Mood:  caffeinated

Well I was hoping for a snow day but no such luck. They were calling for a wintery mix this morning then turning to rain by noon. I was hoping that when I woke up that I would see a blanket of snow and that I could go back to sleep. I got up at 5:30, looked out the window and saw NOTHING!!!! WTH! I grabbed a shower then got Potter ready to go outside. By this time it had just started to rain. I got excited that maybe it would be freezing rain and I could just relax this morning and go into work about noon. When I turned on the TV the weather girl said that temps were above freezing so it looked liked a pure rain event. L So now here I sit at work in front of my computer screen with little enthusiasm to actually do any real work.

The writer strike has really messed up my TV viewing. I was looking forward to Heroes coming back on but it turns out that it will not be on till after the writer’s strike. I have Supernatural tonight which is a repeat but with the lack of anything else good on I will watch it. Plus I will get to see Jensen which is always a highlight in my long week.

With the lack of TV it appears I will actually have time to get some reading done. My sister gave me a bunch of books and a girl at work gave me a couple, so I have a lot to keep me busy. Not to mention that I need to finish my Thank You’s and work on my wedding scrapbook. I am also working on a special gift for my sister so I have to find time to finish that.

I got an email from Lennie on Tuesday from Kuwait. They got there okay but I don’t think he is too happy that 16 of them and all their gear are shoved into a hut the size of a hotel room. They will only be there for a few days before heading into Iraq. I still miss him and every once in awhile I find myself tearing up but it is getting better. I know you all have been after me to get you his address and I promise I will get it out soon.

My sister is still under the weather. So for those of you who read her blog and have been wondering where she has been….in bed sleeping and just feeling like crap. Mom talked to Jimmy the other night and he didn’t have a clue what wrong jut that she was sick. Hopefully she is on the road to recovery or making an appointment to see a doctor.

Speaking of appointments, I really need to make one with Will at the gym to start my work out. I also need to go through my kitchen and take a serious look at what I have been eating. Last night it was Sloppy Joes. Not very healthy.

Well I better get some work done although I really just want to go home and curl up on the couch with Potter and Fenwick. Only 2 days to go and then I have a long weekend.

Mood:  blue

Well Lennie is on his way to Iraq. I don’t think it has fully hit me yet that I won’t be seeing him for 6 months.

We had a great weekend in VA Beach. Lennie always jokes that when I married him I became a member of the Scottish mafia. Don’t worry it isn’t the real mafia. It just means that I now belong to a group of people who look out for one another. Take this weekend for instance. Lennie’s friend Jerry is a builder in VA Beach and knows the owner of the Hilton so he was able to get us a great room on the beach for about a 3^rd of what we would have normally paid. It was a beautiful hotel and the customer service was by far the best I have ever seen.

Friday I arrived at the beach at about 1:30. I met up with Lennie in the hotel bar where we sat for a short while until our room was ready. After getting into the room we came back down, parked the car, and then headed out to find a bite to eat. I love the beach in the off season except for the fact that a lot of places close up for the winter. We decided to come back and have lunch in the hotel. After lunch we headed up to the room for a nap then got up and headed to Captain George’s for dinner. After dinner we met up with some of his Navy buddies for a beer and then it was back to the hotel to crash.

We slept in till about 8AM on Saturday. We took our time getting ready before heading downstairs for breakfast then it was off to the VA Aquarium. Since I have been to the Baltimore Aquarium so many times every other aquarium just pale in comparison but this one was actually very nice. It was small but the exhibits were very well done. I loved the otter exhibit and could have sat there all day and watched them. They also had an Imax theater where we ended up seeing a show called Sea Monsters 3D which was awesome. We headed back to the beach and grabbed some coffee. Lennie walked out along the beach and I headed back up to the room to get ready for dinner. When I finally got changed for dinner Lennie presented me with a gift. It was a heart shaped box that was engraved with, “Now that I have you in my life, what more could I possibly ask for. I love you.” I opened it up to find a gold heart shaped locket that he had also engraved with the words, “Yours until the end of time”. It was so sweet that I just wanted to cry. I went to put on the locket only to notice that the chain was all tangled. LOL We sat in the room until almost 9PM trying to untangle it. No luck. Starving, I put it back in the box and we headed downstairs to eat at one of the hotel restaurants. The food was amazing!!!! I only wish I had saved room for dessert. We headed back up to the room where Lennie had a bottle of Champaign chilling and we….well lets just say we had quite and enjoyable evening. J

We got up early on Sunday and headed to the base. Lennie had to muster at 10:00 even though their bus wasn’t to leave until noon. They released them at 10:30 and we headed over to Starbucks for some coffee and to wait till the bus arrived. I tried hard not to cry. The sides of my mouth are raw and tender from where I kept biting them to try not to cry. I knew that deploying wasn’t easy for Lennie so I didn’t want to add to it by sobbing all over him. At about noon the bus arrived and they started loading up. He gave me a last hug and kiss goodbye and that is when I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Tears starting streaming from my eyes and I couldn’t get them to stop. When I pulled away from Lennie I saw the tears in his eyes. I told him to get on the bus and walked away, knowing that any second the flood gates would open up. I got in my car and headed towards the main gate. I stopped at the McDonalds just inside the gate, parked my car, and had a good cry for about 20 minutes. When I got myself composed I headed back onto the road. I did pretty well. I only had to pull over twice when the tears got so bad I couldn’t see the road. It seems to come in waves. One minute I will be fine then the next I see the image of him standing by the bus in his uniform with tears in his eyes and I start crying again.

I picked Potter up from the Doggie Hotel Sunday night and when we got home, Potter grabbed one of Lennie’s t-shirts and curled up with it on the bed. I curled up next to him and cuddled until Lennie called to tell me they had made it to BWI. He told me he loved me and tried to assure me that these 6 months would fly by. When we said goodbye and hung up the phone I laid my head back down and looked over to Lennie’s side of the bed noticing some thing dangling from the head board. Lennie had attached his extra set of dog tags to the bed.

For those of you who have asked I will try to email you Lennie’s address so you can send him cards and packages. I don’t know yet what he will need until he gets over there. He will try to call me from Kuwait but I may not hear from him till he gets to Al Kut, Iraq.

Thanks to everyone for the kind emails and cards and just continue to keep Lennie in your prayers.

Mood:  caffeinated

I walked into my house last night and was immediately hit with a horrible stench. When I walked in to let Potter out of his crate I saw what was causing the horrible odor. Potter had had diarrhea at some point yesterday. It was all over his crate, his fur, the wall and the carpet. I just stood there for a moment not knowing what to do or where to start. I finally decided to start with Potter. I took him outside to use the bathroom and he still had the runs. I then brought him back in and tried to give him a bath. It is hard to get 70lbs of dog in the tub and keep him there. I was finally able to get all the crap out of his coat and sent him off into the living room to dry while I tackled the rest of the mess. I bleach his crate and scrubbed the carpets and walls. Amazingly everything came out. Potter seemed to be feeling better and played most of the night. I took him out about 11PM and his stool wasn’t hard but it wasn’t like the watery stuff that had come out earlier, so I thought he was okay.

