Yes I know, I've been so bad w/ this lately. I've gotten too comfortable in my current situation. I don't even wear makeup to work anymore. What's happened to me? So as usual, when I put things off for so long, I don't remember all the details but I'll try real hard.

Friday night was supposed to be girls night out I guess w/ at least T and B. db was in town so I warned him that he wasn't allowed but maybe I could meet up w/ him later. Just before leaving work T said she wasn't sure if she was going out so instead of waiting around to hear from her yes or no I told db we could just plan on going out and meeting up w/ whatever friends of mine went out. T texted later to say she was going out and when i mentioned db was going she wasn't too cool about it, even though was iffy w/ the plans to begin w/. jos texted to say she would let me know when she headed to gypsy bar. that never happened. db and i were waiting at home to hear, watching tv shows online, when finally jos texted to say she'd been there an hour. so we meet them there. it was meghan's bday, i ran into her first and then she got me w/ the rest of the girls. i was giving hugs around when i started getting attitude from T. we had been on weird terms since the marathon that i backed out of that she did, and it was her first marathon, so we were having issues. things didn't go so well w/ the friends that night, plenty of drama and bitchiness so db and i just danced together w/out them. i tried to have fun but it was difficult.

saturday db hitched a ride to maine before we could eat at the paramount. i really wanted a good breakfast! i was going to go there alone when i called rr/j and they said they'd eat w/ me there on sunday so i met them at bruegger's and ate an egg and cheese bagel sandwich and muffin. not so good but food at least. then jenn had to go hang w/ friends so rr and i hung out together. we made a stop at trader joe's so i could get some food for a change. it was a good trip. i'll have to start going more often. then i went home to take care of cleo and then we both went to rr/j apt. for saturday night. i think it was the usual tv/sports, dinner and i was going to finally get back on track w/ backing up my laptop and gazillion gigs of music. in the process of this my external hd w/ all my music and photos died and i lost most of my music. at the time i was sleeping on the floor and rr was getting mad at me for not saying anything but i was so tired i couldn't really have a reaction. too the train home to deal w/ it the next day.

i had to contact apple on sunday to tell them what happened to see if they'd be nice and let me download all the music i'd bought from them over the years. luckily they did and good thing because it was about $2000 worth of music. then i had to get the rest of the music from rr/j because we had shared music for awhile. i won't have everything but most things. i have already screwed up organizing everything and deleted some of the stuff i just re-downloaded from apple so i'll have to buy it again. unfortunately i know i did this w/ my most recent natasha b. and that sucks!

i was walking cleo around the common sunday morning talking to my mom on mother's day when i ran into rr/j sitting in the common. 'funny to see you retards here!' we ended up putting beaky away and heading to the paramount. the wait wasn't so bad but still a crowded, uncomfortable wait. luckily the blueberry pancakes, sausage and fresh fruit was good good. then we walked to cambridgeside where i returned some stuff to petco and had silly conversations w/ rr/j in border's. i left alone to do some more errands, picked up some new towels at macy's. went home to do laundry and later that night met db out for dinner at the middle east. had the tofu couscous. it was yum except for the spicy crap in the corner of the plate.

so that was pretty much my weekend. finally found some Fun Dip, they have good stuff at fanueil hall but it's expensive and db was good and finally got me some whipped cream to make up for the cool whip he got the last time. sugar is good!

Wicked proud of your awesomeness. Too bad your work ethic will never rub off on me. Good thing I'm already a success, haha! how obnoxious is that??

rr got an A in his software architecture class. he's a grad student in CS and always freaking out about school stuff but always gets really good grades even though he always thinks he's failed. (in vet school when i always complained to him about thinking i failed a test or something, i was usually right.) he was expecting an incomplete for the class because he didn't finish up his project but he's so awesome that they have can't just give him an incomplete i guess.

Rick and I just met and have decided that the work you did in the class, your presentations, contribution to discussion, and research/presentation already completed on your project have earned you an A in the class already. We are happy to continue to work with you on the project but don't see a need to delay assigning a grade of A.

my other interests, besides running, are

penis sundaes, candy and Beaky-woo

must add this to facebook profile, huh rr?

so natasha's latest stuff is my most recent purchase and i like it just as much or more than her first. and they each remind me of something now. her first cd i listened to a ton when i was in florida w/ ella rae. i had 3 weeks off from vet school in sep '05 so spent it watching ella. when my brother or hallie would get home from work i'd go running and i'd listen to it so now those songs always remind me of ella. now the latest cd will remind me of db because i had just bought it the other day and was listening the first few times and he was there and a lot of it is about boys anyway.

