The Slick Adventures of Downtown Girl

And the Answer Is...

Wednesday, December 27, 2006 | posted by Kate | permalink | |

A Cladaugh ring with a green stone in the heart!
The question, of course, was "What was in that little box in R's pocket?" The rule about this apparently is that whoever gives you the ring must be someone who loves you. Guess who told me this rule?

Yeah. He's intense. And, most of you readers called it: the man is totally smitten. Good detective work, everyone.

Since I got this ring I have been wearing it dreamily, just enjoying the simple fact that I know where R stands and that position is: totally adoring me. Yes! He really is the perfect boyfriend for right now--has his own life and own friends, is plenty busy at work and is totally sweet to me otherwise.

Will it become something more?
Who knows. I'm not too worried about any of that right now, just enjoying being well taken care of and relaxing in all aspects of my life until medical school starts. This whole thing with him came up pretty fast and is seeming to advance pretty quickly, which makes me both excited and leery about it. It might be a total fly-by-night romance, or one of those hot-and-heavy things that burns out eventually, or it might be something else. The only remedy for me (unlike in the past) is to not push the issue, just sit back and let time go by.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

xo
K

Merry Christmas, Baby

Friday, December 22, 2006 | posted by Kate | permalink | |

Let's not even talk about how frustrating it is that my flights were cancelled.

But what it does mean is that I have another night with my hot Marine. Woo. He's staying over here and then taking me to the airport at freaking 4 am tomorrow. What a good sport, no?

He got me a book and a dvd (read: not romantic, but thoughtful and appropriate for where we are dating) for xmas so far, and has something else in his coat pocket that he was going to give me before I got on my plane (something LITTLE and SQUARISH), but that was thwarted so I guess I'll get it tonight or tomorrow morning.

[Inner monologue: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! Yeah!]

Everybody dance now! It is definitely some kind of jewelry or something. YES! The man is simple, but he is romantic. And, we all know from "The Rules" and "He's just not that into you" that if a man doesn't pull out something romantic for the first holiday together, even if it's only been a few weeks, that he's just NOT that into you. And, I want a man who's going to do romantic things for me. He gets to be the MAN and I get to be the WOMAN. Not so hard, right? Ha!

(Sound of single women hitting their heads against the wall...)

R's definitely into me (not that I had doubts at this point) but I want him to get things RIGHT and this isn't the kind of thing I can help him with. He's either the right guy or he's not in these regards.

Better than anything that comes in a box
...is waking up next to him. He looks so strong and peaceful when he's sleeping, and always pulls me close if I'm a bit away from him, wrapping himself around me and intertwining his fingers with mine. Yeah, we're in that new honeymoonish phase of things. But stuff keeps getting better. And the more I know about him, the more I want to find out.

Happy Holidays

Thursday, December 21, 2006 | posted by Kate | permalink | |

Oh, Holy Night, Oh, Fucked-Up Flight

They cancelled one of my major connections today, because it ran through Denver.
Unhelpfully, the people at Orbitz informed me that if I cancelled one part of my flights it would completely screw over the rest of my reservation. Because it is SO F-ING UNREASONABLE to STILL NEED MY RETURN FLIGHT BACK! So to the tune of $700 I am on a different flight on Friday morning. And hoping that they will still let me take my return flights (THAT ARE ALREADY PAID FOR!) home. Now if I could just get through on the phone lines.

What is important is that I will get to spend Christmas with my family. Woo.

Thank You

I would like to thank each and every one of you (okay, all three of you, haha) for reading and moving with me to this new blog. I love your comments and your emails. Thank you for being interested in reading my random thoughts. May your flights not be cancelled, may you get everything you want and nothing you need.

Hugs,
K

Backside Attack, Not So Fun

Friday, December 15, 2006 | posted by Kate | permalink | |

Or, RED light means Stop, Asshole!

I was rear-ended on a major road here in Chicago. One concussion later, I was flat on my ass in bed last night and have been resting all of today. I would move but it fucking hurts. Shitballs, Motherfucker, indeed. Shitballs, Motherfucker: The Reprise. Okay?

Let's go back in time to tomorrow morning, also: shitty.

The beginning of yesterday started out not so good, with one lock-out of my office and about 800 too many tasks to do in the span of one fucking workday. I had my first official meltdown at work yesterday, too. God, you guys, it's been a long time since I've cried at work but I was just so OVER IT. Between the swirl of requests from clients, staff and vendors, I was just done. I had been putting in crazy hours, often with no real breaks and under extreme pressure. The tears came and for the first time, I didn't punish myself for it. If I was going to have a nervous breakdown, then dammit, I am ENTITLED to that.

Saves the Day?

I cried a little and then calmed down a bit and gave R a call. He was sweet and extremely concerned and even offered to drive out from his worksite out of state to come and be with me. Of course, I talked him out of it. In hindsight, I should have let him come out right then--but I had no way of knowing I was going to have an accident and get hurt. I talked to him a couple more times that afternoon between his patients and he offered a few more times to come out and I reminded him (foolishly) that he would need to return back the very same night for more patients out there this morning (today). He needs to learn when NOT to listen to me! Haha. I need to learn to not talk him out of things.

He called later on when I was at the hospital to see how I was doing. It broke my heart to have to tell him I had had that accident, and I realized right then how badly I wanted him to be there, and how frightened I was from my head injury, and how I didn't want to be alone when something bad happened.

