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January 4, 2007
I’ve bitched before about the poor timing of Macworld, but this year it seems especially unfair to be swamped with tradeshow preparations on a week I would just like to relax and unwind from the travel and chaos of Christmas.
The last few days leading up to the show are always insane as I frantically scurry around looking for boxes and scheduling FedEx pickups and packing up massive piles of ethernet cable and freaking the hell out for the millionth time as I realize I totally forgot about whatever mission-critical thing I forgot about. I have an enormous checklist (brochures, CDs, license key stickers, manuals, ballpoint pens, t-shirts, pricing sheets, energy bars, credit card slips, oh my god the list goes on and on and on) but it’s inevitable I will manage to space out on at least one important detail that I’ll probably remember around 3 AM Monday morning.
Tradeshows are unbelievably expensive. This year I had a custom booth built for Workplace, and it cost, oh, about a fucking hojillion dollars. That’s just for the structure–the exposition services like labor, shipping, electrical, internet, and furniture cost another arm and a leg. Assuming we are talking about diamond-plated appendages lined with pure heroin, that is.
In the past, we have paid for the use of a trashcan in our booth space. I believe it cost something like $100 per day, and it was literally a piece of cardboard folded into a sort of cube and taped shut. Having it emptied at the end of each day cost extra.
We should all go into the exposition business, is what I’m saying. All we’ll need is a team of cardboard-folders, and we’ll be rich. Rich, I say! Of course, our souls will be black and dead inside, but hey.
I have one more scrambling workday to get the last-minute crap taken care of, then I fly to San Francisco on Monday at the unbelievable departure hour of 7 AM. I believe that entails getting ready and leaving the house around 5, which makes me cry a little painful tear every time I think about it.
Almost every tradeshow I’ve ever gone to has prominently featured the festive morale-building activity of getting shitfaced drunk each night with my coworkers. I remember one show several years back when a bunch of us stopped by a coworker’s hotel room to pick him up in the morning, and there was a folded-up towel in front of the toilet with two knee-shaped dents in it from the night before. “Tradeshow badge of honor,” the guy said, grinning and shrugging.
This time I’ll be sober as a goddamn owl. I won’t lie, I kind of miss the days when “I love you, man” was a totally acceptable thing to slobber around 1:30 in the morning when everyone had blown their per diem on rum-and-cokes; when we were all in a new city together, trading war stories and gossip and feeling like kids on a field trip.
Then again, there is nothing quite on this earth like standing in the booth the next day, your mouth feeling as though you had chewed fifteen dead mice for breakfast and your head throbbing in time to the obnoxious music the booth next to you keeps playing over. And over. AND OVER. And you know that you’ve got the whole hellish day stretching in front of you, you have to smile and talk to people, and you probably should try not to throw up on anyone’s shoes.
I will say this about my personal take on sobriety: among other benefits, a life without hangovers is a vast improvement.
Every time I think about the fact that I’m going to be away from Riley for a whole week, my brain sort of skitters off to the side. Jesus, I’m going to miss him.
I changed my return flight and instead of coming home I’ll go directly to Eugene to meet up with JB before heading on to Coos Bay. His grandmother died today (it’s okay, it was mostly definitely her time to go and it was relatively peaceful) and the service is Saturday the 13th. JB gets to drive Riley down there by himself, which should be…interesting.
Anyway, it’s been a busy-ass week and I have exactly zero plans for the weekend. JB’s brother is coming to town and the two guys are going to the Seahawks game on Saturday (because all of a sudden, out of nowhere, JB has been into football lately. He claims it’s so he can watch games with Riley, but uhhh Riley isn’t really into much TV-wise unless Elmo is up there talking about how Mr. Noodle needs to wash his hands, wash your hands Mr. Noodle, you know, your hands, they are at the ends of your arms! — which oh jesus someone just give Mr. Fucking Noodle some antibacterial gel already) and I believe I will spend my time trying to find one single solitary outfit that is appropriate for a funeral service. Are my black Old Navy slouchy pants no good? Probably not.
So, tell me. What are you doing this weekend? (I LOVE THIS PART.)
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Loving, Lately
JR Watkins Vanilla is my new favorite body lotion. Love the smell, love the way it feels, love the awesome label design.
I may have mentioned it once or twice, but Breaking Bad is the best thing that has ever happened to television EVER. You should watch it right now.
Bob Book Series
Riley has honestly learned to read as a result of these little box sets. Cannot recommend enough.
This applesauce bread from Allrecipes is superfast, supereasy, and the kids love it (I leave out the spices).
This weekend I am going to a BEARD PARTY. We all have to wear beards! It’s going to be amaaaazing.
I am also going back to Toronto for school, but that is less amazing. Toronto smells of smog.
Well, my grandmother is 100 and isn’t doing so good either. So, I kinda know what you mean about it being JB’s Grandma’s time. It’s still sad though. So, sorry about that. I loved your last post with the memories and the hotwheels. I have a lot of good memories of my Grandma, too.
