I read over the entry I wrote on Friday, and I couldn't believe how negative it was. I was just in a bad, bad mood. I don't usually get in moods like that anymore.
Of course, I didn't post it up until today because I didn't have the time.
I was afraid that the dinner cruise would end up like so many of our well-planned family outings -- an utter nightmare. I could picture my dress suddenly not fitting, my parents getting into one of their usual fights during dinner, or the cruise being one of those horrible travesties you see in the movies: advertised as a dinner cruise and ending up as you on a dinghy with a bag of potato chips and a bottle of generic coke. Instead, it was everything you'd dream a dinner cruise of being. Excellent service, a bottle of the most expensive (and, presumably, the best) champagne they offered, and gourmet food. There was a sort of bonus gourmet appetizer that involved hummus, wild mushrooms, and something that apparently originated as sun-dried tomatoes but tasted wonderful. This was served with a salad (that I ignored) and pita wedges. The actual appetizer that I ordered was a seafood pastry puff with a tomato-parmesan sauce. The entree was [scallops, shrimp, grilled vegetables, and pasta in a lemon/wine/cream sauce] astonishingly good. And the tiramisu (and the subsequent offerings of chocolate-dipped strawberries) was to die for.
The cruise was on the Oddessey, which goes up the Potomac River to Georgetown Harbor. We passed under the Key Bridge, which I've walked over several times on my way to the Metro from Georgetown. It's very formidable at night, viewed from the water. It has arches and everything; something I never realized in all the times I walked over it.
It was a balmy night, and we took several walks on the deck. My parents kept insisting that the waiter was eyeing me, but I paid them no mind.
They got me a sapphire necklace and earrings for my birthday. They also unveiled their latest attempt at keeping me home. They told me that they don't really care how late I stay out, but they would like me to call if I'm going to be out later than 2:00 a.m., so they don't worry. That sounds perfectly reasonable. I'll make use of that new regulation right up until I move out. Which should be soon, regardless of all the bonuses they throw my way.
Somehow, the evening ended with me falling asleep naked next to Dirk. I woke up at 2:30, though, and went home.
My car is beautiful. I am in love with my new car. I am already running up mad mileage on it because everything's so fucking far away from everything else here. However, I've noticed a vicious protective streak now that I've got a car of my own. I am a (nearly) benevolent dictator again. No smoking, no eating, lock your doors when you get out or there'll be hell to pay. Does everyone get this way with their first new car? It drives like a dream and the tape player works perfectly (after the accident, the player in my parents' cavalier had this nasty habit of playing both sides of the tape at once whenever the temperature changed).
I didn't go on any drinking sprees. I'm not really sorry about that, because I don't have anyone to drive me home. The only alcohol I had this week-end was the champagne on the dinner cruise. I don't feel deprived or anything, because I've got the entire rest of my life to get smashed.
My mom's boss said that on her 21st birthday, her husband got her a six pack of beer, and that was it. I couldn't imagine being 21 and married. Shacking up, yes. Married, no.
Which brings me to Joe and Marie. We picked Marieup at National Airport on Sunday. She flew up from New Mexico after only being home for a few weeks, because she's moving in with Joe and his family. Her mother doesn't care and her grandparents want her gone. She's a senior in high school. While I'm happy for them and I realize that Joe was utterly miserable without her, I just want to shake her and ask, "What the hell are you thinking?" Don't get me wrong. I love Marie. I love having her up here in VA where we can hang out and stuff. It just seems like such a huge decision to be making when you're a few months away from being 18. At least she's going to school up here.
It seems like a lot of people are doing the permanent hook up thing (permanent for now, at least). Deb moved in with her boyfriend over at VA tech -- they've got an appartment there, now. Jon (Katie's ex) got married. Married! Isn't he younger than me? And he couldn't have been with the girl for very long.
I'm tired and I have a headache. I'm in a different office, which I don't like. Luckily, this is only for one day. The other office, the one that I'm assigned to for the rest of the month [where the idiots thought I was supposed to start on Friday instead of today, so they told me to come back tomorrow] looks equally grim. The gray matter's being spread thin here at the main building.
Why are the people in the main building so grim? Why do they all remind me of idiot droids? Is it because they seem completely incapable of making any spontaneous decisions? Is it that blank stare they all have? I can't believe I'm stuck working with these idiots.
Don't get me wrong. I like working here. I make a lot more money than most people I know, for doing squat. I just wish there were more interesting people. And don't get me started on that ass-kisser who's in Clerical Support with me. He's middle-management material if I've ever seen it.
