Tomorrow Is Another Day...

Working Girl

I got the job!!  My future boss called this afternoon to make an offer and I plan to call back tomorrow morning to accept.  It seems like such a great working environment, I think the position will have plenty of learning opportunities without becoming a huge stress in my life, and I just love the idea of working in a bustling downtown area.  So, I'm planning to enjoy my next week and a half of freedom to its fullest extent because as of September 11 I'll once again be a slave to The Man.

But as of right now I have 12 hours to do two loads of laundry, choose my outfits, pack, get in a quick run and cash in some savings bonds before I leave for the airport.  Hope you all have an awesome Labor Day weekend and I'll meet you all back here in a few days!

I'm Just Here For A Minute!

I wish I could spend forever updating you all on what's been going on with me lately, but I have a huge wedding report to get filled out tonight and then I need to start on laundry so I can pack for New York tomorrow.  Really, I just wanted to get that blog birthday post off of the top and give you a quick peek at what I've been up to since last week.

Colby ended up making it home on Friday night, so he was able to come to the fabulous shower Lori threw for us.  Since most of our friends are spread across the country, attendance was on the smaller side, but I really loved getting to catch up with our friends who could be there, and we had a great time drinking wine and playing our Scene It: Men Vs. Women party game.  The women did end up winning, but it was more DESPITE having me on their team than due to it--here's a little clue as to just how helpful I was in our coup... (Hint, I'm the one with the wine induced Southern drawl screaming out the wrong answer)

Sunday we headed to Seattle and started the wedding ring search.  I want to have my ring custom made, just because my engagement ring has such beautiful details and I've had trouble finding anything in a jewelry store that complements it well.  The jewelry designer we spoke to was so easy to work with, seemed to know exactly what I wanted, and gave us what I think was an extremely reasonable quote.  Colby is sitting on it for a little while, but we'll probably head back the next weekend that Colby and I are both in town to start the process since it'll take 3-6 weeks to have it made.  Then we looked for rings for Colby and it was just a night and day experience.  It's not that it's been a bad experience, it's just that there are only so many times you can look at a plain white gold six millimeter band before they all start to run together in your head.  There was one store that I think is our front runner, so we'll probably head back there and make the purchase once I have me a J-O-B.

Speaking of which!  I haven't talked much about it up until this point, but I've been going through a job interview process for the past few weeks, and after meeting with upper management today, I feel pretty good about it.  The job description was sent my way by a friend who already works there, so it helps to have a recommendation from an employee, and I think that I've done well with all of the interviews and I should be hearing from them tomorrow.  The office is downtown, so this morning we did a trial run with the train and the office is only a half mile from the station, so if I get the job it'll make for a nice one mile walk each day, which is approximately one more mile than I've been walking per day recently.

Tomorrow will be a fun-filled day of pre-trip errands and packing, and then I head out for New York Thursday afternoon where I'll get to hang out with some of my favorite friends that I haven't seen in far too long and then it's distinctly possible that I'll be an employed, contributing member of society when I get back home.  I know Colby and our honeymoon savings account hopes so.

I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to blog again between now and then, but I'll try to give you all a visit, and will definitely be back next week with lots of pictures and stories from the Big Apple!

"It's Mah Blawg Birthday!!" Subtitled: An Ode to Parenthetical Phrases

Hoo boy, folks, it has been QUITE A WEEK!  There have been visits to the doggy doctor after a half of a package of semi-sweet chocolate chips were ingested in the middle of the night, there was a faux computer crashing incident in which I panicked, prayed to God to please save my computer, and then immediately forgot all of my heavenly promises when my wedding invitation list appeared to be unscathed upon recovery (but really, thanks God for intervening with Microsoft for me), and today I had a job interview and decided that my fiance must have dropped off the face of the planet (Oh, wait, no, he just called!).  But you know what, all of that is just unimportant water under the bridge now because guess what--it's my bloggy birthday today!

Yep, two years ago today I sat alone in my apartment, probably watching Laguna Beach or The Real World, when I was bitten by the blogging bug and decided that it would be a fantastic idea to share my life with a bunch of strangers on the internet.  How could that ever possibly be a bad idea!  Luckily for me, it has turned out to be very much not a bad idea, and in fact an AWESOME one, and no one is more surprised than me that two years later I'm still plugging away at this on a semi-regular basis.

I've decided to stick with the same method of celebration that I used for my first birthday last year and recap the past year of adventures, providing extra fascinating links that will provide you with hours of unimaginable entertainment while you're bored at work.  (Not that I would blog at work, that's really very unprofessional of you.  Consider yourself scolded.)

So, beginning in the month of August a FULL YEAR AGO (which is forever if you're a newborn) I got the news that my separation from the Air Force had been approved, and then immediately freaked the hell out because wait, does that mean they're not going to pay mean anymore?  Didn't think that one all the way through!

