It seems like everyone has just dropped off the face of the Earth here, the frog board and over at Rage.... Maybe everyone is taking a hiatus like all of the tv shows?

So.... I guess I'll join you. The only "news" in my life other than I mailed off the lease on the beach house is that I've just started taking that new diet drug ALLI. We'll see if it helps speed me towards a more beach-friendly body.:) Oh, I kinda sorta have a crush on this guy at work. Sorta kinda. I enjoy flirting with him.I won't pursue anything because I believe dating men you work with leads to disaster.

Here are some fun things to keep you occupied until the urge to blog comes back.

You Are Gwen Stefani!

(If We3 is reading this -- it's bananas. B A NA N AS.)

Your Seduction s t y l e - The Coquette

You are a pro at playing the age old game of hard to get.

Your flirting s t y l e runs hot and cold, giving just enough to keep them chasing you.

Independent and self-sufficient, you don't need any one person to make you compelte.

And that independence is exactly what makes people pursue you.

(Tis true that I like to flirt.. and I do enjoy the chase and do get bored quickly.)

You Are 50% Weird

The questions for the "weird" quiz didn't make sense, but whatever.

You Are Cookie Monster

COOKIE MONSTER is my favorite Sesame Street character... then Ernie... then the Grouch.

You Are 28% Nerdy

You're a little nerdy, but no one would ever call you a nerd.
You sometimes get into nerdy things, but only after they've become a part of mainstream culture. How Nerdy Are You?

Your Birthdate: October 28

The above "love life stuff" is pretty cool... nailed me. :) I think I'm "due" for my "true love" now. I've had my heart broken exactly 6 times in my life. Strangely, I don't think I know any men born on the 1st, 10th, 19th or 28th of the month.

You Are: 30% Dog, 70% Cat
You and cats have a lot in common.
You're both smart and in charge - with a good amount of attitude.
However, you do have a very playful side that occasionally comes out! Are You More Cat or Dog?

No wonder Molly and I get along so well.

Your best match is a Gemini, Libra, or Aquarius

Why? You crave excitement and playful banter
Only an Air Sign can match your wit - and keep you on your toes
As for fun, an Air Sign guy will shower with tons of surprises
Just be sure to introduce him to some new playful experiences as well! What Sign Guy Should You Date?

Hmm... first love was a Gemini. That didn't work out. He ended up wanting my roommate. I don't think I know any Libra or Aquarius guys.

In honor of Father's Day ... I'm repeating a blog about my dad.

My dad, "Steve"

My parents are not the most technically-savvy people in the world. The aging VCR on top of their tv still flashes "12:00" and it a top-loader. I wouldn't be surprised if it took Beta instead of VHS. I think they've used it once or twice since they bought it because it's "too hard to figure out." I offered to set it for them the last time I went for a visit but my mom said, "We never use it. We have HBO." Guess she's never heard of taping LOST every week so that you can watch it over and over to discuss in a forum.

A few years ago, my dad discovered the internet. First, he had one of those WEBTV gizmos but it interrupted my mom's HBO viewing so it had to go. A friend of my brother's talked him into getting a computer. You can imagine my shock when my mom called me and asked me for my e-mail address. "Your daddy bought one of those computers and it has internet," she said. I spent a good 10 minutes spelling out my e-mail address and explaining that the word "at" really wasn't part of my address, but actually a symbol. She just doesn't work with keyboards so it wasnt something she was familiar with. I ended up MAILING her (via first mail) my e-mail address so that my dad could type it into his email account.

Soon after, I started getting these e-mails from "Steve(and a bunch of numbers)" @yahoo.com. I didn't know a Steve and I was done with my internet dating by this time so I would just delete the e-mails unread, thinking they were spam. Then, my mom called and said, "Your dad wants to know if you've gotten his e-mails." I told her no and then asked for his e-mail address so I could send him a test message. "It's "Steve(and a bunch of numbers)"@yahoo.com," she said.

My dad's name is not Steve. So, I asked her to put him on so I could ask him why his e-mail address was STEVE (and a bunch of numbers). I thought that maybe Nick, my brother's friend, had played a joke on my dad and told him he had to have that name or something.

