Job Number Three

As if having a teaching job and having a job working at a baby store isn't enough, I have a third job, working at a doctor's office. This is actually my third year to work at this doctor's office, so it's probably my second job (and the baby store is third). But anyhow you look at it, it is three jobs total. It's great to get be able to make a little additional money on top of the regular teaching salary.

(I know Uncle Sam loves my three jobs as well, he reminds me every time I file my taxes and subtracts from my refund with every extra penny I make. Thanks, wouldn't want to have to deal with that extra money, you know?)

(And yes, I am aware that the less refund you get the better because it was always money that was yours and the government is getting the interest by holding it....blah, blah, and more economic financial blah. I don't really care, refunds are fun and you all know it!)

ANYWAYS....I am glad that every year the same doctor's office has the need for my help. This year I came in, had about a 30 second refresher of how to check patients in, and I was on my own! I don't know what other doctor's offices are like, cause I've never really worked at one, but I think this one has got to be on the busier end of offices. I have waited tables before and I always compare this job to being a waitress, because that is the biggest job of having to know how to multitask and remember important things (or suffer the consequences of an unhappy customer).

There's a term in waiting tables for when you are soooooo busy that you are actually a little behind, it is called being "weeded out." One might say you are "in the weeds" if you are in the current state of being behind. Until someone gives me a term for being behind while working at a doctor's office, I am going to term the restaurant industry uses. And I swear, on a daily basis I am "weeded out" AT LEAST three times during the day at this doctor's office.

You might think (and I thought this once too) how could it be that hard? You take the patients insurance card, make a copy, take the co-pay and give them forms to fill out. What's so hard about that???

(And if you ever say that to my face, I might punch you. Just a heads up.)

But there are three physicians and two testing administrators (I don't know if that is what they are called, I honestly have never really thought about what their title is). On a given day, there can be over 100 patients that come through the office, all of them stopping first at my window. That doesn't even count the numerous phone calls from patients, doctor's offices, testing facilities, etc. that I have to deal with.

And to go back to what I have to do for each patient to check them in, here is my trying to make you understand what all I have to think about.

For a new patient: First I have to make sure I get a copy of their insurance card and photo ID. Check to make sure it is an insurance we take (brace myself for the yelling that will follow if we do not take it). Figure out what their co-pay is, this isn't always easy (most of the time it is though). Ask them to pay their co-pay (brace myself for the yelling that will follow due to either 1. they didn't know they had to pay more at a specialist, 2. they didn't know they had to pay BEFORE seeing the doctor, 3. they didn't know they had to pay at all (I don't even understand this) or 4. they have no money from all the other medical expenses prior to being referred to us). Next, I check that they have a referral if their insurance requires it (Hello, people complain about HMO's all the time for that VERY REASON, you NEVER heard that you have to have a referral if you have an HMO???). Then I have to make sure that they fill out ALL the forms (sometimes they print them off before and come thinking they are home free, turns out we have more that aren't online or there are specific ones that pertain to the specific reason for their visit, ie. headaches) and brace myself for the yelling about how much paperwork they have to fill out (seriously, haven't these people ever been to a doctor's office?). Then I get to fill out about five pages of paperwork on them for the doctors and nurses. These usually require some research on our computer scheduling program or else where. I get everything together and send it onto the nurse. I then brace myself for the patient to return to my window yelling if we are running a little behind. That's the new patients, they are easy!

For returning patients: First I make sure their insurance is up to date (get the new one if it's not). Inform them if they have a balance that they need to pay on their account (because their insurance company came back after we filed with them and said they aren't paying the entire amount. TOTALLY not our fault. But guess who gets the ear full on that one?) Take the co-pay (which they still yell about even though they should know the drill by the second time around, they actually tend to fight it harder the next visit, thinking they already paid us once and that will cover them for life, right?). Give them a return visit form to fill out (which is literally a half page, but yet they still yell and complain "but I filled out all that paperwork the last time!" Okay, but if you'd at least read this, the questions are 1. Are you feeling better, worse, or the same as your last visit, 2. Are you on any new medication since your last visit and 3. Is there anything you want to be sure to ask the doctor about today? THOSE are the questions they complain about answering! So ridiculous.). Next, I fill out about 3 pages of paperwork of my own for the doctors and nurses. I find any labs, MRI films, etc. that belong with the patients chart. Last, I wait for them to return and complain about the wait.

Now, if one patient entered every ten minutes. the phone never rang, everything was where it is supposed to be when I need it and no one else came up to me asking questions and favors, then that would be the easiest job ever!

But that's not what happens. Instead, five people walk in at the same time for their appointments, the phone rings non-stop and I've already got two people on hold (which is the most you can have on hold), a doctor/nurse/co-worker comes and asks me a question about a patient that I can't recall a thing about because I've talked to fifty more patients since talking to the one they are referencing, someones scheduled a new patient that is now here and never cared to inform me (making a brand new chart takes some time), a patient has arrived without their insurance card in hopes that I am BFF with their other doctor's office that has a copy of it (and could I do them a favor and call that office and have them fax it over to this office) and I can't find the MRI films for one of the patients that just came in for their appointment to go over the films! That, my friend, is being "weeded out."

I know I just made this job sound terrible and this is my second job, so you are probably thinking, why don't you just quit? Well, it really isn't always that bad. And honestly, working at the baby store is the complete opposite (NOT busy). And I get bored working there one day a month. I would rather have a job that keeps me busy than a job that I'm bored at. It also makes the days go by fast. Besides, the pay is good and worth the hard work!

Please, I didn't write this to make you feel sorry for me. I choose to work here, I could make it financially without doing so. So don't think this is a "last resort." I like the place (actually Emily and my roommate both work there, as well as several other I really like)! No, instead this is more to make you understand what all the employee's at the doctor's office are having to deal with. Don't yell at them, have some patience and plan for paying/waiting/writing before you come!

(And if you really feel that we might have forgotten something, remind us (kindly). Because this is in regards to your health. And the bottom line is getting you treated correctly for what it is you came to the office for!)

Super Bad

No this isn't a blog about my love for the movie Super Bad. The team we played this past week was called Super Bad. Though, I do LOVE Michael Cera, I still haven't seen that movie. I must be getting old, because that movie does not sound appealing to me.

All of us Brews showed up at the field without another team member in sight. Actually there was one other person present, but he didn't have our shirt on. But luckily, since I did a little "research" on the team members before, I recognized him from his photo on Facebook. I saw him looking at us (maybe he knew what color shirt his team had? Or, what if he recognized us from Facebook stalking?) and I started to give a half wave. Then I realized, obviously he didn't meet me the other night because he doesn't have a shirt so he doesn't know who I am. I can't wave at him. Then I would have to explain the whole Facebook stalking thing. And that would be just awkward.

Finally a few of the people he knew showed up. The rest of the team had gone to the wrong field, so they would be cutting it close to get there on time. And just to make matters worse, the girl who picked up all the missing team members shirts forgot to bring them. So they wouldn't be allowed to play until she brought the shirts. By the start of the game we had 9 people eligible to play (which is the exact minimum number you need, even though you can have 10 on the field at a time).

