First, the bad news: I got rear-ended today on my way to work. No damage, but the guy was a complete dick, and afterwards I sat in my car in the work parking lot in tears, talking to Chris whom I woke up (no complaints from him, mind you) until I was calm enough to go to the “nearest police station,” per the woman on the other end of the 311 call I made, which turned out to be the wrong police station jurisdictionally speaking. So no report was made b/c I was tired of it all, and a little scared of the dude who hit me. And also frustrated that I didn’t give him a piece of my mind, but as my coworker Mary said, “It’s probably better that way, since you never know how some people will react.” And then I worked from home the rest of the day.

Now, the good news:

Back in December, I received an unpublished-to-me-or-my-bosses salary adjustment, equating to about $4k more a year. And then I got a raise, taking effect on the 13th of this month. The raise beat the company average of 2.5%, and was calculated off of my new, unpublished salary. Kick. ASS.

Secondly, Chris is coming to see me this weekend, even if it means he has to spend 17.5 hrs EACH WAY on Amtrak, and 3 hrs in the car to/from the Amtrak station to his house. I am so freaking loved and lucky.

I totally won this round.

So, part of why I’ve been so absent lately – I do think of writing a lot, even if that’s as far as I get! – is that I hate hate hate the new WordPress format. I can’t read a post in entirety either in draft form or what’s published. It drives me nuts and I can’t figure out how to reformat the fucking page so that all their stupid boxes GO AWAY.

Otherwise, life is grand. I still have a job. A lot of officers at The Factory got cut this week, but I’m far from being an officer. Looks like some peons will be getting cut, but for various reasons I feel pretty secure. One of my BFFs lost her job at Microsoft lat week, which really brought this shitty economy stuff home for me. But, I’m hanging in. Even expecting a raise, though probably shitty.

The one thing that bothers me at The Factory about all this is that they say things like, “There are a lot of companies in the area making big cuts, or not giving raises at all…and even though the average raise amount this year isn’t what we’re all used to…we’re not saying you should be thankful you still have a job…BUT…” So, actually, they are saying that. Whatev.

Socially, things have been lame. I went to dinner last weekend with Patrick, and a work couple (who have possibly the cutest 16month old baby EVER). That was fun, though…early. Afterwards – like, 8:15 – I turned to Patrick and asked if he wanted to get a drink, cuz hi…Saturday night…home by 8:30? Nuh-uh. So we shot a couple lousy games of pool and then had a few drinks and talked. It was aight.

The BF is still awesome. Six months of actual dating, can you believe it (preceded by one month of email and two of talking, if you’re keeping track at home)? Judge me for this if you want, but that’s a record for me. I won’t see him for another whole month (23ish days, actually) due to work and various other things, making it 6 wks between visits, the longest yet. I’m not so happy about that (read: I am MISERABLE and have no idea how I’ll get through the next FOUR weeks!), but part of this is my decision, and will hopefully let us have a ‘real’ visit rather than cramming in a day or two in between. Suckage. I still have moments of being sad and frantic (my Facebook status is oft a good judge) where I think he’ll leave me and/or change his mind about me and/or find someone else local, but I try to work through those without really letting him know how mental I am. When I can’t talk myself out of it though (PMS has been a real bitch), he listens to me cry and freak out and talks me off the ledge – and still loves me after.

It’s kind of funny – for basically the whole of my life, I never thought I’d find someone to love me and want to be with me, and talked myself into being okay (varying degrees of that) with that. Now that I’ve found someone I love, who loves me, I want to get the show on the road NOW. Like, ring, tomorrow. Wedding, like, the day after. It’s really a departure from my “normal” state of being and I’m rather amused by myself.

In other news, my computer has been sending me frequent signs of death. I have no idea what I’ll do if it dies. Why can’t I have a little (or big…size doesn’t matter, actually) person to live in the house and cater to all my technological needs? Right…cuz I’m not Oprah. Check.

I have been making the gym a habit and in an effort to remain calm during the next 23ish days, I have made a vow to myself that I will go to the gym every week night. And if the panic gets really bad, I may even resort to cleaning house. Wish me luck…

I had two separate instances this past weekend that really made me realize, AGAIN, how freaking awesome my life is:

1. I went out with a couple from college and some of their friends. First of all, it was actually sort of embarrasing to be with a group of six or so people at the bar and realize that TWO of your party included two VERY VERY pregnant chics. Who brings pregnant chics en masse to the bar???? Anyway, I digress.

The couple is an awful couple. I know I’ve written about them before but apparently had selective memory. And thought it would beet a night home alone. Boy, was I wrong.

They’re just…awful to each other. The guy actually told me he wants a night job so she can stay home with their kids. When I asked when they would see each other, he actually said, “Fuck it. We get along better when we don’t talk.”

And on and on and on for the 4ish hours I managed to stay there and not rudely leave. I immediately called my bf on the way home and thanked him for not being a jackass.

#2. I went shopping* with a gf on Sunday. A gf who was thisss close to finishing grad school when she quit. To take out loans and go to pastry school. To decide she doesn’t want to work in that industry. She’s now a temp worker. With no health insurance. With over $1000 of debt to pay each month.

