Look what I found in my garden! A HUGE cucumber! 

Weekend Review

Friday night went really well! Chris is a very nice guy, and we had a great time talking and eating Mexican food. Right in the middle of dinner, this teenager came up to the table and, looking directly at me, said, "Mom, can I please have the keys? The car is getting really hot." I did not recognize this kid and didn't know what he was talking about! I said, "I don't know you!" But he persisted, "Mom, really, can I just have the keys?" Then Annie and her friend Becca and Janet all came around the corner laughing. (I had mentioned to Janet that morning where Chris and I were meeting.) Chris took it all in stride and politely met everyone. And Annie introduced me to my "son," Emmanuel.

After dinner, Chris showed me his house in Frisco. It's very nice and surprisingly (for a bachelor) well-decorated! We enjoyed some wine and more conversation. Since we both work for or with pharmaceutical companies, we understand each other's work and can talk easily about the challenges. He asked me out for Saturday night.

We both had busy Saturdays, running errands and such, and by evening, I was pretty worn-out. We decided to see a movie, Batman Begins. It was great! We caught a quick dinner at Pei Wei before the movie, and afterwards came back to my house. He was very complimentary of my house and asked lots of questions about my decorations and the work I've done on the house. (He was very impressed with your patio cover, too, Daddy.) Then he asked, "Do you play cards?"

I haven't found many men who enjoy playing cards, but I love playing games of all sorts. I found a pack, and he suggested Gin Rummy. I beat him every single hand! I really wasn't trying all that hard, but it became comical. Chris was a good loser and didn't take it too seriously.

So, in summary, he's a great guy who's a lot of fun. Cute, smart, tall, nice manners... I think I'll see him again. (In case you were wondering, this is the first guy since my break-up last year that has lasted past 2 dates!)

Something to Look Forward To

I haven't written for awhile because I've been travelling. After Seattle was a trip to Houston for my niece and nephew's 2-year-old birthday party, then Philadelphia for a new business pitch, and now I'm in New York for another new business pitch. I'm looking forward to being home this weekend.

And exciting news! I have a DATE on Friday!!! After not having any luck with eHarmony, I decided to try Match.com for a few months. I actually still had an inactive account with them from a short stint in 2001. It was interesting reading my descriptions of myself that I had written at that time. I'm in a different place now...more independent, more comfortable with myself.

I've been emailing back and forth with this guy, Chris. He's not originally from Dallas or Texas (a big plus in my book). He's 33, 6'2", a pharmaceutical sales rep, never married (but engaged once), and he's got a great sense of humor. We talked for the first time last night (while I was stuck in Chicago) and ended up talking for an hour. So far, everything seems good, so we agreed to meet for drinks and maybe dinner on Friday. I'll let you know how it goes!

A New Challenge

Inspired by my buff, athletic, older sis, I have agreed to join her in the Women's Adventure Race. (Part of me is thinking, what the hell are you doing?)

Jennifer just finished her first triathlon, and I've warned her that I will most likely slow her down, but she assured me this race is fun and suited for beginners.

It has three parts: running, biking and a water leg in which you use a watercraft/floating device you have bought or made. I'm most concerned with the running. Currently, I don't run. I've never considered myself a runner. I consider myself an asthmatic.

But, I'm excited about taking on this challenge! I've never been very athletic, (oh, who I am I kidding, I've never been AT ALL athletic), but I think if I start slow and work my way up, I can make it through the race. At lunch today, I bought some good running shoes as a financial and emotional commitment. Now, I just have to get a bike...

Home Sweet (Hot as Hell) Home

Regretfully, I had to leave beautiful Seattle and the warm, welcoming home of the Brooks Family to return to my demanding job and the ever-present Texas heat. When I boarded the plane in Seattle, it was 61*. When we landed here, it was 91* at 8:30 p.m. Ugh. The heat hits you like a wall and zaps your strength.

I'm really dragging ass today... partially due to the two hour time change and partially due to having to work instead of play. And my next two weeks are going to be crazy busy: I'm travelling on Friday to Houston for the twins' 2nd birthday party, leaving there on Sunday to fly to Philadelphia for a pitch on Monday. I'll be in the office on Tuesday, and I leave again on Wednesday for New York for another pitch. At least I'm racking up the frequent flier miles, but each of those trips is on a different airline.

I had such a good time in Seattle. It's really scenic, and so different from Dallas. I still can't believe I've been here 11 years, and part of me yearns for a change.