When September rolled around I finally managed to catch up with all of the angsty fourteen year old girls in the world when I read The Bell Jar and had my world rocked.  I recognize that I was a little bit behind the curve on that emotional milestone, but at least it finally came.  Later in the month I took a trip to Seattle to visit Colby and our poor little Southern souls were destroyed when we saw the cost of real estate in the area after a week of house hunting, then I got home and was honored to find out that I had been nominated for Company Grade Officer of the Quarter.  Which was super fantastic until I found out I had to put together my own nomination package.  In the next five hours.  Oh Air Force, how I (do not) miss thee!  Oh, and then we bought a house.  (And I suggest you cherish and love those pictures, because I've been promising pictures of the actual house we live in for months now, and you see how well that's turned out.)

In October I finally followed through with the pictures I'd been promising from my Seattle trip (it's a recurring theme with me, promising pictures and then not delivering... but you guys love the chase!).  I also decided to share my love for real life spooky encounters, and started Thriller Thursdays throughout the month documenting a number of "unexplained" events that had occurred in my life.  Scary!  Even more scary?  The fact that I decided that I needed to think about saving my pennies for the inevitable jobless future.  (Ask me how that turned out, go ahead, ask!)  Then Colby came to visit for the last time before his four month deployment and we got all serious and set ourselves a wedding date.  Oh, and then my budget went to crap and my friend, Kelly, won the Miss Arkansas USA Pageant... all in a days work, really.  (Busy month!)

November got off to a GREAT start when Colby began his four month deployment to the Place That Shall Not Be Named, I had an (ahem) minor freakout about our relationship, and then I got a speeding ticket from a really intimidating policeman.  Awesome month so far!  Oh, but then it does get awesome, because I started cataloging my shoes--hey, I should get back to that, it was really fun!  For me...  Anyway, then came a lovely Thanksgiving with my family and the exciting news that I had found The Dress.  You know for The Wedding that was still waiting for an actual Engagement!  But lo, I digress.

In December I took part in Holidailies, which means there are a lot of really boring posts, but things got a little spicy when I got all political and had a discussion about gay marriage/parenting, one of the few platforms about which I actually have strong feelings.  (I'm not really very political, you see, but I'd be happy to share with you my passionate feelings about what direction I think Grey's Anatomy should take this season.)  Then it occurred to me that, hey, I'm actually happy, how should I deal with this strange turn of events?  And that pretty much sums up December.  Hello, boring, so nice to meet you!

January was kicked off with a recap of the holiday season, the crowning event being the Wicked party that my sister and I threw for a bunch of our equally dorky friends.  (Yeah, that's me with the green face.)  Soon after I freaked out about moving some more and then found out that my date of separation had been moved and I had less than a month left in the Air Force.  Man, that seems like so long ago...  Then I was like, hey, I know how I can make some money!  I'm going to start selling my shoes!  And that really went surprisingly well.  Finally I got the chance to break the news about the very exciting Girls at War book project that L spearheaded, and is still very much a top priority for us.  You know, other than our upcoming weddings that are a month apart.  But then, after that?  TOP priority.  And I ended the month by getting all sappy and nostalgic about a person I don't even like very much.  Weird?  Oh yeah.

In early February I was all, aw crap, I'm moving in a week, maybe I should start packing?   But then some people came and did it for me and I was kind of like, awesome?  But, no, more like awkward and terribly uncomfortable actually.  Then it was the last day of my active duty Air Force career, and I moved back to my parents' house for a month to wait for Colby to get home.  That was... interesting.

I kind of took March off from blogging, which is good, since this is really getting obscenely long.  But that is the month that Colby returned home from his deployment, a story which certainly merits a mention.  And maybe a little hysterical laughter.  That was also the month that he officially popped the question and we made the exhausting trip from Louisiana to Washington.  I am a testament to just how exhausting that trip was since I slept pretty much the whole time.

In April I promised to post pictures of the engagement and our engagement party and shower.  And then I didn't.  See, told you it was a trend!  And then I did post pictures, and everyone was like that's great, but you still owe us a green olive experience.

May in Seattle turned out to be quite a lovely time weather-wise, and we took advantage of it by staking our claim on a small hill in a park down the street from our house.  Then we decided that it was time to put grass in the back yard, and that turned out a little differently than we'd expected.  So, to make ourselves feel better about the failed grass project, we went out and made our first joint furniture purchase.  Well, joint in that we both picked it out and then Colby paid for it.  Remember, I'm unemployed.  And not very good at budgeting.

