Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Pictures!

Us by the trees we will be married in front of in the summer:


Very romantic. I love those trees.

Also note he's wearing the scarf I knit him :)

Speaking of knitting,

It's a sock!

On four tiny needles!


A sock ready for travel:


Kitten graciously helped model the sock:


And also tried to eat the yarn, but that's understandable.


It's very pretty yarn. Here it is before I wound it, hanging with some friends:

Monday, December 14, 2009

Sock sock sock

Sockity sockerson sockityness!

I started a sock! I have almost 2 inches of sock! It has ribbing at the top, and then is smooth, and it's knit using 5 needles, which is blowing my mind.

It's possible I'm a bit overexcited about this sock. Maybe.

I've been reading the Yarn Harlot blog and books,and she writes a lot about knitting socks, and they just seem so awesome, and I love socks, always have, especially bright pretty colorful ones, so I got sock yarn and tiny tiny sock needles, and as soon as I learned how to purl more or less successfully I started one!

It is full of tiny tiny stitches on tiny tiny needles, and I'm knitting in the round, as they say, so now that I'm doing the flat part I just do knit stitches all the way around, and it makes stockinette all by itself!

I had to start it a few times, the first time I started it I was unable to count to 2 successfully, so my knit 2 purl 2 ribbing got all messed up, but as it turns out I had messed up the cast on anyway, so I ripped it back and started over.

AND! I dropped stitches twice, but I fixed them! I feel like a real knitter and all, it's awesome. I used a video on Knitting Help and picked up my dropped stitches, and one of them you can't tell at all! The other got a little fuzzy because I had messed up the row before a bit, but I think the yarn is going the right way, just sticking out a bit.

I had no idea what my gauge would turn out to be, so I pretty much just started it and figured it would fit someone. It looks like it will be too small for me, but will probably fit one of my sisters. If they're lucky it may even get a friend someday and be a pair!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Home again

So we're home again. I'll get some pics from my camera tonight so I can post them.

We flew on a plane and hung out in airports full of strange people, so of course we both caught a cold. Luckily we weren't sick up there, but we both woke up with stuffy noses and sore throats today. We might also just be allergic to Houston, it has some of the worst air quality I've ever seen.

And it's cold and rainy out, and I couldn't spend the day snuggled up in bed with the cat the way I'd prefer. Of course I'd always prefer snuggling with her to going to work, but you know. It doesn't pay as well.

There were people smoking inside at the party at my ex-best friend's house, and so our coats and the scarf I just made got all smelly, ick. The scarf is washable, luckily, and I ended up leaving my coat on my parents' porch to air out, figuring I wouldn't need it too much here, but of course now it's freezing here. Literally! The low on Friday will be 31 F! I can't take this kind of thing. I hate hate hate the cold, it makes me achy and sad and tired and grumpy. I need to live on the equator, or possibly the surface of the sun.

Our vacation was awesome though! We both really needed one. Thanksgiving was sooo good, my Aunt cooked and my Mom brought a bunch of sides, and they are both awesome cooks. Then we went to my cousin's ginormous house and B. beat him at pool, and only then told him he'd been up for 36 hours and hadn't played pool in about a year, which amused me :)

Saturday we went up to Lambertville and visited the park we'll get married in and the Inn the reception will be in, and went to the Church of the Missing Pastor to see if he was still alive. There was a lady there who claimed he'd "just stepped out," but had us leave him a note on what she said was his desk. Oddly she insisted we put it in a sealed envelope, which only makes sense if this "Pastor" is actually a spy and regularly receives secret communication from other spies posing as couples who want to be married. Even now he's probably busy decoding our message to try to find out where the documents are hidden. He's certainly not busy doing anything like, you know, calling us back.

Friday, November 6, 2009

7 months and 20 days!

