Coast Dental

Our dental plans just changed at work recently. My company offered a completely free, company-paid dental plan during our last dental plan choices and our most recent dental plan choices. This time and last time I chose this free, company-paid option because it was pretty much just as good as the ones I'd have to pay for out of pocket. The only difference is the last free plan was a DMO, and this time the free plan is a PPO. Wow, this is getting confusing and super boring already, so let me offer you a bulleted list to ease your confusion and pepper in some excitement:

• Our free, company-paid dental plan from a few months ago - DMO!!!!!!
• Our free, company-paid dental plan that is currently offered - PPO!!!!!!!

This doesn't seem like much of a difference if you don't know a lot about DMO plans vs. PPO plans, but I assure you, it's QUITE different indeed. With my previous DMO plan, a terrible dental facility (in which the dentist has barely graduated dental school and maybe knows a little more about teeth than I do) gets assigned to you.

I think it's like when people barely graduate hair school, so they go work at that "Blow Bar" chain where all they do is blow dry hair all day long because haircuts and hair coloring are too lofty of a goal. At least, I think that's what their shtick is all about at "Blow Bar". I don't know for sure because I can generally manage to dry my hair by myself without the aid of someone meagerly skilled - and also, the air, in general, does a pretty fine job of that. Probably not the best name. The point is that the people working there most likely aren't very good at their job.

Getting back to the dentist thing; you don't have much say in the matter in terms of the dental facility you get assigned to. I was assigned to a Coast Dental close to my condo. I've seen many Coast Dental offices around (mostly inland - that's a hilarious joke), so I knew it wasn't any type of luxurious, one-off dental facility, but beggars can't be choosers, right? I'm not paying a thing, so if you're gonna clean my teeth for free, ok, let's do this. Also, the reviews online said cute things like "they pulled my teeth out unnecessarily", "run for the hills", "this is the Walmart of dentists", "I think I was roofied", etc.

During my first appointment, I was told they would do my x-rays and an exam and that I would then have to schedule my teeth cleaning separately. I said I would like them "all together please", and the woman assured me their dental staff couldn't handle ALL of these complicated dentals tasks on the same day without a good night's sleep in between. After looking around, I thought "yeah, that sounds about right", so I scheduled my cleaning for the next day after gagging through my x-rays (yeah, that's an adorable thing I do). She then told me that I could actually come back in three hours for my teeth cleaning if I wanted - as if she was pulling some strings specifically for me. Three hours? Nice try Mrs. Migillicuddy. I have to get to work. Tomorrow it is.

When I arrived the next day for my teeth cleaning, I was in and out of there in like 20 minutes flat. No joke. The dental hygienist glanced casually at my teeth with measured interest (like one might when trying to determine if the pile of debris on the side of the road is a garbage bag or a body), waved a magic wand in my mouth's general direction, chanted some mantra under her breath, and then I was sent on my way.

Seriously though, that's pretty much what happened. I'm still used to the days where dental hygienists really scrape at your teeth and you leave bleeding - like you've been licking an iron skillet for an hour. Instead of "scraping", the dental hygienist educated me by explaining that if she holds this new fandangled contraption somewhat close to my teeth in a super lackluster manner while simultaneously using her other hand to smoke a cigarette or whatever the case may be, the wand is so powerful that my teeth magically become clean. Ok, cool - I'm not skeptical at all.

Needless to say, I was pumped when our free dental plan option changed to a PPO. I was able to choose my own, fancy dentist now! And choose it I did! And fancy it was! I no longer had to go to a non-updated dental office that looked exactly like one Kevin Arnold may have visited on "The Wonder Years".

When I just got my teeth cleaned at my new place, they did the x-rays, exam, and teeth cleaning all in one appointment. And, they had things like iPads, mouth wash, skilled dental staff, etc. I felt like my teeth actually got cleaned. It was a delight! They were sure to mention that it looked like my teeth hadn't been cleaned very well during my last teeth cleaning. I nodded emphatically, told them I had gone to a Coast Dental and explained about the wand thing. They understood. There was really no need to expound on anything else after that.

Llama Tell You A Story!

