Like whoa.

I am just now arriving home from my day. I left my house 14 hours ago. What a day, indeed.

I had several friends in town for the weekend. One of my dearest friends from high school and her boyfriend came to visit and stayed at my apartment. Two of my friends from law school came to visit and stayed at a hostel and at a friend's house, respectively. I had to juggle my time, so I got to spend a respectable amount of time with all of them but a good amount of time with none of them. Friday night, I went out on the town with my roommate. Saturday, I stayed in bed until noon (oh, how luxurious, I haven't done that in months) while I recovered and returned about two weeks worth of phone calls. I kept telling my friend from law school that I'd be getting out of bed and heading his way. I told him that at noon. I told him that again at one. At around two, I finally dragged my rear end out of bed and showered. I managed to get into the area by 3, but quickly chatted with another friend first. Then met up with him at 3:30, finally. It was so great to see him! He just kept giving me hugs. I didn't realize what I was missing until it came to visit.

I visited with him until about 6, and then I went to Borders to get myself a new notebook for work and lists (I love lists!) and then read part of a new baseball book while drinking a cafe mocha. Then I went home, made dinner, sat on the couch until my friend from high school arrived with her boyfriend, which wasn't until 11 or so.

Sunday, my female friend from law school, C, came into town and we met up with her. We went to a museum and got caught in a monsoon. There was so much rain that you couldn't see more than three feet in front of you. We got back to the apartment around 230, soaking wet, and deciding to change into dry comfy clothes, drink red wine, and lounge around until our clothes dried and until it was time for dinner. Then the four of us went out for Thai food and after dinner, C departed and S, G, and I went to play pool.

While we were playing pool, I leaned over to S and said, "So when is that ring coming?" She didn't know, was thinking that it would probably happen in the next few months or so, but they were both comfortable knowing that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Then we went to the fireworks, and to a margarita place that didn't last long, and then we went to a club where I met a really sweet guy from N.C. He's adorable and possesses many of the characteristics that I keep on the list of artificially perfect men. It helped that I did truly enjoy his company. He was quite a character, and there were some memorable moments of the evening that, taken out of context, could be particularly frightening. He does have my phone number and wanted to come visit the area again at least once more before the summer was over. I hope he does. He wanted me to go visit him, but I was having none of that. I'm not trekking to NC to hang out with someone I met at bar. That would be bizarre, n'est-ce pas?

On Monday, we slept in. I went to the gym later than usual and then trekked downtown to meet law school friends for lunch before they headed out. It was a nice lunch and I miss them so much. We have a mini-reunion planned for next weekend back in our hometown and I can't wait! I don't miss the library but I sure miss my house, and my room, and the comforts of my grocery store, and my old gym, and my old bars. I've missed you, my babies. It'll be weird though, because I've been away since mid-May, and two days isn't enough to revel in the comforts of home. S and G went to visit some of their old haunts while i was lunching and shopping. I made it home around dinner time and made lists (wheee) and gathered dirty laundry and the like. S and G returned shortly thereafter and S cornered me in the kitchen while I was preparing some scallops and shrimp to snack on. She said, "Remember last night when you asked me when I was getting the ring?" and then showed me her ring finger. Upon said ring finger was a ring. I looked at the ring, I looked at her. I looked at the ring. I checked to make sure it was her left hand. They're engaged! I really can predict the future, I swear. I had a dream last night that Kerry chose Edwards as a running mate (what a sad life I lead, no?) and voila, this morning, it becomes truth. We hung out until my bedtime, and that was the end of the holiday weekend. They left this afternoon but I said my goodbyes at the early hour at which I departed for work.

Then I got to work and the whole place has gone to hell in a handbasket. There's another huge issue starting to erupt and it's not pretty. I was at work until 7:30 tonight, trying to make a dent in the list of clients that need to be seen. I left work feeling a little down, thinking that there's just no way I can change these problems, they're just so much bigger than I am. Sometimes I can't believes that my job entails confronting these problems head-on. These are issues that are the storylines for dramatic movies, for newspaper headlines. But, in the end, if it's just one person and one issue at a time, then I've had a good day. Tomorrow morning, I have to go back and stare at that list of clients that still need to be seen. Sigh.

Tomorrow, I had planned on returning to ESPN Zone in order to watch the Red Sox play the A's. And, secretly, I hoped that the gentleman I met last week would return as well. However, our first softball practice is tomorrow at 6:30-6:45, and there's no way I can make it from one end of town to the other after practice in order to get to watch the game in time. I'm having a difficult time letting go of this plan though, so the best I can hope for is rain. On the plus side, if I don't go to ESPN Zone, then I can't be disappointed that he didn't show up. Right?