I don't really have time to post now. I'll write about my busy busy day tomorrow. I just wanted to say that the food network show I saw being taped is on. If ya'll don't watching cooking shows or don't just want to see the island I was on, ignore this. Otherwise, check out the food network's The Secret Life of... which is on right now, they re-run it in a few hours, and I think they replay it again on saturday or sunday. It's cool to see the people I have met and the places I have been. Now, it's the secret life of Island food and I didn't see the begining of it so it may not be all Anguilla. If you need a refresher about my trip, I posted several things around this day.

So, the Heat won. I admit it, I didn't think they would. I wanted them to, but I just didn't think they could win in Dallas. Go Heat! (I still love the Lakers best, though!)

I found some good honeymoon options. Thanks for all of the suggestions. Now I’m hearing that they really want to go on a cruise or go to the Caribbean. Ummm, excuse me! You don’t have any money! And you don’t have a passport! Chele and Aziza, I suggested VA beach to them. I’ve always liked it there. Nikki, they’ve lived in the Indiana/Kentucky/Tennessee area for all of their lives. I want to find something a bit different for them. Jdid, Niagara is not a bad idea, but the US side is supposed to suck. Can they get into Canada without a passport these days?

I had a good lunch today. It was Barbeque Day at my old job. Every Tuesday for as long as I remember, the guys have gone to this BBQ restaurant for lunch. The girls go every once in a blue moon, opting for vegetarian Indian or a sandwich instead. Well, I went to have lunch with ShellyP and E. Somehow all of the office ended up at BBQ. It was pretty uneventful, but I did get to see Shel’s growing belly and shirking eyebrows. Check out her page to see what I’m talking about. I was told that my computer still worked and asked when my world wind travels were going to start. And of course I made my fried wontons and took them in for El Stomach. She ate a ton of them, then went to BBQ! I bet she had a snack when she got back to the office too. That girl can eat.

Today was my first official day of work. It was good. We just had 4 hours of training. Every one seemed nice. I’m only going to remember 3 people’s names and it would be 2 if two of the girls didn’t have the same name. Did I mention that I have a horrible memory? The memory thing also comes into play because we have to memorize the menu, all of the ingredients, and a bunch of other stuff like the 10 categories of wine they have. Other than that, it should be cool and I think I’ll like working there. The only thing is, there is no telling when work will actually start! They are still getting all the building/inspection stuff done. The next training session isn’t until Friday. So, What do I do for the next 2.5 days?

Another busy couple of days

It has been so great not working. I have off until Tuesday, so I am trying to take advantage of it. Yesterday I stayed in my pajamas until about 5:30. Then a friend of mine came by. She is moving to Tampa, so it would be our last night hanging out. We went to this Mexican place that I love. They have the absolute best vegetarian quesadillas. They also have really good prickly pear margaritas. So we hung out for a while and had a great dinner. She gave me a book to read, Confessions of a Video Vixen. She has read it and kept saying I should too, so she just brought it over.

Today, my girlfriend called me up to invite me to go shopping with her and her son. There was a 1 day sale at Macy’s. I just knew I was going to run into ShelllyP there! LOL! I was pretty good about it though. I only bought some bracelets. They were $17 marked down from $60. I knew I shouldn’t have gotten them but for some reason I’ll been obsessed with bracelets lately. I have gotten 5 or so in the last 5 months. I’m not really a big jewelry person either. I have just really been liking bracelets lately. I’m not a big shoe person either, but I was very tempted because it was buy one pair get the second for $1. I didn’t get any, though. It was just really nice to hang out with my girlfriend, KR. I haven’t seen her lately. We shopped, chatted, and had lunch. It was a great way to spend the morning.

Right now I am trying to plan out my little “Sis’s” honeymoon. My college roommate and I were like sisters. Her family is like my family. Well, her sister is getting married and I am helping to plan the honey moon. Any suggestions on where they can go, on a budget? They are going in April for about a week.

First Days of Freedom

I have been enjoying my first days of freedom. Probably a bit too much, even. Friday, after my exit interview, I decided that I couldn’t sit at home this weekend. I know myself and I would be very down. I would start to question if I had made the right decision and freak out a little bit. So, I drove up to Savannah, GA to see a friend of mine from high school, SS. I haven’t seen him in years so I figured we’d gossip about whatever guy he was dating and I’d get to see a city I’ve always wanted to see. Plus, a new environment would be good for me. This would be my first stop in my around the world travel. So, I drove up. On the way, I stopped by Jacksonville to see BendaBald. It was sooo good to see him and wifey and the kids. I have really missed them. I’m going to try to go see them again soon. Maybe I’ll drag ShellyP with me. I’m sure she’d love to see her ex-work husband.



Savannah was so great. It was beautiful. When I was in college, there was this show called Savannah on TV. Think Desperate Housewives with southern accents. My roommate and I would watch it every week so when I told her I was going to Savannah, she was so excited. SS has been living there for years, going to art school. I haven’t seen him in 8 or 9 years, but we’ve kept in touch via the phone and email. So, it was nice to see him and to see the city. When I got to his house on Friday he gave me the tour of his place, which is really cute and we just went to sleep. It was after midnight and I had been driving all night, so I was exhausted. Saturday, we decided to do a little walking tour of the historic district. I thought the houses were beautiful and every so often there would be a little square with a fountain, gazebo, or monument of some kind. It was so nice. I took a ton of pictures. We met up with his friends (Jes and B) and went to lunch at a Mexican place. Then 3 of us took a tour on a trolley, B had to work. It was great. The tour guide gave us a million historical facts and we got to see everything. The only bad part of the day was that it was SO HOT! I thought I was going to die from the heat. I mean, I am used to heat down here in Ft. Lauderdale, but at least here we have the breeze off of the ocean. Plus, it’s not like I walk around anywhere here. After dinner and all that sun, Jes and I were exhausted so we went to SS’s place to rest a bit. Jes left so that she could shower and we hung out till B came over so that we could go out. They decided to take me on a bar hopping tour. Basically the plan was to walk downtown and stop in all of their hang outs. We’d get one drink at every bar and therefore be able to make it to almost all of them. It was so much fun! They knew everyone one. All of the bars were pretty cool. There was one club like one with hip-hop that I had a blast dancing at. We were pretty much drunk by that time, so we didn’t stay very long. And there was a piano bar that was ok. I really didn’t care for the music and it was really loud. Some of the smaller local hangouts were the best. By the around 2am (I think we started around 10) Jes and I were stumbling back to her place. The boys were trying to pick people up, so we left them there. The next day Jes didn’t even remember that. I’m so glad she remembered the way home otherwise we would have been lost. Luckily Jes lives down the street from SS. We got to her house and promptly fell asleep on the couch. Around 3 something, B came and got me. We went back to SS’s house and the 3 of us hung out till about 4 just talking. I wouldn’t let B drive home that night. I’m really strict on the whole drinking and driving thing. I won’t let anyone do it while I’m around. So, SS went to bed and B and I spend a while more talking. Let me just say B is not my type at all. He seemed to show off a bit and I thought he was immature when I first met him. He drinks too much and smokes too much for my tastes. But he is really cute. When I first met him and Jes, I really thought we would have nothing in common. I was right about Jes, but after talking to B with no one around, I got to see a different side of him. We spend hours talking Saturday night and Sunday night. We actually did have stuff in common, like he lived in Japan for 3 year and he lived in Michigan for a while. We are both from the southwest and his birthday is about a week after mine. And did I mention that he was really cute? Well, let’s just say that I got to know B a little better than I should have over the weekend and let’s just leave it at that.

Sunday, I couldn’t get the boys out of bed. If I’ve been drinking, sometimes I have a hard time sleeping. Not to mention I don’t sleep well in strange places and I was on a sofa bed in the very bright living room. So, by 8:30 I was fully awake. The boys slept till around 12 when I forced them to get up. We had lunch and then I napped while the boys watched soccer. Then I decided to cook for them. I made gyoza (Japanese dumplings), teriyaki chicken, broccoli, and rice. Jes came over for dinner. After that, I was kind of tired. I ended up going to bed and Jes went home to do laundry. I probably fell asleep at 11:30 and was awoken by someone coming in at 1:30. It was B, coming to get the bottle of rum to take down to Jes’ place. They knew I was sleep so they went to hang out down here. Since I was up, I called them and told them they could come back whenever. Once I’m woken up, I’m just up. So they came back and we all hung out for a while. SS went to bed and B and I spend hours talking. I ended up going back to sleep around 5. At 6:30 I woke up to make my long drive home. Needless to say I was exhausted, but I had to be back by 3 for an interview. Yes, I said interview. It’s not in my nature to sit around, so I knew I had to get something lined up. After getting back and doing all of my running around, I went to nap at 5:30 and didn’t wake up till midnight. Then I went back to seep and have been up since 7 this morning. Crazy weekend huh?

Ok, on to the interview. There is this new wine bar opening on Las Olas. Now I was a waitress part time a few years back. It was when I was buying my house, so I really needed the extra money and some friends of mine really needed the help. When I was doing it, I met so many people and I had a ball doing it. So, why not be a waitress while waiting for my house to see? I’m excited about this because I love wine and the menu looks really good. Training starts next week, so until then, I’m on vacation!

