Transformation

This weekend has turned out much better than expected. In the midst of depression I never remember that leaving the house and hanging out with B and the TG’s does wonders for my mood.

Saturday, after much debating I forced myself to go down to the AMC. (stopped at the post office on the way to pick up these rings.) Julie and Adele were in sessions by the time I got there, so I sat at the TG table alone for a while. After about an hour of cranky text messages to B and half-heartedly talking to people that stopped to find out what TG was about, Adele came out and sat with me. She’s the type of person that cares enough to ask questions and I’m unable to tell her I’m ok and everything is fine when it’s not. So it was helpful to get some of that crankyness out of my system.

The last set of sessions started and we stopped in for a panel on the Jena 6 and New Jersey 4. The discussion centered around the media coverage of each and why the Jena 6 was publicized much more, while the New Jersey 4 was essentially ignored by mainstream media. The discussion was intense and the panelists brought up things like: why women of color (woc) stories and LGBTI stories receive little or no attention from the media, victim blaming, police brutality centered around race and gender, questioning the idea of getting big media attention – is it needed?

I also had the privledge of meeting BrownFemiPower – she is an absolute genius woc blogger. Add her to your reader NOW! I also met Jessica Hoffman from Make/Shift and Debbie Rasmussen from Bitch Magazine. (Watch for A Bitch Project to come to your town)

Listening to those people speak pulled me out of my own mind for a while, so went I left I was energized and in a good mood for the first time in days.

I drove over to B’s house where he had dinner all set up – my man is not only incredibly sweet, he’s a damn good cook. We ate dessert while lying on the couch watching TV – best part of my whole weekend.

Around 10 we headed to Skip’s going away party – I was wearing knee-length shorts and a tshirt (which B called my skater girl outfit) and the party was outside so I was freezing. I ended up wearing B’s sweatshirt, which was two sizes too big on him, so it looked like a cape on me. Two beers later we drove to Ferndale to meet people at a bar. I got good and drunk on a jack and coke, which left the rest of the night a little blurry. (and a little x-rated, so we’ll skip forward to today)

Raced home at 10 to meet Jenn and head back to the AMC. We got down there by 1 and manned the TG table while making plans for Warped Tour. We’re thinking of having a safe sex/body image theme to our booth this year.

Around two we all eagerly piled into the auditorium for the closing session where Grace Lee Boggs was the speaker. She is my hero! (and probably everyone else’s that was there too) She is an author, anti-racist activist and feminist. She founded Detroit Summer, a multicultural intergenerational youth program and…she just turned 93! Every word that comes out of that woman’s mouth is gold. And you could tell we all knew it by the number of people with pen in hand when we sat down in the auditorium. (I want to write a little about that Grace spoke about, but I might save that for another post.)

We ended the conference with everyone singing happy bday to Grace and Jenny Lee (one of the organizers). Then Jenn and I went back to the table and while I packed up, she hawked chocolate vaginas. The drive home was nice, windows down, music off, talking about work and dudes and life.

Now I’m back at home, hoping the wind will die down and the sun will come back out so I can try out my new bikini, but it looks like that might have to wait for next weekend since my feet are getting hit by a pretty cold breeze. Dinner with the fam in a couple hours and then I think B and I are going to see ‘Get Smart’.

I think I need a nap!

Happy happy happy

Wow that was a heinously bad web chat. Why is it when my boss goes out of town everything goes wrong? I could write a hilarious blog about our web chats if I didn’t worry about getting dooced for making fun of a client.

I need a little time to decompress so I’ll write about my lovely night with B.

Yesterday I went to work early so I could leave early. After winding my way through construction (every single major highway in metro-Detroit is having work done, so there was no good way to get there) I made it to his house where his mom let me in because he was still sleeping (at 5pm). Jumped in bed, covered him with kisses and he gave me a bear hug that I didn’t care to get out of for the next hour.

That first deliriously happy moment of seeing each other again is what makes the whole tour completely worth it. We had both bought each other DVDs and he got me a George Dubya voodoo doll, which I kinda want to chop into little pieces and set on fire, but since it’s from B I probably won’t.

