Purple Tinted Glasses

And so ends my four day free for all. It sure doesn’t feel like I should have to go to work tomorrow. I sure am tired of being a grown up. Today without a hangover would have been nice too.

For some reason on Thanksgiving day, Will couldn’t drive us to my mothers in the most direct path to save his life. I was accused of being contagious, what with all my absent mindedness floating about. I think I really am starting to rub off on my particularly smart and logical boyfriend (your face!).

I don’t know what all the fuss is about with the Friday after thanksgiving shopping either. We unintentionally wound up in a couple of different stores after buying our first full size, real Christmas tree for the house. Linens and Things, Pier One, Wold Market… all places I thought might be a little crazy were almost dead. Maybe we were there too late. It was, after all 10am. Most door buster deals are at 5am, so I hear.

Anyway, then the Molly Ringwalds played at Southport. Anyone who knows me well knows that even on a Tuesday night I don’t ever get home until after midnight. I strolled in Sunday morning in the wee hour of almost 5am. The show was fun. Everyone did a costume change at some point in the night. It made it interesting. Not that I need anything else to hold my interest… I just had to focus really hard on not slipping on the alcohol soaked floor in my three inch red heels.

So, 4:45ish isn’t a terrible time to roll in to bed, unless of course you HAVE to go to practice at 8am because you’re running it. No I didn’t choose this practice. I’m a TT captain and it was a TT practice, therefore… bleh. I warned the people in charge that I would be there, but I would be hung over. I totally held up my end of the deal. The alcohol didn’t start seeping out of my poors until about halfway through the practice when I started running around (off skates) to keep up with the skaters and offer feedback. I basically kicked the asses of the 15 or so people who actually showed up to practice today.

Anyway, then the Molly Ringwalds played at Southport. No I’m not repeating myself. There were no big crowds and sloshy floors. They were filming a new video and I think I got conned into being there earlier this week before I remembered that I’d be dealing with a day long hangover. It was open to anyone who wanted to come. In the end, there were more people on stage than in the crowd for the “crowd shots”. My waving and clapping hands are gonna be famous. Now if only I can find my hand twin… we’d make millions.

There was also an LSU game and a Saints game in there somewhere. Both were loses and I didn’t watch either game in its entirety anyway.

And this is where I begin to fade. I’m tired, but I thought of a clever blog title and even though I couldn’t come up with anything else clever or more meaningful to say except recounting this weekend’s schedule, I’m writing something anyway.

Now I’m going to get myself back on track with my piano practice, so nite-nite.

P.S. Completely random: I luv my puppy :) Even though I hate walking him first thing in the morning… and the sound of him licking himself grosses me out. He’s just being a dog. That’s what Will keeps saying.

The message below was sent to me which has sparked my interest in reviving my bloggy-blog thing. I can honestly say that I have not been happy with the things I have posted and the drafts that sit unpublished. I often times feel like I am forcing words on to the page just to have something to say. I guess that’s why I haven’t said much lately.

So much has been happening and I haven’t had the time or wherewithal to mention any of it. So here we go. Grab a shovel and dig in.

Accomplishments/Mentionings:

• I did the MS 150 last month. That was exciting. With hardly any training (see reason here) and on an alien blue bike, I made it through all 149 miles! Yes, I got SAG-ged for 1 mile because of a series of flat tires that nearly drove me off my rocker. I think I have finally regained all feeling that I lost in unmentionable places from that ride too. Special thanks to Will for sticking with me.

• I’ve played my first home game with my new team at our new venue, and we won.  I don’t particularly care for the new venue. It reminds me of a high school gym and smells like one too. I miss our flashy lights and being surrounded by quintessential New Orleans (Mardi Gras). We outgrew our home that all of our fans came to love. Now we just need to finish working out the kinks to get this one just as fabulous. Ibeatya painted banners, one for each home team and they are just amazing - as is she! We also need to sell tickets. They’re cheaper than they’ve ever been - $10. So, for those of you looking to do something this Sunday, Nov 9, you should come out and see the Big Easy Rollergirls’ Crescent Wenches and Story Villains duke it out. Centerpunch will be playing at half time and I have a feeling this is going to be one hell of a game.

