Somewhere in the Swamps of Hillsborough County

I went to Tampa for five days to see some bands, visit my sis, eat TAAAAAACO BUS!, get tan, and avoid the frigid Midwest temps.

I took a vacation day on Thursday to fly down.  My sis picked me up at the airport, and we went to a small soup-and-salad operation.  I ordered a delicious Armenian lentil soup and fruit salad.  The fruits were definitely local and fresh.  So satisfying!  Then I went to my sister's house to chill and work on some homework (ugh!) until she was off work.  We made plans to meet up with Lindsay for happy hour at some Mexican joint.  We ordered three pitchers of Margaritas, which I just sucked down no problem...until about three hours later.

 OWTH and Slow Death were playing at The Orpheum.  My sis dropped me off, and I was feeling fine.  The first band was local and pretty good.  It was four dudes all dressed like Michael J. Fox a la 'Teen Wolf'.  Hilarious.

The Slow Death were next; its always enjoyable seeing them perform.  I just love Jesse's songs.  OWTH were the headliner. I was down near the front, singing along to every song.  I only had two beers at the show, but the liquor from happy hour was soaking in, and it was like some one snapped her fingers and "POOF!" I'm wasted.  Seriously, just fine and feeling good, to blacked out and sloppy.  I texted my sister when the show was over to come pick me up, and I fell asleep in the back seat of the car within five seconds.  We stopped at Taco Bus on the way home, and I stayed in the car.

Next day, I initially woke up at like 7:30, which was 6:30 my time and my usual time to get up for work.  I wasn't feeling to bad, really.  I was surprised.  I fell back asleep until nearly noon and went downstairs to eat some of the burrito.  Came back upstairs and worked on the rest of my homework (didn't want to have to worry about it later), and then took another nap for a few hours.  I told my sister that I went for a walk around the neighborhood and also basked in the sun at the pool, but I didn't do either of those things.  I just stayed inside.  I wasn't hungover or physically ill, just tired.  It was definitely an "OOPS" kind of drunk.  I don't like being drunk.

On Friday night, my sister and I went to the St. Pete with her new boyfriend (who is 49!).  We went to The Canopy.  It was on a rooftop near the water, and we could see lots of lights.  It was pretty.  There were also stars in the sky!  The Canopy was cold!  I had on pants and a sweater and my coat, and I was still freezing!  But I'm ALWAYS cold.  There were gas heaters, and we sat near one on a couch.  The whole vibe of the place was relaxing.

 Then we went to Tryst so I could get a vegan sandwich.  We sat indoors and felt much warmer.  Then we went to get a cold treat!  There were several gelato places.  I ordered two scoops....both vegan, one raspberry and one mango.  Back home and in bed by 11!  And I'm happy about it!

On Saturday, my sister and I went to Honeymoon Island.  It is a state park and was nice!  The beach was pretty white sand and was crowded!  The water in the Gulf was freezing!  So we just basked in the sun.  I got a little tan on my shoulders.  I missed two areas with the sunscreen....one on my triceps and another behind my knee.  It wasn't a bad burn.  We were on the beach about two hours, and I worked a lot of crossword puzzles.






















There was a hiking trail on Honeymoon Island, too.  It was named The Osprey Trail, and it also forked into The Pelican Trail.  Easy walking, flat flat flat Florida.  It was a piney area, and there were lots of Osprey in big nests.  It was awesome to see them soaring, perched on branches, eating.  There are also bald eagles and great horned owls in the area, but we didn't see any.  We were only on the trail for about 35 minutes.  We had to get back home because we had tix to a BINGO event that evening!  Neither of us had been to BINGO before.  It was at an American Legion Hall, and it was packed with about 400 people easily.

It was a lot of fun; I'd definitely do it again.  It was actually a fundraiser for a local high school, and my sister purchased the tix from her boss's brother, and we knew about ten people from her work who also attended.  It was a lot of fun.  After BINGO, we met up the her bf again and the three of us went to my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant.  Back home and in bed by 11 again!  And I'm happy about it!

