Barb’s Burblings

Part of my job involves putting out a publication every month. It’s not particularly hard to produce, and most months it’s gone pretty smoothly. This month is not one of those months. There have been tons of problems and it’s been completely obnoxious, particularly since I also had a bunch of other things I needed to get done before this conference I’m going to next week. So it’s been a pain, but the people I work with on it have been super, and I wrote one of them an email effusively thanking her for all of her help. She wrote a very nice reply, including an observation that I’m easygoing.
It sticks in my mind because my first boss in the real world once described me as unflappable. I think this was right after she told me she was quitting.
The thing is, when she told me she was quitting, it was all I could do to stop myself from crying. I think I’m less “unflappable,” more “represses feelings (or at least doesn’t let them out until I’m alone).” Lately I feel like I’m either in crazy panicked mode or am totally lethargic. I guess I just spend all my energy freaking out, wearing me out for the rest of the time.
Probably the stress lately hasn’t helped, either. I can’t wait to get on the cruise and get a massage. And lay on the beach. And not do anything. Sounds like heaven.
Current song in my head:
“All at Once” by Whitney Houston

Brian goes 2-5, helps turn 4 double plays, and tags out a runner trying to steal (in addition to a number of other nice plays–he has a very good day, defensively). Ramon Hernandez blows the game on a throw to first after a batter strikes out. Combined, the two teams use 13 pitchers, and most of Minnesota’s changes come during play (including using 5 pitchers in 3 innings), so the game takes forever (3:30). Todd Williams’s extremely slow pitching doesn’t help. The O’s lose, 8-5.
On the positive side, it’s Fan Appreciation weekend, since tomorrow is the last home game. This meant that some of the players were standing at the gates, which brought me face-to-face with Reserve Oriole Boyfriend Adam Loewen. You’ll be happy to learn that I managed to not declare my undying love or even tell him how adorable he is; I simply wished him luck in his start tomorrow. I also got an autograph from James Hoey, who has the pretties eyes ever. Seriously.
I was flirting with the idea of going back tomorrow, but after spending, let’s see, FOREVER there today, plus the face that I need to go to the grocery store, and I somehow managed to hurt my hip while lying on the couch watch Grey’s Anatomy, I decided that I’ll just catch it on tv.
Seriously, I don’t know what’s up with my hip. But it hurts to walk now. Well, it’s getting progressively better.
Anyway, at some point I’ll do a wrap of the season (and my fantasy teams as well), but right now I’m pretty wiped. I feel like the game sucked my soul away. It really wasn’t a bad game, per se, but it was a bit draining.

I recently got a bunch of pictures developed and scanned them onto my computer, and yet somehow don’t have the motivation to upload them into my online albums. Because…it requires effort? I don’t know.
However, I will use one to illustrate a story from when I went to Boston last month. Brent, Katie, Hutch, and I saw the O’s play the Red Sox at Fenway. It was a good time, except for the O’s losing. Horribly. It was 9-2; first run was in the 7th and the second in the 9th. So I was in line for the bathroom in the bottom of the seventh (…I think) and the woman behind me made some snide comment about the pitcher the Sox were bringing in. “Of course, they could bring in my son to pitch, and we’d still win!” she laughed.
I kind of smiled a bit–God knows that by this point, I have a sense of humor about the O’s losing (and it should be noted that this was the week before the Yankees swept the Red Sox, so the AL East was still pretty close). So the woman behind me is laughing, and the woman behind her glances at me, and says, “Are you from Baltimore?” I tell her that I live just outside DC, and the woman directly behind me says, “Oh, I didn’t realize that you were an Orioles fan.”
This is what I was wearing:

There is no way that woman didn’t know who I was rooting for. And, of course, this was followed by, “Well, you have a really nice stadium!” Yep, we do. Anyway, it’s one thing to trash talk blatantly; that’s fine. But to try to act like you couldn’t tell where my loyalties lie? I’m not really sure what that was supposed to accomplish.
The really sad part is that I missed Corey Patterson hit a homer in the 9th. On the positive side, Brian drove in the other O’s run. He actually went 3 for 5.

The nice thing about helping other people move is that, really, you’re doing the easy part. For all that it’s physically trying, it’s over in a couple hours. You don’t have to worry about switching the utilities, changing your address, finding a new place, having to pay for two apartments for some period of time, packing, unpacking, figuring out where things go, etc., etc. In some ways, moving can be exciting; it can be really cool defining a new space for yourself. But it can also be really nice to come home to your own place, where everything is organized, and you can zonk out on the couch for a while.
Current song in my head:
“Another Day” by Wings

I’m totally stealing this from Spike. I had heard of Improv Anywhere, and the concept amused me. Combine them with a Yankees game, and that leads to me sitting at my desk, snorting back laughter. It’s not often that you can get that many drunk New Yorkers to do anything, so this is particularly impressive. I’d say people should try that at an O’s game, but we all know that there wouldn’t be enough people in the stands for it to work.

Yesterday the Washington Post published its fall arts preview. Now I’m just thinking about all the shows I want to see but know I can’t afford: Into the Woods, Noises Off, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, A Christmas Carol, The Light in the Piazza. I mean sure, I can see a couple. But nowhere near the number I want to. There needs to be a Barb Theatre Fund. I accept donations.

I got home tonight to find that my copy of Animaniacs - Volume 1 had arrived. And it totally made my night. I loved that show when it first came on back in the early 90s. I ordered it without even really looking to see what was on it. Upon opening it, I was happy to see that both King Yakko and Les Miseranimals were on the DVD. Huzzah! Naturally I immediately watched both and am now in an excellent mood. And it means that I can get rid of some of the Animaniacs videos I’ve been carting around for the past 10 years.

Part of my excitement about this weekend is that I knew I’d be able to sleep in. I was talking with my mom last night, and she asked whether I would stay up extra late, just to sleep in late. I didn’t stay up particularly late last night; I went to bed around 12:30. Colin woke me up around 6:30 to feed him, then I went back to sleep. When I woke up, I figured it was probably only 9:30 or so; I mean, I wasn’t up that late. But I guess I was more tired than I thought; it was 11:30.
Man, I love sleeping in.

I have found the love of my life. It is the Pilot Precise Zing pen. Oh, how I love them. The pens themselves look cool, and they write really well. It makes the morning I spent ordering office supplies worth it, just to have these pens. They’re expensive, but they’re also safe for airplane use, so that have that going for them. And yes, I do have one in each color.
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Rainy days like today usually make me more productive. Actually, oddly enough, Friday is usually my most productive day; I guess the weekend makes me feel the need to get things done NOW. And when it rains, my office feels all nice and cozy. Maybe the convergence of the two is the problem, because I’m just really tired, even though I went to bed early last night. I’m very excited for the weekend. Other than lunch with my grandmother on Sunday, I have no plans and that makes me very happy. I think I had a day free sometime in July…it’s been a busy few months. Fun, but busy. So now I just want to go home, put on pajamas, get into bed, and alternate between sleeping, reading, and watching television.
Also making me happy? Last night I didn’t turn on the air conditioner. There have been a few nights recently that I could’ve gotten away without it, but the apartment was retaining heat, and the windows in my apartment are either without screens or painted shut. (Of the six windows in my apartment, two have air conditioners, two are painted shut, and the other two don’t have screens. Actually, none of them do. I don’t think my building is screen-friendly.) So yay, smaller electric bill!
***
I wanted to find something that I linked to in my blog ages ago, but since I have no idea when I linked it, I’ve been skimming through old entries. And now I’m all intrigued by what was going on in late winter/early spring of 2004. I kept making references to being unsure of things and taking chances and upheaval, etc. I have no idea what I was talking about. Bizarre.
***
I had been thinking about sneaking out a few minutes early today, maybe catch the 4:25 shuttle instead of the 4:35 shuttle. However, it wasn’t until 4:15 that the document that was supposed to come in the “early afternoon” came in. That I had to help collate. That I then had to deliver. I was pretty cranky when I wandered, lost, in an unfamiliar part of the building. Fortunately, one of the guys I had to deliver to was talking to a very cute young man who kept smiling at me. That almost made having to wait for the 4:50 shuttle worth it.
***
The cute boy smiling at me probably would’ve made it worth it, except that when I got to the Metro, I had to wait a half hour for the bus. So leaving work 15 minutes late made me get home close to 40 minutes later than normal. Gah. Well, it’s nice and cozy here, and Colin’s being affectionate. There’s just something really nice about being inside when the rain is pounding and the wind is gusting.
Current song in my head:
“At the Beginning” from Anastasia