So I joined twitter a week or two back ... not sure how long I'll stick with it, think I'd be more into it if I had unlimited messaging on my phone.

I kinda want to invest in a smart phone & data plan ... but, do I REALLY need it? To be honest, not really. So, I guess we'll see... I think after the wedding I might finally go through the hassle of getting off my dad's plan and me and Aaron going in together on a phone plan. But, we'll see, I like not having to pay for my phone :p

So, anyway, between twitter & facebook, how will one keep up? I also haven't really been in the mood to LJ post much lately ... though I'm still reading friend's pages, etc. I also want to try to keep posting on my blogger blog ... so we'll see how that goes.

Oh, big project for class is submitted, so I'm nearing the end.

On deck for the rest of Sunday:
Grocery shopping
Cleaning
Finish wedding invites

... until my wedding.

Eeegads.

Still have soo much to do, but sooo unmotivated. hahaha.

I have a huge project I need to finish for this stupid class I'm taking, but I feel like I should be wedding planning. The class should be wrapped up in about 1 1/2 weeks, so in reality I should probably focus on that.

On the other hand, I have no idea what the plans are for my shower, but I know there is one and one thing has been purchased off the registry. I thought I had figured out what day it is, but apparently I was wrong (according to my co-worker) ... I have another day in mind, but part of me is thinking my mom has really pulled one over on me.

I hate this ... I am totally the girl that shakes every Christmas present so it kills me to not know what's going on.

If I were growing up during the civil rights movement, would I be fighting for or against? I'd like to think for ... I mean I'm a staunch liberal, in favor of equal rights for all, etc. But is that because of the enivironment I've grown up in? Would I have thought differently if I grew up during the times of segregation?

Do you think new presidents get new mattresses? I wouldn't want to sleep in the same bed as G.W. Who moves their stuff in? I'd like to see the "changing of the families" - it must be such a sight. After all, in one day Bush has to be out and Obama in.

I don't usually do New Year's resolutions ... I always forget them, never stick to them and I don't like setting myself up for failure.

So, if I were to set some resolutions, what would they be?
-Get more organized
-Read more
-Write more (man I seem to have abandoned both LJ and that other little blog I started....)
-Keep the house clean

A year or two ago, probably more closely to two, I started the 101 in 1001 day project ... where you try to accomplish 101 things in 1,001 days. Yeah, that didn't last long. Maybe I'll try to do something similar.

New Year's Eve was pretty good ... we went to Providence for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones again.

Tried checking into the wrong hotel, since one is "Marriott Providence Downtown" and the other is "Courtyard by Marriott Providence Downtown". They're less than a mile apart, and the Courtyard was closer to the concert and we managed to walk home after, though it was FREEZING.

With the snow storm it took us for-ev-er to drive down there, so by the time we checked in we were starving. Ordered food from the Union Station Brewery, which was great since they also deliver growlers (64 oz of their beer). Mmmm. Then down to Lupos - where I then indulged in some raspberry stoli's and sprite. I enjoyed the openers (they had 3, but we only saw the last 2) and the first 1/2 hour of the Bosstones show.

Then, I felt incredibly sick and sat down in the lobby on their couches trying not to yak. The fun thing about that is the people watching ... I had one drunk man next to me who started smacking me in the head when "that song" came on (which was "where did you go", one of their hits). And a drunk girl on the other side checking up on me because "I'm sitting next to you and I'm a girl...". Oh, how amusing.

Back to the room, popped some champagne and passed out only 1/2 way through our glasses.

Merry Christmas everyone! (and also Happy Hannukah and the like as well!)

I *love* Christmas. It's my favorite holiday. Which is why Aaron proposed on Christmas last year ... being that he didn't want to wait for our anniversary he thought it would be a good occassion. I can't believe we've been engaged for a year now - crazy. And that our wedding is just over 7 months away. Shit man. I need to finish planning!

Anyhow, the only thing that sucks about Aaron being a pharmacy tech ... and working for a pharmacy that serves long term care facilities ... means they're open on all major holidays. He got Christmas off last year, and had Thanksgiving off and will have New Years Day off - so, he's working this Christmas.

So, we got up just after 7, I made coffee and we opened gifts. Then I made a good cinnamon french toast breakfast and turkey sausages. He did good this year ... a beautiful hand made jewelery box (which actually the uncle of one of the pharmacists makes) and some necklaces and earrings. Of course this was one of the several ideas I gave him - since my jewelery boxes were stolen last year when our house was broken into.... along with most of my jewelery.

And for him? I got him Bruins tickets for the January 13th game against the Canadiens. Three days before his birthday and one of their biggest rivals. Yeah, I'm that awesome :p

So now I'm finishing my coffee, watching "A Christmas Story", in my new fleezy robe.

The only thing that was missing this year, so far, is the annual Auclair gathering. Every Christmas Eve, for who knows how long, but every Christmas Eve that Aaron and I have been dating, we go to his Aunt Sue's house for a family party with his mom's side. This year he was supposed to close - until 8 - no way we'd get down to Fall River in time. Then they changed the hours until 6... so at least we could catch the tail end.. but, no gathering. Since his grandmother passed away a little over a month ago one of his aunt's (who was her caretaker) said it was "too soon". But, we drove down and spent the evening with his Aunt Sue anyway. She's probably one of my favorite Aunts of Aaron's - very sweet and genuine. So that was nice, we sat and chatted, she made us chourice and peppers.

Ah, Christmas. Maybe I should wash some dishes from the great baking mess of 2008 ...

Oh, voting.

Aaron and I walked down to our polling place for 7:30 this morning. Giant line. I'm happy to report it moved swiftly and counting our walk back to the apartment - 1 hour.

Not bad.

Voting made me realize how liberal Jamaica Plain is. The only signs outside were for Obama. People were chatting about how this is such an exciting time (yet Aaron couldn't sleep since he is super nervous about it all). One girl offered to get coffee for us and came back with "Obama scones" - blueberry. Apparently the McCain scones were cranberry.

Made me feel really good about my community :) Partly because how nice everyone is and partly because we're all liberals.

And another one to prove that people have WAY too much time on their hands (of course, though, I do find these things...):

I think I've found my wedding dress.

I also scored a fab keynote for our youth conference in January.

Oh, and I managed to escape jury duty ... I was being considered for a murder trial - that would have lasted 10 days, before deliberations. Some young kid that was shot a few years back ... I nearly lost my shit reading the potential witness list, hearing the brief overview of the case, and just thinking about having to sit on this jury. One of our alums, who I mentor fairly closely, had her cousin shot and killed last year, all I could think of is what she went through - and still goes through - trying to make sense of it. That is ultimately what got me "dismissed". Note to self, living in Boston means you've got a higher chance of being on some scary ass trials.

And I also think I should be getting a good raise with my promotion. Though nothing is signed on the dotted line, but we do have an email agreeing to what my compensation should be.

Yup, good week.

So I was watching Good Morning America this morning like I do every morning.

They were reporting on how Sarah Palin has "reinvigorated" stylish glasses and everyone wants frames like hers... OK, sure. The woman in the report put on a pair similar to one she wore and said "am I exuding Alaska Republican?" the clerk is like "um..." and she pulls her hair up and says "how about now?"

Then they make a comment how the glasses aren't just stylish, but help your eyesight for moose hunting - and a clip of Sarah Palin and a gun (looks like an army firing range).

Now cut to the Good Morning America Couch ... one of the anchors has on the Sarah Palin frames ... Bill Weir says "OK can you do the up-do?" she pulls her hair up. Then what does he say? "Now let's get her a gun, do we have a rifle?"

IMMEDIATE cut to a commercial. Something tells me that wasn't a mistake (the quick cut) ... but rather a "Oh shit he shouldn't have said that"

ha.

I finally got a Wii Fit yesterday! And just in time for me to get bad news about my high cholesterol :p ....

The games are fun ... strength training could actually be useful workout wise. I enjoy the hula hooping ... seriously does get your heart pumping. Definitely not a gym substitute, but a good add on, since it's fun to play and you're up and moving.

