It's been a hell of a month for yours truly. A little bit of everything has happened. A tour of the alphabet is in order....
Awesome girlfriend and cat family. I'm loving the new set-up and loving it even more with the loving g/f and cats that inexplicably entertain me on a daily basis. We've all adjusted to the new neighborhood quite well.
Bowling this summer. Our team has sucked so far this year. However, to start the second half of the year, we swept our first series. Let's see if this carries over into July & August.
Cell Dwelling at US Cellular Field. I've gone to a few games there this June, both unique in their own ways. I experienced my first-ever fog delay on a Monday night game when the White Sox faced the Blue Jays. I also attended the second game of a doubleheader on June 28th as the White Sox blew a 9th inning lead against the Indians.
Donations. Thanks to a last-minute pledge for money in my St. Jude/Warrior Dash efforts, I was able to gather a total of $1070 from my network of family and friends. I know those kids at St. Jude appreciate every single dollar donated. Thank you to everyone who donated.
Exercise. I need to find a gym soon or find new workouts to do. I don't want to regress to what I was before January 1st.
Fit Happens Champion. Over 30 pounds lost. Still have about 20-25 pounds to go before I'll be completely happy.
Game 6 - in both NBA & NHL Finals. Watched both in different venues (NBA at home, NHL at a bar). Each viewing experience left me shocked and reaffirmed why I love watching sports - the unexpected, unscripted drama that you can't get anywhere else.
Holding pattern. I had big plans coming up (trip to Seattle, new bowling league in Fall) that may need to be put on hold with the layoff. Hoping that I can find work quicker than the three months it took between jobs last time.
Ink for my computer. Yep, need some more ink. I had no idea what to write for the I portion of this blog, as you can tell.
Job search in progress. Yep, out of a job starting the end of day, July 5th. Any help would be much appreciated.
(5)K runs. I did my first one in quite a while on June 2nd. Fittingly enough with one of the guys who helped get me into shape. Thanks Chris. Going to try making them a monthly thing. Might hold off on this, depending on cost of 5K. Me needs to save some dough, yo.
Logan Square - love the new neighborhood feel. Moved here June 1. Love it here so far.
Mohawk. It may be short-lived, especially if I start to get interviews soon. I got it in dedication to my cousin Marilyn and the Warrior Dash run. Plus I look awesome with it.
Networking. It's the key that got me my last two jobs. It's exactly where I picked up when I heard the news of being laid off. So far, it has not produced results, but I have faith that my networks will be what gets me employed again.
Olivers. This remains my go-to suburban bar, particularly after bowling on Wednesdays before heading back to the burbs. I caught most of Stanley Cup Game 1 there, the end of Game 4, and always share good stories and good times with my friends there.
Pizza places. My favorite part of moving into a new Chicago neighborhood is to try new pizza places. I do miss Pat's Pizza, but there's a few good joints around here that I'm sure we'll enjoy just as much.
Quarterback Keeper. In less serious news (or more serious, depending on your level of fantasy football interest), trying to decide who to keep in my fantasy football league. Earlier in June, I was thinking Kaepernick. Now, I'm thinking Peyton Manning. I'm not sure how much longer Peyton has. I can keep either one of these guys for the next three seasons. Who would you choose?
Rear ended on June 14th. It was my second accident in a row where my car was not in motion when I got hit. Luckily, it was only a few minor bumps on the bumper. The guy who hit me offered to pay for my troubles, but I was not about to bother with that.
Stanley Cup Playoffs. Definitely the most active I've been involved with hockey in my life (from betting it to watching it). While I give bandwagon people a hard time, I have no problem with them. Bandwagons breed new fans of a sport, and that's never a bad thing - as long as people take the time to learn the sports they follow.
Trans mount. I needed a new one of these for my car (I couldn't tell you what a trans mount is or where it is in my car). I was about to get a new one and pay $400 last month at Firestone, but they didn't have one for my model car. Luckily they didn't - totally forgot about what was covered by CarMax and the warrant. Just got it fixed by CarMax for the low price of free.99.
Uncle Brian. Still is awesome to say. Will always be awesome. Every moment I've had to hold my nephew Brayden has been a fantastic moment. The last two times I saw him this month, he has been looking around and soaking in his environment. Can't believe he's already six weeks old.
Victory parade. I debated whether to attend the Blackhawks parade, but my parade experience in 2010 was all I really needed. Millions of people, with even just 5 or 10 percent of them drunk and an even higher percentage annoying, was not my cup of tea for this year's celebration.
Warrior Dash completed on June 16th. It was much tougher than when I did it three years ago. Glad to be a part of Team Carter.
eXcel Spreadsheets. As I was transferring files to my personal email before my work computer is taken away, I forgot how many excel spreadsheets I've worked with over the years. Many of my blogs had data stored in excels.
Year is half over. The year has flown, but it feels like this month has lasted longer than 30 days, as you can see by this blog.
