Snogged: An Insatiable State of Mind

I definitely had my patience for life tested this morning.

I didn't sleep well - tossing, turning, waking up at 2:45 and again at 3:30. It would be easy to blame it on the storm, but it was actually a mixture of insomnia and general worrying about life stuff. I managed to wake up to my alarm and listened to a little Dream Theater before leaving for work.

I had to work in the Baraboo office so I was initially excited to stop at my favorite coffee house. I got my Heath Bar Mocha frappe and felt a little more prepared for the day. From there, however, I nearly hit a woman who had her turn signal on (she was not turning, actually. She was going straight. She did apologize for not turning off her signal.) Then...I locked my keys in my car.

I knew the spare key was on the kitchen table so I called my husband. In doing so, I woke him up and he mentioned that several times. I told him about my predicament and my fear that I would have to pay for an expensive locksmith. Nick didn't feel he had time to drive to Baraboo because he had to work at 11.

I worked out two alternate, low cost plans. One was to have my co-worker in Baraboo drive me home (which would have resulted in Nick needing to leave the side door unlocked). The second was to ask my neighbor (at home for the summer) to bring the spare key to Baraboo. We went for the 2nd option and I had to beg Nick to walk the keys over to the house next door. He begrudgingly did so and my neighbor, L, made it up to Baraboo with the key.

I'm thankfully home now. I have both sets of car keys and I figure this day probably can't get any worse so I'm going to call that my win for the day.

That...and the Culver's custard that I'm going to eat later.

Yesterday, my husband and I attended Wizard World Comic Con in Madison. I had bought tickets months ago because I figured it was a good birthday present for my sweetie (he turns 33 next weekend.) We hurried thru the cold (because it's April and we're having "Snapril aka Snow April) and arrived a little bit after the doors had opened.

( Rest of our Adventures Below (Image Heavy) )

I have continued to be a presence on LJ, but I feel like I haven't been so good in the blogging department these last few weeks. So I would like to take this opportunity to give you an update on life and stuff.

Wedding

Nick and I spent the first weekend in December celebrating the nuptials of the beautiful secondmezzanine. The weather was a bit unseemly for December in the Midwest, i.e. it was 46 degrees Fahrenheit, but that it was such a beautiful day.

The wedding started at 5 pm and included readings like "How Falling In Love Is Like Owning A Dog" and "The Little Yellow Leaf." Her bridesmaids looked gorgeous in their red dresses and white fuzzy shoulder shrugs. Her flower girl looked adorable in her red cloak adorned with white faux fur. It was interesting introducing myself to her friends and family. It all worked out just fine though. I spent much of the night with a fabulous older lady named Krista. She was originally from Southern California, but was now part of the community theater circuit in Iowa. I introduced her to Rumchata and she seemed to love that. (Fun fact: Krista used to be married to Quantum Leap's Scott Bakula.)

I made new friends by asking the DJ to play "The Time Warp." Mezz earned brownie points from the DJ when she requested Robin Sparkles' "Let's Go To The Mall." I danced with the bride until our feet were sore. I enjoyed a drink from the awesome hot cocoa bar and had a damn good time.

( Hubby and I in front of the Christmas tree )

This Weekend

Nick went gaming (Pathfinder) with his friend, Rick, on Friday night. I spent my Friday night with my friend, Lyndsey (Rick's wife) and her two kids. We checked out the Christmas lights in the park and I thought it was awesome that one display had a small green dragon leading a pack of reindeer. I read some Christmas books to the kids before heading back to my house. I curled up on the sofa and watched one of my favorite films: Love, Actually. I also finished book #59 this year ("Between the Lines" by Jodi Picoult and her daughter, Samantha Van Leer).

Yesterday, I watched about 4 episodes of Supernatural Season 7 while wrapping presents. I really enjoyed the James Marsters/Charisma Carpenter one. I also liked the episode with the guest appearance by Jewel Staite.

Today, I wrote the first draft of my Which Willow fic, wrote out holiday cards, and made dark chocolate peanut clusters. The rest of my day will be spent cleaning, writing up the notes from the community theater meeting, and going to Zumba. I also need to write something for Noel of Spike and fill my mod challenge over at Nekid Spike.

Hope you're all having a good weekend!

After many, many years of relying on my tiny flip phone for cellular service, I officially upgraded to a "smart" phone. I am now the proud owner of a rose-gold iPhone 6s.

I'm excited to learn how to use it and I'm also excited to have something smaller than my lap top to take with me when I fly to Colorado later this month.

I will admit that I tried the LJ app on the phone tonight and wasn't thrilled with it. I don't see that being something I spend much time using. I prefer to log-in to LJ via my laptop. :)

That's it for now.

