And He Sticks the Landing!

So, I took Special K out for a very special dinner last night at Vidalia, my favorite-est restaurant in the city. Everything from the service to the food has always been excellent every time I’ve been there, and I just love, love, love it. We had a great time together, talking about all kinds of things past and present, and were being all ooey-gooey with each other. It was cute. In preparation for the evening’s events, I was wearing my new very favorite dress (which I managed to get a splash of something on – it is now at my favorite gas station drycleaner in the hopes that my green silk dress will be lovely and beautiful and splash-free soon), and Special K had also gone shopping and bought a few new items that he wore for the occasion. Including new dress shoes.

Now, what is one of the first things you should always do when you get new dress shoes?

What’s that, you say?

If you said “scuff them”, then you would be correct.

Do you know what happens when you don’t scuff them? Right.

As we were walking down the set of four steps from the upper level of the dining room in Vidalia, heading to the restrooms and then upstairs to retrieve the car, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. The thing I noticed was the reflection in the mirror of Special K, who had been walking behind me down the steps, flailing down the last step, limbs akimbo, and arriving in a heap of wool crepe at the bottom of the stairs. He managed NOT to do a face-plant, and NOT to plummet into the chairs in front of him, and actually had one of his feet underneath him, landing in a kneeling position. This was not, however, a horrifyingly elaborate way of getting down on bended knee to propose. Which is fortunate, as I was doubled over laughing.

I think it took us about 20 minutes or so to regain our composure, because whenever either one of us would calm down, the other managed to start laughing again. I think we had almost made it back to my house by the time calm reigned, and then we had to describe the scene to Brunette. Whereupon we started laughing again.

Happily, there was no permanent injury to life, limb, or dignity.

Ah, the good times.

Curious

So, I’m just wondering about something. How is it that the guys who work in the garage where I park my car manage to reach the pedals of my car, if they’re a good head shorter than me and always push the seat back? *I* can’t even reach the pedals that way.

Says Sam to me, “It’s a mystery, more deep than words can utter…”

(My mom and possibly my brother are the only two people likely to get the reference.)

I’m off to some public meetings, for which I’m supposed to be perky and engaging and über-helpful. I’ll see what I can do about that, but no promises. I figure I’m halfway there by looking somewhat professional. It helps that we don’t actually have to know much just yet.

Tomorrow I’m taking the day off, as I’ll be in Richmond catching up with my cousin. Then tomorrow night, it’s back up here for a very special occasion dinner with Special K. I was going to make him dinner, but then I figured that no cooking or cleaning would make it more special all the way around. So that’s the plan.

In case I don’t get to post tomorrow (and I probably won’t), I’d just like to wish my parents a very, very happy anniversary. Not too many people make it to 37 years together these days, and I feel so very lucky to have them as parents, and have their example of marriage and commitment to look up to. So, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Alrighty – that’s enough out of me for one day.

Barbecue-licious

I’ve been in the South for work, and one of my favorite things about making this trip (this is my fourth) is the barbecue. I was vegetarian (a real one – no meat, fish, poultry – nothing. I wasn’t, however, vegan. Because that’s just too much work..) for 15 years with no regrets, but I fell off the wagon almost a year ago. It definitely was helpful in some of my travels abroad, but in my domestic travels, it just means that I get to enjoy yummy things like Southern-style barbecue! Mmm…pulled pork.

Reminds me of a t-shirt that almost made me snort with laughter:

Meat Is Murder.
Tasty, Tasty Murder.

This particular town is one that is a contrast of Old South, with historic charm and character, and the somewhat typical military town, with tons of military consignment stores, places like Guns Plus, Uptown Undies Exotic Lingerie, and more “gentlemen’s clubs” than you can shake a stick at. There was even an amateur “cabaret” night at one of the clubs. Cabaret of the “GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS!!!” variety. Not singing and tap dancing. Ah…if only I had a marabou-trimmed bikini and a predilection for hooker shoes, I might be able to try my hand at pole dancing and walk away with a nice chunk of prize money!

Or not.

In any case, I can tell when I’m in the South, because people are a lot nicer than they need to be. Not that they’re too nice, and I’ve really never found people from the north to be rude in general, and when you almost bump into someone at home, they will likely say “excuse me”. What they won’t do is apologize and then ask you how you’re doing and say that they hope you have a good day. They don’t particularly care if you have a good day. It’s not that they wish you a *bad* day, they just aren’t invested enough in you to give you another thought beyond cursory politeness. And really – that’s all I ask anyway.

My brother and his family have officially left the DC area for Austin, Texas, and as much as I will miss them tremendously, I hope it turns out to be a good move for them. So far, they seem to be happy, and I hope that continues to be the case. I’m bummed out that they’re now 1500 miles away, instead of 15 minutes, but I should really just look at it as an opportunity to rack up some more frequent flyer miles, right? Besides, Christmas in Austin is likely to be nice and warm and pleasant. No snow, but no frostbite, either. (Glass is half full, glass is half full…) So anyway - in case you're reading, Texas contingent of the family, I love you and miss you!

I feel as though I need to have a short time-out to gather my thoughts or something – work has been crazy and surprising things are happening quickly in my personal life – gah! I know that some things at work have slipped because I’m either feeling overloaded or unable to concentrate, and I’m not happy with that. So what to do? I ordered my new running shoes (it was time), and really want to make time to get to the gym in the mornings – it makes a big difference in my ability to concentrate, my energy level, and my general ability to keep things sorted out in my head. I also think I have the monkey that is the Yemen project off my back for good – so that makes me *really* happy. Of course, I’ve thought that before and it has reared its ugly head. We shall have to see.

I’m heading up to NY next weekend with Special K, so that should be really fun – seeing old friends, and our first road trip…oooh. The following weekend, some more friends are coming down here, which I’ve been looking forward to for months, so that should be a lot of fun as well. So…much…going…on!

Okay, I’m done now.