Myspace Migration: I Like the Nightlife; I Like to Boogie

Ok, I can't even get past the first sentence - I'm still giggling about the title. As is probably anyone that knows me remotely well. Many things I am, a 'club girl?' Not so much one of them. But still, now and again, I'll get a little girly looking and go out with my friends. Like I did this past Saturday night.

We went to a club called Sting. Large place, and actually, as far as clubs go... it was pretty nice. There were 4 main rooms, each with a different feel. The front room was more for dancing: there was a bar and a ginormous video screen playing videos with scantily clad women moving in ways that flaunt flexibility that many of us will only dream about obtaining. A DJ was in this little cave in the corner - it was neat. To the left of that room was a billards room. To the right of that room, there was another room with a bar and a more Latin flair. Colorful music filled the room and there were tables - I think I remember my friend telling me that it used to be a restaurant? From that room, you could flow into a room where you had about 1/2" of personal space because that room? Was packed. It was more of a 'glam' look with dance music pumping out of the loudspeakers. This room, btw, was where people were getting checked out hardcore. It's also where the VIP area was, sleek couches with table service. That was actually the only area in the room that wasn't packed inch-to-inch. Still, everyone seemed like they were having a good time, and that was a good thing.

My favorite place in the joint was actually the patio area - and had it not been over 100 degrees even at night, we probably would have been there. It was inviting, and had a more relaxed personality to it. All in all, if you're a club person, you should probably check it out sometime - you'd probably have a lot of fun.

All that being said, I'm not a club girl. It's really loud in clubs! To the point that I had to fall back on reading my friend's lips... :D Also, I might just be a little too conservative to handle the way people 'hook up' in clubs and evidently, I'm too dense to notice when people are checking me out! This might be a self-preservation thing; because, I'm pretty sure if they were looking at me the way they were leering at my friend, I wouldn't be able to do anything but stand there completely beet-red from blushing! Clubs just might be a little too forward for my tastes. But, it's fabulous for people watching... really fantastic people-watching opportunities. From the dress of the people there, to some of the cars they rolled up in, to the way they interacted with each other.. it's a cornucopia of interesting sights to behold. All in all, though, I might be more of a 'hang-out-with-the-neighbors' kind of girl... alternatively, if you find a coffee shop, you'll probably find me!! :D

Moving on, I'm a Fish. More specifically, my gal pal Daphne talked me into joining a site called "Plenty of Fish." I'm not quite sure 'talked me into' is even really the right phrase - might have been more like 'wore me down!' hahaha Anyway, I created a profile; stuck some pictures up and have been a member for a couple of days. Over the weekend, I received 6 pages of emails and ended up on 40ish 'favorites.' Evidently, if you see a profile you like, you can save it to your 'favorites.' Now, I'm not really sure what that does for you, other than might make it easier to find later, but I did notice that the site publicizes how many people picked you to be on their 'favorites.' Interesting. Anyway, it's not costing me anything and I have been introduced to a couple of very interesting guys via POF, so for now, I'm ok with being a Fish. We'll see how it goes. For now? I have to go to work!

Myspace Migration: Just A Little Update

Well, let's start with the obvious, shall we? I turned 30. Big 3-0. Really, wasn't bad, overall. Actually, it was a little quiet... well, REALLY quiet for me! :D I had dinner with my daughters, my Father, and Brother at Central Market (I love that place and the kids can play on the playground; we have a winner, folks). Then, drove to Frisco and had drinks/desserts with Bev and Daphne; we topped the evening off? With Guitar Hero. Seriously, very tame by other birthday's comparisons, all things considered. But, that's fine. I'm happy with where I am in my life, overall, and don't feel the need to have some major bash to give me validation. I do, however, think it's an excellent excuse for new shoes... and maybe some new camis, new jacket, and maybe even a wii-fit, if I can find one.

And speaking of that, I'm in love with my Wii. I am NOT, however, in love with the fitness test on Wii Sports. Let me break something down for you, Nintendo - just because you're clutzy and not exactly athletically inclined outside of tennis (and that's probably even a small stretch and large luck), does NOT mean you have a metabolic age of 63. It just means that you aren't good at sports. My refined self had to really refrain from throwing my controller at my TV - and that was largely just because I don't want to pay to replace it. However, true to Crystal Form, my response was 'Fine.... I'll show you... I'm TRAINING!" And have now committed to spending 30 minutes a day on top of my workout(s) learning to beat the snot out of Wii Sports. THAT'LL show them!

