconsin several months back. They basically talked and things are perfect again. They talked about how the the enamoration period of the relationship is over and both of them are scared, but optimistic. He told me the sex was great, though they're still using condoms, he's ok with bottoming, etc. etc.

I told him about my life. I've been doing a lot of writing, reading, interviewing, helping my dad around the house with things like installing insulation. I told him about Rick (pool party guy)- he knew about the part where he wanted car sex and we hadn't discussed it any further. I told how crazy Rick has become. He's texted me telling me we are meant for each other, asking where I am, what I'm doing, why I haven't written back, how I must hate him, how he was ready to introduce me to his twin brother because he's convinced we are meant for each other, and I'm now family. You get the idea. I've really ignored his texts. He is still texting 2-3 times a day at least. I ignore it, or tell him I have a life, am busy, can't talk, and leave the conversations on a very generic level.

We go out to the jacuzzi so he could calm down and he tells me about the gym. He has been spending the past 2 weeks stretching at the gym with his trainer- only doing that- his flexibility is horrible. I was surprised, but he showed me, and I see what he meant. I helped him do some arm stretches. Oh, and I ate a bowl of pasta with balsamic vinaigrette that he made while out there. He told me about his dogs, random other stuff.

We go back in and sit down and talk about him being stoned every night with Robert. Robert needs to be stoned enough to be sexual. He told me about all the pot they smoke together, and the pot vaporizer they found that supposedly eliminates the carcinogens, but has the ____ (I forget the name) of the hallucinogen in it that makes you high. You basically fill up a bag with the stuff, suck the bag in, and get high. Interesting. He tells me about the renovations being done on the carport. He tells me how his back has hurt so much, but he doesn't think he needs a physical therapist he joked because he has enough therapists/coaches in his life like a writing coach, therapist, 2 trainers, and so that may be one too many. He tells me he is stopping his testosterone injections because his levels are more or less normal now, and he may lose weight by doing that.

I told The Guy about my interviews and bounced some thoughts off of him, which was cool.

We go get the dogs and he tells me how the dogs have been doing. We run into the cute gay guy that he asked for his phone number, but never called because he fell in love with Robert that same weekend, and The Guy felt awkward. I told him to hook me up with him. He was cute and successful.

The Guy and I talk about how radio volume levels change based on the number of people in the car. He said 25-40 is perfect when he is in the car alone. I told him in mine I keep it around 20 if it is just me in the car. Just yesterday my sister was complaining it was too loud on 9 with 3 people in the car and it ended up down to about 6 where we could all talk, and you could just barely hear the radio. We agreed that the radio just barely audible was the perfect level for multiple people in the car.

We get back to his place and he reminds me of Jeff's birthday this weekend. Jeff doesn't have a lot of friends, so The Guy is inviting people Jeff hangs around. It dawned on me tonight that Jeff probably doesn't. Jeff is an interesting/hard to get along with character at times. Jeff only ever talks about his roommate at the moment or his friend Jeff, or a failed date. Jeff and I don't even get along all that well. We're cordial toward each other, but we wouldn't be friends/acquaintances if it weren't that we were both friends with The Guy.

Great weekend

Friday:
Went to Universal Studios with Jack Off Buddy and his boyfriend. The 3 of us see each other 2-3 times a week usually at the gym as we all go to the same one, or whenever I'm over near JO Buddy's house. Universal was quite fun. JO Buddy determined we were a good match because of our personality types. JO Buddy is INTJ, his boyfriend is ENTP, and I'm ISTP. Being an INTJ was why JO Buddy needed a navigation system as opposed to his boyfriend and my directions; if only he'd listened to us as his navigation sent us in a circle more than once. JO Buddy had been to a training the day prior about the Briggs Personality Types and applying it and its characteristics to clients. There were 4-5 times where we joked that we were doing things a certain way during the day because we were INTJ or ISTP or INTJ. We also picked out the "j" kid sitting next to us who was definitely the judgemental type who knows it all and has to get his way. HAHAHA

