Full Circle

Dr soc and I took this weekend to visit Lexington and select some of the major wedding things.  When we first discussed marriage I told him I wanted to get married in Lexington, since it's where I grew up and it's where we met, and he agreed. 

So we get into town and are heading out to appointments, but dr soc needed to get new shoes.  He had stained them when cutting my parents grass (such a good future son-in-law!), and since I will never turn down a chance to go shoe shopping, we add that to our list of errands.  I tried on a fabulous pair of royal blue Betsy Johnson shoes that were a half-size too small, but they were fabulous and on sale so I had to at the very least try them on.  (I considered them for my wedding shoes, but I decided that cutting off a few toes to wear them all wedding day long wasn't worth it).  But dr soc eventually found a pair he liked and on sale, so we start walking back to the car to grab lunch and then look at some venues. 

We're about to cross into the parking lot, and we're waiting on this one last car to turn.  As it drives past, I noticed it has a school insignia vanity plate, which I quickly read, judged and forgot about.  I look to my other side to see if we can finally cross when dr soc says "oh my god," and laughs a little nervously.

me: What?
dr soc: That, that was my ex-girlfriend. Sh*t.
me: Which one?
dr soc: K.
me: Ohhh.  Ok.
dr soc (flustered): Hell, I haven't seen her in something like 3 years.  I move from Lexington and the weekend that I come back with my fiance, to look at wedding stuff, I see her.  I guess things come full circle.
me: --Snort--

I laughed because I know their history, (well, his side) so I know this was an ugly breakup, a big o'l mess later totally Lifetime movie* story worth. And because I am supportive, I end up getting a major kick out of this and giggle over it for the next 2 days at his discomfort.  Yep, supportive.  Now I just wonder if we'll see the other ex when we go take our engagement pictures. 

*If he was the central character of the movie, the movie would end happily by him receiving my eharmony profile.  But since it's a Lifetime movie, the movie would more than likely feature his ex as the main character and portray him as the calous guy)
 

Negative Anniversary

In exactly one year, dr soc and I are going to become dr and mrs soc!  In other words, it's our negative anniversary. 

I'd say I'm excited ;)

For Me

Remember that wedding gown that arrived in December 2008 that caused me so much strife and nearly killed me?  I've only looked at it twice.  The first time was in a moment of weakness when it first arrived, and I cried and cried and cried.  The second time was shortly after dr soc moved to Charlotte and I knew I would marry him.  And when I looked at it that time, I felt happy, hopeful, and a little bit giddy.

That's when I knew I would get to wear my wedding gown.  And I don't feel bad about that at all.  I don't believe that I'm wearing a the dress I got for another wedding.  I got that dress because I felt beautiful in it.  Because I felt like a bride in it.  I didn't get this dress for another guy. I got that dress for me.

Best Rapture Day EVER!!

Saturday was supposed to be the rapture and the world was going to end.  I put no stock into this because I have plans and these plans do not account for the world ending. 

Anyway, Saturday was an ordinary day except for that Mike and I found find our favorite Chinese restaurant.  The food was really good, the servers were attentive, and oh yeah,

IT'S WHERE HE PROPOSED!!!!!!!!

I was so in shock that I don't even remember saying yes, he put the ring on my finger and the whole place clapped and cheered for us as I cried and we hugged.  It was beautiful and wonderful and romantic and just the happiest moment of my life.  I haven't been able to stop squealing and giggling since.

So, the world didn't end.  But it certainly did change! Best rapture day ever.  

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

This was how long my hair was at noon today:

Long and healthy.  It's been growing out since January 2009. 

 And this is what it looks like now!

Cute and summery and swishy!

I lopped off  10 inches and plan to donate it.  This will be my 3rd time doing so.  Now my only question is should I donate it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths or Locks of Love?  Sick kids or sick women?  Tough call.
Well, I think I'll go with Pantene this time like I planned and then next time I'll give to Locks of Love. 
Swish!

Marathon Reality

I just signed up to run my first Marathon. November 5, 2011, Savannah, Ga.  It's a Rock and Roll series race, so it should be a lot of fun.
Umm, yeah, I'm nervous.  But hey, I'm going to do it!
So. Savannah, here I run!

Cuddle Buddy

How do I not take a picture of this?   

Hey, mom. We don't take pictures of you while you sleep.

Seriously, I was powerless against the napping cuteness.

Linked

Hey, whats with my ex boyfriends wanting me to join their professional network on Linked In?   

Yeah, I have a profile on Linked In.  I use the term profile loosely though.  I have something like half a profile with my name, my most recent library job, and my two schools, but that's it.  Not even a picture.  I updated my profession as recent grad shortly after I graduated, but that's about it.  I don't even know if I changed my city.

