Don't Sneak Up On Me. Seriously.

My boss regularly makes a point of announcing her arrival in my office if I’m not looking directly at the door when she’s coming in to talk to me. That’s because I tend to be a bit jumpy. If I’m concentrating on something I’m usually pretty focused and she’ll walk in and say something and I’ll practically jump right out of my skin.

Of course it doesn’t help that the HVAC vent in my office is so fantastically loud that I can’t hear people on the phone in my office when it’s running, let alone someone talking to me at a regular volume from more than a couple feet away. And it’s not only my boss that has noticed my jumpiness. Pretty much anyone who has unwittingly snuck up on me in my office has seen me almost have a heart attack. They all laugh at me about it too.

I figured it was mostly something that affected me here at work, and mostly because of the noisy vent, but Aaron also has the uncanny ability to sneak up to me silently and then say something in his loud, boisterous voice (you can’t lose him in a crowd – he’s the loudest one there, guaranteed) causing me to just about wet my pants because I’m so startled.

So, yes. I’m jumpy. And after people get over the initial shock of seeing my jump when they really weren’t that stealthy (besides Aaron, I swear he does it on purpose) on their entrance, they laugh at me. But the initial shock of it can be a bit much for some people.

Like the tiny Indian man who approached me in a parking lot today.

I was getting into my car after lunch, unsuspectingly going about my business of loading in my purse, and putting my drink in the cup holder, when I heard a quiet “Excuse me ma’am”. (I won’t even go into the whole being called ma’am by someone twice my age thing, but seriously? I look like a teenager. Don’t call me ma’am.)

I jumped so high I hit my head on the ceiling of the car. And I surprised the little Indian guy so much that I don’t think he knew what to do at that exact moment – continue on his quest to ask for directions or to run away because he scared me so bad.

After apologizing profusely, he asked for directions to the nearby university, apologized again and went on his way. I sat in my car, waiting for my heart rate to slow back down, and then headed back to work. Now I feel like it’s time for me to crash and burn at my desk (maybe I’ll slap a note on the door that says I’m reading, shut it and grab a few quick zzzs). Must be the after affects of the adrenaline rush.

I know I’m not the only one like this – being jumpy at the slightest thing – but it does make for some good stories. Or maybe it’s only amusing to me, but you really should have seen the look on that guys face. It was priceless.

Romance and Dogs?

As I mentioned yesterday, Aaron and I are taking a “romantic vacation” next week. We both need a break – Aaron from how crazy work has been, and me a break before work gets truly, mind-blowingly busy. So, we’re heading up north, spending a few days at a bed and breakfast and then coming back to spend the rest of the week and weekend hanging around our apartment, hanging out with friends, and doing some of our favorite things around town.

I really think it’s going to be wonderful.

One of the best things about where we’re going is the wine. You see, Michigan produces quite a bit of wine, and the biggest wine-growing region in the state is around Traverse City – right where we are headed. There are numerous wineries, all with tasting rooms, and we are going to definitely take advantage of that – probably each day we’re there because there are way too many places to visit for just one day.

Other highlights of the Traverse City area include great food, beautiful bay views, temperate weather, hiking trails, and we’ll be there just in time for the National Cherry Festival which is something I’ve always wanted to attend. I’m a little sad that we can’t stay longer for many reasons. First and foremost is that whenever I go up there I never want to leave, but there is another, slightly weirder reason I wish we could stay at least two days longer. On Friday of the Cherry Festival they have the Ultimate Air Dog competition . Have you ever seen this on ESPN? Aaron and I watch it whenever we catch it (along with all other weird sporting events on ESPN such as the “Strong Man Competition” and some Japanese obstacle course show that was on last weekend) because it is so much fun to watch the dogs run and jump, and it’s amazing how fast they can run and how high they can jump. We’re leaving the day before the event, so we’re totally going to miss it, but I may have to watch to see if it’s going to be there again next year and make plans to attend on the actual days it’s going on.

But, I guess jumping dogs don’t necessarily belong on a romantic vacation.

One more reason I’m excited to go up north? We’re staying in a bed and breakfast up the bay shore from Traverse City. I’ve always wanted to stay in a bed and breakfast and have yet to do so, and I’m really looking forward to it. Mostly to see what goes on in a bed and breakfast, because I think that’s going to be my retirement – living up north on the water, renting out rooms for incredibly high prices, and cooking breakfast (my favorite meal) for hundreds of people over time. That really sounds wonderful.

