An Improvement in Activity

Last Sunday I helped my girlfriend move her mother's belongings out of her stepfather's house into a storage unit (mother left for Florida over a year ago and hasn't been back since). It was irritating, strenuous, and upsetting because her mother phoned it in for Karin to do it and did not contribute beyond that. I did not like it.

I visited Karin on Tuesday and helped her stay put. All I had to do was sit around and make sure that she did not start loading anything into a large truck. That was way easier. I liked it a lot more than Sunday.

Best PMS EVER!!!!

Okay, how is THIS for an awesome set-up?

My girlfriend gets, shall we say, "irritable" for a few days each month. Although probably not the most enjoyable time in her life, from a distance I am certain she is glad for her reproductive capacity. As for me, well, people might assume that I should take the standard attitude of "stay the Hell out of her way, tread lightly, and make sure you have a clear path to the nearest exit just in case it suddenly becomes important to escape."

Ah, but not quite....

Last Tuesday I went over to visit my girlfriend and do laundry for free in her apartment. She had a shitty day at work, and apparently her dog literally had a shitty day at home (and in several areas of her home at that!). Unaware of any of this, I entered her apartment as she was cleaning her dog's "day" off of her vacuum (hmm....cleaning her vacuum? Kinda ironic, don't you think?). Suffice to say, she was not in a chipper mood when I entered, but very glad to get hugs.

Fast-forward a bit to me doing laundry, overloading the washing machine, and making it stop in the middle of the rinse-cycle. After freaking out about the washing machine for about 20 minutes, my girlfriend ran across the parking lot to her friend's apartment to see if I could finish my laundry there. While she was gone, I began to take my clothes out of the machine to transfer them. The machine started back up after I took some clothes out, which made her very happy. We went over to her friend's apartment to inform her that we would not in fact need to use her washing machine. I did my part in that by proudly exclaiming, "Hey, guess what? I fixed the washing machine!!"

And here's the cool part - in order to make herself feel better about her horrible day, she made me dinner!

I'll say that again in a different way, for emphasis: When Karin has a bad day, and even when I contribute to it, she makes me a delicious home-cooked meal.

Best PMS EVER!!!!!!!

More Doggie Weirdness

I was walking Melisma this evening after work, when some local children came over to play with her. This is not unusual, as people seem to love my dog, even if they fail to acknowledge the guy attached to the other end of her leash. They were petting and hugging and just basically giving her all sorts of loving when she, being very excited to be petted and hugged and just basically given all sorts of loving, peed a little bit on the sidewalk. Just a bit.

Then the children yelped and ran away to hide in a large nearby bush.

True story.....

Same Old, Same Old

Since I haven't blogged in awhile, I thought I'd take a moment to say a quick hello to everyone out there who has been taking an interest in reading my blog. Not much new, but the same stuff isn't necessarily bad stuff, right? :)

Life, Work, and the Mechanisms of Defense

Well, apparently it has been quite awhile since I have blogged, and I have even had one person (only one? :( ) complain, so time to update the internet community-at-large about my life. Oh, and I will try to be better about blogging in the future, too.

First off, I have a girlfriend. She is sweet and funny and nice. You'd probably like her, assuming that you like sweet, funny, nice women. If you don't, then talk to your mother about being such a bitch and screwing you up. Go on, I'll wait...........................

..........................................okay, done? Great.

Work is going well, although some of my co-workers begin each weekly staff meeting by asking whether I still have a girlfriend in a manner which implies that they might not be entirely certain that I could keep a woman for yet another week. I am working well with others, and I am enjoying what I am doing. I love most of the people I work with, although some can have their own....ummm...."non-complimentary interpersonal dynamics." I recently began co-leading a process group, which seems like it will be great - I work well with the other co-leader and the group itself is doing awesome stuff which, if you really want to know about, please refer to pages 15-472 of Irvin Yalom's book on group therapy. I sit in a training seminar with graduate students who, until recently, hadn't realized that I am a co-facilitating staff member, not part of their "let's learn about counseling" group. Big difference.

Overall, I am loving my post-doctoral experience. Nothing is perfect, but I am very happy I came to this Dayton place (wasn't I supposed to live in the Northeast?!). I would probably stay if I could.

I am also studying for my psychology licensing exam. Big, nasty test which asks questions about things I have never learned (like industrial psychology) and/or will never need to know (like test construction). The advice given by the company producing the study materials (which are quite good) is to study 15-20 hours per week for 3-4 months. I intend to take the test in March or April.

My dog chipped a tooth a few weeks ago. She is fine now, but was so sad for a few days while it healed over. She is still a happy dog, and hops around when I come home from work.

In general, I am enjoying myself and trying to live in the present while preparing for the future in multiple realms of my life.

Drifting along the deep reservoir of "Ok-ness."

Cheap-Assed Variety Buffeting

I have wanted to write about this for a week or so, but haven't found the time until now....I went to the Ponderosa with my girlfriend (yeah, I have a girlfriend now...thanks for keeping up on my life with phone calls and e-mails....jerks.... :-p). Now, I know I have said this before, but I loves me some cheap-assed variety buffets! And, apparently, it is not just me who loves cheap-assed variety buffets, but rather lots of people. There are, however, a few ways that I may not quite fit in at the Ponderosa cheap-assed variety buffet establishment:

1) I am thin. I have been thin all my life (well, except for when I was a toddler and had three chins....I think I maintained that weight as I got older, but just grew taller). However, "thin" is a drawn from comparison with others. For example, compared to most people I am thin, but if I hung out with anorexics or those starving children in Africa who would have loved to eat my vegetables that my mom told me about when I was little, I am quite large. Compared to the Ponderosa cheap-and-large-assed variety buffet crew, I am actually so thin that I could qualify as a hole in reality.

2) Without even knowing anything about anyone else in there, it is safe to assume that I am by far the most educated and sophisticated person in the restaurant. AND I watch Beavis and Butthead and wrestling!

3) Never had a mullet. This is a comparison with both the men and the women in there.

4) I will not complain if my steak is not done to my exact specifications when I paid $1 for it. it is not fine dining, and for $1 I will just be happy that it is meat.

5) I will never figure out why I need to leave a tip for anyone at a buffet restaurant. I get my own food and drink. Thanks for asking how I am doing and making me move my feet so you can push a carpet sweeper under my table in the middle of a conversation, though.

Also while at this cheap-assed variety establishment (at which I DO enjoy the variety and food for the price), I noticed two groups of people celebrating. One family had decided to celebrate a birthday at the Ponderosa. Cool, I actually used to do that all the time. However, the waitstaff sang the most uninspired birthday song I have ever heard, and I truly did not feel their desire for the child to have "all of his wishes come true." If this child returned in 20 years and told the staff that most, but not quite all, of his wishes came true, I don't think they would care one way or the other.....

The other celebration taught me that, when I get married and have a child, my wife can have her bridal shower at the Ponderosa. I have already told my friend Alice that she and her husband need to start working on another child, as she missed out and just had hers at her parents' home with all of her family and closest friends. Loser.

As my girlfriend and I left the restaurant, and as I began to complain about my dissatisfaction with my dining experience (including feeling nauseous every time I thought about food for about 3 hours), she told me that "The Golden Coral" is way better....why she didn't tell me this BEFORE we went to Ponderosa, well, who can say? (I certainly cannot!) Point is, apparently all cheap-assed variety buffets need to have names which make you think you are traveling in the old west.

Even if you live in a city in Ohio....