Stranded

This morning I got up much earlier than usual in hopes of getting to school early to be productive. However, when I found myself dressed and ready to go at 5:05 AM I realized that if I left right then, there was the distinct possibility that I'd actually get to school before the building was unlocked. And since sitting around in my apartment seemed better than sitting around in my car I decided to wait a bit at home.

I had just begun burning a CD of Mike's DJ Dial-tone music to listen to in my car when I heard a knock on the window behind me. I turned around and saw a girl, who seemed to be about nineteen or twenty years old, sheepishly looking through the window. I tossed on my coat and went outside to see what she wanted.

Now, let me say that this is by no means a normal occurance in my neighborhood. When I leave for work at my usual time, around 5:45, no houses are lit up and there are few cars out. But at 5:10 I was too sleepy to think it was odd that a stranger would be tapping on my window.

She sheepishly told me that she was here to pick somebody up, and that she had found the intersection that he lived near, but that she didn't know which apartment he was in. And she couldn't call him because her cell phone was dying.

"It's okay," I said. "We have a cordless phone. Let me go get it." So I went back inside and got our phone. When I returned to the porch she was trying in vain to get her cell phone to stay on long enough to get his number.

"I can't get this to work," she said. "Could I come inside and plug this in? I'm not insane, I swear."

"It's fine, come on in," I said, too out of it to consider what would happen if she wasn't as sane as she claimed. She had her charger with her, and once her phone was plugged in she was able to call her friend and find out just where he lived. The talked for awhile, with her trying to explain that yes, she was in a stranger's house, no, not out in her car, yes, in the neighborhood, no, not on that street, et cetera. During their conversation I went into the bedroom to wake Mike.

"Hey, someone's here. She's stranded and using our phone," I said. "Just stay in here."

Mike was pretty groggy. "You're out there watching her, right?" he asked.

"Of course," I replied, as if I wouldn't leave her alone for a second, even though it was obvious I was in there with him.

After the girl had settled everything she apologized for the inconvenience and left. I left soon after, not nearly as early as I would have liked.

At the time it all made perfect sense. But in retrospect, it's weird. Who visits their friend at 5 AM? Who goes to a stranger's house to plug in their phone? Who carries around a plug-in charger but doesn't have a car charger?

Weird.

Poe Meme

Yes! Stolen from Dykewife!

You scored as The Raven. the crow... this shows that you might not feel like you have a true grip on life. you may jump to conclusions to make you feel safer which don't last. The Raven 88% The Sleeper 38% Annabel Lee 31% Which Edgar Allan Poe poem are you? created with QuizFarm.com

The new diet

I am on a diet again. This is because I'm on a mission to look better than all of Mike's friends' girlfriends, so I figured I should either buy some new clothes or lose ten pounds. I was all set with the Visa card when, unfortunately, my doctor informed me that losing ten pounds would be far better for me than a couple of new sweaters. So here I am.

This is only the third time in my life that I've dieted, but the routine is familiar. I went grocery shopping on Tuesday night with Mike and I bought all my new stuff. I'm following the Special K diet, which means I had to get some Special K cereal, skim milk, meal bars, snack bars, and one bottle of protein water to try. With the various boxes I also got a new feeling of hope. How could I fail with a plan so attractively pre-packaged?

I figured that the routine would fit into my life easily. It asks you to replace one meal with a meal bar (which is easy, as I usually eat granola bars or candy bars for breakfast anyway), one meal with Special K, skim milk, and fruit (that's lunch), two snack bars as snacks, and then a normal dinner. Throughout the day you can drink some protein water and eat some fruit if you're still hungry. I was pleased because I could still cook and eat the same food that Mike would be eating at the end of the day. Also, this seemed like something I could keep up. Awesome!

Unfortunately, I had chosen a bad day to start my diet. It was a Wednesday, which meant that rather than seeing kids for therapy it was the one day where I'd spend most of my time doing paperwork and sitting at my desk. Which, incidentally, is where my lunch bag is. By 9:15 AM I'd already eaten my meal bar and snack bars, and most of my protein water was gone. By 11 AM everything was gone except for the cereal, and that was only because my milk was in the refrigerator in the teachers' lounge, which is halfway across the school. When I had my lunch break at noon I went to McDonald's, because I was still hungry.

"I'm starving!" I wailed to Nicole, one of the teachers.

"You're not starving, not really," she said.

"It's malnourishment!" I said dramatically. "I'll probably pass out and die!"

I recovered by eating cereal for dinner, thereby sticking to the plan, but I don't think that the creators of the diet really thought that your "normal" meal would consist of chicken tenders and fries.

I'm doing better today...it's my lunch period as I type this, and I ate my cereal, milk, and fruit, and had my various bars for breakfast. I have one apple left as an afternoon snack. I have water to drink and a spaghetti dinner to look forward to tonight.

Well, I'll look forward to it if I don't pass out and die. It's malnourishment, you know.

The Wedding Rings

weddingring
Originally uploaded by Lucky Haskins.

Jen asked what my wedding rings looked like. I guess I never posted a photo of them. Anyway, here they are. We bought the two rings separately, at different stores, so it's just luck that they fit so well together.

And please excuse my cuticles. They're a mess, I know.

The Ring Check

Jen has introduced her readers to a neat site called the Silver Jewelry Club. Basically it's a promotion by a larger jewelry site where you can get "free" gemstone jewelry. I put free in quotation marks because you have to pay shipping and handling, and that's $5.99. I'm sure it doesn't take six bucks to mail me a little pendant in a padded envelope, but whatever, it's still really cheap and they have some pretty stuff.

One thing I've liked in particular is the blue topaz jewelry. Blue topaz is my birthstone and I have a tough time finding pieces that I like because blue topaz comes in many shades, most of them ugly. However, the stuff they have is a very pretty shade of blue. I already ordered the aforementioned pendant, and I keep an eye out for more stuff that I might like.

One day I saw a blue topaz ring in my size, and I almost ordered it, but then I hesitated. I don't wear any jewelry on my hands other than my wedding rings, and it's for a reason. Since my engagement ring is a sapphire most people didn't realize that I was actually engaged. Adding wedding band helps people know what it is somewhat, but since it matches the engagement ring so well at first glance it just looks like one big, fancy birthstone ring. I want it to be clear that I'm married so nobody will hit on me, so I figured that avoiding wearing rings on my hands would make my wedding rings look more like wedding rings, and not just like I enjoy wearing jewelry on my hands.

But then I remembered something that Mike told me awhile ago...he said that men don't do a ring check.

This surprised me a lot because women always check for rings. It's almost a reflex. I'm not saying that a wedding ring will stop certain women, but you still usually check. If I'm at work I still check since I have a single co-worker who's perpetually looking for a cute guy, and if I'm not at work I check to see if I need to be on the lookout for flirtation. The fact that the ring check is not an automatic thing for all guys just boggles me.

Of course, I think that part of it comes down to shyness. Some guys will talk to a pretty woman whether she's married or not, just to talk to her and look at her for awhile. For me, if I'm going to go through the trouble of actually interacting with someone, I'd better have a good reason. Flirting with a cute guy, back when I was single? Good reason. Pleasant human interaction? Not so motivating. I'd even go so far as to avoid talking to a paramedic after I'd been in a gruesome accident, because I'd be thinking, Sure, I could talk to this guy. Or, I could just wait for the doctor. I couldn't imagine putting forth all your efforts only to find out that the object of your affection isn't available.

So come on, guys. Take the path of least resistance and just check the left hand before you start chatting us up. I mean, I checked yours. And by the way, I have this really great friend...