The hurricane

It's just so sad to see and hear all the horrible things resulting from the hurricane down south. Here I am worrying about what the weather's going to be like for the wedding, and down south there's coffins being washed up onto shorelines, and people not being able to eat or drink or even go to the bathroom, and looting, and families who can't find their loved ones, and all that horrible stuff... It's weird to think that something like this could happen in the good ol' US of A. We think we're so immune to disasters of any kind, and this whole thing is just completely surreal.

What's the saddest thing is that my first thoughts were, "Jeez, those people should have just left!" when they knew a horrible storm was coming, but I was ignorant enough to not know that some people just didn't have the means, the money, the transportation to get out. All the federal relief organizations should focus their funds on actual evacuation and getting the poor and elderly and needy and their families out rather than supporting people in the aftermath, because at least then there wouldn't be so many casualties. It's just crazy.

That's my comments on the whole thing. Sorry to bring the party down... but it really is very sad.

Very soon....

So yes, this weekend is the wedding. I'm-a gonna get married. I'm-a gonna be Mrs. Bailey. Hey, wait, that's Jay's mom's name!

Apparently, women diet before big events like this. I apparently am not a woman, as I have not "dieted" ... ever. Oh, sure, I tried doing a bit of exercise a few months back, but nothing stuck... I'm still tubby in the belly. So I eat potato chips and drink beer and down lots of Coke, and I'm still doing that this week, and people at work say that I shouldn't do that, but does it really make a difference? I know my dress fits on my tubby belly, and hey, I'm okay with that. I'm not going to lose 15 pounds in a week. If I did, I'd be frightened of myself.

One more time, c'mon let's celebrate

So last night we rode on up to the Alley for a final farewell to our good friends Jodi and Felix, as they are moving to good ol' Tennessee today. It was great to see everyone, we had a really great time. Derek did some great cookin' on the grill, Dave offered up some delicious chicken with some secret-recipe marinade, there were hot dogs, beers, filet mignon (so tasty!), veggie burgers for Jay... All in all, it was a very good Alley showing for Jodi & Felix's last night.

Here's some Alley memories:






And HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DENNIS!

The fuzz

I got pulled over on my way home from work today. I'm not usually a speeder; on the contrary, I am alert to speed limit signs and such 97 percent of the time. Well, sometimes when I am excited about the place I am driving away from or about my destination, I tend to get a little hyper and tend to drive a little faster. Not like a speed demon; I just do it unconsciously. So I stopped by this cute little farm store, and it was like a mini version of Wilson Farms! So I got some good vegetables at a good price, and even picked up a cider donut for Jay, 'cuz he likes those. Driving back home, I was all excited that I had found that place, and I was excited about using our new George Foreman grill to grill the veggies I just purchased and make a grilled veggie salad!! And then I passed a cop. Doh! I apparently was going 40 in a 30 (I thought it was a 35). But he was very, very nice, and didn't give me any attitude, and he just gave me a written warning. I just have to remember to lay off the gas pedal when I'm super excited.

Shopping for tasty foods

Jay and I hadn't been grocery shopping in a heck of a long time, and I'm not exactly sure why... I think my trip to Florida messed things up, then after I got back I was busy at work... but anyways, we finally went grocery shopping. We picked up a yellow watermelon, just 'cuz it looked neat. The cash register girl was like, "Why's it yellow?" And we're like, "Umm, 'cuz it is...?" And she went on to say, "They take fish genes and splice them with strawberries to make them redder and juicier." And we're like, "...Gross." I believe that people that ring up your groceries should keep their food-related opinions/weird science facts to themselves. Where I think I was really going with this is that I made dinner last night for the first time in weeks, and it was good.

I think Jay might be getting sick. ::sad face:: Hopefully he won't be too sick, and hopefully he'll recover quickly. We got that thing happening in like 11 days or something.

Oh, by the way, the yellow watermelon was delicious. Tasted nothing like fish genes.

Another weekend!

Just a pic of our handsome Abraham. He's smelly, you know.

So today is Jay's bachelor party. I get to go to the first appointment with the DJ (yes, the wedding is in two weeks; and yes, we haven't met with the DJ yet... what?) and then out to Central MA to my sis-in-law's baby shower. Weird to think that my brother's going to be a dad. So anyway, back to this bachelor party, Jay is very excited about it. He's all giddy. I guess the boyz are going disc golfing all day and then heading back to Will's house in Worcester for a BBQ. I expect that Jay will drink all day, probably spend a bit too much time in the sun, and then eat lots of veggie burgers. All in all, it will be a good day. With lots of beer.

Oh, Jay got his drum kit - he got a used one off of Craigslist. This is Jay and Dennis jamming out last night in the basement:

I think Jay's excited about his drums - he likes to play.