Speaking of the gym ... I'm scheduled to go back next week ... stupid cholesterol. The doctor doesn't want to put me on meds since I'm still young and all (plus have good blood pressure and good good cholesterol) so she thinks I can do it on my own. Bastard. We'll see how this goes ... I have to retest in 6 months.

Let's examine the facts:

-Woman
-Mother a disabled child
-Son soon to be deployed to Iraq
-NRA member
-Young
-Came into the Governorship with a rattle and rolling of "change"

It seems to me that McCain is grasping for straws by finding a VP candidate that can appeal to as many special interests as possible.

But I suppose you can't use that whole "experience" excuse again considering she's only been Governor for 2 years...

Oh, and from what I've seen, she's not a great speech giver (seems very wobbly in the clips I've seen from earlier today).

Having Mitt would have been more amusing.

Right after a big thunder boom hits ...

The weather man reports "the thunderstorms are getting closer".

Woah.

More miscellaneous things:
-I've started a blog (worklivebe.blogspot.com). I'm intending it be my adventure through an overworked unpaid career in nonprofit management, trying to stay unjaded enough to still do meaningful things in my off time (yeah, work's been fun lately).
-In my search for similar blogs, I've found that I heart Google reader.
-Still working on my master plan for my job ... knowing how quick my organization is with these things, I may be saying this upon my return from my honeymoon next year.
-I'm doing lots of research for professional development opportunities and organizations for volunteer management.
-Spanish class is almost over. I'm not a fan. Not that I'm not a fan of the language - I am and still want to learn it. Still not a fan of the online learning/college when it comes to languages. I need to find a homestudy method.

(sorry to those of you that have seen these in the wedding planning communities too!)

I'm so excited that our engagement photos are back! Here are some of our favorites. Our photographer is Kelly from out of Boston.
( Wee! )

Perhaps it has been.

Lots has been going on, but I just haven't felt motivated to update. Some bullet points of my life:

-Went to Maine for our anniversary. Saw a moose.
-Did our engagement photos, still waiting for them to come back.
-Currently running a week long "business bootcamp" for our students ... has been going great.
-Evil plan to expand my job at work is going as planned, but will only disclose when everything is signed on the dotted line, if it gets to that point.
-Currently thinking about starting a blog about being a young nonprofit professional ... and all the humorous things that go along with that. Still need to do my research since I'm sure something similar probably exists.
-Not currently very motivated about my Spanish class ... maybe something like Rosetta stone would be best. Hrm.
-Hungry, going to cook dinner.

I did have almost a full birthday week of festivities.

First, my coworkers... they think they're funny. I came in on Tuesday to bats. Plastic bats all over my office ... small plastic ones, bats on suction cups, and even a bat costume.

( evidence )

So that was amusing, and now we have a lot of bats, bats that could be used for wedding decorations ;)

Wednesday we had a budget meeting at my boss's house. We spent the morning on her porch having fun with numbers. Then we went out for Mexican. Lovely lunch on the patio of the restaurant until it started to rain. Luckily we were just waiting for the check. On the drive back it was POURING with thunder and lightening, because that's what it's been doing lately. Our budget papers were outside. We were soaked. So were our budgets. Boss lady gave us towels to dry off and our budgets were warmed in the oven.
( evidence again )

Things worked out in the end and budgets were written.

Thursday was a half day at work and Friday was family celebration day. We went to my parent's house for pizza and then went with Arik to Bridgewater's fireworks. Arik was happy that Uncle Aaron was there to visit. They saw firetrucks, played ball, and danced ...
( evidence a third )
Buggy didn't much care for the fireworks ... he was so tired and shook up afterward that he even clung to Auntie Laura. That says a lot.

We went back to my parent's house for icecream cake and then returned back to Boston for fireworks number 2 ... no I don't mean the show on the esplanade, I mean the people lighting fireworks from the median strip on Blue Hill Ave in Mattapan.

