Back where I come from

An ideal Friday for me goes as follows – Come home from work. Put on sweatpants. Put on my most comfortable T-shirt. Eat dinner. Eat dessert. Drink coffee! (No bedtime on Friday!) Read a book. Surf the net. Move as little as possible.

My Fridays don’t always go like this, however, because despite what the lame paragraph above may lead you to believe, I actually do have friends. And my friends aren’t always okay with such a boring Friday night.

Recently, Jackie and Maggie decided we were going to go out to a trendy pizza and wine bar for dinner.

I should mention here that Jackie grew up on a farm, and Maggie grew up … on a lot of land, and her dad made chemicals for farmers, or something. And Jackie’s friend who joined us, Theo, grew up on a ranch in California.

During dinner, we talked about our jobs, politics, life in D.C. … And then somewhere the conversation shifted.

While enjoying a hamburger, Jackie started talking about life on the farm – how you raised animals knowing you would eat them someday, and you didn’t think twice about it. Soon, they were talking about killing pigs and cows and running around on their acres of land.

At this point, I wondered if I naturally gravitate toward farm girls or if this is just a weird coincidence.

After they finished reminiscing about life on the farm, Theo asked what my parents do.

I told her my mom’s an attorney, my dad’s an accountant, and we live in the suburbs. We buy our hamburger meat at the grocery store.

Ohhh, I wanna dance with somebody!

Did I ever tell you all that during my internship at USA Today over the summer I wrote Whitney Houston’s obituary?

Well, I did, and you know what that means! They published it over the weekend. When I say obituary, though, I’m actually referring to this timeline feature that USA Today does. So, I researched and wrote a little blurb about each of the major events in Whitney’s life, which was published online Saturday. The link is below. (Click ‘More’ on each picture; I wrote the text.) http://usat.ly/wG4nW4

We could all use a little change

This week, I went to a handful of work events, where I feasted on Drago’s oysters, gumbo and shrimp and grits. I felt like I was home. I also felt like I live in the coolest state of them all.

One of these work events was on Saturday. I woke up later than I had planned – thanks to the snooze button – and I didn’t feel like leaving the comfort of my home to venture out in the cold and go to a work event. So, I threw my money to the wind, and I took a cab, to ease the pain and avoid being late.

I grabbed a coffee before catching my cab, and I felt super sophisticated drinking a coffee while riding across D.C. in a cab. I was already feeling better about going to a work event on a Saturday.

I ended up enjoying the event and staying later than planned. When it was time to leave, the weather had become even colder, which allowed me to easily justify taking a cab home as well.

When the cabdriver pulled up at the convent, I handed him a twenty and awaited my change. He then handed me a measly $7.

Oh, no, no, no, Mr. Cab Driver. I am too much of a cheapskate for you to get away with that.

I politely asked for a receipt, and he handed me a strange piece of paper that wasn’t a receipt. It said things like “Price” and “Tax” with blanks next to them, but none of it was filled in. I said I wanted to see the price of my cab ride.

He then proceeded to write numbers in the blanks on this sheet.

Well, during the ride, I happened to read the list of my rights as a passenger in this cab, and one of them said, “A passenger has the right to receive a receipt printed from the meter.”

I asked if I could have the receipt that the little machine had just printed. He handed it to me, and low and behold, my ride had only been $11.25.

I pointed this out and told him he only gave me $7 in change. He quickly handed me two more dollars, and I pressed on, not really calculating whether we were even yet. He then mumbled his apologies and handed me another 75 cents.

Aside from dealing with sneaky cabdrivers, I have been reading a new book this weekend. I finished Harry Potter earlier in the week, and although I like my new book, I’m having trouble moving on from Harry, Ron and Hermoine. I really just want to read the whole series again already.

One of my friends at the convent, Laura, had been checking in with me throughout Harry Potter, to see where I was, what was happening and how I was feeling. Laura saw me reading my new book yesterday.

Laura: You finished?!

Sam: Yep!

Laura: Oh my gosh, I just can't imagine what life is going to be like without you walking around here carrying a Harry Potter book.

Sam: I know. It's going to be quite an adjustment.