"Aw!", "Ew!", & "Whew!"

Yeah, that about sums up my weekend. In addition to working an extra 7 hours of overtime (which was a lot better than the 16 I thought I was going to have to work), here's a re-cap of the weekend's events:

Saturday
Worked 10 - 2. I then hit Old Navy to purchase the annual, matching $5 Flag T-shirts, as I do every year. Kevin gets a kick out of wearing matching clothes with me. Then I hit up Home Depot's sale on Perennials, where I got a ton of Coreopsis, and also some Zinnias and Blanket Flowers.

"Aw!"
After I came home, Kevin convinced me he wanted to go to the Brecksville Home Days. Little did I know this was a trick! Instead of going to Brecksville, he took me to Center Woods, where we hiked a ways out till we could see the Cleveland skyline. It was a gorgeous day, not a cloud in the sky. Kevin then produced a small box from the pocket of his shorts and opened it. Inside were our wedding rings. Aw! I didn't want to see mine before the wedding, but he was so anxious to show me. Probably, because the my ring is more like an engagement ring than a wedding ring, since there really was no formal proposal. I was a mess - crying all over him. Mostly because I was a total pill hiking to the spot - I kept tripping on branches and rocks, stubbing my toes, complaining the entire time. Then he brought out the rings and I felt like such a jackass. LOL

"Ew!"
That night, we worked out in the yard, doing some landscaping around our snowball tree and transplaning some grass plants. We wanted to get everything ready for Sunday, the day of roto-tilling and grass planting. I was in the middle of transplanting some Iris bulbs, when I discovered a mass of carpenter ants in the landscaping timbers next to the garage. Grossness. So, it was back to Home Depot again, at 11pm, to get ant spray. And I was a wreck. Covered in dirt and filth, wearing ripped jeans and a ripped t-shirt. I was a sight to behold.

Sunday
Played my service in the morning, then headed back to work where I "worked" from 12 - 3. Kevin had gotten up at 5:30am that morning to go out and finish getting the yard ready. His parents came over early, tilled the backyard and the back garden, put down the grass seed and hay, and watered. We have grass planted!! Whew. I planted the Coreopsis in the front, gave our Weeping Cherry Tree a massive haircut, and pulled out all the Creeping Myrtle that had started to take over the front flower bed.

I am exhausted.

it's almost here

The countdown begins: 2 weeks from today we'll be walking down the aisle.

Blues in the News

The House of Blues is coming to Cleveland. While it's been no big secret around town this was happening, an officialy announcement was released yesterday. Subsequently, the Mayor of Cleveland, Jane Campbell, also announced that part of East 9th Street was going to be re-named "Rock and Roll Boulevard". Not to mention that other hot debates include the location of Cleveland's new Convention Center. Pretty soon I won't know where anything is anymore.

Oh, and did you hear about the Cavs' draft pick the other day?

Come on Sugar, bring it on, bring it on; we used to be friends...

Last night I had meant to get out some old letters and re-read some things. I do that every once in a while, to remind me of things that happened in the past, because usually I block them out. I guess I've been in a nostalgic mood as of late. So last night I thought, I'll get in to bed early and read. I read my journals from 10, 11, 12 years ago, but I couldn't bring myself to look at letters from various people. Maybe I just wasn't ready for that yet. But I like to do this sort of thing every once in a while, to remind myself of mistakes I've made, and to help me not repeat them.

Things in my life have changed so much in the last several years. There have been times when I've felt everything was completely out of control and spiraling toward disaster. Most of all, though, I think the things that have changed the most are my relationships. I've made friends and lost them. I've gotten friends back who I thought were long gone. And it continues even today, these changing relationships.

