Vacation Days!

I had 4 days off from work. Yay! On Thursday at lunchtime, I got over to the gym. I went to a spiritual Christian crusade at the Boston Garden that night, so I wanted to make sure I got in a good workout early. By the time I parked my car at the gym, I was already pretty sweaty. Luckily the air conditioning was right up to speed inside - what a relief!

My focus was chest and the dreaded (to most people, and used to be for me) gauntlet. The gauntlet is the nickname for the revolving stairs - not the cute little stairmaster where you pump your legs up and down - No, we are climbing actual stairs at whichever speed you choose. This is a picture of the actual model I use.



Most of the benches were already taken by the lunch time crew from CMC, which is across the street, so I moseyed over to the Smith machines to really push myself on incline bench. An example of what that looks like is below.



For the uninitiated, the Smith is basically a squat rack with safeties, so if you can't handle the weight, you can theoretically drop it and remain uninjured. The Smith has also caused injury to some, in that it prohibits most people from moving within a natural range of motion - you have to move how the bar moves.

As I adjusted my bench, I felt someone glancing at me. It's not entirely unusual at the gym, since I don't lift or work out like most women, so men, and sometimes women, watch to see what I'm doing.

I didn't pay any attention, and went about my chest workout. I noticed Glancer was squatting some very decent weight on the Smith next to me. He came over to ask to borrow a 45 lb plate. I had to yank my ear buds out to hear him, but as soon as I looked up, I smiled, as he was just my type. I didn't really think I have a type, but maybe I do, because Glancer fit it. Almost bald, goatee, nice eyes - and this one had an extra plus- very developed pectorals. I told him he could have just one, because I wasn't going that heavy today (a little gym humor).

You know when you feel like you're staring, but you don't realize it until it almost feels too late, then you ask yourself, "How long have I been staring at this man's pecs?" Yeah.

I went back to my workout, and he to his. I got over to the stepmill and did 20 minutes. I planned on 30 minutes, but I wanted to make some more contact with Glancer. I noticed him glancing around, maybe to see where I went?

I decided to work calves (completely unnecessary, but extra calf work for some extra body work later would be well worth it), which was in the area of his impressive leg workout. He glanced over again. I had the feeling he wanted to talk, but had no idea what to say. Here's where I come in.

Glancer finished a set of barbell presses and kind of walked around. I caught his eye and said, "Legs and delts day?" He said yeah, and I told him he had an impressive leg workout. He had a couple open patella knee braces on, the same exact ones I used to have to wear. I asked him what was up with the knees, and we talked overuse injuries for a few minutes. He introduced himself as Gary. I introduced myself, and he excused himself to perform his next set.

So I'm sitting on a machine, thinking, "Okay, I really shouldn't do more than one more set of these, and I can't really hang around much longer without looking awkward, so WTF?"

I finished as he was finishing his set, but he clearly had many more to go. I told him I was taking off, and we discussed our workout schedules. He's a lunch timer, and I'm usually at work then, so I told him we would probably never see each other again - HINT: ASK ME FOR MY NUMBER NOW, BECAUSE THIS IS IT!

Well, he didn't. So I turned and left. And thought, well, I held up my end of the friendly convo, and he didn't close the deal. So he has a girlfriend or is a lonely gym guy. I got in my car and thought back to his blue eyes, his attractive face, and the PECS. Then said, Fuck it, went home and got ready for my religious experience in Boston. Yes, I do think "fuck it" and "religious experience" fit fine in the same thought.

Thinking I would never see Glancer Gary again, I put him out of mind and got on with my weekend, which included the drive to the TD Banknorth Garden (or the Boston Garden as we all still call it), the spiritual experience, an early morning run the next day, a trip to my sister's and her family's NEW HOUSE in Bedford, some light work in the house to prep for painting, playing with my nephews in their new pool and generally celebrating their new home.

Tonight, Sunday, I had about 90 minutes before the gym closed. I put my hair up, changed my shirt and headed over. Back and biceps needed to be done.

I noticed a lot of fine young men in the gym tonight. No one really stood out, but they were nice to look at and it was nice to get some glances.

As I stood bent over at the waist in front of the mirror, doing dumbbell bent over rows, I glanced up and saw Gary Glancer walking back from the water fountain. Well, well.

I decided to basically ignore him, since he made no move to close the last time I saw him. If he got home Thursday and kicked himself for not asking for my number, here was his chance to make good and get my digits. Of course, I needed to make sure he saw me. I was, after all, bent over with my weights.

Now, I really DID have to go over to his area to finish my back workout. The lat pulldowns were taken earlier, so I got biceps done first, and now I needed to head over to Gary Glancer's area. He was at a Smith machine again, this time with a spotter. I cracked my own joke in my head about not needing a spotter on a Smith, then got to work on further developing my latissimus dorsi.

The fine young men were still in that area, and were still glancing every now and then, so I knew Gary would take notice eventually. I purposely positioned myself where he would have to come out from the squat rack to see me. He came over during my second set and said, "Hi Becky". I looked up, and I'm pretty sure I accurately conveyed a look of surprise. He was even better looking than I remembered. I said, "Hi. Looks like we DID see each other again - and on a Sunday night!" He explained how he was behind on his workouts that week, and I made extra sure not to stare. I nodded, not wanting to seem excited or enthusiastic (I find this sometimes makes the other person start to act enthusiastically, sort of to fill in the void - try it, it works on a lot of people). He said something to the effect of, "well, see ya", and I went back to lifting. He got a sip of water, and as he walked back, I was up spraying cleaner on a paper towel to wipe down my bench. I watched him watch me walk back to my bench, and I could have sworn I heard him kicking himself right then. Or maybe it was my ego kicking around thoughts of unfulfilled "workouts" with Gary.

But no matter. He clearly has a girlfriend, as the convo has only been about workouts. Although I don't find too many men talk to women about workouts unless they're using it as an opening line. But fuck it. I know dude has the sack to ask me for my number, and I'd rather he didn't if he is currently involved. My thought is he might be on his way out of a relationship and is being friendly to anyone who looks interesting, just in case. No harm in that. Never hurts to have a few pots simmering on the back burners in case your main entree in the oven burns.


So I've gone back to supermarket flirting, even since the marinated meats failure. The supermarket is such an innocent place. A cute cashier with braces flirted with me this morning, and even though he was clearly under age, he had the quickness and wit to match me quip for quip. Not many people can do that, and enjoy it. He'll be a fine player in the game when he grows some facial hair.

I ended up at a different supermarket again tonight, after the gym. Not much is going to keep me away from Hood New England Creamery light mint chocolate chip ice cream at $1.49 with a $1 off coupon. That's $0.49 for a half gallon for all you math wizards.


This particular supermarket isn't in the best neighborhood, and I caught a few men doing more than a little glancing. One was a redhead, in the cracker aisle. Now what was I doing in the cracker aisle? A lot of you know me not to eat such things, but I wanted to maybe make a really low calorie cheesecake-like tasting concoction. I got some sugar/fat free cheesecake flavored instant pudding mix, some Calorie Countdown skim milk, then I was considering crumbling a few low fat graham crackers over it, to resemble a crust. Yes, I can get creative when it comes to satisfying a craving without going off the deep end.

So I was comparing two boxes of graham crackers when I felt a glance. Ah, a redhead. Never had a redhead, I thought to myself. Yes, a dirty thought, but it's summer, I'm single, and craving something sweet, so give me a break!

I decided against the crackers, because I knew I could do all I could to crumble a few on top of the pudding, but then I'd have the rest of the box to contend with, and they were too high in calories to have just sitting around my apartment waiting for me to have a nibble attack.

I walked away and into produce. Nothing caught my eye, so as I rounded the corner, there was redhead, totally pretending to be interested in some strawberries or something, but had clearly followed me. At this point I got a little cocky and walked to the other end of the store, thinking, "yeah, follow me now, bitch". Ha ha! Okay, I didn't say or think "bitch" at the time, but it seems funny now. He didn't follow me, so after a bit of hassle in the self scan "express" lane, I went home to try out the ice cream. To rate it, if I had four thumbs to put up, they'd be up. But neither Gary Glancer nor Redhead followed through enough to be the other two thumbs with mine, spooning mint ice cream in air conditioned condo splendor.
Maybe next weekend.

Not a family friendly post.

Family members may want to skip this post. :-)

So although the little black book is closed forever, I have been tempted. Now, no one from that black book is anywhere close to being current boyfriend material. But there's like, two who could possibly meet other needs. One recently contacted me and I have to admit, I was tempted.

The other is someone who filled another position other than "boyfriend" for a few years. He wasn't qualified for the boyfriend position, but he proved himself very capable in another "position". He has not contacted me, but I've been getting some psychic vibes, so I may be on his mind. I can't entertain the thought of revisiting that scenario, because things got extremely emotional and messy at the end, on his side. I really don't need a replay of a man crying on my bedroom floor wondering why he can't have the promotion, when I had told him over and over that there really wasn't even a job opening in that position (there was, but he was highly unqualified).

Still, I know if he were to call, it would take some strength to just say no. Everyone has that one person they think back to that just rocked their world and made them feel for even just a few hours, that they were the most gorgeous creature on the face of the earth. Now if only I could find that in a man who is also capable of filling the main position of boyfriend!

What's kind of funny is one similarity between these two men. They're both bald and the main reason I was attracted to the one who just recently contacted me was because he looked kind of similar to the other in a certain position. It's the main reason I stuck around the more recent one. Man, am I a dude, or what.

I'm feeling a new one out (not Phil), but I'm not sure if this is something I should continue. I would really like to hold out for a great guy who can fulfill all of my needs, but to be realistic, I have no idea how long that will be. Maybe I will just let things happen instead of trying to make them happen. I really hate being in such a passive position, but it's probably time to try something new.

Out and About

Can you spot TSM?



Last Friday we all had a great time at Jillian's, out on the deck listening to the Rusty Cadillacs. I made the acquaintance of a very fucked up man in his 50's who asked me to go to his car with him to do some "inhalants". When I told him I wasn't down, he said he had some Bacardi 151 and diet orange soda in his trunk, and the soda, coincidentally, matched my sweater. My very nice sweater, covering my very nice arm. I let Curtis buy me a drink, as he was also a "friend of the band" and my 4 oz. Captain and diet coke was quickly dwindling. Plus no one had shown up yet (pharmacy issues), so I allowed Curtis to entertain me until they did.

The band sounded awesome and it was great being outside on a warm Friday night. They've been asked to return to Jillian's, as it was clear everyone had a great time.

Luckily, my night of newcomers didn't end with Curtis. What's funny is that I even have a pic of Phil, before we met. He's on the right in the baseball cap, and I'm at the table to the right in the diet orange soda colored sweater.



See, I danced with this crackhead (didn't catch his name). He was kind of a mess and did the air guitar and kept inching towards me... but I'll dance with anyone who has the balls to ask, and especially on a night when the Rusty Cadillacs are playing. I like to show my support and have the management see people dancing and having a good time.

I ended the dance before the song was over, thanked him and went back to the table. I got up a few minutes later to visit the ladies room, and Phil walked inside with me. He complimented me on dancing with the crackhead, and I told him I'll dance with anyone with the balls to ask. Phil mentioned that the crackhead was either wasted or had huge balls to approach me at a table with 4 guys.

Now, I didn't realize that was the case, but it was. As far as I was concerned, I was sitting with my friends and co-workers, having a great time. I didn't realize how it might appear to an outsider looking in.

When I returned to the table, crackhead asked me twice more to dance with him. I smiled and waved him off, feigning sore feet. The heels were pretty high and strappy, but my feet weren't tired in the least!

