41 posts tagged “craig”
Craig talked to our travel agent today, and has decided he wants to spend his birthday this year in Ireland!!! We'll be gone a week, taking a driving tour, staying in Dublin, Killarney, Galway and back to Dublin! I'm so excited I could scream! I can't wait to see some new things, and I also can't wait to have another pint at The Poet's Corner in Ennis!!! ...And I can't wait to see Slea Head again, our future home!!! I'm so frakking psyched!!!!!!!!!!11!
So Craig came home to tell me all of this exciting news, and then he had more great news to relay. We're finally going to get our money's worth out of our health insurance. They're starting a new wellness program this year. The program allows us to workout at several local gyms, including one that has AN OLYMPIC SIZE LAP POOL!!!!!!! I get to swim again! The wellness program has all sorts of other goodies, like access to personal trainers and dieticians and such, BUT I GET TO SWIM AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today I got a trip to Ireland *AND* access to a lap pool! This is turning out to be one of the best Jen's Big Birthday Months EVER!!! I'm so damn excited!
Friday my brain shut off about mid-afternoon. I've been trying to remember what I did the rest of the day, and I just can't. Thank the gods for weekends!
Saturday though, was ...weird. First, I finally upgraded my laptop's OS. Now I'm only *one* version behind the current standard ...I think? [checks Ubuntu forums] Ok. I'm now running the latest LTS (long term support) version, though there've been two more "stable releases". LTS is good enough for me.
Saturday I was supposed to go to a friend's birthday party, but the closer it got to go time, the crankier I got. I hadn't slept well the night before thanks to allergies, and wound up taking some meds in the early morning hours, meds which usually kick my ass and take my lunch money. I wanted to go wish Tiffany a happy birthday, but I was dreading the hour-plus drive, and I was having some social anxiety over being at a party. I dropped her an email to tell her I was wussing out and apologize, and I let Craig know we wouldn't be going.
Craig, being the thoughtful husband he is, had let me make our Saturday plans. If I wanted to go to Royal Oak, he was going to take me. When I changed my mind about that, he decided he wanted to go to his 25 year 8th grade reunion. I thought that sounded absolutely miserable!!! I'd just cancelled plans with my friend because I didn't feel like being around people! What could I do though? He'd been so willing to forgo his plans for mine, so when I canceled mine, I went along with his. It was only fair. So, I wasn't going to be spending the day in my jammies reading and napping like I'd planned after all. Saturday totaly pwned me.
The reunion wound up being pretty darn fun, despite my reservations. A few of the girls in his 8th grade class went to high school with me. Yes, I, who HATES school reunions and refuses to go to any of mine, wound up at a mini reunion anyhow, and on a day when I didn't want to be around people.
It was interesting. I spent a long time talking with one of the nicest girls in my class. I always saw her as one of the popular kids, one of only a few who would take the time to talk to me like I was an equal. She's still as sweet and warm as I remember her. I always felt like I was invisible to most of my high school, teachers included. Such is the fate of an introvert. I even tried to get involved whenever I could, and still people couldn't remember me. That was the case with the other three of my classmates that were there for the reunion. :) They smiled at me briefly with a look in their eyes that told me they had absolutely *NO* idea who I was, and then they went off to the other side of the room to talk amongst themselves. To be fair, I didn't make any effort to talk to them either. I did talk to other people there though. The food was good and the conversation was better, just as it should be at any any good party. It was a nice evening and I'm glad we went.
Sunday was a bit of a blur because I was so mentally wiped from Saturday's party. We went out for breakfast, bought the week's groceries, Craig did yardwork and I did housework... I don't know what else.
So now it's Monday and time to put in another week's labor. Work is going to go well this week. I'm finally getting everything in order and up to date. That feels better than I can express. Seriously. I feel like I'm doing the impossible. *flexes* ...*flexes brain*
I have lots of more fun things planned for this week too, lots of personal projects that I'm excited about. All work and no play, you know. ;)
All right. A cup of coffee and then it's time to get this party started.
Craig participated in Field Day this year. He was at the campsite most of yesterday, came back to get me for the potluck dinner and the evening hours, and he's gone back this afternoon to hang a bit longer with his club and help with tear down. I was skeptical, not being a talker and thus having weird feelings about amateur radio, but the people in the Fulton County Amateur Radio Club (FCARC) are all so awesome, I had a great time!
I sat with Craig for a few minutes now and then while he tried to collect contacts, but the chaos of all those voices on the radio was really frazzling my nerves. It was exciting, but also extremely overwhelming. I hate to even have the tv on quietly when Craig fires up a youtube video, the radio noise was ... just wow.
I had a great time talking with the club members and their family though. FCARC Field Day is a family camping event, and it felt every bit so. So many good people in that club! I'm glad Craig got into radio and we got to meet this group.
Later in the evening, I had an especially interesting conversation with a brilliant engineer who used to serve in the military as a "key-turner" in the nuclear missile silos, and an equally brilliant farmer who's worked as a commercial pilot, is a registered nurse (so is his wife) and now runs a business dealing in herbs and natural medicine. We talked about everything from cyberpunk novels to telescopes and satellites to life beyond our planet, reincarnation, alternate history and the strange and fascinating phenomenon of optical tunnels, with brief mentions of quantum mechanics, string theory and the great timeline of the universe. It was seriously one of the most enjoyable conversations I've had in a long time!
We're definitely participating in Field Day next year, and we're definitely bringing our tent and camping out with these people, even though it's only fifteen minutes from home. They have late night dessert, *AFTER* dinner dessert! And late, late-night/early-morning dessert too! My kind of people!.
Friday was a loooong day. Craig took the day off so we could get a jump-start on our weekend project: replacing the kitchen floor.
We started into the floor a little before lunch time, and so far so good! We're still in the tear-out phase, but our plans to take out the cupboards and put new floor underneath them changed when Craig took a look and saw a mess of plumbing there. Huh? Plumbing *over the floor*? *L* Ok. Whatever. The kitchen pipes never freeze. :) But even better, that means the cupboards/sink/countertop stay where they are and we put flooring in only up to that point. I'm not sure if this is considered "ok" or "half-assing it" (I'm pretty sure it's half-assing it), but it does mean *A WHOLE LOT LESS* work for us.
When it was going on 5pm, we called it quits and went into town to buy our new floor. Normally I'm *EXTREMELY* picky about house projects and would never have thought about starting tear-out until I'd found *the perfect* new floor, but the kitchen floor was so hideous and we've spent so long debating what we wanted to replace it with over the years (while we procrastinated the actual work) that I was content to just plan on buying the best option we could quickly find. We totally lucked out on that!
We borrowed the pick-up truck from work, and headed out to Anderson's to stock up on supplies for the project. The first thing we did was look to see what flooring options they had in stock. Craig's been thinking laminate and I've been thinking darkly colored, so it was a no-brainer when we almost immediately spotted a dark walnut laminate for less than $2 a square foot! It's *GORGEOUS* flooring, and I think it's going to look so perfect in this old house. Oooo!!! I can't wait until it's installed!
But anyhow, enough about flooring, (for now). We hauled our goods back home, unloaded, and drove back into town to drop the truck back off at the office. I think it's so cool that our employers opted to trade in the fleet car for a company truck and allow employees to sign it out for brief hauling needs! Seriously. This is an IT company, so it's not like a pick-up would be a standard fleet vehicle for them, but damn that comes in handy!!!
After dropping off the truck, it was time to feed. I was having mad cravings for our favorite Chinese restaurant, so even though we were a little dusty, we went out to eat. We totally lucked out there because they had a buffet set up. :D Mmmmm. It was delicious.
We got back home around 8pm, cleaned ourselves up a little, and headed out to see a friend's band play. They play every other Friday at the Old Pines Golf Course Clubhouse, way out on CoRd 13 between M and N. We got there and the clubhouse is like a double-wide all-season porch. :) The band was already playing loudly, and it looked like everyone in the 10 mile radius (of wide-open farmland - heh) had crammed into this tiny building. We found a couple of chairs in a corner, Craig bought a Corona and a can of Mountain Dew for $2.50, and we listened and tapped our toes until the band took a break and we could go talk to the base player (someone Craig knows from his ham radio club).
We went out on the patio to talk to A., and we spent the rest of the evening out there, under the stars. It was a glorious night, clear and cool. We talked to a couple other hams who'd come out to hear A's classic rock/country band. We tapped our toes and sang along and even danced a little when the band played "Neon Moon", a song we used to like to dance to when we were dating. There was a crack made about the "Tomb of the Unknown Camper" regarding some flags that had been set up in some shrubs to decorate for the holiday weekend, and we joked about taking a golf cart out joy-riding. It was a good time and I definitely want to go back out there again.
This was our second opportunity to hear live music this week. Monday night we'd also gone out, just down a few blocks to a local church where people gather to play bluegrass and gospel every Monday. We got there late, and there were only ten or so musicians still playing, but there were chairs set up for at least thirty, and we were told that around 7pm, when they start, it's usually standing room only. The musicians were skilled and the music was fantastic. I guess it's just people who like getting together and jamming, and they do it every Monday. I definitely want to go back there on occasion too.
I love live music of all sorts, and I think it's absolutely fantastic that I have both of these options to get out and hear some tunes and even dance a bit, both close to home (out here in the sticks!) and both free to the public. It's pretty damn sweet! :) Last night I'd told Craig, "If we're going to come out here now and then, I suppose we should get to know some of these people," and he replied, "Let's not get all crazy now!" *L*
I'm having trouble getting my brain on task this morning, so I'm going to sip some coffee and blog about my fabulous weekend and hopefully get those mental gears turning by the time I'm done.
I don't remember much of Friday. I think we basically chilled, which is good, one of my favorite "activities" actually. :) OH! I remember! I had recorded those shows on Burning Man so Craig could see what got me all hyped up, so we watched those Friday night. After watching videos of some of the flightiest people ever to be featured on tv having a blast at Burning Man, Craig's comment was, "If those people can survive a week in the desert, we're going to be fine." *snort* :D
Saturday was date night. Craig had bought us tickets to the symphony to celebrate our twelfth anniversary. After a relaxing, slow morning of doing nothing, I took a long bath and primped for a couple of hours until it was time to head out for dinner. We dined at Byblos, one of my favorite restaurants. We had a quiet table in a corner, and we talked about a bit of everything while noshing Mediterranean delights and sipping wine, wrapping up the meal with baklava and the best cup of coffee in town.
The symphony was delightful. It was the Toledo Symphony Orchestra's season finale, and they played a fine mix of works, from the lively to the bittersweet. They even had a soprano to entertain us with Canteloube's Songs of the Auvergne. The last piece was my favorite though, Elgar's Enigma Variations. Each variation was inspired by one of his friends, and it was pretty easy to envision a few of the personalities represented by the music. I have to admit that I was distracted by a percussionist though. The guy on the cymbals had me mesmerized. :) He'd stand there so patiently, once in a great while bringing the cymbals gently together and almost immediately stifling their ringing. but once in an even greater while he take a stance of readiness and you'd know something big was coming. He'd bounce a little and slam those cymbals together with some might, then hold one over his head in what seemed to be a gesture of victory and let the sound ring out from it. It had me giggling and fighting the urge to shout out as if it was a sporting event and my team just scored. :) Silly, but good times. :)
Sunday we went out for brunch then hit up a bookstore looking for a good book to guide us through our looming kitchen remodel. We are by no means construction experts, but I do think we've done enough work on this house now that we've outgrown the basic how-to books kept stocked on the store shelves, because there wasn't anything there that we didn't already know and have experience doing. I did find one great book all on what to do with old houses, everything from deciding if it's even worth fixing to shoring up the foundation to fixing the leaky roof to pulling old wiring ... it basically covered it all. The pictures were amusing me because it looked like someone had photographed all the trouble areas in our 100+ year old house. :) It was a bit of a pricey book, but the information looked totally worthwhile given the age of our home and the projects we have yet to tackle, so it came home with us. I also picked up the latest "Art Doll Quarterly" (my favorite magazine ever) and a handy book on short bike rides in Ohio.
Then it was off to the theater to meet up with Dave and Kelly to catch a matinee of "Angels & Demons". Dave and Kelly are very anxiously (especially Kelly!) awaiting the arrival of their first child, who is due tomorrow! Kelly has been wanting that baby born for weeks now, and I thought for sure if we went to see a movie this late in the game, Murphy's Law would kick in and she'd go into labor ten minutes into the movie. It didn't work though. For the sake of her sanity, I hope the baby comes early this week. :)
The movie was good. It was true to the book, which I loved, and the art and scenery made for a very pleasant viewing e
experience. I couldn't find anything to take issue with, but then again, I'm ***EXTREMELY*** easy to entertain. :D
Sunday evening Craig was trying to plan out some things for our kitchen floor replacement coming up next weekend. Awesome Memorial Day weekend plans! heh. At one point he says, "I want to check something - be right back," and heads down into the damp dark of the basement. What he found puzzled him, so he recruited me to stomp around on the kitchen floor while he investigated further. See, our kitchen floor sags in a scary manner. There are solid, north-to-south lengths, with very squishy, sagging spaces between. We've been working on the assumption that the joists are those N-S solid spots. Turns out, looking at it from the crawl space, the joists run E-W! WTH? We puzzled over that one for a little bit, then I said, "What the hell, let's just cut a hole in the floor now and see what we're dealing with!" So we pulled back one of our utility rugs and started cutting through the fugly linoleum and the very weird underlayment. We found N-S running floor boards, so I guess the squishiness is just soft floor boards? Or more accurately, the high points seem to be floor boards that are warping and pulling up from the joists. Craig says the floor looks great from the crawl-space perspective though, which is a relief and will make the work this weekend far easier than our worst-case fears we were planning for. So yeah, we've got a "fun" weekend in store (very heavy on the sarcasm there), but it's not going to be as bad as it could, and I'm finally going to be rid of the world's ugliest kitchen floor!
And... yeah. That was my weekend. Now I have a week of hard work ahead of me, followed by a weekend of hard work. Fortunately, Craig has Friday, Monday and Tuesday off. I think we can get teh floor done in two days at the most, so there should still be plenty of time for play and relaxing in there too.
OH! And I got word the my brother is coming home to visit soon! For real this time!!! I'm so damn excited and I can't wait to see him again!!!
I'm so tired. Stress is exhausting. I have so much on my mind this week, so many worries, so much to see to, so much I have absolutely no control over. I'm trying not to resort to escapism in one of its many glorious forms, but I do really look forward to bedtime and falling into blissfully unaware sleep.
Yesterday was a hell of a day, for both Craig and me. He finally got home around almost 9pm, and after putting in a little more time on work, he made us a few drinks, we turned off our laptops and the tv, and we retired to the porch swing. It was a warm evening, almost too warm, but the breeze was nice and it's still too early for mosquitoes. We sat out there in the dark, sipping our drinks and chatting, laughing about our crappy days. I was just starting to feel the day melt away and was thinking that it wasn't all bad when the day could end like this, when there was a loud crack and Craig and I found ourselves on the porch. One of the hooks the swing hangs from had sheared off, dropping us on our asses. Figures. We had a little bit of a laugh over that, given how well it went with the rest of the day. But then as I was getting ready for bed, I knocked this little glass angel I love very much off my bedside table and she fell to the floor and broke. At that point, I really wanted to cry. There was the escape of sleep though, and that's exactly what I'm looking forward to today. I'm so tired.
Today my grandmother had a new catheter put in her bad heart. That was this morning, and since I haven't heard anything yet, I'm assuming no news is good news. I'll have to get over there to visit her real soon, since I know taking it easy is going to be tough on her.
I took Jasmine back to the vet today. She's been getting more and more off-balance. Everyone there fussed over her, as is expected (by her) because she is a lovely princess of a bunny. Still, she was highly agitated by it all and not at all amused. A couple hours and a small fortune later, and we're back home with two oral meds, two eye meds and some ear drops... to be administered three times a day. The vet tech gave me a sympathetic look and said, "I hope you don't have a life," but very fortunately I work from home and Jasmine is totally worth the fuss. The oral meds are supposed to be banana flavored, but Jasmine HATES them, even though the hedgehog that was in yesterday seemed to think those meds were the most delicious thing ever. She's not crazy about the ear drops either, but she does seem to *really* dig the ear massage that comes after the drops.
I have some guilt over the almost $200 I spent on my senior-citizen pet rabbit today, because I know someone very close to me who's in a major financial mess right now. I honestly thought long and hard about canceling the appointment and just handing the money over, but I just couldn't do it. Argh. Jasmine has been a very sweet and lovable companion to me for almost ten years now, and if she's not feeling well I need to help her feel better. But I do feel guilty about it. ...So much to worry about.
Oh yeah, and my brake light came on while I was out today. grrrrr...
Is is bed time yet??? I'm so very tired.
Craig and I had a lovely day yesterday, I gifted him with some art supplies ...for only him, not a bowling ball gift. Girl Scout's honor! I gave him some pastel pencils and pastel board I found at our local art store, and he tried to give me the extra sheet of super-nice Wallis pastel board he had from class, but I made him keep it. *L*
Craig gave me an awesome "I Love Buffy" t-shirt I wanted, and an ice cube tray that makes skull & cross-bone shaped ice! :D My favorite though, was the hand-made card! He drew Tux the Penguin on the front holding a heart that said "GEEKED 4 U", and inside he wrote:
[craig@root]# chown jen /dev/heart/
BEST.VALENTINE.EVER! :D *sniffle* :D
We went into town for the day. Craig wanted to catch a bandsaw demonstration at WoodCraft. It was actually really interesting. ...And I was the only female in the room. heh. Then we went to Michael's armed with a 40% off coupon in order to buy some pastels.
Let me tell you about Michael's. You can get good coupons for that store just about everywhere you look, and let that be a warning! Wow, was their art stuff marked way the hell up! Dickblick.com has a set of half sticks in 30 colors for about $30 that I want. They price the full stick set at $54. Michael's didn't have the half-stick set, but they wanted $120(!!!) for the full stick set. Even with the 40% off coupon, that would've been $72, verses getting them online for $54. You could add in shipping, rush shipping even, and they still would've been cheaper on line than with a 40% off coupon at Michael's! Do your homework before shopping at Michael's. They obviously can afford to offer those great coupons so freely because they've marked everything way the hell up! I mean, that's common sense, but every time I see it for myself, well it's kind of infuriating. I should've known better than to get my hopes up. Needless to say, we didn't buy anything there.
We stopped at Chipotle for a late lunch (MMMM! Veggie burrito!!!), and still had an hour to kill before the movie we wanted to see would start, so Craig suggested we head down the road to downtown Maumee, and check out the glass shop there. I've always wanted to check the place out, but they aren't open evenings or Sundays, which always seemed to be when we were passing through.
Prism Glassworks, Ltd. was *nirvana*! They carried a lovely selection of the Moretti rods I like to use, a large selection of frit, tools, and all sorts of odds and ends. Most of the shop is dedicated to stained glass supplies, but those are a lot bigger supplies for a hobby that's a lot easier to do at home, so that's to be expected. My stuff was in the back, but it was still all there. *happy sigh* I talked to the owner a bit, mentioning how timid I am about prepping this kiln I have and putting it to use, and she very kindly explained *everything* I need to do ...which wasn't much at all. I'm going back this week to pick up some shelf primer so I can fire that baby up soon. :D I talked to another employee there too, and she was also very nice and extremely helpful. I think I love this place. :D They will definitely be getting some of my monies this year. :D
It was movie time, and based on Myke's recommendation, we went to see Coraline in 3D. It was an enchanting movie! So much so, that I rarely heard any of the many children in the theater, In fact, there were several quiet parts in the movie when I couldn't help but marvel at how very silent the theater full of very young humans was! Everyone loved it. Only Craig and I seemed to laugh now and then though, which was weird. There were some delightfully humorous moments. *shrug* And I fear a lot of the 3D was lost on me. I noticed a few magic moments that really stood out, and a few times I could see some depth in the scenes, but for the most part, my eyes don't get the 3D effect. Still, a fantastic movie! Even the soundtrack was hauntingly beautiful. Good times.
There were a couple more stops on the way home, to pick up some supplies for projects ...and for feeding the bunnies. :) Then we spent the rest of the night watching some of the last season of Lost, which we're trying to catch up on.
It was a lovely day, but much like the rest of the week, it seems to have gone by so fast! I'm going to do whatever it takes to let time linger this week, even if it means reading accounting books to slow things down with enforced boredom. (Totally joking about that! Accounting? *shiver*) Last week flew by, but this week will be savored, even if I have to wrestle time and pin it to the floor until I'm done with it!
The winter course catalog for the museum finally came out this week. I downloaded the PDF and did the electronic equivalent of ripping it open and madly turning pages to find the class Craig and I want to take. It was more exciting than any Christmas morning ever. I found the class we wanted, but was confused by the listing. There were two five week sessions listed, which our teacher had explained would be the new format, but then I wasn't sure if the price listed was for both sessions or just one. If it was for just one, we were screwed, because that meant the class was twice as expensive as I was anticipating.
Friday I called registration and asked about the listing and the price for the class and my fears were confirmed. Because this class was to cover a array of media, the cost for supplies was significant, and the class was WAY out of our price range. I mean, I could absolutely justify the cost, but we just didn't have the money in our budget for it. I hung up the phone and pondered this dilemma. I hadn't been this excited about anything since I was anticipating our trip to Ireland, but I just couldn't afford such an expensive class. My brain was trying to digest this information, and then my eyes started to well up. I felt like such an idiot, like some spoiled brat throwing a tantrum. I willed myself to snap out of it and just deal with the disappointment, but wound up sobbing instead. I went to take a shower to calm down and gather my wits.
By the time I'd gotten out of the shower, I had it all figured out. We had it in our budget for half a class, one five week session, so we'll just take that first half of the class this winter, and the second half in the spring. No big deal.
Craig came home and I told him my thoughts on splitting the class up, and he said we should just sign up for the whole thing since we'll be getting our tax refund in February and can just use that to pay off the second session of the class. Just like that he was ok with totally blowing our budget, saying the class would be totally worth it. I tried to sit on it and think it over for a while like a reasonable and fiscally responsible person, but I was too excited and before long I had the phone in my hand and was calling to register. YAY! ART CLASS!!!! You might think you know how excited I am about this class, but I can guarantee you I'm even more excited than what you suspect! :D
Yesterday was Craig's birthday and we started the day with coffee and presents. I gave him the traditional Hallmark Star Trek ornament of the year and a couple of Cylons to start building his army. We ate a lovely breakfast and then got cleaned up to run into town for some shopping. We picked up some home-improvement/craft stuff at the general store and then hit up Kohl's so Craig could find some new work clothes. (I hate Kohl's with a fiery passion, but they do have decent deals in mens' wear.)
We drove across town in the direction of a newer Japanese restaurant in town and met up with Dave and Kelly for dinner. It was one of those restaurants where you sit around the hibachi and watch the chef prepare your food, which was quite entertaining. Well, we watched him prepare everyone else's food. Craig was there for birthday sushi, and I figured I'd be adventurous and share some sushi with him. I can say that I give it an honest try every once in a while, but sushi just doesn't do it for me at all. Now, don't get me wrong! We had some delicious rolls, and the white tuna and shrimp pieces were pretty good. I just can't ever imagine ordering sushi for myself. It just doesn't do anything for me. And the texture thing gags me once in a while too, especially that red tuna piece I choked down. Does the world not realize that fish is raw??? :) Craig was in heaven though. Even a sushi novice like myself could tell just by looking at the food and the presentation that it was excellent quality, and as long as the birthday boy was happy, all was absolutely as it should be!
After feasting, the four of us drove out to the zoo to see the Lights Before Christmas. It had only just opened Friday night, and the air temperature was well below freezing, so the place was practically empty. Every other time we'd been to see the lights, traffic had been backed up a long ways in the street before you even got to the parking lot, so this far less crowded night where we could drive right up to the front of the lot was a new experience for us. It was ten times as fun having Dave and Kelly with us too. We walked the whole zoo, drank hot chocolate, sang along with the "dancing lights" presentation, had a hundred laughs or more, saw some fish and bugs and snakes (most animals were tucked in for the night), and talked at length to really nice guy in the reptile house about reticulated pythons named "Fluffy" and how to die by snake.
It was a fabulous day, but all that walking in the cold air *really* kicked our asses. I haven't been that thoroughly wiped out in a long time. We came home and had birthday cupcakes and quickly gave up and called it a night. Slept like logs too and still had trouble getting out of bed this morning.
Today was supposed to be productive, but my ass is still dragging from all the fun we had yesterday. Sundays are designed for slack though, so no worries.
Wishing a very Happy Birthday to my very best friend and truest love! Our years together just keep getting better and better, so I expect your next journey around the sun will be the best yet, and I'm so grateful you're willing to share it with me! :)
Just watch out for those Cylons. Seriously.
I definitely got up too early today. I hate it when you wake up because your brain fires up in a busy panic over all you have to do in a day, yet said brain hasn't had enough rest to process thoughts properly. I'm up, but now that I'm needing to get some thinking work done, my thinker is still only half conscious. ...Am I making sense? I can't tell. argh.
We had a busy weekend full of family. Saturday was Craig's aunt and uncle's 50th anniversary party. It was just like going to a wedding reception. Even though they'd been married 50 years, the bride and groom were giddy and playful and still looking as happy as newly-weds together, which was really sweet to see.
We got there and walked in to a reception hall full of extended family(-in-law), and I was overwhelmed into stupidity for a while. I now remember that the happy couple was standing right by the door to greet people coming in, but I was dumbfounded and walked right by them without even making eye-contact. Just one more example of why people tend to think I'm a rude bitch even though I'm mostly just dense and horribly introverted.
It was a nice reception, good food, great people, pretty decorations, cake, the whole shebang. The DJ tried so hard to get people dancing, but it wasn't until he played the chicken dance that people started moving. We were discussing this on the way home, noting how Polish people love the chicken dance. "How come you didn't dance the chicken dance?" I teased. He replied, aghast, "You don't dance to your national anthem!" :D That boy does make me laugh!
Sunday was a surprise birthday party for my dad's 60th. I had a lot of anxiety about this one, not only from being socially exhausted from Saturday night still, but for fear that we'd wind up talking politics and I would have to leave. To my surprise and immense relief though, I never heard one single political or religious comment the whole day.
It was nice visiting with my family, and I was especially thrilled to visit with my niece and nephew. I'm so mad I forgot to bring my camera!!! Those kids are cute, and I'm not someone who usually likes children. Oona wants to be a T-rex for Halloween. :) At one point my youngest cousin (she's also my god-daughter) went out to the car and came back in with Halloween masks. They were rubbery, full-head masks, including a toothy reptile and an alien of some sort, and you'd think most three year old girls would be scared, but not my girl. She was giggling like crazy. Toward the end of the day, she actually put the reptile mask on, which was hysterical. At one point my god-daughter put the alien mask on, and my sister set Oona and Truman with her for photos. It was FAR better than getting your kids picture with Santa or the Easter Bunny! I was so mad I forgot my camera!
Also, Craig has nicknamed Truman "T-bone", and I think it might stick. I overheard Oona calling him T-bone. *giggle* Those kids are so damn cute! I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT TO BRING MY CAMERA!!! ARGH!!!
My aunt, who loves planning social gatherings, had brought a bunch of board games, but the only thing we wound up playing was Guitar Hero on my cousins' PS3! :D
Both parties were a good time, but this weekend wore me *out*! We have no plans for next weekend, and we both agree we need to keep it that way. Craig needs the weekend because he gets antsy if he doesn't have time to do projects on the weekends. I, however, just need the quiet time.
My coffee cup is empty. Time to refill it and try braining again. I have so much braining I need to do today. argh.
