I'm not a dog person, and I've never owned a dog, but i've been around enough of them to know that dog ass has a distinct smell unlike any other (though all dog ass seems to smell roughly the same). I was just reading Amalah's post about her dog's trip to the vet over the weekend, and suddenly my office smelled like dog ass. Out of nowhere and for no reason. Now... I've been in places that just seemed to generate spontaneous smells- John's car, my old office at PCF, and occasionally even this office- but man! Is it the fact that my nose is finally cleared of The Snot I picked up at Casa de Lucid combined with the power of suggestion? If so I'd better be careful what I think about for the rest of the day...

There have been moments in my life where I have realized "Wow. I'm definitely an adult now..." Every once in a while I'll just be going about my life, then something will happen and I'll realize with a little laugh that your reactions to things change as you get older- things that would have been deathly embarrassing at one time in your life are now just commonplace, or have become things that you can laugh about.

When I was younger, my mom had this nasal spray for allergies, that I thought was just the most disgusting thing ever, like "Ew! You put that up your nose and now you're leaving it on the shelf in the bathroom, gross!" Now that I'm an adult, I have Flonase. Flonase is my best friend some days. I was at an SCA event a couple of years ago, and a guy in my encampment caught me shooting it up my nose, and just nodded at me and said "Flonase..." with a look and tone that said "ah yes, the nectar of the gods..." and not even a hint of "Ew!" because as adults we know that sometimes shooting crap up your nose is a good thing.

I've had a cold for about a week now, though I'm definitely on the mend. I was talking to a friend online last night, saying my stomach was feeling a little iffy, and he suggested Tums. I was like, "I have Tums!" like it was the greatest thing ever. It struck me that I always thought of Tums as something older people had in their medicine cabinets (which is dumb, but it's what I thought), and so wow, I was old.

When you're an adult, you can act like a 13 year old boy and call your friend and say "Dude. When I was leaving tonight, I farted in the elevator and it sounded exactly like [insert thing here]" and it could quite possibly make your friend's day (though I don't recommend doing this while driving because hysterical laughter and safe driving don't really go well together). You can never do that when you're a teen. Maybe, just maybe with your best friend, but probably not even then. I think even now those things are best kept among close friends, but the point is that you can share them.

I'm currently overdosing on the song "Still Fighting It" by Ben Folds, the chorus of which is "Everybody knows it hurts to grow up, but everybody does". And I can definitely attest that growing up sucks, and it's hard, and you don't like it a lot of the time, but it does make for fun little revelations sometimes.

Dear Men in the Production I Am Currently Working On:

I realize that this is theater and we have all flashed our underwear to our backstage castmates during a quick change. I realize that this is theater and we don't really think twice about that kind of thing, that we're not always the most modest bunch. But, before the show is another matter entirely. Before the show you have a dressing room. The dressing room has a door. I do not, when I am backstage making coffee, need to see you standing around in there half dressed and having a conversation. Especially not when the one of you standing nearest the wide open door is 50 years old and wearing nothing but a pair of saggy ass tighty whiteys. I'm just saying.

Love,

Your House Manager

I'm not a morning person, in any way, shape or form. But starting Friday morning and lasting the weekend, time was not to be wasted abed. I was at the airport by 5:30am on Friday, ready to get my weekend in Kansas City started. I was disappointed by a delay that had me taking off from Chicago at the time I was originally supposed to land in KC- I hated losing an hour and a half of an already too short visit to an airport waiting lounge. I stepped off the plane in KC and was unprepared for Brad, due to the size of the airport, to be right there when I came out of the gate area. He had his trusty camera and snapped a shot, but not before I had time to make a face. We hugged and tried to figure out where baggage claim was. He's taller than I remembered him being. We found my bag and headed to his truck and toward Casa de Lucid.

