See Ya Melissa

A Haiku

Parents are coming
Their visit stresses me out
Quick! Hide the bad stuff!

The Problem with Being Anti-Social

I used to love the phone.  My phone and I were inseparable.  No matter where I was, I was on the damn phone.  I was once even kicked out of a Barnes & Noble for talking on the phone!  Now, not so much.  Somehow I've lost my ability to carry on a real-time conversation with anyone not in front of me.  Face to face I can do.  Over the phone? Nope.  Now that I live thousands of miles from all of my friends, this is a serious problem.  It means I don't exactly keep in touch.  Sure, we'll exchange a quick Facebook wall post here and there, but I haven't had a real conversation with any of them in something like 4 years. 

The biggest issue with this is not the wasted cell phone minutes.  It's that my support network is now non-existent.  I'm not one of those people who will call you up after not talking to you for a year because I need some venting time, and then disappear again.  That's just rude and selfish.  Instead, I'm kind of lost and wishing I had been a better friend so that I could have someone to talk to when I really need it.  Right now is one of those times.

Because We Can't Be Like Everyone Else *eyeroll*

We are planning our wedding.  No, we are not engaged.  That would be too normal.  If we're going to get married in the first half of next year, though, I really can't wait until he proposes to begin planning.  K knew I was worried about this, so he told me to go ahead and plan the wedding while he figures out the engagement ring.  Part of me really doesn't want to start until I have the ring, but I know if I don't start now, I'll be completely stressed out about the lack of time.  As it is I'm stressed out.  I'm not one of those girls who started planning her dream wedding when she was 5.  Sure, I knew one day I wanted to get married, but I really didn't think about it.  Needless to say, I'm in over my head.

My stress is compounded by the fact that K does not in any way want a "normal" wedding.  He thinks they're too big and too much of a fiasco.  I kind of agree, but I'd always thought I'd end up with a traditional wedding, surrounded by a bunch of friends and family.  He, however, thinks having 50 people is 48 too many. Even with 50 people, a vast majority of those folks would be his family, which I think he tends to forget.  I've been agonizing over this for weeks until yesterday when I had a mini-epiphany after a not-so-mini internal fit. 

Our plan is to have an immediate-family-only wedding in a great (beach) location, then have the reception here in Houston.  Not only will this cut down costs, but it will allow us to have a small wedding without leaving out our friends.  Seriously, once I came to this conclusion, I felt a zillion times better. 

Now all I have to worry about is the Bridal Show... 

Finally!

So after over 2 months, I finally have a functioning computer again.  No, I was not able to fix my old one.  I had to buy a new one.  And, I lost all my data.  Pictures from Susannah's bachelorette party, a ton of music... pretty much everything since 2007 because I can't seem to get my external harddrive that I'd used to backup some of my data since then to cough up the goods.  Booooooo! 

The World is Out to Get Me

I turned 30 a few weeks ago.  And as I strolled through the mall enjoying my day off, I received this email:

Hi Melissa (does anyone call you Missy anymore?).

 

I've sent you a few emails here and there over the past couple years. Either you're not getting them or you're afraid to talk to me. I don't know which. In any case, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday. :-) I hope you are having a great day.

 

Your friend,

Brian

Ok, first off, I haven't answered your last 6 emails, why are you emailing me again, and on my birthday you asshole??  By far my favorite part of this is the "Either you're not getting them or you're afraid to talk to me" line.  It's like his mind can't conceive of the notion that I don't want to talk to him.  And afraid of him?!  Yeah, afraid he'll stalk me!  Which he totally is doing!  He's such a fucking idiot.  He needs to get a life and stop trying to communicate with me.

Then yesterday, I received a LinkedIn invitation from the ex who shattered my heart in college.  It wasn't just the site-generated invitation either.  He wrote a short note with it asking where I was and what was I doing now.  I think I may have stopped breathing for a minute.  After consulting with Rachel (a true savior in times of crisis), I accepted the invitation and wrote him a cordial response, and expected that that would be it.  No, he's been sending me responses all day long.  What gives dude?!  You callously ditch me with no explanation, completely disappear for 9 years, and now you're super chatty?  What bad karma is this?  Is this payback for mocking Brian?  Isn't him stalking me bad enough?

This Is Totally My Office Too

Holiday Wrap-Up

Ah, the Holidays.  Ok, so they were actually pretty fun, but I'm almost obligated to complain because my family was in town.  And by Family, I mean everybody in my family: my parents, both my sibs, and their spouses.  All in our house, for the first time.  In honor of Christmas, and since we'd always had fake trees in my family, K and I got a real tree to decorate.  It smelled so good that it was actually worth all the mess it made! 

