grumble grumble, time change grumble grumble.
i've been sleepy all day. i woke up a lot last night. i think i was anxious about being on time to take e to the airport. someone let my phone ring once at 6:00 in the morning. that was enough to make me think to check overread's music quiz. he apparently was a victim of the time change as well and didn't post a new one. it's funny how hard it is to pick out a melody just from reading lyrics. i thought at one time that i knew quite a bit of music but those quizes have made me realize i was wrong. e is good at the quiz. she and i still need to go to the trivia night at the albatross. she claims she's not so good at trivia so we'll have to see.

we had our annual halloween party at work. free lunch and a costume contest. one of my coworkers did a great job as a zombie. everyone was laughing. another guy was an ipod shuffle and his performance was really great as well. they both got up on stage at the end to stall for time and the zombie ended up doing a bit of the thriller video. we also had the cast of gilligan's island, samuel jackson, the dude, george lucas, dueling dynamite, and glenda the good witch. i'm always a little disappointed with my photos from these events. as i take them i have the feeling that they're going to be wonderful but then half of them end up out of focus or the people have terrible expressions on their faces. there are a few that i liked out of the bunch so it's not all bad. i'll send the coworkers to look at them tomorrow, see if i get any feedback.

i talked a little with e tonight. she's out of state for training and tired so our conversation was a little slower than usual. i wanted to be able to spend halloween with her but i guess that'll have to wait for another time. we've already made plans for turkey day so that should be fun. we've also made plans to go to disneyland in november and to new york in december. i think we're both pretty excited about both of those trips. funny how many things i want to experience with her. i didn't think i was really into traveling but she has made me think otherwise. so now she's got me flying in a couple of weeks and i just know my stomach will be in knots. i used to be okay with flying but for some reason, i've changed. i think i need to see if roller coasters affect me in any way, that would tell me if it's just nerves or if i might actually have some sort of motion sickness (which i doubt i have).

did i say how much i liked curling up next to her to sleep? she gets kinda hot so i have to take off most of the covers on my side and i still sweat a little. when she's gone (like now) my bed is big and cold. i'm very comfortable with her and it kinda scares me. not sure i should let myself be so open at this stage of the relationship but i feel like i'd be a fool to stop it.

anyway, sleep beckons and there's a new music quiz...so, i must go. goodnight.

e agreed to go with me to my sister's house today to carve a pumpkin or two with my nieces. i picked her up at 10:30. she wasn't feeling too good though (was a heavy handed bartender to blame?). i had picked out a rather large pumpkin that ended up being really stringy inside. i cut the top and e cleaned out the guts. my sis had one that was just as large but the skin was twice as thick! niece #1 spent her time poking holes in her pumpkin and running around with paper towels. niece #2 was relaxing and making noises while gnawing on one of her socks. i wasn't very happy with the face i carved but e said it was okay. we had some pizza for lunch while niece #1 continued to show off for us. e and i left around 2:30 and we went back to my house to take a nap (e's goal in life is to spread the joys of the nap around the world). i took her home at 4:30 and went home. because of the time change, my internal clock is off a bit so i was restless and decided to go for a walk. i had been taking it easy on my knee since the 10k so it felt really good to be back outside. i walked around the lake and was pretty sad to see my average heart rate was only 92bpm. i so wanted to run! my doctor said i need to do other leg exercises to keep the knee pain to a minimum. i'm thinking of taking up bicycle riding. but then again, maybe i just need to spend time at the gym. maybe even hop in the pool. i was only out an hour but it was dark by the time i got back @ 6:00. so now i'm hungry and wondering if it's too early to eat (and wondering if e wants to join me).

she's gone for 4 days starting tomorrow. :(
as i was walking tonight i was thinking that this might be the first time i feel like i'm in love with a friend. not sure how that sounds but it feels very comfortable and easy. i know that everyone says you have to work at a relationship but this one so far feels more natural than anything i've experienced. that song by air is going through my head now.

the day started off with a drive out to pleasanton. it turned out they couldn't do my oil change because they needed 3 hours to do the 30,000 mile checkup/ safety inspection (how much is that gonna cost me?). so i get to come back next weekend and do it all over again. i'm hoping e will be free so we can do something instead of me sitting in the "lounge" for the entire 3 hours. so, i headed back toward home and decided to stop off at target. i needed to pick up a few things and it was getting close to hungry time and my tummy was thinking of roast beef. i guess i must have spent an hour and a half browsing the isles and picking up things here and there. i tested my blood pressure (systolic=114 diastolic=69 resting heart rate=54 (thanks to inderal)). i bought a bunch of "cleaning supplies" i.e. soap for my face, soap for the floor, soap for the carpet. i'm still looking for the perfect console table so i peeked at what target had. looked at lamps, looked at all sorts of things. bought some candy ('tis the season, ya know). then finally left.
i grabbed lunch to go from arby's; 2 roast beef sandwiches and a medium root beer. then i drove home.
b had her yearly pumpkin carving party and even though i wasn't sure that i really wanted to go, i went. i stayed for a few hours, working on a masterpiece of a white skinned pumpkin while talking to the next door neighbor's kid that i hadn't seen since march(?). an old coworker of mine showed with a girl in tow (omg, a girl!). we chatted a while and planned on going out some time in the future like most everyone does. his belly is fixated on the upcoming crab season and having a crab boil. sounds like fun. so anyway, i'm home, cleaning things and sipping (oops, i'm done) a patron margarita. can you say yummy? things are fuzzy and i'm trying to get in touch with e to see if she's stilll able to go with me tomorrow to my sister's house to carve more pumpkins for the nieces.
guess i'll warm up some pizza and pop in my princess bride dvd.
night all.

great evening

just had a wonderful date with e last night. she took me to trio bistro.
we both had a drink called the cardinal that's made with beaujolais, black currant syrup, black peppercorns, and red pepper flakes. it's so yummy! sweet, spicy, wine...y. we ate appetizers for dinner: the brie croquette, the olive plate, the chicken potstickers, and the crab cakes. i added a chocolate cake & ice cream for dessert so i was really full and happy. we went back to my place and talked a while and answered some of the questions on overread's music quiz before we called it a night. i have such a good time with her.

:)