We got to Universal and stopped at each one of those spots they take your photos because JO Buddy said it was only $9 for all of your photos to be emailed to you that they shot that day. We got about 6 pictures of us on various rides. The lines were super long due to the King Kong ride opening on Universal's backlot. Most lines were about an hour. We had a good time talking about our coming outs, activities we like to do in our free time, and things like that. JO Buddy's boyfriend had a really interesting story about his life and addiction. We listened to stories about drugs, sex, and stuff like that. Also got to check out Wisteria Lane- Desperate Housewives- I've been on the tour 4-5 times and everytime we just drive past Wisteria Lane, so I was excited to go down it.





For dinner we went to Samba, the Brazilian Barbecue restaurant. It was soooo good. We had about 7 different types of meat. We all had the same favorites- bacon covered chicken, the chicken, pacolli (spelling?), and beef ribs. The pork ribs, sausages, and tri-tip were alright. We had a $10 off coupon, which was cool. It was fun since it was sooo good and there were lots of jokes about meat going around. There's just so many different types. Thick meat. Round meat. You get the idea.

JO Buddy's boyfriend drove us home and it took 45 minutes to get from Universal on the 101 to the 10- maybe 10 miles? And this was at 11:00pm on a Friday night. I told him to take the 10 because of all the construction late at night where the 60E is shut down to 1 lane on Friday and Saturday nights. I was going to suggest the 134-210 to get home, but I wasn't driving, and so it didn't bother me too much. The extra time in the car just meant time for good conversations and singing to the Glee soundtrack. 2 really macho men and myself singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart." JO Buddy has a pretty dang good deep voice.



Saturday:

Got all of my bank cards and license in the mail. I'm back in business after having my wallet stolen. Yay for shiny new cards! They should spend better.

Went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory with Darla and several of our friends from our college. Gonzo was sick sadly, so I felt a little alone. No, actually it was cool. I had a fun time. Everyone has finally graduated. Most are going to a local med school to get their masters in public health since that's the "in" thing to do. I kind of like being the strange English guy in the bunch. Everyone else is science oriented.

My food was very disappointing. I've never been impressed with anything I've had at Cheesecake Factory with the exception of the cheesecake. I had the chicken dala, which basically a chicken pounded thin and with a batter on it to make it like chicken fried steak with no sauce. I used some of the ranch at the table to dip it in. I ate everything on my plate and was still hungry. The Cheesecake Factory has huge ungodly portions and I ate everything on the plate including the mashed potatoes and broccoli.

Darla didn't want dessert because it was too fattening. Her reasoning was her dinner was 1000 calories, the cheesecake was 1000, and she was planning on drinking 1000 calories, so she'd have to burn at least 1500 calories at the gym today, and that would take 2 hours. She does the fatburner on the treadmill. I told her the cardio is good and you do burn calories, but she keeps talking about getting toned, and I told her that is where weight training come in. She seemed convinced the treadmill was the all-encompasing-do-it-all workout machine. Too funny!


Sunday:

I went to a barbecue at The Guy's house. My parents and sister were in San Diego and a pipe under the sink cracked in the kitchen. I got under and conquered that. It took a lot of looking and then panicking, but went to Ace Hardware, and thanks to a friend from high school I fixed it myself and only took a couple trips. It left me short on time to The Guy's place. I only mention this because The Guy asked me if I was near Jeff's house because he needed a ride- I wasn't- I was willing to drive 10 minutes out of my way to pick him up, but he didn't pick up his phone.

The Guy asked me to bring alcoholic pear cider and ice. I picked up the pear cider yesterday because I happened to be near a liquor retailer that has everything- I'd never heard of that- it was ciderlike, but ok. That saved me time and I made it right to The Guy's at 3.

