Match

I love color.  Ergo, I love fiesta ware.  I was all set to pick out the colors I wanted and have a rainbow of dinnerware.  And Mike is pretty easy going and lets me roll with (most) kitchen stuff, since I'm the one who does most of the cooking.  He didn't really know what fiestaware was exactly, so he was cool with it. 

Until we stopped in a store and I showed it to him.  As I'm mentally selecting the pieces I want from the array of products and giddily adding them to the registry, Mike notices that there's a lot of colors to choose from.

mike: So, what color did you want to get?
me: Um, color? Just one? 'Cause I wanted to get the scarlet, tangerine, sunflower, cobalt, plum, shamrock, the black, and maybe the brown.
mike: All of those?
me: Yeah...
mike (slowly): So, they wouldn't match?
me (quickly): They match! They're all the same shape and brand.
mike: But, you would put, say, the yellow plate and a red bowl together? Or, we would have 4 different plate colors on the table?
me (excitedly): Yeah!
mike: But...
me: Ok, so they don't "match" exactly in color.  More coordinate.
mike: but they won't match.
me: Well, no....not that way.
--beat--
:sigh: I just lost you on the fiestaware didn't I?
mike: Yeah...
me: Boo!

Simple

Dogs are such simple creatures.  I don't mean simple as in dumb.  Though, lets be honest, Bailey has some real bonehead moments.  But I still love her, at both her dumb and smart moments.  But what I mean by simple, is how uncomplicated things are for them.

I say this because sometimes, I look at my dogs and I'm amazed at the simplicity of their life. All they want is for us to feed them (plus all the cheese and peanut butter in the house), and a safe place for them to go. And for that, they give me affection and companionship.

a cuddle is all we ask for momma! and cheese. we LOVE cheese

Pretty even trade if you ask me!

Logic

I look young.  I'm used to peoples' initial shock, but most people don't care that much and move on to other more important things.  Other people, it blows thier 'effing mind.  So they keep harping on how young I look.  And that's when I tend to get a little annoyed and/or snarky.
Like I was to one of my coworkers. He sits across for me during a break and opens with:

dude: So, I'm, like, still trying to figure out how you're 29.
me: I was born in 1982. That's how.

Not Typical, But Not Bad

So, my mom may be an un-mother of the bride type.  But she's not a bad mother of the bride. She's redoing parts of their house for the wedding, which is awesome. And, even thought she's not "assisting in any planning I may need," I don't need much help anyway.  And it's even better that way, because she's not trying to influence, commandeer or take over anything. So I get exactly what I want.
So, she's actually a pretty awesome mother of the bride.  Cool.

Mother of the Bride

"Your main responsibility as the mother of the bride is to assist your daughter and future son in law in all of the planning and details."
My mother...not so much.  My mother, is the most un-mother-of-the-bride I have ever encountered.  She doesn't want to plan anything.  Granted, I've got almost everything covered and I really don't need much help.  But that's not the point. I was babbling about some of the details to her and it went in one ear and out the other.  It's not that she's not happy for us, but she just isn't paying attention.

I think she just wants to be told when and where to show up.  She's not even dress shopping. And I'm pretty sure that for a fleeting second, she seriously wondered if she could wear the same dress she wore for my sister's wedding.
 
Hey Amy, was she like this for you?

Noisy

I've mentioned that Jules is gassy, yes?  And that she seems to not notice, react, or care about the noise, the smell or human reactions either yes?

Well, it finally happened.  Jules farted loud enough that even she was startled.

She was squirming around, grunting and trying to burrow under a blanket on the couch, and she lets one. Typical Jules behavior.  But this time, she actually stopped, mid squirm, and looked around for the source of the noise!  Of course, the noise at that particular moment was me, braying like a donkey at her reaction.

What? I have no shame. And if I wasn't gassy, then I wouldnt't be your Jules!

Mean Something

I knocked something loose in my engagement ring at work the other day, so yesterday we stopped by the jewelers to get it fixed and look at wedding bands.  (It was something fun and happy to do after looking at care facilities for my dad. Another sad blog for another day.)  Since I have a marquise cut, a skilled/experienced jeweler has to work on my ring and not just some lay person (who works with diamonds!) in the back. So once again I had to once again hand over my beloved shiny and wait for it to come back.  This is what I get for wanting wear my ring all the time.

Well, anyway, since we were going to go to the jewelers, we decided to look for our wedding bands while we were there.  Which, squeee!  I'm sure it's no surprise that I'm excited about that, with the wedding practically planed and all, but still. It's the our rings part, that makes it meaningful. I knew it probably wouldn't be that hard to find something for me, since we have the engagement ring to start from. Sometimes engagement rings even come with a matching wedding band. Which it did, so it was really easy for me.  But for Mike's ring, we didn't really have a physical starting point.

It is Mike's wedding ring, so it really is his choice as to what he wants.  But that didn't stop me from putting in my own 2 (or 8, whatever) cents worth.  Fortunately, we have similar tastes and liked a lot of the same things.  After he tried on a few different band widths, metals, and slightly different subtle designs, we found one we liked.  The only question now was what metal to go with, white gold or palladium.

I for one, had no idea what the difference is.  So I asked, and turns out palladium is an element on the periodic table right next to platinum (it was not one of the 70 I was supposed have memorized for chem 107, so you bet your ass I didn't learn that). So it's almost chemically the same as platinum, won't change colors or need to be re-dipped in a few years, and it's super durable.  It just happens to be worthless.  So as the jeweler is in the back figuring our the price difference between gold and palladium, Mike and I are debating which metal he wants.  They look the same to us, but if palladium was significantly less money, then it would be more practical going the cheaper (but worthless) route.   
And even though Mike tends to be much more practical about money than I am, (see: I want a volvo and he keeps saying no) this was one case that he was leaning towards spending a little extra.  Because his wedding band symbolically means a lot, he wants the ring to have at least some worth.  (I know, awww!)  But turns out, for the ring Mike's getting, the prices are the same between metals.  So, white gold and meaningful it is!

But Then We Wouldn't Get Quiche

This year, I'm in 3 different fantasy football leagues.  I know, right?  I don't play sports with balls or teams and here I am now with three different teams.  It's crazy.  The two new ones this year are in leagues with Mike, but my original ladies only league is in it's 5th year and still going strong.

There are only two rules that have been in place since the beginning.  One: all women. And 2: no asking the boyfriend/husband for help. We've never traded, we can remember some of our guys from years past, but rarely do we remember if they were actually any good or not, and our picking "strategy," is sometimes based on critical factors such as hotness levels and names. My first year I picked Trent Green as a backup QB solely because I think he's soooo good looking.* I didn't even know (care) what team he played for at the time (and still don't).    

Since fantasy football is such an ingrained part of football culture now, many bars/restaurants offer special deals to groups that have their your draft there.  However, one thing we've always had at our live drafts, is brunch.  Seriously.  One year everyone seemed to bring some sort of bread, another was fruit-type things, and another was egg/quiche dishes.  The topic of moving the draft location to a restaurant was broached last year, but Jeanne voiced what we were all thinking: But then we wouldn't get quiche.

This is the first year we didn't do an in person draft though. There's so many schedules to work with and not all of us live close, so it's actually pretty amazing that we have been able to coordinate an in-person the years before. And while we still did a live draft online, it just wasn't the same.  Mainly because it was a Tuesday night, Mike made pizza for dinner, and the draft was done in a little over an hour.  It was just funny how the part we missed the most was the brunch.

*My fiance looks a little like Trent Green.  It works for both of us. He loves football so he doesn't mind me having a few** football crushes (too much).
** Aaron Rodgers received the coveted football husband spot.  Boyfriends are: Cam Newton, DeAngelo Williams, (Panther love), Ray Rice if he keeps putting up awesome numbers, and that Deion Sanders kid circa the 1990's.

Never Forget

I'm not going to post an introspective where were you 10 years ago post.  I don't need to watch and listen to all the tributes and memorial services today either. I'm just going to quote Jen Lancaster's tweet since I think she expressed my sentiment perfectly:

You don't need to remind me to remember because I will never forget. 

Watch the princess bride or I'll divorce you

Watch the Princess Bride or I'll divorce you. Replace "any Disney movie" for Princess bride and you have my life.