I opened June with a love letter to traveling and then to make myself feel better about the fact that I NEVER TRAVEL, I bought some shoes and went out to dinner to meet one of my bestest online buds.  The next week, I died from horror when I went to buy plane tickets to New York for my bachelorette party, because the prices, they were not cheap.  Which plays a rather large part in why I never travel.  At the end of the month we had a security system installed, much to Colby's chagrin, but then I got to play the "See, I told ya so!" card, and talked about where I think my fears about home security stem from.  And then I lost all credibility when I butchered my bangs in a fit of insomnia and found out that a short story I wrote was accepted for publication.  So, you take the good with the bad sometimes!

In July I stayed busy with all things British, namely discovering Dr. Who, seeing the 5th Harry Potter movie and tearing through the 7th book the second it arrived on my doorstep.  So, not really ALL things British, but there was a definite trend.  And then I yapped the most I have EVER yapped here about wedding stuff.  Oh, and I finished designing the program today, and it looks awesome!

And at long, long, really LONG last we come full circle, back to August.  It's been both a great month of completely uncharacteristic amounts of social activity and a not so great month of embarrassing sartorial slip-ups and expensive car problems. 

So, that brings me to the end of my annual blog birthday roundup.  Thank you so much to those of you who have been here with me doing this since the beginning, and also thanks to the more recently acquired blog friends.  On days when Colby is gone and I can't stand the silence anymore, and the conversations with the dogs just aren't stimulating enough, I know that I can always come to this crazy little world we have to find friendship and laughter.  Here's to a third year of this nutty venture--I really hope you stick around for the ride!

*Snort*

I'm pretty much madly and deeply in love with this video, as I'm sure anyone else will be who has planned or is planning a wedding.  Also, England, will you marry me?

"It's a wedding ribbon..."  Ha!

A Different Kind of Saturday

Well, into each life a little contrast must fall, and this weekend is certainly proving to be the antithesis of last.  But you know, I'm cool with that.  I fancy myself fairly adroit in social situations--mostly I'm a good listener, so I feel like I give other people an opportunity to talk while I sit or stand and smile prettily, making supportive noises from time to time.  I like to dance, I like to drink delicious martinis, I love an excuse to get all dolled up for an evening, but I also really, really like to sit at home with my dogs and catch up on the past two seasons of Big Love and then read one of the six books I just bought at Borders.

The night before Colby left, we went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix since he still hadn't seem it and it was rapidly disappearing from theaters.  The theater was in a mall, and on the way out he decided to stop in the book store and pick up a book to read on his trip.  Now, as some of you already know, entering a bookshop is a very dangerous proposition for me and I actually contemplated just waiting outside on one of the benches.  Instead, I ignored the alarm bells ringing in my head and went in, heading straight for the reduced price paperback section.  Despite the fact that I had to overcome the difficulty of having already read almost everything that was on sale, I did manage to leave the store with the aforementioned six books.  Colby just shook his head in wonder, but you know what?  I blame him, he should have known better than to leave me alone in that place while he wandered the hallowed full price shelves.  Hey, what can I say, he's got a job, so he can afford the good stuff.

So, what was I saying?  Oh yeah, I'm totally boring.  Colby is pretty much my social coordinator, so when he's out of town I get to stay in my pajamas all day and eat chocolate chips out of the bag while watching High School Musical 2 without worrying about getting anywhere on time.  I had the best intentions of going for a run today, but the apparently the weather suddenly remembered that this is Seattle and it was about time it started acting like it, so it's been raining all day.  And not a delightful, misty rain that I actually enjoy running in, but a cold, hostile rain with big fat drops that smack you in the face and sog up your running kleenex.  Which, am I alone in that?  Does anyone else have great difficulty with their sinuses turning into a lava flow while running?  If I don't bring a tissue or two with me for a run, it just turns into a really horrifying situation.  So bizarre.  I don't understand.

Also, while we're on the topic of running, I would like to chat briefly about the importance of putting a leash on your precious puppies once you exit the confines of your property.  Actually, no.  Use a leash once you leave the confines of your FENCED IN property.  So if your dog is lolling about in your front yard while you wash your car or pull weeds?  Put it on a leash.  Believe me, I completely understand that you think your dog is the most amazing, most well trained dog on the entire planet--possibly even the known universe--but may I just remind you that it is a DOG and that sometimes DOGS get crazy ideas into their little pea brains and that no human owner is going to sway them from their crazed decisions, proferred Snausage or not? 

Case in point:  Two nights ago I was out for a run, enjoying the fact that there were no speed walkers present to breeze by me and smiling politely at couples out for a stroll with their babies.  It was all very suburban and pleasant, and I was looking forward to getting back home and rewarding myself with a chocolate pudding.  Then suddenly, through the mellifluous sounds of Britney trilling in my ear, I hear a sharp whistle, and then, if this is possible, a second panicked whistle.  Shortly after, there was a jingling noise and it seemed to be coming closer and closer.  I slowed my pace, took off one of my earphones and turned around to confront a half grown, yet GIANT, boxer barreling toward me at top speed.