Due to the delayed flight, Sebastian was already asleep when we got there, but we were greeted by a shriek of "Daddy!!" as Zoey flung herself into Brad's arms. He has described that moment before, and it was very cool to see it in person. He told her that he had brought a friend home with him, and turned her attention in my direction. She was a little bit shy, as kids are wont to be, but a bribe wrapped in flowered paper brought her around by giving us something to talk about while Brad made some dinner. He's a good cook y'all. Even though she had eaten earlier, Zoey joined us at the table and was just super cute. Conversation was the theme of the weekend, and this meal was no exception. When we were done eating, Jen and Zoey went upstairs for storytime, and Brad put on the Sharks game. He went upstairs to help get Zoey into bed, and I used that moment of alone time to slip a thin blue package from my laptop bag.

(Brad comes down the stairs and notices the package)
Brad: What's this?
Me: It's for you and Jen. But you have to open it together.
(Jen comes down the stairs and sits in the overstuffed chair)
Brad: (points to the package) That is for us.
Me: But you have to open it together.
Jen: Like one on each end?
Me: Yeah. Like a Wonka bar.
Jen: I would be so excited if it really was a Wonka bar.
Brad: Oh yeah. That'd be so cool.
Me: It's not a Wonka bar.

It was a book of photos that I made on Shutterfly. I'm pretty sure they thought it was better than a Wonka bar.

We settled in to watch the Sharks beat the Canucks 6-4, and it was fun to finally get to watch hockey with Brad rather than just talking about the games the next day. When the game ended Jen went to bed, and Brad and I talked a little bit longer but were not far behind.

I thought the two hour time difference was going to play havoc with my sleep schedule, but my early morning helped me fall asleep long before my normal bedtime. Early to bed helped me wake at about 4:30 in the morning CA time. I knew I could easily fall back asleep if I wanted to, but instead opted to get up and shower, padding my way downstairs at 7 KC time. Brad was surprised to see me awake so early, but I didn't want to waste any time. Jen headed off to run a 5K and Brad and I played with the kids for a while. Coffee helped. Jen came home from her 5K, and plans for the afternoon were discussed. She was going to take the kids and run errands and have lunch with her parents while Brad and I headed downtown.

We saw the Liberty Memorial, and discussed the fact that this was a monument to those who had served in wars fought before we were born. We noted how to us, wars were the history we grew up with, and how odd it was that there would be names from our generation on similar monuments someday. Liberty Memorial was very pretty, and had a great view of downtown. He pointed out buildings of note and on our way back to the truck he pointed out the place where he'd seen Staind in concert and I was envious all over again. He then took me to walk around a place called Country Club Plaza, which has lots of shi-shi stores. We found some that held our interest enough to walk through though- laughing over dried artichokes at Pottery Barn, admiring Italian bedding at Restoration Hardware, and some good clean fun with the toys in the Discovery Channel Store. I spied a store that had handmade handbags, where you could buy premade or design your own custom bag. Brad indulged my desire to go inside, though it wasn't exactly his kind of place. We also ducked into a store that was nothing but Cheifs schwag, so it all balanced out I suppose. We found a place to have a light lunch- neither of us wanted anything big to ruin our dinner of KC BBQ later that night. After we ate he drove me by the highschool he and Jen went to, where Jen taught for a few years, and then by the highschool where she teaches now. Both were far larger than mine, and we talked a bit about our high school days and the differences between schools in the Midwest and schools in CA, construction-wise.

Then we headed back to his house for more playing with the kids until it was time to meet Brad's mom, Kay, for dinner. We went to a local BBQ place and though I was dubious (I normally hate barbeque sauce) I ordered up a plate of ribs and burnt end, and was pleasantly surprised that the sauce was really good, as was the slaw, which I'm also hit or miss with. Kay was everything I thought she'd be... I've read all her comments on Brad's blog and she and I have corresponded a little- she's commented on a couple of posts of mine. She came back to the house when we were done eating and we had a chance to talk some more while we watched the Blues beat the Blackhawks. Kay left when the game was over, and after a little more chatting Jen went to bed. Brad and I tried to watch the Avs game, but it had been a long day and he didn't last much longer either. Despite the early morning, I didn't fall asleep until 2am. Even so, I was up by 7:30.

