Sunday Brunch

I had brunch with Barbara, Cindi and Joel, the new guy Cindi is dating. The food was good and the conversation was lively. Brunch was a lot more fun than dinner with Trish. I think I’ll avoid having dinner with Trish for a while.

Read Full Post »

Hijacked Birthday

About two weeks ago Trish said she would take me out to dinner for my birthday. I accepted the invitation and we agreed to finalize plans this week. Cindi also asked me to go out to dinner for my birthday when we were at the opera on Friday night. I told Cindi about Trish’s invitation and suggested all three of go out to dinner since Trish and Cindi know each other. On Monday night Trish called to firm up the dinner plans. I told Trish about Cindi’s invitation and suggested all three of us meet for dinner. There was silence on the other end. Finally, Trish suggested we have dinner some other time because she only wanted to talk to me and not share dinner with Cindi. I was dumbfounded. I told Trish I’d try to postpone dinner with Cindi and would call her back after I talked to Cindi. Cindi agreed to postpone dinner but thought Trish was being a complete bitch.

I feel like my birthday was hijacked by Trish. Why give a birthday dinner gift with strings attached? Trish and Cindi are social acquaintances and may not be considered good friends but I don’t understand why Trish didn’t want to make it more of a party. I feel like Trish was being juvenile and selfish.

Last night I had dinner with Trish to celebrate my 55th birthday. We had a nice dinner. I made sure to guide the conversation away from her later husband, her ex-boyfriend and the other man she meet in grief therapy. It would have been a whole lot more fun with Cindi there.

What do you think of Trish not wanting to include Cindi?

Read Full Post »

Turk And The Sofa

I had lunch with Mike on Saturday at Hamburger Mary’s. Mike always has an amusing story and Saturday was no exception. Mike sold our mutual friend, Turk, a 2012 Audi A5 on February 1st. On February 9th, Turk hit a sofa that had fallen out of a pickup truck on a remote highway in Nevada. The SUV in front of Turk swerved and nicked the sofa spinning it around so that it was perpendicular to Turk’s car. Turk never had a chance to brake and hit the sofa head on at seventy-five miles per hour. The sofa exploded into a million pieces. The fire department told Turk he was lucky it wasn’t a sleeper sofa. Mike played Turk’s hilarious voicemail message on his iPhone. Turk’s main concern was getting showered and changing clothes. Mike arranged for a transport company to ship the Audi back to Denver and called Enterprise Rent-A-Car to pick up Turk. The A5 has $15k in damage so Turk ordered a new one from Mike because he doesn’t want to drive the car after it is repaired. Turk received a significant inheritance when he was twenty-four so buying another Audi is like buying a t-shirt at Target. Luck seems to be on his side.

Read Full Post »

Opera Night

I rode the light rail downtown on Friday to meet Cindi for dinner before the opera. The train buzzed down the track alongside I-25 while the evening rush hour traffic crept at a snail’s pace. It was a wise decision to take the train as I didn’t have get frustrated with the traffic into downtown and I didn’t have to pay a small fortune to park in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) parking garage.

We had dinner at Le Grand, a French bistro a few blocks from the DCPA. Cindi looked fabulous in a simple back outfit with a red blouse that showcased a necklace she bought when we were in Luxembourg. Cindi’s platinum blond hair was glowing in soft light of the bistro. I caught several of the guys at the table next to our booth checking her out. Cindi found it amusing because the guys all looked to be in their early thirties.

After dinner Cindi ran into a friend outside of the theater. He was recently hired as the opera’s development director. He gave us a pass for the donor’s lounge and free drink tickets to use at intermission.

We met a friend of Cindi’s former boyfriend (this one came after the abuser) in the theater lobby. The old boyfriend had given the tickets to his friend before flying to Dubai on business. Cindi was glad she didn’t bring a date because the guy sat next to her.

Cindi I managed to make it to the donor’s lounge at the second intermission. Cindi knew five of the fifteen people in the lounge. Cindi made introductions while we waited for our drinks. I slammed down a gin and tonic and enjoyed a few macaroons from the desert buffet before racing back for the final two acts.

The performance was over at eleven. I didn’t know the Marriage of Figaro was three and half hours long. The opera were good but I wasn’t wowed by the production. The singing and orchestration were good but I felt the staging and set design lacked something. I’m glad the ticket was free because I would not have paid $98 to see the opera.

Cindi and I chatted for a few minutes after the opera. She had to get up early to meet a new beau for skiing the next day so we called it a night. I rode the light rail back to my car and was home by midnight. I was soon in bed drifting off to sleep after a fun evening out with Cindi. I think I need to get out more.

Read Full Post »

Updates 2/17/2012

Trish’s poetry reading turned out to be a lot of fun. She was second to go on and her poems were well received. There were eight other poets reading their work. One guy only had three lines to read. It was a good start but it I found it rather odd that he didn’t come to the next open mic when he had more to read. Some of the poets looked like characters from central casting. One woman wore a beret and a huge oversize sweater. One guy was disheveled and unshaven. I think I may go back just to see who shows up.

Cindi is taking me to the opera tonight. A former boyfriend gifted Cindi with two tickets to the Marriage of Figaro. She didn’t want to bring a date because the former boyfriend’s parents have season tickets and sit a few rows back. I’m going to ride the light rail downtown and meet Cindi for dinner before the performance. I think this will be a lot of fun.

Work has been stressful this week. The woman who can’t write a decent sentence to save her life has been on the verge of a stress breakdown. She’s been rude to most of the team members. Her behavior has been a topic of conversation but nobody wants to confront her for fear of sending her over the edge. She got upset with me because I couldn’t understand her answers to questions I raised in an email. I refrained from blaming my lack of understanding on her inability to correctly communicate her thoughts in writing. It would have only caused more drama.

