Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Rock the Vote

i love good old fashioned comedy!

Bitter isn't Pretty

How oh how can I learn to be a good sport?
My team lost last night.

And it's freaking killing me. I thought about how I have a severe inability to ever do anything on a grand stage because I HATE losing. Seriously. Hate it.

But maybe because I know I had no part in it. Just a couch potato (not really I was busting my ass at work serving people while they cheered for the damn Steelers.) rooting for my team.

Clearly you can see I am a little bitter. And it isn't something that looks good on a happy little girl like me. I play the loud, over-animated, curse like a sailor catch people off guard cuz I am really a sweet faced little girl role really well. I don't think I can take on the role of the crazy girl who gets salty every time a sports team loses. I make fun of those people. But how can I love my teams ( Go O's ) and have passion for them without being upset the next day that they lost to the slimy, baby Ben led Steelers?

I can't! But I have to. ( <----Bi polar moment right there!)
I have to learn to move on. Right? My brothers are huge fans too. They don't seem bothered by it. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. ( baaaaaloooney! , or would it be balloooggnna!?)

I have been told that my knowledge of football and desire to do nothing else but watch it on Saturdays (college), Sundays and Mondays (and sometimes Thursdays) is sexy. Seriously, I am a cute girl so I think that it isn't typical to have a girl who will watch football all day with a guy and know what is going on and at least some members of every team playing. So where does sexy end and spazz begin?

I guess on a Tuesday morning when your team has lost and it affected you so much your Facebook status has been altered around the angry sentiment.

Fine call me a spazz, an over zealot fan,I will take it. As long as my Ravens get to 8 wins this season. (Recall the bet with former Redskin Brian Mitchell)


...stay tuned.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Run Forrest...

I went running today. Oh I love being able to say that.
It h
as been weeks (more than I would like to admit) since I have laced up my shoes and set out to pound the pavement.

Today.

I did it. Now I know I told you I am a triathlete but sometimes ya just get lazy, or busy, or worse... both. I the bearer of two jobs have been busy but I the triathlete have also been lazy.

Luckily in the new pad that I am living there is a glorious path behind the house. It is a wide gravel path. It is lined with trees and therefore shaded perfectly. It is the end of September but the heat can still get to you.

Along the path are always nature's wonders but today I was stopped by one in particular. Literally I stopped running and stood in awe. It was a gorgeous bird. Maybe a blue heron? I am no bird watcher so I don't know but it's things like that that make a good run worthwhile. Not the exercise. That's an added bonus but to get to see things like that are little treats.
I have to work on getting back into the gym (I mean I am paying 35 dollars a month to feel like a fat lazy workaholic right now.) But until then I am going to get back on that path. Who knows maybe I will pick up a new hobby of bird watching ( yeah cuz that's what I need, a new hobby, I definitely don't have enough) ...stay tuned.

Monday Morning Madness

Have you opened a newspaper today? And I am speaking to my Washington area readers.

Holy Cow it's like the second coming of Christ. Which to most Redskins fans, a win over the Cowboys in their own house, pretty much is. Short of a Superbowl win (which these suckers have been clamoring for since the last one...83975346 years ago.)

I love it and I hate it. I am by no means a Redskins fan. I hail from good ol' Balmer hon. (translated that's Baltimore, Maryland)
I am a die hard Ravens fan. But to not congratulate this team and its fans (because obviously they have something to do with that win.) would be downright ignorant. I can move past the blurry lines of fan-dom and reach out my hand to a Redskins fan and say... "good win" (Besides my best friend is a die hard skins fan, and I love her so I have to love her interests too, even though she was born in Texas)

Part of me is celebrating the win because my ex-boyfriend is a HUGE Cowboys fan. SO rubbing it in is fun. Luckily we are still friendly( in the I don't want to give a shit about you anymore so I am going to be cordial until I no longer need an ounce of what you think to validate me, then I will be completely done with you, and thusly, no longer friendly sort of way) And since that is the case I hope he can take a joke. I posted some schtick on his MySpace or Facebook wall about him and every other Cowboys fan not killing themselves. Just yet at least.

