Breakups
As the song says, breaking up is hard to do. What I have recently learned however, is that no matter what age you are, or how long you have been in a relationship, when it is over, you start acting like a 16 year old kid.

The first example of this is my last breakup. I was with the guy for 8 months and have mentioned him here before. I thought at the time, and still sometimes now, that I was totally in love with him and it has been hard for me sometimes, even now--4 months later to get him completely out of my mind. I have tried dating some other fellows, but so far, it hasn't been the same--or close to the same. So, I figured my lack of experience with these things is what is causing me to have such strong feelings, even after 4 months. I imagined that with age, breaking up would still be hard, but I would have the wisdom to be an adult about it.

Boy, was I wrong. There is a woman I know who is going through a bad breakup. She is in her mid 50's and was in the relationship almost as long as I have been alive. Which is a long time. Anyway...at this point, anyone on the outside can see that the relationship is really not healthy, at least not in the state it is currently in. And, yet, she still keeps doing really wacky things, like semi-stalking him and calling him when she knows she shouldn't. Of course, all of these things make her feel worse but she just can't seem to let it go. She even made me go online and try to find his profile on Yahoo!Personals. I mean, do you really want to know these things? It just makes you feel bad and now I am part of the stalking. Even I haven't broken down to call my ex--even though I seriously consider it, every once in a while.

Eavesdropping
A note to readers--when you are talking smack about someone in a bar, make sure they aren't sitting 2 feet from you.

So, last night, the gals got together to go out and watch the NCAA women's basketball finals. We were all sitting at this sort of communal table and about 3 stools away from us, there was a group of guys. Nothing out of the ordinary so far, right? So, eventually I overhear them discussing the merits of women's basketball and how it doesn't really have any because it isn't as good as the men's game. Then one gentleman also stated that he thought men made better businessmen because women got too emotional about things. Now, while this is kind of a despicable attitude, not that out of the ordinary.

Later on, towards the end of the game, I distinctly hear them talking about myself and my friends and which ones of us they thought were attractive. It was at this point the jagoff mentioned above made the comment that he would need another six-pack before getting with any of us. These comments, I did decide to pass along to my friends. So, one of the guys comes over and tries to speak with us for a while. We introduce ourselves and are fairly polite. Then he goes back to his friends and mentions that two of the girls with us are sisters and proceeds to add to his friends that they are also very horny. Um...excuse me? At this I happened to turn around and give him a death stare. One of my other friends didn't take this so well. She immediately launched into a diatribe that would make women everywhere proud. And good for her, too.

I know boys will be boys, but if you are going to do that, could you at least make sure the object(s) of your ridicule are not within earshot. Seriously people...

Friday Fiesta
There are those certain days when you know that something interesting is going to happen. A certain feel in the air perhaps some type of electricity. Last Friday was one of those days.

It began with a happy hour that I was supposed to make it to. Unfortunately, I ended up missing that happy hour to stop at another with some co-workers. Luckily for me my friends came ended up meeting up with me and we headed to another bar for some dancing. It wasn't long until the shots began to flow. Luckily for me I opted out of the shots, as I had already taken care of my imbibing for the evening. So, at this point, we fast forward to the end of the evening where my saintly friend Maddy has offered to take our drunk asses home, and by that I mean more so my other friend Molly. It seems as though she had a little too much and was having a bit of trouble getting into our car. We finally got her into the vehicle and began to head home. Unfortunately, Molly thought it was a good idea to keep opening the door to spit. Maddy was not pleased. We finally make it to Molly's house and drag her upstairs to get her situated. It was then that the most entertaining portion of the evening happened...she went to get some ice water and Maddy was helping her with the ice trays. Maddy went to put them back in the freezer only to be forcefully told by Molly that IT IS RUDE TO NOT REPLACE ICE TRAYS. Awesome.

The next day was quite funny as well and included a trip to McDonald's for the requisite grease hangover cure. Apparently we picked the McDonald's with the wackiest people and this machine that made some sort of alien computer beeps. Way too much visual stimulation for being hungover. There was also a nice young man named Gabe there. Uh huh.

Working for a Living
So, we all have to do it. I am told that the trick is to find something that makes you happy that you can also make money doing...Really? Thanks for the tip, but sometimes that just isn't possible, so you spend your days sitting in an Ikea cubicle with no window to the outside world. Other than the live pictures that you have on a weather tracking site on your computer. How sad is that? Not that I am not grateful to have a job, believe me, there is talk that some jobs might get cut and I surely hope it isn't mine; however, I can't say as though I am really enjoying myself here. Big business is all about the politics and making sure to kiss the right amount of asses. I am just not into that on a certain level. When people of clearly lower intellect keep getting promoted whilst those who toil away day in and day out are lied to about why they haven't been promoted. All the while, the big wigs sit back and rake in the money while telling the peons that there are no raises b/c of a lack of funds. Perhaps if that is the case, the big bosses should be more careful of what kind of information they leave sitting on the printer. Wouldn't you agree, Sir?