Oh, one funny story I forgot to tell in my previous post. When Lindsey took me out with her friends on Friday night, I was talking to this guy at the bar. The guy next to him, who at first I thought was with the guy I was talking to, asked me who I was there with. I motioned that I was there with my cousin, and saw the look on Lindsey's face when he approached her. So I asked him a question to get him away from her. I can't remember what the question was, but when he replied, I told him not to lie to me because I was a cop and could tell if someone was lying. He had heard I was from Dallas and said, "You're a cop in Dallas? There's some bad stuff going on there." And I nodded, saying "Yeah, it's some scary shit." He also grabbed my bicep and his eyes widened when I flexed. (I have been working out, you know.) The guise did the trick...he backed off and left us alone, and I called out to him, "Now, you be careful tonight." ha ha ha!

Watching the sea otters at the Aquarium 

"Lindsey, stand on your porch and wave so we can see you from the Space Needle!" 

Seattle Aquarium touch pool 

Cheese slab going through grater 

Pike's Market 

The Great Northwest

I'm in Seattle for a few days, visiting my Aunt Cathy, Uncle Buck and cousins -- Kelley (27) and Lindsey (23). It's beautiful and COOL -- such a welcome change from the sweltering heat in Dallas.

Yesterday, Kelley & Cathy took me to Pike's Market, an open-air market for local farmers and merchants, famous for its fish-throwing. There are several street performers and musicians, too, and they told me how my niece Anna unabashedly danced to the music when she visited. (I tried to resist that temptation.) We visited the original Starbuck's, and I couldn't help but think how my ex-boyfriend Rod would have loved to say he'd been there. (When we travelled, we always had to find the local Starbuck's and take his picture by the sign.) I was surprised that the original is not as commercialized. It looks like a very simple, all brown, none of the trademark green that you see so prevalent in their other stores.

We had lunch at a cheese-making place, known for their curds. "Curd" is such a weird word. Not very appetizing, although the cheese was tasty. We ate at the counter which overlooked their glassed-in operation. These two men were using snow shovels to move the large amounts of cheese around. They fed large slabs of cheese into a shredder, forming the curds. The slabs were white and resembled fat. It was kind of disgusting and fascinating at the same time!

Later, Cathy and I had dinner with Lindsey at a great pizza place overlooking the water. We were across the bay from the city, and it was a beautiful evening. Lindsey took me out with her friends to a couple of local bars. At one point, she asked me who I was looking at, and said, "The one with the bald spot?" (Poor guy was thinning, but not exactly bald.) I just laughed and said he looked more my age than hers. I guess as I've gotten older, whether or not a guy has hair is not a requirement.

Today, we're planning on going down to the waterfront for seafood and a visit to the Aquarium. Seems a bit of a contradiction, but I guess it's just two ways of enjoying the bounties of the sea.

You gotta kiss a lot of frogs...

After my exciting novel-reading Friday, last Saturday, I needed some company. I called a couple people, but no one was around, so I headed out solo to a bar in Addison that is trying to mimic an English pub. It actually made me "homesick" for a traditional English pub, where you can just sit and have a pint and chat with the locals. Really, I was just hoping for some conversation, and maybe a little harmless flirting!

This place was PACKED. I watched several people for awhile and saw a guy that seemed to be on his own. I noticed he was wearing cowboy boots with his jeans, and the bar was playing pretty classic rock. So I asked him if this was his type of music. He broke out in a charming grin and shook his head, "No, not really!"

We talked for a long time. He was cute, about 6 foot, brown hair, blue eyes. Something about him reminded me a little of my high school boyfriend, Shane. His name is Lance, he's 35, and he was sporting a sunburn from coaching 11-year-olds baseball earlier that day. I asked if he had a kid on the team, and he said no, no kids, and told me he was in the middle of a divorce. I can relate to that and told him so because he seemed embarrassed to have to tell me he wasn't legally single yet.

We exchanged phone numbers, and I kissed him before I left. He wasn't a great kisser, though. He kinda rushed in with his tongue, and I like to start a little slower with just closed mouth kisses. I tried to lead by example, but it wasn't working.

Lance called me last night, and told me he'd like to see me again. :-) He also said he would have to be careful about seeing me because of the impending divorce. I told him again that I understood and wouldn't mind if he wanted to wait until it was final. Well...it turns out he hasn't exactly even filed yet! I started asking questions, and it also turns out he still lives with his wife and she doesn't know she's a soon-to-be-ex! WHOA!!!

I told him I don't want to be part of a domestic dispute. I like my life simple, and when (if?) he gets a divorce, he can call me up then.

Mi Cocina

My favorite Mexican food restaurant in Dallas is Mi Cocina. I've been to almost all of their locations, from Richardson to Highland Park. And I was thrilled when I moved to Valley Ranch to find one there.