Pathetic, Obviously

Tuesday, December 12, 2006 | posted by Kate | permalink | |

I miss him

So I know this is totally ghey of me to type out, but I miss R.

You guys: When did you see him last?
Me (blush): Sunday. Yeah, it's only been 2 days.

The Stress Is Not Helping
Hours Worked Today, Not including breaks: 12ish
Number of times I said "SHITBALLS, MOTHER FUCKER!": 2,102
Hours spent at the hospital volunteering: 1.5ish
Breakfast: Coffee, 2 donut holes
Lunch: M&M's
Dinner: Chipotle
Number of feet that are sore: 2
Flu Shots: 1

So yeah, working the long hours and being tired from it makes my inner 16 year old be like:

EXCUSE ME! HELLO OUT THERE! I JUST WANT TO HAVE DINNER WITH MY F-ING BOYFRIEND ALREADY!

Maybe he'll call tomorrow and we'll hang out tomorrow evening for a bit. We'll see. If I'm not drop-dead exhausted. I'm sure I'm a boatload of fun to hang out with when I am falling asleep. He is so sweet, I am sure he wouldn't mind cuddling me while I was dosing but I want to be conscious to enjoy spending time with him.

So Glam

Monday, December 11, 2006 | posted by Kate | permalink | |

I think I might call him. (NOT)

On Sunday I decided to head out to a big mall in the 'burbs to do some shopping. (I didn't get anything for anyone ELSE, mind you, but that's another post, about my personal selfishness, heh). I mapquested the way there and figured I would head back the way I came. WRONG! The tollway (the toolway is what I initially typed...how fitting) wasn't anywhere to be found.

I pull into a gas-station, all old-school and roll up to the cashier. She starts to give me directions when this tall construction worker announces that he has the best, most easiest way and that he could write it down for me. So, fine. I let him do that, because the cashier looked confused anyway. He makes some comment about me calling him when I get back to the city. I smile and nod, not really thinking about it, instead thinking about the meatloaf sandwich with mashed potatoes at PJ's. I get in my car and am two sips into my Vitamin Water when I realize that after the directions is this guy's name and phone number! OH FUCK NO.

Imagine the story: "I met your father in a gas station."

I'm thinking not.

News Flashes, Dan Rather

Friday, December 08, 2006 | posted by Kate | permalink | |

Love, Actually
This week I turned 25! Yeah! I guess I could have a quarter-life crisis now if I wanted to, but I'm guessing if that was going to happen, it would already. I got some beautiful cards from family and friends, and had a fantastic dinner out (tapas!) with a handful of my best girlfriends.

The most interesting of the cards came with a birthday floral (hydrangeas, gerbera daisies) arrangement from R, and the card said: "Love, R". LOVE, you guys. He signed the card LOVE.

(Inner monologue: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I mean, do guys just sign things "Love, Such-and-Such" if they don't really like (or possibly love?) the girl? I mean, he could have put "xoxo" or just his name. He didn't have to put "Love." But he did.

Maybe I am picking apart this small detail WAY too much, but it seems important. I mean, I've been dating him for what, a whole month? Thoughts?

Ring Finger Drama
OH! And major detail #2---he has one of those Irish rings (love, friendship, loyalty) that has the hands with the heart on it. He was wearing it with the heart facing out and I noticed on my birthday when he came to take me out to lunch that he had the heart FACING IN.

From Wikipedia:

Traditionally, if the ring is on the right hand with the heart facing outward and away from the body, this indicates that the person wearing the ring is not in any serious relationship, and may in fact be single and looking for a relationship. When worn on the right hand but with the heart facing inward toward the body, this indicates the person wearing the ring is in a relationship, or that "someone has captured their heart".

OMG, right? He's definitely trying to demonstrate something here. Holy cow, right? I guess there is a reason why I am not starting these posts with "He's just not that into me?" like I did with someone. Bottom line? I am so calm about this whole thing with him. It is like I have known him for such a long time. We had this intense emotional balance right away. I definitely can't wait to have more adventures with him, that is for sure.

You know how you guys know I'm a bachelorette?
...because I buy one roll of TP at a time when I'm at the grocery
...because I have diet soda but REGULAR beer in the fridge!
...because I have frozen burritos and edamame in my freezer
...because I've got a membership card to Hollywood Video (on my keychain)

Yeah!

Friday, December 01, 2006 | posted by Kate | permalink | |

No HIV/Clap for me

So I got my results (www.tstd.org) via telephone and everything was NEGATIVE! Woo!
Even though I didn't have horrible reason to worry, there is always some cause for concern, you know? Viruses and bacteria rock all of our worlds. Apparently, not mine for now. I am the queen of safe sex, y'all. The freakin' queen! Woo!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

I am so excited about going to R's holiday party tonight. Last night I went for a drive with him (before the HUGE BLIZZARD THAT HIT CHICAGO!) through a gorgeous neighborhood near Comiskey (he's looking for a pretty flat in a brownstone in that area) and then we went to one of those great burger places where you walk up and order, and then pick up your stuff at the counter. It is in this great Irish/Italian neighborhood and there was this HUGE kid birthday party in there. We had a good homey drive past homes with xmas lights and little santas. He is so great, you guys. I can't wait to be his stunning date for this party tonight. Here goes nothing.