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Man, everytime I try to get back on the blogging track, it just doesn’t happen. But, for anyone who is out there still reading this, here are my celebrations of late.
February 14 – the third Valentine’s Day that I have spent with L. And it couldn’t have been more perfect. I spent 24 years being bitter on Valentine’s Day because I never had anyone to celebrate with. When CR told me one year that I shouldn’t be bitter because all my friends loved me, I had to gently remind her that I would be sitting in our dorm room by myself that night while she and all other said friends were out with their boyfriends. But not anymore. I’ll pause so you can go vomit. I don’t care. It was so, so perfect. But it was nothing crazy. We’ve gone out for V-day the last couple years, but we decided to stay in this year.
The morning started off when L came home from work with a dozen roses in hand and two cards – one funny and one sweet. And his gift? A new bottle of my favorite perfume, Chanel Chance. He was quick to tell me, it wasn’t because he thought I smelled though. haha, silly boy. I gifted him with some Bose in-ear headphones for his ipod (get these brand new off ebay for half the price they are in Best Buy. I’m just saying.) and a “Deck of Love.”
I originally saw the Deck of Love mentioned on a crafty blog that linked here. What a cute, meaningful and inexpensive idea. I set off to create my own deck of 52 reasons why I love L. He seemed to really like it, and ignored the card that was stained with blood. Note to self, when cutting through Xyroned paper with your good scissors, sticky stuff will get on them. Do NOT attempt to rub the sticky stuff off bare-fingered. You will slice your thumb open. It will hurt a lot. And it will bleed a lot. 
Then we went to church. Yup, you read that correctly. We went to church. We’re still trying to figure out who is going to actually marry us. We tried a Lutheran church in town that a few of our friends attend. It was very nice, and much more similar to what I’m used to than what I would have thought. L said it was very different to him, and there were a few things he would have to get used to, but he wasn’t opposed to it. We admitted that we were both very nervous before we went in, but left very comfortable. This coming Sunday, we’re trying a Methodist church.
We headed out to grab a quick lunch and hoped to see Valentine’s Day, but all the showings were sold out. Instead, we went back home and napped for an hour (unusual for me, but I was exhausted for some reason) and then headed out to a training program for the Cooper River Bridge Run 10k we are doing in Charleston next month. I kicked ass, again. 
Never would have thought so based on how I started the program (finishing at the end of my group). But I was so proud of myself. We did 3.5 miles and I’m in the 12 minute walk/run group (run 2 minutes, walk 1 minute). We went home, showered and L made me dinner – baked ziti because that’s the first meal he made for me when I came over when we first started dating.
Then we sat on the couch and watched the Olympics. Nothing glamorous, but oh so perfect.
Beautiful roses
How glamorous. No makeup. Wet hair. And Pjs. But it was a great V-day!
February 15 – Our three year anniversary. On one hand, I can’t believe it has been three years already. On the other hand, it feels like so much more than that. We spent the day together running errands and killing time while I waited for UPS to deliver his present (since for some reason it took over a week to ship!). L ran out for his own errand at one point and came home with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and three envelopes. By this time, his present had come and I had wrapped it. I got a very cute card and tickets to Jersey Boys! I have been wanting to see this for SUCH a long time! I can’t wait. And he definitely learned after last year’s handed-me-the-lap-top-to-show-me-what-my-present-was. In envelope number 1, there was a series of pieces of paper “can’t take my eyes off of you”, “Downtown Charlotte”, “Turnpikes”, “Broadway”, “Garden State”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”. By the time I got to “turnpikes”, I knew what it was. The second envelope held the tickets. So very perfect and I can’t wait to go!! He seemed pretty happy with the ipod Nano I got him too! Ok, so I may have broken our $50 spending limit, but I did get it on overstock.com for a fantastic price. I bought him the nike+ for running for Christmas and didn’t realize it didn’t work with the ipod classic (they should really put that on the box somewhere). He’s been wanting the nano and almost bought it the week before, but I managed to make him wait.
We both had to attend a board meeting for the VFD that night and thought about going to dinner afterwards around 8, but then we decided on a different restaurant and postponed our date until Tuesday.
Pretty Pink Flowers.
February 16 – L was working at the VFD during the day and I went up to run on the treadmill before we went to dinner. My goal was to run 4 miles because that’s what our training program will be this week. I started off running a mile with no incline. Then I increased the incline to 4 percent (that’s what the bridge is) and tried to run that as far as I could. The bridge is 4 percent for almost a mile and a half – whoo! I knew I had to run at the incline for at least a half mile, because that’s what I did last time. My goal was to go .6 miles, but once I got there, I knew I could go more and did .75 miles at the incline. I was hurting, but it felt good to know I went so far. I went back to a 0 incline and finished running the second mile. Then I kept going. I tried to run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute. Sometimes I did more runing than that, but I never did more than one minute of walking at a time. I got to 4 miles and felt good so I kept going. Before I knew it, I was at 5 miles. The farthest I’ve ever been. I wanted to go to 5.5. And then I thought, if I can do 5.5 , then I can get to 6.2. And I did. 6.2 miles! That’s exactly what the 10k is. I was so freaking proud of myself. Granted it wasn’t ALL running, but it was MOSTLY running. L had come in just as I was finishing and he couldn’t believe. The best part? If I didn’t need to go home and shower for dinner, I could have kept going.
So I went home and showered and a while later we headed downtown to Chima. It’s a Brazillian steakhouse that we’ve heard amazing things about. Basically, there’s a very generous salad bar and then you have this little coin at your place setting. If you want meat, you turn it to the orange side. If you need a break, you turn it to the black side. There are all these meat men (they had some Brazillian name, but I dont remember what it was) moving around the restaurant with large spicks with different meats on them. And it was so freakin good. Filet mignon, sirloin, rib eye, salmon, swordfish, leg of lamb, chicken, bacon wrapped chicken, beef ribs, the list goes on. I only ate breakfast to prepare for this. And we left barely able to move we were so full.
It’s quite expensive, about $44 a person, but completely worht it and we definitely got our money’s worth. Plus, we signed up online to be a ‘preferred diner’ and got a coupon for $25 off, so that helped a lot. I highly recommend this place if you’re ever in Charlotte, Ft. Lauderdale, Philly or Tyson’s Corner Virginia.
L should be our wedding photographer. How perfect is this shot? One take and super fast becuase it was FREEZING outside.
Such a wonderful week of celebrations. And everything was so perfect. The celebrating isn’t quite over yet – my birthday is Saturday! I think L is very excited for our official anniversary to be in September after we’re married. He’s got three celebrations within 5 days of each other now!
I’m a few days late with this Christmas recap and was absent all of last week – but it’s the holidays and it’s always a crazy time. Plus, I was busy buying my wedding dress!
I still can’t believe Christmas is over. Or Thanksgiving either. Also. Is tonight really New Year’s Eve? Wow. This year has gone by so quickly. I wasn’t really ready for Christmas this year. Probably because the whole holiday season snuck up on me so quickly. I felt like I wasn’t even really in the Christmas spirit. I did half of my Christmas shopping in July, but left the other half for the week before the holiday. I knew what I was getting everyone, it was just the actual act of going to purchase it that I was slow about. And in the end, everyone seemed to love what we gave them.
And I certainly loved what I got! L and I exchange our gifts a few days after Christmas since he has worked the last two we’ve been together. So my lovely gifts started on Christmas eve from my parents. My mom bought me a Gocco over the summer that was supposed to be for Christmas – we just snatched it when I found one for a good price. And I was perfectly happy with just getting my usual small stocking stuffers because of that. But she kepts telling me when we arrived earlier in the week that she only had one gift for me and that was it. I really had no idea what it was. Not a clue or a hint or a sneaking suspicion.
