The Week in Review

originally posted Saturday March 4, 2006

It's been a full week, as usual. One sign that you've been working too much: bed sores on your elbows. It's actually gotten that bad. No one should bleed on their desk at work. No one!

I was up working on a deadline for my freelance project until about 2:00am on Monday night. Putting together the big deliverable for the muckety-mucks and sending it off at the final hour. Can I get a "hell yeah!" for Pacific Time? I don't know what I'd do without that 2 hour time difference. I cannot bring myself to bust ass like this for my current day job, but this sense of accomplishment is addictive.

Tuesday evening I attended Brian Green's SPARK lecture on physics downtown at the Paramount. It was excellent, but I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more if I was operating on more than 4 hours of sleep. How do people with children function?!

Wednesday afternoon's job interview went very well. I got the "call back" while still in the interview. Excellent! That's like getting asked out on a second date before your dessert arrives. Always a good sign. Also, I broke things off with J; feels good to have that taken care of. If it's not working, it's not working.

Thursday I got to catch up with a fabulous girlfriend over a leisurely lunch outside at Z Tejas. It was so nice to sit outside and enjoy a little fresh air and feel like one of those ladies who lunch... even if I don't have that luxury in real life. The dreaded post-lunch meeting with my manager went well. I'm not sure if she was just too sick to spew her usual venom or if I should attribute that to my glass of chardonnay.

After work, I managed to get a last minute haircut at Jackson Ruiz, thanks to their new location on Burnet. I had no idea that they even had a second location (evidently fairly new). Jessica gave me an awesome cut to get me ready for my hot date on Friday.

Friday was less than productive. I don't know if it was allergies or the return of cloudy weather, but God help me I could NOT get a thing done at work. I found myself trolling the online dating website. I figure I'm pretty much done with internet dating, but I might as well squeeze a few more from the ringer before my subscription runs out.

Friday night's date was at Jeffrey's. I was so excited about finally "dining" there. [Begin Thurston Howell III voice here: "One doesn't eat at Jeffrey's, one dines, lovey."] I had such a great time with P from Houston on our first date a few weeks back, I knew this would be a good time, but I was still a little anxious. I knew he'd be dressed to the nines. Oh, the trials of keeping up with a metrosexual!

I decided on a little black halter dress and hopefully pulled off a look that was something between Ginger from Gilligan's Island and Audrey Hepburn. I love that P isn't at all sensitive about being vertically challenged. This dress required my black mother of pearl heels and purse to complete the look. Polished.

The food was divine, until about halfway through dinner when I noticed the Snake sitting on the opposite side of the restaurant. I wasn't sure it was him at first; he's definitely put on some weight. Profile is a tough angle for anyone, but it was especially unfortunate for him. He really is beginning to look like Walter Mathau. How did I possibly have it so bad for this guy? And why did my heart rate go up when I saw him? At least I didn't feel like I had to throw up like the last time he crossed my path.

I was distracted by the Snake, but P was so sweet, charming, gracious and handsome it helped me focus on the positive. Love the one you're with! I was out with a dashing gentleman who clearly appreciates me and enjoys my company. I'm not sure what it is about P (maybe the distance?) but I feel like a softer version of myself when I'm with him. I just open to him like a flower in bloom.

After dinner, we headed to the Driskill for drinks. We were mooning over each other a bit at this point - the mutual admiration society! P can't understand why some man hasn't swept me off my feet yet. The bar was filled with the usual assortment of Austinites and tourists, but the male specimens were indicative (in-dick-ative?) of my ongoing singleton status.

Exhibit A-hole: The cocky jackholes in their late 20's/early 30's wearing striped shirts and too much product in their painstakingly spiked hair. They're obnoxious, generally ignorant and completely self absorbed. Their latest read was about the best pick up lines in Details or calf implants in Men's Health. No depth, just dearth. No deal.

Next we have the early to late 30's men wearing suits. They've stepped up a notch in their attire and their choices in adult beverages match. They fancy themselves international playboys and make every attempt to have the appropriate arm candy accessory. As I'm making my point, the publisher of a local business magazine sidles up to the bar with his entourage. I've met him before at a party. I wanted to be impressed, but alas was not. All flash, no substance. They're smug and arrogant, not engaging at all. I'm just not interested. Perhaps there's a real person somewhere underneath that facade, but I don't have the wherewithall to find out.

P is the man that these boys are not. P seems just as open to me as I am to him. We talk about stuff that matters, but there's plenty of fluff and gloss too. We're playful. It's a good balance and he's great company. He's already talking about us taking a trip to the Caymans, and it sounds fun to me. When he drove me back to my car, I was happy to smooch him. It was nice. I still don't want to get involved in anything long distance, but we've clearly established a nice bond as friends and maybe that's all we'll turn out to be.

... So that's the news from the dating trenches! I'm off to get ready to attend a party full of gay men and rugby players tonight. Hopefully it won't be all gay rugby players... not that there's anything wrong with that. Actually, there is something logistically wrong with that - I want to meet somebody who's actually playing for my team.