Confessional Smeshional (Some Part...)

I just realized that it's been forever since I've done one of these. And I feel that the last day of November needs a post...so here goes!

First, though, did you know that November is National Adoption Awareness month? Most of you probably didn't. But you should. And now you do.

Hokay,

-We plan 100% on adopting a child. It was the number one condition that I had in any relationship with anyone. I made sure as I was dating, even before B, that these guys knew it was a priority for me and that if they weren't on board with it then there was no reason in us being together.

-I think bumper stickers are tacky. I don't think window clings are tacky.

-I like facebook better than myspace in large part because I can type "face" with one hand, and then it predicts where I want to go and I never have to use my other hand.

-The only calendars I buy are the $1 desktop calendars from Target. I put them on my bulletin board to keep my work hours straight.

-I just bought a Schwinn bike computer for my bike. It tells basically all the things that a treadmill computer tells you: speed, distance, calories burned, etc. I like to know how far I go, so I never ride anywhere without a "mile" track. Now I can.

-Until this year, I had no idea what the crap "cyber monday" was. Or that the day before Thanksgiving was one of the "biggest party nights of the year." I must have lived under a rock.

-I hate coffee.

-I really don't like online shopping. I want to see something, test it's quality, and THEN make the decision to buy it. Pictures don't really do anything for me.

-The fact that my weekly work hours are unpredictable really gets on my nerves. Just over the past six weeks, they have been (in order): 10, 10, 12, 29, 14, 34. Really. Just pick an extreme.

-I've lately fallen in love with the name "Farrah." With zero relation to Farrah Faucet.

-Today I waited at the window of Gold Star Chili for my chilidog for 5 minutes. I was the only person in the drivethru line, they all knew I was sitting there since every one of them looked at me at one point, and none of them even opened the window and said "just a second." So I left and went to the Wendy's next store. I was through the line and with my food in less than 60 seconds there. I do not feel bad about it.

-I can't wait to make stained glass cookies, peanut butter candy, and a sugarplums this year. But first I'm making deviled eggs, because I missed them on Thanksgiving!

Oh, and this kid? She's freakin' awesome.

Chase

Thanksgiving. I love it. You just can't beat the food.

This year, I realized I'm going to miss my dog so stinking much. That's weird, right? When we move, he's not going with us. He is my dog, and my mom wouldn't care at all if we took him, but my dad would be heartbroken and I can't do that to him. Even if that means I have to leave Chase here :(

We've had many dogs in the past. A bichon, a golden, a pomeranian, and my father has a minischnauzer (who is awesome as well, but not up to par with Chase). The bichon disappeared from our yard one day (there are suspicions of the neighbors down the street here), our golden died, and the pomeranian was more like a foster situation and now lives on a farm with another pomeranian making baby pomeranians. And we have Chase: our shiba, our rescue.

But both sides of my family go out of town for thanksgiving, and since I always have to work it's just me and Chase.

Chase, who doesn't bark (well, almost never anyway).


Chase, who hates the lake and water and can't swim but will sport a lifejacket anyway.


Chase, who will let the babies (and only the babies) play with his tail.


Chase, who still tries to run through 15 inches of snow.


Chase, who wears a seatbelt in the car because he gets so excited that he can't sit still.


Chase, who doesn't understand why I take so many dang pictures of him.


Chase. Who I can't help but stinking love more than I think is healthy for a person to love a pet.


I'm going to miss him. Even though we're planning on getting a dog of "ours," it's just not the same.

It's not Chase.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, with all of my parents out of town, we spent the entire day with B's family and it was wonderful!

Working at a ten hour shift at 430am tomorrow, so must go get some sleep!

Little People and Ninjas

Yesterday we put up Christmas allll over my house. And then I wrapped a million Christmas gifts. Even though I usually have all of my shopping done by Thanksgiving, I never wrap anything until Christmas week. So that was exciting.

And then I settled down for a couple hours and watched "Little Parents."

