Thought of the Day: Friday—why did it take you so long to get here??????

I feel like I could die, I’m so tired. This cough/cold combo just will not quit. I realized last night that I had cough syrup with codeine left over from last year that I’d never even touched. Sadly, it barely touched the cough, but at least it kept me groggy enough to not really care that I was up all night coughing.

I had my annual OBGYN visit today which was a real hoot. Well ok, that was sarcasm, but it was pretty uneventful. I’m at a quandary because I really like the practice, but the midwife, Wendy, who I actually followed there from my old OBGYN, has left. Wendy is my all time favorite midwife, but I also love the main Dr. at this practice and the other midwife she has on staff is ok, in a jolly old lady sort of way. (Unless you’re waking her at 3:00AM to tell her you’re in labor…then she’ll tell you it may not be labor and to take your time getting to the hospital and be a bit cranky about it. Then she’ll show up just as your baby is CROWNING……) Anyway, I could go off and find Wendy or just stay put. I’m not sure what I want to do, but I’m leaning toward staying with the practice. Like I said though, the visit itself was uneventful; they are refusing to put me on the pill, to Ed’s delight, until I have my next round of blood work and ultrasound for my thyroid. Midwife suggested taking 3000 mg of Vitamin C during my period to ease it up a bit. We’ll see if the natural crap works for a while.

Work has been busy the last few days and I have not had time to read or comment at a lot of blogs. I’m hoping to catch up this weekend.

Not much else to report, about 30 minutes before I go home, so I should at least make my desk not look like it’s been hit by a tornado. (I initially wrote “tomato” instead of “tornado” and burst in to hysterical laughter.)

I really enjoyed writing my retrospective last week about my good old ex-Duran Duran haired-boyfriend Mike. I thought that I would tell you about my other ex, Steve, but when I really thought about it, there’s no story. He loved me. I loved him. He loved drugs a lot more than he loved me and that was SO not my bag. We were friends for a very long time, through college, and he often told Ed that he’d always love me. Sometimes I wonder if he still does. Our break-up was what ultimately led me to Ed though, so instead, I’ve decided to write about how Ed and I got together.

It was 1994 and I was in 10th grade. I mean, can you even believe it? 10th grade!! And as I mentioned, I had broken up with Steve. Ed and I rode the same bus and I would sit with him on most days for the ride home. I thought he was a really nice guy, but had no romantic interest in him. At the end of the year, I signed his year book and gave him my number—to be honest, I gave everyone my number—and I never really thought anything of it. I was on the phone with my friend Melissa (the same Melissa we just saw in Maine) one night in July and she mentioned that she and Ed and some other people were going to Darien Lake the next day and that I should come. Soon after, Ed called me himself and invited me, so I took up the task of getting permission from my mother.

I’m still not sure how I finagled that one. My mother wasn’t keen on my riding in cars with other teenagers to begin with, so being allowed to go, with an 18-year-old boy, when I was still just 15, did not hold strong prospects. I’m sure that Melissa being reliable and responsible figured in to it somehow. In any case, it was planned, and we left early the next morning.

I can still remember the entire day, vividly. From Jen being melodramatic about having cramps, to begging Melissa to wear her bikini on the waterslides so I wouldn’t be the only one, to going off with Ed to find power rangers crap for our little brothers who were around 5 at the time and Ed being extremely sick from going on all of the rides with me. We hung out at Melissa’s that night, and from that point on, were pretty much inseparable.

I talked to Marisa the next day, and the first thing she said was “You don’t like him, do you??” It wasn’t a question meaning “what would you possibly see in him…” but more of “he is nothing like any person you have EVER gone out with.” She was right, he wasn’t. He was actually a legitimate nice guy. So I vehemently denied any interest in him other than friendship.

We started speaking on the phone for hours every day, to the point where he would even call me from the pay phone at work and I think that was when my mother started to worry. “He is 18 and you are 15!!” she would say. “He’s nothing but a PUNK!” my brother Matt told me. My family changed their minds about him though after he helped us move and they finally got to know him.

I went away with my friend Staci for a week that summer, down to Virginia Beach. Nothing had happened between Ed and me—I knew that I liked him and thought that he liked me, but he had never said anything, so I thought nothing of trolling for guys up and down the boardwalk. We met A LOT of boys. Cute boys. Beach boys. I found myself talking to a boy named Chris one evening and we ended up sitting on the boardwalk, talking about everything under the sun for hours. We made plans to meet up the following evening and as we said goodbye for the last time, he kissed me. Staci will tell you that we stood there making out for hours while she twiddled her thumbs, but that would just be Staci being Staci. In any case, we did meet up the following evening, and more kissing occurred. We parted ways, exchanging phone numbers and addresses, promising to keep in touch. It was totally TRULUV4EVA.

