Sometimes Karma Works In Your Favor

Yesterday, I was asked at the very last minute to go over to the Dexter Avenue King Baptist Church for a photo shoot. (For those of you who aren’t in the area, this is the historic landmark where MLK preached from 1954-1960.) I didn’t want to be IN a photo because my face is a little “peely” from the sun I got at the beach. But when I got there, the co-worker who was supposed to be taking the photo had not arrived. It was hot out there and all the other volunteers were whining about not wanting to wait out there too long. I just happened to have my new camera in my car. So I volunteered to take the photos myself. My ulterior motives of course were, if I was TAKING the photos I didn’t have to be IN the photos.

This morning, as I grab my camera out of the car so I can upload the photos to my computer at work, I look around and realize that I left my camera bag at the church. And not just AT the church, but on a bench outside the front of the church. I had my camera, but not the lens cap, cords, manual, extra batteries, charger and $100 bag. I drove back by the church but I already knew it wouldn’t have survived a night in downtown Montgomery.

I trudge into the office and ask the secretary to contact the church and make sure no one there happened to see it and pick it up for me. I seriously doubted this would be the case. I had pretty much accepted that it was gone. They hadn’t seen it.

So I get to my desk and I’m telling a co-worker what happened. And I can’t believe what he tells me. The co-worker who was supposed to take the photos in the first place, showed up very shortly after we’d left, recognized my camera bag and she has it with her!! For once, karma has worked in my favor! I am so thrilled. And I am extremely lucky. What are the chances that someone I knew would be the person to find it?

Note to self: Get an ID tag for your camera bag!

What Better Than a Blue Dancing Gorilla?

I mean, really? I consider myself fairly savvy when it comes to marketing schemes. It does happen to be what I went to school to do. But sometimes, I just totally can't understand what the marketing team was thinking when they came up with their campaign. This is one of them. What in the world does a blue dancing gorilla have to do with getting a degree? And if you don't have time to go back to school, shouldn't you be busy working rather than playing with the dancing gorilla? As you roll over the gorilla, he dances and when you scroll off of him he stops. Seriously people. Think again.


I also got the following e-mail the other day. Normally I don't pay too much attention to crap mail, but my interest in becoming a writer lead me to at least skim the e-mail. It's well designed and someone obviously spent some time and money on it. But apparently, the writing classes offered do not include lessons on proofreading as they encourage you to get "accedited" today!

With a Hint of Salsa

I ran to the grocery store on my lunch break today. I am expecting company for dinner and thought I’d save time by picking up all the ingredients this afternoon. I swing by my house to stick the groceries in the fridge and let out the dog I am sitting. I head to the front door and one of the plastic bags begins to tear. And why is it, that when a grocery bag tears, the only item that hits the ground is the one in a glass jar? You got it. I am now sporting my nice black strappy sandals with a hint of thick and chunky salsa. Not only did it break splattering salsa all over my shoe and between my toes, but it managed to cut my leg as well. Go figure.

So, I go in and eat lunch sitting on the couch and I keep getting a whiff of something awful. I figure the dog has made a mess and begin checking all around for it. But I don’t find anything. Finally, when she is sitting next to me on the couch I figure it out. The dog is farting. Silent farts, but most definitely deadly farts.

So, I get back to my office and a co-worker is working on my computer for a bit. My office phone rings and its my mother, so I answer anyway. The following conversation occurs… and bear in mind my co-worker can only here one end of it.

Mom: Are you busy?
Me: No, I just got back from lunch.
Mom: So, how is Pookie [dog] doing?
Me: She’s good but I think her stomach is upset.
Mom: Oh no, did she poop on your floor?
Me: No, but she smells really bad!

{{co-worker looks at me with her mouth hanging open}}

Me: A dog, not a person.
Co-Worker: Good, cause I was going to say I wouldn’t want to be your friend.

I seriously think at first she thought I was talking about her. Nice.

Excuse me, is that a fungus?

Scott and I had our trip to the beach this weekend. We got in pretty late on Thursday night. Once settled into our room, we grabbed a blanket and headed over to the beach with a little flashlight. We laid out there for hours listening to the waves, watching little sand crabs pop up and talking about all the things we normally don’t have time to discuss. It was a really good start to the trip.

Friday afternoon, we made our drinks and packed our cooler and headed back out onto the beach. The weather was great. Hot, but great. After sitting on our blanket for just a little while, I decided I better go ahead and put some sunscreen on. I had a can of SPF 15 that sprays on and thought I’d just put some on my chest and shoulders. I pulled out the can and pointed it at my chest, pushed the button, and the can basically spit on me. Just a few little spurty bubbles came out. I guess we had used it all the previous weekend at a pool party. I have a pretty good base tan so I figured I would be alright and had some SPF 50 if completely necessary.

