Tonight, I was lying in bed watching Paris Hilton's 'My New BFF' when I got a call from my neighbor across the street from my old house... apparently the house next door to mine (see early-on in my blog when I was leaving the neighborhood and I berated my next door neighbors several times for being trashy scum) was burning down. By the time I fast forwarded to see who Paris 't.t.y.n.'d, I guess they got it under control... because when I got there, it was out and there were about 50 hot firemen surrounding my old house. If I knew it were that easy to get them there when I lived there, I would have set my house on fire long ago... big manly-muscle arms... big manly-muscle legs.... (but I digress). There was smoldering, alright, but not in my house... more like in my knickers.
It was strange being there in the crowd looking at my old house. It was like I was standing outside my life (or the life that I had blocked out) watching... As if I still lived there. I'm so glad I'm out of that neighborhood. A fight, a shooting, a fire... always something happening. The owners next door abandoned their house right around the time I left, so who knows, it could have been arson. Imagine if I still lived there... what could have happened... it would have really interrupted more of My New BFF, that's for sure.
Stay tuned to your local station for breaking news... Meanwhile (now it's 3:30 a.m.), I wanted to watch the premiere of a new season of Hell's Kitchen tonight... I love when Gordon Ramsey calls the interns silly cows.
After removing 46 trees of various sizes, 52 bushes and put in over 150 man-hours, I am nearing the end of the Marriott project, which included a left and right atrium area and various other main entrance areas. Although they were skeptical at first thoughout the project as it was coming together, in the end, they were thrilled with it. With so many bushes and trees crammed into these areas that nothing was growing (except together and then choking each other out), it was a hard concept for them to grasp... space... and that there didn't need to be something in every open space. Also, my natural, 'walked-up-on-it-in-the-woods' style threw them, but it truly is the personality of the entire property. Next year, when everything doubles in size, it will be really beautiful. Incidentally, I did not plant any of the flowers. First, I wouldn't have used such K-Mart varieties in this application... and they are so sporatically placed... the mark of the idiot landscaper that they have (which I will probably replace soon). 
I installed a hummingbird feeder at camp this weekend and within an hour... had hummingbirds swarming all around... sometimes 4 at a time. They're really awesome to watch... what's great is the feeder that I got is designed so that they actually perch, rather than hover... you get to see more of them that way.
I finally had someone respond to my emails and phone calls. They sent a check out for the oldest two invoice and the message was forwarded on to me by the District Manager with just "FYI" as the communication... like I should be thrilled that they are throwing me a bone. I guess they would be thrilled if they only got paid for 2 days of the week instead of 5 in their paychecks? I had to send a well-constructed email back demanding all of it before I would proceed with work again. Or pay me that and the $2,200 that I have already done in prep work that wasn't billed yet and I will go on my way. I hope they choose the latter.
Last night, we went to see The Proposal. After the day I had, it was a welcomed escape. The movie was really good... great chemistry between Ryan and Sandra... cute premise... plenty of laughs... great scenery. I balked at the $9.75 I had to pay until the scene with Ryan Reynolds standing there buck naked (almost)... that was worth $6.00 alone. Sandra Bullock is the new Lucy. She has great comedic timing and has the physical comedy thing down pat. Ryan has a hairy chest and dimples and could just stand there doing nothing and I'd be satisfied. All in all, I give it 4 out of 5 petunias (what did you expect the rating system to be like from a landscaper?).
Well, here we go again. BP owes me a lot of money. Such a bad week (weather-wise) to be on strike... with 5 days of sunny weather.
Tonight, I met my half-sister and one of my half-brothers. It's very overwhelming and shocking to me. After searching and wondering every time I passed someone on the street, I am able to put faces and information to piece my life together. They brought these pictures of my birth mother and father... and although I have always been skeptical for many reasons as to whether he was my birth father, after seeing the top picture (of him around my age now), I feel relatively certain that he is my birth father. There's so much resemblance. For the first time in my life, I feel like I have a starting point, and that I wasn't just dropped out of the sky. I have my mother's nomadic tendencies... and possibly my father's anxiety. More to come where I left off in the story. This is just too much for me to process right now.
It was a great long weekend... except I need a vacation from my vacation. Didn't really do much relaxing, even with the 60 degrees/raining weather the whole time. I wound up doing 9 massages which was just enough. With the weather being so beautiful this week coming up, hopefully I will get a lot accomplished and knock some of the stores out. The house is being appraised tomorrow and I have a meeting with the lawyer on Tuesday. Tonight I am meeting with my half-sister (she called me on Thursday). Hope you all had a good Fourth!
