Au naturale.

Lately I've been wanting to learn more about organic foods and eating healthier. I really struggle when I shop because I don't know if I should be looking for foods that are low fat, low calorie, low sugar, or low carbs. I think the only thing that qualifies in all of those categories is water. And I'm pretty sure you can't build a healthy lifestyle on water only. The body is weird like that. So which one of those is more important? Which one should I be the most concerned with not eating?

Last night I bought some Silk milk (which I've never had. is the vanilla weird?), organic yogurt, organic pita chips, gluten-free waffles (I honestly have NO idea what that means, but they were in the organic section and on sale, so I bought them) and I've eaten organic hamburger by mistake. But it seemed ok. I would love to hear thoughts on the best things to buy whether that be organic or otherwise.

Please share.

Call me Richard Simmons.

Once a year I usually find the motivation to exercise. Last night I found that motivation under the couch. It told me to get off it and do something. I usually listen to it this time of year because I'm tired of feeling like a bloated bubble of holiday treats. Which, let's face it, lasts a lot longer than just the holiday season. I can find plenty of holidays in which treats are plentiful between New Year's and mid-April - Valentine's Day, Easter, my Mom's birthday, my parent's anniversary, my husband's birthday, Thursdays.

So I took a nice jaunt around the neighborhood last night. We live in the perfect subdivision for walking and peering into neighbor's houses, which I rather enjoy doing. I'm not an illegal peeper, I'm just the friendly nosey neighbor who likes to judge your decorating taste and see what you like to watch on tv. Hey, if your door and window are open and you have your lights on at dusk, you're inviting this behavior. Blame yourselves.

And wouldn't you know, I actually feel good today. Between all of the gawking, I almost forgot I was doing something good for my body. Huh. It's amazing what a 30-minute walk can do for a person. Exercise. Who knew?

I need to know.

When you look at my new blog are the words cut off on some of the posts? They are on mine and it's unfortunate. I may have to find a new one. Which stinks, cause I like this one.

inDecision 2008.

I'm in a serious internal struggle right now. I have been indecisive pretty much my entire life. I think? Maybe not. No, I have. This impending 30th whirl around the sun isn't helping because I feel like I have to have things just right for the big day.

Lately, I've been on an quest to find the right hairstyle, the right hair product, the right make up, the right weight, the right skin, the right clothes, the right attitude, the right experiences, the right look of this damn blog. All so when the big day comes, I can take a deep breath and say, "I'm ready".

I've decided this is my issue with turning 30. I've gotten over the fact that some may consider me old. It's not about that. It's about being a full-fledged adult. And I just hope I'm ready. But I don't think I am.

The Power of Swear.

Cuss words carry so much clout. They are the Cher of the English language. They have the power to spelled with the first letter only, followed by crazy symbols or a line. If I were to write, F-- the F--ing F--ers you wouldn't think I meant Find the Foresting Flowers, would you? No, you would know exactly what I said even though I typed ONE letter.

Note this doesn't work with other words. Guess what I'm going to say n--. . . Wrong-o! You probably thought I was going to say "next" but I was totally going to say "now". Ha! You can try this game with some of your friends to see how well they really know you. I'll give you another chance. I sign all of my blog comments as "m" which you probably think stands for a name like Molly or Muffy, right? No, in actuality it stands for "magnificently clever and charming". Wrong again.

My fortune is just out of reach.

Is it just me or do ATM machines cater to people in SUVs now? I pulled up to my local ATM yesterday and I could not reach the card slot without putting my car in park, taking off my seatbelt and hanging half of my body out the window. The guy in front of me got out of his car all together. I have a VW Jetta so it's not like I'm driving one of those little red Shriner cars from parades or anything (which I love, btw).

I hope I'm not shrinking in my old age.

It's a joyous day.

Today marks the birth of the man I married.

Happy Birthday to my dear, sweet MD!

What's "Up"?

I am contemplating getting a bikini wax for our big trip to Vegas. It just seems like a vacation kind of thing to do. I've had one before, so I went to the website of that place and something struck me as odd. It says, "bikini wax: $25 and up". The "up" part threw me. Why isn't it just one price? Where exactly do the "up" charges come in? Do they take a look at you and say, "What you got goin' on there will cost you $30"? I'm just curious to know how that decision is made. And how do I ensure that I pay only $25 and not upward of $25?

Incidentally, a Brazilian wax is $60 and up.

"Madness" Update.

Currently I am in second place in the husband's work NCAA tournament pool. Go me!

In my mom's office pool, I think I'm hanging out at around 70th place. Whoops.

Hi Everybody!

I said I would say it, and I did.

It was SO fun meeting and chatting with the fellow bloggers on Friday night! It was pretty cool. Wouldn't it be great if we set up a larger convention for all those on Blogger to gather? Much like the Star Trek Convention that some likened our evening to. I say the first meeting should be on Maui.

Two Pretzels sure knows a lot of fun and friendly people! And now we all know each other, at least in the Bloggical sense :)


(I love popcorn.)

Competitive much?

I don't like basketball. I ex-pecially hate the NBA. I can usually tolerate this "maddening" college tournament to a certain extent. By that I mean I can usually get into the final half of the final game, if it's close. But this year I've decided to get over myself and I actually filled out one of those brackety things. Actually I did two. Even though the only knowledge I have about basketball is what team my husband likes (Indiana) and what team my Dad likes (Kent State). Other than that, basketball is sweaty tall men with squeaky shoes to me. Sure, I played basketball in sixth and seventh grade so I know the jist, but I'm guessing their objective is more than to make it past the half court line. But I could be way off.

Now that I have a vested interest, I cannot wait til the first game to find out how I did. My mom's and husband's co-workers are gonna feel like horse's asses when they see what they're up against. I didn't pick based on strategy because I have none. I chose based on the "feeling" I got from the team names. I'm sure I'll do awesome.

House Hunting for Idiots.

Thanks to my born again love for HGTV, I have discovered two things about homeowners and those looking for a home:

• EVERYONE loves to entertain. Just once I'd like to hear someone say, "Eh, make the kitchen smaller, I don't want people all up in my biznaz when I'm cooking."

• EVERYONE thinks it's funny to joke about there only being closet space in the master bedroom for the woman. I often hear, "This is great for me, but where's your stuff gonna' go? Then they laugh like they are the first person to ever say that and I roll my eyes.

My addiction to this channel is serious. If I can find a way to get Candice Olsen to my house, I'd have a project or two for her to tackle. Her talent is phenomenal.

End of an Era.

I found my first gray hair yesterday.

I didn't like it. It was taunting me, hanging out in the front of my head and all. Where every time I looked in the mirror it was staring back at me. Laughing.

So I did the only logical thing, I had my husband yank it out of my head. Then I took it, felt its courseness, weeped over the loss of my youth and then spiked it to the ground, cocky football player style.

Let that be a lesson to all of your friends who are sitting up there waiting to sprout.

A montage without pictures.

Today marks my 5-year anniversary at my job. It's unreal. It's been quite the half decade. In honor of this day, I'm going to reflect on the last 5 years of my life. Because I so love montages, this will be a montage, just without photos. Imagine the Green Day song, "Hope you had the time of your life" in your head as you read this.

- I was 24 when I started, now I'm staring 30 in the face.

- Bought my first home. All by myself. Learned ALL about the joys of home ownership. Many valuable lessons learned. Too many, really.

- Traveled to Baltimore for a conference and felt very adult traveling by myself for the first time.

- Met and became friends with my co-worker S and we banded together against evil.

- Met 3 new friends in co-workers K, K and J. Shared many, many laughs together and developed wonderful friendships.

- Gave up trying to find The One. Seemed hopeless. Thankfully I had great friends and a house to focus on.

But wait...

- Thanks in part to K, met a lovely man by the name of MD. He seemed nice. We had quite a bit in common. And he has a great dog. Didn't much care for dogs, until I met this one.

- Traveled with my Mom to my Grandparent's Daytona Beach condo after not having been there in 15 years. It was pretty emotional, I have a lot of fun memories of that place.

- Kept talking to that MD guy. Was really starting to like him. He liked to go places and do fun things. Loved that. We made some trips to Chicago, one of my favorite cities.

- Met some of MD's friends and family members. Awesome people.

- Attended my first NFL game, live. Always wanted to do that.

- Went to Whitewater, Wisconsin with MD. Thought I would go to get some yummy cheese, and came home with a beautiful engagement ring! Cried.

- Met another new friend/co-worker A.

- Bought a wedding dress!

- Made another trip to the Daytona Beach condo. This time with the fiance.

- Traveled to New York with MD and the D's. Nothing better than a road trip with your man and your best friend.

- Fulfilled my dream of attending the Late Show with David Letterman. Got to sit in the front row! Cried.

- Thanks to my parents, had the most beautiful wedding a girl could ask for. And thanks to my new husband, had the most perfect day a girl could dream of. Cried.

- Officially became an aunt. And a "mom". And a sister. And owner of a second home. (Still have the first home. It's for sale if anyone wants to buy it. It is cu-ute.)

- Thanks again to my parents and mother-in-law, fulfilled another dream and traveled to the Big Island of Hawaii. Many wonderful memories were made on that trip. Flew first class for the first (and probably last) time ever.

- Celebrated our first Christmas together as a married couple.

- Cried.

Wow. Who knew so much could happen in 5 years? I guess life is what happens when you are sitting at your desk being a Marketing Coordinator.

I need more.

Damn those Girl Scouts for making their delectable deliciousnesses only once a year. Why someone hasn't stolen the recipe for those Samoas and started mass producing them, I'll never know.

We out.

We booked 2 tickets to the City That Never Sleeps, or is it, The City of Lights, or The City With Legalized Prostitution?... eh, anyway... we're going to Las Vegas!

Woohoo!

We aren't going until May, but I'm already excited. I've only been to Vegas once but I was 14, so I guess I wasn't really there at all. I couldn't do anything but swim at the hotel pool, and it wasn't even a topless pool. I'm pumped to see it for all that is now that I'm legal.

I'd love to hear suggestions on what to see and do from those who have been. Bring 'em.

Feb. 29 = Get off your Duff Day

Next Friday is Leap Day. I, for one, plan on spending this free day doing something extraordinary. I'm going to take care of some things that I just couldn't do in a regular 365-day year. A few things I hope to accomplish:

- solve world peace.
- throw my hat into the Presidential ring.
- figure out what it is about broccoli that I just don't like.
- educate our future on the consequences of global nuclear corrosion on Mars.
- establish an impressive lucrative hedge fund portfolio.
- laundry.

Confessions of an Irritable Traveler.

If there's one thing I realize about myself, it's that I let little things bother me too much. But I'm hoping that because I realize it that it makes me a better human being. It's better than pretending everyone else has the problem, right?

I was in North Carolina this week attending a conference by my lonesome. Which was fine, no problemo. The problem was, I got antsy. I left for the airport yesterday at 2:00 and I didn't get home until 11:00. In that 8-hour span I must have had 16 mental breakdowns. I was acutely and painfully aware of every annoying thing that was going on around me. I was sitting waiting for my plane picking out the people that I HOPED my seat wasn't next to, most notably the girl with the Whooping Cough who should have been in the hospital, not 10,000 feet in the air. I hated her.

I didn't want to hear the kid in front of me scream, I didn't want to hear the lady behind me crack her gum and smack her lips, I didn't want the person in front of me to lean her seat back in my face, and I didn't want the guy behind me to kick my seat. I wanted to be HOME. And why does it always happen that when you are on that final leg of the trip, the light is at the end of the tunnel, something goes wrong? I was 45 minutes from home, after a 4-hour layover at Detroit Metro, we are all set for take off and the pilot slams on the breaks and the lights go out. As it turns out, we needed to de-ice. So we stopped and waited for 30 minutes while they sent the de-icing machines. Twice. That was it, that was my breaking point. I thought to myself, "What if I just went off right now? What if I just completely unleashed on these people? What would they do?" Well, I probably would have been detained at Detroit's finest prison or mental institution, that's what. I was so worked up and uber tired. My body was so tense and I know I had the world's sourest expression on my face. I was scowling. I think that was the most unpleasant I have ever been.

The most painful realization was that there is nothing I could do about it, I had to find a way to cope. It was both enlightening and disheartening. From now on, direct flights. No more monkeying around.

And since when did they do away with snacks on Northwest Airlines? I had the option to buy Pringles for $2 but I found that appalling and insulting.

I could be famous.

In case you can't see, not sure what I need to do here, but I look like Eva Peron (Evita. Ha!) 63% and Barbara Mori (whoever she is?) 62%. And yeah, that's Keith Urban in the back. I look like him 59%. It must be the hair.

Now we can see who is reading each other's blogs since we all have this! Love it.

after 9 months.

There was this one time where I felt as though my blog was lacking. It was fluff, it wasn't doing what I wanted it to do. So I went on hiatus. I wasn't sure I would ever return. I was content reading everyone else's and making clever quips on their entries. But then, something happened, something that jolted this blog recluse back into coherence. Although not earth-shattering, it was still something special. Something I had to talk about.

And tonight, it returns. It's all NEW and with the promise of 7 more to follow. This mediocre blogger is thrilled.

I'm still not overly pleased with the direction of this blog. But tonight's event coupled with the fact that we got a brand new couch yesterday and the potential for a hot, crackling fire makes me forget all about my woes.

On the road again.

We traveled to southern Indiana over the weekend to visit family and eat some damn good pizza. Here are a few of our experiences:

• Jerry Seinfeld = fab. I think he's hilarious. His voice and his delivery are spectacular. My sister-in-law does this thing where she laughs really hard, can't breathe and then starts wheezing. Very loudly. She did that during the show.

• If you want a good smile, ask a kid who they are voting for for President. My 9-year-old niece said either "the black dude or the white lady". Then later decided the white lady did not have good fashion sense and therefore she would not vote for her.

• 27 Dresses is an ok movie. It's certainly no contender for the Oscars, but when you're with 5 other women, it's the perfect afternoon waster.

• Our dog is a great traveler. As long as she feels well. Whoa.

• We made a withdrawal from the Donut Bank. That's still the best name for a donut place. Ever.

• My life is not worth living if I don't eat Turoni's pizza once in a while.

The End.

"But I don't wanna be a Pirate"

We're totally going to see Jerry Seinfeld on Friday! We'll be traveling to MD's hometown for the excitement, along with my brother- and sister-in-law. It should be a fun time. I saw him when he came to T-town a few years ago and I actually stopped breathing because I laughed so hard. It was dangerous.

I know there are some haters out there who either didn't care for the show or for him, but his stand-up is quite hilarious regardless of how you felt about the show. I, on the other hand, am a big fan of all things Seinfeld so I'm really looking forward to seeing him again. And we're going to be right up in his biznaz in the 7th row center, courtesy of my mother-in-law. I hope he wears a puffy shirt.

Cannot. wait.

Midwestern Girl for Life.

Today is one of those days that I love. It's cold, but not windy, and sunny. It's just one of those days where you can smell the crisp, clean fresh air. It gets into your lungs but it feels nice. It's also one of those days where I appreciate the above description as I walk to my car in the parking lot, but then can't wait to get home and snuggle by a fire and stay the hell out of it!

This may not make sense to anyone other than me, but I like the way food tastes when you've just taken a bite and then happen to open a door or step outside. It's like the true flavor comes alive. I certainly don't take a bite and then stick my head outside, but it happens sometimes and every time it does I say, "ooh, that was enjoyable!"

I will never move to a warm climate. It's not for me. I need days like today.

Boo to Wednesdays.

It is my belief that Wednesdays are the worst day of the week. As much as people hate Mondays, I rather enjoy them. They go quickly. Wednesdays just drag. And today feels extra long because I'm excited to go home and enjoy the fabulous French Dip that has been simmering in my crock pot all day long. I can smell it from here. No really, I can. Our house is just across the street from work and it smells really beefy outside. My mouth is watering.

Powerless.

We lost power last night for 2 hours. The whole street was out. I'm not sure why. But I do know that it's incredibly challenging to do anything in total darkness. I was folding laundry when the lights went out and since I had starting doing it, I had to finish. So I was folding by the light of my new LED flashlight* that I won in the office White Elephant gift exchange. That was a lucky pick!

The husband was en route for the first hour so I was left to my own devices. I was convinced that someone had done this on purpose so they could break in and hurt me. I had a whole escape plan developed and my phone was with me at all times. It was totally silent, which is a very uncomfortable feeling. I can't live without background noise.

I was scared. I was bored. I was cold. I still tried to do normal things, but it was impossible so I gave up, snuggled with the dog and we read InStyle.


*LED flashlights are awesome. No batteries needed. You just wind it up and it goes forever. Everyone should have one in cases like these. It gave me peace of mind to know that the batteries weren't going to die. Get one.

Mediocrity killed the cat.

I'm not great about blogging. I have no idea why. I love reading everyone else's but just feel a mental block when I go to write one. And then when I do write one, I edit and modify and rewrite the crap out of it. There's a lot of anxiety involved. A lot of anxiety I just don't need. But for those who are still reading this thing, here's an update:

• We went to Chicago for Christmas to hang with the D family. It was lovely. Had a nice time. Although I was pretty sad being away from my family for the first time ever on Christmas, the D family managed to make it a little less sad because they are fun people who do fun things. They make me laugh.

• The whole family went to see Wicked. While I enjoyed the singing and such, I just couldn't get into the story. I am a big fan of the Wizard of Oz and can't wrap my head around the Wicked Witch being anything but wicked. But it was well done and I'm glad I saw it. I have such a huge appreciation for people with talent like that. I'm so jealous of them.

• I found out that I'm going to be an aunt! But this time I'll be a legit aunt, since this baby is coming after my induction to the D family. This will be the first family member that I have seniority over!

• I was sad to see 2007 go. It was such a fabulous year for me. With the Wedding, Hawaii and seeing the Late Show in person, 2008 really has a lot to live up to.

On the Receiving End.

Last night I caved. After days and weeks of prodding, I finally caved and my husband (tee hee, I still chuckle when I say it, although today is our two month anniversary! Yay for us!) and I opened our Christmas gifts to each other. He couldn't stand the wait any longer. Taking a cue from his Mom who can get just about anything a person could ever want with her admirable persistence and well-written letters... just ask the 6'5" signed Peyton Manning jersey currently hanging in our hallway... he got me an autographed 8 x 10 color photo of Mr. David Letterman! It's beautiful. I cried. I absolutely love it. They sent it directly to our house from the Ed Sullivan theatre in New York, no third party ebay handlers here! It went from Dave's desk to our mailbox. Well, directly to MD's work mailbox so that i didn't see it. Sneaky.

I love how creative he was and I love how well he knows me. But even more, I love how excited he was to give it to me, it's too cute and very special.


P.S. All the gifts that he got me were awesome but this was by far my fave!

Realizations suck.

At what age do you go from being able to ride roller coasters for hours at a time to not being able to dry your hair upside-down because you get lightheaded? I made a quick, sharp swerve in my car in the parking lot today and it made me dizzy. It's ridiculous. I don't get it. When did this happen? Why did it happen? I remember getting upset with my mom when I was younger because she would never ride the roller coasters at Cedar Point. Now I understand why.

More and more I'm realizing the effects of getting older. It's quite unpleasant.

Gag me with a croissant.

I really hate the smell of cigarette smoke. There's nothing like being in a meeting and sitting next to the guy who smells like he just bowled a few games over his lunch hour.

Good thoughts appreciated.

My dear friend Turtle Parade is taking a BIG career exam on Friday, so big that when she's done, I'll have to call her Dr. Turtle Parade. That's so amazing to me. It's tres cool. I wish her all the best, not that really she needs it cause she's super smart, but I hope she knows I'm thinking of her and that I am already in awe of her and her accomplishments. I'm rounding up good thoughts for her, for those of you reading, please join in the effort.


(S, I hope you don't mind that I wrote this. I can't help it, I'm excited for you.)

Call it nesting if you must.

I am all about cooking right now. In years past, I wasn't much of a cook. Or maybe I was, I just didn't know it seeing as I was cooking for one and that ain't fun. Thanksgiving morning I got up semi early, made myself some coffee, turned on the Macy's parade and baked my ass off. I was making pies and casseroles and dips and probably could have made more but I thought showing up at my aunt and uncle's house with 4 things was enough. I didn't want to be the Grinch Who Stole Thanksgiving Cooking from anyone.

I got to use my new baking and cookingware that I got for the wedding. It was so fun. And I think everything turned out well, although I was a little disappointed in my pumpkin pie. Seemed kinda gritty to me.

Now I'm trying to plan what to make for Christmas. It will be interesting because we are traveling to Chicago. I guess I could make stuff when I get there, but that seems weird? Not sure what I'll do.

Such a shame.

I feel bad for Thanksgiving. It's such an unassuming holiday. It's arguably the only holiday Hallmark, and by Hallmark I mean society, hasn't completely ripped the guts out of. It's nice. It's about family and food and thank you's. These are a few of my favorite things.

Now, I adore the Christmas season. So far, I'm not one of those Crazies who cries and complains about the malls or about the pressure of the holiday. But maybe that comes when you have kids, so that remains to be seen. I am still naive and appreciate the lights and the anticipation and the tree decorating and the cookie eating and the family gatherings and general merriment and my annual Christmas-song piano playing. But all in due time. After Thanksgiving only. That's just how I was raised.

I'd also like to know how we go from giving thanks one month to punching the lady who has the gift we want the next? A month ago we were so thankful for what we had. And now my grandma needs a police escort to her car for fear of being tackled for being lucky enough to grab the "gift of the year". I just don't get it.

I'm sorry that the giving of thanks only lasts one day. I'm sorry that it's seen as just a road block until we get to the "real" holiday. And I'm sorry that it's not appreciated for what it is. It's a shame.

I guess the Thanksgiving spirit hasn't hit some people yet

Last night, on my way home from the store, I saw the gas station closest to our house had gas for $2.99. "Whoopee!", I exclaimed with jubilant glee. (Then I smacked my forehead because I've been tricked by the gas people into thinking that's cheap. Wah, wah, wah.) I pull up to the pumps and it appears that everyone is taking advantage of the (not) cheap gas, so I have to wait. No biggie. So I'm sitting there patiently waiting my turn at Pump 4 when the previous customer pulls out. Perfect, I had picked the right pump! She pulls toward me, so I have to wait for her to leave. Meanwhile, some skank in a dirty, crappy truck pulls into MY spot from the other direction. She totally saw me too. I inched forward almost hitting her to prove my point. She still pretended not to see me. The nerve! I was honked.

But here's where the story gets good:

So the skank has my spot at the pump, which apparently also angered the person in the maroon Rendezvous next to them, who knew I was waiting and witnessed the whole robbery. The Rendezvous proceeds to roll down its window and yell at the skank for taking my spot. It was beautiful! They were sticking up for me! I couldn't quite hear the exchange but I could see the skank mouthing "I don't care". The Rendezvous was the next car to leave so I pulled into that pump. The skank yells to me, "Is there a problem?" and me wanting to be all tough but knowing that she looks very unpredictable just decides to say, "Yes, I was waiting" and left it at that. I don't need to show up at Thanksgiving dinner with a black eye. As I'm pumping my gas I look over my shoulder and see the maroon Rendezvous waiting at the exit, either to make sure everything was ok or to extend a bit of road rage on to the skank in the truck as they exited the parking lot. Either way, the maroon Rendezvous was like my guardian angel, looking out for the little guy. So I guess the Thanksgiving spirit is alive in some people. I pumped my gas and got back in my car and with as much anger and spite as I could muster, I rolled down my window and gave her the biggest bird my middle finger could produce. That time she saw me. That made me feel better.

Thank you dear maroon Rendezvous, I appreciate your support. I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving. I know on Thursday I will be thankful that there are people like you who truly care about justice.

So what brings you two here?

I really enjoy traveling. It's always great to get outside of our four walls and experience life on four wheels. This weekend our travels took us to Chicago. More specifically, not downtown Chicago, but a suburb of. Our mission for this trip was two-fold, get our dog back and introduce ourselves to our Wii. We ate a lot of GOOD food, even some that didn't have skin in it! And hung out with the always fabulous brothers- and sisters-in-law.

You people got a Wii? If so, have you subsequently canceled your gym memberships? Cause I tell you what, I'm gonna Box myself all the way to the Mrs. Strong America contest. Got children with sloth issues? Buy them this thing and force them to play for two hours a day. After a month, you won't even recognize them. Nervous about those inevitable superfluous holiday pounds? Throw away your Cindy Crawford workout tapes and pop in Wii tennis. Same workout, and less annoying!

I may live to regret this, but part of me enjoys family drama. Where I come from, there's no such thing. Maybe because we're not a large family, maybe because no one really shares too much of their lives with each other, maybe because we've got our problems and don't care about anyone elses, but in any event, we've been pretty drama free. A certain wedding shower excluded. But family drama, in small doses, interests me. I don't need to be involved, I just like being a voyeur.

It's that time of year where we are thankful for things. I'm thankful that I have so many things to be thankful for.

Hello! Because I'm not a poser.

I don't know if a lot of people are like me, but whenever it's time to go home from a vacation, I cry. When I was 13, my extended family and I went on a cruise. The last night we were there, I bawled. I told everyone that I just had a headache, I didn't want to admit that I was crying because I didn't want to go home. My parents knew better. This trip was no different. This was the ultimate vacation, our honeymoon. Who's not gonna cry when they are leaving Hawaii? Some things you just don't grow out of.

Some tear-worthy highlights:

• Helicopter ride over Mt. Kilhuea.
• Walking through the rain forests/waterfalls of Hilo.
• Snorkeling in the best snorkel spot in all of Hawaii, top 20 in the country.
• Getting within feet of a family of spinner dolphins, including a baby.
• Going to my first luau and discovering that my new career goal is to be a hula dancer. I was enthralled.
• Picnic on the coral beach.
• Eating the BEST steak I've ever had in my life. At Roy's.
• Eating the BEST pizza I've ever had in my life. (sorry MD) At the Kona Brewing Company.
• Drinking the BEST pina colada I've ever had in my life. At the Marriott hotel.
• Almost buying a timeshare.
• My first real massage. In our room.
• A sunset cruise with some really nice and funny people.
• Realizing that Hawaii is more than just palm trees and beaches.
• Flying first-class. Um, how do you go back to coach after that?
• The beach. On our last night.

And so many other memories that we will have forever. Together. I know everyone says they wish they could have a wedding every year, but I think I'd like to take a honeymoon every year. Not a vacation, but a honeymoon. To say that I loved it would be the understatement of the year.

MD, you're awesome traveling companion. I love you.

Quick note, then I'm off

The wedding was absolutely perfect. Not only because everything was beautiful, but because there wasn't one glitch in the whole day. The weather was awesome, the flowers were spectacular, all of the bridesmaids and groomsmen looked wonderful (and are wonderful), the location was everything that I hoped for and more. And my groom was [insert best adjective you can think of, I'll pick] incredible! I just love him. Everything came together so well and it was the definition of perfect.

I'm so thankful that there were no mini dramas to deal with. It's still crazy to me that we pulled it off so well. It was the wedding day I always dreamed of. Magical. I don't even know how to begin to thank my parents. They have been so loving, thoughtful and generous during this time and throughout my entire life. How on earth I got so lucky to have all of this, I will never know.

Perfect.

And to prolong the perfection a bit further, on Saturday we are off to the Big Island of Hawaii for our honeymoon! I can hardly stand it.

In case you hadn't heard...

I'M MARRIED!

No longer in the middle

The time here at work is winding down until I go on bridal leave. I will soon be leaving as an individual with an alliterated moniker and will return as one half of a 'squared' couple. It's an interesting feeling. I'm not having the "whoa, I'm losing my identity" crisis, but it's still kind of perplexing to know that I won't be who I've claimed to be for the last 29 years, 4 months and 5 days. I'm stepping into the phone booth of life, ripping off my shirt and emerging as a whole new being.

Well, MM, we've led a good life. We've gotten this far without much complaint. Sure, I wish you had had more confidence in yourself and sure I wish you hadn't made some of those decisions and mistakes. But look where it's gotten us. All of life's trials and tribulations have led us to the MD life. And I see a lot of promise over there. There's much more happiness to be found and things to be uncovered. It'll be a whole new world for us. I know we're ready.

One handed countdown

We can now count on one hand the number of days til the wedding! At this point, we are totally golden. Stuff is organized in piles and ready to go. All the details are pretty much complete. The one thing that's left won't take but a mere 30 minutes.

My biggest concern now is making sure that I take the time to remember all of this excitement. Before you know it, I'll be blogging about how great everything was. So I don't want anything else to enter my cranium before Saturday. So don't tell me anything between now and then that you want me to remember. Cause I'm not gonna. But don't worry, come October 21st, I'll totally remember what your license plate number is. I haven't completely lost it, sheesh.

p.s. I must thank the 'fiance for 5 more days' for being one of those helpful fiances and not the kind who just wants to "show up". We rocked and rolled on Sunday. Crossing things off the list, leaving nothing in our wake. Thank you!

Who am I?

We are 10 days out and I am surprisingly calm. Hopefully I'm not jynxing things by saying that. This is not normal for me. I am a worrier. I worry about things big and small. I worry about being worried.

But I'm not worried.

Since when am I not worried? I'm worried I don't know the answer to that. But it's nice to not be worried about the wedding. And it's awfully darn confusing.

I'm not sure who this person is, but I'm beginning to like her.

Some thoughts

• I think it's rude to tell someone they look good when they've lost weight. I feel it implies that they did not look good before. It seems like a backhanded compliment.

• I'm speaking generally here, but I think men are naturally more attractive than women. Women make themselves look good, men just are.

Mike, I'm thinking of you today. I know you can do it. Good luck!

It's official!

Well, almost. But more official than it was an hour ago. $40 CASH and a signed declaration that you weren't intoxicated and don't have syphillis will get you one marriage license. Woohoo!

You know who's really funny?

My grandma.

She is nearly 81 years old and is an absolute hoot. What's great about her is that she's not the wild and crazy grandma who is always doing kooky things, she is very into manners and doing the right thing yet she will bust out the funniest, most unexpected one-liners and have the whole family cracking up.

What's even more tickling are her recent purchases: A year ago, she bought a computer with virtually no knowledge of technology whatsoever. At the time of this post, she is still trying to master the double-click. There is nothing funnier than checking my yahoo mail and seeing a forwarded message from her because I know it took her at least 10 minutes to read the directions my Dad wrote down for her in order to send the email. She has also recently purchased a 46-inch flat screen tv, which I can only assume is so she can get a better view of the products on QVC. That, and she loves college football. I dare you to watch a high-intensity Buckeyes game with her and not get excited. You would think you were at the game, in the student section, with your face painted, by all of the hooting and hollering she does.

Five years ago she fought off a purse snatcher in the grocery store parking lot. He told her he had a gun and wanted her purse. Instead of getting scared and handing over her purse, she took her cart and pushed it as hard as she could at him and screamed at the top of her lungs. He ran and was caught the next day. She is the fiestiest 4'9" woman you'll ever meet. And she's healthy as a horse. A rarity indeed.

She's hilarious. And I love her.

Spelling B.

Last week, my co-worker and I were in a spelling bee. It was my third time participating. I just love it - I've always been a good speller and since there really isn't money to be made in Spelling, I have to settle for the yearly Bee to get my jollies. This year, however, was wrought with scandal. In the sixth round, the "pronouncer" misprounced our word. He was corrected by the judges but we had already made up our minds as to how we were going to spell the word. Thus, we were eliminated. But it was a proud showing for us (my personal best out of the 3 years!), leaving approximately 20 out of 32 teams in our wake.

For ever more, I will know how to spell "nihilism". Pronounced nigh-el-ism. NOT knee-el-ism. Ass.

This much fun is illegal.

This picture pretty much sums up my weekend. That's me. On a bull. A mechanical one of course. What a fantastic celebration! My family and friends are just amazing - I love you all! Thank you again for being a part of this ridiculousness!

Here we go.

Second shower and bachelorette party tomorrow night. This should be nothing short of fantastic. Tomorrow's shower is the more "fun" of the two and could not technically be counted as a shower. The BFF TP has gone above and beyond the white tablecloths, mints-at-every-table, debutante shower and is making it a more laid-back wine tasting with friends. Plus, there will be meatballs. I've already chalked it up as a success.

But I will admit, part of me is slightly worried about the bachelorette party. I'm harkening back to my 21st birthday celebration in which I got extremely sick and needed 2 days to recover. And now, being 29, something tells me that it would take at least two weeks to recover from a similar situation. The 'ole body just can't hang like it used to. And I've got me two wild and crazy (and incredibly awesome) soon-to-be-sisters-in-law who know how to show someone a good time. Hopefully I will escape unscathed and with intestines intact. Or at the least, only slightly bruised.

The Big Island.

I do not intend to make this blog all gushy, mushy and bridezilla-like, but like it's been suggested, this would be a good place to record the wedding happenings. So, in keeping with this idea... we purchased the tickets for our honeymoon last night! Two first-class (innumerable thank you's go out to my parents for that one) tickets to Hawaii are in the possession of our hotmail and yahoo accounts.

I cannot wait to see Hawaii! The water, the sand, the volcanos, the luaus, the real plumeria leis, the coffee, I can barely stand to think about it. It will be yet another item that I can cross off my list of things to do in life. It's amazing how many of those I've been able to do the last year and a half.

Two months.

60 days from today! I hear all the time how quickly these next 2 months will go and I don't care for that. I want to remember all of this, I don't want it to go by in a blur.

What do I have to do to get time to slow down?

Heroes.

When last we left the fantastic foursome, they were on their way to a lovely baseball game up north to celebrate the birth of the eldest member of the foursome...

Scene: We find the fantastic foursome in a less-than-desirable flat tire situation on a major thoroughfare at approximately 11:00 p.m. Location: unknown. But we think somewhere near an exit titled, #18.

Suddenly, the Bat Signal flared, the adrenaline kicked in and the Flying Fiance was off! He was dodging traffic, toting tires, rattling off the names of tools that he needed like a surgeon demanding a scalpel from the nurse, throwing around lugnuts and jackhammers or some such. All the while maintaining a certain sense of calmness that allowed my 'rents and I to remain unpaniced as well. It was impressive. I was proud.

Due to his unimaginable superhero strength, he was able to bend steel and we were unable to complete the task alone. We called for reinforcements and were escorted home in the back of the car in the back of a tow truck. Alas, all was not lost. Our hero was victorious.

This lesson to be learned here is this: Heroes don't get flustered, boys and girls. It is always best to stay calm. Getting upset and pissy does not make the situation disappear, it only begets more stress. For all. This is definitely something this viewer learned.

Until next time, friends...

tragic.

There will never again be a time where the following sentence won't be used in reference to an unfortunate incident in America...

"The Homeland Security Department said the collapse did not appear to be terrorism-related"

Morsels.

• Curses to family gatherings with all of their leftover tasty treats. If only I could exercise self restraint. If only I could exercise. Note: I can exercise, I just, I dunno, don’t.

• My goodness, Lohan. You're a bigger idiot than I gave you credit for.

• 29 is stupid. I already think of myself as 30. Let's just get it over with already.

• Thanks to the 56 incher, I am readdicted to Super Mario 3. It's the summer of 1990 all over again. I'm strategizing now in my cube in anticipation of playing after the work whistle blows. Be afraid little goombas, I'm gonna pulverize the smirk right off your pface.

• A little piece of advice I'd like to pass on to my offspring: Forget variety, meatballs and wine are the spice of life.
  

Everything is official.

Had my first of two wedding showers on Saturday. It was SO nice. Per usual, my Mom and Aunt D went above and beyond with the food and decor and extras. I am so thankful to them both. Seeing my family members and friends gathered together laughing and celebrating made everything official. It was the kick-off to the Unbridled Emotion Fest of 2007, an event which will likely continue for the next 3 months. Expect many a tear.

*My cousin actually made a cake for me like the one pictured over there. It's a Barbie with a cake around it. Hilarious. Update: Now pictured, the cake my cousin made.

What would you do?

Last night I was at a lovely charity event and met a very smart, nice little girl. We got to chatting and I asked her what grade she was going to be in and she said, "Fourth, I think". I asked why she only thought she was going into the fourth grade, why didn't she know for sure. (After I asked this I felt bad, what if she was repeating the third grade and I just made her feel worse? Oops.) And she said, "Well, I could be going into fifth grade, my parents haven't decided yet."

Thus she could be skipping a grade.

After she walked away, my friend and I went into "well, if that were my kid" mode, even though neither of us are parents, and gave our unsolicited opinions. But just to each other, of course.

My thoughts: I wouldn't do it. Yes, she should be challenged with school work. Yes, she should be all she can be. But at what price? I'm sure she's growing up fast, why make the process faster? What about when the older kids are "developing" and she's still just the 'little' girl? She'd probably have to lash out Catholic-school-girl style to get accepted. I think it's about more than just scholastics when it comes to skipping a grade, especially at that age. And a bigger question is, do parents sometimes do this selfishly so they can boast to their friends?

My verdict: I would leave her in the fourth grade and let her be valedictorian someday.

3 months from today!

Yay! I can't believe there is only 3 months left until our wedding! I have a feeling this is when stuff starts to get hairy. Although we are in a very good spot with everything, it just seems like all of the final details will have to happen at once. But I've got my game face on. I'm ready.

Shower #1 is tomorrow. I still can't believe it's a shower for me. Or us.

Mi casa, su casa.

Right now I am in the midst of trying to sell my house. Not a fun task. So my new realtor says to me that she knows a guy whose house burnt down. In unfortunate ironies, he is a firefighter. So he and his family need a place to stay while their house is being rebuilt. And she asked me if I would be willing to let them rent my house for a couple months.

After some thinking, I've decided that there are many more pros than cons to doing this. Obviously the chance to help someone who suffered through a sad ordeal is a major pro. This family lost everything in the fire and have nothing. They loved my house because it's close to where their house was and their son will be able to continue playing with his friends as normal. Hearing that made the decision somewhat easier.

The only real con is that it's weird to think of someone I don't know living in my house while I still own it and essentially using all my stuff. With all of the legal mumbo jumbo and insurance policies and such, everything should be just fine. But I can't help but think that something bad will happen and I'm a little scared. Which I hope is normal?

So sometime in the next couple of weeks, I will be a landlord. Ha!

Pinch Me.

Ok, so here is my Dave news...

First let me say, this post is dedicated to the Ticket Girl at the Ed Sullivan Theatre to whom I shall bestow my first born.

For reasons we will probably never figure out, Ticket Girl put a special sticker on our tickets giving the 4 of us audience upgraded seats. As it was later explained to us, this meant we would be receiving some of the best seats in the house! I was already excited, but this pretty much sent me over the edge. Not only was I going to be at the show, I was going to have prime seating. I would have been happy sitting in the far back corner in the back row. I didn't care, I was there.

So, after much hooting and hollering and jumping up and down, we returned to the theatre at the time we were told. After we got our audience prep and knew the run down of what was expected of us as "leaders" of the crowd, we filed into the theatre. Some of the people in this group knew people who work for CBS and they were told they were getting the best seats in the house - the balcony. Unobstructed view and a bathroom. (Those of us not in the balcony were not allowed to use the facilities once taping had started.)

The 4 of us walked in behind a lovely couple we had met and befriended in line. The 10-15 people in front of us were ushered to the seats on the right-hand side. Then the man in front of me was told he could go that way. Well, that way meant... the front row, center. Um yeah, the 4 of us were in the VERY FRONT ROW, an arm's length away from the stage. Upon realization of this, the woman in front of me and I started shreiking at the top of our lungs, OMG, OMG, OMG, WE'RE IN THE FRONT ROW! It was incredible, just pure raw emotional excitement. I had MD pinch me.

After we sat down the man from the lovely couple said to me, "Yeah, the balcony seats suck ass!" I agreed.

I had a perfect view of Dave during his monologue, the musical guests (the Smashing Pumpkins) and Will It Float. I could see the guests (Queen Latifah and some comedy writer guy) pretty well when they were seated and I could see the top of Dave's head. There really are a lot of cameras and cue card people walking around. But that's ok, I was as close as one could get. And I was thrilled.

Oh, if that wasn't enough, I know, how could it get better? I also caught the guitar pick from the bass player of the CBS Orchestra, who totally threw it right to me. So I even got a souvenir!

I don't think we could have had a better experience. Things were going our way. And I will remember that day and our trip fondly. It was perfect, perfect, perfect.

The show airs tonight (Friday) . You better believe we are DVRing the heck out of it! You all should watch for us. We'll be easy to spot right there in the FRONT!

I still can't believe this all happened, I can't believe we were there. It'll probably hit me when we watch it tonight.

-- The picture above is of our tickets to the show with the audience upgrade sticker! We weren't allowed to keep them, but we sure as hell could take pictures of them! Sadly no pictures were allowed to be taken inside the theatre, but we got plenty of them outside.

Ideas that I wish were mine:

• Target commercials


• The subway system in New York


• Sharpie markers


• Microsoft


• Nachos
  

What do you wish you had thought of?

New York, New York

To say that our trip to New York was amazing would be an understatement. It was downright perfect! For only being there for 2 full days, we were able to do and see so much. With the Yankees game and tour and David Letterman(!), that alone was a lot, but we were also able to visit Times Square and Ground Zero and we still had time to conquer the public transportation system, visiting 3 boroughs in 2 days.

New York City is a fantastic city. I could spend days just standing in Manhattan watching the people and soaking up the excitement. I'm sure you could spend a lifetime there and still never see everything that it offers. I am very much pining to return. I hope it's not another 11 more years before I go back.

*I have Dave news, but I am not blogging about it yet because I don't want to spoil the news in case some people read it before I can tell them. But trust me, it's good stuff. You'll want to come back and read about it.

Pack it up, pack it in.

So tomorrow we take off for NYC. We’re staying in the lovely (I hope?) borough of Queens. (I quite like the word ‘borough’.) We’ll be 4 crazy midwestern kids left to our own devices in the man-swallowing metropolis of New York. It’ll be nothing if not an adventure, all activities aside.

The last time I was in New York, it was 11 years ago. I went on a bus trip with some of my family. We saw Broadway shows, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and went to the top of the World Trade Center. Interesting. I wonder how much of it I will remember once we're there. If I had my Mom's keen sense of direction, I would remember exactly where everything is and how to get there. Alas, I do not have that talent. Not even kinda.

I'm excited for all of it. Everyone is. It should be a blast.

It's all about me...or 'i'

I'm amazed at how everything is so i, i, i. We're so self-involved. We have the iPod, the iTunes, the iPhone, the iEvery apple accessory.

And how long before i takes over the world? We'll soon have iCar, iDouble cheeseburgers, iPergo flooring and iMore.

It's time that we start focusing on u and less on ourselves.

(But iWouldn't mind having one of these. They seem cool. But there's a little too much iRed tape to deal with right now. )

P.S. Did you all hear that I'm going to the Late Show with David Letterman!?

OMG!

I have a major announcement to make. You're going to want to sit down for this one...

I AM GOING TO THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN!

It's true, this dream, 13 years in the making, has finally come to be! I just don't even know what to do with myself, excited doesn't even come close to explaining how I feel. I am a behemoth fan of Mr. Letterman and have always dreamt of seeing the show. And now, on July 9, I will get that opportunity. Wow.

And the best part of it, is that I will get to see the show with my wonderful fiance and my best friend! What could be greater than that?

Wow. Still trying to breathe.

On a side note -

anyone ever been to the Melting Pot? Is that the most fun you've ever had eating, or what?

It's not about being older

Another year has come and gone - but not without some excitement! - and I am officially one year older. (And one year away from being 30. Whoa.) It was a wonderful birthday celebration! I got to celebrate with some really dear friends and family and the ultimate thoughtful schemer, my fiance, who has once again surprised me.

29 is tricky. I shall blog my thoughts on this later, but for now I will thank all of those who called me, emailed me, texted me, thought of me and celebrated with me. I am beyond thankful for all of you and grateful for your wishes of well. June 15 is a day that I will always cherish because it reminds me of all of the wonderful people I have in my life and that truly warms my heart. That's what birthdays are all about and that is why I love them.

Wow. Fun. Cool.

Justin Verlander, the phenom pitcher for the De-troit Tigers, pitched a no-hitter last night against the Brewers! It was so fun to watch. I just so happened to be at my parents last night and my Dad had the game on. In the sixth inning he says, "I shouldn't say anything, but Verlander has a no-hitter going". Everyone knows that saying that usually jynxs things. But not last night! Even my good friend Turtle Parade, who is an Indians fan, was rooting for him. Fun stuff!

I love baseball.

Your what hurts?

My foot. It had glass in it. I (unknowingly) stepped on it. Then I walked around on it all night. Thank goodness for wine. It helped deaden the pain. I think the fiance got it all out. He was tres helpful. It still hurts.

Thelma and Louise.

Whew! I am no longer a fugitive of the law. My debt to society has been paid. I can roam freely (albeit slower) once again.

Thanks for coming with, Louise. I'll be sure that Brad Pitt doesn't turn you in for aiding and abedding (sp?) a criminal.

(and the audience is on its feet...)

LOST was so good last night I can't even stand it. It was so good that is has inspired me to post an entry again after 6 months. Now that's powerful.

What a terrific piece of television. Two hours was not long enough. I probably could have sat for another hour or two. This, my friends, is what they call a payoff episode. For all you naysayers out there, aren't you a little upset with yourselves for being non-believers half way through the season? I never gave up. I am admittedly often confused and believed that maybe I was the one who just didn't get it. But that idea has been demolished. No, no one has a friggen clue what is going on and that is the true beauty of this show. I accept that and will be the ultimate suspender of belief for the next 3 years if we continue to get episodes such as this.

Jack, Kate, Ben, Locke, Juliette, Sawyer, Jin, Hurley, dear sweet, bad-ass Sayid, et al, I cannot wait til we meet again in '08. Godspeed.

Best. Idea. Ever.

A big thumbs up to Best Buy for being so revolutionary with their work ideals. Check out this article, then send your resume in to Best Buy's headquarters...

http://biz.yahoo.com/special/allbiz120606_article1.html

Wow. Haven't we all been waiting for someone to blaze the trails with this idea?? Here's to hoping this concept is as viable as we all knew it would be.

Help wanted re: eyebrows

How long does it take for eyebrows to grow back in?? I've been plucking for years, but I would kinda like them to grow back in so I can start all over and possibly get a professional waxer or something to give me that great, face-changing perfect arch to my eyebrows. But I'm wondering how long I'll have to look like I'm completely ignorning my appearance with these straggly hairs that are trying to make their way back in.

Can anyone provide any help on this??

I'm going to be an Aunt!

Thanksgiving 2006 was so wonderful! The fiance’s family came into town from Indiana and Chicago and spent a few days with us. I’ve mentioned before about how fun they are and how much I enjoy being a part of a bigger family. This was no exception. It was a blast!

But perhaps my favorite part of the whole week was when His 5-year old niece called me “Aunt Michelle”, completely unsolicited. She was simply asking me a question, and it came out of her mouth so naturally, as if she had been calling me that for years. It was precious! And it brought tears to my eyes. Right there at breakfast. Being an only child I have had zero chances to be an aunt thus far in my life, and now I’m going to be one, 5 times over! I want to the best “Auntie M” ever! (That’s what they are going to call me… how cute is that!?)

I cannot thank His family enough for being so welcoming and making me feel like a part of the family so quickly. Nine months is not a lot of time, and there is a lot of distance between us and his entire family, so we don’t get to see them that often, but in that time they have managed to make me feel like I am one of them. And that means more to me than they will ever know. They were all especially kind to my parents, whom they just met for the first time this weekend, and to my best friend. What more can I ask? (Even as I am writing this, I am sitting here with His dog on my lap/arm. She’s making it difficult to type, but it’s totally worth it. She loves me too!) I truly am blessed and thankful.

I've been thinking...

I think I'm going to dimantle this blog. I haven't felt inspired by it for a while now. The title and stuff just isn't doing it for me. While those two things are very important in my life, I don't feel they accurately portray the cleverness and insight I'd hoped to share with the world. I'll keep you posted, but rest assured I'm not leaving, I'm just going through a Madonna-like reinvention in my career and will emerge a bigger and better blog.

K.

Whew! You'll excuse me for the blog break while I've been basking in the enjoyment of becoming betrothed, won't you??

Thanks!

Here's how it happened...

Mike thought of EVERYTHING! He had a very elaborate scheme planned and I fell for it all. I was completely surprised! We were in Whitewater, Wisconsin for a conference that he went to for work, and I was there for fun and to go somewhere I had never been.

So, a couple of weeks prior he had told me that there was a mingling event with all of the conference attendees and their significant others, and that it was a dressy affair. So, on that Saturday, he had told me to be ready by 4:30 and that he would come back to the hotel to change and we would leave. So I was all ready to go, all dressed up and everything. And then the phone in the hotel room rang, it was the front desk telling me that I had something at the desk and asked me to come pick it up. When I got down there, the woman handed me an envelope that said "please do me the favor of reading this letter in the lobby for reasons that I will explain in the letter". So I sat down and started reading. And immediately started bawling. So I'm sitting in the lobby, all dressed up, crying. In the letter he told me that there was no mingling event, that he had used that as an excuse for us to get dressed up because he was taking me to one of the nicest restaurants in Milwaukee. (The 21st best restaurant in the country.) The letter said that I should finish reading and if he hadn't met me in the lobby by the time I was done, to head back up to the room and he would meet me there. I waited for about 10 minutes (and read the letter once more) and headed back up to the room. Little did I know, he was in the hotel and had watched me leave to go down to the front desk. Once I was gone, he had gone into the room and set up candles and had champagne and champagne glasses with our names engraved on them. And that's what I saw when I walked back into the room. I cried even harder when I saw him standing there! And then he proposed. It was amazing!

He put so much thought into all of it. I'm a very lucky girl! (Also, the week prior, he had given me a gift certificate to get a manicure, so that my nails would look nice when I showed people the ring, although I didn't know that at the time. See, he thought of EVERYTHING!)

It could not have been more perfect! I'm crying just writing this.

Wow.

I am forever tied to Wisconsin!

Well friends, as it turns out, I came home from Wisconsin with something even better than cheese. . . I came home with an amazingly thoughtful fiance and one stunningly perfect engagement ring!!! Yes, this trip to Whitewater, WI proved to be thee most special trip I have ever taken. (My next entry will be about the proposal and the perfect weekend I just had. I just didn't want to leave you all hanging wondering about my cheese adventures.)

Heaven, here I come!

This blogger is headed to the CHEESE capital of the World . . . that's right, the great and wonderful state of Wisconsin! And I'm pretty darned excited. Any place that claims CHEESE as its finest product has got to be a blissful place. I'm hoping to find myself amongst all kinds of CHEESE statues, monuments, rivers, lakes and streams. I'm guessing that there will be little old ladies standing on the streets outside of their CHEESE stores passing out samples. And I bet there is just a whiff of sharp cheddar in the air that lingers over the whole state. Yummmm!!!

I will not return to Ohio without some sort of CHEESE-like item, whether that be CHEESE itself or a CHEESE-shaped magnet or a t-shirt with CHEESE on it or one of those CHEESE hats that Green Bay Packers fans always wear - I've always been a giant fan of those!!

This is going to be one heck of a trip! I can't wait. I'll be sure to share all of my CHEESE adventures when I return.

I have tendencies...

Ones that drive me nuts. And make me breathe hard. And sweat. And consume my everyday thoughts...

"Did I or did I not close the garage door?? Did I or did I not turn off the straightening iron?? Dammit!"

I definitely have some obsessive/compulsive tendencies. I will often turn the car around to double check the garage door - or sometimes call friends to do a drive by and let me know if it's closed - then I'll have to run inside to make sure the straightening iron was unplugged. It's a very unsettling feeling. And I know that if I didn't do these things, I couldn't focus on anything else until I knew for sure. But I am thankful that it's not to the degree to which some people suffer. (Anyone catch the MTV special about this disorder? Wow.) What a difficult way to live.

So, I would consider my tendencies mild, but annoying just the same. Anyone else have tendencies?

Looks like dirt to me

"It was a big clump of dirt," Rogers said as the Tigers knotted the Series at a game apiece. "Dirt and resin and all that stuff put together, when it's moist and you're rubbing up the baseball and it stays on your hand.
"And I wiped it off. I didn't know it was there and they told me and I took it off, and it wasn't a big deal."

- Kenny Rogers, Tigers' kick ass pitcher

Tony LaRussa believes him. Jim Leyland believes him. I believe him. Let's move on.

Tag, you're NOT it... anymore.

I just heard that tag is being banned on school playgrounds during recess. Yes, tag. And here are the reasons why:

1. Risk of injury. (such as falling down)
2. Potential for inappropriate touching.
3. Kids are of varying sizes and may tag someone too hard.

Your thoughts?

I think I'm old.

I tell ya, with technology the way that it is now, and how quickly everything is upgraded and downloaded, I find it hard to keep up. I do not consider myself technologically savvy, I can set up my dvd player, cable AND my old-school Nintendo to my tv (at the same time, thank you very much!) but I cannot download something from itunes, or jam out on my ipod or mp3 player or satellite radio, hell, I probably couldn't even burn a cd. I feel like I have missed the technology boat and have swum myself right into fuddy-duddy town.

But I also think that a lot of that stuff has its time in the sun, then it quickly fades away. And unfortunately I just don't have the expendable income to spend hundreds of dollars on fancy items like these only to have them be obsolete years later. And I just don't feel like i NEED these things.

But I'm glad these things exist, it's nice to know that we keep making advances in our society, but where will it all end?? I can't wait for the day when my phone is the primary hub for all technology, how fun to watch tv on that screen, huh?! Then I'm sure someone will come out with a phone that does just ONE more thing than the phone I have and my phone will suck.

I just hope we don't blow ourselves up. With this heavy reliance on technology, it seems bound to happen. One day, everything will go kaput. I just have that feeling. But maybe it's cause I'm old??

On another note...

I find it ridiculous that famous people are in commercials talking about how great boxed hair dye is. Am I really supposed to believe that Eva Longoria stopped at her local Target and bought a box of L'oreal Feria Chestnut brown hair color and plopped down in her bathroom to do her OWN hair? Yeah right. I'm sure she couldn't have possibly paid $8,000 to have that done.

It's just too unbelievable. And it bothers me.

Anyone I know can be famous.

Wow. A job well done to Dove for creating this campaign about real beauty. We know that famous people are make-upped, done up, plucked, primmed, starved, styled to the nines, and airbrushed to the hilt, but it's still refreshing to see things such as this as a reminder that given the proper committee, anyone could look famous.

Take a look at this "normal" girl go through the star treatment and become almost unrecognizable.

http://popsugar.com/48830

Pinch Me.

The De-troit Tigers. In the World Series. It's true.

A big woohoo and enthusiastic high five to all!!!

It's going to be very difficult for this blogger to sit still waiting for Game 1 on Saturday. The excitement is building!

p.s. I can't believe any of this. To go from the worst (WORST) team in baseball just two years ago, to the World Series... it doesn't get much better than that!! Jim Leyland for President!

I heart family.

This past weekend has solidified for me my desire to be a part of/have a big family. Spent the weekend with the BF’s family and had.a.blast. Seriously, there’s always something going on, somebody telling a story, people laughing, kids running around, it was chaotic and fun, and I just loved it. I love walking into a house and having to give 12 hugs before sitting down. It’s comforting and heartwarming.

My family isn’t like that. First of all, we’re not big. I have a small to medium size family (which has served me well over the past 28 years, let’s be clear.) And secondly, we’re not loud by any stretch of the imagination – on either side of my family. (Although, give my aunt and me some wine and we are by far the loudest of everyone.) Thirdly, and this part saddens me, we’re not a huggy family. And I totally want to be one. But that’s a hard thing to incorporate at this stage of the game, people don’t become huggers overnight. I’d probably get some strange looks and “what’s gotten in to her?” statements.

Sigh. So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one day I will be a part of a big, loud, funny family. Or if not, I’ll have to create one of my own. And dammit, I will.

*Please note that I mean no disrespect to my family – I love you all and think you’re great. And I would trade away none of you. Just try to be more loud, K!? :)

They Did It!

Yay! The Tigers beat the Yankees!

Such redemption. I love it!

On to California.

To Wear or What Not to Wear?

This past weekend I was going through some old photos from babyhood to my college years and it got me thinking. . . Now, I consider myself a fashion monger, I love to keep up with trends and the like and find great pleasure in doing so. But when looking through these photos, I thought to myself, "that's something that I thought looked good?" and "perhaps I'm not as fashion forward as I think I am." (Obviously there were some 80's choices that should not have been made, but I'm talking more about the high school/college years.) At the time, I thought everything I was wearing looked great. And I think that now as well. It's not like college was all THAT long ago, so trends haven't changed too, too much.

I guess what I'm saying is, every year I feel like I gain a better understanding of what looks good and what doesn't. But maybe I'm wrong. And I wondered if most people felt that they are getting better looking, either facially or fashionably, as the years go on?? If this is the case, is getting older really that bad of a thing?

My athletic support

Best of luck to the Detroit Tigers tonight as they begin a post-season 5-game series with the (loathsome, dreaded) Yankees!

I speak for everyone when I say that the Yankees have won enough, it's someone else's turn. Their years of bullying need to end. The Tigers deserve to continue. They had the best record in baseball for the vast majority of the season, after many, many dismal years.

I'm rooting for them all the way! Please join me in my support.

Churches are clever.

I am such a fan of the message boards outside of churches. I think the people who put those messages out there are super clever. I almost always chuckle at them and think they're quite funny. One that I've seen recently says this:

"Let's meet at my house Sunday before the big game"
- God

The message is clear and cute. Perhaps its my line of work that makes me appreciate these, but I really do think that churches really have a good handle on cleverness. God has a good sense of humor. I appreciate that.

The Autumnal Equinox

Happy First Day of Fall!

As far as I'm concerned, this ranks right up there as one of my favorite days of the year.

I hope this Fall season brings everyone much joy and coziness!

Bring on the McMuffins!

I hope everyone is sitting down. I have an announcement. This was just released....

McDonald’s considers selling breakfast all day!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14924690/


In related news, I must go change my pants.

A Letter to Lindsay Lohan:

Dear Lindsay,

I write this to you today not as a fan, but as a concerned human being who does not enjoy watching a train wreck. I am tired of you gumming up my beloved Us Weekly with your weekly tragedies. Between the partying, the numerous jaunts to the emergency room, the scathing letters from movie producers and famous Hollywood actors criticizing your poor work ethic, it's time to do yourself a favor and leave this life behind. Now, before you truly hurt yourself. I can see where this is all heading, and it ain't good.

Now I don't blame you for this. Not entirely anyway. I am certain that your mother, Dina, shoved you into this glitzy, glamorous life in a desperate attempt to live vicariously through you. She is perpetuating this downward spiral in the most horrid of motherly fashions. For a woman who calls herself "the white Oprah" she is certainly not allowing you to find your spirit. And I think the real Oprah would have something to say about that. And your dad, with his drug problems and prisons sentences and trying to steal your millions, surely isn't giving you the father figure that you and your siblings deserve. Your parents are money-grubbing dirtbags and for that, my heart goes out to you.

You're young, I get that. You like having a good time and what not, and you most certainly are allowed to make mistakes. But with these mistakes, you are losing whatever talent 10-year-old girls think you have (and some others, but I don't wish to debate this now), and are quickly becoming what every famous person fears, a Hollywood cliche. It's not too late. You are on the brink, but you don't have to jump off the ledge. Please heed my advice.

Save yourself. Skip the cushy, flashy stint in famous person rehab, which only spits you back out into the same destructive society, and go directly to a remote town in Iowa or somewhere and fade off into obscurity.

And ask Tara Reid to go with you.

Signed,
Me

Let the Season Begin!

Last night we had our kick-off bowling season league meeting. That's right, I'm in a bowling league. What??

I thoroughly enjoy bowling. And I won't apologize for it. At first it was just something that my friends and I thought would be fun to do (this is our second year), but now I find myself eating and breathing bowling and getting tres excited for the season to start. I don't think it's possible to have a bad time bowling. It's just a fun, silly game where you wear butt-ugly shoes and drink and laugh with your friends. What's not to like??

Just to show you how hardcore our team is, one of my friends/teammates is 5 1/2 months pregnant and is still bowling! And plans on bowling right up until the end!

We bowl every other Tuesday, which is nice. It gives us time to miss it in between and not get too overwhelmed with the obligation of going every week. Although every time we're there we always say that we wish we did it every week. :)

The season officially starts next Tuesday. Super fun! Wish me luck!

I'm in love!

I just wanted to say it.

September 11

I hesitate to write anything because it is so hard for me to put into words the memories and emotions that I feel surrounding this day.

I feel the same today as I did five years ago. Silent. For me, talking would have indicated that it was possible to think and form words, and it just wasn’t. And I’m finding that it’s still just as difficult.

But I know that, with a tear in my eye, I will always remember.

Why on Earth does someone need this?

Has anyone seen this new Glade plug-in that's a 'light show'? Apparently it changes color while plugged in. What is the benefit of that? An air freshener is supposed to make a room SMELL good, not light it up. Period. End of story.

And you can only see it change color when the lights are off. And if the lights are off that usually means that you are not in the room. Or you are sleeping. In which case, the constant changing of the lights is distracting and annoying.

And the commercial for this product is stupid. And the thing costs $11.99. Whatev.

Oh right, the Reunion.

Well, so last week was The Reunion. I was expecting much worse, but in all honesty, I didn't hate it. There was minimal "so, what are you doing now?" crap. Mainly because I just hung out and talked with my friends who already knew those answers. There were a few faces I did not remember and a couple of people who I didn't think would be there that were, that I was excited to see. All in all, it was a mediocre time. Very anti-climatic.

So, to answer those burning questions I posed last week, that you've all been sitting on the edge of seats waiting for...

• Will anyone lie about their position in life? Um, to my knowledge, and those that I talked to, no one really appeared to lie about what they were doing these days. Rats! I thought I would uncover at least one fink.
• Where will I sit? Well, I sat where I thought I'd sit. At the cool table. With my friends. Discussing (read: gossiping) about who was there. And yes, to my recollection, everyone sat with the same people they would have in the high school cafeteria.
• Would I be nice to everyone? Of course I was. You don't get voted the Coolest by mouthing off and insulting people.
• Are things still funny 10 years later? Um, not so much. As much as people wanted them to be, they just weren't.
• Will people get into a fight? Sadly, no.
• King and Queen? No. Damn it. I was a shoe-in if there was.
• Can I retake my Senior Pictures? I have an appointment next Thursday.

Ultimately I discovered that 10 years does not really change people too much. Personalities are the same. And I didn't notice too many (if any) dramatic makeovers or makeunders. I wasn't surprised by much. Some people are married or engaged, some have kids, some are single. And others are happy, some are trying to be happy and some are just coasting. Oh well. What can you do? We're just a humble, middle American high school, that for one night thought we would reconnect, because it's just something you do. It happened. I lived it. Now I'm moving on.

But I will always have fond memories of high school. Cause I liked it. But I think I'll probably just take them with me and remember them on my own time.

Peace Out RHS.

Good news for Everyone!

Who couldn't use some good news??

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14715843/

I'm so happy, I could spit!

Ugh, foiled again!

I ask you: Is it possible to walk into Target and leave without spending less than $50?? Cause I can't seem to do it.

A simple jaunt to my favorite all-in-one store left me $76.24 poorer. And I just laughed at myself. Those Target people are SMAR-ART, they really know how to appeal to the consumer in me, even when I just need 5 simple items, they some how find a way to keep me in the store for over an hour and convince me to purchase multiple items (I had to trade-in the basket I had for a cart), including a frozen pizza?? Why the hell do I need a frozen pizza from Target?? I dunno, but I got one.

Somebody over there really knows what they are doing. Target is consumer crack. And I LOVE it!

The Reunion Special.

Tomorrow is my 10-year class reunion. ("You're old" jokes are not welcome.) I still can't believe it. Time really moves.

So, it's just got me thinking all kinds of random things...

• What if people totally lie about what they're doing now in order to squash their lame high school reputation?
• Where will I sit? Will there be a complete regression back to the high school cafeteria and will we all sit with the same people we did back then?
• Will I be nice to people I didn't particularly care for? Because it doesn't matter anymore.
• Are the things that were funny in high school still funny 10-years later?
• What if people who didn't like each other back then are there and they get in a fight?
• Do they do King and Queen of the 10-year Reunion? If so, I hope I win! (It will be redemption, won't it S?? Hahaha!!)
• I've never liked my senior pictures. Can I get new ones taken in honor of the 10-year anniversary?

Should be an interesting night. There are all kinds of cliches surrounding these silly things. Who's gained/lost weight? Who's successful? Who's not... blah, blah, blah... I'm not interested in that. I want to know the answers to these questions. I'll be sure to give a full report after Saturday.

Signed,
The Coolest Girl in the Class of 1996

Giving it everything he's got.

Yesss!! He pulled out another one!

In a match that lasted until nearly 1 a.m.

I stayed up and watched the whole thing. I had to.

GO ANDRE!