A week? Man. You know, it’s gonna be hard but it’ll be OK. JB will certainly come to a clear view of all that you do- (not that, he doesn’t already, but you know what I mean). He’ll be racing to the airport to pick up his hottbabymama!
I don’t miss hangovers, either. I hope you have some fun while you are in San Fran.
It’s about the best place for people watching that I’ve ever been to. Well, besides Amsterdam. I couldnt’ get over the fact that people were smoking joints in bars. Whoa.
Good luck at the spendy ’spensive SmacWorld!!
Oh yeah, this weekend I’m going to be watching my best friend’s two kiddos for a night. My BF is in Russia and her husband got invited to go skiing, so we’ll probably do all the fun things like McDonalds and a movie and let’s all shred a roll of toilet paper or somesuch fun.
Ooooh is she gonna owe me for this one! Can anyone say “night away” for mama and dad??
I can’t wait.
Oh God how I hate that whole Sesame Street segment. Think you’ll feel nostalgic for Mr. Noodle and the ladybugs by the end of the week?
I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend involving exactly zero cross-country flights with a 16-month-old. And an Aquarium trip, probably! It’s been at least 3 weeks since we’ve spent 45 minutes in front of the sea otters, excitedly tapping the glass (him), grinning like fools (both of us), and saying “Duh! Duh! Duh!” (him). ;-)
hey, i live in SF and your shindig is right down the street from my office! (i’m not stalking, i promise…it’s just where all the shindigs of this sort are). i’ll wave to you from my window!
this weekend i am seeing a sweet band called elephone play, and then on saturday i’m going to a gallery/lingerie shop where i shall purchase no art, but some sweet undies. good times!
Actually we are headed up your way tommorow to go to Ikealand since ours won’t be finished till summer and we cannot possibly wait for cheap veneered furniture at bargain prices with names like leiderhosen another day.
The bit about the trash can both cracks me up and deeply horrified me. I’m horrified, but I’m laughing! Also, sorry to hear about JB’s grandmother. A friend of mine lost his grandmother today, too–seems like a sad day for grandmas, and I think I am going to write mine a letter later.
This weekend I’ll be finishing a draft of the dissertation chapter I’m currently working on (and am oh-so-awfully behind on), which means I’ll be holed up in my office for at least 24 hours. Pretty much everybody’s weekend plans are looking awesome compared to mine.
Well.. going out to dinner with my parents this weekend.. and then another joyful move back to my college dorm and the roommate from hell!
My condolences to JB.
My BF’s teenaged kids fly home (one actually going home, she lives in TX with her mother, the other going just to visit for a week) and we both thought they were going on Friday morning, but no, they go on Saturday evening, so our first weekend sans 18 year old boy has been whittled down. Not that it matters much, all he does is sit around and play WoW and eat frozen burritos and drink gallons of grape soda; only ocaisionally does he come out of his room to insult our moms and mock our affection with loud kissy noises. Heh. Then My BF leaves for Seattle for some work bullshit, so Saturday will be our last day together for a month or so. Stupid conflicting schedules.
The good news is, my DVR gets installed on Saturday afternoon. YES!
I’ve worked tradeshows at the Moscone Center as well; the worst was standing up all day long without a padded floor in your booth. I hope that you went to the extra expense to buy some padding when you put the gazillion-dollar-whiz-booth together!
This weekend I hope to figure out how to hook up my new 600G disk to my Macbook and get regular backups running. If I can get that far, I’ll start reorganizing my iTunes and backing them all up. If I can get past that, I might even work on my website, which has been languishing for a year. And if the weather’s any good, I might fit in a bike ride somewhere.
For YOUR weekend, try to kick back a bit willya? You’ve got a stressful week a’coming.
This weekend I am praying. A lot.
My roommate got married this Christmas and I don’t know if I’ve been randomly assigned another roommate. So, I’m praying that my room is empty when I get back to school.
I am, as you could guess, also moving back to campus. If my car ever gets out of the shop. I’m praying for that, too.
This weekend I am celebrating my 22nd wedding anniversary! Go me! We are going to a nice restrauant then to a place called “old town”. Best of all the kids are staying home! Enjoy your tradeshow.
Congrats on a sober, non-puking, hangover free, co-worker field trip. I like to think of conferences/out of town work as “the field trip”, which brought me such joy as a youngster. You will be so happy to be the comprehensive one in the booth in the morning, even if you are surrounded by alcohol-addled dummies. I have been that dummie wishing I was the smart one who thought not to drink myself stupid the night before. Morning is so much happier! Seriously. Be on your goddamn High Horse about that, Linda. You deserve it.
Enjoy watching TV reruns in your hotel room, missing your boys and missing the little things that make your life happy. Eating dinner out in a semi-strange town and realizing what you miss about home is a great experience. We should all be so lucky to have time to understand what is important to us in life.
Enough of my blabbering and lecturing on. You know it all already. I have very few plans this weekend, aside from doing a whole lot of nothing (holidays got to me) and sleeping in my own bed. Maybe some friends and some trivial pursuit, and some brunch as well.