Most of the waiters and staff know me by now. I go in there probably once a week. One of my favorite times is late Saturday morning for brunch. I take a magazine and eat Chilequiles, scrambled eggs mixed with tomatoes, onions, jalapenos and tortilla strips, served with beans, a side salad and tortillas. Mmm... And Mi Cocina's salsa is simply the best. I usually eat at least two bowls-full.

This past Saturday, I slept in late after an exciting evening of novel-reading. (I got caught up in this book and was crying when one of the characters got close to death from cancer. I had to finish it and ended up reading until 1:40 a.m.) So I decided to go to brunch with Oprah magazine at my local Mi Cocina. No makeup, hair in ponytail, workout clothes on for my gym visit later in the day.

I'm sitting there enjoying my solitude and Oprah articles when I notice at one of the other tables is this guy from work that I have a huge crush on! (He started working for the company in December. He's gorgeous and so nice and unfortunately practically engaged.) He's eating with two women, one of whom I assume is his almost-fiance (who's BEAUTIFUL), and he's facing my direction. Oh, please, don't notice me on today of all days. I know he lives downtown, and I was a little peeved he was at MY Mi Cocina.

I managed to avoid any "meetings of the eyes" and slunk out as unobtrusively as possible. My waiter held the door for me and said "See you tomorrow!"
(No, I don't go that often. It was a joke!)

My Bed Partner

If you know me very well, you know I love my sleep. Sleep is very important to everyone's overall health. There are studies that show that most Americans don't get an adequate amount of sleep, and most experts agree you should get 8 hours a night. I do really well on 9.

I realize my sisters (and all other mothers) are probably rolling their eyes at this point. I know, when I took care of Jenn's kids for a week, I didn't get enough sleep either. But I'm single. I have to deal with occasional loneliness, but I get to sleep.

Or so you would think.

I have a darling cat, Sabrina, who is 11 years old. She has lasted longer than any man in my life (excluding you, Daddy), and she is very special to me. She greets me when I come home at night and snuggles with me. She's very loving and has quite a personality. While you make think I'm biased, I've actually had friends of mine who are admittedly dog-only people who have actually agreed that Sabrina is pretty cool, even if she is a cat.

Sabrina has a couple of bad habits, though. For one, she seems to have separation anxiety (diagnosed by Dr. Jenn) and protests my absence by pooping in the front living room. On the one hand, I'm grateful it's not urine, because cat urine is a stink that is difficult to find where they did it and impossible to rid your house of the smell. But...the front living room is supposed to be the "formal" living room. Okay, not that I have much furniture in there (nothing to sit on), but still. It is the first place people walk into. Okay, not many people are walking into it other than me. Let's just say I'm tired of picking up poop everyday.

And before you give me suggestions, believe me, I've tried it. For example:
I've put an extra litter box in the room. She pooped in it once and then pooped around it.
I've sprayed the floor with some kind of avoidance spray. I think I heard her laugh, and she pooped on it anyway.
On Saturday, I actually walked into the room while she was pooping in the corner. "NOOOO!" I yelled at her. She kept looking at me, still hunched over, with that "pushing" expression on her face. "NO, Sabrina! Bad girl! No!" I clapped and yelled. Still pooping. I picked her up and threw her outside. I was so pissed she wasn't even phased by my interruption. (And I thought it was separation anxiety? I was HOME.)

The other bad habit is that she feels the need to wake me during the night to pet her. The poop presents are one thing, but now you're messing with my sleep?!? She will knock anything off my nightstand, swiping it with her paw to hit the wall and onto the floor. So I have removed everything from the nightstand except the lamp. But she stands up on her back paws to rub the side of her face against the lampshade, causing the lamp to wobble and sway. I wake groggily to the thump, thump of the lamp. Or, for variety, she will stretch so her front paws are balanced on the headboard and swing the painting above my head. Both of these noises I now recognize and awaken instantly with "NO, Sabrina!" After initially running away, she jumps up on the bed beside me, purring, as if to say, "Oh, you're awake? Wouldn't you like to pet me?"

This morning it was 5 a.m. Of course, after the initial NO, I try to reason with her, "Five o'clock is WAY too early!"

Yes, I talk to my cat. For example, every day when I leave, I tell her goodbye and tell her not to poop in the front room.

Sabrina 

A Funny

"Cash, check or charge?" I asked, after folding items the woman wished to purchase. As she fumbled for her wallet I noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse.

"So, do you always carry your TV remote?" I asked.

"No," she replied, " but my husband refused to come shopping with me, and I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him legally."

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This just cracked me up! One of the things I love about living alone is never having to share the remote.