At 1AM Potter came in and got me out of bed in a panic so I rushed him outside. He still had the diarrhea but this time there was some vomiting. So I packed him up in the car and headed to the Doggy ER. I don’t know if it was the vet or my lack of sleep but I was a little snotty with the doctor. She immediately accused me of giving him table scraps. My dog ONLY eats dog food. He might get an occasional egg but Dr. Darth said that was good for him. Don’t assume I am a bad pet owner just because my dog is sick. She sort of looked at me like she didn’t believe me. She said, “Well something is making him sick.” You think? Maybe you should do your job and figure out what the problem is instead of standing there staring at me like an idiot. They ran some tests which took two hours and wasn’t really able to find out much. He had a slight temperature and some tenderness in his stomach but said the x-rays and fecal didn’t show anything abnormal. She said he might just have caught a stomach virus at the dog park. They gave him some bland food, a shot for the vomiting and told me to give him some Pepto Bismal every 6 hours and to watch for dehydration. We got out of there around 4AM and headed home where I crashed for an hour before having to get back up and come into work. I brought Potter with me so I could keep an eye on him. So far he seems okay. He is sleeping now but was walking around the office playing with everyone.

So with only about 2 hours of sleep I am not focusing very well. I have a stack of stuff on my desk and I just can’t get organized enough to start on anything. I feel useless and if I wasn’t taking off Friday I would just go home. I leave today at 3:30 so I am hoping with 7 cups of coffee and 3 chocolate chip cookies I will be able to make it that long.

Mood:  caffeinated

Okay enough with the emails. I am sorry I haven’t been posting but I decided to take a little break. But I am back now so here is your long awaited post.

Christmas “vacation” went very well although I felt like I was on the go all the time. We finally got to see Annie and Jimmy’s adorable new house and Potter and Bilbo got to meet and play a bit. It tool Potter awhile to recover. He was so utterly exhausted that he slept for two days.

I got most everything on my Christmas list and I think Lennie enjoyed the day as well. He loved is Ipod and has already downloaded 2 CD’s onto it. He has borrowed some of mine to load and he got almost $200 in Itunes gift cards so he should be set for awhile. Some of you have asked me what I got from Lennie. They were a bit unusual but they make sense if you know us really well. I got a toilet repair kit so that I can fix my running toilet and a gym membership. Don’t worry ladies I asked for that one. See Lennie wants to get pregnant sometime after he gets back from Iraq so I decided that I would use the time to get myself in shape. I seriously need to lose like 20lbs and I need to strengthen my back muscles so I don’t suffer major back strain from trying to carry a baby around. My Dr. actually recommended this because of my age and says it will make the pregnancy a little easier as well as help me lose the post baby weight.

Okay back to the trip...We had to head the day after Christmas because I had to be back at work. We started out a little late because Lennie wanted to install Mom’s new thermostat. We got to Fredericksburg and it started to pour down rain which made for a lousy ride. The Doctor had put me on Prednisone before I left to help fight the allergic reaction I had. The reaction has subsided but the medicine has caused me to retain water and feel very bloated and caused some heartburn. So being in a truck for 6+ hours was VERY uncomfortable. All I wanted to do was get home and relax. No such luck. We stepped inside the house and it was freezing. I went to see if the house sitter had turned the heat back. Nope…everything was set to what it was when I left. Lennie climbed up in the attic and discovered that the flame on the furnace wouldn’t light. He was able to manually light it but said we would only have heat until the system reached 74 degrees and then would shut off again. Apparently the igniter had gone bad which he managed to fix the next day. I guess it is good that I married an HVAC guy. LOL

New Year’s Eve was a lot of fun. We met up with two other couples at Michael Dean’s for dinner. The food was okay but not the best I have ever had. We had a great waitress who tried to keep us at the table as long as she could so she didn’t get sat again. We finally headed over to the bar about 11:30, got are party hats on and our free glass of Champaign and rung in the New Year at midnight. Feeling exhausted we quickly called a cab and went home. New Year’s Day was filled with home projects like installing my new toilet system and two dimmer switches which I installed myself.

This past weekend was Lennie’s last weekend in Raleigh for 6 months. I had been okay with the deployment up until now. We took Potter to the new dog park in Wake Forest and watching Lennie play with Potter knowing that this would be the last time he saw him till July made me tear up and then when Lennie left last night o drive back up to VA I cried for about an hour. I am usually not this emotional. I am hoping it is just PMS. I am going up to VA next weekend to spend a couple of days with Lennie before he deploys on Sunday. I am going to try my best not to cry but I can’t promise anything.

I have been trying to reassure Lennie that I will be okay and not worry about me while he is gone.  I would rather he focus on himself and be alert to what is going on around him so that he can come home safe and sound. I have great friends here who have all told him that they will check up on me to make sure that I am doing okay and Annie has even offered me a few shifts at the pub to try to take my mind off of him being gone. It isn’t the days I worry about because I will be busy with work. The nights will be tough because I will have plenty of time alone to think about him being gone. But I know that if we make it through this we can make it through just about anything.

Well I should get back to work. I have a lot of pictures to post but it will take me awhile to get them all up so please be patient. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Mood:  lazy

Lennie was suppose to come home to NC last night but he called me at work to tell me that his leave was cancelled for Wed and Thur. because the person who told them they could take off wasn’t authorized to give them leave and the person who is authorized said they had to stay because if they were released early they would be cheating the military out of money. Apparently that guy is the living embodiment of Scrooge. What a meany to not let my husband come home a couple days early so we can spend some time together alone before heading to WV for Christmas. I hope that guy gets a wade of coal in his stocking this year.

Lennie thinks his deployment date will be the 13^th of Jan so right now the plan is for me to take off work the Friday before and drive to VA Beach to spend a couple of nights with him before he deploys.

All of the stress with the wedding, holidays, and Lennie’s deployment have wreaked havoc on my body. The other morning I woke up again covered in hives which in turns seems to have cause a flare up in my dermatitis which I have had great control over for the last two years. I ran to my medicine cabinet to grab my medication only to notice that the tube was almost gone. I called my dermatologist to see about getting a refill and she said that it has been over a year since she saw me last and needed to see me before she could give me the refill. I told her I just didn’t have time and that the plan she put me on two years ago was working great until I had this flare up and needed more meds. She said she would review my chart and let me know if she felt comfortable giving me another prescription. I haven’t heard from her since. So now it looks like I will have to spend Christmas with what looks like patches of sunburn on my face that itch like hell. Thank God for good make up.

Have I told you that Lennie has single handedly ruined Christmas for me? The other night we were sitting in the big chair looking at the tree and listen to Christmas music when we had the following conversation….

Lennie: I am going to have to make a copy of this CD

ME: Why?

Lennie: Because I bought myself an Ipod and it would be nice to have some of this music to take with me to Iraq

ME: Why did you buy an Ipod?

Lennie: To take with me to Iraq

ME: *Angry Sigh*

Lennie: What is the matter with you?

ME: I am just a little pissy.

Lennie: Why?

ME: Because I bought you an Ipod for Christmas.

Lennie: I KNEW YOU BOUGHT ME AN IPOD!!!!

ME: Well if you knew I bought you an Ipod why did you go out and buy one?

Lennie: I didn’t buy one I was just trying to figure out what you bought me.

At this point I started to cry because now the whole surprise was ruined. I was so pleased with myself because I had gotten him a great gift and I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he opened it up Christmas morning and how every time he used it in Iraq he would think of me.  He of course couldn’t understand what the big deal was and I told him to think back to the time we went to Wilmington and how please he was with himself with surprising me with a stay at the Dragonfly Inn. I asked him would it have been as special if I had known that was where we would be staying. I think now he realizes that he screwed up which I plan to continue to bring up a little while longer so that next year he will think twice about trying to discover his gift.

