12.23.10 - Decorating the tree

Today, Julie, Ellen and I finally decorated our Christmas tree.  It had been in the living room, with Christmas lights, for weeks, but we had waited for Ellen to get in town to decorate it and then never quite gotten around to it.  So together we put up all the old ornaments—many we’ve had since I was a child in Folsom.  It was nostalgic and fun.  The boys eventually came upstairs and hung out with us while we did it.  We forgot garland, but I did remember tinsel, which I think makes a big difference.

One of my favorite ornaments. We've had this since I was a kid in Folsom.

Sarah came over and gave me my Christmas gift of chocolates and a dessert wine, which we both enjoyed while watching the pilot episode of Eureka.  It was okay.  She also gave me a charm she picked up in Japan.  It’s supposed to give good luck with money, so I’ll let you know how that works out.  After Mom got home I worked out while we all watched more Firefly.  That show is great in general, but it was particularly enjoyable watching it with people who have never seen it.

Later in the evening the other siblings went to a party, and I stayed home and visited with Sarah.  It was great to have the house to ourselves, quiet-like, and just catch up.  Eventually we were joined by Neil, Everett, Ellen and Suzanne when they got back from their party.  We talked about pets and whether you would kill your pet for a million dollars.  Suzanne wouldn’t.  Neil would.

I don’t remember what I did after that.  Probably skyped.

12.22.10 - Spinach Sausage Loaf

Wednesday morning I got up “early” and drove Mom to work so we would have more cars available with our ever-more-full household.  By the time I got home everyone was still asleep, of course, so I went to Shop’n’Save to buy spinach sausage loaf ingredients.  I enjoy driving around the St. Peters area by myself, listening to music and thinking of my many, many memories of the town.  I went to the Shop’n’Save near Jungermann because I know the layout better—or so I thought.  It was redone enough that I still had to hunt around a bit.  No big deal.

Not sure what I did during the afternoon, but that evening I made spinach sausage loaf of course!  I make less loaves every year, partly due to budget constraints, and partially due to having less people to make loaves for, but either way 5 loaves this year was much easier than 15 loaves once upon a time.  For the beginning I hung out with Sarah and talked and talked.  It was great.  Eddie joined us later, and David also came over.  Given these are the three people outside my family I made loaves for, that worked out really well.

Every year I make spinach sausage loaf for my family and friends. Here they are enjoying the spoils.

Sarah had to leave for reasons I can’t remember, but Eddie and I hung out and chatted in the living room, joined periodically by different people around the house.  Soon I needed to go pick up Mom from work, so Eddie left too.

It’s funny, I remember going to pick up Mom from work last time I was in town, in August.  At that point 8:30p meant it was still light out, and plenty warm.  One evening I was a little early and just parked and rolled down the windows and dozed, listening to the radio.  Not so now.  It had been dark for hours by the time I left, and was certainly too cold to roll down a window.

12.21.10 - Tuesday

Tuesday I went out to lunch again—this time with Aunt Linda, this time at BreadCo, and this time I *did* get the Frontega Chicken Sandwich.  But I was good and only got half of the sandwich with a salad.  I would have liked to have about 5 of those sandwiches, and just finish up my calories for the rest of the week. :P 

Everyone else had gone to visit Uncle Jeff and Aunt Celeste, since they would be unable to make it on actual Christmas day.  I was expecting to come home to an empty house but when I walked in the door I heard Julie shout, from the living room “DON’T COME IN HERE!”  She also expected no one to be home and was using the opportunity to wrap presents, ha.  Once her presents were decent I joined her in the living room and we visited while she continued wrapping. 

I ended up going back to Julie’s place with her to prep for her cookie baking party.  I worked on some SPL stuff and ate turkey soup while Julie fixed some Christmas decorations and prepped cookie dough.  The cats just got in the way, as adorably as possible.

After awhile Aunt Linda and then the three “little” guys and Mom joined us.  Eventually so did Sarah, woohoo!  I ate a lot of raw cookie dough, and spent more time making the chocolate cookies with white chips than actually frosting anything.  As always happens when making tons of sugar cookies, everyone started to get tired and the cookie decorations started to get more ridiculous.  Actually, in some cases the decorations were ridiculous to begin with (I’m looking at you Neil).  We laughed a lot.  It was fun.

Julie's cookies - getting a little tired. :)

Afterward we watched Home Alone II, although we didn’t listen much.  My siblings and I mostly added our own dialogue and plot which, in my opinion, greatly improved the movie.  Except scenes with Tim Curry; you can’t really improve those.  We went home late—too late to watch Firefly.  Damn!  Ah well.  I stayed up and went through all my photos and videos from the cookie party, and eventually Skyped with Jack.  This trip is the first time I’ve used Skype and I love it.

12.20.10 - Monday after Canasta

The Monday after Canasta I went to lunch with Jack's mom, Merlene.  We had sushi (yessss) and talked about how we both think Jack is wonderful.  Afterward I went home and spent a long time talking with Neil in the kitchen while he did Charter work.  There have been several times this trip during which I had no particular plans and simply enjoyed Mom's cozy, Christmas-y house while talking with people.  Very relaxing.