• The house is CLEAN! It’s 30% my doing and 70% Will’s. I’m hosting some team meetings this week and next, which as Will says lit a fire under my ass to get some stuff put away.  We have company coming at the end of November anyway, but this just got me to focus on it sooner.

• I painted the back porch… all by myself! I’d like my gold star and my cookie now.

• I entered my late 20’s. This was #3 in a string of good birthdays. It felt really special this year and I have my other half to thank for the most of it. I also went to the DMV and officially became a New Orleanian. Bye bye Jefferson Parish.

• My house is rented… finally. The rent doesn’t cover the note, but I won’t be eating Ramen and mooching off friends for drinks… at least not as much as I was a month ago. The renter has also assured me that she is interested in purchasing in an undetermined amount of time. I guess I’ll save my official good riddance until then.

• I’ve been to an addition 2 or 3 Molly Ringwalds shows and have enjoyed all of them. One of them was even a festival down in… um… Well, I cant remember right now, but it was crazy and they were like rock stars out there. It was kind of weird. I had sworn off festivals because it just never is the same, but Sally and I made the trip for the sake of others’ sanity (sanities? saniti?)

• The rollergirls participated in the Voodoo Music Festival parade. We were officially “artists” for the day. Free drinks and back stage access is something that’s hard not to abuse.

• My best friend is having a BABY! I’ve been knowing forever and I’ve already been through the stages of denial: WHAT?! My friends can’t start having babies! No one can have babies! Babies are scary… but at least it’s you, not me. Ok, fine. You can have your baby, but you know the rule… Auntie Sherri doesn’t take them until they’re potty trained.

Ok, bored with me yet? Until next time… hopefully sooner than later.

(more…)

My mom and I spent a good chunk of the day yesterday removing the flowery mess that was left behind on Spain Street. If there’s anything worse than flower wall paper, it’s BLUE flower wall paper.

I apologize for my harshness toward the color blue, but it is not allowed in the new house if I have anything to say about it especially if it is in the sky blue, baby blue, powder blue variety. Turquoises, shades of greenish blues and darker slate blues are more than welcome. As a teenager when given the option to paint my room baby blue or sky blue. I’m scarred for life.

I finally got my road home money! I can finally finish fixing the car port, reimburse myself for the roof and live happily ever after… and only a mere 846 days after the initial disaster.

Yay!

It’s not quite Portugal, but we’re so close we could spit on it… That’s right, we’re moving to Spain Street!

After telling the story in the office this morning, I’ve decided that I couldn’t have come up with a better way to spend the day with the new house. Some cheesy romance novelist would have a hard time matching it (ok, maybe not).

The morning was a half day of extreme productivity at work, followed by a ride to the CBD (hop in, Will) and loop right back around to (almost) River Road and Carrolton. We were right on time and ready to sign our lives away (again for me). After what seemed like not quite enough paperwork (after all the big talking from all the other home owners we know went on about) we walked away with a set of new keys, an orchid (my first) and a bottle of not-quite-my-taste bubbly.

The idea was to throw open the windows, for Will to work on my laptop (since his is still borked) and for me to sort ’til I dropped in the back room going through the mountains of crap from every decade since the 1960’s and from every inhabitant that’s ever been there, sorting into trash, yard sale (it’s gonna be a doozie), keep, keep for a little while because of the shock factor, and this reminds me of someone piles

About an hour into it, Will gave up on trying to concentrate and joined me in the back. He almost immediately found an old record player, directed me to the speakers that he had seen in there earlier, and grabbed up the old record collection that we had seen during inspections. Before long we were listening to Rubber Soul on vinyl in our new house while going through decades of crap.

We took a short break to walk the dog and grab a beer at R Bar. We also ordered Mona’s delivery and before we could even make it back, the food was waiting for us on the doorstep.

The sky was darkening, our tummies were grumbling, and the champagne was chilled. We put on our second Beatles Album of the day and plopped ourselves down on the hardwood floors in the front parlor of the house. The music popping and cracking in the background went perfect the the pop of the cork (which flew up out of the bottle on command) splatting of the champagne fizzling out of the top of the bottle.