Quickie

I’m swamped at work today, but I’ll just leave you with this quick anecdote from this morning:

I was taking my normal route to work, when I noticed a cop waiting in a little pull-off to the side of the road; waiting to pull someone over for speeding. This little stretch of the road has a speed limit a little under what you’d expect for a country road. All of the sudden I got a deep, sinking feeling in my stomach. I hadn’t been paying attention to my speed at all. Aaron would kill me if I got a speeding ticket right now, especially since we’re planning on dropping some big money on a romantic vacation next week, and we can’t afford a speeding ticket or the insurance increase and a vacation. Panic set in. I quickly took my foot off the gas pedal and looked down at my speedometer to see how bad it was going to be if I got pulled over.

I was going ten miles per hour under the speed limit.

Yep, I totally drive like a grandma.

Moving On

On Sunday I made a decision to get over my moping about my gym closing and move on. I researched a couple of gyms in the area and settled on two: one – a tennis club and fitness center with a pool which is close to where I work, and two – a “mega-gym” sort of like Powerhouse or something like that which was solely dedicated to cardio and weights. Um, yeah, I totally decided on the club. And it is awesome, and I am happy.

There are many, many cool things about this new club (can you tell that I like being a member of a “club”? I don’t know why that excites me, but it does), including indoor and outdoor pools, indoor and outdoor tennis courts (except I don’t play tennis, but now? I could if I wanted to), many more cardio and weight machines than my last gym, many more types and offerings of group exercise classes, childcare (which I don’t need yet, but something that will probably be nice in the future), and most exciting of all: there’s slim to no chance of it closing any time soon. It’s been around longer than I’ve been on this earth, so I’m assuming (and this may come back to bite me in the ass, as assumptions I make usually do) that it won’t close any time soon.

(Also, apparently parentheses are my friend today.)

One other nice thing? Aaron can join if he wants. He hasn’t decided yet if he wants to or not, but my last gym was women only so he didn’t have that decision to make.

I never thought I’d be someone who was excited about a gym, or for that matter, someone that would almost literally mourn the closing of a gym because that’s a hell of an excuse not to go to the gym, but I guess I am. I’m also easily excited and could hardly sit still yesterday because I like new things, but still. It’s pretty cool. I can’t wait to go again today.

Nice Shot

This past Saturday, Aaron and I were getting up and about (read: showering and brushing our hair, finally at about 5 pm at night) and he looked at me and said, “Hey babe, wanna shag?” to which I replied, “Um, sure?” because seriously, who else but my husband and Austin Powers try to seduce by asking a girl if she wants to “shag”.

Then he said, “You didn’t let me finish – what I was going to say is, do you wanna shag some balls?” (to which I giggled, because I have the mind of a twelve-year-old boy sometimes). But as soon as we got ready we were off to the driving range to share a bucket of balls.

We were both kind of not doing well at first – Aaron was hitting the balls, but they weren’t going high or far, and I was just swinging at air apparently, not hitting anything. Then I finally connected with a ball. However, it only went about five feet. Aaron decided that I needed that ball back, so he went in front of me to send it back my way. He was facing away from me and meant to tap the ball lightly with his club so it would roll back to me and I could hit it again.

Instead, he made the first good contact with the ball all day. As if in slow motion, as soon as I saw him hit the ball I knew it was coming right for me, quick and hard, but I couldn’t move. Sure enough there was a loud “crack” as the golf ball hit me right on the kneecap. And, damn, did it hurt. I started crying pretty much right away (but also tried to hide it, because I hate crying in public, especially when I’m surrounded by a bunch of men, which I was at the driving range) and Aaron came over and apologized profusely. I only cried for about a minute, and then went up to hit another ball. Which I did. Hard. And I got about 150 yards straight ahead. It was awesome.

You know what else is awesome? Totally milking the giant bruise I have on my knee. Aaron feels bad, and even though he knows I’m fine and I don’t really care, I’ve been having fun giving him a hard time about it and he’s been having fun spoiling me rotten ever since.

New rule though – if you hit a ball that doesn't go far? You get to get it yourself.

How Would You Respond?

A couple of months back, when we bought our new car, I was online chatting with a friend and wanted to tell her about the car. So, I prefaced saying, “We bought a new car” with, “Want to hear something sort of exciting?” She said “Sure” and so I told her about the car.

Unfortunately it didn’t end there. That weekend we went out with she and her boyfriend and sometime during the night she told me that when I said “Want to hear something sort of exciting” that she was “Really scared” that I was going to announce I was pregnant. I responded, “Nope, not yet”, but it’s been bothering me ever since.

