"I've been so damn tired..."

Wow what a long week...and it's not even over yet. Last weekend was super fun, with the O.A.R./Guster/Howie Day/Matt Nathanson concert at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, but when Monday came around, everything slowed to a crawl.

So yes, as people have mentioned, the concert was lots of fun. I have to admit that I think I had more fun just hanging out with Gina, Katie, David, and Kirk (and Jason for a while) than listening to the music, but hey, it's all good.

Matt Nathanson was quite entertaining, a really funny guy with lots of personality. I didn't realize how much I liked him until AFTER he left the stage. I don't know if I'll buy his CD (or burn Katie's copies...) but he was a good performer.

Howie Day BLEW...Well, to his credit he had a great voice and songs that I would definitely enjoy if I were in a more pensive mood, but after Matt Nathanson, I was pumped and giggly. Not a good transition. Plus, "Harvey Day" (I wonder if he was high?) kept mixing his songs with some foot-pedal operated contraption that made his voice echo and was able to record a part of his song and then play it back, but it was just really strange to see him standing there, not singing or playing the guitar, and to have the music still going. He walked off the stage while it was still going. STRANGE. It sounded like good breakup music, though...which hopefully I will never need to listen to...

Guster of course was great. It was satisfying to finally be able to sing along with some songs.

I actually like O.A.R. alot. Like Gina says in her LiveJournal, I wouldn't buy their album, but they were good live music. I liked the lead singer a lot...he had a good stage presence and was also very entertaining. But man, that saxophone player took the cake. WHEW what a hottie! There was just something about a sexy young lad jamming away on a phallic-shaped saxophone that turned me on. For some reason I can't remember his name! Anyway, he was hot.

Slept over at Katie's afterward, but not before calling a bunch of pizza places on the way home (it was almost midnight). We were all craving pizza after the concert, and David was convinced that we probably got high on secondhand pot smoke. He was probably right...we were all hungry and acting sort of silly. Then we ate the pizza at Gina's house and watched Insomniac Music Theater on VH1...good times.

On Sunday I had to leave Katie's early because my cousin Martin wanted me to babysit my nephew, Jonathan David (we call him "Joda"...quite appropriate considering Martin is a big Star Wars fan like myself....Joda, Yoda...get it?) . He's about 5 months old and the cutest freaking baby I have ever seen! I actually didn't do much babysitting because about 1/2 hour after I got there and played with him, he got cranky and fell asleep. I put him in his crib, but a little while after he started fussing, so I picked him up and rocked him a little in the rocking chair, and he fell asleep again. It was really nice: for about an hour I basically rocked in the chair with this adorable baby sleeping on my shoulder. However, when he woke up, he looked at me, looked around the room, and then started bawling and wouldn't stop because he was probably like "WHO THE HELL IS THIS STRANGER HOLDING ME???" Luckily, after a bottle and lots of me pleading with him to stop crying, he stopped.

I already knew before this that I didn't want to have kids, but I think that taking care of Joda reinforces it for me. Don't get me wrong, I love babies and I think they're adorable and it's really fulfilling to watch them grow up and learn things. However, I just don't think I want one of my own. I'm totally cool with babysitting everyone else's babies though. I'm be awesome Auntie Jo. Yes. I will spoil your children rotten because I'm not going to have any! Sounds like a plan to me.

Monday through today have been pretty blah and normal. Work sucked as usual, I'm just really sick of working at Macy's. My boss really doesn't want me to leave though. She came up to me a couple days ago and said "Guess what?! Santa Cruz just called and said school is out forever!". I think it's just easier for her to keep me around than to have to train someone else...especially because there's still a huge language barrier with the Afghani woman they hired to replace me. She's a hard worker and everything, but it's hard to tell her to do stuff without physically showing her. She speaks decent English, but if I say "can you go and fill in the Charter Club [or insert other brand name here] pillows, please?" she'll have no idea what I'm talking about. I have to go over to the pillows, point them out and then go show her where they are in the stockroom Quite frustrating, especially when we're pressed for time. I feel bad because she's a good worker once you tell her what to do, but I don't think it's going to work out. But on the other hand, I can't wait to get out of Macy's, good riddance! I've been working there winter and summer since 2000, I think it's time to go.

Besides working, helping coach cross country at Moreau is what takes up the rest of my days. XC is waaaay more fun and fulfilling than working though, I love it. I've been helping out with the Group 2 kids (There are groups 1-4, with workouts getting increasing longer or harder as you go up groups). Yesterday we did a 40 minute run, running down sides streets then cutting through Tennyson and then going over an overpass to get back to Mission Blvd. Pretty chill run. Today, however, I guess Coach Wilder and Coach Schroeder decided that it was high time for a bunch of kids in my group to step it up a bit. Today's workout was killer, but I'm so proud of all the kids. They all supported each other, didn't let anyone get lost, and were really optimistic and didn't complain. We ran from Moreau, up Harder towards Cal State Hayward, through the campus, down Campus Drive, to the back end of Hayward Plunge. Then we ran to the front of Hayward Plunge, did 6 minute hill repeats, and then headed back the way we came to get back to Moreau. Total time = 1 hour and 40 minutes. CRAZY. We all felt really good afterward though...mentally. I can't believe we ran that far. I know my ass will be sore tomorrow, though.

Wow, this is a really long post. I should probably start winding it up. So I leave Sept. 12 for UCSC, which I'm really excited about. I'm looking forward to my classes, moving into our awesome new apartment (everyone is going to come visit, right? Katie and David: 2nd Friday of November! hahaha), and finally seeing Scott again for the first time since the beginning of June.

Hope you are all having a good week, at work or at school or at whatever else you all might be doing. Thanks for a fantastic time last weekend!