Twilight Zone

Let's just say this week has been weird.
Updates later.

Pray for me today...just pray

Do not worry or be anxious about anything, but in everything through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. And the peace that transcends understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Make-out hair, declarations of love and other questionable encounters

Saturday was an interesting day in Laurie-Land.

I was finally wined and dined (per this year's resolution). I must say having a man cook me dinner was quite nice and very much appreciated. I just wish he hadn't invited those two other people to tag along...

Afterward, I went to a party at my friend Todd's house. Todd throws amazing parties, and this was no exception. However, I think perhaps I'm giving off the wrong vibes to men.

One guy grabbed me in a passionate embrace as he ran his hands through my hair and stared into my eyes.

Another guy pulled his shirt open and asked me to sign his chest.

And finally, a very drunk Indian guy (who I just met that night) told me several times that he loved me as he attempted to dance with me crushed against him.

The crazy thing is I'm not taking any of these stories out of context.

Like a Kitten?

Earlier this week I threw an old gray sweater into the wash along with my towels. I didn't think anything of it until this morning when I stepped out of the shower, pulled one of the fresh towels out of the cabinet and began to dry myself. That's when I realized my wet skin was completely covered in gray fuzz.

Let's Recap

It's not ok to ask a girl out on Facebook. How do I know? Because I have been the innocent victim of these attacks twice now. On the up side, getting asked out on FB is MUCH better than getting dumped on FB. And in a way, it's better than not getting asked out at all.
But still...guys...coach each other on this one.
Spread the word.
Man up.

Top 10

Reasons David Skipper should comment on my blog

10. He reads the QQ every day
9. He'd generate blog-buzz
8. He takes me way too seriously
7. He doesn't take me seriously enough
6. It would be a world first
5. It would give him more credibility when he complains about lack of interesting blog material
4. Other men would stand in awe
3. It would impress all the ladies with his wit and insight
2. He comments in private and should own up to it in public on the world wide interwebs
1. It would make me so happy

Progress

Last weekend I passed the halfway mark on my fitness challenge with Mindy. After two weeks of working out every day, I've lost 4.2 lbs, increased my endurance and gone to bed sore nearly every night. :)

I haven't missed a day yet. And I don't plan to. I'm in it for the gold.

Right and Wrong

There is a right way to talk to a girl and a wrong way. I experienced both on Saturday.

Exhibit A: The Right Way

"Laurie, I don't understand why you're not dating anyone. You're so BEAUTIFUL."

Exhibit B: The Wrong Way

"Are you sweating like a pig?"

Hee hee

Call Me...Karina

I was chatting with a coworker today who informed me that her brother-in-law is in love with my voice. She wants to set me up with him. The problem is that based off my voice he thinks I am tall, dark and exotic.

Oh the irony.

Blogging Laurie-Style

Last night I felt like I was playing out some sort of chick-flick single girl stereotype. I found myself cooking stir-fry at 10pm while waiting for a guy to come over.

He turned up around 10:30. During the short time he was over I had to push him away several times, tell him not to get physical and remind him that no means no. Of course, this only made him try harder.

Oh, and as he was leaving he looked at me and said "when you blog about me tomorrow...be sure and make it sound like this was a booty call."

Done.

Hug a Journalist

Sunday is Hug a Journalist Day. Just thought I'd let you know, in case you might want to...well...hug me.

Straightforward

I recently started hanging out with a high school girl named Luzy and brought her to church with me last night. I was reminded how few filters teenagers have on their thoughts and comments. We were in the hall at church, grabbing a cup of coffee before the service and Luzy turned to me and said "when do you want to get married?"

I was a bit startled (I've only known this girl for a week) but good-humoredly replied "now." An older woman standing nearby heard this exchange and smiled at me.

Luzy immediately followed up with "how many kids do you want to have?"
I paused and moment and then decided honesty was the best policy so I said "three or four."

The older woman gave me a sharp look and said "oh honey, you ARE ready to get married."

Facebook and other sources of confusion

On a weekly, if not daily basis, Facebook causes confusion in my world. I wish someone would publish rules for Facebook behavior and etiquette. For example, today I received a friend request from someone I've never met before. I know who the guy is and we happen to have quite a few friends in common...but I simply have never met him. So should he really count as my Facebook friend? I'm inclined to think no.