We have made our plans for New Year’s Eve. Actually the guys planned it all which was a shocker. We will be joining Roisin and Locke and Marie and Todd for dinner and dancing at Michael Dean’s. I am looking forward to it…I think it will be a blast. I have even purchased this cute little strapless dress that is Bing Cherry Red.

I hope after Christmas I will have all the pictures back from the wedding and I can post them online for all to see. So stay tuned….

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and I will talk to you all after the New Year!

They are both involved in this past weekend's activites.

Feeling a tad bit under the weather this morning. I woke up covered in hives and a tight throat. I don’t think I ate any coconut yesterday so I am sure it is just stress related. I took 2 cold showers to tame the hives but my voice is almost gone so I don’t know how long I will stay at work.

The reception on Saturday was fantastic. We had such a fabulous time. I only regret that I didn’t get to talk to more people. Lennie and I almost made it onto the news. Apparently there were some reporters at the pub from a local news station and when the saw us in our outfits and heard our story they thought about getting a camera and interviewing us. Thank God they didn’t. Lennie would not have been amused. Many of the patrons that night came up to congratulate us. Even some drunk girl who I think was rather taken with Lennie. She was talking to him and me at the bar and we kept trying to break away from her so that we could talk to other people. After tossing the bouquet Lennie and I had a dance together. Well drunk girl comes up to us and says that she believes this is the point where she cuts in. Lennie looked at her and said, “No, I don’t think this is the point.” and then spun me around in the other direction. I looked over and drunk girl was still standing on the dance floor just staring at us. We danced till my feet could no longer take the strappy shoes I was wearing (about 11:30pm). We then loaded up in our big white chariot (Phoenix Transportation Shuttle Van) and headed home.

Sunday morning we woke up feeling the effects of WAY too much Champaign. We got ready and went to brunch then headed to Lowes to pick out my Christmas tree. Lennie is kind of a Grinch when it comes to Christmas but I am going to force him to love it. J I don’t think he realized what was really involved in finding a tree. To him every tree he picked up looked fine. I would have him stand it up and twirl it around. I would mess with the branches and then stand back and study it and then say nope that isn’t the one. We must have gone through 10 trees before Lennie started insisting that I tell him what was wrong with every tree I rejected. He just couldn’t see the differences. MEN! I ended up with a 9ft Frasier Fur. It wasn’t the perfect tree but I could tell he was starting to get annoyed. But bless his heart he tried to stay chipper through the whole thing. We then went to Target to pick up some more lights and Lennie went into the bathroom to wash the pine sap off his hands and forgot his wedding ring on the sink. Luckily it was still there when he went back. I can’t really say much. I forgot to put mine on yesterday all together. I get a weird feeling when I realize I don’t have it on. Sort of feels like I am naked.

My mother-in-law heads back to Scotland tomorrow and even though I am sad to see her go and I just excited that next weekend Lennie and I will finally be able to spend time ALONE!!!!!. I am also hoping that next weekend I can get my Christmas shopping finished.

Mood:  caffeinated

Lennie has this friend named Andrea (Andie for short) who I have tried to like since I met her but the truth is she is an alcoholic and I really can't stand to be around her. But for Lennie's sake I put up with her. She is usually at the pub every time we go out and she ALWAYS gets trashed and makes a fool of herself…falling all over the place and telling everyone they are cunts. It just isn't pleasant.

When I sent out invitations for the wedding Lennie asked me if I sent one to Andie and I said no. I didn't want her there because I knew she would get drunk and embarrass herself and us. Lennie argued that she was his friend and should be at least invited. I continued to say no. Well Lennie took one of the extra invites and gave it to Andie without me knowing it. One night at the pub she came up and gave me a huge hug and thanked me for inviting her and how touched she was and how she was definitely coming. I smiled but on the inside I was thinking that I was going to have to kill Lennie. Well luckily she flaked and didn't show at the wedding.

Well we get back to NC and start planning the Raleigh Bash and Andie offers to make all the food. That would be her gift to us. At first I didn't think it was a good idea. But she assured me everything would be great. I honestly thought that she wouldn't back out of this because it would mean so much to Lennie. Well Annie called me Tuesday night to say that Andie emailed her to say that she would prepare "1" dish for Saturday. Both Annie and I were furious. I feel bad because now Annie has taken it upon herself to make all the food.

Annie said that apparently Andie doesn't care for me because I took Lennie (her drinking buddy) away. I also believe that she is jealous of mine and Lennie’s happiness. Andie’s fiancé (also named Andy) is from Scotland but unlike Lennie he isn’t a US citizen. Right now he is stuck in Scotland until they can work through the legal stuff to get him over here. They were engaged before us so I am sure the fact that we are already married has upset her to the point that she hopes that backing out of the food will ruin our evening.

It doesn’t bother me that she doesn’t care for me. What bothers me is that she is screwing over Lennie…someone who has always stood up for her. I am hoping that this incident combined with her recent drunken tirades will show Lennie that she truly needs help. I have never met someone who has a total lack of self respect like she does. My only hope is that she gets herself straightened out before she hurts herself or someone else. If I was sure Lennie wouldn’t be upset with me, I would email Andie and tell her not to bother showing up.

I am not worried about the reception. I know Annie will make sure we have some great food and that everyone has a great time. I only hope that Andie decides not to show. That would be the best wedding present she could give us. 

Mood:  hungry

I still can’t believe that I am married. I don’t feel any different and nothing about our relationship has really changed. There is just a piece of paper now that binds us together legally.  I guess somehow I thought I would feel “different” in some way. Maybe it would be different if my husband was at least in the same state. He won’t be home until Dec 7^th and our evening phone calls just make me miss him more. I don’t know how on earth we are going to survive a 6 month deployment.

The wedding was beautiful and everything I hoped it would be. It was small and quaint and everyone I love most was there to help me celebrate. I did get a few laughs at the reception when they told me about Lennie entertaining the crowd. See thanks to the Mothers I was late for my wedding. Only about 10 minutes but still enough time for some awkward silence in the chapel so Lennie decided to tell a couple of jokes to the crowd. Of course they didn’t understand a word he said but they all laughed anyways. Then Eric (the bagpiper) took out his flute and played a little until I arrived. I basically walked in…said my vows…and walked out. I didn’t take notice to who was in the chapel which I regret now because there were a few people who made the service but not the reception and I would have loved to have seen them. Although my bossy Aunt Pat probably wouldn’t have allowed it. She took charge after the ceremony and quickly got me back into the chapel to take pictures before any of the guest had time to speak to me.

The reception was also nice. The food was great although I didn’t get to eat much of it. While most people ate we finished taking pictures and then I grabbed a plate of food. I tried to get a second plate but I kept getting stopped by guests. When I finally got free I turned around and saw them taking the food away. I managed to only cry once and that is when my sister Anne gave her speech. There was lots of laughter and smiles which made the evening so fantastic. At the end of the night the lodge gave Lennie and I a free room and a bottle of champaign. I hated to leave the next morning because I knew that that would be the last time Lennie and I would be alone for a few weeks. We are both just looking forward to a nice quiet evening at home...just the two of us.

My current tasks are planning the big Raleigh bash which I think is going to be awesome. Hercules Mulligan will be playing that night and I believe the Irish dancers will also be performing. We will have a buffet of finger foods and each person will get two free drinks and of course there will be cake. I am sure I am coax Eric into playing his pipes and other musicians but come out to play. Should be a great time.

