HEM has a new album out, yippeeee! AND, they're going on tour AND stopping in SF and FOR ONCE I found out before the show AND I have that night off! So, I just got tickets for DP and I. YAY!!!

So, another downside to the working nights, apparently, is that I am now an insomniac. I was up until 3 or so last night and got up at 9:30 am, so I assumed I'd sleep well tonight, but here I am, wide awake.

I can never remember what I've said here or not, but in case I didn't explain, DP grew up in Springfield, MO (or, as I've recently come to call it-- "Sproingfeld, Missourski", it's original name before it went through Ellis Island, or so I tell DP-- am I the only one who finds that amusing? Probably.). Anyway, since I have Labor Day off this year and I've never visited his family in the Summer, we decided to come out. I am actually enjoying this visit a lot more than earlier visits, probably because I feel more comfortable around DP's family and now know his brother and his brother's friends a little better, so when we go out, I don't feel so out of place.

The bonus, of course, is that a certain other blogger we all know and love lives in this neck of the woods. I have to admit I was a little anxious before going out there because I worried that maybe I seem good on paper (or screen?), but what if Tabitha and Co. didn't like me in person? Which is funny, because from reading her last entry, she may have been feeling a bit the same. How is it that I can be this many years older and still feel like that same dorky seventh grader who wonders if people will want to be her friend? So, for the record, I like you very much, Tabitha. I am so impressed by all the work you and Karl have done to create a place to live and nurture your children. Tristan and Kassi both have such intense, beautiful spirits and it was a joy to meet them (even if K wasn't feeling tip-top). I acutally quite enjoyed seeing my DP interact with your kids (I haven't seen him with kids much, so it's amusing to see how he handles it).

Okay... now I REALLY need to force myself to try and get some sleep.

Last time I did this, I said I would never do it again, and I'm not talking about going to Missouri. I'm talking about scheduling a plane flight for the day after I have worked all night. As in, I just got home from work at 8am and I will be getting on a plane at 2pm, which means we will be leaving the house at 11:30am, which means I haven't slept. Have you ever been so tired that it's hard to make your eyes focus?

Last night, DP and I joined one of my coworkers and some friends of hers to go see comedian Lewis Black perform outdoors at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA. We drove all the way out there and up the very steep and windy road, had dinner at their little bar and grill, made our way to our seats, and watched the opener. Then, shortly after he left the stage, the power went out. It wasn't completely dark out, yet, so it wasn't obvious that the power was out until one of the staff people came out on stage with a megaphone to tell the audience that the power was out and that they were in the process of finding out how long the outage was expected to last and exploring their options.

We waited about 30 minutes while they explored their options, during which time the sun disappeared and the stars came out. Apparently, their options included a generator, which powered a microphone and (very weakly) a spot light, and six very large candelabras, which they arranged in a half circle around the mic. Now, just so you get the full picture, here, the back of the stage is a large, old-looking stone building with large wooden doors and vines growing up it. I fully expected them to roll out a large black coffin from which Lewis Black would emerge in a tux and red satin lined cape to perform his act... or to suck our blood, whichever struck his fancy.

As it was, Lewis was quite a trooper and came out to raucous applause. At one point, when we lost the spot light altogether, he quipped "Great, now I'm reduced to telling ghost stories." Then he went on to make one up. As his show progressed, the candles slowly burned down and just when I thought he was either going to have to pause and let the staff replace the candles or just perform in the dark, the power came back on.

Good times, ladies and gentlemen, good times.

Well, as of tonight, I am back on the night shift for 2 months. I have mixed feelings about working nights-- on the one hand it is much more quiet and calm at night and I am much more of a night owl than a morning person, anyway, on the other hand it really screws with your body clock to be up all night and try to sleep during the day. Plus, my landlord is in the middle of remodeling one of the apartments on my floor, so trying to sleep through the hammering, sawing, etc. is going to be fun. More than the disruption in sleep, is the disruption in relationships when you work nights. People tell me all the time that they're afraid to call because they're afraid they'll wake me up. And, on the days I work, I don't see DP, but for a few minutes in the morning.

So, Saturday, our big adventure was repotting our house plants-- a jade plant, a "lewisia,"  and a succulent of unknown origin (looks kind of like an aloe, but it's not). Anyway, what sparked this was the fact that our jade plant named Lars (we got him from Ikea) had so out grown his pot, that he routinely tipped himself over. Anyway, there's a lovely nursery right near our house, so we wandered over to take a look and walked away with pretty pots, new soil, and a new aloe plant-- anyone have any advice on caring for an aloe? Also, we're now were considering buying dwarf Bearss Lime and Meyer Lemon trees (small trees, normal sized fruit) for our patio-- does anyone have experience with these types of trees? Specifically, how much work do they require? How big do they get? I think we're a little afraid that we'll get them out on the patio, repot them, and never be able to get them back off.