After a whole lot of cuddles we went to Ferndale so he could see my possible future house and then used my amazing sense of direction to almost get us lost on the way to dinner. We always end up with very awkward servers – you know, the ones that look incredibly uncomfortable, make too much or too little eye contact, get too close when they’re talking, mumble, and forget everything. Yeah…at least the food was great.

Back at B’s house he set up wii and showed his parents how to play. For some reason I’m an awesome wii bowler, but I’m horrible in real life – I can’t even break 100. Also, my tennis technique is pretty bad, but apparently entertaining to watch. I think his parents were impressed with my video game athletic skills.

I’m so incredibly happy to have him home.

11 Weeks

I was reading a blog yesterday about sustaining a relationship when you don’t see each other.

B comes home tomorrow after an 11 week tour. I saw him for six days; four when I flew out to the east coast and two when the tour came through Detroit. I’m really damn proud of us for making it work.

Constant text messaging, aim conversations, and late-night phone calls (even when I answer at 4am and can’t form a cohesive sentence) are what holds us together. Never underestimate the power of a dirty text message.

Also me coming to grips with the fact that being upset or angry about not seeing him changes nothing, it only makes it more difficult for both of us. So I have become very accepting of the situation. Plus…I get flowers more than any girl I know!

Now I’m getting a little teary-eyed thinking about how lucky I am, so I’m going to quit typing while I’m ahead.

Time management for dummies

I’m meeting up with Keena to walk through more houses tomorrow. She’s so on top of everything I feel like I could actually be buying a house by the end of summer. Did I mention that on Wednesday we were scheduled to meet at 10am and at 10:01 she called to make sure I knew which house we were meeting at. She has yet to find out about my chronic lateness. (And I know by bringing it up at all I’m going against The Secret and bring more lateness into my life, but fuck it.)

I’m always late for everything. If we’re meeting for lunch you might get lucky and only have to wait for 10 or 15 minutes. But if we’re meeting for breakfast, I hope you brought a book. I try, I really do, but my bed is very comfy, and the shower is so warm and has good acoustics, and lately I cannot get my eyeliner on straight at all.

I’m pretty sure it’s hereditary because if the whole family is going somewhere late doesn’t even cover it!

In high school I learned ‘to be early is to be on time’ and I always was. At some point in college when no one cared when or if I showed up all my time management skills went out the window.

B learned the first time we hung out that if I say 4pm he’s got until about 5 before I show up. It takes time to look extra cute for my man and he only lives 40 minutes away! (Won’t it be awesome when we live in the same city?!!)

And work…let’s not talk about work. I’ll just say I haven’t been a model employee, but I ALWAYS get my work done and I do a damn good job. Luckily my boss also has an issue with being on time and cuts me some slack.

If you didn’t notice already, getting to work on time every day for a month is part of my 101 list. We’ll see how that works out…

It had to be you

I’m completely unfocused tonight because MCS had an online concert and I watch and I saw B a couple times and I miss him extra a lot now. I sent about a million messages and he texted me to ask if I sent ’spoonz’ and I said ‘of course I did!’ My only requests were for ‘Perfect Teeth’ and B’s ass and I got them both!! Really!…There was a spotlight on his ass when he went to hand Justin a guitar. Just what I wanted

This morning I met Keena (my realtor) to walk through some houses. There were a few I liked, but one was next to apartments, one was the nicest house on the block, and one had only 1 really tiny bathroom (so small the tp had to be attached to the back of the door.) The rest of the houses has heinously bad layouts and nonfunctional kitchens. So I’m gonna keep looking. I sent her about 20 more houses I want to see.

The other thing I was thinking about tonight was how strange it is to have B home. He’ll be back in a week until July 8th-ish. Whenever we’re hanging out I just look over and think to myself…he’s right here, right next to me, not on the phone, not on aim, not on video chat…right here! I’ve known B for about 3 years and the entire time he’s been on tour. The only good thing about him being gone so much is I appreciate every second we have together and I try to be as present as possible the entire time.