And let me interrupt to clarify that this was indeed a canine boxer and not an adolescent "person who fights as a sport, usually with gloved fists, according to set rules" as defined by dictionary.com.  (Although how amusing and unexpected would that be?  To be running along in your neighborhood and then find yourself being chased by a burly young man in satin shorts and padded gloves?)

So, back to our story, there's a big ass dog running at me, full tilt, and all I could do was stand there, earphones in one hand and the other hand outstretched in a sort of "Stop! In the name of love" interpretative dance move.  It was dark, so I couldn't tell for sure, but it appeared as though the dog's tongue was hanging out of the side of its mouth and I thought that maybe his tail was wagging a bit?  So, I threw all of my eggs in one basket, said a quick prayer to a God whom I really hoped was paying attention right then, and began to jog in a playful manner toward the dog.  I used my best puppy baby voice, and lo and behold the dog stopped running toward me and instead waited for me to meet it and then we kind of jogged together in the direction of its owner until proper training once more took hold and the boxer went bolting back to its owner of its own accord.

So, luckily for me, in this instance the unleashed attack dog turned out to be more of a nuisance than an actual threat (although it did screw up my time--annoying!), but I ask you?  What if it hadn't been playing?  What was I supposed to have done then?  Negotiate?  "Hello large dog with very sharp teeth, I am currently uninsured and have a wedding in which I am co-starring in just over 3 months--this would be a really terrible time to be mauled by an aggressive animal."  Play dead?  Then I think it would just find it easier to rip out my throat.  I'm thinking of starting to carry some pepper spray with me, but I worry, could someone sue me if I pepper sprayed the crap out of their dog?  This is the first time that I've actually been chased by one of the dogs in the neighborhood, but it is about the millionth time that I've passed one that was not on a leash and just kept my fingers crossed that it wasn't in the mood for a run.  I don't know.  It's a bit of a dilemma.

Sigh.  So, anyway, that's pretty much been the highlight of the past few days.  That and doing a bit of math and realizing that since the car repair payment went on next month's billing cycle I will INDEED be able to pay off my credit card bill before I jet off to NYC for Bachelorette Party Extravaganza: Part One in less than two weeks!  I think you would be terribly proud of me if you knew just how many pairs of shoes and cute tops I DIDN'T buy in order to finally achieve this feat of financial prowess.  Although, just think if that dog had viciously attacked--I may be missing various appendages and be horribly scarred, but I'll bet after we took them to court I'd be able to BUY New York City with money to spare.  But on further review, I think I'd prefer to keep all of various parts intact.  So my previous decree stands: Put a leash on your damn disobedient dog (alliteration!).  Thank you.

We Are Now Entering the No-Judging Zone

I've been contemplating something for a couple of years now, and it's been on my mind more and more often in the past few months.  It's something that I don't really feel comfortable talking to most people about because I've heard the judgment and even passed judgment myself on this particular decision when other people make it.  I've been doing research online and talking to a few select friends about it, constantly weighing the pros and cons, but I still don't feel any closer to a decision than I did two years ago when I first started thinking about it.  So, enough with the hedging, I'll just come out and say it.

I think I want to get breast implants.

Now, I know everything that you're probably screaming at your computer monitor right now--I've said it all myself and I can vouch for the fact that this is not an easy decision to make.

I know the health risks, I know that it becomes more difficult to detect the lumps that can be early warning signs for cancer, I know about the possible numbing effects the surgery can have, I know that an implant can explode and make you extremely sick, I know that if I do this I'll be another one of those girls that so many people target for mockery and silicone jokes, I know that I'll have to do maintenance every ten years or so to ensure that I don't look like I stuck softballs in my chest.  I know that there are people who will tell me that that I'm beautiful just the way I am and there are those who think I'm doing this for "my man" or because I'm not secure with my own body image.

The truth is, if I ever decide to take the plunge and get implants, it would be completely and entirely for me and for no one else.  Ever since I was 12 years old and started to see the chests blossoming on my friends and the beautiful bras they wore while I still had trouble filling out my training bras, I've waited for my own "blossoming" to occur.  When I was eighteen and still no larger than I had been 5 years earlier I searched and read with great relief all of the articles that said that many women still developed into their early 20s.  I kept holding out hope, but now at 24, rapidly approaching 25 (oh my God!), I think it's safe to say that I've done just about all of the developing that nature intended.

I think that there are many, MANY beautiful small-breasted women.  I mean, Audrey Hepburn, Kate Hudson, Debra Messing just to name a few--gorgeous, style icons, incredibly sexy bodies and amazing confidence.  My problem is that I feel like Audrey Hepburn on top and Jennifer Lopez on the bottom.  For the briefest moment in time I wore the smallest B cup possible, but that was when my weight was much higher than I liked it, and now that I'm back in my preferred weight zone I struggle to fill out an A.  I bet there are a bunch of you out there saying, "Hey, I understand, I'm flat as a board too," but no, seriously, my girls have got nothing on a mosquito bite.  I really just want to make my top proportional to my bottom.  I don't want to have a Playboy Playmate rack, I just don't want to look like a Weeble anymore.

