Dumped for Jesus

I hate it when my birthday falls around Easter weekend.  People always choose to go to Good Friday church services, an Easter egg hunt on Saturday, and of course church on Sunday instead of celebrate with me.  I am not a churchgoer, and it's annoying to get repeatedly dumped for Jesus throughout my life.  I mean, how can I compare with that?

This year I decided to throw myself a party; that way I won't be disappointed when no one does anything for me on my birthday.  So, I rented 3 bowling lanes for 3 hours at a place called Main Event.  I haven't bowled in forever, but I figure between that, the pool tables, laser tag, gravity ropes, arcade, food, and full bar, people will have enough options.  I'm only paying for the 3 lanes, of course.  

I invited all my family, all my GM friends from work, and all my drum corps new friends.  I set the time at 8pm-11pm so people would have plenty of time to go to church and come afterward.  That's not working out very well.

I have 17 people confirmed to come, and after several of them forget/have other plans/ something comes up/etc., I'll have probably 10 people, 7 of which will be my family.  And then the other 3 will leave early because they feel uncomfortable that there aren't more people that they know.

I hope I'm very wrong, and I hope that I'm pleasantly surprised when a lot of people show up.  I don't want my $300 to have gone to waste on the lane rental, and I want to feel that I have enough worth that people will show up to a free party (no gifts allowed) to celebrate with me.  

But I am not optimistic.    

To Blog or to Facebook

I've been a bad bad blogger lately because I like to be-bop around on facebook in my free time nowadays.  And yet I find that there are still times when I want to write something longer than 100 characters, or whatever the max length of a status update is.

A lot, or a little, depending on how you look at it, has been going on in my world.  I've been working a lot...too much...an unhealthy amount.  But starting this week, it will all be well again, for the most part.  And I'll be back to working just a silly silly amount.

Like the fool that I am, I volunteered to coordinate the corps' efforts regarding our big fundraising venture for this year.  We are working concessions at a local minor league soccer stadium to raise money to run the corps.  There are 10 more events spread out between now and October, and it is my responsibility to gather all the information on who is volunteering for which dates and communicate everything to our contact with the concessions company.

I had a hell of a time getting enough people to work 8 days ago, and it took up a huge amount of my time, tracking folks down and trying to persuade them, so I've had several conversations with various people on the corps management team, and I am optimistic that a better system will be worked out shortly.  Basically, they need to get people to commit, and I am just the information gatherer...as it should be.

There was a drum corps party last night at an area bar, where we ate food, drank, and watched DVDs of various drum corps finals performances from throughout the years.  It may sound lame to the un-initiated, but it was a blast for all of us there.  People made requests for the shows they personally marched, and it was fun to watch the activity evolve from the 70s to today (though it's been around for decades and decades longer than that).

Guy was there last night, of course.  A lot of people now either know or have figured out that I am keen on him.  And according to Guy's brother, who likes to chat me up on Facebook, Guy knows, too.  So we chat sometimes online, have the occasional phone call that is completely corps-related, and see each other at corps functions and rehearsals.  He gives me a hug at the end of each one of these, but he hugs everyone else, too, so it's not like I'm getting special treatment.  And yet, there is something extra there, though I can't quite articulate it.

I now have a handful of people giving me advice on how to proceed, which I consider and then decide what I want to use, if any.  And so we'll see what happens.    

And now I must get ready for work. 

That's Scarlett with TWO 't's

I can't remember if I ever wrote about the first part of this story, so if I have, you can skip over this next paragraph.

A couple weeks before Thanksgiving this past year, my Dad told all of us at one Sunday dinner that my male cousin has taken to wearing women's clothing.  After the anticipated amount of giggling that one might expect, we calmed down.  Dad then explained how this cousin's brothers and sisters were shunning him for his choice.  THAT we had a problem with.  So when this cousin came to Thanksgiving dinner, dressed smartly in a skirt, blouse, pumps, and jewelry accessories, we were prepared for his looking different and therefore treated him as we always have (with fleeting interest and false concern since we none of us ever cared one way or the other about him before anyway).

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago when I called my sister to congratulate my nephew on his first chess tournament.  My brother-in-law was asked to relay the 'new and interesting' news on this cousin.  It so happens that this cousin, who sells jewelry at a very high end department store, had requested that he be able to dress as a woman at work.  To their credit, the department store said yes, and following a week of vacation, cousin returned to work in full ladies' regalia.  

All this is quite nice and accepting, and good for all involved.  And I thought to myself how lovely it is that people outside the book industry are being so accommodating and open about this.  My thoughts were all warm and fuzzy for cousin UNTIL....yes, UNTIL....I heard my BIL say one final thing:

Cousin now wishes to be called Scarlett.....with TWO 't's.  WTF?  Scarlett?  You want me to call a grown man Scarlett?  Come on....Scarlett?  Is he becoming a stripper or something? 

I'm still laughing at that one.  I was with the whole situation until I heard the name he is choosing.  Scarlett, good grief. 

The GREAT Day

I had not just any great day today, I had THE Great day today.  Unfortunately, not THAT great day, but hopefully that one will come soon.

Today started off last night actually.  I got word at work yesterday that a few of us on the recruiting team were going to meet at the corps director's house to make phone calls to the people on the lists who had previously given us their contact information.  We were successful in reaching a few people and left many a message for others.  I got to play with the house kitten, who very cutely hissed and growled when I got too near, but then ended up playing with me later on...as long as I didn't touch her for too long, of course.  

And so it was late by the time we left there, because after we made calls we ate some dinner and then chatted for a bit.

