They are stealing my team

Some rich, oil baron Oklahomans are trying to steal my Sonics. Well as they actually own them, they effectively have already stolen them. Now they are trying to wreck them so no one will care when they move them to Oklahoma City--because the Oklahoma City Sonics has such a great ring to it.

OK, now true I do not really care about sports, but the only time I ever cared so much for a team that I prayed for them--these guys were it. I loved Gary Payton, I loved Shawn Kemp, I was wiling to start a religion whose Deity was Nate MacMillan. And, no really, once upon a time those guys could play basketball and 2/3 of them seemed like actual gentleman and statesman and the other third was just youthfully brash. Now, well, that may not seem true, but back in my youth it was true. And they were good! They were great! In the early 90's they posted the best season record of any team ever!! And they did it by smashing the old record, smashing it! It was awesome. Of course a few seasons later their record was knocked off by a little team called the Chicago Bulls because it turns out they had a pretty good run in the 90's. Turns out.

BUT THEY ARE STEALING MY BABIES!!!!! I might not care about sports much anymore, but this is ridiculous. I disapprove. Sam is going to hear about this on our trip tomorrow. He is from Oklahoma. He might need to apologize for his whole state.

Oh yeah, I am going to Buffalo tomorrow for the weekend for a wedding. I will tell you all about it later. After the weekend.

Taxes

I totally owed money this year! That is kind of a bummer, but I guess it is ok too, since I wasn't counting on the money to do anything. Although this may mean I need to be serious about putting some $ away for plane trips this summer to Washington and California. Also I only owed a very little amount of money. I basically came very close to breaking even, which means I paid the government exactly what I owed. Which I guess is ok, but I kind of miss getting big fatty checks back. Oh well.

Oscars, etc.

I watched them last night on TIVO delay. They were kind of unremarkable--there were many, many lovely dresses, but not too much else remarkable. Yea for the Once kids! That was the happiest moment, and Tilda Swinton is much funnier than I would expect, but am I the only one who thinks she looked like she was wearing a graduation gown and it got blown off in the parking lot?

I had entirely forgotten that I live blogged those last year. That was very fun. Thank you Miss Amy for reminding me!

I bought a cashmere sweater and some make-up today. The cashmere sweater cost less than the two eyeshadows--mostly because it was obscenely on sale. It is a cardigan and it is royal purple, and I LOVE IT! Also the eyeshadows were kind of upscale cosmetics. They are however crease less, cream to powder, and AMAZING!

Sam is putting all of his electronic TV toys into the new cabinet he purchased to house new flat screen TV. He's adorable, also he is freaking funny. I think he is much funnier than he gets credit for.

Curled up in the recliner at Sam's house

My laptop all fired up blogging (and reading others blogs) with nothing at all to do today. Apparently I could've gotten tickets to the Oscar thing, but I didn't find that out until late, late last night, and well two things. One, I am going to a birthday party with Sam tonight and two, I would've needed to be more emotionally prepared for that after my two 60 hour weeks.

Instead, I may go rent movies for me and Sam. He is cooking stew right now because he likes to cook and does that on the weekends. He also has an actual record on the turntable, playing some lovely jazz piano. Last weekend he was actually playing the jazz piano when I was in the shower and I had a very difficult time deciding if it was a CD or him because (contrary to his self deprecation) he is very good.

It is beautiful and sunny out today, so I feel I ought to get out in it. I was going to blog more, but it might be time for errands!

I had clever things to say

In fact it always seems that way to me. As I sit on the bus, I ponder all sorts of interesting thoughts and ideas. This happens at work too, and then I get on the computer and it has all eluded me. Nothing is left in my sad little brain. Well nothing interesting anyway.