Why would someone be “really scared” that their happily married friend was pregnant? I can understand that, you know, when the baby comes along there might not be as much time to hang out with friends, and if I were pregnant I probably wouldn’t hang out in the normal smoke-filled bars where we usually meet, but still. It bothered me. I really like this friend and am scared that when I do get pregnant and have to tell her, that she won’t want to see me any more. She doesn’t even want kids, so I know it’s not a jealousy issue, and she has two close friends with kids, so it’s not that she hates kids either.

I just don’t know what I’ll say or how I should address it when the time comes.

Apparently My Taste is Blind

I know it happens to everyone, you get a song stuck in your head and you just keep singing it over and over (especially the refrain, if that’s all you know of the song), and it just won’t stop. Usually I have pretty good songs stuck in my head so I don’t always mind, but today I don’t know if I like the song my brain has chosen to play on constant replay. Or at least there’s a good chance I’ll get made fun of if I say I like it or even don’t mind it.

What’s the song stuck in my head, you ask?

Why, Paris Hilton’s new single “Stars are Blind”.

I’m going to admit something, but be nice, okay? I don’t really mind the song. It’s slightly catchy, if not a little annoying because of the breathy voice she uses, but I kind of like the melody. Apparently the part of my brain that is responsible for choosing the songs that get stuck in my head doesn’t mind the song either.

You want another embarrassing admission? I like Britney Spears’ music and hope she makes a miraculous comeback. Here’s yet another: I also really love most of Kelly Clarkston’s songs. All this from a girl who’s a true rock and roll fan at heart (and Dave Grohl’s number one fan!).

I think it’s time to break out my ipod and get something else playing in my head, because those admissions were way too embarrassing.

This post just has too many topics for a single title

Aaron and I are so excited for this coming weekend we can hardly stand it. We have absolutely nothing planned. Isn’t that wonderful? We’ve been out of town every weekend for over a month and we’re ready for some down time. There are no weddings, no parties, no visitors, and even our friends are gone for the weekend, so there’s no one to make in-town plans with.

I could tell this past Sunday that I needed some down time. I was in a horrible mood – exhausted, crabby, unmotivated and yet bored. I thought I’d try one of my favorite activities, planning meals for the week, to snap me out of my funk. Yes, I know that kind of makes me a dork, or at least kind of housewife-ish, but I really do enjoy planning meals. Anyway, I was having trouble coming up with anything to cook for the week, including that night, and so Aaron made me put down the cookbooks and take a nap. While I was napping he took over, and planned meals for the week, and I have to say, I think he did a pretty awesome job of it.

Not only did he plan all of the meals for this week, he’s also cooked all of them so far. Sunday night we had fresh vegetable soup, Monday was linguine with shrimp, tomatoes and basil, and last night was a Thai beef salad. All of it has been delicious, but I will admit, I’m really looking forward to dinner tonight most of all. Ham, fresh mozzarella, and spinach paninis with a grape tomato salad on the side. Grilled cheese sandwiches are about my third favorite food (first is macaroni and cheese and second is soup, pretty much any kind), so I am pumped. And, it’s a fancy grilled cheese so that makes it even better. I’m nothing if not one for fancy things.

Now, for a completely different subject, something happened last week that I am very sad about. My gym closed. There was no warning, not even a hint of an indication that I would walk up to the door last Monday and there would be a sign that says “Closed Until Further Notice”, but there was and it is. Closed. I called every day last week to see if they would leave some indication of what happened on their voicemail, but no such luck. Just the same message with the hours that no longer applied.

Then yesterday, I decided to call again, and the number has been disconnected. I had been holding out hope that it might reopen soon (all the equipment is still in place), but that kind of dashed my hopes. It’s the perfect gym for me – it’s right across the street from where I work, so I have to pass it in order to go home, and if I pass without stopping I feel guilty. Not to mention the price is right, it’s a women-only gym, which I like, and it’s where I take my weekly yoga class that I love. I’m feeling sort of lost without it, but have decided to wait a couple more weeks to see if it reopens before joining another gym. In the meantime, I’m making Aaron take walks with me and I’m going to start using some exercise tapes I have – Tae Bo for cardio, and pilates and yoga for strength training. I also have weights and one of those big balls that you do crunches on, but it’s really not the same. I really miss my gym. I never thought words like that would come from me, the one who used to hate working out, but this place really was the perfect gym for me.

We've Got a New Drug

Aaron and I have a new addiction. It started just over a week ago and we are helpless to its draw. The focus of our addiction only occurs on Mondays. Monday evenings at 9, to be exact.

We are addicted to Hell’s Kitchen.

First of all, let me tell you that I love food. I love everything about food. I love reading about it, planning it, shopping for it, eating it, but most importantly I love creating it. My dream job (if it had better hours and a more certain outcome) would be to own a restaurant. A very fancy restaurant. Hell’s Kitchen is about twelve people competing to run a very fancy restaurant in Las Vegas.

I happened on the season premier last Monday and we were instantly sucked in, even though we were doing something else—I think it was a fierce cribbage battle, but it could have been scrabble. I’m not sure. What ever it was, it instantly ended as we were now staring helplessly at the glowing box that was showing us this show.

The show is funny, humiliating, and just simply intriguing. I don’t know what we Americans love about a mean British man, but the main guy on the show (I think his name is Gordon, but for some reason I can’t remember his name this morning) is captivating. He swears at the 12 (now 8, actually) hopefuls; “Move your ass!” is about the mildest it gets. He puts up with no excuses, and insists on perfection. Now, I’ve worked in a fancy restaurant before, so I know how crazy it can get, but I’ve never seen anyone so insistent that everything is just so. It definitely makes it harder to complete the tasks he sets forth. Well, that and the fact that the contestants seem to be fairly incompetent at times.

So, yes. We’re addicted. Completely and hopelessly. Anyone else?

(As a side note, did anyone else watch Treasure Hunt on Sunday? And if so, were you as disappointed in the show as I was?)

Tomatoes and Basil and Projects, Oh My

First, the "Great Tomato/Basil Project of '06"

Look! Tomatoes (well at least tomato plants)!


Also, Basil!

It is bordering on ridiculous, how excited I am about these two plants. I can't wait for the tomatoes to grow so I can pick them and make delicious things, like marinara sauce, or fresh bruschetta, or even just tomato salad. And the basil will become part of the marinara and bruschetta, or even pesto. It is all rather exciting.

The reason my excitement is so ridiculous is because if you had told me even five years ago that I would be dying to plant vegetables and herbs and take care of plants I would have laughed, and laughed, and laughed at you. This is because my parents have a fairly large vegetable garden that they used to force me to help them weed and water and other such annoyances, and I hated it. And! And they made me eat vegetables fresh from the garden all summer long, with grilled meat and stuff like that! It was pure torture!

Yeah, then I grew up. I would kill to have a large vegetable garden in the country which filled my table with it's bounty every night. I would even kill to have a grill. Well, not technically kill, but you know what I mean. It would be awesome. And vegetables? Can't eat enough of them. I crave fresh fruit and vegetables constantly. I keep begging Aaron to spend large portions of our weekends (not otherwise occupied by weddings recently) at Upick farms picking up fresh produce. So, yes. I am very excited about the tomatoes (four plants) and basil (also four plants), and you will very likely be hearing about them and seeing pictures of them all summer long. Just thought I'd give you fair warning.

Okay, on to the "Project", otherwise known as the big suprise. I have been taught how to crochet by one of my coworkers, and have gotten pretty far. Here's the two blocks of my lap afghan (read: very tiny blanket) that I have finished:

I am also ridiculously excited about this, but for very different reasons. Mostly because I love the feeling of creating something with my own hands, and this is definitely that. Of course, there will also be pictures of this when it is completed.

And Now For Something Completely Different

Yesterday I was getting myself all gussied up for this weekend, because I will definitely be having my picture taken at the wedding once again and I want to look my best. So, I had appointments to get my eyebrows and hair done. The eyebrow appointment went smoothly, no different from the other hundred times I’ve gotten them done. Nothing special there. But the haircut, now there’s a tiny bit of a story that I’m expanding because I have nothing really to talk about and still no damn batteries for the camera.

At first, when I made the appointment, I was just planning on going in for a trim, but yesterday during the day I decided maybe it was time for something different. Something less the same as it has been since I was 22. Something fun, funky, even trendy. So that’s what I told my hair stylist. She said, “okay, maybe some more layers and shorter around the face, and we’ll take off a little of the length but leave it long enough so that you can still pull it back”.

“Fun” I replied. “Let’s do it”

So, she went about cutting and we were chatting about the summer, what her kids are doing, the wedding this weekend (she knows Aaron too, she used to cut his hair), and other various topics. She dried and styled my hair and turned me around to face the mirror.

“Great” I said. “Perfect!”

But I was lying.

Because it’s not something completely different. It’s the same damn haircut I got the last time. I’m thinking either she may not know how to give me a different cut (which does look good, but which is the same damn hairstyle I’ve had since I was 22) or she knows that this cut looks best on me and is refusing to do something that will look bad. I’d show you a picture, but since I don’t have any batteries in my camera, just look at the previous haircut post and the picture I posted the last time I got a haircut. Because it’s the same haircut. Gah!

Okay, not so much yet with the post

Well, I said today I would tell you about the super secret excitement and the "Great Tomato/Basil Project of '06". But? We have no batteries for the camera (which is needed to tell you about these things, at least according to me) and we decided to go see a movie last night instead. It was a nice change of pace and something to keep Aaron's mind of the events of this upcoming weekend as well as the associated stressing out about it he's doing. I've tried everything to keep him distracted, but I think the movie finally did the trick.

Maybe tomorrow you'll get the other stuff. Right now he's more important.

You're Lucky It Only Took Me Ten Days

Today: The Post About My Brother's Wedding

(The title refers to how motivated I am about wedding stuff after the fact. I've been married for a year and a half and I still haven't ordered my wedding album and just picked out the pictures last month.)

Anyway, here's my brother:

He's a wee child at only 22 years old, but he fell in love long ago (well, not all that long ago, actually, but it seems like a long time ago) during his senior year of high school. That's right - he's one of those annoying people who married his high school sweetheart. Here she is:

Doesn't she look beautiful?

Well, they went way far up north for college (it's way further north than many parts of Canada, actually) and fell in love with the town they lived in. So, they decided to stay up there and get married in their favorite park overlooking Lake Superior. It was an absolutely gorgeous day (if a little chilly in the shade) and the perfect day for an outdoor wedding. Here are a few pics of the ceremony:

The entire wedding party:

The "I Dos":

The Kiss:

Ew! My little brother is kissing a girl!

So that's basically the ceremony. There are reception pictures over at Flickr (click on my Flickr badge to the right). Everything was perfectly lovely, especially the cake (although the cake at my wedding = better), and we danced the night away. It was a wonderful day and I couldn't be happier for the two of them.

Tomorrow: The Exciting thing from Friday and all about "The Tomato/Basil Project of '06"

Surprise!

I like surprises. Usually. This past Friday we were surprised by something completely unexpected and unplanned. We are going to have a new addition to our family.

This week.

My brother-in-law is getting married this Saturday.

Surprise!

They had originally planned on having a big wedding next July, but Aaron's grandpa convinced the happy couple that they shouldn't wait - it's just a piece of paper since they already live together and they're already planning on getting married, so what's a year's difference, right? I think he's just upping his chances at getting great-grandchildren sooner.

Friday evening on the way up to my parents' house we discussed telling everyone we had plans for next weekend because we just wanted a weekend to ourselves at home. Then, Friday night Aaron was checking his messages (which included one or two from the "Phone Stalker") and there was an urgent message from his brother to call as soon as possible. He called and we were surprised by the announcement of the moved-up nuptuals.

The other reason the wedding has been moved up (besides the convincing done by Grandpa) is that the bride's brother is temporarily back from Iraq and she wanted to get married when she was sure he'd be able to be there. I can understand that much more than the "piece of paper" excuse, but whatever. So it's going to be a small, casual wedding at the park where he proposed, followed by a dinner made by the bride's mother. Should be, um, interesting to say the least.

The moral of the story? I get two sisters-in-law in two weeks.

That's a good thing, right?

Fives for Friday

Five Good Things About Today:

1. Well, duh, it’s Friday!

2. No meetings today.

3. We’re leaving town tonight and I get to see my friend K again. Twice in one week hasn’t happened in a while.

4. Something that I’ve been looking forward to for weeks is supposed to happen today. I’ll tell you about it later, because usually when I talk about something beforehand it doesn’t happen and then I’m doubly disappointed. So yes, something is supposed to happen today and I can’t wait!

5. My cousins are going to be in my hometown this weekend because it’s my grandparents’ 50th anniversary. I haven’t seen them in a couple of years, so it will be great to see them. And! To make it even better, they love to play my favorite game, so there will be lots of fun this weekend (provided I win at least once, of course).

Five Not So Good Things About Today:

1. I only have a couple of small tasks to complete at work today and then I have a lot of time to figure out how to fill. We’re trying to keep internet surfing to a minimum so that means I have to work a lot harder to keep entertained.

2. We have to leave town today. We were looking forward to a quiet weekend at home (we had sort-of forgotten about the big anniversary party) and had made some plans. Oh, well. Maybe next weekend.

3. I would rather be in bed.

4. There are still 8 more hours until I get to go home.

5. I would so rather be in bed.

Phone Stalker

Wow, that title kind of sounds a little creepy. Like the “Night Stalker”, that serial killer who is currently appealing his sentence out in California, or something like that. I don’t think what’s happening with the “Phone Stalker” is quite that creepy or serious, but I guess only time will tell.

You see, we’re having a problem with a Phone Stalker in the Ca household. My husband grew up with this girl; we’ll call her Lisa. He was friends with her throughout high school, but claims this was mostly because she didn’t really have any other friends and he felt bad for her, so he would hang out with her or at least talk to her at school so she wouldn’t feel so lonely. What a sweet guy, huh?

Well, apparently if you show here attention she gets a little clingy. When he left for college he didn’t give her his number and told his parents not to either, and therefore he hadn’t heard from her in almost ten years. Fast forward to a bar last weekend where Lisa ran into my brother-in-law: she was very excited to see him, and asked all about Aaron. My brother-in-law said something to the effect of “You should just call him. Here’s his number” and gave Lisa Aaron’s number.

Commence Lisa calling Aaron’s cell phone about 6 times a day.

The first call was at 10:30 Tuesday night. Aaron’s phone was in our bedroom, so it woke me up. I just ignored it and started to drift off again, when the phone rang a second time, about five minutes after the first call. She left a message the first time, but not the second time. Yesterday morning she called Aaron twice, left one message and then sent him three text messages.

Obviously, it’s getting a little annoying.

Aaron called his brother to “thank” him for handing out his number, and during that call Lisa called yet again. There were no further calls last night (although Aaron may have turned off his phone, I don’t know and I didn’t check), but I was kind of hoping there would be. I’m planning on answering the next time she calls when I’m around. I don’t think she knows Aaron’s married, but I have a feeling that having me answer will do one of two things: scare her from calling again, or make him more attractive to her. Aaron hasn’t answered any of her calls yet and is dreading more calls. He thought it was funny at first. Now he thinks it’s a little pathetic. I can understand wanting to catch up with an old friend, but five calls and three text messages in under twenty-four hours? Is a little much.

Wish me luck.

Good Friends, Good Life

Last night did not go as planned. It actually went better than planned, but it is also why there is still no wedding post (I’ll get to it eventually).

I was exhausted still yesterday and so decided to (yet again) skip my workout and head home. Boy, am I glad I made that decision. I had completely forgotten that my friend K and her fiancée were driving through town and stopping in for dinner. Oops. Good thing I had lots of food on hand to prepare.

K and I have been friends since we were two years old when we met at daycare. She was my maid of honor at my wedding, and I’m serving in that role at her wedding in August. She was living in California, but is home for the summer and then she and her fiancée are headed east for the next year or so while he does his internship. They have been on the road since last Wednesday, and so they really needed a pit stop and some home-cooked food, and since I’m on the direct path from where they were to where they were headed it just made sense for them to stop by. I’m so glad they did. We had a great time.

Aaron and I whipped up grilled chicken with chimichurri sauce, sweet potatoes, zucchini and a salad, we opened a bottle of wine (a nice spicy zin…mmm…) and we sat around the table for about two hours talking about everything from weddings to religion to cars.

With them living in California for the past couple of years I rarely got to see them, or even talk to K nearly as much as I’d like to (she was in school and therefore very busy). Now that she’s back in the state for the summer I’m looking forward to the chance to catch up on all the time we’ve missed. One of the true joys in my life are my friends and I’m so glad that K has stayed around for so long. Good friends make life so much better.

Still Sick

This bladder infection is still kicking my ass, and I'm almost all the way through the antibiotics. I missed work today in the hope that rest would make it better (because even though I had a long weekend, it was anything but restful). Keeping my fingers crossed that the rest will help.

I'm heading to bed now, so the wedding recap will have to wait another day. The pictures are posted on Flickr (click the badge to the right) but in reverse order because I can't figure out how to flip them around. Enjoy!

We're Back!

Well, we made it up north and back in one piece, and my brother is now married.


Unfortunately, stories and more pictures will have to wait until tomorrow, because we just spent eight long hours in the car and I am exhausted.