Next on my list is changing my name. I don’t even know where to start. It all seems so overwhelming. I have decided that I am going to go with Rebecca Gayle Thomson instead of Rebecca Warren Thomson. That just doesn’t sound right.

Mood:  hungry

Several of my married female friends here in Raleigh have told me that prior to the wedding I will experience wedding dreams/nightmares. I don’t know if it is because they planted the seed in my brain or not but I have been having wedding related dreams for about the last two weeks. Most of which contain an ex-boyfriend or two.

The other night I dreamt that Lennie and I had to complete a Wedding Scavenger Hunt prior to taking our vows. In my dream Lennie was not amused at all and thought about calling off the whole wedding. When the preacher explained that all couples had to do this…it was the law in MD… he reluctantly agreed. Part of the scavenger hunt was to get signed permission slips from 5 of my ex-boyfriends stating that they were over me and I had their permission to wed. WHAT?!?

Then last night I dreamt that Lennie and I were going to have our wedding at this mountain resort in a VERY small town somewhere. When we got to the resort my dress and Lennie’s kilt had not arrived which meant we were going to have to get married in jeans. We also didn’t have the tartan sashes and the manager of the resort gave us these cheap Irish/Scottish Expat’s Pins to wear instead. We went into the rehearsal and I tried to be happy but inside I was upset that we spent so much money to make this wedding perfect and everything was falling apart. Then my mother came in and announced that the guest decided they were not going to attend the wedding and preferred to actually spend the day at a local craft fair. She said we welcome to attend the fair but that it looked like we would have to do the wedding another time. We were headed out of town in this crappy green pickup truck when we pulled up to a traffic light. In the car next to us was an ex-boyfriend of mine. He asked if we were going to the fair and when I said no he stated that I shouldn’t be bitter and be the bigger person and make an appearance at the fair.

I know that this week is going to be VERY stressful for me. I have a lot of little things to get done before I leave on Saturday. I am supposed to pick up my dress tonight. I haven’t heard that there were any complications so I am assuming that it will be done on time. I know that I am a control freak when I can’t trust other people to do what they say they are going to do. I have to follow up behind them just to check. Like with the rings. Lennie said he would call the jeweler to check on the status of the ring but I ended checking with the jeweler myself just to make sure he knew it had to be done Thursday. Apparently after I hung up, Lennie called him and they had a good laugh about how stressed out I had become.

I have to find time to finish my cape. It is all put together I just have to hand sew a seam and put on the clasp. I also need to find time to dye my hair (need to cover the gray), clean the house, find something to cook for dinner on Friday, and pack. I got my eyebrows done last night and I started on my list of things I need to take. Oh I also have to find a ribbon for the handfasting ceremony. I will be so glad when this wedding is over. LOL.

Mood:  a-ok

I know this blog has gone from Ramblings of a Ranger to Ramblings of a Dog Owner to Ramblings of a Bride to be. Sorry about that. You will just have to bear with me.  

Well Aunt Flo show up this morning and for once I am very happy to see her. No it isn’t because I thought I might be pregnant (see that is how rumors get started) it is because I was afraid that she would show up the day of my wedding and ruin everything.

With all the stress I have been under the last few months my monthly cycle has been a little off. Sometimes it would be really early and sometimes it would be a little late. So I feared that with the added stress of having to plan a wedding in 30 days it would cause the cycle to go haywire. Lennie and I have been sick and so our love life has suffered. Sunday was our last night together till the wedding night and I was so tired I went to bed early. I know he was disappointed but I honestly felt like crap. Now that my period is spot on I can relax a bit knowing that we will be able to be together on our wedding night. BIG sigh of relief.

I finished registering yesterday. What an ordeal. I thought going in that this would be fun. I mean I get to check out all the cool stuff and hope that people will buy it for me. But it actually takes a lot out of you. The scanner at Bed Bath and Beyond was WAY complicated to use. There were all these buttons to push and things to remember. I much prefer the one at target which was just point and shoot. Lennie was against registering because all he really wanted was cash. We do have a wedding to pay for after all. But I told him that most people were not going to give us cash, that they would insist on buying us something and this way at least we could get some things we wanted. Well in the end it was all stuff I wanted because he refused to help. So if he doesn’t like what he gets…tough!

I have been corresponding with his Mother through email for the last two weeks. She is such a sweet woman and I am looking forward to her visit. She laughed when I told her that Lennie wasn’t helping much with the wedding plans. She said that was typical Lennie that basically all he wanted to do was just show up and everything would be done. But I do have to say that when he saw that I was getting overwhelmed he offered to take on a task or two. I didn’t give him anything hard. He just had to find a kilt, pick up the rings, book flights and hotels for the piper and his best woman. I had asked him to pick a song but when he came back with “Hot Legs” by Rod Stewart, I took that item off his list. I calculated last night and when added up the wedding came just under $3000.00 Which is not bad considering that the price of an average wedding is around $30,000.00.

I have had a couple of commitment phobia freak outs. Major one hit the other night when I found out that Lennie had opened up a joint account for the two of us. I don’t know why I freaked. We still have our separate accounts and will keep those. This one is just to pay bills but I was still like OMG! What the hell am I doing.!!!! I am getting married!!! I am not ready for this!!!! I have calmed down since. I love Lennie and can’t imagine him not in my life. Everything will be good.

I am feeling like CRAP!!!! I have been feeling ill since Friday but hoped that with the rest I got over the weekend that I would feel better. NOPE! I went to the Dr.’s this morning and she said I have a sinus infection. I was worried I had strep throat. Poor Lennie has been able to sleep because I apparently snore when I am sick. I came out into the kitchen this morning and he said, “California called!” “What?” I replied. “Yeah they said they registered some seismic activity in the area and wanted to make sure it was just your snoring.” He laughed I told him to shut up and grabbed my coffee.

The weekend was pretty much filled with wedding planning while Lennie was off leading “Wee Lennie’s Fat Camp” out at his guard unit.

Friday night we headed downtown and met up with some of Lennie’s friends so that we could hear Eric play his pipes. Eric will be the piper at our wedding. After working 9.5 hours at the park I headed home early to crash.

Saturday I cleaned and ran a few errands. I even managed to find a tiara and a veil that was on sale. I came home and started making chili for dinner with Lennie called and said he was bringing Eric (the piper) over for dinner. He is such a nice guy. He just moved to Raleigh so Lennie and Annie have taken him under their wings to show him around.

Sunday I went to the fabric store to get material for the cape. I was standing in line to pay when all the sudden I got light headed and almost passed out. The woman behind me caught me before I fell. I guess that is what you get for being sick and not eating. Later that night Lennie called and asked me to meet him and some of the other Navy guys down at the pub. They were having Celtic Christmas and there was all sorts of music being played. At one point they passed out raffle tickets. Annie pulled me up on the stage to pull the winners and the first 3 tickets I pulled belonged to Lennie. LOL I swear it wasn’t rigged. We gave a couple of the prizes away to the couple sitting next to us. We had gotten tickets to the Tartan Ball on the 16^th but because Lennie’s mom comes that day and it is the day before we leave we decided to give them up. The couple then gave me a head/ear warmer thing she knitter herself. Awesome! We headed home around 8pm and quickly went to bed. It is like was are an old married couple all ready.

