I was always a good kid. But even good kids occasionally do jerky things, whether it's to test a boundary or just sheer stupidity. Whenever I would do something intentionally jerky within earshot or view of my mother, coincidentally something bad would happen immediately thereafter. Nothing earthshattering, just annoying. Like:
I would poke my brother just to be annoying, and then as I tried to escape his wrath I would stub my toe really hard. As I groaned and held my aching foot, my mom would say, "See? God punished you!" and we would all have a knowing chuckle.
To this day, whenever something like that happens, I hear her voice saying, "See? God punished you!" in this smiling voice. I even say it to my friends when I see some doofy cause-and-effect thing happen to them.
With that said...
Monday I played hooky from work; I called in sick. I even made a joke in my LiveJournal blog about how I'm a really bad liar, but luckily my voice is so deep first thing in the morning that I can always call out sick easily because I sound like James Earl Jones. So... Monday I call out of work saying I'm sick, and today... bam. I'm getting sick.
See? God punished me. :-)
I'm heading out to Vegas next week for a conference. My company is giving a presentation on Thursday at 9:15am, and it's one of those mandatory presentations so all the conference attendees will be there for it. My boss, Mark, and my cow-orker Rick are giving the presentation... but... Rick needs emergency neck surgery so now it's gonna be me giving the presentation with Mark. Truth be told, I'm pretty excited about it. I'm also planning on working my conflict-of-interest magic by handing out some Mosko-brochures which pimp his new book. Yay!
I'm really hoping this cold that I have turns out to be like every other cold in recent history: one where I am sure I am about to be bed-ridden and miserable, but overnight I am miraculously healed. I can't be sick for Vegas, I just can't! I have way too many fun things planned!
I get to Vegas on November 1st, and that afternoon I'm getting a massage, dammit. That night I am going dancing solo. On the afternoon of the 3rd, Matt is flying out so he can take advantage of my extra free ticket to see Cirque de Soleil's underwater show "O"-- I got a free ticket because I'm attending this conference, but they offer one additional free ticket if you're bringing someone. So what the heck!
Patty is driving out from LA on Saturday the 5th, and Matt's friends Jason and Marc are also driving out from LA, so that night Patty and I are gonna see her favorite Beatles tribute band "The Fab Four", and Matt is gonna have some poker-and-cigars time with the boys. It'll be fun. My hotel room is gonna be crowded that night, I'll tell you whut.
I also wanna see if I can nab Penn and Teller tickets one night, or maybe tickets to see Blue Man Group. I've already seen both acts and love them both for entirely different reasons... so I'll see what's cheaper/more do-able. (I've heard that there are female Blue Men. I don't know how I feel about this. Discuss.)
In other news... Last night at choir rehearsal we were rehearsing this Preces and Responses setting by William Byrd in preparation for an evensong we have coming up on November 20th. A Preces and Responses is a set of Anglican prayers sung call-and-answer-style between the priest and the congregation, though nowadays only the choir + cantor sing it because the music is so ornate. We were very lucky in that our last priest (Peggy) was a killah singer, so she did the cantoring herself. Now that she's left, we have an interim guy who isn't as solid, but he totally gets an E for Effort.
Anyhoo, because he's a guy, we are rehearsing these Preces and Responses with a male singer from the choir just so the group can get used to getting their pitches from a lower octave. Since Matt Hearn left rehearsal early last night, Darryl asked me to do the cantoring, and holy crap I was like a kid on Christmas! Wheeeee! Because I sing tenor in the choir, Darryl doesn't let me take solos because having a woman singing in this low register confuses the young singers who are imitating the adult voices around them. But last night he let me wave my freak flag and it was a really cool treat, especially because we were rehearsing in the sanctuary itself instead of the rehearsal rooms upstairs, so I really got to enjoy the space. Yay!
Holy crap, I am the queen of run-on sentences today.
In the last bit of news... My lease is up in a month, and tomorrow I have to give my apartment complex either a signed lease renewal, or an Intent To Vacate notice. I am totally torn. Here are my options:
[] Option 1: Stay put. I pay $840 a month for my happy place on River Road, complete with squirrel in the ceiling, colicky baby neighbor and no washer and dryer. But I love my other neighbors, I love the big flowering trees in my front yard, I love where my apartment is located (in relation to 95/495, and also within the complex), and it's just easier if I stay put. Plus, I can always lug my laundry to the wash and fold like I've been doing.
[] Option 2: I change units within the complex to #1222 Prospect (I like that number), which costs $910 per month, but has two bedrooms and a washer and dryer in the unit1. It also has a super-convenient parking spot and a view of the river. The apartment managers are making this a very attractive offer, saying that if I sign the paperwork tomorrow, I get December rent free, I don't have to pay a security deposit on the new place, plus I get both units overlapping for 2 weeks so I can move with ease. That is pretty cool. Drawbacks: Holy shit, $910 per month... and I'd have to change my address on everything. (Drivers license, etc...)
(Oooh! But wait! Now I just did some math... if I add up $910 x 12 months and then subtract the December rent I'm getting for free, I'm actually paying $835 per month. Holy crap, I save $5 each month! I think I'll have a piece of pie and a cup of coffee.)
[] Option 3: Go somewhere else entirely. If I'm gonna have to go through all the hassle of changing my address, why don't I just move out of the complex and rent something that really blows my doors off for the same amount of money? I mean, for $910 a month, I should be getting a foot massage and a houseboy.
[] Option 4: Buy a house. Bite me. I'm not buying a house. I'm just not, so don't harass me about it. Yes yes, good investment, yes yes, for what I'm paying in rent, yes yes, shaddap. I say that lovingly.
[] Option 5: Rent half a house with someone. Trainor found a huge house in Arden for rent, and it's laid out so you could live there with people and never really intersect with them. I would consider this, but ya know, I really do love living alone. I don't think I can have a roommate unless we're shackin' up, if you know what I mean. So, yeah, I just talked myself out of it. No roommates for Jill. No offense.
Of course, this all has to be decided tonight, because I have to sign something tomorrow.
Argh.
OK, I'm off like a prom dress. Tonight is pretty much my only free night to get stuff done for Halloween and Vegas, so I'm gonna go. I want to get to bed early because (a) I'm illin' and (b) I'm meeting Trainor tomorrow morning for breakfast at 7:15am. It's scary when you can only see your friends before work... but it's also very cool that we make time for each other. I ((heart)) Joe Trainor. :-)
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1 It is the exact size/shape/layout of my current apartment, if you're one of those who knows my pad. My current apartment used to be a two-bedroom unit, but they knocked the wall out between the two bedrooms so I have this huuuuge neato room upstairs that is both my bedroom and my office. In this new unit (1222 Prospect), the wall is intact. This is nice because if someone wants to sleep over they can have their own space. It also keeps my computer / work away from my bedroom, which is also a plus.