Oh my God we're back again

I felt the need to borrow the opening line from the Backstreet Boys' classic "Everybody" for this blog post.

Oh my God we're back again! 

Time to start apartment hunting for September. Welcome to my personal hell. Our apartment is being shown to be rented out and I hope someone rents it soon. The giant pile of charcoal that someone dumped in the hall near our door might be a deterrent but I'm sure some college student will rent it out. Also, not my problem.

My anxiety was amped up to 110 yesterday. I don't like having things up in the air. I'm worried that if we don't find an apartment NOW they will all be gone. It's not even May so I know I'm being a little dramatic but I can't help it. My brain is a jerk.

The best case scenario would be that we can rent a place that my friend's brother owns. I already know what the apartment looks like since I have been there before. It's also not too far from where I live now. We like the area. He's going to check and see if his tenants are renewing.

Next on my anxiety list is following up with the venue we looked at. I sent and email saying YES but still have not heard back. I sent the email Thursday night so if I don't hear anything by Thursday I'm going to call. RESPOND TO ME PLEASE!

Then when both of those things are taken care of I will find something else to worry about.

Marathon Monday recap

I realize it is now Thursday and I'm blogging about Monday but sometimes a girl gets busy with real life.

This year I had a group of friends over for Marathon Monday. I even made mango salsa (which came out really good). We had a few drinks and some light food and then headed over to Cityside for the marathon.

It was a beautiful day out and we got into the bar right away. Cleveland Circle is near the end of the marathon right after everyone has just come off the hills. Basically the runners are ready to be done at this point.

There were a lot more people than this picture let's on. I was trying to get a good angle for the photo but I guess you just have to be there.

Sam Adam's marathon brew. It's actually pretty good.

Koozy man. We talked to him for a bit. He had a pretty amazing backpack made out of koozies. He told us he is going on Shark Tank soon to try to get more funding for his business. He makes koozies with handles and makes the backpacks. I told him I think the backpack would do well. It seemed well made and it's a good idea for a bunch of koozies that you don't know what to do with. His company is called Koozy Designs.

If you've ever wanted to come to Boston, I suggest making the trip for Marathon Monday. It's so much fun.

One and done (I hope)

Derek and I looked at our first venue and we like it. I had a little bit of a freak out when I was told the limit for the space was 60 for a seated dinner and there was no wiggle room. I thought to myself "if I get shingles again, it's going to be because of wedding planning". I emailed the guy we met with and told him that we liked the place and would see if we could make it work with our guest list. He then replied with some ways we could make more than 60 work. If we moved the start of the wedding earlier in the afternoon we would be able to have more space. Yes! We still need to keep it under 75 but that we can do. Sorry shingles, but you're going to have to save yourself for another stressful time. Don't worry, there will be plenty.

Could we be one and done in the search for a venue? I hope so.

I'm looking forward to the long weekend. We have dinner plans with Germana and Andy at a fancy steak house called Mooo.... that is the exact name. It looks like it's going to be in the low 70s for Marathon Monday! Too hot for runners but not for the day drinkers. I'll let you guess which category I fall into.

The King lives and he comes with a pu pu platter

Can winter be done with? No! This is New England! Here's some snow.

One thing I love about Boston is the random stuff you see just walking around. Like - "here's a lion on my front steps, enjoy!"

The snow has all melted by now but I was not pleased last week. I've been checking the weather religiously for the Marathon Monday forecast. So far it's going to be low 60s and cloudy. I'll take it!

Less than a week away now.

I work near the finish line so I get to see the progress of setting up for the marathon every year.

Friday night was fun.

So was Saturday.

I was going to "take it easy" and I think I jinxed myself by saying that. I didn't know these two but started dancing with them and then when I found out they were from Waltham I asked them when they graduated and it turns out they know my cousins. I texted this picture to my cousin Lauren.

Ah Chansky's. Pretty much my favorite convince store. The employees are always playing good music and their signs are never lacking in entertainment.

Now onto Sunday Funday. Not every weekend it like this, I swear.

We went to an Elvis show at a Chinese restaurant in Weymouth. My former roommate Todd and his girlfriend are well on their way to being townies.

Derek declared that we would be the youngest people there and we were. I'm not a big Elvis fan but it was still entertaining and we ate massive amounts of Chinese food. I was in pu pu platter heaven. I feel very sorry for you if you don't have good Chinese food in you area. My brother misses it in Florida.

Speaking of my brother - he's back from Dubai! He surprised my niece and nephew and the video my SIL sent me was just so cute. This auntie got teary eyed. I can't imagine how hard it was to be apart for months.

Can everything just be planned already?

I've been absent from my blog for a week! Well that's not like me. I have good reason though.