Online Dating Update
Ok...this is kind of funny. The first guy that I met has recently sent my friend a little note. See, this is why it is important to let any friends you have who are also participating know who you have been talking to. Although, it would have been awesome if she had ended up dating him as well--all the while not knowing until one day...bum bum bum. Awesome. He is really short, though he claims 5'5 on the site, but I met him and I had no heels on whatsoever and was still taller than him and I am 5'5 on a good day.

What is New?
Well, the truth is, not much is new, but thought I would update anyone who might be reading this--which I am pretty sure is just myself--on what has been going on with me lately.
So, I decided to join an internet dating site, just to meet people. I was a little aprehensive at first, but so far have been glad that I signed up. I have met in person, two of the people that I have spoken with online and so far, they both seem pretty cool, although the second guy that I met I do like better than the first. It has been a little weird though. There are a few awkward silences and then you aren't sure if you should even mention the fact that you met online. Once you do, however, the date does seem the better for it. Now, I admit, as a girl of the 21st century, you do have to be careful when meeting folks online because you never know if they are telling the truth or not. And, for your first couple of dates, you should definitely meet up with them in a very public place. So far, I have been lucky and the folks that I met have been on the level. My friend Maddy--yes, the one who accompanied me to that sketchy travel seminar thing--has had at least one experience where the guy in the photo totally didn't resemble the guy that she actually met for coffee.
Now, here is a question. How do you deal with that? I know I have different hair than in one of my pictures, but would like to think that I do look similar. Do you call the person out on this? Would that be rude? Also, what is the etiquette for how long you have to endure a coffee date that is just not good? I would imagine that if you tell them that you have a dinner obligation with friends or some other kind of out, that would be the best option. Then, if it sucks, you are in the clear and if it doesn't, you can either make plans to meet up again or 'blow' off your dinner obligation to hang with him. Or just tell the truth that you claimed you had an obligation but didn't. Most likely, your date will have put in the same safeguards in place.
Anyone out there have any good online dating stories?

Happy St. Patrick's Day
Hello All! Today is St. Patrick's Day. A day of fun and beverage drinking. Too bad for many adults who used to love celebrating today it is also a workday. Yuck. I have decided to still at least attempt to hit a local Irish establishment if only for one beverage. Unfortunately for me, I have been sick all week and this will be the first day that I make it through the workday, so I don't really want to push my immune system to be around tons of smoke and alcohol. Although I have heard the alcohol can help you get over colds sometimes.

So, this morning I broke down and wrote an email to an old bf that was a little sappy. Not majorly, but enough that I am a little embarrassed for him to read it. I haven't heard anything back, but that isn't uncommon since he doesn't get to check his email as often as I obsessivly compulsively do. I guess we will see what he has to say when he is ready. I think it was this action this morning that has caused me to consider going out to the bar. Is that bad?

Back to the Dentist
Ladies and Gentlemen--I hit the dentist again--not literally, but in the way that I went in for my 6 month cleaning. As I suspected, my back right molar had broken off a little bit and my dentist told me I needed another crown. Some people get to save money for fun stuff. Not me, I have to pay for my teeth. I know that part if it is my fault b/c I believe I might eat a smidge too much sugar, but seriously, how do they get away with charging so much to replace a tooth. I mean, really. For what my two teeth are costing me, I could have bought a real crown--with diamonds and everything. Talk about sucking. This totally does although at least I know what to expect this time.

Other Comments about Vacation Station/Bluegreen Corp./Leisure Path
Here is what another person had to say about their experience:

Concerned Consumer

Bad News, I'm telling ya.

Vacation Station...
or as I like to call it, Vacation Rip-Off. Ok, so I went to my little appointment yesterday and it wasn't a time-share presentation. It was a presentation on joining this club wherein you would benefit as a member by getting vacation packages, including cruises and the like at cost, instead of the retail mark-up. All in all, it really isn't a bad plan, of course, they ask you to plunk down $6995 as a one time fee, plus another $299 initiation fee and another $180 bucks for some other such nonsense. In the meantime, you would still have to pay a yearly membership fee which was unnamed. If anyone is curious as to what I am speaking about, do a little research on their parent companies--Leisure Path and Bluegreen (BXG--on NYSE). Now the presentation was all well and good, but what bothered me was the part afterward. My new 'partner' and I were intrigued by the savings you could garner when taking package vacations, but we really don't do that very often. So we asked our rep some questions. Turns out, we could get the deal listed above for $2995, minus the $299 fee if we could pay $599 immediately. We then stated that even though we were completely interested, we just couldn't do it at this time and asked for a brochure or some other contact details. It was at this point we were told that we could either do this now or never. Unfortunately for them, we chose never. They wouldn't even let us keep our notes and when we asked why, they said b/c they didn't want us turning potential customers away by giving them misinformation. Well, God forbid that happens--oh wait, isn't that what I am doing now? At least with a pamphlet the people could decide for themselves. Seriously, I am totally concerned that this is a fly by night operation. If they call you or someone you know, take Nancy Reagan's advice and Just Say No!