Pity Party

I was hanging with some friends the other day when a friend who happens to be 33 and single told me and another girl that she had been throwing a pity party for herself. The main reason, amongst others, stems from her gyno informing her at her yearly visit that now is the time to start thinking about freezing her eggs. My friend, who happens to be in the health care profession and knows that your egg "health" goes down at age 35, was freaked out to say the least. She, like most women, had planned on getting married and having a child naturally. She didn't want to be brought down by the fact that if she is not married and trying for babies in the next 2 years, that shit is gonna get a lot tougher for her.

While I don't want kids and I don't really care to be married anytime soon it sort of got me thinking too. Then two more blows hit.. my 29th birthday is in 5 days and I happened to be going to spend it with a bunch of my friends on the beach. The thing about this trip to the beach is that every single one of my friends is now bringing a significant other. Two of them are married- cool. One of them happens to own the place we are staying at- that's obviously fine. The other 4 people have no fucking excuse. Why this bothers me so much I don't know. Maybe because it's automatic pairings; after all 3 is a crowd. Maybe it is because I always thought I would at least have someone special by now. Maybe it's because I want to hang out with my friends and not have some weird couple dynamic kicking in the group.

I was never the girl who had to have a boyfriend. If anything, I like being independent. I can go where I want, when I want, with whom I want any time I want. I can buy whatever and decorate my house without judgement. Still though, 29 means that I am a year away from 30. It also means that more and more of my friends are pairing up and I will be left behind. Despite some friends thinking that nothing will ever change, I know what happens when people get married. They start having to split time between groups and friends and between themselves which means less friend time. Then they start having children. They might go out here and there for a chance to get away, but the more likely scenario is that they want to hang out with like minded couples who have children so they can bring about what great children they have and they can discuss developmental issues with like minded individuals. They can't go out that much due to said children, and their partner thinks that if they do go out they might get in to trouble. Marrieds with children always seem to look down upon us singles. It pisses me off and while I never plan on being in their boat since I sure as hell don't want a Stephanie Junior running around I would love to find that perfect guy who is my best friend so that I don't care so much when friends start spending all the time with their guy and kid and none of their time with me.

On to guys; one of my friends made the comment the other day that sort of pissed me off. When I told her I had gone on a couple of dates with a new guy and wasn't really feeling it, she said "what else is new?". It angered me. While again not looking for a husband, I would like the guy I am interested in to meet all physical and mental needs. I am not just gonna date somebody to say I have somebody. If I am not feeling it, I'm not feeling it. The friend, who shall remain nameless, tends to constantly be in relationships and honestly, the guys she dates aren't attractive- to me anyway. Maybe she tends to be more open or maybe I am just picky. Whatever it is I am sick of the assumption I don't try. I do.. I go to bars. I try and always make it to different friends gatherings so that I can meet new people. I have even tried online dating. It is just hard. It always seems like whenever I meet a guy I connect with they are married, dating, or don't get my number. The online people, while nice on paper and screen, never seem to spark anything in me. I'm gonna keep on keeping on, but damn it gets harder every day and this impending birthday soon to be shared with a whole bunch of couples is really not helping anything.

So anyone out there want to join in on my mini pity party? I promise that good food and lots of alcohol will be served.

At least Bella won't leave me:

Wednesday Wednesday

I'm back, large and in charge. Tubing never went down last weekend so we are starting afresh this Saturday. Let's pray for NO RAIN!. The Hollidays rocked the house Friday night. The whole joint was jumping and this super cute old dude asked me to dance. If he wasn't 60+ I might have gone home with him. Dude had moves. I think he danced with every lady there so I don't feel too special. :(

Tonight is potluck and despite my tendency to cook food for this thang, I am grilling up some pre-marinated Korean BBQ boneless chicken thighs. They will be delicious! The dog isn't making shit. Shocker. Damn dog, doesn't ever provide to the household, other than a growl or bark here and there.