I came home wildly confused. It wasn’t like I was going to carry on a long distance relationship with random Virginia Beach Guy, but if it was so easy for me to fall for him, was there any substance between Ed and me? Chris and I did exchange letters and we spoke on the phone quite a bit. One of his letters said “You were the prettiest girl I met this summer……” He knew about Ed and me and he had a girl named Angela and we both knew nothing more would ever happen between us. (the last I heard from him maybe a year later was that Angela was pregnant and he was experimenting with crack….yeah.)

Near the end of the summer, I stayed with Melissa at her dad’s for about a week. He was hosting a Woodstock party over the weekend, and had ordered it on Pay Per View. Ed was coming and Melissa mandated that I was going to tell him how I felt and see if he felt the same. The goal was to do it after Aerosmith performed. Ed had to work the next morning, but was staying the night, so after Aerosmith, I went down to his car with him to get his alarm clock. This was when everything was supposed to happen, but I—the eternal chicken—couldn’t say anything. It actually kind of sucked. We all went to bed and Ed left around 6:00AM for work.

Melissa called him the next evening and talked with him while I was cleaning up our room. She came in with the phone and handed it to me. “Talk to Ed”, she said. I thought I was going to throw up. I could barely take the phone. I did though, and he asked me to be his girlfriend. The rest is history.

This past August Ed and I were together for 13 years. We were very young when we started dating, but somehow we both knew that we were it for each other. I don’t really think that either of us has wondered what it would be like if we were single at any given point; we really are meant to be together.

I kind of feel like we have a certain advantage over other couples, having grown up together in a sense, we know everything about each other because we’ve experienced it together. Not much else could create a stronger bond.

Thought of the Day: Fodder Fodder Fodder

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Hostess at Country Kitchen
2.Trainer for Boston Market
3.Manager at Blockbuster
4.Sales girl at Fredericks of Hollywood

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me
2. She’s All That
3. The Negotiator
4. Beautiful Girls-1996 Seriously, watch it!

Four TV shows I like – reality version:
I don’t do a lot of reality TV but here is what I like
1. Scott Baio is 45 and Single
2. American Idol.
3. Dirty Jobs—mmmmmm I love you Mike Rowe.
4. Mythbusters

Four TV shows that I like – non-reality version
1. The Office (though I’ve seen it only once this season)
2. How I Met Your Mother
3. The New Adventures of Old Christine
4. Seinfeld (I watch it every night before bed)

Four places I’ve gone on vacation:
1. Port Colborne, Ontario Canada (Long Beach on Lake Erie)
2. Ohio—Cedar Point and The Islands
3. Virginia Beach, baby!
4. The White Mountains of New Hampshire

Four favorite foods:
1. Fresh baked bread or rolls with tons of butter
2. Breaded Pork Chops (mine—nobody else’s)
3. Pizza and Wings with Bleu Cheese
4. Anything that is chocolate or peanut butter or a combination of the 2

Four web sites I visit daily:
1. Google/Gmail
2. My blog
3. Hotmail/MSN
4. my bank’s site

Four places I would rather be:
1. Home in a Nyquil induced coma
2. Disney World, because I have never been there.
3. Vegas because I’ve never been there
4. Starbucks sipping coffee

Four bloggers I tag:
I’ll take my chances with:
1. Bee
2. Em
3. Sarah
4. YOU!

Thought of the Day: Going to a 10:05 movie on a work night is an especially bad idea when you are with your boss. It makes it pretty hard to call in or show up late the next day.

Anyhoooo, I’m working on a retrospective entry about how Ed and I met. It.Is.Exhausting. So I thought I’d do an open letter post—I’ve been seeing them around and they’re kind of fun. So here it goes.

_________________________________________________

Dear Target,
Why did you only have pink snow pants and purple coats? And why didn’t you have any snow pants for boys? Most importantly, how did I not buy what I needed and still spend $60?

Respectfully,
Sara

Dear Office Politics,
YOU SUCK!!

Signed,
SLB

Dear Honey,
Thank you for making an effort to clean up the kitchen so that we could have dinner together at the kitchen table. You making family time a priority means a lot to me.

I love you,
ME.

Dear Jack-Ass Customer,
It really makes no difference that your neighbor Lewis’s taxes went down. No difference at all. We’ll pay what we are billed. Maybe Lewis should shut his trap! But please do tell Lewis we said hi!

Sincerely,
Disgruntled Bank Staff

And P.S. we have no reason to know that your neighbor’s name is Lewis.

Dear Eddie and Caitlyn,

Thank you for waking up at 3:30am and 4:30am after Mommy took Tylenol PM. There is nothing like dealing with grumpy toddlers in the middle of the night when Mommy can barely stand up. I love you anyway and enjoyed snuggling you.

Hugs and Kisses,
Mommy

Dear Underlings at Work,

If we are busy enough where I am doing your job, you should probably do it too. Nothing pisses me off more than DOING YOUR JOB while I can plainly see you slacking. Shape up or ship out, and I mean it!!

Urgently,
Your Boss.

Dear Snails—
Stop screwing. We don’t want any baby snails. Gary and Larry my ass.

I hate you,
Sara

Thought of the day: I’ve waited too long to post Halloween Photos…..

But my computer is being dumb and won’t let me do it. Perhaps tomorrow.

We are off to a craft show and then grocery shopping—the perfect Sunday in my book.

Thought of the Day: Going from not caring about your house, to caring, really kind of sucks.

**but the woodwork will not be black.

Thought of the Day: So I guess all of the reading and commenting on blogs all day long hard work finally paid off. I was named an Assistant Vice President yesterday. I feel like such a BIG SHOT!!

I’ll have to admit that when I started here, nearly 8 years ago, I did not intend for this to be a long term job. At the time, I needed to get out of hell at Blockbuster, and my godmother was constantly telling me that I should apply here; she could get me in. When I finally reached my breaking point at BBV, I dropped off my resume here and the rest is pretty much history.

I started as a call center agent, answering inquiries from customer about there mortgage and my shift was 12:15 to 9:00 PM. This wasn’t really a bad thing at the time—I was 21, not married, no kids and having such a late start allowed me to stay out until all hours of the morning and still respectfully drag my sorry butt in to work the next day (somewhat anyway). 8 months in to the job I was promoted to an escalations associate and began handling supervisor calls and escalations. I was in that position for 2 years and was working days before being promoted to management and going back on the 12:15-9 shift. Once again though, the shift came at a good time; I was about 7 months pregnant with Eddie and could use the extra sleep. I started by managing a general team which handled general inquiries, before moving to manage a team who handled our high profile customers and later managed a sales team over the course of a year and a half. In March of 2005, while pregnant with Caitlyn, I took my current job of managing escalation associates, which I have detailed here.

For not intending to keep this job, I sure have come a long way. And for someone like me, who is a known slacker, this is a big deal.

Thought of the Day: To this day, I can not hear a Duran Duran song without being reminded of my ex-boyfriend Mike.

I couldn’t even tell you how we initially met; we kind of ran with different crowds. He was a sort of dangerous type with long blonde seventies style hair (Even though it was 1993), and back then, in 10th grade, I was kind of a cute preppy girl on my way to being a laid back slacker hippie type. In any case, one night in October, I found myself at the movies alone with 5 guys.

While it probably should have, this didn’t make me uncomfortable, of course when my other friend Mike (not to be confused with ex-boyfriend Mike) said “a bunch of us are going to see A Nightmare Before Christmas…” I’d assumed it was a co-ed group. When I showed up at our small town cinema though, I was greeted by friend Mike, Ben-whom I had known since 7th grade but wasn’t a good friend of his (incidentally, Ben and I became pretty much inseparable senior year but that is a story for a different day.), Ex-boyfriend (but soon to be current boyfriend) Mike, this guy Derek and Ex Mike’s brother Bob.

I ended up sitting in between the 2 Mikes and by the time the movie was over, Ex Mike and I were holding hands. Adorable, right? When the movie was over, his grandfather was waiting outside for him already, so he ran out yelling behind him to make sure that I gave him my number at school the next day.

I remember calling Marisa that night to tell her what had happened and I think that she was a little bit weirded out. He was a weird kind of guy, but in a nice way. And I was that girl who was looking for anything but normal. Marisa knew this, and she always supported me in my endeavors, but I think she was cautious on my behalf.

Mike and I spoke at school and on the phone for about a week before starting to date on November 9th. Our courtship consisted of lengthy phone calls, many trips to the movies where we made out like teenagers (appropriately), and skipping 1st and second period to go out for breakfast. Our truancy officer, Mr. Cooper, got to know us by name and usually picked us up while we were walking back to school. He never turned us in for skipping as long as we were signed back in by 9:00.

Midway through our courtship, Mike had his hair cut. I remember him calling me on a Sunday afternoon, begging me to guess what he had done that day. He finally told me what he had done, and that his family told him he looked like Bryan Adams. On Monday at school, I was greeted by Mike with this modified skater type hair cut that hung dangerously in to his eyes. It was so eighties, I could have died. Marisa passed me a note saying that he looked like he belonged in Duran Duran. To this day she has not let it go. (If I can find the photo of all of us before our winter dance, The Holly Hop, I will totally post it. He wore a green suit to match my green dress. KLASSY)

Sadly, Mike and I broke up in March but vowed, as teenagers tend to do, to be friends. We’d had a great time, going to school dances, sledding and to many of my friends parties together, but our relationship had just run its course. We ended up friends by association in the long run because his sister and I became good friends.

Mike had his first daughter just after we graduated, and now is married with 3 girls. He ran in to Ed a while back too.

Its funny how something that was so big back then, is so insignificant now. I was sure it was the end of the world when we broke up, but at age 15, what isn’t the end of the world?

He may remind Marisa of Duran Duran, but he’ll always be Bryan Adams to me.