I register the kids for school on Wed. I'm going to have a middle schooler. I'm not quite sure what I think about that, other than I'm thankful it's my eldest because really? She's still snuggly and likes her time with me. I don't exactly know what I'd do if she didn't think I was cool anymore. I'd like to think I'd act fine with it, but I know darn good and well it'll crush me a little bit. My youngest is super psyched about going back to her old school - she's already making plans to rule the playground. Except this year, I think she plans on doing it with backflips and front walkovers. :D Oh yes, my friends, I have a little cheerleader - two, actually. They're having a blast and I'm even learning to deal with it quite well. Maybe I'll luck out, they'll both be great and get scholarships to the not-so-cheap Universities that want to go to.

Dating? Still haven't found what I'm looking for. Any Jewish Mother would be proud of me - I went out with a doctor, a lawyer, and I didn't like either. The first was a closet smoker... I don't really date smokers. I think it's bad for you. And, I don't know... there was just some wierdness there. I'm past the age where I'm going to stick around if my gut says, "This guy might have been on Unsolved Mysteries or just off his meds...." The lawyer? He was nice, just perhaps a tad too controlling. Tip for all single, dating men out there: you do not need to try to tell a girl how to run her life in the first 30- to 60-days. There's a REALLY good chance you don't know enough about her life to really be in charge of it. :D I'd say I'm still looking, but the truth is? I'm not. If it bumps into me, or reintroduces itself... I'd like to think I'd see a good relationship opportunity coming... but, the same old problem applies: who's as busy as I am that they won't mind not seeing me every day? Come on, I know I'm pretty freaking fabulous... it's hard to be without me! (Fine, you don't have to admit it, it's ok.. I already know).

For the first time in a long time, I'm ok with admitting this: I don't want to go to work tomorrow. My brain has been on overload long enough that I feel like a few days off to not to much of anything would be a VERY good thing. However, I'm too busy to take the time off! I'd do what I ALWAYS do - I'd take off the time, and end up working, anyway. Speaking of work, if I don't go to sleep soon, I won't get up for it.

Until then, don't do anything I wouldn't do.. or if you do, take pictures!

Myspace Migration: Just A Little Update

Well, let's start with the obvious, shall we? I turned 30. Big 3-0. Really, wasn't bad, overall. Actually, it was a little quiet... well, REALLY quiet for me! :D I had dinner with my daughters, my Father, and Brother at Central Market (I love that place and the kids can play on the playground; we have a winner, folks). Then, drove to Frisco and had drinks/desserts with Bev and Daphne; we topped the evening off? With Guitar Hero. Seriously, very tame by other birthday's comparisons, all things considered. But, that's fine. I'm happy with where I am in my life, overall, and don't feel the need to have some major bash to give me validation. I do, however, think it's an excellent excuse for new shoes... and maybe some new camis, new jacket, and maybe even a wii-fit, if I can find one.

And speaking of that, I'm in love with my Wii. I am NOT, however, in love with the fitness test on Wii Sports. Let me break something down for you, Nintendo - just because you're clutzy and not exactly athletically inclined outside of tennis (and that's probably even a small stretch and large luck), does NOT mean you have a metabolic age of 63. It just means that you aren't good at sports. My refined self had to really refrain from throwing my controller at my TV - and that was largely just because I don't want to pay to replace it. However, true to Crystal Form, my response was 'Fine.... I'll show you... I'm TRAINING!" And have now committed to spending 30 minutes a day on top of my workout(s) learning to beat the snot out of Wii Sports. THAT'LL show them!

I register the kids for school on Wed. I'm going to have a middle schooler. I'm not quite sure what I think about that, other than I'm thankful it's my eldest because really? She's still snuggly and likes her time with me. I don't exactly know what I'd do if she didn't think I was cool anymore. I'd like to think I'd act fine with it, but I know darn good and well it'll crush me a little bit. My youngest is super psyched about going back to her old school - she's already making plans to rule the playground. Except this year, I think she plans on doing it with backflips and front walkovers. :D Oh yes, my friends, I have a little cheerleader - two, actually. They're having a blast and I'm even learning to deal with it quite well. Maybe I'll luck out, they'll both be great and get scholarships to the not-so-cheap Universities that want to go to.

