my mood as of last posting ...

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blog archive 9: 1/04 - 6/04

First off, I don't like leaving the house much on the weekends.  Secondly, I'm not so good at meeting new people sometimes.  Then, there's the non-English speaking factor of a few of the people there.  Thirdly, it's been as hot as the sun here lately.  Plus, the sun isn't so good for me and is harder to control when I'm not in my backyard.  Also, I don't really like dealing with the whole bikini factor anymore in public.  And, the salt water dries my hair.  Are you getting the picture yet that I didn't really want to go?

Galahad packed up our stuff while I sorted out the bikini dilemma.  I settled on board shorts and a bikini top.  Men have it so much easier and I'm starting to not fall for the "havta look sexy" concept anymore.  I was so comfortable in board shorts while I watched all the other women pulling & tugging their suits to get comfortable.  I did pull and adjust my top way too much though.  I need to find a more comfy one.

We stopped at a sandwich shop at his insistence even though I brought my power bars and had just finished breakfast.  We parked about half a mile away and traipsed in.  Halfway to where we were supposed to meet everyone, I had burned off all of my breakfast calories and was dying for a fix.  I started to make deals in my head.  50 more feet and I'll ask to break open the cooler and take a bite of sandwich.  20 more feet and I'll grab a power bar.   Finally, I just whined out loud that I can't go much further.  He laughed and said we're almost there.

We make it to where we're supposed to meet them and can't find them.  Thank goodness for cell phones.  He called and found out they're still looking for parking.  Next, he explained to me that we can rent an umbrella.   Little Miss Frugal here doesn't even ask how much until after I'm safely ensconced under one.  I love Galahad so much at that moment for knowing my limitations, accepting them, and working to make them livable for both of us.  =)

Then, we broke into that sub we bought and devoured it.  Just as I'm polishing off the last few bites, some of his friends walked up.  I was so thankful that I hadn't seen them 10 minutes prior while I was freaking out.  :p

I'm still amazed at how hot it was.  Usually, once I get settled and feel the ocean breeze, it's fine.  This time, even in the shade, I felt as if I were in a furnace.  We were both a teensy bit apprehensive about sea lice.  They latch onto your skin exactly where you have material, so it's never in a pleasant spot.  :p  So after 30 minutes of feeling the hot ocean breezes and seeing no one freak out scratching, we decided to get brave and go in.

Wow, it felt so good!  The water was probably about 78°F with small crashing waves.  Galahad had to hold my hand so I didn't get pushed back to shore.  I tried not to get my hair wet. Gah, I'm such a girl, but it really feels yucky and dry when salt water is on it.  And, I start to look like Medusa without the benefit of her powers. :p  One big wave took the decision out of my hands early on.  It was much more fun that way.  We went out a bit deeper and started to ride the waves.  They got way too powerful for me to handle alone (all 104 pounds of me), so I held tightly to my guy.  Meanwhile I was laughing so hard, I almost drowned.

I got tired and went back up to rest on our rented lounge chairs in the shade.  Finally, it felt good and not too hot ... until I dried off completely.  Then it was power bar time again since my sandwich calories were long gone.  ;)  Afterwards, we ran back to the water since the sand was starting to fry the soles off our feet.

Afterwards, we went over to Galahad's parents to visit.  That is starting to get painful, watching his father get sick and steadily decline.  That's all I can write now as I wave away the tears starting to form in my eyes.  I had a nasty migraine last night, partly from the weather (thankfully we got some rain finally) and part I'm sure from emotional stress.

That's something I can rant about this morning.  I seem to go through cycles of my emotions invoking strong reactions in others.  I hate to make excuses, but I'm an emotional, passionate person.  It's my nature.  It won't change.  Yes, I can try to control my emotions better.  I in fact do try quite frequently.  If anyone thinks I enjoy some of these intense moments, they are sorely mistaken.  Even the happy ones can be overwhelming. 

"We at GlaxoSmithKline are extremely sorry that you are disappointed with the new packaging for IMITREX^® Tablets, and we thank you for your recent feedback.  ...  Unfortunately, as you have pointed out, these changes have, for some, made the package less user-friendly.

... We will be making changes to the packaging to include identification of individual tablets with medicine name and dose strength printed on each blister.  Further changes will be focused on making the packaging easier for migraine sufferers to open. ..."