I was on a date recently, and talk about high school came up, as it usually does (or am I the only one talking about high school memories, like being arrested, on dates?)...so, it dawned on me that I've never written a blog post devoted to my high school history. I guess I should write a blog post about being arrested too, eh? Noted. We'll save that little gem for later.

The first high school I attended was in Fairfield, CT. It was the standard 9th through 12th grade, and it was pretty big - about 500 kids in each grade. As you probably know, CT is pretty well off in general; particularly Fairfield County. So, there were the stereotypical popular/preppy kids, the nerds, the theatre kids, artsy kids, the kids that pretended they were hippies...ya know, kind of like you'd see in a movie about high school where 35 year old actors and actresses pretend they are 17 year olds, and then there's a HUGE house party that looks like no party I've ever seen in real life because it's even more elaborate than a wedding. Oh, and Jennifer Love Hewitt is there, just like standing in the middle of the party. It was like THAT.

Anyway, there were the "cool" smokers on the corner, lots of BMWs in the parking lot, lots of sports teams, lots of dances, lots of lots of lots, etc. I had grown up in Fairfield since 2nd grade, so it was all I really knew, and this all seemed normal to me. I even got a Saab and a car phone because............duh. I was definitely not in the so-called popular crowd at this school, but I wasn't dorky either - I was comfortably in the middle. And, I liked it there. In terms of high school, I liked it. I had good friends, I learned how to get drunk after some perseverance, I was the main chorus part in some of our musical productions (a highly selective role), I used AOL like a champ when my parents weren't picking up the phone...things were good.

Thennnnnnnn, my parents decided to drop a bomb and tell my brother and me that we were going to move - in the middle of my junior year of high school! Cue the sad Ben Folds Five music and torrential rain while I sit and write in a journal on my bed with a forlorn look on my face. I'm also saying into the phone to my friend, "I know, it's just not fair! No, I guess my parents DON'T love me anymore!" Oh, sorry, I'm getting distracted as to how my life would be depicted in the movies.

My parents told us we were going to be moving to Goshen, a small, rural town in the northwest corner of CT. I was not impressed. This obviously sounded terrible. My parents were getting tired of Fairfield because it was pretentious, getting more expensive, more crowded, etc. "It will be a fun change" they said. "You'll make new friends" they said. That all sounded pretty silly. I think they were forgetting about my current friends and the fact that I liked getting drunk behind elementary schools.

I don't really remember the details in terms of how long I knew we were moving before we actually moved or how the house sales panned out, but that's probably because I was grasping at making all the memories I could before my certain and untimely death.

And so, we moved...to the middle of bumble f*ck. See ya later everyone! Come visit me never.

When we first got to our new house, I remember being shocked at how dark and quiet the street was at night. There were no street lights, electrical wires, or noises aside from nature. Nature, tee hee. What was that? The stars seemed so much brighter. It was very new but strangely nice. I was thinking, this could be ok.

That was, until I got a tour of my new high school the following day. Now, when I say the word "high school" you most likely picture a structure with walls, ceilings, and a floor like a normal person would...but, no. This special high school I would be attending was under construction, so the floors were made of cement with stains on them, and the ceiling was also undone with all the electrical wires hanging out. Gross. This high school was also regional and comprised of three towns - Warren, Morris, Goshen (so, obviously it was named "Wamogo"). Oh, and it was 6th grade through 12th grade. Benny Boy and I were back at the same school! There were like 98 kids in my grade or some comical number like that that seemed fictional. I kept wondering when Ashton was going to show up with Dax and take me to tour my REAL new high school.

Clearly, I wasn't impressed with the way the school looked, but there was also something more alarming that I had noticed before even entering. There were a couple tractors parked in the parking lot! And, no BMWs! WTF? Were these people poor?! Did they even like Dave Matthews?

During my first homeroom during my first day, I was told everyone had been "expecting me", and I was complimented on my Saab even though I told no one I drove a Saab. Ok, thanks for creeping me out immediately potential new friends. I also wore hiking books to try to make myself fit in and not appear as cool as I obviously was. They would figure out the cool thing later - I didn't need to rub it in.

I think I got high on my first day after school. Or at least the second day. See? I was making friends like my parents had hoped.

I'm typing this on a really old laptop, and now that it's been on a while, it's getting super hot and has started to emit a strange smell (I swear, it's not me). I hope it doesn't explode before I finish this important post.

