The Dinner With a New Friend

It's going somewhere good. :)

I Have a Problem

I am an itunes-aholic. It's interfering with my life. I stayed up past midnight last night, searching for and buying more music. I couldn't stop. Every time I found a song or an artist, I was reminded of another great song or another amazing artist. And somehow I spent over $40.

The worst part? I know I don't have nearly all the music I want. Fortunately, I am limited to 1 G right now since all I have is an ipod shuffle. I can rationalize that I really don't need more music since it won't fit. What will I do, though, when I get the iphone? That date is quickly arriving. (Yippee!) That sucker has 8 G! (Yippee!)

What will I do with myself?

Observations Made Between DIA and ABQ

• Airplane seat belts have extenders for people who don't fit in them otherwise.
• I like flying; I don't like flying in a hot metal tube with people who need to shower.
• It really galls me to pay $15 for my one suitcase, both ways. If those $30 were just added to my ticket price, I'd probably be okay with it.
• One should not bring a tuna fish sandwich on board to eat during a flight.
• There is television on planes now. The most fascinating channel is the one that shows this thing called Live Map. It updates every minute or so with the speed, altitude and progress of the plane toward its destination. I watched our trip from Denver to Castle Rock to Colorado Springs to Pueblo to the border to Santa Fe to Albuquerque. Our top speed was 574 mph and our highest altitude was 34,054 feet, but not at the same time.
  

Open Letters

Dear Apartment Manager:

I understand that you cannot control everything that happens in and around this complex. However, neither can I and it's not my job. It is unfair to me, a responsible resident, to keep locking up the fitness center and pool due to the irresponsibility of a few residents. Find a way to keep these facilities open on a regular basis or you can pay for a bike, gym membership and a pool membership for my family. Furthermore, when my lease is up in February, this may be the determining factor in whether I sign another one here or look elsewhere.

Sincerely Yours,
Disgruntled Resident


Dear Irresponsible Residents:

You suck. It's pathetic that you can't or won't or don't control your children. Letting them throw pool furniture into the pool is unacceptable. Letting them throw rocks into the pool is unacceptable. And to whomever continues breaking into the business center and messing with the computers -- I've got an extra special dose of 'You Suck' right here, just for you. It's big and hairy and gangrenous. Enjoy.

This is ridiculous. It's enough to make a rational, peaceful-minded person like myself begin wishing destruction upon you all. And that's saying something. I'm going to strongly recommend that your rents be raised accordingly to pay for the bike, gym membership and pool membership that my family requires since you and your disgusting hellions can't act like respectable members of society.

Also, if I personally see one of your disgusting hellions intentionally destroying complex property, I'm going to drag them by their ridiculous hair and nasty pants to your front door and drop them there so you can answer for yourself. And then I'm writing you a referral for Super Nanny. Idiots.

Sincerely,
Angry Neighbor

A Blank Screen & What's Happening

I'm sitting here on the sofa with my laptop. I'm listening to Norah Jones and just finished an iced coffee. The ceiling fan is on and I turned on the air conditioner as soon as I woke up.

My plans for the day include working out to Britney Spears and Eminem. After that, I'll go swimming for a bit and then lie by the pool, reading. At some point I have to go to the store and buy butter, heavy whipping cream and a new pastry cutter. I sliced up strawberries and set them up with sugar in the refrigerator yesterday. I will make shortcake and real whipped cream this evening, hence the shopping trip.

We went to Idaho Springs yesterday and took a walk through its little downtown area. 'We' are Jennifer, Caleb, Jonathan, Charissa, Elizabeth, Christopher, Noah, Adam and myself. Also, Abby, the new, very cute, very sweet dog. We took photos of flowers, an old train, artistic signs and each others' silly faces. We had lunch at Beau Jo's Pizza. It is delicious food.

I had dinner last night with a new friend. It's the third dinner we've had together. We shall see where this goes. It seems to be going somewhere good.

I'm flying to Albuquerque on Friday. I have reserved a hotel room near Old Town. I'll have the kids with me from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. I am planning for us to walk to Old Town and see what is appealing. We will swim and play and catch up on some snuggling.

I turn 30 this week. I've been thinking about it a lot, but in sort of a vague, distracted way. I have no philosophical tidbits to put down here about this milestone. I'm not dreading it, I'm not expecting a big revelation and I don't feel a sense of urgency to accomplish major goals. It's another birthday. It just is.

Now my screen is no longer blank and you know what's happening here. And I feel a little better, having written something.

Summer

My kids are gone. They'll be gone for a while. It's good and it's bad. I desperately needed some down time. The down side of down time is that I miss them.

The week before the kids left, I took off work and focused entirely on them. I went to Samuel's kindergarten graduation. It was very, very cute. We had a celebratory lunch on the last day of school. They rode their bikes, scooter and skateboards. We took advantage of free summer movies, went to the aquarium downtown, played in the pool and at the park. They slept over with their cousins, played with dry ice, courtesy of the Cool Uncle Levi. And then I packed them up and sent them off with their dad. It was a good send off.

I breathed deeply, cleaned the house thoroughly and sat down to watch television programming considered inappropriate for children. And now it's time to focus on myself.

So far, I'm keeping busy. There is kickball, there are dinners and drinks with friends. There is running and weightlifting. There is soaking in the hot tub at midnight with a glass of wine, the stars and no worries. There is a lot of reading, coffee and music. It's a good time.

Struggling

I want to come back here and write. I feel the need to write. But I have nothing to say. I never thought this would happen. Is this what it's like to have writer's block?

When I started back to school a couple of years ago, I enrolled in an essay writing class. I really enjoyed that class. I missed it when the semester ended. It's what inspired me start this blog, actually.

One of my first assignments in that class was to talk about my reasons for writing. The professor wanted us to discuss creative writing specifically. I wrote that I don't like creative writing. I don't want to write fiction, short stories or novels. I usually have too many other ideas floating around in my head to focus on things that aren't true.

But now I have nothing to talk about and I'm stuck.