The corporate fuckers changed the packaging after several years of pills in perforated blister packs that were small enough to slip into a pocket and printed with the medicine on the outside so I didn't look like an illegal drug-user.  Now, they come in a GIANT cardboard card (2.5x bigger) and are much harder to open, especially with  a migraine, with no printing on the outside IF you took the time to cut them apart with a box cutter.  Both types of packaging hold the same amount of pills -- nine.  Also, somewhere along the way, they made the pills bigger so that I can't swallow  them dry anymore.  I loved being able to inconspicuously pull one out of a pocket, pop it in my mouth, and pretend I'm having a good time still.  :p

We watched The Last Samurai, which made me think quite a bit.  The movie made you root for lack of progress.  I wonder if today's progress will be looked at as a step in the right direction or dishonorable.

Afterwards, we watched The Triplets of Belleville -- quite a cute movie.

I'm piling in the ZMA (okay only 2 since I'm scared to OD and that's a zinc / magnesium combo for you supplement-challenged folks out there.)  I'm still leery of the vitamin C since I had a weird flush last night.  Galahad attributed it to the MSG in the wonton soup, but I have never reacted like that before.

Okay the baby goats and baby draft horses were cute, but I could have easily skipped the rest.   Galahad & I did decide to skip the Arch downtown when my family piled in to go see that.  We relaxed and chatted with my sister's boyfriend instead.  Wow, I completely see why she's so into him.  =)

We screamed ourselves silly when they called my sister's name.  I'm so proud of her!  I got all teary-eyed.

Afterwards, we went to a reception that was indoors, thank goodness.  Apparently my outfit was indeed looking okay cuz I had male & female attention.  ;)  The woman had a nice pickup line but the man was just pathetic.  I almost wanted to walk over and give him pointers for the future.

I made sure we were there early enough so we could all eat before we got on the plane.  No blood sugar issues to deal with.  I was nervous about going through security carrying my fountain pen, but no one stopped us. Then, we met a really cool guy on the plane who Galahad exchanged numbers with when we landed.

And like a complete dumbass today, I watched the video of his beheading this morning.  I felt like I owed it to him not to shy away from the horror.  And it was fucking horrifying.  Do yourself a favor and don't watch it.  Afterwards, I felt like I invaded his privacy by seeing such an intimate moment of his murder.

We got to my niece's in time to see my brother and my niece's fiancé (hehe they just got engaged so I can say that now) maneuvering a queen-sized mattress from the 2^nd floor into his borrowed SUV.  While it would have been amusing to watch them, Galahad jumped right into the fray to help out.  As usual, my brother didn't have the details exactly right.  :p  It's a good thing we decided not to ride with him because I would have lost my seat to the mattress.  After all this activity (watching counts, doesn't it? ;)) I was hungry again, so I suggested lunch.  Galahad and I were planning to hit the Korean BBQ place we had seen especially after my niece said they had a large Korean population there.  Who knew?  My first clue should have been the Korean Baptist Church that we passed.  =) 

Surprisingly, everyone was up for it including my brother who is a new Atkins Evangelist.  Before you wonder that we have such different genes, nope we don't.  He's not quite as skinny as I am but only because he works out religiously and therefore has muscle mass.  I have been eating in a similar fashion to Atkins years before that ever came out just to manage my hypoglycemia better.   My brother is just now learning to deal with at in his mid-40's.  Hehe, better late than never.  It's kind of humorous since he's so in shape and never ate junk food to begin with.  I eat dessert sometimes when the mood strikes me, but I know when I can and can't put sugar into my body.  Maybe my brother will figure it out by 80 or so.  :p  Actually, my diet is similar to several diet plans out there now.  It's called eating healthy without being a fanatic.  :p

When we walked into the Korean place, we took it as a good sign that we were the only round-eyes in there.  Most of us got bulgogi, while a few people got chicken.  Twenty minutes later, 3 people got their food.  Twenty minutes after that, we started getting worried.  The next 4 came in very slowly to the point where the first people were done already.   We asked to speak with the manager who conveniently wasn't there.  Next, I saw someone getting smacked around in the back.  Since they sat us by the kitchen, I had a clear view.  I started to have misgivings about complaining to the manager (who had returned by now) especially when our waiter said he would take a couple of lunches off of the bill.  The food was excellent, but I don't know if I would go back.  I suspected that perhaps our food was late because we weren't Korean.