Let me first tell you about one "character" of the Recreational Hazards. He is the guy that wrote that email about Dungeons and Dragons chat rooms (that did end up to be a joke). But he showed up with EVERY article of clothing on his body being the color yellow, which is the color of our shirts. This includes: his shorts, knee-high socks, soccer shoes, head band AND wrist bands! Just in case we couldn't keep him straight from the rest of the team (or maybe it was to prevent confusion of thinking he was the sun), he ironed on the word "Buttercup" onto the back of his shirt. Of course, I figured he was just gay and proudly showing it through his impressively flashy yellow outfit. But one of the Brews later asked and really the only one that is gay is the one I was 99% sure about after the stalking! That is not this guy, so this guy is STRAIGHT and willingly showed up looking like he was gay!?!

I am pretty sure if we were still on the Brews and saw him, he would be the equivalent to Shin Guards. Poor guy. He is nice and funny though! I shouldn't bad mouth my own team. I think it is the Universe's way of getting us to understand such people since we made fun of one all the spring season long.

So to give our teammates a little more time to arrive, we elected to kick first. You have to put together a kicking order, and as the other Jenny was trying to do it I told her to not put me first. Naturally, you know who ended up being first. Yes, I learned my lesson a long time ago about NOT saying what you don't want. But it just kind-of slipped out before I could do anything about it. I hate with a passion being first at anything. Most less that it was going to be the first kick of the game with a new team! But I actually didn't mind it too much once I did it, I got to go ahead and get it over with each time around. Since we had so few people though, we ended up "batting" more in this game than ever before.

The Brews didn't look too bad out there. See of the five of us that continued on, NONE of us were the play makers on the old team. So it was a little shaky as to how we would perform. But Bud (our only guy to continue on) made a home run and his other two kicks weren't bad either. The other Jenny ended up catching a ball that bounced out of one of the guys arms. She actually did some-sort-of barrel roll on the ground to get it. Very impressive! And yet, definitely over and beyond what anyone could expect from a super social team.

I even performed, well, probably my best to date! I caught a ball (which I have never done before...so yay me)! I also managed to score a run (which I've only done one other time)! My other kicks ended with me getting on first but out after the next person kicked the ball straight to second. And one kick got me out before I got to first. But I did help with throwing the ball a couple of times to get some outs from the other team. So all-in-all, a good game!

JJ (or should I just call him Buttercup?) sent out an email awarding people for the first game. Bud got MVP player of the game. Jenny got the Best Catch award. All the girls of the team got an award for sticking to the plan (for girls) of keeping the kicked ball low and not kicking it far. Because let's be honest, unless the girl has serious skills, it is going to be the easiest ball to catch in the world (well, unless it is a girl trying to catch it...then we have a fair match-up).

Anyways the final score of us versus Super Bad was 11-3! I can't remember exactly, but I think that is a higher score than the Brews ever managed to get. So things are starting off on the right track!

We all went up to Doc's afterwards, had a few drinks and just got to know each other. I found out all of that group that joined together is in their thirties! But let's be honest, thirty is knocking on my door and will be here pretty soon! It is nice to know that I can keep doing these same shenanigans for at least another 10+ years!

They are a fun group and I look forward to the rest of the season! And most importantly, what great ideas Buttercup will continue to bring to the games. You never know what shocking things this guy will further un-leash!

Recreational Hazard Kickball

First off, our new team name is Recreational Hazard Kickball. I hate the name. How can you cheer for that? "Go Rec Hazards!" Nope. Doesn't sound good. Poor job on the Austin Sport & Social Club part for picking that name. They must've let the LEAST funny guy that works there get to throw in his idea for a name. You know, just to make him feel better because his other names like: Kick Kick Korray, Can I Get a Kick Kick and Homerun Homies all didn't make the cut. And then I hope they made him retire naming teams, cause this one's pathetic.

Yesterday was the t-shirt pickup day for the summer kickball league. This is when we get to meet our teammates. I was looking forward to this night for so long. The Bad News Brews turned out to be such a great team, who knew what other possibilities their were!

Of course, we knew that maybe we were on the lucky side of team assignments with the Bad News Brews. Even if they had done a personality profile, I don't think they could've gotten it more right. But the running joke of the Brews all season had been "Shin Guards."

(I actually blogged about him in "The Double Hitter." But I called him "shin guard guy," he was on the pink team, we hadn't quite stuck to the official name of Shin Guards yet)

But he has been talked about all season by The Brews for his far too over enthusiastic kickball motives. If you are playing so hard that you think you need shin guards, you shouldn't be playing in a super social league. Bottom line.

So since the five (yeah, that's all of The Brews that decided to stick with kickball another season) of us signed up, we've been laughing saying that Shin Guards will probably end up on our team. It was something we were bracing ourselves for, but hoping wouldn't happen.

I also heard a story from Natalie about guy friends of hers from work who joined a kickball team. They wanted to meet cool people to go out with, instead they got stuck with a group that all worked together and just joined for literally the sport of playing kickball. It started making me feel pretty scared about who we'd end up with on a team. What if we ended up with one big group that had different interests than ours?

So after all these fears had built up inside of us, we get THE email. It includes all the names and emails of your teammates. You'd be crazy if you didn't think the first thing I did (as well as at least one of my fellow Brew friends) was search the names on Facebook. I mean, that's what Facebook's for, right? No? Oh well. That's what we used it for that night.

This is what I knew about my team members after the search:
1. One was for sure 99% gay. (didn't actually say in the "interested in" status that he was interested in men, so that is the only reason I have to leave out the 1%)
2. Three were a little on the older side. (one of which was on the "I was three when he graduated from high school" side...ouch.)
3. One was a 7-year-old black boy. (Actually you have to be twenty-one to join, but this is a good time to stress using only CURRENT photos on social networking sites...for such reasons. As I, and other crazies, are stalking (and better yet, subsequently, judging) you.)
4. One of the two new girls on the team had an annoying profile picture of her laying down and a plane at the airport in the background.
5. The other people on the team were not on Facebook.
6. Of those that were on Facebook, only three of their profiles were public. (which makes it hard for me to stalk to my full potential...obviously)

So by this point I'm feeling a little worried about this team. All the pieces for that horror story of a team is starting to fall into place. But who knows, Facebook stalking often turns up false results (I SERIOUSLY don't do this all the time...so I am basing the word "often" off of the results of just a few instances).

Then we get this email, and I am not even going to edit/shorten it. Let me just say that I am going to go ahead and guess your thought process as you read this. It should go something like this: "Okay................okay..................okay......................WHAAAAAAATTTTTTTT???????????" If it's not the sequence of your thought process, well, we need to talk. So here's the email:


Hey everybody! Welcome to Recreational Hazard kickball. Paul, Will, Doug, Dan, Heather, Alex, and I know each other from previous kickball teams, dodgeball teams, and Dungeons & Dragons chat rooms. To the new players, welcome aboard what I'm sure will be a very fun season. I just wanted to make sure that everybody knew to pick up their shirt or had made arrangements to get it picked up. Unfortunately I won't be at Doc's tomorrow, but I know that Heather will be there around 6:15. Also they posted game times and our first game is Thursday at 7:55 PM. Please respond to confirm that you are in and let me know if there is a particular position you want to play. BTW, I'm JJ and when I'm not playing World of Warcraft I enjoy drinking a few beers and playing 3rd base on kickball teams. JJ

OHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! This can't be our team! This is worse than Shin Guards! This is like seven Shin Guards (and then some) all on one team! I mean, Dungeons & Dragons and World of Warcraft??? WHAT? Like I could EVER find common ground to talk to them! In fact, I am pretty sure that is why society created those games, so I wouldn't have to talk to those types. They'd be all cooped up at home playing such games and I would be free to play kickball and drink without the worry of "those people" being around. What the heck?