"Have you heard of chatrooms?" my dad asked gleefully when I got him on the phone. (My dad is in his late 60s and NOT the gleeful type.) I told him that I had heard of chatrooms. He said, "Go onto YAHOO and look up my profile." So, I asked him why he picked "Steve" and he said, "I didn't want those girls in the chat room to know who I really am." Hmmm.... a total computer novice yet he had already figured out how to play the chatroom game.

So, after I hung up the phone, I looked up "Steve" on yahoo profiles and was shocked at what I found. There, looking back at me, was a photo of this buff twentysomething body-builder type with curly blonde hair and blue eyes. The profile listed him as 25, living in Pittsburgh and working as a postal worker. His hobbies involved fast cars, working out, and fast women. ACK! My dad was a himbo! (Male bimbo!) I immediately tried to call him on the phone but kept getting a busy signal, so I emailed "Steve" and told him to get off the computer so I could call him. He responded that he was "in the middle of a chat" and would get back to me. Sheesh.

So, that year, when I went home for the holidays, my dad took me into his playroom (he has a room where he tinkers with gadgets and such where he goes to get away from my mom) and showed me his computer. He then showed me his harem of chat-buddies. Most of the women had "sexually oriented" names like "XTC469" and "HOTMAMA4U". They ranged in age from early 20s to mid-40s, I'd say. Brunettes, redheads, blondes. All shapes, sizes and appearances. Of course, considering that my dad really didn't look like "Steve", who knows how many of them were real?

While I was there, he got "IM'd" by one of his women. I watched as he hopped onto his stool and started typing away-- the two-finger method. I was shocked and appalled by the words streaming from my dad's fingers. I blushed just reading them and I read erotica for fun!

I lectured my dad on the dangers of cyber sex and internet porn and to be careful he doesn't accidentally chat up a police officer undercover. I cautioned him on giving out too much information and leading these women to his house. I also suggested that he not get too serious about any of them because they think they are writing a hot guy named Steve.... not an aging grandpa named Bob who has bird-legs and a beer gut. He said, "Aw, it's just fun... and it pisses your mom off."

Now, whenever I see an ad on the internet and the guy seems "too good to be true", I wonder if it's my dad, downloading pix of male models and creating new personas. That thought alone will keep me single well into the next decade.

I GOT THE HOUSE!!!!

:D

-------

June 15 is RYAN's 21st BIRTHDAY (ZugZug)

Number 1 song in the US on June 15, 1986: On My Own - Patti Labelle and Michael McDonald

Top 100 Songs for 1986 http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1986/top100.htm

Top Music Videos http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1986/mtvvmas.htm

Top Grossing Movies in 1986 http://imdb.com/Sections/Years/1986/top-grossing

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!! Oh, to be 21 again.....

The Best Of....

In honor of the 2 year mark of my blog (well, ok, I'm about a week off of the 2 year mark), I've decided to create an index/table of contents of sorts of some of my more popular and more interesting blogs. Feel free to revisit. :) I did not include any beach stories. Until I hear back from the realtor, I didn't want to torture myself.

DATING STORIES

Thank Goodness It's Friday....

The Lure of The Romance Novel...

Massage, anyone?

Searching for Hidden Treasure

The Lighter Side of Dating

You're missing what?

Girl in Pink Shirt Seeks....

You oughta be in pictures...

Has anyone seen my beer?

You wanna meet where?

Will you marry me?

You Can't Hide From Me...

Please stop shouting at me...

RANDOMNESS

50 Things

Informaton, please...

Things I Miss From My Childhood

A tinypic of me

Something Borrowed...

It's In My "site"

She's Crafty....

How may I be of service?

Where in the world...

50 More Things

To Sleep, Perchance To Dream

Sampled from Someone Else's Blog

Confessions of a Thirtysomething Drama Queen

What I Am is What I Am

FAMILY STORIES

Mondays.... and Molly

Being the Big Sister

My dad, "Steve"

Things My Father Taught Me

Conversations With My Mother

LIFE/WORK STORIES

The Write Stuff

Hiding Under My Bed

Looking at things from the last chapter...

The Barbie Philosophy

PMS and the Post Office Don't Mix

Have I what??

I should have paid more attention to him - edited 2-19-06

It's in the stars...