We toasted in “What Would Krewe de Vieux Do” cups and ate until we were “stuffed like ticks”.

The night rounded out with a load of trash to the curb and a peaceful break on the front porch. Will dangled his legs over the side and I laid my head on his lap and propped my feet up on the column. The air was cool and crisp, the sky was clear… and the dog couldn’t get a grip on things. So he went to the kennel while we enjoyed a few more minutes outside. At one point I said, “You know, we should be on the second floor balcony.” and he said, “It’s awesome that we have that choice, isn’t it?”

Although we won’t be living in the house for another month or so, it’s our (or mostly his for now) and I can’t wait to spend a lot of time in a place full of history, charm, and potential.

So what was in those piles?

Trash: bills, receipts, rotten clothes, broken Christmas decor, moldy boxes, dead rats, syringes, condoms, wire hangers, empty boxes, mildewed clothes…

Yard sale: Enough Christmas stuff to decorate the entire Marigny, cookware, easter decorations, more Christmas decorations, entire boxes of “Be a Bone Marrow Donor” teeshirts (these are going to the homeless shelter), cook books, an entire Christmas tree, Halloween stuff, fuzzy bunnies, five star binders, shoes (mens, size 6 or 7?)…

Keep: The record collection, Nieman Marcus silver serving utensils, blue glass blocks, South Park wind up toys, a copy of Cujo, some yellow mixing bowls, bible spines, altar sashes, letters addressed to the church at our (new) address, one single Christmas decoration, a bronze unicorn statue, a small unicorn magnet, a claw foot tub (for plants in the back yard), a reem of paper, a new chew toy for Boz…

Keep (shock factor): The box of VHS gay porn, signed photos of half naken men that read “Keep on Coming” (among other things)

This reminds me of someone: Christmas ornaments, NOMA event posters from 1985…

H0Ly cr@p! Almost forgot the most exciting find: The sign for the old church.. wood carved, gold painted… the works!

I finally did it… with a little coaxing from a lot of people.

All I wanted to do on Saturday was finally get in some of my community duty for the rollergirls. Instead, (well, in addition) I decided it would be cool to foster this sweet dog that had been eying me up from the get go. I filled out the papers, I brought him home… and although it hasn’t happened yet, he will officially be adopted by the end of the week at the latest (I think)

Will thought it would be pretty cool if we adopted him today, since it’s the anniversary day (just 10 months, not a year) and today is also the day that has something to do with Darwin and the H.M.S. Beagle … or maybe that was yesterday. I don’t know. Scratch that - reverse it.

Yep, that’s right. I’m joining the elite group of people called “dog owners” or the puppy cult. Am I crazy? Maybe. Have I fallen in love with my foster pet? Uh… yeah. Although, I think Mr. Panic is becoming pretty attached himself.

So without further ado… world, meet Bosceaux, Bosceaux, meet the 3 people who read my blog:

I’ll let Panic fill you in on the specifics of his name.

Alright, so the weekend stared off kind of uneventful. I stayed in bed from Friday night on into late Saturday. I was just trying to make myself get over -sick- as soon as possible. Little did I know that I would need the extra hours of sleep in the days to come.

Will and I were out enjoying dinner and drinks with one of his bike buddies (the other computer/bike nerd named Will that wears glasses). On the way from one location to another a couple of people decided it would be fun to race there. Well, Will took off (in his biking shoes nonetheless) and took a nice spill on a grassy concrete rubik’s cube looking area.

I’ll leave the most of the describing up to the other party involved, but I will say that this was my first Emergency Room adventure (that I can remember, anyway). I guess it’s what I expected, but not anything like you see on the tv shows (duh.). He was seen almost immediately (initially) and we were out by 4am with three stitches, crutches, stabilizers, a prescription for vicodin, a super strong antibiotic and the makings of a very fancy “J” shaped scar.

