that one time on a friday night...

last night my neighbor (who i barely know) told me his dog probably liked me because i was salty.

let me rewind a bit.

it all started when a wave of fatigue hit me like a wall of bricks at about 3pm. it was the kind of tired that makes your arms hurt and your eyelids feel like concrete blocks. two hours later, i was free and headed home. i had planned to go running but my body said "in your wildest dreams," so i crawled into my bed and zonked out for nearly 2 hours.

i woke up about 5min before a parade of people arrived at my house. before the crowds arrived, i wandered downstairs in sweatpants with fuzzy hair and makeup askew. my roommates all looked super hip -- they were headed out to First Friday in phoenix. i debated my choices for the evening and ended up having a stare-down with my cupboard, trying to conjure up a dinner plan ... in the meantime, the parade of friends arrived. it's good when people witness you in a fuzzy state on a friday night, staring absently in the kitchen. i hope my reputation spreads.

at this point, i decided to go on the aforementioned run. so i geared up and headed out. (it's hip to go running when all your friends are going out on the town, right? ....right?)

i had just sprinted up a hill (yes really) when an awful truth struck me -- i didn't have a house key. so i sprinted down the hill (really wish i could've timed myself -- i probably set a personal record for how fast i ran home.)

didn't matter in the end though, because everyone was already gone. we have friends in the complex, but they weren't home either ... so i sat on a curb and pondered my options. i noticed my next door neighbors were on their porch, so i tucked all my pride away somewhere safe and shuffled over.

"um ... i know this is weird, but i'm locked out ... and i don't know my roommate's phone #, but she has a smartphone so she gets her e-mail ... can i use your computer?"

bless their hearts, they let me in. this is when the dog became intrigued by my salty state (remember i just sprinted home) and proceeded to lick every inch of skin available.

so, i e-mailed the roommate and my friend josh who she was with. twiddled my thumbs for a couple minutes waiting for a response before i realized josh would probably have his # posted on his facebook. i was right -- he totally did. so i borrowed the neighbor's phone and (thankfully) josh answered his phone.

"um ... please come rescue me."

they dispatched my other roommate to come to my aid. i chatted it up with my neighbors for a few minutes before deciding to go wait on my porch for my roomie. nice people.

so, there i was back on the curb. i killed time by observing nature, i.e. some gravel and a nearby shrubbery. it was about this time that homey J showed up.

homey J was a teenage boy, out and about asking for money for a bus pass. i might have felt nervous if i didn't know my trusty neighbors were on their porch like 30 feet away. so i talked to homey J.

he didn't want to talk to me any more when he realized that i was in just as a pathetic state as he was and had no money to offer him. he wandered off, and i turned to my ipod for entertainment. i discovered some unknown treasures there (baby sister, i'm guessing this is your doing) ... including some errant willie nelson tracks and "i have confidence in me" from sound of music.

ironic, ipod.

about this time, my saintly neighbor wandered over and gave me a sweatshirt (very generous, considering he'd been privy to my post-running salty state). i think i definitely owe these people cookies.

after about 20min, homey J came back. i must have been the most interesting person he found in the parking lot. we struck up a conversation and i discovered that homey J was only 16 and his mom had just kicked him out. poor kid looked so scared. i won't lie, i had no idea what to tell him. i doubted he would want to go to the police, and i wasn't about to send him to a shelter.

about this time my knight & princess in shining armor/dress arrived to let me in. they found me sitting there in an oversized orange sweatshirt, smelling like dog saliva and chillin with homey J. i told homey J to wait there and went in and grabbed him some bus money to get to his aunt's house in glendale. i wish i could've done something more for him, but what's a girl to do?

in any case. i'm a big believer that everything happens for a reason, so i'm glad homey J could find me there on that curb bonding with the shrubs. and i'm glad it gave me an excuse to get to know my neighbors better.

oh,
and after i had gotten in and showered up i felt a little weird.

turns out i had a fever. maybe the entire time.