26 November 1999

I've just had a horrible day. Ok, I'm being melodramratic. It was all right until the later part.

It started off with Amber calling me at 9:00 to see if were still shopping today and announcing that Jackie (her mom) and Jesse (her little brother) were coming along too.

I usually don't mind Jackie. I like her a lot. Jackie took a lot out of me today. She's having a rough time right now. And I never noticed before that she is somewhat paranoid.

I rushed getting ready so that I could meet them at my office. Amber didn't want to drive all the way to my place, and I needed to pick up my check anyway. Yep, I sold a house.

I was running late...I got dressed just fine, but I made a big mess with my eyeshadow (yeah, sometimes I wear makeup). I spent fifteen minutes on something that usually takes me about thirty seconds. Then my star wouldn't stick because of too little eyelash glue and then too much.

Finally I leave and a fifteen minute drive takes a half hour and I realize that it's the day after Thanksgiving...the biggest shopping day of the year. My next thought is that we must be nuts.

Ok, I get to the office and I'm locked out. Some guy who was in the lobby lets me in. I tell the secretarty (who is majorly incompatent anyway- she thought the printer was a fax machine and she doesn't lnow how to minimize, yet she claims to have computer skills) and she just gives me a dumb look.

Finally Amber gets here. She was about an hour late. We get in and go to Largo Mall. And then for Thai food. And then to Countryside mall. It wasn't so bad. It was actually pretty empty. I got two charms for my bracelot, and Jackie bought me some kind of aroma therapy thing. Oh, and I got a pleather skirt. I really really want a pair of black pvc pants... but where to find them.

Then we went to pick up Marty and then we dropped off Jackie and Jesse. After that we went to Amber's house so that Marty could start cooking. The plan was go get Brian. Go back to my place, get a few things. Get Tate and Luna (my kittens) and go back to Ambers to watch a movie and have dinner.

This is where it gets complicated. We decided to take Ramses to see if he would get along with Tate and Luna because it would be easier than me bringing them all the way out there and then they hate each other. Ramses likes the car anyway.

We go back to the office to get my car. We take my car to my place because Amber is tired of driving. We go to my apartment so I can grab my stuff. Ramses is terrified of Tate and Luna so they have to stay home. We go get Brian. We go back to the office to get Amber's car. Brian insists on riding with Amber even though I want him to ride with me since I don't know Clearwater very well. They leave me with the cat.

We go to the grocery store for drinks and desert. We go to the video store. As we are leaving the video store, I think that I am following Amber. Well, I lose her somehow and I'm following the wrong person (it's dark and I need my glasses to drive at night, but the lense came out and Ramses knocked it somewhere - probably out of the car- while we were in the video store). I end up on US 19 which I have never been on and it's kind of like that seen from Clueless, except there is noone in the car with me except the damn cat who keeps running under my break pedal, and also the fact that my virginity doesn't go from technical to non-existant afterwards...

but anyway. There are thousands of wrecks on US 19 a year. And if that isn't bad enough, I try to follow Marty's directions but end up on the interstate which I've also never driven on before, throwing the cat over the seat every few minutes. Then I am crossing the thirteen mile causeway and then I'm in Tampa. All this time, my gas light is on, I have no idea where the hell I am and Dave is pissed because I can't tell him what street I'm on.

I stop for gas but think to pay first and my card doesn't work. Then I try to follow Dave's instructions, but he get's me lost in Snell Isle and then has no idea how to get me out. So I call my mom because she has friends who live there and she gets mad at me because every street has about four names and even though I'm driving strait I'm on a different street...

Finally after about three hours of driving I make it home tired, stressed, and amzed I didn't run out of gas.

And I find out Amber's mad at me because I didn't come. I don't even care. If she wants to be MAD over something I had no control over fine. I should be mad at her for now being more aware when people are following her (this is the second time. When a bunch of us went to sleepy Hollow we had to do 70 to keep in sight of her and run a few lights). But I'm not mad at her. I don't care. I just want to sleep.