Month 3 Day 2

We went to a Texas Rangers game tonight to celebrate my birthday with my family.

Me and my sister

DF, my brother, mom and dad.

Then, this happened:


And we had to leave because when the clouds start looking like that in Texas, you don't wait around hoping it passes by. You get the hell outta Dodge.

Location Location Location

I know I've been a kinda mum on the wedding stuff. Well that's because I didn't have a date set or a location picked out.

But I do now!! And let me tell you getting this nailed down was about as tough as I expected it to be. It seemed at first that every place I really liked was either already booked for the time frame I wanted or DF didn't like it or it just wouldn't work with my budget. But I did manage to find just about the perfect place.

May I present to you... City Club in downtown Fort Worth, Texas.

The ceremony will be in the fourth floor gallery. The reception on the third floor in the ballroom.

Some reasons why I love this place: Ceremony and reception in the same building without a room needing to be flipped. A great downtown location! It's very elegant without being over the top. My dad would probably add the covered parking with a covered walkway from the garage to the building. Which yes will be very nice if it's raining (possible given the time of year) so our guests won't get wet on their way inside.

So that's where DF and I will be getting married. On APRIL 24, 2010! Ack! Less than 9 months away! But I'm going to enjoy every second of it.

Next decisions... photographer, florist. And, of course, the DRESS!

It's Back.... Daily Photo Month 3 - Day 1

Yesterday was my birthday for which DF gave me a new camera. Apparently, I told him I wanted a new camera, which I did, but I have no memory of telling him this. It's not as fancy as my old camera in terms of features, but it's sleek. It's small. And it's new!

So I thought it would be the perfect reason to start another month of daily photos. Every day for 30 days or so, I'll be posting a picture that I took that day. It might be a safe bet to expect lots of pictures of Cooper and the house.

Happy Birthday to Me! (wow, I look like crap. I blame the rain and humidity.)

Hump Day Humor: Simon's Cat

Have you seen these videos of a cat determined to get fed? They're quite hilarious. And very realistic cat behavior. You can find the rest here.

ANSWER - Tuesday Trivia: Animals

What creature's heart is larger than that of any other warm-blooded animal in proportion to its size?

The hummingbird's. Its heart, the size of a pencil eraser, accounts for as much as 2.5 percent of its body mass. By contrast, a blue whale's heart, the largest of any animal, accounts for 0.5 percent of its size.

Tuesday Trivia: Animals

Tuesday Trivia is a weekly post of interesting trivia questions. Leave a comment with your answer, or guess, and come back tomorrow to see if you were right. Happy guessing!

<><><>

What creature's heart is larger than that of any other warm-blooded animal in proportion to its size?

The Best Processional Ever

This video has fast been making the rounds of the Internets. Because it's THAT awesome. I'd love to do something like this. Only DF would rather have everyone enter via zip line.



Doesn't the part where the groom is leading the wedding party down the aisle remind you of that final scene in Dirty Dancing. Totally rocks!

The Story of DF and Becky Mochaface

.I don't think I've ever told the story here about how DF and I met. It's not a particularly grand or unique story. But since we're getting married, I thought it may be time.

*imagine wavy lines and time travel music - doodle do doodle do doodle do*

The fall of 2007 I decided to join eHarmony. I knew several friends who had luck finding quality guys through the web site. And since I wasn't meeting anyone through more "traditional" means, I decided to give it a shot.

A few weeks or so after I hit subscribe, eHarmony sent me DF's profile. I got the message that he was interested in talking to me so I checked out his profile. In it he had mentioned that he read Harry Potter. Which as you may - or may not - know I'm a huge fan of that particular wizarding world. But it wasn't just that he read HP that enticed me enough to agree to start talking with him. It was that he had read books.

So after maybe a couple weeks of emails and messages back and forth we decided to meet in person. At a public location in between our two places.

The moment I sat down, I looked into his brown eyes and saw something I felt an immediate connection to. I couldn't put it into words then and I still can't say exactly what it is I saw. I wouldn't call it love at first sight. I felt comfortable, at ease and the most myself I ever felt around a guy before.

I knew that he was not just another guy, that he was a guy I was really excited about, when the next night after I got home from dinner with my friend Michele, I was so floored after reading an email he had just sent me that I only got three hours of sleep that night. The email wasn't particularly long or romantic. But the fact that he had sent that message told me he was thinking about me too and it reinforced that connection I felt the night before.