Tonight all that is left is a debate on whether or not it will be warm enough tomorrow to wear the sweater dress I bought last weekend with leggings and a shirt underneath? The leggings may not be warm enough--unless I wear them with boots and then I can wear the long socks I bought the week before that or I can wear jeans too and just take the jeans off at pier one when it is time to work there tomorrow night. If Chris ends up having a birthday party or I end up going someplace cool with Sam, I will be very fashionably dressed, so that would be good. Although I will for sure have to get up early enough to wash my hair tomorrow, and that is going to be rough.

Can I say I hate winter? I am done with it. If this were a regular February, it would have some sort of warming trend which may well mean just being warmer than the freaking teens!! And then I could wear the sweater dress. Grrrrr. . . . Also my cat keeps biting me really hard and then flopping away from me all indignant when I react negatively to the fact that he is fucking biting me really hard, hard enough to make me holler, as if how dare I disturb his gnawing of my flesh by making noise. Steve Alphabet McQueen Kinion, you may just be getting a little to big for your britches.

Gifts

So Valentine's Day happened for real, and Sam and I were not together for it because well I work a whole shit ton. I have decided to allow him to describe his hiding o my Valentine's Day balloon bouquet under his desk as "storing" because it turns out that brilliant plan did not discourage his coworkers from finding them, liberating them, prominently displaying them, and giving Sam much grief over the whole thing. It was wonderful.

This weekend we finished exchanging gifts, which I thought would be cards and some sort of trinket or something (like tickets to a concert here in Chicago or a show, something along those lines). He did give me a card, and inside the card he told me that he was taking me to New York City sometime this spring for dinner and a Broadway show and a night at a jazz club. This will take place April 18-20. There is a list of shows that I would like to see, and he will get to see two famous and great jazz musicians whom he has never seen before play at a club that he has never been too (Ron Carter and Jim Hall at the Blue Note). He is very excited. I am too! I am hoping to see either Spring Awakening or Sunday in the Park with George (but Spamalot, Young Frankenstein, and Legally Blonde are also contenders), and I might just maybe have to get tickets to a matinée on Saturday if possible too. It might just have to happen that I see two shows--although I might opt for the non-musical all-black Cat on a Hot Tin Roof for the other.

I have already called Lauren to tell her I am on my way there. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the rest of the time in NYC, although two ish days is not a long time. BTW, this fabulous gift is why I decided that he can store my gifts under his desk whenever the heck he wants. Also, btw, how freaking lucky am I? I mean really? I have the best boyfriend ever.

Have a house guest in for the weekend. Tbert explored some neighborhoods, went to my company party, had late night nachos with my roommate because I was wasted, went for sushi but the place was closed so had Oaxacan instead, was subjected to a piano bar where now Sam's bartender knows my drinks too, froze to death in the awful wind, and hung around my house today because it was way too frigidly windy to want to leave and go about. That was his visit in a nutshell, and I feel I was not the best host, but. . . I don't know. I had a really long week and I don't really know his tastes well enough to tailor a good visit to them. I did however assume (probably correctly) that my greatest hits of big lame chains that we don't have back home would be a bad bet for him. I save that one for people from the Tri-Cities. They like all the touristy schlock: Bubba Gump's, the terrible parts of Michigan Ave and downtown. But they are also the people who can't like a restaurant if they've never heard of it. So, Teebs, I am sorry that I was a kind of lame host.

I think my arms want to break up with me

Because I made them carry home a 15 or so pound table in a box from work (all smashed flat in a little box). It hurt a lot. There was burning and an inability to work them for a few minutes after I finally got to set the tables down. Yeah, so that happened.

Then the kitteh's (and I am looking at you James Dean) tried to eat my sammich before I ate my sammich, and this did not sit well with me. However, I defended my sammich's honor.

Speaking of eating, Sam took me to Gibson's last night for dinner. It was outstanding. Their food is crazy amazing, and by food I mean meat because mostly that is what they cook. The ginormous "small" sirloin I had was exquisite! Best steak I ever, ever had. So yummy. I do though find it funny that they explain to me what medium meant--I know, I grew up on a farm I could show you on a real animal where my steak came from and I could do better with more cuts on a pig and I could even point out some cuts on a lamb, I get it. I mean turns out I am not just a pretty girl in a dress and high heels.