Googlism for: heidi

heidi is true to her name
heidi is dead
heidi is our front desk
heidi is cool
heidi is hot
heidi is honored in the year 2001
heidi is ok
heidi is in need of a loving home in texas
heidi is a headcase
heidi is completely crazy
heidi is all my life and all my world
heidi is your overlords
heidi is our front desk / dental assistant person and a big asset to our team
heidi is cool 4/23/2002
heidi is not welcome
heidi is also a principal and shareholder of mdr associates conflict resolution inc which is an adr firm that is dedicated to providing adr services including
heidi is one of us
heidi is a widow
heidi is also collaborating with jesus de loera on a project to use viro's construction to apply combinatorial methods to problems in algebraic geometry
heidi is now acclaimed as one of the nation's leading cake artists by the squires group
heidi is an accredited tutor and travels anywhere to meet the demand for sugar skills
heidi is traveling with her aunt dete to the swiss alps to live with her grandfather
heidi is still homeless???
heidi is very homesick
heidi is a headcase
heidi is a chewer
heidi is a real estate agent that is known in the community of kearney for their dedicated client service
heidi is conducting a study of neptune's largest moon
heidi is a superb board member
heidi is taken
heidi is currently not available to give regular lessons in seattle
heidi is gentle
heidi is an alumni of the ohio state university
heidi is admired and respected heidi is wearing borrowed shorts
heidi is to live with her grandfather
heidi is also a part
heidi is the author of nine books
heidi is clearly a band of extraordinary extremes ? not to mention talent
heidi is a wonderful
heidi is more entertained by peter
heidi is a 1997 bright bay
heidi is a black and tan 8
heidi is the most beautiful woman on the face of this planet
heidi is off and running with a life of her own
heidi is good at loving
heidi is currently working on her doctorate at the university of maryland
heidi is the well
heidi is a headcase" headcase baby she's a cool kind of crazy wild and she's willing
heidi is a exceptional saddle
heidi is an extremely finicky eater
heidi is the pastorale of anime
heidi is recommended by fellow agents for honesty and integrity as an experienced nebraska real estate agent professional
heidi is an impressive teacher
heidi is a very sweet
heidi is a two
heidi is now 12 years old
heidi is a former columnist for loci on
heidi is chairperson of the rehmann consulting executive committee and is the managing principal of firm ?s saginaw location
heidi is a hydra
heidi is sharing an apartment in jonesboro
heidi is an orphan
heidi is someone i haven't seen before
heidi is interested in the legal issues facing the technology industry
heidi is the "tester" for all of the products mentioned in the newsletter
heidi is from southern new york state
heidi is an 8 to 9 month old german shepherd/australian cattle dog cross
heidi is the driving force that brings together the exceptional careerstorm team of committed professionals
heidi is an authority on stress management and performance under pressure
heidi is a local girl who has had her eye on becoming an als model
heidi is quick to credit colleagues who've participated in planning and development
heidi is one of the most impressive freshman that we have had
heidi is your only choice for new leadership in the runoff
heidi is the middle sister at 21 and ashley is the baby at age 15
heidi is in front of the trees trying to make fog move a little
heidi is certainly a facet of my personality
heidi is available to answer any other questions you may have
heidi is regulary featured on tv and national radio
heidi is not only a great person to work with but she is extremely talented in all facets of web design and business promotion

You are the center of your universe

I had a nice weekend, these past two days. Courtney came out for a much-needed visit.
Friday
After preparing a really gross tuna/tomato/cheese dish, we indulged ourselves in leftover cake and champagne. While watching slides. As planned, we got out our Australia pictures and journals and laughed ourselves silly over our anecdotal memories. It's funny how we each remember different things about that trip.

Saturday
A relaxing morning where we didn't have to do a thing - Kevin cooked us breakfast. We stuck around to watch the 3 truckloads of dirt get dumped in my backyard (it's level now!), then headed off to do the day's activities. First, Courtney got the tour of Berea and Baldwin-Wallace. Then it was on to Mazzone's so I could pay the Baker for our wedding pastries. Next was the highlight of the day - The Cleveland Museum of Art. We spent hours in there, walking around, commenting on what we liked and why. My favorite still is the Armored Court, while I think Courtney liked the 2 Picasso galleries the most. We drove through Little Italy on the way up to Coventry, where we walked around for a bit. We grabbed a coffee and headed home about 5.

Sunday
Went to brunch at 1 in Olmsted Falls, then went to a Flea Market across the street at the Grand Pacific Junction Historic Shopping District. We climbed on the trains, but it was so hot we didn't stay long. I don't think I was in the sun for more than an hour or so, but my skin got roasted.
Courtney left about 3, and I used the remainder of the day to re-pot some plants and bake cupcakes. Very relaxing.

Surprise!

Last night was my annual End-of-the-Year Choir picnic. Or so I thought! I arrived with my yummy Spinach Salad dish-to-pass (for which I'll post the recipe since everyone was hounding me last night), and as I was walking up to Darlene's front door, several others were arriving with gifts. I was confused, but pretty soon it was clear they were having a shower for Kevin and me. I was totally oblivious. I thought it was someone's birthday and I had forgotten to bring a gift.

Now, Kevin was at home sleeping. I called him at about 8pm and convinced him to come over to the party. Everyone joked that Kevin is a myth, since only 2 out of about 20 people had met him. When he showed up, we cut the cake...a gorgeous Angel Food Cake with strawberry filling, decorated with real daisies and white chocolate. Mmmmm. It was so good. Then came the presents, but Kevin had to leave to go home and get ready for work. At least he made an appearance. I was so touched by everything. It's nice to have that second family around, since mine is all the way in New York. What a blessing.

