6 posts tagged “weekend wrapup”
When I wrote last, I was not in a good place. Since then things have improved ever so marginally. On Friday I made sure that I was out and about with friends to take my mind off things. In fact, I even flirted with several ladies and probably could have got some phone numbers if I had wanted. But I know I'm not ready, so I didn't.
On Saturday I had a good long run with my group. The thing about leading a group at my pace -- 8 minutes per mile (8mm) -- is that sometimes you really just have one or two people to lead. While this makes group leading easy, it does also make one wonder why they bother getting up so early instead of doing the run on your own time later in the day. But on Saturday I had a group of 7 people. The temperature was far warmer than last week when CARA officially canceled the run, however there was fresh snow which the Park District had not plowed yet. So we didn't do much talking because we were expending extra energy trying to adjust for the lack of traction. The rule of thumb being whatever pace you are averaging, you would really be running 30 seconds faster on clear path.
But there is one thing I'm very proud of: my group followed my lead and listened to me! When I veered off the path onto a parking lot, they followed right along. Another time we were running along an unplowed sidewalk and I led them on the adjacement street (near Navy Pier and not incredibly busy with traffic at that hour) I said "single file" and kept them as close to the edge as possible. I look over my shoulder and everyone is running single file.
For the first 7 miles I felt like I could run all day. I thought I'd be able to run an extra 6 with Smokin Hot Body girl instead of just the 4 I pomised. Then reality hit. With the extra energy expendature from the snow, I was looking forward to water stop breaks and the finish couldn't come soon enough.
There's something going on: There has been some interesting telemetry on the radar lately. On Friday late I got a forwarded email from So-Suede. Our friend QK is having a Superbowl party and he invited me via my old email address (now shut off). I thought he might be trying to feel out the situation so I declined to reply immediately to make sure that I didn't say anything I'd regret or couldn't undo. It helped that the forward came late and I was at clients all afternoon. A friend who is up to speed on the situation thought that maybe So-Suede "was concerned that I'd miss out on a chance to see the superbowl with him and Angela."
Then on Saturday evening I get a call from the Krazy Guatamalan. I had been naping but his voicemail said he hadn't heard from me in a while and wondered how I was doing. I'm sure it was a coincidence. We talked today and after the usual catchup, he touched on the subject of Judas...I mean So-Suede. On the plus side, he did say that I had every right to be pissed at So-Suede, which is amazing because last time we talked, his happy-go-lucky self seemed just happy that Judas found someone even at my expense.
The Krazy Guatamalan told me that the guys were going to get together to watch Rambo and that I was invited. He said that I shouldn't let too much time pass before saying something because it would be just as bad as not saying anything at all. He pointed the example of FWDWM and how too much time passed and we gave up on each other, especially after she had reached out to me first. I called him back and asked "what exactly am I supposed to be saying?"
Krazy Guatamalan said that So-Suede still wants to be my friend. I said "that's mighty nice of him."
The other interesting things is what Angela has posted on her Myspace page. A couple days ago her tag read "just want to love and be loved." "Now it says something about getting her groove back." And she changed the photo from them at New Year's Eve to just her face. That doesn't mean they broke up, she just might be tired of the other.
My other theory is that people are not warming up to Angela as much as So-Suede would like. Even those who don't like me have to be bothered by a relationship that treads the grey area of dating a friend's ex, even if it is a psuedo ex as in this case. If I were to say "it's okay, So-Seude and I are still friends" that might make things easier. Or maybe it all is just what it is and he wants to be friends and date Angela at the same time.
A simple act of kindness: Tonight I went to the church were I was confirmed. I go there whenever I can, but especially when I want to worship annonomously. I sat in the side pews, the ones that only seat three people. Sidenote: it still amazes me that people come to mass late and try to squeeze into the crowded pews in the back when there are perfectly empty seats a few rows up. Seriously, everyone is late from time to time, but that doesn't give you the right to squeeze in my comfort zone just so you can avoid sitting closer to the alter. Get here on time like the rest of us!
Anyway, these three ladies sit in the pew in front of me. I think it was either a young grandma, ma and daugher or two sisters and the daughter/niece. One of the Actively Involved Parishoners comes up and asks them if they would be willing to bring the gifts up. The daughter and one of the older ladies agree, but the one in the middle tries to get out of it. She's willing but would prefer not to because she is self-conscious of how she is dressed. For some reason, at that moment, I decide that it was time to stop hiding in the shadows and come out into the light. So I said that I would be willing to be the third. Volunteer lady is reluctant, but agrees because the woman insists. She says that I'm dressed much better than her -- though I'm in my dingy painter jeans that I only wear around the house.