Which leads me to a dress and high heels and tights in the winter on Chicago streets. Yup, I walked slow, and yes I did feel ridiculous. But I looked pretty for the v-day dinner. I guess that was the important part, and I did strongly suggest we take a cab home from dinner.

Tomorrow is the valentine's day. Still don't know what Sam got me. That may not happen until the weekend because it turns out I won't get to see my fabulous new boyfriend on or very first valentine's day. Oh well!

Mac and Cheese

That is what I am eating right now. I have been kind of obsessed with it lately, but not the Kraft variety, the homemade style (or some sort of approximation). No one at my home ever made mac and cheese from scratch, so I have no mom recipe to compare it with, but I love it. What is there not to love about warm gooey cheese?

The one I am eating right now I baked in my oven--it is a tv dinner version that is tasty if unnaturally orange. I had one last Friday that could've been richer, and there is an excellent one up in Andersonville that I have been missing (it includes red peppers).

Tomorrow night Sam and I are going to celebrate Valentine's Day. We are going out to dinner, but I am not exactly sure where. I am going to wear my new dress (that I bought for $10 this weekend at Nordstrom's Rack). We have to celebrate early because I am working at Pier 1 on V-day and next weekend Chrissy's (well and mine now too) friend tbert is coming to town.

Sheets

There aren't any on my bed right now because I took them off to put them in the laundry pick up for this morning, and since I thought there was a big possibility I was going to end up in Sam's bed tonight (because I was going to go downtown and see Erin before she leaves tomorrow and Sam's bed is just a little north of downtown) I just didn't put any back on. But I am home tonight since Erin is not downtown, so after Pier 1 I was just going to go to bed. Now I have to put them on. Boooooo. I don't like that story.

So I was listening to an episode of the Savage Love podcast (audio version of his advice column that appears in alternative weeklys everywhere), and it made me think today. Mostly, it made me think about what a whiny pain in the ass I have been in my past. I mean, could I shut up about a couple of my past would-be/wish-it-could-be relationships? Obviously not. How were some of you still my friends through my whining and vacillating and endless hypothesizing? Why did no one literally smack me in the mouth? I so obviously needed it. Anyway, belated apology for all who lived through Clowngate and The tragedy of Luke parts 1 and/or 2, hell even all the way back to the Jesus Boy fallout (which was mostly pre-blog). Please, if I am ever that damn stupid again please tell me. I obviously knew that things were not going to go the way I wanted or that I was not going to step up, and so did everyone who had to listen to me. Thank you for being patient, kind, good friends, and I am sorry to have so abused my friendship privileges.

Voting

I voted. It made my whole day better. I like voting, even if it is for very small things like county commissioner or anything like that.

However the following was an editorial in my hometown newspaper (hat tip to Lauren J for posting it) that kind of makes my skin crawl. This is where I am from people, this was on the editorial page.

"Men presidents only

I think that having a woman president would be a bad idea for our country. Women are not meant to rule countries and be in charge. They are meant to make decisions but not confirm them.

Our president deals with some countries that don't respect or allow women in leadership positions. I wonder if the United States would have more terrorist attacks because we would be seen as weak with a woman leader. I agree that women can do many things, but leave the ruling of the countries to the men.

BRITTANY BAYLES, 13, Kennewick "


Seriously people?

Late Nights

I had them all weekend long. It started out when I went to bed at 5am on Saturday morning--after 11 hours of work even! Silly Erin Faulk visiting. Then on Saturday night, Sam and I went out to dinner at 11PM, and even though we went home and went to bed pretty quick, it was still past midnight, and then last night it was midnight before bed again, stupid superbowl.

I am whupped by it too! I am tired, tired, tired. But watching the movie "once" on the recommendation of Chrissy. It is really good so far.