Last Day of Work

...FOREVER! Or -- for a week.

On the to do:

- Secret sewing project

- sew a tote for my yoga mat

- get my hair done

- begin wedding invitation design

- finish at least one other wedding project

- spend one day doing something outdoorsy with J and the dogs

- Spring cleaning

- have future in-laws over for dinner (menu: TBD)

- SLEEP IN

- take J's grandfather out for a day of fun

- go to the beach

- enjoy one day of complete laziness (date: TBD)

The Pigs Have Flown

Because now I've seen it all! One of the amazing things about living in Norfolk is some of the amazing traditions that this place keeps. One of which is the marching of the animals to the circus.

Our tree-lined streets were all aflutter yesterday afternoon when the newspaper posted a last-minute "article" saying that since the circus was coming, the animals would be marched from the train to the arena downtown at 7PM. Now, another interesting fact about Norfolk is that it is the home to PETA's headquarters. So it always turns into a ...circus?...when the Ringling Brothers come to town. Last year we missed it because they printed a time in the paper and then pulled the synthetic wool over PETA's eyes by showing up much later that night. Yesterday, however, they were true to their word.

Mr. Officer, protecting the streets from stampedes

Bike cops galore! Here they come!

At this point, J had to "back it up" with the dogs, since we had no idea how they'd react. Also, this is the moment that my preggo friend Carey and I started jumping up and down.

So fun! And cute! And if you look carefully, on the right side of the 'phants, PETA people were marching with signs, peaceably, because that is their right. I just had to laugh because J had been begging me to go stand on that side of the road, and if we had, PETA would've totally blocked our view. And they might've stolen Leo, thinking that we'd illegally imported a dingo.

But the elephants had their own signs. And they said, "Greatest Show on Earth." Also, I will have you know, the rest of them (other than the two pictured here) were holding the tails of the friend in front of them. That made my heart sing with glee.

There they go! It truly was one of those moments where five minutes later I was all, "Hmm, can't say that's something I've seen before."

And I guess we know who was on poop patrol!

Two Thumbs Up

Normally J and I switch who picks the next movie on Netflix. But lately, that sneaky bugger has been changing the queue at work. But I have to give him credit where credit is due. He's picked some real winners lately.

1) In Bruges (2008). Never heard of it. Starring Mad-Eye Moody, Colin Farrell, and Fleur Delacour. Also starring Ralph Fiennes AKA Lord Voldemort. Right off the bat, you have to love a movie that is basically a remake of the Harry Potter cast. But, HP, it is not. Super violent, darkly comedic, and seriously intriguing. Highly recommended.

2) Green Street Hooligans (2005). Never heard of it. Starring Elijah Wood and a bunch of cute British boys. Learned about possibly true/possibly fictitious dark underworld of British football (soccer) firms (gangs). Wow. Super violent. But wow, so good.

Good job, J. Two violent foreign films get my thumbs up.

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. :)

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.

No mint on this pillow

Over the past few days I've noticed something a bit strange going on in my office. My home office. My "office" AKA my spare bedroom-sized closet. Every day when I've come home from work, I noticed that the duvet on the guest bed has been quite literally turned down, like it was a bed in a high-end hotel awaiting a pair of newlyweds. Seeing how we haven't had a guest for a month or two, and how we're anything but high-end, it got me wondering what was going on. Perhaps dear sweet J decided to crash there after an all-nighter at work? But I should've known. Last night I passed by her in the hallway as she trotted out of my office in the dark. She gave me her best "Who me? I was simply looking for my misplaced tussy mussy!" waggle, waggle, pet-me-and-forget-all-your-troubles face.

But this morning, oh I was too fast for her. Caught in the act. Behold the culprit. Miss Mary. Such a lady. She doesn't sleep on beds. She sleeps in beds.

Black Cloud

It's been a rough couple of months in our house. I try not to linger on this stuff but I feel like I need to get some of it "out there" in order to get it off my chest.

In order:
-A horrible sinus infection / ear infection
-An awful reaction to my antibiotic
-A trip to the ER
-3 trips to the doctor over a 2-week time span
-A week without J & Mary (they went on vacation)
-A car wreck -- not my fault, but it's no consolation because it's turning into a bigger headache than the one I had for the 4 days after the accident.


So instead of lingering too long on the negative, I'm going to try to accentuate the positive:
-A two-year anniversary, that allowed me to give J the "big secret" surprise I'd been waiting to give him for MONTHS...officially the first surprise I've ever pulled off with him. Painting with Cita the elephant at the zoo. I think this picture will always make me smile. Mostly because you can see that he's grinning like a 6-year-old. (It's worth mentioning that Cita is a movie star. She was in PeeWee's Big Adventure and The Color Purple. That's a pretty diverse resume.)


-I missed out on most of beach week this year because I was so sick. But J was a trooper and took both dogs the night the fam just hung around on the sand to relax and watch fireworks. He brought me back this picture, which makes me smile equally as hard. Pictured in the green (guess J and his pops both enjoy green tees?) is my future father in law and his future granddog in law watching fireworks on the beach together. Love it.


-As mentioned earlier, our household was split in two for a week, as J and Mary headed back to Tennessee for a week of outdoorsiness. Because I changed jobs in August, I couldn't take that much time off to go (which turned out to be ironic because I was home sick that whole week???). He came back with a beard, a smile, and one stinky dog. But no ticks, oh, and this picture. I call it "Mary of the Valley" and this is where her heart lives.


-And my prides and joys. My ready-made collection of antique Mason jars. I have had them for a few months now, but here's a picture before I washed them. You can kind of see it on one of them, but a few of them have remnants of old jam labels on them. From the kitchen of Ruth. Blackberry jam. Boysenberry jam. My favorite says "Grape jelly -- ???" That's the kind of mystery I think would've been worth solving. These will be front and center (literally) at the wedding...centerpieces. Some holding zinnias. Some holding mums. But all of them holding a little piece of the past. I love that.

Scammed!

Upon the arrival of the new monstrous TV, and due to the fact that J gets Netflix on his XBox 360, I figured shoot, it's time to cancel my Blockbuster online account.

I have loved it, it has served me well.  Mostly back in the "single days" when I preferred to go home on Friday and not emerge from my apartment until Monday mornings but still.  I never felt bad about paying the $11.99 a month.

That is, until I tried to cancel.

Once i confirmed that yes, I would indeed like to cancel my subscription, an email from BBV pops up in my email.  They're trying to entice me with their nice words.  And...what's this?  They're trying to entice me to accept a deal with them!  They're trying to bribe me!  $9.99 a month?  $3.99 a month!??!

Bottom line, I still said no.  I was offended at their last-ditch effort to woo me.  Does loyalty mean nothing to them after 3 years?  Well, that, and Netflix is cheaper.  I'll miss your "We've received 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' DVD and 'Flight of the Navigator' is on its way'" emails.  But if anyone out there is paying $11.99 a month with Blockbuster online, perhaps you should try to cancel your account and have them offer you a lower rate.

These are tough times.

A whole weekend of crafting!

I can't wait to get home from work today for two reasons: 1) It's Friday and at my office that means overweight men squeezed into Hawaiian shirts who say, "Smile!  It's Friday!" and you know being instructed to smile is the fasted way to get me to do otherwise.  And 2) I've got weekend crafting plans!

One of these projects is secret and is flying under the pseudo-name "Project NASCAR" for reasons I cannot explain.  Bruhuhahaha!

Also I'll be heading to the fabric store with my new coral BM shoes in tow to purchase lovely fabrics for my new belt.  I'm trying something out here, people, and yes, I plan on parading the result in front of a billion of my bff's friends and family.  So, I'm taking this seriously and have developed several courses of action.

I have no plans this weekend. Even the boyf is going out tonight and I'm staying home.  I cannot wait to be surrounded by the colorful contents of my craft box.  And, not gonna lie, a glass of wine or three.  Also, next weekend is the second annual Crooner's party and I've got to get geared up for that gem.