living in sin

Well, it's all over, it's March, I have to accept that my birthday is officially over and done with :)
Had a looooooooooovely evening last night. Dinner at Andy's Mediterranean Grille in Walnut Hills - delicious food, tasty specialty drinks, and a wonderfully friendly and talented belly dancer. The Beau even got up to shake his groove thang (or at least, to shake his lack of hips) at her request. Most everyone on my invitation was able to make it (with reasonable excuses to the few who couldn't), and I do believe a good time was had by all.
And now, I have discovered Adonis. So much fun. I've been wondering if Cinci had any kind of decent gay club, and this place fits the bill. Nice bartenders, cozy front room, drag show, good techno, lots of eye candy, numerous bathrooms (hey, when you have a small bladder, this is important!). It was just a small crowd that came out with me - including The Beau, raven34, AM and her Beau, queensheba, el_coyotl, and el_coyotl's roommate. I was a little sad that it was such a small crew, but not sad at all about who the small crew consisted of, because it was mucho fun, filled with dancing and drinking and ogling. I approve of this place! I want to go back!
Most surprisingly, I am not hungover today. I kept it safe with Morgan's and coke, so the caffeine kept me up and Morgan's and I have a fairly friendly relationship. I'm tired today, but I have to say that last night was definitely a good time.

Friday: long. Longday is looooooooong. To work all day, and busy. To STAF immediately thereafter (1/2 hour drive), to clean and love up 2 rooms of kitties. To home (1/2 hour drive), so I could shower. To the Mad Hatter (1/2 hour drive), where The Beau and his band had their very first gig yaaaaay! Was a way fun night, diverse group of people and an adorable tattoo artist, and too much beer on an empty stomach. Home about 2 AM.

Saturday: hangover. Sleep till 2. Hangover all gone! Many chicken wings consumed, and 1 (one) Wii purchased. For $250. Which is about $75 less than they are selling for on eBay. HAH! If you want one in Cinci, there's a Gamestop on the west side that still has around 20 or so new ones in stock. Much Guitar Hero was played. MUCH.

Sunday: no hangover. Brunch at 1:45. The Best. Quiche. Ever. Made. I Am Totally Not Kidding. Many, many mimosas, and many, many hysterically funny things said, all of which make no sense out of context. Some (mostly SFW) snippets:
"I could just put this in my mouth all day!"
"Pulp is the semen of oranges"
"do smurfs come up to you and ask if they can live in you?"
The rest that were twittered are.. um.. pretty NSFW.
Post-brunch, off to play Rock Band at a friends' place, complete with more alcohol, a chicken sandwich, chocolate, and a Whose Line Is It Anyway break, which made me laugh until I almost peed myself.
After Sunday? I have laughed so much my abs actually hurt. Win!

Today: Work. Final exam tonight. Le sigh. I haven't studied very much, but considering I have a 100% in the class right now, PLUS extra credit, I'm not too terribly worried.

I am SO exhausted. It's been a weekend full of activity, starting Saturday with a long walk with The Beau, then another long walk with him and a mutual friend as we went up to the Reggae Run, then meandering around the afterparty, then to another friends' place for a late night fire and beer. Then today we met up with more friends and went to Kings Island (with free tickets, YAY), leaving about 11 am and arriving home about 7:30 pm. Note that ALL outdoor activity was conducted in 90-93 degree heat. (fuck Cincinnati weather!)
On the plus side, KI was practically deserted; we didn't wait more than maybe 30 minutes for a ride, and often walked right on. And, I found my new favorite roller coaster: Flight of Fear. It's a fantastic engineering job, with loops and twists and turns all neatly compacted into a warehouse, and run in near-total darkness. LOVE. That's the first coaster in a while where I had the kid-reaction of "LET'S DO IT AGAIN YAAAAAAAAAAY" immediately upon exiting :)
My feet hurt and I've taken more showers this weekend than I have over the last week, but I am going to have the best night's sleep EVAR and I've had so much fun.

