Thar he blows!!

Well, it is that time of year again. The time of year for flashlights and bottled water, plywood and tuna fish as well as freak outs and delayed flights. Hurricane season has been on since June 1 but this is the most active time and of course everyone feels incredibly ill prepared. The mad dash at the local Home Depot and Lowe's has begun and work has already begun moving in all the loose furniture and antennas. Tropical Storm Ernesto (where do they come up with these names!) is currently baring down on Cuba and predicted to make a track right up the east coast of Florida. Great, right?! Not only did we have a Shuttle launch scheduled but I am poised to head back home to NY for my brother's wedding! I hate flying to begin with and the prospect of taking off as a Hurricane looms on our heels doesn't give me any comfort. I ask everyone who reads and is listening to keep their fingers crossed that I can get out of this disaster area before they lockdown the airports. I will be super peeved if I can't get there on time not only because my brother would be upset but I am supposed to be in the wedding and I have already spent all this money on the dress, alterations, shoes, etc. I want to be there to see him get married and I want to see my cutie of a nephew as well. Perfect timing.
They are also making preparations to roll Space Shuttle Atlantis back into the Vehicle Assembly Building for protection during the storm. The Shuttle would be like a sitting duck out there and potential damage to the vehicle would be devastating. It can only sstand a maximum of 50 mph winds and it is being predicted we will experience 70+ mph. Unfortunatly, this will delay the launch even further because it takes forever to get this ridiculous piece of machinary back and forth from the VAB. We will know tomorrow if they are definitly going to roll back but let me tell you, it doesn't look good.
The only thing that brings me comfort to this whole situation is that my roommate Nina, Jill and Gary will be here to look after the dogs and the house, as well as each other. I really don't think this is going to be a very bad storm but after the 3 storms we had in 04 and Katrina last year, no one is taking any chances. It is going to be interesting over the next couple of days to see how this all pans out but hopefully I will get out on time and this Hurrican Ernesto (jerk!) will take it easy on us and tell all his friends we have had enough and don't want to see any of them for a long while!

Run Forrest....then drink some beer!

Finally another 5K! It has been a while since I got to run one. It scares me a bit that it is so hot but this seemed like a fun run even though it was in Orlando. Friday night JIll, Rene' and myself decided to stay in because we had to be at the race early (we left at 5:45 am!). We did do a little carb loading at Olive Garden though ;-) So unnecessary but tasty! Anywho, the race wasn't quite the armpit that Rene' experienced at the last Orlando race she ran but it was hot none the less. We all did not do as best as we could but I guess it could always have been worse. Jill was the only one who I think was at least semi-consistent at her run even though it wasn't her best time. Rene' has injured feet from her sneakers and it has just gotten worse. She is going to get new ones very soon because it is really taking a toll on her. Blisters can be debilitating! We had a great time but were disappointed by the shirt they gave away at the race. They had promised a technical shirt (you know, the ones that draw the sweat away from you) and Rene' and I got great ones at the Run for the Gecko race so we thought it would be similar. No so much; it looks like a regular T-shirt! Piss me off. That was one of the reasons we came to do a run in Orlando. Ah, what are you going to do? It was a good run and the more I seem to do these the more motivated I am to do better at the next one. I think we will be signing up for a few more before the end of the year. There is even a Christmas time run where they engcourage you to wear costumes and jingle bells on your shoes. Not that I will necessary Santa out but it will be fun to make fun of the other people. We also have the Run for Pizza run which is just that, running for pizza at the end of the race. I think these runner people have the right idea.
Saturday after the run I promptly went home to pass out but to no avail. I was so tired on the way home I thought for sure I would sleep but of course, just the oppostie happened. I instead decided to do laundry and the floors. Man, I have problems. Anywho, we were invited to a friend of ours Larry's party that night. Larry used to be my neighbor back in Viera and has always been a fun guy who threw good parties. Now, he does name the party after himself (Larrypalooza) and encourages people to buy T-shirts and underwear with said name on them but who can refuse a good party. Rene' had invited some additional people from Young Professionals (the people we mostly hang out with) because the invite had said bring friends. Well, I guess no one told Larry's bitch of a girlfriend Deb that all were welcome. She could not have been more rude. Not only did she yell at Rene' for being so imposing but she went out of her way to make people feel uncomfortable. Nice hostess right?! Larry had already said it was very cool that all these YP people were there and even seemed excited to meet some new people. Who doesn't want to meet new people and add more fun and diversity to their party? Apparently Deb. It is not like the people who we invited were crazy party people who trash the place and show disrespect. They even offered to contribute money for the beer and what not if they needed it. I could see her getting pissed about that but she wouldn't even take the money because (we're not those kind of people." Right but you are the raging lunatic type. SHe really was too much. I have wasted enough time taking about her. Well, we tried to make the best of a rotten situation and managed to have a good time. I thought high school was over man!

Don't Get Mad, Get Even

This past Thursday my friend Greg from Texas was in town on business. He is from the days back in H-town where everyone belonged to the cult. It was so great to see him and get to hang out with him. Jill and I headed up to Grill's at Port Canaveral and had some dinner. Not to mention drank to much and laughed a lot. It was a such a beautiful night, the band was pretty good (albeit a little loud), and just a good atmosphere all around. I could have sat there all night. Greg is such a great person and so much fun to just hang out with and chill. So glad he came into town. Here are some pics from that evenings festivities.


As far as the rest of the weekend goes I was mostly productive. Friday night, Rene' and I went to John Tucker Must Die
(ok, no making fun! We have a problem with teen movies....love them). If you haven't heard about it, the plot basically revolves around these 4 girls and their quest to destroy a man. Three of the girls have been jilted by John Tucker and the 4th is just looking for friends but still wants to torture men like Tucker for all those who have screwed her mom. Cute idea but they seemed to show all the good parts in the trailers. Ah, what can you do, it was still enjoyable.
Saturday I spent all my day doing all the things I have to catch up on. Yard work, house maintenance, cleaning and laundry dominated my entire morning and afternoon. I felt incredibly accomplished but thoroughly exhausted. I know everyone has said this but I guess I didn't really know how much work having a house of your own can truly be. That night we hit the Dog n' Bone for a bit. It wouldn't have been that bad except the band was really loud (so loud it hurt Jill's ears again and she had to leave) and you couldn't even hear the lead singer. So, we opted to hang out with Alex, John, and Kevin over at Alex's house. It was a good time for what it was but no great revelations to report. We did however play pictionary and watch some Eddie Izzard.
Not sure if I have mentioned (but I am sure Rene' did) but Nina has left us again that whore! She left on Thursday last week, just as abruptly as last time. These short jubs come up so quick and it pretty much consists of a phone call and a trip to the airport. No real "get ready time." She left with dirty clothes and hopefully all her provisions. She said they have return flights for this Friday, however, once she was on the boat she called and said that she was told it could be more like 2 weeks and that is being hopeful. I hope she is able to get back sooner than later because she has her high school reunion to attend with Cara (they are driving up to VA). Fingers crossed for her everyone.
Lastly, I have a couple of items for you to ponder. Last night at the coffee Rene' and I read from this new book I've got called Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex?: More Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Whiskey Sour. This is the second installment of urban legends debunked by medicine and common sense, by the guys who wrote Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini. Some of the more interesting questions were "Is a dog's mouth really clean?", "Why do women pee more than men?" and of course the title question "Why do men fall asleep after sex?" The only thing about this book that I do not like is that you are left wanting more from the explainations. It raises more questions to me than the orginal question. Despite that I am enjoying this book and learning about those obscure things that makes us the screwed up society we are today.