It’s 10:40 p.m. and it feels like it’s about 7. I stayed at work until 5:30ish, then went to Panera for a cup of soup and to study for a bit. Then, I headed over to a study group for the church I’ve been attending. The couple hosting lives literally a block from the gas station I was stranded at this summer along with Laci and Sodapop when my gas line was cut. It’s a neighborhood in transition, I guess one would say. While we were meeting, someone across the street kept honking. It was festive. LOL The guy I talked to said it was a mixed group of married couples, singles, etc. Ummm NO. Out of 15 people, there were THREE singles … and I was one of them! Srsly! But, I liked everyone and I’ll go back. Tonight was a kind of meet and greet night, as there were four other new people (two married couples, of course). Now, on top of reading for school and work, I have to get caught up on Ephesians. Busy, busy!

It only took me about 5 minutes to get home, which was great. I made a protein shake then called J back. We ended up talking for about 90 minutes, way longer than I planned. My dad left me a VM while I was on the phone with J; I don’t even remember him calling! He must have known I was talking to a boy. :-p

J is now planning to drive back sometime on the 12th. NEXT MONDAY. I say sometime, because he has an appointment back at his alma mater and will leave from there. Which means he’ll get back here probably very early in the morning on Tuesday, so I’m sure he’ll be exhausted. He works Wednesday so I probably won’t see him until Thursday, at the earliest. That’s Thursday the 15th. SRSLY. I finally just asked him if he was going to be in Texas forever. UGH.

Oh, my church admirer was supposed to be at the meeting tonight (I didn’t know that until I got there) but he didn’t show. Probably a good thing. I wanted to mention him to J, but it seemed petty and feeble so I didn’t. LOL

I’ve been a bit grumpy since J has been out of town and I’ve also been dealing with a lot of stress. So yesterday I decided to go back to the crazy Chinese massage place, where an hourlong massage costs $25. OMFG. I am so sore today. The guy pummeled the hell out of me. I do feel better — the tension is gone from my neck and shoulders — but owie. My back is really sore. I took Tylenol last night and again this morning. I I took a bath with epsom salts and bath oil, which also helped. I may do that again tonight. I really need to buy a heating pad!

Friday night I ended up conking out early on the couch, due to cold medicine, and didn’t answer when J called. We played phone tag yesterday. I finally talked to him a bit ago. Him being gone is wearing thin. Another week or so and he should be home.

I went to church this morning and the guy who talked to me a few weeks ago was one of the greeters and seemed VERY happy to see me (in a friendly way, not in the “is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” type of way). About 15 minutes into the music portion of the service, he asked if he could sit with me. He seemed in a hurry to leave after the service, though, and didn’t stick around. Hmmm. I have to admit, he is cute. A girl stopped by to talk to me before the services and it turned out we had been e-mailing each other over a t-shirt order. She was singing today and I could see her watching when this guy sat down with me lol. Yes, I’m the church temptress. LOL

NYE was pretty uneventful. I drank wine … although 5 oz was about the limit. After that, the wine made my tummy hurt so I had to eat something. I stayed awake to see the ball drop in Times Square then went to sleep. I woke up about 6:15, then fell back asleep until 9:30. I had a text message from an unknown Detroit number … I guess it’s either my brother’s friend or girlfriend.

Remember the package my mom mailed me right after Thanksgiving? Well, it’s been at the fucking post office since DECEMBER 3rd … and they never notified me. I wouldn’t have even known except I had another package to pick up. The lady said, “Oh, it’s THAT name. You have a LOT of packages.” I had four in total. I was like, wth?! I told her that I hadn’t received notices about the two older packages and she pretty much just laughed it off. Yeah, inner-city service. Fabulous.

Anyway, this package had two t-shirts I’m really going to get a lot of use out of now — one says “meet me under the mistletoe” and the other has Christmas ornaments on it, both from Old Navy — some Bath and Body Works stuff, a bra (thank God, as I only had one that fit) and the original pair of PJ pants I bought for J. Well, considering I got him a replacement pair of MSU pants, I decided to keep the Red Wings pants. And, at a size L, they fit. (I cropped my head out of the photo because, even though it’s nearly 2 p.m., I’m not wearing any make up and have done little to my hair. Bah.)

A friend I haven’t heard from in about 2 months called me yesterday evening. I missed the call and didn’t call her back. Basically, her voice mail said that she’s having problems with her husband, he was going out on his own and she didn’t want to stay home alone on NYE. I thought, she didn’t return my last call, she doesn’t call unless she wants something and I don’t feel like playing marriage counselor. So I didn’t.