And now over a year and a half later, we're engaged, we've bought a house, and we have a dog. I am so incredibly blessed.

Fights

Last Saturday I got into a fight with a door. And my nose lost. Tuesday I got into a fight with a different door. And my toe lost.

This morning I got into a fight with a sidewalk. And my hand lost.

I'm not the most graceful person, but I don't normally think of myself as a klutz either. Even though I've been known to get bruises on my legs or arms that I have no memory of anything that could have been the possible cause.

I think my nose, toe and hand would disagree with me. But I'm hoping since that was three klutz-like incidents, I'm done for a while. They agree with me on that one.

P.S. I found out this week that my mom is now a regular reader of my blog (Hi Momma!). I guess now I really need to be more mindful of what I write. ;-)

Hump Day Humor: Heavenly Computer Battle

A little Christian humor this Wednesday...

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, 'THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job.'

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.

They faxed.

They e-mailed.

They e-mailed with attachments.

They downloaded.

They did spreadsheets!

They wrote reports.

They created labels and cards.

They created charts and graphs.

They did some genealogy reports.

They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off.

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.

Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming:

'It's gone! It's all GONE! 'I lost everything when the power went out!'

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work.

Satan observed this and became irate. 'Wait!' he screamed. 'That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any?'

God just shrugged and said, JESUS SAVES....

ANSWER - Tuesday Trivia: Video Games

What were the names of the ghosts in the original Pac-Man video game?

Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Clyde.

Tuesday Trivia: Video Games

Tuesday Trivia is a weekly post of interesting trivia questions. Leave a comment with your answer, or guess, and come back tomorrow to see if you were right. Happy guessing!

<><><>

What were the names of the ghosts in the original Pac-Man video game?

I'm Not Judging, I'm Just Saying

We have a pervy dog. Cooper has started humping my legs. Or actually it's more like he's just looking at my legs. Sometimes he might kinda put a leg around one of ours. But mostly he just sits next to my leg, looks at my leg, and starts a humping-type movement.

The dog is a voyeur.

It's actually quite disturbing because he also likes to make eye contact in the midst of his humping.

And it's not just my legs. He does the same thing to DF's legs. Our dog is bisexual. Which I don't have a problem with. I just find it incredibly strange.

Frak, and as I write this he's crawling on my back and trying to hump it at the same time. I never realized before how sexy my back was, but it's good to know.

UPDATE: Ok, so it turns out to be a dominance issue, not a sexual one. Which I guess makes sense. It's just not nearly as funny.

Don't Read This if You're a Cynic And Are Prone to Vomit When Faced with Mushy Crap, Don't Say I Didn't Warn You

I knew that when DF and I moved in together our relationship would change. Slightly and in small ways but still change. I didn't realize it would also be subtle.

Really there have been no major changes. Ok. Well there is getting a dog and getting engaged. Those are two pretty big changes, but they were also ones I was expecting. So I'm not counting them.

I was thinking of the things you don't think about. The things other couples don't tell you about because they're so used to them now. And it's the little stuff that doesn't always get brought up in conversation.

Anyway.

So far I've really only noticed one. We don't say I love you as often as we used to. (I'm sure you just threw up all over your keyboard. I know. Before I met DF, that's the response I would have had. Send me the bill to have it cleaned, and we'll call it even.) There's still a kiss every night before we go to sleep - unless I'm just completely asleep. And a kiss in the morning before we leave for work.

The feelings are still there. I mean the man just gave me something small and shiny that goes on my ring finger on my left hand. But the words don't get spoken as often. I find that interesting. Realizing this has reminded me that I need to be careful about taking the little things for granted.

Now if only I could get him to pick up the plethora of cups he leaves around the house.

Hump Day Humor: Comfort Wipe

This is one of the most ridiculous things ever created.

ANSWER - Tuesday Trivia: Advertising

What company advertised its product in the early 1960s with the boastful slogan, "Relieves gas pains"?

Volkswagen

Congratulations to shauna glenn's secret crush for being the first - and only - one to get the right answer!

Tuesday Trivia: Advertising

Tuesday Trivia is a weekly post of interesting trivia questions. Leave a comment with your answer, or guess, and come back tomorrow to see if you were right. Happy guessing!

<><><>

What company advertised its product in the early 1960s with the boastful slogan, "Relieves gas pains"?

This is why I was really excited to get a really long stick

It took us two Sundays, but we finally managed to get the ceiling in our living room painted.

The previous owners had it painted the same awful color as the walls. An orangey-taupey color.



It looks so much better now. And lighter. Of course the walls are still the orangey-taupey color. But those are next.


Finally! I can mark off something on the house to do list.

Well it's really one part of a bigger project. But still. It's marked off.

Just fyi - it's difficult to paint a ceiling. Especially a really tall one.

Trying to Find a Balance

Life over the past week has been crazy. We're starting to paint. There's Cooper to take care of and a wedding to plan. And we have our full-time jobs on top of all of that.

Of course, this is only a preview of the months to come. I will undoubtedly become stressed. But I will also enjoy as much of it as I can.

I don't think DF realized how much a puppy actually has to pee. But we are making progress. Cooper knows he's supposed to go outside but has yet to realize that he needs to hold it until he can get outside. So unless we get him out right away, we have messes to clean up.

Then there was the night he started barking at 2:30 in the morning and continued incessantly for 45 minutes. Not whining. Barking. I had a lot of coffee the next day.

Before you ask, no I do not have an official date or location yet. I'm working on it.

Book Review: Out Stealing Horses

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

[Full disclosure: I link to Amazon because I like their descriptions. No one pays me to review books and link to Amazon. Though I wouldn't mind considering it as side thing ;-). Do not feel obligated to buy the book from Amazon.]

I really didn't enjoy this book at all. It was not long in number of pages, but it felt very long. Sometimes the longer novels are daunting because of their physical size, but they may actually be a quick read because you're enjoying it. But this book is not over 300 pages and yet felt as if it were 1500.

It wound around and off what you might think is the plot. But I'm not sure there is an actual plot. I kept waiting for something to happen. Anything. Please, just let something happen. There was a promise of something at the beginning but it was dropped and never brought up again.

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy books where it's more like a leisurely drift down the river of the story. If they're written well, I like them as much as the books that are more like a white water rapid trip. But this one was not well written. Of course it may have been lost in translation as it was originally written in Norwegian.

Characters and story arcs were introduced never to be really heard from again. It almost seems like story without a purpose. I would not recommend this book.

Next month: The Devil in the White City by Erik Lawson

Hump Day Humor: A Blonde's Flight to Chicago

A commercial airplane is in flight to Chicago, when a blonde woman sitting in economy gets up and moves to an open seat in the first class section. A flight attendant watches her do this, and politely informs the woman that she must return to her seat in the economy class because that’s the type of ticket she paid for.

The blonde woman replies, “I’m blonde, I’m beautiful, I’m going to Chicago and I’m staying right here.”

After repeated attempts and no success convicing the woman to return to economy, the flight attendant goes into the cockpit and informs the pilot and co-pilot that there’s a blonde bimbo sitting in first class who refuses to go back to her proper seat.

The co-pilot goes back to the woman and explains why she needs to move, but once again the woman replies by saying, “I’m blonde, I’m beautiful, I’m going to Chicago and I’m staying right here.”

The co-pilot returns to the cockpit and suggests that perhaps they should have the arrival gate call the police and have the woman arrested when they land. The pilot says, “You say she’s blonde? I’ll handle this. I’m married to a blonde. I speak blonde.” He kneels down next to the woman and whispers quietly in her ear, and she says, “Oh, I’m sorry,” then quickly moves back to her seat in economy class.

The flight attendant and co-pilot are amazed and ask him what he said to get her to move back to economy without causing any fuss.

“I told her first class isn’t going to Chicago.”

ANSWER - Tuesday Trivia: Alcohol

When it comes to alcoholic beverages, what is a cordless screwdriver?

It's chilled vodka in a shot glass that's served with a sugar-coated orange wedge. The vodka is downed first, and then the orange is eaten.

Congratulations to Mochaface friend Catizhere for being the first, and only one, to get it right.

Tuesday Trivia: Alcohol

Tuesday Trivia is a weekly post of interesting trivia questions. Leave a comment with your answer, or guess, and come back tomorrow to see if you were right. Happy guessing!