Exchange of gifts

This weekend, Jason and I "exchanged" wedding gifts. We actually hadn't bought anything for each other yet, but we told each other what we were getting. So I told Jay that I would get him a drum set, but that I didn't know anything about drum sets so he could pick it. Then he told me he was getting me a digitial video camera and he was going to set up my old G4 with video-editing software and stuff! Weeee!! So we still haven't gotten the drum set - Jay's still shopping around. But we went out on Sunday (tax-free day) and got a Sony digital camcorder. It's so little! I'm very excited to take honeymoon videos. Of scenery, you pervert.

Also, you'll be glad to know we're having a freakin' buffet at the wedding. And the reception goes till 10:00. Ten o'clock at night?? Yowsahs!

quips

So the week started out crappy, but that was mainly due to my negative outlook on things in general, but now I have to admit it's getting better [better], a little better all the time [it can't get no worse].

So now it's Thursday, and I just remembered that I had made an appointment to give blood today. I don't know why I did this, because the last time I did it, I didn't really feel well afterwards. You see, I used to not weigh enough to even donate blood. But then I started drinking beer, and suddenly I surpassed the 115-lb. minimim! So the first time I donated blood was last year in Lowell, and they took a shitload of blood out of me and didn't give me anything back. It really hurt (eww, I'm getting queasy), I got really woozy, and they didn't even have good snacks! But it's for the best. Sick people need blood. And vampires. Here's Pat's take on blood donation. And another take.

Last night Jay and I went out with our old Starbucks commrades. The kids we used to work with were like sophomores and juniors in high school at the time, and now they're all graduated from college and stuff. Weird! But it was good to see everyone -- a little weird, but good nonetheless. We went to the Tin Alley in F'ham. I don't have much to say about that.

My looong weekend

Man, it's good to be back. I left last Wednesday for a convention in Florida for the court reporting association I'm reluctantly a member of. The association is based in the South with most members from the South, and I thought Southerners were supposed to be famous for their hospitality and all, but lots of these people are kind of mean and passive-aggressive. But maybe that has more to do with the fact that they're court reporters than the fact that they're Southerners... My sis is a member, and we have to keep up our continuing education credits by attending seminars. The seminars pretty much have nothing to do with our actual job (for instance, try the seminar on ettiquite, parts 1 and 2, where you learned which side of your place setting the bread plate should be on; or the business ethics panel, where it was just a forum for selfish mean people to rant about how people don't respect them nearly enough). To make matters worse, a creepy guy took a liking to me and I spent the rest of the convention trying to avoid him. My sis and I stayed up way too late and drank way too much free wine the last night, and we missed our 7:00 a.m. flight. Luckily, we were able to get standby seats on the next flight, so it ended up okay.

So now I'm back, and now it's time to crack down on wedding plans. I'll be soooo happy when it's time for our honeymoon... St. John.... so nice.... so tropical... margaritas and veggies & dip.... I hope they have veggies & dip.... ooo, and steak.... but not necessarily at the same time.... yeahhh...

Gots to do more laundry now.

Stuff we did and stuff we ate

Is it really the last day of July?? Man, is time going by fast!

Man, I can never think of good things to write on this thing! (And yes, I did just begin two consecutive sentences with "Man.") I feel like whatever I say is incredibly selfish and ignorant. I guess the content does definitely qualify as selfish -- but hopefully not ignorant. Guess I'll start with the fact that we were 100 percent ready to go to John and Janelle's BeerBQ (I was even putting the final touches on my veggies 'n' dip platter) when Jay's dad and his pal David stopped by. They had bicycled from somewhere in Connecticut to here (hey, that's cool, you can link to google maps directions...). So that was a nice surprise. But alas we got caught up in having some dinner and drinks and doing some chatting and going for a little swim, and by the time we said, "Hey, we should get going," it was like 8:00, and hey, we're old, so we decided it was too late. ::le sigh::

So we went to John Stone's last night with Jay's dad and his pal David, and the beer and the food was excellent. Jay and I had gone there for brunch last weekend, and I have to admit I wasn't all too impressed with their breakfast-lunch hybrid menu. But last night's food was great - Jay's dad and I both had the beef tenderloin salad, which had roasted veggies and... well, beef tenderloin. Mmmmm, delicious. Jay and the boys indulged in the famous farmer's cheese platter, which is a sampling of three cheeses with three different breads and three different fruit-spread thingies. I wish I liked cheese more, because that's just fun!

In other dining news, we tried out a place in Hudson called the Horseshoe Pub, which has an amazing number of beers on tap. You can join the "Beer Safari," where when you sample 25 beers you get a pint glass, when you sample 50 beers you get a t-shirt, when you sample 75 beers you get a free lunch or dinner, and when you sample 100 beers you get a free appetizer party for 20 or more people. The food's darn good, too. But if you take leftovers home with you, remember to take them out of your car.

What do they put in Coca Cola to make it so damn good? Coke??? I'm having my second can and it's not even 7:00 a.m. for God's sake!! Help me!!!

So I think I'll just pick a random photo from my hoards of digital images and include it with my posts, just for the heck of it.

Random Photo No. 1: Jay at Ashland State Park.
for a second I thought it was our backyard, and I was like, wow, our backyard looks huge! it's so nice! but it's not our backyard.

Violent Femmes

So I guess the Violent Femmes are playing at a place called McFadden's in Providence, Rhode Island, on Saturday, August 20th. Tickets are $15. Anyone want to go? I love them Femmes, they're very fun in concert. I guess it's outdoors, too.

I had salmon cakes today. My first time. Wasn't too bad.

Revive the Alley!

I just checked Alley Party , and it looks as though the Alley is dying in more ways than one. Sadly, two of the original members already have moved (that's me and Jay), and now two more originals are on the move (that's Jodi and Felix), and apparently, Matt just got notification that the alleyparty.com URL is up for termination (or whatever you want to call it) if not renewed.

I mentioned in a comment on the Alley Party site that there should be an Alley get-together every Friday or Saturday up until Jodi and Felix move. Nothing too crazy, like we don't need shot-glass Army vests or barrel fires or stuffed-animal baseball or power hour (okay, maybe we do need power hour...), but I for one am kind of saddened by the impending death of the Alley! At least one last she-bang, like perhaps the second annual (and possibly final) Alley Formal? Last year's was October 4th, I believe - if we can arrange another maybe in August, I would LOVE that. What do you think??

Oh, friends from the Alley

First of all, is it selfish to go back to your own blog to see if people commented? If so, declare me guilty. I was happily surprised to see that Kevin from the Alley (yes, remember the Alley??) had commented on my last blog post! I always liked that Kevin, and I was so excited that he took the time to comment - thanks, Kevin! I like your blog - I commented a few times, even if they're completely irrelevant...

In other news, Jay and I tried to paint candles last night. It didn't work too well.



Apparently, acrylic paint doesn't stick to waxy candles. I can't imagine why, since acrylic paint is water-based and candles are oily... (that's facetious; water and oil don't mix). Oh, why were we painting candles, you ask? We were trying to paint candles as centerpieces for the wedding. Umm, I realize that I'm not very crafty. If I were, then MAN would I like A.C. Moore a whole hell of a lot more!
p.s. that middle picture includes sour Starburst as decorations. Sticky in humid weather, let me tell you!

Bottlin' beer

Well, I just finished bottling a batch of homebrew. Bottling beer is tough work, let me tell you. You have to sanitize every bottle in bleach water and then rinse and then drain, you have to lug the 5-gallon bucket full of beer up to a height where you can easily siphon it into the bottling bucket, you have to then lug the bottling bucket up to a height where you can easily attach the bottle filler, you have to sanitize all the tubing, you have to sanitize all the bottle caps, you have to fill each beer bottle (I'm talking about 45-50 here), then cap each bottle. Hard on the back. But I hope to have two more batches ready by the time the wedding rolls around, but we'll see where my motivation leads. I've been known to say I'm going to do something and then not do it. Sounds crazy, I know, but it's true.

Gross

As Pat and Kate have noticed, it's freakin' muggy. I came home to find mold growing in the plastic magnetic part of the inside of the freezer door that seals the door shut, which I am almost positive wasn't there before, and I only say that because if you just GLANCE over near there, it was pretty obvious that nasty mold was growing. Icky sticky!

So Jay's taking a programming class, which he is at on Monday and Wednesday nights. I've been busy with more wedding stuff (was going to say "wedding crap," but I'm trying to be positive here). I am not good at this wedding stuff, and it's frustrating to no end that I can't seem to accomplish any task without a fair amount of confusion and messing up. But things do work out, I suppose, and we are getting stuff done, I suppose; I suppose I'm just cranky 'cuz it's so nasty out. And because I'm bad at wedding stuff.

Here's a really cute pic of Jay and his niece, Cadence (ignore the serving tray behind his head):

Man Robbed at Gunpoint at Ashland State Park

Here's the story! Isn't that crazy?? We were down there just this past weekend. Jay asked me how I would have reacted if I saw that happen at the boat launch, and I said that I'd probably think it was a joke and start laughing, which would probably result in me getting shot. With a shotgun. 'Cuz that's what the guy had, a shotgun.

Anyway, we ran out of propane for the grill last night! Mikko, Dennis, and Erik stopped on by, and I was all ready to grill up some dogs and burgers and veggies, and Erik noticed that even though the burners were all on 'high,' the temperature was only at 200 degrees and dropping. It was very sad... Maybe we'll heed Erik's advice and get ourselves a backup tank for when that happens again. We ended up cooking the food on the stove, and it was okay. Then later on we had a fire, and it was fun. Not a fire like Pat and Kate saw; this was contained.

Weekend extravaganza

Jay and I had a pretty busy weekend. I had my bachelorette party on Friday night, where I got home at 3:00 a.m. and then had my shower the next day at noon... but I did good! That was a very very rainy night. My future sister-in-law Kerry got me a candy-necklace bra and had made some chocolate confections shaped like... well, I'll let you imagine what they were shaped like... My sister rented us a limo and we went to Ye Olde Tavern in my hometown of West Brookfield, where some guy named John bought me two kamikazee shots and we all did a butterball shot together (including my mom). Then it was off to beautiful Worcester to Jillian's, which we didn't really plan out, we just decided to go there because we couldn't think of anything better to do. The place was pretty dead, which was actually nice (I don't like crowds), but when I requested some Tom Jones and Neil Diamond, nobody would dance with me. We had some food, we had some drinks, some guy bought me a shot which I spilled on myself, and then it was off back to home. It was a late night, it was an expensive night, but it was fun.






Then the next day was my shower - the day I had been dreading because no matter what you may believe, I don't really like being the center of attention. I'm always afraid I'm going to commit a huge faux pas or something. Like possibly spelling "faux pas" wrong... but it was actually fun. I hope I didn't make an ass out of myself. Laura's mom put on the shower and she did a great job! Mrs. Bailey got us a brand new digital camera, which is fan-tastic!

Then yesterday we tried to take it easy and we went kayaking with Abe. Very fun stuff. He did well in the kayak on the way out to the island we like to hang out at. But then when we tried to float away on our floatie mattresses, he was all alone on the island and started freaking out. So we tried putting him on a floatie mattress, but wasn't having it. Then Jay put the dog on his (Jay's) belly as he floated around, and Abe just kept walking out to Jay's feet.


Then he fell in the water from a small cliff on the shore as he was trying to get as close to the water as possible. Then as we were kayaking back, he just jumped right off the kayak into the water (he HATES swimming!) and started swimming to a dock that was just barely under water! What a weirdo! I think he's traumatized. We'll make him a swimmming dog yet!

So now today is Jay's first day of his new programming class that he decided to take. It's in Lowell, which is ironic since we just moved away from there. And I'm still trying to get in touch with the free DJ that I won... it ain't workin'. We'll see. We also have the design for the invitations all set, thanks to Dennis's hard work - thanks, D! They look awesome.

Bucka-WHA?!

Not much stuff going on, except the fact that wedding planning is no fun at all, and I don't know how people actually make that their career. Weirdos. I can't keep anything straight! Ah, well. This weekend is the wedding shower, and it'll be good to see everyone. It's a garden party, and I don't have my favorite red sun hat. (See previous post.) I'll have to make do without.

I'm hungry.

Crazy dayz

So we've been having fun times these past few days - weeee! Last night we went to the Mendon Drive-In and saw War of the Worlds. It was really good, actually. A great movie to see at the drive-in.

Then today we had some breakfast, and decided to go kayaking and swimming. But first we had to get floatie mattresses 'cuz we're lazy. So we went to Target for swimmy shoes and Wal-Mart for cheap floatie mattresses.

We bought 3- and 5-lb. excercise balls at Wal-Mart. It was a stupid purchase, but how could we resist when Jay was having so much fun juggling them? (This picture wasn't Photoshopped.)

Then we got home, packed up lots of tasty foods, and kayaked out onto the reservoir at Ashland State Park and had ourselves a feast.

We created lots of different combinations of treats, and I think this one was called the "Barnacle Bob" or something. We also created others such as Guantanamo Bay, Dead Fishies, the Frog, and the Erin Special. Guantanamo Bay was my favorite.

Also, I was VERY upset, because I flipped over on the floatie mattress and lost my new sunglasses I had bought that day, and I also lost my beautiful red hat to a gust of wind! It fell in the water, and I thought it would float, but it got waterlogged and sank slowly as Jay tried with all his might to paddle back towards it. I loved that hat... my collapsable hat... R.I.P.

Tonight we just might go see fireworks (ooooooo ilovefireworks........) We'll just have to see. But we've been having lots and lots of fun, and I think everyone should float around the warm water on floatie mattresses!

That's crazy

Minn. Government Shuts Down; 9,000 Jobless