Trip to the Vet.

Have you ever tried to coax a 42-year-old that you've only known for less than a year, and just moved in with 10 weeks ago, into the back of a van? (Hint: use doggie treats.) I get to go back next Tuesday with his brother. He's far more naive and not as heavy.

Invitations!

The wedding invitations arrived today! They were dropped off by the nicest UPS man in the world. They were packed safely inside the best plain brown box in the world. Inside that box was some lovely brown paper. Under that brown paper was the most wonderful plain black box in the world. Inside that box was some fabulous tissue paper. Under that tissue paper were the perfect, most beautiful wedding invitations in the world. (I'm a little giddy if you couldn't tell.)

Grandma.

Everyone who knows me well, (heck, everyone who knows me even a moderate amount,) knows that I have a crazy grandmother. That's how I identify her. I say, "My grandmother, you know, the crazy one," and everyone just nods their heads because they know exactly who I'm referring to. And they never question as to why I refer to her the way that I do. She has made a reputation for herself. They all have had the privilege of talking to her on the telephone. She has always called everyone I know randomly. I don't know why. She's called my ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands, along with my ex-in-laws. Most of them have caught on though and let her leave them a message in their voicemail. My mom hasn't figured that one out though. My grandmother calls my mother (her ex-daughter-in-law) regularly. Then I usually get a phone call from my mother complaining about how Grandma is running up her cell phone bill. Then the next time I talk to my grandmother she tells me how she can never get my mother off of the phone. She calls my cousin Julie and tells her what a horrible granddaughter I am. She'll make up these crazy stories about things I've stolen from her or awful things I've said to her. Then I get a call from Julie asking me if I knew that Grandma feels the way she does about the topic of the hour. And of course I have no idea what she's talking about. I'm thankful that Julie has the sense to know that Grandma suffers from some arterial flow problems and is in her own little world. It's always fun though to hear what soap opera scene I've participated in in Grandma's imagination. The latest one is that I took the money Grandma gave my daughters for Christmas, which was intended to buy clothes with, and took Matt out to a big fancy dinner? First of all, Grandma did give the girls Christmas money, $10 each. But then she had them put it in their "secret hiding place" at her house for safe keeping. So I never touched the girls' Christmas money. And secondly, $20 would not touch any "big fancy dinner" that Matt and I eat. It would cover a trip though a drive-thru and that's about it. I mean, really? What kind of mother am I? My children are running around naked because I needed a Whopper and some onion rings? Yes, I understand that complaining about this to the world makes no sense because Grandma is never going to change. I just needed to vent. I'm done now.

Easter Outfits.

Well, it took 2 days and trips to 4 different Wal-marts, but I found the kids' Easter outfits. They are all cornflower blue. The reason I had to go to 4 different Wal-marts was because the dress I wanted for Ariel was not available in her size at the first 3. But, I eventually found it. Never give up, never surrender. Galaxy Quest was a great movie.

I Bought A Dress!

I went to David's Bridal with Angie yesterday and bought a dress. I really like it. I'm not allowed to put any details about it on here though because Matt reads this. So let me know if anyone has any questions. I'm still up in the air about what the rest of the bridal party is going to wear. I've gone from navy to bright purple to dark purple to silver and now I'm considering blue? Just different shades of blue. Lighter for the kids and darker for the adults.

Long Time, No Blog.

I got engaged on December 10th. I love my ring. Matt picked it out all by himself. It’s not like anything I’ve ever had before. (And that’s hard to do once you are on your third engagement ring.) I did get laid off from my job as of December 19th, they closed down the factory. It was only supposed to last until January 19th, but then I got a letter saying that it was going to last at least until the end of February. So now I am a stay-at-home mom. Which I am enjoying. Due to the layoff, I am being evicted from my apartment, and my van got repossessed. Which doesn’t sound good, but is not so bad. We are living with Matt now. The girls started attending school in Akron after Christmas vacation. They have adjusted to their new school just fine. School uniforms are required, which I LOVE. No more morning battles over what they do or do not want to wear. It’s wonderful. Matt bought a different used, although newer, van for me to cart children around in. It’s red. :)

Still working on getting the rest of my belongings out of my old apartment. The winter weather has been working against us. Maybe once we get that finished I can start planning the wedding. We set the date for July 4, 2009. We announced our engagement at Matt’s family’s Christmas celebration a few weeks before Christmas. Everyone gave us hugs and said “Congratulations” and was so happy for us. We then announced our engagement at my dad’s house the day after Christmas, to which my step-mother replied, “Yeah, I heard.” Lovely, don’t you think? Anyway, we do have a location and caterer (thank you Francis family), a photographer (thank you Koloini family), and a DJ (thank you Mr. Congo.) I’ve also received other offers to help with other assorted wedding tasks (thank you Sickler and Schul families.)

Christmas went well. We stayed at home with the kids on Christmas Day. Matt bought me a new bike and I bought him tickets to see the Tran Siberian Orchestra. The show was on December 30th and we had a great time.

I got a new cell phone (also red), and it came with a new cell phone number. If you need the number just leave me a comment and I’ll make sure you get it.

All the kids participated in the Cub Scout pinewood derby on January 25th. Hannah won third place in the family division and got a trophy. It is her first one. She was so excited. I wasn’t there to see it though. I went to Matt’s sister’s house for that weekend to go to a quilting class with his mom and two sisters. It was a lot of fun. He really does have a great family. Both of his sisters have declared that they are my favorite sister-in-law. We scheduled another family quilting fest for the end of February.

Matt’s grandmother landed herself in the hospital last week and went home with a bright, shiny, new pacemaker. Everyone says that she is doing well.

Today was “COSI on Wheels” day at the school. The kids had fun. I was there as a volunteer all day and they fed us pizza at lunch time. (Had to put that in because you know it’s all about the food.) The girls and I went to the real COSI back in October. I told the boys that I would try to arrange another trip this summer so that they get to go too. (Yes, Julie, we will be needing our tour guide again, let me know when you are available.) :)

I’m sure that many of you are aware that the new season of American Idol is underway. I’m very excited. BTW, I am totally addicted to TIVO now. Can’t live without it. Also, congratulations go out to the Steelers on their sixth Superbowl victory. Woo-hoo!

I think that’s all for now.