Besides the cowboys/skins game I am more excited about what tonight may bring. Another W for my Ravens. MNF vs. the Steelers. We got this one. I am "Wacco for Flacco" (I didn't come up with it!)

The downside of Mondays.. I have to work tonight. Most Mondays it is sllloooowww. So I can only hope that I can get out of there before the game starts. Speaking of work. Shouldn't it be sacrilegious to work on Sundays? I mean I took the Sunday morning shift thinking I would be able to get out of there by the time most football was on and not over. Wrong. I got my butt kicked on the patio last night. I enjoyed it after I calmed down a bit. But who knew my busiest shift would be a Sunday morning. Doesn't hold much hope for the rest of the season when my team will be playing at 1pm or 4pm.
Dangsies.


The good thing about football?(and what holds most fans together).. is that there is always next season. I am still counting on my Baltimore boys to do some damage this season, I just have to realize I won't be able to see all of their games. Or the other 31 teams that play. I guess I have to get over that when I took two jobs.

...stay tuned.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Fix-It Girl.

You're 12. And you have a super fabulous imagination. (Go with it.)

What would your super hero power be?

Now flash back to real life.

You're in 2008. You've got some not so super powers. What are they? What are you really? If you were a real life hero. Good, bad or ugly(I guess they aren't all heroes then but again, go with it.)

I would be... Fix-It Girl.

An unschooled, untrained slightly napoleon complexed little girl who ran around trying to patch things up. Prevention. Not my forte.

But once it's broken? Oh boy, oh boy. Let me at it. I will tell you everything thats wrong. And attempt.(usually failing miserably) to put the pieces back together.

The problem is.... I really am a bit like this. In real life you cant just put back the pieces. Humpty Dumpty doesn't get back up again. And I am NOT all the kings horses and all the kings men.

In relationships... this is where I falter most. I find the damaged, the weak (be careful, they parade around as the hot strong ones with big muscles) and as Tia said.. the "wounded-bird-boy-soul". Not all so apparent at first.

The last one...
He wasn't this sad sap looking to be saved. (To be fair, none of them are really, that's why it never works... (duh! that should be my moment of clarity right there!)) But he was a brooding, self sufficient, too proud, stubborn, southern gentleman. What I thrived on most was our differences. ( let me be clear, it's what I and I alone thrived on.)

I woke up every morning loving the fact that we could watch the same news or same whatever and have different views about it all. We were sensitive to each other's feelings. (At first) We debated about the world, about our own lives, about how our paths could have really crossed.

Pause. To amend that last statement. They never really crossed. We merely had paths that were close by each other that went along the same route for about...30 seconds... and we hopped back and forth on each other's path until it was time to part ways and go back to our own lives. It was in the cards, we were never meant to spend much time together. I know this and somehow I have a soft spot for him still. I think it's respect. He was an unwaivering soul who had a passion burning inside him and that was sexy as hell. But guess what, his passion wasn't for me. And I have been told that from a summer fling (but what the hell does he know?!) that what I really wanted was to see was a fire for me. Oh now, that's shocking. I've been read fairy tales all my life, forgive me for wanting a freaking prince charming!

Un-pause. Back to me wanting to save the world. Sadly. It just seems I enter into impossible situations on purpose. The crazier the better.
Because I am the calm drama-free one. I can bring a sense of sanity into these guys lives. Right?

Ehhhhhhhhhhhh (hear a loud obnoxious buzzer)

Let me give you examples. (Mostly so you can laugh at how ridiculous I am.)

*Over 30. Has to be. It seems to be a rule. They don't all look it but they all are.