Since lunch took about an hour longer than we had planned, we said our goodbyes in the parking lot.  However, we had ulterior motives.  We made our way to Kanapha Botanical Gardens, which has Florida's largest public collection of bamboo.  I was kind of foolish when I believed Galahad that we would go in, see the bamboo, and leave quickly.  I declined to bring our water with us, too.  About 30 feet into the trail (the bamboo being smack dab in the middle of a mile long trail), I started having reactions to all the plant life blooming.  I got so weary and had the Dorothy in the Poppy field syndrome.  I was regretting not having water so I could take an Excedrin to counter this.  I was pretty sure a migraine wouldn't be far behind.  By the time we got to the bamboo, I could barely stand up straight.  Laugh.  I'm yawning as I type this.  I decided to be brave and swallow an Excedrin dry.  It was either that or drink from one of the dog dishes set out.  I managed to get one down okay but decided not to push my luck on a 2^nd one.  Lucky for me they created the park with old people in mind so they could rest frequently on lovely stone benches in scenic areas.  We skipped the 2^nd trail since we still had to drive back home plus I was barely hanging on.  Galahad was thrilled he got to see the giant bamboo, so he was happy to leave.   Now we have to decide which type we want in our backyard.  =)

My niece finally walked across the stage at about 10 am, and we screamed for her as loudly as we could.  I'm so proud of her!  I had tears in my eyes (haha big surprise there from Ms. Sensitive).  We persuaded her to sneak out early so we could all go to lunch cuz breakfast was so long ago already.  :p 

My other nieces who had flown cross-country for this were very well-behaved considering they had about 4 hours of sleep and are both at difficult ages to begin with.  I had been warned by various siblings that they seemed unruly.  Overall, I had no complaints and was very happy to see them.  My 16 year old niece had a crisis at lunch.  I tried to talk to her and listen to her problems.  My heart really goes out to her.  That's such a rough age, and she's trying to cope with so much shit in her life.  She dried her tears and went back inside to make the best of it.

Afterwards, we all traipsed back to my niece's apartment and descended like locusts.  Galahad and I passed a fruit stand and bought a watermelon and some boiled peanuts for everyone to share.   Laugh, most people (including my niece who's lived there for 4 years) had never tried them.  They are very much a Southern thang.  My brother and I scarfed most of them down since we were the hungriest.  :)

Traffic, flat tires, rain, and etc...  we got into our hotel room at about 10:45 PM.  Then we had to coordinate (my family is not good at planning) what time to meet for breakfast to drive to the campus for the ceremony.  My dad was picking up one of my sisters at the airport in Jacksonville to drive her over.  I had originally arranged all of that and reserved everyone's hotel rooms.  The ceremony was at 9 am, but my niece's mom told us they locked the doors at 8:30 am.  With traffic, we were looking at over a one hour commute suddenly.  Next thing I know, I'm panicking cuz I have to get up at 6:30 am.  Our hotel was in Ocala, about 30 miles away because 4 months ago when I realized no one was arranging anything, most hotels were sold out already.

Somehow I sat next to Halitosis Harry on the plane.  Fortunately, he didn't talk much, but it was bad when he coughed.  :( 

Fat-Kins Diet

Secret Admirer

So here goes -- laugh away.

I'll spare you most of the details since they are irrelevant and will probably make me sound crazier.  Is that even possible at this point?  ;)  I was back in college in a dorm room with 2 roommates on my first day.  That's scary enough, isn't it?  Anyway, I had just woken up in my single bed (another scary thought), and was deciding what to wear to get breakfast.  One of my roommates looked at the clock (9:38am), and said too late, breakfast is over.  I was in a panic at that point cuz I can NOT miss breakfast.  I went down to the cafeteria to check out the hours, and the lady there said they were serving until 10am if I had my ID. 

We went for a drive out to the Everglades in the evening to relieve some of my crankiness.  It was so pretty to see the sunset over the River of Grass.  We saw some gators swimming around when we drove out to the end of the road.  Then, just as we were relaxing, BAM!!!  Blue lights and bright headlights in our faces!  I was temporarily blinded.  Laugh, the Fish & Wildlife Officer asked us if we saw the sign that said Daylight Usage only.  Of course we said no.  Hehe, I wonder how fast we would have been ticketed or arrested if we had said, yes but we completely disregarded it since we saw another car here and the gates open.  Or, how about, it was too dark to see the Daylight Usage only sign?  Needless to say, he let us go with a warning since we played the ignorant yet respectful card.