They Just Don't Get It

I know what you must be thinking -- what's up with Bev that she wrote so many blogs this past weekend?

The truth is -- I've been a little restless this past week end. I sent in that application on the 4th for the beach house so I've been online constantly hoping to get that "you've got mail" message and find an e-mail from the realtor congratulating me on my new home. But, now that I know she's on vacation, I can probably back off of being on line so much.

I also recently reconnected with a few old friends from high school, college and beyond and it's been fun playing email tag trying to catch up on decades of life. So, I've been online for that.

Now, bedtime is upon me and I'm going to push out one more blog and then head off to bed.

When I was a kid, living in rural SW PA, my mom always had a garden every year. A big garden filled with all sorts of vegetables. One of the best memories of that garden was the first tomato. Huge, red, ripe. Juicy. I can even smell the slightly spicy scent.

My mom would make tomato sandwiches for us when we were kids. Thick slices of tomato on buttered white bread. The bread would turn pink and the juice would run down your arm. The butter added a certain creamy quality to the sandwich.

I was watching a show on the food network today and this lady was slicing these thick juicy tomatoes and I felt a craving for those sandwiches my mom used to make.

On my way home from the gym, I stopped at the store and bought a big fat tomato. And some white bread. And some butter.

The sandwich was just as good as I remembered.

Do you have any childhood memories that revolve around certain foods?

If you've never had a tomato sandwich, I highly suggest that you try one. Buy some bacon and lettuce, too. If you can't tolerate the tomato alone, you can turn it into a BLT. ;)

First off, shout out to Kimba who turns 21 again today. :)

At the beginning of the year, when my vacation cup is refilled by the corporate gods, I like to go through the calendar and pick one random Monday each month to just schedule off so that I have a three-day weekend.

Today was this month's Monday off.

I slept in a little, answered a couple of e-mails and talked to a friend on the phone for a little bit. Then, I took some books and magazines to the local "used book" store to see if I could sell them.

The girl at the counter handed me a black marker and asked me to mark out the entire "address" section on each magazine and I casually asked "Why?" I never have before and I've even bought magazines with other people's names and addresses on them and didn't think much of it except, "Oh, how cool, that person lives on Mockingbird Lane". She told me that it was for my protection because there is some scam where people can call the magazine subscription place and using info from my label, have the remaining issues of a subscription changed to a new address. No ID is required. There is no verification.

Amazing, huh? I never would have thought of it. It really really scares me sometimes what people will just think up to keep from paying for things themselves. If they put a fraction of the effort they put into scams into a vocation or saving the world..... (sigh)

So, I thought I'd pass it along.

Still no word from the realtor. I sent her a "Hey, did you get my application" e-mail and got an "out of office" automated reply that she's on vacation. Nice of her not to tell me that before she left, huh? I'm really not having a good feeling about this rental.

Now, I'm gonna go to the gym and float around in the pool and pretend I'm at the beach. :)

I spent most of today (Sunday) watching movies and just being a bum.

One of my favorite "romantic movies" from 2006 was on HBO , THE LAKE HOUSE.

It stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock as two lonely people who "meet" and fall in love with each other through letters left to one another in the mailbox of the Lake House they share. ONLY... he's living in 2004 and she's living in 2006.

At first, it's a little hard for me to "let go" of the whole space-time continuum thing, but once I do, I just totally fall in love with the story. Maybe it's because of my history of "online dating" which starts out with two people getting to know each other through the written word. The two people in the movie seem to have only their "loneliness" and a dog in common yet, they fall in love. Want to be together. The movie gives me a warm feeling. There's just something about two people who seem destined to be together. (I also like the movie SERENDIPITY with John Cusack because it has the same kind of theme.)

I highly recommend it if you like nice romantic movies... It's not gonna rock your world but it'll leave you with a nice "ahhh" sigh at the end... as long as you can get over the fact that the female character "changes" something that happens and by changing that something, she, technically, should have never met the male character but... then there wouldn't have been a movie. :)

No, no, no.... not me. I'm not "knocked up". (How did we come to start using that phrase to mean pregnant and what does it really mean? I tried "googling" it, but there were a bunch of different answers but nothing that really explained how the word "knock" can relate to being pregnant.)