Luckily there is at least one 24 hour pharmacy back in New Orleans a mere two years after complete devastation (thank you Walgreens). I was up and out the door by 7:30 am on Sunday to get rx’s filled and grab some breakfast. We then proceeded to pick up the bikes that were left chained outside the bike shop, make groceries (lots of microwaveable dinners) and watched Real Genius — which, I’m pretty sure is where Will got a good chuck of his smart-assness.

Now see, I have also been slated for a surprise for the last two Sundays. I was not going to be striking out on the third one… bandaged up broken knee or not! (Seriously, just kidding, but SO happy it was followed through).

So, one day a while ago, I let Mr. Busted Knee take my car for errands while I was at practice. He came back telling where he went, including Best Buy where he played Guitar Hero. I was kinda very much a little jealous.

This is just ONE if the reasons that I love Will so much:
The surprise… a borrowed playstation II with copies of Guitar Hero I and II! Holy crap, it was a blast! We took turns playing and by the end of it all, my fingers had gone numb and we knew it was time to turn the game off. But seriously… it’s my new favorite way to waste time. Maybe I’ll even try to get back into real guitar playing one day when I grow up and stop playing derby.

The day wrapped up with a visit from an assortment of people and dinner cooked by Chef Diamond Grrrl, herself. I was thankful. I was tired (no sleep) and claw handed (Guitar Hero) and not really in the mood for a Lean Cuisine. Finally, we played scrabble. I cursed and screamed (because of my gosh darn competitive nature) and came in second place.

Best word of the night, “eh” and “eh” followed almost immediately by “er”.

Tonight, exercise was put on the back burner. Instead, it was grocery stores, chopping, simmering, mixing, baking and preparing.

I started with a turkey chili recipe from my new Weight Watchers cook book. I just bought this one today because it was ten bucks and I actually understood what most of the ingredients were for most of the recipes. (Pure Comfort: 150 all-time feel-good favorites)
Points Value: 4 points per serving (total 4 servings)

As the chili simmered, I moved on to onion rings (also in the WW cook book). I then proceeded to eat every single one with about half a cup of ketchup. By the time I chowed down on the last onion ring, the chili was cooked and left uneaten. I separated it neatly into four containers for lunch and dinner tomorrow, then dinner again on Friday (because I’m almost certain that Friday lunch is reserved for sushi with the gals at work) and of course lagniappe. I’m sure I’ll either eat it upon my return from Austin or maybe even before I leave as lunch.
Points Value: 1 point per serving
(I had four plus 2 points for the amount of ketchup I used)

And last, I made the most delicious tasting cake batter in the whole world (haven’t tried the cake yet). It is chocolate pudding cake or some nonsense. It sure does smell good. I’m going to bring it to work so that I’m not tempted to eat all 9 servings.
Points Value: 3 points per serving

I added some miscellaneous points for all the tasting that I did though out the night..
Points Value: appx 4

AND I finally had all the right things at the same time to make gram cracker treats: low-fat gram crackers, snapped in half, with a tablespoon of fat free whipped topping in the middle. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. The crackers are a point a piece and the whipped stuff is so close to one point a serving, that I just used half a serving, therefore it’s zero points.
Points Value: 1 point per snack

Total Points Value in the kitchen tonight: 60
(That is if I counted correctly on my fingers — and dinner and snacks were only 10. Unless you count the soy milk, because I forgot about it until just now. I probably broke even for the day.)

Oh yeah, and at weigh in, I lost 4 pounds since the last time (two weeks ago because last week’s meeting was canceled). That’s a total of 14 pounds, but I still consider myself in the red. At my lowest weight, I had lost 18.6 pounds. That’s my first milestone, to reach 18.6 again. After that it is to get past that hump and make it to 20 pounds. All in all I would like to lose a total of 25 pounds, I guess.

You can say that doesn’t sound like a lot compared to some people who lost 80 pounds, or like the two guys who lost 15 pounds each since the last weigh in. It’s a lot when it’s a constant struggle. I like food. I like to eat food. I just have to try to spend most of my eating time eating good food.

Derby will only keep so many pounds off. And the day that I stop derbying and stop biking and running is the day I’ll be in big trouble.