**Crazy love life drama... for example, in the middle of a separation, or has 3 kids, or is caught up on the ex.

***Got Baggage...i.e. kids, crazy ex, life in ruin,work drama, mommy issues etc.

****The quiet more reserved type, that seem to be attracted to the younger crazy loud girl who loves life. (Me)
Still don't understand that one yet. I get why I am attracted to them. But why the hell are they falling for me? (Because they want to be saved right? Oh will I ever learn?)

So in the end, it seems as though I have diagnosed my problem. I am fix-it girl. I can;t however, even fix my own fix-it obsession. For now I will stay single. Until an unsuspecting little girls gets lured into a relationship that is broken beyond repair...before she's even met him.

Dangsies.

...stay tuned.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Things that go bump in the night..

My absolute favorite time of year is upon us. No not fall. Beautiful, yes but I am much more of a beach bum, so summer is my favorite season. But.. wait for it.

Halloween!

Everyone with a skull fetish (slash obsession) loves this time of year. The creepier, the better. Bring on the black. Boo! to me and Boo! to you. Gosh I love it!

I don't even have a house to decorate and I am buying decorations. Last year I was able to have a small get together. I went ALL out. Decorations galore. Tombstones, cob webs, fog machines, nooses (that can't be right?!), black streamers, pumpkin pie (sore subject, thanks Micky.), Gob cake in the shape of a life sized pumpkin. (For real. Sean's mom is amazing.) I aspire to have her baking prowess one day. I've already perfected the 5 minute key lime pie recipe she lent me!

Anyway. being a basement dweller provides an interesting predicament when it comes to halloween this year.
What's not out of the question at 23?...Dressing up!


Wanna know what I am going to be?
Well I am one of the most indecisive people on this planet. (except of course when making decisions for other people!) So this may change but I think it's a good one.

I believe you may have seen a little commercial where a lovely lady poses the question:

"Dirty mouth?"

and then proclaims
"Clean it up!"

and ends it all with a lovely smile and says "For a good clean feeling, no matter what."

Watch her in action...

Yup, the Orbit Lady. Love her and love to do accents (ask Morgan, it drives her UP a wall!)
Perfect! And I promise... I will never dress up as a sexy devil, or angel or cop or anything that you can find all packaged up or that 12 million other girls have done. (wag of the finger, "eh eh")


But my all time favorite part of this festive fun?
The magazines dedicated to fun and fabulous decorations and home made treats. I fully intend to celebrate every single year for the rest of my life. Halloween will be a love passed on to my children.

Okay, sorry I had a moment there. Maybe not to that extent, but I definitely want to have a few more costume parties in my life that get more and more spectacular each time. So the more that
Southern Living , Martha Stewart and every other mag out there that dedicates at least one edition to Halloween is alright by me. And I am sure I will own 8,000 by the time I do have kids.

Blame my mom for all of this though. It all started...

when she used to make my costumes.. I was a genie one year and she made it so I looked like I was flying on a magic carpet. No lie. I had leggings that were stuffed with newspaper and wrapped in a little pretzel (picture indian style) and sitting on a kitchen rug she somehow (she's a magician I swear)managed to have it stay up..cardboard maybe?
Then cut a hole and I put my body through it, so I could walk but it looked as though my legs were folded and smoothly flying about on my carpet.

How could you not instantly fall in love with a Holiday that elaborate that ends with a pillow case FULL of candy? (I may or may not have a super huge sweet tooth.)

So for now I am shopping at
Zazu for my spider web candy baskets and glittery "Boo" signs and my skulls galore. Yay!


oh and if you are in the area... this haunted house was freaking amazing last year. I plan on doing a Haunted Tour this year so I can get in every haunted house within 30 miles!

...stay tuned.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Tri Me!

Here in the triathlon world... it's a little competitive.
And how could it not be? We are not competing in one sport but three at a time! So you can't just be good at one and feel among the competition. You have to master all three to really be a competitor. And that is where I am right now.

No, no I am no master. I am merely at the point of realizing that you have to master all three.