<><><>

When it comes to alcoholic beverages, what is a cordless screwdriver?

Hanging with Mr. Cooper

We had a really really busy weekend. Busier than normal. And busier than some recent weekends. Which considering how busy we've been since May, that's saying something.

I've wanted a dog for a long time. And since we started planning on buying a house, I knew I would soon be able to get a dog (I had wanted to wait until I had a yard). The running joke in my family was about how long it would take me to get one. Well for various reasons, we had decided to wait until after we came back from Boston.

While I had really wanted a beagle, DBF wasn't too keen on the breed. So after looking up several breeds and doing some searching on Petfinder, we decided to just go visit a shelter and see what we might find there.

So Friday we did just that. And we found this guy...

His name is Cooper. He's a redbone coonhound mix, and he's about 5 months old. And this is the best picture since he always gets distracted by the wrist strap and lens cap of my camera whenever I try to get a picture of him.


He likes chewing on things and doesn't discriminate. Anything will do. Clothes, my hair, my jewelry, feet, remotes. But his favorite is shoes (GASP! Closet door WILL be CLOSED all the time now). In particular shoe laces.


Right now he's all legs. And it's hilarious to watch him run as he reminds me of a gangly teenager that looks uncomfortable in his body.


He likes to stare at himself in the full-length mirror in our bedroom and try to bite his reflection and bark at himself. It's really quite cute and adorable. But who am I kidding. Just about anything this dog does is cute and adorable. Especially when he gives me the puppy eyes look. Which he is VERY good at.


I knew we had to get him when DBF refused to give him up at the shelter. And speaking of DBF, I guess I should really start calling him DF now.


That's right! DBF asked THE question. You know. The one that begins with Will and ends with Me and has You Marry in the middle. And the only response I could think to give him was naturally and quite rightly YES!

Friday after we got home with Cooper, I left to go to the grocery store as we had zero food. And he stayed home with the dog since we didn't want to leave him by himself just yet.

So I got home and immediately went in to say hi to Cooper and while I was petting him, DF said there's something on his collar. So thinking it was just a piece of lint, I half-assed looked at the collar. And not finding anything, I stood up. DF then became quite insistent. "No, really, there's something on his collar." And he bent down and turned it around to show me.

Damn, he did a perfect job with the ring.

I wasn't sure what it was at first. And then I thought it was a fake ring someone had left on his collar for some reason (I know, what the hell was I smoking?). Then I realized that in fact the ring was real. And it was for me.

And now we're engaged. Betrothed. And I am so far up on cloud nine, I'm not sure I'll ever come down. (Not to mention the amount of blog material I'm going to have from the dog and wedding. And that doesn't even include the house.)

I think my hangover is finally gone

Boston. Crap, I love that city something ridiculous. It has a certain amount of charm that no matter how hard it tries, Dallas just doesn't have. Or at least that particular kind of charm. I guess Dallas is charming in it's own way. I mean there are definitely nice parts. Don't get me wrong. I like Dallas. Just not as much as Boston at times. Damn it. I'm rambling.

ANYway...

I took DBF to Boston. Because I love the city. And he's never been. That and it had been two years since I had been back and that's just WAY too long to go without some Boston love. We didn't do just a whole lot but I did manage to give a little bit of a tour to DBF.

We went to Fenway Park.


Took a walking tour of the historical sites with Benjamin Franklin. (Well technically he was James Otis but before that tour I had no idea who James Otis was and thought he looked more like Benjamin Franklin anyway.)


Hung out in the Public Garden (my FAVORITE part of the city).


Hung out in some of my favorite Boston bars.

Sweetwater Cafe

(Please excuse the faces. We drank a lot LOT of beer that night.)

Where at one bar I had the best fucking sandwich anywhere. Which is why I'm stroking the menu. I was so excited to be getting a zuni roll. Like I said. Two years is a long time to go without Boston love.

Parish Cafe

There was lots of food. And lots of beer. Lots and lots of beer.

Hump Day Humor: Total Eclipse of the Heart

The literal music video. I love these.

ANSWER - Tuesday Trivia: Food

How many calories will the average slice of bread lose after toasting?

None. Toasting removes moisture, not calories.

Congratulations to Mochaface friend Catizhere for being the first and only one to get the correct answer!