Reflecting back on the past couple of months, it occurs to me that it’s a low period TEOTH-land.  The horrible thing at work last month still effects me, in fact I was laying awake thinking about it this morning (which, granted, was actually a nice change).  Last Monday my good friend Binky died from cancer, which I didn’t mention before because at first it hurt too much, and then I got distracted.  By two muggings at gunpoint within six days of each other.  I get that every life has its ups and downs, but I’m really not enjoying this down period.  It feels like this particular down period is much worse, more severe, than others.

The last low period I remember was in 2004, when my car died, so I had to walk for a month until I spent way too much money on a new car (Fancy), then my office flooded and I had to work out of someone else’s office for a week, then a rental van broke the side mirror off the new car I’d just gotten, then I stopped being friends with one of my best friends because of something he did that was horrendous (not to me, thankfully).  So you can see how previous low periods don’t exactly measure up to this one.  But then it was followed immediately by me moving to Atlanta to be with Dice and finishing grad school, both of which I rank pretty high on my “good times” list.

Is that how life is, the highs and lows are more severe the older you get?  If so, then that sucks because I was always led to believe that life got easier, and less extreme, the older you get.  Depending on your lifestyle, of course.  Which leads to the obvious fact that my life is pretty low-key, it’s not like either Dice or I have a dangerous job or anything.  I have to say, I really miss the days when I constantly fretted about going out to eat too much, and not working out enough.  I still worry about those things, but they are decidedly lower on my priority list.

It’s Veteran’s Day.  Thank you to all the veterans out there who made it possible for me to complain about my pretty good life over-all.

Where did we leave our fair heroine?  Oh yes, her third anniversary was rudely ruined by fucker asshats who mugged her and her husband at gunpoint.  Anyway, before that happened Dice was supposed to leave Wednesday for a conference in Savannah where he was going to give a talk, then I was going to drive down after work on Thursday and we’d spend the weekend there for our anniversary.  Clearly after the incident he couldn’t go on Wednesday, and in fact, he was shaken up enough so that he wasn’t able to attend the conference at all, let alone give his talk. Thursday morning I went to work for half the day, because I had many things to do and also couldn’t stew at home about everything.  Dice and I talked about it and we decided that since we had a non-refundable, pre-paid hotel room, we should still go to Savannah, just to get our minds off it, if possible.  Although I’m not averse to sitting around feeling sorry for myself when the occasion warrants, in this case the problem was that every time I closed my eyes, or wasn’t actively engaged in something, my mind immediately went over the mugging over and over.  Even when I was talking to people, in my mind I’d be seeing the muzzle of the gun and hearing the thug’s voice telling me to get down or he’d kill me.  This wasn’t conducive to getting over it.  So Thursday afternoon we did some errands and then hit to road to Savannah.

When we got there we weren’t really up for much, plus it was late.  We got some dinner and then went back to the hotel and went to sleep.  Friday morning we got up and went for breakfast and then we went to Ft. Pulaski, which is one of my favorite places on earth, let alone Savannah. We brought books and reading materials and sat there for a while in the peacefulness.  Then we watched them do the musket shooting re-enactment and left the fort.  We ambled along the walking trails outside the fort for a while, which wound through some really picturesque southern forest, with moss hanging from the branches of the trees, until it culminated at the waterfront.  We stood watching the water for a while.  It was very calm, very peaceful.  After that we went back to our hotel room and rested for a couple of hours.  Then we went walking through the historic district just to see what we could see.  One thing we saw was a movie set where Robert Redford was directing a movie with Evan Rachel Wood.  That day they were filming in one of the historic houses.  Just as we walked past the set, Robert Redford himself came out of the house and went into his trailer!  There was a crowd of people just waiting to catch a glimpse of him, and we stood there for 30 seconds and he just came right out!  It was so interesting to see him.  Plus, I loooooooooooooooooooove Robert Redford!  After standing around there for a while (Dice is totally starstruck, he always wants to hang around if there’s a chance to see a star.  Me, I don’t care so much) we went down to the Six Pence Pub and had a couple of drinks and chatted with some of the patrons.  Then we went to Moon River Brewing Company for dinner where we had the most delicious garlic fries I’ve ever had in my life.  I think I might have had a dream about those garlic fries.  After dinner Dice wanted to go back to the movie set but I didn’t care to stand around in the dark with a bunch of crazy paparazzi, so he went off and I went back to the hotel.  While he was watching he saw Evan Rachel Wood scream out of a window for a scene.  He was happy.

Saturday morning we did a lot of walking around the historic district.  We took a tour of the Juliette Low House; she was the creator of the Girl Scouts and, as you can imagine, there were several Girl Scouts on our tour.  Then we walked around, found a quaint fabric shop where we bought some Christmas presents for family, walked over to City Market Square (or whatever it’s called) and walked through there.  Then up to Bay Street, then down to River Street where we sat at a table facing the water and had drinks and watched the tourists go by.  Idyllic!  After that it was mid-afternoon and we went back to the hotel to nap.  In the evening we decided we couldn’t live without garlic fries again so we went back to Moon River and had dinner.

Sunday we got up and packed our things and checked out of the hotel.  On the way out of town we stopped at Clary’s for breakfast, which is the best diner place for breakfast.  I had a malted waffle which was delicious.  Dice had the Elvis, which is French toast with peanut butter, bananas and whipped cream.  I tried some of his, and although I am a total sucker for peanut butter, it wasn’t as good as my waffle.  It was still good, just not AS good.  Then we hit the road and came home in time to relax for the rest of the day.

The trip was really just what we needed.  While we were there we talked a lot about how we’re upset, paranoid and still very freaked out.  We managed to relax about it while we were there, but as we returned home, it all came back.  So it was nice to get away, but it didn’t solve anything.  Not that I expected to be the same person as I had been beforehand.  I knew that could never happen, but I did sort of think that it would be a little better when we came back.  And, to some extent, it is, and at least we didn’t sit at home all weekend stewing about it and scared to leave the house.  As the saying goes, I’m taking it one day at a time.  And in the meantime, not walking anywhere at night.

So I have a lot to write about and not much time in which to do it, so I may split it into two posts since there are two distinct topics to talk about.  You probably didn’t need to know that but whatever.

Last Tuesday night was probably one of the two worst nights in my life.  It was the night before our anniversary and Dice was going to a conference the next day so we decided to go to dinner in the EAV.  While we were walking back, just as we turned the corner onto our street, two young males held us up at gunpoint.  They put a gun right in my face and told us both to lay on the ground.  The guy with the gun took everything from Dice (wallet, cell, keys, watch and wedding ring) while the other guy felt my jeans pockets (which were empty).  Getting nothing from there he decided to take my wedding and engagement rings which, while expensive, mean more to me sentimentally than pretty much anything else I own.  I’ve said many times that if I ever were to lose those rings I would be devastated.  I tried to say, “please, not my rings!” and hide my hand but the thug said to “give him the rings, bitch!”  After they got what they could they told us both to lay there with our heads down and not to look up or they would kill us.  Then they ran down the street and got into a car about 30 feet away.  Dice looked up in time to see what kind of car it was, although it was too far to read the license plate.  Thankfully, the asshole who was stealing from me missed my inner blazer pocket which held my credit card and cell phone, so as soon as they took off I called 911.  I held it together until I got through calling 911 and then I freaked out.  What I hadn’t told you before (because we hadn’t wanted to make a big deal about it) was that Dice was mugged the week beforehand as he was on his way to meet Ray and me for dinner.  So he was mugged at gunpoint TWICE IN 6 DAYS.  We had JUST gotten him a new license THAT MORNING.  The insanity of it was overwhelming for both of us.

Since the thugs took our house keys we banged on the Canadians’ door to get our spare.  They were understandably upset and offered us fantastic support.  The police showed up within less than 10 minutes and the Canadians stood with us while we told the police officer the whole story.  Dice had an investigator working on his other incident already so he was called.  We went inside while we waited for him to show up, meanwhile the police officer sat outside our house.  The investigator showed up about a half an hour later and we told him the story again, then he gave us advice on what to do to keep ourselves safer since the thugs had our address as well as the keys to Dice’s car.  We moved my car to the outside of the driveway so there would be no way to get Dice’s car out without major off-roading, then went inside and called all the credit card companies (again) as well as a locksmith.  They hadn’t taken Dice’s keys last time so that hadn’t been necessary before.  The locksmith showed up around 1:00 am was very fast and professional, thank goodness.

We were so wired up that we didn’t go to bed until around 2:00 am, and of course I didn’t sleep at all.  I got up again at 7:00 and started researching getting the car new locks as well as the myriad other things you have to do to protect yourself and/or replace stolen items.  The Canadians both stayed home from work as well and they sat with us for part of the day, which was incredibly helpful since human interaction was pretty necessary at the time, and then took us to lunch along with T.  Well, actually, T took the rest of us to lunch if you want to be precise.  T&R also showed up at our house at 7:30 that morning because they thought both our cells had been stolen and they wanted to offer their help!  Good friends make ALL the difference.  That day was also our anniversary, but there was no way in hell we were going to leave the house, so we ordered Chinese for our romantic anniversary dinner and then went to bed, exhausted from not having slept at all the night before.

Since that happened Dice got most of his credit cards back (in fact, two of his credit card replacements hadn’t even arrived from the first mugging so we didn’t have to replace those again) and gotten his third license within one week.  But honestly, the most significant legacy the event left is the effect that it had intellectually as well as emotionally on both of us.  For several nights and days every time I closed my eyes all I could do was re-live it over and over, see the gun and hear their voices telling me they’re going to kill me.  It’s getting better, but it doesn’t make for an atmosphere conducive to sleeping at all.  Plus we’re now incredibly paranoid, and are convinced that anyone walking past us is about to mug us, or we won’t walk past any kind of alley or closed off road.  And we DEFINITELY won’t be walking around at night ever again.  Which sucks because the number one reason why we bought our house is because it’s within walking distance to so many restaurants.  But the most damaging aspect to me is the loss of my wedding rings.  I don’t care how much or how little money we paid for them, their significant value is in my sentiment for them.  It’s nice that they didn’t get my cell phone, but I would have a thousand times preferred they took the cell and left me my rings.  Not only did I lose rings of high sentimental value, but once we replace them every time I look at the new rings I will think about those FUCKERS who mugged us.  For the rest of my life.  How does that compare to whatever paltry amount of money they got from us?

Helloooo!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Hallowe’en!  I did.  It was about as good as it could possibly be and still involve trick-or-treaters, heh.  The weather most of the weekend was craptacular, cold and rainy.  Friday night was the perfect night for comfort food, as after a bunch of errands after work we went home and I made shepherd’s pie and we watched TV and went to bed at a reasonable hour.  We so crazy!  Saturday I got up early and did a bunch of errands and made a cheesecake with chocolate crust from scratch.  In the evening it was kind of misting but I still wanted to walk over to T&R’s so I took Pixie and headed out, letting Dice take the cheesecake and wine over.  I got lost going through Grant Park (I never go through the park , I always go around it!) so it took me a while, but it was worth it by the time I got there because I was happy to have shaken up the blood flow and such.  We had a great little Commune Dinner, and gave out candy to the neighborhood kids.  Well, I didn’t, but the other Communers did.  Dice and I had to get up early for the final F1 race of the season so we took off around 9:30 with the rest of the Commune following suit.

Sunday morning we got up early and went to the aforementioned final F1 race, which wasn’t very exciting considering the championship had already been clinched during the last race.  There were a couple tense laps near the end, though.  In the afternoon we went to Midway with the Canadians, M&K and all of our dogs.  It was bright and sunny and warm, and we sat on the patio and had drinks and snacks and a general good time.  Our friends the Car Geeks showed up as we were leaving so we stayed to chat with them for a while.  Once the sun went down, though (which it did early since we switched the clocks) the temperature dropped and we took off because Pixie was shivering.  Then we went home and watched TV and went to bed again at a reasonable hour.   ‘Cause that’s how we roll.

It’s a short week here at TEOTH because of some travel and such.  I will update y’all on that tomorrow.  In the meantime I’m trying to stay home and not eat bad foods or drink alcohol, considering I did much too much of that last week (although I had a good reason).  But seriously, we shouldn’t be eating out every single night, that’s excessive and much too expensive.  So I’m trying to rein it in, once more, again.  Sigh.

So last night we went to Midway again, because why not?  It was 75 degrees and sunny out yesterday afternoon, and I was home early from work (read: went to the gym at lunchtime so was home around 6:00).  So the female half of the Canadians and I took our dogs on a walk around the neighborhood, visited with a neighbor, and generally took advantage of the nice day.  Dice was working until about 8:00, so I took Pixie over to the Midway patio and read my book and had a glass of wine.  Dice got off early and joined me, and we had a nice dinner, albeit slightly hurried because by 8:00 pm it was pretty cold outside. I’m really glad we went because it was really nice out, and although they were predicting that today would be just the same, it’s actually grey and rainy, so we wouldn’t be able to sit out on the patio.  Thus, getting that in while we have the chance.

Thank CHEESENESS it’s Friday. I have never looked forward to a Friday more, with the one exception of last Friday.  It’s been a pretty bad two weeks here in TEOTH-land.  And I’m so glad they’re over. Tomorrow is Halloween, and we all know how much I frickin’ hate this holiday, but I’ve got safeguards in place this year to prevent my brain exploding.  We’re having Commune Dinner at T&R’s tomorrow, so I’ll just go over there early, before the trick-or-treating starts, and drink heavily.  Good plan, right?

JUST when you think life has gone back to normal, crap happens!  I can’t post about what it is because we don’t want certain people to know, so if you know me and want to know, email me and I’ll tell ya the whole dirty story.  If you’re friends with Dice (or me, possibly) on Facebook, then you already know.  We’re both fine, but that wasn’t a given about 8:30 last night.

Anywho, I’ll tell you about most of the night last night, minus everything interesting.  I left work early and drove down to Macon to pick up Ray.  I left early enough so that I missed rush hour traffic and made great time.  We made it home in time to get Pixie and walk over to Midway by 8:00 for drinks and dinner.  Dice and our friend Jazz joined us closer to 8:30.  It got slightly chilly by evening’s end, but it was still worth it to sit out on the patio since I like to bring Pixie whenever I can.  We had drinks and dinner, as aforementioned.  The food was good, I had the reuben which is my usual dish and it was tastier and delicious-er than usual.  We walked Jazz to her car and then walked home where we stared at the TV for a bit before hitting the hay.  This morning I drove Ray to the airport at 6:30 for her flight to New York, then home again to get ready for work.

I didn’t sleep that well last night, plus didn’t get to bed until late, so I’m pretty tired today.  We haven’t gone grocery shopping this week so not sure what sort of comestibles will be consumed this evening, nor in what fashion.  It’s a mystery!

Last night Dice and I went to Vickery’s to eat SAND.  The event was a fundraiser for my neighborhood association, SAND, where if you ate dinner at Vickery’s they would give 20% of the proceeds to SAND.  The night was chilly, rainy, raw and dark, and no one wanted to go outside.  But Dice and I braved the dangerous water falling from the sky.  Our table was, disappointingly, one of only three occupied tables at the restaurant.  One couple came in while we were there, but when we left, they were the only people there.  Sad!  Why yes, I DO feel virtuous for eating out for charity, and being one of very few people who did.  Thankyouverymuch.

The good news is that the atmosphere wasn’t conducive to lingering so we ate a quick dinner and went home again to watch TV, thereby assuring that I got to bed at a reasonable hour.  It’s nice to snuggle up under the covers when it’s chilly and raw outside.  So comfy!

Tonight I’m headed down to Mac-town to pick up Ray.  She’s got an early morning flight tomorrow so she’ll stay with us tonight.  We’ll come back home and hit Midway for dinner, assuming all goes according to plan.

So the good news is I went home and had an excellent run last night, I had planned to do 4 miles but instead ran around Grant Park and back for almost 6.  So that brings back my faith in myself.  And the other good news is that afterwards Dice and I went to Holy Taco for cheese dip and tacos.  Originally we had wanted to go to Blue Frog for their dollar taco night, but that’s apparently a popular night for them and we weren’t in the mood to wait 30 minutes for a couple of dollar tacos.  We walked over to Holy Taco, sat right down, and had our cheese dip and drinks within 10 minutes of leaving Blue Frog, so that was nice.  Since our original cheese dip location closed we have been meaning to try Blue Frog (only ever having eaten there once, and that was 3 years ago under different management) but I’m thinking perhaps we shouldn’t go on Mondays, unless we’re willing to wait in the smoky (really smoky) bar.  Which I’m not.

It’s possible that I’m just now noticing it, or that I’m just becoming more sensitive to it, but I’ve noticed lately that a LOT of people have been using the term “So-and-so and I” when they really should be using “and me.”  Has everyone in the world forgotten the difference?  Here’s a tip: take out the “so-and-so” part.  Would you still say “Do you want to come to the grocery store with I” if you took “Mike and” out of “Do you want to go to the grocery store with Mike and I”?  No.  So the correct way is “Do you want to go to the grocery store with Mike and me.”  Is it me being sensitive or are more and more people trying to sound smart by using the incorrect form? When people say that, I think they’re tools trying to sound smart.  So next week when I say, “Do you want to go to dollar taco night with Dice and me” you should say, “NO!” But only because we’d have to wait for tacos.

I’m back!  Did you miss me?

My apologies for my silence last week.  Some crap went down at work that I haven’t experienced in my 12 years working in an office, nor would I ever have expected it to.  Frankly, I think one of the people concerned, who has 20+ years on the job, feels the same way.  Anyway, while the situation is over, the results are going to have to be endured (by me) for a while, and the incident itself as well as the ramifications caused me quite a bit of pain and irritation.  I’m glad it’s over, I wish the ramifications weren’t necessary, and the person who instigated it should be fired, although that didn’t happen.  Oh well.  And that’s all I’m going to say about it.

In other news, I was so anxious last week that I didn’t eat for 4 days and I lost 2 pounds.  Which I soundly made up for over the weekend while I ate tons of food and lounged in front of the TV instead of running.  Yeah, you heard me right.  I didn’t run at ALL over the weekend.  I did take Pixie on a four-mile walk yesterday, which felt nice, but I don’t really count it.  So now I feel fat and lazy, and although the only antidote to that is to eat less and run more, that’s probably not going to happen this week.  And I’m just crying about that.  So hard.

Sorry folks, there’s some crap going on at work that I’m not at liberty to discuss, and I can’t really think about anything else.  It should be resolved soon and my regular updates will resume.  Hang in there!