(I really feel like a mean person. I do apologize to anyone who is a fan of such games or knows of one. But I think we all (including them) know the stereotype about them. And lets face it, stereotypes are quite frequently correct.)

All of us ex-brews started freaking out, sending emails, text messages and facebook IM's about it. The only thing we could say about it was, "at least we have each other!"

Then we got another email from one of the girls from that group that went like this:

Hi guys! My name is Heather & I'm looking forward to meeting those of you who don't know me yet. A few things about me, as an introduction:
1. My favorite color is pink
2. My favorite show is Paris Hilton's My New BFF (can't wait for Season 2!)
3. I love mani/pedi dates with my girlfriends (but I'm going to move my standing Thursday night mani/pedi to Fri's now because my nails are probably going to be wrecked after kickball, with all those balls flying at me!)
4. My favorite drink is sex on the beach, natch!
5. I'm not great at kickball, but I'm a GREAT cheerleader!
I'll be at Doc's around 6 and again, I look forward to meeting you guys (and seeing the ones of you that I TOTALLY already love, bitches!)

After reading her email I realized, there could not be such a person that is so girly YET is also into Dungeons and Dragons types of people. They must be joking.............right? But the first email so casually threw-in the two points of note. Maybe the first email was serious and this girl is making fun of prissy girls, because the dungeon and dragon type would probably make fun of girly-girls....I think. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE??????????????

Well, three of us ex-brews made it to the t-shirt pick-up at Doc's. We were all very nervous about how these people would turn out. I had a slight reminiscent feeling of how it felt the first time we went to meet our team. Anyone who had a shirt any shade of yellow, (our shirt color....I know, far from the color orange that The Brews had) I thought it was our team. But luckily, it didn't take quite as much time to find our team.

As soon as we saw them I could tell they were NOT the Dungeons and Dragons type. They are more of the authentic Austin looking type (if that makes any sense...especially since I don't think any of them were truly from Austin). But yes there was the gay guy (super hilarious, BTW), the laying by the plane girl (maybe I can talk to her about how to not seem weird in profile photos later, cause she was totally cool and got pre-judged the wrong way), one of the "oldies" and one of the not on Facebook girls (Heather, the "girly-girl".......but not really).

We actually only stayed for one drink because we had already made plans with the ex-Brews already. So we didn't really get to know them that well, but I know we will have time for that. We did, however, confirm that they were kidding in the emails. They said they love sending funny emails including game highlights each week. That sounds like someone I know, but I just can't put my finger on who yet.

Anyways, it looks like they will be a really fun team! Still don't know if they can hold a candle to The Brews, but they might come close!

Like I Said

Well my last blog was so long I didn't even have room to fit in all the important facts that I intended to include. So here we go:

Last Thursday I went to Shady Grove with some of the other girls from kickball. On Thursday nights in the summer they play live music and everyone just sits around and hangs out. We had a spot in the grass and listened to music and talked. No one was doing anything afterwards so we all went home after it was over at about 10pm.

At 11:30 that evening I get a text message from the Virginian I was formerly interested in. It said, "flip cup?" Since the last time I saw them was floating the river, I really did want to go. But him inviting me was not how I wanted to end up over there. I thought maybe there was a chance some of the other kickballers were there so I texted back, "Now?" Maybe he'd give more details?

All I got back was, "Yea its a party. Y'all should flip some cups!" It seemed innocent enough, he did imply that I should bring others. But the problem was that the rest of the normal world has jobs on Friday mornings and was already asleep. So I thought to myself, do I really want to go over there all by myself? Is it really worth that? Eleven thirty is just too late to go over to someone's place. If they really want to hang out, they can invite me at a decent time. It seemed a bit shady that HE was the one inviting me and so late. So I just sent him back a text saying, "Its just too late. No ones available to go with me at this time. Maybe next time!"

I tried to make it as obvious as possible that I was still interested in hanging out with them, but I am not interested in being with him and especially not alone.

Anyways, the next day I sent out an email to the team about going to Hamilton Pool on Saturday (we had talked about it at Shady Grove). The first response I got was from you-know-who saying that he was going to a rugby tournament and joking around about how he was in the mood for cursing and sweaty guys rather than waterfalls and girls in bikinis. I didn't even respond to his sucking up comment.

So immediately I am thinking it sounds like he is trying to get with me again. I actually called Emily and she concurred that it did seem that way. What a bastard! No way is that going to happen! I have more self respect than that. As if I am going to let him try to get with another girl and when that doesn't work let him come back to me. You've got to be kidding.

BTW- the girl that he tried to get with was DEFINITELY into this other guy at Shady Grove. It was her ex from college that was just in town visiting. So it can be called officially that she is not into my former interest man.

Now fast forward to Friday night, where we end up going out with the Virginians on Sixth Street. Before the nightmare that ensued (read my previous blog) he tried talking with me a couple of times, once inviting me to go to the rugby tournament with him the next day. But mostly I just tried to not keep too long of a conversation with him and steer clear of him (you know, by doing other things like bear fights and credit card roulette games....haha).

Then you jump forward to the kidnapping situation we had going on later. He and the rest of the Virginians had no idea we didn't go home after the bar until we showed up at their apartment looking for advice on what to do. After we went back to the other apartment, I got a text from you-know-who saying, "What are you doing to revive her?"

I knew this was his way of trying to get over there. I really didn't mind if he came over to there, but I knew it would probably be his time to really try to win me over again. And I also knew I wasn't going to have it. So I tried to send a text that was as far from leading him on as possible. It said, "We are just sitting here talking and watching her. You could join." Notice I didn't say should.

So all of about 1 minute goes by and guess who's over there? Yep, former interest. And guess who sits right next to me, keeps talking to me and is even touching me (appropriately, but flirt-like). Yep, former interest. Imagine that.

He was trying hard too. And I was trying just as hard to be nice but be clear that I am not interested in him. At one point he put his hand on my knee and I slowly moved my knee away from his hand. I tried to make my body language as clear as possible that I was not into him.

But the best parts were the ones that Emily had to contribute. See, this is why I love being a girl. You know your friends will always work as the private investigator in your favor. When the cab arrived for Laura, former interest and I were the ones that walked her out. While we were gone, Colin asked Emily what was going on between former interest and me. She said straight up to him, don't act like you guys don't talk, you know what went on. And he fessed up that he did know. He asked her if she thought we had a chance of getting back together. She said she didn't think so. And Colin's response was, "yeah, I think he now realizes what a big mistake he made with her."

Ahhhh....the personal satisfaction of knowing I was right about it all along. It truly is a good feeling!

But that is not where it ends. After Laura was gone we decided it was probably time to go to sleep. I made it a point to remind Colin that Emily and I still got his bed even though Laura left. I also made it a point to get off the couch and go ahead and get in that bed and never even look former interest's way while doing so.

Emily said she then went to get herself a glass of water. While she was in the kitchen, they must not have thought she could hear them. Because she overheard former interest say to Colin that he was going home. Colin then told him to just go in there and try to talk to me. Former interest said he didn't think I was interested in him anymore. Colin tried to convince him to just try anyways, but former interest wouldn't and just went home.

I have to say though, I think this all worked out for the best. Because like I said, I really wasn't ever head-over-heels for this guy. I was TRYING to like him, but wasn't sure if I would. Which usually means that I wouldn't ever really like him. So things would've kept on and been worse when it did end.

Plus, I did get to see his true personality towards dating girls. I am NOT impressed! I think I will pass on that.

But man, it sure is nice to know that I hit the nail right on the head from the beginning. From his motives to the outcomes that it would lead to. Too bad for him, he really made a mistake on that one!

Would Good Intention Hold Up In Court?

Last night Emily and I went out to Sixth Street. It's a rare occasion when we actually go to Sixth Street anymore. We usually go to Fourth, Fifth or just other random bars that aren't downtown. But we were meeting up with the Virginians and they exclusively go out on Sixth street. It's not that we hate Sixth, its just that its usually crowded and with a younger wilder crowd. We like more of the laid back, easier to hear each other types of bars. But, we bit our tongues and met up with them on Sixth. That was our first mistake.
It began with myself agreeing to play a simple game of credit card roulette with one of the Virginians, Colin (no, not the former interest). I've never played credit card roulette, and I always said I would never do it. But, it was just two of us, and I was bar hopping with a check card and most places have a minimum I can't reach on my own before leaving for the next bar. Odds are that we'd come out paying the same if we took turns as we would if we were playing credit card roulette, right? I mean, it is 50-50 chances. Haha!

Then, Colin says at the first bar we should Bear Fight. Huh, never heard of it. I honestly asked him if it entailed some sort-of physical strength. See I had this whole vision in my head of us ending up on the ground rolling around (because that's how bears fight...in strange bear world maybe). He said it was nothing like that, but that since I hadn't done it before, I needed to try.

But Colin went to the bartender and ordered something I couldn't hear. Colin then took my check card, throws it and his card in the hat (that we borrowed from a nice gentleman waiting in line for the bar) and he let the bartender pull one out. I was the lucky winner, thank you very much.

Oh, that's not a good thing, damn.

Then he turns to me and says that we have to race each other while we each drink a Jager Bomb AND an Irish Car Bomb. Once I realized there was no real consequence for losing such race, I didn't panic as much as I had originally. We race, he wins, but I came in a close second. I was actually really impressed at how well I did. I am usually no good at drinking things fast. Those drinks are not that bad though, or they weren't last night, anyways.

But my next move was to turn to the bartender and order a water. Which I continued to drink for the rest of the night. So much for the chance at winning the next round of Credit Card Roulette (which I've decided I am going to retire from ever playing that "FUN" little game again, and while I'm at it, probably retire the bear fighting too).

When the bars closed, we said good-bye to everyone and parted ways. Somehow, Colin had gotten lost from the rest of the group. We knew the rest of his group got a cab ride home. So we decided to check on him with a text asking if he needed a ride home. Boy, if we'd only known what a terrible series of events that would unfold, we would've steered clear and headed straight home. But things happen the way they do for a reason. Not always for anything good. But it had its reasons (like allowing me to blog about this ridiculous night).

So he called us back and said he did need a ride and that he had a girl with him that was pretty drunk. My first thought was, well get a cab (or a room), but don't call two girls to take you and your girl home! But we decided to be nice and help him out anyways.

We pulled up to the meeting place and the first thing I saw was him literally carrying her in his arms to the car. She was already passed out. Okay, a little more reasonable about not getting a cab, she was not a hook up and did look like she needed to get home immediately. I thought, he must know this girl, saw how drunk she was, and decided to take care of her.

Once they were in the car we started asking him questions. Simple questions like; who is this girl, what's her name, where did she come from, and why is she with you? He had no answers for us except that he found her on a ghetto side street off Sixth, crying and asked him to help her.

Okay. Not the ideal situation, but we can work with this. So we asked, where is she needing to go? His response, I don't know.

Okay. Far from the ideal situation.

We tried several times to wake this chick up. But she was not budging. During this time I got a good look at her and I realized she appeared to be in her forties! Colin didn't believe this, maybe it was still the Bear Fight in me, but she looked to be forty!

So what is your recommendation at this point Colin, was our next question. The only thing he could come up with was take her back to his apartment and when she woke up he'd get her where she needed to go.

With lack of a better plan, that is exactly what we did.

I did manage to get some sort-of answer to two questions as we walked her in (and before she passed out again). Her name was Laura and she was MARRIED with CHILDREN. And now she is trashed and on some strangers couch. Seems to all fit.

Once we got her to his apartment and on the couch we all sat down at his table. That is when the true gravity of the situation set in. There is a drunk chick that we don't know on his couch!

(I didn't even know my computer had this capability, I just wanted to black our her face, but this works too. It is one of the special editing features that was called, "coloring book." So if you were needing a new coloring page for the kiddo's, here you go.)
Then we started thinking (a little late, I know). If you have intercourse with someone without their consent, it is considered rape. So using that knowledge, if you take someone to a new location without their consent, isn't that KIDNAPPING?!?!

WHAT THE HELL??? We just kidnapped someone from Sixth Street! One moment you are partying and bear fighting, the next you are kidnapping forty-year-old women (which after we got her inside Colin admitted she did look to be forty)? Clearly, step one should not EVER lead to step two! That's when we started freaking out to Colin, what the hell did he do?

He gave an incredibly sad sappy story about how pathetic the woman looked, how a group of guys was picking on her before he walked up. Okay, so Colin was TRYING to do the right thing. He had all the best intentions, but does that really matter? The bottom line is that eventually this chick is going to wake up, probably freak out, and possibly charge us with kidnapping! How likely is it that Colin's sad sappy story will hold up in court of law? Because THAT was the question we now had to worry about!

We eventually ventured over to the other Virginians apartment, where they were playing flip cup (I honestly feel like entering the word surprise-surprise is no longer even needed), and let them in on the little dilemma we were now faced with. Our hope was to get some insightful advice as to what to do now. They didn't have any better words of advice than, "don't pick up drunk girls on Sixth Street!" Oh, thanks. We'll have to clearly try that one next time, BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS TIME???

So we went back to Colin's apartment where we tried to come up with the best plan with the least possible negative results. We sat at his table for a long time and thought of all the different things that this lady would do when she woke up. This involved a lot of our time getting derailed onto different, non-useful topics. Then we'd realize we had a random girl sleeping on the couch and would all just look at her.


Our final plan ended up being this. We would leave a note explaining everything to her. Emily and I would stay over (in his bed and he'd be kicked to the extra room with a blow up mattress) so there'd be more than just some (seemingly) creepy guy there. We'd leave my cell phone out for her (oh yeah, plot thickens. She had no purse, cell phone, money, nothing). That way should could call whomever to come pick her up.

So then came writing the note. What do you say that DOESN'T sound weird in this situation? The answer is NOTHING. There is nothing you can write down on a piece of paper that is going to prevent this poor woman from thinking she's been kidnapped! We couldn't help but feel like we were writing a ransom note. We debated and wrote down several different drafts before we came up with something we could agree on:

Hey Laura,

We took you home last night after you asked us for help on Sixth street. We didn't know what else to do but take you here. If you know someones number to call, here is a cell phone (please don't take it). Two girls are in the bedroom to your right, if you need anything. We hope you get home safe (and possibly let us know you are okay).

Jenny Jones


We set the note on the table, along with my cell phone, a bottle of water and a plastic bag (in case she needed to throw up).

After a few hours went by, which we spent talking and watching her as if she was an exhibit in the zoo, I finally got restless and came up with the plan to wake her up.

They all thought it was a good idea but didn't want to be the one doing it. So I decided I would do it. They all watched from behind the corner as I began to shake this women and wake her up. She'd turn and mutter something illegible then fall back asleep. Finally after doing this over and over, she understood and woke up.