I get there, I shake Robert's hand- The Guy's new boyfriend, and put the cider in the fridge. We talk about random stuff- I ask what they've been up to, and they've been playing WOW. The Guy is sauteeing some mushrooms and running outside to grill the bell peppers. I get some time to talk to Robert. We talk about work, how we both deal with kids, and some of the areas he works in. We've probably crossed paths and never knew it- he looks so familiar, so I'm thinking we have. It was cool to talk to him, especially when The Guy tells me he is so shy. We chat about where we live, and I bring up the city I live in because I saw on his facebook he is from here. I find out he lives/lived in the poorer area of the city, but I tell him the high school I went to. He asked if I knew Tami, Reagan, and other random kids, and I knew all of them. The Guy was surprised, and I know Robert and i both got a kick out of it. I asked Robert if he was a soccer player since all of them played soccer, but I didn't realize that the people he mentioned always hung out, and that's how he was introduced to them. That was cool.

Louis showed up shortly after (a friend of The Guy's that I hadn't seen since 2008 and is living back at home in the area now). The 4 of us make more random conversation and joke about stuff. The Guy's brother and his girlfriend show up too, and we chat.

The Guy finishes up the chicken and we all make our chicken sandwiches with mushrooms, onions, munster cheese, and chicken. We also have some delicious bruschetta that The Guy made. We sit around and talk about random stuff, mainly bad wine I think if I recall right. After we eat The Guy's brother asks me how I've been, and I tell him great, just enjoying summer, and sad I go back to work in about 15 days. He asked if I was a teacher, and I told him sub. We talked about the subject matter i want to teach, then we talked about something related to that, and then talked about direct instruction and how it is being used for the wrong reasons. The Guy's brother is very conservative, from Orange County, and of course holds almost all conservative viewpoints on education, but we found ourselves agreeing on a lot of things. We discussed direct instruction (think recitations and very structured drilling lessons,) and how that sucks out the creativity, and that is a negative trend in education for English classes. We actually had a constructive conversation and I learned a few things from it- he is one of those really well versed people- just like The Guy. We talked about the Department of Education and why it was not necessary- I think The Guy and I were able to convince him that it was necessary because we need some sort of precedence to follow for standards to make sure that all students in all states are at least learning certain things. We all felt that education should be more localized, and as long as the standards are being met.

I also pointed out how in California to be eligible for the Race to the Top funds from the federal government we are being asked to basically dumb down our California state standards for all students because they don't fit in Obama's framework. Don't get me started on Obama's education ideas, but sticking to the topic, California has some of the highest standards for students in the nation. The states with the highest standards for students are California, Texas, and Indiana. Basically what it all boils down to is that California expects a lot out of our students, and by trying to compete for the Race to the Top funds, we would be dumbing down our standards, classrooms, and students, which is wrong.

I enjoyed talking with The Guy's brother because he was reasonable and receptive, which so many people, especially those not in education tend to be so rash when it comes to issues about education and teachers. He was very praising of teachers.

We chat about the importance of PE, and Louis wants to teach PE, so that was interesting to hear about his stories.

The Guy decides we should all head to the pool. I borrow a swimsuit from The Guy because he didn't tell me to bring one- it did cross my mind. I did blame him and showed him my text evidence. Everyone else had theirs. We go out in the jacuzzi in the 90 degree heat. It was not bad, but after a while got to be a bit much. We went back and forth between the pool and jacuzzi. We mainly sat around talking about swimming and coaching, as The Guy, his brother, his brother's girlfriend, and Louis all were into swimming and all have coached it. Robert and I didn't say too much. We were out there for probably an hour.

When we go back in we sit around and play with the dogs a few minutes, and then his brother and girlfriend take off. The Guy suggests we go get yogurt, so after some confusion we take my car and I drive to the yogurt place. I turn the car on and 100.3, The Sound, is playing Billy Joel's Piano Man. Robert and The Guy sing along. It was cute. I get some green tea and acai yogurt, and am happy. We had fun joking about random stuff like soda wine that was in the yogurt place. We talk about Louis hating living at home and his parents, and other stuff. I have it so easy. My parents just kind of understand I do my own thing and have my own life.