I know that Colby is perfectly fine with me just the way I am, and he's told me many times that there is nothing that I need to change about myself to make him happy.  And I believe him entirely.  And truthfully, if I never do go ahead with an augmentation, I will still be happy with myself.  I love that I've got a rocking booty, I think my arms are pretty fabulous, and I know that my eyes are a great feature.  Over the past few years I feel like I've finally developed my own style and really become comfortable with my appearance, and even consider myself to clean up pretty darn well.  I suppose I just feel like this could be the icing on the cake of me.

So the two things stopping me are the health concerns and the fear of society's judgment, because, let's face it, if I suddenly go from a small A to a C in my mid 20s, there is just no way I can blame that on growing into womanhood.  That is going to be obvious and people are going to talk, it's just a fact.  Beyond that, I know that there's a history of breast cancer in my family--although my mom did have genetic testing done and now we know that my sister and I did not inherit that gene from her--still, more and more women are finding lumps these days, and the disease has already hit close enough to home for me to take it extremely seriously.

I've also considered waiting until after we have children to get any work done, in hopes of staving off any potential breast feeding issues, but I really don't know what I think about that either.   Colby and I both know that we want to wait another four or five years until we start a family (assuming that everything goes to plan of course--I know that I came as something as a surprised to my parents, so I realize that you can't necessarily plan it down to the hour), and do I really want to wait that long to do something that is just for me?  And then after we have kids, will I still be able to justify shelling out the money for myself rather than putting it toward a college fund or a new crib?  And the biggest question, will I even WANT to breastfeed?  I just don't know.

What I do know is that every friend I have who has had the surgery done has been nothing but thrilled with the results.  Have they had them for ten years yet?  No.  So I don't know what their opinion will be down the road.  But I can sense the increased confidence they have, I see them really owning their clothes and their bodies, and I see them finally excited to buy a dress or top that they never could have pulled off before.  I can see the pros so clearly, but the hazy cons of all the "what ifs" always float up in front of me just when I think I have my decision made. 

Anyway, this is all something that wouldn't happen for at least another year--I want to focus on the wedding right now and then get our honeymoon paid for.  But next year will be the last of my car payments, and I'll  have begun working full time again and finally have steady income.  And maybe by then I'll have reached some clarity about where I should go with this.  In the meantime I'll just grin and bear it each time I have to stick a chicken cutlet into my padded bra so I can fill out a top and pray for the day when bust minimizers come back in fashion and I can finally feel superior to all of you lucky gals with naturally fabulous cleavage!

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Of course, in my last post I forgot to mention two of the defining moments of the past week.  Moments that just when I start to think my life is all roses and buttercups, remind me that yes, this is really my life.

Since the wedding was a morning and early afternoon affair, I decided to hold off on the hot little red number I bought a couple of months ago and went with a more modest LBD that I found at the Banana Republic outlet for half off.  I've dubbed it my Grace Kelly dress--this is the dress except mine is solid black and I wore it with a wide red belt, red heels, and a red clutch:

(Can I just interrupt myself for a minute to gush about how much I love this polka dotted dress oh my God!)

So, anyway, I was in a rush toward the end of the dressing process and I quickly pulled on the dress and accessories and ran downstairs where the boys were waiting for me.  The ceremony went off without a hitch, we mingled with margaritas and passed hors d'oeuvres for a little while and then sat down for lunch to be served.  Some time after the first course, I noticed that my pearl necklace had fallen beneath the neck of the dress, so I reached in to pull it out.  As my fingers made contact with the pearls, they also made contact with something else--not the wool fabric of the skirt, nor the silky lining, but something a bit coarser... and small... like... a tag.   Y'all, I'd been wearing my dress backwards the WHOLE DAMN DAY!  The front and the back of the dress are cut in very much the same way, except for the fact that the front of the dress has DARTS where MOST women need the extra room for their girls.  But nope, not this flat chested girly!  I eventually made my way to the bathroom to give my dress a spin, but no one seemed able to tell the difference, and I'm just going to rack that up to my amazing ability to wear a dress flawlessly and with unquestionable style.

The day prior to the wedding was Colby's squadron picnic, and we decided to drop my car off at the shop to have it checked out as it is hovering right below the 80,000 mile mark and has never had a speck of maintenance done to it aside from semi-regular oil changes (I know, shame on me), two new tires, and some fluid replacement.  Mostly I wanted to have all of the belts looked at since my dad put the fear of God in me a few months ago about a belt snapping and destroying the entire engine before I even get the gol-durned thing paid off.  So, we leave it at the shop and then go tra-la-laing on to the beach.  Less than an hour later I get a phone call from the shop.  Here's a little dramatic re-enactment of our conversation:

Shop Guy: Well, we just took a look at your Tribute and it looks like all of the belts are in perfectly fine condition.

