one eighty

I wasn't gonna write this week because I had kind of a crummy week and didn't really feel like I had anything to share. Nothing dramatic. I just either got a touch of some flu or some rogue gluten made its way into my food stuffs. I wasn't super sick either, not laid up in bed or camped out on the bathroom floor. No, I was just sick enough to feel constantly uncomfortable which made me feel increasingly cranky as the week went on. And add to that, I had an inordinate shit ton of stuff to do and because of the discomfort and the crankiness, I felt like I wasn't accomplishing any of it anywhere near my normal level and the shit kept piling on. Yeah, so crummy.

Someone I know who will remain nameless said to me, "What's wrong? You're not normally this bitchy." To which I really wanted to say, Go fuck yourself. I'm entitled to be cranky for once, but instead said, "Sorry, just feeling crummy." 

But then I started feeling better by Friday night, which I spent with my best friend. Have I mentioned in the last five minutes how awesome she is? We went out to dinner and to this art opening for a girl I know and to which I was having total anxiety about going. But it was a lot of fun and I didn't run into the dreaded ex like I thought I might, so I'm really glad I went. I would really like to write at least one post that doesn't include him in some way, but I'll just say that part of my recovery has been completely avoiding him for a while and I'm glad my plan is still intact.

Though as a backup plan, I thought that if I did run into him and if he did say hi or anything, I'd just cock my head quizzically and after a few beats, say, "Mmmmm no."

Great plan right?

Hey, at least I still make me laugh.

There to the fore, Friday was a great start to an almost perfect weekend. I say almost because what is perfect anyway? But it was great anyhow. I slept for like 12 hours that night and laid in bed almost all day Saturday, just watching TV on my Mac and not thinking at all. Then I went over to some friends' house and watched the Saints game (way to geaux, Saints! who dat!). Afterwhich we migrated and I had just such an enjoyable evening of hanging with great people, tasting cider, and laughing.

And Sunday has been divine as well. It was lazy and easy and I got to do some shopping. Bee tee dubs? Love leaving the mall with 200 smackers worth of merch and not having spent a penny. Gift cards are an incredible invention. I had planned, however, on taking myself to the movies, but decided to come home and cuddle with my cat and write instead.

I will get to the movies this week though. This is something I'm going to do now, like a weekly date night with myself (did I already tell you about this?), some nice quality time with me. And, what can I say? I make a great date. Last weekend, I saw Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and it was fan bloody tastic. I've yet to decide what to see next, though I have a few on the list. Any suggestions are muy welcome.

I'm also looking foward to dinner this week with some lovely ladies who rock my world (hi, girlies!) as well as dinner with a long lost "aunt" (she's not really an aunt, more of one of my mom's best friend) who I haven't seen since I was a teen.

That's a cool story actually. So this aunt lived in Seattle the last time I saw her so I tried to look her up when I was going up for Christmas. But alas she's unlisted and I didn't find her. But last week, I got a letter in the mail from her wondering if I was the same Andrea she knew and telling me if so to text her.  I texted her and she's going to be in Portland some time this next week and we're gonna try to meet up. Can you believe it? What are the chances?

Life, she is a strange one.

Portland *is* weird

I'm not in California anymore.

Never has this been more evident than the last 2 weeks. If you've ever had to deal with the California DMV, you know that whatever it is you need done will be a daunting task.

Need to get your emissions tested? Need to register your car? Need to apply for a driver's license? Need to replace a license?  Expect long lines and surly employees.

Need to do more than one thing? Expect to spend at least one whole day at the DMV.

It's painful. But part of life.

As a new Oregon resident, I needed to get a new driver's license and register my car.

First step? Get my emissions tested. Which I blocked out hours for. Because that's what you would do in California.

It was the easiest process of my whole life. In and out and the employees were so freaking chipper and friendly, I thought maybe I'd landed in Oz.

Then the DMV.

First step? Drivers license. My number was called up so fast I missed it and had to ask for a new number. Seriously. I wasn't expecting to get called up right away. I paid my fees. Showed my documentation. Took a written test. Which, is all fancy now. I haven't taken that test since 1996 and let me tell you. Fancy. Then the eye test. Then they hustled me over to get my picture taken (Which turned out crap of course. Why do I make the weird faces? WHY?). And I was done.

And with the exception of the guy who issued my eye test, who was terrifying, everyone was super duper friendly. Bizarre. I thought it was a national law that DMV employees hate their jobs. I mean, I would. I would be all surly and unpleasant. Just because I could. Maybe eye test guy had transferred from another state. Because he was scary.

The one hiccup was that I couldn't get my car registered. Turns out (and they didn't post this online) that I need more paperwork on the title of my car (because, you know, the bank owns it) that I didn't need in California. So that's gonna have to wait a while. But they were even nice about that. So weird.

They say keep Portland weird. And they mean it. I think this qualifies.