Zombie Seinfeld. I caught this production on June 14th, right after the rear-ending. It was an excellent adaptation of Seinfeld that does not require one to love zombies (I can't stand zombie stuff) or even Seinfeld. Great job by Jeremy & Dan Eden, as always.
Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts
9/08/2011
Date & See (Chapter 3)
For those of you who haven't been following my online dating, here are the first two chapters of my journey in the online dating world:
Chapter 1 (Intro to Online Dating)
Chapter 2 (Reflection After a Week)
The end of chapter 2 has me looking forward to a date, which occurred earlier this week.
In the day or two preceding the date, I must say it was a mixture of anxiousness, excitement and a tad bit of nervousness. I was more calmed than anything though since during that time, I was able to keep in touch with the date as we got to know each other better through some online conversation and then after exchanging numbers, some texting. As we talked more, it seemed like we kept finding more things that we had in common - which made me look forward to the date that much more.
Date Day - Stay Cool, Ice Cold (Before the Date)
Date day comes. You would think that I'd have a slight nervousness at points in the day, especially as my work day progresses towards its end. I was as cool as a cucumber (to be honest, I never understood this phrase - probably because I don't handle cucumbers and have no idea on their temperature tendencies). I knew it to be a more casual of a first date, so a polo and jeans would suffice.
I had to stop at a gas station for some breath mints, so Mentos it was - a fairly insignificant event compared to the next one I almost faced. I almost didn't make it to my first date. As I was heading north on Pulaski, a car turning left was somewhat impeding the path of a car behind it, so it creeped into my lane, missing me by inches. Luckily, when I slammed on the brakes, there was no one tailing me.
The Waiting Game
So I get to the date a little early and text my date, letting her know what to look for and that I'll be waiting outside. She texts me close to the start of the date time, saying she's just about to leave and apologizes several times.
Waiting, playing on my Crackberry, waiting some more.
I'm not going to be left at a pizza place by myself on what was supposed to be my first date, am I?
I knew she lived closed, so I was doubting she had left - sure enough, she hadn't. I get another text apologizing even more, assuring me she had just left and she'll explain when she gets there.
Finally....The Date
My phone had froze when I accidently deleted an app of mine, so I had to restart it. In that time, she texted me where I was at, but luckily I saw someone who matched her profile looking like she was looking for someone.
(Sidenote: I mean, who wouldn't be looking for me? I mean, look at me, right? End of sidenote)
I give somewhat of an awkward hug to her to say hello, tell her I'm starving and let's get some food! We ended up going to Barraco's in Evergreen Park and getting some deep dish pizza. I'd say the conversation flowed well, much like the online conversations we had been having. I got to learn about her adventures from the summer and other past stories that she told that showed me that she was comfortable talking to me. I always appreciate people who can open up to me, but this being a first date and first time meeting each other, I appreciated it that much more. It helps I'm sure that I've opened up to her a lot about random crap.
Part 1 of the date being over, we stood outside of the Barraco's trying to figure out our next step of the date. I even said to her that we were looking like a bunch of idiots standing outside of a restaurant that is adjacent to a busy street. Luckily, the term idiot or whatever offshoot of the word I used doesn't seem to offend her. We finally decided on living up to the bet that we made the day before via text: loser of a darts game has to buy the other ice cream.
(Sidenote 2: I really did enjoy the simpleness of the date - pizza, darts and ice cream. It seemed to fit both of our personalities well)
So we go to Durbins in Burbank for a few games of darts. After ordering our only drinks (me a Blue Moon, her a Jack and Coke), we get into our dart games. From these games, I learn that she is very competitive, as she says she may not talk to me again if I beat her. I do appreciate her competitive nature, as we both agree that nobody should ever participate in any activity and not expect to win. My prospects of talking to her beyond the date were looking good, as I was quickly trailing after 5 rounds in our first Count Up game of darts by over 130. In round 6, I pulled a round of 129 out of my ass (2 triple 20s and a 9) and then overtook her in the next round to capture the victory. Needless to say, she wasn't happy. I didn't need quite the comebacks in the next two games, both victories for me. Game 4 was hers, but the damage was done. I won 3 of 4 games and essentially ruined my chances of talking to her beyond this date.
Just kidding. We ended up getting ice cream after - a Neopolitan scoop with another ice cream for her (sorry, I forgot the other scoop) and a double peanut butter/chocolate scoop - both waffle cones. Apparently, the Baskin Robbins we went to holds some significance to her, with her and her friends spending many a night being obnoxious (hmmmm....sounds like me and my friends traditionally being obnoxious at bowling alleys and restaurants). We continued to converse well there and called it a night a little after 11pm.
As we walk outside, I thought about a kiss on the cheek good night but figured that since we established a second date that maybe it could wait. Before hugging her good bye, I made note of her looking better in person than she did through her pictures. She appeared to blush - yeah, let's say she blushed when I said that. I'm pretty sure she did. Once she reads this, she can let me know if she did.