So anyway, in an effort not to ramble on, that was the basic gist of it all. I ended up liking Goshen a lot because it was so different from Fairfield. It was beautiful and scenic, and I made some really good friends along the way. One turned out to be my very best friend in the world. Don't get me wrong, it took me a while to adjust. High school is freaking tough even when you're not forced to move in the middle of the school year to somewhere so different. But, looking back at it at the ripe age of 31, it was a great experience.

FUUUUCK, I forgot to mention the llamas - the whole subject line of this post. I am SO smart. At Wamogo, there were llamas chillin at the back of the school. Ya know, because that's a normal thing to have at a normal high school. I was solving complex mathematical equations while the Ag kids got to pet llamas all day. So unfair.

Ok, that is all :)

Rhode Island Vaca

Hey Guys! It's only been less than four months since my last post - not too shabby para mi.

Soooo, update time: I went to Rhode Island at the end of July and saw all my good friends and listened to some folk music and skipped along hand-in-hand beside the ocean. It was swell! Seriously though, I had a really fun time. I left on a Thursday at 7:40am and landed at 10:20am - easiest direct flight ever from Tampa to Providence.

Why do they still pass out peanuts on planes? I don't get it. Some people are so allergic to peanuts that even if someone breathes on them and that someone has eaten peanuts in like the past 7 years, that person could die just from their breath alone. Yet, we are still handing them out happily for consumption on a flying object in the sky. Even if you aren't allergic to peanuts, does anyone actually enjoy them? You might as well be handing me a piece of trash. I take them from the flight attendant with as much enthusiasm as I would muster if someone were handing me their dog's poop bag. Give me a container of peanut BUTTER and a knife (for eating the peanut butter; I don't know what you're thinking) and then we can talk.

Right before getting on my plane, I got all set up at the gate with my egg sandwich and grande vanilla latte from Starbucks. Things were shaping up nicely until I look over to my left and realize, as my luck usually goes, I have like the strangest person at the whole gate area sitting right near me. He is overweight (that fact really bears no significance) and does not seem to have any belongings of any kind with him. Perhaps he checked a bag? During my analytical thought process about where he is hiding his murse, he interrupts by saying aloud to no one in sight "I'm so stressed out! I'm soooooo stressed out!" Now really, the hardest part is done. He's already made it to the airport, through security, to his gate, his flight is on time, etc. There is nothing to be stressed about. He literally has to get on the flight and sit down and eat his god awful peanuts. This is when I start worrying that perhaps he is the pilot. Luckily, he wasn't. Maybe he was stressed out to fly or maybe he was just a little psychotic or maybe both. Either way, he wasn't helping my vacation vibe.

The flight was pretty seamless and actually landed 20 minutes early. The pilot made a hilarious joke as we were exiting about how we should tell our friends and family about the early arrival since we always bitch about the late arrivals. I would have maybe taken him seriously if not for the whole peanut thing. Also, now I had to wait 20 minutes. No one arrives 20 minutes early to the airport "just in case" their friend's flight might arrive early. Personally, when I'm picking someone up from the airport, I add a solid five minutes to the arrival time and then maybe another five to allow them some extra time to poop. I don't know, it seems normal.

So, Nicole picked me up from the airport in her Mini Cooper and we were off to Trader Joe's. She really knows the way to my heart. We got a bunch of food for the weekend and the BBQ she was having at her house on Saturday. That night we went out to dinner, just the two of us, and it was great catching up. Nicole is one of my most favorite people, for so many different reasons, and I really miss having her closer sometimes. After dinner, Amy, Tamara, and Susan arrived, and then it was full on slumber party mode. Everyone slept over Nicole's. Pillow fights! Not really.

Friday was the Newport Folk Festival which was super fun. We took a ferry from Jamestown to Ft. Adams, and there were three stages with different bands playing at different times. I really liked Lake Street Dive, Phox, and Band of Horses. The only thing that kind of sucked is you couldn't drink alcohol while watching the performances. You had to drink in these little partitioned areas which meant everyone was just chugging their booze as fast as possible and then heading back to the stage. Oh, another thing that sucked was their one variety of "white wine" kind of tasted like urine. That was not my favorite. Friday night we all went out to dinner and celebrated Nicole's birthday.

Saturday morning Don-Yell arrived. Now you'd think since we are best friends and talk literally every day either via gchat, text or by phone, she'd give me some type of warm greeting upon arriving at Nicole's house. Nope. She breezily says hi, blows past me like she's queen Elizabeth, and gives NICOLE a hug first. Alas, she's a bad egg. After we exchanged our usual pleasantries like me calling her a bad egg, her telling me I'm a skinny bitch, me telling her she has a lot of freckles, her telling me I'm unusually dumb, me examining her eyebrows and telling her to keep up with plucking them, etc. etc. etc. we had to go buy some alcohol. It was like 11am, but Don-Yell had proclaimed she wanted to do some "day drinking" (sorry everyone if you had anything else in mind) and then do stand up paddle boarding. This seemed like a pretty good plan to me; at least the alcohol portion of it. Stand up paddle boarding on a chilly 70 degree summer day (I kind of say that with sarcasm) in cold water seemed kind of, well, cold. I get goose bumps nowadays just thinking about cold weather. Florida is no joke. Perfect for Don-Yell though since she actively sweats while sitting still in 40 degree weather.

Anywayyyy, Saturday night was the BBQ and Nicole had some more people come over to her house. We finished the night off by playing Taboo. Ya know, that game where someone said "hey, let's take "Catch Phrase", which is a pretty fucking fun game in its own right and just piss people off by adding a shit ton more infuriating rules." It might be good to note here that there was a 5 year old in attendance. So, if it didn't already seem inappropriate for Don-Yell to be dropping the F Bomb during her every turn, it certainly was now. And, even though Nicole fed us all with lots of delicious food, I guess the alcohol was still making Don-Yell hungry because in between cursing, she kept asking if I had any beef. Yeah, I brought some beef with me from Florida...I just totally forgot about it until you asked me ten times. Good one. When that didn't go over well, she asked if I could order her some General Tso's chicken. I couldn't.

Earlier in the weekend, Nicole was imparting some of her wisdom on us about tampons. About how they are laced with bad things because of the cotton crops getting sprayed with pesticides. And about how plastic applicators are bad because they never disintegrate, etc. Now I'm all about buying organic as much as I can and stuff being natural, but certain things are a little too natural. A good example would be brushing my teeth with fennel flavored toothpaste. Not gonna do it. Tried a few natural deodorants, and I might as well have sprinkled fairy dust on my underarms. It would have been exactly as effective. So, I was skeptical about these so-called organic, no applicator tampons that cost $5 for like four of them.

As luck would have it, I got my period on vacation. Yes, that's right, it's what every girl dreams about! I wasn't prepared for it. You'd think that after getting my period super regularly for like 20 years now, I'd have a clue, but nope. It's always like "oooooh, so that's why I have a pimple 7 pimples, and that's why I want to punch you in the throat." Anyway, enter the organic tampon. I was willing to give it a shot because I didn't really feel like going to the store to buy some. Also, after Nicole's speech, I kind of felt like purchasing my normal brand would a) be synonymous to buying some illegal, drug-laced version that only criminals use b) cause me to get cancer instantly.

I pulled the tampon out and right away felt like it looked like a tampon you'd use on a baby. It was so small without the applicator. I couldn't imagine this tiny thing doing much of anything. But, I gave it a try..........................................for about 10 minutes. Because that's precisely the amount of time it was effective for. It was about as useful and probably pretty damn similar to shoving a wildflower up there. Not impressed. I told Nicole her tampons are for the birds, and then she had to take me to a dark alley so I could buy the good stuff.

^ Dad, you told me I should add the tampon thing to my blog. What do you think? Good stuff, eh?

Sunday I saw some of my old Keiler peeps! Cosmo, Laura, and Shannon. It was pouring rain, but we toughed it out by sitting on a covered deck overlooking the ocean. It was really fun to catch up on everyone's lives in real life vs. email. Shan and I ordered some mimosas before we made the disastrous and earth shattering realization that they were $11 mimosas.

Monday I flew home after having brunch with Nicole. It's pretty funny flying into Tampa when you live there because most people on the flight are just starting their vacation. But, I'm on vacation all year long betches!!

Ok, wow, this is long enough. Sorry about the tampon tangent.

Here are some pics:
(Not pictured: Don-Yell doing squats with Kellie on her back)

Real Mail

I received real mail today (which is to say I received mail 1-4 days ago, as I only check my mail once or twice a week)!

None of that circular crap (does anyone else use this word besides for me and grandmothers? The word "circular" I mean, obviously, not "crap"), bills, credit card offers, or an over abundance of offers to buy my car back. A real postcard! Oh boy!

Here it is in all its papery/ink glory:

What a little gem! This was sent to me by my lovely friend Danielle Andrews. Yes, almost all my friends are named Danielle.

I met Danielle A. while lifeguarding at Woodridge Lake in Goshen, CT (yep, same as how I met the other Danielle - who we will call Danielle C. - if you're keeping track). I was 21 and Danielle A. was 24. I was in college and she was two years out. All the other lifeguards had pretty much known each other since the age of 16 (or for even longer) when we became lifeguards. I was one of the older lifeguards and so was Danielle C.

Therefore, when this even older stranger showed up to start lifeguarding for the summer, we were like "whoa, who is this and why is she 37 and lifeguarding?" Three years is a big difference and things are a little skewed back at that age, I guess. We quickly side stepped those important 'fears' when we realized Danielle A. was living alone in her parent's "weekend" house that they barely even used on the weekends. Hello new best friend!

Doesn't really sound like the nicest beginning on my end, ha, but I can honestly say Danielle A. has become a great friend and is one of the most hilarious people I've ever met! I'm sure you can tell that by the postcard. I mean, seriously, what?! She is wonderfully unique and has the best/weirdest sense of humor, that aligns so nicely with mine.

We've done tons of fun stuff since our lifeguarding days, and the strangest things always seem to happen when we are together.

Like:

Random road-side photography on dingy, dirty chairs in abandoned barns. We were late to pick up our other friends at the train station because, you know.........priorities.

Natural, domesticated woman poses

Scenes from "The Titanic"

Visiting scary convenience stores that embody the "luxury of Brooklyn" in the middle of St. Pete

A bird sitting on Danielle's shoulder during a shopping excursion - totally normal

An actual normal photo

Not pictured: 

• Danielle A. in downtown St. Pete walking side-by-side (I'm pretty sure hand-in-hand, too) with a homeless man to a pizza place to buy him a piece of pizza while I sit alone, abandoned, drinking beer.

• Danielle A. and I at a museum looking at abstract art while I say "I could do that", and Danielle A. yelling at me loudly "Why don't you then Emily?!?"

• Me telling Danielle to dress up a little bit and Danielle putting on her "nice" hiking boots.

• Danielle coming in my parent's house yelling "Missy, where are you Missy?!? I've come for you!!!" (Missy is our deceased family dog who was scared of a lot of people, especially Danielle. Wonder why)

There are so many more I can't think of right now. Danielle, don't worry, I'll wear these earrings that I already own and think of you. Disappointing, but it will have to do ;-)

The Most Annoying Person Ever

Recently, when my friend Louise visited me for the weekend, we went out for dinner and drinks in this section of Tampa referred to as SoHo <---- that's a cool name for South Howard Ave., the street that all the bars are on in that particular area of town.

Some tell-tale signs for knowing you're in SoHo are:
1) You're surrounded by douchebags.

That's really about it.

If we're getting technical, there are maybe a few more:
2) The guys seem to have all just stepped out of a frat house. See #1.
3) You're wondering why no one is out by 8-9pm, and then you remember it's one of those areas where people (a.k.a. douchebags. See #1.) don't go out til about 11pm.
4) You can literally see girls' vaginas due to their choice in "clothing".
5) You have to pay at least $5 to park in a CVS parking lot or some other similar parking lot where parking is normally free in 99% of the United States.
6) You feel really unattractive, old, and like you graduated from college a bazillion years ago when in actuality, you are still pretty young.

So yeah, we went there for a "change". Change is not always good.

After dinner, we headed down the street to one of the bars where we hung out with the other approximately 4-5 people that were also at the bar by like 7:30pm. All in their 30s, like us, I'm assuming. They probably all had just enjoyed a nice dinner, like us, rather than pre-gaming back at their place.  #totallyuncool

We each got a drink, sat at a table, chatted, and kept our vajays concealed. As people started to fill in, a couple douchebag-ish guys came over to talk to us. The opening line had something to do with needing Ibuprofen or Tylenol for his bad sinuses. Does Ibuprofen or Tylenol even help sinuses? After I extracted some Ibuprofen from my huge, satchel bag and definitely not my super tiny, cute clutch, the guy sat down and called his friend over. Now that we had exchanged drugs, I guess we were besties. They actually weren't too horrible, so we talked to them for a while until they went up to the bar to get some more drinks.

This is when the most annoying person in the entire bar decided it was his perfect opportunity to come over and be the most annoying person in the entire bar.

Now picture for me if you will a 44 year old hick with Wrangler-ish jeans on, worn in white Reebok-ish sneakers, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Got it? Excited? Excellent.

So yeah, HE came over and said quite the assortment of things:
1) We are very attractive girls, but he wanted us to know he would NEVER have sex with us. Like, ever.
2)  He asked where our boyfriends were, and we told him they were at home (hey, my future boyfriend might have been at home somewhere, right? In Louise's case, it was actually true) and that it was a girl's night out. He told us our boyfriends must not really be in love with us because if they were, they wouldn't want us going out alone for a girl's night. He said they would be right by our side at all times. We said that sounds kind of like scary talk, and it's important for girls to have their independence. He thought this was a bunch of malarkey.
3) He told us he used to be by his wife's side at all times until she died in a car crash. We felt momentarily sad for him until he started speaking again.
4) He offered to buy us shots a few times, and we turned him down because Louise didn't want one, and I told him I was being a responsible driver. He did not think responsible driving was important I guess because on the final time I turned him down, he told me I was a "pretentious bitch".

The guys we were originally talking to glanced over after getting drinks, saw we were preoccupied with a mental patient and never came back. We then went to the bathroom and headed to a different bar to get away from the most annoying person ever.

Oh, but guess who was already there too when we went up to the bar to order a drink? YEPPPPPPP!

Five Day Workweek and a Parking Ticket

I've had two three day workweeks in a row! The first two weeks of March were just swellllll.

The first week was short because I took two days off for moving, and the second week was short because I took two days off for Don-Yell's visit.

Now, I'm back to the regular five day workweeks which are a lot worse than the three day workweeks because of, ya know, those extra two days of working.

It's rough getting back into the swing of things after being out on vacation because not only do you not want to go back after having fun, but also, all the emails. And, all the people waiting for you the moment you enter the door saying things like "did you see my email?" At this point, I like to glance casually (but in a not so casual way, too) at my black computer screen, which hasn't been turned on yet. If that doesn't do the trick, I then say "my computer isn't on yet, so I haven't seen the email." Then, I go get coffee, pee, and look at all my other emails first...probably even in that order.

Anyway, so ugh, that's why I'm blogging while at work. Last week at this time, I was preparing for a four day weekend, so I figure this week, at this time, I should take a blogging break.

I did book another mini vacation to look forward to! I'll be going to Rhode Island at the end of July and staying with my friend Nicole. I haven't seen her in close to a year, so it will be really nice to spend time with her, see her house in Rhode Island, and hopefully see a bunch of other people too.

Getting to the other part of my story...

When my parents, Don-Yell, and I were in downtown St. Pete for brunch this past Sunday, we got a parking ticket. And, when I say "we", I mean that I single-handedly was responsible for getting us said parking ticket.

Here is how the conversation went:
Me: Park right over there - that looks like a good spot
Mom: Ok. We have lots of quarters for the meter
Me: That sounds silly. Save your quarters, and buy yourself something pretty little lady. I got this. I'll use my handy phone app
::I then proceed to tell everyone about my handy phone app and how fool-proof it is::
::I then pay for our parking spot using my fool-proof phone app::
::We eat brunch and go to the car::
Dad: ::Picks up large green envelope on front windshield of car that says PARKING TICKET::
Dad: We got a parking ticket
Me: That hardly seems possible

Oh, but it was. It was very possible, in fact.

You see, my handy phone app is linked to my license plate (information that I entered when I first downloaded the app and then promptly erased from my memory). And, my license plate is on my car, which was parked securely in its parking spot at my condo complex at the time.

Essentially, it was like we hadn't paid for parking at all. It was like we had thrown caution to the wind, took a look at the parking meter and said "eff you parking meter", and strolled into the restaurant like bad asses.

On that fateful day, I got to pay $3.35 to park my car at my condo complex (a convenience that I usually enjoy for free) and $25 for my parent's car.

 

Don't worry, they were glad we were there though. 

 

So glad, in fact, that if I went to wherever their office is located with my parking ticket and a receipt proving I paid $25 at a restaurant or shop that day, they would waive the charge. However, they bank on people being lazy - which I was - so, here is $25 for you sir.

7 Months Later

It's basically been 7 months since my last blog post! Happy new year, I guess. Let's hope I can keep up with this thang better than I have in the past.

I went back and looked at most of my previous posts, and some of them seem so dumb now. But, some of them also seem more funny than I thought I was capable of, and I'm not sure I can be as funny anymore - especially since I started this blog over 2 years ago while living in a retirement community with my parents. Obviously, there is a lot of material to draw from under those circumstances.

At any rate, I will try because it's pretty fun to look back on. Also, I think blogging popularity is pretty much on its way out or already out, so maybe if I keep up with it, it will become trendy again soon (since all that sort of stuff always comes full circle), and my friends will think I'm really cool. It will be kind of sneaky - kind of like how hippies weren't cool anymore, so now there are hipsters instead - which is pretty much the same thing except with less patchouli oil and a lot more glasses.

Anyway, here is where things netted out in the last 7 months. I'm still living in St. Pete and loving it. If there is any reason to leave this area or Florida in general, I haven't found it yet. I'm actually living at the same complex that I lived at for a year when I first moved to St. Pete. I really love it here and am excited to have my own place again. Still working at Ideal Image aaaaand my underarms are now hairless - ta da! I think that's about it. Oh, wait - and I now use whole milk instead of skim.

Ironically, during my last post, I had just visited Danielle in NYC, and this past weekend, she just visited me. Both trips for free! Now that my dad works for himself, he won't rack up all the frequent flyer miles like he used to, but these types of free trips were fun while they lasted.

Here is what we did:
Thursday - Danielle's flight arrived at 2:20pm, and I got to the airport early to pick her up. This meant I then had to drive around the airport approximately 236 times before she came out. This also meant I was simultaneously frustrated and excited when I saw her. We then made the mutual decision to act like sister wives that evening (it's not what you're thinking) - which meant food shopping at Publix together and making ourselves a lovely salmon dinner. Upon arrival, Danielle proclaimed it was "hot" (high 60s) and also made the blanket statement later on that she "doesn't recycle" (not ever apparently - not even when there is a recycling bin on the patio deck). I knew I was in for a good time! I also knew I would have to periodically peruse my garbage and then berate her.

Friday - We went to Treasure Island beach, and then I wined/dined her at Capital Grille for dinner. I had a $100 gift card there. I'm sure the waitress wasn't surprised when we pulled it out. I had a filet mignon that was parmesan/horseradish encrusted, and it was pretty much the best thing I've ever eaten. Granted, for $46, I could basically eat for a whole week, but whatevs. Danielle also got a really good steak, and I don't think we spoke a word to each other while we enjoyed our food - ah, best friends. Oh, we also went out for drinks in St. Pete that night.

Saturday - I told Danielle I wanted to take her to a touristy beach, so I thought of one that would be really uncomfortably crowded and almost not enjoyable - Clearwater! The water was freeeeezing, but we both managed to go in completely. First swim of the year! At night, we went to the St. Patty's day celebration/parade in Ybor - kind of like a Mardi Gras with beads getting thrown at you, etc. Met up with some other friends that night for dinner/bar hopping, and it was a lot of fun. Great way to spend her last night here.

Sunday - My parents made the quick 3 hour drive here to see her (and I think to see me too?). We went out for brunch and hung out for a bit. Then, Danielle had to be at the airpot by 3:30pm.

All in all, a short trip but very fun! Here are some pics:

Not pictured: Danielle's paleo lunches which included avocado smooshed into roast beef and falling out the sides.