Once she was truly awake I started to realize how much I didn't want to be the one talking to her after all. Amazingly, she didn't look to be frightened, just shocked and confused. One of the first things she said was, "my kids are with the babysitter!" Dang, that girl is getting some overtime (if this chick ever finds her purse). Could you imagine being the babysitter and the mom never coming home that evening? What would you do or think?

Anyways, I kept stressing that she could use my phone. So she called her own cell number first. It was turned off. Of course, I'm thinking to myself it sounds like her phone got stolen (but I'm not going to tell her that, and that was probably in her purse. So that's probably gone too). Then we ask about her husband, she said he was out of town. We suggested she call him. All she said to that was, "no, I'm not going to do that." That seems a bit strange, but oh well.

We threw out so many suggestions of people to call or what else we could do, but nothing was working. We even tried to look up phone numbers for her. Nothing.

She then asked us if we could take her home. We said we were all too drunk to drive but we suggested a cab. She reminded us that she had no money. One of the guys immediately said he'd pay her cab ride home, no problem. Then we asked where she lived anyways.

Her response: East Sixth Street. Oh, the look of disappointment on our faces was priceless. So you mean when Colin found you, you were already close to home? And yet we took her somewhere farther away. That figures.

After several awkward minutes waiting for a cab, she was off. I am hoping that is the last we see or hear from her. It sure would be weird to run into her on the streets!

We discussed it later, and the next time there is a stranger too drunk on the streets to take care of themselves we are just going to grab a police officer. They would probably take her to jail or the hospital, but at least we wouldn't potentially be in danger of a crime. Or out $15 for a cab ride home. Or have stayed up until 6:30 am taking care of such a situation. Next time (and I really hope there isn't a next time, come on people, don't you do some sort-of buddy system when you are at the bar? I don't know how many times we asked each other where her friends were.) we'll just let the drunk person suffer the consequences.

Oh the crazy's on Sixth Street......

A Trip to San Fran!!!

I know I haven't written in a while, but it is partly due to the fact that I just returned from San Francisco. I really had a great time! My brother and sister-in-law used to live there and I visited several times. I would like to think of this blog as my walking you through the trip, as if you were with me or I'm giving you advice because you are thinking of visiting (cheesy, I know, but I really want to share my experiences in hopes that others with prosper because of them). It never hurts to know what to do (and what not to do- as would be my case quite frequently). This was by far my best trip to San Fran. My brother and his wife were with us, and that makes everything so much easier. They know the best places to go, eat, stay, and how to get everywhere. It really allows for a relaxing trip, considering we were always on the go. Instead of staying in a hotel this time, we rented an apartment for a few days. I would HIGHLY recommend renting an apartment to anyone thinking of going to San Fran and needing at least two hotel rooms each night. It was very authentic to the city and ended up costing us less than two hotels would have. The blue building was where our apartment was located.

The apartment was located on Ashbury Street and about five houses down from Haight Street. So we were literally just steps away from the famous Haight Ashbury corner from back during the hippie movement. Every time I ventured to that corner a certain scent that frequently is associated with hippies could be identified as well a strange character or two be seen.

If you could see that banner on the street corner, it was an advertisement for the Haight Ashbury Street Fair that we just so happened to be staying in time for, quite accidentally, I can assure you. It was actually an inconvenience to us since they blocked off our road for it the same day we had to make it to my brother's graduation and later move out of the apartment. We did have a little bit of free time between those two events and we walked down to the fair to check it out. The great part of the street fair was the fact that there were so many characters about that I didn't even notice the Marilyn Manson looking fellow that made it into our photo!

Everything was quite tame considering the characters and scents that were around. But the best thing I witnessed was a man wearing spandex pants with the four-letter-word that begins with an F written all over them (I never would've thought anyone would've been in the market for such pants, BTW). But he was bending over mooning one of the corner apartments! Then I looked up at the corner apartment he was aiming at and noticed the party going on. Now, this picture does not do it justice. I think there was a GOOD twenty people crammed into that bay window. They had another sign that I was sad I didn't capture to compliment those signs that said, "It's ok, we're gay!" I thought it was hilarious! Oh, and another quite hilarious sign was the one that said, "fabulous prizes!" Especially since their prizes were hospital masks, probably left over from the Swine Flu scare.

Our purpose for the trip, however, was not to see this street fair. It was actually due to the fact that my brother was graduating from Stanford with an Aerospace Engineering Master's degree! Impressive, I know. Every time I tell people that I feel like it's too many overwhelming things to say in one sentence. Like maybe I should brake it up and say one shocking point at a time, but that just makes it more dramatic, so I've found. And then to say that I teach 6th grade science puts it all in perspective. But I let go of the fact that I would never out-do my brother years ago. It would take a whole different blog to finish talking about him and all of his accomplishments (they aren't boring either, just long)! I am very proud of him no matter how many jokes I crack about him. I mean, really, anything he does wrong is followed by, "well it doesn't take a rocket scientist!" It never gets old...seriously. But here he is with his family, and yes, he did accomplish all this with a gorgeous wife and two precious kids!

A couple days before his graduation we spent pretty much the whole day on campus as he wrapped up loose ends before graduating. But we ended up with a little extra time so my brother and I went for a jog. Sounds easy enough, but consider this, I don't know the layout of the campus and running with my brother is not an option (he is also good at running). So he points down this road and says to me, just follow that road about halfway around campus (ummm...how do I know I'm halfway?) then follow the clock tower back to here. Well A) the clock-tower is not near here and B) WHAT??? I ask for clarification and he says, well you know where you are in comparison to the clock-tower right now, right? Yes, this is true. Until I find myself on one of the other three sides of the clock-tower which look EXACTLY the same as this one side. Then I'm hosed.

I did manage to find myself around the Stanford campus, luckily. And thanks to the adrenaline of not knowing for sure where I was going, I had one of the best runs I've had in a while! It also helped that I got to look at such views as below the whole time. After the run, we went to a little known locker room and showered. I thought it was kinda weird they had this random locker room with no locks on the doors or requirements to get in, but oh well. Then afterwards we met up with some of my brothers friends. He mentioned our runs and showers that day. One of the guys goes, "Oh, I just got an email a couple of weeks ago saying that someone got a flesh eating virus from showering there." Excellent, just what I hoped to get on this vacation to San Fran, a flesh eating virus. Should really round out the trip, you know? Luckily, no such flesh eating virus has made itself visible, but that's such a ridiculous thing, who knows much about that, more less, how long it takes to kick in?

So the other thing I suggest you do, if you should venture to San Francisco is go to the town of Tiburon. It is just one short fairy boat ride away. It actually picks you up in the Fisherman's Wharf area and makes a stop on Alcatraz on the way there! Or, if you are like us (and one fairy ride across is enough for a life time), you could just drive, because it does consist of a drive across the beautiful Golden Gate bridge! But there is a restaurant called Sam's and you get this view of the city if you sit on the deck to eat.

If you are wondering why Grey is leaning over, she is feeding the birds. We were the most popular amongst the birds, by the way. Which is not something I suggest. Especially if you enjoy eating your food rather than just watching it fly away.

After that, we made our way to The Buena Vista. Founders of the Irish Coffee. So they say. I would like to believe the Irish founded that coffee. Otherwise, shouldn't it be the Franciscan Coffee? I'm all about people founding things, but let's give it the proper title people.

