All Dressed in White?

One of my bestest Bend buddies is getting married tomorrow, and tonight is the bachelorette party. Unfortunately, I've been sick all week, but I'm going to suck it up and go have a drink in her honor. Here's to happy weddings, and to happier marriages. May she have both.

Zippy's Haircut

Here are a few pictures of Zippy post-haircut - I'm posting them here so my Grammy Ann can see them (and figured others might like to as well). xoxo

(thanks to Jen for taking such great photos!)

Zippy's Fashion Sense

Apparently Zippy has decided that short hair is all the rage. We now have to go get her handiwork fixed. Sigh.

Happy Anniversary, Bend!

One year ago yesterday was the first day our family set foot in Bend. Thanks for letting us fall in love with you, you great town. We're so happy to be here!

Last night

A big gang of us met at the Reed Pub last night to see the String Rats play - we had a great time, and enjoyed the music as always. Jen got a great shot of the band, along with the cool street sign the pub has!

(Thanks, Burger, for taking care of Zippy for us yet again. You're a gem.)

Tonight's Entertainment

Tonight, the String Rats will be at the Reed Pub! Mr. LT and I will be there with Jen and RHPB. Tonight we'll hear some great music and drink some excellent beer (there's a nice organic Oatmeal Stout on tap right now)! The show starts at 8:30 - hope to see you there!! (and please be considerate and leave a table for the 4 of us if you beat us there!!)

Easter

I'm late posting these... but we had a great Easter, and the Easter Bunny was kind enough to visit and hide some eggs for Zippy. The bad news was that the Easter Bunny was apparently unable to find the Easter baskets that are still in a box somewhere in the garage. I expected more from him.

Trader Joe's - Opening Date

I'm told that the Trader Joe's that's about to open in Bend has moved their opening date up to March 22 (from March 28)! Trader Joe's will open on March 28 - my original source was wrong. Shame on me for not checking the date. I can't wait - we're in dire need of their salsa and I completely miss their frozen foods, especially the gnocci! You won't see me there next weekend, though. I've dealt with my crowd for the month.

Full and Frenzied

This morning, we woke up bright and early (which, to me, means at 8 am) so we could meet Jen and family at the Victorian Cafe for breakfast. We've been here five months, after all (how time flies!!) and had yet to make it to what we'd been told was the best breakfast place in Bend. Well, the verdict is in -- the food was fantastic! I had the classic Eggs Benedict (as did Mr. Jen), which was fabulous (although I was somewhat envious of Jen's choice - I don't remember what it was called, but it was basically eggs benedict with spinach, roma tomatoes, and asagio cheese. To make it even better, Jen asked them to add avocado to it. It looked amazing and I think I'll try it next time!). Mr. LT had the country fried steak, one of our favorites. It was good, but not great. I think it needed more pepper or something. It was still good enough that he cleaned his plate (as did I).

Zippy had the children's french toast and scrambled eggs. I took the liberty of putting the boysenberry syrup on her french toast (because I love boysenberry syrup, and she doesn't care one way or the other) and had a few bites of it. YUM. Burger also had french toast and did an admirable job of finishing most of her food. Stinky was with us too and had blueberry pancakes. They were apparently good, but weird - the blueberries were placed between the two pancakes instead of dropped into the batter. This did not make Stinky a happy fellow. He still ate a fair amount, though! All in all it was a great breakfast.

All of the adults had bloody marys - I had the spicy one, everyone else had the regular ones. Let me tell you that "regular" generally means "wussy", but not at the Victorian!! The regular were nice and spicy - and my "spicy" bloody mary was really hot (but oh so good). I can only imagine what the "very spicy" version is like! I got about halfway through my drink before we were seated for breakfast and was a little loopy. Sigh. I've turned into such a lightweight!!

The only complaint we had was that the hot chocolate was watery. Really, it kind of sucked. The presentation was very nice, it was served in a glass cup with a nice topping of whipped cream and either cinnamon or nutmeg (Burger had the topping GONE before I thought to check which), so it was very pretty. But the taste was blah. It's not that hard to make good hot chocolate, even if you do use a mix for the base - add a dollop of whole milk or half and half, a squirt of hershey's syrup and you're good to go. Anyway, this certainly wasn't a deal breaker and we'll be back again!

After breakfast, we all went over to REI, where they were holding their annual garage sale - basically, things that have been returned (REI has a lovely, liberal return policy) are marked down and sold as-is to REI members (the REI membership is SO worth it). The place was a ZOO, and there were a number of people who were seriously out of control and a little rude (most folks were nice, though).

We scored - Burger got a nice North Face fleece jacket she's been coveting, I got a pair of Marmot gloves I'd lusted after but couldn't justify the cost of (the tag says there's a tear in the liner, but I can't find it for the life of me - so I bought them at about 40% of the original cost. Whee!), Mr. LT got a pair of hiking shoes, and Burger and I will share the pair of skis (with bindings!) we found for $100 - you can't beat that.

