Jimmy!

Jimmy Buffett kicked off the summer concert series in 40 degree weather last night!  My friend Matt drove in and took me to the concert.  (Thank you Matt!!!) We had a grand time, he is still at the house nursing a pretty wicked hang over.  I am at work!  Sucker.  I must admit, I did sleep in this morning and probably slept through the worst of the hangover.  

While I was in and out of sleep I was thinking about 2008.  Part of me feels like it has been SUCH a DIFFICULT year.  Unexpectedly losing my job and then severely injuring myself are not the harbingers of good things!  I realized I was only focusing on the negative things that had happened.

I started going through all of the good things that have happened this year.  I have traveled to Cancun, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Richmond and DC, I have done a lot of rewarding work in the garden, I've started dating again, I've been to a Bruce Springsteen AND Jimmy Buffett concert.  Not a bad year at all and frankly, it's off to a better start than most.

BRUCE!

This past Christmas, I gave my mother tickets to see Bruce Springsteen.  Well, the show did not disappoint!  I'm sure you have been to concerts that were good.  And, I'm sure you've been to concerts that are GREAT.  The GREAT concerts happen when the performer hits that vibe with the audience and it's just awesome.  Maybe all of Bruce's concerts are like that?  I've only been to one before and I recall it being pretty darn great.  Baby, we were born to run!!!

A Weird Weekend

I will dispense with formalities first.  

What the hell happened to the Tar Heels???!!!  My team completely fell apart on Saturday night during the final four.  It was horrible to watch.  They were down by 31 points at one time, then brought the lead within 4 points...only to go down by 18.  Ugh.  The press conference afterwards was even MORE painful to watch.  I have never seen a more distraught team after losing a game.

Now for the fun stuff.  I have started dating again.  I'm really trying to focus on it since I have neglected that part of my life for a while.  A friend set me up with this guy and we were supposed to go out this coming Thursday.  Well, Sunday afternoon he shot me a text and asked me to dinner Sunday night.  I had triple booked Thursday anyway, so this was a great loop hole for me.  I also figured that there was no point in playing games...the whole,  you didn't give me enough lead time so I'm "not available" crap.  Thought I'd skip it.

Dinner was nice.  He showed up in stylish clothes.  Driving a Merecedes CLK350 (turned out it wasn't his, but he drives a BMW645).  Suggested a good restaurant (which had gone out of business in the last week but quickly accepted my suggestion of a decent place down the road).  Conversation was good.  He was funny.  Oh - this was a blind date too.  He was hot (go B! thanks!).  

Now, maybe I have become a bit uptight in my old age?  Maybe the following will explain why I am still singe.  Most of his stories involved dates that went sideways with girls who had at one time or another been employed as strippers.  Now, he was careful to point out that he doesn't frequent strip clubs (not a fan) but seems to meet them.  The stories were damn funny.  But, is it odd to bring up stripper dates on a first blind date?

The nice car thing threw me for a loop.  I NEVER date guys with nice cars.  I have no idea why, but every guy I have dated (last two excepting...maybe I've found grown up men?!) has driven a POS.  Either really old, really dirty or stunk, or a combination of all three.  So, a date with a guy who has a real life nice car is an oddity.  It's a good thing, particularly since I like cars!!

I need to scoot, so for now, I'll wrap with I don't expect him to call.  I don't think I'm his type of girl.

Wow - So This is what living feels like!

I have been so focused on work and building my career the past 2.5 years that I had begun to neglect parts of my life.  I was working 10+ hour days and loving it.  Only, I forgot to do little things that were important to me.  I forgot to go to the gym/work out.  I forgot to spend lots of time with my friends.  I forgot to garden.  I forgot to take my dog for walks.  I had even forgotten to read! (For as long as I can remember, I have almost always read at least a chapter every night before bed.) I forgot to be involved.

Since THE LAYOFF I have been slowly regrouping.  I've started to exercise again. I've started to cook.  It's even easier now that the stove I burned up has been replaced.  I've started to think about dating again.  Stop - let me rephrase that.  I had started to think about it back in the fall when the blast from my past popped back into my life.  Even though he wasn't an option for me (pesky morals), I had such a good time with him (as always) that I remembered that it was FUN to flirt and go to dinner and have drinks, with someone other than your friends and family.  I had forgotten.

Here's to remembering!!

Helluva Year

About a three weeks ago, I was cooking dinner and caught a pot, and then my stove on fire. In the process of putting it all out, I severely burned my right hand. Yes, I'm right handed. The only insurance I have is through COBRA, so I'll be paying $400/month for insurance. Ugh. This is the second challenge to overcome.   The good news is that it is healing - slowly - and pretty soon I should have full use back and no longer be walking around with a mummified right hand.

What will the third challenge be???

Cancun or Bust!

What does the sane girl do when she loses her job?  Take off to Cancun for a week of soul searching!

We'll see if this turns out to be one of my crazier ideas or not.

Oddly enough, or not, actually, my friends reactions when I told them I was taking off was, "Are you crazy?!"  Wait, no, you're Jen.  This is a completely normal reaction for you. Good luck!"

My plan is to take this time and figure out what is important to me and decide WHAT TO DO WITH THE REST OF MY LIFE.  Or, at least the next chapter.

I am so grateful to have spent most of the month of January in blissful ignorance of my impending job loss.  January was quite a bit of fun and wouldn't have been if I had known what was just around the corner.

Isn't that the crux of life?

Una margarita por favor!!

A Nice Friday Night

Last night, I had two of my girlfriends over for dinner.  We had a great time!  The menu was a mescaline salad, garlic stuffed, balsamic vinegar broiled pork tenderloin with a carmelized onion and red wine reduction, mashed potatoes and broccolini with olive oil and garlic. 

After dinner we headed to the Opera to see Aida.  It was a wonderful opera, but none of us realized just how long it was going to be.  We were pretty antsy after the third scene change and intermission!  The Opera was over three hours.  Regardless, it was a really nice night