When the time comes, we bring up the gifts and we return to our seats. For those who aren't Catholic, there's a part of our mass ritual where we recite the Our Father. You are encouraged to hold hands with the person next to you, though most people -- especially those who get to mass late -- opt to just turn their palms up toward heaven in order to receive the full light of God (sound of me gagging). Anyway, as I'm in the pew by myself, I just turned my palms up, but the young lady in front of me reaches back and holds my hand while we recite. It was both a simple gester and an extraordinary moment.
Yesterday was one of those days that did not go according to plan. My work assignment was supposed to be a 3 hour project and it turned into an almost all day event. It wasn't my fault and I did my best and everybody knows that. Still, I can't help but feel like I should have figured it out. I know myself well enough to know that I'm taking too much ownership here, and the reason is that the new job isn't everything I thought it would be and I'm not completely happy with it right now.
On a funny aside, at this client I ran into a girl whom I went to high school with. She recognized me and wouldn't tell me her name until I remembered, although I did have to cheat and ask somebody. I recall that we were tight for a bit and then something happened and as a result, I got cut out. It wasn't anything I did per se, other than be the friend of someone who she didn't like or maybe it was something with the guy she was dating, who was also my friend. I don't recall as it was 20+ years ago and obviously didn't impact the college I went to, the careers I've chosen or the color of my socks. But I could tell she still remembered that she shouldn't like me for some reason, I could tell by her body language. However, since I was there hired by her boss for an outrageous rate, she had to be professional toward me and it was probably killing her inside.
After work, I went to this charity wine tasting at Old St Patrick's church. I wasn't expecting to pick anyone up but I had hoped for some fun conversation. Nope, it was pretty much a bunch of people sipping wine and everyone checking each other out and being as unapproachable as possible. The highlight of the event for me, however, came when I went to sit in a corner to stuff my face on the delicious appetizers. A older lady sitting next to me started asking me questions like if I was single and if I was from this country because "I sound British or Irish." I answered her questions and tried to get her to talk about herself but she wanted to continue with the 20 questions so I finished my food and politely excused myself. I said good bye to a friend or two there and then took the El home.
When I got to my car I decided to go to the Fifth Provence for a drink. The Fifth is located at the Irish-American Heritage Center, a place I spent a lot of my time the early part of this century. There was a charity event there too which made the usually empty parking lot very full. Still, I found two friends I haven't seen in a long time. We had a drink or two and caught up and I was going to call it a night when I ran into some people I use to work with at the Law Firm in my former life. They were here for the charity event and they decided to sneak me in so that I could see the other people we use to work with. I ended up having a blast dancing, talking and drinking with people I use to play volleyball with oh so long ago.
Everyone was amazed at how young I still look. What they don't remember is that I was an average of 7 years younger than most of them back when I worked there. That was primarily the reason most of us were just drinking buds and/or social sports team mates and not close enough friends to stay in touch with over the years.
As far as Labor Day weekends go, this one was not as bad as I expected. I got through my 20 mile run on Saturday okay. Sure there were stomach issues and I did have to stop a little, but I didn't have to walk any of the miles and I felt good enough to run 5 recovery miles on Sunday.
Saturday night I was at Taste of Polonia and I was feeling sad. A wave of despair was starting to envelope me. I've felt that way before so it was a familiar feeling. But then something strange happened: the dark clouds seemed to dissipate on their own. As if my defense systems having encountered this attack before, finally manufactured an immunity or antidote for it.
I ran into a few friends from the Polish Mafia and reconnected with them. There was also a friend from church who was there with a guy, but they let me hang out with them so I did for a little bit. Finally, I ran into another guy I know who also lurks around the Polish scene. We were at the Jewel-Osco stage digging the band and trying to see if any of the hotties dancing were open to meeting us. None were but that's okay. It was still a good night of people watching and I got home before midnight on a Saturday Night for the first time in a while.
On Sunday I got up and met my friend Lisa for an easy 5 mile recovery run. Lisa and I haven't run together in a long time and it was good to catch up. Since she lives closer to the lakefront and I wanted to make the 11:15 mass at Old St Pat's (OSP), we agreed on a time that allowed us to sleep in as much as possible yet get the run in before the heat. Part of the deal was that I also got to use her shower.