We go back and look at movie trailers for shows like "Red," and then The Guy shows us Robert's WOW character who is on level 70 or something. We hang around until The Guy and his boyfriend decide they want to play, we all hug and then take off.

I left about 8:30 and had a good drive home. I realized some of the reasons I'm not into Rick, and when I got home it was even more clear. He is one of those "drama" types. For some reasons email confirmations aren't being sent to my email via facebook, so I didn't know, but Rick posted on his facebook to the effect of someone he likes hasn't messaged him all day, and that person was me- it wasn't hard to tell. He texted me 3 or 4 times while I was at The Guy's, and it wasn't appropriate for me to text then. His brother sent me a message on facebook. Rick also sent me a message about how I'm so unavailable for him. Come on, fight your own battles, if you have a problem approach me. That's what I didn't like about him that I got that I wasn't able to pinpoint until tonight. He seems to have 4-5 really good friends who, while nice, seemed leery of me for whatever reason, and protective of him, and it seemed like they would take his side on anything regardless. Now I have nothing against that- it's great he has that support system, but when it comes to a personal matter between 2 people 3, 4, or 5 don't need to be involved.

I was thinking while driving home about what I look for in a guy, and I don't see a lot of it in Rick. I like a guy who is grounded- Rick isn't. I like a guy who is educated- Rick is. Physical attraction is important- there isn't a lot with Rick- he's a good looking guy, just not my type. I don't like the whole air your drama on facebook. I like guys who are mature about issues and can be open, and if I'm going to be blasted, even indirectly on things like facebook that's not cool.

Playing hookie!

I got a couple simultaneous texts from The Guy this morning. He asked what was up, then said let's hang out, he was playing hookie. I texted him back saying I'd join in. It was about 9:45 at the time, I threw on some clothes, and was on my way. I was there within 45 minutes.

I get to his place and give his dogs some love. He is on the phone with the company behind Warcraft trying to deal with some issue. He logs into Warcraft and stuff. He asks me what's going on. I tell him I've been busy with landscaping projects. I laid sod the other day, trimmed and pruned geraniums that we are wanting to get rid of. He told me he was just hanging out with Robert, his new boy, and all is well. He told me things we could do today- Best Buy, doggie day care, AT&T store. I said yes, yeah, sure, and shook my head to give my approval. We get the dogs ready, and head out.

In the car we discuss the Elena Kegan Supreme Court Nomination. He tells me how he watched the hearings the 2nd day, but didn't get to watch yesterday. I said I had just seen bits and pieces shown on TV, like her sense of humor, which was cool because she seems much more down to earth than others on the court. We talked about some bad SC rulings as of recent like the Bush v. Gore, and how they seem disconnected from the general population as of recent. We take the freeway over to the dog place, which seemed to take longer in my opinion. Drop the dogs off.

We return home for a few moments as The Guy forgot his wallet. We head back out to the AT&T store, which was in Mexican town, according to The Guy- it was just down the street from him. I am on my phone trying to google where it is. I have to say the service was sooooooooooooooooo much better than any other AT&T store I've ever been to. Personally when I shop I tend to go to the more Hispanic areas- I find the employees are much friendlier. The girl who helped us was young, cute for a girl, helpful, and very flirty. We were flirting with her. The Guy got his iPhone for Robert, which he is not paying for, his boyfriend is on a month-to-month prepay phone, and wants to pay. The Guy got his parents iPhones straightened out, and bought one of the 3G coverage extender you plug into your router for work.

We both sang along to "Battlefield" by Jordin Sparks. He loooooves the song, and I like the song a lot too mainly because my cousin has a special connection to the video.


