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June 12, 2000
Bruises and bugs.
Feh. It's gray and cold and rainy out. My alarm didn't go off this morning -- I think the clock-radio I bought in the 8th grade had finally bitten the dust. Luckily, I rolled over onto the really huge, painful, mystery bruise on my arm this morning, and that woke me up with a howl of agony, followed by a howl of dismay when I realized I had overslept. Only by half an hour, though, so I got to work on time with a minimun of rushing around and swearing.
I don't know where the bruise came from. It's on my left bicep, and it's perfectly round, and slightly larger than a silver doller. There's a spot in the middle that's darker purple and more swollen than the rest. And it hurts to move my arm.
The only reason for the bruise I can think of is the very large and heavy stereo I bought yesterday (and hooked up all by myself, thank you very much). I wasn't expecting the box for a relatively small tabletop stereo to be so huge and unwieldy. Lee works right near the mall where I bought it, and she had offered to drive me and the stereo home after she finished work that evening. The oh-so-helpful Sears clerk scolded me for not having a car, then dumped the box outside the elevator and walked away, grumbling and giving me dirty looks. I lugged the box down to the first floor, then discovered that putting it down and pushing it along the floor was more more efficient (in spite of the odd looks I was getting. I suppose it looked like I had just stolen the stereo, but nobody said anything.) And I really shouldn't complain about that, because poor Patrick ended up carrying the stereo up to my third-floor apartment for me. (Patrick, you really didn't have to. But I'm glad you did, because I think I'd still be trying to get the stupid thing up the stairs right now.)
Other than the stereo-buying excursion, I didn't really do much this weekend. I needed the relaxation -- on Friday, after two days of phone calls from Barry, I came up with a new strategy: whenever he calls and starts bullying me for not being his friend anymore, I hang up. He calls back, I hang up. He calls back again, I hang up again. I think I made him cry doing that on Friday, but really, I've had enough. He just doesn't understand why I don't want to hang out with him now -- gee, he only lied to me and cheated on me. What the hell's my problem? I mean, it would be loads of fun to go out for coffee and chat with him about how things are going with his girlfriend, right? Maybe we could even double-date! Wouldn't that be lovely? (No, I'm not bitter. Whatever gave you that idea?) And he knows full well that calling me at work only upsets me, and since I work at a public desk, it's not like I can even get upset in private. I have told him that, if he calls me again at work, I will file a harrassment complaint and get a restraining order. He can e-mail me if he needs to, but only if he hears anything about the divorce proceedings, or if any mail for me gets delivered to his address. No other reasons. I have had more than enough, and there's no way I can even begin to recover from all this if I keep having to deal with him on a daily basis.
Ahem. Ranting again. Sorry.
Friday night I was invited to a party. It was a very weird party, but fun -- my friend John knows some guys who play board games. Not like Monopoly or Life, but really involved, complex strategy games. They invite people over every couple of weeks and have a night of game-playing. Sounded okay to me -- but it turned out to be John and two other guys, who looked like they were petrified at the prospect of having a girl in the room. (Gasp!!) They argued over who got to teach me to play the various games, and one of them killed a June bug for me. I'm deathly afraid of June bugs. They're obscenely large, they fly all erratically, so you never know when they're going to zig right into your eye, and they make that noise. That loud buzzing noise. I had a bad experience with a June bug getting stuck in my hair... oh, I don't even want to talk about it. Agh. Anyway, one of the guys squashed a June bug, and brought me the mangled remains in a dustpan, so I could admire his handiwork. Very cute, in a sort of gross way.
Saturday I slept too late, then painted my old, nasty CD shelf. I had salvaged it from someone's basement, and it was all dingy and stained. Now it's a lovely glossy white, and I only managed to stick my hair in the paint can twice. Cleaned my room, sat around feeling bored, then went out for dinner with Lee and one of her friends. (MuppetGirl, for those of you who follow Patrick's journal.) Went home, got an expected, but still nice, phone call from the old college boyfriend/best friend, went to sleep. Sunday was laundry day, so I got up early. There's only one laundromat in my neighborhood. Barry and I live within four blocks of each other, so I know he uses the same one. I also know he never gets moving before noon on the weekends, so I figure if I get up early and get my laundry done before noon, I won't run into him there. Seeing him doing laundry with his girlfriend is not an experiance I'm eager for. Went and bought the stereo, two new bath towels, and a book. And that was my glamorous weekend. I live the high life, I tell you.
How was your weekend? And are there any bugs that irrationally frighten you? Tell me all about 'em.
Posted by Mary Ellen at June 12, 2000 02:51 PM