CRIMSON ROOM in Engrish (try to get out)

I won't bore you with all the details (plus I don't remember them all ;p), but there was this woman putting on lipstick with an incredibly vacuous expression.  That wasn't the weird part though.  The shade was Clinique corporate green (you must have seen one of their containers somewhere), and she was not only applying it perfectly to her lips but to her teeth also.  Gasp, splutter, omfg I'm crazy.  It was so yucky watching that and her expression not altering.  Green lips and teeth!! 

Lunch of homemade, healthy, organic nachos while watching Johnny English

In one of my routine calls today, I seemingly had an old cell phone number for someone which has since changed hands.  So there I was with my "professional, grown-up, I know what I'm talking about" voice on when the man on the other end was like who is this???  So I identified myself again and figured this was due to bad cellular reception since he didn't sound like who I thought I was calling.   I verify the number and it's correct but he isn't who I was looking for.  Just as I'm starting to hang up politely (since I've mentioned my company name already), he says "you sound kinda cute."  Now I'm all flustered and still trying to be polite, so like a dumbass I say thank-you.  And then I threw in a quick, okay bye, and hung up.  My face turned so red. 

Laugh.  His present finally arrived today.  I got him the Chile Lovers Basket, and he loved it.  =)   Unfortunately, I won't get to share it.  :(  Merely breathing in its aroma singed my nostrils a little bit.  :p

We get home and Galahad decides to tackle the last leaky sink.  It has the faintest drip, but he has this plumbing momentum somehow.  I wasn't really paying attention until at 6PM he announces he has to go to Home Depot and whatever I do do NOT turn the main water back on.  Hmmm, uh oh.  He ends up working on this sucker for 5 hours and replacing the whole faucet.  Not sure what went wrong but he has mad plumbing skillz now!  :p

While on the phone yesterday with a FedEx supervisor, I asked her to make sure today's delivery to the exact same address proceeded without a hitch.  I'll be holding my breath...

My chiropractor told me yesterday that I might have a cold.  I replied most assuredly that I do NOT get colds.  Sigh...I think I have a cold.  :(  I guess it just started with a sinus  migraine.  I've been eating vitamin C like candy and pounding down glutamines.  I felt feverish for a little while until I took my temperature and it was 97.7°F.  Am I even alive?  Wtf kind of fever is that?  Do colds even produce fever?  I'm cold-challenged.  I suppose these are the types of questions I would ask my mother if I had one.  How selfish of me to miss her at these times. 

I sent flowers to Galahad -- a beautiful arrangement of blue irises (purple to my color-challenged eyes) and red tulips.  Somehow FedEx couldn't find his office, so they were going to try again tomorrow until I called 3 times and became a thorn in their side.  Wtf?  They were going to leave live flowers sitting in a box overnight instead of just calling to get directions.  Would the building miraculously have appeared tomorrow when they went back?  I let the supervisor know exactly what I thought of FedEx's customer service.  Heh, like she fucking cared.  She basically said sorry we're too busy to call you back. 

Sigh...I'm tired of the big companies getting arrogant and lazy.  Yesterday, I had a phone call from American Express trying to give me their Blue Card with no annual fee.  I told them to access my records (since I had a card with them for the past 10 years) and I would happily accept it .  They replied that since I had recently canceled that account, they couldn't access it.  I told them to forget it, and they did.  Whatever happened to customer service?  Remember when companies were hungry for business?  When did it switch that the consumer has to jump through hoops  to be a customer?

Here's another random thing I saw while people-watching last week...

Her parents have never been known for their fantastic organizational qualities, so I was happy to alleviate her concerns and get this arranged.  My sister is graduating from law school 2 weeks later which throws a monkey wrench into people's travel plans who have to fly long distances to attend both or make the choice to attend one.

Afterwards, the dreaded teambuilding exercise.  This one was much better than last year --- more fun and more apropos.  We played a game called Rattlesnake Canyon.  The only problem I had with it is that it brought out my ugly competitive nature.  I hate that.  I try very hard not to wake that dragon.  There was such a mass of chaos that it felt like I was on the floor of the stock exchange.  Everyone was pushing, yelling, etc.  And I was, too.  :(  My team did well though.  ;)

Today started off with a motivational speaker, Jim Cathcart.  He was a great speaker, but as usual, a good thing loses its effectiveness when it drags on too long.

