Dr. Tiller murdered

I got a call today...a call we talk about at my job...a call I have luckily not received, until now. The call was to tell me that one of our members--a doctor in Kansas--had been murdered. We would come to learn he was gunned down in the foyer of his church where he was ushering during Sunday morning services.

I couldn't stop shaking most of the day. I have cried several times and am generally fighting nausea. It's just so senseless and disgusting.

I met Dr. George Tiller several times and he was one of the nicest, most compassionate men I have ever met. He was not the monster the antis have tried to paint him as...he was a husband, father, grandfather, and physician. He was the last resort for many women in desperate situations across the country.

I've been in the office most of the day and this is one of the saddest parts of my job--but it is also a reminder that the work I do is so necessary.

I just feel sick. This is a tremendous loss and my heart goes out to his family.

My Week in Review

A special Memorial Day edition:

Highs:

• Hung out with one of my favorite bartenders and friend back home from Austin
  
• Jazz in the Sculpture Garden started this week!!! One of my fave parts of summer in DC! Went with my crew from last year and a bunch of new friends...so fun!
  
• Dogsat for Mr. Big's new lady friend
  
• Arranged for several different friends (who were all strangers) to meet and party in Austin
  
• Started watching The Wire--blew through Season 1 in two days...LOVE IT!
  
• Went to a fab Memorial Day BBQ...and kept KB out way past her bedtime!
  
• Listened to the new DMB album before it's released...can't wait to see them this summer at The Gorge!
  
• Made some amazing Poulet a la Basquaise...WJB would be so proud! 
  

Lows:

• Spent the week without my PIC who was on vacay in Ithaca
  
• Wine+gin+sweet tea vodka=drunk dialing 
  
• After filling up my cart, I had to evacuate Target due to a fire drill 
  
• All those episodes of The Wire have me hyper-aware of crime in DC...and I did see a kid shooting at someone else on my way to the grocery store Saturday...scary!
  

Random thoughts on men, dating, and Richard Schiff characters

Lately I can't escape happy couples. They seem to be everywhere. In line at Giant, kissing on street corners, cuddling on the metro. I'm not bitter, I just feel like everywhere I look I see them and for a split second it reminds me that I am not in one. No one is holding my hand as I walk down 17th street. No one can't get me out of their head.

Don't get me wrong, in terms of men and dating, this is like no other time in my life and I am having so much fun being single. I didn't date much in high school or college and then I was in one major six-year relationship that ended about a year and a half ago. I really didn't think I'd date much when that relationship ended; however, it's been quite interesting. I go out pretty often and I meet guys. I even get asked out more than I ever imagined would happen. I know I shouldn't be complaining...and I'm not. But like everything else, when the phone rings, it's usually not the right guy...not the one you were hoping for and then you feel like a bitch because you know there could be no guys calling. Unfortunately, I always seem to want the guy I can't have: the one who is phobic of commitment, just not that into me, geographically undesirable, or all of the above.

Oh well, here are more random thoughts on men and dating that have been spinning through my mind and I feel like just posting them and not expanding upon them at this time:

• Apparently it is quite obvious that I am absolutely terrified of a relationship--several men have told me this lately--men that actually have a little knowledge about me.
• I think I have lost my ability to decipher if a man is hitting on me or just being a nice guy--I attribute this to dealing with so many jerks that the mere fact that a man is being attentive and kind throws me for a loop and I assume he must want something else.
• I wish everyone had my sense of urgency when it comes to replying to texts/emails/phone calls. Apparently, this is a lot to ask. I'm sorry, but getting a response to a text days later like it's in real time is annoying.
  
• For years the idea of a commitment-phobic man seemed a myth to me. Almost all of my guy friends from college are married (that's how we roll in the South); however, in the past year I have met more men than I can count that are incapable of committing and completely averse to marriage.
• And even some of those that do get married are still a problem--I seem to be a magnet for married men and have been asked out by a couple of them lately.
  
• According to facebook, I too can be confusing--in fact I caused a man last night to post that he was questioning the entire female species...oops! I blame the sweet tea vodka!
  
• I was recently paid one of the best compliments I have received in awhile: a man told me I have a sexy-Toby Ziegler-thing going on! That's hot for a West Wing lover like me!
  

It's Been Awhile

So it's been a long time since I posted. So much has happened:

I gave my first LIVE radio interview for work!/headed to Portland for business/my co-workers and I snuck into the 23rd floor of the hotel with some beers and a stuffed goat to check out the amazing view of the city/dropped my personal cell phone in a toilet/fixed phone by jamming a paperclip into it/flew to San Francisco to meet my new nephew/went on a ride-along with my best friend's police officer brother/helped get Kinsey and baby Jackson home from the hospital/ate amazing homemade jambalaya with the Lechugas/traveled back home to DC/convinced my boss to host a Cinco de Mayo party at work/went to a new music venue to see KB's friend play/pulled an all-nighter with said friend, KB, and the rugby guy...on a Tuesday!/issued a statement of disappointment about the President's budget/had the most painful bikini wax of my life/flew to Houston and drove over 1,000 miles in four days on my Tour O'Texas: went to a BBQ on my dad's farm/drove to DFW for a wedding/drove back to Houston for Mother's Day brunch/went to Half Price Books and bought way too many books I had to lug back on the plane/hung out with my mom and brother/drove to Austin to booze with friends/drove back to Houston just in time to get on a plane/found a cool new bar in Adams Morgan with Tom, Reed, Erin, and Lauren/had a fabulous performance evaluation at work/had my first happy hour on a patio of the season/almost got into a bar fight to backup my friend D/roadtripped to Brooklyn for a party and found a great afterhours spot/almost bought a massive Rice Krispies Treats Sheet from a 7-11 at 5:30am/went back to The Mug for the first time in almost a year.

Whew! Now I'm home for a bit. I still haven't unpacked from my travels, but that's on my to-do list for this three-day weekend.