Our Own Reunion

This weekend Courtney is coming in for a pre-Wedding visit. We are both so excited we can hardly keep it together. Courtney and I met just over 11 years ago, through the People to People International Student Ambassador Program, in a crowded classroom for our introduction to Australia meeting, back at IHS in 1992. (I have to laugh when I start naming years I did things...seems so long ago.) Anyway, we really hit it off on the plane to New Zealand, since we had hours and hours and hours to kill. It was instant-friendship for us. Last year was our 10th year anniversary of the trip and we wanted to celebrate it. She and I sort of made attempts at organizing a reunion, but despite our efforts we just couldn't get it together.

So, this weekend we're having our own reunion, complete with pictures, slide shows, travel journals, memories, souvenirs, and lots and lots of alcohol. Heh heh. I'm really looking forward to it.

Isn't this ironic..."People to People - the power of people, acting as individuals, to respond imaginatively to the world's need for peace." -- President John F. Kennedy, who was one of nine U.S. Presidents, including George W. Bush, to serve as People to People's Honorary Chairman

Yet another reason why my Kennedy-obsession is justifiable.

This is not self-punishment

I am so proud of myself...one of my New Year's Resolutions was to not watch as much TV. Well, I haven't really followed through on it till recently. And I am pleased to say that the TV in my house has not been turned on in 2 weeks. Instead, I've been hurredly getting the house and yard ready for the wedding celebrations. It's not just that I haven't had time to watch TV, but I don't even miss it at all. I can get my daily dose of current events from my addiction to NPR. Maybe this no TV thing will become the rule rather than the exception.

Strawberries

I have never tasted a strawberry as sweet as the one I grew myself. My strawberries are out and ripe for the picking. Yum! Now if only I could get rid of the weeds in my garden behind the garage.

The Dress is done, but still no shoes

I'm almost in panic-mode. Just when I think I've got everything under control, suddenly more last minute stuff pops up and I get super overwhelmed!

Well, the good news is that my Dress is finished, and is home with me in the closet in the guest room. Hopefully Kevin won't peek. But I still have no shoes. I ended up buying the pair I thought were ok, only to be criticized by my Mother and Julia's Mom because they are not closed-toe. Good grief. So, Gretchen and I did more shoe shopping while I was in Rochester, but alas, everything I tried on made me look like a Sasquatch.

Atleast I have the dress. Atleast I was able to have a little fun while in Rochester, with my sister and Courtney. Atleast for a few hours I was relatively stress-free.

Happy Gretchenfest 2003

One Month and Counting...

The "big day" is exactly one month away. I think we pretty much have everything under control. Last weekend we took care of the rest of the bakery (little tarts in many flavors...yum!), the guys' clothing (we decided tuxes would be easiest, cheapest, and classier than anything else), I purchased my, a-hem, "Bridal Underwear" (nothing exciting....thank you, Courtney!), and we got more flowers and plants to make our yard pretty for our party.

However, I'm going back to Rochester this weekend for my final dress fitting and I don't have my shoes yet! Yesterday after work I went to 7 shoe stores and nothing. I came home with a lovely pair of black sandals, but no wedding shoes. I have the strangest looking feet, so nothing looks right on them. I must have been to every shoe store in Northeast Ohio. I think I'll go back to Kohl's tonight after work and purchase the pair I thought came the closest to not making me look like I have elephant-feet.

Happy Birthday to Me!

The Baghdad Blogger

After hearing so much about the Baghdad Blogger on NPR, I finally decided to go check out Salam Pax's Blog for myself. Interesting. The pictures are great. Sort of makes me feel like my own leetle Blog is rather insignificant.

I let the cat out of the bag

Last night at our last choir practice before the summer begins, I slipped up and told the Big Secret. While pretty much everyone knows Kevin and I are already married, there were a few people who didn't - mostly my side of the family, because my Mother didn't want them to know, and my co-workers at church including my choir. So, last night we were discussing our successful year, how we've grown and improved as an ensemble, etc. We started talking about rehearsing for the wedding, at which they will perform, and suddenly I said "I have to let you in on a little secret - I'm already married." I really shocked them! There were squeals of delight, and there were rolled eyes, and there were looks of disapproval, but all in all they were pretty surprised. Then I told them not to broadcast it all over the church. Yeah, right. No one gossips more than church-goers. It's going to be a long month.

Preventing Alcohol-Related Violence