I started people-watching out of boredom and noticed that men's shoes have gotten significantly higher heeled as of late.  They boost the whole platform so it doesn't look obvious, but the end result is that it makes men taller.  Isn't anyone happy with their height anymore?

We had our awards ceremony tonight.  Last year I wore a dress and felt uncomfortable with my co-workers seeing me like that.  This year, I dressed much more conservatively in a pants outfit from bebe.  Okay, so I wasn't that conservative, but it was much more appropriate to interact with my co-workers in this attire.  ;)  Next year I'm wearing a turtleneck.

/rejoice

I was dressed all spiffy in mostly black to accentuate my new bright red purse.  In fact, all of my outfits for the whole trip are in neutral colors so my purse makes a statement.  My manager noticed it right away yesterday and complimented me on it.  He is quite a fashionista, so that was nice to hear. 

6 am came very early today after about 5 hours of sleep, so the rest of the day got rough for me as it progressed.  I was really dragging by the end of the day.  Dinner was almost a chore, but since I was a semi-native and the hungriest, I took it upon myself to choose the restaurant --- Bongos Cuban Cafe.  The food was fabulous, and then I struggled home and fell in bed by 9:45 pm.  Everyone else went straight to the bars.

Once I arrived at the Orlando airport, I put on my game face.  Smile pretty for the company, lie and say I'm having fun.  It's not quite a lie, but if I had my druthers, I'd be at home with my love.  ;)

Dinner consisted of a buffet out by the pool, which was chilly in the wind.  I like that kind of food cuz it's in Wendy-sized portions, but I would imagine that most everyone else was frustrated as even I had to make 3 trips to get enough to eat.  Some people bit the bullet and coughed up $20 for a sandwich at the hotel marketplace. 

We sat in the Solarium section of the restaurant and just had a marvelous time.  The sun was beaming through the glass on such a glorious day.  It was even better than a fancy restaurant cuz no waiter came over to pressure us to leave when we were done.  :p  So, we stayed and chatted and soul-searched.  Perhaps we got a teensy bit boisterous for the regular retiree clientele.  Or, more likely, we entertained some bored, lonely old people.  =)  Hehe, one lady didn't even pretend to be polite --- she outright eavesdropped and didn't look away when I made eye contact several times.  Haha, sometimes I can't wait to be old and not care about social proprieties.

Speaking of losing...  I have a pet peeve.  Can more people please learn the difference between lose and loose?  That is all.

Last night was an amusing adventure.  It was our annual homeowners association meeting.  Good god the kvetchers and whiners!  And then we couldn't agree on fixing just one thing.  Everyone had to add their own Vietnam into the mix.   Talk about mission creep....one major (READ: expensive) project became 5.  And then the subject of my scary neighbors came up.

I'm trying to do a recovery of the PC using the CDs, but it's failed twice.  :(  Scandisk locks up.  I don't even know if reformatting will work, but it looks like my next step. 

On the way back, I stopped at my mechanics to get an oil change.  Their shop is geographically undesirable but their honesty and knowledge is just inspiring.  So I make the hike or coordinate it around other long trips.  Hehe, by the way, anything further than 10 minutes away is very far to me.  They were so nice, said they always have time for me, and squeezed me in at lunchtime.

Since I was in that neighborhood, I decided to stop by the Jamaican bakery to buy us some beef patties and coco bread for dinner.  Haha, I forgot what it was like to be the only paleface around.  There I was all dressed up in an edgy neighborhood, with my face like a beacon.  No one bothered me until I got to my car.  Then I got kind of freaked out when a crack addict asked me for money.  He approached me just as I was getting in and cornered me.  Omg, I said no as politely yet firmly as I could and slammed and locked my door.

Afterwards, I decided to stop in and say hi to one of my friends.  There was just one small problem.  I couldn't stop crying in the car.  Well, I gave myself a stern lecture and asked myself who was stronger, me or my body.  The lecture was partially successful --- I stopped crying before I got to her house but couldn't shake the fucking migraine.  She was pleasantly surprised to see me but could tell by my wan face and pained eyes that I wasn't at my best.  Happily, she chatted about herself and her life to take my mind off of feeling sorry for myself.

