2005-04-06 - 10:08 p.m.

On the internal soundtrack: "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys"

Monday, April 4th, 2005

Why is it so hard to write about good visits with dear friends? Let me start with some highlights and see where that goes.

Highlights:

- Seeing how cute Ike and WB are, cuddling together on my couch, and the spontaneous hugs and kisses and pats they give each other -- after all these years and five kids they are still obviously smitten with each other.

- Delicious egg breakfasts cooked by Ike and my dishwasher emptied by the dishwasher fairy the WB.

- Hopping out of the car in Delaware to touch the ground so they could say they'd been to Delaware:

- Seeing Ike in his tuxedo (with a cravat, not a bow tie) and WB in her lovely dress before they left for the party.

- Sitting in the breakfast nook listening to Ike sing "The People that Walked in Darkness" from Handel's Messiah while I followed along in my score (along with various other spontaneous singing performances).

Both of them slept a LONG TIME each night they were here, despite Ike saying he'd be up around 5:30 or 6. He overslept even accounting for the time difference. :) I'm glad to know they were comfortable enough to get some good sleep here, although I suppose all they needed for that was quiet and no four-year-olds sneaking into bed with them. :)

The three of us talked for hours and hours all told and yet it seems like we barely touched all the topics I wanted to get to. But at the same time, I was struck several times by how amazing it is to spend time with people who think about life, people, politics, everything, from a very similar perspective to mine. I am encountering more people like this through LJ, and I thought maybe I might get "used" to it, but I don't think I have. Every time I spend time with someone like this it is quite a high.

One thing we discussed was how we deal with social interaction. WB and their second son, Moose, are naturally skilled at social interaction and can mingle in groups without even thinking about it. Ike and I and their first son, Wump, had to learn how to do it, and have an actual procedure we follow (questions thought up in advance and memorized for when our minds go blank, for example) that is a conscious effort. And the procedure gets updated and modified as we learn new things from socially-skilled people who are good at explaining what they do. My procedure is almost second nature at this point, but I've noticed that it gets very rusty if it's been a while since I've interacted with anyone.

Wednesday, April 6th, 2005

I wrote this two nights ago when I was in a bad mood:

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Jesus Christ, I'm fucking cranky. We've spent the last couple of hours trying to put together an ad in the Washington Post and on Craigslist, and the fucking Post doesn't allow online modification of ads, even five minutes after you place it. We have to wait and call them in the morning. This is extremely irritating, because BOTH OF US looked at our ad SEVERAL TIMES and failed to notice that we didn't include the rent amount. If we can't fix it, we're gonna have to field phone calls asking us about the damn price from people who won't want to pay it. ARGH.

The Craigslist ad went a little better -- at least it lets you edit it at any time. I made a few edits but we had learned our lesson from the Post ad so it went more smoothly.

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I've been in a better mood since. Poindexter has fixed the ad, and it was a very nice lady who helped him at the Post, so we're good to go. Now I just hope someone calls/e-mails.

Since the house I'm currently living in is nice and clean and tidy, that went a long way toward improving my mood. It was already mostly clean from preparing for guests, and while I was waiting for Poindexter to come home after Ike & WB left, I cleaned up the clothes and clutter I had relegated to the master bedroom to "hide" it. So now the whole house is clean and the clutter is limited to the hatbox and one other box.

If I'm in a bad mood and the house is cluttered, I get really pissed off and have to start cleaning (slamming cabinet and closet doors all the while) and it takes longer for my mood to improve.

Apropos of nothing: You know what I hate? When I have an itch on the bottom of my foot. I have very ticklish feet, so I can't scratch the itch without tickling myself. It's horrible. Vicious cycle.

Laundry list time!

My mommy came by yesterday afternoon after dropping my brother at PHL to send him back to California (he was here for Easter and a bachelor party). She brought me two little mystery seedlings! She got a seed packet at some flower show she went to, and it didn't have a label on it, so she planted some in peat pots for me and they are just sprouting their first set of two leaves. Should be fun to see what they turn into.

Speaking of seeds, I need to get mine into their little incubator and sow the rest. Maybe this weekend after I do the taxes.

Anyway, we took the bus to Rittenhouse and walked to Poindexter's office, then went to Square on Square for dinner. YUMMY. I ordered two entrees for myself (popcorn chicken and merlot beef) and we ordered an extra entree for her to take home to Dad.

This evening I went to Old Navy and bought this. It is loud and ridiculous but I swear I have five different outfits already in my closet that I can wear with it and be color-coordinated, and none of the outfits even contain yellow. I also went to KMart, which is my new favorite shoe store. Cheap, comfortable shoes in plain classic styles I like, and they even go up to 11W.

After that, we jump-started the VW (whose battery had died from cold and disuse during the crappy winter) and I took it for a drive. It had an adventurous end that I'll relate tomorrow. But right now, I stink.

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