J texted me last night to wish me a happy new year’s, but I didn’t talk to him. I guess there are lots of bowl games on today, so I’ll wait until tonight to call. I don’t think I’ve called him in a while, it’s been him calling me. Then again, I can’t even remember if he watches college football. LOL

I’m watching the Winter Classic … an outdoor hockey game at Wrigley Field between the Red Wings (hence the wearing of the pants) and the Blackhawks. So awesome. Although, the Hawks are up 2-1. That’s not so awesome. But it’s only the 1st.

Yeah, as Sodapop said, I’m a cheap date. And as I replied, I bought the wine myself, so I’m thrifty. LOL It was a major fucking ordeal to get this bottle open. I have a cheap-ass corkscrew (had to think about that word LOL) that isn’t the bottom barrel model but it wasn’t expensive either. It usually works ok. Not so much. It just kind of drilled a hole in the cork. After a few minutes, including time with a knife to try to loosen up the seal, I beat the bitch and got my wine. I poured 4 oz (yes I measured) and with not even half the glass gone, I am buzzed. This is the second bottle of my sugar free wine. YUM.

When Miss Jade, I think, was talking about margaritas, I remember having sugar free mixer a few years ago. Well, I’ll be damned if there aren’t a whole passle of sugar free mixers! OMFG. Look at all of these. I haven’t tried hard liquor yet but surely I can handle an ounce or two. YUM.

I decided to stay home tonight. I’m kind of regretting it because there is not a damn thing on TV. I am currently watching a repeat of a 2-hour episode of Bones. Bah. I might put in Reefer Madness; I saw the play last year. Or I might save it to watch with J. LOL

To say this has been an eventful year is a bit of an understatement, both in my life personally and the greater world out there. The biggest change for me was, of course, having weight-loss surgery. It has been just over 5 months and I’ve lost about 77 lbs. I’m about halfway to my initial goal and I feel fantastic. The difference the weight loss has made in my everyday life is amazing … plus I am even hotter now! lol!

Hmmm what else? Somehow I managed to not date up a storm this year, dealing only with the jackass “haunted” house guy and of course J. *swoon* I wish he was here with me tonight but I can appreciate him wanting to spend time with his family … although I think he was going to his grandparents’ tonight because his parents will be out of town. Hee hee. That’s really kinda lame.

I’ve been trying to come up with something clever for a year-end wrap-up but eh, the cold meds are tamping down my brain. LOL Hope everyone stays safe tonight and has a fabulous time ringing in the new year!

Last night I took two Tylenol PMs before bed, as I had a wicked headache and I just wanted to sleep. Well, sleep I did! I remember looking at the clock about 10:50 p.m. and that was it until my alarm went off at 6:30! I usually wake up a few times during the night, but I had a few unread text messages and e-mails from just after midnight — and, my phone wasn’t even on vibrate and I slept through the notification sounds! I’m guessing that I barely moved while I slept, as I had a wicked crink in my neck and shoulder pain. Yikes. I think I was also buzzed on the Tylenols until mid-day. That is some strong stuff!

J called me last night while I was talking to my dad and after things — ok, I — calmed down, I called J. He was over at his mom’s, getting some food, and after a minute, asked if he could call me back. Later, he told me that his mom heard my voice and said, in a heavy southern accent, I’m sure, “Oooh don’t stop talking to her on my account! You’re 30 now, I want grandchildren!” I think my response was, “Oh, God.” LOL

J had some concerns about a school his brother wants to go to (the financial set-up sounds kinda sketchy) so we were talking about that last night; I asked what the name of the school was so I could look into it and he said that he had asked his brother that morning, specifically, “in case he talked to Monique later on that day.” So both Mom and brother are familiar with me. Hee hee hee.

So I told J that when we spoke the other night, I had the conversation in front of my mom. Considering she was working on bracelets for me, I didn’t feel right flouncing out of the room to go talk to a boy. In exchange, I let her comment on the ongoing conversation without saying, “Mooooooooooom!”

J and I ended up talking for nearly 90 minutes last night. Normally that would irritate me, considering we live next door to each other and could have a conversation in person, but he’s halfway across the country and I miss him. We talked for a few minutes tonight; he was turning in early for the night and said he wanted to call to say hi, except in his drawl it came out as “Haiiiiiiiii.” Cracks me up.