This weekend, I’m going to be clutter-clearing so that packing up all my stuff when I imminently leave my partner will be easier.
This weekend, I’m doing laundry. Perhaps I did not need to waste a comment to say so.
Getting my kids a haircut because one looks a bit shaggy and the other one looks like a GIRL FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WOULD YOU TAKE MY KIDS TO GET A HAIRCUT, WOMAN!
Jeeez, it’s just hair.
Then I get to finish the housework I’ve been putting off all week (slob!) and try to find a venue to hold my son’s birthday party on the 20th because some soccer mom tramp got to the rec center before me and now I’ve got a whole class of kids showing up and no place to have the party oh why didn’t I do this BEFORE Christmas when I was supposed to? And then maybe I’ll get some professional help because sentences like that should be illegal.
Back in the day of working a job that actually provided a paycheck, I managed professional non-profits…we managed many conferences, but none like the type you describe. Yes, we had sections for tradeshow folks, but never did more than 5 maybe 6 come. I’m sure that we were just entirely too cheap for the *serious* sellers. I loved that job.
My condolances to JB as well. Even when its time and you have all of those memories, loss is hard.
As for this weekend. Randy has a guys night tonight, so I’ll probably rent a kid movie with mine and pop popcorn for dinner for the four of us. Tomorrow, other than running my eldest kid to a birthday party, in the afternoon, nothing is on the books. Hopefully it will be a relaxing weekend.
I’ve got to go to a beard party. Somehow, I don’t think I will have lived until I have.
This weekend, we’re taking down the Christmas decorations. I think we’re teetering on the edge of being those crazy people who leave them up way too long, but come on, it’s not even a week into January yet, and besides, as long as I get it done before my neighbors I’m golden. Also, I’m particularly jazzed this time because we bought a bunch of those red-and-green storage bins at Lowe’s this year (on sale!) and so we’re going to pack everything back up in an eminently organized and thoughtful manner. With LABELS.
Other than that — the usual: laundry, some stuff for work, putting things on the dog’s head, etc.
I am going to be busy trying to find a roommate, since my previous roommate (who was PERFECT, by the way: cooked, cleaned, went grocery shopping, paid bills, owned a washer and dryer, etc.) got out of the Army last week and headed home to Jersey. I will also probably spend some time curled up in a ball on the floor, contemplating the fact that I just might be headed back to Iraq this summer, if my higher-ranking leadership doesn’t get off their collective ASS and get me up to my next assignment in Virginia. Oh, and obviously, chocolate will be involved.
Have fun at Smacworld! And hey, props for the continuous non-drinking. I always blame my hangovers on whatever I mixed the liquor with, rather than the drink itself, so you’re one step ahead of me. I suppose just swearing off cranberry juice isn’t exactly an effective measure to take, eh?
We’re going to Atlanta this weekend. There’s some church history conference that my husband is super-excited about, and that I am absolutely THRILLED not to be going to! While he’s listening to lectures and having history-nerd conversations with his friends, I’ll be shopping and having margaritas and seeing a movie with one of MY friends. And hopefully we’ll get to see my cousins in there too. Should be fun! (Especially the part where I get to leave work at NOON today, wooooo!)
Good luck with your show! This weekend we’ll be removing the Christmas tree and trying to explain to our 2-yr-old that Christmas will come back again next year. I haven’t told him yet about the Rudolph & Frosty DVDs going into storage along with the tree… that should be interesting.
Other than that, relishing a weekend with no houseguests and reading my book. And the obligatory January “must workout” notion. :)
Good luck with the show! As for my weekend, tonight is my boyfriend’s company party. A casino theme. Ought to be interesting, knowing the bozos he works with :) Saturday I open the store I work at, then another party to go to. Sunday seems free as a bird, but knowing us, anything is possible.
I’m packing! And then moving NEXT weekend….into the mother in laws house….for a month. And when that month is up (counting down the days!) I then get to move in with MY parents. YAY! Can’t this damn surgery be over already please? geeze!
enjoy your weekend :)
This weekend I am going to enjoy my last days of nothingness before I go back to school on Monday. And by going back, I mean going back after ten years of no school. One day I was thinking if I could do it all over again I would have finished school and done something medical so I went online, applied at school and here I am. My timing is not so great with a 14 month old daughter and trying for another, but eh, so what.
Good luck with your tradeshow and good luck with being away from your babe for a week!
I’m hosting a dinner party for six. Featuring handmade egg pasta, homemade foccaccia, and almond-amaretto torte. Not that I would ever boast about this kind of thing.
I’ll be doing homework (gottta love the classes over winter break). But, I’m going out for dinner with friends tonight to a place with sushi and live jazz. It is quite possibly my favorite flavor combination.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I can’t wait! What a nice break it will be after the craziness of the holidays.
I think we’re going bowling tonight with a lot of my fiance’s fellow grad students. The rest of the weekend will probably involve taking down the Christmas tree, some housework, and hopefully some cleaning time and painting time in my studio.