Til we get married! Tonight after work I'm going to pick up the dress I'm going to be wearing! It's in, it's bustled, it fits perfectly, I love it, and I cannot wait until he sees it. That won't be for the aforementioned 7 months and 20 days (and probably about 8 hours from now) when I am walking down the aisle, trying desperately not to trip and fall or forget how to walk, as I am capable of doing. I haven't had any more dreams about having to get married in jeans or a bathrobe since I ordered it, yay! Now I just have to figure out where to keep it for 7 months, and how and when to get it to New Jersey.

Most of the big wedding planning is done, the only big-ish thing left is the minor detail of someone to actually perform the ceremony. We had what seemed like a very nice pastor who was all set to do the ceremony, at least until he was kidnapped by dragons and held for ransom on the sun. Or whatever happened to him, I have no idea, because he hasn't returned emails or phone calls for 5 months. I sent my sister out to see if she could find him at his church, but no dice there either. So I need to see if his parents are ok with a non-denom person doing the ceremony. All else fails, I know one of my friends would get internet-certified for me, or since we're technically getting married in PA we can get a Quaker license and just need 2 witnesses for it.So we will be married, even if that pastor has accidentally traveled back in time and prevented his own birth!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Now I know perl and purl!

My knitting instructor had to go Russia this week, so I am attempting to teach myself the second knitting stitch, the purl stitch. I got yarn in a color called Rose Camo, and it looks like a rose garden all mixed up. It is also the softest yarn they had, I love it!


I started with 26 stitches, and somehow ended up with a hole (bottom, to the right of center) and 27, but it's good practice!

Ben's scarf is coming along nicely! His is made using just knit stitch, but I like the wavy pattern it gets.


His is very soft and fuzzy too. I spent most of my time this weekend trying to figure out how to purl, so haven't gotten much further on his, but I'll do more of it this week.

The Kitten, keeping with her reputation as a strange cat, pretty much ignores the yarn but is fascinated with the knitting needles.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Wedding Updates!

My dress is in! I had too many dreams where I was walking down the aisle wearing a bathrobe, or jeans, or my high school prom dress because I never picked out a wedding dress, so I ordered it possibly a bit early. But it's getting the bustle put in and I will get to take it home soon! Now I just have to figure out where to keep it in my apartment, and how and when to get it to Jersey.

My shoes are also in! They are incredibly awesome and I have to restrain myself from not wearing them all the time, I love them so much. I wore them when I tried on my dress and it is the perfect length with them on!

My brideswomen have picked out their dresses! I wanted them to be comfortable and feel attractive in their dresses, so I gave them a color and asked them to pick out whatever dress they liked. They ended up all liking the same dress, and it looks awesome on all of them!

We also (finally finally finally) have a wedding ceremony location! We will be married at the General Greene Pavilion in Washington Crossing Park, next to beautiful old trees and a green grassy field. Unless it rains, in which case we will be married in the Riverside Ballroom in the Inn at Lambertville Station, next to the rain falling on the Delaware. Unless something terrible happens to the Inn, in which case we will be married at the courthouse. Always have two backups, my father always says!

Because even if it rains and the food is terrible and the music sucks and my centerpieces are uninspiring and the cake falls off the table and people have to wait in line to use the bathroom, as long as we end up married at the end of the night, I will be happy. That is the goal, I have it written across the top of my wedding spreadsheets so I won't forget it.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The frost is on the pumpkins...

...if by "frost" you mean 91 degree heat and "pumpkins" you mean the complete LACK of any sort of pumpkins whatsoever. Or apples, or anything else generally evocative of Fall in any way.

I went to North Carolina last weekend, and it was a wonderful trip. We drank apple cider and incredible peach cider and got lost in a huge corn maze and got pumpkins, it was a very nice way to enter October, which generally means Fall in most places.

Not Texas, though. It's definitely not Fall here. No pumpkins, no leaves turning, not even any apple cider in the grocery stores. The 91 degree heat and the humidity which makes it feel like 101 degrees (seriously) mean it might as well be July here, and you'd never know it wasn't by looking around.

I miss Fall. I miss apple cider and cool, crisp days with the vivid blue skies you only see in October in the north, and leaves falling and crunching under your feet as you walk along in your jacket, hands in your pockets and nose getting cold as you breathe the cool air. I miss the inexplicable smell of leaves burning even though no one burns them anymore. I miss the spooky feeling of being outside at night in October, an electric feeling no other nights have. I miss the nights cool enough to need an electric blanket, and the cats attracted like magnets to the warmth. I miss needing flannel sheets on the bed and extra afghans which hold me safe as I sleep.

Stepping outside into the wet-sock weather of a humid Houston is just no replacement.

Monday, July 27, 2009

We have a wedding posse!

We finally got to officially ask everyone we wanted to stand up with us at our wedding, and they all said yes!

My brideswomen (I don't like the "maids" in bridesmaids, all of mine are grown women and that sounds so undignified to me) are my sisters and B's sister. When we thought about our wedding party, my sisters sprang to mind immediately, they are my best friends. I'm very excited to be getting a new sister out of the deal, also, and I can't wait for them to all meet!

B's groomsmen are his best friend from high school, a very great guy, his best friend from college whom I'm excited to finally meet after hearing so much about, and my sister's husband! B said that he was so welcoming and accepting of him as a new member of our apparently somewhat intimidating-to-new-people family he would love for him to stand up with him when he becomes an official member. He's so sweet! That must be why I'm marrying him :)

Our ringbearer will be my nephew and our flower girl my niece. They will be both be so adorable no one will be able to stand it! And my mom is going to hand-make the flower girl dress! Isn't that awesome?

Altogether they are our wedding posse, and they rock!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Cute email story

From a weddingbee.com post:

This story is TOO cute not to share with every woman I "know"...

Recently, in a large French city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said: "THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE?"

A middle aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern: Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins, stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Barren Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia.

Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human?

They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex? Therefore they do not have kids either.
Not to mention who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store? The choice is perfectly clear to me; I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy a treat with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a have an ice tea with my friends. With time we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, "Good gosh, look how smart I am."

Monday, July 20, 2009

Wedding planning

Is all I can think about! Apparently most people start planning their wedding when they're about 3, but I never planned to get married, so I'm making up for all that time now. I'm trying to spread out my excited wedding talk over several people, so no one gets so bored with it they break a window jumping out to escape it, but it's difficult.

The planning is going well, though! I have the reception site booked, the photographer booked, the pastor booked, the save-the-dates ordered, an appointment with my dressmaker, and my shoes bought! I'm deciding between a few outdoor sites for the actual wedding ceremony if the weather is nice, if it's not we'll have it in the reception hall.

We still need a DJ, to pick a place for the ceremony, and flowers! I'm basically planning a huge party, and it will be so much fun!

Well, hopefully. I want everyone to have fun, but either way, as long as we end up married at the end of it, it will be perfect!

Monday, June 15, 2009

He's back!

My future husband is back on the continent! Yay! 3 weeks is a long time to be apart, especially if you were only engaged 2 weeks beforehand. But he's back now!

He got in on Saturday right on time at 4 pm. His parents were on the same flight, and since they had to pretty much exit the airport to get through customs and had a 4 hour layover, I picked them all up and we went out to a lengthy dinner. It was very nice to see them and they had a very nice trip, it sounded like. They told me all about where they went and how London was, which was very cool.

His sister had taken another flight home, through Chicago, but unfortunately the airline lost some of her luggage! Hopefully she'll get it back quickly. That's very annoying, especially if she had souvenirs from her semester in France packed in there.

After dinner we said goodbye to his parents and went home. I managed to keep him awake until about 10 pm, to try to get him readjusted to Central Time. It's so nice to see him again, we texted each other while he was in England but weren't able to talk on the phone, and I missed his voice and smell and hugs so much. I'm so glad he had a nice vacation and enjoyed spending time with his family, but I'm glad he missed me too.

He said he even missed the Kitten, though I'm not entirely sure she missed him. She ran under the bed when she first saw him, but was quickly convinced that he had all kinds of new things for her to sniff every inch of.

And he brought me back toffee! Toffee from everywhere he went! It's awesome! I had no idea there was so much variety in toffee, and it's all delicious. One of the toffees is in a gorgeous blue square tin, and another is in a red phone booth tin that converts to a coin bank when emptied!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Busy weekend

I spent the weekend in New Jersey so that I could see my family and friends close to my birthday, show everyone my beautiful ring, and visit some wedding locations.

I got in late Friday night and celebrated at Wawa, one of the North-east things I miss in the South. Saturday my wonderful sister drove me all over South Jersey, so I bought her lunch and a pretty shirt. We saw two really nice wedding places, and I took lots of pictures to show my future husband. Saturday night my dad brought home cheesesteaks and we watched some shows he'd recorded and wanted to show me. It was very nice to be able to hang out with him and my mom when she got home from a cousin's wedding.

My parents' cat Frenzy, who had been passed through both of my sisters before adopting my parents, had lost a lot of weight over the last few months and was getting very rickety. She was never particularly social, though she always liked to keep an eye on what we were doing, but lately she'd become extremely clingy. She climbed into my lap for what was probably the first time ever Friday night, and spent most of Saturday night curled up with either me or my dad. By Sunday morning her back legs weren't working and she was crying out. None of us could stand to see her suffer, so my parents brought her to an emergency care vet to ease her way out.

She was sweet to Steph and the Kitten and a brat to just about everyone else for most of her life, and I never thought I would cry as much as I did for her. She was about 15, elderly for a cat, and she had a good life being spoiled by us. There's not much else you could ask for, I guess. I'm glad I got to say goodbye, and I'll miss the fuzzy thing.

So after all that, we comforted the dog who was very confused and wanted to lick everyone to make them feel better. I drove the tractor around the yard and moved compost, which was awesome and very good for taking my mind of things. Then after a late lunch with Steph, it was time for my birthday party.

It was a very nice party, I got to see most of my family and a lot of my friends. Everyone admired the new patio and deck my dad's been working on and the delicious kielbasa and meatballs my mom made, and had yummy cake. This would be about the time for my 10-year High School reunion, so I had my own instead, with people I was actually interested in keeping touch with. Steph made me an awesome ceramic wedding picture frame which I showed off to everyone, too! It was so nice to see everyone and catch up, and everyone seemed very excited about the wedding! There was much love, and it was awesome.

The weekend went by too quickly, as they always do when I'm home. Very early Monday morning I got up and saw my mom off to work before Rapid Rover picked me up to send me back to my real life.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Engagement story, the long version

Ben and I celebrate the day we went on our first date every month, on the 12th. Usually we dress up and go out to dinner somewhere special, but sometimes we stay home and make dinner there. It's not too important what we do, we just do something together and don't let any distractions in. This month he asked if I'd like to go to Galveston and have a bonfire on the beach, which we haven't done since Hurricane Ike.

This sounded like an awesome idea to me! We packed up his mini grill, my set of lawnchairs my sister gave to me for my birthday last year, some food, some drinks and some sunscreen and drove down.

After searching several beaches, we found one that was clear and deserted and had convenient bushes nearby to make up for the lack of restrooms. We unpacked the lawnchairs and started the grill and poured the drinks.


The grill went out, blown out by the wind. We started it again, and it went out again. And again. And again. But after repositioning the car to block the wind and using nearly an entire bottle of lighter fluid, we had hot coals! The night before, I'd wrapped chopped chicken, red and green peppers, onions, mushrooms and lots of italian salad dressing up in foil packets. Somewhat nervous that the coals wouldn't stay hot and we'd have to eat at Taco Bell, we threw them on the grill and ate deviled eggs while we waited. And waited.

Roughly a million years later and after dark had fallen, we opened a packet and I cut into the chicken. It was cooked! It worked! Ben laughed at how wide my eyes got when I realized it had worked, I had really thought we'd have to end our day at a fast-food joint.

As we ate chicken and then delicious s'mores, the stars came out, much brighter than you can see in Houston. It was getting late and we still had a long drive home, so we packed up the car and got ready. Unwilling to leave, though, we held each other close and admired the beautiful view.

All of a sudden he went down on one knee and said,
You're everything I want.
You're everything I need.
(My full name),
Will you marry me?

By the time he got the last words out we were both shaking and crying and laughing at the same time, and I was hugging him so tightly I could barely say yes!


But I got the words out! Eventually we calmed down enough that he could actually put the ring on my finger. We stood there a while longer, admiring the ring and telling each other how much we loved each other, and looking at the stars.

The stars which are thousands of light years away, so the light we saw had been traveling through empty space for thousands of years just to fall down to Earth on that night, the night we were engaged to be married. I thought that was very awesome.

Eeeee!

21 months ago tonight Ben and I went on our first date. Tonight we went on another, to Galveston Beach. We sat in lawnchairs and drank screwdrivers and grilled dinner and s'mores for dessert. We stayed until the stars came out, then cleaned up and prepared to leave. As we stood looking at the stars, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I said yes!



Monday, May 11, 2009

May!

It's May already! And it actually has been for a while! Here's a May list of what I haven't been writing about.

1. My mom came to visit me! In, you know, April, but whatever. It was so much fun! B.'s mom and aunt were coming down to see him, and his mom asked if my mom could come down too, so they could meet. I asked my mom and she said of course she could come! Apparently this is where me and Stephie get it from. I took her around to some quilting shops and a tea shop for lunch before B's fam got here, it was very nice. B was worried about what to do to entertain them, but I told him, they will want to sit and eat and talk, they'll be fine. And they did! B.'s aunt said she felt like she'd known my mom for years after talking to her for a few hours. My mom is so nice, everyone loves her. It was an awesome visit, and too short of course.

2. I'm done my finals! My other class goes until Wednesday, but I don't have a final for it, so it will be easy. Then I'm off for about a month! Yay! My summer class will run June 9th to July 11th, and I'll be in class Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights, ick. But it should go fast, it's only 5 weeks. I have 1.0 more years of school!

3. Steph and I visited Heather in North Carolina this weekend! It was an awesome trip, we had so much fun. The kids are so cute and so much fun to play with, I can't get enough of them. Heather and Ed's new house is gorgeous, huge, and looks so nice with all the painting they've done. NC was so pretty, everything is green and lush from the rain. It was about 5 degrees cooler than here. It was funny, Heather said she couldn't believe how humid it was, she couldn't stand it, and I didn't even notice it! It was almost dry compared to Houston! We played with the kids and toured their mountain and went to a National Forest and a winery and shopped for pottery. I spent most of Saturday afternoon snoozing on the deck in an anti-gravity chair while the kids splashed in the wading pool and Ed grilled out. Sunshine filtered through leaves above me, a nice breeze, a cool drink, family next to me and happy kids running around, it was perfect.

4. Well, it would have been perfect if B. was there. We missed each other, it's very rare that we don't see each other for at least a few minutes every day. I don't know what I'm going to do for the million years he's going to be in England. My apartment might get very clean.

5. Tomorrow is our 21 monthiversary! We celebrate each month together. He had the brilliant idea of having a bonfire on the beach, which we haven't done in ages. I'm going to bring the telescope and beach chairs, and we'll cook out down there. I'm thinking about wrapping up cut-up chicken with peppers, onions, mushrooms and italian dressing in foil and throwing it on the mini grill he got for Christmas, it sounds good and won't be too messy. I can't wait! I haven't been to the beach in forever.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Happy Easter!

We had a very nice Easter! I got out of going to 6 am church services, which B. was interested in going to up until I asked him if I should set my alarm for 5 am or not, so that was good.

I made a ham! A 7 lb ham, for the two of us! (It was the smallest I could find at the store.) I cut diagonal lines in it and stuck whole cloves all over it and cooked it with pineapple rings and cherries! It came out really good, and B. carved it very nicely. I made pineapple stuffing, which came out awesome as always, and bleu cheese rolls, which came out extremely, possibly life-threateningly, bleu-cheesy.

As I was cooking the ham, B. asked if I could make deviled eggs, which we both love. I started before I realized I didn't have any of the ingredients for them, so I tried to improvise. I didn't have any mayo, so I tried cream cheese, and the only mustard I had was stone-ground dijon. I had undercooked the eggs a bit, so I tried nuking them for a few seconds to cook them more. It kind of worked, but made the mix very lumpy. The only other creamy thing I had around was ranch dressing, which I mean B. loves, so I tried that. The mix tasted kind of,.. odd. I figured I might as well finish them, and I actually had paprika to sprinkle on them! They were still really warm and dinner was almost ready, so I threw them in the freezer for a few minutes to chill them down.

I kind of forgot about them until we were sitting down to eat, so B. got them and we tried them. They were frozen and crunchy on the outside and still warm and lumpy on the inside, and the filling didn't taste any better. "Bleh, bleh," was my reaction, and B.'s was only slightly more polite. Then the cat jumped up on the table in pursuit of ham and landed in them, which probably improved their flavor, but it gave us an excuse to chuck them.

Other than the disastrous eggs, it was a very nice day! I celebrated cooking dinner by taking a nap afterwards.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Weather

Spring sprang a few weeks ago, it's been quite nice. Wildflowers are everywhere, blowsy little 4-petaled pink ones and white clover and of course Bluebonnets covering the mowed areas next to all the roads. The azaleas by the ponds here bloomed last week, huge bushes full of bright pink flowers. Last weekend the weather was perfect, sunny and 70 with a nice breeze. I spent most of Sunday afternoon sitting on the couch with the porch door open, letting the breeze ruffle my gauzy curtains, with the Kitten and a smoothie and a book. Perfect.

The smoothie was good too, vanilla frozen yogurt, frozen red raspberries, milk and just a bit of almond extract all blended together. I made a version with half a block of bittersweet chocolate chopped fine tossed in there too, which was also yummy.

I'd thought about going down to the pool here, but Boyfriend was busy, and pools are no fun by yourself. So the Kitten and I enjoyed the weather.

I planted seeds in the planters on my porch, thyme and forget-me-nots and catnip for the Kitten's garden. She likes to sit outside and stare intently at it, it's her hobby.

But unfortunately we only get weather this nice for a short time. The azaleas have already fallen. It rained most of this week, which washed the air clean and kept the temperature under 80, but it won't be much longer til I have to run the AC 24/7 like my neighbors. There is no break between having the heat on in the winter and the AC on in the summer here, you have to switch from one to other immediately.

Summer was always my favorite season growing up, but I think Spring has edged it out, in Texas at least. I really enjoy our 2 weeks of it.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

I have the best boyfriend ever.

I tried to go to bed last night around 11:30, but couldn't sleep right away, as I not designed for this diurnal life I lead. I ended up reading until about 1 am, then decided I really should go to sleep, as I had a 8:30 am meeting this morning.

As is my habit, when I decided I was really truly going to bed now, I went to formally invite the Kitten to join me. She likes an engraved invitation, but will settle for me chasing her around the living room for a while. When I went out, I saw her sitting in the corner by the front door, looking intently at the wall. I asked her if she thought she was in time-out, and went and scooped her up. When I stood up, my eyes followed hers to what she had actually been staring at, and saw the

HUGE COCKROACH

lurking right above my door, obviously planning an ambush!

I gasped in shock, seriously, and it is always a strange feeling when my lungs do things on their own initiative. I considered my options, but I don't keep Raid around because it wouldn't be good for the Kitten, and I hate killing bugs big enough that you can feel them crunch, *gag* and I usually miss anyway and then they run around my apartment and have time to put their hideous plans in action. And they all have hideous plans, I can tell, this one was just sitting on my wall getting all its little details straightened out and waiting until I went to bed to put it in motion.

So I called Boyfriend. At 1 am. To come kill a bug for me. And he came! He came right over and disposed of it, then washed his hands to humor me because he was near the bug, even though he didn't actually touch it. Then he hugged me for about 5 minutes and went back home.

I knew he would be awake, he's sleep-shifting because he has to work 6 pm - 3 am next week, but still. It was awesome. He didn't even make fun of me for it!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Oh yeah, I have a blog-thingy

I had almost forgotten.

Highlights of the last month or so:
  • We went to Austin for our 1.5 year anniversary! It was really nice, we ate at a very cute restaurant downtown on Friday night. Saturday we went to the flagship Whole Foods, which is so big it has a parking garage, got lunch stuff and had a picnic in Zilker Park on the banks of the Colorado River. It was a bit chilly, so we sat very close and he kept my feet warm. It was a beautiful day, lots of people walking dogs, and all the dogs were extremely interested in the idea of food in their park. I took a very bad picture of us on my cell phone.


  • My dad came down to see me! He took a 30 hour bus ride after visiting my sister in NC to get here. It was a very nice visit. I took him to see some things we'd missed the last time he was here, and he entertained the Kitten while I was at work. He brought me rocks from NC! It was awesome, 3 of them are covered in rusty-red dirt, and 3 are nice quartz ones. Not only did he know I would love them, he literally rode a bus for 30 hours with a suitcase full of rocks for me! Best dad ever, seriously.
  • We met our friends' new baby girl! She is very tiny and cute. My mom had made her some very soft and fuzzy receiving blankets, and I had made some casseroles for the new parents, so we brought them and dinner over. Before she was born, someone lied through their teeth to the new father and told him that newborns sleep for 18-20 hours a day! I was very amused. She enjoyed watching us play Rock Band, though, so it was a fun night.
  • I've used my crockpot more the last two weeks than the past 6 months! I made chili verde last week, for which I tossed a chopped onion, chopped lean pork, a can of white beans, and 2 cans of green (tomatillo) salsa into the crockpot and cooked it all day. It was very good, we ate it in burritos with cheese and sour cream. I'm making kielbasa and saurkraut as we speak, because I had a craving for it the other day. Tonight I'm going to make irish soda bread and irish potatoes, and tomorrow make corned beef and cabbage!
It's very odd, you'd never know tomorrow was St. Patrick's Day down here. Apparently irish potates are a Philly thing, Boyfriend had never even heard of them. He's not a big coconut fan though, so I'll probably send all the ones I don't eat into work with him along with the other half of the soda bread, because my recipe makes such a big loaf. But mmm, irish soda bread for breakfast tomorrow!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Celebrate!

Yesterday was Boyfriend and my's 1.5 year anniversary! We celebrate each of our monthiversaries, usually by going out to a nice place for dinner, but this one felt even more special than usual. It's a nice time to take a night off from everything we are usually busy with and focus on each other. I made braised beef short ribs, because the last time I made them he told me he wanted them all the time when he was old, not just because they're so tender you don't need to chew them but because they're so delicious.

Today is my mom's birthday! She is one of the most generous people I've ever known, I think sometimes she's given a quilt or afgan to everyone she's ever met. I have at least 5 in my house, and they are always warmer because I know she made them. My older sister planned a surprise party for her a few years ago, and I will never forget the look on her face when she walked in carrying her frozen lasagna and saw us all there. My Dad did a fantastic job keeping her out of the house while we set things up, though I'm still amazed she bought it when he said he needed shoes!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! Though I may just enjoy it because I like eating chocolate hearts. Boyfriend is a romantic at heart, so that makes it fun also :)

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Christmas photologue - New Jersey

Little kids are so much fun to get presents for!


He had so much fun!


She helped everyone unwrap their present, so thoughtful.


Sister and Boyfriend's surprise faces!


So cute!


We were all reindeer, but the dog was a bit confused by all of it.


Heather's birthday! The boys helped her blow out her candles.


Milly was upset we were taking her blanket from her.

Christmas photologue - Nebraska

We baked 18 dozen cookies!


It snowed and was very cold (like 6 degrees!) This is the view from Boyfriend's parents' balcony.


His parents had a very pretty tree.


For some reason, they like to open presents at 6 am. I'm not sure why.

This is Boyfriend's surprise face!


This is my trying-to-be-surprised-and-not-fall-asleep face!

Why the Kitten and I get along so well

Boyfriend says the reason the Kitten and I get along so well is that we have the same goals in life.

  1. Find a warm spot to snuggle.
  2. Look cute.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

My cat likes watching TV about cats

So this evening I took a nap with the Kitten and Ben played on the computer and watched TV. He recorded a show called Cats: In the Womb because he thought I would like it. I thought I would too, so we decided to watch it. The Kitten was fascinated by it.


I don't watch a whole lot of TV, but it's definitely been on before, and I've never seen her react like this to it. She watched the whole show with us!


She especially liked hearing the narrator say her name and talk about house cats. She wasn't as interested in the lions and would stop watching at each commercial.


She also liked hearing the mother cat purring and meeping. (It's a lot easier to see her perking up when the mother cat purrs on the original video; unfortunately, it lost some quality when I uploaded it.)




My cat is the funniest thing I have ever seen. Endless hours of amusement.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Where I want to live

Criteria:
  1. Palm trees and sunny beaches
  2. Close enough to visit my family regularly
  3. Has all 4 seasons, winter in moderation
  4. Good hiking and camping and walking
  5. Has houses that are not in developments
  6. Good local government - schools, libraries, police, roads, recycling*!
  7. The grocery stores carry gnocchi and prosciutto and avocados and nutella and stromboli
  8. Lots of good restaurants, Italian and sushi and Indian and Thai and Chinese and pizza
  9. Close enough to a city so that I can go to museums and theater when I want
  10. Nice spas
  11. Has people who don't call me "y'all" or "sweetheart" when they don't know me. Or "ma'am."
  12. Cost of living is not too high
*Apparently Houstonians don't recycle because they are so "independent." Yeah, that's bright, wasting resources which are becoming scarcer is very independent, good job guys.

Oh yeah, and someplace I can get paid to live. That's the hard part, unfortunately. I love working in the space program, and I think it is the most important thing we as a culture should do for our future, but I am really getting tired of Houston. I don't want to buy a house here. I don't want to live here.

I've kind of kicked around the idea of getting a Ph.D and working for a university, doing research and teaching, and I think it could be cool. I'd have a lot more options on where to live that way. I'd probably focus on Astrophysics, cause that's what interests me most.

I just don't know if I would be as happy doing something that I liked in a place that I liked, if I'm not working on something I feel is as important to the entire human race as exploring and colonizing space. The space program gives us a direction as a society, something to work towards, something amazing that no one has ever even come close to doing in the thousands of years we've existed as a species. I feel that the work I do now, small a part of the program as it is, will someday enable people to live wherever they want, give people options about what planet to live on if we continue to trash this one and make it uninhabitable.

I kind of think of it like building Magellan's boat, I may never get to travel as far the craft I work on but someday people will cross the distance without thinking twice about it, and their lives will be better and richer and they will be more free than I can imagine now.

Maybe I can do research that is needed for space exploration, and help indirectly with it.