I Just Had This Conversation

FRIEND: Do you have dinner plans?

ME: Ummm... kinda. I'm ordering pizza.

... Pause ...

FRIEND: Do you still like Chipotle?

... Longer pause ...

ME: Uhhhh, yeah.

FRIEND: I want to go to Chipotle. If you wrap yourself up in aluminum foil tonight you get a free burrito.

ME: You want me to wrap myself up in aluminum foil?

FRIEND: I'm going to.

ME: As much as I'd love to see you in aluminum foil, I don't have time. I have to get my wedding dress on.

Four Days... And Miles To Go

I'm trying to keep busy. Stay occupied. Keep my mind from idling.

But I'm distracted. Yesterday I left for work without my laptop. Today I walked out of the house without my phone. I keep forgetting where I parked my car.

I've been to the gym 3 times this week (I hadn't been in 8 months). I'll do anything to keep from thinking too much.

I've made sure I have something planned every night. Tonight I'm going to a Halloween party. I'm intent on not saying anything random like, "Happy Halloween. Aren't you excited to vote?" Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend for brunch. That should burn up a few hours. Sunday I'm going scooter riding.

Monday I am worried about. I have no plans. Maybe I'll go to the gym again. But I bet I'll be up all night regardless - staring at the walls, looking out of the windows, idling picking things up and putting them back in the wrong place.

Soon. Soon it will be over. I can't wait to stand in line. Then the real anxiety begins.

Murder We Wrote

You probably already saw this on the news, but it was a massacre yesterday at the Jeffersonville Outlets.

And by massacre I mean Mare, Missy and I killed it. It was a triple murder. The outlets never saw it coming and didn't stand a chance.

It's been months (plural!) since I've gone on a good shopping binge, but I more than made up for it Saturday afternoon. And like the good shopping partners-in-crime that they are, Missy and Mare were completely supportive. We hoarded sweaters, ran for different sizes, bogarted dressing rooms and left no shoe, bag or fall sweater untouched.

And thanks to Mare's knee surgery, we got to park in front with her handicapped tag, which meant easy and frequent trips to the car to unload our purchases. (Hey, we're helping the economy, ok?!)

My fave purchase of the day was these red, patent-leather high-heeled penny loafers, which are so scandalously fantastic it's probably illegal for me to even have them. (I thought of my fashion-forward shoe-maven pal Amy P. as soon as I saw them.)

Mare found the Coach bag she'd been dreaming of (dreaming of it from the second she saw the little beauty) and was able to get it marked down, even though it originally wasn't. Is there anything better than that on a shopping trip? Hell no. (I caught her caressing the leather against her cheek.)

And this green pea coat practically fell from the rafters heaven for Missy. We agreed with sisterly "Oh-my-gods!" and "Ooh girl, it's perfect" that it was made for her. (I think she even did a little twirl in the mirror.)

Now begins phase II - Operation Closet: Things Are Gonna Change Around Here.

Ahhh Crap!

I effed up the election!

Lofty

This morning I was up before the sun, watching people much fitter than I head to the starting line at the Columbus Marathon.

I was all excited heading up there Saturday, chit-chatting with
Dean and Adam in the car about their goal times and the folks in front of them they were going to mow down.

Being the super encouraging friend that I am, I advised them to "not suck it" and "don't embarrass yourselves."

Dean was hoping to school some dude in the half-marathon who's dating a chick he likes, so he had that for motivation. Adam was working on his fourth marathon in a row and wanted to run faster than light. Or something like that.

My goal was to get up early enough to get a steaming hot latté before hitting the start line to watch them take off.

We bumped into Beth, a friend from the winter running group, in the hotel lobby. I took photos of everyone decked out in their tights and shorts, while I kept toasty in my jeans and winter coat.

Dean ended up killing the half, coming in at 1:39. Not sure if he beat that dude, but he held his own fo' sho. Beth totally smoked the half as well, setting a personal record while looking fab at the same time. And Adam, though complaining his legs were "shredded," also finished with his fastest marathon time, with 3:34:37.

As for me, I didn't meet my latté PR (pre-race) goal, but I was able to secure one after the start, so obviously it was another successful marathon for me. This makes what, 10? I've walked probably 26 miles spectating during all those. Woo-wee. My legs feel shredded just thinking about it.

Happy Birthday To Me

I used to do this thing where around every birthday I'd write something. Usually it was an existential essay-type thing about what I wanted for my birthday. Like a yard. When I was turning 22 I wrote that I wanted a yard.

I still don't have a yard, but I do have an adorable balcony with vegetable plants and a nice view of the moon at night, so that's even better. No mowing.

A lot has changed since my last b-day. Two of my closest friends moved to New York. My BFF had a baby. I started a new job. I moved and am living solo again. I've made some great new friends.

It's been a good year.

So what would write that I want for my birthday this year? Hmm... there isn't much I want for. But I know I'm thankful for what I have.

• Old friends. I got to spend some time today with a good friend who recently lost someone dear to him. I'm grateful he thinks of enough of me to spend two hours eating mediocre Mexican food and reminiscing.

• I'm thankful my parents are in good health. Thankful my dad's stent placement went well. Thankful my mom's rheumatoid arthritis is in check.

• I'm happy for my friends who are loving life in other cities (I'm looking at you Detroit and NYC). I miss having a crew to rely on, but I can tell when I see photos of them smiling and laughing that they're really just masking how sad they are. (Right, right? I mean you guys actually really, really miss me, right?)

• My iPhone. Truly everything at my finger tips. And thanks to the New York Times and AP News applications, I too am having lots and lots of fun... even sans friends who moved away. (Cuddles up next to iPhone.)

• A cozy place to call home... With my books arranged just-so on the shelves, candles burning and fresh flowers in a Mason jar.

• Facebook. Thanks to Facebook I got more birthday wishes this year than I've ever gotten in my life. That kid does deserve $1 billion!

• I'm thankful I lived this long. It was tenuous for a bit, but jokes on cancer. Ha. Suck it.

• And I'm thankful for my new Dolly Parton album Jolene... on vinyl! Next to my Kenneth the Page bobblehead and my Serenity by Jan candles, it's like totally the best birthday ever.

I'm fittin' to eat an Obama Busken cookie to celebrate all this good fortune. (Confetti!)

I Blame The Economic Downturn

Why I Went

Barack Obama, 2008 - Ault Park, Cincinnati Ohio — More photos here

I went because I wanted to be part of something progressive.

I went because I wanted to be surrounded by diverse folks who share a common purpose.

I went because I feel we're on the cusp of something great... or at least that we can be.

I went because I didn't want to look back and have to say, "Barack Obama was in my back yard and I didn't go... because I had to work."

I went because I believe in universal health-care; because I believe in helping the afflicted; because there should be an end to the deceitful war in Iraq; because civil rights are rights and civil liberties are fundamental; because I'm against the continued defacing of the constitution; because the low-road to the White House is not the road I'd have my president take; because agents of intolerance should not be vice-president; because I believe that he is change and we are change.

I went because as Obama said yesterday to thousands under a cloudless sky at Ault Park, "I can take four more weeks of attacks from John McCain... But this nation can't take four more years of the economic policies of George W. Bush and John McCain."

I went to champion sea change.

The Weekend Was Busy

Scootering



Watching the Soapbox Derby



Supporting food booths runners



And eating

Speaking of Debates

Oh yeah, drink it in! You know you're jealous of my bootleg disembodied-Barack-Obama-head t-shirt my mom bought from some guy in a parking lot in Marion.

I've been debating taking advantage of Ohio's early voting week. The pro is that I'd get to vote right now. (YAY!) The con would be not getting to experience the polls on election day.

Last night Ronson and I were chatting about early voting over fajitas and cheap margaritas and he asked if there was anything that could happen between now and election day that would change my vote.

Which launched us into this outrageous scenario:

Not even if Barack Obama came to my house, took my library books out from the apartment (that aren't even overdue) threw them into the courtyard along with my personal books, set them on fire, did a hoe-down dance around them while they burned...

And not even if John McCain personally stepped in to stop this madness while at the same time Obama pushed Biden off his VP ticket and added Palin and then the two shot a wolf from a plane right above my courtyard as my books burned... would I consider voting for McCain/Palin.

If they shot my cats instead of the wolf, maybe. But still, probably not.

On a related note, I am STOKED for the debate tonight. Woo hoo!!