The dress for me

I got a wedding gown this past weekend! It's so, so beautiful and I feel absolutely beautiful in it, which, I'm told is the most important things when buying a wedding dress. I must have tried on close to one hundred and I have to admit I liked a LOT of them, but there's something special about this one. My mom cried when I put it on but I was too excited to cry. I was grinning from ear to ear.

Domestic goddess...or not

Recently I wrote about how I never get to spend any time alone so when I do, it weirds me out a little bit. On Saturday morning, Eric went to his parent's house to help his dad in remodeling the kitchen and I opted to stay home and spend the weekend relaxing. I promised myself that I would not go out (I knew it wouldn't be hard since most of my friends were out of town anyway). During my time alone, I learned some interesting things:
1. I really enjoy drinking coffee and watching the morning news without having to worry about the time and whether or not I should be getting ready for work.
2. Having the bed (and bedding) to yourself is the BEST. I haven't slept that soundly in a long time.
3. It's nice to be able to leave the house and not have anyone worry about when I'll be coming back.
4. It's also nice to spend as much time as I like in the grocery store.
5. It's ALSO nice to be able to watch the first 4 episodes of Desperate Housewives back-to-back without hearing any complaints.
6. I do not enjoy cooking chicken. I roasted one all by myself and got freaked out when trying to clean it because the ribcage felt like a cat's. After I finished cleaning it, I need a glass of wine, which lead to two glasses of wine and by the time Eric got home I was drunk (I'm a lightweight), wearing only my bra and shorts, singing and dancing to music and attempting to chop vegetables.
All in all it was a very restful weekend!

No title

Almost exactly a year ago, our former neighbors were attacked while they slept in their home. The husband was killed, the wife is still alive although she suffered extensive injuries, especially to her face and head. Today she can barely speak, she lost one of her eyes and is otherwise horribly disfigured. What makes it worse is that the only suspect (who was just arrested), is their son, a 22-year-old who my brother and grew up playing with as children. My mom emailed me an update on the story and I haven't been able to shake the sadness of it the entire day. It's very unlikely anyone else could have committed this crime - the evidence is greatly stacked against him. I can't imagine the pain and anguish this family must be going through. I keep them in my thoughts and hope they can be happy somehow, someday.

Lucky me

Poor Eric. He was so tired and all he wanted was to go to sleep but I convinced him to come over to Jimmy and Kay's house for dinner and Taboo (the best game in the world). He obliged and when he wasn't as lively and fun as I wanted him to be, I freaked out. When we got home and went to bed, I stayed awake worrying and thinking and obsessing. It's as though I expect every aspect of our relationship to be perfect just because we're engaged now. I thought we were through the stress that dating brings because saying yes forever would somehow be easier than not knowing your fate as a couple. But it's not easier and relationships, no matter how serious, committed and loving, take a lot of work. So I woke him up and told him what was bothering me and listened and held me and tried not to fall back asleep. He said he was sorry and that he was preoccupied all evening because he had work to finish up and hadn't gotten to it because of the plans I'd made. He didn't accuse me of anything because he never does. He went along with me plans because he loves me and wanted to spend time with me regardless of whether or not it involved other people.
Today at work women were telling stories of how their husbands expect them to cook dinner every night, pack their lunches every morning and iron their clothes every week. Eric wouldn't dream of asking me to do these things because he takes care of them himself, as he should. We have certain chores we handle and the housework gets done just fine. We take care of ourselves and we take care of each other when we need to . When he was busy with schoolwork the other day I ironed his shirts for him and he seemed so touched. Even though we say the words to each other several times a day, I wanted to show him I love him. I'm lucky and I need to remember it more often.

