My favorite boy

You'll have to forgive me...I'm feeling a wee bit sentimental for my boy today. Last night was spent talking to one of J's friend/groomsmen Grant and his girlfriend about how they want to get a dog together. Earlier they'd come to pick J up at our house while I was still at work so they had just seen Leo and Mary. I shared my emotional tale about how Leo (originally named Nate Dogg) came to live with me. And now I just want to give that dingo a hug. In fact, he's curled up next to me in his signature pose, so I think I'll go hug him now.

PS if you didn't already know it, I'm an advocate for adoption. You can't breed this kind of perfection.

Think, "Warm."

It all came out this weekend.

I didn't know we were keeping it a secret from our parents, but apparently so. During a phone conversation with my dad on Saturday, I mentioned my pact with J. "What pact is that?" Oh just how we haven't turned on our heat yet this year, and how we're holding out for January. "WHAT!?!" asked my dad. The next question was why.

It started in October, when we'd have one week of coldish fall weather, and then a week of 70s. And then in November, where yes, the temps dropped lower yet, but there was always a week of sunshine around the bend. So we layered up, under blankets, stole body heat from dogs. As I write this, it is currently 33 outside and 57 inside. Not the worst we've had.

So after my dad somewhat laughed at us/commended us for our frugality, (my answer to "WHY!?!" was, "It's a matter of principle for us.") I had to get ready for J's mom's choir concert with the symphony orchestra. It was a lovely Christmas concert, made even more special because as I ran downstairs to meet my date (J's dad) it was snowing -- hard! Well, for southeast Virginia at least. Of course by the time the concert ended -- with a carol sing-a-long! -- the snow had only covered about 1/3 inch on cars and that was all. Boo. But it did bring me to mention how chilly it would be at home.

"Why?" J's mom asked. I asked her, hadn't J told her about our wintry weather pact? After she too ridiculed us and laughed, she offered up something that we've been meaning to buy, but have not (which should tell you just how not miserable we have been) -- a space heater. Glorious plentiful instant heat coming out of a tiny box! We picked it up last night after helping them decorate their Christmas tree. I think I've mentioned that his family shares our same tradition of John Denver & the Muppets around Christmas, so there was no better way to warm our hearts with Kermit and Miss Piggy singing songs from my childhood. And then of course to go home and warm our hands and feet by the fire hazard.*

*If I haven't stressed this enough, J is just as paranoid as I am. The space heater is called "Family Safety Space Heater." It has a timer on it. But no, we will use it and then turn it off manually. Golly, I love that man. :)

A glass of Chablis

One day last week, my dear fiance called me and said "9:00 on Wednesday, it's a date."

In our 2 years + together, I can't recall such a phone call. We're planners, this is true, but the excitement in his voice...if we weren't already engaged I would've suspected something.

Given that this phone call occurred the same day as my previous post, I was able to talk J into telling me what his surprise was. (Side note, oh have I not told you that we can't keep secrets? We are physically incapable. It's actually more fun this way. When we'll get the other to crack is more of a surprise anyway). Picture this if you can -- and my only friend who can just gave birth to precious baby Madeleine Jayne yesterday evening -- I'm standing in front of my office, stressed to the max. I was probably standing there, eyes closed, pinching the bridge of my nose like a cartoon of a stressed out person. J tells me that he's just purchased tickets to see The Lady Chablis perform at The Garage. Translation: (and this is a technical translation) a pre-op drag queen--who lives full time as a woman--performing a show at a local gay bar. J's excitement was infectious and after I stopped giggling, I got so stinking excited.

You might have also fallen in love with Chablis, as I did, watching Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. If you have not seen it, holy moly, what are you waiting for? Go rent it right now. I'm so excited. Thank you, J, for knowing exactly what I needed right now.

Car Woes: Part Three Million: A Family Affair

Firstly, you'll noticed I changed the title to exclude "PT." Because I traded that heaping pile in on Monday. It had a tire pressure alert light come on, and given my highway commute I was terrified of the thought of a tire blowing and possibly dying in a PT Cruiser. I now drive the smallest vehicle I've ever seen.

So now. Friends, you're tired of hearing about it. And believe me when I tell you I'm tired of living it. After twenty minutes on the phone with Enterprise followed by an hour and a half on the phone with my insurance company last night, I was done. Exhausted. Tired of spending countless hours on the phone with random numb skulls (who happens to be a random numb skull I've never spoken to about my claim, hence having to spend 15 minutes bringing them up to speed on "the case") -- every week.

When the wreck-causer told me they were canceling my rental coverage due to an unreasonably long repair time, I called my insurance company to straighten it out...this was Friday. They said, "As soon as we get off the phone here, I'll call the body shop for an update and then Statefarm to tell them they are obligated to pay for your car for the duration of repairs." I felt better. They assured me they'd call should anything go wrong. Friday. Yesterday was Wednesday and I got a call from Enterprise saying that since Statefarm stopped paying for the rental car on Friday, umm, someone's gotta come pay this balance. Of over $100. PS I still don't have the Jetta (I'm going to forego using the word "mine" to describe it -- that implies ownership of some kind).

So after almost 2 hours of nothing-new chatter, I resigned to the fact that I'm out $100. I'm just done, I'd rather be over it than in it. And then. J, amazing fiance, calls and says that no, it's not over because while he was at work last night, he'd made a few calls of his own. One, to his dad...returning in this sordid story as Father-at-Law, starring as himself. New to this episode however, is Uncle Paul, whose specific job escapes me, but I know he's in the insurance field. Father-at-Law and Uncle Paul are on the case. And lots of other interesting factors that will make today sporty.

In summation, for today at least, let me leave you with this thought. You can be driving home from work on a beautiful Friday afternoon, actually having thoughts of how lucky you are to be healthy again, etc. When out of the blue, a nice and polite college girl rams into the back of your car. Your insurance company initiates the claim and pays for the first 30 days of your rental car under your policy. Although it takes a month and a lot of phone calls, her insurance accepts liability for the accident, and transfers payment of your rental. And then when they feel the repairs have extended a reasonable amount of time, instead of calling the body shop to talk, they just cancel your rental coverage, calling to tell you this at noon on a Friday, leaving you, the victim, to pay the overages out of pocket. That's the short of it. That's three months of my tears in one paragraph. So while my friends and family might be tired of hearing about it, I'm tired of living it.

Turkeys

I mentioned how on Thanksgiving that Berkley decided to confess her undying love for me, which I fully support. After getting there about 2 hours earlier, J and I popped a squat on the stairs. Not a minute after, B ran over and climbed up into my lap (which as a gal without a baby knows, that's the fastest way for a kid to claim your heart...)

No heat until January

J and I sometimes like to challenge ourselves. As in, "Hey, let's not turn our heat on until January!" "Sounds perfect!"

I would just like to say that I've been working the last hour and a half on wedding invitations in my office wearing sweatpants, wool socks and slippers, a turtleneck sweater, a hoodie sweatshirt, a wool hat, a blanket across my lap, and a pair of gloves that I had to remove to type this.

My computer says it's 68 outside, which I'm not sure I believe, but it's frickin' freezing in our house. Why? Someone please explain how that's possible.

On giving thanks

If you were wondering if I cried through the "what you're thankful for" portion of Thanksgiving dinner, your answer is yes. For the second year in a row. At J's folks' dinner table.

I truly think it's one of the best traditions there is, one that my family never adopted. Last year I was so nervous as it got closer to my turn. Partly because I get nervous speaking in crowds larger than 3. But also due to J's parents' home renovations and the fact that the cold temps in the house made cooking longer than normal and we didn't sit down to dinner until 9pm...even though wine had been flowing since 11am. So as soon as J's aunt Bryn starts to say what she was thankful for, she started to tear up, and then we locked eyes and shared a small sob. Because we're saps. I ended up botching my somewhat prepared statement about being so thankful to be accepted into such a wonderful loving family, and it ended up coming out like, "I'm thankful for this table!" Seriously. And J went on to profess how he was thankful that we'd started to build a wonderful life together and we don't need anything else since we have each other. But his girlfriend was thankful for the table!

This year I was determined to ace it. I mean, it's been a great year! I'm engaged! My mom was sitting there with me! I replaced my job (sort of)! We have an amazing place to live and don't have to move anytime soon! I've got a (future) niece who is amazing and wonderful and asks for me by name! And wouldn't you know, Aunt Bryn starts sharing her thanks for her family and its new members, and she named the babies that were born this year. And then she says my name. And I looked over at her and we both started crying. Again. Flash forward through the next 15 family members (including Grandaddy who was thankful for all of God's creatures, big and small...so sweet!) and then it was my turn. I know I managed to say I was thankful my mom was able to come out and visit and I was even more thankful for the reason she was visiting -- "Wedding dress shopping!" Yes, that's what came out of my mouth. What I intended on saying was how thankful I am to be planning a marriage to my best friend, the most amazing person I've ever known. Tables and wedding dress shopping, that's what I'm thankful for! Sigh...

Luckily, I'd managed to give my mom about two minutes' prior notice so she aced her profession of thankfulness. And of course so did J, who made me cry even harder. And Miss Berkley, 20-month-old leap day baby extraordinaire, what was she thankful for? "BOATS!" I kid you not. She apparently also prays for them at night. Smart girl.