30 Days

Today is the 30 day mark. Ho-ly C-rap! Its starting to sink in that I'm going to be married in a month. Today Neal sent me this picture. We had Bed Bath & Beyond boxes waiting on our front porch. Exciting doesn't even begin to explain it. Along with more RSVPs, my lovely sister in law also sent me a sweet card in the mail with a special gift card in it. Icing on the cake!



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Just in case anyone was wondering, I love Neal more each day. It's hard to think that's possible, but he continues to amaze me. He was in San Antonio this week for work. Low and behold, our tenant called to say that the AC in the condo wasn't working. Great. Since he was out of town, I had to call the home warranty service and arrange somone to come out to look at it. At first I was extremely frustrated and mad that I was having to deal with this. Then I prayed about it a little and had the revelation this is what marriage will be about. Having to do things sometimes that you don't want to. We're in this together so I put on my big girl panties and got over it. Quickly, I might add. Someone was able to come out last night. He was at the condo for 3 hours during this time I got to know our tenant a little better. He was stumped so he brought another guy this afternoon and had the problem fixed in about an hour. And it didn't cost an arm and a leg because of our home warranty. All is well now and we survived our first repair experience as landlords. Hope they will all be this easy and inexpensive!

Here's where I was going with all of that. Neal knew I was frustrated with the situation. He ended up coming home a day early. Thursday is my long day since I work both jobs. I had a killer headache after my last client and knew we had to go over to the condo tonight. When I got home, Neal had unloaded the dishwasher, loaded it back with the dishes in the sink, wiped the counters and swept the living room floor. Without being asked. No he doesn't do things like this all the time, but it was really appreciated today. We even got a piece of carrot cake to share after dinner tonight.

School Shower

My team at school threw me a shower on Tuesday. This was my first one and I was a little nervous about being the center of attention because I'm not used to that. I did get a little embarassed but I guess I need to get used to people watching me. The cake was an amazing Costco cake. It was a white cake with cream cheese filling. Can I get a yum-yum?

My team did a great job with the shower and I'm very thankful for that. It was fun to get our first gifts. Lots of gift cards too!

DJ, Do a Rewind

Here's a rewind from the last few days.

Saturday was bridal portraits day. Mack and I went to Terry Hershey to run for an hour. Doing "long" runs on Saturdays to get ready for Seattle. Then it was off to Kingwood. It was fun to do a hair/make up test run. Mom came over to help me out. We went to the Mercer Arboreteum for the pictures. Not much was blooming but Rachel managed to still get some good ones. I really felt like I was getting married while I was walking around in my wedding dress. Since we did so much walking around the park, I discovered that my dress is still too big on the top. Mom had to pull it up before each picture. Glad we did a test run in the dress because it would suck to be having to pull my dress up every 5 minutes at the wedding. Looks like another trip to Ms J in my near future. I'm not trying to lose weight anymore, but I think its happening anyway. Guess its better to have a dress not fit because its too big rather than the other way around. Not posting any of the proofs but here's a picture of all the bobby pins I pulled out of my hair that night.





Sunday rolled around. I went out to Repka's with Brandi to eat some crawfish. It was such a nice day to sit outside in the country and catch up. Cliche warning~~She's the type of friend that I may not talk to for a month and then we pick right back up where we left off. The crawfish were pretty small but tasted really good.



Since I was stuffed from eating, I had a couple of scoops of Apple Pie AlaMode from Baskin Robbins for dinner. Remember my wedding dress is too big so I didn't feel guilty.

Today was President's Day which meant a day off from school. I was thinking they might use this day as a makeup for the snow day, but they're adding on a day to the end of the year. This was really a blessing because I accompolished a lot off the wedding list today.

Lovey Dovey

Another Valentine's Day. I love it when it falls on a school day because its so cute to see the kids at school with their little Valentine's. A couple of my kids even gave me one. My room at school is decorated with monkeys so one little boy brought me a stuffed monkey. Very thoughtful and he was so proud of it. Another little girl brought me a rose. So sweet considering she's only 4, doesn't come to school yet, and only comes to see me for speech. I did indulge in a few pieces of chocolate today.

Neal and I don't really make a big deal out of Valentine's Day. My Love Language is Quality Time and that's what's important to me. I really missed him last week when he was gone and then over the weekend he had to work a lot too. I just wanted to spend time together which might sound contradictory since I must have my alone time too. There does exist a perfect balance of the two. Anyway, I'm thankful that he works hard and we're able to do the things we do like travel and live in a nice house. Tonight, we went to Texas Land and Cattle (TLC) for dinner. As Neal put it, we need a little TLC. This is sad but we were trying to remember what we did last Valentine's Day and drew a blank. Still can't remember. I guess it really isn't that big of a deal to us.

Leftovers from the weekend:
*On Saturday, we went to Jus Mac, the Macaroni and cheese place I've been wanting to try. It was a very tiny place but the Mac & Cheese was delish. They have several varieties and bake each order fresh in a personal-size iron skillet which makes for little crusties around the edges which are divine.
*TMI Warning--On Saturday, I was at the mall doing a little wedding shopping and decided to look for panties to wear for the wedding. As luck would have it, as soon as I picked up a very risque pair in JCPenney, I hear a little voice say, "Hi, Ms. Heiner!" It wasn't one of my students but she goes to our school. And her parents were with her. I smiled, dropped the goods, and left the store.
*We haven't been to church in a few weeks because of schedules. I dearly miss it. Even craving it. It's like I need that pep talk for the week.

Seattle in June

We just signed up for the Seattle Half Marathon on June 25. I ran 50 minutes this morning and plan on adding 10 minutes each weekend. A friend of mine did it last year and told me that those were some big hills! It will be fun and I'm excited to go back to Seattle during the summer.

TGIF

Today was one of those sunny days that just put me in a good mood. It might have something to do with the fact that Neal is on his way home from the airport after being out of town all week. And I went to try my dress on this afternoon. And I got several more RSVPs. And the kids at school gave me a mini-birthday party. And I learned that a friend got engaged last night.

Our plans to go out of town this weekend fell through which means time to mark a few more things off the Ye Olde Wedding List. The lawn service just showed up to our house. They usually come on Thursdays but either they have their days mixed up or they couldn't come yesterday. Anyway, I'm usually gone when they come so I don't get to see them in action. It's quite entertaining. The truck pulls up and 4 guys jump out and sprint to the trailer to get their equipment before it really even comes to a complete stop. They're done in about 15 minutes. I felt like getting a chair, opening a beer, and watching the show but I didn't want to be rude.

It's official....

I have spring fever! I am over winter and these days that start out below 30 degrees. I'm ready for flip flops, sundresses, bluebonnets and our wedding! My room at school does not have heat. They say it does, but I'm pretty sure its been hovering around 60-65 degrees. I wear a scarf and my heavy coat all day long. It's pretty bad when even your teeth are cold. I've also been dreaming about our Costa Rican honeymoon. I can't wait to be there and see the country. Soon!

Neal's coming home from Vegas tomorrow. Because of the time difference and his conference schedule, we haven't been able to talk much this week. No bueno!

The kids were cracking me up today. One of my private practice kids this afternoon brought his Valentine bag with all the Valentines for his class inside. He said, "Look Miss Becca, I have love cards for all the children!" He's 5 and refers to his classmates as "the children." Love him! Another 4 year old I work with had to go big potty during our session. I took him and he sat on the toilet for a LONG time. Since he was taking so long, I started doing therapy through the bathroom stall door while he was roosting. After a while he said, "Miss Becca, I love you but I can't concentrate when you're talking." Poor kid just wanted to poop in peace!

Thirty-Three

Happy Birthday to me! It's hard to believe I'm 33 years old. I certainly don't feel that old. My 20s seem like a blur of bad decisions, late nights, and heartbreaks. Now it seems like I'm really living my life.
Today was a pretty good day despite the freezing temperatures and Neal being in Vegas this week for work. I walked into school and one of my favorite little boys told me Happy Birthday. He's been asking me everyday if its my birthday yet. He also told me he couldn't bring me my gift yet because its still in the oven. Hmmm...wonder what that's all about.
Around noon, the front office called me and said I had something waiting for me. Neal sent this cake flower arrangement with a sweet note attached. This was extra special since this is the first time he's given me flowers. I may or may not have been dropping hints the past month that I would like flowers one day. And yes, I lit the candles tonight and made a wish while I blew them out.

I was supposed to go try on my dress today but called Ms. J and told her I would come by on Friday. It was so cold this afternoon. All I wanted to do was go home and put warm clothes on. The past few days have been an excitement of birthday cards and RSVPs in the mail. I love getting the replies in the mail and reading all the sweet responses.

Test

I got an app to "blog on the run". Let's see if it works!

Tidbits

~~Sunshine makes winter better.

~~Suffering from sticker shock at the cost of wedding flowers.

~~A clean house makes me happy.

~~Excited to eat at Chuy's with Jen tonight.

~~We're in the 40s. 49 days till wedding day.

~~Am I really turning 33 this week?

Snowless Snow Day

It's been really cold in Houston and the Weatherpeople started talking about snow earlier in the week. Of course, that's one way to send Houston into a panic. Since they were predicting 1-3 inches of snow on Friday, everything shut down Thursday night. Instead of snow, Houston got ice instead which is much worse. So Mack and I got to enjoy a Snow Day, minus the snow.

I did something I hadn't done in a long time. I stayed in my pajamas all day and watched Grey's Anatomy. I haven't watched it since October and all those episodes were being held hostage on the DVR.

Neal was in the New Orleans for work the past few days. He was supposed to drive home on Friday which made me nervous because of all the ice. We talked about whether or not he should stay an extra night in The Big Easy or try to drive home. With a little talking to the Big Man upstairs, we decided he could come home. Five hours later, Neal was safe and sound back in Houston. I like my alone time but I really missed him when he was gone this time and it was only a couple of days.

So the Great Blizzard of 2011 did turn out to be as grand as the media sensationalized it to be. Our house had 3 measly icicles on it. Fine with me because in case anyone missed it, I'm a warm weather girl!

Baby, It's Cold (Again)

Another Arctic Blast blew in today. Just when I was getting used to spring-like temperatures, Mother Nature had other plans. In case anyone is unclear, I DO NOT like cold weather Sam I Am! I do not like it with a coat, I do not like it on a boat! It was 70 degrees this morning when I left for work and by the time drove the short 8-9 minutes, it had dropped down to the 40s. Weird. Karen's lucky self even had a "snow" day up in her parts. So when we got home tonight, we cranked the heater up and lit a fire. They're predicting snow in Houston on Friday. I'm probably the only "scrooge" who hopes it doesn't snow here. Everyone freaks out and we Southerners don't know how to drive on snow/ice. Enough of the bitchy bitchy.

I'm having a little bit of "flower drama" for the wedding. It's the last big thing to take care of and its driving me nuts. I had an appointment with a florist this afternoon. Yesterday she informed me that she wasn't available for the wedding. Ok, things she could have told me before. After emailing back and forth, it turned out she was available. Then it turned out again that she wasn't. Too much wishy washy for me so I bid her a good day and moved on. This afternoon I met with the lady at HEB. I really liked her and am anxious to see the quote she is preparing for us. I'm hopeful that she will work out and it won't cost too much. As a back up, I'm meeting with another florist on Saturday. After the first fiasco, I called my new best friend at the Westlake Club and she gave me some phone numbers. Hopefully by the end of the week, The Great Flower Adventure will be resolved.

I think we're something like 53 days away. More RSVPs are coming in. I'm going to Ms. J's to try on my dress tomorrow after the first round of alterations. That in itself makes me happy. I've seen her do wonders on other dresses for me. Hmmm, what else? We really need to make some decisions on our music so we can meet with the DJ. It's narrowed down to a few choices, just a matter of picking one. After all, we only get 1 "first dance."

I was up 0.2 lbs this week but nothing to fret about. I think that burger/beer/carrot cake combo on Friday is still haunting me but life is too short to have regrets. I ran 35 minutes and rowed 2500 meters this afternoon at the gym so no guilt here. Even if we went to Lupe Tortilla after the gym. Best fajitas in town. On the way home, Neal said the food was good but the company was even better. It warms my heart to hear him say things like that. Let me brag on him a little more. Mondays are my late days and when I got home last night, he had cooked a pork tenderloin and it was all ready to eat. God knew to send me a man that could cook!

There was a girls weekend planned for the lakehouse this weekend but it fell through. It will be much more fun anyway this summer when we can get in the pool. I think its funny that we drive to lake to swim in the pool, not the actual lake. I've seen those gators in the lake water! No way. Jen and I are going to do something anyway and we'll have fun with whatever we end up doing.

Off to go read now. I still think the Kindle is one of the best inventions ever. I thought I would miss holding a real book, but nope. I just finished the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series. Very dark murder mysteries written by a Swedish guy. Oh so good! I love biographies too so I'm reading the memoirs of George W. Bush. Decision Points. So far, its really good. I love reading about people from their perspective. Maybe I'll write my own one day. Oh wait, that's what this blog is for. Hopefully my kids and grandkids read it one day!