Sorry for JB’s loss. And I hope the tradeshow goes well!
Working. On a brief, a big important brief. Pah.
Since I will be working on it from home, possibly I will make a tasty snack to break up the blah of the working on the weekend, such as cheese puffs (or gougeres, if you’re feeling fancy).
Sunday night we’re supposed to go out for a belated birthday dinner for my husband at our favorite restaurant, so all is not lost.
My sympathies for JB and all of you, and good luck with the tradeshow!
Tonight is weekly poker night with friends. The rest of the weekend I am doing nothing, glorious nothing, and it’s going to be fabulous. After a busy holiday season I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend!
Enjoy the trade show!
I’m sorry for JB’s loss.
Thankfully, we have a slow weekend ahead of us. One kid has to be carted to and from basketball practice and a required confirmation event, the house must be cleaned and that’s it. Yay!
Tonight, I’m heading with friends to a screening of a documentary that some of our friends were involved in making. (The website for the film is http://www.dariusgoeswest.com.) I’m really excited about that, even though I’m guessing that the film itself will leave me a bawling mess. And tomorrow is the first UGA Gymdogs meet of the year. Whoo hoo! And my roommates are moving out, so there will likely be some housecleaning/getting my life back in order.
Ugh, I have had to man our booth at business expos and such for my job and it is godawful (and not nearly on the schmancy scale of MacWorld). And I also remember that we had to pay extra for CHAIRS in our booth so when the booth next to ours was unmanned, I stole their chairs. ;)
This weekend I will be taking down my Christmas tree and wondering what to do with its sad, dried-out carcass (every year I forget – do the garbage men take trees? I will have to watch what the neighbors do). Then my living room will look all sad and empty, until I again get used to not having a glittering evergreen in the middle of it. My other weekend plans consist of watching Season 1 of Da Ali G Show, which I got for Christmas, and trying to make homemade foccacia – I have never worked with um, yeast, before.
I love this part too – I find myself looking forward to the comments almost as much as the entry. :)
I’m mostly cleaning the house and doing yardwork this weekend, and I’ll probably do some sewing and reading at leisure also My bellydance troupe has been hired to be the “9 ladies dancing” in a 12 Days of Christmas Celebration tomorrow night, so at least I’ll get of the house for that.
Cleaning the house and wishing I could be at MacWorld but not only did I plan poorly, it’s also the girl’s 2nd birthday, so that’s that. The reason I mostly want to come to MW is to meet you, dear Linda! and get a week away from work, too.
We’re having friends over for dinner Saturday, and possibly an old friend of mine will join us. His sister-in-law, who lives in Burlington, just had a baby so he’s up to meet the baby.
Buying a new (king sized!) bed. So very happy about it…
Sorry about the crazy as hell week you are going to be having. I hope it goes quick and as painlessly as possible.
My only contribution to this is that my “baby daddy” is a carpenter that BUILDS the custom tradeshow booths and not only does he make a butt-load of money doing so, but he also gets to travel to beautiful cities and sit around on his ass during the actual “shows” while someone pays him an arm and a leg to be there JUST IN CASE some minor disaster occurs with the cadrillion dollar miracle booth. Oh – and he gets to also partake in the “festive morale-building activity of getting shitfaced drunk each night with HIS coworkers”.
Yeah, I’m bitter about it too. But thankful in a small way about the butt-load amount of money he makes. :)
Boy, this is going to be exciting for you. We’re taking down the tree and packing Christmas away for another 10 or 11 months – thank god. Then a friend is coming by and then my mother will come over on Sunday and bring our gifts from her sister that she forgot to bring on Xmas day. Not that we need anymore ANYthing at this point. But, she’ll at least be a distraction for the two-year-old while we hastily wrap and pack away all the ornaments she DIDN’T eat or break while the tree was up. So that’s something. i guess.
The last trade show that I had to attend was the Shot Show in Las Vegas. It is for all types of gun manufacturers. I was representing a BB gun so you can imagine how much respect we got. Upstairs from us was the Gem Buyers Show. It was rumored that they liked to have their show at the same time as the Shot Show so no one would be able to tell who was carrying what when they left for the evening. “Jeez, I thought you had rubies, not that UZI” Probably not true, but a nice story. AL
We are dropping our cold-ridden, snotty, pink-eyed child off with the grandparents and heading to Leavenworth to celebrate my husband’s 30th birthday. I’m sure that 76% of that time will be spent calling the aforementioned grandparents to make sure that the daughter is fine. Should be fun.
I hate mr noodle.
this weekend, hopefully, I am taking down my christmas decorations. If the husband doesn’t bring the boxes down, I might just throw it all out the window.
I’m sorry to hear about JB’s grandmother. I don’t know what you wear to the MacWorld, but maybe something from that? Anything that looks remotely business-like should be fine for the funeral.