So I was discussing guns with a co-worker at work. He feels that everyone should have guns in there homes which deter burglars. I feel that why have a gun when you could have a big dog. My feeling is that the people robbing places aren't going to necessarily know that a person has a gun when robbing the joint, which means they would be more likely to rob a place with no dog. However, if the person had a loud dog, hopefully large, the robber would rather pick a house with no apparent dog which means the robbery will never happen to begin with. Who feels me??? It's hard to argue with my co-workers though because they grew up with a different upbringing. I grew up in a middle class family that doesn't believe in guns, hunting, etc. They grew up where all this shit was the norm. There are things that come out of their mouths that amaze me like me asking if they knew what the statistics are on people who own guns and how many accidents there are with them either shooting themselves or kids/friends shooting one another accidentally. He says it doesn't matter because he puts it up when people come over and his 4 year olds know not to touch the gun in his nightstand. Yeah...okay. I love playing devils advocate though. They get so flustered. It's fun. However I am not a fan of people who pull that shit on me.

Slacker:


The one who lived with me for awhile:

Friday the 13th... bum bum bum

Hey yo!! I know you are shocked that I am checking in for the 3rd time in a week. I gotta be honest, I'm shocked too. So the weekend is here, finally, and I got plans.. big plans, fun plans. We are looking a schedule that consists of watching the Hollidays playing at Northside Tavern tonight, shooting the 'hooch Saturday, and a date Sunday. That's right- a date. We shall see how that turns out. To all my friends who are skipping our tubing sesh tomorrow- FU! LOL

I think I forgot to share in my high school reunion experience. It was rather fun and quite a bit like high school only with real IDs. I walk in at 8ish pm and i see multiple people... some who look the same, some who I wouldn't have known them if i sat next to them on the bus. I chatted with some friends that I hadn't seen since our crazy high school graduation party, where I got extremely fucked up and never slept. At the reunion I drank heavily throughout to kill the slight panic attack that was brewing as well as to have a little more social lubrication. I love that alcohol helps with nerves. Anyhoo most of the people I was "more" friends with in high school didn't come. There were however, thank GOD, some of the guys I was friends with back then so we all hung out. Some random girl I don't really remember told me I intimidated her in high school. I wanted to say "get in line bitch" since I have heard that from numerous people throughout my life. It's odd too since I think I am one of the nicest people, despite my prevalence to talk about people behind their backs. I really do do that, but it's more so I don't hurt that persons feelings. I don't talk shit about friends and the people who I say shit about are people I dislike anyways, but I still have a little southern sweetness in me and don't want to hurt them despite my dislike. Anyhoo let me get off that tangent. So I took numerous shots with these guys and then Gordon Biersch cut one of them off. Who knows why since he didn't appear all that drunk to me. Time to take the party elsewhere. We then went, caravan style, to the Cheetah, which in case you couldn't tell by the name is a strip club. It was the nicest strip club I have ever been too, but weird because there were loads of tables and women dancing on the banquets above. I didn't see lots of girls walking around and the room was so large it reminded me of a work conference. We stayed here for a beer and then went to CosmoLava, where some of our other friends had ended up. Let me just tell y'all that CosmoLava blows ass. I refused to pay to get in since who wants to pay for shitty drinks and a DJ, but a friend paid my way so that I could come hang. The night went on and on and I got no nookie. The end. Let's see what happens in 10 years.

I am tired of writing now, but did want to say that I picked one of the better wines for wine night last night. I love bringing the good wine.

Oh and here is my best 365 from the last month or so. I only took 5 pictures in the last month. EEK! Better get on it.

A healthy recipe just for you- Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad

So Potluck at the river was yesterday and I made some kick ass salad for it. I thought it was delicious with a nice spicy, sweet, roasty taste. Yum!! I think some people loved it and others were anti-olive. Crazy bitches! I LOVE olives! The recipe is below with my notes to the ingredients in italics. The actual method of cooking really didn't need any changing, but please note that you should make sure your veggies are well salted and oiled when they go on the pans, other wise they will stick as mine did. Oh well. The salad still taste delicious and makes a TON! Hope you like it.

Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad
Adapted from Gourmet, September 2006

It says it makes 4 main course dishes, but I think it makes more than that

1 1/2 lb eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (Use 2 eggplant)
3/4 lb zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (Use 2 or 3 Zucchini)
10 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup chopped scallion
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (I used a full tsp which gave it a lot of bite)
1 1/4 cups pearl barley (8 oz) (I used fine barley, don't use the regular Quaker barley)
1 (14-oz) can reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth (1 3/4 cups)
3/4 cup water( I had to use about 1/4 cup more water because the liquid was almost gone and the barley wasn't soft enough)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (1 juicy lemon)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 lb cherry tomatoes, quartered (I used 1/2 a can of drained, diced tomatoes)
1/3 cup Kalamata, pitted and halved
1/2 cup thinly sliced red or white onion
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I omitted)
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
Optional - Feta

Roast eggplant and zucchini: Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 425°F.

