Never a Dull Moment!

Wow... Shorty is right-- It really has been a while since I've written! I've had a really busy week with (as usual) a fair amount of drama. (As my mom likes to say: "NEVER A DULL MOMENT WITH MY MIDDLE DAUGHTER!") I don't have the energy to do it all now, but before it gets too overwhelming, I better write at least half!

On Friday afternoon I went out to Forest Hills to stay with my sister while she recovered from her surgery. I cooked her pasta and then climbed into bed with her to watch a few episodes of Sex in the City. One of the episodes that we saw caused my heart to leap up into my throat. It's strange... Hammer had already mentioned this episode to me a few weeks ago. She says that Narc always reminds her of "Mr. Big." And there it was-- the episode when Mr. Big needs surgery to "unblock" his heart. If any of you have ever seen the episode, you will know exactly what I mean when I say that his behavior was "Narc-like."

After I left my sister's, I went to sleep over at my mom's place. She was exhausted and stressed out because my stepfather has a kidney stone and they were in the emergency room the night before. So, both my sister and my stepfather are doped up on Vicodin! Anyway, we got to the house pretty late, so I just went to bed.

The next morning, Brick and I had plans to meet another girl, Aking, from our outpatient program and go to a "sober picnic" in Queens. I woke up early to chit chat with my mom before she left to get her hair cut. When I finally spoke to Brick, he cancelled on me. My stepfather woke up and was in a foul mood due to the pain. He got my stepbrother into the wheelchair and wheeled him into the dining room while I fixed breakfast. Then I sat down at the table, trying to entertain my stepbrother with some idle conversation while he ate.

I mentioned that the new semester would be starting soon and that it was nearly time for me to go back to school. For some reason, that peaked my stepfather's interest and he started to grumble at me from across the table about how I needed to "toughen up" and learn to take care of myself.

"You gotta wipe your own ass," he said. "No one else is going to do it for you!"

The conversation took another turn, which I'd rather not discuss, but try as I might, I couldn't hold back the tears. I know it wasn't his intention to make me cry, and as soon as my eyes began to swell over, he started to cry too! (If you know my stepfather, you know how strange an event that was!) My stepbrother sat between the two of us, not understanding why everyone was crying. I felt like I was living in a looney bin. I got up and went into the bathroom, trying to calm myself before coming back to the table. When I emerged, my stepfather had come to look for me. He gave me a huge hug and a kiss and told me that he never meant to criticize or hurt my feelings, but that he just doesn't know how to speak so "diplomatically." I was still shaken up, but his apology was so heartfelt, that it made me feel good.

Anyway, at about noon, I set off to pick up Aking from the train station. We got a little lost, but we managed to find our way without too much trouble. I have to say-- the picnic was not what I expected. It was a much smaller group and there weren't many activities, as advertised. Even so, we found another friend from our outpatient program and settled in for some burgers and conversation. I didn't know anyone else there, although Aking knew a lot of people from her inpatient rehab. I felt a little out of place. I didn't have much in common with these people (aside from addiction) and while that's enough to bond us together in meetings, it's not necessarily enough to create easy and comfortable socializing.

At some point, Aking asked if anyone wanted to go for a walk. I volunteered to go with her, and I'm glad I did. It gave us a chance to talk and to really get to know each other a lot better. She is an artist and a historian. I was fascinated by parts of her story, and as she is staying with her mom in Manhattan, I'm sure I'll have the chance to spend more time with her.

We left the picnic at around 4:00 and took the train back to the city. I had plans to go hear BarMan play at Cheers. I also had plans to meet a very special visitor-- Sarah! (An ever loyal fan of my blog and frequent commenter!)

Sarah was here in NY visiting her roommate's sister, and would be in town only through Monday, so we arranged for her to meet me and Brick at Cheers. It was great to finally meet her in person and we hit it off immediately! We stayed at Cheers for some time, until BarMan had finished his set and then headed for the Townhouse, with a brief pit-stop at my apartment.

While we were at my apartment (more specifically-- while I was peeing), my phone rang. It was Narc! My stomach turned with excitement and surprise. I yelped from behind the bathroom door, asking Sarah and Brick what to do. When I didn't hear an immediate answer, I picked up.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hey!" He sounded surprised.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Nothing... Just writing, you know... And thought I might take a break."