Yesterday, actual birthday day was a low-key celebration at Doyle's with some friends. It was fun, they have Sam Cherry Wheat on tap (love!), and I got to have my favorite pub food all in appetizer form. Aaron and I shared some mozzarella sticks, buffalo wings and sweet potato fries (love! again!).

Now that all of that guilt-inducing birthday fare is over... it's back to the gym :p

Aaron passed his Pharmacy Technician Certification Test!

Now he just has to go through all the paperwork, notarized affidavit of how many hours he's worked, and he can be registered tech!

I'm dancing - dancing - dancing with joy!

*Very few celebrity deaths really affect me with sadness ... George Carlin, he's one of them.

*Spanish is going OK ... I suck at memorizing vocabulary and I feel it will only bite me in the ass later on.

*Work is also going OK. I'm finally doing just my job and having a hard time readjusting ... I've done 2-3 people's jobs on top of mine so not only am I suddenly finding myself with TONS of time to do things I've always wanted to do, but I also am having a hard time feeling "out of the loop" not having my hands in EVERYTHING. I'm currently working on something that will put more on my plate if it works, details when I actually know if it has any chance of happening.

*Wedding planning is not going. I've got the few "big" things I felt I needed to do (location, date, photographer, minister) so I'm sitting back for awhile. Won't be going dress shopping until September, when the baseball season is over for my mom ... otherwise she can't take days off and I don't want to go to a David's Bridal or equally as crazy store on a weekend. Not to mention she usually works the weekends during the season.

*My birthday is soon. Not sure what we're doing yet ... thinking of going to a baseball game (Rox not Sox), but part of me wants to do something "different" than what we would normally do.

Sometimes I wish I had more profound things to share. Guess not this time.

So three weeks ago I started my online Spanish class.

I've come to realize that we learned NOTHING in high school Spanish. For instance, I took Spanish from about 95-97.... letters we learned in the alphabet (ll, rr, ch, etc.) were actually removed from the alphabet in 94. Ok, I understand our books were outdated, but you'd hope that the instructor would be up to date.

I'm also learning vocabulary that I never remember learning and/or learned much further in than 2 weeks. Maybe it's because it's college level so it's more "advanced" but I can't help but feel cheated :p

It's been difficult to adjust to an online "pace yourself" class. We have assignments and quizzes that are due each Sunday. I thought we had to do the whole chapter, which is A LOT so I was stressing myself out. After taking my first quiz and then looking at the syllabus for next week I found out it's HALF a chapter ... so, needless to say, I have about 1/2 my work for next week done.

Durh. Don't think this class will be that bad ... I believe I'll be able to pass which is what I need to do to be reimbursed from work.

I used to not be a sports fan. Well, as a child a HUGE baseball fan. My great grandfather was head of security at Shea Stadium so it was all Mets all the time.

I got back into baseball after my mom started working for a professional league team (not even minor league), and I started going to those games and watching the Sox.

Then Aaron came along and we started watching football on Sundays. Now that I understand the game I don't mind it (although I wouldn't watch it on my own accord).

Aaron is an even bigger hockey fan, though I'm not there yet.

Now I have the Celtics game on (well pre game). Basketball is OK. I understand it, I've been to a few games for work. But, I don't watch it ... ever. But I just can't help myself! I get so caught up in the home-town pride (even though I'm a relatively new Boston transplant ... 3 years living in the city but 20 years as a Masshole! (as a side note I can't believe we moved to MA from NY 20 years ago!!!)).

Rabies has been going well ... we went for shot #3 today and were in and out in less than an hour. Nice.

Oh, and I got to see Joelle aka Foxie Renard in her first Providence Roller Derby bout! So exciting - it was my first roller derby event and again, once I understood what was going on it was a lot of fun to watch. Luckily one of the people I was with was paying attention to the tutorial. I think Aaron and I may go to the Boston Derby Dames bout next Saturday ... I should probably buy tickets or something.

Hrm what else ... got my butt back to the gym today. The campus gym has odd hours during the summer so it's been hard to motivate myself. But, I did step on the scale for the first time in about a month and am down 6 pounds! I couldn't believe it! Though some of my pants are fitting better :)