I have so much to do tonight but all I really want to do is curl up on the couch in my pj’s. Hopefully I will feel batter soon.

Mood:  hungry

Okay some of you have been asking about the Halloween party at Tir Na Nog.

I arrived about 8PM. It was a bitch trying to get in and out of the car with wings on. I was meeting Maria and her husband Todd who were going as and outlet and a plug. When I approached the door I got many compliments on my costume. I paid my $3 and went in. I immediately saw some friends and walked up to them Because I had on a blonde wig no one knew who I was so I got looks at first like, “who the hell is this girl and why is she talking to us.” Then it dawned on them who it was and they all started laughing. Stating that I should go blonde and perhaps wear my costume for the wedding. I looked around and noticed the place was FILLED with Harry Potter characters. These were not store bought costumes either. These looked like movie quality. When Annie approached I told her how create the costumes were and that they put in a lot of effort for Halloween. She informed me that no they just don’t wear these for Halloween, but that there is apparently a Harry Potter meet up group that meets about once a month. There is apparently a Fairy Meet up group as well because later on in the evening I was approached by another fairy and asked if I was “Fairy Folk”. I informed her that no I just do this for Halloween. She gave me her card and said that I should think about joining there group because I made such a great fairy, I am half tempted to join just so I can see what they talk about in their meetings. Safe frolicking perhaps? Or maybe wing maintenance? Proper use of fairy dust? I swear there is a group for everything. Annie informed me that there is even a pen collectors group and we all joked that we should join and shoe up with a Bic. LOL

Anyway…around 9PM they had the costume contest. There were 10 of us on the stage and the audience got to vote for the winners. 1^st place went to a woman dressed as Professor Sprout and 2^nd place went to a woman dressed as Mrs. Weasley. No big surprise considering the number of Harry Potter freaks in the pub. 3^rd place went to yours truly I think just because Annie announced I had just gotten engaged.

What did I win? A plaque, a $25 gift certificate to Tir Na Nog , a $25 gift certificate to Camelot treasures,  and a t-shirt.

After the awards I paid my tab and headed home. For those of you who were not at the party and have not seen the pictures on Myspace…here is my costume.

Mood:  don't ask

I used to laugh at those Bridezilla shows and thought I would never act like that but after the last couple of days I can see why most brides go postal. My idea of a small informal wedding has totally been blown out of the water. I had to pull the reigns in on my mother who started inviting people I have never met. The other day she sent me a name to add to the list. I asked who this woman was and she said it was someone she worked with who had rescued some cats. WHAT!?! She apparently wants to help with the wedding and is also a photographer. I appreciate all there people wanting to help but these are just extra mouths I have to feed.

I had hoped Catoctin would be able to accommodate the reception but they are all booked so we had to find someplace else to hold the party. Every place we called was either booked or too expensive. I had found out that the local fire company owns a building at the fairgrounds and it was available but mom shunned that idea stating she didn’t want to hold the reception in a fire hall. I tried to explain that it wasn’t a fire hall but she wasn’t hearing it. Well finally yesterday we found and book at location. It is a little more than I wanted to spend but mom has offered to split the bill. I told Lennie last night that I wanted a cash bar because I didn’t want people to get drunk on my dollar which I don’t think he was too happy with but oh well. We have got to save money somewhere. He also commented on that fact that he wanted to put out a donation basket at the party in Raleigh so people can help out with the cost of the wedding. I commented that it was tacky which didn’t go over well. But anyway here is where the reception will take place. The Lodge at Blue Ridge Summit

Now to add to the stress was trying to find a wedding dress. I went to David’s Bridal first. Even though I had heard bad things about them, they are close to my house so figured I would give it a try. My friend Maria went with me for moral support and to help me decided if I needed a tie breaker. When I first walked in they were all over me but when I mentioned my wedding dress budget everything changed. They proceed to treat me as if I had the “poor people” plague and abandoned me and Maria for close to 30 minutes. The woman arrived and stated she didn’t think she could really help me but I was free to sort through the clearance rack. WHAT!?! We headed over and I pulled a couple of dresses I thought might work. One I tried on was okay but I wasn’t really feeling it. I told the woman I would think about it. She proceeded to tell me she couldn’t hang onto the dress and that maybe I should try Goodwill. I threw the dress down and walked out. Maria and I tried a few more places but without much luck so Wednesday I decided I would head to Burlington to scope out Bridalmart.

I got up Wednesday morning and started out and noticed the speedometer on my car wasn’t working. I pulled into the Toyota dealership and proceeded to wait 4 hours before they came out and told me that they would have to order a part and it would be at least 3 days. I refused to drive my car because with trying to pay for a wedding I couldn’t afford a speeding ticket. So after an hour of arguing with them they agreed to give me a rental car. It is a piece of crap Chevy Cobalt but it will do. I miss my car!!!! I hate having to manually roll down my windows.

After getting the rental car I drove to Burlington. It is about an hour outside of Raleigh but it was worth it. The people were so friendly and helpful and determined to find me something to wear. I must have tried on close to 10 dresses and had managed to narrow it down to 2. One was very sparkly and I was afraid it was a little too ornate for me. The second was an A-line gown that had beading on the torso that stopped at the waist. In the back, the dress cut away to expose the train underneath. The sections that are cut away have beading down them and then the train at the base has some beading. It was comfortable to wear and other than needing to be hemmed a little and the bust taken in some it didn’t need a lot of work. The train is a little long for the size church I am going to be in but they didn’t have anything shorter. The girl put a veil on me and lowered the blusher over my face and I started to cry. Everyone started yelling, “WE FOUND THE DRESS!!!!” Since it was a sample and I had to buy it off the rack they gave me a discount for some imperfection and some dirt which can easily be fixed. So I managed to get a $600 dress for $295. $95 over my budget but it is beautiful. Now I just have to find time to make a cape.

On the way home I stopped to get gas and when I inserted my card it declined it. It said there was a hold on my account. Thank God I had another card. When I got home I checked my account because I should have had plenty of money left. When I looked it said I was $80 in the hole. WHAT!?! I looked at the transactions and found the culprit. I had been to a Mexican restaurant one night with Maria and I picked up the tab which was $24.86. They had charge my card for that amount and then charged me $250.44. I got in my rental car and headed up to the restaurant. I asked to speak to a manager and the guy behind the counter pointed to a man and said you can talk to him. The guy acted like a manager until I told him my problem and then laughed and said he wasn’t the manager and sent me back to the guy behind the counter. Both of them chuckling. Wrong move!!! Doesn’t he know it isn’t nice to piss off an already pissy bride? I went off!!! I threatened to call the cops and file theft charges against him. He asked to see my ID and when I pulled it out he saw my badge and immediately changed his tune. I am sure he has illegals working for him and when he found out I worked for the govt, feared I might bring attention to him. He said it was all a mistake and he would refund my money quickly. I checked this morning and the money has been refunded and he put 25 extra on it to cover the overage charge.

That night I grabbed a glass of wine and handed out candy to the kids while I assembled the wedding invitations. I am making them myself so I had to print off the announcement and then attach ribbons and beads. They look simple but elegant. Now all I have to do is print off the reply cards and I can get them in the mail.

This weekend I am going to take my dress in to the seamstress and finish the invitations. Other than that I am going to just relax. I am told everything now is downhill. That I have all the hard stuff figured out. We will see.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Maybe once they dress is altered I can post some pictures.  

