I _rule_

I survived the firedrill of passing my MS certification exam. I have not felt that level of anxiety about _anything_ in I don't know how long. I mean, how bad would it have been if I had failed? It's only just about the easiest exam I could have taken.

Anyway, while that was clearly the low point of my weekend, there were plenty of high points as well to even it all out - a study in contrasts, if you will. There was Tamara's birthday bash on Saturday (Happy B-day! you can never say it too much). There was the car show on Sunday. There was hanging out with friends Sunday evening. Plenty of very worthy distractions to keep it all balanced.

And then there was the rush to the finish line. Driving to McD's Sunday night (Monday really) at one in the morning for coffee in a vain attempt to stay awake a little longer. There was giving up at 2am and succumbing to sleep. There was struggling to wake up at 6am and resume cramming. There was loading a practice test on my laptop and answering practice questions in the car, in the parking lot, outside the testing center, 20 minutes before the test is to begin. And still not sure if I'm going to pass the damn thing. And then the sweet, orgasmic relief of "Your final score is 813. You need 700 to pass. Congratulations". It was almost a religious experience.

Roommate search

So I've put an ad on roommates.com to rent out the other bedroom, and got one definate hit and one possible hit today. In fact, the one definate guy may be stopping by on Monday to check the place out. I'm feeling pretty uninformed going into this process, so anyone with any advice on things to look for/ask about/look out for would be much appreciated. This one definate guy is 35, separated, apparently (from Googling him) into motorcycles, recently out of 10 years in the military, and in the techie world, possibly VoIP or some such thing.

Any input? Anyone?

The Peekaboo Paradox

The Peekaboo Paradox

Go read this right now. Comments required, I'll wait.

Cram this!

I've been tapped to be the lucky soul to cram for an MS certification exam on Monday so we can keep our Certified Partner status, which expires on Tuesday :) I've got my weekend cut out for me.

Wrestling

I'm all sorts of wonderfully sore this morning from a wrestling match yesterday with a friend. Great masculine fun. Uggg - me man, me put smack down. Hear me ROAR.

Ok, not so much the roaring.

And, much celebrating of birthdays this weekend - Happy B-day (one day late) to Tamera!

Jittery

today. Like too much caffine without the benefit of coffee breath.

Quiet evenings

I spent close to two hours reading in my comfy chair last night before bed. I had pretty much all the lights off except for my reading light over the chair. Baxter the dog was sleeping on the couch and Freddy the cat was sleeping on my lap. The only sounds were the refridgerator kicking on and off and the rain on the windows.

My bruised credit card

Went out to my car Monday morning, turned the key, got nothing but a click. The click of death. The sound of a car flipping you off. The sound of Monday. Used the roadside assistence feature of my insurance, got the car towed to the shop. As you can probably guess, the starter had died. And the batttery was leaking. And the part had to be ordered, so I had to rent a car. Bloody hell. $700 later, I have my car back, but definately need to pull in some consulting on the side to offset all this nonsense.

Overheard

"Chris, I'm going to staple your foot to the floor"

Library time

On the way back from shipping my DVD player off to be repaired, I stopped by the Shirlington branch of the county library. I haven't really been in the library since high school, but here I was, poking around in the trashy new fiction section. Found what look to be three fun throwaway novels, which I look forward to reading in my comfy chair in the newly furnished living room. Especially now that NetFlix is out of commission for the next two weeks.

It is good

I slept this weekend. A lot. and Chris said it was good, saw it was good, and it was good.

I made a round trip to Florida to see a client on Wednesday. Went with our CEO, and we solidified that relationship, and it was good.

I think I'm finally, _really_ moving back into the house. I pulled furniture in from the front room and spread it around the downstairs a bit. The front room was previously my favorite room in the house when K and I were together. I was "my" space, and I found it comforting. But it's really a two season room, too cold in the winter, and too hot in the summer, so I have not really been able to use it since I've been back, and certainly not in the past several months. There is a buffet type table that I pulled into the dinning room, and my favorite comfy chair that I've pulled into the living room. In hanging a sculpture of my face that was done by a friend 16 years ago that I found again in the basement, the downstairs now feels comfortable again, and mine - for the first time since I moved out. Even though my favorite room is now empty. And it is good.

K and I sat down today and filled out the online, do it your self divorce paperwork today. Being with her had the feeling of a summer camp reunion, where you idealize the good memories, and fuzz out the uncomfortable ones. And you know you won't ever be as close as you once were with the people you were so intimate with. You thought it would last forever. And, in a nostalgic kind of way, it is good.

Eat like a king

Today I discovered that I had, excluding pennies, $8.35 in loose change in my desk drawer. So I indulged myself and bought lunch today. Yummy.

New pics

at Life, Pixilated

Balance

Today I had balance in my life.

Productive day at work, home at a reasonable time, off to the gym where I got to feel my body again, back home to walk Baxter around the neighborhood. Made a good, healthy dinner, watched a good movie, write a journal entry and then off to bed.

I put this all down because it is important that I not lose this again. This balance. Balance is important.

Kids are funny

so there are these three kids who live across the street, and they _love_ Baxter the dog. At any opportunity they will come over to play with Baxter the dog. I've given them a key to the house so they can check in on Baxter the dog when I'm running late at work or some such thing. And they're great, don't get me wrong, but they're funny too. I have chocolate ice cream in the freezer which they like to dip into from time to time. The funny thing is, they don't want me to know that they're dipping into the forbidden chocolate ice cream, so they'll be _very_ careful about scraping off just the top layer of ice cream in such a way that it's not immediately obvious that some of the ice cream is missing. And they'll make sure to put the spoon they used into the dishwasher so I won't notice it. But then they'll leave chocolate fingerprints all over the refridgerator! Kids are funny.

Happy birthday to me!

Today I am 32.

Thursday

I've been feeling less verbal lately, so I'm more likely to update my pics blog than the written one for a while. Just a heads up.

Life, pixilated

I've started a new blog devoted to visual impressions of the world - Life, pixilated, so stop by and tell me what you think.

How long is 6 months?

Remembering the 6 month anniversary of your first date - sweet

Arriving at the 6 month anniversary of the end of your marraige - sad

Seems so long ago now. Even longer since we were happy. Longer still until we're happy again.

We can dance, we can dance everyone look at your hands

Who knew? After being dragged, practically kicking and screaming, to an evening of dancing w/ K & A on Saturday, it turns out that I had a _GREAT_ time, and was actually pretty good if I say so myself. So I signed up w/ them for the 8 week Monday night course in the Sling Hustle and Manhattan Hustle, which, as I'm learning, I _really_ like, and am also especially good at. At least so far. I was feeling really down and out of it today - putting the final touches on my house refinance, and all the meaning and thoughts that go along with that. Feeling a little like I'm coping out because I'm still at my current job. But DAMN! I felt good after the dance lesson tonight. Wow. What else have I been missing out on in life?

That's a question. Please tell me - I'm curious.