And as for me, tomorrow night I’m doing The Texan a favor and we’re going to the Majestic Theater downtown to see the Pink Floyd Laser show. San Antonio, despite being the 7th largest city in the country, does not normally have any way to fulfill Pink Floyd cravings – no planetarium or anything like that – so one has to grab whatever opportunity you get. I am not, for the record, a Pink Floyd fan, but I do like the Majestic – it’s one of those old renovated movie houses that’s just gorgeous inside. Plus they sell booze at the concession stands. Win-win!
Um…laundry. I am horrified at the amount of laundry in my home, piled up like snow drifts in every corner of every bed room. My sister, her husband, and their six kids came for new year’s which was super fun but I don’t think the house will ever recover! Some girlfriend time tonight, also.
So sorry to hear about your family’s loss. I am glad you could find a way to make it to the funeral, I am sure that JB will be absolutely kissing your ass when he sees you after a week of single parenting! Try to enjoy yourself. Be well.
I’m so glad to see that not everyone has fun plans for the weekend! Me, I’m going to go to Sam’s to buy laundry detergent. Sounds like fun, huh? Oh yeah, and I’m going to organize the office during my son’s naptimes. This weekend should be a real hoot.
Sorry about your loss. Good luck to JB with Riley this weekend.
Oh, Nelly. I used to work in the technology tradeshow/convention business and I feel you on the goddamn wastebaskets. Plus standing on your feet all day (unless you paid the extra $250 to have the expo services assholes lay down padding underneath your skanky navy blue carpet square), dealing with skeezy attendees hitting on me and touching my hair (yes!), trying to avoid “making friends” with the neighboring booths, and having every man in the room stare at me like I was a “booth babe” but clearly dressed in a branded polo, khakis, and brandishing a large plastic exhibitor badge. Seriously. Those events are hell on earth, complete with plastic freebies and an irritating soundtrack.
Here’s hoping that you can find a way to make it through the day! Will be thinking of you.
I’m sorry for the loss of JB’s grandmother, but I know just what you mean about not being very sad. We were in the same boat a few weeks ago with my husband’s grandmother.
This weekend I am continuing my apres-Christmas resolution of not letting our bedroom look as though several small bombs have exploded. I’m also going to my sight-singing class after a month off. It will be oh-so-nice to start using my brain again. Also, I’m going to pick up my knitting needles again, after a 2-week rest from the pre-Christmas knitting flurry.
Not very exciting I’m afraid.
Tomorrow I am going to deliver our used Christmas tree to the Popcorn Park Zoo in Lakewood, NJ. I saw a photo of an baby elephant in Germany eating a Christmas treet (EATING IT! WHOLE!) and I wondered if the zoo could use it. Popcorn Park is run by the Associated Humane Societies and they have all kinds of wild animals – some of them injured, a lot of them left behind by owners who apparently didn’t realize a frigging PUMA is not an appropriate pet. As it turns out, the zoo happily accepts Christmas trees for use in its “deer yard,” which I guess I’ll see tomorrow. It’s always so sad taking the tree down, but I’m glad this year it will be an adventure.
My fiance and I are also finally planning our honeymoon tomorrow. Not a moment too soon, since we’re nearing 3 months until the wedding. Yikes. Incidentally, there is nothing I would like so much as to think about Hawaii this weekend after the crappy time I’ve been having of late.
Enjoy the weekend, Linda. :)
That was “Christmas tree”, not “treet,” but I suppose the latter is strangely appropriate in context.
We are going to spend the weekend putting the new plow on the ATV and attempting to free ourselves from the snow.
I am also hoping to slap some fabulous gold/yellow paint on the kitchen walls, that will be fun!
Sorry to hear about Grandma, we lost my Gramps the week before Christmas, she is in great company up there!
My condolences about Grandma. Even when it’s a blessing it’s a bitter-sweet one.
This weekend I’m starting to pack our house up in anticipation of a life-altering, panic-inducing, exciting (?) move from San Diego to Portland. I think I have about 400 and 1 million knick-knacks to blow 8 years of dust off then lovingly swathe in bubble wrap. There might be an impromptu garage sale on Sunday, I’m not sure. Then there’s the cleaning and the getting rid of and the why the fuck am I keeping this? And I’ll stop there. My to-do list is as long as an elephants dick.
I am doing as little as possible, after a week of insanity that consisted of moving from NJ to Savannah, GA. I will not be dealing with rental trucks, storage spaces, or boxes of any kind. I will not be spending 15 hours in said rental truck, I will not be unpacking, I will not be shrieking to the heavens about how I hate everything I own and that I will be throwing it all away and living like a monk for the rest of my life. I will be doing none of these things. Yay for me!
This weekend I am moving into the house we just bought! We actually close today. A friend of ours is randomly in town for the weekend and volunteered to help with the heavy stuff. So, we will probably be taking him out for a semi-fancy dinner on Saturday. Hope Macworld goes well and I am also sorry for JB’s loss.
This weekend: getting legal internet (at a price *sob*), having dinner at our house with a felon who still has his house-arrest anklet on and active, tripping up to Napa and Sonoma for some wiiiiiiine.
(I’m only 15 minutes away from SF, so, you know…)
I, too, am sorry for the loss of JB’s grandmother. After hospice care, it’s truly not as sad as one would think, is it?