I’m gonna stop before everyone throws up on their keyboard

Dream within a dream

Took advantage of the heat and spent the day outside. Started off cleaning out my car, which I think was getting a bit smelly because it was pretty much turning into a trash can. Swam for the first time this summer, floating on my back watching the clouds. Later, while I was sitting on the deck eating lunch, my mom noticed a 1800Flowers truck pulling into the driveway. A dozen white roses and a Congrats! balloon from B. I’m so lucky – he never ceases to surprise and amaze me.

Then came the rain, dark skies and 80 mph winds. Crazyness…the storm blew in in about 5 minutes and we headed to the basement as a tornado warning scrolled across the TV.  15 minutes later I was back up stairs talking to B online and shopping online for dresses and a new swimsuit.

Now I’m laying on my freshly washed sheets, watching The Princess Bride (one of the best movies EVER) and listening to my dad’s band rock out in the basement.

Perfect day…so thankful.

Hey trendy

every time i see a girl wearing those over-sized hipster granny glasses and thinking they are cool i want to punch them in the face. remember when you were 14 and you had to wear them to see and everyone made fun of you because you looked goofy…you still do. just because it’s in an american apparel ad doesn’t mean it will make you cool. it just makes you look like a big nerd who hasn’t gotten any ever.

the end.

when i got home from work today there was a big envelop with ‘do not bend’ printed on it. i assumed it was something from etsy, but i only ordered rings and that was not a ring shaped envelope. did i order something and completely forget? nope…my amazing boyfriend ordered this print for me because i loved it so much and it looks like us. yay! yay! yay!

I’m voting for…

The MCS concert in Vegas next week is being webcast! So fun!

http://www.deeprockdrive.com/event/5467/motion_city_soundtrack

B: watch it
B: you can vote
B: and you can send messages saying im hot
B: and the band will see them
B: its fully interactive
S: where do the messages go?
B: on screens all over the stage
B: so the band can read them
S: i totally will
S: tell them to play perfect teeth!
S: i’m putting in my request now
B: you have to tell them silly
S: you tell them!
S: you’re the boss
B: they play whatever gets voted for
B: i dont tell shit
B: this is an interactive show
B: you vote, and they play whatever is winning at that moment
S: plaaay it!!
S: there’s my vote
B: ok is there something you dont understand here!
S: i understand i want to hear perfect teeth and i want to see your butt
S: those are my votes
B: ITS NOT TIME TO VOTE YET!
S: vote your ass onto the screen
B: ok you are killing me here

Blue dress, red dress

1. Guacamole Pringles are my new fave…wish I hadn’t eaten all of them in the first 5 minutes I was at work this morning.

2. Kate and I are finally going to see Sex And The City tonight. Yes, I know, we’re the last people on earth to go see it. At least I won’t have to fight for a seat with teens in sparkly floral dresses and heels they can’t walk in.

3. I know that movie is going to make me hate every piece of clothing I own. I made sure to dress extra cute today, so I don’t feel totally schlumpy all night. (yes schlumpy is a word…I learned it from my aunts)

In an attempt to force me to take the yoga class on my 101 list:

B: your mind is like a hungry octopus
B: theres so much going on
B: and you spend so much time worrying about other people
B: id like to do things to help you worry about you

He’s amazing

Monkey Tan

Race For The Cure was this morning. Got lots of compliments on our shirts…guess we should have entered the t-shirt contest afterall. I’m always terribly annoyed with the whole thing, trying to get everything organized, until we get down to the event and get caught up in all the action.

Spending the rest of the day on the couch watching movies. Don’t feeling like doing much else after getting up at 7am. Just finished watching The Night Listener, which was incredibly creepy and now I’m watching The Rose. (Is she gonna wear the same outfit through the whole movie? Or maybe it’s a bunch of outfits that are all purple and pink and sparkly…)

B is in Omaha today without much service. Didn’t hear from him until after 7 when he sent an email to say he has zero service. Two more weeks!