As we sat by the tree on Christmas Eve after dinner with my aunt and cousins, I tore the wrapping paper to reveal a navy blue box. It wasn’t until I ripped it a little further and saw the logo on the box that I knew what it was.
This was the logo I saw:
And I gasped and looked at my mom because I knew that this box contained two items that I have been coveting since I was about 12 years old.
These:
This picture does them absolutely no justice. I’ve been drooling over these ever since the first time I saw them in a Swarovski store and exclaimed that I would have those for my wedding one day. I knew they were expensvie, but seriously, I have wanted these for like 14 years. After we got engaged, I of course looked them up. And when I saw the price tag, I knew it was going to take a lot of saving to get them.
There are a lot of little details I am willing to forgo for our wedding to save money. But let me tell you. This was NEVER one of them. I didn’t know how, but I was going to buy these at some point before our wedding. I had searched ebay and they were always there. Not for as cheap as I would hope, but definintely a lot less than full retail price.
Just before Christmas I saw a pair go up for auction for $.99. I put it in my ‘watch’ folder on ebay, knowing that these babies would go for much, MUCH more than $1 – and then I forgot about them. When I got an email reminding me that the auction was ending soon, I saw a price tag of over $300. I deleted it and moved on with my day, knowing I still had months to figure out this dilema.
My mom had played the ebay game as well and got them for a much better price. And the fact that I couldn’t stop staring at them made her feel really good, I think. I never, in a million years, would have guessed that that was what was inside the box. I can’t wait to use them on our wedding day. Would it be inappropriate to drink Crystal Lite out of them until then? haha. We’re going to have to invest in some sort of hutch so these can be prominently (yet safely) displayed!
My pictures do them no justice, either, but at least you can sort of see the loose crystal filled stems. And the beautifully cut base.
But that wasn’t all. And there were more wedding-related Christmas gifts to come. My cousin and his wife bought us a US Airways gift card that we’ll hopefully be able to put toward our honeymoon travel.
And then there was L’s gift. My mom and I drove back on Sunday and L and I opened gifts Monday morning when he got home from work. There were two moderately sized boxes under the tree, but I didn’t know what they were. We had set a $50 limit this year and I couldn’t think of any of the things I asked for that would come in boxes that size. He did mention to me that he may have exceede the limit though (I couldn’t be totally mad though because my original gift for him was over the limit – another story for that one).
I told him to open his first. I got him 4 shirts from Gap that he wanted (all on sale – love it!) and another tshirt from a restaurant in CT that we love (and have several other tshirts from). Then I got him one of those Nike+ things for his ipod. The one where the chip goes in your shoe and syncs with your ipod when you run. He’s been wanting it and it seems pretty cool. I might need one for myself.
Then it was my turn. He handed my one box and told me to open if first. I unwrapped it and saw a Zappos box. My first thoughts were that he bought me the shoes I wanted for the wedding. But those were so expensive. I thought maybe he bought me a similar pair I found after those.
But when I opened the box, I found a pair of pink shoes from my own collection and another shoe that I had broken the heel off of last year. Umm, what the crap?
He handed me the other box and I ripped the paper tentatively, wondering if it was going to be another bogus present. Underneath I found a green shoe box. Green as in Kate Spade green. Yes, indeed. He bought me the shoes!!! I had to be careful not to get droplets of drool on them as I turned them over in my hands, not believing they were mine. I kept telling him I was so mad at him for breaking our limit, but my mom said it was hard to believe because of the smile plastered on my face.
I pulled off my socks and rolled up my jeans as I went to slip them on. I was a little nervous though. I used to wear a 9 1/2 or 10. But the last few years it’s been more of a 10 or 10 1/2. The largest size on Zappos was a 10 and I figured that the shoes might run smaller like most designer anything does. Plus, when I was searching the internet the week before looking for them on ebay or other potentially discounted places, I saw someone say that they would order a half size larger.
I proceeded with caution and you know what happened? They fit absolutely perfectly! They just slid right on. There was no shoving my foot in. No getting my fingers caugh in the heel trying to stretch the shoe around my foot. I stood up and walked around and not only did they fit, but they were comfortable! 3.25″ heels were comfortable. No wonder they’re so expensive. I put them on every now and then, but each time they go back in the box when I’m done. I absolutely can’t wait to wear these on my wedding day and I think they will go perfectly with my dress!
This was the best Christmas ever!
Oh, and you know I’ve taken pictures of these too, right? These are my own shoe shots and ring shots! 
Now if only I could somehow track down 5 pairs of the Nine West Jojus shoes in green for my bridesmaids! Too bad they’re discontinued.
Ed. Note: This is the post that I wrote and lost the other day. I stumbled upon it saved in my drafts folder – I had no idea it was there! The dates are a little off because I don’t feel like editing this from when it was written on 12/9.
Wow, my poor little blog has been ignored since November 19. And before then, it wasn’t very much better. You would think that since I haven’t had a job for, oh four and a half months now, that I would have plenty of time on my hands.
In those months, I have found plenty to keep myself busy with – especially now that we’re engaged. If I wasn’t spending every waking moment searching for a venue, then I was mailing cupcakes or making envelopes (more on that after Christmas). In anycase, I’ve been busy.
After driving to and from Connecticut and only spending two days there (that’s a 12 hour drive for anyone that’s counting), December was right around the corner.
We had planned to get our tree on the first Saturday inDecember – the same as last year. We drive up into the mountains so we can cut our own. Well, Saturday came and we had been to a Christmas party the night before and after consuming one too many root beer float shots, I slept later than we had planned. And it was kind of gross out, so we postponed to the next day.
Sunday we drove up to Boone, NC (where Appalachain State University is) and cut down our tree and came home (more on that soon, too). We hung out at the house for 2 hours while L worked on homework and I finished making envelopes before heading to a friends house that night for dinner where we stayed until 10:30.
Then I started thinking… when the heck were we going to put up the tree?? Or the other decorations for that matter? This is our schedule:
Monday (12/7)
Day: L works at part-time station till 6; I run errands getting stuff for a party that night and prepare
Night: I have ornament exchange party at a friend’s house; L goes for drinks with all the husbands who weren’t invited to the party
Tuesday (yesterday)
Day: L works 24 hours at full-time job; I run errands to get supplies for a banner he asked me to make for a retirement party they are hosting at work next week and then clean the house so I can put out Christmas decorations.
Night: This is when I was going to decorate inside the house (minus the tree that was still in the garage in a bucket of water)
Wednesday (today):
Day: L works at part-time station; I finish any decorating I can do on my own
Night: We go to an award ceremony and dinner for his captain at work
Thursday:
Day: L works 24 hours; I start making cookies for the retirement party they are hosting next week.
Night: L is still at work; I do wedding research stuff.
Friday:
Day: L works till 6 at part-time station; I work on wedding stuff, etc.
Night: We have L’s work Christmas party at 6:30 and have a co-ed baby shower at 7. Hmm, the Christmas party is 45 minutes away and the baby shower is in town where we live. We will obviously be very late to the latter.
Saturday:
Day: We were supposed to run in a 5k, but L is working 24 hours for someone else. I am no longer running because I didn’t register early enough and now it’s like $40.
Night: L is still working, but we have also been invited to a graduation celebration for his friend’s wife. I may still go bc the friend’s wife is friend’s with CR.
Sunday:
Day: L works 24 hours for his normal shift
Monday:
Day: L works till 6 at his part-time station
Night: Nothing. Wait, what? Did I just write ‘nothing’? One night that we don’t have planned. I guess we can decorate the tree this night!
