Whoa, I had a serious scare that I couldn't remember my password to write in this blog. Of course Blogger is now run by Google and the fact that I have a separate Blogger account from my gmail is something they're not happy with - they want everything uniform.

Today I'm subbing at another community in my company. Its also a Purple Friday, meaning I'm wearing a GO RAVENS! purple polo shirt and jeans. Funsies.

This weekend I'm going camping with The Lesbians. Only 2 of the 5 people going are actually lesbians (3 if you count Tim (we do)) but the core members of the group are pretty much all gay so its just easier that I use this bracket to describe them.

It seems that whenever heterosexual girls are having man problems, they say "Oh I'm just gonna turn lesbo!" Wellll that's great and women rule, but let me expose a little secret. The grass ain't greener. This past year The Lesbians have had more heartbreak, deception, greed, and general drama than most of my girlfriends have with men. I mean, if you've seen the late Showtime series The L Word, you've seen the way the media portrays groups of lesbians- drama, drama, DRAMA. Its not a coincidence that one of the most common words My Lesbians use to describe each other is "DIVA!"

This is because most women are more emotional than men and when you put 2 of them together you get double trouble emotions flying, tears and sadness. The same passion that makes women so compassionate and nurturing can turn on them during these times and when both partners have vaginas, words go a-flyin' and its serious drama.

Gay men - same problem. My gay best friend has fallen in love with several men this year and has ended up held at knifepoint, stalked during working hours, insulted endlessly and dumped long-distance for someone else.

In addition to open gays loving other open gays, there is the most excruciating pain of an open gay loving a straight person. Pretty much every gay person I know has fallen prey to a straight person who either a) doesn't know the gay person feels that way; b)likes the attention and goes with it without following through or taking it seriously; or c) is extremely confused and probably isn't even gay at all (see also "I'm just gonna turn lesbo!")

The point is, Men aren't evil (just assholes), Women aren't crazy (just sensitive), and lesbianism isn't always the male-free bliss you probably dream of.

Kris Morrow patiently requests a new blog post about once a week, and this time I decided to honor her request. Its been so long I nearly forgot my login and password. I'd been meaning to write a New Years post but since my last NYE (to post x a week - PAH!) has failed so miserable, I never got around to it.

As for my other NYE, to stop smoking for 2008, I succeeded. I did not take one drag of a cigarette for the entire year, ending at about 12:20 a.m. on January 1, 2009. It was a frigid night but I collected a caravan of both smokers and non to parade down to street level with me to enjoy my first smoke in 366 days. Since then I've been puffing away. Don't yell at me please!

The job is good. I've become much more comfortable doing it and generally do not dread going to work. As for the rest of my life, its fabulous. City life suits me dreamingly and I've been frolicking around from drinking establishment to drinking establishment all winter with a smile on my face and friends all around. The holidays were wonderful with everyone home. There's lots to look forward to in 2009! We're nearly one month in.

I've wanted to be Margot Tenenbaum for Halloween for a few years now. And I've never been that into this holiday but something about dressing up as M.T. makes me pretty excited for it this year. The costume is simple but distinct: Fur coat, tennis dress, loafers, smeared eye makeup, cigarettes (unsmoked!). My problem is deciding what to do with my hair. My hair is not as long as it was at the beginning of the summer but its still past my shoulders. I could straighten it and part it on the side with the barrette and just have it be a really long version of Margot's, or I could get a crappy wig (can't afford a good one) and run the risk of people thinking I'm Marilyn Monroe (the most unoriginal Halloween costume ever).

Or, as suggested and encouraged by Alex Albrecht yesterday, I could cut my hair. This would be a good 3-4 inch cut and leave me a lot further away from having the long hair I so loved having this past year.

It would also be the second most committed Halloween sacrafice of all time I believe, second only to Phil Citerone's Hunter S. Thompson which required him to shave his head in the shape of severe Male Pattern Baldness.

Amanda and I had our housewarming party last night. All in all I can say that it was one of the greater nights I have passed in recent months. Amazing Young Adult shenanigans happened including 2 noteworthy moments that stick out in my mind:

-Mary deciding that our basil plant needed water and proceeding to tip some Miller Lite into the roots

-An over-tanned Young Male not wishing to stank up our 2 BR/1 BA apartment with a numero dos and solving this pickle by defecating behind a dumpster in the back of our building, using his undershirt to wipe and depositing said shirt into said dumpster

Okay that second one is serious business but I know about drunk logic and drunk logic is perhaps as far away from Sober Logic on the spectrum as Illogic. Things that seem to be great ideas while drunk are in fact horrible decisions. And I don't mean losing your inhibitions and doing something stupid like drunkenly text messaging something you wouldn't normally say. I mean like the logic that tells you that your shoe is a BRILLIANT place to put your keys in every way and then in the morning looking for your keys for 30 minutes.