But every now and again I get those so-and-so would like to add you to their professional network emails.  After I get a few I log in, accept the request and that's about it.  But the last two were sent within a few days of each other and they were both from ex-boyfriends.  Which struck me as a funny coincidence, considering about a month ago the ex-fiance sent me a request. (Right around the time dr soc and I started ring shopping. Yeah, little awkward).  That was the one request I took care of in a professional time frame though.  I was going to wait a while but then I didn't want to keep getting reminders from him/Linked In, so I logged in rejected his request in a timely fashion. 

Anyway, I just thought it was weird that some of my ex's think I'm worth some sort link on a professional level.

Subject Matter

I don't have anything to talk about except my wedding.

I don't have a job so I can't talk about that.  I could talk about my job search, but there's not much there either.  And it's depressing.  It's the same thing every day. Check the sites, check the job postings, and apply for a few if you are somewhat qualified for.  I'm getting an interview here and there, enough to get my hopes up but then nothing ever comes of it.  And that really hurts because I am so personable, a hard worker and I'm a team player, but I can't get hired.

I have to retake the gre, and I need to study for it.  But...what's there to talk about that?  Want to know what I learned today? Math problems and vocabulary.  Did you know the root arch means principal, chief, ruller?  (no wonder architects can be such assholes (none of my friends are though, of course!))  Yeah, like anyone wants to hear about that.   

I don't even have cute puppy stories to share.  Now that they've gotten use to each other all they do is sleep and fart.  Nothing talking worthey.
 
But the wedding....the wedding, I can talk about.  That is where the details are.  That is where I can go on and on and on about the differences between silk shaunting and dutchess satin and why I need some larger tables here and smaller tables there and why Katie is at table 4 and Laura is at table 15 across the room and how we need to have escort cards becasue we're doing meal choice and not a big seating chart posted somewhere and  how big the grooms cake can be big but not too big so that it's difficult to work with and what songs we want played during the cocktail hour and I want certain family pictures but not others and how I don't care about the flowers as long as they come in on budget and what the guys will be wearing and I can't decided if I like a white tux jacket for my groom because of how it could look with my dress, and I need to find a seemstress here to get my dress altered but first I have get it here, but I have to figure out when to run a marathon so I don't have a rapid figure change between fittings and how long do I want my hair to so I can put it up so when do I need to cut it and......

Yeah.....

I really wish I had something else to talk about.

Color Wheel

In theory, a (western) wedding is a ceremony joining two people together and then a party after.  But there's no rule that says you even have to have a party after.  There's no rules that you have to have a lot of things.

Like wedding colors.  There is no rule that says I have to have colors for my wedding.

However, that's kinda just the way it goes now a days. You have colors, if nothing else to put the bridesmaids in and for the flowers.  (hey, do I have to have flowers?)

So I'm on the knot looking at color combinations and pallets, and the color combination I was instantly drawn to and delighted me was lemon and lime.  Really, really liked it and thought, that would work.  It's bright and fun and springy and easy.  But, there's no pink in there.  There's no rule that I have to have pink for my wedding.

Except that, yeah well, I do.  It's me.  And there has to be pink.  Because there just does.

Helpful

In a few years dr soc is going to need a new car.  Because he likes to research, he's looking at makes and models and fuel efficiency and all that other car stuff to get an idea of what he'll want when the time comes.  Every now and again, he'll point out a car to me that he likes or wants to look into further.

I have never really been a "car person."  I want something safe and reliable, that gets me to point A to point B.  I don't know makes, models or anything like that.  (hell, for a while there I didn't know what my new car was, I kept calling it a Camry.  Dr soc had to correct me a few times before I got it strait).  But I've gotten into the new car spirit and occasionally I notice a car I would like to look into more for the future.

I can be very helpful at times (see: ring shopping).  Other times, not so much.

me: I saw a car I liked today.
dr soc: Oh yeah? What was it?
me: Um, I'm not sure.
dr soc: Okay... Do you know the name?
me: Not sure.
dr soc: How about the brand?
me: Nope. Don't find that out either.
dr soc: Okay. So. You saw a car you like then huh?
me: Yep. It had 4 doors. And it was silver.
dr soc: That narrows it down. 
me: Well, at least I think it was silver
dr soc: Well, that's helpful. Great job.
me: You're welcome.

A Cheesy Poem for My Mom

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
My mom's the bestest,
Don't you wish you had her too?
  
Happy Mother's Day Mom!

My Old Kentucky Home

I may live in North Carolina now, but the first Saturday in May is a great day to be a Kentuckian! 
Happy Derby Day!