Me: (breathing a HUGE sigh of relief) Oh, fabulous!  I was really worried since they'd never been checked out. That'll save me some money!

Shop Guy:...Yeah... Well, we took a look at your battery and it looks like it's going to need to be replaced to get it back up to specs, and that'll run you around $100 dollars.

Me: (cheerful outlook, faltering slightly, but hey $100 still isn't all that terrible) Okay, well...

Shop Guy: Um, also two of your tires look good, but the others have extremely low tread and they really need to be replaced soon, so the tires will be around $100 apiece and the alignment will be $40.

Me: (really glad I replaced those other two tires when I actually had some money) Oh.  Okay...

Shop Guy:  And we checked out your brakes and your brake pads are worn down to {insert proper number here that equates to REALLY REALLY freaking worn down} so we're going to have to replace those and do some other brake type stuff that he actually specified but I can't remember all of the words now.  And that'll be about $400.

Me: (thoroughly defeated and near tears) Well... okay.  I mean... wow, $400??  Really??  I'm going to have to talk to my fiance about this...

Shop Guy:  Okay, and if you want to have him call me back that's fine.  Oh, and we found a leak too, so that's going to be another $50 for the dye test.

Me:  *Sob*

So, anyway, I let Colby talk to the guy and then he talked to some of his car knowledgeable friends and they determined that the battery could wait for a bit since I haven't had any problems with it yet, hold off on the brake pads and they'll do some tinkering with them and fix the brake stuff themselves, but I did need to go ahead with the new tires and the dye test since my car definitely has been dripping something that is not water.  I had really thought that by the end of this month I would be able to get my credit card bill fully paid off, something I've been struggling to do for months now, and I really wanted to have a clean slate before I went to New York on the 30th, but alas, after a $400 hit on Friday and a possible new battery, all of the stuff we'll still have to buy to do our own labor on the brakes, and Lord knows what is going to come of this dye test, it's just not going to happen. 

But hey, at least my fan belt is in super awesome shape!  Yay.

And in more news from the trenches, Colby got a phone call last night that a 10 day trip had just dropped and he was the only person available to go... and he'd have to leave today.  So, I just dropped him off on base so that they can fly Over There and this means two things: 1) We won't be going to the wedding this weekend that I was going to be able to wear my hot little red number to and 2) He probably won't be home by the 25th to go to the super fun wedding shower that Lori is throwing for us.  To say that we were both bummed would be a HUGE understatement, but once again searching desperately for the silver lining to this cloud, at least he'll be getting a tax free paycheck this month.  Yay.

Anyway, feel free to cross all of your crossables that his trip will be miraculously cut short and he'll be home by the night of the 24th, and in the meantime I'll have plenty of time to catch up on all of the blogs that my feed reader keeps screaming at me about!

I Just Can't Keep Up Anymore

So, the past week has contained just as much social activity as I can possibly handle.  I've spent the past two days in hermit-like recovery, attempting to rebuild all of the mingling/conversational/charming cells that have been expended recently.

Our whirlwind of activity kicked off last Wednesday with the deceptively named Golf Pros and Tennis Hos bachelor/bachelorette party.  I got myself all tarted up in a short pleated skirt, knee socks, super high heels a low cut tank top and a pushup bra and we loaded up the car with some other friends who live near us and headed up to Seattle.  Eventually, we met up with the rest of the party who had already moved on from their first stop of the night and were camped out at Marcus's Martini Heaven (and oh yes, the martinis were heavenly).  So, we walk down the stairs into the bar and are accosted by a motley crew of drunken "Golf Pros" and a definite dearth of "Tennis Hos".  I started looking around for some other hos to mingle with, and suddenly realized that all of the girls in the bar were with our party, and unfortunately their definition of "Ho" seemed to involve the terms "twin sets", "sneakers", and "visors".  Y'all, these girls looked like they were actually ready to leap out onto the court and play a game of tennis--I felt like a lone slut in a sea of ever so slightly disapproving tennis professionals.  However, I proceeded to order a Strawberry Drop at the bar and managed to have myself a good old time anyway--holding myself fully responsible for carrying out the intent of the "Tennis Ho" epithet.