Before this year, I hadn't skied since Burger was a baby - I used to ski whenever possible, but it just seemed like such a hassle (and expensive) for the years when she was growing up. I learned to ski when I was three, so I used to be pretty good, but I pretty much suck now, so sharing these skis with Burger until we don't suck is at least a temporary solution. I couldn't see passing them by - I have no idea if I'll ever get back to being a good skier, and Burger doesn't yet have much experience - she's been skiing three times this year and LOVES it, but we're going to wait to invest in good skis until after we see how she does with some time on the hill.

We looked for skis for Zippy, but the kids skis apparently were snatched up very quickly - there was only one pair of kids alpine skis that I saw in the bin (and they were too short for the Zipster, who's the size of most 7 year olds, instead of most 5 1/2 year olds - I guess she received some genes from my 6' aunt), but I saw multiple people walking around with other sets of kids skis. Sheesh, we were there at 10:15 and it started at 10! For some reason, the whole event reminded me of the bridal gown frenzy at Filene's Basement, although there was no clawing and pushing in evidence. But I'm not a great crowd person unless there's alcohol involved. In any case, the deals were great and I'm glad we went.

Proud of My Country?

Michelle Obama is getting raked over the coals because she said, "for the first time in my adult life, I'm proud of my country," or something similar. And I can't figure out WHY folks are getting all up in arms about this. It's been a damn long time since I've been PROUD of my country. I've always been proud that I'm American, that our country stands for freedom. But being proud of my country? Not lately. I'm with Michelle - I'm proud to see a new generation get excited about politics, about hope. I've been worn out by eight years of incompetence and dishonesty, and I need to be proud of my country again. I need to live in a country where, if there's a question as to whether a practice is torture, we rise above and don't let it happen. We're supposed to be the best country in the world. I'm hoping we'll start acting like it again soon.

Hoping for Clear Skies

Whee! Tonight there's going to be a total lunar eclipse! I hope the sky will clear up so we can watch it - it stinks when you can't see the sky (that's one more nice thing about Bend - the sky here is SO CLEAR and we don't get any city light to distort the night sky. I missed the stars when we lived in SoCal). The eclipse should start around 7 PST, so Zippy will still be up - I'm really looking forward to watching this tonight!
When I was a little girl, my dad used to take me outside at night to look at the stars with him. He really loved Astronomy, and while I've never had the patience to memorize the stars and constellations like he did, a few have always stuck with me (Cassiopia being particularly special for some reason), and remembering him showing me the night sky makes me smile. I sure miss him. I hope I can give a little piece of him to my family tonight while we watch the eclipse together.

Shallow Television

Burger isn't feeling well tonight, so she's been hanging out watching television like a lump on the couch. Which means that I'm being subject to a show called "The Millionaire Matchmaker". Can I just say OMG. There are all these women who are so insanely shallow on this show, and I can't even believe this crap is on television. Even more so, I can't believe that I'm being subjected to it. And that I haven't left the room.
I'm going to need a long shower after this, because it's just skanky.

Not-Quite Sick

Last weekend, I was sick. It started on Thursday (the 7th. by "last weekend" I mean the last complete weekend we had. I know it's Sunday night, but right now it's still "this weekend". Tomorrow morning "this weekend" will turn into "last weekend", but for the intent of this blog posting, "last weekend" is specifically February 9 and 10, 2008. Aren't you glad I clarified all of that?) when I felt tired and worn down. Friday, my brain didn't work (and I missed my breakfast with Shannon and Jen, which I'd really looked forward to. Sigh). Saturday and Sunday I was fairly useless, and I actually slept until 2 pm one of the days. I have no idea which at this point, but I do know that I desperately needed the rest. By Monday, I was fairly human and have remained so. EXCEPT FOR ONE THING. My eyes hurt. They feel like I've been in an overchlorinated pool all day. Like I looked directly at the sun. Like I rubbed sand into them. Like someone made me cry for days. THEY HURT. And that makes me sad and angry, but mostly it just sucks because nobody gets sympathy because their stupid eyes just hurt. And I'm a girl that loves a little sympathy. Not that I ever get any.

Oh yeah, Mr. LT is sick with whatever it is that I had last weekend. Poor guy. I don't think he's gotten out of his recliner more than three times all weekend. I feel badly that he has what I had. I hope his eyes won't hurt for a week. If they do, I'll try to at least be sympathetic. Or something.

How I Met My Husband

Jumping on the bandwagon, following Jen and Shannon's leads...