Ok, now on to what you’ve all been waiting for. Guess who fucking texted me last night. LIMO GUY. OMFG. I had sex with him in July 2007. The man will NOT go away. And here’s the best part … I searched my blog for a post about him to link to, and totally forgot that he offered to pay me for sex. LOL

There’s a private post below …

What a long day. This morning I struggled with getting everything into my suitcase — I had my laundry in one of those space bags but it wouldn’t seal properly and I got increasingly frustrated. By the time I got my suitcase shut, I had broken a sweat! I was also ready to burst into tears. I am feeling very worn out and emotional, no doubt due, in part, to Aunt Flo. I also haven’t felt tip-top since Thursday or Friday. Bah.

My flight was uneventful, although there were some annoying people in the gate area. Like, the mom who kept making idle threats, like leaving her daughter in Detroit or refusing to sit next to her. The dad got up and moved several rows away, to the other side of the gate, so this family’s shenanigans effectively took over the entire gate. Quite irritating. And of course they were in first class. They seemed very unpleasant and unhappy.

I called J from the gate and talked to him for a few, but he was at his old college roommate’s house so he called me back while I was on my way home from the airport. Sounds like he’s going to spend New Year’s Eve at his grandparents’ in south Texas. Sounds about as exciting as my plans (i.e. doing nothing). I told him I’d call him at midnight but it won’t even be midnight there haha. I know I am letting myself be sad over the thought of not seeing him for 2 more weeks and I need to get over that. But, I do miss him. I might end up calling him again later tonight.

I can’t believe that it’s been 5 months sine my surgery. I thank God for it every day. I took some new photos when I got home but I haven’t looked at them yet. I’m sure I’ll post them over on Crackbook.

I am so wacked out on sudafed right now, it’s not even funny. I didn’t even think twice before I took the 24-hour formula. I’m supposed to stay away from extended-release formulas because of how my stomach absorbs things now. No wonder I feel stoned! To add insult to injury, I am still sneezy and my throat feels weird. I was supposed to go watch UFC tonight but I don’t know if I’ll even be awake by the time the fights start. Needless to say, I am staying in. As an aside, let me just say that it is NOT fair to have both cramps and a cold at the same time. Not fair at all!

I’ve pretty much sat on my ass all day. I woke up early (about 4:30), sneezing, and was awake until 6ish, then went back to sleep until about 10. My mom and I watched a God-awful Tori Spelling TV movie on Lifetime and it’s been pretty much downhill from there, entertainment-wise. I haven’t even left the house, although I did manage to shower and put on clean clothes.

Today my mom asked me when MM was coming home. I just looked at her, confused, and she said, “Where did THAT come from?!” I think MM and I kind of ended things in March or April. It was kind of funny. At least she didn’t call J the wrong name to his face! I mean, sheesh, it’s not like I’ve dated a lot this year. MM and J have been it!

For the first time, I think, in the three years that I’ve been using social networking sites, I changed my relationship status from single to in a relationship. And no, I didn’t break out into hives. I decided I would wait three months and I jumped the gun by a few days, but J and I have discussed that we’re not seeing anyone else and I have started to call him my boyfriend (again, without breaking into hives). He called me tonight from Texas; he was hanging out with his brother, who was yelling stuff in the background. (I couldn’t understand a damn word he was saying though; his accent sounded even thicker than J’s, I guess because he still lives in Texas.) It took me about 20 minutes into the conversation to realize, oh my, he’s chatting away with me in front of his brother. That made me happy.

My mom and I went shopping this afternoon and after making a loop around the entire mall and not having any luck, we stopped by a sporting good’s store next to Bed Bath and Beyond and lo and behold, they had a pair of Michigan State pj pants to replace the ones that got lost in the mail. They were supposed to be J’s birthday gift — although, when I told him tonight, I got him a replacement gift, he said, “I thought you gave me my present the night before,” then chuckled in that way men do when they think they are exceedingly clever — but were in the box that my mother allegedly mailed the Monday after Thanksgiving but never arrived. I think the originals were Red Wings pants, but I liked the MSU ones better. They’re green plaid with the Spartan S on them.

Busy-ish day tomorrow: lunch with my friend Jennifer at the restaurant with the yummalicious garlic sauce then I’m going to watch UFC tomorrow night at the bar with my brother, his girlfriend and his friend. It should be epicly awesome; it’s been quite a while since I’ve been to watch UFC. Wheeee! Violence! Half-naked men!