It's hamburger, fire, and twilight zone day!

At least that's how I always celebrate the fourth of July (for all the non Americans just think of this as a really big bank holiday).

I would share my recipe for blue cheese hamburgers but it's pretty straight forward and boring. We're gonna spend most of the day treating it like it's a Saturday, reading the paper maybe doing a crossword, oh and putting away all the stuff we got from the shower!

I've heard of a few brides feeling empty after their shower is over, as they don't have anything to look forward to (til they suddenly remember they have to send out their wedding invitations tomorrow!) For us we had a full feeling, a very very full feeling.

I'd love to share a picture of our apartment covered in boxes but we didn't have the heart to take one of that mess. We managed to make a path for this past week but now it's time to attempt wading through and trying to put everything into its place (we may be needing to steal some closet space).

It's a toss up of what we were most excited to get.

1. We both love cheese so the opportunity to slice and grate whatever cheese we want was very exciting.
2. Courtesy of our cheap cheap forks the dishwasher has been gobbling them up for the past few months, so we were ecstatic to see we got some flatware and won't have to eat with our hands anymore (doesn't mean we'll stop though).

The one good thing about an 8 hour trip after the shower I had plenty of time to get all of the Thank Yous done on Sunday and mailed them off on Monday. So luckily all we have to do today is make a billion and one trips to the dumpster.

I did have one thought though. Wouldn't it be really cool if you could register at a grocery store? Get a good hunk of mozzarella or Gouda. A whole pork loin. Gotta be better than still asking for money, eh?

Oh well, one shower down one to go. But the next one promises to be much more relaxed and a complete 180 (there was talk we'd have it at Steak Buffet). So happy fourth to all the brides and grooms our there. Remember, keep watching the skies!

And thus it continues

Now for the post everyone really cared about, the shower games.

After spending a good 2 hours waiting and eating our food (the salad was good, but man do I regret not getting the london broil. What resturant gives the person who got the pasta dish the least amount of food?) we only had an hour to do two games and open all the gifts. So this flew by quickly.
The first "game" is a story. Apparently it was family tradition where they would read a little essay about marriage and at certain words hold up cleaning supplies that are the same word (aka glad=Glad, fantastic = Fantastik, and match= book of matches). It was cute and in the end I got a ton of cleaning supplies (score!) and a laundry basket (though as his sister just got engaged I left some of the weirder named products that are hard to find for his mom to use again (there really is something called Iron Out apparently). We will never have to buy dryer sheets or laundry detergent ever again. If anyone would like the story or wants to just see it just leave a comment and then I can get to the long hard task of typing it all out.

The next game uses everyones love of making a mess and deciding who is in charge. His Mom found a roll of toilet paper that was blue and roll that is pink (sadly I didn't get the blue one). The rules are the first one to roll off all the toilet paper wins and wears the pants in the family (not sure what pants have to do with TP).
I won, by using my tiny fingers and just spinning all the toilet paper off (after decorating my guy for a bit). My fiance said it wasn't fair because his fingers are larger than mine, but we already know I wear the pants (well aside from when I wear a dress or a skirt). We made a big mess though, so who doesn't love getting to do that?

The final game was a simple quiz for everyone else about us. After reading the thing over I couldn't help but realize we are incredibly boring people. Really, even coming up with 8 questions was a stretch.

I do like the drawing one of his cousins made on hers though. The winner at each table got to take the flower and ice bucket centerpieces home.

And that was about it. So what followed was the joy of getting all that stuff back down the stairs and into the cars. Tomorrow I'll tell the tale of me packing up our car with everything while it rained and in high heels.

To dream, the impossible dream

Last night/ this morning I had one of the weirdest wedding dreams hopefully ever (there has to be a contest for that right?). I should preclude this with I always have really weird dreams, but sometimes mine get really out there.

(Hazy cloud effect)

It all began on the day of our set up for the wedding. As my mother was obsessing about where the flowers should go at the reception site some of our friends began to demand they were hungry and wanted to head to the nearest McDonalds. So while she was deep into some bright red flowers she waved them off in the direction of one.

Meanwhile I was for some reason at my dress fitting (yes it was the day before the wedding but that didn't seem to bother me). It got off on a weird tangent when I had to wear a pair of sneakers that weren't mine, moussed up my hair to put a veil in, and then waited while she cut out a section of the rug and wrapped that around me in order to fix the dress I was wearing (which to add more to the madness was really my best friends dress).

While I was being tortured with pins and a bath rug, my fiance was home having what he thought was a brilliant plan to take a large area rug (I guess my brain is saying we need more rugs), write on it our names and how to get to our wedding, and put that in the road. Just as he was laying one out it started to rain, but this was no normal rain. For hidden within each rain drop were some little worms.

As these worms hit the ground they slithered up to anyone outside and burrowed under their skin. For you see these worms were from Outer Space! As they got under peoples skin the people turned into zombies.