Tied in "Knots"

Planning a wedding is daunting for some. Me, not so much. (I have been dreaming of my wedding since I was 6 (yes, I am that girl.  And no, you are probably not surprised by that)). As soon as I was in sight of the tulle vortex, I took off squealing like a kid in a candy store and didn't look back.  (nope, didn't even pretend to hold it back)

There was one place though, that I didn't dare venture to: The knot.  The knot terrifies me.  I was on the knot for my first wedding and it scared me then too. (Though that could have been due to my apprehensions towards the marriage and that wedding planning was a chore.)  I got about 2 step into it before I realized brides be crazy.  In a bride's defense, it's very easy to get caught up in all the hoopla, glamor and romance of it all.  The wedding industry is a 4 million dollar industry for a reason.  The knot saw the market and capitalized on it, it's good business.  But still, the site slightly terrifies me.  Because I don't want to drink the kool-aid and turn into one of those caricatures who think that the big day is doomed by not having the perfect shade of pink silk hand embroidered by blind nuns.

While I didn't shy away from planning this wedding in the slightest, I still need ideas.  I'm very visual and sometimes, you just have to see things to know if it'll work or not.  And the knot, has lots and lots of images.  Believe me, I wanted to avoid that crazy if at all possible.  I google searched and tried to circumnavigate around it (and bing is bullshit, I don't care), but 80% of what I wanted more details on is somehow knot related.  You only have to join the site and log in to see anything.  So I caved and joined.  I put in my email (a new one since dr soc and I have an account for all wedding stuff.  Not to mention I can't use my email because it's still linked to my first wedding and ex's name since you can't delete your account. (The knot does not think anyone will calling off a wedding. How could anyone want to do that?))  But I as I hit submit with my info, I grasped for that last strand of defiance and thought: FINE!! I will join the knot. ::stomps off::

Plan Ahead

So.  I may have already settled on the date, have a venue in mind, and selected the photographer, the caterer and the cake maker.  I just haven't put down any deposits yet into securing any of them.  I also started the guest list a few weeks back and figured out how many invites I need.  I also may have figured out how many hotel rooms I would need.  And since I couldn't seem to stop I also may have done the preliminary seating chart.  The bonus? I got an extra table.

At the rate I'm going, I'll have nothing left to plan when it's actual planning time!

Think It Through

So I'm listening in on a conversation between three ladies before my Zumba class. (Oh, whatever.  It wasn't like they were huddled in the corner whispering and having a private conversation.)  One of the ladies is going to Australia (or somewhere on that side of the word) for a long time, either for work or her husband's job or a kid's over there, something.  It's either a move or a long enough trip that things here need to be put in order.  Well, one of the things to put in order was the family dog.  I don't know what they were actually doing, giving it to a family member for some time, giving it away completely, but I do know that they weren't taking him (I guess) with them, even though it broke their heart to be away for that long.
    
This didn't sit well with one of the ladies not going on the trip.  She kept badgering the woman about looking into other options, saying stuff like "are you sure you can't take him with you? And "how hard is it to do this..." and so forth.  And the lady going over seas had an answer for everything.  The dog would have to be cleared by the vet here first.  Then once they arrive at their destination, the dog would have to remain in quarantine for a few months. Months.  By the time the dog was cleared to live in Australia, it would almost be time to start the whole thing over again to come back to the States.  Not to mention, the flight alone from LA to Sydney is 14 hours, and this dog would have to be in a crate in the checked baggage section of the plane, which is not temperature controlled.  Maybe this dog was small enough to fit in a carrier under a seat, but still, 14 hour flight.  (I'll save my it's not fair that little dogs wearing a diaper are allowed in the passenger part but but bigger dogs like my Bailey (who is midsized (and a horrible traveler so I wouldn't take her anyway but that's so not my point)) have to be in a crate in luggage part rant for another day). 

The point? The traveling woman had thought about it, looked into it, and realized the best thing for everyone, though upsetting, was to leave the dog here.   And it really annoyed me that this woman had to defend her choice of doing the best thing. 

I felt that I received a lot of questioning a few years ago when I was struggling with the complete upheaval of my life. (No one in particular, just a lot of questions)  Believe me, I thought everything back and forth inside out upside down and backwards before I came to or announced a decision.  So when someone questions you, it feels like they are dismissing your thought process.  I know often times most people are just trying to help.  But stop trying to do so when you can see the person has  thought it through, but just didn't let you be privy to their entire thought process.  

Going to Need a Bigger Boat

I had an interview this afternoon (yay!) for a part time position.  The job isn't what I thought it would be, but what it is still sounds good and something I would be good at.  (It wasn't a bait and switch like the other "interview" I had, just not what I thought.)  We started the interview early since I arrived a little early, and I flew through the questions they asked me, so it's hard for me to gauge how it went one way or the other. 

Well, anyway, it's a part time position, which is not ideal because I have need medical.  But it's at a place I want to work at and right now I just need to get something and my foot in the door.  Especially now, because a whole slew of fresh graduates are about to enter the job market. 

The market's tough as it is, and everyone is looking.  But at least graduating in December, I entered the market with fewer of me.  And now, with graduation approaching again, all of those fresh out of college kids are plopping their names and resumes into the applicant pond.  The job pool is staying the same. But now, there's just a lot more guppies in there.