IT'S MY LAST DAY OF WORK! WOO HOOOO!!!!!!

4 days...

Ya'll are never going to believe what happened today. One-Screen Jeff quit today!! The office was surprised, even more surprised that his end date is FRIDAY. I gave him shit already about me giving a month and him, not even a week. I've been told that I am being quarantined for the rest of the time here because I am spreading something. Oh well. Life goes on. Poor Ori, now she has to do my crap plus all the builds again.

In other news, still haven't talked to my girl but I'm waiting for her to ask to stay with me. I'm not going to let her, even though ya'll know I have a weakness for kids. But guess who did call me while I was on my death bed. That's right, Crazy Ass Lisa! "Hi, I just wanted to see how you were doing and to make sure you got the picture of J I sent you." What the hell? I'm just going to ignore it and move on.

The count down has begun. I am done working here in 4 days! Then I am officially unemployed, but happy. I'm trying to slack off a bit, but as Shelly pointed out, not with IL on my ass. IL is great and all, but I'm going to end up killing her after a week of "Why is it like this? Where is that documented? How does this work?" While some may just call her through, I will call her a pain in the ass for 4 more days.

3:22 AM

I can't sleep. Trish just called. I can always tell when she's been drinking or indulging in something else. This time I think it was just alcohol, but who knows. Trish has always had problems. When I met her she had her life together, but not so much any more. I love her to death, but I don't know what to do about her.

Let me give you a little background. She ran the apartment complex that I moved into when I first came to Florida. She is a few years older than me. She had two little boys from her marriage and was dating the father of her third child, who was born a few years after I met her. She had a troubled past, but was trying to set things straight and do right for her boys. She and her man back then had issues. The only good thing out of that relationship was their daughter. Trish didn't have any family support and few friends that were willing to include the kids. I loved the kids and didn't mind being around them at all. I would go over after work and help her make dinner and fold laundry. With two young boys, she was constantly doing laundry. After her daughter was born and she and the father split up, she moved to the west coast of Florida where some of her family was to try to get some help. That didn't help at all and she always told me she wanted to move back whenever I came to visit. The last time I talked to her, Her family was giving her a hard time, she was dating some guy that was bad news, and she had just lost her job. Things were bad all around. She asked me if I would take her kids if something ever happened to her, which worried me. She sounded depressed and I was worried that she would do something bad. Loving the kids is one thing, but I didn't know if I could be a single parent of 3 kids under the age of 13. That was the last time we talked. We played phone tag a couple of times, but never really connected. Then her number was disconnected.

Our conversation was very brief. She moved to Alabama with her kids because something bad had gone down with the guy she was dating. She didn't give me details. She doesn't have a job and she was saying how hard it was to find something there. She is thinking about moving in with her ex in MIA, which is bad news considering the last time I saw the two of them together they couldn't even stop arguing for an hour! I know what is going to happen. She is going to ask to stay with me until she gets on her feet. I just quit my job. I can't support her and 3 kids! Even if I hadn't quit my job, I can't support her and 3 kids! I have a 2 bedroom townhouse. Where would they even stay? She wants me to call her tomorrow, what am I gonna do...

dying...

I've been dying. I have had a fever since Tuesday and I've barely made it out of bed. It's been horrible. Headache, fever, throat hurting so bad I can't swallow(Hey! Keep it clean people!) If it hadn't been for Shelly I'd be dead by now. Shel send her mom over to take care of me. She brought soup and ginger ale and did the dishes. Then she drove me to the Dr and to the pharmacy afterwards. Thanks Shelly's Mom! Oh, and I will never buy chicken soup again if it doesn't come from a jamacian place. I mean, slightly spicy, whole chicken pieces, dumpling, yams and other stuff I can't identify. It rocks!

I do have a lovely story for you because of my illness. As stated before, I went to the pharmacy yesterday. So, I'm walking like a little old lady cuz my body aches, dressed in Sweat pants and a huge fuzzy sweatshirt(did I mention it was ... oh... 85/90 degrees in Florida yesterday?), hair uncombed, and guess what happens. Some kid, and I do mean KID, comes over and tries to call himself flirting with me. I wanted to hit him with the box of tissues I was carrying! How old was he anyway? I swear, he looked 18! I rolled my eyes and headed right for the pharmacy.

On another note, I have internet at home! I know, I know, I am the worst engineer ever, right? I just got a laptop and internet access. I had to do something since a week from today, I can't just check my email at work.

Alright, getting a bit lightheaded from sitting up so long. I have to finish my post about my eventful weekend and about my possible new job later. I'll catch up on all of ya'll blogs later too, I promise.