Tuesday:
Day: L works 24 hours
Night: L still working. I’m going to dinner with CR.
Wednesday:
Day: L works till 6 at his part-time station
Night: We have the monthly business meeting at the VFD. Big meeting because we’re voting on a lot of positions.
Thursday:
Leave for his parent’s house and go to a beach music party that night
Friday:
Spend some time seeing family in friends near his parents’; drive back Friday night for a friend’s party.
Saturday:
Attend E’s graduation (she got her Master’s!), then drive back to L’s parent’s house to go to a family dinner party that night.
Sunday:
Attend a second family dinner party with L’s family.
Monday:
Drive together to CT
Tuesday, Wednesday:
Enjoy CT
Thursday (Christmas Eve):
L flies back to his parent’s house and has dinner with them. Then drives to Charlotte to work to let someone go home early that night.
Friday (Christmas Day):
L works his scheduled 24 hours; I’m in CT with the fam
Saturday:
L works his part-time job; I’m still in CT
Sunday:
L works 24 hours; I drive back from CT
***
So, there you have it. We would be able to put up and decorate our tree on exactly one day. and that happened to be 3 days before we go out of town. Well, that’s not very much fun. And a waste of a very pretty (and expensive) tree!
The other night, L said he would put in for a stand-by vacation day for yesterday so we could get some stuff done around the house. When I texted him yesterday morning at 8:30 to see if he got it, he hadn’t. It’s all dependent on how many people have also requested a day and how many other people are already on approved vacations or call in sick. It didn’t look like he would get the night off either.
I continued on with my day. Made his retirement banners, got a gift together for the baby shower and cleaned the house. He texted me letting me know that he was getting moved to a different station for the night and I was bummed that he wasn’t able to come home. I had just finished cleaning and sat down to watch a rerun of the Gilmore Girls when the doorbell rang.
Finally! The kid I bought a wreath from for a school fundraiser was finally delivering it. I opened the door and it was no pimle face teenager – it was L! He had gotten the night off.
He did admit though, that he didn’t think it was going to happen and he actually was moved to a different station. But just before he left they called him back and told him he could go home.
So, we put up the tree and decorated it and put up some of the outside decorations. Unfortunately, it was raining really hard, so we couldn’t put them all up.
Our tree is so pretty and I”m so glad we got it up!
I am really going to try to be a better blogger and post everday like I used to.
This weekend turned out to be really nice. Our office suprisingly closed at 3 on Thursday, which was very nice! I headed home and continued to work on the banners I was doing for the Volunteer FD’s 4th of July parade “float.” L and I had a quick dinner and then he headed to training while I went and purchased MORE blue glitter for the signs. I then worked on them until midnight and was still not done.
We had plans to actually put fence posts in the ground Friday, but I had to get these posters done since we were decorating the float at 2. I finally finished at 1:45. Spent a couple hours decorating and hanging out and then went home to shower and change and then headed to LM’s housewarming party.
I was sad about not getting to put the fence posts in. You know, since L cleared the land last AUGUST. Oh well, hopefully we’ll be able to do them next weekend.
LM’s party was fun and we stayed till about 1, which made getting up early the next morning for the parade tough.
We left the fire station at 8:30 to go get in line and hung out till 10 when it started. The parade route is really small, but it was fun nonetheless. We had great weather – sunny and warm, but not too warm.
I would show you pictures of my signs, but I would have to black out a huge portion of it that includes our town’s name (although, I’m sure I’ve slipped up and left it in some picture on this blog at some point) and I just don’t feel like doing that.
After the parade, L and I just hung around the house and then headed back up to the fire station around 6 for an impromtu cookout before the fireworks in town.
Yesterday, L worked so I took the opportunity to sleep in way later than I have slept in a long time, cleaned the house and took the puppies to the dog park. Ever since Shep came back from camp last weekend he has been limping. He always limps after he plays a lot, and I just chalked it up to him getting hurt when he was younger and it just getting sore. He was limping a lot at the dog park and I wonder if he injured himself at camp. I gave him to children’s tylenol – although I have no idea if it helped or not since he obviously can’t talk! I guess we’ll just keep an eye on it.
Hope everyone else had a nice 4th too!
As you know, I’m on the Support Team now at the volunteer FD that L is with. Every year, our town has a 4th of July parade and they put a couple of fire trucks in it. Two years ago, there was a float (I use that term loosely as all the “floats” in this parade are trailers, like the ones landscapers carry their mowers on, and many of them are pulled by tractors. John Deer, natch.). At one of our meetings, I suggested having a float again.
They had a sign or banner for the float that someone made the night before the parade that year. They weren’t even sure where it was or the condition it was in. I kindly volunteered to make a new one (and get all of the decorations for the float).
We will be having three banners. Two on either side of the float that will be the same and one on the back. I wish I could take credit for the idea of the one on the back, but alas I can’t. The last banner said “[Name of our town] Volunteer Fire Department and Future Firefighters.”
I decided to break it up and am putting one on the back that just says “Future Firefighters.” It’s cute with the kids sitting on the trailer.
It took me awhile to make it because I am somewhat crazy and critical of my own work. I started with a sketch on regular paper, then moved on to the foam core board. It took me two days, but it’s done. And I think it’s quite pretty if I do say so myself.
Please excuse my poor attempt at blacking out our town name
I’m planning on adding blue glitter to the water. I just decided that today. I have sketches of the design for the longer banners for the sides of the trailer and will hopefully start them tonight.
Apparently all my years of dancing, cheerleading, and sorority life paid off. I mean, I’ve got glitter running through my veins. Although, I must admit I had to go out and buy new paint when I realized everything I had was only pink or green!
Additionally, I got a bunch of decorations (flags, streamers, bunting) at Party City this week and it was all on sale. It should have cost $28 and I got if for $15!! Whoo!
I’ll try to get a picture of the float at the parade next weekend to show. Let’s hope my other banners are successful as well.
Off to Atlanta for the Braves/Red Sox games starting tomorrow – hope everyone has a great weekend!
Here’s a recap of my birthday weekend. We had a great time (even though I am officially closer to 30 than to 20). I’m slammed this week, so you get semi-bullet points again.
Friday
- Friday morning, my birthday, which I had off from work, I got up at 5:30 am to get ready for my third interview which was at 7:15. We met at Bruegger’s Bagels and the whole thing lasted 25 minutes. Ugh. I got up that early for 25 minutes? Anyway, it’s between me and one other person. I think it went really well. He hopes to let me know either way by tomorrow. Still no word on salary. Cross your fingers on both accounts.
-L and I lounged around for a few hours after I got home before we headed out for lunch at Price’s Chicken Coup. I was so excited. And you know what? It was way better than anyone had ever said! This was some damn good food. And the best part? It was cheap!
You came out with a no-frills box for each meal.
And when I lifted the top, angels sang as I feasted my eyes on… my feast.
What you see there is 2 pieces of chicken, 2 huge hush puppies, some tater tot-type things, a roll and coleslaw. L had the same thing except he chose to go with the fried perch (gag). Those two wonderful boxes plus two drinks came to a whopping $13! Now that’s a deal! We couldn’t even finish it all.
I told him he should be happy that he’s dating a girl who is happy to go get fried chicken and eat it in the car in the parking lot (take out only and too cold to go to a park or something) on her birthday – and not some pretentious girl who would snub her nose at the idea.
We got home and I opened the package my mom had sent me – money to get my hair done and one of those nifty curling irons that is also a straightener.