Anyway, the family visit actually turned out to be pretty fun.  I didn't make my brother's wife cry (amazing!) and there weren't any fights or lectures!  Zonds!  Unfortunately, though, K and I both got a nasty chest virus on Christmas day, and then 2 days later, my sister's husband got the same virus, only it settled in his gastrointestinal tract, making it far more miserable for him.  Maybe it wasn't worse for him after all.  See, I'm still sick, but he's back to normal.  Hmmmm....

Best part about Christmas?  I FINALLY got a new car!  Oh yes I did!  Dad helped me negotiate my way to a good deal on the car I wanted, and now it's happily sitting in our garage, looking all cute.  I LOVE it!  Love love love love LOVE it!  Pictures possibly coming at some point.  Possibly.

Guess What This Is

See those flecks of white?  There's nothing wrong with my camera.  That's snow!  Yes, snow.  In Houston.

Un-freakin'-believable

Remember when my douchebag ex emailed me wanting to know if I wanted to be update on his life?  Well, he did it again:

Hey. Just wondering if this is still your email address. I would love to update you on my life and get one on yours, if that's alright with you.

Brian

Uh, no.  You were not still wondering if this is still my email address.  You were hoping you'd get an answer this time.  And yes, I know you'd just love to update me on your life now, but do you honestly think I want to hear it?  Are you hoping that whatever it is you're dying to tell me (maybe that you finally got a job? or that you moved out of your mother's house?) will make me want to get back together with you?  Or even make me think that you are suddenly worth my time? 

And why the hell do you think I'd want to give you an update on my life?  Do you want to hear how incredibly happy I am and how great my life is without you?  Actually, that would entertain me.  I bet you think I've been miserable without you, living at home with my parents, unemployed, fat and sad.  No honey, that's you.  I've been great - new city, great boyfriend, still have awesome friends and made a bunch of new ones. Got a ridiculous job that, yeah, stresses me out, but is so totally worth it.  At the end of the day, I come home to a house I own.  Did I mention that the great boyfriend lives there too?  I didn't?  Oh, well, he does.  And it's great.  I don't count the minutes until he leaves like I did when you stayed over.  You didn't realize I did that?  Well, you always were pretty clueless.  As much as I'd love to rub all that in your face, I won't.  You'd probably just use the information to stalk me.  Don't think Rachel didn't tell me you tried to friend her on Facebook.  She's my best friend, remember?  Dumbass.

Anyway, I didn't answer him.  I consulted with Rachel and considered sending a reply that simply said No, but in the end, we all know he'd take that as a sign that I was open to conversation.  And as sweet a revenge it would be to let him know that him dumping me allowed me to create a much better life for myself, I really have nothing to say to him that my silence can't say better.

Dress Shopping: the Bane of my Existence

K and I have a few events to go to in the next two months, so I needed to get a dress.  The last time I had to do this (around this time last year, actually), it was simple.  I tried on 2 dresses, and was in and out of the Galleria in under an hour.  I kid you not, I really was that efficient.

Last weekend, we ran a number of holiday-related errands, including dress shopping.  Our plan of action: get to the Galleria early, before the major crowds, and find the dress.  Sounded easy enough, especially given my previous record of speed.  Alas, the fashion industry was not on my side.  The pickings, they were slim.  Has anyone else noticed that Prom 1982 has exploded all over us?  At least 4 different stores had racks upon racks of ruched cheap satin bubble dresses in jewel tones.  And yes, they came in both strapless and one-shouldered.  Betsey Johnson?  Put away the plaid please!  Around and around we went, searching for a simple, wedding- and party-appropriate dress that wasn't black (see 'wedding-appropriate' for the why).  This is not a huge request people!  By hour 2, K was convinced that in order to find clothing we like, we must go to Hong Kong and have it handmade.  Should we come into some money, that's the first thing we'll do.  Ok, maybe not the first, but it's up there.  Anyway, the 2nd half of Hour 2 and the 1st half of Hour 3 were spent in Nordstrom.  I feel that I need to mention this because it was a huge failing on their part.  Nordstrom is known for stellar customer service, right?  Normally, I would agree with this.  But Saturday was a complete breakdown of their corporate mantra.  Not only was I completely ignored for half an hour, when I finally did find someone to assist me, she was rude and dismissive, and then disappeared after trying to pawn me off on another sales person!  I probably would have bought that dress had the service been better, but after an hour of being made to feel inferior because I wasn't spending $600, I wasn't about to give them my hard-earned money.

Feeling down-trodden and disheartened, I let K convince me it was time for lunch.  Nothing cures the shopping blues quite like Chick-fil-A.  Then it was off to Banana Republic.  The short-people version (yes, that would be BR Petites.  I just happen to hate the word 'petite').  I'd found a dress earlier in the day and had put it on hold, and after 3 hours of torture, decided to get it.  This is it:

Best part about it?  It has pockets!  That means I can stash an extra cookie or 2 ;)