Vacation....

I returned last night from Vacation. A wedding in Rhode Island, visiting friends and family in Boston, chilling out in Maine. I had a great time. I did and saw a lot of things. That's what vacation is for.

Or is that really what vacation is for? Can any remember the last time they took a vacation at home? Just slept in and read book all day. I've noticed that when people go on vacation they always seem to go places and do things. I am certainly no exception, and I enjoy my vacations busy and fun filled with travel and friends. I think next time I go on vacation I will do nothing. Maybe lay on a beach and read and have fruity frozen drink. Now that I think of it, that is how I will spend my 4th of July. A long weekend in Miami is good for that. You are all welcome to join me.

On another vacation related thought... Are you the cog that holds your workplace together? If you left for a week would the whole place be paralyzed because no one knows how to work anything? In a surprise move my job security was cemented by my week off. I am needed. Here is a list of things that went wrong while I was gone. I don't think I could have prevented half of this, but I'm not telling my boss that. The downside is that they may not let me go away again.

-Three light fixtures fell out of the ceiling.
-A water pipe burst in the stairwell
-The microscope computer crashed
-Everyone got locked out of the microscope room
-The other microscope blew it's fluorescent bulb
-The walk in refrigerator broke

I'm glad to be back here but I feel as though I need more time off to recover from my first day back.

On tap for this week: Rock climbing, Date night, Softball game, Christmas in June birthday party.

Good night and good luck.

Allegedly Drunk Scotsman and the Birthday Girl. Aren't we precious? 

The boys of extreme. Check out my sweet Kilt! This is an equal opportunity blog.

The Lingerie Party

Malinda decided to have a birthday party. Becky decided it should be a lingerie party. I decided I should go. How could I not? Everyone of my extreme colleagues were going and one and all would be wearing nothing but underwear. The 50% of the group who are attractive were enough to make me don my kilt and head over. I wasn't the only one to be creative. Noah turned a pair of boxers into an elephant. Go jumbos!

Now many had wondered if everyone would be dressed up, or down as the case may be. They don't know the Extremers. One poor soul figured it was a joke, so we made him check his pants at the door. Everyone arrived and immediately began drinking to up the comfort level. Jello shots accelerated the process. By the middle of the night I was standing in the kitchen conversing while partiers dried their hands on my kilt after making drinks! By the end of the night Cat and Caryn needed assistance to stand.

I am happy to report that the party succeeded in its mission to titillate and tease, but not reveal. There were no "wardrobe malfunctions". As a result we could all still look each other in the eye at the zexsports.com pool party the next day.

Well some of us could. Two young ladies wouldn't take my word for what Scotsman wear under their kilts...

Noah's elephant creation. Jumbo turns up in the oddest places... 

The Extreme ladies strut their stuff. It's good stuff. 

Cat serving Jello shots. How can you say no? 

Risa, Me, and Cat at the end of the evening. Not a sober person in the house. 

Hurricane Season is here again! Stock up on bottled water, canned goods, and ammunition. 

Curiosity about Chemistry

Today's musing is about Chemistry. I'm not talking about lab chemistry with beakers and Bunsen burners and bad smells. I wouldn't do that to my few faithful readers. ( though if you want it I'll go there) I've been thinking a lot recently about the other kind of chemistry. The kind between people.

To me this concept has always been elusive. But I had an epiphany driving home this morning from the beach. Epiphanys always seem to hit at 4:30 am. I am convinced more people would experience them if they were awake at that hour. Mine came as I was I was returning home from dropping people off after a friends party. The three of us had been talking about how much we in the larger group enjoyed each others company and got along so well, considering we had all only met in January. We also shared how much more fun Miami now seemed to each of us as a result. The three of us are all transplants and have been here for some years, yet only now are we really starting to enjoy ourselves here. That has everything to do with our new eXtrememiami group of friends.

I have always thought of Chemistry as the connection between two people in love. This idea has been probably reinforced by my online dating experiences where everyone says they need to feel the Chemistry. Everyone is looking for the Chemistry. I haven't found it yet, and I haven't even known where to look. I know it when I see it though. Many of my friends have it. Two friends are getting married very soon have buckets of it. I can see it in the way Lucy looks at Nadine in pictures. It was there in the way Noah and Vanessa were holding hands last night as we waited for the car.

My epiphany was this. Chemistry is there when it becomes easy and fun to be together. It doesn't only happen to lovers either. It happened to me with my new friends here. It happened with the friends I met in college and in grad school. The elusive Chemistry between two people is there when it's easy to be friends and hard not to be more. I've been looking for it in the wrong places, as usual. I am confident that now that I know what I'm looking for I'll notice the Chemistry when next it happens to me.

Gentle readers, that is my deep thought for the weekend. Impending nuptials always get me on these kind of thought tracks. I'd love to hear thoughts from you on this, if you have any thoughts to spare on it.

For those with no time or energy for deep thoughts, no worries. Next time I'll post pictures from the lingerie party I attended.