Mood:  celebratory

Well I think those who are suppose to know first have already heard the news so I wanted to take the time to inform the rest of you.

I’M GETTING MARRIED!!!!

That’s right…Lennie finally proposed. It wasn’t an overly romantic proposal but it was done in true Lennie style so I can’t complain. We had been to the Albannach concert at Tir Na Nog on Wednesday night. It was a great show and even though I only had two beers I was really feeling the effects. When we got home I was kidding Lennie about how we can’t go into the pub anymore without someone asking if we were yet. His friend John had asked me earlier in the evening why Lennie hadn’t put a ring on my finger. I told him he would have to ask Lennie that question. Well apparently he did. J We were laying on the floor in the living room playing with Potter and talking about what John had said when Lennie looked at me and said, “So do you want to get married?” I responded, “When we are ready. I want you to propose when you feel the time is right.” “No that is not what I am asking” he said. “Will you marry me?” He then went into the kitchen to grab the ring he had been hiding in my cabinets for the last two weeks. I was so over joyed and I said yes.

The ring is beautiful and definitely unique. It is a little big so I am going to have to give it up so it can be sized. Lennie told me that one night while I slept he took a pair of calipers to my fingers to get the size. I laughed hysterically. How exactly would he have explain that to me if I had  woken up and seen him standing over me with a set of calipers. I asked him why he didn’t just take one of my rings and he said that he didn’t want to rummage through my stuff. LOL

Okay so I asked him when he wanted to do it and he said as soon as possible. For those of you who don’t know, Lennie is being sent to Iraq in Jan and he had just gotten activated and will be reporting to Norfolk on Nov 9^th. So we have finally set on the 24^th of Nov. So I don’t have much time to plan.

All I have managed to do so far is book the church. We will be having the ceremony at Eyler’s Valley Chapel in Thurmont, MD.  http://www.eylersvalleychapel.com I am in the process of finding a minister and reception location. I was hoping to use the dinning hall at Camp Round Meadow but it is booked. I have a call into the superintendant where I used to work to see if I can use Misty Mount. The camp is currently closed for the season but they have a beautiful dinning hall there made out of American Chesnut and it would be perfect. Keep your fingers crossed that they agree to open it up for me.

I think we have the wedding party sorted out. Anne will be my Maid of Honor and Annie is going to be Lennie’s Best Woman and Justin will walk me down the isle and give me away. We are hoping Lennie’s mother will fly in for the occasion. There is a Scottish Custom where the groom pins his tartan to me after our vows to signify my entry into his clan which I think will be very cool. Yes Lennie is planning on wearing a kilt.

Still lots to plan and work on but right now just trying to focus on the major 3. Church, preacher, and reception hall.

For those of you in NC who can’t make the wedding in MD…don’t worry…we will be having a big ‘ol bash at Tir Na Nog to celebrate.

Mood:  don't ask

I am having one of those days where I can’t seem to get myself together. I woke up this morning with horrible neck pain. I can’t turn my head or lift anything. I tried to set about my morning routine but I just couldn’t focus. I got Merlin feed but almost forgot about Potter. I sat down with my coffee and he came over and looked at me like ummm mom I think you forgot something. Sorry Pot! I was almost out the door but I couldn’t find my boots. I somehow had put them in the laundry basket. By the time I found them I was running about 15 minutes late. UGH! So here I sit in pain with a ton of crap to do and I am not motivated or focused enough to do any of it. Plus I have to finish my resume and get it to personnel soon. My only comfort is that the Dr. has a pill waiting for me at her office that will hopefully relax the muscles in my neck so I can move.

My trip to Charlotte was GREAT! I had such a good time which I always seem to do with Marie. I got there around 4:30pm Friday and we quickly headed out so that Marie could show me around town. We ended up in a part of town known as NoDa where we did some window shopping at a really cool used book stores and a novelty shop. We then met her boyfriend Alan for dinner at a place called Bordeaux’s which served Louisiana style food. It was tasty except for the Gator bites which didn’t have much flavor. But at least we can all say that we ate gator. After diner we headed back to the apartment where we dropped off Alan and headed to a bar across the street called Moon Doggies. They had a very extensive beer selection and Marie and I were the center of attention seeing as we were the only women there. I sat beside a guy named Kevin who was originally from WV. We talked a good bit and I made a point to bring up Lennie every chance I got so that he would know that I was attached but that didn’t stop him from buying all my drinks and inviting me to spend a weekend with him in the mountains. LOL Men! We headed back over to Marie’s and after some idle chit chat, we headed off to bed.

Saturday I was awoken by Marie’s crazy neighbor lady yelling at the top of her lungs to a woman in the parking lot to not forget to get her some milk. With all the noise I couldn’t get back to sleep so I got up and did my hair and makeup and waited for Marie. She and Alan got up about 9am and she quickly set about making me some coffee. Their coffee maker is broken so she had to boil the water and pour it into the machine. I felt bad but my overwhelming need for caffeine kept me from saying anything. Sorry Marie! She then made me an omelet with avocado. Great start to the day. After Alan left for work we quickly got into our dresses and headed to our cars to we could set out for the Renaissance fair. While standing in the parking lot taking pictures the crazy neighbor lady came out and yelled directions to us as she took our pictures. “YOU STAND THERE!!” “OKAY NOW YOU!” “DON’T YOU GO ANYWHERE!!! I AM NOT DONE WITH YOU!” Very scary lady.

The route to the fair was jammed with cars. The festival ground just happens to be next to Lowes Motor Speedway but thank god there wasn’t a race on Saturday because I don’t think we would ever have made it there. We had pre-purchased tickets so were able to walk right in. They had some great entertainment this year. Magic acts, comedy nuns, a hypnotist, and juggling acts. The joust was great as well. It was the same scenario as last year but this year we were sitting in the evil knight Mordred’s section sipping on Medieval Margaritas. As with last year at the end of the joust, some knight is offended by another knight and they vow to joust to the death. That was to be at 4pm but we ended up skipping it. We spotted Mordred and the Prince of Windsor (another knight) hanging out so I am assuming Sir William de Bracey didn’t survive. May you rest in peace knight who looks an awful lot like Sting. After the Hypnotist show I decided I wanted some Steak on a Stake so we headed up to the booth were Marie proceeded to attract a stalker. His name was Daniel and he was enthralled by Marie and her beautiful dress. He kept flirting with her, kissing her hand, and teaching her the language of the fan (with my fan). Towards the end of the day as we headed out to our car, Daniel ran up to Marie with a rose. Awww that was such a sweet thing for a stalker to do. I wonder what Alan had to say about it when Marie got home. LOL

We had driven separately so when we got back to I-85 she headed south and I went north and I managed to make it home about 9PM. I walked in to see Lennie in the kitchen making me dinner. How sweet it that? Lennie had some bad news for me. He found out he is being mobilized on Nov 9^th. That means he will quit his job here and move up to Norfolk till they send him to Iraq in Jan. He is hoping to be home on weekends and he is still hoping he will be able to come home with me for Thanksgiving.

It will be a quiet week I hope. We have Albannach at Tir Na Nog Wednesday night then Lennie leaves for a training class in Stanton, VA on Sunday. I am almost finished my costume. It is actually looking pretty cute.

I took a few pictures and when I get them loaded I will post them here. Take care and I hope everyone had a goo weekend.

