Our life, our way

Okay, so its a bit delayed…well maybe really delayed. But here are pictures from our trip to Seattle to visit Lauren and Mike and also to join them on a cruise to Alaska! They are books. You can click on image and be able to flip the pages.

Seriously? What is it? I thought I knew but after seeing that most people don’t RSVP, I’m starting to think either I have my definition wrong or RSVP is for old people.

Perhaps we should all “tweet” invitations….

You are my friend so I hold you to a higher standard. Or should I?

So a recent event really pissed me off. I was reading along on the internet and came across an article about a friend of mine. I was so excited. I mean, really, its my friend and they are getting recognition for something they did! Woot!

Half way through the article I wanted to “gag.” It had false statements. My friend was getting recognition for stuff they did AND didn’t do. Stuff that I personally know others did even before my friend started employment at the place.

I sat at work pretty pissed for a while and then wondered why I was so mad and came to this conclusion:

1. Said friend has on so many occasions complained to me that they were so tired of having others take credit for their work at work. So for this person to turn around and do the same thing is so hypocritical.
2. They are my friend. In a world where it seems like everyone expects things to be handled to them on a silver platter. I expect better morals out of my friends.

So though I genuinely think this person is overall nice, do I really need them as my friend? They felt they deserved something and are willing to throw others under the bus for their benefit (They have confessed doing it before), then when I become an obstacle will I be thrown to the curb too?

Why is it that so many people think they deserve or are entitled to anything?

• You have a 4-year degree so you are entitled to a job. Perhaps you should have done some research into that degree. Is there a demand? Do career paths exist?

• You work hard so you deserve better pay. Again…did you do your research? Not all jobs are equal.  A 10 year veteran nurse is not going to make more then a new surgeon, no matter how hard you work. It’s harsh and its not that I don’t value nurses, I DO. But the harsh reality is we each chose a career path and have different skill sets.

This is the mentality that is being implanted into kids minds and we wonder what is happening to the world. Get over yourselves, get your ass off the chair and go do something productive.

You don’t need a degree to make big bucks. You don’t need seniority to have respect. You just need to be a hardworker that is realistic and stop day dreaming.

One of the things I am noted for in the circle of friends is my relative lack of familiarity with mixed drinks, with the only drinks I generally made or drank were: screwdrivers, Margaritas, white Russians, and Jack & Coke.  Now, of course, these are nice because a least there’s some variance in the primary alcohols used (vodka, tequila, and whiskey).  However, I admit my total ignorance of stuff beyond these.

To remedy this, Kim and I challenged ourselves to make a “drink of the week” to broaden our abilities to make drinks as well as appreciate new flavors.  We’re working from a little book written by Salvatore Calabrese called “Complete Home Bartender’s Guide.”

Because this is new stuff for me, I’ve started our first two weeks with relatively simple drinks.  Last week, I made us some Cape Codders to say good by to summer with, and we both were happy with the results, though at the same time, it’s not something we’d make all too often because it didn’t rank above our favorites.  This one is very simple: 1 2/3 oz. of vodka, and 5 oz. of cranberry juice poured into a taller glass filled with ice.  It’s a nice refreshing drink.

This week’s drink did not go over so well for Kimmie, though.  I tried making some Gin Rickeys (1 2/3 oz. gin, 1 oz of fresh squeezed lime juice, and club soda, over ice in tall glass).  She said it tasted bitter to her, which I believe is a function of the club soda.  I didn’t mind it too much, though I think a little something to sweeten it would make it more palatable to me (thinking I might cheat and use a little Rose’s Sweetened Lime Juice as an experiment, or maybe try again when I’ve made some sugar syrup for myself).

Ah well, isn’t this the point?  Try new things, find some disgusting combinations and occasionally find ourselves a new favorite, as well as what makes good combinations (sweet, sour, bitter, salty). Not only that, we can also learn each other’s taste preferences and be able to start filtering out drinks.

I won’t be slinging drinks for others for a while yet though…

Everyone told me that the special day will go by very quickly. Most times the bride and the groom don’t get to sit down and take it all in. “Not me” I said.

Well, why else would we have a small wedding. I wanted to be able to see everyone…talk to everyone. AND WE DID!!!

It was such a wonderful wedding. I am so proud of my family and friends for being such good sports about everything. LOL. The weather was perfect…not too hot or cold. No rain. No missing vendors. All of our guests were able to come to town minus the few that told us ahead of time that they couldn’t come. Pics and video will follow soon…as soon as we get them that is.

The morning started off pretty quiet. Felt a little weird. My family had to go to the store. I was home by myself getting hair and make-up done. It was relaxing though. Promptly at 12:30 vendors arrived as we were putting our finishing touches up. I got a call from Lauren a little later that the limo was there and they were headed over. This is when I got a little nervous. Not that they were really headed over to pick up the bride but how was everyone going to do. We really had everyone participating in the event. They were magnificent! hehehehe

I even got a joke in when Brian was putting the jewelry on. I think I fooled a few thinking Brian hurt my ear with the earrings.

After the very short tea ceremony at the house we all (minus mom and phong) headed over to the Dover rental home. I have to say, Ian did a great job decorating. Yay! Good thing Brian didn’t have to. Tea ceremony there went well. Poor Ian, he drank his tea…gave his “words of wisdom” and then got up from his chair. What about our good luck money? No worries, it was in his pocket.

Off to the venue for the “white people” ceremony. We had lots of time for pics so that was good. 5 minutes till 4pm Krista pulled us all into the reception room to wait for the moment. All guest were rounded up and sent to the back to get seated.  This is when the officiant says he is very nervous…

The ceremony was short, sweet and to the point. I think it took a total of 7 minutes according to the videographer.

Brian sealed the deal with a dip-kiss. It was perfect.

We went off to take pics with the photographer and videographer while everyone else started on horderves and cocktails. I was a little sad. I really wanted some food too. I picked it out after all. We get back right before 5pm to get ready for our introduction and the lead in to dinner. Surely all the horderves were gone! We do our amazing first dance. Yes, I said, “amazing.” LOL Everyone had good things to say. I finally sit down at my seat and Jamie, the event coordinator, had made us some plates with horderves. She then even got us drinks and our meals. Bless her heart. That was wonderful.

We started the night with a karaoke song before opening it up for dancing. Most everyone did dance but more importantly, most everyone sang a karaoke song or more. I had such a great time. Thank you to all for coming and being with us on our day!

Am I selfish? Are you selfish? It has such a negative sound to it, does it not?

Are we selfish to want family and friends with us on our wedding day? We want everyone there. We want everyone to have fun. We want beautiful pictures of everyone for our album. We want everyone to dance. We want folks to enjoy good food. We would like to pay for your expenses if that is a problem in this very bad economy. We would like to come pick you up and drive you down.

Man….we do sound selfish.  Selfish and perhaps even a bit controlling. But are we?

Brian was oh so ready to propose to me but said he had waited because his brother was getting married and he didn’t want to take away any attention from that because it was suppose to be all about his brother.  I wanted a Vegas wedding. But by doing so, our family and friends will miss out on that experience with us. Granted it is our day and as long as its what we wanted then its okay, right? WRONG. And anyone that states otherwise is lying.  If they weren’t then they wouldn’t be on that list of folks all “hurt” because they are not invited to the wedding.

We even decided to plan our wedding outside shutdown at his brother’s mill (when it shuts down then no one can take time off) and we set it so that it was the day after Brian’s graduation. Is this for our convenience? Not a chance. I can’t plan a graduation party because its the night before the wedding.

We planned everything almost a year out. We are making the hotel and vacation home arrangements. We are paying for most of it. We have reserved time from work and money on the side to take family and friends out while they are in town.

But not everyone will be there. Couldn’t get off of work…I guess I understand. I take for granted that I work in academia and perhaps I have more flexibility when it comes to getting time off of work. My bad, that I negotiate with my employer ahead of time of planned vacations for the coming year. I remember when Dalton State looked at me crazy because I said, 3 months after starting, I needed 4 weeks off to travel over sees followed by a week the following month.

So I suppose Brian and I are being selfish. We probably need to stop whining and feel blessed that there is anyone attending at all.

We went off to go visit some friends in NC primarily to visit their new baby girl.  Keep in mind that these friends have a cat that loves (or used to love) to attack your feet. It was crazy, it you have not socks or shoes on, she would come after you like your toes were going to eat her if she didn’t attack first. I have to say, I used to be kinda scared of her.

When I found out they were pregnant, my first thought wasn’t, yay!, it was more like, “what will you do with the cat?”

Fortunately, and to my surprise upon arrival, the cat has mellowed out. She is no angel nor is she the lazy cat that could care less about any human around, but she is not the cat she used to me.  I had shoes in the car and meant to change into them but had forgotten. How? I have no idea. So here I come walking in with sandles. Yes sandles! Toes exposed. Immediately she comes towards me….but she only wanted to sniff and lick my toes. I’m not a big fan of the licking but I’ll take that over an attack any day.

Baby born and cat just mellows out. Kinda cool actually. Let’s see how mellow the cat stays after the baby starts crawling/walking.  Tails are such an appealing thing to grab onto.