I didn’t get a present from L. He told me that on Thursday after work he had to run an errand, but then he came home right after work. When I asked him why he hadn’t gone wherever he said he had to go, he said he wanted to come home and be with me. He was going to try and fix the problem with my gift. Apparently, he ordered it like 2 weeks ago, but it hasn’t arrived. When he called to check, it turns out he entered his credit card number incorrectly and it didn’t go through.
When I got home from my interview that morning, I asked, “I’m not trying to be selfish or greedy, but since you didn’t run that errand last night, does that mean I don’t get a birthday present?”
He started into this whole thing on how he was sorry and how he was sorry he hasn’t done anything right lately. The only reason I asked was because I knew he wouldn’t say anything about it if I didn’t.
“Do I at least get a card?”
Yes, but he had to go to the fire station to get it. He left it there yesterday when he was working. He tells me this is true, but I wonder if when he went to the fire station to get it, he actually went to CVS. Anyway, it wasn’t until right before we were going to dinner that he even went to go get the card.
He comes back and gives it to me and also tells me he went to the store to see if they had any balloons he could tie to my chair at the bar later that night. And then asked if I wanted a cake. I’m not going to tell someone I want a cake. If you want to get me a cake, then do it, but don’t ask me if I want one.
I’m really not a greedy person at all, but it just kind of hurt my feelings. I put in a lot of effort to anything that I do for him – whether it’s big or small – and I just felt like he did all of mine on a whim. I’m not asking for big expensive presents, I’m just asking for some effort. We have three days in a short period of time (Vday, our anniv and my birthday), so it was all at once.
I got the roses and a card on Vday – which was perfect. But my present hasn’t come. He said he ordered that 2 weeks ago too. His next comment about it (which was on my bday) was that it was back ordered and he told me what it was. For him I got a subscription to a magazine he wanted. But I printed out a picture of the magazine and wrote that he was getting a year’s subscription and then glued it to a piece of card stock so it was wrapable.
For our anniversary, he told me he’s taking me to Savannah. Which I’m absolutely extactic about. But, instead of printing something out (like he’s done before) or having something small related to it for me to open, he just pulled up the tourism web site on the laptop. And although he says he has two weekends picked out that we could go – nothing is actually set. No date. No hotel. No plans.
I had gotten him the braves tickets. Which I wrapped up in individual packages, and a note about what hotel we’re staying at and that I had taken care of boarding the puppies. And I made him a card. Not a fancy card, but a card.
His, although it’s clear that he’s known I’ve always wanted to go there, just seemed like it was a last minute thought. And even if it weren’t, there wasn’t all that much effort put into the thing. Oh. And I didn’t even get a card.
He knows that our anniversary is a big deal to me (not that what he gets me has to be big, but just the recognition of it), but it just didn’t seem that way. I’m sorry that until I met him I never dated any one seriously. And I’m sorry that maybe the anniv. seems boring or mundane to him because he dated the same person for more than 6 years, therefore having 6 anniversaries. But it’s still a big deal to me.
So, all that coupled with no birthday gift, no card until I mentioned it and the fact that I thought he was always going to buy me pink roses for my birthday and didn’t just made me sad.
He told me that he’s had so much on his plate lately that he is overwhelmed. Between work, his partime job, this new captain’s position at his part time job and school – he was just overwhelmed. Then he told me how he’s having to drop his math class because he didn’t do well enough on the quizzes. But that he didn’t ask me for help because that meant he was a failure (even though I offered to help him one million times).
I felt bad. I know how it feels to be overwhelmed. But it didn’t help the fact that I felt forgotten or unimportant. Especially after some of my best friends were blowing off my birthday.
He told me that Saturday he would pick the day for our trip, which he didn’t, but in all honesty, we didn’t really have time. So I thought he would do it Sunday. But he didn’t. If I mention it or he reads this, I can guarantee that he’ll say he didn’t have time and he spent the whole weekend with me. Which is true. But there was also a lot of time spent reading fire blogs and looking at other fire depts’ web sites. He could have taken a few minutes of that time to finish my present.
So, he tells me I have a present coming, but I have no idea when I’ll actually get it.
But, we marched on. He took me to the Melting Pot for dinner (my suggestion though) and it was delicious. I normally only go for cheese and chocolate because a plate full of uncooked meat doesn’t appeal to me, but he talked me into it and it was much better than the only other time I’ve had the meat there.
I love how their tables are so private. And we were in this tiny room that only had one other. It was perfect!
For our chocolate.
Between the cheese, main course and chocolate – we were stuffed. But it was so incredibly yummy! I wish it weren’t so expensive so we could go more often.
After, we headed to a bar to meet some friends. I was pissed they were charging a cover at 8:30, but was happy when it was only $5 and it was because they had $1 beers!! Heck yeah. Although really? The bouncer could have let me in for free when I told him it was my birthday. We had a good time, nothing too crazy, but fun nonetheless.
Saturday
- We hung out around the house and took the puppies to the dog park for awhile. They really love that place. Except one dog kept trying to hump Dixie non stop for like 20 minutes and the owner was a royal bitch when L pulled her dog off. A couple times is fine – they’re dogs. But as soon as you pulled this thing off, it went right back after her. And the woman did nothing.
-We dropped them off then headed out to meet up with some of L’s friends from the volunteer station to go to a minor league hockey game. We started off with dinner and drinks, followed by the game and then to a bar afterward. It was actually really fun. I had never been to any kind of hockey game before, but had a great time.
We took the light rail into town and I must admit, that although I turned 26 the day before, I did something Ihaven’t done since my younger college days. I peed in the parking garage. There was no way I was going to make it home and there were no bathrooms around. A lot of people got off the train with us and the three level parking deck really had no corner or post that was out of the way. After I literally almost peed in my pants, I took my chances on the middle level in a corner. But it was a really small corner and my pee was quickly heading toward my feet. So what did I do? I put my feet up against the wall, with my back against the other side and peed. Suspended in the air. Haha.
Sunday
-Sunday was quite boring. I was really tired from the night before and we just relaxed. Took the dogs to the dog park again and later that night we rented Nights in Rodanthe. See, even with his lack of efforts in the present arena, the boy really does love me. It was good, but not quite as good as I was hoping.
And here we are. Overall, it was a really great weekend and Ihad a good time. I’m excited for this week to be over because we’re going to the beach friday night. Too bad it will only be about 50 while we’re there, but I’m excited nonetheless.
*PS- I have more pictures to add, but wordpress isn’t cooperating right now.
Hello dear readers. Sorry I’ve been gone so long. Work has been ridiculously crazy. This stupid project that has been assigned to me is quite large. With weekly deadlines I’ve been scrambling to meet. Luckily, only a couple more weeks and it will be done!
So, I need to update you on life. But, it’s been awhile. I’m thinking bullet points. Ok? Ok.
- When I last left you, I was getting ready for my four hour interview and had nothing to wear. I stopped off at the mall on the way home and found a suit right off the bat at Ann Taylor Loft. It was way more than I wanted to pay, but bought it anyway in hopes of finding something else at a different store and returning it later. I was in luck, I found one for half the price later that night at NY & Co. But I really loved the black. When I got home and was trying it on again, I noticed the blacks of the jacket and pants (woo hoo! pants that were long enough) were different. I hadn’t noticed it in the dressing room because I didn’t try them on together. I was originally going to buy the skirt (which matched), but then found the pants in my size. Even L said he noticed a difference. So I put on the other suit. And the pants kept sagging down bc they were too big in the waist (but a smaller size was too small in the legs). I didn’t know what to do and was not happy with either option. So I dug out all my old suits that I knew didn’t fit. One almost fit, but the skirt was just a tad too tight. L sat with me in the bedroom the whole time trying to help me. Which I thought was really cute. Especially since if you ask if somethign looks ok together his usual response is “I’m the wrong person to ask.” I finally decided on the less expensive NY & Co. suit and I cut a hair tie and half and tied it through two belt loops to fix the waist problem (I do this a lot).