1. Where/how did you meet?

I'd gone to Hawaii to visit a friend living there who was moving back home. She'd known Mr. LT for a while when she'd lived in Honolulu (she'd subsequently moved to Maui). The day I flew into Hawaii, Mr. LT happened to call her, because the Coast Guard boat he was stationed on was doing exercises off the coast of Maui, he had the night off, and he thought she might want to come hang out with him and his friends in Lahaina. She told him I was coming to town, and that we'd see them at Moose McGuillicuddy's later that night. So I met him the first night I was in Hawaii.

2. How long have you known each other?

Fifteen years, 7 months, 16 days.

3. How long after you met did you start dating?

Pretty much immediately.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged?

3 months. Kind of. By this time, we'd already started making wedding plans for a January, 1993 wedding, but the rest of the world thought we were crazy, and we had decided to postpone the January wedding and wait a while. But then, well, honestly, I got knocked up with Burger, and we hated being apart, and it just seemed right to get married after all. So we'll say three months.

5. How long was your engagement?

6 weeks.

6. How long have you been married?

15 years, 2 months, and something like 24 days.

7. What is your anniversary?

November 21, 1992

8. How many people came to your wedding reception?

About 40.

9. What kind of cake did you serve?

White cake with cream cheese and raspberry filling.

10. Where was your wedding?

We were married in the house where I grew up.

11. What did you serve for the meal?

We had all sorts of finger foods - a cocktail reception. I just remember fabulous beef tenderlion slices and stuffed endives. The rest is a blur, although I know my mom and I spent a considerable amount of time and energy figuring out what we wanted the caterer to do.

12. How many people were in your bridal party?

None, formally. My friends Bernadette, Lisa, and Erin were there and I felt like they were my bridal party.

13. Are you still friends with them all?

Bernadette and Lisa are still amazingly precious to me. Erin I talk to once or twice a year, but we're not close. I do thank her for introducing me to Mr. LT (she was the friend in Hawaii).

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony?

Mr. LT does not cry. There might have been a small tear at the corner of his eye, but I am sure he would say there'd been something caught in his eye.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day?

Just walking to where Mr. LT was standing waiting for me. My mom walked me down the "aisle", and I just remember it all feeling magical.

16. Any funny moments?

um.... I forgot about shoes and Berna and I lied to a guy in a shoe store (I think this was actually the day before the wedding, but it's fuzzy) and told him that my dog ate my shoes (which was actually entirely possible, because my dog at the time, as wonderful as she was, ate way too much of my stuff) and he took pity on me and had a pair dyed super quickly. Also, when Berna and I went to get my wedding cake, they'd put these crazy column pedestals between the levels when I'd specifically wanted the tiers resting on one another. They'd also "touched up" the ivory basket weave frosting with white frosting for some unknown reason. I freaked out and made them fix it. I guess those aren't really funny, but that's all I've got.

17. Any big disasters?

Big? No. We were supposed to use my parents' wedding rings for our rings, but one of the rings couldn't be found, so Mr. LT ended up spending our wedding day (or was it the day before? Sigh) searching for rings. Good thing we had an evening ceremony.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon?

We drove from coast to coast - I'm from the east coast, we moved to the west coast (Alameda, California). We never had a "real" honeymoon.

19. How long were you gone?

Once we left, we stayed gone.

20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change?

The saddest thing about my wedding day is that Mr. LT didn't have anyone there for him - his parents and friends couldn't make it east. If I could do it again, I'd have found a way to get them there for the wedding. We did have a second reception at his parents' house in California once we made it west, but it would have been better had he had someone at the actual wedding itself.

21. What side of the bed do you sleep on?

The right side. But we do switch off every couple years.

22. What size is your bed?

King size. We're both big spread-out sleepers and would kill one another in anything smaller.

23. Greatest strength as a couple?

We are in this together, and forever. We both want to be here.

24. Greatest challenge as a couple?

Jen says that she and Mr. liw(asai) are the most stubborn people, but we might have them beat. We're both stubborn, pig-headed, and quick to anger. Sigh.

25. Who literally pays the bills?

I do.

26. What is your song?

"Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton

27. What did you dance your first dance to?

"Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton

28. Describe your wedding dress.

Ivory. Long sleeves. Cocktail length.

29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding?

I have no idea. I know there were roses. I forgot about flowers (hey, I had six weeks to plan this thing. I know I forgot stuff.), so my mom ended up going out on our wedding day to Behnke's Nursery and getting a couple lovely arrangements and a gorgeous bouquet. I love Behnke's and wish they were nation-wide.

30. Are your wedding bands engraved?

No.

Getting Political

Maryland, where I grew up, votes tomorrow. Oregon doesn't hold our primaries until May 20 - very late in the game. I am hoping that the "Potomac Primaries" will follow recent trends and give Obama the majority of votes, because I really think that he's the better candidate.

So, if you're able to vote tomorrow and can't decide, just vote Obama. For me.

Yes we can!!!