Hmm.... Am still in Boston. I flew in and out of Boston because otherwise my frequent flier restrictions would had me passing through Detroit with long layovers to get to White Plains, and this way, I could visit with Stephen if I had time and have Amanda pick me up, etc. (Thanks for the chauffering, by the way. ;)

Got to see Jillian and Nikki, too, as I, somehow, didn't manage to visit them since ringing in 2002 slightly more than a year ago. It was nice to see you!

Stephen and I wandered up and down Newbury Street today, window-shopping and stopping in all the (heated and not frighteningly windy and cold) stores that, in one way or another, resemble the Imaginary Store Alissa and I hope to have. They were all staffed by one "nearly-comatose-with-boredom" person, usually a young woman, who all said business had been really, really slow. After commiserating about the boredom working most regular retail can induce (which, as some of you may remember, nearly reduced me to a compulsive tshirt-folding, mentally Spanish verb-conjugating, "tights, panties and things" stocking zombie in the summer of '97), it occurred to me that we really do need to implement the Dial-A-Friend service that the character of "Nanny" dreams up in the "Nanny Diaries."

In this book, Nan- driven crazy by the incessant demands of her snobby and neurotic employers- fantasizes about having the ability to just call up a service and have them send over an Instant Friend, bearing a pitcher of margaritas and an 80s Madonna album, for companionship as she's stuck in Nantucket caring for their overstimulated, tantrum-inclined 4-year-old.

The bored, isolated retail workers needed this really badly. I myself could have used it in the early weeks of Miami. :)

Oh, and Happy Birthday to Liss and HEF (C.B.)!!

Okay, sorry it's been a while...

Since I wrote last...

I said good-bye to Stephen and got used to living alone again.
I negotiated a (slightly) higher salary successfully.
I said my goodbyes at the Merald.
I jumped out of my car and photographed people running from their burning apartment building with their pets. That was truly scary, to see people trying to put out a fire with a garden hose, realize they couldn't stop the fire and run for their lives.(No people- or pet, actually- injured or killed.)
I said my goodbyes at the Merald again.
I began to transition my thinking away from Miami as home.
I flew to New York, found a good apartment (maybe even a great one?), where both Bella and Fred are permitted. (RAH!- This is v. big, as I called SO. MANY. properties, landlords and realtors and heard- complete with Scarsdale/Long Island accent- who just said "no dawgs, no dawgs, no dawgs" over and over.
I realized I won't be the Daughter Who Lives Really Far Away for much longer...

All of these things were intensely more complicated than they sound. It was good to have my Big Sister along for the roller coaster. :)

This is good. This is very good.

Mmmm.... Tired. TI-red.... Spent lovely weekend lolling about with the boyfriend and playing with a baby tiger and watching TV and going to the mall... Of, course, I was in no way tired last night and couldn't sleep until 3 a.m. Stephen and I bought some Nerf weaponry and were "dueling" (start back to back, take five paces, then turn and shoot) in the driveway of the apartment complex at 1:30 this morning. It was fun... yawn.... but I need a nap. :)

Although, when we first bought the Nerf guns, we were both excited about them and had big plans to turn the furniture into forts from where we could shoot Nerf/suction cup-py arrows at the dog and cat (mostly the cat, because he's really dumb :). After purchasing them in the mall, however, Stephen opened and prepared one, hid it behind his back, and as we walked to the car, he shot me from behind, unfortunately hitting me on the cheek out of nowhere. Naturally, I screamed at the top of my lungs, because it scared the be-jeezus out of me. Also,the "arrow" stuck to my face, which made it even funnier for him. Arg....(grumble grumble) Revenge, revenge, I say!

Heh.

Stephen and I discovered a great new board game by the Cranium people called "Cranium Hoopla." It's very fun, and you can play it with only two people. Basically, you have a bunch of cards you have to go through in a short amount of time, and you have to get the other person to guess what's on any one of the cards you're holding through varius different Cranium-esque methods such as "Cloodle," (pictionary for you non-board game converts.)

One of the methods is called "Tweener." You have to carefully craft one clue and one clue only using the form, "It's bigger than ____, but smaller than ______." That's all you can tell them. For example, "It's bigger than a gladiator, but smaller than Rome." (The Coliseum.)

So, Stephen comes up with these really esoteric clues that have me totally stumped, right? I'm convinced that Scott, Master of Intellectual Puzzles and All Things Board Game, will even struggle with these clues. So, we call him up at GeniuSoft, and of course he naturally figures them out in seconds, which pleased Stephen to no end. So I want to put them out there for all of you. :) See if you can figure them out-

1.) This is a place. It's bigger than a microchip but smaller than the Sahara Desert.

2.) This is a thing. It's bigger than boxing but smaller than Greco-Roman.

Although "Tweener" totally threw me, I was pretty proud of my success with a different category called "Tongue-Tied," in which you have to get the other player(s) to guess a person, place or thing using words that only begin with one letter. (For example, using only "M," someone would say "major musician Memphis" to get you to guess "Elvis Presley.") I got Bono from U2 with only the words "Dublin," "do-gooder" and "debt-relief," although I did gleefully shout out, "LEPRECHAUN!" before I figured it out. :)

"He loved her for almost everything she was & she decided that was enough to let him stay for a very long time." -Brian Andreas

RAH!!! Massive, Enormous, Incredible CONGRATULATIONS to H.!!!! :) Woo hoo! This, too, calls for margaritas, a massage, and not only new shoes, but old, (I already said "new"), borrowed and blue shoes as well. :)

RAH!!! Massive, Enormous, Incredible CONGRATULATIONS to Kelly!!!

Kelly gave me permission to announce that she got the big, year-long, well-paid, health insured, United Way internship! Whee! I knew you could do it, Kelbaby; they would have been totally crazy not to take you! :) Since I can't do a victory dance around the newsroom, I'll do a Mental Victory Dance around the blog. :) I am so proud of you; I haven't been this excited about your general Kick-@ss-edness since you got the awesome Buchannan Park scholarship, and that's saying something, as I am always in somewhat of an awed state about your tenacity and intelligence. :)

Hooray, Imaginary Life for Kelly! This calls for a new haircut, a massage, margaritas and perhaps some CFM shoes. :) :) :)