-The inteview itself went well and it didn’t feel anything like four hours. I met with seven different people. All were very nice – except the HR lady who was a bitch. I got a tour of campus, etc. The man who I would be working with seemed really impressed with the questions I asked and I was happy. The money issue though. The HR lady made some disapproving face when I told her the figure I wanted. The benefits are good except for health insurance which is kind of expensive. $22/week for an indiviudal and copays are not fabulous either. They said they would let me know either way by the middle to end of last week. I still haven’t heard back. I think I’m going to send a follow-up email this week.
-That Saturday, we went to a cookout at L’s volunteer station and had a great time. That week had been so cold (with snow and everything), but Saturday was perfect. Sunny and about 65. We had a great time.
-Saturday night L and I went to dinner with CR and her husband at PF Changs. We hadn’t seen each other since before Christmas and we ended up staying at the restaurant for about 2 1/2 hours. It was great to catch up. I always love going out with them. I wish we lived closer so we could do it more often.
-Sunday was nothing special, but I did get together for dinner with LM, E and our other friend K. We rarely see K anymore, and frankly, I rarely see E either since I moved out. We were only there for an hour and then parted ways. Hmm. Not very long considering it had been ages since we had dinner together.
At the dog park
-We also took the puppies to a new dog park we found. It was another gorgeous day – 75. In February! And the puppies had a blast! This place is great, and it’s soooo big.
-Last week was hellacious at work with the damn project and another client meeting I had. It was lovely to go out for happy hour with some colleagues on Tuesday though. We sat for a couple hours as we all bitched and forecasted the demise of the company. Very refreshing actually.
-L and I had a low key Valentine’s Day. I don’t think it’s a very big deal for him (or for a lot of people) since he’s always been with someone. But until I met him, I was always the depressed lonely girl by herself on Valentine’s Day because all my friends were out with their boyfriends. So, to me, it is a big deal. He came home from work that morning and came in with a card, roses and a box of hershey’s kisses. And he said Happy Valentine’s day in the cutest, most perfect way. I can’t describe it. The whole moment, whether it was Vday or not, was just perfect. His plan was to cook me dinner later that night. Baked ziti, because that was the first dinner he ever made for me. We didn’t do much that day, just hung around, took the puppies for a walk and started catching up on the million shows we had saved on the DVR. Before we knew it, we were sitting in the dark and it had gotten late. He never had the opportunity to go to the store for dinner stuff since we were too busy laying together on the couch, so instead…
He took me to a bar. For Valentine’s Day.
Actually, it had been my idea earlier in the day to go out for a couple of beers after dinner. And since it was getting too late for dinner, we thought we might as well just eat at the bar. The conversation went like this: L: (half joking) we could just eat at the bar. Me: that’s fine with me! L: No! I’m not taking you to a bar for Valentine’s Day! Me: Why not? We’re going over there any way. Plus, you know that one sandwich they have is one of my favorites.
I didn’t care if it was a fancy meal or not. I just wanted to be with him. And actually, we had a really great time. I thought it was perfect. He did say a couple of times while we were there, I can’t believe I took you to a bar for Valentine’s Day. It just really didn’t matter to me. I was with him and we had a good time. It had been awhile since just me and him went out for drinks too.
Oh, one other thing. I opened his card and started to laugh. “At least your consistent,” I said. It was the exact same card he got me last year. It’s got these two bears on it and the boy bear is saying how much better the girl bear is than him – how she is his ‘better half.’ And on the inside it says that he is the lucky one of the two though. He felt bad, but I thought it was kind of cute. He kept saying that it wasn’t even the first card he picked up and that he would get me another one and I could tell he really felt bad about it. But I just didn’t see any reason for him to feel bad. 1-it’s a cute card. 2-I guess it just means that’s how he really feels Instead, I requested that I get the same one next year too. 
Valentine’s Day – I love that we look like Delta Zeta
-Sunday was our two year anniversary! Wow, how time flies! I had been dying to give him his gift which I bought in November. I got him two tickets to each of the Braves/Red Sox series in June. I also took care of the puppies’ boarding, parking for the games and the hotel. We’ll be staying at the Ritz-Carlton. Yes, that’s right. The Ritz. When I had been looking up hotels, for some reason it was only $10 more than any of the other hotels I would have chosen. And really. It’s probably the only time I’ll ever stay in a Ritz-Carlton. I am quite excited. He loved the gift and was really surprised. And I’m glad. He’s been dying to find out because I told him he had to take off a Sunday in June but wouldn’t tell him why. He puts his vaca in at the beginning of December for the whole year, so he’s had quite the wait!
He told me he didn’t have anything for me to open. That it was just a present he would tell me about. But then he gave me the laptop and told me to open it. On the screen, this link had been pulled up. Holy crap, I was SO. FREAKIN. EXCITED. I have wanted to go there for so long. He hasn’t picked out the hotel or anything yet, but has two weekends that he thinks would work. He wants my help planning what we’ll do though. Which is fine. Because we’ve already found a haunted pub crawl. I told him that he has to pick the weekend and the hotel and the rest we can do together.
I just hope that he does it soon and doesn’t leave it to the last minute. Because then I would be sad. It just wouldn’t feel the same. Kind of like how I felt when this took so long last year. I don’t want to nag him about it, but I want to be able to write it in my planner and also have actual dates to work with. And a central point to work off of when we’re looking at stuff to do.
That afternoon we took the puppies to the dog park again and they were pooped for the rest of the day! I think they really love it there – I’m so glad we found it for them.
L took me to Firebird’s Steak House for dinner which was quite tasty. And that was our night.
Flowers for our anniversary. L is a smart boy. He knows red roses are only for Valentine’s Day and any other occasion should be pink.
Waiting for our table
I wanted to take this sheep dog home. L says we don’t have room for a dog that size – but I don’t think it was even full grown. It is soo cute!
-Yesterday was crazy at work again as it was one of my deadlines. I continued to work on it all day and didn’t finish. So I took it home and worked on it again from about 6:30 – 10. Then I came in at abour 7:40 today and worked on it till 9 when I had to go to a meeting. Then finally finished it between 11 and 12:30. It would have been done before my meeting, but I was having serious technical problems with one of the programs I was using. Luckily, my next one isn’t due until the 27th!
-Oh, and my birthday is Friday! We get our birthday off, so I have a 3 day weekend – woohoo! And L is off the entire time.
Alright. So now we’re all caught up. And hopefully I can stay on track now!
The weekend was nothing special, but nice all the same. And it began early. :) But not for an exciting reason.
I took a half day on Friday in order to attend the funeral of one of my sorority sisters. She passed away at the age of 22 after a year and a half long battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma and Leukemia.
I didn’t know her very well at all. In fact, she came through after I graduated. I did know her in passing through work I did with LM as an assistant advisor for awhile though, and it was important to me to support all of the other sisters as well. I met up with LM, E, their other sister and KO and we car pooled to the funeral home. The room was packed and an entire half side of the room was filled with sorority sisters. I had a minor panick attack when I swear L’s ex-girlfriend walked in. I don’t know why she would be there and the guy she was with didn’t look like her boyfriend, and she had a ring on, but I swear, if it wasn’t her, she has an identical twin. Once I got over that, we took a seat.