She is teetering on the edge of financial, emotional, personal, social ruin. It is scary scary scary to see. And it made me super super thankful that I am not on any sort of edge whatsoever. I started to get really anxious just even hearing about how close she is to falling off. And I don’t know that she can do anything different than what she’s doing, which is also scary.

* The shopping part may seem weird for someone who’s so fucking broke, but she had a lot of Christmas money. And a girl’s gotta dress appropriately for work. That being said…I was still a little surprised by how much she bought.

January: Went on my first cruise. Didn’t love it. Bought coffee tables and an entertainment center.

February: Got in a car accident. Hosted my daddy’s birthday at my house the day after. Did about a month of physical therapy with a pervy physical therapist. Found out something bad about my ex.  That month kinda sucked.

March: Went on my first business trip. More importantly, went to Vegas! with my girlies. March helped make up for Feb. I think I started therapy this month too.

April: Passed the PMI’s PMP certification exam. That test sucked. Done forever though!

May: Had the best birthday (31, for those counting) in a while. Heard from a high school boy I used to crush on. Spent time in the hospital with Patrick. Hosted my first ever BBQ.

June: Got some quality time in with gfs, new and old. Began talking on the phone to the high school boy mentioned above.

July: Went to Bismarck to see my girls – AND the high school boy. Loved every minute of it.

August: Got flowers from my boy.    Began to like him lots and lots and lots. Plus, beach time with gfs!

September: My boy came to visit! This was a big deal for many many reasons. We went downtown, hung out, played games…mucho fun.  More beach time with gfs! Joined a gym.

October: Went to Bismarck to visit my boy. Yay!  This was after a trip to the Dominican Republic, of course.

November: Went to the Obama rally in Grant Park on election night. Seriously kickass. Boy came to see me – and meet the fam. BIG.

December: Went to Bis to see my boy – and meet his fam.

Overall, a good year – lots of vacations (though never enough), and the entrance of a lovely boy were the definite highlights. Looking to more of the same in 2009!

I have a cold. Threw up dinner Friday night, a result of a) too much popcorn at the bar, b) funky wine at the bar when usually I’m a beer girl, c) rancid leftovers for dinner when I got home, or d) some weird combination of everything.

Today I thought I’d be fine, but was a little dizzy (no jokes, pls) and lethargic, so I spent the day on the couch, reading and napping and watching High School Musical 1 & 2 (also, Kill Bill 1 & 2…interesting) and lamenting the fact that I wasn’t getting anything done.

In other news, I’m having dinner Friday with Patrick and two of our coupled friends, which means I really should bake so I can provide dessert…and then Saturday I am flying to see my boy. I haven’t bought the ticket yet, because this week’s prices are about $120 more than last week’s prices, and that ticks me off and I am hoping for a sudden and reasonable drop in said prices, but as I’m an intelligent human being, I will most likely cease waiting and purchase said ticket tomorrow. Yay!

Otherwise, I had a good review at the factory on Thursday, and life is generally moving along quite nicely these days.

Ta-ta!

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I can’t adequately put words to last night’s event. It was controlled chaos, without the chaos.

As we walked into the park, we heard Obama took Pennsylvania, and then we heard Ohio. All around us were cheers and applause and whoo-hooing.

The logistics of getting into the park were simple enough; inside, people were sitting on the outside of the park on the grass, formed in neat little rows. There was a handicapped section, with seats and their own bathroom. And then there were rows and rows and rows of people.

We were way in the back, where we had some room to move. Me, being short, could barely see the stage, and spent most of the time on my tippy toes, trying to get a good view of the jumbo-tron.

There were food vendors, an official Obama store, and enough port-a-pottys to make a difference.

I didn’t see or hear of any negative incidences; instead, there was an overwhelming feeling of togetherness; of energy; of hope and then, of relief.

At 10pm, when CNN put ‘Barack Obama elected president’ on the jumbo-tron, the noise that erupted lasted for a good ten minutes. There were tears, and hugs, and jumps up and down. There were smiles at strangers we’ll never see again; there was a collective sigh of relief.

The emotion that came from tens of thousands of people all praying together, all saying the pledge of allegiance together, all singing the national anthem together, was truly touching.

This is one for the record books. And I’m glad to say I was there.

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The other night I’m in TJ Maxx, trying a last-ditch effort to find cute new clothes for this weekend. I failed. Anyway, I’m combing the racks with a few items in my hands, when a woman I don’t know pulls a sweater off of the rack and holds it up to me.

“Oh, that’s darling,” she says. “That would be just perfect for you.”

I smiled, agreed it was cute, and motioned to the clothes in my hand, where I had that exact sweater waiting to be tried on.

“That’s exactly the type of thing that little young cute girl wears on The View. I’m too old for it, but you’re young and can pull it off,” she said. “Well, I’ll just leave it here on the rack for you and if you feel like it, you can try it.”

That’s when I had to show her the sweater I had in my hands, agreeing that it was cute and I was already going to try it. I was nice to her, outwardly, but inside I was ugly.

I hate strangers. Don’t talk to me. Eye contact isn’t even always necessary. Don’t make conversation, don’t touch me, and unless you’re a member of my immediate family or having sex with me, don’t call me cutesy little nicknames.

I know this is probably an extreme viewpoint, and I know she was probably just lonely/friendly/crazy, but dude. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.

(You’d never guess I was an English major by the amount of verb tense changes in this post)