Oh man, it’s 1 a.m. and I can’t sleep. I had a Board presentation this evening (around 8 p.m.) and I’m still totally wired. Of course, like all my other presentations, I obsessed to the point of reciting the talk in my sleep… that’s how I roll: complete OCD. I can’t help it. The good news is that I rocked it, or so they say. I made multiple attempts to add humor, and for the most part, I pulled them off successfully.

So let’s see: what else is happening. Well, a couple Sundays ago, some friends came over for dumplings and football. Yes, you read it right: definitely a random combination but you know what? Who cares. My friend’s fiance is a walking ESPN channel, so he was happy to watch football on HDtv. Meanwhile, my friend and her other friend helped me wrap dumplings, and we had the operation cranking out dumplings at warp speed. Probably folded like 120 dumplings in under one hour. Gotta love the manual laborers. And our little morsels came out beautifully. Super tasty.

In other news, the home projects are continuing. I cleaned up our back patio a bit– disassembled the cheapie plastic chair and tables, made some room for the potted plants and the lazy dogs to sunbathe. I made some additional changes to our dining room. I finally decided to remove our cotton Ikea rugs (which we purchased almost three years ago in Shanghai) and put down something a little less ghetto. I found a cool bamboo rug on Craigslist for $30, and then I accented that with a couple jute rugs from WorldMarket. Yes, my friend Tina has created a monster. And our cheapie Target silverware started flaking, so I splurged on some 18/10 stainless steel silverware from Overstock. Bargain shopping full speed ahead, I tell you. Oh and I just installed a retractable clothes drying line indoors. Yup, can’t take the Shanghai out of me. Like the showerhead, I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this sooner, but shit, I found a 20′ line off Amazon. Mounted that sucker in the upstairs hallway, and that shit is like magic. And with the wetter, damper winter weather around the corner, this thing is gonna work wonders. Retractable. You gotta get yourself one.

As you can see, I’ve got the shopping bug again. It really does come and go, and right now, I’m in the mood. Last Saturday, John worked most of the day so I hit the local TJ Maxx (it’s my namesake after all) and Ross in search of baby gear for the first-ever baby shower I’m attending this coming Saturday. Man, being a part of the public affairs department at work has made me all crazy about themed gifts. So I spent like 2 hours going through the baby department in search of the right gift. Finally settled on a doggie theme, and now I have the big headache of wrapping the gift still carrying that theme. Sigh. It’s exhausting. Of course the good news is, after I was done with the baby shopping, I got to do a bit of browsing for myself. Picked up some cute clothes and a few placemats (I know, can you believe I would ever drop a dime on that kind of shit?). I think our dining room is actually done now!? Well at least it’s as good as it’s going to get. Who wants to come over for dinner to see?

So Sunday, John and I hit downtown SF. Caught an awesome, awesome show at the comedy club (hurray for Goldstar Events– again!). Seriously, John laughed so fucking hard, he was in tears. Twice. Lavelle Crawford is the man. And the opening act was smooth as butter. A beebop dude named J. Lamont. I swear, in my second life I want to be a performer. I’m just totally enthralled with talent and dedication and polish. These peeps are really amazing. I’m such a wannabe. Sigh.