My eyes are leaking. Darn allergies.  I’m hoping today will be rather slow so that maybe I can shut my door and drift off. I’ve gotten over the feeling of being an undeserving, seemingly spoiled brat regarding my car now that I’ve detailed the inside and have ridden around a bit. What really makes me seem spoiled is that I’d rather still have my old car intact. It had 200K miles on it and I was hoping to put at least another 100K. Oh well, now I just get to save up for another awesome hatchback, or some car other than a convertible because those just aren’t too practical.

Yesterday, Jasen bought me a badass riding jacket with the perfect amount of girliness. After my wreck I told him I wouldn’t be riding until I had a proper jacket since people don’t usually get as lucky as I did twice. He had some extra money and offered to buy the jacket since he knows I’m in a bind right now. Now we just have to find some time to ride – I’m sure we’ll make it happen next week.

Friday morning we’ll be heading to Gulf Shores for the Hangout Festival. I had to scramble to book a room and it looks like we’ll be staying in…. I don’t even know how to describe it. The reviews are quite entertaining though. Here’s a good one – and I beleive this is the one Jasen was referring to last night when we had sushi with Justin and Natalie:

“Only one word to describe…Nasty. As soon as we walked in the room my 7 year old daughter began to cry and say, “what is this horrible place”. We could only stand it for one night after the tub would not drain and slept with sand filled sheets from previous visitors. Although, their Mexican restaurant sure made good Margarita’s…I see why they would have too.”

Silly people need to learn how to spell.  Our plan is to go down with our own bedding, towels and lots of liquor. I’ll use Natalie’s recipe for Margaritas since they got me pretty tipsy last time. 1 can limeaid, 2 cups tequila & 3-4 bottles Corona. If it gets really bad, we’ll just have to string up our hammocks beside the pool.  We’ll let you know how it goes.

Today is a slow day at work. Rain equals boredom but I’m pretty good at combating it. A couple years ago I’d be playing World of Warcraft right now. At the moment I’m reading the news and sending out emails. Let’s jump back to last week though. Hmm, what happened? Oh yeah, Thursday was trivia. Trivia was good although I did drink more than I wanted to. Lately I’ve been trying to keep it cool when going out so I’ve not been buying drinks but sometimes I find a full cup in front of me. In the future I think I’ll just sip on that cup all night. I’m not sure why that’s just occurring to me right now. After trivia I went to Steak and Shake with Audrey then crashed at her place. Friday Audrey, Natalie, Lindsey1, and Lindsey2 went out to my parent’s place to hang out at the pool. I had to work late so I didn’t get to hang out with them any. I went by anyway just in time to return a shirt to Lindsey1 as she was leaving. That night Audrey and I went to the Mexican place and had margaritas before passing out. Saturday morning I took Audrey to work then went home for a while before picking her back up again. When I got her we headed to Guntersville to have lunch with her family and pick up the car she’ll be driving for a while. Meeting her family was nice and I think I’ll fit in with them for the most part. Brew Fest was also Saturday so immediately after we left Guntersville we went to her place so we could walk to Brew Fest. After about five minutes of walking we decided to just take my car. It worked out well because by 7pm it was raining pretty hard and I was able to take everyone over to Justin and Natalie’s. Since I left my dogs outside I wasn’t able to hang out but back at the house Audrey and I had a nice time spending time alone talking. Sunday morning I took her back to town to her car so she could drive it work. Back at my house it was rainy and depressing outside so I just spent the day being lazy. When Audrey got off work she came out to my place and we got groceries. Then we made eggplant lasagna, watched God Bless America on iTunes, and went to bed.

I don’t really like writing this kind of entry but I thought I’d just do some catching up instead of focusing on one thing that happened since my last post. Hangout Festival is this weekend. I’m looking forward to getting out of here for a little bit.

Today we had to replace a grease trap for Outback Steakhouse on Whitesburg. Here are the photos of the project.

First we had to pump out all the nasty stuff inside the tank before we crush it in. Here is Mark pumping out the tank. You can see we had the concrete over the tank cut as it is about a foot thick and much easier to remove in sections. It’s around 6:00am in this photo. When working at a business that’s already up and running we have to get there early as to not interrupt their schedule.

After it’s pumped out I remove the old tank by scooping it up and putting it next to the hole while I crush it in.

After the old tank is removed the bottom of the hole is dug to a grade that will allow the new tank to match up with the existing plumbing and then it’s lowered into the hole and connected.

After it’s inspected it’s surrounded and covered with rock and manholes are attached to the top. Once the manholes are set to the same height as the existing parking lot concrete is poured over the tank.

Once the concrete is poured I level and smooth it to match the existing parking lot. Then we build a barrier so no one walks or drives in it. Tomorrow I’ll drive back over and remove the barrier and it will basically look like no one was ever there.

