He's back!

My future husband is back on the continent! Yay! 3 weeks is a long time to be apart, especially if you were only engaged 2 weeks beforehand. But he's back now!

He got in on Saturday right on time at 4 pm. His parents were on the same flight, and since they had to pretty much exit the airport to get through customs and had a 4 hour layover, I picked them all up and we went out to a lengthy dinner. It was very nice to see them and they had a very nice trip, it sounded like. They told me all about where they went and how London was, which was very cool.

His sister had taken another flight home, through Chicago, but unfortunately the airline lost some of her luggage! Hopefully she'll get it back quickly. That's very annoying, especially if she had souvenirs from her semester in France packed in there.

After dinner we said goodbye to his parents and went home. I managed to keep him awake until about 10 pm, to try to get him readjusted to Central Time. It's so nice to see him again, we texted each other while he was in England but weren't able to talk on the phone, and I missed his voice and smell and hugs so much. I'm so glad he had a nice vacation and enjoyed spending time with his family, but I'm glad he missed me too.

He said he even missed the Kitten, though I'm not entirely sure she missed him. She ran under the bed when she first saw him, but was quickly convinced that he had all kinds of new things for her to sniff every inch of.

And he brought me back toffee! Toffee from everywhere he went! It's awesome! I had no idea there was so much variety in toffee, and it's all delicious. One of the toffees is in a gorgeous blue square tin, and another is in a red phone booth tin that converts to a coin bank when emptied!

Busy weekend

I spent the weekend in New Jersey so that I could see my family and friends close to my birthday, show everyone my beautiful ring, and visit some wedding locations.

I got in late Friday night and celebrated at Wawa, one of the North-east things I miss in the South. Saturday my wonderful sister drove me all over South Jersey, so I bought her lunch and a pretty shirt. We saw two really nice wedding places, and I took lots of pictures to show my future husband. Saturday night my dad brought home cheesesteaks and we watched some shows he'd recorded and wanted to show me. It was very nice to be able to hang out with him and my mom when she got home from a cousin's wedding.

My parents' cat Frenzy, who had been passed through both of my sisters before adopting my parents, had lost a lot of weight over the last few months and was getting very rickety. She was never particularly social, though she always liked to keep an eye on what we were doing, but lately she'd become extremely clingy. She climbed into my lap for what was probably the first time ever Friday night, and spent most of Saturday night curled up with either me or my dad. By Sunday morning her back legs weren't working and she was crying out. None of us could stand to see her suffer, so my parents brought her to an emergency care vet to ease her way out.

She was sweet to Steph and the Kitten and a brat to just about everyone else for most of her life, and I never thought I would cry as much as I did for her. She was about 15, elderly for a cat, and she had a good life being spoiled by us. There's not much else you could ask for, I guess. I'm glad I got to say goodbye, and I'll miss the fuzzy thing.

So after all that, we comforted the dog who was very confused and wanted to lick everyone to make them feel better. I drove the tractor around the yard and moved compost, which was awesome and very good for taking my mind of things. Then after a late lunch with Steph, it was time for my birthday party.

It was a very nice party, I got to see most of my family and a lot of my friends. Everyone admired the new patio and deck my dad's been working on and the delicious kielbasa and meatballs my mom made, and had yummy cake. This would be about the time for my 10-year High School reunion, so I had my own instead, with people I was actually interested in keeping touch with. Steph made me an awesome ceramic wedding picture frame which I showed off to everyone, too! It was so nice to see everyone and catch up, and everyone seemed very excited about the wedding! There was much love, and it was awesome.

The weekend went by too quickly, as they always do when I'm home. Very early Monday morning I got up and saw my mom off to work before Rapid Rover picked me up to send me back to my real life.

Engagement story, the long version

Ben and I celebrate the day we went on our first date every month, on the 12th. Usually we dress up and go out to dinner somewhere special, but sometimes we stay home and make dinner there. It's not too important what we do, we just do something together and don't let any distractions in. This month he asked if I'd like to go to Galveston and have a bonfire on the beach, which we haven't done since Hurricane Ike.

This sounded like an awesome idea to me! We packed up his mini grill, my set of lawnchairs my sister gave to me for my birthday last year, some food, some drinks and some sunscreen and drove down.

