The pros and cons of summer

I think it might be time to declare summer officially here. Well, as summer as summer gets here in the Great White North. I'm not trying to get too cocky, yes, I know, it could very well snow on July 4th. But we have had some nice weather lately, so although we may see some cool days here and there, it's basically summer.

And with summer comes all it's good points.

* Brightly colored toes now visible due to the donning of flip flops.

* Birds chirping in the mornings.

* The smell of fresh cut grass.

* Thunderstorms - I'm a thunderstorm junkie. I love them. I love laying in bed with the windows open (we have wide eaves and can get away with this) and just listening to the thunder roll ... and the lightening strike... another love grows cold... on a sleepless night.* Oh, shit, where was I? Yes, thunderstorms, I love them.

*The smell of the Old Man cooking anything on the grill.



Tonight we had ribeyes and they were superb. Can I just say how rockin' it is being married to a butcher? They really do have the best meat.

There's just so much to love about summer.

There's also plenty to hate.

* French manicured toes. They skeeve me out. Even if they aren't long, they give the illusion of long and long toenails are creepy with a capital c-r-e-e-p-WHY?

* Birds chirping in the mornings. Good grief, I'm up at like 5 a.m. or whenever those little feathered bastards start making noise. I have a love/hate relationship with them.

* Bugs. Any sort that stings or bites, but most especially the ones that suck your blood. Ticks and mosquitos are both supremely gross. I would rather have a family of bats living somewhere on our property than any of the little blood suckers. This is why the Old Man decided to buy a flock of chickens. Gaggle? Herd? Bunch? What the hell do you call a group of chickens?



Well, whatever you call them, we have four. They are just babies still, but they'll get big on our ticks soon as we let them loose in the yard. Ha... Release the chickens!**

*Short shorts and low-cut tops on 99% of the population. Trust me that when I say "You cannot wear that", I'm really not offering up a challenge. Let it go. Your ass is too big to be wearing that shit, ho! And while I'm at it... halter tops require halter bras. 'Nuff said.

*It being absolutely gorgeous outside all week while I am stuck in an office and the moment I walk out the door on Friday afternoon, it begins storming and doesn't stop until late Sunday night. Don't you just hate that?

*The Thunder Rolls, Garth Brooks

**Take off a line from 1981's Clash of the Titans, "Release the Kraken!"

Been a little busy gettin' hitched!

I'm just stopping by to share a few non-professional pictures from our wedding. The day was perfect. I planned it all so well that Beth and I even had time for a nice lunch between hair and makeup appointments.

The only snafu was the pastor performing the ceremony stood in the wrong place, so we ended up facing everyone instead of him facing our guests. Ahh well. No big deal. In the end, I'm married and happier than all get-out.

I'm going to let a slideshow do the narrating for how the big day went. Enjoy!

The end of the road

I have had a Knot account for a long time. Too long. Way longer than I ever should have. I opened it many moons ago when I was with someone else, in the hopes that I might one day need it and all the information it could provide.

I remember the days when I would log in and my homepage would tell me that I have some insanely large number like 1097 days left.

I remember that number dwindling down to 365 and I would push it back another two years because he would tell me that he knew he wanted to marry me, just didn't know when.

I remember the day I finally worked up the strength to kick his ass to the curb where it should have been years prior.

I remember saying "Hi" to an old acquaintance on MySpace, little did I know what trouble that would bring about.

I remember the day, just six weeks after our first date, when Mike proposed, I said yes, and a I got to log in and fast forward my days left to under a year.

And now it says 19. And it isn't a fluke, it isn't a hoax, it is real and I'm getting married to the most wonderful man in under three weeks.

On the floor of Tokyo...

Or down in London town to go, go
With the record selection
With the mirror reflection
I'm dancing with my... boss?

Yep, you read that correctly. Last night I was out dancing. With my boss. And others for one of my co-workers' surprise 40th birthday party. Even with an entire courthouse full of people who knew about it, we managed to pull off the surprise and today I see she's still in shock. Yes!