Kinda like realizing you have a problem is the first step.
(Of a total of 12? Sheesh I got a ways to go!)

So maybe I have taken a few other steps, actually completing a Tri should be a big, huge first step. Or maybe the months of preparation are the first step? Or maybe just thinking about it and deciding to do one all those months ago was the first step?Either way, even though I have decided, trained and completed a Triathlon I still feel like I am in the beginning stages.

Which is quite alright with me. I just wish that with two jobs and winter approaching fast that I could find the time to get to... oh I don't know step.. two?

It's tough though. And for those of you who don't know me. I hate winter. I love snow. I hhhaaaatteee the cold. I get it from my mother. I will go play in snow all day long but if it is just cold outside, just cold... count . me . out.
Sleet, hail, all that yucky stuff. Hate it. So as fall is creeping in I am slowly realizing this is usually the time of year I go into hiding. (I believe it's called hibernation) I am even storing some extra poundage around my waistline (and thighs for that matter) just in case its a long winter.

So how do I struggle with the multiplying responsibilities of two jobs AND my usual winter hibernation WHILE staying in shape.

With a stack of magazines and a gym membership (where the used to recognize me and now would ask me for two forms of ID because it's been so long since I have been there) and plenty of places to run bike or swim, I still have yet to feel like I have crossed a threshold.

Because as I said, triathletes are competitive. They have to be, from the little sprint distance to the Iron Man crazies. Something in all of us (yeah I lumped myself in there!)

Oh and apparently now I gotta compete with celebrities getting in the mix. J.Lo really? She couldn't have stuck with singing, dancing, acting and fashion designing now she's gotta come into my world?Thank god I beat her time. Granted it was a little bit of a difference in length but I did the math. Still beat her. (Ha!)

Okay, so maybe it's me who is a bit on the competitive side. But after reading my own blog it seems as though I lack... motivation.(no way, not me! That is unfortunately not a surprising turn of events) The first one was easy, because I had never done it before. And it was crazy to those around me.
"what the heck is a tri-ath-a-lon?"(as most of them ask) So the fire was inside. But now what?

Do I strive to beat Matthew McCoughney's time? Yeah, yeah so the Hollywood hottie beat me by 20 minutes and he biked a couple extra miles. (dangit bobby) So what?
But that isn't enough to keep me going. I tried setting my sights on Olympic distance. All that did was send me running. For like a month I ran 3.5 miles, 3-4 times a week . Then, a wall. A big, fat, ugly "you can't do it" wall. That I have yet to figure out how to climb over.

And that is where I am right now.

...stay tuned.

By the way, last Friday was indeed fabulous and I have tons of Facebook pictures to prove it.
Now if I could only find my own digital camera so I can add pics to this blog!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Fabulous Fridays... my new tradition

Here it is Friday morning (ish, 11am counts as the morning right?) and I can barely control my excitement. I have a fabulous party to attend tonight and I feel like it may be the first real "adult"party I have been to. Certainly not the last.


You know the kind where you dress up and think about your outfit for days and you think you should tell US weekly and People to all send their best paparazzi because you are going to be looking fan-fucking-tastic. The kind where you will walk through the door, on the guest list and leave your inhibitions behind you.


Well, let me rethink that. It is the Grand Opening of a bar in Baltimore my cousin partly owns I think. It is called Luckies Tavern and it has this mobster vegas-y kind of theme. How can this not be super fantastico?This is what twenty something girls dream of. This is what Sex and the City was made of. Holy Awesome Friday night Batman!



So let me go over my list and make sure I have everything I could possibly need for this night to be in the list of Fabulous Fridays.
*Have my digital camera. Uncheck. Dangsies where could it possibly be?!?


*On the guest list. Check


*Have a fabulous outfit to wear. Check..ish. Need shoes still. (Helloooo DSW!)


*Got a chunk of change in my pockets. Check(I doubt there will be an ounce of inexpensitivity, yup new word.)


