Thursday 13

13 Shocking/Amazing/Fun Things That Have Been Going On

1. The beach trip was fun. There were lots of dogs for Sammy to play with and lots of boys for me to play with. Fat Dog has some cute older friends! We all went out in a big group each night. Saturday night we went to watch a friend's band play on the boardwalk, which was pretty cool. We sat near the stage in this massively glamorous seafood restaurant, called Catch 31. The area is called Neptune Park, and this concert was part of the annual Neptune Festival. All the events are near this huge statue of King Neptune (see photo). A lot of the people we hung out with were old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time, so they were kind of wrapped up in that. [Read: They were a little on the snooty side.] K and I spent most of our time with Fat Dog. Which was fine. We still had fun.

The house we stayed in was gorgeous. 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, new kitchen, hardwood floors. It was decorated in all this Jetsons-style (I learned the official term is "Googie" style) furniture and each room was painted in a gorgeous, rich color: lime, navy, canteloupe, red, etc. There were lots of large houseplants and big windows. There was a big hot tub in the backyard and a large balcony with couches to sit on. Decorative pillows and artwork everywhere. There was even a huge plasma tv! So how did my brother score such a house? His roommate is recently divorced from a woman who is from a very wealthy family. She is a designer or artist by trade, hence the gorgeous home. She told him he could keep the house and all of its furnishings in the divorce settlement. Now they live in the phattest bachelor pad I've ever seen!

The hot tub takes forever and a day to heat up, we learned. Unfortunately, we learned this at 2am after a night of partying, when we really wanted to use it. We ended up having a not-hot tub experience--it was lukewarm. Oh well.

K and I spent Saturday at a great mall. I got a bitchin' pair of peep-toe pumps. You can see a picture of them here. I got the light brown leather ones on clearance. I have nothing to wear them with. This does not bother me in the least.

2. K and I learned that if you drive in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Hampton Roads area, you will get lost. No ifs ands or buts. We got lost every time we got into the car. Not just a little lost, but the kind where you are 45 minutes away from where you thought you were. I have vowed never to travel to this part of the country again. It was my first time being lost and it was awful. I am Navigator Extraordinaire, and this was a big blow to my reputation. Luckily, The Czarina confirmed my frustration by agreeing that the roads in this area are labeled terribly--so terribly, in fact, that even The Czarina gets lost there all the time. Good to know I haven't lost my edge.

3. I learned a really, really big secret this week. I am afraid to blurt it out here, but email me and I'll give you the insider scoop. It will probably make your jaw drop.

4. RDG hasn't called me. I figured he wouldn't. Oh well. Free breakfasts are nice, right?

5. Repo takes turns being super sweet and super jerky to me. Aaaargh. It's silly for me to even talk to him, I know. But I'm moving on, trust me. Well, I'm trying to.

6. I have pretty much stopped smoking, although I could really go for a smoke right now....you will see why at the end of this list.

7. I have started working out again and eating (a little) better!!! Yesss! Go me!!

8. College football season has started, and in case you don't understand how important football is down here, all I can say is that it is like a fanatical cult of maniacs. That is the best definition I can think of. With football comes games, tailgating, cookouts and parties. Woo-hoo! The Gamecocks are playing Georgia on Saturday, so I have been hoping to come across a ticket, but I think I'm S.O.L. Which is ok, because I have been invited by about 5 different people to party and/or watch the game with them. I haven't made any definite plans yet, but Saturday will be really fun.

9. On a more interesting note, do you remember W, the guy who has a thing for me? He is friends with Blonde's brother. He is one of the people coming into town this weekend for the game. His plans got messed up, so I invited him to hang out with me for a while. He's nice, and easy to talk to. It should be fine. I just hope there aren't any awkward moments, as he's pretty much in The Friend Zone. I should probably give him a better nickname, though. How about The Crusher? Or maybe Black Eye, since he got into a bar fight last weekend? (Seriously, what is up with the fist fighting, guys???)

10. I found out I will be going to Orlando, FL in December. It's a conference for work. I will definitely get in touch with a college girlfriend who lives down there, but the big question is this: Should I call The Big Ex and tell him that I will be coming into town? We are on good terms, but I am worried that it might be opening up a big can of worms. Although, I'd probably have a really good time hanging out with him. But I just got to the point where we aren't talking anymore. Nothing bad, I just see his number pop up on my phone and think, "What's the point?" So I have been getting off the phone quickly when he calls. Do I want to go there?

11. I have some frequent flier points I have to use by December, so I think I will be making a trip to Naptown, aka Indianapolis, soon. I have so many friends there and I'd love to see everyone.

12. Happy News!!!: Lady Starfish got engaged over Labor Day weekend!!!! She and her man, J have been arguing like cats and dogs lately, so it was a surprise to both her and me to hear this. It turns out, J was being a dickhead intentionally so she wouldn't think anything was up. How funny is that? He took her to a B&B, had champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries and a picnic all laid out for her. Then he popped the question. Awww....oh, and I'm going to be a bridesmaid, which is cool. I've never been one before.

13. Most of today was spent worrying about Sammy, because he is not feeling too good. He has been lethargic and shaky all day. Not eating or drinking, just laying around. When K got home at 2pm, she called me to tell me that Sammy had acquired a fever, too. This freaked me out. So I took him into the vet this afternoon. He needed to have his anal glands drained. Say it with me: EWWWWW!!!!! Like mother, like dog, I guess. We both have had our butt issues. When he was done, he was a lot perkier, which made me feel better.

The vet tech told me to give him some aspirin for the pain (his little butt is tender), but I thought she said tylenol. So I tried to get Sammy to take some Children's Tylenol before I went back to work. He wouldn't eat it. I covered it with peanut butter and left.

On the way back to work, I realized that I had given Sammy tylenol when the tech had told me to give him aspirin. I always get those things confused. I'm blonde like that--advil, aspirin, motrin--it's all the same to me. So, I start freaking out. I did a quick internet search on it, and read that tylenol is poisonous to dogs. Now I'm really freaking. Good job, VB, way to poison your dog. As if it isn't bad enough, having your ass glands clogged, now he's got to worry about his mother trying to poison him. Gah.

I called the vet, panicking. They said the amount I gave him is ok, but any more would have been bad. I told them that he may not have eaten it. Sammy is a really picky eater. He probably just licked the peanut butter off it and left it there. I hope. Right now, I'm waiting for K to get home and call me to tell me how he's doing and what happened to the pill. Fingers crossed...