Neil multitasking: Charter work and petting Abigail.

Later that evening I went with Neil to Kat Kaiser's Christmas cookie baking event.  Played some Tichu with Neil, Tim and Becky.  We didn't finish the game.  I've noticed Tichu games tend to be far too slow if Jack isn't playing because most other people are far more cautious about calling Tichu.  Even if your team is doing well you only crawl along with out those 100 point bonuses.  Anyway, I didn't really decorate cookies that night, just watched and chatted about randomness--college, grad school, Mona Lisa Smile, hugs.  Katie's apartment is spacious, and she had a Christmas tree drawn in special markers on her sliding glass door.  She invited guests to draw their own ornaments.  Tim drew a Na atom with a ton of electrons, as well as an Erlenmeyer flask.  Heh.

Neil was gracious enough to drive me home from the party early so I could see Ellen when she got in town.  I visited with her, Julie and Mom.  We discovered that Ellen had also not seen any Firefly, which was a little frustrating since Mom and I were already done with half the season.  Ellen watched a few episodes with us anyway, and caught up on the others on her own.  She loves the show (obviously--she watched it, therefore she loves it).

12.20.10 - Continuation

So on Friday I went to lunch at BreadCo with Angela and Julie and Denny.  It was the first time in years that I did not get a Frontega Chicken Sandwich; instead I got tomato soup, and it was pretty good.

After Denny had gone to work Julie and I ran errands, mostly buying things for Christmas cookies.  Also going by the old library I spent time in during middle school.  St. Peters can be pretty nostalgic, given how much is the same since I moved 6 years ago.

We drove home in terrible traffic so Everett could get to work as well.  That left Julie and me at Mom's with no car, so we watched The Devil Wears Prada.  I believe after that we continued showing Mom Firefly.  I actually forget I'm working out when we're watching that show, because I enjoy it so thoroughly.

Saturday morning I visited with Mom.  I've been doing a lot of that while around the house, and it's nice, because I talk a lot and Mom is one of the people who enjoys that about me.  So I enjoy that she enjoys that.

That afternoon Sheldon came to visit!!  He doesn't live in St. Peters so it was great for him to make the trip.  We lounged around Starbucks for awhile and then we went back to Mom's and watched old home videos from high school and 2005.  Much hilarity ensued.

Neil made it into town that night and later that evening we had another birthday dinner for Julie.  This one included Mom's fettuccine and then peppermint brownies.  Troy joined us, to replace Ellen who was still in CA.  Afterward, more Firefly.  My goal is to watch the entire series with Mom before I go back to CA.

Yesterday I went to church (gym mass) with Mom.  After mass I talked with Katie, a good friend of mine from high school, for quite awhile.  It was great to catch up.  I talked to her for so long, in fact, that Mom gave up waiting for me and drove away to get gas.  Luckily Mom lives very close to All Saints, and it wasn't all that cold out, so I just walked home.  She joined me not long after, and made us Tilapia with some cabbage/spinach/vegetable stir fry.  Delicious.  Mom has lost a lot of weight these last few months partially due to a lot of delicious healthy recipes.  Old fashioned, I know, but I enjoy it.

That afternoon my grandparents and my Aunt Linda joined us for Canasta.  It was a little tricky to play after so many Tichu games, but I remembered.  Between Mom, Grandma, Grandpa, Linda and me, we took out 3 bottles of wine.  It made for some pretty hilarious card games.

Neil's friend Becky teamed up with Linda to make a pretty great comeback and beat Mom and me in the first game.  I decided to sit out the 2nd game and go work out instead.  I've worked out every day I've been in town so far, and I'm hoping it will offset the amazing amount of junk food consumed over Christmas.  I do enjoy elliptical machines.

Later last night a whole bunch of people came over to hang out, likely because Neil is in town now.  There were Disney songs, Tichu, Othello and Dimitri Martin.  I believe a good time was had by all.

But now I keep dozing off trying to get this note done, so this is probably the best place to end it.  Until next time.

12.15.10 - Back in MO

Today I woke up and sat in Mom's living room, which has all the Christmas decorations, the old Christmas children's books from when I was under 10, and all of our presents already wrapped and waiting for us.  The tree only has its lights--we're waiting for Neil and Ellen to get in town to decorate it--but it still adds a lot.  There's also snow on the ground.  Compared with the late autumn weather and lack of outdoor Christmas lights in Berkeley, I feel like I actually woke up in Christmas town.

This is me.

Mom joined me and we visited for awhile.  Told stories.  Then Denny came by and suggested we surprise Julie by having lunch at Olive Garden.  So we did.  Enjoyed a table in an area away from everyone else.  Julie brought us extra olives for our refillable salad.  And yes, Olive Garden has delicious olives.  We swapped stories about incompetent coworkers and/or belligerent customers.  Always plenty of those stories.

Afterward Mom and I ran some errands which ended up involving walking around the mall.  I have a lot of memories there from high school and some summers during college.  It was kind of nice.  We also picked up some denim and she patched my patch-jeans so that they aren't 3 inches too short.  I've only owned them for 5 YEARS and now they finally fit me properly.