I also get friend requests from people who listen to me on the radio. They seem to be primarily gay men (not that there's anything wrong with that) and they LOVE me. I don't accept their requests. I'm not on Facebook for work...only for pleasure....or something.

Then there's the whole application nightmare. Would you people please stop adding me to your zombie armies and your flair boards and top friends?! I don't want all that stuff. I finally caved on a kidnap request...but only because it was a VERY persistent guy...and he's cute.

This brings me to the chat function. Oh you tricky little deceptive FB-feature. Dear Chat, how we love you and how you mislead us. I'd like to go ahead and put it out there for the guys...you really should NOT ask out a girl over FB chat. I'm just sayin'.

Ok, now that we've cleared that up, I think there should also be rules for who you chat with and how much you're allowed to share. If we have only said hi to each other once or twice, you really should refrain from IMing me with all the details of your relationship history and whether or not you've been sexually active.

That said, if you ARE the aforementioned cute guy you are most welcome to IM me. But let's not FB-chat for six months before you ever get around to the point, mk?

Whew. I feel better.

Compliment, or Clueless?

Last week I was chatting with a friend of mine and he made a comment that really stuck with me. I asked him why he was hanging out and talking with me when the girl he really likes was on the other side of the room. He said "because you're the comfortable girl."

Exsqueeze me?! Please explain.

"It's just that you're easy to talk to and I can be myself and be normal around you...and not have to worry about impressing you. You make me comfortable."

Ohhhh how many times I have heard this. And every time it drives me crazy. I told him it makes me uncomfortable and that I don't like having that role. He didn't seem to understand. In fact, he thought that by telling me I was his comfortable girl that he was giving me a compliment.

I don't know where I'm going with this...it's just been on my mind a lot this week. The blog seemed like a good place to unload it. That's all. Carry on.

From Our Moscow Bureau

Winter is a wonderful time. It makes most folks think of snow, warm coats, funny looking ski hats, and hot chocolate (or tea depending which side of the pond you were born). What it should make you think about is falling on the ice.

I've fallen down more times in the past two months than I've fallen in the last 15 years. Last month I fell on the street and literally did the Nestea plunge flat on my back on the hard iced over concrete. The only thing that broke my fall was my coworker's laptop that I had offered to carry home in my backpack (he'll never ask me to do that again).

I've also fallen on the cold frozen granite steps that lead down into the subway. The icing on the cake (get it! Icing!) from that experience was landing on the broken beer bottle that some bum had discarded at the end of the stairwell. I ended up getting glass in my shoe and had to remove both my shoes and socks so that I could get the shards out of my foot (how would you like to have been sitting next to me on the train for that little medical procedure?).

But the best so far was when I fell while walking to the grocery store near my flat. I tried to grab a light pole to keep from falling but it too was iced over. In a last ditch effort I flung my leg around the pole and slid down it until I ended up sitting on my butt in the middle of the busy sidewalk. One guy actually stopped and looked at me and snickered. I like to think he was considering stuffing a dollar bill in my…you get the picture.

I've decided now that the best way to confront my ineptness on the ice is to go to ice skating rinks and practice falling in a controlled environment. I've already been a couple of times this year to the ice skating rinks around town and I believe that it is helping hone my skills for navigating my way to/from the office each day. Don't get me wrong. I still fall occasionally. Come to think of it, I still fall a lot. Maybe if I wore a sequin-covered unitard while walking on this glacier that they call a city I would have more agility. Maybe…

-Chaz Michael Michaels aka The Moscow Correspondent

Spangles and other random factors

I experienced a life first today. I bought a workout video. Never done that before. But when I saw Maksim glittering on the cover of the Dancing with the Stars dance workout I knew I had to have it. Now I just need to add some rhinestones and feathers to my yoga pants and I'll be good to go.

In other news, I was a little sad that the Cardinals lost the game. I decided on Saturday that I needed to pick a team to root for. I knew the Cards were the underdog and had never been to the Super Bowl. I decided to pull for them because I do love the underdog...and I had a really cute red top I could wear. :)

HealthQuest 2009: Survivor LaurMins

I've started a fitness challenge with my friend Mindy. We decided to challenge one another to see which one of us could work out the most in February. Whoever has the most days at the end of the month wins a $30 giftcard.

We're only two days in, so I'm still feeling good about the outlook and am pretty sure I'm gonna nail this one. She's going down...

I'll keep y'all posted on the progress.