Just Rambling...

Yesterday was nearly a perfect day. I woke up in time to actually make breakfast, have free coffee at home, shower and get off to work. I'm not a morning person. I go to work at 10am. So, when I have to get up early, I am reminded of how much can actually get accomplished in the tender hours of the morning. Still, I prefer to only see them on occasion. Wouldn't want them to lose their charm.

My self-talk surprised me pleasantly as I was getting out of the shower. "Don't forget your vitamin, Beautiful Lady," I say to myself. That shocked me. I can't explain why, but it was a pleasant shock. I wish I could download my self-talk and analyze it. Most of the time I don't think I really notice it, or pay much attention, but this caught my attention. It was a cute little shot in the arm. Reminds me of the comedian who insists that, "They call it self-esteem for a reason!"

Work went fine. I got a copy of some papers that were particularly exciting. It feels so amazing to be making progress in the right direction. I did some more research into law schools. I spent all day Thursday in a training for preparing T-visa petitions for victims of human trafficking. I am extremely attracted to this area of law. It's in the hopper with all of the other things I want to do when I grow up, but I actually think immigration law, with some degree of practice devoted to human rights/women's rights contexts would be a pretty efficient amalgamation of my disparate skills. Who knows? First step, freedom. And it's on the horizon.

After work I went out to dinner and salsa dancing with my prima and a few of her friends. It was so much fun. I hate going dancing when I don't have interested friends going with me. But when everyone's into it, it's so much fun. Let me pause here and make a cultural observation. I prefer going out with foreign men. They are such gentleman and though many women may be offended by this, I like they fact that they buy all of your drinks and those of the women you're with. I've encountered this many times now and I like it. I like going out dancing with my girlfriends and have a guy assume that if he buys one of us a drink, he buys for all of us. I don't feel entitled to this, but I appreciate it. It's why I like the salsa scene so much. Such diversity. Last night I danced with a German, an Italian, a Mexican, a West Virginian, and the rest--I don't know. Have I mentioned before that I love meeting different people? LOL.

One question? Why do people go to salsa clubs if they don't want to dance, or even learn? They take up space and get stepped on. I stepped on one gawker's ankle last night. He later told me that he'd had surgery in that exact spot. I apologized profusely, as I had done when it occurred. He then informed me that he was going to sue me. I smiled and nodded and rubbed his shoulder while saying, "OK, you do that," in the most patronizing manner I could muster. Asshole. Dance! That way you're not a sitting duck to get stepped on. Much harder to hit a moving target.

And, I'm getting old. I'm starting to appreciate the first shift of the dancers, you know, the ones who get in before they start charging a cover. I guess we got to the club at about 9 or so, and by the time they were charging a cover and there was no room to turn around, I had successfully sweat out my hair and the waistband of my pants and was ready to go. Somehow I still didn't get to bed until 2:30am. That's about the same time I woke up this afternoon, 2:30. I love the weekend.

I fail to understand why people cram their weekends full of activities. I've done all the running around I plan to do by Friday night. I might do a little shopping (groceries and such), but a day full of must-dos is a no-no for me on the weekend. Sleep is an under-appreciated pastime. I'm actually waiting for my new living room TV to be delivered, so I can put the one I currently have in the living room in my bedroom where it belongs. That way I can watch FoodTV from the comforts of my bed all weekend if I want. I really want to make my bedroom more of a sanctuary, but I don't have the money at the moment to make it more than a clean comfortable place to rest. In time. In time.

And the last randomness for today, I've been picking out artwork for my apartment. My place is extremely colorful (I'll take pics and upload them later on). But I want to go with black and white photography on the walls for balance. Again, I have no money, so I'm stuck with framing my buys from allposters.com.

Here's some of what's in my shopping cart. Eventually I'll figure out how to pay for it all when I click "checkout".