BACHELORETTE PARTY!

I have some of the very best friends in the entire WORLD! This weekend, my best friend and maid of honor, Kelli, threw me a bachelorette party.

The party had been in the works for a couple of weeks, and I absolutely could not wait. We decided to have it in Grand Rapids because there are more bars there, and they are all within walking distance of each other. So I told everyone from my area to meet me at my house at 3:00pm on Saturday. Once everyone FINALLY got there (*cough* Natalie! *cough*) we headed out.

Pulling up to Kelli's townhouse, my friend Amy said "ooohh! I bet I can guess which house is hers!" I had no clue what she was talking about. I like to think this is because I was so focused on my driving skills that I couldn't possibly look up from parking my car....right.

Once I looked up, I saw that there was a banner over the door of her townhouse that said "Bachelorette Party" with balloons attached, sidewalk chalk covering the walkway declaring that we were, in fact, entering the correct place, and that there was going to be a HUGE party, and Kelli, standing in the doorway, camera in hand, grinning like a fool.

Kelli and her roommates had spent HOURS putting the house together, and it looked AMAZING! There were banners all over the place, tablecloths, mardi gras beads, a specially decorated Beer Pong table just for me, and FOOD! LOTS AND LOTS OF FOOD!

After dragging all of our stuff inside (you would have thought that we were staying for a month, but really, it was just overnight) Kelli busted out the T-shirts that we had made, and brings out a garter (for outside the pants!), a sash, and a sparkly tiara for me to wear. I felt like a princess!

Then came the jello shots....dun-dun-dun. Strawberry on Strawberry and Fuzzy Navels! YUMMY! These were followed by a few rowdy games of Beer Pong (Natalie and Jamie are the BEST Beer Pong Cheerleaders EVER! They didn't play favorites, they just cheered for whomever was loosing!) There was cheering, dancing, singing, bawdy jokes and lots of giggling. It was SO much fun! And that was just the beginning!

We went out to the bar afterwards, but I will tell you about that tomorrow :)

Games

Anyone who has ever had a dog knows that they all have thier own personality, and their own favorite games. Sarge, is no exception. His favorite game, if you are biger than he is, is to "help" you put on your shoes. Every morning, I sit on the edge of my bed to put my shoes on, and he proceeds to chase both my hands, and my shoelaces. It usually takes me about three tries to tie my shoes because as soon as I get them tied, he unties them. If you are smaller than he is, he likes to wait until you sit down, and then sit on your chest and lick your feet. This is especially popular with all of the kids that seem to inhabit my house.

MY favorite games to play with Sarge always seem to involve torturing him. I love to eat standing up, over the sink (OK, so I don't really love it, but it's what I do.) and let him watch me intently for any dropped crumbs. I, of course, am leaning far enough over the sink that he can't possibly get anything that I drop, but he doesn't seem to understand that.

I also love (hate) to fold socks. Sarge sits in front of the laundry basket and watches me take each pair out, fold them and put them back in. His eyes never leave my hands, as though he is using all of his brain power to coerce me into giving him a pair of socks. He then follows me into the bedroom and we repeat the process while I put the socks away.

The other day he was "helping" me put clothes away and when I finished and went to put the laundry basket away, I noticed that he wasn't following me. I looked everywhere. In the bathroom (he likes to see if we left any water in the tub), on the couch (he always lays on the remote control), in the bedroom (he likes to lay on my pillows and gets offended when I want to use them), I even looked outside (I realize that he has no thumbs and therefore it would be especially difficult for him to unlock the sliding door, let alone open it, but I was desperate!). Finally I heard whimpering coming from the bedroom. I hadn't noticed that he had followed me into Pat's closet and had shut the door on him. He must have thought that we were playing some kind of game where I put him in there and then come back and act suprised because once I got him out, he went right upstairs the guest bedroom and sat in front of THAT closet and looked at me like "OK mom, I'm ready!" Now, every time Pat opens his closet, Sarge runs in and sits under the clothes rack and refuses to come out until Pat shuts the door and opens it again.

I've created a monster.

The remote control is under there.....

Effervescence

Another Previous Post:

There is a feeling in the pit of my stomach today. It's the perfect blend of the champaign bubbles of excitment, and the warm vanilla of contentment.

I got engaged last night.

I can hardly believe it. It feels as thought I am in the middle of my favorite dream, and I never want to wake up.

Everyone has been asking me if he did it in an amazingly romantic way, and I tell them no. The way he did it was perfect. He's not an extremely romantic person in the first place, and he doesn't put a lot of weight on words. Actions mean more to him than anything.

I keep looking at my finger. Just staring, lost in the light and sparkle of the diamonds that now reside there. The ring is beautiful, more than I ever would have expected, but that's not why I stare. I am caught up in thoughts of what this means for my future.....our future. I would have stared with as much rapture had he tied a piece of string to my finger.

I've had to marvel though, at how the delicate beauty of the ring is infused with such strength. I have a solid band of metal and stone that binds myself to another, nearly unbreakable, yet beautiful in it's strength. I think that is where the warm vanilla feeling comes from. That inpenitrable loop that indicates both desire and commitment.

I know that the giddy excitment of champaign bubbles comes from being a girl. I get to plan a wedding! I get to be the beautiful bride! Yea me! I get to play with my hair and pick out flowers! I get to become stressed out, and over-tired! I simply cannot restrain myself from indulging in this giddy pleasure.

I know that there will be times when we wonder what made us get together, and times that we want to run away, but I hope that this heady excitement follows me throughout our life together, that we can always come back to this bubbling joy.

This effervescence.

Six o'clock quiet time

Previous post from my other blog:

For some reason when Pat got up this morning, I couldn't go back to sleep. Usually this isn't a big deal for me. I snuggle down into the now-warm bed, surrounded by the scents of sleep and boy, and drift off while I listen to him getting ready for work.

I'm usually in a rush when I get up. I like to sleep in until the last possible second. I guess it's not really sleeping though. I lay there and listen for my alarm clock, concentrating on watching the minutes so that it won't startle me when it goes off. It usually doesn't work and I am startled anyway. But this morning was different. I didn't feel the need to snuggle back into bed. I was ready for the day.

I got out of bed and walked upstairs, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and thinking about making a cup of coffee in my brand new coffee maker.

I was greeted with:

Pat: "Go back to bed. You don't need to be up for another hour."

Me: "Nope, I think I'm done sleeping for the day."

Pat: "But you don't need to be up yet, you could go back to bed."

Me: "I don't want to go back to bed. I'm going to make myself some coffee and take my book out onto the deck."

Pat: "So does that mean that you aren't going to go back to bed?"

He's not at his brightest in the morning. I walked up to him and, stretching onto my toes, gave him a kiss and told him he was cute.

The rest of the morning was very productive. After helping Pat make his lunch, seeing him off to work, and putting my coffee on, I emptied the dishwasher, put away some other random kitchen stuff, made my lunch, took a shower, made the bed and got dressed. Then I spent about a half an hour out on the deck with a cup of coffee and a book.
I thought I would be tired all day, but it's the exact opposite. I have more energy today than I have had in a long time.

I think I'll have to have six o'clock quiet time more often.

Oblivious

The outdoor cafe where two lovers sit, unmindful of the hundreds of pedestrians that surround them. The young mother so engrossed in her child's new found vocabulary, that the ringing of the telephone goes unnoticed. The lone shopper, lost in thought, wandering the aisles with an empty basket.

For those blissful moments, you are alone in the soft cocoon of your conscious, your thoughts intertwining with your memories, your life played back in tandem with your plans for the future.

Slowly, carefully, the world intrudes. Like the sound of rain falling on fine china, you are shaken from your reverie. Life moves into fast forward as you pay your bill, rush to your appointment, answer the telephone. You become caught in the web of life, weaving from one place to the next, never knowing when you will next come in contact, with yourself.