For the Love.

Dude. It is so hot in Boston. Ugh.

That's all I will say about that.

A Close Encounter

I had this really fantastic interaction with a gorgeous, sweaty stranger yesterday, all thanks to ultimate frisbee. He was seriously so beautiful. A fine specimen of a man. It was such a weird, intimate moment and I’d like to remember it for all time, so it’s going in the blog.

This weekend I played in frisbee tournaments on both Saturday and Sunday. I played quite a bit on Saturday, but I’m having problems with my hips, so I was only able to play part of one game on Sunday. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the sideline under a canopy, nursing my injured body and cheering on my teammates.

During the third game of the day, a man from another team came over and said there was a guy who was really hot and needed shade. Would it be okay if he laid down under our canopy? Of course! I looked over to where the kid was sitting and he had a towel draped over his head, but as far as I could tell, he seemed to be doing fine. He looked like a young, robust man, so I figured he just needed a break.

A couple men walked him over and he laid down on the grass beside me. One of them had to go notify the tournament director of his status for liability reasons, and the other needed to go find more water. Since I wasn’t playing, I was the only person in the area who wasn’t busy doing something, so I went to his side.

I thought maybe he was overreacting at first because I didn’t realize how messed up he was! He started saying he wasn’t feeling good. He was nauseous and thought he was going to vomit. I passed him my Gatorade and he took a sip, but he wasn’t feeling like he’d be able to keep it down.

One of his teammates returned to help and we elevated his legs and began unlacing his cleats to try to cool him off. He had a really horrible leg spasm and my instinct, thanks to my mom, the massage therapist, was to start rubbing his leg – his beautiful, muscular thigh.

You see where this is going.

His legs and arms were shaking uncontrollably, so I started massaging indiscriminately. I got him a banana and gave him a chunk to eat. He couldn’t raise his head anymore, so I was pouring Gatorade into his mouth, rubbing his arms and legs. He said his neck was hurting, his head was hurting, so then I started massaging his neck. I kept telling him to focus on his breathing and that he was going to be fine.He kept looking up at me with these big, puppy dog eyes, seeking a connection and comfort. He grabbed my hand and was holding onto me like his life depended on it.

He was still burning up, so someone came over with a jug of cold water and started pouring it over his head, his torso and legs. Someone had pulled his jersey up and his chest was now exposed, drenched and trembling. I was massaging his wet, naked gorgeous, 20 year old body. Yes, unfortunately, only 20. The kid can’t even drink legally, but damn, he sure was pretty.

He was taken off the field by paramedics after about 15 minutes. His brother stopped by our tent later to thank us and said they gave him an IV and he is doing fine.

How often does that happen? How often to do you get to massage an amazingly beautiful, wet stranger?

Not often enough, that’s for damn sure. Thank you ultimate frisbee!!!!

Um....Oops.

Dear Coworker,

Hi there. If you saw the name of this blog open on my computer, and here you are, will you please come talk to me in confidence before discussing this site with any one else from the firm?

I would really, really appreciate it.

Thanks!
MJ

Meme-a-rific

Howdy. I'm not feeling very chatty right now. Life is fine. Just kind of distracted at the moment.

Abigail tagged me, but I don't have the patience to figure out how to link to older posts, so I am going to modify this game...

The meme's rules:
1. Go through your archives and link to five of your favourite posts that you have written.
· Link one must be a post about family.
· Link two must be a post about friends.
· Link three must be a post about yourself.
· Link four must be a post about something you love.
· Link five can be a post about anything you choose.

2. Tag five other people to do this meme. Two of them must be people you already know so that you can get to know each other better.
---

So, instead, I am going to say something about my:
1) My friends. They are scattered around the country and I am dying to make a giant road trip to touch base with each of them. I feel sort of incomplete having everyone so spread out. I love my friends.

2) My family. They are good people and I'm pretty blessed that I was born into the Jones clan, if I do say so myself. Love them more than anything.

3) Me. I think I'm pretty cool, but rumor has it, I'm kind of a nerd.

4) Something I love. I love ketchup. Best. Condiment. Ever. However, right now, I cannot get enough Cholula. I am drenching my meals in the stuff.

5) Anything I choose. I had a frisbee game last night and it went well. My hip started to get kind of sore afterwards, but it wasn't really a big deal. Then, I woke up today with what felt like a sprained ankle. It was very strange. I didn't hurt myself, and yet, I could barely walk this morning. It's much better now, but my ankle is still pretty sore and wobbly.

That's all I got.