Dating? Still haven't found what I'm looking for. Any Jewish Mother would be proud of me - I went out with a doctor, a lawyer, and I didn't like either. The first was a closet smoker... I don't really date smokers. I think it's bad for you. And, I don't know... there was just some wierdness there. I'm past the age where I'm going to stick around if my gut says, "This guy might have been on Unsolved Mysteries or just off his meds...." The lawyer? He was nice, just perhaps a tad too controlling. Tip for all single, dating men out there: you do not need to try to tell a girl how to run her life in the first 30- to 60-days. There's a REALLY good chance you don't know enough about her life to really be in charge of it. :D I'd say I'm still looking, but the truth is? I'm not. If it bumps into me, or reintroduces itself... I'd like to think I'd see a good relationship opportunity coming... but, the same old problem applies: who's as busy as I am that they won't mind not seeing me every day? Come on, I know I'm pretty freaking fabulous... it's hard to be without me! (Fine, you don't have to admit it, it's ok.. I already know).

For the first time in a long time, I'm ok with admitting this: I don't want to go to work tomorrow. My brain has been on overload long enough that I feel like a few days off to not to much of anything would be a VERY good thing. However, I'm too busy to take the time off! I'd do what I ALWAYS do - I'd take off the time, and end up working, anyway. Speaking of work, if I don't go to sleep soon, I won't get up for it.

Until then, don't do anything I wouldn't do.. or if you do, take pictures!

Myspace Migration: Random Thoughts From Me

I have the kids for extra time this weekend (yay!). It IS a good thing and I'm very excited to have just been able to spend a weekend with them without work or other interruptions. Lindsey learns how to shave her legs today (hahaha - she's all geeked up about it now, but give her a month... :D).

We watched An American Girl Movie: Kit Kittredge yesterday. It was really a great movie - I'd recommend it to anyone, regardless of their parental status. That probably sounds funny, because it IS definitely a kid's movie. But oh, you can draw some interesting parallels to things that are going on today; and even moreso, it's a pretty decent reality check. The movie is set in the Depression Era and centers around those who were losing their homes, the measures they tooks to keep from becoming 'hobos' or ending up in 'The Poor House.' It showed the 'Hobo Community' and just dealt with a lot of things that we really have lost sight of. I know I had.

I'm worrying about things like my bonuses so I can have a nanny this fall for the kids after school - while they were literally going cross-country to find work. While the movie wasn't real, people really did do that. And people are doing it again - the low reported unemployment is really bunk. That just means there's a lot of people not utilizing Unemployment. There are a lot of people that do not have work right now - or if they do, they're under-employed. I really am grateful to be gainfully employed in a challenging position; even with some of the craziness and the workload! ;)

I have this great house that I'm freaking out about because it's too hot for us upstairs (1) - they showed these two families.... one lost their home after selling eggs in the neighborhood to make ends meet (talk about humbling). The other, the main family, took in boarders (one of their close friends, and several people they didn't know) to try to pay the mortgage. And draw the parallel to now, there are 33+ homes in my neighborhood that have been forclosed on; with more on the way. This little boy came home from school to find all of his family's possessions on the lawn after the sherriff had locked them out. So sad. This is not confined to my neighborhood folks; it's a real problem out there.

But, even with the real problems, it's still a LOT better for us than it was during the Depression. You can't watch that movie without feeling grateful for what you have. It did leave me drawing enough parallels, however, that I do believe we are in a recession, regardless of what the media says.

(1) Thanks to Absolute Air, we will have a zoned system in the next week or two!

Myspace Migration: Your Hourly Rate

I woke up at just before 5am this morning thanks to a fantastic clap of thunder. Purportedly, we will have large hail today - that is, if you believe the Texas weatherpeople and that, in itself, is something of a large gamble. All I can say is that I hope I don't have to pay another $250 deductible to fix hail damage on my car if it DOES choose to hail while I'm at the office (because at home? it's in the garage, baby!).

Anyway, I was reading a blog this morning about how this one chick justifies sending out her laundry rather than doing it and other assorted chores she doesn't want to do. Her justification is the "hourly rate" theory. Under this theory, you look at the following formula:

($ you earn/yr) / ((hrs worked/week) x (no. weeks worked/yr)) = your hourly rate

The thought is you take that rate and use it as the benchmark against things you're looking at spending your time on. Such as, "I'm going to clean my house today; that will take 4 hours. At my hourly rate of "X," it would cost me "Y" worth of my time to clean it. However, if I hire someone, it will be $100 for them to come in and do it, thus I'm actually saving "Z," because it's so much less than what my time is worth.

Ha, haha, hahahaha.... Riiiiight.