She asked me to go with her to her pedicure appointment so we could continue chatting.  We started talking about girly stuff and cosmetic surgery pros & cons.  I inserted one of my huge feet into my mouth.  I said I was almost considering Botox for the migraine relief aspect of it but that I didn't really want that Botox look.  The manicurist's face pops up and says what look???  I asked if she had it done (she replies yes), and I ask her to lift her bangs.  I then proceeded to lie my ass off that she didn't seem to be affected by the no-expression Botox look.  I wonder if she believed me?  I feel bad if I hurt her feelings unknowingly. 

Afterwards, I became the chauffeur since my friend's nails were too wet to drive.  We went for a nice sushi dinner and chatted some more.  I'm so glad I stopped to see her.  Not only did it cheer my mood up immeasurably, but I found out she was leaving the country tomorrow for 10 days for a family emergency. 

Then somehow I still had more energy and Galahad was hinting that he wanted a movie & pizza.  I persuaded him that if I was going to make a trip out into the cold (like 60°F!), cruel world, we should forego the pizza and enjoy sushi.  =)  He was all bundled up on the couch, so I braved the blustery evening on my own.  That also meant I had to pick out the movies.  Yikes!  There isn't much selection on a Saturday night, but since they are only $1, I picked 3.

We ended up watching Maid in Manhattan during dinner (I figured no gory surprises here to affect my appetite).  I was kind of embarrassed to pick this one out cuz there was a guy standing right there and this is such a typical chick flick.  I waited a whole minute, but he didn't seem to have any intention of moving.  Laugh, why should I care that someone saw me pick out silly fluff to watch?

As easily as I could list those sad factors in my life, it would be simpler by far to double that list with my joys & gifts.  So why the sadness?  To give me perspective?  To value my blessings more?  Or for no fucking apparent reason other than life is random? 

Heavy thoughts for a Monday morning.  Sunday nights make me sad no matter how good Sex & the City is.  I think it's reminiscent of my childhood where Sunday nights meant an all-nighter finishing the homework that I neglected to do over the weekend.   Sadistic bastards give homework over weekends.  Fuckers!   I'm still traumatized by it and barely realize it.  Haha, and I thought I might be anywhere near the path of enlightenment...  blaming my childhood teachers for my current angst.  I should be ashamed.  :p

When I canceled my American Express card 2 months ago, I debated whether my MasterCard or my Visa would become my primary card.  I used my MC once and then switched to my Visa because it auto-deducts from my bank account at the end of the month, and I'm all for convenience.  Ever since then, my MC company has stepped up the amount of junk mail it sends me.  Wtf?  I used it once in 3 years.  I'm such a credit card tease.  ;)  I got it all excited and dropped it.  Now, it's stalking me.  American Express at least took the breakup like an adult.  I haven't received much solicitation from them.  Fuckers!  As if after 15 years, I'm going to pay them to have the privilege of using their card so that my merchants can pay them even more.  Fuck off!  Hehe, bitter much?

Okay, next rant...  Fucking whoring charities!  I donate money once and they spend all of that money on more fucking junk mail begging me for more money.   Galahad said he heard on NPR that they use all the chump change from people like me to go after the big fish who give millions.  I kind of understand that reasoning, but I hate that they spend my hard-earned money on junk mail that annoys me, wastes natural resources, wastes my time, and creates land-fill issues.  Can't they just buy these people food like they say they will?  I donated online.  Can't they email me pics of someone eating a sandwich if they feel so inclined to show me my dollars at work?

What sucks even more is that I have to sift through gobs of fucking trash every day to try to pull out the important stuff like my utility bills.  I end up missing one or two every few months.  Did I mention the 7,082 mortgage offers?  If they're so smart to know that I just refinanced my house and the broker who did it, they should be fucking smart enough to figure out I'm not going to do it again a mere 2 months later from some Joe Schmoe who fucking misspells my name.

Then we came back home, busted open a bottle of champagne, and toasted the new year.  I know it may sound boring, but it was fun & cozy to hang out like that.  I suppose I outgrew the "I need a new thrill" phase.  Now I just look for laughs and smiles and contentment.  I don't need to one-up anyone with stories of amazing parties.  Laugh, I think I have stories enough to last a lifetime.  I have so many stories, I forgot most of them --- and probably better off forgotten.  ;)