Lets just say the dream ended with me running back to a spooky house where the power was out, the door was open, and I was searching all over for my fiance.

I'm really hoping that I never have another dream as weird as that. How about the rest of you? What's the weirdest dream you've had related to or courtesy of the wedding?

Later I promise I'll show off all the wild and wacky shower games we got to (had to) play.

Survey

Name: That is classified. I have no idea why, but let me tell ya it made kindergarten hard. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to spell classified?

Single or taken? Single sliced, like Kraft cheese? Cause that would be cool if you could just randomly stack yourself around the room. Anyway taken, because no one wants me driving so I get taken everywhere.

Nickname: Maybe one day one will stick to me, but for now I am the diviner of them. Right Stinky, goat?

Eyes: The ones on my face or the one in the back of my hea . . . ha ha ha uh yeah forget you just read that.

Height: Half the size of a Yeti with basketball shoes on. Slightly taller if he has cleats on.

Hair: Yes I am a mammal so I do have hair. Thank you for noticing. Oh what color? I dunno can it get more boring than brown? Though mine is very curious apparently and is trying to classify the world.

Siblings: The one, we all know who, so the less said about her the better.

What are you wearing right now? A leather bustier with chains. He he, so how many people just ran screaming out the room? In reality a T-shirt and jeans, what a shocker.

Birthday: The day I emerged from the mother pod was the eve of the ides of July.

Sign: Beware falling cheese. Yeah I got there kind of late and they were running low.

Where do you live: Deep in the forest with the squirrels planning and scheming to bomb Iowa. It’s not going so well, so far all the plan involves is burying nuts and then chasing each other up a tree.

Best Friend? Who the hell would put up with me for more than a few hours at a time? Even trained Navy Seals need smoke breaks.

What are you most scared of? Filling out surveys, but got to live on the edge. Once you let fear take hold of your life you can never live. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

What would you like to change about yourself? What would I not have to change about myself? Well I have normal elbows, so I suppose I would not have to change those. Otherwise everything else must go!

Favorite subjects in school: I always liked the word gubernaculum and ovarian fossa! It’s a good thing they were questions on the test then since I just learned them because they were cool nouns.

CD or TAPE? While the CD can go a long way when you throw it, the tape just has more stuff to get smashed so I'm gonna go with the tape.

Animals: Yes animals do in fact exist. Otherwise we would all have to be vegetarians and that would be a very sad world indeed.

Broken the law? Nah I only sprained it and had to wear a brace for a few weeks.

Gone skinny-dipping?: It's a lot of fun when you're in Antarctica in the dead of winter!

Made yourself cry to get out of trouble? No, but I did try making myself laugh once to get out of trouble. That didn't go over too well actually.

First Thing That Comes To Mind: I am Bender, please insert girder.


FOR GIRLS TO FILL OUT



Boxers or briefs: I got bit by a boxer once. Oh you mean the underwear. What on guys? Oh come on what girl out there actually thinks briefs are sexy? The same that also really enjoy back hair, got ya.

Long or short hair: Long hair is just asking to get caught in a jet engine. Why do I spend my time near jet engines? No reason, do de do . . .

Tall or short: He he he, never really cared. Certainly don’t need to be four inches taller than me so I can wear heels, mostly because I should never wear heels. Unless that assassin job finally comes through

Six pack or Built arms? Ew, neither. Nothin quite like a little tummy, and normal arms. Really built arms are just wrong.

Good or bad guy: Um, is funny, sweet a choice? No, well who the hell wants a bad guy? With a good guy you get to use bleach on all the white clothes. He he he

Ears pierced or not: I don’t even have mine pierced, I guess I never understood the appeal of extra holes.

Tan or fair: What does tan have to do with whether they cheat or not? So gonna go with fair, though living in Nebraska only used to Tan people in the summer. If you see someone in the winter they are labeled an Oompa Loompa.

Stubble or neatly shaved: Eh, though beards are bad. Carpet burn can be fun. And I shall just stop there.

Studly or cute: Cute, definitely cute, because who wants a bit of crap in a wall?



FOR GUYS TO FILL OUT (for guys only)



Regular underwear or thong: (Owie owie owie)

Painted nails or not: (What about painted screws)

Bra or sports bra: (I never knew so many guys wore bras, at least enough to warrant them knowin the difference between a bra and a sports bra)

Cute n' mysterious or wild n' sexy: (Where did the a and d go?)

Dressy or casual: (What about a casual dress, like one made out of burlap or canvas?)

Dark or blonde hair: (Ah yes here goes the big boobs blonde hair ones)

Long or short hair: (Just remember, jet engine)

Dark or light eyes: (What about squid eyes, or bat eyes?)

Long or short nails: (Shesh this survey must be obsessed with hammers or something)

Hat or no hat: (Hat’s are a major option?)