This weekend I am cleaning my kitchen floor (it’s been WAY too long, I am too embarassed to even say), going to our first childbirthing class, and attending my first baby shower. Aside from the floor-cleaning and the video of miniature humans emerging from 70’s bush, it should be pretty fun, I guess.
Congrats on being the sober one this upcoming week; and enjoy the rewards you will receive after returning to your solo-parenting husband after a week away, whatever they may be. :)
Yay for the weekend! Tonight I’m dressing up and going out to see my husband’s band play, which is always fun because damn if the boy doesn’t look good with a guitar. Saturday is shopping for lacy things and having lunch with a friend. The rest of the weekend will be spent watching football and testing out some new recipes.
I’ve got my first roller derby bout of the new season on Sunday…and I am so. not. ready. I’m the bout director, so I’ve been up to my eyeballs in lists and frantic emails back and forth with forty bajillion people and the fact that I’m actually, y’know, *skating*, has been relegated to the background. Which is totally uncool… I’ve gotta get myself ready to kick some serious ass and get my bitch on!
Which, if anybody’s in Chicagoland–come check us out! Or check out your local roller girl scene! It’s a great way to spend a weekend.
Saturday I’m driving an hour to spend all day with my best friend. I’m so excited and want it to be Saturday like RIGHT NOW! Sunday will be filled with laundry and cleaning. Oh joy! Good luck at Macworld! I’m sorry for JB’s loss.
My husband’s father passed away on Christmas eve. He lived in Alabama and the funeral was there. However, this weekend is the memorial service here in our area. We are bringing the meat and cheese for the luncheon following. Today we are going to but my husband a suit. Big fun here in Minnesota.
Now that you mention it, I should probably be packing for MacWorld. I started going with my dad about 4 years ago and now my entire family goes. I’m sure my experience of MacWorld is vastly different than yours since I am an attender not an exhibitor, but I hope that amidst all the work there is some enjoyment in it.
Question: Do you mind when your readers come say hi to you or should I just watch you from afar like some freaky stalker? (The way I started that off with “Question” reminded me of Dwight from The Office and I just had a nice little laugh at how TV has invaded my life.)
Another question: How did you get your blog to do the live preview of comments?
I’m free! FREEEEEEEEEEEE! this weekend. I have big plans to read a book and maybe bake Christmas cookies. Yes, as in Christmas 2006, I’m sorry you’re not getting your card until mid-January, will these cookies shut you up? Oh. Perhaps I should write the cards, too.
Sorry about JB’s grandma…hope the arrangements/funeral go well.
I’m going to spend a large chunk of this weekend in my parents’ basement, digging through moving boxes in an attempt to find appropriate shoes to wear to a job interview on Monday. Somehow I don’t think the silver open-toed slingbacks I wear out to the bar are “professional attire.”
Darnit people, you just reminded me that I had to do laundry. I guess that’s good, as waking up on Monday morning with no socks would kind of suck.
Other than that – making birthday cupcakes for a friend and seeing a friend’s band play.
so speaking of Macworld do I seem like a crazy stalker when I say that I opened my Macworld magazine (just got a subscription for Xmas yay!) and I’m browsing and reading and then I think I see an illustration of you and your coworkers in an ad for your company. And that I recognize you? Oh my I hope this does not make me a stalker. Just a fellow Mac person okay? I swear!
This weekend I am going to scrub my house. Apparently while I was away for the holiday the dust bunnies decided to have tons of little dust bunny sex and they have multiplied exponentially.
Janet: oh my god, I look so awful in that ad. There were 100 photos in which I did not look like a Cro-Magnon, but guess which one got used in the artwork. YEAH.
Mychal: FACT: (heh) I’d love it if you said hello. Unless you are one of those Macworld attendees who likes to harangue the poor booth people about why haven’t we added Feature X yet WHY OH GOD WHY, in which case…well, okay, I’d probably be nice to you anyway. : ) Also: the comment preview thing is a feature of the WordPress theme. *shrug* I have no idea how it works.
Long time reader..first time poster….Sympathies to JB and His family on grandma….
My weekend will be spend binding the “secret” quilt I have made for my SUPER pregnant sister…I just hope the baby holds out till at least Sunday! Other than that laundry, football and messing with the dog!
I’m spending the weekend cleaning out my pantry and cupboards because I swear that dishware and canned goods procreate like rabbits in those dark spaces!
I also have to go to an after-Christmas dinner on Saturday with a bunch of people I don’t know,
eating food I don’t recognize, in a place I don’t like while listening to music I can’t stand.
So Saturday should be really pleasant. I’m sure I’ll be a nice woman afterwards.
My condolences to JB—as expected as it might have been, loss always hurts.
Try to enjoy your sober week away and remember how much you’ll look forward to coming home!
I promise you’ll make it through next week, as hellish as it may be. JB, on the other hand… well, good luck to him!
This weekend I will be taking many videos of the young one as things have just started getting interesting: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9149455780652113490&pr=goog-sl
I will also be going to the outlets sans bebe, which is pretty much a dream come true these days.
Oh my GOD, Laura, that video is hilarious.
Like Lawyerish, I will be workin on…legal things. Mostly preparing to take the depsotion of someone who claims he was fired in retaliation for having the horror of having to witness a man dance in an speedo on a Utube video (he says his female managers watched it and then menically laughed while estrogen waffed through the error and he was horrified). I kid you not. Uh, maybe it was the fact that he was stealing from the company that got him fired (WTF?!)…. This is my life reading endless amounts of notes created by people who are looking for any errant comment to write down in some bizarre journal of “why I am being singled out by my evil employer” and then sue for a million plus dollars. They have all been fired. Oh and reading I will be reading his medical records, that’s the fun part. Folks who claim that being fired, demoted, not promoted, etc. always claim they were so emotionally despondent because of the adverse employment action that their company must pay several million dollars but – surprise – have been taking Xana and Paxil for 10 years and suffer from obestity, recently had a death in the family and are getting divorced. Of course, they will tetsify none of those things caused them and stress….it was the job. WOO HOO and a fun weekend was had by all!
Tonight i’m hanging out with my boyfriend because I don’t have a choice now since we moved in together. We’ll probably load up the old Intellivision and play some games because we both seem to be trapped in the 80’s.
Tomorrow I’ll watch the Sharks game and listen to fantastic gossip with my gay.
Sunday I’m having coffee with an ex from many years back to get back my Harry Potter book that he’s had for the last 2 years or so.
The rest of the time I’ll probably be napping and recovering from my New Year’s trip to Costa Rica or cleaning up. (Nothing says “happy new year!” like counting down in Spanish with a bunch of gringos and Costa Rican prostitutes!)
Big fun here! Actually, if I’m honest its a perfect weekend (except for the hanging out with the ex part).
What is up with that Mr. Noodle? The other day I saw him giving Elmo a backrub and it just wasn’t…right. I felt like I was interrupting…something.
This weekend? You know, I may be at my very own Macworld because I’m helping my parents set up a used Mac they bought. The previous owner doesn’t remember the password, so I have to fix that (how they hell the previous owner doesn’t “remember” is beyond me, but whatever!). They also need help installing software and a new printer.
Best of luck at the show!
I have absolutely nothing of note going on this weekend, but I thought you (and your brother-in-law) needed to know about this.
OK, on second thought, perhaps this was not the post to put that link on. My condolences to JB’s family.
Weekend plans. I’d rather do nothing. But I have to get ready to move, watch the Seahawks game (just in case we win), go to a kiddie party, an adult party and somehow find the time to do the dishes. Good luck in San Francisco. I daresay that despite the negatives, it will be quite pleasant to escape this horrid weather we’ve been having. I nearly blew away down by the market today. Uck!
My big plan is to clean out all my closets in the whole house. Thrilling, I know, but it gives me an odd sense of satisfaction just thinking about it. Also hope to set up and try using my new Canon Pixma to print some old (wedding 2 years ago) and new (New Years debauchery) photos. Also it’s supposed to be 64 here in Boston tomorrow, breaking the all-time record, so maybe spend some time outside at the Arboretum or something. I probably should take down Christmas decorations, too, but I love them so and am resisting.
My condolences to JB. I’m praying for a peaceful parting for my own Grandma sometime soon. Her quality of life is not so good.
I love the dead mice line – that had me cracking up. I’m sorry about JB’s grandma, but glad that she went peacefully – that’s definitely a blessing. Hopefully this trade show doesn’t make you too crazy (especially booze-free – people are going to look at you like you have two heads when you say “no, thank you, I don’t drink”. Of course later that night they will actually see two heads on you, while you can laugh at their foolishness – which is definitely a benefit of sobriety…) Anyway, this weekend we have nada planned. Laundry at my mom’s (can’t WAIT to get a washer and not have to do that or, even worse, the laundromat), and disposing of the Xmas tree, and probably 98 gazillion games of the boyo’s new obsession, Connect 4. I like the game, I do, but after a while it gets hard to just play it over and over and over and over and over and over and over……..
This weekend I am PACKING, because NEXT weekend we are moving out of our lovely apartment with craptastic disgusting slob garbage loving neighbors into a TOWNHOUSE. And I cannot wait. Pack-pack-packing all weekend long – bring on the boxes!
Spending it in bed cruising the blogsphere looking for great blogs to read. Having been assigned to bed-arrest for the next few months, I need to find some entertainment just a few keystrokes away.
You know, I loathed the drunken bonding at tradeshows. It was my least favorite part, and it always left me exhausted and miserable, and I was too tired to do more than one night, contrary to my frat-boy sales reps, who were ready to party the night away, free from the shackles of wives and children! Oh, and would I like to come back to their room with them? Ah, no. No, I would not. But seriously, I hated being so hungover the next day that I couldn’t function, and as a PR person, that was pretty impossible. I distinctly recall introducing myself – TWICE – to a gigantic customer of ours (Delta, for chrissake), because I was in too much pain to realize that I’d just met him moments before.