In the car again and off to Best Buy where we find another friendly gal who helps us find 5 cases for the new phones, 5 car chargers, and then we check out the washer and dryers. The Guy has the front loading LG washers that look cool, but really aren't. He has to wash his clothes 4-5 times to get the mold smell out of them, he has mold growing in the washer, he wipes it dry after each wash. The salesman was most unhappy there unwilling to budge in price, although The Guy would buy the washer, dryer, extended service plan, and the drawers the appliances sit on. He was going to try out Samsung's front loading instead of LG. After 20 minutes of arguing and questioning we get the cases and car chargers, then take off.

We go through the drive through at Carls for bottled waters because "we're like on a diet, and we need our Pepcid AC."

We hear this catchy song, which we sing the "hurry, hurry" part.
Happiness- Alexis Jordan


We decide to go out to Victoria Gardens for the Apple Store. We get an iPad with 3G for The Guy for work, and get his phone looked at since the proximity sensor didn't seem to be working. Of course it wasn't failing when the manager was looking at it. We made a couple test calls to each other. The Guy is also having issues where he can't send picture texts, the phone just says "saving photo." I bragged my phone is just perfect, because for once it is. I have had 1 dropped call in 1 week, and I don't believe the dropped call that I had was my fault. This is from someone that had 50%+ dropped calls. The Guy has an appointment Tuesday for his phone. The manager was actually somewhat helpful for a change. That lady is hard to deal with. We talked about how nice she was, and how sometimes people are just really having a bad day. This related to a story we were talking about earlier when The Guy cornered a trainer at his gym about an insensitive comment about fat people, and all fat people have bad lives and things like that, or something.

We are starved by this time, so head back to The Guy's place. It was 3, and we had been out since a little after 11. Time flies when you're having fun. We do make a quick jaunt to Home Depot where they only have the LG washers and dryers- no Samsungs. The Guy gets the out the door price, and he would save over Home Depot. At Home Depot the employees did tell The Guy of course there will be mold and water issues with front loading because there is no agitator. The Guy is basically sold on the cool design.

We get back to The Guy's place and cart all the boxes in that had arrived- clothes from The GAP, Amazon, and a bunch of other stuff. We put that stuff away somewhat, but never get a bite to eat. The Guy had to jump in the shower and take off to his training appointment.

I miss country music

I texted The Guy this morning before I knew what was going on. I figured he was on facebook and probably not up to much. That was the case. I got a call from him as he was coming home from taking the pups to doggie daycare. We chatted as much as we could- meaning how long we could stay connected. We did get a few words in about saying we should hang out, so I took that cue, and headed over to his place.

When I arrived he was looking at some videos of America's Got Talent and great singers the article was showcasing. We talked about how good some of them were. We talked about iPhones and speculations surrounding the great unveiling Monday. The Guy made a great point about the prototype that was discovered in a bar and publicized greatly over the past few weeks. He said that the iPhone that was unveiled looked like something early 90s Mac, and not polished and elegant like the new iPad. Why would Apple take a step back? There needs to be a WOW factor, and that prototype does not have the WOW factor. We looked at the Sprint HRC phone and compared it to the iPhone. It is bigger, the new phone is rumored to have a smaller screen, but better resolution. Lots of fun. We were trying to measure the size of the HRC vs. the iPhone, and went on the search for a ruler and tore up the place looking for one only to discover The Guy does not own a ruler. We spent a good 20 minutes doing that. I love it, when he is persistent and wants to know something like that he'll obsess over it.

We ate some food he cooked the other night- there was shredded cheese, tortillas, frijoles refritos (refried beans), and guacamole. Good grub. We started snacking on healthier tortilla chips and guacamole, then he put a tortilla out with some cheese and had a quesadilla going. He warmed up the beans, then he pointed out I could do a bean and cheese burrito, and that sounded pretty dang good, and it was.