The 11:15 mass At OSP is designated as the Young Adult Mass. The first Sunday mass has a special continental breakfast after mass where people in their 20s and 30s go to mingle and connect. Basically, it's a Catholic pickup, or at least it use to be. The last few have been very thinly attended, probably because of the nice weather and the busy summer but I'm willing to bet a "been there, done that" attitude has also spread throughout the people who attend regularly. I don't believe I attended a single YAM mass at OSP in 2006 yet have hit 5-6 of them this year.
My mission this time was to run into So-Suede's friend and if the vibe was right, ask her out. She wasn't there, or at least I didn't see her, so it will have to wait. This is well within alignment with my strategy of not forcing things down field.
A new and hopefully reoccuring item on this blog is the Weekend Wrap-Up. This weekend I volunteered at the Old St Patrick's World Largest Block Party. It's been a few years since I've attended the block party, it's novelty having worn off me around the time that my frustrations from dating within the Catholic Young Adult community reached its peak. So I decided to take a break from all things YAM related. I didn't go to many MPHH, TOT or FOCUS like events. There were necessary exceptions, but for the most part, I stayed out of that world.
On Friday I ran into my friend Elle and her friend MaryJo, whom I met two weeks ago at Elle's party. We hung out for the rest of the night and after the last band performed, So-Suede found us. He had been on a mission to sell as many raffle tickets as he could. The feeling I got from this portion of the evening was Elle was interested in me, who was interested in MaryJo who seemed interested in So-Suede. Of course I can't really be sure who likes whom or what anyone is thinking. All I can do is get off this roller coaster thank you very much.
So here is the confusion I go through. On Friday, I was all "Oh I should ask MaryJo out". But then on Sat I run into Alice and I want her. If had gone outside on Sunday, I probably would have met someone else that I wanted. But then I don't ask anyone out, so that probably sends out mixed signals.
I wrote the other day how this weekend was a bit rigid in terms of schedule and commitment. As it turns out, the weekend kinda ebbed and flowed at its own pace. Not only did I seldom feel like I was pressed for time, but this is the first time in a while that I didn't feel that I had to be anywhere in particular at any given moment.
Oh sure, I was a bit annoyed Saturday afternoon at traffic because I wanted to be done with my errands in order to come home and chill. And maybe I would have liked to have left the SlideShow party a tad bit sooner to catch some of Headbanger's Ball at the first of the street festivals. But really, when I think about it, this weekend was wonderfully structured, realistically simple and thoughtfully executed.
Today was the rescheduled Mother's Day. While it was still my mom, the lady who yelled and belittled me back in November, it was one of the better, happier versions of her that I've seen in a long time. We started out our day by going to the graveyard where my grandmother is buried and placing a flower on what we hope is her grave. We don't have a gravestone on her plot, or my grandfather, who died when I was two. We have the marker location, but it's a little ambigious. I suspect the other plots have a betting pool going on who gets the flowers each year.
In the late afternoon, I got together with the Krazy Guatemalan and So-Suede. We were gonna play Bocce in the park but it was too cold so we opted for movies and grilling at So-Suede's instead. It's really cool that I have male friends to hang out with now. These are two friends I might not have if things had worked out differently with either of my last two girlfriends.
So I went to the South Side Irish Parade on Sunday. Here in Chicago, we have two parades to celebrate St Patrick's Day. There is the downtown parade which is held as close to St Patrick's Day as possible. This is the one that is shown in The Fugitive. Then there is the South Side Parade, held in a blue collar neighborhood called Beverely. This is the one where people might dress like this:
This is Kim, a lady who was showing her Irish on Western Avenue. Luckily we were experiencing a warm front in Chicago.
Some friends and I had talked about going to the parade. We put this together very last minute and I suggested we simply take one of the buses that many North Side bars were promoting. We considered this or even the Metra when one person works for the school system was able to obtain a school bus and driver to take us there; we just had to tip him well (I am told we did a good job there).
Meanwhile, on Saturday I was at a party hosted by another Circle of Friends that I don't see very often, but am on the guestlist. At this party I met two very cute ladies who were looking for transportation to the parade. I quickly texted my friend to see how many slots we had free on the bus and invited the ladies along. Perhaps the best move of the weekend.
Usually my efforts at cross-pollinating my friends has mixed results. But everyone seemed to get along fine even before the alcohol started flowing.