Toss eggplant and zucchini with 5 tablespoons oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl, then spread in 2 oiled large shallow (1-inch-deep) baking pans. Roast vegetables in oven, stirring occasionally and switching position of pans halfway through baking, until vegetables are golden brown and tender, 20 to 25 minutes total. Combine vegetables in 1 pan and cool, reserving other pan for cooling barley.

Cook barley: Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook scallion, cumin, coriander, and cayenne, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add barley and cook, stirring until well coated with oil, 2 minutes more. Add broth and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until all of liquid is absorbed and barley is tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Transfer to reserved shallow baking pan and spread to quickly cool, uncovered, to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Make dressing and assemble salad: Whisk together lemon juice, garlic, sugar, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 3 tablespoons oil in a large bowl. Add barley, roasted vegetables, and remaining ingredients to bowl with dressing and toss until combined well. Serve with cheese slices.

Do ahead: Salad can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Return to room temperature before serving.

My Parents stuff

Found a new blog today called "Crap at My Parents House". I bet you can figure out what it's about. Let me just say that this is a site I will defintley try and contribute to. Do you think anyone thinks that 60+ year old people who still have 2 water turtles living under their roof is wierd? What about a multimedia picture in the bathroom that is all about Elvis- there are pink clothes attached along with barbie shit? MMHH. I think I am gonna have to come up with something really good to get my parents on that site. Something that will beat out a statue of Jesus playing statue. Damn, why can't we believe in Jesus.

Bad Girl

On July 26th I mentioned that I would update the blog in "a day or two". It is now August 5th and I am updating this bitch. Damn, do I keep my word or what??? Don't answer that. So my life is going. I am still alive, going out, having fun, exercising, and eating like complete and total shit. Yay! Can you hear the sarcasm dripping from every letter of that Yay, because I meant for the sarcasm to flow like lava over rocks.

Fun things I did this last weekend included vegging out, going out on the town with some of my ladies, and hanging out with an old Savannah friend who I dearly miss and meeting his new lady. Damn, if only I were Eritrean and Catholic. I also watched the band, The Hollidays- they rock, and I kayaked it up on the Broad River outside of Athens with some other friends. BRO is goooood. After kayaking I ate fried chicken, mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, and a piece of cornbread along with a piece of cobbler. You know how many calories that is.. roughly 1000! But I burned about 9 hundred calories kayacking. Whew!

Okay so enough about the overindulgent puff muffin that is me. Did you hear about this dumbass who robbed a Wendy's in the A and then called back to complain twice about his meager take. Really fucker, you just got away with a crime and then you want to complain about it? Take your money and run.. and leave $100 bill for me under my mat. Gracias!

Oh, one last and uber important thing to tell y'all. My 10 year high school reunion is this Saturday night. I am freaked the FUCK out. I wasn't going to go at first. I was super nervous, still am, and was thinking about the fact that I am larger than I want to be when these people who haven't seen me in 10 years see me. I have come to terms with the fact that I am slightly larger than I once was, okay 25 lbs heavier, when some of these peeps saw me at my most fit when in D's wedding 2 years ago and 45 lbs heavier than my high school weight. However I am excited that I can finally bust out my true 'do, since back in my high school days I didn't know jack shit how to fix curly hair unfro-like so I just wore it up every day. Now I have some great long curly locks and I will be busting them out in all their jewish glory. I will also be busting out some heavy duty makeup, a suck-me-in, and a hot dress annnnnnddd I will be lying about what I do and say that I invented "post-its". Nah, just kidding. I won't lie since I do have a badass job of sitting on my ass all day mapping it up. ;) The main reason I decided to go to the reunion though is that the party takes place 5 minutes away from my hizzle at Gordon Biersch. Worst thing that happens is that all the people blow and I leave. the best thing that happens is that I have a one night stand with some random dude who I don't remember from high school. OOOH I hope he's not a party crasher.

A pretty picture from me to you: