I'm sick. I don't want to go to work tonight.

This is the one time I'm grateful to live in a football town. Nobody in Pittsburgh leaves home when a game is on. We'll probably have four tables all night.

I hope we don't even have one.

This weekend was miserable, and it dragged on and on, yet went so quickly. Does that even make sense?

Wednesday after work (Center Grange Primary had a half-day, wooo!), I rushed home to change out of my work clothes, then went to Bam's parents' to help Peg with some Thanksgiving prep. We baked pumpkin pies. We baked homemade butter horn rolls from scratch, using Bam's grandma's recipe. (He MUST have these at every holiday.) When I say "from scratch," I mean it. I used yeast, kneaded the dough, let it rise...ugh. I cubed about a million loaves of bread for homemade stuffing and Peg's traditional holiday breakfast casserole.

Around five o'clock, we went to get some dinner, then came back and did some more prepping. I got home JUST in time for the Biggest Loser special at 8.

Thanksgiving morning, I woke up feeling sick. Second Thanksgiving in a row. Great. Wonderful. I was even considering not going to dinner, but I dragged myself to the shower, took some medicine, and was feeling a little better. Dinner was great, and afterwards, we had dessert and browsed through some of the Black Friday ads. This is where I got the "great" idea to go to Toys 'R' Us at midnight. This was the first year they've opened at midnight, and the ad claimed everything was 50% off.

Bad idea. My sister and I got there around 11:30. People were lined up all the way down to the highway. It was freezing cold. We had to park AT THE MALL AND WALK to Toys 'R' Us. Now, let me just preface this by saying that my sister and I are not bargain shoppers. We'd rather pay the extra money for convenience. However, I figured I could cross the little kids off my list in one night, and I wanted the experience of Black Friday...and I got it.

We got in line right at the front door...but, uh, that was the second layer of the line. We had to wrap all the way around the building and BACK to the front door before we got in. It was a nightmare. Not even enjoyable. You couldn't walk around and browse at your leisure. You had to follow this stupid line, and listen to employees' directions. After being in there for about an hour, we were disoriented - no kidding, we couldn't figure out where the exit was. It was not worth it to us. I said, "What do you say we just drop all this stuff and make a beeline for the exit when we find it??" She said, "ABSOLUTELY, let's go!" So we dropped the stuff we had planned on buying, and started searching for an exit. It literally took us another hour to get out. It was terrible. Krista was getting claustrophobic. Haha...what a nightmare. There was a man screaming at one of the employees, going, "I'm an engineer! I could run this event better! Listen to my ideas!" He was out of control, getting in people's faces...OMG.

We decided to go to Walmart, because their big Black Friday sales didn't start till 5 a.m. We figured we were safe. Wrong. People were already lined up, and we heard some say they had been in line since 9 p.m. We saw a man get arrested. We each bought a few things, and then hightailed it out of there.

She suggested we drive by Toys 'R' Us just to see if it had calmed down a little. It hadn't. At all. And it was probably 2 a.m. by this time. Then we drove by Best Buy, because my dad had asked me to go wait in that line for a big-screen computer monitor. Um, no. There were people lined up already...with TENTS...and GRILLS.

People are nuts. My time (and emotional well-being!) is worth far more than saving a few dollars.

I have never in my life been more happy about my choice to wear sweats, a hooded sweatshirt, NO MAKEUP, and my glasses. By the time I got home, I had a pounding headache, and wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed. (And I cannot get in bed without washing my makeup off...I just can't.)

The rest of the weekend was spent in bed. I've had a headache every few hours since that night. I'm so run-down. Tonight I'm attempting to go see a movie with Kelly...and that, too, will be in sweats and no makeup.

Ugh.

Today is an early day for me. Dismissal for the kids is at noon, and the faculty can leave at 12:15. How nice! I've been counting down to this holiday - I need a break! AND today is jeans day! AND there is breakfast for the teachers in the lounge! Wooo!

Bam usually likes to go out for a few drinks on this night. Robert's is usually PACKED on Thanksgiving Eve, and it's nice to see millions of people we both grew up with. I just don't know if I'm up to it this year, though - I'm exhausted! Plus, I need to make the pepperoni and cheese tray for tomorrow.

Well, I hear the screeching voices of kids coming into the building. That's my alarm that signifies it's time to work! :) I hope everyone enjoys a nice relaxing Thanksgiving! :)

Okay, I have a confession to make. One of my guilty pleasures is the cheesy holiday movies that play on ABC Family all through December. I was SO excited to be flipping through channels tonight and see Holiday in Handcuffs, with Melissa Joan Hart. (Side note: Has ANYONE other than me ever noticed that there is something weird/lopsided/misshapen about her eyes??)

Anyways, these movies totally warm my heart and make me feel like a little kid again. I watched that and The Santa Clause (the ultimate holiday movie!).

Yay, Christmas season.

Peg dragged me to the mall today...literally. She said, "I've got to run to the mall. Wanna come?" I said, "No, I have to get groceries." She said, "Oh, you can get groceries later. So I'll pick you up on my way?" Haha! Gotta love her.

The purpose for our trip to the mall was that she "needed" a new tablecloth for Thanksgiving dinner. I ended up getting our first wedding gift out of the trip! :) Peg saw all this beautiful silverware on sale, and she said, "Do you like this silverware?" Thinking it was just a casual question, I looked at it and said, "Yeah, this set is really pretty, and not too heavy. I hate heavy silverware." She said, "Good. It's your first wedding present," and bought it.

Ugh. I'm not ready for the weekend to be over. At least I only have to work two-and-a-half days this week. The kids have an early dismissal at 11:30 on Wednesday, and I believe teachers can leave at noon. Wooo! From there, I think I'll head straight to the future in-laws' to help Peg with some baking.

I am already looking forward to Christmas shopping, baking, time with our families, and seeing Kylee and Nico in their Christmas jammies. Christmas is coming!!

I couldn't ask for a nicer night. Nothing fancy, just a quiet night at home with Bam...but perfect.

I cooked dinner, and he took out the trash for me. We sat down and picked our favorite engagement pictures (I still don't like them, but I had to just suck it up and pick the "least bad" ones). Then we set the timer on my phone and gave each other five-minute back rubs. (He says I always try to cheat him out of time, so we need the timer.)

I'm planning on going to bed early tonight, and I'm sure I'll sleep soundly. :)

I can't sleep. It is almost 1:00 a.m., and I've been up since 6, and I just worked a 16-hour day. Why can't I sleep? Because I just saw a cat walking along the side of the highway on my drive home from work, and now I'm worried about it. It was a little cat - not a kitten, but probably not full-grown yet either.

I thought about pulling over and trying to get it. I could've brought it home, and we'd have a whole week for Grace and Lucky to warm up to it, and by the time my dad got home from his trip next week, everyone would be happy and he'd have to let it stay. Cats are like a catch-22 to me though - if it's a stray, it probably won't let me near it; if it lets me near it, it might not be a stray and I may be taking some little girl's pet.

If I see that cat dead by the side of the road on my way to work in the morning, I'm never going to forgive myself.

Sometimes I think my love of animals is *really* abnormal. It literally hurts me to see an animal hurt or dead. I always wonder if it went through excruciating pain when it got hit by the car that killed it. I always wonder if that cat/deer/raccoon let out a horrific scream. Sigh. I'm such a weirdo.

I honestly feel an ache in my heart right now. I can't bear the thought of stray cats outside, freezing and hungry in the winter we're about to face.

I'm never going to be able to sleep tonight.

For those of you that know me in real life, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The hair in my eyebrow. I GOT IT. I've never felt such a sense of accomplishment. Ha!

Here's the deal. I'm a wacko about my skin/eyebrows. I pluck every day, unless I'm trying to grow them in a little thicker. I saw this tiny dot of a hair - I mean, it was under like five layers of skin, and I still couldn't just leave it alone. Usually when I just see a little speck of hair, it's still grabbable (is that a word?), so it's not a problem. (If there's a hair speck, it's gone. I don't wait to let it grow out.) But this baby was REALLY in there. I performed surgery on it EVERY DAY. I dug so deep. My medical procedures went on for three days, but yesterday, I GOT IT.

Do I have a big bloody pit on my eyebrow? Yes. Do I look like a heroin addict who picks at her face in a frenzy? Yes. But do I feel satisfaction at getting the hair? YESYESYESYESYES.

I just had the best date with a handsome Italian guy.

Granted, he's a little shorter than most of the men I've dated... ;-)

Nico and I had a fabulous time at the movies. He was a little scared at times (the movie was a bit intense for little ones!), and he kept saying, "They're coming in here with us???" when the characters came flying at us in 3D. But he really enjoyed it. He wouldn't even put his 3D glasses on until about 30 minutes into the movie because he was too scared by the previews. (Why are most 3D movies so creepy? It always seems like they show previews of the creepiest, weirdest 3D movies.)

He ate an entire LARGE popcorn on his own! He's only three! And he's a little tiny fella, not chubby in the least. But boy, does he have an appetite!

Now I'm settling in for the night. No plans other than to watch Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders later. Kelly, text me when you get on!

Ugh. I feel so sluggish and bored this weekend. I fell asleep before 9 o'clock last night, and my NyQuil pill made me sleep until 11 this morning! (I only take one, because two cold relief pills would knock me out for DAYS!) I still feel a little "blah," but not as sick as I did last week.

Bam is at Thel's doing some drywall work for him, and I've been lounging around watching a Halloween marathon (my FAVORITE horror series!!) and browsing wedding stuff online. My planning has kind of come to a standstill, and now I'm disappointed that I booked everything so soon! Ha!

We had our engagement shoot last Sunday, and now we're on pins and needles waiting to see them! And I do mean "we," even though I normally mean "I" when I say that. Bam keeps texting me to say, "When will our proofs be ready?"

I didn't decide on our engagement picture outfits until the last minute on Sunday. For our dressy outfit, I wore my black "Jackie O." dress and my cream Ralph Lauren 9mm pearls with a pair a bright red ruffly heels, and he wore his black pants with a tiny baby blue pinstripe and a light blue dress shirt. I figured my red heels would pop against his light blue shirt. Pam LOVED the heels and spent a good 10-15 minutes photographing JUST them. For our casual outfits, we both wore dark jeans. I wore a deep raspberry plunging wrap sweater and gold heels, and he wore a chocolate brown zip-up sweater. Pam said the colors looked gorgeous. However, I think the shoot was a disaster. Bam is a mess in front of a camera. His smile is always stiff; he looks like a deer in headlights. Pam yelled at him (only half-jokingly!) all day. He kept saying, "I ruined our engagement pictures." Poor guy! I'm sure that out of the 500+ pictures she took, at least a few turned out good...or so I'm hoping. Come on, now. At least 5 had to have turned out good, right?...even if by accident! We were probably THE most unphotogenic couple she's ever shot.

Right now I'm looking at Etsy trying to decide whether to wear pearl jewelry or diamond/crystal jewelry on my wedding day that is 100 years away. I'm that bored. I would never even order jewelry on Etsy because I have a friend in Massachusetts that makes jewelry, so I'm most likely going to pay her to make my wedding jewelry. I've never been much of a pearl girl (although I do love dressing up a pair of jeans with those aforementioned Ralph pearls!), but pearls just seem bridal. Any thoughts?

Tonight is THE very last Rochester/Monaca football game since the Monaca/Center merger will be complete next year and Monaca High School will no longer exist. This makes me so sad. The Monaca game is the game my high school football team trains for ALL YEAR LONG. It is the game that determines whether the bridge separating our towns will be called the Monaca-Rochester Bridge or the Rochester-Monaca Bridge for the year. (To me, it will always, always be the Rochester-Monaca Bridge.) After tonight, the official name of the bridge will remain the same forever. This is the game that determines it all.

This rivalry has always been so big that our superintendent has always issued a warning to Rochy students BANNING us from the town of Monaca the week of the game. We were not even allowed IN the town that week! Not to go to the mall, not to go to any Monaca restaurants, etc. (We always went anyways, but we would've been in trouble if we would've gotten caught.) For the few weeks leading up to the game, Rochester and Monaca students (mostly seniors) TORTURED the opposing town. We filled their town fountain with bubbles, they burned a huge "M" into our football field, we spraypainted "ROCHY RAMS" on their school, we drove up and down their main street throwing Spaghetti-O's on kids, etc.

I will not leave my house tonight, because I will never get a parking place when I come back home. I live two blocks away from the high school, and people will be fighting for parking spaces for many blocks beyond that. The LAST Rochy/Monaca game EVER will be absolutely PACKED.

In fact, this rivalry is so big that in my Maid of Honor toast at my sister's wedding, I even said, "A Rochester cheerleader and a Monaca football player...what a disgrace to both families!"

So, LJ friends, send hopeful vibes in the direction of Rochester...we must win this game!!

I went to Alfred Angelo today with Peg and Aunt Carol so they could look for bridesmaid dresses for Aunt J's wedding. I think they looked great in many of them!!

Anyways, posting pictures here for the lovely ladies in my soon-to-be new family! Enjoy!