Seven Things

I've been tagged!!! I feel so honored! Thank you, Abigail!

The rules are as follows:
# Link to the person who tagged you
# Post the rules on your blog.
# Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
# Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
# Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged.

1. I am missing one of my bottom molars. My mom and my sister are both missing the same tooth. I had a baby tooth, but the permanent one never came in. It's an eastern European thing apparently.

2. I usually order the same breakfast at diners: two eggs, over-easy, bacon or sausage, homefries, and wheat toast. I always have to eat the egg whites first, then I dip one slice of bread in one egg yolk. Then the other slice in the other egg. Then I eat the bacon or sausage. Finally, I eat the homefries with gobs and gobs of ketchup.

3. I'll take cheese over chocolate 9 out of 10 times.

4. I was a life-long nail biter until I looked at my fingers under a microscope in high school biology.

5. I have met two of my favorite authors: Anne Rice and Tom Robbins. Both times, I felt like I could die happy.

6. I spent a summer in Italy when I was in high school. While there, I was introduced to fresh apricots. I ate so many that summer that I literally turned orange from too much beta-carotene.

7. I love the Food Network! Bobby Flay is my man!

I'm tagging 2 of my favorite ladies:

Allison
Melissa

Gotta Remind Myself

As I type these words, it has been one year, two months, four days, twenty-two hours and nine minutes since my final cigarette.

Holy shit. And I want one. I'm not going to lie. It sucks. It's hard and worth every second of misery. I ran and ran and ran yesterday during my ultimate frisbee game and I could breathe. And damn, it felt so good.

I have to continue to remind myself of the harms of smoking, since, like a break-up with an old boyfriend, I've come to only remember the good times. The bad times: the phlegm, the hacking, the money, the stench....the feeling like an outsider. I convinced myself I liked that. I liked being able to escape from the party and hide outside with my thoughts. I liked having the prop.

Now I have a niece who will never even remember that I was a smoker. And that makes me really happy. She will never associate that smell with me and how I feel about her.

Anywho....just checking in.

Peace.

Holy Molars! I Feel So Lucky!!!!!!

I went this afternoon for my root canal appointment and was ready to shell out approximately $800 on the procedure. When I first found out I needed a root canal, I felt as though I'd been punched in the stomach. My financial situation is always fragile, and I was already feeling pretty overwhelmed, so finding out I'd have to put another huge payment on my credit card totally freaked me out. Not to mention, the second part of the procedure, the crown, was quoted to me to be roughly $1,300. Ugh. Double punch.

So I have been totally bummed out, but had basically come to terms with the money. Then today, I go to the appointment, the dentist does a whole mess of diagnostic tests and discovers that I don't need a root canal after all!!!! The problem wasn't even the tooth my dentist or I thought it was, for crying out loud. My dentist sent me to a specialist to determine whether I needed the root canal, and to do it if so. So yeah, it was a totally different tooth causing me the pain. The specialist filed down a couple of cusps on the problematic molar and ta-da! I'm all better! It's insane.

The best part (aside from the real best part, which is that I didn't have to have my tooth gutted and then the second best part, which is that I don't have to pay for a root canal or a crown), the part that makes me feel like the Universe just smiled (three times) down on me, is that she didn't charge me. She did 7 or 8 x-rays and spent over an hour with me and she didn't charge me. Holy crap, right?! I am so incredibly thankful.

So yeah. I feel very lucky. Thank you, Universe.

Root Canal!

Tomorrow I am quite possibly getting a root canal and I am soooo not looking forward to it!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEK!!!!!

I've had a molar bugging me off and on for a while now, and I visited the dentist several times over the last month for other issues. She kept telling me there was nothing wrong with the tooth, but I kept insisting it was causing me pain. So finally, she did a more thorough exam and discovered that the tooth is cracked down to the gum line.

Depending on the severity of the crack and whether the tooth is salvageable, I may have to have a root canal. I've unfortunately done too much googling in advance of the appointment and have managed to totally freak myself out about the procedure. I'm usually pretty good with tooth stuff, and I'm sure it'll all work out fine, but I'm kind of nervous!

They gut the tooth! Pull out the pulp!!!! Pulp is a horrible word. Pulp.

Argh. Wish me luck, internet!

I'm Totally Hibernating

Boston's public transportation is really quite good, but there are certain things about it that aggravate me to no end. My main issue with it is that everything stops running around 1:00. I think the T should at least run until all the bars close, but hey, I don't make the stupid rules.