First of all it was Derek's birthday Tuesday. He's finally 30! I've been waiting two years for him to join me in the 30s club.

Second of all I have actually started really getting serious about this wedding planning business. The guest list is already giving me anxiety. I have a large family and by inviting some cousins I have to invite ALL OF THEM apparently. I have 6 cousins on my father's side and 9 on my mother's side (two are off the guest list at least for various reasons). Is it horrible that I hope some of them RSVP NO so I can invite more friends? I keep in touch with quite a few cousins (two of them I consider good friends) but some I never see, pretty much ever. But my mother said I have to do the right thing and invite them even if many of them won't come. Aunts and uncles are also invited so my mom is right, I can't not invite all the cousins then.

We are checking out a venue next Wednesday. It's in Boston and it's a restaurant where we could do the ceremony and reception. My boss is letting me leave an hour early to meet with their event planner with Derek and check out the space. I'm hoping it's one and done. I just want to nail down the venue so I can stop worrying about it. Apparently you need to book things 5 year in advance! Ok I'm exaggerating but everyone has been telling me I need to book the venue now for next spring. I really want a wedding in the city because Derek and I are city folk and so are most of our friends. 

Make it happen universe!

And in other wedding news, my BFF Germana got engaged yesterday. Andy is a great guy and I'm so happy they're engaged! We're having dinner with them soon so I'm sure I'll hear all the details.

Before I go, I'd like to thank everyone for their comments on my last post. I really appreciate it.

The most painful part

So I was watching an episode of Nurse Jackie (which is a really good show by the way) and one of the characters lost his son to a drug overdose and at one point he says "The most painful part is when you realize the first thing you feel is relief".

I pretty much lost it. That sentence pretty much encompasses how I felt when my father died. He was an alcoholic and at that point he was mostly homeless. At 16 years old I was constantly worried about if he was ok. If it was winter, did he have a warm place to sleep? Even if it wasn't cold out, was he safe, did he have food to eat? He would never admit he had a problem. I even ran into him when I was volunteering at the hospital and he was checked into rehab. He pretended he didn't recognize me because he was too embarrassed. One time I saw him asleep on a bench outside the supermarket I worked at but I didn't go up to him because I knew he would be embarrassed and ashamed. I had to pretend like I didn't know him. None of my coworkers ever knew.

He was still in my life. He kept regular visits with my brother and I. He always showed up and I am grateful for that. He cared despite his addition. He would never drink when he was coming to see us which meant he was very shaky and had a tough time but he didn't want to be drunk when with his kids. He called us all the time and never forgot a birthday. It's strange to say but I had the best alcoholic father you could ask for. Never violent and very caring, he just couldn't stop drinking.

My father passed when I was 16. He died in his sleep in a graveyard and was found by a jogger in the morning. When my mother told me I cried of course but I felt guilty for the fact that my first thought was I don't have to worry anymore, he's at peace now. For years I felt horrible that that was my first thought, but as an adult I realize this is not uncommon. You're under so much stress and have so much anxiety because you care about this person and worry about them 24/7 and when they are actually gone you don't have to worry anymore. It might be hard to understand if you haven't experienced it but it's nice to see a fictional tv show actually get it right.

Well I think I might have over shared here but I felt the need to get it out.

Your daily dose of public transit wackiness

I suppose the most exciting part of my day was when a woman jumped in front of my bus because the bus driver wouldn't stop to let her on. No one gets off at this stop because it's the first stop right outside the bus station. She started banging on the front of the bus demanding that the bus driver let her on. The bus driver kept yelling that the bus was full and there was another bus right behind him. He actually wasn't lying about that. I saw the other bus pull in when we left the station. This woman was having none of it. She was going to stand in the road in front of the bus until the driver let her on.

Some of the people on the bus were telling the bus driver we could try to make room and to let her on. I was of the mindset of no way in hell, she's crazy and I'd rather not ride the bus with her. Eventually the bus driver let her on and I gave her my best stink eye. Thank you for holding up the whole bus during rush hour!

I feel like I got quite a bit done today. I was very productive at work, I fit in some walking, I ran an errand, I made beef and broccoli for dinner that actually came out good AND I did almost an hours worth of cleaning.

I'm trying this new thing where I get off my ass more, even if it's just cleaning. I could stand to be neater. My co-workers make me feel like I'm just wallowing around in filth. Lilly mops all of her floors every day! Each time someone uses the toilet they have to clean it with bleach. She is always cleaning. I'd rather watch Netflix than mop my floors. I'm hoping the more I do it the more it just becomes a habit, although I don't think I will ever wash my floors every day.

Well I'm calling it a night. Time to do more dishes. I do them the old school way, by hand.