Here's my issue with that: this only works if you get paid by the hour or there is some way to ensure you are actually making your "hourly rate" while you're "saving money." Otherwise, you're not saving money - you're still spending it. Sure, it allows you to do fun and fabulous things that you can't do while you're earning your hourly rate...and that sometimes can be worth it. Just don't fool yourself into believing an overinflated hourly rate to allow you to escape from all the "grown-up" responsibilities that we can pay someone else to do. That's why we have kids - child labor is SO much less expensive and we can safely delude ourselves into believe that we're not being lazy, we're teaching them responsibility.

Anyway, if you ARE going to go with this theory of the "hourly rate," here's the correct formula for those who have an annual salary and aren't paid by the hour/paid by project and have an endless supply of work (read: 24/7 earning potential):

($ you earn/yr) / 8760 = Your TRUE hourly "living rate"

Now, using THAT number... are you really saving money by having someone else clean your house or by sending out your laundry?

(ok, so this picture isn't COMPLETELY appropriate, but it's funny and those are people for whom I could see the original formula being applicable - they probably COULD be earning their "hourly rate" while someone was cleaning their house!!)

Myspace Migration: Random Acts of Kindness.. And Then

So, on the way home from the girls we often drive through this town. We've been through it a million times before and I love going through it because I get to see gorgeous houses and drive through Starbucks (1). Today, we drove through Starbucks, and Natalie and I wanted tea. Good for sore throats. :) Anyway, we were behind a black Lexus... which, would not be important at all, except when I went to pay I found out he had already paid for my order! Now that we're set up, there are three things that I'd like to communicate:

1) I instantly wanted to know who had paid for my drink, why they paid for my drink, and did they say they knew me? I'll address this more in a moment, but I'm pretty sure the Starbucks chick thought I was crazy. Heck, -I- almost thought I was crazy.

2) I decided it was a total "Pay it Forward" moment and paid for the latte that the guy behind me had ordered. I totally got the better end of the bargain, at least by the standard of the dollar amount... but, I'd like to fancy that he paid for the car behind him and we went all the way down the line that way. Because I? Am Pollyanna.

3) Picking back up on the first item, I know exactly 2 people that live in that city. One of whom I don't speak to anymore - well, actually, I guess I don't speak to either of them anymore, but one is more like, "I'll talk to her when hell freezes over and Satan brings me ice skates." (2) The other one? For a good long time, I thought he was THE one. If I believed in soulmates, I'd probably think he was mine. We had so much in common, there was a comfort and a feeling that I just hadn't felt with anyone before and I'm pretty sure I haven't felt it with anyone since. And yes, I hope I'm wrong, because that? Would be down right depressing. He was (3) an amazing guy, though, even with the serious flaws in our relationship. But, anyway, for a brief moment there was the flash of, "OH-my-goodness, no. It cannot be - was I behind HIM?" And then I remembered he is not a Lexus guy - or, at least, he wasn't. I guess he could be now, it's been awhile. Sometimes I wonder if I was crazy for ending it - but, when I remembered why I ended it and no, not crazy. Was totally the right thing to do at the time. And even if it wasn't, it's done now, right? Right.

Anyway, I remembered that it was Mother's Day and chalked it up to that... probably some guy who's own Mother was far away and wanted to do something nice for some other Mom - my kids were with me, after all. It was kind of a nice thing to do, huh? I hope everyone had a fabulous Mother's Day!

(1) A girl has to have her priorities...

(2) How's that for Pollyanna? Shut up, I already know I'm a walking contradiction in terms.

(3) I guess, as I'm fairly certain he's not dead, he still -IS- an amazing guy.

Myspace Migration: Back in the Saddle & Off the Wagon

When it comes to my writing, I'm back in the saddle. Thanks to the wonders of Strattera, combined with a 'screw it, I'm GOING to have a life, too' mentality with work right now, I'm writing again. Not only that, I've gotten serious about the finishing and getting published part, and have just sent off a new Proposal, complete with Synopsis, Outline, and Character Developments. I'll let you know what feedback I get back.... I've pretty much combined the other two story-lines into one story. I like it. We'll see if they do, too.

Health-wise, I've fall off the wagon. My kids, lovely little germ monsters, have once again made me sick. Strep. YUUUUCK. And what for them is a sore throat and a general 'I don't feel good,' for me is a painful experience. My throat feels like swollen sandpaper - or, as I like to describe it, "Someone shoved a cup of peanut butter and cinnamon sticks down my throat." I've got my antibiotics, though, and as of 8:23 this evening, I will no longer be contagious. Happy Mother's Day to me!