We go in the office and The Guy tells me about how his WOW accounts were all hacked, and how he emailed about it, but has yet to hear a response. Along that same line The Guy got tickets to Blizzcon (the big Blizzard product showcase- Blizzard is the company that has World of Warcraft, and several other games). He got 4 tickets for Robert (the new b/f), Jeff, his friend in Missouri Dan, and himself. He is paying to fly Dan out. He played and did some PVPing on the new toon he bought because his others were hacked. This new toon is good for PVP play. He invited me to play, but realized his accounts were frozen and he didn't have an account for me.

We hung until 5p.m. when he had to go pick up the dogs and get ready for Robert. I would have gone with him to pick up the dogs had I not had to mosey on over to my next outing.

I mentioned how I wanted to go see Lady Antebellum and Tim McGraw, and my cousins would go. My lesbian cousin B and her girlfriend had other plans, although they wanted to go. My oldest cousin, the one I most often refer to as cousin wanted to go. Her friend Laura wanted to go too. The tickets were lowered to a family 4 pack lawn seating for $75.00. It was just the 3 of us, but still, $75 for 3 people is not bad when 1 ticket was $41. My opinion also was we would be there to hear the music, half of going to a concert is hearing the music/seeing the artist, the other half is who you go with, and I was with a fun group, so I was going to have a great time either way.

Lady A

It was at the San Manuel Ampitheater in the middle of nowhere in Devore. Lots of cars trying to get there, though. We knew the back way in and saved 30 minutes easily waiting in traffic. I <3 having relatives in the area, so I know my way around there pretty well. I was apprehensive about would my cousin and her friend Laura like it? Cousin is a closet country fan who likes the Rascal Flatts stuff, and Laura liked Lady A's song "Need You Now." She is the one I went to Brandin' Iron with last week, along with lesbian cousin who didn't go.

View from our spot on the grass

Lady A

Sooooooooo many hot shirtless guys tailgating and lots of booby grabbing and flashing from girls. Fun stuff. Laura was so appalled, she's a good little Catholic girl. It was hilarious as we were walking, she screamed a couple times over some of the stuff she saw.



We had lawn seats as I said, which were of course at the back, but we had such a great time, the 3 of us. We sat on a blanket, had our strawberry/lime margaritas in hand, and good music. It was interesting during the intermission between acts they played oldies like "Rocket Man," The Police, and other non country acts.

This girl was lifted in the air waaaaaay too many times- you might understand why

There were more acts than we thought playing- first was Love and Theft, which only played 15 minutes or so, which was perfect. Then Lady A took the stage, and was amazing. Next came Tim McGraw, and then the Warren Brothers came out to sing with Tim McGraw.

Lady A's best songs were "Lookin For a Good Time," "Need You Now," "Hello World," and "I Run to You." All of these songs came near the end of Lady A's performance. My cousin first said she recognized "American Honey," and actually stood up to watch them perform that. Laura and I had already been standing.



When Tim McGraw first came out he sang "Real Good Man." My cousin said she had a total deja vu moment about the whole motorcycle entrance. She said he was soooo sexy. The 3 of us stood up and danced the entire time. My cousin made the comment during "Where the Green Grass Grows," "I miss country music." Her boyfriend is punk rock, alternative, Metal Mullisha guy 100%. She seemed to be having more fun as the time went on.

Tim McGraw's stage
The crowd was so worked up, it was truly crazy. Tim sang most of his hits, except "Grown Men Don't Cry," "The Cowboy in Me," "Don't Take the Girl," "When the Stars Go Blue," and "My Next 30 Years." He did sing 2-3 like "Still," and "Southern Voice" off of his new album.

Some of the other songs that were my favorite from the night included:


Watching him sing "If You're Reading This" was amazing, and Laura melted. She took a video of it, as well as a pic. Did you know the Warren brothers helped write this?


On the way home we kept talking about how sexy Tim was- I didn't really comment- I just said he looks great for his age, hard to believe his 40+.