*UPDATED* 2009, I may be the only one that misses you

Holy crap it's the last day of 2009. And that means it's less than 4 months until DF and I are married.

Holy crap.

I remember feeling so busy at the beginning of the year. But that's nothing compared to the last couple months.

For a lot of people, 2009 has been a rough year. One worth writing off as quickly as they can. For us at the Mochaface household, it's been a fantastic year compared to 2008. Main reason being both DF and I spent the entire 12 months of 2009 employed. W00t!

There were some other things too (This is the requisite end-of-the-year list recapping key posts. Feel free to skip down to the bottom, there's video!)...

1. I picked up cross stitching again to make Christmas stocking I never finished. Instead I made a sampler for my sister and her new husband.

2. I fell in love with a web site.

3. My sister got married.

4. We bought a house and DF and I moved in together.

5. I read some great books. Also read some horrible, bad, not-so-good books.

6. We went to Boston.

7. I met 75% of my high school 10 Years From Now goals.

8. We adopted Cooper.

9. We got engaged.

10. We started home improvements. For now just in terms of painting but hopefully there's more to come.

11. All of the planning and fun - and yes even the stress which manifested in some crazy dreams - that goes along with #9.

12. Had a high blood pressure scare - also related to #9.

13. Survived my 10 year high school reunion.

14. Had some revelations.

15. Bought my dream shoes.

16. I had some iPod trouble, the most recent chapter I haven't had a chance to tell you about yet.

Thank you for being here. I don't know if I would have kept this up for as long as I have if you didn't come.

And now, a video I spent all last night putting together. Watch it. Cause I didn't stay up late for you to skip it.




There was sound at some point. I swear. But it's too late and I'm too exhausted to try and fix it. So play your favorite song as you watch.
UPDATED: I think I've fixed the music. Not my first choice of songs but it was the only one I got to work. Soundtrack: "Your Winter" by Sister Hazel. This is my first video compilation of pictures so some pictures may be fuzzy. Be kind, I'm still learning. Enjoy and Happy New Year!!

Hump Day Humor: Never a Year Like '09

This week's Hump Day Humor is another great year-end round-up video from the folks at JibJab. Forgot Tiger though. And Bernie.

I was having trouble embedding it, so you'll have to click here.

ANSWER - Tuesday Trivia: Animals

What dog breed is named for a tax collector?

The Doberman pinscher. German tax collector Louis Dobermann bred the strong, sleek, smart, and fiercely loyal dog in the late 19th century to protect him when he went on his rounds.

Congratulations to pfdfyrfytr for being the first to get the correct answer!

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!

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What dog breed is named for a tax collector?

Hindsight is Definitely 20/20

Our plans for Christmas Eve was dinner at my parents' house with uncles, cousins, DF and DF's parents. We left our house that afternoon to drop our stuff off at DF's parents' house as we would be spending the night there and having Christmas morning with them. After a few hours spent with them, we drove out to my parents.

Only we never actually got there. The weather had other plans for us. There was snow. In North Texas. For Christmas. This was rare. While I enjoyed the first white Christmas I ever had, the havoc the weather created on the roads was, well to put it lightly, frustrating.

We left for dinner knowing it would be slow going, the roads would be slick and it would take a lot longer than it normally would. What we didn't know was that less than 15 miles from my parents' house the highway would be shut down. It took more than 2 hours to go half a mile. I wish I were kidding.

Where the police closed the highway, people were forced to exit down into a valley. Meaning the only way out was up a hill. Did I mention the ice and slick roads? Yeah, there was much difficulty in getting up those hills and more than one car we could see in the ditches on the side of the roads. We actually say a BMW start to go one way, change his mind and when he tried to turn around, he drove up on the curb. Only his undercarriage was caught on the ground, and he couldn't back up or pull forward. I found this highly entertaining. Of course by this point we had been in the car for more than four hours.

After some deliberation on what would be the best way to get out, we held out breath, crossed our fingers and made it up the hill to head back. Only to be stopped once again a bit later for sand trucks to spread their loads on a bridge. That luckily didn't last nearly as long, and six hours after we left, we returned to the house.

Thankfully, the rest of Christmas was not nearly as exciting and eventful. And now we have a story to remind our kids on long car trips that it's better than being at a complete stop and only moving half a mile in two hours.

Hump Day Humor: Happy Holidays

ANSWER - Tuesday Trivia: Trademarks

What was the first sound to be officially trademarked in the United States?

NBC's distinctive three-note chime. The notes, trademarked - or "soundmarked" - in 1950, are G-E-C in the key of C, to represent the General Electric Company, one of the founders of NBC.

Congratulations to tracey for being the first, and only, to get the correct answer!

Tuesday Trivia: Trademarks

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!

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What was the first sound to be officially trademarked in the United States?

Marking Off the List

With holiday parties and seeing people I don't see on a daily or weekly basis, the question "How's the wedding planning coming?" pops up often. Uh, what wedding?

I've been in a lull for the most part as far as wedding planning goes for the past couple weeks. It's a natural part of the process, but also the holidays (and possibly some of the insanity at my j-o-b) has played a role.

Normally it would have stressed me out that nothing wasn't getting done. But I realized that there was no way I could do everything and since I was waiting on a few things wedding-wise, I was okay to put that off for a little bit. That's called growth, people.

Well, the lull ended last night. I took one more big step towards completing my invitations. The envelopes are addressed. Big. Load. Off. My. Mind.

Next step, line the envelopes! Which when that's done, will be an even bigger load off my mind.

