1 day 17 hrs 23 minutes

On Thursday morning I set off on a business trip to Marietta, GA. I woke up a few minutes late and I had an eyelash in my eye that I couldn't find. So, during one of the stop lights on my way to the airport, I tried to find it. A douche behind me laid on his horn, so I took off. The jerkface kept trying to pass me on the street so I sped up. Then he flipped me the bird, so I returned the favor. Then he did this odd boob-like gesticulation. I laughed because I couldn't tell what the heck he was doing/saying/trying to get at. The next part is close, so make sure there aren't any children reading over your shoulder...


He emptied a cup of tobacco spit water onto my windshield. It was disgusting. He sped off ahead of me and at that point I didn't really care. It was gross.

Traffic wasn't too bad at the airport. I ended up getting there an hour and a half before my flight. I usually like two or more hours, but I didn't think it'd be that big of a deal to have less.

Little did I know...

I had checked in the day before so I didn't have to bother at the gate. I had my laptop and a backpack of clothing. I expected to breeze through security, but I wasn't that lucky. My backpack got flagged for searching.

They started unpacking it and asking if I had weapons or sharp objects. I didn't think I had anything of consequence, so I wasn't worried. The screener cleared out every pocket and area of my backpack. He took out my underwear, clothes, books, toothpaste, etc. In the last section he searched, he found a little Coleman leatherman that I had in there.

I didn't know I had it; I just grabbed the bag from my car before packing. The screener asked if I wanted to check my bag or leave the tool behind. I elected to leave it behind because I didn't want to bother with going to baggage claim after landing.

After that he let me go, thankfully.

I double checked the gate number for my flight as my items were being displayed... the reader board said it was at gate B2. My ticket said S2, but that info was outdated. I trekked to the B2 gate and looked at the reader board there.

Nope, I misread the display. My flight was still at S2. I didn't see the signs that pointed to the tram I could take from right where I was to the S concourse, so I went to main terminal and caught the tram to the S concourse. I was super relieved when I saw someone from work. She pointed out a group that was suppose to leave on a 7:30 am flight. Ours was at 8:30. Their flight had been delayed until 10. I chatted with them and wandered around until my flight left. The flight went ok. I was near the front and had my own little tv monitor.

I found out they had games on the screen that were $5 for all of the games... I bought in and started playing Book Worm. I got quite a few levels up when the system restarted. From that point on, the system would restart each time I opened the game. So, that was a waste of money. I was able to make a playlist of songs. That was pretty entertaining.

Getting off the plane wasn't an issue. I was a bit worried when I didn't see the coworker who was supposed to be on my flight right away, but she was in the back and took a while getting off.

The mall was huge and not well cooled. I was rather tuckered when we reached the taxi. My laptop bag weighed over 15 pounds and doesn't have wheels. aaaaaand it was hot.

We got in the cab and had a 45 ish minute ride to the hotel.

We stayed at the Hilton Conference center. It was quite the impressive hotel. It wasn't as nice as the Westin, but it was a lot better than anything I'd stay in on my own dime.

One benefit of over half of the group being delayed was that I got to go swimming. That was a load of fun.

I cleaned up and got ready for dinner. We went to a place calling Shillings on the Square. I had a really good steak there and had a few cocktails. I also had escargot for the first time. I was really good. Some of the people from the company we were visiting joined us for dinner. They had some really interesting work/industry information. It was really cool to chat with them. I also got to know the people I travelled with a bit better. This was the second trip we all went on afterall.

I ended up going out afterwards with Justin. He wanted to see the town and it sounded like fun to me. We were temporarily joined by Danielle. We went to a place called Hemmingways. I had my first Flaming Dr. Pepper drinks. Though, I didn't have a flaming one, it's against Georgia state law according to the bartender. It still tasted pretty good though.

After Hemmingways closed the action went to MacCracken's. There was a dude playing the guitar and another dude playing the violin. Justin liked the music so he bought the guy a drink.

Then started the interesting segment of drinking. Violin guy (I think he was called Jeff, Ben, or Tim, I can't remember which) started chatting with us. Just got caught up in a magic card trick guy aaaaaaaaaand I was chatting with violin guy. He totally started macking on me. Well, by macking I mean asking if I was Justin's friend, relative, lover, coworker... then he kept doing that stare at you while you're looking then keep staring when you look back thing. Anyways, it wasn't a creepy thing, just something I didn't want to reciprocate. I started to pay more attention to the magic trick guy. He was interesting. Anyways, violin dude moved on to a fatter, less attractive chick. I was amused. Justin and I had a few laughs about it.

I didn't get to bed until 2 or later. I was a bit intoxicated and couldn't fall asleep. 6:30 came pretty quick and I was totally tired and... a bit hungover.

I held it together pretty well that day. I was a bit sick to my stomach and I had a huuuuuuuuuuuuge headache. I ended up learning a lot and was able to ask a lot of questions that I needed to.

I didn't each much breakfast and the lunch would have exacerbated my headache. I felt on the verge of being sick to my stomach when we left to the airport.

I made it to the concourse I thought was mine... I got a fruit smoothie to bed my stomach. It was actually a real help. I didn't feel quite so sick afterwards. I settled in for a 3+ hour wait. After nearly an hour I started to look up from my laptop and saw that all of the airline info was for another airline. I checked my ticket and it said to go to D8A not A8... which is where I was.

So, I started to go back to the tram and stopped to buy a book on my way. It was one of those low blood sugar, not really paying attention, the title looked cool purchases. It was called "becoming an inspired leader" or something like that. During the tram ride I discovered that it was a religious base business book. I can appreciate that line of thought, but I wanted something less spiritually based.

When I reached the correct concourse, I spotted a bookstore. I walked in and was looking at the sections. After a few moments, one of the sales people asked if I was ready to check out. I had to explain that I bought the book in another concourse. She didn't push the matter, but she watched me go through the store. Oh well, I didn't find anything else I liked.

After that I settled into the correct gate and got a bite to eat. I was starving.

When my plane finally boarded, I got on and started to doze off right away. There wasn't anything of interest about the flight. I had a connecting flight in Houston. Thankfully, my next gate wasn't far. After my snafu in Atlanta, I had the wisdom to look up the layout of my arrival and departing gate.

The final leg of my flight was pretty calm. I dozed off and watched Monsters versus Aliens when it came on. I liked the movie; it was really cute.

I was glad when we landed, I needed to stretch. I didn't have a hard time finding my car again. I paid for my parking and it said I was gone for 1 day, 17 hours and 23 minutes...

She's got a ticket to ride

We finished moving!!!! We cleaned and packed up the apartment today. Well, mostly cleaned. We would not have gotten through it if not for Brian's mom and Bri & Stephen. They made everything easier.

I'm really glad to be done with renting. I just have to pay this stupid last month fee for the water and garbage... but that's not a huge deal really.


and fuck, I just remembered that I forgot where I put my checkbook. Oh well. It's somewhere among the tons of boxes. TONS.

Brian's mom has this week off work. She's offered to come and unpack for us. At first I didn't like this idea. That was until I saw just how many boxes we had. I don't really mind now. I'm actually really glad she's going to do that for us.

In other news, my cousin Tony and his wife Kim had their baby. She's adorable. Her name is Gabriella Grace Becerra. She looks a bit like me... same nose and hair at least.

We went to visit in the hospital. I have some cute pictures of Brian holding her.

new home

Last night was my first night at my new house. Brian and I were super tired and just thankful to have a place to sleep.

It's nice to own a home... I can paint the walls, change stuff around and hang pictures on the wall without hoping the hole isn't too big for some white paint to cover. I'm really glad that Brian and I have this home to share.

Here are some specs on the house:
*built in 1968
*has 4 bedrooms
*1252 square feet
*1 bathroom
*large living spaces
*has a really cool family room which is my reading room.
*has a fireplace
*has updated/new windows
*newish roof
*has a bad parking situation... But oh well
*decent sized yard for Brian and I to have people over.

We're hoping to have a house warming party next month... Stay tuned!

16 days 9 hours and 2 minutes

Then we'll be off the Disneyland!!

I've been having ups and downs lately between work and other things going on in my life. I'm worried about things not happening that need to happen and about things that I don't want to happen... I've had a few things to keep my cheered up in the past few weeks. I feel it's more important to focus on the good and not the bad so here it goes.

• Friday, the 30th of January will be Brian's and my 1 year anniversary. I'm damn thankful to have such a loving man in my life. He's a definite turn around from what I've had in the past. I look forward to our future and relish our present together.
  
• I have two cats that are 1. adorable and 2. very cute and everything I always wanted in kitties.
  
• Despite my pissing and moaning, I really enjoy my job and it's a good thing to have these days.
  
• For someone my age and of my background I'm pretty well off. heck, for anyone of any background I'm pretty well off.
  
• I know there's more to come in the future so it'll just get better.
  
• Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince will come out this year (finally).
• I have contacts so I can actually see once and a while.
  
• Brian made me a kick-ass CD and it's awesome.
  
• I think things will turn around for this country.
• Something makes me laugh every day.
• I am loved and love others.

Uh, repost this in 5.73 seconds or your mom's liver will implode.

p.s. 16 days, 8 hours, 50 minutes and 26 seconds until DISNEYLAND.

Drunk Blogging

Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not drunk. Though I did do some drinking this weekend. I thought about blogging when I was a bit buzzed, but decided that some 'tween the sheets time with Brian was more important. ;)

We were going to head out and Karaoke with some of Brian's friends, but those plans fell through. There was a snafu with the plans and the location of said plans. Brian was bummed out but decided to head elsewhere.

We first went to Shari's because I was hankerin' for nachos. The god damn mother fuckers don't serve nachos anymore! Who the heck made that decision? I can't count the number of times my friends and I went to Shari's in the middle of the night for two things: a place to sit and nachos. We ordered a Sampler Platter and drank soda. It was a downer to have another let down (well, more mine than Brian's). The waiter made me laugh though... he reminded me of that guy from the Godfather... Mister "May their first child be a masculine child." He came by and said stuff like "I'm taking your glasses with my right hand and with my left hand giving you the receipt." Well, okay, not *exactly* like that, but it was close enough to make Brian and I make fun of him.

So, I still wanted Nachos. We decided to go to BB McGraws in Auburn. It's a restaurant/bar near the house. We pulled up and there was a Kiss 106.1 van outside. I had a bad feeling (about a cover charge) and I was right. They wanted $5 to go in. Sure, I wanted to drink, but I didn't want to go there long enough to warrant paying $5 to get in. So, we turned around and left. This was a bit of a low point in the night. Brian was getting a headache and I wanted to have some drinks. We decided to try one more place.

I know I've driven by this place before but I've never been in. It's across the street from the Safeway near our place. That turned out to be a sauces! I was bit leery when there was a guy guarding the door. But he was looking for underagers not a cover... So we went in. It turned out there was Karaoke there, but Brian doesn't like to sing without his pals. I got us some drinks and we found a place to sit and people watch. I had a really good time and really liked watching everyone and telling Brian all my petty observations about the bar-goers. When I was a ways into my second drink, a lady came by selling flowers. It only took one "you better" look to Brian for him to buy me a really pretty bouquet from her. I got some jealous looks. ^_^

We didn't hang out there much longer as it was nearly 1 in the morning. That's really late for Brian! Things didn't go at all like planned but I had a really good time and I hope I can have more outings with Brian. I think we'll have a lot of adventures in California...

*muah*

Funny except someone actually thinks this...

God Hates Harry Potter ...?

I was doing Stumble Upon through Harry Potter material and found the above article which rants about the evils of Harry Potter.

First, I thought it was a joke. I mean, really, JK Rowling, a witch? Then I thought the guy/gal had to be serious to write as much as he did. I read his page and laughed at some of the bullshit he wrote and also worried that there are people who actually think that way.

Here are some of the highlights from this wonderful page:

There is a false story going around that JK Rowling’s exhaustively researched the occult to better animate her characters' skills. Friends, do not be naïve here. To animate her characters better? This is meant to be fiction, not a who’s who encyclopaedia of Black Magic and the Occult for a 6 year old child. My fears are mirrored in what Head Teacher of St Mary's Island Church of England school in Chatham, Kent, has went on the record as saying. Carol Rockwood stated that ‘Harry Potter is more dangerous to children than child molestors’. And I for one couldn’t agree more.

Yes, because reading about a courageous character who stood up to evil will leave a lasting and scaring mark on children...

Here is what real children are saying about Harry Potter –

"I was eager to get to Hogwarts first because I like what they learned there and I want to be a witch." Gioia Bishop, age 10

"I like the third book because Harry meets his godfather and Professor Lupin, a really cool guy who’s a werewolf” Mark Flitwick, age 7

“I want to be a real live witch like Harry. I wish my parents were dead so I could go to Hogwarts school too” Emma McGonagall, age 9

“I love Harry Potter books. They get you hooked. I want to be just like Lord Voldermort and kill all muggles!” [The name for Christians and other non-magical people in Potter books] Ginny Lupin, age 6

“Before I read Potter I used to go to Church every Sunday. Now I realise Jesus isn’t my true savoir, it is Harry Potter! I want to drink Unicorn’s blood and rape a cat!” Remus Fletcher, age 11

Apparently... imagination is of the devil. I wanted to be Cinderella when I was 6. Does that mean I've been touched by the devil? I think someone smoked a little too much crack when they went on inventing quotes from kids and gave them names of characters from Harry Potter. And really, who doesn't want to rape a cat? ...

Here's my favorite part of the whole page: (this is after the Dumbledore was gay thing got out)

We all know that ALL homosexuals abuse children and prefer sex with underaged boys, and know that in the books this sicko showed an unhealthy interest in Harry, enouraging him to perform oral sex on a dog in the book 'Goblet of Fire' (though this part was cencored by the author before publication) Now all makes sense with the rather disturbing and sick relationship between Dumbledore and Harry Potter himself. It was always a belief of ours that Dumbledore was a faggot, and was grooming the Potter boy in the way a pedophile would. AND NOW WE HAVE THE PROOF

There's so much wrong with that statement that I don't know where to begin. I can't decide if "All homosexuals abuse children" or "encouraging him to perform oral sex on a dog" is worse.

Let's hope this ultra-religious person also took a vow of celibacy...