It was pouring rain when I got up, and Brad and Jen were once again surprised to see me up so early. But I could sleep at home, or on he plane, I didn't want to waste precious time with them sleeping. The rain let up, and Brad and I were able to go for a walk around his neighborhood, talking about the houses and styles we liked or found a little odd. We got back from our walk in time for Jen and Zoey to head off to a birthday party, so I said goodbye to them because Brad had to take me to the airport before they got back. We spent our last couple of hours together talking (surprise surprise) and geeking around on our laptops. Kay arrived to watch Sebastian right about the time I realized that I had pictures of Brad from the weekend, and he had pictures of me, but we hadn't taken any pictures together. Kay caught a couple of good ones, and I finalized my packing. Zoey and Jen got back a bit early from the party due to the weather, so I got to say a second goodbye to them and Brad and I left for the airport.

The thing about Brad and I is that our entire friendship is talk. Living so far apart, our friendship is built on blog entries, shared photos, and hours of IM. I think that there are people in life that you are just meant to be friends with, and Brad is one of those poeple for me. We talk about everyday things- work, music, hockey, love, kids, family... everything. We talked about all those same things this weekend, but it was so good to do so as two faces, two voices, rather than two computer screens. Being able to watch hockey together, going for walks... those are things I take for granted with my friends here. They're things I can't do with my friends inside the computer, and having to leave that behind was really hard for me, to the point that I was actually in tears going through security at the KC airport. I tried not to let him see, but he did. He knows me well enough that he probably expected it. I've never felt that way going home from a trip before.

I can't thank Brad and Jen enough for being such gracious hosts, and for letting me into their lives for a couple of days. Their home is gorgeous, their kids are super cute, and they are spectacular, even if a couple of them were disease-ridden and they sent me home with The Snot.

Click to view Flickr set

I had planned to write the recap of my trip to KC, but life is conspiring against me. I had a board meeting to go to, and when I got home from that I sat down to write and promptly dozed off. I seem to have picked up a bit of a nasty cold that has my chest congested, my throat raw, my body chilled, and oddly, my teeth feeling like an army of bacteria is hacking away at my front teeth like it was the felling of the Berlin wall. I'm gonna go brush my teeth again and go back to sleep, but before I do that, I'll leave you with this:

I just paid $2.45 for gas. Brad filled his 20 gallon tank for only a little bit more than what I spend filling my 12 gallon tank. I'm so moving. Who's with me?

I'm writing this in the Dallas airport, which does not have wifi, so I will post this when I get home. I'm connecting to a flight home to San Jose coming from my weekend in Kansas City with Brad. I think the KC airport is one of my favorite that I've been in since all the changes brought about by 9/11. The secured gate area is separated from the unsecured area by only a window. Security was on par with everywhere else I've been, but it's just so small that you don't have a lot of other travelers to contend with. That meant Brad and I could talk pretty much up until my flight started boarding, which was only a few minutes after I had checked my bag. It looked like there was a possibility of volunteering my seat and taking a later flight- I'm all about that, because travel vouchers are a fabulous thing- but that ended up not working out, so I left Brad to board my flight. But it turned out not to be my flight.

The KC airport had two flights to Dallas leaving a half hour apart, two gates apart. I went to the jetway, got my boarding pass scanned, and headed for the plane. They had to call me back and tell me that I was attempting to board the wrong flight. Ooops. So I went to the right gate and waited.

I consider myself to be a pretty good traveler. I'm very go-with-the-flow. So when my flight didn't board on time because the plane arrived late, it didn't faze me. I'm not sure I gave it more than even a passing notice.

To my surprise, when they were calling standby passengers for the flight, they called my name. I grew up flying standby, so I'm pretty familiar with that drill, but I had a confirmed ticket for the flight. Turned out they wanted to ask me if I'd change my seat for a seat in another row so a young standby passenger could sit with her mother. They were trading my window seat for another window seat, so it was a total non-issue for me. They called my boarding group and I headed onto the plane. The woman seated on the aisle was already aboard, and our conversation was as follows"

Me: Hi, I'm in F. Excuse me.
Her: Do you like the window seat?
Me: Yes, I do. It allows a tiny bit of extra room.
Her: I do too.

