Caterwauling

I haven’t gone more than a week without blogging since, well, 2001. So, please excuse the twitching as I try to overcome my withdrawal — I’ve blogged in my head all week and now that the site is functional again, I find myself with a lot to say and no idea where to begin.

I did, however, write in my paper journal and I have been adding to my NaNoWriMo novel. (I hit my 50,000 words on Nov. 30, and I am just a sentence or two shy of 60,000 as of today.) I can’t go TOO long without writing!

FOR ALL TWO OF YOU WHO NOTICED MY ABSENCE

I stopped blogging three times in my life. Once was in 2001, three months after I set up my first Diaryland blog (*sniffle* — memories!). I was trying to cope with something I really couldn’t talk much about, and I set up a private page. Then I sort of left it unupdated for awhile (I worked a stressful, all-consuming job. And my boss? At first we thought she was Satan’s Handmaiden. But then we realized that nope, this was in fact Satan — the daily hot pitchfork in the ass should’ve been a dead giveaway.)

What I didn’t know then is that blogs go dead if you don’t update them after awhile. Whoops. Diaryland was NOT helpful in my request to restore my heartbreaking entries. Which, while that was some of my best writing, it was the healing that it spurred that I needed to take with me.

Then there was that pesky incident in 2004 when I ripped the blog down after I realized it had been found by unfriendly eyes. After going into hiding, the “other parties present” trailed me again, so I gave up on that and started the MyName.com blog, which morphed into this one.

But seriously, THANK YOU for the e-mails. But no, the very vocal webhosting group did not give me the boot (although I did migrate elsewhere to a host that, while the tech support isn’t as superb, my new package doesn’t come with offensive name-calling in the comment box, unwanted e-mails or “interestingly worded” cease & desist letters).

Nor was the blog found at work (they already know about it and we spend so freaking much time together that they have no need to read it — it’s not like I have enough time to come up with new material that they haven’t heard already!).

Christ, it occurs to me that I move apartments as much as I move websites! (And yes, that’s happening in May, too. Gah.) But I can’t think that far ahead — I have enough disasters in progress.

ONE DISASTER AT A TIME, PLEASE

So I was driving to work at 6 a.m. the other day (I had this Big Project that I could seemingly only accomplish during off-hours — early/late at the office and latER at home) when my phone died.

Cingular and I haven’t been getting along. Moreover, it was the former AT&T Wireless that’s been getting my goat. I renewed my contract (AGAIN) in December (I’ve been with them for five years), at which time I bought phones and got a paltry rebate. I’d asked at the time of purchase if they could just apply the rebate as a credit to the account, but that was a production (as was everything else) and ultimately a no.

Two months went by — no bills, no nothing. My old account was suspended immediately and I couldn’t create a new account for weeks. When I finally could set up a new account online, I saw that my bill was $11. Whatever. I paid it.

Suddenly, I owe them a shitload of money. And they’ve called every fucking day and sent a letter every two days, wondering where I am. And where was my stupid rebate? It got here yesterday. So what did I do? Went online and paid the fucking bill WITH THE REBATE. LIKE I’D ASKED TO DO IN THE FIRST PLACE.

I still have to settle the former AT&T account, but at least my phone won’t be turned off now.

So, I was driving to work during that 6 a.m. morning when the phone died. I was listening to my MP3s on it, and the thing, although fully charged, petered out.

And as I drove along the Potomac River, I looked up at the sky and pretty much did a, “Look God, I get it. I understand all the trials. I will overcome them. But I am NOT as strong as you think I am. You’ve got to throw me a bone because I am CRUMBLING.”

It wasn’t just because of the phone. It was also because my best friend from Oregon had called me the night before to say her husband has a job interview and D.C. and that she would be accompanying him. But the kicker? That they were arriving the DAY I am going to New York and leaving TWO DAYS before I come back.

I seriously was going to call in dead. There was no way I could go to New York and miss seeing her. I’m already having a wee bit of a tough time (not a bad time, just a tough time) in every single life domain, and this? Was going to be the death of me.

IN WHICH THE HIGHER BEING DOES THROW A BONE

She left a VM for me that night, saying they will be in town two days earlier than expected. Whee! OMG, holy shit THANK YOU, UNIVERSE! And my always-cool boss allowed me to take some seriously short-notice personal days so that I can see her and not be a raving bitch for the New York trip. (I’ll only be my usual level of bitch, which is too exhausted to rave. LOL)

We’ve already got plans to do our “old usual” of manicures and much beer-drinking at Bennigan’s. She’s bringing the kids, too, so well, I hope they like beer. 😉

Seriously, how cute are these two?

Alex looks just like her dad, and Jordan is the spitting image of his mom. I haven’t seen Alex since October 2004, but we talk on the phone once a week. I’ve disowned other friends for making me talk to their kids on the phone, but Alex always asks for me and she loves to chatter. She blows kisses and, lately, has taken to putting the phone up to Jordan’s ear and telling him, “Talk Aunt Dawn!”

Alex called me at work yesterday (via her mom, of course). She wanted to say, “See you soon!” Which was promptly followed by an “I’m pooing, Aunt Dawn!” At which time I told my friend I might need to go to New York early after all. 😉

Anyway, life has SUCKED and continues to kick my ass, but that we only seem to have two six inches of snow and not the 14 we were warned to expect — and that my lifeline is coming back to town and maybe someday eventually for GOOD (which she will because her husband is a charmer and he will undoubtedly win over the interviewees when they meet him!) — life is definitely looking up.

That and I do love New York.

Well, maybe I will THIS trip. At this point, there’s no reason not to. 😉

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 11th, 2006 at 9:08 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.