There's lots of other stuff I've wanted to post about - how class is going, what a delightful Friday/Saturday I spent with bug_mama and her munchkin, the job, how my own social attitude is expanding and developing, how my month of sobriety went (ok, look, I only really made it 3 weeks, but I had an attractive woman offering me tasty beverages at the end of week 3, and I just really couldn't pass that up), movies I've seen, various to-do lists, future plans (my weekends are booked up for a while, and Tuesday I'm going to a shoe/wine party), etc. etc.

Hell, that gives y'all a pretty good summary, right there, anyway ;) I'm off to eat Skyline and have a glass of wine. I think I've worked off plenty enough calories to merit that. :)

I've completely quit drinking for this month (minus Labor Day weekend and the very last weekend of Sept., for a special occasion). The Beau has also done this; we encourage each other in our solidarity.
All this sobriety has done several things for me:
1) I think it's messed with my digestive system. I've had more stomach issues the past week than I've had in a while. I think my intestinal flora and fauna are confused :)
2) Ruined my night life
3) Kept me going to bed early and waking early
4) Helped me spend the days clear headed and awake
5) Saved me money
6) Saved me calories
7) Left me bored with the idea of going out till all hours to watch other people get drunk
8) Left me feeling slightly bored/boring entirely

I've continued to go to Curves at least 2x a week. (Oh who am I kidding; it's not been >2x a week since I joined) While I don't feel I've lost weight (and the scale supports that theory), I do feel a little firmer and it also appears I've lost cellulite on my thighs. That is a happy happy thing :)

I'm watching Heroes Season 1 like crack. Also striving to finish up Deadwood.

It's like, I turn 30 and suddenly I feel like I only have 2 choices; I can be a partier or I can have kids. The inbetween is... odd, and I need something *more*, but I don't know what that "more" is. I think I'm just restless. Looking for something extra.
(And no. The extra I'm looking for is most definitively NOT children.)
School starts in 2 weeks - I'm hoping the night class for which I'm registered will offer me that little bit extra I need.

Alcohol count:

FAILED less than 2 weeks in. I am having my second beer.
I have loads of justification - centering around "I came home today and worked, and will have more work to finish later on this weekend."
I am least sipping and appreciating quality as opposed to chugging.
I will continue the rest of the month and re-assess as needed.

I want to feel alive again more lively, more involved, more interesting.

I went out tonight, with N, to a friend's house, to have a few drinks and hang out and maybe play cards (though we didn't).
It was nice, but it wasn't quite the distraction I was looking for.
I fear I'm headed for a vaguely not-nice place and I'm staving that off as much as possible. I'm at least aware enough that I shouldn't have been alone tonight that I chose to go out instead.

This is not it, this is not quite me.

My cat is trilling at me, so it must be time to go to bed :)

[edited on 3/18, 8 am]

'course the aftermath of a lovely evening is usually a nasty hangover. BLEAH!

I've also found that hangovers with 20/15 vision are WORSE than when I wore glasses and could just take them off and make the world all nice and fuzzy.

Welcome home (soon), scarybaldguy :)

After this weekend, I have a feeling I'm going to want nothing except water and light, fluffy vegetables and salads for a little while. I didn't think I'd get sick of alcohol... but whoooooooooo I'm sick of it right now! (Note that I'm not hungover, and haven't actually had a bad hangover for some time. I'm just tired of booze. Don't worry! I'm sure it'll pass ;) )

Sick of passing out at the table? Can't stand the taste of Red Bull? Really want to get drunk and watch the sunrise? Now there's B-to-the-E! Get your trendy exciting new "brew" today!

I'm going to Paris on Friday. Then Belgium, then England.

I have 2 days to figure out how the hell to curb my behaviour whilst I've been drinking.

Basically, I'm a flirtatious freak after a pint or 2. Which isn't a problem, when I'm dealing with people who are my work "equal".... especially if they've been out with me before. The problem is, my behaviour with the people who will be reporting to me. Now, I haven't crossed any lines, so get your minds out of the gutter; the problem is, I just don't know how to behave myself. I imagine that "mean drunks" have the same sort of problem. You can *know* what you did After The Fact, and you can *know* What Your Problem Was, but. How do you control it in the moment?

I give major props to someone who will likely never read this; who dragged me aside and implored that I think about my actions. I hope said person is willing to do it again, if it comes to that. I hope I have the strength to be myself without getting myself in trouble.