While My Checkbook Gently Weeps

T and I put the deposit down on our reception site for the wedding.

Sigh.

I hate spending money.

No, really. Especially when it is the kind of money that drains your checkbook. Don't get me wrong, T and I have set a budget and are steadfast in our 'stick-to-it-ness', but still. Ooph.

Oh well, its the sort of thing you only do once, right? It's the one day that is supposed to be just about you (and mate), and what you want.

T and I both hate to be the center of attention.

I was talking to 'lil bro J the other day about wedding dress shopping (He brought it up. Random.) and he was horrified to learn that I want no freaking part of shopping for a dress. The idea of having to wear something white (WHITE! The one color I DO NOT WEAR. Well, white and yellow.) and look like a princess while everyone in my life stares at me and takes pictures makes me want to curl up in the fetal position and sob to myself.

No, I'm serious. (And I am wearing white. My father is laughing from the grave.) I don't like to have my picture taken, I don't like to be stared at, I don't like to 'pose', I don't like speaking in front of people....Yuck.

T is rallying. He is all about getting married, which I respect. (I am also all about getting married, i just don't want anyone to look at me while i do it.) He is confident and ready to stand before everyone in our lives and let the flashbulbs explode around him.

Sigh.

I have a year to worry about it, I know. I'm sure I will be so exhausted and overwhelmed that I won't care at that point, or I will rally and finally get through my head that I AM GETTING MARRIED. (It still doesn't seem real. is that abnormal? It just seems like I have more jewelry and T and I are spending more money than we usually do.)

Pah. No one on here cares about my wedding woes. Vent completed.

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I saw the Eurovan with a lift kit again today. I doubt I will ever understand.

I need to stay up until 5 am today and pick T up from work because I am a nice girl. I think this should be possible because I slept until 2pm today. (I have random bouts with insomnia, and when they suddenly break I will sleep for 15 hours or something. It's not great.) It always makes me feel like a loser when I sleep that late for no reason. Was I up all night curing cancer? No. Was I writing the great american novel? No. Was I sitting in my garage smoking/watching knitting videos on the internet? Yes. Whoo! Changing the world, baby.

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Everyone needs to try 'Pluots'. They are apricot/plum hybrids and the most delicious thing ever not created by God. (I hate fuzzy fruit. Love the taste of peaches but won't eat them because they are fuzzy and that is totally disgusting in my mouth, thank you. {And yes, I am marrying an Italian man. I know you all needed that mental image. You're welcome.)

More New Life

My ex-coworker and friend gave birth to a nine pound, six ounce baby girl this afternoon. I'm sure she is just as beautiful as her mommy and big sister.

Thank God my friends are fertile so I don't have to be. :)

Let the knitting/sewing/swearing at inanimate objects commence!

Near Death, New Life, Stick and String Disaster

T and I started a new diet on Monday.

This diet promptly tried to kill me, and has since been amended to include things that will allow my body to remain upright, conscious, and living.

Hopefully I still lose weight.

It would seem that someone with mild hypo-glycemia issues should not cut all sugar and carbs out of their diet. It can cause something called keitosis, which is bad.

Bad bad bad.

I ate a plum and a whole wheat cracker and felt better instantly.

Praises.

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My dear old friend Moni (From Mo and Ozzy, over to your right) welcomed their firstborn son last night. From all text messages received and stalker-ish familial blog surfing on my part, he is a big healthy boy with really rockin' parents. (And seems to be a member of the red-headed club, which rocks!) Congratulations to you both--Many blessings to your family. :)

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Due to the new arrivals in this world as of late (another friend of mine had the same due date as Moni, and I believe she is giving birth to her second daughter as we speak), I have been knitting, and knitting, and knitting.....and failing, and failing, and failing.

Seriously? write knitting patterns in ENGLISH, please. Lord.

So all my friends with new babies? I have to wait until my mom deciphers the pattern for me before I finish the gifts for your newest members. I assume this is ok, as it is July and knitted items aren't in great demand at the moment.

Thanks.

More photos, I'm bored.

J doesn't like to pay attention when there are ladies present. Or ever, really.



Neither does his big brother.



I told you there was flash flooding!

Gross, Yet So Funny

There is a new game in the fraternity house I call home.

See, I am the only girl in the house. I live with T, T's brother J, J's friend M, and several weekends of the month the youngest of the clan (T is the middle child of 9, have I mentioned this before? 7 boys and 2 girls all told.), the 16 year old A.

The game is called "Godzilla".

The boys will drink gallons of soda and belch at each other across the house. It makes me laugh to no end. (I am a 17 year old boy at heart. I would have to be, with all the dick and fart jokes that surround me at any given moment.) A is currently working on a two liter of root beer, which he is drinking without the glass. T is reaping the benefits of that one, as I have hidden myself in the dining room.

J and A have taken to making dramatic vomiting sounds whenever T and I kiss each other. This is also hilarious, but we have made them swear to not do it during the wedding ceremony. Fire at will during the reception, but ceremony is off limits.

The only way I can counter all this "boy time" is to announce things having to do with my girlish-ness. They don't listen--only fart, burp and throw things. I have been solidly accepted as a sister, and with that comes the "I'm going to hold you down and fart on your face" and "I'm going to make shrill screeching noises at you while you're trying to talk on the phone" act. (It seems that boys don't grow out of that sort of behavior. Ever. I'm sure that when we are all grandparents they will be doing crap like this.)

Having been raised as an only child, with only adult sisters, this is a new and semi-refreshing experience. Aside from the smell, of course.

It's nice to know that they accept me as family. It's also nice to know that as much as they rub their dirty socks on my face, they will help me in any way I need it, and stand up for me if necessary.

I suppose it's a decent trade off.

Isn't that the meaning of family anyway? I'm going to smother you with gas and B.O. and then threaten to kill anyone who harms you. Because I care.

There are worse things, I'm sure.

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On a similar note, another game that was famous when the boys were smaller is called "Butt-Chewy". This involves two of them running at each other from as great a distance as possible, and then at the last minute leaping in the air and spinning so that you hit the other person with your butt. Whoever flies the furthest after being hit loses, I think....

J and T attempted to recreate this a few weeks ago, and it did not end well. They both collapsed to the floor of the dining room in pain and laughter, while I laughed and choked and tried to make sure they were alright and hadn't broken anything that belongs to me. (They hadn't.)

It has been decided that Butt-Chewy is and was easier when you weigh less than 200 pounds and are 12, rather than 27. Also, when you and the sibling you are leaping into are similar in size. (Puberty does strange things like, oh, making people grow taller.)

Yeah. Never a dull moment, I tell you.

Vegas, Baby.

We have returned from the desert, unscathed. We drove 500 more miles than we needed to in order to see the Grand Canyon, (Which is really big. No, I'm serious.) but other than that, everything was great.

And here are some photos to prove it.

Here we are at Tao, a restaurant/nightclub in the Venetian hotel, for T's sisters birthday. (That's the beautiful A in the background.)



The food was amazing. So amazing, in fact, that I broke a major rule and consumed sushi in a landlocked state. (In the desert, no less.)

We did have some adventures in eating, however. Whole baby crab, anyone? (Not alive, thankyouverymuch.)





Then we went to an exclusive part of the Tao nightclub, up on the roof, (Tao Beach, for those link-clickers out there. No, I'm not linking again.) where there was a lot of drinking, some dancing, and a bit of black-mail photo taking.

Note that they are not posted here. :)

The next day, we went and saw a Cirque De Soleil show, which was awesome. We had amazing seats, and I think everyone loved it. T's brother J would have liked it more, I'm sure, had he not been sitting next to me. (There are lots and lots of boobies in this show.)

Later, after sending the beautiful C (remember her from my birthday posts? College roomie?) back to the airport, my friend from HS J (I really need to assign people fake initials on here. Too many J's.) came down and we drove to the Grand Canyon.

Hoover Dam, anyone?




And then onward to the Canyon.






The photo where T is standing, arms outstretched, on a rock outcropping? Yeah, well....I was terrified of him flinging himself over the edge. So terrified that I went out there myself. And clung to him like a baby koala bear.

All in all, a great trip.

(Oh, and Brian? The flowers in the last post are a type of wild foxglove.)

Finally, photos

So this is going to be photo heavy.

Remember when I told the story of T and I staying up all night to watch the sunrise/I was terrified by a seal?

Here is the proof.







Yeah, so it's five thirty in the morning and I have been up all night in that pic. Forgive me and my lack of eyelashes.

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Ok, so here are some pics from my holiday weekend, where I spent my time trying to pretend that I don't hate most of my family, hiking the most aptly named beach on the planet, and eating a lot.






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Also, we believe we have picked our reception site for the wedding, which thrills me to no end. I have pics of that as well, but I will post them later.

We are leaving for Vegas on Friday, and it promises to be a great time all around. We will be visiting the Grand Canyon while we are there as well.

There will be no posting after this Thursday until the middle of next week.

I'm sure you are all wildly disappointed.