I'm talking about the logic that tells you that a hoodie with a deep-cut V neck that is more of a decorative article of clothing than anything functional and that is meant to always be worn over top of another shirt for appropriate coverage is a most excellent choice of sleep attire.

Then there is the resourceful logic that only a drunk mind can come up with. Like propping open a bathroom window with a beer can. Or defecating behind a dumpster out of respect for anyone else who might use the bathroom.

Today is a Working Saturday. This day is followed by 2 glorious days off so I can't much complain. I do have a 9-5 business casual job as a Leasing Representative but I do work some weekends. Luckily my company makes this inconvenience up to us who work in "the field" (as opposed to the non-leasing employees who work Mon-Fri 9-5 always) by offering contests and prizes and so far for my trouble I've gotten a $100 restaurant gift card, $50 Kohl's, $25 Target, a $10 scratch-off (practically a necessity near to that of food here in Middle River)and a day off with pay. When I said above that I hold a 9-5 I really mean: 10-6 in the spring/summer and 9:30-5:30 in the fall/winter. November 2 is our impending hours change. Its a time change for the rest of the country (save Arizona and those other Father-Time-Emancipated states) that gives most a welcome extra hour of sleep, at least for one night. My precious hour will be cut in half and I'll only get a half hour. This will happen to work in my favor come Spring.

I'm going to talk about my job because people wonder what it is that I actually do. No, it isn't just to sit at my desk and look pretty until a prospective renter comes in. That would be incredibly boring actually. Here are some tasks that I potentially deal with on a daily basis:

The Basics:
-Answer phones
-Print boards (a report showing our vacancies)
-Blow up balloons (I've gotten really creative with the colors lately) and tie them out onto our sign
-Make sure the model is spic-and-span
-Take and enter work orders from residents and print the ticket
-Take those same work orders out after they have been completed
-Show our model/vacants to prospects (this is when I pretend I'm on HGTV)

On Any Given Day:
-Perform inspections on vacants to ensure they are rent-ready (lingo)
-Perform building inspections
-Process Notices to Vacate
-Complete rental verification forms for other properties
-Call other properties to survey their rents and amenities
-Perform lease signings and process move-ins (moves-in?)
-Take applications and fax to our credit company
-Send lease violation letters to residents
-Evictions...

This list is of course not exhaustive but the days do get crazy at times with lots to do. What I should stress more is the importance of everything that I do. Since we have access to such sensitive information that can so quickly turn legal, we have to document everything we do. When we speak to a resident we always make a note somewhere of what was said. Any letter we send out, we photocopy to keep one in the file. Everything is initialed, dated, verified, and put in a very specific place. This is so when a resident sues us, we can cover our asses. These details have been the hardest part for me as I am more of a "big picture" person than one to be bogged down by minutae. But I'm slowly getting the hang of this protocol and in the end I genuinely enjoy my job.

Today is Labor Day (well, it will be shortly after by the time this post goes up) which in America normally marks the end of summer. Pools close and white articles of clothing are no longer acceptable when worn below the waist. I thought I'd post a brief summary of my life since the last post.

I made some major life changes. If you followed my poorly maintained Couch to 5k blog, you know (or have figured) that I trained for and ran a 5k race. I got a new job leasing apartments. I lost the extra 20 pounds I've put on since high school. I'm a couple days away from signing a lease for an apartment in my dream neighborhood in Baltimore City.

All of these things contribute to the way I feel about my life right now. I can honestly say that I'm the happiest I have been in a really long time. That isn't to say that I was unhappy the past couple years, but I feel like everything is falling into place and I am so excited to see what the future brings. I'm going to start writing on this bloggy again (no promises that it will be at all frequent) so check back for some more writing.

my newbie:

www.couchto5k.wordpress.com

not nearly as interesting as this one if you're looking for details about my personal life. make sure you read the first entry for an explanation of the blog.

I got back to London easily enough, except for a minor taxi mishap and, oh yeah, they almost didn't let me back in the country!

Have I ever said British immigration is ridiculous? I've had weird experiences with them before. Them asking a million irrelevant questions about my stay, etc. But this time the dude was seriously like "you have no right to enter." Luckily I stayed calm, articulate and confident, and after 5 minutes of sticking to my story, he ended up stamping me in.

Of course its freezing cold and raining here. Unlike sunny France and Roma! It downpoured in Rome a couple times but the warmth made up for it. London is just miserable.

These next couple days will include last minute sightseeing (yes, I still haven't done a lot of touristy stuff in London), hanging with my friends, applying for jobs in Baltimore, and closing my British bank account. I look forward to seeing you all next weekend at some point!

P.S.- There is a new blog in the works. Its gonna have a theme this time. I still plan on keeping this one for personal accounts. Stay tuned :)