The Simple Woman's Daybook

I am loving this- stumbled on to this through one of my favorite blogs Walk Slowly, Live Wildly and it just happy, simple, easy and very summery so I'm gonna try to do this occasionally...the originator has a great collection of these with lots of people apparently doing this for the summer The Simple Woman's Daybook too.

FOR TODAY ... Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Outside my window...

I see an empty room with lots of tables and chairs

I am thinking...
That the office is very cold today and I'm ready to go home and get warm

I am thankful for...
Spending time with my mom, birthmom, sister and best friend last night having a night out in the country once a week with my favorite people helps keep me relaxed

From the learning rooms...
The students have gone home but I'm sure there are some on campus somewhere learning great things

From the kitchen...
(at home) I know there are pieces of the flowers I cut up this morning waiting to be cleaned up

I am wearing...
My cheerleading shoes from cheer camp back in 2007 I don't get to wear them often, my short black skirt from Old Navy and my Be Prepared SAC shirt from welcome week 2008. And my hair in a ponytail which I rarely do cause it gives me a headache...

I am going...
To see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince again for the 3rd time but this time at an IMAX theatre

I am reading...
I am reading Alain de Botton's On Love for the 900th time but I can read it over and over again because it is amazing! I only let myself read it while out to lunch by myself so I maybe get to read it like once a week, but if you haven't read it you must!

I am hoping...
That my date tonight isn't totally shocked about my messy apartment because I haven't been home enough lately to clean it...

I am hearing...
My co-workers gossiping cause its the last hour of work and everyone gets a little lazy and it's easier to chat than do work.

Around the house...
My guitar music is strewn on the floor because I turned my ceiling fan on high and it blew them all over my living room and dining room.

One of my favorite things...
Going to Thursday Night Music Club every week to see my family and play guitar and sing. Its so peaceful and relaxing and a great way to go into Friday.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Going to see Harry Potter tonight, Thursday Night Music Club tomorrow, Orientation on Thursday and Saturday, and then resting rest rested

Hot Pink Summer Roses

Saturday night I went-out/stayed-in for my 6th date with Jeff the 35 year old guy I met online. He's super sweet, funny, kind, gentlemanly and has his stuff together. We talk on the phone for hours and text each other all day it seems. There's really no bad but even though I'm in love with the hot pink roses he gave me, does anyone else think it's kinda soon for that?

So like I mentioned I did meet him online. We emailed for a few days then I gave him my phone number to call me. He did, and we talked for about 2 hours that first time. We had a lot in common from playing guitars, to liking the same TV shows and movies. It was nice. We then started texting each other and planning when we could meet.

Our first date was about a month ago we went out Dave and Buster's where we ate and then played video games- the date lasted about 4 hours which is probably a bit excessive but we had so much to talk about and the conversation never dragged. At the end of the evening he walked me to my car and said he'd talk to me later. I was taught it's always polite to thank a man for a date afterwards (in today's modern age though a text works via an actual phone call) so I texted him when I got home thanking him and saying I had a nice time and he responded right away saying he did as well.

The days following our first date he texted me several times and called. But hadn't asked me out again, on Friday I was thinking about riding it off and just saying he wasn't interested in but he called and asked me out for Sunday again. We ended up going to the movies and had a nice time but at the end of the movie it was kinda late so I had to go home, I couldn't stay out any later cause it was a work night but that maybe we could get together for lunch the upcoming week. I texted him again afterwards apologizing for having to cut the date early but that I still had a nice time.

We talked on later in the week via text and phone and confirmed our lunch date for that Thursday. We went to Zushi Sushi and had a lovely lunch. Again we had so much to talk about and I didn't want to go back to work at all because he was very interesting. He had a lot of interesting stories and was just a lot of fun to be around. He talks a lot which is kinda nice because normally guys aren't as chatty as I am. I eventually did go back to work and we continued to text the rest of the day.

Jeff and I work totally opposite schedules he works everyday except Tuesday and Thursday and works hours like noon-9 or 9-6 and that just doesn't mesh well with me. My weekends are when I have free and then I keep my week days busy with work and evening activities like karaoke and Thursday Night Music Club. He is also a night owl where I am a total morning person. Jeff'll stay up till 3 or 5 every night and I'm in bed by 11 and up at 6. So finding time we can get together is difficult.

So for our 4th "date" he called out of the blue on a Saturday night after he got off of work and asked if I wanted to hang out cause he didn't have to be at work till 12ish the next day. Because we're both unoriginal and can't be creative he invited me to his house to watch movies and stuff. I got to his house close to 10:30 or 11 and we stayed up till close to 4 AM watching movies and talking. He has a really nice house. Two stories way far out 1604, it's a total bachelor pad with leather furniture big TVs everywhere and a small arcade off the kitchen area. He even has a movie screen upstairs with a projector and everything that makes it like a mini movie theatre.

While at his house that Saturday night we planned our next date which was gonna be dinner and a movie but a movie in his cool little move theatre place. Coraline on 3D was coming out so he was gonna buy it so we could watch it with the full 3D experience. It was cool. We got together Wednesday and we ate dinner and then when it got dark enough watched the movie, it was kinda creepy. I was jumpy and definitely screamed a couple of times. But all and all a very decent date with dinner and a movie.

Our next date was a late date after he got off of work on Saturday after 9. We decided to just watch movies at his place again but to my happy surprise he had bought me a dozen bright pink roses. They're gorgeous! I can't remember the last time a guy, other than my father at graduation, has given me flowers! The date was lovely we stayed up till close to 5 AM just talking and watching movies, it was a lot of fun.

So now we just wait and see I guess...and hope I don't kill the flowers...

Trying to write songs

I've been really getting back into guitar for about 4 months now. I've been playing lots and getting gross calluses on my fingertips and I love it. I pretty much play guitar so I can accompany myself and sing. I'd missed singing so much since college so it's so great to be doing it again. My family hosts a Thursday Night Music Club in New Braunfels at the Faust Hotel. The first time I went I was told that the next week I needed to bring my guitar and play so ever since then I have been. And since I didn't want to suck in front of people I started practicing. Now very rarely do I go a day without at least playing for like 15 minutes.

I first started playing the guitar when I was 12- I use the super loose definition of playing- I basically learned 6 chords at 12 and those are all I ever play. In middle school I wrote two songs on guitar and my step-dad recorded them and put them on a CD with other songs to give to my mom for her birthday or mothers day maybe. Since then I have not written another song. I just play other people songs that I like and that are in my vocal range. My favorites being Lisa Loeb and Shawn Colvin- I love singing their songs.

I wish I could write my own songs though. Every week I am so inspired by the people that play there. My Uncle has written dozens of songs and they're all so good and heartfelt, Tara that 15 year old talent writes the sweetest little love songs I've ever heard and Mike has such haunting lyrics that I can't get out of my head for days. I wish I could write like that. I have lines that stick out in my head and I'd love to create a song around them but I just can't get started. I have a book full of lines I love and think could be cool songs but that's all I've got.

My Happy Place

I used to live here- and sometimes it totally sneaks up on me. This is the backyard of the house my mom and grandma bought when my parents got divorced. It's about 2 miles north of 1604 on Bulverde Road. It sits on about 10 acres, the house is beautiful flat stone with an aluminum roof. The driveway is a red brick circle drive and the stone fence has two rod-iron gates. There are about 3 acres in front, an acre fenced in around the house for the dogs and then the horse run and pasture make up the other 6 acres. I lived here when I was 9 and 10 I think and then briefly when I graduated from college before getting my own apartment. I remember it seemed forever to get into town from here and now there is Wallgreens about a mile a way and a shopping center maybe 5 miles away. It has built up so much around there, but luckily once you step foot on that land you forget that the city is quickly encroaching.

Every Tuesday before I go hookah-ing and Karaoke-ing with my old college roommate, I go home and spend time with my mom. Sometimes we go swimming but most of the time we just sit on the back porch and watch the sunset while having cocktails. Its so peaceful and quiet and I can't believe I never noticed it when I lived there. One day it'll be all my mothers and she wants to fix it up some and maybe change some things, but to me it's perfect how it is, and so so relaxing.

101 Ways to Hurt Yourself on the Guadalupe

Last Saturday I went tubing with my sister, her husband and their friend Carlos. It started out as all tubing trips, I was told to arrive at 9:30 and we'd leave by 10, but we inevitably left the house at 10:30 to go wake up slackers that had yet to arrive. We drove half way across San Antonio to try to pick up someone who wasn't even at their house. Around 11 we hit the road to the actual river. We got to the the Lazy L Camp Site before noon and ran into some of Haley's (my sister's) friends. Because I had gone out the night before I opted to be the designated driver that day so everyone else got to drink and drink while floating. The Guadalupe was running pretty slow due to lack of rain and so the tubing place shuttles you up the road 3 minutes and tells us the float will take 3 hours. We were all a bit skeptical but 4 1/2 hours later we knew not to doubt the man with the tubes...

When we get to the water everyone loads in their coolers and tubes. Haley's husband's, Greg's, tube had a leak so he had to go back and get a new tube. Now we were ready to go...go in the loose definition. I think I can describe our float as the longest mile ever! We would go 20 feet and then the wind would push us upstream another 30 feet. After an hour we could still see where the bus had dropped us off and the group of about 20 was well on their way to being more than tipsy.

About 2 hours into the float everyone was getting a little happy and I was enjoying watching people fall out of their tubes, trip on the rocks and try to put sunscreen on their backs by themselves. It was about this time that the first hat was lost, sunglasses and a $400 waterproof digital camera. All the drunkish people decided they should look for the camera as their tubes floated down stream. The camera was a lost cause- it sunk to the bottom and is now a part of the Guadalupe forever, or until some lucky person finds it...

The river started getting crowded 12 and 13 year olds floated by on air-mattresses. Jello shots were being thrown by sling-shot across the river. All cooler radios seemed to play the same bad summer river music- "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and much much worse. Matches were common on the river even though once wet they became ineffective, just like the wet cigarettes people couldn't get to light. Several lighters were lost to the abyss as everything from cigarettes, joints and cigars were trying to be lit. The cops looked on from the shore, helpless to the vast array of illegal activity happening on the river- maybe they should invest in kayaks...

Our large group got divided as more floaters joined in on the sun and I was trying to put us back together. Haley and her husband were calling pet names to one another 100s of feet a part from one another and I tried to reunite them to no avail. I eventually abandoned my tube to swim a while and let the drunks fend for themselves. After a good swim I tried to become friends with my tube again but ran into rocks...more rocks...and more rocks. As the only sober person on the river and possibly the world last Saturday my drunk companions offered their help and made it so much worse. They had begun to drift into really shallow water and became stuck on rocks. As I tried to pull the group through the shallow waters pockets of deep found me and continued to scrape my legs, hips and back.

Our group never came back together as a whole but at the end of the float half of the group was waiting for us and helped get the tubes out of the water. The coolers were now empty and many were sunburned. I wrangled up the group I came with and drove them home. Once we got to my sisters house we started examining the damage. Haley's husband was complaining of his back hurting and insisted (drunkenly) that it wasn't a sunburn but upon inspection the women decided it was. The front of my body was completely sunburned and bruises were starting to form on my knees, shins and left hip. Cuts accompanied some of the bruises and everyone was in awe that the only sober person was so injured by the river. Haley and her friend Carlos were not burned or scraped up at all.

I've never drank on the river, I normally act as the DD because combining my sober clumsiness with alcohol and slippery stones just seems like the worst idea ever.

Are you seeing anyone right now?

Uhhhggg, I hate this question. And when different people ask it, it has different connotation. When my Grandma asks "are you seeing anyone right now?" it usually has a sense of pitty tied to it cause she's worried that I'm alone. If my mom asks "Are you seeing anyone right now?" it's because she has someone she wants to set me up with. If my boss asks "Are you seeing anyone right now?" it's because I seem lazy, lack energy or aren't taking too much care with how I look at the moment.

But I'm not seeing anyone right now. For the first time in a long time I'm not serial dating this summer. It's been maybe 3 weeks since the last time I went out with a guy that even vaguely resembled the loose definition of a date. Before that it'd been like every week- I had a busy spring for some reason. But all these dates were kinda pointless- they all leaded to now and now is me not dating and not really caring if I date or not this summer.