After searching several beaches, we found one that was clear and deserted and had convenient bushes nearby to make up for the lack of restrooms. We unpacked the lawnchairs and started the grill and poured the drinks.


The grill went out, blown out by the wind. We started it again, and it went out again. And again. And again. But after repositioning the car to block the wind and using nearly an entire bottle of lighter fluid, we had hot coals! The night before, I'd wrapped chopped chicken, red and green peppers, onions, mushrooms and lots of italian salad dressing up in foil packets. Somewhat nervous that the coals wouldn't stay hot and we'd have to eat at Taco Bell, we threw them on the grill and ate deviled eggs while we waited. And waited.

Roughly a million years later and after dark had fallen, we opened a packet and I cut into the chicken. It was cooked! It worked! Ben laughed at how wide my eyes got when I realized it had worked, I had really thought we'd have to end our day at a fast-food joint.

As we ate chicken and then delicious s'mores, the stars came out, much brighter than you can see in Houston. It was getting late and we still had a long drive home, so we packed up the car and got ready. Unwilling to leave, though, we held each other close and admired the beautiful view.

All of a sudden he went down on one knee and said,

You're everything I want.
You're everything I need.
(My full name),
Will you marry me?

By the time he got the last words out we were both shaking and crying and laughing at the same time, and I was hugging him so tightly I could barely say yes!


But I got the words out! Eventually we calmed down enough that he could actually put the ring on my finger. We stood there a while longer, admiring the ring and telling each other how much we loved each other, and looking at the stars.

The stars which are thousands of light years away, so the light we saw had been traveling through empty space for thousands of years just to fall down to Earth on that night, the night we were engaged to be married. I thought that was very awesome.

Eeeee!

21 months ago tonight Ben and I went on our first date. Tonight we went on another, to Galveston Beach. We sat in lawnchairs and drank screwdrivers and grilled dinner and s'mores for dessert. We stayed until the stars came out, then cleaned up and prepared to leave. As we stood looking at the stars, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I said yes!

May!

It's May already! And it actually has been for a while! Here's a May list of what I haven't been writing about.

1. My mom came to visit me! In, you know, April, but whatever. It was so much fun! B.'s mom and aunt were coming down to see him, and his mom asked if my mom could come down too, so they could meet. I asked my mom and she said of course she could come! Apparently this is where me and Stephie get it from. I took her around to some quilting shops and a tea shop for lunch before B's fam got here, it was very nice. B was worried about what to do to entertain them, but I told him, they will want to sit and eat and talk, they'll be fine. And they did! B.'s aunt said she felt like she'd known my mom for years after talking to her for a few hours. My mom is so nice, everyone loves her. It was an awesome visit, and too short of course.

2. I'm done my finals! My other class goes until Wednesday, but I don't have a final for it, so it will be easy. Then I'm off for about a month! Yay! My summer class will run June 9th to July 11th, and I'll be in class Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights, ick. But it should go fast, it's only 5 weeks. I have 1.0 more years of school!

3. Steph and I visited Heather in North Carolina this weekend! It was an awesome trip, we had so much fun. The kids are so cute and so much fun to play with, I can't get enough of them. Heather and Ed's new house is gorgeous, huge, and looks so nice with all the painting they've done. NC was so pretty, everything is green and lush from the rain. It was about 5 degrees cooler than here. It was funny, Heather said she couldn't believe how humid it was, she couldn't stand it, and I didn't even notice it! It was almost dry compared to Houston! We played with the kids and toured their mountain and went to a National Forest and a winery and shopped for pottery. I spent most of Saturday afternoon snoozing on the deck in an anti-gravity chair while the kids splashed in the wading pool and Ed grilled out. Sunshine filtered through leaves above me, a nice breeze, a cool drink, family next to me and happy kids running around, it was perfect.

4. Well, it would have been perfect if B. was there. We missed each other, it's very rare that we don't see each other for at least a few minutes every day. I don't know what I'm going to do for the million years he's going to be in England. My apartment might get very clean.