*Have tons of friends who are also going. Check


*A fabulous cover band or two playing the whole night. Check (Mr. Greengenes is playing, enough said.)


*Have brothers in attendance so they can intimidate any guy who gets out of line that I can't scare away all on my own. Check


*Have a safe place to crash. Check... well we will see where the night takes me. It is nice weather tonight so the streets of Baltimore could be comfy! (Hey I've got a thing for Edgar Allen Poe maybe I want to see what life was like for him. )


Only Kidding.


Now see fabulous Fridays started on accident. And I just now came up with a name for them. Yes, just this moment they became fabulous and not "fierce" or "Effing amazing" or any other alliteration I could come up with.
The last two weekends, haven't really been weekends. Working two jobs I never seem to know what day it is. But it always seems to work out that Fridays I have open. And it just so happens that I decided I would wait for no one to have a good time on these Fridays because they seem to be my only day. So off I went to wherever I wanted to and I woke up Saturday mornings with a stupid grin on my face because I had a blast the night before and it was all on my own. I danced my little heart out and made tons of friends (or enemies if you consider a bet made with former Redskin Brian Mitchell: 100 bucks that the Ravens would get 8 wins this season, Former Redskin slash enemy but he was smiling) Either way, this Friday should continue the new tradition and I am super excited.


Oh and my mom ( who lives in Baltimore and gets to reap the benefits of a fabulous Friday taking place near the city.) is taking my 3 brothers and I out to Outback. If it ended there it would be a fabulous Friday!


Off to get new shoes... I will channel my inner Carrie and find the most elaborate piece of footwear to go with my new purple dress! (I am not very girly, except when it comes to shoes and I almost let out a squeal when I read that!)

..stay tuned.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Two jobs, Less Money?

That's not right!!! Isn't there supposed to be more money when you work a second job? Silly me, that's what I thought when I got into this whole waitressing thing. ( if you can, imagine Adam Sandler slowly working up to a scream on that last sentence)

I swore. SWORE up and down that I would never be a server. I just get flustered by people too easily. Seems contrary to my overall personality. You know, the loud, abrasive, aggressive, loud, fiery,bubbly, fun, loud, don't mess with me,tell it like it is, super happy normal part of my personality. But in a "customer is always right" setting, it's easy to feel like you can't do anything right. Especially when they get the final say in how much they tip you at the end of the night. Dangsies.
So shift number 2 at
The Dock is over... and I still have less than 50 bucks in my pocket. Double dangsies. Hey it's a great learning curve, sure. And I suppose not everyone makes hundreds of dollars in their first week at a new job... Bubba. (He's been a server for two years, and kicking ass at his new job, where they said they'd never hire him. )( Never say never should be the real title I guess.)

I have to say the people there are nice. Very nice. The owner scared the bajeebus out of me at first. I don't get intimidated much. Opposing my 5 foot short stature, I can usually hold my own{or at least be louder than them long enough to quiet their intimidation factor.}No, not with this guy, he didn't crack a smile for quite some time. So I got a little excited when he passed by me last night and said "Brooooooke Brooke Broooke" in a rather playful tone. Yay! He knows my name!

Okay so of course he knows my name. But he is engaging me in light conversation. Not the "this is our philosophy here at
The Dock" kind of conversation, which scares the crap out of me because in some crevice of my mind I have convinced myself that I could bring this whole restaurant crashing down. Okay, okay a bit egotistical on my part, yes. Luckily my irrational fears were calmed a little bit last night. My wallet, still empty.

So here's the crazy question. Am I looking at job number 3? Why yes I am. Honestly. I have figured a way that I could possibly work another 3 days a week as a substitute teacher and make some actual money. Free time? Social Life? What 23 year old reeeeallly wants to party still?{that was a joke... a big sad joke}

Let's just hope that three jobs does the trick and I don't have to start contemplating going back to school! Gasp! Oh the horror!

...stay tuned.