That’s what I did from 6:00am to noon today. Also, I can never decide if it’s better to write the captions above or below the photos.

Shit, after seeing how long it’s been since I’ve updated I realized how quickly I forget what I’ve done. Everything been pretty good around here. Audrey’s accident sucked but she’s got my car now so she’s not stuck anywhere. The weather is being an asshole though because it won’t be sunny or rainy so it’s just dreary. We went swimming Saturday and it was awesome so I think I might hook up my house with a pool.

In other news: I’ve been watching all the episodes of Parks and Recreation on Netflix. It’s pretty awesome but I’ve seen them all now and I need something new. What else is good on Netflix? I’ve done Party Down, Workaholics, The Office (again), The United States of Tara, Trailer Park Boys, Todd Margaret, The IT Crowd, Portlandia, Breaking Bad, and 30 Rock (again). That’s just what I’ve watched in the last six months too. I don’t watch television at all so I’d like to find more shows like Party Down and Workaholics that are already off air.

Eh, I can’t focus right now. I just finished cutting grass and I’m tired. I think I’m going to take the motorcycle down to the store and get some vodka and cranberry juice. I think that might be my new drink. Here’s a photo I took of Audrey riding behind me on her first time ever riding solo. You can’t tell it but we were going down the street and it was probably stupid of me to pull out my iPhone but there wasn’t any traffic and we weren’t going very fast on the Toney back roads at this point.

Luckily not too bloody in my case. Just a little redness from the seatbelt. Where to start? I totalled my car today. That sucked royaly but it’s really amazing that I was able to crawl out of my upside-down car and walk away. Jasen was wonderful during the whole ordeal. We were having a pretty good weekend until all of that happened. I got tires on my bike Saturday so we went for my first ride. I was surprised at how my nervousness subsided once I got on the bike and started moving. I had some real anxiety about the thought of riding when I bought the bike- thinking that I would suck
at it or do something really stupid but once I was on the road it felt so natural. After todays events- maybe not so much. I definitely want to get gloves and a jacket before we get on the road again. I guess I’ve been floating along thinking I was invincible so this morning was an absolutely humbling experience. The crazy thing was, I wasn’t crying or freaking out at the scene and I still haven’t. I was mad at myself mainly for losing control and I felt bad for inconveniencing the responders. Jasen got there so quickly so that was a huge relief. Somehow my cell phone ended up right in front of my face when I landed so I was able to call him once I knew the police were on their way.  I’m tired of talking about it.
Saturday we ate at Mezza Luna’s and I had some amazing oysters then we went downtown and eventually met up with Tyler’s crew. I kept running into people I knew, so catching up was nice, although most discussion revolved around the bike.  Well, I believe my Melatonin is kicking in. Night.  Here’s a picture of my poor, poor Heidi.

It has been a rather uneventful day, for which I am appreciative of since the rest of this month will probably be filled to the brim with activities.  I realize that I stay busy so much during the day that when I finally get some alone time -like right now after putting the kids to bed and waiting for the parents to get here- I end up thinking about what all else I should have been doing during business hours. P&B should be getting here any moment. I could really go for that Chimay Blue in my fridge but I have a feeling I would pass out after two sips, just like last night. Yoga was great yesterday, but definitely not as easy as last week. It makes it much more difficult to do the odd positions when you’re sliding around in your own sweat. I’ve got to get one of those non-slip yogitoes mats. I went by to try on helmets before class and I’ll probably end up buying one from that shop since the guys local/independent and super helpful. Hopefully I’ll be getting my tires on tomorrow so I can ride this weekend. After some maneuvering in a parking lot, I think I would feel good enough to follow Jasen on some of the more secluded country roads. I keep getting ahead of myself though since there are a few important tasks I need to take care of before I can ride legally.  By the way, happy May Day!

So I need to start writing more so I don’t have to keep playing catch up. Last week I didn’t really go out. Friday night I went into town and met up with Audrey. We were going to see a movie but ended up hanging out at the bar of the Mellow Mushroom too late. After leaving the bar Audrey had this grand idea that on the way back to my house we’d get a lot of beer and play drinking games. Skip to me bringing her the first beer and finding her asleep in bed. Needless to say we didn’t play any drinking games. Saturday morning we went up to the cabin in Tennessee to work until noon. After work we went to her place and rode our bikes to Panoply. There was a lot of people there and it was entertaining. Some of the local artwork is amazing. I really wanted to buy some of the original art but I didn’t. We’re talking original paintings for like $30. In retrospect I was an idiot for not getting that owl painting. There was a lady there from Guntersville who’s work reminded me of a cross between John John Jesse and Mark Ryden. Again, I was an idiot for not getting anything. I wish I could remember the names so I could look them up online. After leaving Panoply Audrey went to get her little sister so they could go to the circus. There were protesters in front of the VBC when we were at Panoply. They had photos of elephant trainers beating elephants. When will the elephants learn?

