One of my girlfriends and I went to a ballet class last. Now I know that spinning is not a full contact sport or anything, and I know I haven't danced in say -forever, but I've been pretty good about working out, and didn't think it would be that bad. Class went well! I had a blast, and the teacher was awesome. I didn't have to wear a leotard, and my friend's mom played the piano for class. I felt great afterward, all stretchy and loose. The feeling actually lasted through this morning. Let me tell you, it's seldom I wake up in a good mood, and even more seldom that I don't need coffee to fake said good mood. But this morning, I still felt amazing. I went to work all charged up and convinced that I need to go to ballet class every week.

Well, I sat at my desk all day. My thighs have officially rebelled. They told me, and I quote "You suck. You used us, and abused us. Now you shall pay." All I can say is Ow?

The fella and I have been planning a vacation for a long time now. Last October, we planned a cruise, only to cancel it about 6 months out because we were buying a house. Love the house, still don't regret the decision. So then we got married, and put off a honeymoon so he could start his new job. Also a smart decision if you ask me. We were finally ready to book tickets to London, when we made our list of things we wanted to see / do while we were there. Seeing a play at the Globe Theater was at the top of both our lists, and their season doesn't start until next year. So we decided to do a mini-vacation this year, and London next year.

We talked about Las Vegas, but neither of us like to gamble, and we don't do the whole club scene. We talked about camping in a national park, but the fella isn't an outdoorsy type. We talked about Gencon, but timing didn't work out. Enter John Stewart and Steven Colbert from stage left.

So yeah. There's this Rally to Restore Sanity in DC on the National Lawn. We kinda thought it was a good idea. Then Colbert decided to have a competing March to Restore Terror. We are going. To which, you might ask? Does it matter? I respond.

If we go to the John Stewart side, I will carry a sign that says "Insert Explicative Here." If we go the to Steven Colbert side, I will wear a pink suit, and pillbox hat and a button that says Sarah Palin for President, 2012.

Scads, I love Halloween!

Total happy gushing. Don't mind me.

Well, it happened. The fella and I are hitched. My black dress raised nary an eyebrow with my aunts. I think it is mostly because they were forewarned. It was a balmy 95 degrees F, in southern Indiana, and the sun shone all day. Our pastor was a very nice lady from a Methodist Church who smiled a lot. Our readings, after much negotiation between the fella and I consisted of: My Love, by Robert Burns, a piece from The Irrational Season, by Madeleine L'Engle, and the lyrics to Grow Old With Me, by John Lennon.

We got married on my grandparents farm. There is a beautiful area on the edge of a pond that has a natural bower of trees where we arranged our ceremony. I can't help but think that Big Pa Jack and Grammy Lillilan would have liked the fella, and would have been thrilled.

My husband (I almost wrote fiance there!) looked amazing in his tux. My brother was an adorable best man. My cousin made the cutest maid of honor ever. She dragged me kicking and screaming to get a manicure and pedicure, as well as having my hair professionally done. I don't mind admitting, there is a first time for everything. I actually had fun being a girl for a few days. That said, don't expect French Tips, next time you see me.

My dad cried while walking me down the aisle. I sniffled, and blamed the pollen count. My "something borrowed" handkerchief came in handy when in the middle of a prayer blessing our wedding rings, my eyes started suspiciously watering. I am still officially blaming the pollen count.

My mom made me a garter. It was made out of pieces of her wedding dress, and my maternal grandmother's wedding dresses. I cried. She sniffled. We both tried to blame it on allergies. I am "pretty sure" that is something I will keep.

Our Ring Bearer carried our rings which were wrapped up in a handkerchief that my aunt had made, which had Irish lace that my paternal great grandmother collected prominently featured.

My cousin baked our cake, which turned out beautifully. She designed it to look like hat boxes. It tasted darn good too! We told the florist to be creative. She was, and my flowers were amazing. My pots of Gerber Daisy's as centerpieces were splendid, and made great wedding favors.

The Nerf Guns and board games were an excellent addition to our reception, that I highly recommend to anyone having an outdoor wedding.

My friends and family turned out in force. I think my college buddy from Montana gets the award for most distance traveled. It was so great to see everybody.

My cousins challenged me to a game of beer pong. My college buddy and I totally won. I worry for the next generation of college students if they can't bear a pair of rusty old ladies.

In short, we had a great time. Our wedding was lovely, our reception was fun, and I can't help but think (If you will pardon the cliche), that for the fella and I, the best is yet to come.

Random thoughts on a Saturday Night

Tonight's blog entry is brought to you by the letter E.

Actually, I'm having trouble coming up with a story to tell. My kittens are snuggling, my flowers are blooming, I went and knitted with my girlfriends tonight, I managed to sleep past 7 AM this morning, and the fella made me eggs for breakfast. All in all, the report for the day is favorable. So I have decided to make a list of things I like and good things that have happened recently. This is, of course, mind you, in no particular order.

1. Babybell cheese as a snack food.
2. Trashy romance novels.
3. Knitting with bright colors or earth tones, or really any yarn that feels good.
4. Actually having a space to plant flowers or plants, and watching them grow.
5. Snuggling with the fella, and just enjoying his company.
6. A nice red wine.
7. Going out to wine tastings after work with nice co-workers.
8. Surfing Utube for funny videos.
9. Going to the library.
10. Playing Scrabble with my mom.
11. Playing cards and hanging out with my family.
12. Goofing off with the baby bro, who is not so much of a baby anymore.
13. Talking on the phone with folks I haven't spoken to in FOREVER!
14. Curling up under a blanket with a good book. Or a trashy book. Or a book about the rise and fall of ancient civilizations. You get the picture.
15. Spinning yarn, preferably yarn that is balanced. Ack, the last foray into the spinning world curled terribly. But it's a cute color?
16. Dancing.
17. Cooking something fun for dinner.
18. Playing with other folks kids. Especially when I can return them to their parents when their diaper needs changed or they throw a fit. That way, I'm just the fun "auntie".
19. Purring kitties.
20. Hanging curtains and doing small things around my house that make it look more like home.
21. Finding a copy of a book of poetry at a bookstore that I have been looking for, for over a year.
22. Goodwill shopping and finding an awesome article of clothing.
23. Being told I was doing a good job at work three times in the last week by different individuals.
24. Waking up to the smell of coffee and breakfast, accompanied by a good morning kiss.

That is probably enough for tonight. Here's hoping you all are having a good weekend too.

Cheers.

B

I'm a criminal!

Oh Jeez. So my neighbor around the corner is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. She has also had the misfortune of having her house broken into twice in the past year. A few days ago, she stopped by to say hello and drop off some tomato seeds for the fiance and I. While she was here, she mentioned that she was having trouble mowing her yard since her lawnmower had been stolen in the most recent break in.

Well, today, the fella and I were doing yard work. I was weeding, he was mowing. We talked about it, and decided that it would be nice and neighborly to go mow our neighbor's yard - since she didn't have a lawnmower and all. He made lunch, I lugged the mower over and mowed her front yard. I decided not to mow her back yard, because I didn't want to open her gate, or basically do anything to freak her out.

Fast forward a few hours... I checked my voice mail after having made dinner, and there's a call from my neighbor. She sounds panicked. Someone mowed her yard, she is afraid they are casing her house again, and has called all the rest of our neighbors. She also talked to a neighbor kid, who said some guy was mowing her front yard this afternoon. So she provided the description of said guy to the police. I'm guessing the description went something like this - about 5'10, blonde hair, jeans and a black T-shirt.

So of course we called her back and apologized for freaking her out and owned up to the great 2010 mowing caper. Poor gal.

I don't know what I'm more upset about - the fact that when she called the first time that she mentioned they didn't mow her back yard and did a half-*#$ed job, or the fact the neighbor kid thought I was a guy, or the fact I'm possibly being investigated by the police for trying to do something nice.

In other news! Half of our wedding invitations are addressed. We found a minister, flowers are ordered, and everything seems to be falling in to place.

Cheers.

B

Ack!

I totally fell in a creek today. I was hiking across it while wearing a pair of hip waders. My left foot got stuck in the soup at the bottom, and my right foot got caught in some aquatic plants. It was slow motion at its finest. I knew I was toppling over. I knew it was 26 F. I knew the windchill was somewhat less than that, and I also knew that I had only packed 3 pair of jeans for the week because I was going to be wearing waders.

Sploosh! Or whatever sound effect you envision hearing when a 6 ft tall brunette hits the water. I land in the water and somehow find myself sitting on my rear in water that goes up to the waistband of my pants. My arms are miraculously still dry at this point. I am still in slow motion and it takes me another minute to realize my right leg is still caught in the weeds, and my left leg is caught underneath of me. Enter the co-worker. "Stand up." Not, are you ok, do you need help, oh my you fell over, or really any of the expected statements. My brilliant response "I'm Trying!" I really wanted to say hey dummy, I just thought I'd sit her in the water in subfreezing temperatures for fun. Needless to say, I'm somewhat stuck. I don't want to stick my arms into the water, because it's the only coat I brought. Common sense starts to return as the water continues rushing into my waders. So down go the arms and I manage to stand up. Standing up doesn't equal able to walk, as my one leg is still stuck in the mud at the bottom of the river. It took falling over again, this time onto my knees before I was able to climb out of the water.

The vehicle was probably half a mile away. I might be exaggerating on the distance there, but it was a bit of a hike to get back. Luckily the hotel with it's hot shower was close by and I had dry clothes. Yay for work travel...