I saw the movie "Knocked Up" today, starring K. Heigl from Gray's Anatomy and Seth Rogen from all of those other comedies by the guy who did The 40 Year Old Virgin. It was funny in places and I actually teared up a little at the end when the baby was born, but I couldn't shake the "What's she doing with him?" thought during the entire movie.

For those who don't know about the movie - plot is this: young, beautiful, successful woman has a drunken one night stand with an unemployed 20something dopehead and then gets pregnant. THEN, she calls him and actually tries to have a relationship with him. That's when I started to get annoyed. She was in a position to raise the child by herself and the guy wasn't exactly stellar father material. In fact, I'm surprised his sperm weren't pickled by all of the drugs he was doing. Maybe sitting around in his underwear all the time helped.

As I watched the movie, I kept thinking, "What would I do?" First off, I'm not entirely sure I'd have the baby (please -- no pro-life versus pro-choice debate) but if I did... and I was in a position to provide for the child emotionally and financially ... and the father was a complete loser, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't tell him. What would be the point? Maybe I'd go out with him a couple of times before I started showing to see if he was worthy, but other than that, I'd probably just go on with my life. Keep his name and digits in a safe place in case there was an emergency and I HAD to contact him (like to see if he was an organ or tissue match for some rare illness or something.)

But, that's just me.

So-- in my last blog, I said I had a date with a man who is good with his hands. I got a PM asking me if I was getting a massage. I WISH.

No pedicure. No chiropractor. No carpenter.

The man in question was a mechanic.

A few weeks ago, I started to notice this squealy sound coming from my rear passenger side tire. I didn't really think much of it and if I had the radio up loud enough, I didn't hear it. But, then on Monday, it started to do this scratchy grinding thing with some thumping/bumping tossed in.I emailed the dealership where I got the car and asked if they'd look at my car and tell me what was wrong with it ... and oh, how much will it cost? The guy writes back that they could run a diagnostic, do an alignment and something else and it would cost somewhere around $200.00. Maybe more. He "suggested" that since I have 52K miles on the car and haven't had it serviced (other than for oil changes and air filter changes) since I drove it off of the lot (already used and with several thousand miles on the car) maybe I should just get a 30,000 mile maintenance that would check the car bumper to bumper - flush and replace fluids - replace wipers - change the oil - replace the filters - check the battery - align the tires - check the brakes- check the lights, belt and "plugs" or whatever else needs checked for $400.00. I said OK and dropped the car off at 8 this morning, and then my friend Melanie picked me up at the lot and we had breakfast and saw an early matinee of KNOCKED UP.

During the movie, my cell vibrated. I just figured it was them calling to tell me my car was ready. Then, it vibrated 2 more times. As much as I enjoyed the vibrations, I decided something must be wrong and went to the lobby to check messages. Sure enough -- my brakes were shot. He said I had less than 2,000 mile usage on 3 pads and less than that on 1 pad - the one that was grinding. So, I sucked it up and told him to go ahead and replace the 2 most worn out ones and then I'd come back within the next 1,000 miles to get the other 2 done. I tried to haggle a deal of some sort -- like a free car detailing or something, but no go. I am now thinking about going to automotives school. They had my car for 6 hours and walked away with $750.00 of my money. Ouch, right?

The good news is that I now feel safer driving my car and am very glad I did this before I did something stupid like go for a 600 mile drive and have my brake blow while I'm driving and end up having way more than $750.00 in damages.

Now, I'm going to go play with my budget and see what that little side trip did to my relocation plans. Days like today, I really missed having credit cards.

A shout out to our friend Kimba who celebrates a birthday on Monday. Hopefully, she's not reading this and enjoying a much needed day of rest and squishy sand between her toes at the beach.

But in case she is --

http://www.GlitterMaker.com/ - Glitter Graphics

At Rage, Ryan posted a blog a couple of days ago about how he was thinking of sending a friend of his in Iraq some images, flash files and such and I suggested that he (Ry) ask his cyber friends all over the country to send him a photo of their town so that his friend can take a little trip around the world.

I've been toting my camera around for days trying to find the "perfect" snapshot that just screams Columbus... and I haven't found it yet. I guess I could drive down to campus and take some photos since that's what most people think of when they think of Columbus...

Today.. I took photos of my "day" and thought I'd share them with you so you can have a glimpse into my world.

The alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. I snuggled for a few moments,wishing I could just go back to sleep and forget about work. Not because I hate my job or anything, but mostly because I'm just not sleeping well. (I'm sure it's because I'm worrying incessantly about whether or not I'm going to get the house.) I love Guntram for sending me those relaxation CDs but as soon as I pop one in, something on the CD reminds me of the beach or the ocean and I go off. LOL.

I digress. I got up at 5:30, took a shower, got dressed, fed Molly and the birds (I put some birdseed out for these birds every morning because I know Molly likes to sit on the back of the sofa and watch them eat.) and then headed off to work. It was 6:30.

Here is a photo of my front door as I drove away:

The sun had been up for about a 1/2 hour but the sky was still a little dark in places:

Here's the sun shining bright:

Here's a small portion of my building (name has been whited out for privacy):

Here is the main entrance:

This is the view from the window by my cubicle(of one of the 10 parking lots):

This is looking down the aisle by the windows. I liked the way the light shined in:

This is where I sit (the second cubicle, with that ugly thing hanging on the side): The lighting is poor where I sit so it's like being overcast all day.

I worked until 4:30. Here is the sign at the entrance of my apartment complex:

This is the rear bumper of my car, with its "sticker" homage to the various beaches I've been to:

These are the "green things" I planted outside my back door (as just seeds!!) back in April. I think I may be growing weeds (not the kind you smoke) but I'm just excited that something is growing. Some have blooms. I still don't know what any of them are though:

This is the view from my back door. See that tree on the right at the intersection of the sidewalks? That's where that man was murdered a few months ago.

Finally, a view of the darkened skies right before it rained and chased me inside:

Now, I'm going to go crawl into bed and watch some TV or read... or maybe, sleep. I have to be up early because I have a date at 8 with a man who is good with his hands. ;)

I'll tell you more about that later.

I've been meaning to stop by to update you all on the beach house and realtor situation but I've been terribly lazy. 

After my last blog, I went back online and started looking for other options and found an efficiency motel on the oceanfront, not far from where I vacation every year, that is pet-friendly and that will rent me a kitchenette for the same price as the beach house during the winter months... so I have a "back up" plan in case the realtor bugs out on me or I "fail" the application process.

My friend Janelle hooked up with the realtor at the property on Wednesday morning. THANK GOODNESS there really is a property and realtor!  Janelle provided me some input on the house, neighborhood and sent me some lovely photos. 

The house is an authentic fisherman's "shack" circa mid-century stuck in the middle of semi-urban sprawl.  Expensive cookie cutter condos on one side and residential areas on the other.  Not on the main drag but close enough to get to shopping and etc easy enough. Quiet. Peaceful.  And close enough to the water that you want to never work and just sit on the deck with Jimmy Buffett queued on the CD player and a frothy drink in your hand.  The house is small, but I can do small.  I spent the first 18 1/2 years of my life living in a single-wide trailer.

I'm working on my rental application this weekend.  I've nailed down 2 of 3 personal references.  I've printed out my "financial" statements (pay stubs, retirement and investement balances, checking and savings balances, etc.) Now, I just need to fill out the application and mail it off.  I'm nervous that the debt consolidation thingy will appear as a negative mark on my credit since I didn't technically pay 100% of the balances on the credit card portions, but I did pay 100% of my car loan and student loans.

So, here are some photos of the house thanks to Janelle.  I didn't crop them or re-size them so Photobucket may cut them off.. but you'll get a general idea.  And yes, I know it is small...  but I wasn't looking for a huge cookie cutter place.  No stairs.  Easier to clean.  At the end of the day, all I need is a comfortable bed, a working bathroom and proximity to the shore.  A microwave and fridge tossed in are a bonus.

This is where I'll park my car: 

This is part of the sunroom where I'll crash at the end of the day:

This is the other part of the sunroom:

This is one of 2 bedrooms. I don't have a photo of the other bedroom:

This is most likely where I'll set up my computer:

Looking into the kitchen:

Part of the kitchen:

The entrance to the house:

Looking back at the house from the dunes:

The beach/dunes near the house: 

The money shot -- the view from the dunes near the house:

The view from the deck off of the sunroom side of the house: