Happy Birthday, Baby (One)!

Happy Birthday, Derrick!

One of my baby brothers turned 26 today. He's not my youngest brother, but still, leaving the quarter century behind him sure makes me feel old. Most of the time I have a hard time believing that I am actually in my 30's. Then something like this....Yikes!

Even worse....baby brother number two will be 25 in October. Double yikes. When did my babies get to be so old? I don't remember saying that was okay.

PS: That chocolate cake was not made by my mom, but it was really good anyway. It was so rich and chocolaty that none of the guests could eat more than half a piece. YUM!!!

To Sleep, Perchance To Dream....

I've been really tired lately. Not just the "can no longer function on 3 hours sleep like in college" tired, but the "needing a nap of van Winkle caliber" tired. Despite the fact that I get the recommended 6-8 hours most nights, I have a harder and harder time getting myself out of bed in the morning. I have trouble concentrating at work because I'm fighting the urge to put my head down on the desk and drift back to dreamland. My lunch hour is more often than not spent sleeping in the car. After work I come home and lay down on the couch. Now that the weather is getting nicer, I'd love to take the puppy out to the park more often, but these days I barely have the energy required to lift the remote and change the channel on the tv. I can't tell you how many nights I've opted to skip dinner because just the thought of going in and throwing something in the microwave is too exhausting.

Being tired has made me cranky and sore. Not that I mean to be cranky, but I find that my tolerance and/or patience for other people, traffic, my pets, sounds, etc, is severely limited. Like I usually reach my limit by the time I hit my morning shower and everyone else is just standing on my exposed nerve after that.

And blah. I've been feeling blah and void of emotion lately. Never a good sign.

This has been going on for about a month or so. It was time to seek some medical advice. So yesterday I went in to see my doctor.

He said that from what I described, it sounds like depression. I've been on medication for two years now for depression, so I was a little surprised to hear that, but he said that sometimes people taking Prozac over a long period of time start to notice a decrease in it's effectiveness. That's what is going on now. He had me on a relatively low dosage, so he increased the prescription by 10mg. If I'm not noticing a difference in energy and mood in 6 weeks time, I will go back and see him again.

(I think it's important to point out here that while I am once again exhibiting signs of depression, I have managed to take care of it before it got to the suicidal stage again).

I felt a lot better today. I know that one day isn't enough time to feel that kind of improvement from the extra 10mg of Prozac, so it's probably more of a placebo effect, but regardless, I was able to concentrate at work and actually ate lunch rather than napping. That felt good. Of course, by the time I got home, that burst of energy had faded and I was back to drowsy and tired. But it's a start.

I wasn't the only one who went to visit the doctor yesterday. My grandpa has been in the hospital since Friday for pneumonia, Derrick went in and found out he has strep throat, and Jade had her 10 day check-up after her surgery (we got her fixed).

I have a new theory: St. Patrick is Irish for "doctor".

Need further proof? Okay, we wear green on St. Patty's day. Green is the color people turn when they get sick. Sick people go see the doctor to feel better. Coincidence?

As if I needed another reason to dislike the color.....

On a Friday Afternoon

Sunny Day
Sweepin' the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet

Come and play
Everything's A-OK
Friendly neighbors there
That's where we'll meet

It's a magic carpet ride
Every door will open wide
To happy people like you and me

Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street...?

We had a really nice day on Friday. When I arrived home from work, Derrick asked if I wanted to go with him and our friends (and neighbors) Jimmy and Jackie to take the kids and the pup to the park. Since I had been cooped up all day in my office, taunted by the pretty sunlight, I agreed. We walked to the park just a couple of blocks away and played. The kids got a chance to run around and yell and use their outside voices without getting into trouble and we took the leash off Jade and let her chase the frisbee and sticks. When the sun started to set, we packed up the kids and headed home.

It was good to get outside in the sunshine and fresh air. I should consider doing it again sometime.

Sesame Street Lyrics provided by lyricsondemand.com

It's Official: I've Become One of Them

Yesterday I met my mom at the mall to get our nails done together. Usually I love going to the mall, even if all I'm doing is sitting and waiting for my mother to arrive. But yesterday felt different to me.

I arrived around 5:30 to find that the parking lot was filled with a bunch of teens running here and there and carelessly crossing in front of cars without even looking. I parked my car next to the bus drop off and had a strange unsettling feeling as I locked the door and walked away from the crowd of noisy bus waiters.

When I got inside the mall, I saw that I had beat my mom there, so I decided to do my usual people-watching. There was no room on the benches next to the nail place, so I walked a little further down and stood next to the second floor railing where I could watch the people walking past me as well as gaze down on the people below me. And I found myself being very critical of those around me.

