Little "chubby" Meg

The other day at our HHH Celebration Dinner, one of the guys’ wives discovered I’m (still) single & decided to play Fairy Godmother/Matchmaker. It was all fun & games until she actually came up with the name of a guy she knows who’s single. She didn’t go into too much detail but I was intrigued. But a little freaked out. I told her the meet-cute needs to be as played-down as possible as I tend to freak out when I feel the slightest bit of pressure (what do you think of him? do you you like him? he likes you & wants your number, etc). She said she’d set up something casual like a group dinner (which she later translated as a double date) and would have it be as little-pressure as possible.

That was August 31.

I received a phone call from Fairy Godmother September 18th. She started off saying, “I have something to ask you. Well, I have something to TELL you & then I have something to ask you.” Oh lord! She then proceeded to tell me the guy she’d mentioned at dinner the other day has been dating & her husband just now decided to clue her in. She wasn’t happy. But the good news is, there’s a Plan B! A guy who works at her school in Electra. Something about specializing in Special Ed but the school district isn’t hiring Special Ed teachers but he’s doing something there anyway. Then she started in on the description: never married, no kids (pretty good so far), kinda of shy (uhhhh wait a sec), a little chubby......I’m pretty sure she listed a few more things but I tuned out at this point.

“A little chubby”?! I know I’m being a brat here but, excuse me, I’m 32 years old. I didn’t hold out this long for “a little chubby”!! And by “holding out” I mean, I’ve never actually held out because that would imply I had a selection of guys of which to hold out ON. But then I started thinking (and that always gets me in trouble). “OMG, Little Meg, what if she described YOU as ‘kind of chubby?’ YOU don’t want to be labeled as chubby, do you?!” So I think I finally found my motivation. Since nothing else seems to be working to get my ass in gear, maybe the thought of someone thinking & describing me as chubby will do the trick. So later that day, during Happy Hour, I explained all of this to a few of my co-workers and told them, several sips into my margarita, that I’d be hittin’ the pavement for a little runny-run or cycling the next day.

Update:

It’s just after midnight Sunday & there was no runny-run or cycling involved in my Saturday activities. Maybe Mond....no, can’t then. Maybe Tuesday.

Well, regardless, I’ve decided I’m going to let her set something up & will meet him. I can’t be TOO self-absorbed & stuck up to meet a “kind of chubby” guy. I mean my Husband Criteria is getting slimmer by the day.....

Dude!

I love this word : ) Like that Bud Light commercial, it can be used in so many different ways. Check it out....

But I digress. I had a couple "dude" moments last night.

I went to see The Killdares, this awesome Celtic Rock band at Iron Horse Pub and, Dude, they totally ROCKED!!! I always have such a good time seeing them!! I can't wait for them to come back in a month for Hotter 'n Hell (Sat Aug 29 at the Finish Line Village).

My other "dude" moment was when I discovered this guy I've been flirting with for forever is.....engaged. Dude! What?! But wait, there's another "dude" moment here in somewhere. Oh yeah, that even in spite of his commitment to marry his girlfriend, he still wanted to take it to the next level. Dude! Seriously?! I'm heartbroken on so many levels. A) that I invested lots of (wasted) flirting time, B) that things didn't run the course I'd imagined/hoped & waited for, C) that I thought he was a pretty stand-up, good, decent guy, D) that his friends never clued me in, E) that I made the biggest "He's Just Not That Into You" mistake & gave him my number.

But really, it all boiled down to this gut feeling. Even before he told me about his impending nuptials, I just had this feeling like him & I wasn't a good idea. I can't tell you the times I've said, "I WISH I'd trusted my instincts!" I'm SO glad I listened this time. Didn't hurt that I was extremely sleepy & so kissing 'n stuff was SO off my radar. And as I laid in bed, alone (dogs don't count) very early this morning, I thought of that "How I Met Your Mother" episode where Ted says his mother always told him "nothing good every happens after 2am." SO true! Unless you're punching Korean Elvis in the nards : ) Dude, I love that show!

Oh and did I mention another guy I've been talking to, I found out is married! Dude, what the freak?!

Black Hawk Down

The Leadership Breakfast speaker today was Matt Eversmann, one of the Army Rangers that went into Mogadishu, Somalia October 3, 1993. They went in to do a mission that was only supposed to take 30 minutes & ended up lasting over 12 hours!! Even though they lost several good men that day, they succeeded in their mission of capturing two men (and as a bonus, 19 others) close to the main bad guy, Mohamed Aidid.

But you can see that by watching Josh Hartnett as Mr. Eversmann in Black Hawk Down. Which I watched last night. You know, I’m a nerd & decided to “study” for the talk this morning.

What was great about this talk was Mr. Eversmann’s perspective on the events of that day which, surprise surprise, differed a little from the movie. What really touched me was the inspiration and reinforcement of his faith & duty to this mission. To our country. To those defenseless, starving people. He mentioned a memorial at Ft Bragg that had a Bible verse from Isaiah that really hit home for him. And he talked about how God told Joshua he was to pick up the leadership role where Moses left off and how Joshua was scared crapless but God told him five times that he would be there with him. Mr. Eversmann talked about how great leaders exhibit selfless service, courage & commitment to whatever it is they’re doing.