So we enjoyed the afternoon swimming and meeting other people on the beach. Scott is far more social and less shy than I am, and so we met several very interesting people while there. He always amazes me with his ability to meet and hold conversations with perfect strangers. I wish I were more like that.

After about five hours on the beach, Scott looked cooked. Despite my insistence that he needed some sunscreen, he never applied any. When we got back to the room, I noticed that I was a bit pink myself. Upon further inspection, I noticed something that looked like a fungus growing up my chest. It took me a few minutes to realize exactly what it was. Everywhere that the sunscreen had “spit” on me had left little white circles and everywhere else was red. Luckily, now a couple of days later the red has faded and I don’t think you can tell anymore. But that just goes to show just how well even SPF 15 works!

And on a side note, the great conversation on Thursday night did include some discussion about commitment and the future of our relationship. Nothing was necessarily decided, but I was able to express my concerns and let him know how I’m feeling and what I’m thinking. I don’t know which direction that will drive him, but I do know that I got through to him and made an impact. He knows that he’s got to figure out what it is that he wants. I can only hope that in the end, he decides that he wants the same things that I do. For now, I’ve decided to give him a little more room to breathe, think and hopefully to miss me. So, we’ll see how it goes. Wish me luck!

Found

I found this shopping list in a book store a couple of weeks ago. I read it, laughed and then laid it back down. Then, I remembered Found Magazine / Found Blog! I went back and picked it up. My favorite part is that Condoms is at the top of the "other" list and that he needs to remember to bring 8 pairs of "draws." Hilarious!

A Big Day

I usually post all of my blogs both on here and on MySpace. That started when MySpace got firewalled at work, I could post on blogger then copy it to MySpace when I got home. But lately, I've been posting a little differently, because completely different sets of people read each blog. Scott, for one, only reads the blog on MySpace so I feel like I can post things on here that I might not post on there. Like this one...

Thursday, July 10th Scott and I have officially been dating a year. We are taking a trip to the beach for the weekend to celebrate. In my eyes, a year is a huge milestone. Yes, I've been in several other long term relationships (a 7-year and a 3-year) but I still feel like making it to the year mark is kind of a defining moment? You seem to either make it only a few months or you make it a really long time? I hope that makes sense. To me it does.

For those of you who don't know, Scott is about 10 years older than me. He's also been in a previous very long term relationship. It lasted for 10 years and never resulted in a marriage or any children. At first, I was thankful for that... in the sense that I've found someone who comes without the baggage of a divorce and/or children. But lately, I've wondered whether its a good thing or not.

We've reached this milestone and I feel like its time to make some sort of decisions? I know that I want to get married and have children. And we often have the "if we get married" or "if we have children" talks. But he freezes up when it comes really talking about it. He also has trouble freely saying I love you. I tell him almost daily. Sometimes I get a "You know I do" or sometimes even a "ditto." But only Patrick Swayze can get away with the ditto business. Scott is no Patrick Swayze.

Scott's mother died in a car accident when he was only 13 years old. Obviously, the suddeness of her death has caused him a lot of problems. Any time I bring up his difficulty with expressing his feelings, he blames it on losing his mother. It's not that I doubt this is the truth, but I feel like its always the conversation ender. Like, "Well, my mom died." And what else can I say to that? And if it is the truth, then I think after more than 20 years, its time to talk to a counselor of some kind and deal with it? Am I wrong?

Anyway, my reason for this post is... I feel like this weekend is going to be my breaking point. I haven't given him sort of ultimatum or anything. I wouldn't do that. I'm not stupid. I want Scott to want to marry me, not be bullied into it. I just feel like a year is enough time to be able to make a decision about what he wants? If he just never wants to get married, I think its only fair that he let me know so that I can move on and look for someone who does. I'm not saying I want a ring this weekend, but I do need to see some sort of progress. I need a sign that we are on the same page and headed in the same general direction with this relationship.

I know that a lot of my hurry is based on the inconveniences of this relationship and I try not to let that be a huge influence. But Scott lives an hour away and works almost every weekend. This requires me to most of the driving back and forth. Might I remind you of the price of gas? Not to mention the time. I get a lot of thinking done on those drives, but after a year, I'm ready for a change. I don't think that is asking too much.

Is it?