"What is that kid wearing!" I thought as one boy walked by wearing unreasonably tight black and white checked pants and brightly colored high tops. I remember when it was the girls that would garner the "I'd never let my child out of the house looking like that" looks. But yesterday it was only the boys who offended me with their clothes. Of course, that could be because I had a hard time distinguishing between the boys and the girls. What happened to the Clueless girls who wore short skirts and knee socks and walked around with armloads of shopping bags? Instead I was surrounded by loud, angry, punk-ass kids who looked more like unisexed My Chemical Romance wannabes than the cheerleaders and football players I used to watch.

Eventually I found a spot on one of the benches and sat myself down to continue waiting. There were a couple of girls sitting behind me, keeping a running commentary on their opinions of the other people around us. I remember thinking, "that's really not a very appropriate thing for you to be saying" several times and once, after a hushed, and rather harsh, comment of "don't look at me, you gross guy. As if you had a chance" as a perfectly normal-looking (okay maybe a little dorky) guy walked by and glanced her way, I thought "Honey, you should probably look in the mirror before judging him."

When my mom finally got there and we headed into the salon, I told her about what I had witnessed. "Am I getting old or are the teens these days worse than when I was a kid?"

Mom laughed. "Sorry, sweetie. You're getting old."

Girls' Night Out

I've had a lot of Girls' Nights Out. But this one had a brand new twist. It had a very interesting first for me. Before I tell you all about it, I'm going to warn you: Some of my readers are going to scowl in disappointment, most of my readers will laugh and pat me on the back (metaphorically, of course) for actually "going there", and a handful of you lovely readers will probably experience a mixture of the two thoughts. But the fact of the matter is, I had fun and I feel good, so whatever your thoughts to my night, it was a great experience.

My friend Lupe is getting married next week. It's a little weird for me. It's been hard enough watching my childhood friends go off and find the love of their lives, but Lupe is from my younger brother's group. She's my friend Miriam's younger sister. Which makes her like my younger sister. Being 31 and single, the last thing you want to do is watch your younger sisters getting married.

But I love Lupe and I don't begrudge her the happiness that I hope to experience. So, tonight I dressed myself up and went to her bachelorette party, making sure to leave any envy and self-pity that I normally would feel at home so I wouldn't bring down the party.

I had fun dressing up for a night out again. I've become so careless and lazy in my appearance lately that I've almost forgotten how fun it can be. I painted my toenails so that my feet would look pretty in my silver sandals. Then I took the straight iron to my freshly colored hair and finally sat down to apply my makeup. After finishing the face coloring and getting dressed (stayed pretty causal with a pair of jeans and a cute black top), I added the finishing touch: the sparkles. Why don't I do that more often anymore? I used to wear the sparkles all the time, but lately....

I was dressed for the hippest of clubs and I have to admit, I looked pretty good. I was ready to party with the best of them. But the party wasn't going to be heading out to a bar or club; we were hanging out at Miriam's.

There were about 8 of us there. Well, 9 with the mother of the bride. Miriam had spent the day cleaning, decorating, and cooking for the party and it paid off. The place looked amazing and fun. They had all the necessary bachelorette party items (straws, balloons, and candy all shaped like penises, a game called "Pin the Junk on the Hunk", and colorful frosting to decorate our own individual-sized penis cakes).

At 7:00, we got a male visitor and that is when the fun REALLY started (although it was at that point when Miriam and Lupe's mom decided to abandon the party).
A LOT of pictures got taken (as well as some video footage) but I am not going to put them up on the blog, mostly because I don't want to have to label my blog as "adult content", but also because I promised the other girls that I would be discreet in sharing the evidence. If you'd like to see the incriminating photos (don't get excited, I'm mostly the one behind the camera), let me know and I'll send you the link to the online album. It was a pretty wild and crazy night.

When Sexy McNaked finished up and had to leave, he gave us all his cards (in case we ever need him to help us celebrate another wedding, or birthday, or Tuesday...) and some 2 for 1 entries into the club where he works (and was incidentally heading off to from us). Most of the girls decided to relocate the party to the more public venue with the same scenery, but Miriam and I decided to pass. I guess that's what comes of getting old; we had our fun and wanted to turn in early.

But it WAS fun while it lasted....

The Wonderful (and Wacky) Washington Weather

This morning I was sitting at my desk and the light filtering through the colorful Easter eggs decals that I had put on my window last week kept distracting me from the papers in front of me. It was so cheerful and spring-like that I just couldn't help but smile every time I turned and gazed outside. Finally I decided that I would take a picture of the pretty colors and hope it would inspire me for some creative project later down the road. A few hours later, I looked out the window and suddenly got the inspiration. But it wasn't what I thought it would be.

The weather in Washington can be fickle. People joke that if you don't like the weather around here, just wait 5 minutes and it will change. I finally have proof of that theory:

11:53 am -


1:54 pm -






















2:30 pm -


3:52 pm -


And just before I left work at 4:58 pm -


I've heard rumor that there are places on the planet that don't have surprises when it comes to the weather. The people who live in those places know how to dress at all times and know what can be expected when they walk outside. I say, what's the fun in that?