Mood:  not sure

Don’t yell at me for not being around. I have been in Wilmington since Sunday. What an extremely long couple of days and if I have to look at another spreadsheet I swear on everything holy that I am going to go postal.

Okay I am sure some of you are wondering about the title of the post. No I am not getting married. At least I don’t think anytime soon. Lennie and I have just now started to talk about him moving in. But that is a whole other entry. The major life change has to do with my job.

Last Friday my boss called me into his office. He stated that he has noticed lately how miserable I have become. When I signed up for the job it was suppose to be 60% admin and 40% ranger. Now it is 90% admin and 10% ranger…if I am lucky. This is not something I want to do for the rest of my life. I HATE sitting at a computer and would much prefer to be in the field. Not to mention that I am not getting paid for the work I am doing. Especially not now that I have to budget to do. I actually broke down in tears because the last few months or so I have been very unhappy. I love Raleigh, I love the park, and I love the staff but I hate what this job has become and this is not what I signed up for.

Yesterday Tom showed up at the district office and caught me after my meeting. He told me he needed a copy of my transcripts. At first I thought he needed my notes from the meeting but clarified that he needed my college transcripts to prove that I am eligible to work as a 401 Natural Resource Specialist. Fancy name for a park ranger/biologist. I must have looked really confused so he told me the following story.

We have an opening at Falls. Well actually not so much an opening. They are taking our co-op student position and making it permanent. It will be a 5/7/9 position which would be a promotion for me (I am currently a 7). I would be doing what I love. I would be out in the project more and not stuck behind a computer. There is also more opportunity for me to advance. But there are some negatives as well. The position is what they call an Intern (FCIP). Part of that program is that I would have to sign a mobility agreement for 2 years. This means they could up and move me whenever and wherever that wanted to. My boss said that was highly unlikely. That would be just in the event of a major disaster and they needed bodies. The second issue is that fact that I would lose my status for 2 years. I would be losing any benefits but lets say next year they didn’t have the budget to keep my job I could be jobless. I don’t think my boss would let them put me out on the street but it is scary not to have that security. But once my two years is up and I will have my status back and I would be safe and I would be a 9 which was one of my goals. The other bad thing is…if I leave this position they will not fill it with another admin ranger. It would be just clerical. Tom is terrified with what he might get as far and applicants but that I shouldn’t worry about that. He wants me to be happy and he wants to put me in the place that he thinks I have the best opportunity to advance.

I spent time talking to my boss and his boss and the people from personnel and they all stated they thought this would be a good move and that they see me advancing way up in the organization with all the knowledge I have. They said they don’t foresee anything bad happening to me in the future and that I shouldn’t be worried.

So tonight I have a lot of things to think about and some things to discuss with Lennie. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I know I can do the NRS job but I have work so hard to get this place in shape I dread handing it over to someone who will just mess it up. BIG BIG BIG Decision. This could change the rest of my life. *bites nails

Mood:  caffeinated

Have mentioned that as of today I love Thursdays? Why it that you ask. Well tonight Jensen Ackles…I mean Supernatural ;) returns to TV. In the last episode of season two Dean sells his soul to a demon so that she would bring Sam back to life and then Sam and Dean opened a door to hell (not knowing it of course) and released a bunch of demons. So I am assuming that this season will be all about catching the demons and finding some way to save Dean’s soul. Can we just take a moment of silence for the incredibly sexy Jensen?

Don’t worry Bill I am still in love with Gerard Butler but I don’t have anything to squeal over until they release Butterfly on a Wheel on DVD. So now I will just have to drool over Jensen.

This Saturday I am seeing a new stylist. I am a little nervous. I am always nervous about getting my haircut by someone new because you just never know if you will mesh or if they will understand it when I say the word texturize. Her name is Britt and she came high recommended. There is s woman who walks here with her Golden Retriever and one day I ran into her while I was walking Potter. She always has great hair so I asked where she goes and she told me all about Britt and this salon. I have been so unhappy with the place I have been going. I used to see a guy named Robert but he up and left one day. The girl who took my appointment stated that he called in sick one day and then the next day just didn’t show up or call and they haven’t heard from him since. What is it with me and stylist? The one I had before Robert had a mental breakdown. I hope I wasn’t the cause. I can be a little neurotic about my hair.  Anyway the girl who started cutting my hair did a great job the first time but hasn’t been able to duplicate it since. Keep your fingers crossed that I have better luck with the new girl. I will miss where I had been going because it was on my way home from work.

I am currently waiting for my mom to call me. See last night I called my Great Aunt. She had sent me a card last Monday and I still hadn’t gotten it. When she answered the phone she didn’t sound well at all. She told me that she wasn’t feeling real well and was out of breath and had trouble concentrating. She said she had an episode on Friday when she got up she couldn’t see and her legs wouldn’t work. I scolded her for not calling mom and going to the Doctor. I tried to encourage her to go to the ER but she would have none of it. So I call mom and told her the story and mom told her she was going to take her to the Doctor today. They had an appointment at 12:30 and said she would let me know what the doctor said. I don’t know if the lack of a call from my mom is good or bad. I just hope everything is okay.

No major plans for the weekend. It is a holiday weekend for me (I am off Monday). I have lots to do around the house and I need to work on my costume. They are sending me to Wilmington the 14^th through the 16^th and I have a bunch of other crap going on this month so I need to fine time to sew. There are just not enough hours in a day.

I probably won’t post tomorrow so I hope everyone had a great weekend.

***Update: Just heard from Mom and Aunt B is doing okay. They did an EKG and there was some heart damage so the doctor thinks she had an “episode”. Her blood pressure was sky high so they put her on some more medication. The doctor said she was dehydrated and needed to drink more water. Aunt B asked if she could drink more apple cider instead. LOL She likes apple cider more than she does water. I think most people do. The doctor also commented on how nice it was to have a niece the really cared about her and she said that her niece (my mom) and her girls (Anne and I) have always taken such great care of her that she didn’t know what she would do without us. I don’t know what I would do without her. Last night it hit me that I might lose her. Even though she is 97 I just never allowed myself to really imagine what life would be without her. She has spent every Christmas with me since I was born and the thought of not seeing her there Christmas morning just made me feel very empty. I know that she will go at some time but I hope it is later than sooner. I know it is selfish but I still have so much to learn from her.

Mood:  lazy

I wasn’t going to talk about this story but it just keeps getting funnier so I thought I would share incase your local news stations haven’t been carrying it. Please bear with me as I try to explain the story. I am getting this information from several news stories.  

A man by the name of Shannon Whisnant goes to an auction at a local storage rental facility in Maiden, NC The storage place is having the auction to get rid of stuff that has been locked in storage units that have fallen behind on the rent. One item in particular catches Mr. Whisnat’s eyes….a smoker. For those of you who are not familiar with what a smoker is…it is a device used to smoke meats. It is sort of like a grill but instead of cooking with flames it cooks with heat and smoke. Well anyway…Mr. Whisnant bids on the smoker and wins. After taking the smoker home he opens it and finds what at first looked like a piece of driftwood wrapped in brown paper. Upon further inspection Mr. Whisnant discovered that in fact it was a human leg that had been amputated just above the knee. The police were called and when it was discovered that there was no foul play involved, it was turned over to a local funeral home. The authorities notified a woman named Peg Steele who had rented the storage unit and she told the police the story behind the severed body part.  