I didn't used to be a plant person, by the way. One of our punishments growing up was to have to go out and pull weeds or do other yard work, that, added to the fact that I hate the feeling of dirt under my fingernails, meant I never particularly enjoyed gardening. Then I took a secretarial job at MIT and inherited a Christmas cactus, a jade plant, and a huge yucca plant/ tree (who I named "Plantor," pronounced similar to Skeletor). I watered and took care of those plants, and was amazed when the Christmas cactus bloomed all over the place. Plantor initially flourished and threatened to take over the office, then they built an adjoining building right next to mine and without the sun, Plantor began losing leaves. I was in denial for a long time and Plantor lost many a leaf until  I finally gave in and adopted out each of my plants to someone who had an office on the other side of the building where they would get sun.

On Sunday, completely of our own accord, we went to church. Those of you who know me can go ahead and pick your jaws up off of the floor. DP grew up in the Midwest and went to a Methodist church his whole life, in fact his grandmother has gone to that same church all of her 90+ years on the planet (in fact she jokes that it's even longer than that because her mom went to the church when she was pregnant with her). DP attended church all through high school and even during undergraduate school, but not after that. He's pretty liberal (possibly more than I am), has been openly critical of Christianity at times, and donates all the religious books his mom passes on to him (without reading them). But recently, I've noticed that he more frequently prays before dinner and he mentioned that he wanted to look in to possibly going to a church at some point. I, being in somewhat of an identity crisis right now (who am I? what's my purpose on this planet? do I have a purpose?), did some poking around and took the Belief-O-Matic quiz. My reaction to the results were telling-- the first two results were "mainline to liberal Christian Protestants" and "Liberal Quakers."  I saw those results and thought, "how the heck did that quiz get Christian of any kind out of how I answered?" I basically said I didn't believe in almost all, if not all, the basic tenets of Christianity-- or what I think are the basic tenets of Christianity. I've made jokes in the past about having been to Christian churches for services a handful of times in my life and that I haven't been smited, yet-- but, behind the joke is the truth that I don't feel like I belong there, that I feel like God is looking down and saying "what are you doing here?" Not in a, "you're going to burn in hell" sort of way, but in a "you can't lie to me, I'm omniscient, after all" sort of way. Taking this quiz revealed to me, not that I am not a Christian (I knew that), but how much I feel like being labeled as one goes against who I think I am.

The third result, and the church that we went to on Sunday, was Unitarian Universalist. While I'm not exactly an expert on UUism, what appeals to me about it is the idea that they believe there are many paths to God/ nirvana/ heaven/ happiness, that you're free to explore your beliefs, and it's okay if you come to different conclusions from others in the church-- I have never felt that freedom in a Christian church. In talking to DP afterward he said it was strange to attend a non-Christian-but-not-non-Christian service for the first time in his life and that what worries him about very liberal churches is that, in attempt to not offend anyone, they don't actually believe anything (I'm paraphrasing here, but you get the idea). I don't think that UUism doesn't believe anything, just that it perhaps seeks out the similarities in many religions and allows you to find what resonates with you, as opposed to telling you what you should believe. Is it strange or to be expected that the exact thing about the church and it's beliefs that appeals to me and allows me to feel somewhat comfortable there is the same thing that DP seems to have the most problem with? I guess what I'm saying is that through this exploration on religion with DP, so far I am less Christian that I thought I was and he is more Christian than I thought he was.

I truly hope this post doesn't come off as anti-Christian and offend those who are-- I very much respect your right to believe what you believe and respect that just because Christianity doesn't resonate with me, doesn't mean it doesn't resonate with someone else. ) Feel free to leave your thoughts on God, aloe vera plants, and anything else you'd like ).

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If you really want to hit cuteness overload, look at the "winningest kittens" section.

Now I want a kitty!  The worst part is that DP is the one who sent me the link to this site and he's the one who is allergic to cats (i.e. he's the reason I can't have a kitty).

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I just felt my first earthquake! The whole apt. building shook, not hard enough for anything to fall off the bookshelves, thank God, but hard enough that you could hear everything rattle and see it moving. According to the news, they are saying it was a 4.4 centered near Rohnert Park, CA (north of the city).

We finally have a date and place for the wedding-- next Memorial Day weekend (Saturday of that weekend) at the Stimson-Green Mansion. We're still working on other basics, like the wedding parties (bridesmaids/ groomsmen/ flower girls/ ring bearers), but at least we finally have nailed down a date. It's maybe a little later than we both would have liked, but most of our guests will have to travel and we want to give them all as much notice as possible.

I'm also looking in to some petty things, like having a few moles removed (ones that I have wanted to get removed for a long time, but the wedding is serving as the impetus to actually get the referral-- speaking of which, did you know that they refer to you a plastic surgeon if the mole in question is on your face? I guess some dermatologists will remove moles on your face and some won't.) and maybe doing some laser hair removal-- anyone have any experience to share about laser hair removal? Does it work well? Is it worth the money? I know I sound really vain here, but I'm just talking facial hair, not full body.

I just hope that I am able to get a week or so off from work around the wedding , I mean, I can block my days (since I only work 3 days a week), such that I have 8 days off in a row, but it would be nice to have a little longer off. We'll see (fingers crossed).