One of the most powerful scenes in the movie is when TWO Delta snipers go in to rescue the guys from the second Black Hawk crash. When everyone else was securing the first crash site, there was no one to help at the second. But these two guys rescued the only survivor, Michael Durant and themselves were killed because of the enormity of the Somalian crowd that descended on the helicopter. Very haunting. And Mr. Eversmann spoke about how those two men were so committed to their mission that they asked permission three times to be placed in that environment. How courageous they fought for as long and as hard as they could before they were finally killed. He said they are the epitome of selfless service to their fellow man. That scene in the movie is only a few minutes long but Mr. Eversmann’s compassionate words for those men definitely left an impression on me.

I’m not sure which Leadership Breakfast this is for me but every single year has been SO amazingly uplifting. Which is funny because the subject matter hasn’t really been that pleasant. But to see & hear how true leadership is being demonstrated is amazing and very inspirational and I’m grateful to be associated with a company that supports this event.

How Samurai drove me into the arms of Papa John's

You know the saying: too much of a good thing? well, too much can be BAD!! in the last month I've eaten at Samurai THREE times! now before this all started, it'd been like over a year and a half that i'd been there. don't get me wrong, the first time was great! the second time was just ok and the third time I really could've cared less. and ironically the day i partook for the third time, unbeknownst to my dad, he suggested we go there for dinner. i did feel a little bad at my screaming over-reaction. but hindsight's 20/20, right? anyway, i DID have leftover's that last time (like i did every time i went so really, it's like i ate Samurai SIX times!!) but I was so repulsed of the idea of trying to choke down my hibachi fish that i sought comfort in a thin crust cheese pizza at my beloved Papa John's! oh man it was good!!

are you freaking kidding me?!

on the biggest and most important night to be outdoors it freaking pours! like the streets were flooded w/in minutes! from where I was at the Ho Jo, i could only see the tip top of the biggest fireworks and that was standing under a tree. (i know, right, I'm pretty smart standing under a tree in a thunderstorm so I can get my annual fireworks-fix) finally I said "forget it" and ran under the main entrance overhang for a few minutes listening the boom, boom, boom of the pretty lights i couldn't see. then i heard there was a tent w/in eyeshot of the fireworks so i ran under that I saw about a 1/4 of the fireworks finale because we were still too close to the building. but here's where it gets REALLY fun....after the show, in the torrential downpour, i decided to make the trek back to my car that was across the street. not just any street....fifth street aka the MAIN street that all the folks from mpec were using to leave. so i'm standing & standing & standing getting absolutely soaked & thinking "gee i don't remember this light taking so long to change." it finally did and as i ran across the street, holding my white t-shirt out in front my girls so i wouldn't give anyone a show as I crossed their headlights, i saw a guy standing on the other side of the street. i immediately thought he was a weirdo but then i noticed he had a bright green vest on & he was standing in front of an open box. I said, "were you the one responsible for making that light so long?" and he said he was. grrr! but THANK GOODNESS for my slackerness & not taking the towels out of my car after my last bike ride (which was like in april--i have to lay down towels in the backseat if i don't want to get grease on my leather & poked holes from my gears wheel thingies)! Happy Freaking Birthday, America! (i really am grateful to be an american, just not a soaking wet one : )

Sympathy Pain

I have NO idea why my left arm is SO sore! : ( It's like I lifted a bunch of weight but just with that arm. Very weird. So I'm blaming it on J-Si's 71 push up's on Friday. Hmmm, maybe he did them one armed. 

Oh and just an update...the house didn't get cleaned yesterday : ) I mean : ( It's so weird but I feel like I don't know what to do with myself. Outside of work, these Twilight books have consumed every moment of my time and now that I have all these moments back...I'm a little lost. Great, I've got vampire seperation anxiety! I need a Bellward fix! Or Edwalla : ) (I need my movie back, Traci!) Oh forget it, I'm going to Stephanie Meyer's website so I can thank her for how she ended it and to start on Twilight: From Edward's Perspective! Gotta go!

I've got ants in my pants

I want to go on vacation like everyone else! I just want to get out of town for a week. Or two. Vegas is calling my name something fierce! Or I want to do something crazy, like some extreme adventure expedition in which I'm returned in one piece but stocked up on a new appreciation for the great outdoors or turtles or something. I don't really feel like laying around on a beach or a cruise ship allowing myself useless thinking time. Although some co-workers just got back from Alaska and their pics are AMAZING! Have you ever stopped to realize that maybe this is it? Like THIS is all you're ever going to do in life? I'm having one of those moments. I just finished reading some of Liz's blogs and she's got a ton of exciting thing happening in her life: husband getting out of the military, preparing to end a chapter here, step-son eating third-world delicacies, nieces losing their first tooth, etc. Then, thanks to Facebook, i found out another eligible bachelor from college got married. I barely recognized my friend's 5 year old son, he's getting so big! And here I am, with my two dogs, doing the same daily routine, having corn-on-the-cob again for dinner, rotating my M-F wardrobe....AHHH!!! Now wonder I haven a hankerin' to buy a new car and smartphone! I need a change! I want my hair to grow out and look halfway decent. I want to be able to manage my time a little better so I can blog more. Commit to some Y classes. Get my house in order. I know this was all brought on because I found out today marks the halfway point in the year. We're already on the downward slope toward New Year's Eve. For some reason I'm freaking out about it. Well, not really "freaking out" per se, just being reflective about how much of 2009 I've wasted doing....what?! Just making it? Just BEING? I don't want to just BE! I want to look back on my life & know I took advantage of every minute. And that little thought is courtesy of the Farrah Fawcett special. Doggone my sleepless mind (with a little help from my first Eskimo Hut treat)!