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Woooo! Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team is back on for a new season! This is how my Saturday nights will be spent from now on. Screw Bam and his incessant football watching.

I finally got a new purse last night, after carrying my red Jessica Simpson bag for WAY longer than I usually carry a purse. The new one is also a Jessica, and it's a tan reptile print. It's a subtle print though, not in-your-face.

Kylee went to that old jail in West Virginia that's supposed to be haunted. My brother-in-law took her and three of her friends. (Bless his heart.) People around here drive over an hour to get there. I would NEVER go; I've never even been to a haunted trail. I'm just too afraid. But I guess they put you in your own jail cell and lock you in for the night. Kylee is such a thrill-seeker. She's been that way since she was a little girl. When all the other three-year-olds were watching cartoons, Kylee was watching Halloween and Friday the 13th with me. (We had to sneak, because obviously my sister and parents didn't want her watching that stuff.) She went to a haunted trail last weekend too, and while standing in line Michael Myers walked over and handed her "the black rose." Apparently if you get the black rose, you have to walk through the trail alone, not with the rest of the group. I would've turned around and left. Kylee probably loved it though.

Well, I'm off to the mall again to continue looking for clothes for our engagement pictures that are coming up. Wish me luck!

Yesterday was exactly one year until our wedding day. Of course it was absolutely freezing, gray, gloomy, and rainy all day. I wouldn't really mind rain on our wedding day, and I'm a weirdo who actually *likes* gloomy weather like that (perfect for a cup of hot chocolate, a blanket, and a good book!), but I don't want my gorgeous wedding dress to be muddy for the entire reception. Western PA rain is not clean, pretty rain. Western PA rain is a dirty, muddy mess. Haha! We're planning on doing pictures outdoors on my college campus, so I'd love for the grass not to be a mess.

Of course when Bam and I woke up today and went to get breakfast, it was PERFECT fall weather. Crisp and cool, bright and fresh. Go figure.

I've been dragging around all morning being lazy. Bam and I woke up around 9:00 and headed to the best donut shop around for breakfast. Then he went home to watch college football (of course) and I watched the ending of a movie I had started watching before he suggested going to get breakfast. Now I'm contemplating my next moves. Should I go tanning, or to the mall to visit Leah at work (and conveniently pick up a new purse while I'm there), or continue to lay around? Decisions, decisions.

Peggy and I embarked on another one of our "adventures" today. This one involved high-tailing it to the Alfred Angelo store on McKnight Road to try on a list of dresses Aunt Joanne had given us. We arrived about an hour before they closed (because Bam insisted on going out to breakfast after church, and it took forever!), but she was in and out of dresses lickety split, and we tackled the whole list.



( Dresses! )

Posting some pictures of my future mother-in-law trying on dresses for my future aunt's wedding. She is the matron of honor!

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Bam and I are going to church tomorrow. Yes, you heard me. CHURCH. Something I never wanted to think about again after going to college at Geneva and having religion shoved down my throat for four years.

I'm dreading this.

I believe in God (I think, although my faith has been tested repeatedly over the years). I pray at night. I am thankful for all that has been given to me. But I hate church. We're doing this because we want to get married in a church. Actually, his mom and grandfather and my sister are the ones who are insisting on a church. I want a religious ceremony, but I would've been happy to get married at the reception venue. I couldn't find a reception venue that has a place for the ceremony too though. Anyways, I do want to have my children baptized, and have a place to take them to church once in a while, so I guess we need to join a church anyways.

But ugh.

Well, my summer is rolling to a close way sooner than I expected! Tomorrow and Wednesday I'm going into the school to set up and decorate my classroom (eeee!!!), and then Thursday and Friday are teacher in-service days. I'm excited, and nervous, and terrified...

And now I'm off to get ready for a night at Applebee's. Ughhhh.

This weekend went by in a whirlwind. As you all know, Friday was a busy day of wedding gown shopping. Saturday was Thel's wedding (well, reception). It was a blast. It was at Jeffries Landing down by the river, and it was beautiful. It was SO HOT in the reception room, though. Every guest was DRIPPING sweat. I would've been furious if I had paid money to have my wedding there and my guests were sweating miserably. We were all going OUTSIDE on the deck to COOL OFF. In the MIDDLE OF AN AUGUST HEAT WAVE. But it was a good time. I had to dance with crazy Bruce, of course, since Bam isn't much of a dancer. Bruce and I always pull some nice moves on the dance floor hahahaha. (Oh, and Bam's toast went well. He was terrified, but he pulled it off.)

After the reception, we all headed to Robert's (a bar, not someone's house), where there was karaoke at the outdoor patio. Thel (THE GROOM) came with us, leaving his new (pregnant) wife to leave her wedding reception and head home alone. I was livid. That's ridiculous. But there was nothing we could do; when Thel drinks, he doesn't listen to reason. We had a blast though. Bam must have been drunk, because he'd NEVER sing karaoke sober, and he was up there all night. Bruce and I sang Faith & Tim's "It's Your Love," and we put on a super romantic show. Ha! Then Bam and I were dancing while someone sang a really fun song (can't remember what), and Bam thought it would be super cool to pick me up OVER HIS HEAD and spin around with me 20 times. I was drinking, and thought I was going to throw up. He dropped me on the concrete and fell on top of me, and I think I broke a hip, but we jumped right back up and everyone clapped. Bam announced, "That was planned!" and took a bow.

Sunday we went to see The Time Traveler's Wife. It was terrible, and I'm sorry I went to see it. I wouldn't have even understood anything if it weren't for the book. It was cheesy and stupid, but still heart-wrenchingly sad. I think it was only so sad though, again, because I read the book. I did cry. A big thanks to Gena for sending me the wonderful book! It will be on its way back to you in the next few days.

Oh, and my gram's sister and her husband (my great-aunt and uncle) are in from Florida. They're really old, and this is probably the last time they'll ever make the trip. So Bam and I went to my grandparents' to visit last night after the movie.

Here are some pictures from Thel's wedding!

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Today was the start of a great weekend. Peggy and I were up bright and early to go out to breakfast and take another stab at wedding dress shopping. (I was going to wait until fall, but there was a certain gown she wanted me to try on, and she called everywhere looking for it.) We drove an hour away...

...and...

I FOUND MY DRESS!!!!!!!!!!! That's right, I found my wedding gown. Through all this shopping, I *loved* many dresses, and kept thinking, "Maybe this IS the feeling you supposedly get." But today...I knew. Something in my heart told me it was the gown my mom would've loved the most if she were here today. I cried. I cried right there in the middle of the bridal shop, even though I never thought I'd cry over a dress. For some reason, I felt like my mother was there telling me, "This is your dress, baby."

I can't believe the gown that I will get married in is one my mother-in-law actually picked out. Who would've thought a dress existed that we BOTH absolutely adore? I thought I'd end up with something I loved and she was "okay" with...because she kept telling me to get what I love, not anyone else.

Like I said, I found quite a few dresses I loved, but it was always: "This would be PERFECT if it had a sweetheart neckline, I love the pick-up skirt!" or "This would be PERFECT if this beading was ivory to match the dress, I'm not crazy about silver beading." This gown really IS perfect. It has little elements of everything I've been looking for in a dress, yet it's nothing anything would expect. I didn't even expect to like it. In fact, it looks hideous on the website.

Also - I think Peg found her dress for the wedding too! She is torn between two. (I have a strong preference for one of them, but I'll be happy with whatever she picks.) I will be posting pictures of these soon.

After shopping for gowns for hours, we stopped at a big mall on the way home, where we both got suckered into buying Egyptian cotton sheets. (Sheets are a weakness of mine. I'm a total sheet snob.) They are on my bed already and I can't wait to slide in between them.

After parting ways, we ended up meeting again. Bam and I met his parents at Harry's, a little bar that serves the most fabulous fish sandwiches. We had a nice relaxing dinner, then Bam went home to go to bed and I went to buy him something to wear for Thel's wedding tomorrow. (He'll be wearing black dress pants, a dove gray dress shirt, and a pink/lavender/gray diagonally striped silk tie.) He's actually the best man, but this "wedding" is really just the reception. Thel and Dana were already married in Vegas.

For myself, I bought a beautiful black linen knee-length sheath dress. It's very form-fitting, and has little cap sleeves. I call it my "Jackie O." dress. I'm debating whether to wear big blingy crystal chandelier earrings or go classic and wear my 8 mm ivory pearls. Decisions, decisions. (I'll be wearing black peep-toe heels regardless. Or maybe candy apple red stilettos. Hmm.)

Well, anyways. Thel's wedding is tomorrow. Sunday the fiance and I are going to see The Time Traveler's Wife. I'm so excited!!!!

And now, I am off to dream in my Egyptian cotton sheets.