Last night:  
me (sprawling on the couch): Ooooh the Lion King in theaters again! In 3d!
mike: you know, I don't think I've ever seen the Lion King.
--here I bolt upright to a sitting position, my eyes widen and I and gasp in horror--
me: WHAT??
mike: Well I know of this part.
--Here he mimics the famous Rafiki holding Simba cub to the Sahara screen shot.--
Still being in complete shock over his announcement, I do not find his attempt at charades humorous, nor does it justify his Lion King viewing lack.
me: Everybody knows that part! What do you mean you haven't ever seen the Lion King?!
mike: I just haven't seen it.
me: How is that even possible? Everybody has seen the Lion King!
mike: Hey, that's not true. Think of when it came out, I was too old to see Disney movies in theaters.
me: That is not true. I saw it in theaters. You are never to old to see Disney movies in theaters.
mike: You're a girl
me: That's no matter.  This is unacceptable. It is a very good thing that it is coming to theaters, because we are most definitely going to go see it now.
mike: Well, if that's what you want...
me: Of course. God, I still cannot believe you haven't seen the Lion King.
mike: HA! I just got out of Step Up 4!
me: Worth it.

Note: I'm sure some other terrible sea creature movie will come out around the same time as Step up 4ever does.  And even one doesn't, that's what I have my girlfriends for. 

Shark Night

So. My fiance loves sharks. And if you've been to a movie theater in the past few months and/or watched any half hour of shark week, you were probably aware that a movie called Shark Night 3d was coming.  It opened this this weekend.  I'm sure it's no surprise that Mike was super excited about this movie. And I'm sure it's no surprise that our date night tonight was dinner and Shark Night 3D.

It was bad.  And not in that campy syfy movie way that knows it's so bad that it's good way.  Bad creepy bad.  But it had it's moments of hilarity and absurdness too.  In fairness, I may have liked the movie experience a little better if the teenager behind me hadn't kicked my seat 5 times, and if she had kept her voice down. I'm all for making snarky comments during a movie, just keep them between you and the person next to you, not the whole theater.  She was at least chastised enough when I turned around and hissed at her to "please stop kicking," that she said sorry.  And then when she slipped or something and kicked it the last time right before the movie ended I heard her say "sh*t!" 

Mike enjoyed the movie though so there's that.  And now, he owes me a dancing movie, so there's that again.  And Step Up 4ever should come out in 2012.  Yep. There's that! 

Mom car

Mike and I have been talking about replacing his car in a few years. I have this tendency to plan ahead as much as I can (see: wedding planning), even though I've only had Cam* for less than a year, since we were talking about Mike's car, I started thinking about what kind of mom** car I want.

I decided I want a Subaru Outback because my friend had one, and they are very safe cars.  My mom car first and foremost, has to be safe (which is why my friend got that car in the first place).  But a new Subaru is on the more expensive side and probably out of our price range that we, ok, Mike, wants to spend.  So he keeps trying to tell me that the Subaru won't happen, and I conveniently keep "forgetting" that.  Then it turns out, that Mike's old boss from hell just got a new Subaru.  And because I do listen, once we learned that info I immediately crossed that brand off the list.

kathy: E got a Subaru.
mike: Oh, crap...
me: Honey, I don't want a Subaru anymore.
mike: Phew
me: Oh! We should get a Lexus instead!
mike: WHAT?

I was totally kidding!  I don't actually want a Lexus. Now I want a Volvo.  Because I still need a new mom car.  Though apparently, fancy safe German engineering is "expensive" as well.  It being a safe import and all.

But here's a great twist to the car story: Mike's dad just got a sweet new car and he's giving Mike his old one, which is only a few years old.  So now we don't have to replace Mike's car in a few years, which is a huge relief.  Not to mention so generous on my future father-in-law's part (and MiL too)! 

So now that we don't have to save for Mike's new car, now we can save for my Volvo!

*Cam is what I named my Corolla. It's short for Camry, since that is what I kept thinking I drove for the first month of having the car.   It is not short for Cameron, like the rookie quarterback of the my Carolina Panthers. (my poor, poor Panthers). 
**Have I mentioned that I know Mike will be such a good daddy? 'Cause he totally will be.***
***Think my sucking up will help me get a Volvo?  Maybe?