And at some point I used the elliptical machine for the first time since August. <3

Later Mom, David and I watched the pilot episode of Firefly.  Mom has never seen the show and I'd like to watch the whole season with her while I'm out here, but we'll see how that goes.  Such a glorious show.  "You've only gotta scare 'im." "Pain is scary."

Good first day. :)

Sola

11.26.10 - Thanksgiving Day

Since my family celebrated Thanksgiving last Saturday, the 20th, I had no specific plans for T-day itself.  I worked more on my research paper, downloaded a bunch of Christmas music, and worked out while watching the first 45 mins of Much Ado About Nothing.  

Jack and I were going to go get a drink before he had to go to work at 10pm, but we decided to make it dinner after all.  We were going to go to Beckett's pub and have some baked chicken; Jack had wanted to get duck as an homage to A Christmas Story, but they don't have duck so I guess chicken is the closest thing.  Despite a recording assuring us they were open on Thanksgiving, Beckett's was, in fact, closed.  So was everyone else.  I was actually impressed by how many restaurants and shops were closed--glad so many people presumably got to be home with their families.  The streets were empty.

So we drove around to other parts of town, and finally passed a Chinese restaurant that looked open.  The place was hoppin', probably with customers who had found it the same way we had--as the lone light among the streets and shops.  It was actually pretty good.  Jack and I laughed to realize that, of course, they serve duck!  We split a bottle of white zinfandel, some sweet and sour prawns, shrimp dumplings, and the duck.  It was delicious, although duck is too fatty for my taste.  We took our time and had great conversations.  I liked how quiet the restaurant was, especially compared to the pub we had planned to eat at.

That bottle didn't stand a chance. :)

Then we came back here and slept for a bit before Jack had to leave for work, and that's where he is now.  I don't know what time he'll be done because it's Black Friday--all bets are off.  I don't really understand the appeal of Black Friday.

Anyway, I enjoyed reading so many peoples' statuses about what they are thankful for, the food they ate, and their crazy relative stories.  I saw statuses ranging from a friend in Nicaragua glad the weather was cool enough she wouldn't be sweating all Thanksgiving to a friend in Switzerland excited about all the snow they were getting. :)

Happy Holidays everyone!

11.21.10 - Thanksgiving Weekend

So after waiting impatiently to get out of lab on Thursday, I BARTed over to the city in time to hang out with Jill and the kids before the kids had to go to bed. It was very pleasant.  I had a fun talk with Sola (age 7) about whether parents or kids should decide when kids get to eat Happy Meals.  I told her that out here some people seem to think that the kids decide, and she said "That's really bizarre."  Then she explained to me what bizarre means. :)

Of course the kids went to bed early--8, or something, and Jill wasn't far after since Rocket gets her up early every day.  So I was up by myself for awhile, half-heartedly doing homework.  Dad got back from wherever he'd been pretty late, we talked awhile.  I eventually crashed, hard, in the media room.

I got up early (for me) to hang out with the kids.  Sola and Harrison were pretty excited to watch Rocket in his Johnny Jump Up.  In their efforts to get Rocket to jump, Sola and Harrison did most of the jumping.  We were going to make some popcorn and take a walk to the Palace to feed the birds, but due to a) Safeway not selling any cheap bags of popcorn kernals and b) it starting to rain, we decided to stay home.  Sola and I played hide and seek and then made some Thanksgiving drawings, including "Thanksgiving aliens", which basically means more pictures of Sola's favorite Disney character, Angel.  We also talked about what she does in school, and how she likes math.  She showed me some of her mad addition skillz, and I tried to explain multiplication to her, but I don't think she's ready yet.

Harrison kept calling Sola "Mr. Poopy Pants," which was pissing Sola off.  She would tell Jill, who would tell Harrison to stop, and then half an hour later, repeat.  So I told Sola whenever Harrison calls her a name--or anyone else for that matter--she should just roll her eyes, shrug, and say "Whatever."  So she practiced it with me.  I said "Harrison's trying to make you mad, right?"

S: "Right."

M: "So if you get mad, that's what he wants, right?"

S: "Right."

M: "So you just shrug and say 'Whatever.'  Because you don't care.  It isn't important to you.  It's just silly and it doesn't make you mad."

S: "So...but...if it does make me mad, I can just pretend I don't care, right?"

M: "Right! Exactly. And what's really great about that is if you keep acting like you don't care, eventually you really don't care."

Jill: "And Sola, you can actually use that the rest of your life.  Even if you're a grown up and people try to call you names, you just don't care."

M: "Exactly.  I do it all the time."

S: (concerned) "But why do people call you names??"

M: "Oh.  Because I like to argue about politics."

S: "What's politics?"

M: "Um...you know who the President is?"

S: "Yeah."

M: "And the government?"

S: "...Yeah."

M: "Well there are two types of people in the government: Democrats and Republicans.  And they fight a lot."

S: "Like soldiers?"

M: "No, they just argue.  About politics.  And when you argue about politics sometimes people get really mad, and sometimes they call me names.  But what do I do when that happens?"

S: *rolls eyes* "Whatever!"

M: "Exactly!  Good job!"

It was a fun conversation.  I really like talking to that kid. 

Meanwhile, Ellen had already gone to school, Jack was on his 11th hour at work (he worked overnights this last week), Julie and Denny were delayed in Denver waiting to fly to SF, and Neil and Everett were heading to Dad's house from East Bay.  Somehow we managed to coordinate these different locations and schedules so that we had our people waiting in line about 5 hours in advance for HARRY POTTER 7 (part 1).  Ellen, Everett and Cody got there at about 3, and by the time Jack, Neil, Julie, Denny and I finally managed to join them (about 6:50), the line they were heading had wrapped all the way around the circular theater lobby so that the end of the line passed those of us in the front.  We basically ran down the hallway and through the theater when they finally let us in.  Our group was first in the theater, getting the middle seats about midway up--best seats in the house--and getting to sit there and watch everyone else excitedly file in.  I thought that part alone--the shared anticipation--was a lot of fun.

First in line for HP7 Pt1!! Good job to Ellen, Everett, and Cody!

The show was supposed to start at 7:30 but they decided to delay it slightly to give everyone time to get seated.  At 7:30 they did turn down the lights and widen the screen curtains, and everyone started cheering, but then they closed the curtains and turned the lights back up, and everyone booed.  It was actually pretty funny.  We all sat there and talked about the books and characters and plots, and the time flew to when the previews started.  Most of them looked unremarkable, although I'm looking forward to Dawn Treader.

I thought the movie was fantastic.  Perhaps it is just because I purposely didn't re-read the book this time and so discrepancies were less noticeable to me, but I felt this movie was more accurate to the book than most of the previous movies.  Without giving away any details, there was even a point when a character made a brief but moving speech and half the audience applauded.  We had a great time.  Jack and I will probably go watch it again for our date night this week.

The next day, yesterday, was (our) Thanksgiving.  During the day their was on-going prep.  At one point Jill, Sola, Harrison, Henry and I went to the Palace to feed the birds.  The weather was rainy and cold (for SF), and we kept a fire going in the hearth all day.  Jack, Henry and I got about half a game of Tichu in between helping with cleaning and food.  The day was actually pretty mellow compared to previous Thanksgivings.  Dad only made about 10 or so pies.  Everyone, including me, paid disproportionate amounts of attention to Rocket and his never-ending cuteness.

After dinner we cleaned while listening to a Disney Pandora station.  Jack and I helped by swing dancing in the middle of everything.  At least she tried.

When we were finished we hit the pies.  French silk, coconut cream, blueberry, apple crumble, and of course pumpkin were divided among us.  I enjoyed a glass of Cabernet with my pie in front of the fire while Andrew, Henry and I (all City College alumni) advised Ellen on her schedule for next semester.  The night naturally ended with some of us (ahem) standing around the kitchen talking/joking about politics.  After everyone left, I fell asleep watching the beginning of Goblet of Fire on my laptop.  Apparently it's the only HP movie we own, a fact I intend to eventually remedy.

This morning Jill and the kids had to leave. :(  I hung out with them as much as possible, showing Sola all the home videos from the last few days.  When they were actually walking down the stairs, Harrison called Sola "Mr. Poopy Pants", and she looked at me, grinned, and said "Whatever!"  It was brilliant.  I can't wait to mold my own kids, ha.

Now the little ones are gone, but Julie, Denny and Everett are still in town, and I'd rather hang out with them then do my homework.  I comfort myself with the knowledge that on actual Thanksgiving break, I won't be busy at all.  I'll do more then.

Real letters.

11.5.10 - This is how I feel every November 5th.

[I laughed to tears while Kale and I made this up.]

They came first for the people who didn't like Death To Smoochy, and I didn't say anything because Death To Smoochy was awesome.

Then they came for the people who didn't like Die Hard, and I didn't speak up because Die Hard was okay.

Then they came for the people who didn't like Aeon Flux, and I didn't speak up because Aeon Flux *did* suck, but it made me laugh a lot.

Then they came for the people who didn't like V for Vendetta, and no one spoke up because apparently everyone but me likes V for Vendetta.

Go see this.

10.31.10 - Halloween 2010

Last year we had a ridiculously huge Halloween Party, and we are still tired from it.  This year we decided to take it easy.  Jack and I spent most of the day studying.  In the evening we dressed up and along with Neil and Ellen we walked down to Chestnut St and gave lots of candy to the many little kids in adorable costumes.  Tons of princesses, Buzz Lightyears, and so forth, but my favorites were:

1) A 2-year-old girl as Snow White and her mother as the Evil Queen.

2) A little boy with a Scream mask that actually had dripping blood *inside* it.  Very gross.

3) A solved Rubik's cube.

Most of the kids were cute and shy and excited or confused.  One Snow White had never trick-or-treated before and we were her first piece of candy.  We made a point of buying good candy--Snickers, Reece's, Skittles--instead of tootsie rolls!  Always tootsie rolls!

Anyway it was fun.  I was a militant witch: pointed hat, shredded black shirt with a studded belt, flowing camoflage skirt, combat boots.  Neil was Elwood Blues.  Jack was a banana.  The kids liked him the most.