After the second time crackhead asked, Phil looked over at me like he felt sorry for me. I walked over and asked if he would pretend to be my boyfriend for a little while so crackhead would leave me alone. He didn't say anything, he just grabbed the closest chair and placed it next to him. He said he could feel crackhead's stare piercing the back of his head.

Phil and I talked for a while, and we have quite a bit in common... except a bit of an age difference. Phil is 25. But Phil makes me laugh and likes to see live music, even blues, so he can come along for my ride for a while.

We went out to breakfast with Phil's friend Chris after closing down Jillian's. PAL1 came with us, and I was glad. Granted we all had separate cars, but these were strangers to me. Over breakfast, the boys explained "man law" to me. And how my sweet potato fries were a violation of man law. Whatever.

Phil has three older sisters, and I know one of them. We worked together doing physician credentialing at CIGNA HealthCare. She wasn't exactly my favorite person, and I'm curious what she'll have to tell Phil about me.

Hopefully this week will include some more time with Phil or a random dude I pick up at the supermarket - which I tried last week in the marinated meats... but he wasn't interested in being marinated in special Becky sauce - eww... I didn't mean it like THAT, sickie!

Since I know blogs are much more interesting to read when they have pictures, here is one of PAL1 and me dancing in the corner to the Rusty Cadillacs at Chen Yang Li. This was before I bought myself some jeans that hug my ass, so I've got a saggy ass jean look going on. My hair is longer in the back than I thought, though, so that's a positive, and the ass is tightly hugged now, thank you very much!

Ok, that was fun.

I had a lot of fun at the Uptown! I'm a little surprised! I don't think I even saw any bikers, but there was a hand written sign as we walked in welcoming them. I'm still glad I wore my "biker chick" outfit.

"Don't mess with me, I'm a biker chick. Grrr."

"Okay, I'm not a biker chick, but you can buy me a drink!"

We went upstairs and I was pleasantly surprised that they still played some hip hop from when I was in the prime of my clubbing days. Man, some of those songs make it impossible to stand still. DMX's Up in Here, Monifa's Touch It, J. Lo and Ja Rule's I'm real. And some kind of new, like Lil Kim's Put Your Lighters Up and some really old mainstream reggae. It felt really good to shake my ass a little and FEEL that music, the music that beats within me. Some people don't get or like hip hop, and that's cool. I can't FEEL rock, or alternative music. I FEEL a bass rhythm inside me and it makes me move involuntarily. It feels good and natural to me. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy being completely free and single and not have to worry about anyone else there. I could do my thing and be 100% me.

We didn't realize that in addition to Kristi's going away party, it was also Kristi's birthday. A few of her friends came and danced and sang karaoke.

KAP, PAL1 and I alternated between the DJ dancing upstairs with the live band Toast downstairs. I actually liked them quite a bit. The did some Phish covers but also have their own material. Back upstairs, we were all sitting at a table, and one of the cute shot girls came over. She told me someone bought me TWO shots. As if I'm going to down two shots. I had one drink all night and that was going to be it. I gave them to PAL1 and KAP, asked the girl who bought them, and went over to thank him.

Damien is a 23 year old from Weare. Where? Yeah, Weare. He said he liked my smile and that I seemed cool. I had to break it to young Damien how old I am. He was a little taken aback. Then he said his stepmom is 28. Great.

I told Damien that I'm at a place in my life where I'm looking for something serious and long term. He pulled back and said, "Me too!" Ha ha. Weren't we all back then? He probably won't know until he's 31 what the difference actually is.

We all gave Kristi big hugs when she and her man left. They have a lot more packing to do before they leave for Indiana. We'll miss her, but she seems very happy with him. Follow your heart, girl.

Next Friday looks like outdoor drinks and dancing to our favorite local band, The Rusty Cadillacs, at Jillian's. Come out, should be a good time!

This Sunday (July 2), our friend Adam will be the DJ on Rock 101 WGIR from 10 am - 3 pm. Give him a call and show your support!