"That's good. Did you meet your deadline?"

"No. But I sent the other script instead."

"That's good."

There was an awkward pause.

"Anyway," he went on, "I was down at Canal Street today and I picked up a copy of the much maligned Lady in the Water. I can't make any promises about the quality, but I'm about to pop it in, and as long as I'm taking a break, I thought you might come on down and watch it with me."

"Oh... I can't tonight, Narc," I sighed. "I have company. I mean, I have plans."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. One of my blog readers is here all the way from Kentucky and Brick and I are hanging out with her tonight."

From there the conversation turned to blogging in general, a particular blog he likes, and then back to how he was feeling malaise that evening.

"So I can't come and watch with you," I told him. "But I can maybe come tomorrow..."

"I don't know, Hyde. I think I may have to watch this tonight."

"Oh, c'mon, Narc! You can wait for me just one night! We've been talking about that movie forever! Please, oh please, oh PLEASE!"

"Alright, I'll see what I can do," he laughed.

"So, we'll check in tomorrow..."

When I hung up the phone, I was elated. Brick rolled his eyes. Sarah said she understood. Brick told her "not to encourage me."

But like I said-- from there it was on to the Townhouse where I sang a few songs, while Sarah, Brick and I bonded. Then we went over to Oscar Wilde's where, much to my dismay, the pool table has been replaced with extra seating! Smoking in the garden in the back of Oscar Wilde's, I scared away an aggressive potential suitor for Brick. Later, Brick gave a dollar to the stripper, but Sarah and I steered clear of that. Finally, we headed back to Cheers. On the way there we stopped over at Opal where I got to meet Sarah's roommate and her sister.

I had so much fun at Cheers. There were a lot of characters there for Sarah to see-- IrishBird and BarMan, of course. Also, ThursdayGirl, the Bouncer, PumpedUp, FightingMensch (and his little brother), Duff, Manwich, PreppyGirl, CaliGirl, the Smolderer, one of the Colombians, and KHill! Yes... KHill was back! I haven't seen him in ages and my crush on him is as fierce as ever. I have to say, I was a lot less bold about it in my sobriety, though! I did a few songs at karaoke. And Sarah even got up and sang a little Pat Benetar.

We hung out at Cheers until around 2:30 or so when I got a text from NDN wondering if I were still awake. I told him I was at Cheers and he suddenly materialized.

"I've got big news," he said. "I finally got laid!"

We all gave him big hugs for ending his six month dry spell before heading back to my apartment.

Even though Brick and I had popped caffeine pills and drank a hundred diet cokes, Brick went to bed first. After giving us the details of his conquest, NDN headed home as well. Sarah and I stayed up talking for a while and I showed her a lot of pictures. I think it must have been around 4:30 am by the time we got to sleep.

The next morning, I couldn't decide what to wear. I don't know why, but I was just having one of those days when I didn't want to wear anything in my closet. My hair had been straightened the night before, but started to curl up from the humidity and then I slept on it. So, it was sort of a disaster. Brick wanted to get back to his place to walk Lucy before going to a noontime meeting, and didn't want to wait for me to iron my hair.

"Why don't you just wear a wig?" he suggested.

So Sarah and Brick watched as I modeled my bob cut brunette wig with several different outfits. Suddenly, "lazy Sunday" seemed like quite the production! Brick rummaged through my jewelry and found a couple of snake rings and an old vampire ring he wanted to wear himself. He's going to go for a darker "rocker" look for the fall. Once our outfits were complete, we all three headed out. I gave Sarah a hug goodbye at the corner and we promised to keep in touch. Then Brick and I set off for Chelsea.

Walking Lucy wasn't a problem except that the flats I had on were starting to rub on my feet. I had never worn them before and could feel the blisters coming. We stopped somewhere on Seventh Avenue for brunch and then Brick took Lucy home while I headed to the meeting to wait for him. By the time Brick met me there, there were hardly any seats available. We had to take two standing spaces in the back of the room behind the cookies and coffee.

...To be continued....

A sneak preview of what's to come: A trip to the emergency room and a very strange visit with Narc. (Ugh!)

love,

h