last recap i thought there was a good chance i was getting evicted or moving then db showed up. he stayed for a few days hanging out w/ cleo while i was at work doing all sorts of stuff w/ her and bringing her everywhere he went. so i had a stress-free time and then i had to get to work at 6 on friday so db took her to maine thurs-sat so again i had more stress-free time do whatever. friday i had a long day at work getting there at 6 to help w/ a lab and then i did a bunch of molecular work that gave me good results so i was happy. i took a break while my pcr was running to head to the muddy for some beer. a bunch of co-workers were there because it was someone's last day. one guy was pretty inapporiate w/ me, never been around him outside of work, just saying all this stuff about how he's wanted me since the first day we met which was almost 2 years ago. i was waiting for pcr to finish and it was running late, i was supposed to get to rr and jenn's by 8:15 for pizza hut and celtics. luckily i had a reason to leave the muddy. they tried to make me stay but got away and took care of my samples and caught the #1 bus real quick to get close to rr/j in the fenway. ate so much pizza at their place and watched the game but we always end up talking a lot too about other stuff and lose track of what's happening. plus i was real tired and i think we were falling asleep at the end even though it wasn't that late. unfortunately i left when the red sox game got out so i was crowded on a train smushed into people that decided to smush me and i felt really sick from eating too much so i wasn't sure i'd get home w/out puking on the bitches. by that point i was more awake so i think watched stuff online before bed.

saturday got up in the morning and went to work to do some stuff. then to cambridgeside for some shopping. got plenty of candles. i like to make my place smelly w/ candles. then went home to hang out and wait for my beaky to get home. thought i was going out w/ db and co. that night but then db showed up for a bit and to use my shower and then tell me, only after i asked, that i was not going, no ticket for the show. then i was mad and he left for show. he called after and picked me up to go to redline for an hour or so so i did get to go out a little. i guess i was still mad but wanted to go out. cleo hung out in the car so i didn't have to leave her so late in the apt. music was good and dancing w/ db was fun but too short. i could have stayed there forever just dancing. got home and started the breaking up w/ db but it was the middle of the night so didn't really end but in the morning db took off to go w/ friends and he was supposed to buy me another shock collar for cleo because he forgot to bring the original one back from maine, but he kept calling to say he was doing something else and he'd get the collar after.

so i was stuck waiting for him all day because i couldn't leave cleo w/out the collar. and of course i was pissed that he knew we were in the middle of breaking up and then just taking off and avoiding me all day, over and over and over. by the time he showed up i was real mad and we had a big fight but i was drunk i guess and don't remember everything that happened, i don't know what i said, and what the reply was, but he was still there monday morning and no one was mad so we're still together and maybe we can have the same fight again when i'm sober and have a few drinks in me :0)

so the best news is that the shock collar is keeping cleo quiet, i think it's finally the answer i was looking at. now hopefully i can get back to a normal life and eventually she'll be quiet w/out the collar.

Tara ran her first marathon on Sat. in Providence and ran sub-4hrs!! Yay Tara!!!!!

It's cousin Tammy's and husband Kevin's 4th boy. They had triplet boys about 6 years ago I think. I lose track because I never see anyone, just like once a year around Christmas. He was 8 pounds something and delivered by c-section. Tammy is one month older than me. We were really close growing up. She had the triplets by in vitro because she wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant naturally until 6 years or whatever later when she finds out she's pregnant. Big shock, especially for Kevin, I think the triplets were enough.

Anyway, welcome Jack!

that's all I can say about that.

We are pleased to tell you we did not make any changes to the tax reported on your return.

It's official, Aaron is off to Belgium. Nothing great lasts forever!

Several people have asked so I figured I'd let you all know that I am moving to Antwerp at the end of this month. I took a job at an Advertising Agency there and will try it out for a few years. I plan to take advantage of their socialized way of life like 6 wks vacation and subsidized childcare. I also intend on making my first self produced solo record there. Dear Leader will continue to play the occasional show and make a new record at some point in the future. Thanks to everyone who has supported me throughout the years and obviously this isn't goodbye just see you later.

Aaron

So sad...

If I only needed a car! If it was a 240 I'd totally buy it and store it somewhere :0)

Oh, We are selling our Black 2001 Volvo XC70 wagon fully loaded and 65k miles if anyone is in the market for a car

My old Volv 240 and dream car

This recap is going all the way back to the weekend starting March 28th. I never got to write anything about it because things were so crazy. I had been officially in my new place for about a week, my week at work was very crazy and I was trying to prepare myself to leave for Australia on April 2, plus I had a 20 mile race to conquer.