Then this morning it was an early rise time to head off to rehearsal.  The temperatures, which reached close to 90 on Thursday, were 50 degrees cooler today with a wind chill somewhere around 20 or lower, I don't know exactly.  Our practice field is at a sports complex in a city north of Dallas, and of course it's wide open and at the top of a rise, so it was impossibly cold. 

After a few minutes of that, someone secured us a high school band room to rehearse in, which was lovely.  After that, and following lunch, we returned to the practice field where the temp was maybe 5 degrees warmer.  After stretching and lining the field, we LEARNED DRILL!

This was very exciting to me.  Learning drill means that we learned out sets.  A set is the shapes you see on the field.  We have a baseball theme show, so our first set was a baseball diamond.  I'd say we learned about a third of the opener....Hot Diggety Dawg!  It was sooooo damn cold...I mean really really cold, yet it was also very exciting!  

My face is windburned and chapped, but I don't care!

After rehearsal many of us went to a Pizza Hut sports bar, then I suggested several of us go bowling.  So, 8 of us went to the Main Event and played pool because the wait for bowling was 2 1/2 hours.  The "Guy" is both an excellent bowler and an excellent pool player, so I knew this would appeal to him.

My favorite moment of the evening is when (we were playing teams) I hit the last solid ball into a pocket right-handed, then sunk the 8 ball left-handed.  Man, that felt great!  Especially since Guy and I were on the same team.

After a while people dropped off, and we all finally left, never having bowled.  The pool was entertainment enough.  So much fun.

What did you do today?

Blue

He looks great in blue.

That's it.  I'm totally done for.  Expect me to be drooling on the floor and falling apart at the seams here shortly.

Wow.

Just to Have a New Post

Nothing much new to write about.  It was a pretty craptastic week last week, for reasons that I really cannot go into here, but all work-related.

I'm still addicted to Facebook, though it is fading somewhat to a manageable level.

Also, I have hornline rehearsal Monday evening which I'm looking forward to.  

I'm working a 6-day stretch here, and I'm halfway through.  Actually, I worked on both my days off this past week, so it's really like 11 days in a row.  Six days doesn't sound like a lot, but it's never just 8 hour days.  Still, I have a job and I am thankful for it.

Not much else going on.

Hello, My Name Is Jenny, and I'm a Facebook-aholic

After much arm twisting, cajoling, persuading, and threatening, I finally joined Facebook last Friday night.  Damn it all to hell, I'm enjoying it and am addicted, at least for now.  I rob the liquor store in Mob Wars every chance I get, and I have posted maybe half a dozen photo albums on the site.  And, bless my heart, I get excited when I find an old high school or college friend on there whom I haven't seen since my school days.  Are any of you on Facebook?

And in other news:

Last Saturday was a great day.  The 'Guy' and I met for lunch, which he paid for, then spent about 4 hours driving around (I drove) and posting recruiting flyers.  During this time I asked him all sorts of questions and tried to keep an interesting dialogue going.  He had just hosted the bachelor party for one of the other guys in the corps at his house the night before, so he was quite tired.  I enjoyed talking with him, but I couldn't tell if he enjoyed it as well or not.  

After we hit all the places on the list I made, we each went home, then later met up at the house of the man who was hosting the Valentine's dinner party.  Since I didn't know the guy, I waited for 'Guy' out front.  I felt weird about walking up to the door of a person I didn't know and saying, "hey, I'm here for your party!"  Everyone pretty much arrived at the same time, and I knew all but 3 people, so I felt relatively comfortable.  The host was so gracious and gentlemanly and kept the wine flowing and each of us happy.  We had lasagna, baked chicken, garlic bread, salad, and cheesecake.  Wow, that was so tasty!  I brought 3 bottles of wine, and I think most everyone also brought a bottle, so there was p-lenty of wine to go around.  

I talked some more with 'Guy' and with all the others, too.  I'm still trying to do a lot of observing, though, to see where I will be able to fit into this group.  They're doing a nice job of just letting me be there for now.  At times I feel excluded, but I don't think it's because they're trying to exclude, they just all have known each other for a few years, and I've only come on the scene 2 months ago.  I have learned that several of the folks have been talking about me, because the past couple of rehearsals people have said "Oh, YOU'RE Jenny.  I've heard a lot about you."  This is interesting because no one really knows much about me as a person yet, so I can only assume that I'm making a good impression with my playing ability and friendliness.  At least, that's what I'm choosing to think is happening.  

One of the ladies in the corps is trying to help me in my situation with 'Guy', but she is getting married this weekend, so I told her not to worry one bit about me right now.  There is plenty of time for her to help me later.  I'm at the point where I'm convinced he just does not like me as anything more than an acquaintance.  My new friend tells me that he is 'one big ball of Clueless'.  That made me laugh.  I'm not so sure.  I thought I was being fairly forward with a few things I was saying.  Ultimately, I don't know.  I suppose I'm ok with risking complete and utter embarrassment to see if there is any attraction there.  But at the same time, I don't want to be a pest.  

I would love some experienced opinions at this point.  I have had precious few romantic relationships in my life, and none which I would call emotionally mature or serious, so I'm kind of in uncharted territory.  Are men basically clueless to when women are interested in them?  Should I continue to be forward with him?  Or should I stop all that and see if he'll take the lead?  Should I encourage my friend to talk with him (she has offered) to spell it out to him?  

I'm an idiot.  I feel like I'm in middle school.

Please advise.  

Oh, and he's on Facebook too, so please don't do anything that might even have the remotest possibility of his finding this blog.  I would die 1,000 dagger deaths.