Good or bad girl: (What about a girl good at being bad? Let’s see some more options here people!)

Stick or curvy: (This thing is getting more and more like placing an order. I’d like a burger with onion rings not fries)

Hair up or down: (Remember Jet engine)

Jewelry or none: (Butterflies or Air craft carriers?)

Tall or short: (Come on where’s the stubble or clean shaven?)

Curly or straight hair:

Pants or dress: (On this issue no one other than Jamie Farr should wear a dress)

Tan or fair: (Good cop, bad cop)

Freckles or none: (Turkey or soup)

Pretty indoor chick or party chick: (So parties can only be held outside?)

Shy or outgoing: (I can’t believe it’s not butter)



*~EVERYONE~*



White or Chocolate milk? I love white milk, chocolate is just too rich for my blood. Though apparently it mixes well with Mt. Dew. Who knew?

Are you better at talking or listening? Well once I get out of these restraints then I will be able to talk, til then better just stick with listening.

Vanilla or Chocolate? ‘Nilla because you can put lots of cool stuff on it like fudge or sprinkles or tuna.

Skiing or Boarding? Boarding what? A plane? A train? A boat?

Day or Night? Yes that is a Cole Porter song. Anything else?

Summer or winter: Considering this damn weather is gonna keep me stuck in Norfolk for longer than I want to be, give me summer! Now!

Cake or pie?: I like pie!

Silver or gold?: They don’t make songs about silver, though maybe they should, it could be like Ebony and Ivory.

Diamond or pearl? I know one comes from a disturbed mollusk and another from some squished carbon, so why do I care?

Sunset or Sunrise? Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset, sunrise, (Crash) Mental note don't do anything!

Do you have any piercings? No my body has a thing about new holes, it’s not a big fan.

What's your favorite color?: Hm looking at my room I see a lot of blue a touch of green and then more blue. Guess. Yes it’s orange, moron.

Do you wear any rings? No rings are evil and must be destroyed. Fine, I’ll stop reading Tolkien, but I swears it is not affecting me, My precioussss.

Do you hate any one?: Depends. Who am I allowed to hate?

What are your favorite music persons and/or bands? Got to love Louie that guy on the corner with a few beer bottles he chucks at the ground. Just beautiful.

What do you dream about? Things which usually make no sense. Job interviews in Mordor, Theaters, though nothing about Sims.

Who is the loudest person you know? Probably me, I really need to fix my volume control one day.

Who's the quietest person you know? My editor because he lives on my escape key and is too small for his voice to be perceived by human ears. It’s a nice working agreement, he can talk all he wants and I just ignore him anyway.

One least likely to respond: Why is one least likely to respond? Is it so much better than the other numbers. Huh.

And thus it begins

This is my three part series on a super fancy shower . . .

I am cursed with a helpful nature. Something about me just screams "trust me to do whatever you want I know exactly what I am doing at all times." Yeah, it sure would be nice if that were true.

So as the day of the shower dawned I got all snazzed up in a fancy dress and heaven help me put on high heels. I have a very limited number of dressy shoes (all of three, one for the wedding, one causes a weird rubbing on the top of my foot, and one has heels), so I went with something I very rarely wear. (I'm hard pressed to think of a time I wore them when I was little for dress up, I think instead I'd pretend I was the janitor here to fix the princess' running toilet.) Don't worry, all this text is going somewhere.

We showed up an hour early at the place and got to move box upon box up stairs and then back into the room. (Anyone who vacuums in high heels is nuts) For reasons that I don't understand I was left down in the foyer to guard all the presents while people in shorts and tank tops would walk into the resturant to get some food. I'm sure I was quite a sight, all glammed up with a corsage on my wrist (the last time I wore one of those was my confirmation).

Some of the stuff we had to haul up

After we got everything up into the room my fiance and I could for the most part sit back and relax while his Mom and sister went crazy setting everything up. The long debate about where to put everyone made me quite happy that we're not doing a seating arrangement. If no one likes anyone let them fight it out. It was also apparently essential that the silverware be moved to um well I'm not sure. But it was very important.
They really went all out on the table settings. The centerpieces were a flower plant in an ice bucket with some balloons tied to them (the balloons sure were trying to make a break for it in the car). The favors were some little dress and tux boxes that had a yankee candle in them (the few guys there got mint, so it smelled a lot like gum).

After all the set up, me and my guy had some chairs we could crash in and I kept asking him what the time was so I could glance at his watch (I was going nuts without mine, courtesy of the corsage). Soon all the guests started to show up and thus began the smoozing of the room (something I am just horribly terrible at). I'd offer up some tips for the introvert but I really don't have any aside from have a drink in your hand so if need be you can be fascinated by that.

Finally noon came and we all started to settle in hoping for some tasty food.

Tune in tomorrow for "We have to do what?"