We asked the bartender at The Buena Vista to take our picture and this is what we ended up with. Nice. You'd think he would've said something about the flower being in the way of my mom's face. Maybe he thought the most important thing to picture was the Irish Coffee's, in that case, right on!

The morning of my brother's graduation I decided to wake up early to go to the Japanese Tea Gardens. It is one of a few things I haven't done but have always wanted to do there. We had a jammed packed schedule for this trip, so it was the only time I could make it there. So I woke up at 5:45, which if you know me, that is quite the accomplishment (especially on vacation). I drove all by myself (I've never driven in San Fran, which makes it scary) to the gardens. Well, I first forgot the map, but figured it wasn't that far and I kinda thought I had looked at the map enough to know where it was. It was pretty much a straight shot...until you hit a literal road block. I wanted to freak out, but instead I just drove to the left like they wanted me to. It was the more logical plan. My next plan of action was to keep driving to the right as much as I could so to get back to the direction I wanted to go originally. It did get me there! I was shocked when I got a prime spot, only four away from the entrance, golden! Then I looked at the clock, it was 7 am, maybe a bit more understandable. I was so excited to finally see the Japanese Tea Gardens, I could hardly contain myself. Then I reached the front entrance. Which was closed. Until 9am. An hour after we were supposed to leave for my brothers graduation. So much for that, dreams crashed, hopes crushed. Maybe next time???

I did get my favorite picture of the trip out of that needless journey to the Japanese Tea Gardens. This was just a palm tree that was in the Golden Gate Park.

After all that fun, we made our way up to Napa. We have an aunt, uncle and two cousins (and their families) that live there. My Aunt Patty cooked dinner and we hung out at their beautiful home the first night.

The next day, the family watched the my brother's kids and we went to the wineries. I wouldn't post such a bad picture, but this is the only one that sort-of explains Artesa. This is a winery that was built into a mountain. They have amazing architecture and fountains all around, not to mention the fact that their wine is good and decently priced!

This is just one of the AMAZING views from this place!

A good tip for wine tasting: don't do the wine tasting. Especially if you are like me and REALLY couldn't tell the difference between a great bottle of wine and an okay bottle of wine. Instead, just buy a bottle and you will probably save money over buying all the individual wine tastings. Case in point, this place charges ten dollars per wine tasting, but you can buy a bottle for twenty. Four people, you do the math.

And then you will get to sit outside and enjoy each other's company, plus the amazing view this place (and really any place in Napa or Sonoma) has to offer!

Next was our favorite winery, Silver Oak. Well, our favorite until we drove up and saw that they had completely redone the outside and built onto the existing building. Not that building on is bad, but they upped the charge on the wine tasting (yes, sometimes wine tasting is still cheaper than buying the bottle). Each wine tasting is now $20 (used to be $10)! Of course they had all kinds of arguments as to why that was okay: you get two larger-than-normal pours, you get to keep the wine glass, and you get ten dollars off the bottle of wine you buy! And there's no getting around it because it's just not worth it once you buy the bottle. But in the panic of hearing the new prices, my brother and I did still buy a tasting. I was more disappointed after having it. Ten dollars was a good price considering it was a great wine. But twenty dollars was like, man, just think of all the different things I could've bought with that!!!

So after we went to the two wineries we know and love, we made the decision to pick a new winery. So as we drove down the street and passed the billions of wineries, I glanced out and saw this one and requested that we go there. Alpha Omega Winery, which I quickly pointed out to the people in the car, the beginning and the end. I knew this was going to be the last place, and what better a place than Alpha Omega? The wine experts (my brother and sister-in-law) deemed it a great winery, so I was happy! A bit tipsy from the wine, you get this photo.

And that is where I leave you, if you haven't left me already. I realize this was a rather long post. But I just couldn't figure out what to leave out and still do the whole trip justice. I hope you have gotten SOMETHING out of this post. Either the inspiration to visit San Fran, what to do the next time you do visit, or just a good laugh!

Moving On Up

Well moving has been loads of fun. Let me tell you, it always is! You know though, I always say that moving is like combining Tetris with working out. Really, how often do you find yourself looking at a box or in your car and think what perfect object could fit there, then go get it. And well, lifting heavy objects and carrying them to the next location - I am sure you can see how that could be like working out (especially if you are me and moved from a 3rd floor apartment to a 3rd floor apartment - urrgggghhhhh).

But at least my cat, Picasso, has loved it. My roommate's cat didn't make the move, she gave her away like she always intended to. But since our cats haven't gotten along, my cat spent 80% of the day closed up in my room. She has really loved having the entire apartment to roam as she pleases. But for whatever reason I caught her all smashed up in her scratching post and I had to take a picture. Way to utilize the space Picasso!

But the best part of the move was my jewelry box. I found my old jewelry box that I will only pull out on occasion. And that occasion tends to be the retiring of my other jewelry. See I have a smaller, easier to travel with, jewelry box that I keep the up-to-date jewelry. I hadn't realized how neglected the old jewelry box had been until I took a peak in it while moving. Man, was there same golden finds!

I really love these, the pink "gems" on earring hangers. Those are just dazzling, don't you think?

I can't imagine why I would have saved this, maybe since it was so nice, being sterling silver and all. But maybe I thought I would come across a fellow with one ear pierced still?

I know why I kept this one. I felt that some summer in the near future we would find the return of the toe ring. And when that summer came, I would be prepared with my flower toe ring from seventh grade. You watch, it's comin' back now that I'm throwing it away.

Why one would keep this in their jewelry case is beyond me. But this is the bandanna necklace I wore during rush I think the beginning of my Junior Year of college. I am pretty sure everyone else threw theirs away that day. But I must've felt there would be that night where I'd look at my outfit and go, you know what would go perfect with this? A red bandanna necklace, which I have!

This one is great for if you are not sure if you want to wear silver or gold, or maybe a little of both. But as an added bonus, I found that it is also a magnet when the safety pin remained stuck to it! You NEED a bracelet like that!

The necklace that never was. I remember I spent like $35 on this necklace (which if you haven't noticed, that is a lot for MY jewelry). And by the time I got it home in the bag, it was in a knot! I have tried numerous times to get it out of the knot, but those attempts have all been unsuccessful. Hence, why the tag is still on it.

The last gem is the necklace that was completely broken in half. What did I think was going to happen? I'd marry a welder and we'd get it back together? Like it was even worth that? Wow, just wow.

And now, this is the ACTUAL gem of the jewelry box. For five years (I am not even exaggerating), I have not been able to find my diamond earrings. Now here's the thing, I am not one to lose things. It doesn't happen. I used to take extra special care with these earrings, being the only jewelry item that one could consider nice. I would always be extra careful where I put them when I slept over at someone's house, or whatever I was doing. But one day I went to wear them and I couldn't find them. For five years my story of what happened to my diamond earrings has always been that I've mis-placed them (NEVER did I say I lost them). I just knew they were around in a real safe place, but I just hadn't found them yet.

Well, I am sure you guessed it by now. I found them. In my jewelry box. Yes, one would think, didn't you look in your jewelry box within the past five years, and why didn't you look there first? Well they were in a back hidden compartment of the jewelry box (like I always said, in a safe place) and as you can see from the other, much out dated, jewelry, no I don't look through ALL the jewelry regularly.

I think I am the most excited person in the world. I have my diamond earrings back!!!!