I'm going boot shopping tomorrow. Hoping to score some good deals on comfy shoes. :)

* Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. I really appreciate the thoughtful gesture. I also appreciated the copy of "Secretary" on Blue-Ray that I received from Megan, the virtual gift on my profile from blondebitz, the Riley/Willow drabble, Not So Nice Guy , by velvetwhip, and the angsty Willow,Tara drabble, Not Time Yet , by angelskuuipo.

* It rained all day on my birthday, but that didn't stop us from celebrating. I enjoyed Rumchata shots with many of my favorite relatives (even my mom had 1/2 a shot. I was so proud.) I also sort-of enjoyed the shot of brandy that my cousin Daniel made me drink. My husband, friend Angie, brother-in-law, uncle, and cousin-in-law joined in on that one as well. I got some very nice gifts including wine, gourmet dark chocolates, shower gel, foaming hand soap, 4th of July kitchen towels, a nice toiletry bag, Slytherin knee-high socks, books, a card game, a few magnets from Italy, and a beautiful necklace that Angie found in Kuwait.

* Since that all happened a week ago, the major excitements for this week have included pre-ordering my tickets to see Jurassic World on the Ultrascreen, nearly finishing Twin Peaks, and moving onto season 4 of Gilmore Girls. I'm also reading an interesting thriller called The Good Girl by Mary Kubica.

What's new in all of your worlds?

Today, the city I live in did something really cool. Local businesses and community members joined in an effort to make Random Acts of Kindness an essential part of the day.

The reason: a remarkable young woman named Sam Bieno. She was supposed to turn 23 today, but instead passed away on April 9th from leukimina. She was not someone I knew personally, but I knew a lot of people that she had an impact on and so I felt like I knew how strong her spirit was.

Sam had told her family that she wanted her birthday to be about random acts of kindness and paying it forward.

In turn, our local Culver's (a burger and custard shop) offered a free scoop of Sam's favorite flavor: cookie dough craving to anyone who walked through the door. The Corner Pocket (a sport bar and eatery) offered baskets of free mini corn dogs (another Sam favorite). Sam also loved Build-A-Bear and made efforts to donate the stuffed animals to children with cancer. The community I live in donated 183 stuffed animals in Sam's name to the local hospital. Beyond that, social media helped spread the #youhavebeensammed campaign and I hear it reached Alaska, Northern Iowa, and North Carolina.

Personally, I picked up a bunch of orange artificial flowers from the local dollar store and handed them out to everyone who came to my Zumba class as well as everyone who happened to be sitting in the library at 8:10 on a Wednesday night.

It was a really awesome day and I'm glad I got to be a part of it.

To quote Sam: "Not every day is good, but there's good in every day."

I picked up two pairs of shoes to pair with a dress that I'm planning to wear for my cousin's wedding. I'd love your assistance in helping me decide which pair looks the best.

Please excuse the picture quality. The room with our full-length mirror isn't the greatest.

( Flats vs Heels )

Thank you!

It's been a few weeks since I've done an update and I figured I was probably due for one.

( Angel With A Crooked Halo )

On December 1st, 2014...my husband and I became homeowners. Our new home is a block away from our current apartment and is right next door to my good friend and Zumba instructor, Lyndsey.

It's a cute ranch-style home that was built circa 1969. Most of the house has been "modernized," but I can attest from washing out the cupboards today that there's still a splash of the '60's that was left behind. :P

In the last two days, we have:
*Closed on the home
*Bought a new living room set (This will be the first time in our lives that we've had properly new furniture and not something that was given to us by a parent, sibling, or friend.)
*Put a coat of white paint on the walls and ceiling of our "library."
*Washed out the kitchen cabinets.
*Washed down the stove and dishwasher.
*Vacuumed the carpets.
*Used a Rug Doctor to clean the three rooms upstairs.

Tomorrow and Thursday, we will be spending more time painting and Rug Doctoring. Friday, my mom is coming up to help me box up our kitchen and move that over. Saturday is the big furniture moving day and we have a great crew coming up to help us.

In other news, Pizza Hut has a new menu. Today we decided to try the Pretzel Piggy. This is the ingredient breakdown for those interested: Creamy garlic Parmesan sauce topped with hardwood smoked bacon, fresh mushrooms and fresh spinach. Flavored up with a salted pretzel crust edge and balsamic sauce drizzle. I was quite impressed to see that Pizza Hut is branching out and trying different things. I'm eager to try some of their other new flavors.

I know it's the middle of the week now, but I wanted to make sure I talked about my weekend at Teslacon. It was amazing and crazy and exhausting and wonderful. :P

( Story and Images Below The Cut )