See -- I do get out

Started yesterday off pretty slowly. Took a bath, washed my hair, walked Reba, then leisurely ate some SEEDuction bread with cream cheese while watching this week's taped eps of "EUReKA" (no WAY is Henry actually going to leave, I won't allow it) and "CSI:NY" (love Gary Sinise). Then my friend Sarah and her boyfriend came over, and the four of us did some running around. First, we went down to Magazine Street to a bath shop Sarah found a couple of weeks ago.

Let me just say that I HATE driving on Magazine Street. It is so freaking narrow, and I always feel like I'm going to side-swipe a parked car. In all actuality, they need to not let people park on Magazine, and then it wouldn't be so bad.

So I wasn't all that impressed with the bath shop. Their scents weren't true to what they were supposed to be (amber didn't smell like amber, etc.), and it was way too expensive. Or maybe I'm just a soap snob ever since I started making my own. I do admit that when I saw a scent called "oatmeal, milk, and honey," I thought to myself, "Why have a soap that just smells like oatmeal, milk, and honey when you can make soap that actually has those in it?"

After the bath shop, we went to Michael's where I bought four pounds of olive oil glycerine, two packs of soap molds, and soap dye. Then we went to a "western" store so Greg could look for a belt, then we went to a Goodwill store where Sarah found a groovy serving tray, Greg found a really nice print, and I got a sweater. Then there were adventures at Walmart. I think we asked not less than three times "Where's a taser?" because of the screaming children. Man, I hate kids in Walmart.

Upon returning home, Erika was here. Before she could do anything, she insisted on giving me my birthday present. She made me a beautiful necklace, and when I have a chance, I'll take a photo of it and post it. She helped me put my stuff away and go to the bathroom, then we were off again. We went back to Magazine Street (::sigh::) to a restaurant called Nacho Mama's. Over my grilled chicken quesadillas and E's tortilla soup and fish taco, we caught each other up on our lives since we saw each other last (Labor Day).

After we were full, we drove over to Canal and Broad Streets to a bar called Chickie Wah Wah to hear my officemate Kim's boyfriend's band play. The sound was turned up a bit too loud, but otherwise Big Sam's Funky Nation was a great listen. Guitar, bass (Kim's bf), drums, keyboards, sax, trombone, and one very entertaining, mucho-dancing band member. About halfway through the first set, though, I had to make a beeline out the door for some fresh air. A woman standing next to me lit up a cigarette, and I think something about where she was standing in relation to the ceiling fan blew her smoke right into my face. Set off my asthma. I got outside, coughed a few times, and then I was OK. E and I hadn't been outside ten seconds when the bar owner Dale came out. He had seen us making a hasty exit, thought something had happened, and came to check on us. How sweet was that? We explained, he made sure I was OK, then we had a nice conversation before he went back in. Very nice guy. Then Andrea, Jessa, and Kim (my officemates) came out to check on me, too. When we went back in, E and I stayed in the back by the door, and we finished out the set. Just before heading home, the sax player (who kind of reminded me of a guy named Isaac who used to help my brother) tried to pick up E. ::laughs, shakes head:: I can't take her anywhere.

Today's agenda: watch this week's taped episodes of "CSI" and "Numb3rs," do some reading for my research, and recopy my stats notes. Not necessarily in that order.

It's almost 1:00. I'd better get to it.