I didn’t go home after she left. I rode to the thrift store but only ended up with four pints of Yuengling an hour later at her place. I was thinking I would end up doing something with Jacob because I ran into him earlier in the day but he didn’t get back to me so I decided I’d ride my bicycle downtown. About the time I got downtown the fireworks from Panoply started so I watched them before walking into the Voodoo. No one was down there but I figured I’d hang out and see what was up. Eventually Audrey met up with me and we were mid conversation when Lindsey walked in. Having not talked to her in like two years I said hey and almost didn’t let her leave to get a seat at the bar. I invited her to sit with us and eventually she did. I don’t know how long we all talked but it seemed like a long time. There was a lot of catching up to do but I don’t feel like I really caught up at all. I know we were there long enough for my cousin Tyler and Dave to join us and leave along with a couple of Audrey’s friends. Eventually we all left and I rode my bike back over to Audrey’s. Since I Had left the dogs for so long I had to go back home that night so Audrey rode back with me.

Sunday we went to pick up her motorcycle in Warrior, AL. It all went pretty smoothly and she even got to ride a little at my parent’s house. I made dinner and took her back home and that was pretty much the weekend. Today was an easy day at work. I pretty much just listened to podcasts while working. It was a little hot but not that bad. On the way back to the office I was going past my old high school and noticed all the students leaving. Is it odd that when I see high school age kids I always try to imagine what their lives are like? Somehow I figure that they must be more interesting than adults. I don’t really give a shit about adults. I saw a kid get off the bus at the trailer park near the office. He was tall and thick with a shaved head. It made me wonder if he was the bully kid or the smelly poor kid who gets bullied. I guess I’ll never know.

Okay, I have to take a shower. I was dirty when I got home and then I opted to take my bike out before doing anything else and now I’m just a nasty mess. I washed my hands before typing this but I didn’t wash all the way up to my forearms and I can tell they’re kind of sticking to the glass top of my desk. I’ve got some cleaning to do.

Sometimes I’m not very articulate at telling a good story. This is one of those times. I think I’ll just say that I’ve been very busy the last few days and here’s what I’ve been up to. Yesterday I buried someone’s cat. I was at a job for a family and while I was working they drove to the vet together to have the family cat put down. They expected to be back before I was done but I finished early so I just loaded up the machinery and hung out. After twenty minutes of waiting I saw them return and go into the house. After ten minutes I saw the whole family coming out to their barn, where I was. The son had two shovels, the dad had a box, and the mom was sobbing. It was clear that they were going to bury the cat. When they got to where I was I offered to dig out the hole with a machine since their land was really rocky and it would have been a pain in the ass to dig by hand. They said it wasn’t a big deal but I unloaded a machine and went to the edge of their creek and dug a hole. They were really thankful that I helped out and I’m glad I did. It was the most interesting thing that happened yesterday at work so it’s safe to say it wasn’t the most interesting day.

After work I put in some laundry and planned to cook dinner but Audrey texted me that she locked herself out of her place so I had a hotdog and waited for my clothes to dry. Once they were dry I got a text from her saying that she got someone else to let her in. Now I wasn’t in a rush to leave anymore so I attempted to pair my new phone with the stereo in my car. This took longer than it should have and wasn’t successful in the end. Once I gave up I headed into town because it was game night at Tyler’s. When I got to his house it was locked so I just stood on the porch. I have a key but I don’t like going into people’s houses when they’re not there. Shortly after my arrival Jacob and Kelsey showed up. I unlocked the door and had a beer at the dining room table while waiting for Tyler. When he got there we watched videos on YouTube while waiting for Laura and Jason. They showed up a little after nine and we got ready to play the game. The game we played was a board game called Dominion and it was a lot of fun. We played twice with Jason winning the first time and Laura winning the second. I’ve never won on a game night but I always enjoy playing. Around midnight we called it quits and I left. On the way home I stopped by Audrey’s and at home I passed out as soon as I got in bed.

Today I worked on the other side of Athens doing a job and I didn’t get back to the office until around five. At home I worked out a little and watched a documentary before making dinner. The weather is super and considering that I showed Audrey a motorcycle that she should buy a few days ago I’m looking forward to going out riding more. I don’t mind her being on the back of my bike but I think she’ll have a lot of fun on her own bike when we ride. I’ll worry though because she lives in town and there’s way more traffic there. I’ve had so many close calls that I got out of due to my experience as a rider that I just hope the first time someone pulls out in front of her she doesn’t end up sliding down the road. Hopefully she’ll take advantage of the fact that I live in the county and ride out here until she’s confident. Well, it’s time for me to take a shower and Beans is bugging the hell out of me to get me to rub her belly. Speaking of Beans, here’s a photo of me and Hoss. Look how weird my face looks from this angle.