5. Tomorrow is our 21 monthiversary! We celebrate each month together. He had the brilliant idea of having a bonfire on the beach, which we haven't done in ages. I'm going to bring the telescope and beach chairs, and we'll cook out down there. I'm thinking about wrapping up cut-up chicken with peppers, onions, mushrooms and italian dressing in foil and throwing it on the mini grill he got for Christmas, it sounds good and won't be too messy. I can't wait! I haven't been to the beach in forever.

Happy Easter!

We had a very nice Easter! I got out of going to 6 am church services, which B. was interested in going to up until I asked him if I should set my alarm for 5 am or not, so that was good.

I made a ham! A 7 lb ham, for the two of us! (It was the smallest I could find at the store.) I cut diagonal lines in it and stuck whole cloves all over it and cooked it with pineapple rings and cherries! It came out really good, and B. carved it very nicely. I made pineapple stuffing, which came out awesome as always, and bleu cheese rolls, which came out extremely, possibly life-threateningly, bleu-cheesy.

As I was cooking the ham, B. asked if I could make deviled eggs, which we both love. I started before I realized I didn't have any of the ingredients for them, so I tried to improvise. I didn't have any mayo, so I tried cream cheese, and the only mustard I had was stone-ground dijon. I had undercooked the eggs a bit, so I tried nuking them for a few seconds to cook them more. It kind of worked, but made the mix very lumpy. The only other creamy thing I had around was ranch dressing, which I mean B. loves, so I tried that. The mix tasted kind of,.. odd. I figured I might as well finish them, and I actually had paprika to sprinkle on them! They were still really warm and dinner was almost ready, so I threw them in the freezer for a few minutes to chill them down.

I kind of forgot about them until we were sitting down to eat, so B. got them and we tried them. They were frozen and crunchy on the outside and still warm and lumpy on the inside, and the filling didn't taste any better. "Bleh, bleh," was my reaction, and B.'s was only slightly more polite. Then the cat jumped up on the table in pursuit of ham and landed in them, which probably improved their flavor, but it gave us an excuse to chuck them.

Other than the disastrous eggs, it was a very nice day! I celebrated cooking dinner by taking a nap afterwards.

Weather

Spring sprang a few weeks ago, it's been quite nice. Wildflowers are everywhere, blowsy little 4-petaled pink ones and white clover and of course Bluebonnets covering the mowed areas next to all the roads. The azaleas by the ponds here bloomed last week, huge bushes full of bright pink flowers. Last weekend the weather was perfect, sunny and 70 with a nice breeze. I spent most of Sunday afternoon sitting on the couch with the porch door open, letting the breeze ruffle my gauzy curtains, with the Kitten and a smoothie and a book. Perfect.

The smoothie was good too, vanilla frozen yogurt, frozen red raspberries, milk and just a bit of almond extract all blended together. I made a version with half a block of bittersweet chocolate chopped fine tossed in there too, which was also yummy.

I'd thought about going down to the pool here, but Boyfriend was busy, and pools are no fun by yourself. So the Kitten and I enjoyed the weather.

I planted seeds in the planters on my porch, thyme and forget-me-nots and catnip for the Kitten's garden. She likes to sit outside and stare intently at it, it's her hobby.

But unfortunately we only get weather this nice for a short time. The azaleas have already fallen. It rained most of this week, which washed the air clean and kept the temperature under 80, but it won't be much longer til I have to run the AC 24/7 like my neighbors. There is no break between having the heat on in the winter and the AC on in the summer here, you have to switch from one to other immediately.

Summer was always my favorite season growing up, but I think Spring has edged it out, in Texas at least. I really enjoy our 2 weeks of it.

I have the best boyfriend ever.

I tried to go to bed last night around 11:30, but couldn't sleep right away, as I not designed for this diurnal life I lead. I ended up reading until about 1 am, then decided I really should go to sleep, as I had a 8:30 am meeting this morning.

As is my habit, when I decided I was really truly going to bed now, I went to formally invite the Kitten to join me. She likes an engraved invitation, but will settle for me chasing her around the living room for a while. When I went out, I saw her sitting in the corner by the front door, looking intently at the wall. I asked her if she thought she was in time-out, and went and scooped her up. When I stood up, my eyes followed hers to what she had actually been staring at, and saw the

HUGE COCKROACH

lurking right above my door, obviously planning an ambush!