Carlos’ wife had the baby last Sunday morning. Carlos showed me pictures of his new son on his iPhone while we were working out on Wednesday. Then he told me about a celebratory trip to Las Vegas. His friends are chartering a jet for a booze and pot fueled weekend binge filled with gambling and strippers. Carlos didn’t understand why I thought this was odd. His wife spent nine months refraining from drinking and staying on a healthy diet, along with seven hours in labor, yet he gets a party weekend in Vegas. Carlos has a very understanding wife.

The new neighbors moved into the house across the street last weekend even though the house is still being renovated. That must be a lot of fun with three small children. I haven’t introduced myself yet as there are always an army of people over there during the day.

Read Full Post »

Patty 2.0 a.k.a Trish

Patty is now Trish. It seems that everyone but Steve, Trish’s late husband , and K and I called her Trish. I’m trying to get used to calling her Trish, instead of Patty. I’ve known her as Patty for about fifteen years. It’s going to be an adjustment.

Trish is reading some of her poems tonight at an open mic. She’s hosting a small Champaign recession after the reading at her house. I made chocolate orange brownies and lemon cornmeal cookies for the reception. I’ll finally get a chance to meet some of the other people in her life. It should be an interesting event. The poems are about her late husband, loss, loves lost and friends. The poems are short so Trish should be able to read at least five in five minutes allowed for each poet. I hope she goes on early in the evening as I don’t want to spend hours waiting for her reading. It’s a school night and I’ve got to be in the office tomorrow for an early meeting.

Read Full Post »

It Started Out Good…

It was the best of weekends, it was the worst of weekends. As you can see, I’m being influenced by Charles Dickens today.

K was home this weekend and we planned on having a good time with a special dinner out to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Saturday morning was spent enjoying a nice breakfast and lounging around. Then we had lunch on Saturday with K’s brother and sil who were in town. It was probably the most depressing lunch I ever attended. The conversation was dominated by the sil and K’s brother. The topic was mostly K’s mother and her health issues. I couldn’t wait for it to be over. The lunch spoiled our weekend. It put both of us in a sad mood. Lunch ended around three so neither of us wanted to go out for a big dinner. We never regained our momentum. Most of Sunday was spent replacing electrical switches and faceplates in the kitchen. K flew back to St, Louis Monday morning.

Even today, I’m still in a funk. I need something to cheer me up. A warm sunny day would help.

Read Full Post »

Thougth For The Day

I find it rather odd that the Catholic Church opposes a rule a controversial rule requiring religiously affiliated employers to provide full contraception coverage to women but often failed to take action against priests who were molesting children. It’s perfectly fine to molest children but don’t even think of helping women with their contraception needs. Just another reason why I regret being raised Catholic.

Read Full Post »

Updates 2/6/2012

The snow was about sixteen inches deep at our house. There were some drifts that were about thirty inches deep. The front sidewalk had four feet of snow in some place because the snow plow pushed the snow onto the sidewalk. I cussed the city with every shovel load. Homeowners are required to clear sidewalks within twenty-four hours of the end of snowfall or risk getting a $150 ticket. I spent Friday and Saturday nights lying on the sofa watching TV while enjoying an Oxycodone buzz.

I managed to clean the kitchen and family room this weekend while doing a couple of loads of laundry. I also made cookies from a recipe I saw on a Food Network show.

I thought Madge did a good job last night. I was unimpressed by the commercials. I watched most of the game but switched over to watch an Anna Wintour interview on 60 Minutes. Then I switched over to Nova on PBS to catch the end of a show on the Snowmass archeological dig. Our friend, Joe, was in a few of the clips I saw. By the time I switched back the game it was over. I was rooting for the Patriots because Tom Brady is married to the supermodel Gisele Bündchen. Since I could care less for either team I had to root for the team that had a connection to the art world. Since fashion is artistic I rooted for the Patriots. I know it’s shallow, but then, I’m not really a football fan.

The Colorado caucus is being held on Tuesday. It’s all over the news here. I’m over it already.

Yesterday, Tom and Sheila sent over an extra copy of the New York Times they received. I like reading “the times” but it has too many good articles. I read about the start of the performance art movement in New York in the late fifties/early sixties, a review of books that Downton Abbey is based on, and an article on levees in the Midwest. I could have spent half of Sunday reading “the times”. That may explain why Tom and Sheila spend most the Sunday morning in the summer relaxing on the patio while reading “the times”. Dinner last night was prepared using a roasted chicken recipe from the New York Times Magazine. The dish was easy and very tasty so it’s going into my recipe binder.

Read Full Post »

Updates 2/3/2012

Our neighbor, Katy, finally sold her house. Her house was on the market for eighteen months. She closed last Friday, moved out on Saturday and the new owners started renovations on Monday. Katy told me the new neighbors are family with three children and an au pair.

Work was out of control earlier this week. Things have calmed down and the load has been locked down. The load will be globally delivered starting with the servers in Asia tonight. The next cycle is already behind schedule. Development was due to be completed next Friday but it hasn’t started. I have nothing to test today.

Cindi’s been wrapped up in drama with the guy that’s here from England. He’s giving her all sorts of mixed singles. He’s been sleeping in her bed instead of the guest room but insists he’s still with his girlfriend in England. It’s a mess and Cindi made the mistake of getting involved in it. I fully expect the meltdown phone call when he goes back to England at the end of the month.

Patty is reading some of her poems at an open mic night at the Tattered Cover bookstore on the fifteenth. I’m looking forward to the event but I bet the poems are about her late husband, death or her ex-boyfriend.

K comes home next Thursday. It seems like he just left. I guess I’ll clean the house this weekend since outdoor activities will be limited.

Read Full Post »