The last two summers in a row I did the online dating thing and got maybe a dozen dates in a month of trying- maybe 4 of which lead to second dates and 2 which I would say I actually started dating the person. The idea of trying to do online dating again this summer is exhausting I do not have the energy- besides you have to be so careful with all of that. At the same time I don't really feel the need to start going out and looking for guys either. I just don't want to date...I think...

Then I start reading- I couldn't pick a new book to start so I picked up one of my favorite books since high school by Alain de Botton called On Love. It is one of my all time favorites! Thanks to Mr. Flieger for recommending it when I was in like 9th grade. Its the very soliloquized story of a man who falls in love with a woman on a airplane and their relationship- but the way it is written is just amazing and I find something new every time I read it- It is amazing to hear a man thing through things in these ways

"For those in love with certainty, seduction is no territory in which to stray. Every smile and word leads to a dozen if not twelve thousand possibilities. Remarks that in normal life (that is, life without love) can be taken at face value now exhaust dictionaries with their possible meanings. And for the seducer, enduring the trepidation of a criminal awaiting sentence, the doubts reduce themselves to a central question: Does s/he, or does s/he not, desire me?"

"The telephone becomes an instrument of torture in the demonic hands of the beloved who does not call."

"I merely adjusted myself to whatever I judged Chloe might feel. If she liked tough men, I would be tough; if she liked wind surfing, I would be a wind surfer; if she hated chess, I would hate chess. My idea of what she wanted from a lover could have been compared to a tight-fitting suite and my true self to a fat man, so that the evening was a process resembling a fat man's trying to fit into a suit that is too small for him. There was a desperate attempt to repress the bulges that did not fit the cut of the fabric, to shrink my waist and hold my breath so the material would not tear. It was not surprising in my posture was not as spontaneous as I might have liked. How can a fat man in a suit too small for him feel spontaneous? He is so frightened the suit will split, he is forced to sit in complete stillness, holding his breath and praying he can get through the evening without disaster. Love had crippled me."

It's a great book. I really love that a man feels this way and goes through these things. There's only one other book I've read where a man expresses himself in long detailed thoughts like this - Ethan Hawke in The Hottest State another amazing book where the man totally gets destroyed and hurt but expresses it beautifully, and yes I mean Ethan Hawke the actor- it's amazing. But none of these things are enough to make me want to date again, but it's good to read while I'm not dating cause I think if I tried to date while in Alain de Botton's world I might become overly neurotic.

Inspiring young minds...

It's that time of year again...Freshman Days (aka new student orientation)! Last January I started hosting a portion of the Orientation sessions on Student Life. It quickly left the general focus of Student Life and narrowed into the area of Social Media, and again more specifically Facebook, MySpace and integrating RedRover on our campus. I gave a 30 minute keynote presentation on "The Secrets Behind MySpace and Facebook" and spent the afternoons round-robin-ing about 150 students into the Cyber Cafe to get them registered for RedRover. I was super enthused about the program, I could have done without the speaking in front of a lot of people, but the subject was something I get really excited about. In these orientation classes that I was speaking to, there are all different types of students- really involved students, apathetic students, non-traditional students that are excited, non-traditional students that are bitter, the underage student and then the resentful student who doesn't understand why they have to listen to me speak. I tried to act like all the students were really involved and excited because taking on the resentful student and the bitter non-traditional students just would have made me depressed. In my first orientation season I probably gave 8 keynotes and 36 round-robin classes, by the time it was over I felt totally at ease and had no more worries.

Now it's June- about 4 months since my last keynote and I'm getting nervous. The orientation classes I'll be speaking to over the summer are for the majority younger college students between 17 and 23 years old, I find these students to be the most judge-y. I don't know how to battle their apathy, sometime I think they just look up at me like I'm a huge nerd getting all excited about how these social media tools can change the world they live in. Maybe I am just a nerd about it but I think its exciting. I get really excited when students interact with me on Facebook and reply to my Page posts. But as Saturday approaches I'm getting more and more nervous, I hope I can do this again. Luckily its just this Saturday, then I have another break till July, when they're back to back.