We eventually made out of the martini bar and began a long walk around Pioneer Square searching for our next destination, which unfortunately turned out to be closed due to electrical problems.  Of course.  So, as I neared the point of desperation that would cause me to throw myself on Colby and beg him to carry me the rest of the way, the leader of our group of golf pros, tennis players, and the token slut, was accosted by a very loud, very persuasive girl who convinced us to try out a dubious looking bar by the name of Fuel, which really should have been our first clue in retrospect.  So, with promises of a free cover charge, we made our way across the street and into the bar.  It was immediately obvious that we were completely out of place in our polos, sweater sets, and golf caps as the Wednesday night regulars with their dyed black hair, pierced eyebrows, and oversized Nirvana t-shirts glowered at us from all sides of the room as a screamy heavy metal band played their set from the stage in a connecting room.  We didn't spend too long at this charming establishment before moving on to yet another bar, Contour, at which point I stopped retaining actual memories and only have the haziest recollections of thinking I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised in Snoop Dogg and his posse were sitting in a dark corner booth sipping on Hennessey and smoking a suspicious looking cigarette.

So, Thursday I spent laid out on the couch, thanking God that I didn't have a job nor any responsibilities, and when Colby got home from work I was still in exactly the same position as he had left me 8 hours earlier.

Friday I was still feeling a little pain from our late Wednesday night adventures, but I dragged myself out of bed and made myself presentable for Colby's squadron picnic/late promotion party.  We spent the day on a beach at Fort Lewis eating a large number of unhealthy dessert items and trying not to get too horribly burned by the sun.

The culminating event of the week was on Saturday and is what shall heretofore be known as the LONGEST. WEDDING. EVER.  Don't get me wrong, we had a great time, but this wedding was truly a day long event.  The ceremony kicked off at eleven in the morning, and because the powers that be have decided to shut down 3 of our 5 lanes of traffic on I-5, we decided to give ourselves plenty of buffer time to get there, so we left the house at 10 o'clock, once again with a car load of people.  After the ceremony there was a four hour long reception with delicious food and ridiculously weak margaritas.  I know I'm a light weight, so if after five margaritas I'm still not feeling anything, I hold the bartender responsible.  Once the reception was over, we had three hours to kill, so we all went over to hang out at the pool at our friends' apartment complex, and later that night we headed to downtown Bellevue where the new Mr. and Mrs. came out to meet up with all of us again and they still seemed to be going strong at eleven o'clock when we decided we just couldn't take any more excitement.  It was almost one o'clock before we got everyone back to their respective cars and got ourselves into bed, so hopefully now you will forgive me for my extended absence from both my blog and yours.

I finally feel somewhat recovered today, so I'm going to try to make the blog rounds and catch up with everyone but please don't hate me if I find myself unable to be witty or otherwise impressive in your comments section, that part of my regeneration process is still very much ongoing...

Things That Are Annoying

Thing #1:  Fruit flies.  I have been fighting a war against the Fruit fly Nation for over a month now, and every time I start to think that just maybe I'm going to win, I'll see four or five of them camping out on the cupboard door or flying lazy loops around the trashcan, just waiting for me to open it so they can zoom in for dinner.  Through the miraculous invention of the internet search engine (I think it's here to stay!), I was able to find a few responses to "How do I get rid of fruit flies?"  Unfortunately, the techniques I've found have managed to drain the stash of beer that Colby can only find in a specific part of the country where we don't live, and brought to light the fact that while I keep innocently thinking there are only a couple of the little bastards there are in fact trillions of them flying around in shifts.  The one good thing that has come of this is that I can proudly call myself a fruit fly ace, having killed, at last count, approximately 70 of the disgusting little flying demons over the past month.  I think I deserve a medal.  AND a chest to pin it on.

Thing #2:  M.I.A. Remote Control.  The one thing that we can count on our dogs to accomplish, without fail, is the total destruction of any remote control left in their presence when we're out of the area.  So far we're down two remotes and have managed to not replace either one yet, though it's not for lack of trying.  After driving around town two weeks ago, in a fruitless (NOT fruit fly) search for a Comcast DVR remote I finally decided to turn to my trusty and dependable friend, Ebay.  I found the DVR remote from a seller who was offering a fantastic low price, checked his approval rating which appeared to be high, and went through with the process.  That was two weeks ago today, and we still haven't gotten the remote.  I'm planning to send a note his way asking when he shipped it because I am suffering major tv withdrawal.  I have reached such heights of laziness that it's just too much of a bother to stand up, walk aaaaaalllllll the way across the room (approximately 8 feet) and fool around with changing the channel at the cable box.  And on top of that, I can't even pause and fast forward through commercials!  My life is MISERABLE!  I mean, just kill me now and get it over with!

Thing #3: Colby's Schedule.  This is sort of a recurring theme of complaint with me, and it's actually not just the fact that he's gone a lot that bothers me, it's my method of coping with it that is starting to become extremely annoying.  I mean, I know the deal, he's gone A LOT, I signed up for it, I can deal with it, I'm not expecting that things will change at least in the next few years as far as his frequency of departure.  But I am starting to feel a bit numb to it, and I don't really like that.  When he's away I sort of deal with it by trying not to think about him much, and I think toward the end of his last 5 week trip he was starting to feel the chill and I hated that.  Even when he is around I find that I'm constantly reminding myself that he could be gone at anytime and I shouldn't get too used to him being around.  This sucks, because he could very well be home for two or three weeks at a time and every day I'm just sort of expecting him to not be there instead of enjoying the time we do have.