I thought to myself, "That's nice. You should have booked earlier." Is that really any way to ask someone to trade seats with you? The couple seated behind us was also trying to do some seat swapping so they could sit together. My rowmate, (henceforth referred to as "Aisle", agreed to switch until she realized they had a center seat to trade, not a window. Finally the guy just took his assigned seat between Aisle and myself. Right around this time, the flight attendant was a bit annoyed, asking for everyone to take their seats. Aisle's response was "We're trying! Maybe if you'd board on time we wouldn't have this problem."

Well then.

The flight took off, and I was very sad to see KC disappearing beneath the plane, but there will be other visits. I settled into the flight with my "approved electronic device" (ipod) once I was allowed to turn it on. The flight was a bit bumpy due to weather issues, but mild turbulence doesn't bother me at all. The captain came on and said to prepare for approach, which meant turning off electronic devices, so off went the music and I slid the 'pod into my purse. I leaned back and closed my eyes, waiting for the descent and landing.

The captain came back on the speaker. That's not generally a good sign. Turned out a cold front had come into Dallas and we could no longer approach from the north, we had to come in from the south, and planes were backed up so we got to circle for 35 minutes, with no electronic devices. That part was pretty boring, though I did sneak out my camera and take a couple of pictures of the clouds.

We finally landed, about 35 minutes late, which meant several people on the plane would be scrambling to make their connections. The guy next to me made it out of our row, and I pulled my laptop and purse out from under the seat in front of me. I should note that we were in row 9, with about 20 rows' worth of people behind us. Once I ot my stuff, I tried to hurry a little bit because people were waiting. Then I realized that Aisle was standing in the middle of the aisle, collecting her 4 (??) carryons, and getting herself situated. Seriously, she had a purse, a big rolling laptop bag, a neck pillow, a regular pillow, and a coat. People were looking pretty irrateted behind us, and I was too a bit. She was being incredibly inconsiderate. She finally got moving and I slipped quickly into the aisle behind her. She stopped again on the jetway, but at least there people could move past her. As I walked to the trams that take you to the different gates, people who had deplaned after me were running. I hope they made their flights. My layover in Dallas is about two hours, so I had time to make a call, take a picture, grab a bite to eat, and write this. My flight to San Jose should be boarding soon, and as sad as I was to be leaving Brad and Company behind (his wife and kids really are as fabulous as he says), I'm glad to be going home to my cat and my own bed.

I know a lack of updates is nothing new around here, but I feel bad about not updating since I currently have a lot to say. Things are just crazily busy around here right now and I can't seem to find the time to get anything written. And a lot of the busyness/life craziness is stuff I can't write about, since the Number One rule of blogging is that you Do Not Blog About Your Job.

Coming Attractions will include:
-- Ben and Laura's Wedding and an update on the aforementioned "chocolate Fountain Dress"
-- The start of hockey season
-- The trip I leave for in less than 48 hours (!!) that I am more excited about than I have been about any trip since Caryn's wedding

**I'm warning you Laura- don't**

Anyone who is not the Laura getting married on Saturday- this is totally safe for you, but if you know Laura do not share this information with her.

So, I'm in a wedding on Saturday, if you hadn't guessed. I had my dress custom made because some designers do not like the fact that there are women over size 22W. I like the dress I had made, and I think it looks nice, though I do feel a little bit like a chocolate fountain when I'm wearing it (another bridesmaid told her husband she looked like a Hershey Kiss). Thing is, it's too big. It seemed like it fit fine last week, but the zipper was faulty so I guess I couldn't totally tell. My dressmaker changed out the zipper and I picked up the finished dress yesterday.

I tried it on when I got home, and it's pretty loose. Loose enough that I can take it on and off over my head without unzipping it. Now, my body is such that I'm not going to acheive a super flattering fit anyway (not being self deprecating, just stating a fact) but I'd like it to at least look like it fits. Maybe I'm being hypersensitive, and maybe when the totally awesome Dee looks at it tonight in an attempt to alter it so it fits a little better she will say it looks fine and doesn't need anything, but I think it's gonna need a tuck here and there.

I realize no one is going to be looking at me, they're going to be looking at Laura in all of her radiance, and no one is going to notice an ill-fitting brown dress when it is standing next to a stunningly fit white silk gown. That is totally how it should be because Saturday is about her, not about me. But I'd still like to feel like I look nice.