So Friday night Tara and Jos came over to see my new place and drink some before heading out dancing. So they came over and brought plenty of alcohol (the scene I found the next day)

and we preceded to get a bit tipsy. I was supposed to bring Cleo back to my old apt. so my roomies could watch her while I went out but I was feeling too silly and thought it would be okay to leave her. This would be the first time ever leaving her all alone in this place, and it was kinda late.

Proceeded to go to The Estate and meet up w/ Kinna and her little brother. He didn't really want to go dancing but we convinced him. $20 to get in, geez, I don't even know who was there that night or remember the music. Had plenty more drinks and then remember being in the bathroom upstairs alone puking in the trash can by the sinks out in the open. Good thing no one was in there. Then I went back downstairs and somehow ran into T who was buying me another drink though at the site of it I felt so yucky I just left it there. Next thing I know little brother had me out on the dance floor. Hey, I thought you don't like to dance? I remember, haha I keep saying I remember, he kept asking me when I finish school or something and I kept telling him I was 33 and a doctor but I guess he wasn't getting it, I even showed him my license but he kept asking me that silly question. He was a senior in college and 21. We stayed til close and then all walked back to my place where I found a note from some neighbor that said

"Your dog has been crying since 10:40pm (guess that's when we left :0) Please do not allow this to happen again!!"

and I also had a voicemail from the concierge saying a neighbor complained and to come home and take care of it but since my phone was in Jos' purse all night I didn't get the message until we got home. Oops! Major mistake by me!!!

So eventually Kinna and little brother left and Jos crashed w/ me on my little bed w/ Cleo. Next morning Jos realized she lost all her stuff, luckily I think she had left it at the Estate and got it back later. I took Cleo to old apt. and made it to Cambridgeside for a haircut and lots of shopping for my trip. Must of had a kinda low-key night. Maybe I spent it at old apt, not sure and then had my big race Sunday morning, the Eastern States 20 miler.

Got up early Sunday morning to get ready and get Cleo to old apt. Jake and Tara picked me up there and then off to the race. We had to park at this Casino in NH I think and then take a bus to the start. Our bus driver got lost so the trip took twice as long as should have. Then we waited around at this school for the start and talked lots about our pooping issues for that morning :0) usual runner speak I guess. Finally race started. We had 20 miles and 3 states to get through. I wanted to start out conservatively so let Jake and Tara go ahead. Eventually I picked up my pace and caught up w/ them around mile 17 and then Tara and I kicked it w/ whatever we had left. Finished pretty strong and was happy w/ my race.

403 out of 590 overall
59 out of 90 age group
3:11:49 for 20 miles
9:36 minutes per mile

Was sick the rest of the day and couldn't really keep any food in but I tried. We ate at the postrace party and stopped at a restaurant on the way home. By Monday though I was okay. Ready for Australia on Tuesday!

Today is the first day I left her alone in the new apt. to go to work. I ran her 3 miles before work and gave her what I thought was plenty of drugs. I explained to the concierge that we were new and my dog was scared to be alone in the apt. so here are my numbers for cell and at work to call if there's a complaint. I didn't even get my 2 T stop commute before I had a vm about Cleo's howling. So I crossed the street and went back into the inbound train station to go home. Rose, the concierge said a woman on the 5th floor (I'm on the 6th) thought the dog was hurt because of her howling and Rose went to check on her and thought anytime Cleo heard noise like the elevator she howled. So I went upstairs and didn't hear anything after standing there a bit so left. Ran home (1.65 miles) to check her at 1:30, took her outside and she just wanted to pull me in the direction of our old apt. :0( Brought her inside, hung out a bit and gave her some yummy treats and tried to leave, took the stairs this time but by the time I got to third floor I could hear her howling and it didn't stop when I got to first floor so went back up and hung out more. But I couldn't stay forever so gave more food and left on the elevator. Heard more howling but just ignored it. Haven't gotten a call since. Will try to leave her around 5 and get home to deal w/ her. We'll see how the long weekend goes. I'm on call so I hope I don't get called in and have to leave her too much. I plan to bring her to the trials and the marathon, but I need to do a 20 miler tomorrow so I guess I'll be crazy and run around Boston Common and the Public Garden a million times w/ my cell phone handy to respond to complaints.

Cleo please don't be so crazy scared! You are okay on your own. Trust me!