The leg belonged to Ms. Steele’s son, John Woods. Mr. Woods lost his leg as a result of an airplane crash. She said that because of her son’s religious beliefs, he begged Doctors to let him keep the leg so that when he died he could be buried with the leg and be a “whole” man when he went to heaven. She stated that the rest of the family was against the idea. Steele said that for a time the leg resided in the freezer until at one point Mr. Wood took it out and placed it on a fence to “dry it out”. Some time after that he was evicted from his home. I am not sure if the severed leg drying on the fence had anything to do with it. Steele agreed to rent a storage area so her son would have a place to store his belongings. She had no idea that he had placed the leg in the smoker. It apparently took awhile for Mr. Wood to get back on his feet and in the mean time his mother had been paying for the storage unit. She tired of this and told him that she refused to pay another cent and that he needed to take it over. Well he didn’t so all the item left behind were free to auction off. 

 In the mean time Mr. Whisnant get so much publicity from the story that he decides to charge the public to view the empty smoker. $3 for adults and a $1 for the kiddies. He was hoping to get the leg back from the funeral home so that he could raise the prices but the funeral home has refused to return it. Mr. Whisnant is consulting an attorney and hopes he can persuade Mr. Woods to share custody and profits. Well Mr. Woods wants to stop the freak show by trying to re-claim his leg. So now there is a custody battle over the leg and the public waits with bated breath to see if poor Mr. Wood will be reunited with his wayward body part or if Mr. Whisnant will grab the smoker and the leg and join the traveling circus as part of their oddities show. I am sure it will be a HUGE money maker.  

LOL Only in NC.

Mood:  hungry

Like the title states I can’t believe that I am even considering what to be for Halloween. Where in the heck did summer go? I know most people do usually think about their costumes until a couple of weeks before the 31^st but when you make your costumes, you have to get a head start. I am not being too creative this year. I am actually going with an idea I went with a couple of years ago. I am going to go as a fairy. But I have decided to change it up a bit. It took me awhile to decide on just what kind of fairy to be. At first I thought I would go as an ice fairy. Dress in all white, white wings, and they have this FX makeup that you can put on your hair that looks just like ice. But then it dawned on me that I would have a lot of makeup to apply and didn’t really feel in the mood for that. My makeup last year took 1.5 hours. So I decided to stick with something easy... Butterfly fair but the costume will be much different and I won’t be painting a butterfly on my face. Haven’t decided yet what I am going to do makeup wise but I am going for simple.

I found this costume pattern at Simplicity but I am going to change it up a bit.

The color for the dress is going to be light blue and the corset will be brown. The sleeves will be light blue sheer fabric and will be detached from the dress. I found a great set of wings on eBay. They will be white opalescent instead of black. I will also make a headband/crown out of twigs and flowers.

Now I just have to find time to construct it. The pattern is great and simple, well at least it appears to be. I figure I can use it to make other costumes…sexy pirate, a witch.

The weather has cooled down a lot since last week. This morning I got up and looked at weatherbug and it read 54 degrees. I actually had to put a jacket on this morning to take Potter out. The cold weather has brought something else with it….colds, flu, and bronchitis. My boss is suffering from Bronchitis and this is his first day back to work since Wednesday of last week. Looking at him I can remember how I felt when I had it and I know that work is the last place on earth he wants to be. But being the last week for year end close out items he had to come it. Poor thing. I too have been feeling a bit congested and I have been sneezing a lot and have had a scratchy throat. I went to be early last night hoping to ward off whatever is coming.

Lennie is having a great time in FL. Yesterday he was going to take his mom and brother to Universal Studios. I can’t wait to ask him if he saw any of the Harry Potter Land they are building. Lennie actually let me talk to his mom on Saturday. We spoke for about 30 minutes. She is so sweet and like Lennie, can be a bit hard to understand. I promised I would make it over to Scotland to meet her soon. I almost let it slip that it will more than likely be after Lennie gets back from Iraq. See his parents don’t know he is in the military and they don’t know he is about to be deployed.

Well I think that is about it. I will be so glad when this week is over. My stress should diminish quite a bit. This will probably be my only posting this week so hope everyone is well. Till next time….

Some of you have commented on how lately this blog is less “Ramblings of a Ranger” and more “Ramblings of a Dog Owner.” Sorry but honestly nothing exciting has happened at the park worth mentioning There is an entry I am working on for tomorrow that is park related. I just have to get some pictures to go with it.

I know my postings have been few but we are approaching our year end closeout (yeah the govt year ends 30 Sep…odd I know). So I am up to my eyeballs in work. It was nice to have this weekend just to relax.

I got up Saturday morning and took Potter to the vet to get his stitches out. There were about 12 dogs in the waiting room and Potter had to go and greet every single one of them. His favorite was this Chow named Charlie who he played with until the vet called us in. Once we were cleared from the vet we headed to the lake. I had promised to take him swimming if he was good. For the past month or so “swimming” for him consisted of just standing in the water up to his belly. I took him down to the boat ramp where we met up with another Golden and a Black Lab. The owner was throwing a ball out into the water and Potter sat for awhile and just watched in awe as the two took turns bringing. Not being able to stand it another second longer, Potter headed down to the water’s edge and slowly entered. I have a 20 ft lead for his so he can swim around and I don’t have to worry about his getting too far. He sometimes has selective hearing and I didn’t want him to run off and have to go chasing after him. It took him awhile to get up his nerve but he finally went all the way in. He LOVED it. He would swim out a little ways then come back, then out a little further and back. The owner of the other two dogs asked if Potter would like to get the ball. It was certainly worth a try. The guy threw it out a little ways and Potter just stared at it, then at me until finally he got brave and swam out to get it. The only problem now would be getting the ball back from him. He was so proud of himself for getting the ball that he pranced around with it and refused to let go. LOL Finally the Black Lab had enough of chasing him around and barked loudly and Potter dropped the ball and ran behind me to hide. LOL It was cute. We finally said goodbye and headed home where the pup crashed all day. Normally he follows me around the house but he laid on the floor and refused to budge.

Sunday Morning I got up and called Maria to see if she and her dog Dempsey wanted to go swimming. We took the dogs down to this little cove away from everything. I took the leash off Potter who quickly ran to the water’s edge but seemed to forget how much fun he had had yesterday because he was a little hesitant to get in. Finally after seeing Dempsey get in he ventured further and swam until he exhausted himself. I brought a ball so that the two could play but I forgot that Dempsey has a ball obsession. Potter tried to play with him but Dempsey wouldn’t let me anywhere near the ball. So I finally took in and hide it in my backpack. Dempsey tried to dig into the pack so I ended up having to hang it in a tree. After that they finally started playing together and had a great time. I was surprised how well Potter did off his leash. When he would start to run off I would call for him and he came running back. He was such a happy dog…lovin life. We headed back to the house, said goodbye to Maria and Dempsey, and then I showered and changed so that I could run a few errands. Normally I put Potter in his crate but he was so tired that I just left him sleeping on the floor. I came back and expected something to be torn up but it appears all he did was sleep. LOL Good Dog. I am hoping this means that the crate time will end soon. He still likes to sleep in it. In the evenings he will go and lay in it to signal that it is time for everyone to go to bed. So cute.

Lennie is in FL visiting with his mom and brother who flew in from Scotland. He called last night to say they are having a great time. He and his brother will take taking surfing lessons today. I wish I could be there to film it. LOL

Next weekend is the Dog Day at the fair grounds and Bugfest so I should be pretty busy.

Hope everyone has a great week.