Our life, our way

So last week, Brian and I went to class at our local JoAnn Fabrics store for “Sewing Basics.”

I was a little nervous. I had not used a machine in so long. Same thing for Brian. We thought it would be a good idea since we would like to make costumes for the Georgia Renaissance Festival. Renting is too expensive and buying is even worst (if you go authentic).

We have one sewing machine Brian bought mom the other year. She doesn’t really use it since her eye sight isn’t very good anymore. I took the home machine in and Brian used a machine at JoAnn.

Shopping List: 1 yard of cotton fabric, 1 yard of iron on interfacing, a box of pins, spool of thread, and some pins.

We were quite disappointed in the class itself. The 2.5 hour course ending up being only 2 hours. A good big of the time was spent waiting as the instructor helped each student and there were only two others aside from us! What did we learn? We learned to thread a machine, sewing a straight line (semi-straight…LOL), edging a stitch and adding interface. The part of class that was described as “learn how to read a pattern” was a joke! *sigh*

One big thing I did learn from the class is that Brian is much better at this sewing thing than me. All his lines were perfecting straight. Instructor even showed off his fabric to the other students to show how its “supposed” to be done.

We probably won’t be taking any additional sewing classes immediately. We bought a whole bunch of patterns during a mega sale so we’ll see how well we do.

Kim’s first project: a purse

Brian’s first project: a kilt

Wish us luck!

So Brian and I have started our spring cleaning. I am ridding myself of all the the clothes in my closets that

1) don’t fit, or

2) I haven’t worn in a year or more.

You’d think this wouldn’t be much, right? WRONG!!! I filled 4 larges bags, about equal to the 13 gallon kitchen bags and one box with about 20 pairs of shoes. We also tossed out an old mattress hiding in the guest bedroom closet. All in all, using the Salvation Army’s valuation guide, we have a receipt for $300. Yay tax write off. It probably should ave been more. I estimated on the low for all the clothes and there were some that still had tags. I purged like 5 winter coast that haven’t been touched in 3 years. I finally said good bye to all my evening/formal gowns from high school/college.

My bedroom closet is still pretty full, but I think I will try to do another run in the next couple of weeks.  I did not however get rid of any eeyores, in case you were wondering. I also still have the tan bear that Lauren gave me way back when during Freshman year. I wonder if she still has her grey bear with a crooked head……

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….

Returning from our second cruise, I felt I should write a little something about our experience.   We again chose Carnival because we had such an amazing experience last March to the Carribean. This time is was on an older ship, the Carnival Fascination, headed to the Bahamas. Half Moon Cay is a Private Island owned by Carnival’s sister line, Holland America. We also stopped at Nassau, Bahamas.  Motivation for this particular ship and itinerary was

1. It was in Jacksonville, FL and thus within driving distance. No flights needed. Yay!
2. You can’t beat the price. We originally were going to go in Jan which would have only been $600 for the both of us. But due to work schedules we ended up with a Feb cruise for $750 for both of us for 5 nights.

Embarkation/Debarkation:

We arrived at port around 10:30am instead of the 12pm listed in the Carnival paperwork. It was a good thing we did too because the place was starting to fill up. Overall, getting on board was quick and easy. I was worried about debarkation since we bought more liquor than the allowed duty free amount. The morning of debarkation, we had to go meet a customs agent and declare our items. I told him I had 8 liters, he initialed it and I was off. I didn’t have to pay any duty on it. After that, we basically walked off the ship and through customs with a 2 second delay just to had them the customs form. Much easier than we expected.

Half Moon Cay:

We seriously thought about getting an excursion, but after reading all the reviews we decided to just enjoy a beach day per everyone’s recommendation. I really wanted to do the horseback riding on the beach. It just sounds romantic but I guess reality might have been different. We had to tender in and since we got up late, we had a little trouble finding an “ideal” location to settle in at. But as we kept walking further from the tender, we were able to find some lounge chairs. The water was absolutely beautiful! It was shallow enough that I was comfortable hanging out in the water with Brian for quite a while. Staff from the ship brought food ashore to cook lunch for us. BBQ, burgers, hot dogs, etc. Not excellent but not bad either.

Nassau:

We were planning on getting up early and taking a bus over to Adastra but since we were on vacation that didn’t happen. LOL. We got up in time for lunch on board and then headed to the Gangway to get off and wait for our bus to go “Discover Atlantis.” I have to say the place was beautiful. The dig and Aquariam was really nice. We wish we could have seen more of Nassau itself but that can be for another trip.

On Board:

As always, we drank our fair share of alcohol. From the wonderful forums, we did find out that we can order liquor from Bon Voyage to have waiting in our stateroom. We opted for a bottle of Absolute Vodka. Speaking of stateroom, we had an ocean view. We really just wanted an interior. This is just suppose to be a cheap get away after all. But the upgrade fairy called and tried to get me to move up to a balcony for a fee. I opted to take a free upgrade to ocean view instead. I guess they needed the interior rooms to sell. The ship was full.

We opted for “Your Time Dining” so we can just eat whenever. The first two nights were loved the food but were disappointed in the wait staff. They weren’t very interactive. On our third night, we were seated with a wonderful head waitress named Nanka. We had such a good time we requested her every time afterwards. The beauty of your time dining allows us to sit by ourselves when we want or choose to share a table when we feel like being social. We sat with others one night and they were all very nice.

Carnival has changed a little since we last cruised. They have implemented a comedy club on all ships. There were two comedians on board and a show or two every night. That’s where we spent a good bit of our evening. Tommy Drake was amazing! Scotty K was pretty awesome too. Most nights we arrived early to get good seats but Brian didn’t want to sit in the front row for fear that we would be a target of a joke. By the last night, Brian decided it wouldn’t be bad and opted to sit in the front. Well……that would be the night the front row was targeted just a little more. Brian got called a red neck. After picking on Brian for a while, Scotty K pulled me in. I can’t remember the joke but it had to do with Philipinos and Vietnamese. It would have to be that moment I had to go to the restroom. As I got up he asked if I was offended.

Scotty K: “She must be Philopino.”
Brian: “No, she’s Vietnamese” (the entire room laughs as I quickly walk out)
Scotty K: “oh!!!! Me Love you long time!” (yes, of course….right?)

It was a great time!

Overall:

There were several things that could be approved and it was definitely not as awesome as our first cruise. We will eventually try other lines but will to Carnival again. AND we would even go on the same ship and same or similar itinerary again.

Feb 24, 2011 – Brian and I got the opportunity to watch STS-133 Shuttle launch from Titusville, FL. It was Discovery’s last and final mission. We were fortunate to find a very quiet location with shade. It was fairly empty when we arrived whereas the beaches and Space view Park was already packed. It was perfect!

In watching Grey’s Anatomy last night it reminded me of a conversation Brian and I had a little while back due to a movie we watched.  The movie was called “The Little Nonya.” (awesome movie!!! )

The movie follows the lives of several Peranakan families and focuses on the struggles of one particular mother, her daughter and grand daughter. The majority of the movie focuses on the grand daughter. The ending was alright but Brian was sad because she didn’t end up with the man she loved the most. He loved her the most but had to marry another, divorce and then marry his best friend. She marries someone that adored her and rescued her on several occasions. Though they went on the live fulfilling lives, they didn’t get to spend it with their most loved person in their lives.

Is it really sad? I guess so. But it is so real! How many people do you know, married their one and only true love and lived happily ever after?

Folks die, divorce, etc. Or circumstance just makes it so. Many have the one that “got away.” Due to a stupid argument or misunderstanding. In the movie the two loved each other. But in life love can be one way. You can have the love of your life but they love someone else so in a since you settle. Is settling bad? Not really. It depends on what you settle for. If you settle for someone just to have someone then it can be bad. Like in the movie, if you settle for your best friend or someone that absolutely adores you then, I think its good. That is why relationships are not even 50/50. Someone usually will love the other more. As long as you both love and respect each other it is all good.

The key is to be happy. And to be happy, you need to not compare your life with others. Base it on you.

If you look down, there is always someone worst off than you. If you look up there will always be someone smarter or richer. Why not just look in the mirror and think about the good in your life.

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…

whoohoo!!!

Since engagement over a year ago, I started thinking about whether I was going to change my name. With a decision made, I went domain hunting. My top three choices were all taken. I finally settled on www.kimlmacleod.com

But I own www.luongfamily.com so I also wanted one for my new last name. I coughed up the whooping $18.99 for GoDaddy backorder. The domain was registered at Network Solutions. It went through redemption to pending deletion. I was reading that GoDaddy is really bad and barely ever captures a domain other other domain snatchers….Crap, there goes my money.

To my surprise, a week ago I got an email that the registration was transferred to GoDaddy! I was so happy! I patiently waited for it to be added to account. Instead I got an email that it was now in GoDaddy auctions. WTF. So they bought the domain so that I would have to bid against others?

I later found out they allow more than one back order. So others wanting that domain could have paid GoDaddy too. *sigh* Today was the end of that auction. I waited till 10 minutes to end and sure enough someone bid. I waited till 50 seconds and placed my bid.

We are now the happy owners of www.macleodfamily.com

Now we can have our own subdomains and email addresses.

kim @ macleodfamily.com! yay!

Our life, our way….the title of our blog. And that is pretty much how we feel.

I woke up this morning with the intent to do work. Work that someone is waiting for me to get done. But I need to take a break before I even start to vent.

Even before Brian and I got married, we started to have friends and just random people ask us when we were going to have babies and how many. We smile and say, “Maybe 2 or so but we are going to wait a few years.” Okay, let’s just roll with the punches, folks are just happy for us.

On the day of the wedding, almost everyone commented about babies. That was actually cute. Happy day, talk about happy things. My sister in law actually wrapped up our wedding fund jar and put “baby fund” on it. I thought that was soo cute. I appreciated that.

And she has not brought the topic up again.

But everyone else wants us to have a baby. Friends ask. Bosses ask. Co-workers ask. People I seldom talk to ask. Then folks will post on facebook comments that make people think I’m pregnant. OMG As if trying to ignore the “You should have a baby” wasn’t enough. Now I have to deal with “Are you pregnant?” “Congrats!”

I know I am guilty of making similar comments but its usually just once or twice. Especially since most will tell you what their plans are. And typically, I don’t bring it up if the couple in question doesn’t start.

Then there is the right and wrong way to say things.

Wrong: “You should have a baby.”
Right: “Are you planning on having kids?”

Wrong:”My baby needs playmates”
Right: “If and when you have kids, our kids could be friends.”

If you want a baby then have one yourself! Have a dozen!

Reasons why you should not assume anyone should have a baby…NOW:

• They are broke. Just because they appear to have money, doesn’t mean they do
• They have been trying but haven’t been able to.
• They can’t have a baby for medical reasons and she will die if they do.
• They have a high probability of passing on a genetic disorder they would like to stop with them.
• Maybe the couple is having issues and about to get divorced!
• They were pregnant and miscarried before telling everyone and the next day you tell them they should have a baby.

People don’t feel like they have the right to tell you to:

• Change jobs
• Buy a house
• Buy a car
• Get married
• Move to another state or country

All of these are major life changing decisions yet as humans we don’t feel we can randomly tell others this. Family might but only at a high level. So why do people feel they have the “right” to tell anyone they should have a kid, NOW!

I can’t stop anyone from saying anything. It is your mouth and your thought. But I think it would be great if everytime ANYONE tells me I need to have a baby, I tell them what I think they are doing wrong in their life and what they should change. After all, isn’t that what you are telling me? “You are wrong for not wanting to have a baby now, you should close that door and not stop having sex until that pee stick is positive.”

Would anyone like to tell me what I should write in my resignation letter:

“Dear Boss:

I am so happy to tell you that I have seen the light! I realize that life is not complete until I have a baby. I should stop being selfish and go ahead and start a family already. I now know that I have been wrong and everyone else is right.

I was wrong to think a career is good. I was wrong to think I needed to save money. I was wrong about education. I should have gotten started back when I was 16. I am 14 years behind!!!! How will I catch up?

I now know I should let my husband work. I will stay home and be barefoot and pregnant like Mrs. Dugger.

Please consider this my official resignation effective NOW so that I can go home NOW and have sex with my husband NOW so that I can have a baby NOW.

Sincerely,

An enlightened employee

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