And decided that they were the little version of Jon and Kate. But with 7 fewer children.


AND I saw an infomercial on this. I don't watch infomercials. I turn them off. But I couldn't turn away from this...


I sooo want it. And if it's bought on the promo site, we get 2 for $60! Who wants to go in halfs with me??!!?? Hmm?!?!?!

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

B's normal response to things when he doesn't know what else to say is "it happens." What can I say, the guy doesn't like to leave a conversation hanging. Usually this phrase works. Tonight, it didn't. But it was soo funny.

We were talking about Garth Brooks coming out of retirement today while waiting for our movie to start.

I said, "I liked Garth Brooks until he cheated on his wife with Trisha Yearwood."
B shrugged and said, "It happens."
...I quickly turned the death stare on him and said, "...it WHAT?!"
B almost jumped out of his skin, "TO OTHER PEOPLE! TO OTHER PEOPLE!"

Haha. I knew he didn't really mean it like that, since it's just a response he says to everything. But I'm totally holding it over his head for awhile. And telling everyone. Because I thought it was hilarious.

P.S. The Blind Side is a FANTASTIC movie. See it! Seriously! It could be the best feel good sports movie...ever. :)

Themes and Things

Our wedding gained a theme this week accidentally. Don't ask how it happened--I have no answer. Welcome to the theme.



Decided on the cake: 3 tier, and then 14 dozen cupcakes. They are cheaper than cake slices, but taste better than sheet cakes--plus I have a small cupcake obsession.

Ehmm.

On the up and up, we've also gained a 16-pc set of pots and pans, a 12-serving set of silverware, and two other pans. Macy's had a sale. My grandma and mom enjoy bargain hunting for crap for us. I don't mind it, of course.

However, we have 2 showers and a 300 guest wedding worth of items to register for. And most likely a two-bedroom apartment to put them in. They should probably stop buying us things! :D

Christmas shopping yet? I am. Presents to go: 3 and a half. Everyone else is done. And I'm out of money, so it's a good thing!

Plus I ordered the bridesmaid gifts today!

Let me see that tootsie rollll....

Camera Shopping & Baby Stevie Wonder

Friday night my camera died. It was a sad day. I've had that camera for 5 years. It was not an expensive camera: just a little point and shoot kodak easyshare. Within the first month of me owning it, Little Man threw it down the stairs. It lived with no issues. After that I let the kids play with it. Brady chewed on it all the time when she was little. I've spilled things in it. Not long ago I accidently took it for a swim while taking some photos. Last year it lived through many rough and tumble Kenyan children who have a love for taking photos, particularly with my camera since I was the only one who would let them touch their camera.

But now it's gone. It actually still takes photos, but the screen is busted so you can't see them. It was really time for a new one anyway, but it's just so sad. Especially for the kids, because when I get a new one they will not touch it. Sorry, lovelies.

I think I'm going for a canon this time. The only issue I had with the kodak was it's lack of close focusing. The canon, even the point and shoot, seems to do a pretty decent job of that. Of course, not nearly as well as any SLR will do, but B has a canon SLR and we really can't afford another one right now nor do we really need one. A point and shoot will do. I'm hoping to rope my mother into getting one for me for Christmas :)

Onto more exciting weekend things!

This weekend was my first born nephew's 9th birthday. This nephew and his sister will hereafter be referred to as Tile and Noodle. These are not nicknames I gave them, just for the record. Tile gave Noodle her nickname, and Brady gave Tile his. Other than these two I do actually call these children by what I call them on here--I hate real names, they are boring. Brady is called Brady. Little Man is called Little Man occasionally, but I usually call him E. I call Boo by Boo and Cabbage by Cabbage. Tile and Noodle have other nicknames that they are called, though. But I won't use those on here because they are too close to their actual names.

Anyyyway. B (who I do call B. there is another person in my family with the same name as him, and it makes it easier to use "B" to clarify) and I took Brady to this party for Tile. Tile doesn't usually celebrate his birthday here, as he lives a state away, but this year he did. Brady and Tile do not belong to the same side of my family: my parents are divorced and Brady is my niece by my mom and Tile is my nephew by my dad. Therefore, Tile and Noodle had never met Brady. So what did they think of her?

Instant Love.



This is Brady sporting some sunglasses she found.
Noodle is here and was thoroughly attached to Brady all night.
That thumbs up for approval? That would be Tile.

About ten seconds later Brady turned around and was showing her sunglasses to all the adults and they were telling her how pretty they looked. She lifted her arms in the air and said: "Thank you, audience!"

Brady will only be two years old just after Christmas. She's got the most ridiculously awesome personality!

My nieces and nephews are simply the best ever. Sorry, but it's true!!

The Hiney Flu

I went to lunch today with my grandmother and my mom. I am still laughing from this simple conversion:

Gram: "Let me tell you this funny story. You know that hiney flu?"
Mom: "...the what flu?"
Gram: "The hiney flu. You know, that one that used to be swine flu? That's what everyone is calling it now"
Mom: "You mean H1N1?"
Gram: "No, it's hini."
Mom: "Mom, it's H1N1, not hini."

I have no idea what her funny story was about, but it was absolutely irrelevant because my mom and I could NOT stop laughing before she even told it! Hiney flu! ;D

Another funny. My Gram and my nephew Little Man, who is the "aisle runner" at our wedding, were talking about the wedding the other day. My niece, Brady, is mixed race caucasian and african-american. Little Man does not have much racial diversity in his life and he's only 8, so he doesn't quite get it. What he does get? Dora.

Little Man: "I might have to help the flowergirls too."
Gram: "Who would you help?"
Little Man: (who is not great with names) "...that little girl. She's kind of brown. I think she speaks Spanish."

Lol! Gotta love kids!

Also, found some serving and place settings I do believe we're going to get. I texted B about them so he could check them out. What I meant to say was "I found some plates on clearance that are really cool." Apparently "plates" and "slaves" use the same numbers on texts, so what I really said was "I found some slaves on clearance that are really cool."

...that solicited a quick phone call from my dear fiance haha!

What do you think? They are color-pop-awesomeness, in my book. They are also $85 for 8 place settings and a serving set, which basically means "I want them, because when I get sick of them I won't feel guilty throwing them away and getting new ones."

Blahblahblah

Do you ever have those days when you are just blah?

Today and yesterday have been those days for me. I don't know why, there's no reason, I've just been blah. You know? You know. Right?

And I've been thinking. Thinking is usually where I go wrong--blah moods cause this and are caused by this at the same time, I've come to realize. Brains...they just get you in trouble.

But I've been thinking about honesty. I'm not typically the kind of person to not say what she's thinking, which is both good and bad, but there is a difference between thinking someone's shoes are ugly and thinking that someone is ugly. Not that I would ever tell someone I thought they were ugly, just that honesty has a different meaning and a different set of rules depending on what you are being honest about. ...that was a bad example. Did anyone make any sense of that? I don't think you're ugly, I swear. Hmph.

There are a few things about me that most people don't know. Some things a few people know, some one person knows, one no on knows. It's not an accident that these things fall into these categories. I put them there. These things are not "your shoes are ugly" type things. But even B doesn't know most of them, and I'm torn between whether or not that's okay.

It's not his fault--they are not things that would "come up" in conversation, no matter what the conversation was about. On one hand, I feel like these are my things and that they don't involve him and there is no reason he ever needs to know about them. On the other hand, I feel a little like "what's mine is yours" and that they do actually belong to him and that he should know them. And then I'm torn between the good that would come of it, like maybe him making sense of some of the things I do for what (now) seems like no reason, and the bad that would come of it, like B not knowing if he can/should say or do something that he would have previously said or done without a second thought because I promise that would happen. Sometimes I wish he just knew them magically, without me having to tell him. But then I start to think then I wouldn't really know how he really felt about it because that initial reaction is a true reaction, everything after it could be fake. But I almost feel like I'm protecting him in a way, too. That's stupid, I know. My brain is ob. nox. ious.

Does your husband/boyfriend/fiance etc. know everything about you?

I don't know.

See? Blah.

Engagement Photos!

We had our engagement photos last week with an amazing photographer, Bridgette Davis! They were a blast! I just picked up the disc today (which led to my car breaking down...again...but at least I got the pictures!). The CD came with 103 pictures on it. I picked 50 to put on facebook. I'll try to knock that down by 40 for you guys haha! It helps that I'm excluding all the ones with B's uniform nametag showing, and also that the uploader is being obnoxious tonight. :)

Thanks, BDphotography!

ROTFL...Literally

Oh the things your find at flea markets and outlets.

These are called "chuckle buddies." Yes, that is them laughing.


Need a shoe? Need a purse? Perfect solution.




As thought, I am completely over yesterdays fiasco. Thanks for your understandings! But, I suppose, as my mom put it "Honey, he's a guy. You can't expect him to get it without help."

And that, my friends, is why I love my mother. It's also why I suspect woman fall for gay men before they know they're gay.

Christmas gifts: 2.5 down, 20.5 to go. Current plan? Done by Turkey Day.

We'll see.

Because You Said So

So, this is going to be one of those times where I get whiney about B. Where I sound controlling, girly, and selfish. And even though I'll probably be over it tomorrow, I'm going to complain about it tonight.

Last week was mine and B's anniversary. It was Sunday. B requested on Friday that we not do anything on Sunday because he has PT on Monday morning. We never stay out past 1130, and when I have to get up at 5 I'm still out with him until 11 but...whatever, that's not what this is about.

So I said fine, and we made a plan on doing something the following Saturday instead. So we go out tonight, and B had told me earlier in the week that we'd go downtown to the river and eat and then go on a carriage ride. We get downtown, park, and walk to the river to find somewhere to eat. We try to decided where to eat and B says "Let's see how much the carriage ride is going to cost first" Okay, cool. So I say "How do we do that?" He goes "I don't know. I thought you knew."

Why the hell would I know that?

I even though to myself earlier this week, 'maybe I should look and see where these rides are' and then I decided 'nah, it's his plan, he'll know.' So we ate and went home (because what were we supposed to do? walk around downtown just hoping to run into a carriage? we'd have a better chance of becoming homicide victims than finding the carriages).

Not that this is about not getting a carriage ride because, even though the weather tonight was 100% perfect for a carriage ride and it would have been awesome, it's not about the carriage ride. It's also not about the fact that it was our anniversary, because honestly I don't think it's really that necessary to make a big stinking deal about an anniversary. It could have been a Tuesday for all that matters to me. It's about the fact that this was HIS idea, but he didn't figure it out on his own.

In our entire relationship, B has had to plan two things on his own: the proposal, and this night. B's idea of a memorable proposal is on my driveway at midnight with no one around, with nothing else going on cutsie or lovey or anything. Which is why I've never written about it. I love him, so of course the kind of proposal would never change my answer, but it's not a story I'm particularly excited to tell. On our wedding website, the "Our Proposal Story" section is still blank. It's the only part not filled out, because I can't bring myself to write it. I don't know how to not make it sound lame. Because there was nothing special about it.

I hate being the one to always plan everything for us. But I also hate when nothing is planned--which seems to be the only other option to me planning things. I want to know that I can trust him to figure things like this out. To do things that I don't have to tell him to do. But I also want to be able to have a conversation with him about this stuff, and not have him just "fix it" by doing what he should have done in the first place.

In fact, I don't even want to take the damn carriage ride now--I don't want to have to 'make up' for it. The only way he could redeem himself with the carriage ride would be to show up at my door with a carriage, in a funny outfit--which is completely ridiculous, and I would never expect him to do that.

I'm sure I sound ridiculous and whiney, but I really can't help it. At least not tonight.

I just want him to take initiative sometimes.

Let Them Eat Cake!

We met with our baker and chose our basic cakes design yesterday!


[this design by Carlo's Bakery]

It will be this sort of design, but in our colors of course. The flowers will be different (and not sugar, because we are not rich) and less "HI I'M A FLOWER"-like. We will be ditching the twigs.

We also haven't really decided how many tiers we're going to do. If we did 5 tiers, it would be 240 pieces. Our guest list is 330, and our reception hall holds 280...so we're just going to be a bit tight (or...we're going to kick people off the guest list...mean, but so true!). Our other option was to do a 3 tier cake and get some tasty sheet cakes for the rest of it (3 tiers=120 pieces) to save some money. The 3 tier would be cheaper, but this cake is great tasting so we don't really know what we'll end up doing yet.

Our flavors? The greater of the tiers (either 2 or 3) will be chocolate cake with chocolate fudge and fresh strawberries (I could eat this all. day. long.). The lesser amount of tiers (either 1 or 2) will be white cake with a tasty berry compote.

Not that I like berries...ehmm.

What do you think?

Stop Clown Porn!

Yea. That's right. You read right. In class today this random website came up in discussion (not really sure how it ties into Western Literature, but hey...).

Stop Clown Porn Now (.org)

Yea. This definitely means two things:

1. Someone saw some clown porn and thought "Hey, that's a problem. We should do something about that."

and 2. Someone actually makes clown porn.


Yea, soak that up.

On Being Pissed at Dead Dudes

Is it wrong to be so pissed at a dead guy that I'd actually like to bring him back to life just so I could yell at him? It probably is. If not a sin, at least morally repulsive. But, oh well. It doesn't change the fact that I am downright infuriated (yea, big words and all) at the ex head of my department who did my initial meeting when I transferred to Devil University.

The same guy that caused all the problems in this post. The same guy that caused me to have to take summer courses because he didn't tell me I needed that class. The same guy that didn't even slightly hint that I could have classes reviewed for credit, which caused me to take 9 credit hours worth of courses I did not need to take. The same guy that had me working off an outdated Gen Eds sheet. Now, it appears, I yet again wasted time in a language class I didn't have to take. More on this later, though, because I'm honestly just too pissed off right now to even type it up. I just spent the last ten minute chewing on a plastic tubing or some sort that was just lying around here furiously--it did not help.



Plus, they decided over the summer to switch the program our school works off of. Which would be fine and dandy, except for it wasn't ready to be used. None of our records are on there (How many credits do I have? When can I register for classes? No one knows), there are no itemized bills, the registration reserve cart doesn't work, nothing works on Firefox, the log off button doesn't work, and you can't even get the course catalogue from it. It's fantastic. Way to go, Devil U.

I'm trying to set up a meeting with the new department head for this week some time and maybe he'll actually know what's going on. I'm hoping that, before then, I lose a bit of my seriously bitterness towards this college so that I'm nicer...because I know it's not his fault, he didn't screw me over. The dead dude did. But bitterness has a deep root and everytime I turn around and something else if effed up with my education it gets deeper. Like the ocean. Where Rose dropped the heart of the ocean and it sank. Like that.

BUT. moving on.

B and I bought a table on Sunday. It's a new table, black and wooden. At a flea market, because that's how we roll :) It's not the one we went to get, but it's nice. It came with chairs that were basically free because the table would have cost the same with or without the chairs. They didn't match the table, needed feet on the legs, and were at one time upholstered but aren't now. We sanded the crap out of them and spray painted them black and now they match and they actually look pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.

Plus it's kind of nice to have the first thing we've bought for our place as a couple be a little project of our own.

We'll get some cushions for them eventually, but there's really no hurry at the moment. We bought feet for them, so that's done. And they probably need one more coat of paint, but we'll do that later...I think. They really do look good, though. We're very happy with it!

Pictures to come, eventually!