Thing #4:  Diets.  Blech.  I've kept up the running, but today I'm getting back on track with my diet and will hopefully start to see some results in the next couple of weeks.  It's pretty cool seeing the muscles develop in my legs and arms, and I know if I could lose the layer of fat there I'd have some decent ab muscles, but lordy lordy, it is a LOT more fun to eat brownies and ice cream than apples and green beans.  I mean, apples and green beans are tasty enough in their place, but there is just NO competition there when you throw the brownies into the ring!

Thing #5:  Our neighbors shiteous backyard and front garden which have become veritable weed jungles.  I swear there is one weed in their front yard that has grown to such proportions that it looks just like a baby tree.  And their backyard is just disgusting, which is fine, that's their business I suppose, but it's sending little weed reinforcements into OUR backyard which makes it not fine.  Growl.  Plus they have an annoying yappy dog.

And the final thing, which is not annoying, but somehow extremely and utterly earthshaking to me:

Thing #6:  My little sister has flown the coop, spread her wings, and moved far, far away from home.  She hasn't actually lived at home full time for four years now, but when you go to college 20 minutes away from your parents house, it's pretty much a given that you're going to be back at their house, eating their food, using their hot water, and enjoying the benefits of their cable selection on a fairly regular basis.  But last weekend my parents packed up all of her things in a U-Haul, jumped in their cars, and drove her far, far away from home.  To a place that is not New York City, but will maybe someday lead to a certain career path which would then maybe lead to New York City--and not as a diner waitress.  So, it's kind of weird for me to process that.  If I go home to visit my parents, Brittany won't necessarily be there.  If I need to ask my mom a question I can't just instant message my sister and ask her to shout the question down the hall for me.  When I want to mail her something I will have to actually LOOK UP HER ADDRESS and not just mail it to the address where I lived most of my own life.  And it's especially bizarre to me because as far as I am concerned, my sister stopped aging at 13, and quite frankly, I think it's just unacceptable to expect a 13 year old to go out into this big bad world and make it on her own.  But, in all reality, I think she's probably much more capable of surviving in the world on her own than I am, and I know she'll be okay.  Knowing my sister she's probably already made 50 bestest friends ever and is throwing a Broadway theme party on Friday for which the entire city will probably turn out in their most sparkly and spangly attire.  Yep.  She'll be fine.  It's the rest of us who still think she's 13 that I'm most worried about.  That's kind of insane.

Here I Are!

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth... yet!  Colby's parents just headed out of town today and I have over 300 new posts to catch up on in my Google reader... you people sure have been prolific lately!

Life always manages to get more entertaining when Colby is in town.  This weekend was Seafair, so we spent Saturday out on Lake Washington in Colby's friend's boat and were graced with some truly beautiful weather.  It was my first time out on a boat other than a canoe or a ferry, so I was a little nervous about how my stomach would handle the waves and how much fun it could possibly be to float around in a hunk of metal and plastic for 7 hours.  In the morning the sky was overcast and the wind was a little chilly still, so for the hour that we spent zipping around in the wind I was really starting to wish I was curled up back in bed, but when the sun eventually broke through, it turned out to be a gorgeous day, and the Malibu and pineapple juice helped to mellow me out a bit more!

Yesterday was a great project day.  Our garage is starting to clear out bit by bit--there's even the possibility that we can fit some cars in there by next week.  We bought some heavy duty shelves to hang from the ceiling and got a good deal of stuff up off the floor that we don't foresee a huge need for in the near future (left over exterior paint, carpeting, wood flooring, etc) and near the front in the more accessible areas we had room for Colby's trip bags, ice chests and Christmas decorations.  We're planning an exciting trip to the dump tomorrow to finally get rid of our huge stockpile of giant black garbage bags and the Salvation Army truck will be here on Friday to clear out the furniture and boxes of clothes and random STUFF that is taking up nearly a third of the garage.  It's really kind of depressing when I think about how exciting garage projects have become, but that's another story for another blog.

But just when I've determined that we have devolved into old fogy hermit people who thrill with excitement at the thought of a garage shelving unit and have actual opinions about what is actually better--Lowe's or Home Depot, we get an invite to a Golf Pros and Tennis Hos themed bachelor/bachelorette party and I feel like I'm back in college all over again.  The day when I can no longer get any satisfaction from dressing like a tramp and drinking a boatload of mixed drinks while dancing and making lots of "WOO!" noises will be a truly sad day indeed.