Like Nothing Ever Happened

So before everything went down with my interest the last night of kickball, a lot of us decided to do a river floating trip today. After everything went down, I was a little apprehensive about going. I knew my former interest was planning on going on the river float and I wasn't sure if I was up for being around him all day and so soon. But seeing as to how the original float date that was thrown out was next weekend, and I vetoed that because I know I am going to be out of town, we changed it to today. I felt like since I made everyone change the date of it, I should definitely go. Besides, the shock has since worn off and there is NO DOUBT that I am totally over him.

The team corresponded through email about the river trip. During this time I made it very clear that I was going so there would be no surprises to him and he could back out if he wanted. I told everyone on the team we could meet at my apartment since it was the farthest south and along the way. That way we could all carpool and follow each other. He never responded to any of the emails saying he was going, though some of the Virginians did, so I wasn't sure if he was still going or not.

Until I got a call from him trying to find my new apartment. Yes, I was very shocked when I saw his name on my phone (especially when I found out he wasn't driving and the person that was driving I know also has my number). But since he is the only one that has been to our apartment, I guess he was the one nominated to call. But since our date this past week we have moved. He was with the rest of the Virginians and I guess he forgot that I was moving and took them to my old apartment. It ended up "easing the blow" with him calling just before seeing him and having a new apartment for him to meet me at. It made it less awkward to see him since we had just talked on the phone, it wasn't the first time we talked since the weird ending before. And having a new apartment kind-of made it seem like we were starting from a clean slate. This wasn't the place where we had our date, this place was brand new and no old bad memories.

Former interest was very nice at the apartment. He didn't act weird, awkward, quiet, rude, distasteful or anything. He was actually quite normal. Made nice (and funny) comments about the new apartment, none included comparisons to the old. It was better than I could've asked for, given the situation.

So nine of us set off to float the river (thankfully no minister in tow, it being Sunday I don't think he could make it due to other, quite obvious, obligations). After a little bit of a struggle by Emily and I to get our cooler ready for the float, former interest was nice enough to be the one to come to the rescue, interesting.

If you were wondering, the girl that I am pretty sure former interest was, well, interested in the other night did make it on the float. Now I can't be sure of anything, but it did not look like anything was going on between them, at all. I could be completely oblivious to what may be going on behind the scenes. But I really think I am more "on the money" with the feeling I've had from the beginning, that she is not interested. In fact, there was so little going on between them, it looked almost as if he had gotten that message as well. Like I said though, who really knows anything about two other people and what is going on in their private lives?

But we had a great time with the float. We played games, and no, not flip cup! Now that IS shocking, I know. But you can probably imagine how that would never work on the river. Instead we played this celebrity name game. It was really fun, minus the fact that the Virginians had some key celebrity names memorized making it harder for the rest of us. But basically it goes like this:

Someone says the name of a celebrity. The next person (you go around in a circle) has to say a name of another celebrity that starts with the letter that the former celebrity's last name started with. For example: the first person says Britney Spears, then the next could say Sarah Palin, then the next Paul McCartney, etc. But if someone says a celebrity name where their first and last name starts with the same letter (ex. Matthew McConaughey) or it is a one name celebrity (Cher) then it reverses back to the person that just went. Also, you can't use the same celebrity name more than once. Oh, and for the drinking part, if you can't think of anyone, you have to drink until you do. It's pretty fun, try it sometime!

But basically, the Virginians had SEVERAL one name or same first and last letter celebrity names memorized. Since I was between two Virginians, I was caught in a ping-pong kind of rut MANY times!

The river company we floated told us the float was about 3 and 1/2 to 4 hours for the float. After what started feeling like a very long float, we were still very shocked when we got out and found out we had been floating for 6 hours! The wind at several times pushed us back up the river instead of allowing us to go down it like normal. But hey, we weren't complaining about the length of the float. Everyone else was complaining about their sunburns though, except me. They all made fun of me at the beginning with my SPF 50, but by the end they were all trying to put some on. Huh, it's as if I've been burned on the river before and I've finally learned what to do?!?

When we got out, who was the one that helped me get the cooler untied and carried back up the stairs? Yes, former interest to the rescue again. At least he is being very nice. He even went out of his way to help by finding someone with a pocket knife to cut the rope!

The Virginians invited us all to go to dinner at Bennigan's. Since we were starving, even Bennigan's sounded good. So we went, and naturally I lost the whole "where to sit" thing and ended up next to former interest. But really, it is not like sitting next to minister, it is fine sitting next to him. It really feels like that was some bad dream and that nothing EVER happened at all. We all had a nice (well, I mean, it was Bennigan's, so nice might not be the exact right word) dinner filled with lots of laughs.

How much I will see the Virginians again, I have no idea. I doubt they will just call me up to hang out given the circumstances. I really do like hanging out with them but it is understandable if I don't see them anymore. Some of them might join the summer kickball league and there was mention today of going to Schlitterbahn sometime way further down the road. But those are BIG if's and may never pan out to anything. But at least if I do see them again I will not have to worry about having to be around former interest. Like I said, it will be like nothing ever happened. And sadly, that may be what it will be like with all of the Virginians after all is said and done, like nothing ever happened.

Shocking.

Ok, so tonight was the start of our playoffs. The playoffs are against all three of the super social leagues that play on Thursday nights. We did so well that we had a bye our first round, which is good! But one of the two teams that played before us and therefore determined who we played was the only team that we lost to, Balls to the Wall. They lost two games and we lost one is why we are ranked above them. But they were hard teams that they played, in their defense. Balls to the Wall did end up winning their game, so they were who we played tonight.

I had talked for a couple of weeks about bringing jello shots, which was a whole different adventure among it's self. But I did accomplish it, and it was a big hit. But we waited until after to take the majority of them, I mean, it was playoffs and all.

So tonight we had Emily's husband, George, stand in for one of the players that was out. He played better than anyone could've expected. I think he caught like 3, if not more, balls. Plus he was a play maker, always where he needed to be and even tagged a girl on the other team out. It was quite impressive.

Tim was not however. It just so happened to work out that anytime I was with my new interest that Tim would be there too. Awkward.

New guy was really nice. I never know how is the best to act in that sort-of situation. But I think that we did fine, considering. We talked, when we could without Tim, and cheered each other. There is actually not a lot of time to talk during the games, surprisingly.

Balls to the Wall is a good team. They had guys waiting in the infield for the little kicks that us girls always kick and it was like we had no hope at even getting on base. It was ridiculous. I got a couple of outs (not the good kind, the ones against our team), as well as most of the other girls on our team did that way. But then it was close 5-4 (I think, I know we were only down by one), two outs, final inning and I was up to kick. DAMN. Obviously, my kicking methods weren't working thus far. This is the playoffs. Can't screw this one up for the whole team. No pressure or anything.

I kicked slightly off from where I normally kick. The guy that normally gets it was not as quick to getting the ball. But I could see out of the corner of my eye that it was right there and most likely going to get me on first. But I kept going. The first baseman caught it just before I got there. I was about to stop running when I saw him fumble with it. No Way! So I kept going. It only went minutely out of his hands and was in one quick moment back in his hands. But I was already on first! SAFE!!!

Then he fumbled with it again and it went further out of his hands. In one quick moment I turned back to my team to see what to do and all I heard was, RUN! So I did, I later found out that they were talking to the guy on second, and that the only person telling me to run was George. But I ran. I ran like you have never seen me run before. AND I MADE IT!!!

Thank you George, you believed in me. Apparently, others were yelling for me to stay. But George, you believed in me and my ability to get to second before the ball and most importantly, you yelled loudest and being the only one I heard, the one I listened to. And for that I give you the MVP fill-in-person game ball of the season. Not only did you carry your weight, plus every girl within a five person radius of you, but you knew the exact right move I should make at that moment. And I love you for it. Now back to the rest of the game.

Then the next person went up to kick. They kicked it right in between second and third. I didn't stand a chance and they definitely tagged me out. Ouch, well, at least I had that one great play. And game over.

So we didn't make it to the next round, but that is ok. We had a great season considering it was our first. And last, by the looks of it, most of the team is not coming back. But some of us still plan on doing the summer league. Great things can't last forever though. It is just unfortunate that some of the best players are the ones that are not coming back. Maybe we will pick up what we are lacking??? Who are we kidding, we were lucky to have even had as great of a season as we did. We should be happy if we get a team that gets along as well as we did. Most less win like we did.

So then we decided to go back to Doc's. Bring back an old team tradition, I guess. So we went to the south location, where of course you can still play competitive games. I found out the "pillow game" is actually called "Corn Hole." Or so, it sounded like that to me. I, of course, thought who was first, Bevis and Butthead or the game? But that is neither here nor there.

Now the whole sitting down at the table trick is one that I have yet to master. See, Tim was there and my goal is to always NOT sit by him. That is basically my only goal. But yet I seem to never succeed. So, of course, I found myself sitting next to Tim and diagonally across from the man I am interested in. How am I going to get myself out of this one? So after trying to talk across the table to my interest and ignore Tim, I got frustrated and jumped at the opportunity that Emily presented to talk with those who were playing Corn Hole.

After some time, we got ourselves into playing the game, the whole time my interest has not left the table (luckily neither has Tim). But my interest was talking with two other girls from the team, both that I love and both that I felt wouldn't be interested in him. So no worries.

Some more time passed of playing Corn Hole, he hasn't budged. A little worry, but seriously, he is a nice guy and probably trying to play it cool with me. So, actually, no worries.

Then we lose and we go back to the table. I do win the game of "where to sit" and take a seat right next to interest, but he isn't budging from his conversation. I'm not sweating. He is a nice guy, and lets be honest, I don't really feel that these girls would be interested in him.

I do get a chance to get a few words in edge-wise. But it is hard, they have been talking for awhile. It's cool, I'm still the one he's interested in. I'm not going to go all psycho and demand his attention.

Then it's time to leave. Going back to their place and playing flip cup is thrown out (surprise, surprise). I am feeling a little apprehensive at this point. I've barely talked to him, why should I go and over there and play if I am all wrong about his feelings for me?

Then the perfect moment happens. It is just him and me in that one spot of the parking lot. He asks if I am going to come over and play flip cup. So I responded with, "Should I?"

He walks back toward me with a kind smile on his face and says, "well............I don't think that you and I are going to................work out."

Huh?????? WTF (and I am HIGHLY against that phrase)????? Wait, you are the guy that I was TRYING to convince myself that I could like if I really tried, and you are the one that is rejecting me????? This is not how it is supposed to happen!!!!!!!!!!!

(Sorry, only multiple exclamation points and question marks will really get my point across here)

Then he says, "I mean, I just don't think we are all that compatible."

Oh really??? Just because you had an hours conversation with a girl that will NEVER date you, you now think that WE are not compatible??? But we've talked for hours, about things that were TOTALLY compatable, just not tonight, cause you didn't ever try. But keep dreaming buddy if you think she's going to hook up with you. You were CRAZY to think that I would.

But all I did was say, "uh huh."

He responded with, "you are still more than welcomed to come over though."

Yeah, better chance of hell freezing over than that. "No, I think I will just go home." Is all I could say.

His response, "I understand, are you ok though?"

"Yes, I am ok," he gave me a hug and I walked off. I am sure my jaw was on the ground though. By his view point, I probably looked completely heart broken. It took me so off guard, I don't know how I didn't look completely out of sorts. I probably looked like I was about to cry, come to think of it, I might have been about to cry, how could this happen? I was supposed to be the one to break it off with him!

Lets get this straight. I would not blog about a guy that rejected me unless I felt it was TOTALLY unjust. I really feel (and I am not trying to sound conceited) that I would've been a great catch for him. I am not even sure if he would've been a great catch for me. I did tell Emily and Jessica, "I don't know for sure if I like him, there are definitely things that I have reservations about (lets just not get into that, I feel bad enough dogging him as much as I am) but I am going to give it a shot." And then this happened.

I got back to my apartment, and granted the parking is always bad here, but I had to park probably a quarter of a mile away (which is way worse than ever, just to make a bad night worse). The whole time I walked to my apartment my jaw just drug the ground in disbelief.

And that is when I ran into the guy that lives in the apartment across from us. We call him Kevin Federline cause he always has a bunch of kids at his apartment, always wears wife beaters, has numerous tatoos, talks to people on the phone all ghetto, always is smoking cigarettes on his patio and just generally looks like Kevin Federline. But I usually just say a general, "hey" to him. But tonight, I was angry, so I said, "do you like run a day-care out of your apartment?" He said, "No, why?" So I said, "You just always seem to have so many kids at your apartment." He laughed and said, "No, I just have four kids." Nice. He didn't even have a reaction. It was just one of those nights where I wanted to get a reaction out of someone for the heck of it. You know, just get my mind off of getting rejected by a guy that I should've rejected myself, but even that wasn't possible. Thanks K-Fed.

So that was my night. I am still in disbelief. Of all the different scenarios that played out in my mind, that was not one of them. But when you think about it, I am in no better or worse position from being on this kickball team from where I started. I had a few avenues I pursued, neither worked, but still, both worth trying. Now comes the summer kickball league. Neither Tim nor the interest are saying they are playing. I've met a lot of girls that I would like to further hang out with, maybe I should still give the summer league a shot. You never know what could be around this next avenue...

Broken Record

Ok, so I know I haven't written in a while. You would think that the summer vacation would have the opposite effect. I realized that I needed to write a new blog update terribly bad when I woke up at 4am last night having had some sort-of nightmare about my account being deleted due to inactivity.

I'm sure you are thinking, what kind of nightmare is that? Well I woke up about 30 minutes prior due to being surrounded by bears who were slowing working their way to eat me. It wasn't just one type of bear either; there were brown, grizzly, polar and even koala (I guess for a little comedy relief?). Anyways, I was still a little on edge from that, so yes, account being deleted was a nightmare.

But the other reason I haven't written is because everything that has happened lately has already been reported in my blog on another occasion. It's getting to be a bit of a broken record. You know: kickball team...blah, blah, blah...flip cup...blah, blah, blah....kiss boy...blah, blah, blah. Just the same old stuff.

Ok, maybe not the kiss boy part. I mean, yes I have written about kissing a boy, but I have also written that it is clearly over between that particular boy and myself. So yes, I kissed a new boy.

For the sake of not having to type the story in which 90% would be a repeat of another story I've already blogged about, let me just shorten it up like this. We went over to the Virginians on Saturday. We played flip cup and other games. One of the Virginians, that I have been pretty sure for some time liked me, had the opportunity and kissed me. Sorry, no more details (I do have family and other people that I have made aware of this and I am not sure if they read it).

You will get this addition to the story. He did come over to my apartment last night and we watched movies and drank wine (he brought both).

And then I dreamt about bears and blogs. Now, you are all caught up!