The Weekend in Review

After all the complaining I did on Friday, I want to talk about what I good weekend I had! Honestly, I can be such a drama queen sometimes. Life is good! I need to remember that.
Friday evening, my parents came over on their way to visit my grandparents, who live about an hour away from Eric and me. We had a nice time, the four of us. It wasn't awkward and weird being around Eric and my parents as it sometimes tends to be. We had dinner at a little restaurant downtown then got ice cream. We went to bed around 11 because we had a big day planned for Saturday...
CORTACA JUG! Since not one of our friends could make it to the game in which Ithaca College takes on our ultimate rival, Cortland State, Eric and I drove over to the school around ten, parked with the other tailgaters and proceeded to drink beer and chat up a storm with each other and the people around us. I think that is the earliest I've ever had alcohol in my system. It didn't taste great. After about and hour and a half we made our way to the field and stood among the crowd of fellow Ithaca fans. We shouted cheers ("Cortland...Cortland...Cortland...YOU SUCK!", "That's alright, that's OK, you will work for US someday", and the simple, yet elegant "Staaaaate Schooool"). OK, none of those cheers are good, but when you're in the situation, it works! Unfortunately, we lost 37-30 in overtime, but I'm proud to say I wanted the ENTIRE game and complained minimally.
That evening we met up with our friends, Jimmy and Kay, at their house and played drunken Cranium, which was the most fun I'm had in a long time. I highly recommend playing Cranium if you've never done so.
And yesterday? I can't really remember what I did yesterday but it involved a lot of sleeping, watching TV and doing laundry. Not bad.
Now it's Monday and I've got to continue on with my work. The sun is shining outside and I think I'll take a walk at lunchtime.

Worst. Friday. Ever.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I only got 5 hours of sleep last night (I made the lethal mistake of exercising at 10:00 pm and was wound up like a top) but I've just been off today!
My computer died on me at work and still isn't performing well. I ran Ad-Aware, which found a slew of new critical objects to remove.
Then my mouse wouldn't work - or I should say still won't work. It's a wireless one which I thought would make my life eerier. I was wrong, wrong, wrong as it slips and skips and stalls all over the place.
Then I tried to run an errand at lunchtime and found myself stuck behind the slowest truck in the world, just wasting away my lunch hour. When I tried to but something in a store, the girl in front of me took forever to check out. She obviously didn't have any place to be because she was acting like the world was waiting on her. Then, with only one cashier open, and a line of five people behind her, she decides it's the perfect time to apply for a store credit card.
Walking from my car back to work I was nearly run over by two male students. They were oh-so-preppie and full of themselves in their black SUV with their Northface jackets. I had the light (I was in the crosswalk), and they zoomed to turn right before I could cross, nearly hitting me in the process. I yelled at them through their window. I was that close.
Finally, I received am IM from Eric (he has today off, as does most of America, for Veteran's Day). He tells me that our toilet's broken and he's been unsuccessful in both his attempts to fix the problem or get a plumber to our house to do so.
My parents are stopping by on their way to my grandparents house to take us to dinner. I'm hoping things get better from here. Sometimes getting together with your parents isn't the fun, light activity you thought it would be.

"And what you wish for might come true..."

I'm so excited - we're going with friends of our to see Guster tonight at the State Theater! I haven't been to a concert in forever and Guster is one of my fav bands :)

Me, myself, and I

It's unseasonably warm here today! Almost 70 degrees at one point, which is just unheard of for early November in upstate NY.
I took a walk around campus at 2:00 and watched the students gearing up for the weekend. All excited and talkative. I still feel that way most Fridays. I feel it today even though I'm pretty sure I'll end up going to a bar with friends and then going back to K and J's house to hang out in the hot tub. But there's just something about Friday that makes you feel alive! The world is full of possibilities!
It's been a really long week at work. Things are changing around here and change can often be uncomfortable. Not only that but we are in an incredibly busy season and the work surrounding it feels like it's consuming my life.
Last night Eric and I made plans to go out to dinner (we do this once a month, preferably on the first to celebrate each month that we are together). He had to get an oil change after work so I was by myself in the apartment for a little while and I realized how rare it is that I'm alone. I'm never alone with myself and I sort of miss it. Don't get me wrong, I love Eric more than anything, and it's wonderful to have a partner in life but sometimes you need to be along in your head. So before he came home I did some sit-ups and push-ups and took a nice hot shower. It was lovely. Then he came home, we had a glass of wine together and had a really great dinner out. The only flaw on the evening was that I left my doggie bag at the restaurant! Damn!
:)