When we were almost out of candy we decided to go so we could finish it ourselves while we watched Nightmare Before Christmas.  I haven't seen that movie all the way through for about 5 years, and it was great.

10.30.10 - Life is good.

I got a 170 on my LSAT.  About 2.5 years ago I set a weight goal for myself that I just finally officially achieved this weekend. My apartment is colorful and very clean.  My boyfriend actively enjoys working hard.  I have a phone interview Monday morning for a job I'm excited about (cross your fingers for me!)  Tomorrow I'm going to give candy out to little kids.  In a few weeks all of my siblings are going to be in town for Thanksgiving, and we are going to see HP7!!

And now, here are some amazing Jack-o-Lanterns:

Happy Halloween. :)

10.2.10 - Jack is now in his Late Twenties.

26 is still mid-twenties, but there's no escaping 27.  Hopefully.

This morning I went to *my* old Starbucks and sat in the back and worked on my project proposal for about 4-4.5 hours.  It was helpful, though I still have a lot to do.  I got to hang out with Ellen on her lunch, and later visit with Liz on *her* lunch, so that was really nice.  Such a good crew at that Starbucks, such a good job.  I kind of miss it.

I came back to Dad's and worked more on the paper, trying not to nod off.  This entire time Jack was earning some extra cash cleaning out Dad's garage.  I felt bad that he was working on his birthday but he seemed pleased with the opportunity to make money while not having to deal with ornery or scamming customers.  I can see that.

Anyway early in the evening we got ready and went out to his birthday dinner.  I wanted to take him to The Tipsy Pig because it had gotten a lot of good reviews and the online pictures made the ambiance look great.  But when we walked in, a) it was louder and much more crowded than we'd expected and b) there were TVs.  Many of them.  So we left.

We wandered down the street glancing in at other restaurants.  There are at least two on Chestnut St that we've gone to a few times and know we like, but we were hoping to try something new tonight.  And then we found Mezes, a Greek restaurant tucked away at the end of the business part of Chestnut.  No TVs.

We were seated immediately by a very friendly waitress.  We ordered food we couldn't pronounce, including Kolokithokeftedes, Mythia, and Kalamaria--zucchini cakes with a dill cucumber sauce, mussels stewed in a creamy sauce with ouzo and herbes, and calamari stuffed with feta cheese and covered in what seemed to be some kind of pesto.  It was delicious, and new enough to me to make me very happy about it.  We also got glasses of Kourtakis Retsina and a Sauvignon Blanc; the latter, Jack's, was described as having a hint of melon, and all night he insisted it also had a green tint to it, like some melons.  It looked about as golden as my wine to me, but whatever.

There were many great photo opportunities, but I don't have a camera up to the task.
Here's a blurry one of an angle I would've liked.

We had great talks about many things, including mechanisms of DNA repair.  Have I mentioned how much I love that he's in school now?  It's great to have someone to geek out with on a date!

The woman at the table next to us was kind enough to offer to take our picture.

We enjoyed the evening air on the walk home, and got back to a semi-surprise birthday cake that Ellen and mostly Dad had put together for Jack.  It's an orange sherbet cake, and it tasted orangy, though I don't know about sherbety.  I gave him my gift of a German English dictionary, which he used immediately to look up anatomy terms.  Haha.

All in all it was a really nice day, and I am really full.  Good night.

9.23.10 - September End Update

Every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday Jack gets off work at 4pm, comes by my apartment for an hour or so, usually does homework while he's here, and then goes to class.  And every time I see him off I'm just so damn happy and proud of him for being in school.  It feels incredibly right to me. :)

I've been studying for the LSAT, and I think it's going pretty well.  When I was a kid sometimes I'd go through phases of playing chess a lot for awhile, and if I played too much I'd start to think of my own movements through a room as those of chess pieces.  Well lately I've been studying for the LSAT, and in a similar way I'm starting to think of conversations in terms of logical connections.   I mean, I would hope I am always thinking of *arguments* that way, but just day-to-day conversations?  It's kind of funny.

Today I am listening to the "Michael Buble" Pandora station, which also includes Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, etc.  You should try it.

I have to write a project proposal on the CIN8 gene, so if anyone has suggestions on why CIN8 *really* needs to be studied, feel free to throw them out there. :P  I'm going to start reading up on that after this update.

9.4.10 - Bagel date

This semester is looking to be much more relaxed than last semester.  I'm taking less classes and they are less intimidating, and I'm filling the extra time working in the lab I worked in over the summer.  It's a good learning experience, but given that I'm practically positive I will not be going to grad school for the sciences, I'm not sure how I feel about it.  I figure it can't hurt, and is still probably more useful than taking "Learn to play Scrabble" or whatever other DeCal.

It's nice to be familiar with campus.  I found all my new classrooms, no problem.  It's nice to already know some people here.  I've already got study partners for each of my classes that I studied with last year.  But most of all, it's nice to not be taking Physical Chemistry.

I love my apartment.  It's cozy and very clean, partially because my roommate happens to be a neat freak.  I'm fairly clean already but she's sweep-and-dust clean.  Our apartment is perpetually immaculate.  I love it.

Jack and I have always made a point to go on at least one date every week to ensure we get one-on-one time together regardless of schedules.  With recent finances we've been trying to make those dates more inexpensive, and I've actually found they've been better dates overall.  We used to go to dinner once a week, which adds up, and also becomes very routine, sitting across from each other, not always much to say or if there is it's not much different from what we always talk about.  But this morning, to save money, our date involved buying Asiago cheese bagels for $0.69 at Safeway and tall nonfat no-whip hot chocolates at Starbucks, and then going for a walk together.  The Starbucks we went to is one I used to work at from time to time, but it was only a handful of times and it was over a year ago, so I was very surprised when the cashier recognized me and hooked us up with a discount despite me no longer working for the company.  It was sweet.

Jack and I had our cheese bagels and hot chocolates as we walked in the cool foggy weather to the edge of the bay.  We sat at a bench and fed pigeons and seagulls.  Jack tried to get the seagulls to fight over bits of bagel, and he nearly succeeded once.  We watched the people walking their dogs and joggers too.  It was just a very pleasant date.

Asiago bagels for the birds.

There's an empty store space on my bike ride to campus that has big posters saying "Coming soon! Halloween Store!"  It makes me very happy.  I hope I have kids someday so I can re-live Halloween vicariously from their POVs.

Julie's Wedding

Last Monday Jack flew into town at about 7:30pm.  I picked him from the airport in the stifling heat, and we drove straight to his parents'.  He never told his mom he would be in town.  Jack unlocked the front door and we heard an uncertain "Hello?..." from his mom in the kitchen.  When he responded "Hello?" she immediately recognized his voice and cheered and ran to hug him.  It was quite cute.

We spent the evening at their place, having hamburgers and watching old home videos and catching up.  Later we went over to my mom's house so Jack could get some much anticipated Tichu in with me and EDIT: Everett and Adam. Happily it was a quick game, since it was already late and we had a full day ahead.  We went back and stayed at the Jackson house that night.  We fell asleep around 3am.

The next day (Tuesday, August 10), I woke up anxiously at 8am.  I was nervous I'd sleep through my alarm or be otherwise delayed from my duties that day.  I came downstairs to find Merlene had set out fruit and cereal and other things for breakfast, which was very sweet.  I then nearly blinded myself putting the wrong anti-itch ointment on my eyes and had to douse my face in water for a long time.  Luckily there was no permanent damage, and I'm still able to see.

Merlene graciously offered to wash Jack's suit shirt, which had mysterious (possibly wine) stains on it.  Jack and I left for the 20 min or so trek to the lodge so I could pick up a key and sign some papers promising not to run cars over their nice tiled patio or set the building on fire.  When we arrived at the lodge a very friendly ranger was waiting for us.  I got out of the car and he said "Big day, huh?" I grinned. "Yep."  He informed me that they had taken away two of the round tables and three of the rectangular ones, and I said "Uh, I don't know anything about that, I'm just supposed to pick up a key."

"Oh, you're not the one getting married?" 

"Me? No! It's my sister."

Awkward. Anyway.

So we did a walk through, I signed some things, the ranger left, and Jack and I unloaded what had already been packed in our car the day before.  The weather was sweltering, but the lodge was very bright and spacious and air conditioned.  Julie chose well.

Outdoor ceremony location.

So we finished and went back to Mom's house where a lot of other people were already taking ladders, boxes of homemade lanterns and bouquets, tons of alcohol, and a bizarre assortment of other accessories and filling 4-5 cars with it all.  I am continually moved by how many friends we have in MO and how willing they are to pitch in when our family does big projects like a wedding.  Or Birthday Hallow Thanksgiving Eve Party.  Or Olympics.  It was at Mom's house that I also found out a) Julie was nearly killed on the highway that morning by a driver not paying attention and b) the place where Julie had reserved table cloths had burnt down.

Happily, nearly everyone in my social life has FB profiles.  Mom set her FB status to something about the linen debacle, and almost immediately the dear Sarah messaged Mom saying she knew where we could rent affordable table cloths (same place she had used for her wedding, apparently).  So that was a great catch and save.

From Mom's house, we all trekked together back to the lodge and, under Julie's calm and precise supervision, began assembling what ultimately turned out to be a gorgeous reception hall.  She had red, orange, yellow, and blue lanterns strung around the entire room.  Where nearly all weddings I've seen have had a color theme of white and _____, Julie's was much more colorful, with red, orange, and yellow tablecloths, place settings, streamers, etc.  She even bought m'n'm's, skittles, and dum dums and placed them in glass candy dishes according to color.  She had homemade glass centerpieces that contained instructions for The Paper Game complete with notecards, and instructions for our favorite drinking game complete with playing cards.  She had colored index cards at each place setting for guests to write well wishes and other messages to be placed in the her and Denny's time capsule (which she also had stained and honed herself).  They are going to open it on their 10th anniversary.

The whole place ultimately looked fantastic.  I can safely say it was the prettiest reception I've yet seen, and if you factor in the awesome-to-cost ratio, it is even more impressive.  If I ever get married, Julie will probably plan my wedding.

Of course we had a ton of help setting it up.  Tiffany photographed everything as we went along.  Mike (plus Everett, Neil, and others) set up the DJ booth.  Neil carefully crafted the reception playlist according to Julie's specific requests, and he went further and backed up the playlist on to at least two other laptops, to make sure there were no problems.

Julie also had a table covered in board games (dubbed "non-dancing entertainment").  Then there were the long banquet style tables where the guests could put their dishes.  You see, Julie and Denny requested that, instead of gifts, everyone bring a dish, pot-luck style.  She had appetizers ready for beforehand, and coolers full of water, soda, and beer.  Even though the ceremony promised to be a short, sweet one, since it was outdoor in MO August heat, she designed the wedding programs to double as handheld fans.  (I put those together, btw.)

So while everyone was still assembling Julie's dream reception, Jack and I went home to get cleaned up and dressed proper for the wedding.  We first stopped by his parents' to pick up his suit.  Not only had Merlene gotten the stains out, but she quickly offered us some delicious sandwiches for lunch.  Given the business of the day I hadn't even thought about how to fit in lunch, so that was greatly appreciated.  As we were getting ready Jack was feeling pretty smug about how sharp he looks in his suit, and I warned him that he is absolutely not allowed to try to outdo Denny in dress on Denny's own wedding day.

Then we came back to watch over everything (included the rented chairs that had been arranged outside), and everyone else left to get cleaned up.  This meant Jack and I had the entire beautiful reception hall to ourselves for a couple of hours (joined also by Tiffany and Nick later on).  We finished a few odds and ends (sharpening pencils for the Paper Game, adding a few extra place settings, putting out the appetizers) and then we had nothing left to do...but practice swing dancing!  We had the entire dance floor to ourselves with no audience to make us self-conscious and complete control over the music, so we spent the last 30-45 mins before the wedding party started arriving just twirling and jitterbugging and trying the Charleston, and it was great fun.  I laughed so hard.

Soon people started arriving.  First there was Julie herself and her hair stylist (Melissa), makeup artist (Mom), photographers (Tiffany, Katie K.) and general helpers (Ellen).  Julie had also brought some of Denny's things, including the shoes he'd be wearing.  When Jack saw them he announced that Denny had already out-dressed him, in shoes alone.  That's how awesome Denny's shoes were.  Also, Denny had a tux.  I mean, come on.  He looked amazing. 

Others of the helper crew and guests started drifting in, bringing their food with them.  I soon found myself constantly running from the dressing room to the reception hall and back, delivering Julie's instructions one way and other peoples questions and comments back.  That was sort of fun, I was all over the place.

Rain clouds were starting to pile up outside.  I got one or two texts from people not far from the lodge warning that it was raining where they were.  Julie asked me to inform everyone that she was running about 20 minutes late and to apologize.  Some were concerned that it would start raining before we could start the ceremony, but Julie said if that happened we'd just do the ceremony in the reception hall and deal with it.  She was a remarkably relaxed and flexible bride (which isn't even like her, frankly) and I was really impressed.

Happily, it had not started raining by the time she was ready, but the dark clouds had (slightly) cooled things down outside for the ceremony.  Even so, as I walked down the aisle I could see the guests making good use out of the fan-programs.  Excellent foresight there, Julie.

The ceremony was lovely.  Rocket slept through the whole thing, thank God, so there were no screaming babies.  Phil, the officiator, did a great job keeping it short but sincere and sweet.  Julie and Denny had written their own vows, and the vows turned out both humorous and very touching.  Julie cried.  I didn't cry, but I considered it.  From the looks of my family, so did Ellen and Mom.  Everett didn't, though. 

Nope, lost it.

The ceremony was beautiful, but it was still surreal that I was sitting there watching my little sister get married.  I was so absorbed in thoughts about this, in fact, that I forgot the heat entirely until Phil made a joke about it as they were wrapping up.  Julie and Denny walked back down the aisle to "Rollercoaster of Love" (heh) and then we all headed back to AC.

After receiving the guests into the reception hall and encouraging people to start on the appetizers, the families of the bride and groom stepped out for a few quick photos by Mike and Tiffany, who both did a fantastic job. 

Then Julie and Denny had their own photos.  They had just finished and walked back inside when there was an ominous rumble of thunder and it started to rain.  People joked about close they cut it, what perfect timing, etc, and then it started to rain much harder.  Phil said a blessing over our meal, interrupted by more thunder.  He didn't skip a beat, though.  Then the power flickered, but came back on.  Sarah and I decided to go get the candles that were originally going to be set out after dark, just in case.  The power flickered again and went out for good.  The music stopped.  Sarah and I and Troy and some others busied ourselves lighting the candles, and I waited to hear what Julie wanted to do. 

Then leaves and branches and other solid objects started slamming against the nearly-all-windows wall of the lodge, and people started to look truly alarmed (including me).  Julie told me to ask Mike to announce that if there is an emergency we should proceed calmly to the bathrooms, but then I realized Mike had no electricity with which to use the microphone.

The storm beginning to rage.

Luckily, the storm calmed down quickly, and the candlelight looked nice, but we still had no music and no AC.  Mike, being the genius that he is (this is why we continually call on him for help), used some type of power converter and ran the entire DJ booth from an extension chord to his car.  Amazing.  So we had music again, which I really felt was the most important part.  Dad opened the many doors and windows to try to get air flow, and we hoped the power would come back on soon.

Alas, it did not.  I called the ranger and he said the whole grid was down, and it didn't look like it'd be up any time soon.

Still we made do.  Denny and Julie danced together to "Hey There Delilah". 

I *love* the lighting on this one.

Julie and Sola and Harrison danced to "Itty Bitty Pretty One".  Jack and I did some amateur swing dance, and laughed a lot, and sucked a lot, as usual, but it's great fun.  Everyone enjoyed the *many* delicious dishes that had been brought.  The pot luck turned out to be a truly fantastic idea.  Not only was it cheaper, it meant a large abundance of food (my family was still eating leftovers 5 days later) and it meant we could leave the food out for the entire reception, as opposed to some caterers who take it all up after an hour or so.  My favorite was Tiffany's Olympic Soup, but there were many other good dishes as well.

Another sweet note: periodically people kept coming up to me and saying "I know we weren't *supposed* to bring gifts, but if, hypothetically, we did anyway, where would we put them?"  I found out later that Julie and Denny were really surprised and moved by how generous the guests had been, even after being asked not to bring gifts.  Apparently they went home and went through each card and note and gift together and it was a wonderful experience.  So thank you, everyone.

Julie and Denny cut their bizarre wedding cake (based off of this disturbing youtube video).

Denny didn't trust Julie to not shove the cake all over his face, so he heldher wrists while they exchanged bites. Heh. He was probably right.

Sola just wants to eat the cake already.

Finally, Dad and Julie decided to do their father/daughter dance.  I was standing at the DJ booth when Dad asked Neil to play Tony Bennett's "I Left My Heart In San Francisco".  I was videotaping when the song actually started skipping, despite it not being part of a cd.  I felt so bad for Julie.  First the power goes out and then, during one of the only two special dances she does for the evening, the song keeps skipping.  Dad and Julie ignored it at first and kept dancing, but then it got worse and worse.  I looked over at Neil and he gave this helpless but slightly defensive shrug like he just couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.  I found out later that Jack, Eddie, Katie Kaiser, and I (and probably several other people), despite all being across the hall from one another, all simultaneously thought "Oh wow.  Neil is so dead."  Dad finally gave up ignoring the skipping, stopped dancing with Julie and walked over to Neil to see what was wrong.  Julie looked really pissed.  Tony Bennett stopped playing, and then "Zoot Suit Riot" started and stopped, then Tony Bennett for a second, something, I don't know, confusion!  I tried to cheer Julie up by shouting to her "Julie, it's cool!  This is where you and Dad do all the swing moves you secretly know!"  Of course, I was just kidding.

But then "Zoot Suit Riot" started playing for real, and Dad and Julie started snapping and dancing towards each other.  I still thought they were just making it up as they went along, and simply being gracious about the ruined Tony Bennett song.  I thought this all the way until Dad dipped Julie and she did a really high kick, and then I realized: they actually did take secret swing dance lessons.  Wha...?!  WHAT?!

After that *incredible* event, there was still much fun visiting. 

As the evening went on it got warmer in the reception hall and most of the guests went out onto the deck to enjoy the breeze.  Neil or Mike, not sure which, rearranged the speakers to play the music outside.  Lots of the younger guests (and by younger I still mean early 20's) were blowing bubbles (there were bubbles for everyone that ended up being used throughout the reception, rather than just as the bride and groom exited...actually some bubbles were used while the ceremony was still going on (Ben!)).  The bubbles filled the deck and floated out over the field next to it--very pretty in the sunset.

And then it occurred to us: sunset.  We had no electricity and once the sun was down we wouldn't be able to see a thing cleaning up.  We decided to cut the reception short by about 2 hours (alas!) and pack everything up immediately.  We still weren't fast enough.  Soon we were trying to clean everything by candlelight (and one heavy duty flashlight provided, of course, by Mike).  Thank God we have so many good friends--we had probably a dozen or so non-family members stick with us to the end packing up the abandoned potluck dishes and all of the decorations and etc.  People were continuously coming up to me asking "What else do you need?  What else can I do?"  Besides Julie and Denny exchanging vows, *that* was the most moving part of the night for me, to have so much help and so many people who care about our family.

Julie and Denny finished collecting the notes for their time capsule and then were free to go.  The rest of us finished cleaning and then a different friendly park ranger came down and signed off on the job so we could get out deposit back.  THEN most of the younger guests (again, those in their 20s) retired to the generous Pat Spencer's house for the after party.  That was the right decision.

 We took all of the alcohol that hadn't been consumed at the reception and had drinking games, Tichu (Jack and Troy's first showdown), and *lots* of dancing.  I danced until I couldn't any more--which for me is quite a lot.  It was a great party, and I'm so glad we did it.  At the end of the night, most of the alcohol still hadn't been consumed so I guess we'll have to throw another party next time the Snyders are in MO together.

Overall, a fantastic day.  If I ever get married, I hope my wedding is as excellent.