The service was nice. At the end all of the sisters stood up and walked to the front of the room. The four of us joined as well. Since we were toward the back of the room, we were the last few to join the group at the front. There wasn’t much space at the front for all of us to congregate, and somehow E and I ended up smack dab in the front center of the group. We were the last people on Earth who should have been in the middle. LM and KO managed to duck behind some other girls.
Nervously glancing at each other out of the corner’s of our eyes, we still didn’t know why we were all up there. And then someone began to recite out sorority’s creed and then sing one of our songs. After we returned to our seats, the service was over.
We left and decided to grab a beer before we parted our separate ways.
Friday night was uneventful. L and I hung out around the house, watched some shows on DVR and then I retired to bed without him while he went on a call with the volunteers.
I had high hopes for Saturday. We were going to have some of the paint lightened for the hall way and finish painting the living room (well, repainting the walls that the puppies have scuffed or eaten. Yes, they ate part of a wall – are you surprised?).
But, we didn’t end up getting out of bed until like 2pm. Yes, 2 pm. We weren’t sleeping the whole time. We only slept till about 9:30 or 10. I had a semi-run in with The Crazy. Not the real screaming-crying-throwing a tantrum crazy like days of old, but rather the I-don’t-think-I’m-good-enough-and-I’ve-missed-out-on-so-many-important-milestones-in-your-life-that-you-were-able-to-share-with-someone-else-and-oh-my-God-I’m-so-fat-and-she’s-so-much-skinnier-than-I-am-why-do-you-even-want-to-be-with-me? type thing. I blame it on the fact that I’m 98% sure that I saw her the day before.
This all turned in to, this-will-never-feel-like-my-home-because-I-keep-finding-items-that-were-hers-and-even-if-you’re-not-keeping-them-and-you-didn’t-know-they-were-there-I’m-still-sick-of-finding-her-stuff-and-it-doesn’t-make-me-feel-good.
He says he’ll go through the house tooth and nail to make sure it’s all gone, but I’m not going to hold my breath. There still a picture hanging up that she’s in (not in prominently, but in it enough for me to know she’s there) – he says he’ll take it down, but it hasn’t happened yet (I haven’t even mentioned to him the picture that is in that same collage frame that has him sitting in front of another picture that has her in it – did you get that? She’s in a picture in a picture.) I know all this probably makes me sound crazy, but it is what it is.
Then it went into a whole moment that had nothing to do with the ex, but how I hate the way I look and no matter how much I try to lose weight, I keep failing, and then that somehow led into the fact that I really and truly hate some of the decisions I made in college and that that wasn’t how my parents raised me and I’m such a horrible person and let so many people walk all over me.
Did I mention I’m getting my period this week?
Once we finally got dressed and headed out, we decided to grab a heavy lunch so we wouldn’t have to get dinner before going to a friend’s house to watch the Panthers playoff game that night. We decided to go to Outback and use a gift certificate he got for Christmas.
While there, I kept asking him if he wanted to know what I got him for our 2 year anniversary which is next month. I bought this back in October/November and am dying to tell him what it is because I think he’ll love it (I’d tell you, but of course he wouldn’t be able not to read the post, so it’s a secret for awhile longer).
He keeps telling me he wants to know, but at the same time he doesn’t. Whether he wants to know or not, I’m not telling him, I just like to tease him. He’s dying to know though because I made him use a vacation day for it.
This conversation eventually led into what I got him for Valentine’s Day and our anniversary last year. He couldn’t remember what I got him for either day. I kind of just played it off and he eventually guessed what they were when I gave him some hints, but what he doesn’t know is the fact the he forgot hurt my feelings a lot more than I let on.
For V Day, I got him a set of 3 books on the American Railways. Nothing big or fabulous, but he claims he liked them a lot, and I saw him looking at them a few times and they are prominantly displayed in the living room. For our anniversary, I bought him the country concert mega ticket – that’s why we went to so many concerts over the summer – you buy it at the beginning and it’s tickets to all the country concerts that summer. When I gave it to him, I made a “sign” with pictures of us from all the concerts the previous year and listed out the new concerts and framed it. That’s in the living room too.
I put a lot of thought into the gifts I get him. I don’t just buy him something to buy it or because I’m “supposed” to get him a gift. I get them because they either mean something or I think he’ll really love them. And it just kind of sucked that he couldn’t even take a stab at it until I told him he sees them every day… and then I added that they’re in the living room.
Anyway, that night we headed to his friend’s house and watched the Panther’s pathetic excuse for a football game. We had a good time and socialized and had a few drinks. And we didn’t leave until about 3am.
While he was working yesterday, I finally took down all the Christmas decorations and cleaned up the house. Then I began my new project. I don’t wear any of my shirts with my sorority letters on them anymore, so I’m cutting them all up and am going to sew them together and make a blanket out of them. That way, I still have them, but they’re not taking up space in a drawer somewhere. I kept one pair to wear if I ever go anywhere as an alum or anything.
And here we are today. Another Monday. And the first full week of work since before Christmas. My boss is out until Thursday, but I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on and not much motivation. Oy.
I already filled you in that L and I were going to his friend’s house for New Year’s Eve.
Everyone was getting to the party around 8, but we didn’t get there until 9 and were probably the last ones. And when we got there, most everyone was already pretty drunk.
The guy whose house we went to is older (probably mid-30s) and married with two kids, but a lot of the people there were younger (early-mid 20s). It was the fire department crowd. Apparently, they were all taking like 10 shots when they got there and the first person was puking at 9:30.
We had a great time though. Played some beer pong and really just kind of hung out. The Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka was. awesome!
Per the usual occurance on New Year’s, I felt I was behind and needed to catch up. Which included lots of the firefly and several shots. Really? This was not a good idea. Especially since I hardly ever drink liquor anymore, and when I do, I’m never taking straight shots.
I remember seeing the ball drop and kissing L, but sometime after that I apprently sat myself on the couch. I remember nothing from here on out. L found me kneeling in front of the couch, that’s as far as I got on my own, and then took me to the bathroom where I supposedly fell asleep with my head resting on the toilet seat and snoring – which he attempted to record on his phone. Nice.
I also broke the heel on my shoes. These are obviously bad luck shoes. You see, I bought them to wear to New Year’s 05-06. They are dark gray stilleto heels from Nine West with dark gray glass beads all over the outside. I called them my fabulous shoes because, well, they’re fabulous. Well, that New Year’s was an interesting one where I got lost from my friends for hours, they called the police trying to report me missing (the phone call went something like : my best friend is missing in downtown Charlotte. She has blonde hair and is wearing a black dress. Wow, that description definitely singles me out on New Years. Or not.)
I turned up at the hotel at 4am and walked in exclaiming “you bitches left me.” Indeed, they had not, they had looked for me forever and even paid an additional fee to get into another club to look for me. Anyway, I woke up the next morning with dried blood all over my feet where I had scratched them against the glass beading. Also, most of the beads were gone and there were just random strings hanging out. They were then deemed my Not So Fabulous Shoes.
I haven’t worn them since. But I thought, if I just trim the strings off, you’ll never know. So I did and attempted to make them fabulous again. Obviously, after a broken heel they are not. I don’t think it’s worth it to get it fixed.
Back to this year. We left the party hours later and slept extremely late the next day. Well, I did anyway. I didn’t know L took the dogs out, or that they barked, or that his phone rang or anything else. My guts hurt so much, I thought I was going to die. He dragged me to lunch where I had to have mine wrapped up because I couldn’t stomach it. I lost count of how many times I puked. Although, I do know we had to stop twice on the side of the road on the way to lunch and once in the parking lot before we left.
Classy, I know.
L went into work at 4 and I slept for a few hours and finally at 8, I could eat something.
I took Friday off and we spent the day cleaning up the house because two of his friends from home were coming on Saturday.
They got there early and we hung out around the house, took them to a local eatery and then played cornhole for awhile. Then we headed to a Bobcats game and to a couple bars. We had a great time.
L’s friend and I were cornhole champs!
At the Bobcats game
Sunday we stayed around the house and played multiple games of beer pong while watching football. They continued to drink till 3am. I, however, had to go to work on Monday.
Dixie was the Beer Pong Referee
Shep loved all the attention!
They are really nice guys and I had a good time, and I know L did too.
Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone!
We had our plans all set. We had gotten a couple of hotel rooms downtown and were just going to do a hotel party. No one wanted to pay the $40+ cover charges to get into the bars and we always have the most fun back at the hotel anyway.
Well, LM calls me on Monday to discuss the plans. Turns out E’s boyfriend doesn’t want to go if all we’re going to do is stay at the hotel. WTF? Why didn’t he mention this weeks ago when we started planning this? Also, everyone else was game. If I suggested changing plans because L didn’t want to go, I’m pretty sure they would have something to say.
LM suggested going to someone’s house or to a smaller local bar – which of course is near E’s house, and not mine or even half way. That’s the way it always is. It’s always got to be near them. And it’s always go to be their way. I don’t think I’ve talked about this much on here, but it gets quite annoying (E and LM are sisters, by the way).
I told her I would discuss it with L. I was annoyed. Later, LM send and email flyer for a bar that has no cover. The whole point of us having the hotel party was to save money. No cover is great, but I know I’ll easily fun up a bar tab quickly. Especially at this place where we would have to get there at like 6 to get a table. E calls me and says their other sister could get us a discounted hotel room near that bar. I told her I would talk to L. She said, ok, well I’ll make the room reservations.
They weren’t asking for our opinion, they made their own choice. It’s really annoying. So instead, L and I are going to his friend’s house who is having a big party. I’m actually pretty excited. Some of it is just for spite, but I’m sure they won’t pick up on that.
I texted both LM and E that night and said “Just so you know, [L] and I are going to his friend’s house weds night.”
LM wrote back, ‘ok, have fun, we need to get together soon.’
E, who was the one I was friends with first, but who is also the moodiest and crankiest: oh, she said nothing. And still hasn’t. Which I think is f-ed up. At least reply back and say ok or something. Whatever.
The only thing I’m disappointed about is not getting to wear the cute black cocktail dress I got for Christmas. I did find a cute black shirt yesterday in Target that has some beads on it on sale for $6.48 though.
And then I stopped at the ABC Store to pick up some Firefly. Sweet Tea Vodka. Oh yes! I’ve never had it, but I heard it’s delicious with lemonade. I can’t wait.
Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!
PS – I’ll be back later this week or next week with my list of goals for 2009 that I plan to actually stick to this year. Or maybe later today since I’m doing absolutely nothing else. Perhaps the bossman, who has already left, will call or email and tell us to go home early. Cross your fingers.
I’m a little late, but what the heck. I started a post yesterday detailing everything we did last week. And then I realized it was super boring so I deleted it. However, I did want to share some pictures of the puppies and L’s Christmas present – so here’s my second attempt.
We set off for L’s parent’s house Sunday morning (after we jumped my car’s random dead battery the night before) and went to his grandma’s for the family dinner.
Monday started off early as we got up at 5:30, packed up the car and headed for CT at around 6. A wonderfully smooth ride – we didn’t hit any traffic whatsoever, and arrived at my parent’s house around 4.
I didn’t get to see any snow actually fall, but there was plenty on the ground – about 14 inches. The puppies had a grand time playing in it. I wondered if they would be tentative or inquisitive about it since they’ve never seen snow before – but they weren’t. They just jumped right in.
Tuesday my mom and I taught L how to make pierogies. We make them from scratch every year. He didn’t really want to do this, but I told him it was a good cultural experience. There may have also been a flour and dough fight at the end.
Wednesday morning we got up bright and early again and headed for the airport at 6. It was time for him to leave so he could have dinner with his family and head to work that night and for Christmas Day. Bummer. I didn’t want him to go.
My aunt and cousins came over for dinner that night and we had a relaxing time. The puppies were so well behaved I thought that someone had switched them with different dogs.
Christmas Day was very low key. We hung around the house all day, took the puppies to a playground in my neighborhood to play with my parent’s dog, Max (he spent a lot of time in his crate because he was a little too friendly with Dixie – if you know what I mean). We headed to my aunt’s for dinner and there was only 4 of us – but it was nice.
Friday, my mom and I did some after Christmas shopping where I may or may not have spent $50 on ornaments at Crate and Barrel. Once we got home, I packed up the car and headed back at 7 on Saturday morning.
Sunday morning L came home from work and we were finally able to exchange our presents. I was very excited to give him his, I had been coordinating it since August.
As a result of my Weddingbee reading, I had found Erinkejo on Etsy. She does custom dog portraits. I spent a lot of time talking back and forth with her deciding on sizes, colors, etc. I sent her a few photos of the puppies and she turned them into a masterpiece. Check out her site – I highly recommend her. (She’s using our portrait as an examply on her site, here’s the link to ours)
These are the two photos she used
L loved the gift. I didn’t have it framed (only because I couldn’t afford to do it professionally and I want it to look nice. We’ll have it done this summer perhaps), but I’m hoping to possibly hang it over the TV – or wherever L wants to since it’s his painting. I’m so glad he liked it. He loves those puppy dogs so much.
I had NO IDEA what he was getting me. But he told me he was afraid it was going to fall into the category of getting me a vacuum or something. But he said that I said I wanted it. I was nervous. I mean, what if it was one of those things you say you want, but you don’t want it as a gift? Or you don’t actually want it? Know what I mean?
I opened the first one. This wasn’t the one he was nervous about. It was a framed sign that says “Always Kiss Me Goodnight” in a beautiful script. I’ve seen these around and have been wanting it forever. I always tell him that he has to always kiss me goodnight before he falls asleep.
Next up was the big gift. It was in three parts. I opened the first bag and in it was a single lightbulb. Did you buy me lamps?
I got to the second bag, a Crate and Barrel shopping bag, and he told me that what was in it was not actually from that store. Inside, was a lamp shade. That just so happened to look exactly like the lamp shade for the lamps from Crate and Barrel that I’ve been drooling over for like 3 months.
Holy hell, did you get me the lamp???
I opened the box and there it was – my lamp.
He got up and went to the laundry room. Well, if you like one, then you’ll probably like two – as he walked out with a matching lamp already out of the box.
I was so freaking excited.
It extends to be a little taller too
You see, I have about $400 in Crate and Barrel gift cards. I had been saving them for the last few years saving up to buy a bed from there that I really watned. Then when I moved in, I didn’t need the new bed, so I told him we could spend them together on stuff for the house. We went one day to look at lamps (to replace the ugly brass good will ones he had). I found one I loved, but he didn’t want to spend that much on lamps – even though it was FREE MONEY. Nice lamps are expensive. I kept telling him he would find the set in the house one day. But I never got around to buying them. He kept telling me we should get a lot of smaller things with the gift cards instead of two big things. It was all a ploy!
And it totally didn’t fall into the “vacuum” category. I love them!!!
Here are some pictures of the puppies playing:
L and the puppies
Me and the puppies (and yes, I realize my scarf doesn’t match)
Shep and my parent’s lab, Max – he’s 95 pounds!!
My parents have these cubes they use as coffee tables, so I took the top off one and put Shep in it. He just sat there until I took him out. Dixie did not even come close to cooperating.
My love
After L and I returned from his parent’s house for Thanksgiving, I let you all in on a few comments from his mom that were the best yet. The title of that post was obviously dripping with sarcasm as her comments had to do with me supposedly talking him into getting not one, but two dogs and the oh-so-inappropriate comment about how I should “be a Baptist.”
I am happy to report, that this trip was much better. We got to his parent’s house last Sunday afternoon and hung out for awhile before headed to his Grandma’s house for the family Christmas dinner.
Now, all L ever told me about his sister before I met her about a year ago was how she was such a snotty bitch who always got what she wanted, etc., etc., etc. The first time I met her, she wasn’t super friendly at first, but warmed up a little over lunch. It was only an hour and a half, but she didn’t seem so bad. Then a few months later I had to share a hotel room with her for a few days when we all went to Vegas. That was only the second time I met her and I didn’t think she was a snotty bitch at all.
Over time, we had become Facebook friends and she even commented on my pictures - so she must like me, right? And recently she had even asked that I call her to give her some advice on a trip she was planning to NYC.
The week before Christmas she left me a comment on FB asking what our travel plans were for the holiday and said she was glad I was coming to the family dinner.
When she walked into her parent’s house and we were wearing a similar outfit, she was like, hey, look at that, great minds think alike.
Once we were at their grandma’s house, L had wandered off and left me so I took a seat in the living room with some other people and watched TV. J, his sister, got up from beside her boyfriend and came and sat in a chair next to me.
There was about once second of random chit chat, then out of nowhere she asked me if L and I had talked about getting engaged. I told her we had and that he had told me it would probably be by this summer.
J: Oh good. Because I like you. I think you’re really cool and you’re a major upgrade
/cue Angels singing in my head – this was the greatest thing I’ve ever heard
Me: Aw, you’re so cute. Thanks. Well, I’m glad you like me (this was all awkward. What do you really say to something like this?). I don’t know much about the ex, but from what I do know isn’t necessarily the greatest.
J: Ugh, yeah. I didn’t like her at all. I’m so glad you guys are together.
There was more talk about rings and what I liked. Then she let me in on a secret that she and her boyfriend had already bought her ring – in Vegas – last March! They’re not engaged, and I didn’t ask why or when he would be asking, but my guess is in May when she graduates from college.
We spent some random moments the rest of the night talking about what kinds of things we wanted at our weddings. I told her about my “ideas” folder on my desktop. This girl has got me beat – she’s got a whole binder and a subscription to a wedding magazine! When we sat in a circle to open presents, she made her boyfriend get up and switch seats because she wanted to sit next to me.
Seriously, this was the best thing in the world to me. Obviously, I’ve had some serious bouts with the Crazy, and although there have been no serious breakdowns since the summer, my lack of self-confidence is still there.
Hearing, “you’re a major upgrade”, from his sister whom he is not close with whatsoever, was amazing. Totally unsolicited.
Sigh… it was perfect.
Soon to come, quick update on the rest of the Christmas week – once I charge my camera so I can get the pictures of the puppies playing in the snow!
Our luncheon only lasted an hour and 15 minutes – and I stretched that out by standing in the kitchen talking to people. I was hoping it would take up more of the afternoon.
Our boss made no mention of bonuses – not even that our situation wasn’t great and we wouldn’t be getting them (which, considering this is listed as a ‘benefit’ when you’re hired, I think it should have at least been addressed).
I was kind of annoyed, but got over it. He left for the afternoon, and that was that. Today would have been the day because a lot of people are out all next week.
Then I just got back to my desk (had to go to the kitchen to get another cookie – it kills time) and saw an email from him. Subject: Merry Christmas
He was having a $500 bonus deposited. I told my cube neighbor/good work friend to check her email. She had nothing. It was only sent to me. I’m assuming he’s sending one to everyone, but just doing it individually. She hasn’t mentioned that she got anything yet, but there’s no way I would get one and she wouldn’t.
Anyway, it’s a lot less than what I got last year, but WAY more than I ever expected to get this year. Needless to say, I am VERY happy.
Now, should I:
- Significantly pay off a part of a credit card
- Put most of it in savings and do a little after Christmas shopping with the rest
- Put all of it into savings for big ticket items coming up like my friend’s wedding or a surprise I’ve arranged for L
- Spend it all on after Christmas shopping
- Put it into my “One Day” savings account
- Make an extra car payment so I’m a month ahead like they say you should be and do something with the leftover
Oh, the decisions. This could require a spreadsheet.
Today is my last day of work. After today I will be out for 9 whole days (that includes weekends unfortunately, I would prefer if it was 9 work days). I am very excited. This is the first time in my professional career that I will be out of work Monday through Friday.
Heck yeah!
Today we are having our holiday luncheon. You can see the economy is affecting us. The first year I worked here, our boss reserved hotel rooms for any employee that wanted them and we began with a cocktail hour at the hotel bar. We then moved over to dinner at a fancy-schmancy steak house and then to a nearby bar for more drinks.
Last year there was a huge catered affair at his house where he may have had waaayyy too much wine.
This year, we are having a luncheon. He and his wife (whose company shares our building) will be providing a turkey. We have to provide everything else.
I know this is a sign of the times and that we are not the only company doing something like this, but it is kind of annoying when he tells you about this $1000 trailer he bought to tow his motorcycle in when he drives to his huge beach house right on the Intercoastal Waterway. Oh, and the reason he bought the trailer? He got a new BMW. This one is black and his old one was white. So he wanted a black one to match his car.
It’s his money and if he has it, great. Just don’t rub it in our faces when we already know we’re not getting our bonuses (usually 10% of our salary) – and there’s been no word of even getting a small bonus (I’d be happy with $50).
Anyway, I made cookies last night as my contribution. Thumbprint cookies and sugar cookies – I chose christmas trees, snowmen and stockings as the shapes. I took pictures, but I don’t have my transfer cord. Oh well.
I worked on them from 6-10 last night. Then I ate dinner. Phew.
After work, I’m going to L’s Christmas party for his full time station. It’s just his shift going, so we’re just having dinner at a restaurant about half way between everyone’s houses. I’m looking forward to it.
We’re leaving tomorrow night to go to his parent’s house, we’ll be having dinner at his Grandma’s on Sunday (hopefully there will be no more requests for me to change my religion) and then leaving Monday morning to head to CT. He is flying back Wednesday morning and going into work that night so someone can go home and be with the kids when they wake up Christmas morning since he is scheduled to work on Christmas anyway. I’m driving back Saturday.
Oh! And the puppies are coming with us. My parent’s area is forecasted to get up to 14 inches of snow tonight. Maybe it will actually come (they closed schools this morning even though it wasn’t snowing yet) and there will be some for the puppies to play in.
I learned some random things yesterday and today:
-The woman who was the voice of Wilma on the Flinstones? Yeah, she was also the voice of Rosie, the robot maid, on the Jetsons. Hmm, now that I think of it, she must have been pretty busy when they made the movie, “The Flinstones Meet the Jetsons.” I loved that movie.
-Also, according to the gossip reporter on the radio this morning, apparently Jessica Simpson only washes her hair 2-3 times a month. How does it not get greasy?
Then, just as I was pulling into work this morning, it finally felt like Christmas because they played my favorite Christmas song of all time. My grandpa and I used to dance around to it in the kitchen. I’m actually surprised it was on the radio, especially down here, and especially on a country station.
Sighh… Wordpress won’t let me post the video. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQrdxtWgHbE
Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday! I probably won’t be back until after next week, but might be able to sneak in a post or two. I’ll definitely let you know after I give L his Christmas present that I’ve been dying to give him/tell him about for months now!
