So I was supposed to get a massage on Monday. With the success of my fitness regime I wanted to treat myself with something other than food (which is kind of self defeating when you think about it). So I thought getting a massage would be a good way to reward myself for losing 20 pounds. But . . . . unfortunately I got on the scales Monday AM and I'd gained almost 5 pounds back. So if exercise and diet helps you lose weight, then not exercising and not dieting means you gain weight. And the trips to San Diego didn't help with the diet or the exercise part. And will say that I've made an awful discovery in Americone Dream! Damn you Stephen Colbert!! Damn you!!
So instead of rewarding myself, I'm now punishing myself. Yes, it's time to go back to my self-esteem crushing gym. I looked at my workout book and apparently I haven't lifted in a month. And I'm going on a cruise with teh gays soon, so I need to crack the whip and get back on track. So goodbye creamy rich ice cream, goodbye french fries, goodbye bread, goodbye alcohol. It was nice knowing you.
Spinning the subject wheel: The US Marine Corps. So I watch VH1 in the AM since that's pretty much the only time they play videos. And lately as I've been watching I notice this ad/infomercial for Black History Month about some of the first African American Marines. Apparently the ad/informercial is produced by the USMC. And I have to tell you, it rocks. And I think it's great that they are doing that.
Spinning the subject wheel again: State of the Union. Wow. It's the first one I've watched all the way through in 8 years. Again. Wow. It was really amazing. Andrew's got some good responses, and I feel for them all. It's the first time in a long time that I felt a politician was talking to me as an adult. We're in a tough situation. It's not going to be easy to fix. It's not going to get fixed overnight. But we're Americans and we can do it. Wow. Thank you for being honest with us. Thank you for treating us a responsible adults. Wow.
Oh, and Nancy, honey, please . . . . SIT THE F&CK DOWN!! Yes we got you are happy (so are we!), but you look like some sort of demonic cheerleader jumping up from your chair every 5 seconds.
Back in San Diego again. And I love the cool, hip, trendy hotel I'm staying at. It's been too cold/I've been to busy to enjoy an adult beverage on the roof top bar, but maybe tonight.
I bailed from the convention early last Friday to start to make my trek back to DC for Valentine's Day. For the first time in a long time I've had someone I wanted to share Valentine's Day with, so I used my US Airway miles to get a ticket from San Diego back to DC for the weekend. It was good to sleep in my own bed, but I really went back to spend time with Lawyer X (how's that for a nickname?). We ended up doing chores together on Saturday afternoon which seemed very domestic of us, but it really felt nice at the same time. Go figure. However, I'm not quite sure how we went to do HIS chores and I somehow ended up paying $200 for a pair of Diesel jeans. Yes, I know that's insane, but they really do fit well. So I'm slowly becoming a label whore. But I'm just trying to help the economy! Really!
You aren't buying it, are you?
Anyways, Lawyer X and I did have a very nice Valentine's dinner that night. Well, -ish. I picked a cool, hip trendy, restaurant for us to have dinner. And we had a really nice time. The food. Well, not so much. The food just wasn't that great. And the service was actually pretty bad. And for the price, it just wasn't a good time. So it wasn't all that, but it was time with Lawyer X that I needed. So that's good.
Flew back to San Diego and landed in the pouring rain. Nice. Back to DC tomorrow. And then I think I'm in my own bed for atleast a week! Yeah!
Well they say you should never mix work and politics. And boy are they right. Because when it does happen, it's rarely pretty.
So I work for a defense contractor, so it's a pretty conservative environment, though I'm out and it's common knowledge (or so I thought) that I'm a little bit towards the left on the political scale. And my CEO likes to tweak me sometimes about it. And whenever that happens I usually go, "Oh, look at the time, I've got a meeting, gotta run, ciao!" And it works.
So last Friday my CEO comes into my office and asks, "So how did you end up giving $X amount of money to the Obama campaign? That's kind of an odd amount." And I laughed a bit to buy some time, and then said, "Well, I gave money at various times, kind of spur of the moment. Usually when I got mad. When Hillary won NH, when Palin was announced, etc." And he laughed and said that he had been on the FEC website and I asked him if I was the only one who had given money from our company and he didn't answer. He did say that I could go online to see who he had given money too. Umm, that's okay. And I'm not really worried about the conversation as my CEO and I trade light barbs back and forth pretty frequently. After the Inaugration I gave him a chocolate bar that had Obama's face carved in it. So it's all in good fun.
So I'm in San Diego (which is colder than DC and WTF is with that!) and I'm having dinner with some other people from my company including my new boss who is really hands off, which is good, but which means I haven't really gotten to know him really well yet. So over a glass of wine I thought it would be funny to tell the story about the CEO coming into my office. Wow, what a mistake. If my CEO is conservative, my new boss is rabidly conservative. And he just went off on Obama lying , etc and I was just kind of stunned. And of course now I'm like, back the f%ck off. So I kind of responded with the littany of lies that the W administration spewed. Then one of my good friends said, "So you know what you're giving says about you, right? That you don't like women." And everyone laughed. Because it's obviously not true in the sense that he means, but it kind of is true since I'm gay. And then I thought, hmm, I wonder if my new boss knows I'm gay. Sigh. That's another coming out and I'll save that for another day.
Spinning the subject wheel completely. I *L*O*V*E this song. And oddly enought I've got the dance version (natch!), but I like this version better!
So I just got back from Nof&ck. Yes, my favorite place. And to be honest, this was one of the most useless trips I've taken down there.
Anyways, one of the reasons I don't like Nof&ck is because the food is not great. I'm back on my Atkins diet (after a weekend of key lime pies and a MONSTER brownie sundae at the the local hipster hangout) so I'm working the salads. And on the Navy base, not so much. So I spend lunch at the Ruby Tuesday. Yes, I know. But it's close to the base and the food is slightly above marginal. The pickings are slim so you take what you can get. But here's the deal, the salads are okay, but would it kill you to mix the salad for me? After the nice salads at Cosi or Chop't, I kind of expect my salads to be pre-mixed. And it's not like I'm lazy. Well, kind of. The real issue is that when you've given me this beautiful salad with a stip of tomatoes, a strip of chicken, a strip of cheese, a strip of hard boiled eggs, etc across the bed of lettuce, it looks really pretty. But it's a pain to toss it myself. I end up getting a good portion of it on the table. You've got the big bowls back there to mix the salads, can't you do that for me?
Well enough of complaining about that.
So . . . . I had dinner with an old Navy friend of mine while I was in down there. And it's not like I ignore my old Navy friends, but most of them aren't in the area anymore so I haven't had a chance to tell them that I'm gay. And I did tell somone via email that I was gay and apparently you're not supposed to do that. It's not quite as bad as a text message breakup, but still. Anyways, it was great to see her and we started to catch up on our lives. And I knew the whole gay thing was going to come up. And when she mentioned going on chuch missions, I kind of winced inside. I'm like, this could be ugly.
And after giving her five minute highlights, she said, "So what's going on with you, who are you seeing, what's her name?"
And so I smiled a bit said, "His name . . . . . is X."
And she smiled in return and laughed a bit. She said she was cool with alternative lifestyles and kind of rambled on for a bit.
And while I am happy that my coming out isn't going to be an issue with our friendship, I've got to be honest and say the whole "alternative lifestyle" thing rubs me the wrong way. It kind implies choice. And being gay is definitely NOT a choice. But I think that mentality and the use of that phrase is kind of common among certain people of a certain age. So I just sort of bit my tongue and kep on with the conversation. I really appreciate her accepting me as I am and I didn't want to make a point out of it as I don't think she really has an issue with it.
Etiquette Lessons and the Ghost of Boyfriends Past
Now I'm not Emily Post, but I was raised right as my mom would say. So I know how to behave at formal dinners. Apparently that isn't as common as one would hope.
Last week for work, I ended up having to go to a formal lunch with some dignitaries from France at the Pentagon. The government lead took us up to the Commandant of the Marine Corps private dining room. Now we had a really swanky lunch when we were in Paris, so it was our turn to put on a nice meal. Sans wine of course.
Anyways, the French senior representative noticed that while it says USMC on the plates, it also says Department of the Navy. And one of the senior US guys was trying to explain how the USMC is part of the Department of the Navy. And then one guy goes, "The USMC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Department of the Navy." Wow, what a great line. I must use that around my USMC friends sometime!
Anyways, the host (seriously senior guy) shows up and we sit down to eat. Now being a slimy contractor, and the youngest person at the table by far, I'm at one end of the table. Across from me is a Navy CDR. So we sit down, and I have a sip of water. Well the servers come out and bring out the soup. And they serve it kind of oddly as I get my soup before the guest of honor, or the host, does. So I sit there patiently. Well, my CDR friend across from me proceeds to dig in to the soup and starts eating. I'm trying to catch his eye to wave him off, but it's too late. Anyways, the soup is finally served to everyone and we start to eat. Sort of a corn chowder with some sausage in it. Very good. Well I'm half way through my soup when the CDR decides that he's done and puts the soup aside and moves his salad on top of his plate and starts to eat the salad. While everyone is still eating soup! Anyways, when the soup is done, the servers take the soup away and then the host pulls the salad to the center of the place setting to start to eat it. Now mind you, since the CDR already ate his salad, the server took away his salad plate and his soup bowl, so he's just sitting there and not really participating in the conversation. Just odd. We have the main course, spinach and feta stuffed chicken. And it was good. Well they bring out the dessert and of course my CDR friend is served first and what does he do? He grabs his spoon and starts to dig in before everyone has their desserts. I'm like, wow, you need to get out more.
That night we flew down to Key West (hey, don't be a hater!) with the French. We worked on Friday and of course at lunch on Friday (a more casual affair) we see then storm clouds building. We go back to our meetings and when we leave for the day, the temp has dropped atleast 30 degrees. Yep, my only free day and it was cold in Key West. I just can't win sometimes.
Leaving the hotel on Sunday, I've got a late check out. I pack all of my bags and head down to the lobby. As I enter the lobby, I see a familiar face. And my first thought is no, it can't be. But I round the corner and it is. It's Norton (obviously not his real name). What are the odds that my former boyfriend (-ish) is staying at the same hotel as me in Key West? We say hello and exchange greetings. It's all very civil. And that's not to imply it was every ugly. After 5 or so months, I asked what we were doing and he said that he wasn't ready for a boyfriend. And I was okay with that, I said I still wanted to be friends. And then I never heard from him again. Which to be honest I thought was a little disappointing. I thought he was better than that. Oh well.
The good news? He didn't really look that great and I on the other hand have dropped 20 pounds and look fabulous! And that's all that really matters, right?
