He put a ring on it.

Michael and I are officially ENGAGED! We have been talking about getting married for a long time, and the time has finally come to where we can actually put action to our wishes. To quote Harry Burns from When Harry Met Sally: When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

Or to quote Michael: "You had me a 'Friend Request Accepted'."


We are so happy. Falling in love with Michael was like putting glasses on for the first time and realizing that those green blurs are the trees. He is my light: the sun of my days, and fire of my nights. I'm trying to think of more analogies of how describe how I love him, but words only come close.

There was no 'big proposal', because a proposal isn't warranted. He didn't need to ask. He's been proposing to me in small ways everyday since the day we got together. He makes me feel so loved, so wanted, so appreciated. And he tells me so everyday how much. He makes my heart swell and my eyes well up. The words he said to me before he put the ring on my finger are etched on my heart.

Back to Blogging

Oh man, it's been a busy couple of months, add to that my laptop crashing really derailed my blogging!

Lets catch up... I went back to work in mid-December for Providence Health and Services. I am a "scheduling coordinator" for their new operating system that is being rolled over over 5 states and 20,000 employees. Essentially I write the class schedule for those 20,000 people; one hospital at a time. It's a wonderful company to work for and I actually love what I'm doing. The downside of the job is that it's a 40 minute commute each way (thank goodness for carpool buddies), and the double-edged sword is that I am able to work all the overtime I wish, but it really has been keeping me away from my family and exercise.

I also had unexpectedly wonderful news... I got divorced this week!! Over 2 years in the making, my divorce was finally finalized on the 1st. I am still processing the reality of it all, it's been such a miserable, heart wrenching, infuriating, painstaking process and I'm utterly relieved that it's over. And am ecstatic about the new possibilities for my future now that this obstacle has been cleared!

That is the last 2 months in a nutshell... more catching up as I find more tidbits of time!

Christmas Cheer on the Cheap

We've all heard of the Craigslist Killer, but have you heard of the more elusive (and very smug) Craigslist Cat?
Our good friends Rob and Tracy (who also happen to be Makenzie's godparents) gave us a little Christmas cheer in the form of a gingerbread house kit. It sat wrapped under our tree for less than a week and I thought it was going to kill the kids to leave it alone (hence our tree is pretty barren of gifts so I don't have to listen to the endless "how many more days until Christmas" and constant 'rearranging' of said gifts under the tree).
Sound Harley hosts free Santa pictures (on Santa's Red Harley) and Lance the Llama. The kids were more interested in watching how close the Llamas hind end was getting to the bike behind him, they found it highly entertaining.
"I'm a sexy beast"
This is probably the real Santa... I mean it's gotta be rough on a fella to live up in the Arctic year round.
We also took advantage of the Groupon deal of the day and saw the Alderwood mall Santa (possibly the best Santa around) on the cheap: $11 for our photos.
We got to the mall at 5:08. Santa went to dinner at 5:00. Of course he did. So I stood in line for the next 52 minutes while Mike supervised the kids running from the fountain to the Pokemon kiosk to Game Stop. In no time Santa was back from dinner and we had a prime spot in line (vs. the saps who still had another hour wait in line behind us).
Waiting. Waiting. And more waiting.

Tomcat Tree Trimming

I've been trying to post this blog entry for over a week, but I keep trying to use the new blogger interface with no success, so I've had to revert to the old interface (again) just so I could get this post posted!

Have I ever mentioned how awesome my fella is? Well here's a short list of some of what makes me fall in love with him every day:

The kids need to learn to tie their shoes. Makenzie's teacher said she only helps the Kindergartners tie their shoes until Christmas, after that they're on their own. So Mike made a practice shoe for them to hone their skills. And the kids loved it and practiced and practiced and guess what? They can tie their shoes now!

When my dad passed away, the fire department gave me his helmet. And for the past 10 years I always wondered why there was a big black triangle on the front of his helmet and mentioned to Mike how it would be nice to even just get a generic fire department patch to put on there since dads helmet is on display and the next thing I know, Michael had found out what truck my dad was assigned to at his station (that big black triangle is where you're supposed to put your truck#) and arranged with who knows how many people to get me that patch, for Truck 36. Best. Boyfriend. Ever.

As Michael hung Christmas lights, I employed our children and neices in yard clean-up (where we subsequently found out that someone had stolen Mike's backpack blower and weedeater, not cool). I promised the kids a trip to the candy store if they could fill the yard waste tote. I've never seen a more productive group of children in my entire life. Needless to say I dropped $25 at the candy store later that afternoon.

Our happy home :)

In the above picture you might notice that our star has fallen... It's the thrid time it's happened, so we've kind of just left it. Along with the clumpy arrangement of the ornament placement (I can't rearrange what 2 energetic girls so thoughtfully hung). But the star's placement is the sole work of... Pickles.

Here he is innocently admiring an ornament.

Here he is contemplating Natalie's baby ornament (maybe wondering where his "kitties first christmas" is).

"What?"

I thought this series of pictures looked familiar... This one is from last year when Pickles was just a little kitten.

Thankful

Our home fills with friends and family on the 4th Thursday of November. Wednesday evening was spent injecting turkeys with either a Cajun or Savory concoction (we still can't decide which one is best) and other various prep-cooking (pies, stuffing, dips, cranberry salad...)



Thursday morning was a flurry of welcoming people and only catching glimpses of Mike as he would come in with a turkey fresh from the fryer and then he'd be sent right back out with another turkey that had been prepped and was ready to go (our tally of turkeys fried at the end of the night: 9) and I couldn't seem to find my way out of the kitchen. It was nice to finally sit down and grab a bite (there is no such thing as "dinner time" with this style of Thanksgiving, you get hungry? You eat. Or if you're Mike, you nibble on each turkey that comes out of the fryer and have a few beers and find that you don't have room to actually eat a Thanksgiving dinner. But that's what leftovers are for, right?!) And every bit of the dinner was delicious. But we really nailed the turkeys this year. Flavor was amazing. Meat was tender and juicy. And we have loads leftover for sandwiches, pot pies, tetrazinni, quesedillas...


Mike helping his sister prep her bird.

My kids spent Thanksgiving with their dad, so I enlisted Boo's help in peeling potatoes (just like the army!)
This was pretty much all Mike saw all day. Just the way he liked it.
Yumaroo. Can't wait until next November!

One Year Later

One year ago today, I packed the last 14 years of my Bellingham life into a U-haul and caravaned down I-5 with Mike's family towards my future in E-town. It was scary and exciting, scary because I was literally pulling up roots for myself and my children (more scared about the change for my kidos) and exciting because I was absolutely certain that Michael was the true love of my life and I could not imagine another day without him in it.

Since paper is the traditional gift for the 1st anniversary, I decided to give myself a little present: removing the ivy wallpaper border in the kitchen. Next I think I'll tackle the one in the laundry room, but I think I'll wait until after our Thanksgiving. I helped out at the Port for their United Way Campaign and there was a mountain of leftover tomatoes and onions. So Mike volunteered to send them home with me and I sent back 3 giant batches of salsa and pico de gallo.
The theme for the United Way day was "Tailgate party". All the guys (and ladies) brought their pickups in and there were games (speed pitch, football toss, hoops) and of course a hot wings contest. Mike's best buddy Rob made some delicious wings (made with Ghost pepper, sounds scary) and even though the contest was rigged (the wife of one of the judges won) I thought Rob's were executed perfectly and had the right texture and sauce, and of course his display was top-notch (milk, homemade (mine) bleu cheese dressing, and rubber gloves!)
Mondays at Brady's school means soccer. It's so nice to see Brady actually enjoying an organized sport (after many seasons of watching him sulk in the middle of the field or court).
Have you ever seen someones doppelganger? I've never seen mine, but we did spot my van's doppelganger driving down I-5 the other day, it was complete with the roof rack and white sticker; however both the sticker and the bike mount were on the opposite side as my van. Maybe it was my bizzaro van.

Anatomy Lessons and other things...

My local YMCA is having a fitness challenge for the month of November called Thankfully fit. For every 8 classes you take, you are entered for a drawing on Thanksgiving day for things like: a month's free membership, a massage, personal training session, and goody bags. Since I'm a sucker for winning stuff, I've been diligent about taking at least one class a day.
Thursday is usually my "off" day at the gym since there isn't a class during the time I normally exercise. But there is "Cardio Kickboxing" at another time, and I've heard good things about it so I decided to give it a try.
I show up and say hi to the faces I recognize and they immediately ask me if I've gone potty yet. Um, excuse me? My friend explains that Gael makes us jump a lot in this class, and since I'm among those in the class that have given birth a time or two... well maybe I'd like to make sure I use the restroom. So I take their advice and Gael nods at me on my way out like she knows where I'm going and why.
Now... Gael is this tiny little Scottish maniac of muscle and accent. I like her. But she has the ability to grind any notion that you are fit into dust. She makes us groan and whimper in spin class. And when you think you're hanging on and doing well, she takes it up a notch and lets you know you're nowhere near you should/could be. In a good way of course. I mean who can be upset when a Scot is yelling at you to "POOSH!"
Anyway, back to the story. I flubbed and stumbled and made a general ass of myself in Cardio Kickboxing. I had to be told that I needed to be punching and kicking in the same spot since I am supposed to be kicking and punching a PERSON, and it doesn't quite have the same effect if I'm punching and kicking the air around them. And then when she had us putting 4 moves in succession? Fuhgetaboutit. I lost it. I made the class laugh. I made Gael laugh. I confessed that I have rhythm but no coordination, add in a good case of chronic-imbalance and I'm hopeless. Gael said I did surprisingly well for the first class and that I should have it down in a few weeks. I don't know if I can sustain that much humiliation for weeks on end. And on the way out, my friend said "after my first kickboxing class, I couldn't move my arms or back" I told her I did so poorly, that I didn't think muscle soreness was going to be a concern. Oooh boy was I wrong.
Waking up with sore muscles makes you suddenly remember all that you learned in anatomy class. "oh my god my Trapezius hurts", "whoa nelly, my Latissimus Dorsi is spasming" "holy crap, it hurts every time I contract my Biceps Brachii" and of course who can forget Michael (at the tender age of 16) in our body building class in high school shouting out the question "what about the Dongus Majorus?" Only to do laps or some form of PE teacher punishment for asking such things...

And no post is complete without pictures:

Miss Makenzie hanging out with me while we watch Brady's soccer practice... I think I said her name and caught this shot as she turned to me "Hmmm?"
Brady got to tag along with Michael and Uncle Larry to Norpoint Shooting Center (friends of Mike's own it). He got to shoot a 22, a M4, and an AR15. I think he floated 6 inches above the ground for the rest of the weekend.
His souvenir from the gun range. He couldn't wait to hang it up in his room. I'm a little bummed that it doesn't really match the decor in his room, but it makes him happy to have a shot-up terrorist hanging on his wall so what can a mom do?
While the boys were at the range, Natalie and I got some rare one-on-one time which was sweet. In this picture, she put on Mike's glasses and said "mom, get a shot of this and send it to Mike". She thought this would really zing him (they have a tendency to tease each other and I think she saw this as an opportunity to get him).