Oh, and tonight dear Internet. Tonight, a dream comes true. My wedding dress is in (SQUEE!!!), and we're picking it up tonight. Just an evening with me and my parents. I have zero idea how I'm going to sit still all day and concentrate.

Hump Day Humor: The Assumption Song

From Cary.

ANSWER - Tuesday Trivia: Geography

What is the only city in the world that is located on two continents?

Istanbul, Turkey. Its western half is in Europe; its eastern half in Asia.

Congratulations to rebecca for being the first to get the correct answer!

Tuesday Trivia: Geography

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 is the only city in the world that is located on two continents?

The Velvet Snout

A couple months ago, I posted about a certain pet daycare/boarding place we drive by often that often induces a giggle out of me, The Velvet Snout. I've been wanting to take Cooper there for a while because the name is so unique. And it doesn't hurt that it's less than 5 minutes from our house.

Last Friday due to some logistical problems with work, PTO time and my sister's graduation and subsequent party (Yay sis!), the best option we had for Cooper was to board him. So we decided to give The Velvet Snout a try.

I was fairly impressed. The people were helpful. Cooper's "suite" was a good size. He had enough room to stretch his legs when he wanted. The hardest part was looking at his face when I left.

And of course the best was when I picked him up the next day. He was quite energetic for the next several hours. I don't think he's mad at me anymore. Treats have definitely helped.

Book Review: Lolita

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Disclosure: No one paid me in any way, form or fashion to do this review.

Some consider Lolita to be a love story. And it's true. The narrator does love Lolita. He adores her. It just happens that Lolita is 12 when he meets her. He's obsessed with her. A pedophile and the love of his life, his nymphet (as he terms the young girls he's attracted to).

On the surface, this book is a disturbing read. It's plot is a subject most of us would rather not know the details and motivation behind. We'd rather not even think about it.

Deeper, I've heard that this book is a metaphor for Old Europe v. post-WWII America, which many Europeans of the time considered barbaric and crass. A metaphor that looking back totally makes sense to me. I guess Nabokov chose such a controversial subject for his metaphor because it got people to notice, to talk.

The writing is beautiful (if you can look past the dark and twisty elements of the story) and quite witty. Keep a dictionary on hand because you'll need it. Words that I don't think I saw even on the SAT were in this book. It's a good thing I've got unlimited texts because I kept asking Google for definitions since I don't carry a dictionary in my bag.

I'm not sure I can say I enjoyed this book. But the writing had me hooked in a way that's difficult to describe. I guess I kept hoping that something would happen to redeem the main character, and I was mesmerized by the lyrical nature, the intelligence of the writing.

If you're looking for a light, easy read, this is not it. But if you want something with a lot of depth and layers, something that makes for an emotional discussion, Lolita would be a good choice.

Next month: Heaping Spoonful by Shauna Glenn

ANSWER - Tuesday Trivia: Movies

What cult horror movie featured a mad scientist named Dr. Frank-N-Furter?

The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Tim Curry, who portrayed the crazed doctor in the 1975 film, had earlier appeared in the role onstage in London and the U.S.

Congratulations to VVz Mom for being the first to get the correct answer!

Hump Day Humor: Vampax

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of Twilight.

But this video is hilarious. Favorite line "He'll never know it's my bleeding vagina."

Side note: Is that what the movie's like? The two of them staring at each other saying nothing while the camera circles them with cheesy music playing? Definitely a good thing I never saw it because ew.

Twilight Cycles from Brandon Routh

From Cary.

Tuesday Trivia: Movies

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 cult horror movie featured a mad scientist named Dr. Frank-N-Furter?

Macho macho man

This weekend was DF's office holiday party. They had hired a party master, who's job it was to encourage people to get up and dance.

This guy and his two assistants were worth every bit of their fee because they got DF to dance. Which, trust me, is no easy feat. Of course they were aided by our good friend alcohol. Either way, it was hilarious to behold.

But don't take my word for it. I've got photographic evidence...

(DF's in the dark pants and Santa hat)

And there's video!





Fred Astaire he isn't. But it's not his twinkle toes that I love. I definitely think we'll be taking some lessons before the wedding.

Nirvana for My Feet

Internet, do you know what arrived this week? Do you have any idea? You probably don't, and you can blame me for that because I've been mum on this subject here for a while.

So I'll give you a hint...

A little something special to wear on a special day.

My shoes. For my wedding day. And not just any shoes...


Yes, I finally own a pair of shoes by the Manolo himself. Would you like a peak?





They're HAWT!

Ok and ridiculously extravagant. However, it is important to me to have a special pair of shoes for my wedding. Why shoes? Well for those of you that might be new, shoes, well they're kinda my thing. (Books too, which I'm also using in the wedding.)

I've been saving for these shoes for months and months. And since I was spending so much, I really wanted a pair that I could wear again. White's harder to wear again. (Also, I didn't want white shoes. Why? Not exciting enough for me I guess.) So I went with black.

SQUEE!!! I really really love them. These are by far my favorite pair of shoes (and that's saying something folks).

Anytime I pull these out I make sure I have the spray bottle near at hand to discourage Cooper from getting anywhere close to them, especially because he's in a bit of a destructive phase right now.

I can NOT wait for my dress to come in so I can put them both on. Together. Sigh. Soon. Hopefully.

Hump Day Humor: Shiny Suds

The bubbles are a bit creepy but hilarious. From Cary.

ANSWER - Tuesday Trivia: Music

Who are the only two entertainers to be inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame?

Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.

Tuesday Trivia: Music

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!

<><><>

Who are the only two entertainers to be inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame?