Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Only a day and a half until I get 4 1/2 days off of work.........and only 2 and a 1/2 days until I get a day to myself after spending xmas at the in-law's...........must.....not....kill......anyone....................

When did being nice become being censored?

I'm so sick of this "don't say anything anytime that might possibly sort of offend someone or that they could take a twist in their small minds to mean something that they may not really like".

ARGH!

Since when did just being courteous and nice become being so fucking censored that you can't even say what you mean anymore? I'm not talking about being mean or rude - I'm just talking about just getting to the point and not dancing around the subject like a fucking trained monkey.

Or saying something like "WTF" or "Jesus Christ". One is an acronym, another is a made up creature. And yet, saying something like that "might not reflect well" on me. Whoa - huh? Seriously? And even if it doesn't you think I CARE about that? If someone takes offense to those sorts of things (especially when it's said in reference to something that has NOTHING to do with them), then they need to grow a pair and stop being a thin-skinned wimp. And, secondly - I don't care about that person! If they take offense, then they're totally discredited in my book and they don't matter to my life anymore. You think I want the same things you do? You think I want to get promoted to a group of people who I think are a bunch of idiotic talking heads with nothing better to do than harass everyone into being perfect molds of their robotic selves? Cuz then you are dumber than I thought. I don't like playing the game and I don't want what you have enough to compromise my dignity. Lay off.

Mad

"She's starin' at me,
I'm sittin', wonderin' what she's thinkin'
Nobody's talkin',
'Cause talkin' just turns into screamin'
And now it’s I'm yellin' over her,
She's yellin’ over me
And all that that means
Is neither of us is listening
And what's even worse
That we don't even remember why we’re fighting

What happened to workin' it out
We've fallen into this place
Where you ain't backin' down
And I ain't backin' down
So what the hell do we do now

It's all for nothin'
Fighting for nothin'
Crying for nothin'
But we won't let it go for nothin'
No not for nothin'
This should be nothin'
To a love like what we got

I know sometimes
It's gonna rain
But baby, can we make up now
'Cause I can't sleep through the pain

Girl, I don't wanna go to bed mad at you,
And I don't want you to go to bed mad at me
No, I don't wanna go to bed mad at you,
And I don't want you to go to bed mad at me
Ohhh no no no..."

~Ne-yo

Thanks and Truth

Now that the holidays are coming up (ack, already??) I start to think of what I am thankful for, and why. There's a lot:
1) My husband. As cliche as it may sound, I am so grateful that I met D. He takes me for who I am, and pushes me towards a better me, no matter how much I may push back. He accepts that mistakes that I made prior to (and after) meeting me, and understands when I cry about them. He understands who I am and what I am. He has forgiven me for things that I've believed that I can't forgive myself for. He is my rock.
2) My family. Even though (or in spite of the fact that) I spent hours obsessing over the wedding, my parents loved it. My mother was so happy, my dad wore his uncomfortable tux (and looked fabu) and my grandma and brother were there. My mother even said she was so amazed at how we handled the whole thing - we hadn't seen the facility or the cake, and still I loved it and managed to have fun. I love that she recognized that. And I loved that I was able to make their only child's (since my twin brother will probably not be allowed to get legally married anytime soon....................what bullshit!) wedding fun and memorable, despite all the drama we went through .
3) My bridesmaids - Loud and Ding and my most favorite roommate ever, Ange. Girls, I know I didn't involve you in a lot of stuff, but you were my go-to girls when I had questions. I couldn't have done it without you.
4) Lucia - I heard about the mini-bottles of booze afterwards - you helped everyone have a great time, and my mom loved you. You didn't make a big deal out of her blindness and even toasted to her 4 lobsters. Thank you.
5) All of my friends who came to the WI reception. Thank you for coming out to celebrate the most joyous occasion of D and I's lives. It meant a lot to me that you came out, made the bar bill way higher than we expected, and just had a great time - I love you all.
6) My family and friends - D's parents are extremely anti-gay. But my brother was still a participant in the ceremony, and I couldn't have done that without you guys politely keeping your mouths shut - I truely couldn't have imagined it without him. I will still work on my new in-laws on this issue, but I doubt that they will change. So thank you.
7) The house - I love it! I finally feel as if I'm putting down roots in this town, and god knows I've never had that before. It's perfect.
8) My job - yeah, sometimes it sucks, and I work long hours. But it's a job I like, and it pays well, so I can't complain (too much :P)
9) My friends - thank you all for being around as you were. And I can't wait to see you at this year's gala.

Speaking of that, there is much to get done for that! So much for hibernating before the holidays :)

Snapshot Memories

“Everything's in slow motion
Hands in the air
Sweat flying everywhere
But we don't care
Well you could try to fight the feeling
But I can't see the use
There's so much love in this room
And yes its all drug induced
Can't remember who I am
Or what I'm doing here
But at the same time
In my mind
Everything is clear
No fear and no drama
It's all good karma
And I never can forget
The night before the morning after
Well there's more to life than this
Of that I'm fully aware
But there's nothing more intense
Than crazy nights we shared
We got bass for the body
Chemicals for the head
Every day lives
Were like a skin we shed
Well you could try to fight the feeling
But I can't see the use
There's so much love in this room
Of that we're living proof
You could try to fight the feeling
But I can't see the use
It's a shame that in the end
It was all drug induced
Sun up to sun down
Come up to come down
Just waiting for Friday to come around
Sun rise to sun set
How high can we get
Monday morning and none of us have slept yet…”
~Just Jack

YEY!

We spent last night watching the election with friends - the kinds of friends who crack open a brand new bottle of tequila and rally everyone for shots every time Obama got a swing state. Seeing him win was very unreal - I was elated beyond belief. I still can't believe that we won - did America finally wake up?
I think that just the idea of having a new, fresh face in the White House will give this country the jump start it needs to start turning itself around from the very wrong direction in which the current administration has steered us.
The (now empty) tequila bottle has earned a place of honor on the downstairs shelf, along with the bottle of champagne that we drank when we moved into our house, one of the many bottles of champagne that was opened when we got engaged, and various symbols of other important events. That bottle symbolizes a start of a new era, and I'm so excited about it.

Got any great ground beef recipes?

We got the 1/4 steer the other week, and wow, that's a LOT of beef. Actually, we now have 32 lbs (!!!!) of just ground beef.
I've already thought of:
1) Shepard's pie
2) Meatloaf
3) Stuffed peppers
4) Tacos
5) Hamburgers

........and that's all I can think of at the moment. Anyone have simple, tasty recipes that don't involve hamburger helper? :P

Low Place Like Home

"Treat your life like a tragedy, self-inflict abuse
Treat your life like a tragedy, precious else to choose
Crucify yourself, I hope you find yourself
In a low place like home"
~Sneaker Pimps

Medicine

"Everybody's looking for what they want
And everybody's looking for what they need
Gotta keep on looking for what I want
But I don't even know your name
So I will call you medicine
You can ease my pain
I don't wanna feel the same
Tonight I need your medicine
To put out the flame
Medicine
Running through my veins"
~Kim Leoni

Bacon!

This year, D and I decided to get 1/2 a hog an 1/4 of a steer from farmer's market vendors to last us through the winter. The steer is currently hanging (moment of silence) so we won't get it for a couple more weeks, but we did get the pig already. D was kind enough to scan the receipt for me:







And just in case you can't read it (D's mother's scanner isn't the best) - that does read that we have 8.3 lbs of the most wonderful, delicious, heavenly bacon I have ever tasted (it's actually down to 7.4 lbs now :P).

EDIT: You can click on the picture to enlarge it!

Case in point....

I just re-found my college anthem!

"I'm drunk
And right now I'm so in love with you
And I don't want to think too much about what we should or shouldn't do
Lay my hands on heaven and the sun and the moon and the stars
While the devil wants to fuck me in the back of his car
Nothing quite like the feel of something new
I swear
I just found everything I need
The sweat in your eyes the blood in your veins are listening to me
Well I want to rip it up and swim in it until I drown
My moral standing is lying down
Nothing quite like the feel of something new
Maybe I'm all messed up
Maybe I'm all messed up in you
This is the only time I really feel alive"
~NIN

I knew this would happen...

Apparently random drunken musings carry more weight than they were meant to. Sunday morning's post was me thinking out loud some thoughts that I've carried with me for many years now - this is nothing new, and no act spawned them.
This blog is a place for me to write down my thoughts as they come, a place for me to write stream-of-consciousness style so that I can work through my chaotic mind. So please - don't jump to conclusions :)

When is it cheating?

**Note: I freely admit to being tipsy if not drunk while writing this.**

So, when is it cheating? I was the kind of girl who couldn't commit to anyone in college, and slept with whatever guy was cute and willing, while seeing other guys. I never realized how damaging it was to said other guys, but it was. But now that I'm in a committed relationship (aka I'm married), what is considered cheating? Is it thinking about someone else? Is it making out with someone else? Is it getting off in front of someone else? Is it sleeping with someone else?
Obviously, most people say it's getting physical with someone other than your significant other. But is that where you draw the line? I mean, in college I had two-night stands. Not one-night stands - the guy and I would usually get tired of each other after two random nights, and that was cool with me. They weren't a mystery to me anymore, and I'm sure they felt the same way. But now that I'm married, I need to actually be faithful to one person, and what does that mean?
Does that mean I can't look at other guys and admire their physique?
I don't think so. I'm not dead.
But, hypothetically, does it mean missing out on the chance to make out with another (married or not) person with whom you've wanted to make out with for X number of years? Hypothetically, people, don't flood this entry with "shame on you" comments. But seriously, does getting married mean that you've given up the chance to ever get it on with anyone else?
I think it does, unfortunately. And I know some people will be annoyed that I'm asking this. And that's ok with me. I'm used to going against the grain :P
But what's difficult is giving up the chance to experience new guys. Everyone is new. And I enjoyed that in college, no doubt. The number that I slept with was in the double digits, which is ok with me, because it was FUN. Different. New. Etc etc. I always wanted to live my life in such a way so that, on my deathbed, I would lamant what I DID do (which I swore I'd never do, and I don't till this day), rather than what I DIDN'T do. I never wanted to be one of those people who wondered "what would have happened?". I know it's pretty much inescapable, but I can do my best to stop it. :)
So, again, if you get the chance to make out with someone who you've wanted to for X number of years, and you make out with them, but you stop short of having them get you off or them watching you get off, is that good?
Is it right?
Obviously the answer is that you should never get in that situation. But why does being bad always feel so good?

Pictures are up

The pictures from the RI wedding are up on the bellapictures.com/photos website! They're gorgeous. Lovelovelovelove our photographer.

Favorite picture right now:

Lobster!

Since we had the wedding in Rhode Island, I totally had to east-coast-it-up and do a lobster boil as the dinner. Most favorite picture from the RI reception:

I haz a nu name!

Wow, so I'm like, officially Jennifer Michelle Rygiewicz now. You know, the strangest part of this is getting used to signing a new name. Seriously! And my name is very strongly linked to my identity as a person. So changing it is giving me the willies.

But, just to prove that I'm still the same, I have purchased a 10 lb box of red peppers that I will be roasting and canning for this winter. Hehe!

Also, gratuitous promotion of the wedding - go here to see photos (when they actually get put up):
www.bellapictures.com/photos

And, if you have some, you can upload them like I did (my brother took some AWESOME ones that he gave me)! You do need to log in, but that just consists of making a user name and password. Or you can let me know where your pictures are and I can upload them. I know that Loud lost her camera (very sad!!!) but I'm pretty sure there are others out there besides my brother who took pictures. Especially of the madness that went on afterwards in downtown Newport!! :)

Canning - year two, act two

Got 50 lbs of tomatoes this year, plus some from the CSA and garden. Most of the ones from the CSA share and our garden got thrown together with some veggies (garlic, peppers (sweet and hot), onions, etc) to create a spicy base for a pasta sauce, which was then bagged and frozen.

However, the two 25 lb boxes were all fodder for canning!

The first box, which contained a lot of large tomatoes:

The second box, with a larger number of smaller tomatoes:

I definitely used the dishwasher to santize over two dozen pint jars!

Starting on the first batch:

The "bloodbath":

The first batch are getting ready to be canned:

I recruited the fiancé to help again this year, here he's starting on the second batch:

Every single jar is filled!

I had to do a third, smaller batch later in the week to use up the rest of the tomatoes:

The prettiest jar of them all with a few beautiful, colorful heirloom tomatoes:

I'm sure that I'll use them all this winter again. Now it's off to make pesto with all the basil from the garden before we leave for the wedding!!!!!!!!

Glory Days

"I'm feelin groovy
Kicking down the cobble stones
And there's music in every sight and every sound no need for headphones
I'll tip my cap to the world even though I don't wear one
Grinning at the women in the salon getting their hair done
On the outside looking in Like an aquarium
Spinning with the stars in the planetarium
Deliriously
Mysteriously
I'm feeling curiously marvelously super duper
Like Joss Stone my heart melts like ice cream cones
Grinning like a dog digging up dinosaur bones
I used to be fossilized but now I'm out of my shell
And I'm happier than whores with chivalrous clientele
This can't be real I must be dreaming can somebody slap me
I'm feeling so mischievous original cheeky chappy
It must be ages since I felt satisfied
Just to be Just Jack
And just that's still intact
I'm so warm new dawn reborn new forms
And I'm thinking about my boys Joe le chic and Freshly Sean
And I know you're underrated but one day we'll all make it
And walk around naked with our bollocks platinum plated
Anyway I'm off track gotta stop that
And get back to the high street I need something to eat
Stop at the caf
Coffee and a Sobe bagel
Yea I know I'm Cain'd
But now I'm feeling Abel
I used to get so paranoid in places like this
Stayed in my house for days with my weed psychosis
My neurosis was thinking everybody is staring at my red eyes and shifty expression
But now I'm past caring
And I can feel that destiny is on my side
And by the looks of things Fate came along for the ride
Behind green skies I can see my girl's eyes
Dammit I'm in love with this planet you gotta realize
Its time to look to the future
Just when I was getting used to the humdrum
I realized in the depths of my depression that I really wanted to be someone
So lets smash the past like a tacky figurine on the back page of a supplementary magazine
But for the time being bump your head to the beat
Sit back, put your feet up and relax
Its just another one of those glory days
Jump out your bed shake your head clear the haze
Step out your house and prepared to be amazed
It's just another one of those glory days"
~Just Jack

Some things are private

Why is it that some people can't understand that there are some moments that are personal and private, and not something that you want shared with perfect fucking strangers?

There is a reason we are having the wedding in Rhode Island - because, plain and simple, I don't want people there. I love you all, but this is something that I feel very strongly about - this is a private moment between D and myself, and no one else. But D wanted a wedding, and D's mother insisted that she come, and now she's having D's father take pictures that she's going to bring to the reception and show to everybody there.

She's going to show people who I don't know and will never see again the most private and personal moment that I will ever have. And I'm fucking miserable.

Pickling

This winter I'm hoping to have some pickles (in addition to tomatoes and green beans) stored away in the pantry. I did dill pickles since that's what D likes. This didn't take half as long as the tomatoes from last year did! :)

Why I love summer

What's been keeping me busy lately

So in addition to the canoe trip, and the 2008 Deep Fry/housewarming party (which I have yet to post about, but I will soon), I have had various other things to keep me busy this summer.
One thing is, of course, wedding stuff, which has yet to cease and which I'm afraid won't until long after the wedding is done. But there has also been stuff on the home front! One of the things is our new garage door - after a long, almost 2 month saga, it works and we can now park our cars in the garage! The old door was the same yellow color as the house, and the wood has warped and sagged, so we bought a shiny new white one that goes beautifully with the house:

Also, we took out the old front door (it was red and didn't really go with the house), gave it to the Re-store, and swapped in a GORGEOUS new door that I love, love, love!

Also, some of the green beans got taken over by a weird fuzzy, white mold, but what I was able to salvage became the fodder for the flagship run of my new pressure canner!

All in all, it's been a busy, but awesome, summer so far:)

No Time

"Well how many times have we rowed and thrown tantrums?
And how many times have we loaded and cocked the hammers on our verbal guns?
And how many times has crockery and cutlery and cups of tea been thrown at me?
And how many times have I thrown words back at you I knew could cut you to the bone?

Well how many times have our friends warned us against this?
And I can't remember a time when I have felt so restless
And how many times have you said 'I'm leaving you no matter what you do'?
And how many times have I thrown words back at you I knew could kill you where you stand?

How many times have we slept side by side, a thousand miles apart?
And how many times have we thought we could finish something we could never even start?
How many times have I said I love you and I hate you in the same breath?
And how many times have we tried to grab something when there was nothin'...
We got no time left at all

See I don't want to talk about it, the way you broke my heart
I hate so many things about you I wouldnt know where to start
We got no time left at all..."

~Just Jack

Canning, year 2

So, last year was applesauce and tomatoes, and it was so wonderful to have canned fruit all winter that I'm psyched to get going this year. I only had a water bath canner last year, but this year I am the proud owner of a shiny new pressure canner, which I will be breaking out for it's flagship run soon. I bought about 4 lbs of pickling cucumbers and 11 lbs of green beans from the farmer's market this morning, so I'll be canning those within the next week or so.
Also, the 25lb boxes of salsa tomatoes are coming back - 3 of those are what I used for the tomato canning marathon last fall, but perhaps I'll only do one box at a time this year, and space it out a bit more :)

Drama, drama, drama

Much drama ensued at the house on Saturday, after D's mother saw our invitations. By that I mean snarky comments, pouting, crying, the whole deal.
No, not by me. I stayed calm, even as I ordered ALL NEW INVITATIONS.
Gr.
So, question - is it customary to include the groom's parent's names on the invitations? I think it might be, but I want your opinion.

What a week!

My, it's been quite the busy week. Thursday was a 2 hour evening cruise around Lake Monona, a work event that I helped plan. It was super pretty:

And lots of fun:

Then Friday was a Mallard's Game, with other people from work to celebrate a recent project. That was very fun too, but very mosquito-y, and we ended up going home at like 10pm.

Me and a friend's fiancé:

Looking at the wrong camera:

Then on Saturday, was the bachelorette (side note: blogger doesn't recognize that as a valid word, I'm offended) party w/my co-bachelorette, M! Seriously, I still haven't recovered. Loud summed it up pretty well - the entire night was just fabulous. Drinks, (somewhat naughty) presents, a fantastic dinner, lots of wine, a limo, champagne, shotgunning, dancing, and friends giving you the most wonderful send-off into marriage that I could ever ask for. All of my pictures completely stop after dinner, because I was too busy dancing to whip out the camera.

Being sexy in the booth that M and I got to sit in at dinner:

The *fantastic* sommelier:

The two amazing ladies who were responsible for the whole evening:

On Sunday we ate brunch at Fox and Obel's Market in Chicago, and it was amazing! We shopped in the cute gourmet section of the store *after* we had eaten - and I still somehow managed to pick up $50 worth of fun food.

After I got home on Sunday, I had an hour to show D my gifts before the neighbor on the left (slightly drunkenly) showed up to announce it was time to head over the the right-side neighbors house for drinks. It was the left-side one's birthday and we had planned to go over for wine and cheese, so we did. Ended up staying until 9pm and meeting more of our neighbors and such. Pretty fun.

This week was addressing and stuffing wedding invitations, and on Tuesday I got to see my wedding gown!!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeee!! It's soooooooooooooooo pretty, I look like a princess. Comfy-ness is not as great, but whatever, it is a fantastically ornate and floofy dress.

Yesterday was all the cooking that I haven't been able to do for over a week. About 5 power-hours of D and I in the kitchen, cooking our asses off.

Tonight, we put together the 5 foot long BRIGHT RED grill. Tomorrow, D's parents come down. His father will help him install our new garage door and his mother will help me in the garden by taking some of the flowers home with her. Gypsy will also help me with lightswitch plates and in return, dig up and take home plants - I don't want them! Sunday is the same thing - another person coming over to take flowers. Next week is catching up at work, then Friday is the 4th of July at Loud's house. Fun!

Too busy

I find that I go through phases in my life, variating between one extreme to another. There are weeks where I have stuff planned all the time, almost every day, sometimes more than one thing in a day, and I'm social and outgoing and busybusybusy.

I'm also then usually exhausted, and end up going a couple weeks where I don't really go out at all, except to go to work or the store.

I'm moving back into the latter phase now, because I am exhausted. There are things planned almost every weekend this summer - and while that's fun after this winter's (slightly-forced) hibernation, I'm also trying to get moved and settled and also plan our wedding and get all that stuff together, which is making me feel slightly crazy. D and I stayed home from work on Friday because both of us felt that we had no time to ourselves lately, and then went out for a low-key camping night (where we drank D's homemade beer and wine!), but then we came back Saturday morning, and spent the day doing laundry, napping, and having a completely FABULOUS 3 hour long dinner at Eno Vino afterwards.

Yesterday he flew out to a customer site and so I'm alone in the new house for the first time since we moved in. Have I mentioned that I am NOT settled in/completely comfy yet and I HATE thunderstorms?

And as a side note, if anyone wants to come tear out some perenials from my gardens, feel free to just come over and do it. I'm so sick of the damn things, because they look HORRIBLE. All the rain lately has made them just spring up and all the ground cover especially is getting out of control. The weekend of 6/28-6/29 I'm going to tear a bunch out and give them to various people who want them - if you want in, let me know.

I have a new address!

Yes, I've been slacking off lately. But I blame the fact that we moved over Memorial Day, and I do believe that my kitchen is permanently lost............so many boxes. Our 2 car garage is currently only a 1 car too!

Moving took pretty much 7 hours to do. We got up early and the movers weren't done till like 4pm (though they did take 1/2 hour break when I picked up pizza for lunch for them). It was kinda sad to leave the old house. That house was pretty much the perfect house to be in while I was laid up, because it was one story. I couldn't have lived in the new house with everything broken as it had been. And it has lots of storage, and it has larger windows, and a larger master bedroom, bathroom and closet.

When we moved, we slept Wednesday night at the old house and Thursday night at the new house - poof! Just like that we were all moved. That was disconcerting.

The new house is kinda nice though - a little smaller and therefore "cozier" in a way. It's coming together, slowly but surely. I'm currently in a wicked "nesting" phase. It's making D absolutely crazy :P

The housewarming party will be in early, August, combined with the deep-fry party. There are many, many projects that I want to do and lots of stuff to still unpack and put away, so I'm hoping 2 months is enough time to do it all!

Either way, email me if you need the new address. The old stuff should be forwarded for about a year I think though.

Peek-tures!

Finally, the pictures I promised!

We put up a new ceiling fan at the new house in what will be "my" room. The fan that was there before was this white, cheap fan, while all the others around the house were nice ones with a wood finish. So, we bought this new one to better match the house and gave the other fan to D's parents.

Also, here's the dining room light that I LOVE - we replaced a gold chandelier light with this one, and it's so neat:

Last but not least - the garden!! Taa-daa!!

That whole plot was flowers - and now it's veggies. The bare spot on the left is where I sowed carrot seeds, and the bare spot in the back is for more tomato plants. Yippee!!

Grrr

I'm getting into the joys of home ownership early.

Stupid garage door now doesn't want to work. THANK GOD we asked the seller to get us a home warranty, because we just got the paperwork in the mail so I called them last night and already got a call before 8 this morning from the door people that the home warranty people contacted last night (I have people :D). They're going to come fix it Thursday morning. Too bad there's no internet at the new house, because I have to sit there all morning while the door gets worked on. But at least we only pay the small deductible and it magically gets fixed!

Speaking of things we got in the mail at the new house, the mailman is apparently getting huffy with us for not having our names in the mailbox. I never had to do that at the current house. Is that normal?

And we also got our Menard's BIG card in the mail - it's the Menard's credit card cuz we've been spending WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much time/money there. As far as credit cards go, it's kinda wonky. It's all sparkly and changes graphics depending on how you look at it. It makes me feel like I'm 5. It certainly doesn't look like a real "I'm-a-serious-homeowner/do-it-yourselfer-person" credit card.

Things are moving along

Well, we've been working on the house pretty much every weekend and many weeknights lately. We started by taking out all the crap we didn't want, then we moved on to buying a new light fixture for the dining room (lovelovelove), a new front door (lovelovelove even more) and a new garage door (well, I don't love it, but the old one was crappy).

We've bought new outlets and switch plates because the house has beige ones, and to me, if you have white walls, it looks better to have white outlets and light switches. We've torn down a lot of the spastic wall paper in the kitchen (it looks soooooooooooooooo much better!), and are having someone come to remove the rest and then paint the living room a sort of light-tanish-orangy color (still TBD).

I've done 1/2 of the work on new light switch plates with Gypsy's help, and hope to finish them at some point (so far, efforts have failed because I'm in bed by like 7pm every night that we don't go over to the house).

Also, last weekend was spent planting a vegetable garden! This house has gardens EVERYWHERE - and it's all perennials and flowers and stuff that I don't feel like taking care of, and so will eventually rip out. I'm starting small though, so as to not annoy the neighbors too much (they're overbearing, but nice). So, the future-mom-in-law and I tackled a large garden in the backyard on Saturday, digging up a bunch of plants that she wanted, moving others, and just plain tearing up the rest. I bought a tiller to help, thank god. But just to get the plot torn up and the tomatoes in the ground took the two of us like 5 hours. It was, surprisingly, nice to hang out with just her for a while (D and his father did stuff inside).

Then yesterday, I finished getting the rest of the plants in the ground and putting down newspaper and mulch, and then building a fence, with D's help. Pictures to come.

But as a teaser, it took 40 feet of wire fencing to surround the plot, and I now am the proud owner of a garden full of 5 different tomato plants (cherry, sweet 100s, early girl, big boy, pear), cabbage, broccoli, carrots, red, yellow and green peppers, basil, rosemary, chives, red onion, hot peppers, pickling cucumbers and strawberries. Rhubarb, dill, and brandywine heirloom tomatoes to come! :)

OMG

I'm a homeowner.

As in, we have the keys and the garage door openers and we signed a zillion papers and handed over a hefty cashier's check and met with the people who were selling the house and then got to wander around for an hour or so today to just look at all the stuff we want to change.

It is absolutely FREAKY. I feel like this is something that adults do, and I definitely don't feel like an "adult". I know that I can probably handle this responsibility - it just feels like I'm way too young to do something like this, even though I'm not - I'm 27.

Tonight D and I will go to look at it some more and start planning specific projects. Over the next 3 weeks we hope to get painters in there and carpet cleaners, and then on the 22nd of May we actually have movers coming to take everything from the old house to the new place.

Ack! Scary and exciting and completely disconcerting - but in a good way!

Don't worry......

You know, when it comes to the link from the previous post, I was smart enough to click the link from my work computer instead of my home computer :)

But you know what they say, curiousity killed the cat.....

Blog spam

Has spam finally migrated to blogs? I was very confused once to find that I received spam in the form of a text message on a work phone, and now I'm even more bewildered. Do people just sit around thinking of new ways to annoy other people?

I got a comment on this post. Lucia received a similar comment on her post, so did Loud, and so did this Wisconsin Roaming post.

But the confusing thing - what exactly are they trying to get? If you go to one of the pages it's some page written in foreign language, and nothing that my McAfee yelled about. What's up with that?

The ties that bind

I have always believed that the fiancé's mother is the Queen of Unwarranted Guilt Trips. But, it seems you are blind to your own life, and I've discovered a new King in the form of my father.

If this is what "familial responsibility" is, I don't want any part of it. It seems that being part of a family means you can hurt the other people but give more courtesy to the real person this anger should have been directed towards, a goddamn stranger. I don't want your money that you offered me to be a source that you dig at to make me feel guilty, when I never even asked for it. I certainly don't want it for a goddamn wedding that I'm only participating in to make others in the family happy. They don't have to deal with this grief, I do. And I'm sick of dealing with bullshit and being the one who's hurt just so other people get what they want.

When do I get what I want? And I don't want to hear that bullshit about how the wedding isn't for the couple. Maybe other people accept that and deal with it. I do not.

Maybe this will blow over in time. But I don't think I could ever forget, or forgive, this.

One week and counting

The countdown to closing has begun in earnest. We close on the house in exactly 7 days and 1 hour.
I'm nervous, but also excited. Once we get the keys we can start schlepping some of our crap over to the new house. We can put in some manual labor, which, suprisingly, is exciting to me. All the little projects that came out of the home inspection are things we hope to do within the month that we have before we need to be out of the current house. It'll be interesting to be "weekend warriors" for a while :)

New Experiences

So, I am all about having New Experiences.

But there are some New Experiences I can do without, really. Like the one I had last night, where, after trying to land at the Madison airport in extreme turbulence (large thunderstorm) in a tiny puddle jumper, with many people puking because it was so bad, they rerouted us to Green Bay. Then we got to sit on the runway while they reopened the airport because many people had gone home early.
Then we got to figure out who was all from the place where I work, and rent a couple of large vans and find people willing to drive the 2 1/2 hours back to Madison, since we all had to be back in the office on Friday.

Whee. I didn't get home until 3am.

And, as of 2:30 this afternoon, I will have worked over 60 hours this week.

These are the New Experiences that I really, really, am ok with never having ever again.

I moved the massage up to 3:30pm today :P

Tired kitty...

...is tired.
It's been a long week.
12-hour shifts at my customer's second go-live. Which, usually, wouldn't be bad. But dude - I'm BILLING. We, like, don't get issues until like 2 weeks later.
So we were booooooooooooooooooooored.
Each day we'd get up at 4:30am EST, head out at 5:30am to get there at 6am (and have time to hit up starbucks first for a triple or quad venti) and then work straight until 6pm (they even brought in lunch, so there was no escape). Then we'd go out to dinner, have a couple glasses of wine to wind down, and go to bed at like 9:30pm.
This morning we actually decided to go in at 7am, so I didn't have to get up until 5:40am. Heaven!
When getting up late is synonomous with getting up at 5:40am, you know there is something wrong with the world.
Then tomorrow it's back to the office and meetings, and then at 6pm my wonderful fiance scheduled a surprise, already-paid-for full body massage.
*drool*
Though, don't y'all go thinking that's all selfless - I'm sure it's partially motivated by the fact that he doesn't want to hear me bitch about that particular customer and he knows I'm rather jelly-like after a massage :)

Seems fitting...

That my 100th post would be about something pretty special.

We bought a house!!!!!! *dancedancedance*

I'm so excited. Nice 4-bedroom, 2.25 bath on the west side w/a 2 car garage and in a nice, quiet neighboorhood. We put an offer in on Friday morning, after seeing a few more houses with nothing really grabbing us. D was quite pale, but agreed to put an offer in on the house we saw last week. We put it in for $10K less than they wanted (and they'd already lowered it by $10K before this). Figured we wouldn't get it, and I was on pins and needles for what seemed like days, but really, was only like 5 hours - because at 3:30pm I got a call from our agent to tell us that Congratulations - we had an accepted offer!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

We have the inspection scheduled for tomorrow, and a meeting with the bank to get the mortgage officially approved on Tuesday, then then we close on 4/28. We'll have a month to do stuff like paint (yey colors!) and move in, then we'll be officially out of the Whitney Way house as of 5/31.

And so, here it is:
http://www.starkhomes.com/vp/ListingServlet?SITE=STARK&ScreenID=LISTING_DETAIL_P&EXCEEDLIMIT=Y&totalFound=0&showMap=Y&cd_MLS=305313

I'm thinking that the 3rd annual deep fry party will also be a combination housewarming party so everyone can see it once we're settled. I'm so excited to soon be done with moving for a very long time :)

Here's hoping........

So, we're going to see 2 or 3 more houses tomorrow morning. I've been waking up every night around 3am, like clockwork, then not sleeping well until 7am for almost a week now. I hope that after tomorrow, that ceases to happen, because I feel like my entire body is wrapped in cotton right now and it's really freaking annoying to be this sleep-deprived.

The house that we saw last week is still on the market, and apparently they are really motivated and looking for an offer. I don't want to post any more details about it for fear of jynxing it - but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it may be the one.

On other fronts, I finally picked out a bridesmaid dress:
http://www.edenbridals.com/7169-p-963.html

Yeah, I know, totally not what you would expect. Ding and Loud and I picked it out just for kicks among the, like, 15-20 other dresses that Ding tried on (she was a trooper - many, many thanks for trying on that many dresses, especially since I'm SO indecisive). But, she put it on and it looked FABULOUS on her. I'm finding a distinct pattern with this whole wedding planning shtick - everything I think that I want, I end up completely falling in love with the opposite.

I'm also actually participating in CrazyLegs this year, for the first time. Before, I always stayed behind and cooked a large meal with M and Loud's help (and in Witty's kitchen) for the runners to have when they got back, but this year Witty no longer lives right near State Street, so we're forming a team (Go Alpha Contingent!) and I'm walking with Lucia. Funny how, the year after the accident that has left me with pretty much a bum leg, I'm participating for the first time in 5K run/walk. Should be pretty exciting.

This year is completely turning out the be the most interesting year for me yet.

Houses

Grrrrrrrrr. I'm rapidly becoming tired of looking for a house. The ones we like seem to get accepted offers within hours of going on the market, and D and I are just not ready to go that fast. The ones that we don't like that much sit on the market and don't go anywhere.

Add that to the fact that D and I like EXACTLY opposite things, and this is just not going anywhere.

*sigh*

I feel like we've looked at 3 million houses and we still haven't made a decision. We decided to hold off on the Raymond house after I sent D to an open house that I couldn't attend, and he came home saying that he really liked the other house. Then I went to look at it and didn't like it all that much :P

Then we found another one that we really like, and saw it last Friday. The problem is that there's 3 others I want to look at before we make an offer on the first one, but D's gone this week, so we can't see the other 3 till Friday, and I'm so nervous that the first one is going to be gone before then that I can't even sleep more than 2 hours at a time. So now I'm still nervous and stressed, and add to that sleep-deprived. Whee.

Who ever said that the housing market was slow never looked for a house in Madison. Our agent has had just two houses in the past week where they've gone from listed to sold in less than 12 hours.

Augh!!

Slacking off

Whoops, it's been a while. I've been busybusybusy with stuff, though I don't feel like I've accomplished a lot.


I went to Seattle on a business trip last week, that was fun - we got out early and saw amazing sights and went to Pike's Place market and then gorged ourselves on seafood at a restuarant that was right on the water with an unbelievable view of the setting sun over the water and mountains.........wonderful.

I'm also going on another business trip next week - Sun through Sat in MO. D is in Vegas this weekend, so I won't see him for over a week. Boo!

Speaking of him, the fiancé and I decided on the tux and rental place for the wedding tuxes, which is a big load off my mind. He wants his side of the wedding to wear black zoot suits with white pinstripes, and while that's an awesome idea, we were having trouble finding some. We even went to the men's place at Vera's bridal, to talk to the girl there - and OMFG she had the brain of a rock! D, the fiancé, POINTED to the tux that he thought was most like what he wanted. It was the longest tux in the whole place. The girl, brainless as she was, goes over to it and says "Oh, we have many other suits with these buttons!"

Uh - buttons?? WTF? Why, when we point to the only tux that's long, would she think we were talking about the goddamn buttons??? Her brain is just NOT wired right. I was completly irate after 5 minutes of this incomprehensible incompetence, and we finally left. What an idiotic moron. I do believe that DuBois must practice nepotism to the hilt, because there's no way in hell that girl knew a thing about men's suits. Argh!!

D took me to have wings and (copious) amounts of beer after that to calm me down. Grrrrr.


Anyways, we've found a place that has them and is national and where we can rent in RI and return in WI, to accomodate both the RI wedding and WI reception, and the fitting of the 2 groomsmen from WI and my brother in RI.


And, I bought my dress! Wheeee! It's the second dress in my previous post about dresses. White with dramatic red accents. It's so damn pretty! I'm so excited about it.

Also, we went to pick out wedding bands last week. D's mom had a white gold wedding band that she didn't wear anymore and wanted us to go to a custom place (where she had it made, coincidentally) and have it melted down to use in my band. Sweet gesture, so we figured why not. Then I found my great aunt's engagement ring that she left to me when she died many years ago. It was white gold, with a 7-point diamond (.07 carats). Since our bands will be white gold, and D wants a few 7-point diamonds in his, they'll melt down the white gold from my great aunt's ring with his mother's gold, so my band (sans any diamonds) will be a mix of the two families/history. Then, one of the diamonds in D's band will be my great aunt's diamond, completing the mélange. Two perfectly custom bands that have more sentimental value than you could ever believe, all for less than we budgeted for. Woohoo, go us!


We've also been looking at houses on the near west/west side for about 3 weeks now. We put in an offer on one a week or so ago, but were competing and lost when she wanted to go above her listing price (screw that, I was not pleased with her playing one against the other and her excuses about why she suddenly needed more for the house). We've seen over a dozen houses so far. Perhaps a move and housewarming party will be in the future!

Farmer's Market, why hast thou left?

You know, it may be all the snow we've been getting recently, or perhaps it's the abolutely frigid temperatures, or maybe it's because I had to miss the last two months of it last year, but I am SO missing the fresh produce from the local Farmer's Market. D and I would get up early EVERY Wednesday morning (didn't miss one! Even when I was stuck at home, D would go and call me on his bluetooth headset, and walk around and tell me all the things that were there and what we could buy. That's love :)) and go to the Hilldale parking lot and pick up fresh, local food (mostly produce, but things like coffee and cheese too). We would get home with bags of yummy stuff, and when I got home from work that night we would wash and chop and cook and bag and put everything where it should be, and for the rest of the week, until the next Wednesday, we had fresh fruit and veggies to eat.
I would make fresh, whole-milk mozzerella, and we'd have a fantastic caprese salad with home-grown tomatoes and basil from the plants that were on our deck.
Now, I bought a tomato from the store the other day, because I had a craving - and OMG, ick. It was mealy and yucky.
The stringbeans that we bought the other day were large and tough.
The spinach was sub-par.
We are thinking of joining a CSA this summer, but half of what I liked about the Farmer's Market was the experience of strolling around there in the morning air and having fun with D for half an hour, as sort of a mid-week break. I cannot wait until it starts up again!!

Hey Mom, look what I made! Part II

I spent the Thursday evenings in January attending a stained glass class, where we got to pick out a design (or bring your own, but I'm not up to that level yet :P), buy the glass, and then make your own piece, pretty much by yourself. The fiancé and I are going to look at some houses next week, and my long-term goal is to replace the kitchen cabinet faces with stained glass pieces. Making a window would be pretty cool too. But I think that, for now, I'll concentrate more on simpler pieces that won't get as much exposure, like lampshades or jewelry boxes.

Which, as you'll see from the below pictures, is probably a good idea. This piece is better than the first one (largely because I got to pick out the colors), but I still have a long way to go before I start making pieces that are the focal point of a room I spend a lot of time in :)