I gasped in shock, seriously, and it is always a strange feeling when my lungs do things on their own initiative. I considered my options, but I don't keep Raid around because it wouldn't be good for the Kitten, and I hate killing bugs big enough that you can feel them crunch, *gag* and I usually miss anyway and then they run around my apartment and have time to put their hideous plans in action. And they all have hideous plans, I can tell, this one was just sitting on my wall getting all its little details straightened out and waiting until I went to bed to put it in motion.

So I called Boyfriend. At 1 am. To come kill a bug for me. And he came! He came right over and disposed of it, then washed his hands to humor me because he was near the bug, even though he didn't actually touch it. Then he hugged me for about 5 minutes and went back home.

I knew he would be awake, he's sleep-shifting because he has to work 6 pm - 3 am next week, but still. It was awesome. He didn't even make fun of me for it!

Oh yeah, I have a blog-thingy

I had almost forgotten.

Highlights of the last month or so:

• We went to Austin for our 1.5 year anniversary! It was really nice, we ate at a very cute restaurant downtown on Friday night. Saturday we went to the flagship Whole Foods, which is so big it has a parking garage, got lunch stuff and had a picnic in Zilker Park on the banks of the Colorado River. It was a bit chilly, so we sat very close and he kept my feet warm. It was a beautiful day, lots of people walking dogs, and all the dogs were extremely interested in the idea of food in their park. I took a very bad picture of us on my cell phone.

• My dad came down to see me! He took a 30 hour bus ride after visiting my sister in NC to get here. It was a very nice visit. I took him to see some things we'd missed the last time he was here, and he entertained the Kitten while I was at work. He brought me rocks from NC! It was awesome, 3 of them are covered in rusty-red dirt, and 3 are nice quartz ones. Not only did he know I would love them, he literally rode a bus for 30 hours with a suitcase full of rocks for me! Best dad ever, seriously.

• We met our friends' new baby girl! She is very tiny and cute. My mom had made her some very soft and fuzzy receiving blankets, and I had made some casseroles for the new parents, so we brought them and dinner over. Before she was born, someone lied through their teeth to the new father and told him that newborns sleep for 18-20 hours a day! I was very amused. She enjoyed watching us play Rock Band, though, so it was a fun night.

• I've used my crockpot more the last two weeks than the past 6 months! I made chili verde last week, for which I tossed a chopped onion, chopped lean pork, a can of white beans, and 2 cans of green (tomatillo) salsa into the crockpot and cooked it all day. It was very good, we ate it in burritos with cheese and sour cream. I'm making kielbasa and saurkraut as we speak, because I had a craving for it the other day. Tonight I'm going to make irish soda bread and irish potatoes, and tomorrow make corned beef and cabbage!

It's very odd, you'd never know tomorrow was St. Patrick's Day down here. Apparently irish potates are a Philly thing, Boyfriend had never even heard of them. He's not a big coconut fan though, so I'll probably send all the ones I don't eat into work with him along with the other half of the soda bread, because my recipe makes such a big loaf. But mmm, irish soda bread for breakfast tomorrow!

Celebrate!

Yesterday was Boyfriend and my's 1.5 year anniversary! We celebrate each of our monthiversaries, usually by going out to a nice place for dinner, but this one felt even more special than usual. It's a nice time to take a night off from everything we are usually busy with and focus on each other. I made braised beef short ribs, because the last time I made them he told me he wanted them all the time when he was old, not just because they're so tender you don't need to chew them but because they're so delicious.

Today is my mom's birthday! She is one of the most generous people I've ever known, I think sometimes she's given a quilt or afgan to everyone she's ever met. I have at least 5 in my house, and they are always warmer because I know she made them. My older sister planned a surprise party for her a few years ago, and I will never forget the look on her face when she walked in carrying her frozen lasagna and saw us all there. My Dad did a fantastic job keeping her out of the house while we set things up, though I'm still amazed she bought it when he said he needed shoes!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! Though I may just enjoy it because I like eating chocolate hearts. Boyfriend is a romantic at heart, so that makes it fun also :)