After chatting with Jasen and knowing that he isn’t coming into town, there is still the 1% chance he might still show up and surprise me.  Simple wishful thinking on my part. Every time I’m in this thought process – which is common when I’m home alone – I almost rush to the front door when I hear a car pull up.  I stop myself, because I realize that, statistically, it’s probably just Wayne coming back from a fast food run.  Yea, that all just happened, so I thought I would share.  Luckily, this is a pretty slow week for me… well every afternoon has something different for the agenda but no evenings are taken so that means I get to be all sappy and hang out with my honey…. or something like that.  Oh, a big thanks to Jasen for introducing me to his family as his “female acquaintance”.  Yea, that’s real special.

So, on to the bar fly swarm explanation.  I got home after work, and much to my dismay, everything was not perfectly in order after leaving my house to fend for itself for 3 days.  On Friday, I was in a semi-rush to get to Jasen’s since I knew he was having a bad day so i wanted to be there when he got home.  Anywhoo, I was hurrying to make mint mojitos and one to go and I decided to leave the mess in the sink.  Not a good idea, apparently.  When I walked in to my bathroom after getting home today, I noticed about 20 of those damn gnats covering my mirror and walls. Eeek.  So I went on an afternoon killing spree.  A fucking massacre.  I thought I was doing pretty well… and then I walked in my kitchen, getting ready to throw together an awesome dish I stole from Giatta (sun-dried tomato pesto penne pasta) and guess what… yup, the fucking gross-ness had consumed my kitchen.  I probably wasted an hour killing those little buggers and they still seemed to be multiplying.  Luckily, there weren’t any in my cupboards (which isn’t a word, I’m told, but actually it is because I just checked – so boo yah) so I think I’m safe.  There weren’t any perishables except for the sugar and mint and whatever else I left in my sink.  Once I thought I had the situation under control and didn’t see any more of those fuckers, I started to cook and poured myself a glass of wine (which I checked compulsively to make sure I wasn’t getting my extra dose of protein for the day) and accidentally left the bottle open.   By the way, I’ve really got to get some of those wine bottle stopper-upper thingys.   You know what I’m talking about.  Well, durr me… when I finally went to re-cork the bottle, I noticed a dozen more of those tiny shitheads in my bottle of $12 wine.  Which is truly BULL SHIT since I rarely pay that much for a bottle.  Moral of the story – if you want to get rid of bar flies, get them drunk, they’ll have a party in your bottle, and then drown.   They were all gone by the time I got back from yoga.  Namaste.   That doesn’t quite work in this situation, but I’ll go with it.

Yoga was much easier and more enjoyable this week.  That may be due to having my own mat, fresh yoga gear, and being more limber; but actually, it’s probably because the temp in the room was 78*F last week and today it was only 71 degrees.  I really enjoy the serotonin release and overall feeling of well-being I get during and after the class.  I’m a bit impressed that I can do some of the more advanced poses fairly well.  I’m sitting here right now listening to Edward Sharpe, sipping on green tea, with a scented candle lit for minimal lighting.  Feeling healthy and happy.  In a minute, I’ll warm up some of that penne pasta again.  I only meant to eat a bit as a snack before yoga but managed to consume 2 bowls of the stuff.  Luckily the one person that tooted in class wasn’t me.  It happens and I’m sure my time will come.  And when it does I’ll probably break out in uncontrollable laughter because that’s how I do and I’m sure Rachel would be absolutely no help in that situation.   We’re going to start getting together on Thursdays, maybe, and do our own yoga so we can stay limbered up.

Forgive me for backtracking, but I wanted to talk about this past weekend.  Friday was a bit of a bust since we were both so exhausted and feeling funky from the long day/week.  Jasen didn’t get home until 7ish,  had take-out Chinese, and we both passed out. Well, he may have stayed up for a while but I was completely useless.  Saturday was surprisingly fun hanging out around the cabin while the boys worked.  I’m sure Jasen was dreading the thought of me and his mother talking for hours but it really wasn’t that bad.  Sunday was great except the weather could have been a bit nicer.  I hope someone got a video of Levi pulling in a fish. He was so damn excited I wasn’t sure if he was autistic for an hour after meeting him.  That sounds odd to say, but really, the way he absolutely freaked out when they caught a fish was amazing.  He’s an awesome kid and Amber and Jimi seem like wonderfully caring and completely invested parents.  Ah, that makes me miss Lennon.   Well, it’s din din time.  I have plenty of leftovers and I don’t mind sharing.

Today we had a cookout at my parent’s house. My grandfather and I celebrate our birthdays together so it was a family thing. After eating we went to the pond and fished a little bit then after cake we shot shotguns. It was nice enough but I’m tired as hell right now so I’m just going to post the photo of Audrey and call it a night. Holla!