Sober, whether for a personal/medical reason or not, I’ve determined, is the only way to go.
As for our weekend, it will involve writing, going to the movies, and oh yes: geocaching with strangers, thanks in no small part to your direction. I can’t wait to see how it goes.
I’m going to plot how I’m going to get time off work next week so I can drive over to SF and STALK YOU! Bwah-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaaaaaa!
Um…no. Not really. Put down the mace. You’re going to be fine.
I’m single parent this weekend because my hubby is going to be out of town. Tell me, is it psychotic to try to take my rather rambunctious 28-month-old son to the zoo by myself? How ’bout if I tell you one of his favorite things to say to me lately is “Run, mommy! Let’s exercise!”
Knock ‘em dead at the expo!
I am (crazy) babysitting my 4 month old nephew and my 4 year old niece while chasing my own 6 year old son. By myself. From 9am until 10pm Saturday. And then! I am (even more crazy than you already agreed I was) watching them all again on Sunday from 10am until 3pm. So Sunday night, I will engage my son in a movie marathon and will curl into the fetal position and suck my thumb.
So while browsing through the comments I noticed something odd. Apparently I’m the only person reading your blog who doesn’t have a vagina. Sorry to crash the party, but I likes what I likes.
My weekend will entail a lot of not working. Also a high probability of alcohol consumption in the forcast. Perhaps I will put together a video idea I had. (in between the drinking and not working of course) And if I’m feeling espesially go-getsy I might even wash some dirty clothes. Or I might just stop wearing socks. It’s been one of those weeks, and I haven’t gotten more than four hours of sleep at a time for the last four days or so.
My condolances on the untimely Mac Fest. Which I am not familiar with but probably involves computer things I’m not savvy to. Or possibly mac n’ cheese, although I would probably know about a mac n’ cheese convention if it existed. I hope it doesn’t suck as bad as it could. If you get too stressed, just close your eyes, count to ten, and imagine my weekend. Also imagine me at the beach, that would be cool. And imagine it’s not freezing balls outside.
This weekend will consist of moving back into the dorm. Well, not the same dorm, because I transferred schools and I’m moving into the dorm at my new school. And hoping my roommate isn’t a fuckwit fashion major, like the last one, who won’t stop blabbing out her Louis Vuitton purses and meathead boyfriend with an IQ of 40. Exciting, no? And also buying a completely new work-appropriate wardrobe [read: minimum of at least 2 suits and many pairs of heels], because god help me, I start on Monday.
Good luck with everything going on! I’m sure Riley will miss you, but JB will do just fine. :)
Since I just discovered your site tonight, and since I just read your embalming post, I’m probably going to be spending the weekend reading your archives. Damn that Plain Jane for linking to you.
Condolances to JB and family.
Good Luck with the trade show. I used to be one of those women who would entice people into the booth but that was fifty pounds ago.
This weekend I am watching season 2 of 24 and preparing stuff for my classes. I am also trying not to cry cause my filmmaking partner decided to bail on me in the middle of a project. Such is life as an invisable middle aged woman who pretends to be a filmmaker in her spare time instead of cleaning her house.
This weekend, we’re chillin’ wit’ the dogbaby and doing nothing. I might go out to the barn and ride and if all else fails, I’ll be watching football (because Jon is also a surprisingly big football fan) and teaching myself to spin angora. Yay! Have fun at Macworld; I know you’ll think I’m crazy, but I miss that I’m not going this year… I think it’s fun. I must be broken.
The weekend is almost over, but here’s what I did…
I am in Nelson (NZ) holidaying with my boyfriend and his family who live here. I’ve been here since boxing day and while my idea of a relaxing holiday involves a certain amount of actual relaxing, it seems those round these parts have other ideas – and when in Nelson… Just this weekend (if you include Friday, which I am going to do because otherwise it doesn’t sound as impressive) I have been wakeboarding, snorkelling, and kayaking. I have also played Cranium for the use of a double bed (and won).
Now I am mostly packed and ready to head back to Auckland, sad to say goodbye to beautiful Nelson, but kinda looking forward to going back to work for some relaxing. (That’s actually a big fat lie because I am also about to head into our busiest time of year, but the lame gag wouldn’t have worked if I’d said that… yes, that was supposed to be a gag of sorts… sorry).
Sorry to hear about JBs grandmother. :( I know I missed this entry a little, but I’ve been in Alexandra in the South Island…
Sorry to hear about JB’s grandmother. Even when it’s expected, it still sucks. This weekend the BF and I wandered a pretty touristy town in unseasonable 68 degree sunshine. We also had sushi and Indian food and cocktails at the goth bar. We watched the original Shaft (bom-chick-a-bow) and he flew me to Lancaster for lunch in the midst of farmland. He even let me steer the plane a bit. Good times.
I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100% regarding Sundry, but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong :)
Hey!…Man i just love your blog, keep the cool posts about Sundry comin..holy Tuesday .