It was such a blast. It was held at a brewpub that was having a very popular local band playing for the night. They play a fantastic mix of classic rock, 80's, 90's and current stuff. Many of the women from work wandered out onto the floor, motioning for me join them. I passed. Mike asked why I wasn't out dancing and my response was that I dance like a white girl from the 80's and, frankly, it's embarrassing.

But you know, after a few songs I realized so did they.

Armed with that information, and the alcohol from two beers coursing through my veins, I decided to just bite the bullet and get out on the dance floor. It was thoroughly uncomfortable at first, but as they continued to play some damn good songs I loosened up, didn't care how I looked, and really enjoyed it. I'm so glad that I invited my boss and the co-worker the party was for, to the wedding. I can just see adding them to the mix of my crazy ass family and friends. I think it's going to be a blast... especially if my gay cousin goes good on his promise to sing some Cher for us.

But it's still kinda weird to be out dancing with my boss.

T minus one month and counting

One month from today, Mike's life sentence begins. At least that is what I keep teasing him with. It all seems so unreal. This last year has absolutely flown by and just ten days from now is the one-year anniversary of the day he proposed.

It's also the day that Greg graduates from high school with Jan graduating the day before. Oh man. I remember when these two were just little. I remember piling the two of them into the back seat of my car and hauling them to and from school.

For those that don't know, I knew Mike many moons ago. As in, 16 or so years ago. I'm not sure if I talked about this here, but Mike's ex-wife used to babysit Greg when we first moved back to our hometown. In fact, Mike's ex-wife is Bobby's godmother. From 1992 to 1996, his three oldest and my oldest were together all the time.

We even have the advantage of having pictures of all the kids together when they were little. I think it's a bit unique for a blended family. Well, unless you live in one of those states that allows cousins or siblings to marry, but we don't so it's all good.

Left to right below: Greg, Jan, Cindy.



And here they are left to right: Greg, Cindy, Jan and Peter on the tricycle.



It's really quite sweet and something all the grandparents love.

Now, if I can just keep my sanity for the next month. My life, as of late, is filled with nothing but wedding and graduation prep. I almost hyperventilate every time I think of it. A wedding date mere weeks after two kids in the house graduate. What the fuck was I thinking?!

The end of an era

Some of you know about my family's business. No, not Mike's butcher shop, I still consider that his family's business, not mine. Soon it will be, though. Exactly 5 weeks from today I will be loading my car with glass vases for the centerpieces and heading out to get my hair and makeup done in preparation for becoming Mrs. D, but that is a whole post (or twenty) in and of itself.

My family's business, since 1987, has been pasties. If you Google that, do not go to any link with the word adhesive in it. Tasty, wonderful, Cornish pasties. (Btw, the pictures in that link just do not do pasties justice, the closest would be the one farthest down on the right hand side labeled "A pasty from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan".) Mom and Dad bought a pasty shop in 1987 and changed the recipe to my great-grandmother's. And it has been a huge success. It has employed my parents, me, my brother, my aunt, all her kids, and several other random cousins throughout it's 22 years in our family.

About eight years ago my parents sold it to my aunt and she continued with the family recipe and tradition of employing my cousins.

But that all changed last month when she sold it. It is now owned by someone no one in the family knew before a month ago. The recipe has changed. They have remodeled the building. New people man the counters and peel the potatoes.

It's not our family business anymore.

New category: Tales from the trenches

As I was walking down the hallway to my office after lunch yesterday, a young couple walked out. She stopped and he took another few paces before turning around and whipping out his... camera. (Hey, you never know, we work with felons.) He told her to smile and she said, "Make sure you get the 'County Clerk' sign in the picture."

At this point I had gotten close enough to be in the background of the picture, so I crossed to the other side of the hall just before he snapped the photo of her holding the receipt for their marriage license.

I avoided being in that picture, but it is unlikely I will when they come back to pick up their license unless I'm again at lunch. Apparently they took pictures of everything they did. She filled out the form, he snapped a pic. He signed his, she snapped a pic. My coworker enter their info in the computer for the receipt, they took a pic. I guess they even took a picture of the 20-dollar bill they paid with.

It's most definitely wedding season.