bunchofgrapes

Especially Troy Brouwer's hockey butt.

( His legs are nice too )

Went to the hockey game tonight. The Dallas Stars showed up. Unfortunately, the Caps' defense did not. What is it about teams with Stars in their name or on their helmet? I don't mind if the Cowboys own the Redskins but I really wish the Caps had owned the Stars. We just do not play well against Western Conference teams.

So the couple sitting next to me arrived before the start of the second period. The guy was already pretty drunk but as he continually told me, he was "a smart drunk". This from the man who could never remember where he was sitting. We were two rows from the top but every time he came back, he either went about 6 rows down or he ended up in the row behind us. How hard can it be? His girlfriend was very nice and I kind of felt bad for her because she seemed to be a little embarrassed that he was so drunk. He was also wearing a pretty nice suit however the pants were so long, it looked like he bought it and hoped to grow into it. He kept talking to me but honestly, I had the hardest time understanding him because either he had a lisp made worse by alcohol or alcohol gave him a really bad lisp. Not the most manly of men. This was emphasized by his girl hands and his the lispy voice when he tried to cheer loudly. If nothing else, he was amusing. However, at one point I glanced over at him and noticed he was holding his full beer cup up instead of say, putting it in the cup holder or resting his arm on the chair. I had visions of him spilling it on me in his drunken stupor. Happily, he did not spill it on me. He spilled it all over himself so that when he stood up, it looked like he peed himself. His girlfriend decided that this was enough and since he was a "smart drunk", he didn't argue and off they went.

At least this time it ended better than the guy who threw up in the hair of the woman sitting in front of him. Yeah, that was entertaining.

I have made two discoveries lately: Chobani Greek yogurt and Glaceau Vitamin Water. The Chobani pineapple and mango flavors are my favorites. Fage is another favorite but I think I like Chobani a little better. The Vitamin water has taken the place of soda for me. I stick to the ones with truvia (no sugar) and the orange and lemonade flavors are my favorites. No caffeine but I drink a lot of iced tea too so I'm happy. Plus, I needed to cut down on the caffeine anyway.

I found an excellent electrician named Kenny. He's been out twice now and so far he's replaced all the light switches with the flat switches (I like them better than the regular switches), replaced the round dimmer switch and ceiling fan switches with sliders, installed a slider for the ceiling fan upstairs (before I had to use the chain to turn it on and off). He also fixed the wiring in the outside outlet so now I can put up Xmas lights and plug in a water fountain over the summer, installed new outside lights in the front and the back of the house. My front door is on the side of the townhouse and previously, the front had no light so that really is nice. No more pitch black when the neighbors don't have their porch light on. The best thing he's done so far though is install two 4inch recessed lights over my desk in the 8x8 nook off the master bedroom. The change the lighting makes in the room is just amazing! It's like a whole new room. Wednesday he'll come out and install recessed lighting in the kitchen. This will replace the horrible, horrible fluorescent lights currently in the kitchen. The lights now have these 4 long fluorescent light sticks and two of them have been dying for several months now so it's like a lightning storm in my kitchen. But I knew I was going to replace the lights so I've not changed them. I will probably cry when I come home Wednesday night. I'll still need to get drywall done but just having the lights replaced will be wonderful.

Heading to the Caps game tonight with my friend, T. Hoping the intermittent rains and all around nastiness today will curb some of the tourist traffic around the cherry blossoms because my drive in goes right by the Tidal Basin. Went to the game last Tuesday, peak cherry blossom day, and traffic wasn't bad but stupid tourists who crossed against lights and stepped into oncoming traffic were.

So 2011 definitely got off to an interesting start. Had a family issue yesterday morning/afternoon that, while bad for my youngest sister, made me feel pretty good as a big sister. Long story short, she was having a major anxiety attack and since I was the only one near her, my dad called me to help her. I wasn't raised with my half sisters (I was raised as an only child) so it's just within the last 10 years or so that I've really felt like a big sister. Knowing that I really did help my sister made me feel pretty freaking good! It also made me realize how alike we are and we agreed that we both need to get out of the house more.

The Capitals played the Penguins in the Winter Classic last night and much to the delight of Caps fans everywhere, we kicked Penguin butt. I have a lot of friends who were at the game and all of them have said it was awesome - even when Penguins fans threw beer on some of them after the game.

I am so not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. The part of the company I'm in used to shut down during the week between Christmas and New Year's. The part of the company I came from never did so the fact that I probably worked at most an hour on Wednesday was pretty awesome. There's always a price to pay though so I'm not looking forward to January. My business unit is reorganizing and I'll be the one coordinating it. Hmm, I'm thinking I'll just work from home tomorrow. And Tuesday. And Friday. That might make it a little less painful.

Watching S1 of CSI on Spike. Early Brass/Catherine flirtiness in Pledging Mr.Johnson is excellent. Brass with longer hair is also excellent. Like how he's generally not sporting a tie back then too. I miss the old Brass. One interesting thing that was mentioned on the Paleyfest DVD is that BP says his hair was white all the way back in 2001 however, Les Moonves wouldn't let him on TV with white hair so he had to color it.

And speaking of Brass, have done a lot of writing over the past week. Like maybe 10 pages on a Brass/Annie fic. Still don't have an ending yet so that's not good. Starting to make me feel like I'm plodding in quicksand.

Just got home from the hockey game and what a game it was! Caps were ahead 3-0 at the end of the 2nd period and my friend, Cheryl, proclaimed that she was the Caps' lucky charm (it was her first Caps game in a couple of years). Halfway through the 3rd period, the Bruins tied it up. I turned to Cheryl and told her she had jinxed us. Not only that but us Caps fans have this rule that if a newbie comes to a game and the Caps lose, that newbie can't come to another game. Lucky for Cheryl, Caps made a change in goal and all of a sudden, we were up 4-3. Add an empty net goal and it's a 5-3 Caps win. I have no voice left. I love hockey.

Made a few new hockey friends tonight: Dan and Joe, both friends of Cheryl's, and Liza, the woman who has the three seats next to ours. Dan and Joe are super nice and big hockey fans so that's very cool but Liza is hilarious! Our section has 5 seats along this ledge in the Acela Club. Behind us is the bar in the club so there are always people milling around. They like to stand behind us and most of the time, it's pretty annoying. Early in October my sister was visiting VA so she came to the game with me. All 5 seats that night were occupied by women (pretty impressive for a hockey game) and the guys standing behind us were kind being obnoxious. Liza stood up, spread her arms to block the view of the men behind us, and declared the row of seats the "wall of bitches". So that's how we now refer to ourselves.

Cheryl is one of those people who could become friends with a box of hair and get free stuff from Scrooge. She just has that kind of personality. She and Liza hit it of immediately. I knew they would; that's why I had Cheryl sit next to her. Turns out Liza owns a construction company and is good friends with several of the Caps players. Liza also has parties that the Caps players attend. Cheryl and Liza exchanged numbers because Liza said next time she has a party, she's inviting Cheryl and me. Cheryl just has this way with people.

Oh, and totally changing the subject, I have taught my cat, Harry, to high-five me. Tonight he did it in front of Cheryl so I have a witness. I stick my hand up, say "high-five" to him and he hits my hand with his front paw. I have got to get this on video.

I really can't wait for summer to end. I hate this season with a passion. The only redeeming thing about the season is farmer's markets (I have perfected my ability to choose a good watermelon) and all the fresh fruits and veggies. Other than that, I hate the heat, the humidity, the gnats and mosquitoes, and the annoying neighborhood children. Today I was outside putting some fresh mulch over the places that the work crew destroyed and suddenly the smell of wood smoke wafted my way. I love this smell. Despite that it was hot and very humid today, this smell is Fall to me. It takes me back to certain memories of my childhood: hay rides with my Camp Fire girl troop (my mom couldn't afford Girl Scouts), camping at the lake, a trip to Mountainburg, Arkansas to visit my stepmother's family in the Ozarks. I hate wishing for days to pass quickly because I'm older now and each day is, well, another day closer to the grave. But damn, I really can't wait for those cool, damp, fall days and the smell of wood smoke hanging in the air.

( All the less sentimental stuff is under the cut. )

I think I'm really stretching for something to post now.

( Just two more days... )

Ever had one of those days when you just felt like crying? You know, one of those times where something triggers the sadness and you just go on a crying jag for all of humanity? Well, that happened to me this evening. An all-out tear-fest for a good five minutes. The trigger? American Idol eliminating a singer that was on her third try to go through. And all of a sudden, the floodgates opened. It was good though. I needed it. I needed to unload a lot of stress, quite a bit of sadness, some loneliness, and a hint of anger. I'm over it now and I've moved on. But what did I get out of it--besides a good nose blowing and the realization that I definitely need some time off? My kitty, Harry, jumping onto my lap and giving me the paw of comfort. And then he tried to lick the empty food plate but that's beside the point.

My knee, which felt like amputation was in order last night, feels much better today. It's still a little dicey going up and down the stairs but at least I can bend it now. RICE works!

I love snowboarding halfpipe. Japanese dude does a face plant. That'll knock some chicklets loose. Shaun White is phenomenal. That last run was just...sick. And Bud Keene, Shaun White's coach who I believe did in fact utter the fuck word on national television while NBC had the mike on, is quite hot. And he's my age. Score!

I stayed up long enough to watch Ovechkin score two goals in Russia's drudging of Latvia last night. There are five players on the Russian team who either play for or played for the Capitals. And they wear red.

And to my BFF, that subject line is for you!

So here are the random highlights of the last few days:

( Cut because my random is a long, long, ramble )

Caps unleashed the fury all over the Red Wings! The most amazing part? The Caps went two men down the last minute and a half and still kept Detroit from scoring.

I love Caps hockey!