On Sunday, Sally, her BF TJ, and Lindsay and I went to Ella's for soul food Sunday brunch.  It was pretty good.  They did have two vegan options; I chose the BBQ tofu with a side of vegan mac n cheese.  After brunch, Paul picked me up, and we went to the canoe on the Hillsborough River.  Paul grew up in Louisiana then Florida, and he knows a lot about the swamp and the animals/trees that live there.  He has his own canoe.  We were out on the water for probably three hours, then we hiked around on the boardwalk.  There were a lot of people fishing.  We did see several other people in boats....kayaks, canoes, and a few small outboard motors.   The whole float was scenic and beautiful.  I would definitely go again.

At the turn-around point, the river opened up and there were vultures in trees.  Seriously, like 200 vultures in trees and on the beach.  It was kind of creepy because the birds didn't vocalize.  It was dead silent except for the flapping of wings.

It is currently mating season for the gators.

And there were alligators.  We saw eight of them!  The first one was fucking huge!  Probably nine or ten feet long!  Paul could sense that I was tense, and we gave the gator a lot of room as we rounded the bend.  It was basking on the bank.  All the them were.  The other ones we saw were smaller....four feet or less.  We did see one slip into the water and start to hide in the mud as we passed, which is where the gators feel the safest.  On the way back upstream, we passed by the first one again.  He was on the other side of the river, basking on the bank since the sun had shifted.  We got a little close to it, just drifting in the canoe.

We got a little too close for (his) comfort, and he slowly turned to get into the water, which is where he feels safe.  He first just floated in the water, and we drifted closer to him, not making any movement in our canoe.  I could have easily stuck my oar out and touched him, we were that close!  Suddenly, he dove underwater with a big splash, and I saw his body swim under our boat to the other side of the river where it was darker/deeper and he could hide out in the mud!  What a close encounter!  It was exciting!  Paul complimented me on not freaking out and capsizing our canoe.
 

Flew home on Monday, satisfied with a nice weekend away, enjoying warm temps. 

Pickle Springs Hike

Jason and I went to Pickle Springs today, which was also the last time I will drive to Farmington to visit him.  He is moving to STL for work and so we can be close to each other.

Hike was nice, we got turned around once at the beginning and had to walk back to the trailhead to check the map---what a bunch of wienies!  We were on the trail for about 90 minutes.  Lots of great natural rock formations.  Scenic overlook was exactly as I remembered.  Lots of moss and ferns; while its still cold here, there are signs that spring is on the way!  There were several areas where there were waterfalls, some of them frozen, and the ice was just beautiful just glistening in the sun.





















We are juveniles:

Happy early birthday!

I got home today, and there was a letter from Forest Park!  I have been invited to start the dental hygiene program THIS fall semester!

I am so excited!  I can quit my job!  I can sell my car!  I can never see mega-jerk co-worker ever again!!

stay-cation

Dr. S is on vacation, and the office is just closed.  I was pumped to have some time at home. And I have been SO PRODUCTIVE!

I have been editing like crazy.

And we really did luck out with being closed this week because it's full on Missouri (misery) out there.  I'm glad to stay inside.  And not have to deal with going in to work and having patients cancel and having to reschedule.

I was supposed to go to a show last night, but it was canceled.  I was so relieved, because I was not motivated to go!

Karen and I went to see The Pixies at Peaboyd on Thursday.  It was phenomenal!  Probably the second time I've been to a real concert (The first being Morrissey).  You know, like a real show with musicians playing the songs flawlessly and a bad-ass visual show included.  I was mesmerized by the lights!!!  They played for 1:40, then encored.  I was blown away.

There was also a Blues game, and a parking spot was nowhere to be found.  We parked a block north of the old Creepy Crawl.  It was maybe fifteen minutes walk with all the snow and ice and stoplights.  My checks froze.  Seriously, I have red burn marks on my face.

Friday, Jason had a show down on Cherokee.  The space was small but nice.  Some of the best bathroom graffiti I've seen in STL.  The sound wasn't too awesome, though.  When we left, we could hear the bass three blocks away!

Also on Friday, I decided to head to work for a few hours.  There were a few things I had to get done.  I was hoping that if I went on Friday, no one would be there.  But I was wrong.  Jerk co-worker (AND HER KID!) were there!  FUCK!  One of the front desk girls was there.  And then office manager and her daughter came up, too.  Luckily, I was in the lab by myself and I could close the door and enjoy some quiet.

Not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow after all this time off.  I would gladly accept a work from job.

Hostage wiener!

I bought a wood carving from Brett, and he brought it to STL last weekend when he was here with his bands.  I forgot about it after the show because I was pumped/focused on eating PIZZZZA!

Brett left this voicemail for me at 1:40am:

Jason and I met him at the casino parking lot the following morning to get the carving.  IT'S SO AWESOME I LOVE IT!!

Stay Retardered weekend recap

Stay Retarderer.  I wasn't super pumped about it being a FUBAR, but at least I got a parking spot close to the door.  Polar vortex was still in full effect and STL was experiencing frigid temps....ZERO!!  Also, single stall bathrooms in a venue that size is bogus!  I stayed sober for want of not having to pee there later.

I went on Thursday because Jason's band* was the opener.  They were great.  Some one, please, give Ron a mic all the time!  Between-song banter was hilarious.  *(They have since been picked up on three more local shows!)

I brought a money melon for John and Josh.  Left it at their merch table.

My Two Waynes were the surprise of the weekend for me.  Chicago-style punk....fast!  Plus, Ronnie was on the drums, and that dude can fucking play.  I love watching him perform.

Friday, I was exhausted.  Luckily, it was already a scheduled day off work.  I slept way to late and got nothing accomplished.  Jason came over after work.  We didn't go see the bands, just passed out by ten p.m., which we were both pumped on.

Saturday was an afternoon showcase and BBQ at the Ballroom.  Place was packed.  Veggie burgers were sold out, but I did put in a few quality sessions with the South Park machine.  Mostly talked with Jonny and Davey.  I knew Tiltwheel's co-headlining spot was going to be rough when Davey was housed by 2pm. 

I had to visit my brother at the jail because he requested that I come visit and set up a time.  If I didn't go, no one else could have gone and he would have lost that visit time.  It was actually nice to see him.  There was a glass divider, and we had to talk to each other through a phone.  I was there for like 45 minutes, and we were joking and laughing a lot.

I picked up a vegan pizza on the way to the venue.  Jason and I went to the show on Saturday night.  We arrived for the final few songs of The Heat Tape.  Jackson was selling merch for The Transgressions.  Nato Coles & TBDB performed, and their set was phenomenal, as expected.  Nato is a showman, and those songs are so much better performed live.  Copyrights were a headliner, I was down near the front losing my mind.  Excellent set.  Outstanding.  Dopamines didn't show up, and I don't even give a fuck.  I'm waaaaay over that band.  My prediction about a Tiltwheel abortion were correct.  I didn't even stay to watch the whole set.  Jonny hitched a ride to Lemmon's with Jason and I after the show.  I ate four pieces of the vegan pizza on the ride there.

Lemmon's was an abortion, too.  Haddonfields played a "drunk proof" cover set.  I don't know what time we left, but I ate two more pieces of pizza on the way home.

results

According to my women's health doc, my pussy is immaculate!!

At my yearly exam last week, I was asked if I wanted a call or 'no news is good news'.

I chose call.  So they called me Tuesday while I was at work and left a voicemail to call back for my results.  Which freaked me out!  I tried calling on my lunch break, but their office was on lunch break, too!  Wednesday was crazy at work and I did not have a chance to call.  So I finally called today, and left a message.  Nurse didn't call me back until nearly 4:30pm.  I was panicking inside the whole time.

Mainly because I like Jason so much, and he told me that he is so happy with the way everything is going for him, it almost seems too good to be true.  I had it in the back of my mind that maybe my cervical cancer was going to resurface, or maybe I was going to test positive for the HIfiVe for something.  This is completely irrational thought.  But it was in the back of my mind.

So, I got the call...normal smear and blood panel negative!  BOO-YAH!!  Now, the beginning of a crazy four-day bender with CHI, MPLS, SoCal pals who are in town.