When I hang out at my favorite Irish pub, like I did Friday night, in order to get home, I have a ten minute walk, 3 trains and a bus ride ahead of me. On a very good night, I can do it in about an hour. Friday night, I boarded the T around...12:50 and finally got home around 2:15. I guess that's not too too bad really. It was interesting though.

See, what happened was, I decided to do the 3 trains and then catch a cab, since I figured that would be quicker than waiting for the bus (the bus runs really infrequently that time of night). My cab driver, however, was driving at approximately 5 miles per hour. So, I asked as nicely as possible, "Um, excuse me, sir, but could you please drive a little bit quicker?" He sort of laughed me off and slowly explained to me that driving faster was not going to get us through this red light any quicker. We kept hitting lights and it kept not making any sense to go faster. I felt like a jerk, so I apologized and explained that it's just that money is tight right now and I'm impatient by nature.

We started talking and the conversation progressed to politics and then to family and life and people and all things deep and inspiring at 2:10 in the morning. His name was Eddie, he was from Haiti and he was sweet. He told me I am "a young woman of solid substance" and that if his daughter had half the sensibility I have, his life would be so much different.

Wow. I really needed that. I have been feeling kind of down lately, so I welcomed his flattery with open arms. It was really nice speaking with him, even if I was in that cab for 45 minutes instead of the 10 I was anticipating.

I slept until I couldn't sleep another moment on Saturday. Finally got out of bed around 1:30. I have a cold and am Captain Snot right now, so after running a couple of quick errands, I holed up in my apartment and watched 8 or 9 hours of television.

Today, I started the day with some laundry, then finished it with some wine and painting. I have never really tried my hand at painting, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much I enjoyed spending the evening doing it. That, coupled with the big bowl of dumplings I just had, really made today a good day.

I love being alone and having weekends like this. Where every decision I make is all mine and I can do whatever I want. Sometimes, the idea of having to incorporate someone else's ideas/agendas with mine kind of freaks me out. I almost feel like I've been single for so long that I no longer know how to be in a relationship at all. I'm terrified of having to compromise my freedom.

Is that weird? Am I just making excuses or something?

I don't know. Whatevs.

Feeling Craptastic

I feel crappy. I guess it's the weather or something, but everything kind of sucks right now. Nothing is really that bad. I'm just dissatisfied and annoyed and tired of dealing.

At times like this, I often resort to making a list of why I'm stressed/angry/on edge. Right now, the list looks like this:

1) I keep putting on weight and have no motivation to do anything to stop it.
2) I am lonely.
3) I feel like I will never be debt-free. The debt keeps growing and I feel like I am drowning in it.
4) I miss my old friends. They are so far away and I don't have the funds to visit them.

I guess that's it. Money, weight, relationships. Shocking.

Ugh. I shouldn't be complaining, but I can't help it. It has been really hard to get out of bed lately. Today, I didn't bother. I guess I'm depressed or something. Whatever.

You know what? I'm going for a walk. Fuck this self-pity. I am tired of feeling this way. Clearly, the lack of exercise isn't helping the situation. Here goes nothing.

Big Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is my first annual review at my job (been there since last January). I am going to attempt to negotiate my way to a happier salary, but I have to admit, I'm pretty nervous. I've never done this before, but I figure, what have I got to lose? I have to learn to speak business sometime.

Also, my allergy testing is tomorrow afternoon, so I will hopefully finally be able to figure out--after much poking, I assume--why my eyelids swell up and turn bright red and itchy once every few months. Is it something in red wine? That's the only thing I can figure, but I've had quite a lot of wine that didn't affect me that way, so I don't know.

So yeah, money and health. Big day. Here's to good happy things, like more money and finding out I'm not allergic to red wine. Ugh, that would seriously blow.

By Golly, I Think it is Time

Time for a show. Time for...the theatre! I am suddenly intensely feeling the urge to do something, anything creative. It's funny because on the other hand, more than anything, I want to eat until I feel I might pop and sleep until I can't possibly sleep another second. I am torn between hibernating and creating.

I can sleep. One of the things I am best at is sleeping. That may sound silly, but consider this. One weekend during my senior year, I fell asleep at 7:00 Friday night and woke up at 5:00 on Saturday afternoon. I slept for almost an entire drive from chicago to southern florida that same year.

I can do this now without much fanfare, but now I'm doing a lot more of the boozing, so it's not quite as impressive.

Anyway, I want things right now. I want to be busy. I want to create things, sleep a lot and eat everything that's not nailed down.

I could also go for a hug.

Peace out, yo.

P.S. Today I have officially NOT spent $1,500 on cigarettes! Woot!