I drove off back to home with a satisfied feeling after date 1 and was (and am) very anxious for date 2 to take place. We established an idea for a date 2 that I consider to be a revolutionary contribution to the dating world....and I will let you know about that idea next week.
Chapter 1 (Intro to Online Dating)
Chapter 2 (Reflection After a Week)
The end of chapter 2 has me looking forward to a date, which occurred earlier this week.
In the day or two preceding the date, I must say it was a mixture of anxiousness, excitement and a tad bit of nervousness. I was more calmed than anything though since during that time, I was able to keep in touch with the date as we got to know each other better through some online conversation and then after exchanging numbers, some texting. As we talked more, it seemed like we kept finding more things that we had in common - which made me look forward to the date that much more.
Date Day - Stay Cool, Ice Cold (Before the Date)
Date day comes. You would think that I'd have a slight nervousness at points in the day, especially as my work day progresses towards its end. I was as cool as a cucumber (to be honest, I never understood this phrase - probably because I don't handle cucumbers and have no idea on their temperature tendencies). I knew it to be a more casual of a first date, so a polo and jeans would suffice.
I had to stop at a gas station for some breath mints, so Mentos it was - a fairly insignificant event compared to the next one I almost faced. I almost didn't make it to my first date. As I was heading north on Pulaski, a car turning left was somewhat impeding the path of a car behind it, so it creeped into my lane, missing me by inches. Luckily, when I slammed on the brakes, there was no one tailing me.
The Waiting Game
So I get to the date a little early and text my date, letting her know what to look for and that I'll be waiting outside. She texts me close to the start of the date time, saying she's just about to leave and apologizes several times.
Waiting, playing on my Crackberry, waiting some more.
I'm not going to be left at a pizza place by myself on what was supposed to be my first date, am I?
I knew she lived closed, so I was doubting she had left - sure enough, she hadn't. I get another text apologizing even more, assuring me she had just left and she'll explain when she gets there.
Finally....The Date
My phone had froze when I accidently deleted an app of mine, so I had to restart it. In that time, she texted me where I was at, but luckily I saw someone who matched her profile looking like she was looking for someone.
(Sidenote: I mean, who wouldn't be looking for me? I mean, look at me, right? End of sidenote)
I give somewhat of an awkward hug to her to say hello, tell her I'm starving and let's get some food! We ended up going to Barraco's in Evergreen Park and getting some deep dish pizza. I'd say the conversation flowed well, much like the online conversations we had been having. I got to learn about her adventures from the summer and other past stories that she told that showed me that she was comfortable talking to me. I always appreciate people who can open up to me, but this being a first date and first time meeting each other, I appreciated it that much more. It helps I'm sure that I've opened up to her a lot about random crap.
Part 1 of the date being over, we stood outside of the Barraco's trying to figure out our next step of the date. I even said to her that we were looking like a bunch of idiots standing outside of a restaurant that is adjacent to a busy street. Luckily, the term idiot or whatever offshoot of the word I used doesn't seem to offend her. We finally decided on living up to the bet that we made the day before via text: loser of a darts game has to buy the other ice cream.
(Sidenote 2: I really did enjoy the simpleness of the date - pizza, darts and ice cream. It seemed to fit both of our personalities well)
So we go to Durbins in Burbank for a few games of darts. After ordering our only drinks (me a Blue Moon, her a Jack and Coke), we get into our dart games. From these games, I learn that she is very competitive, as she says she may not talk to me again if I beat her. I do appreciate her competitive nature, as we both agree that nobody should ever participate in any activity and not expect to win. My prospects of talking to her beyond the date were looking good, as I was quickly trailing after 5 rounds in our first Count Up game of darts by over 130. In round 6, I pulled a round of 129 out of my ass (2 triple 20s and a 9) and then overtook her in the next round to capture the victory. Needless to say, she wasn't happy. I didn't need quite the comebacks in the next two games, both victories for me. Game 4 was hers, but the damage was done. I won 3 of 4 games and essentially ruined my chances of talking to her beyond this date.
Just kidding. We ended up getting ice cream after - a Neopolitan scoop with another ice cream for her (sorry, I forgot the other scoop) and a double peanut butter/chocolate scoop - both waffle cones. Apparently, the Baskin Robbins we went to holds some significance to her, with her and her friends spending many a night being obnoxious (hmmmm....sounds like me and my friends traditionally being obnoxious at bowling alleys and restaurants). We continued to converse well there and called it a night a little after 11pm.
As we walk outside, I thought about a kiss on the cheek good night but figured that since we established a second date that maybe it could wait. Before hugging her good bye, I made note of her looking better in person than she did through her pictures. She appeared to blush - yeah, let's say she blushed when I said that. I'm pretty sure she did. Once she reads this, she can let me know if she did.
I drove off back to home with a satisfied feeling after date 1 and was (and am) very anxious for date 2 to take place. We established an idea for a date 2 that I consider to be a revolutionary contribution to the dating world....and I will let you know about that idea next week.
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