Maggie Mae

As if life couldn't get any crazier...we adopted a puppy! All sewing/quilting has been on hold since Tuesday...even though my blocks for the zig zag quilt along are ready to be sewn together...

Last Friday night we went to the animal shelter to look at a few dogs...we put an application in for no dog in particular so Hubby and I could properly discuss. That night we decided to adopt a chocolate lab puppy that we thought was 10 months old. A call on Monday led me to believe we didn't stand a chance at getting her due to how many applications they already had. Tuesday afternoon we received another call from a woman who was fostering the siblings of the puppy we wanted and offered us her sister. The puppy was from a litter that was brought up from North Carolina...and was only 13 weeks old, not 10 months.

We went to meet her that night with Paige at the animal shelter. It was all up to Paige at that point, because if Paige didn't like her, it was a no-go. The girls met and really just ignored each other. There was too much else going on at the shelter and too many other scents to get a real sense of how they would be.

Our first night was hell! The puppy cried every hour in the crate. We got no sleep! I really don't think we knew quite what we were in for. Each day/night gets better, but at first I really questioned if we made the right decision. Paige seems happy. The puppy who we finally named Maggie Mae is very attached to Paige. Everyone is adjusting...well almost everyone. It took Spike a few days to come downstairs, but Annabelle still won't come down. She'll come around eventually...I hope.

We took Maggie to the vet yesterday and she was given a clean bill of health. She was treated for a few things while in foster care so we were happy everything came back ok.

Some day Maggie will be a great dog....but for now she's just a puppy!

The Great Escape

Happy 4th of July!!

I love summer and spending time with family/friends, so this is one of my favorite holidays.

Hubby and I hosted our second annual 4th of July barbecue this year, but on July 3rd! The preparation/shopping was overwhelming and there were some minor fireworks incidents at night but overall it was a good time.

The following day we were sitting (recovering) on the couch before going to a family reunion when I noticed our window was open and the screen was nowhere to be seen. Spike (my kitty) would like to explain what happened from his point of view. At this point in time, Annabelle is pleading the 5th. She's not very talkative to begin with anyway!

"I jumped up in the window to watch the birds and the screen fell out. I tumbled out the window and meowed really loud. Annabelle came to see what was going on and she jumped out the window to come see if I was ok. Luckily I have nine lives! I told Annabelle we needed to go wait on the porch because we aren't allowed outside. She thought the porch was to the right and I thought it was to the left. She wouldn't listen to me and I didn't want to get in trouble! When I got to the porch, I couldn't open the door so I thought it'd be better to wait under the porch for you to come find me. Good thing you found me, cause I was getting really hungry!"

The drop was about 7 feet from the ground. I obviously have no idea what really happened, but I was panicked when I couldn't find my babies. I heard Spike meowing and found him right away under the porch. We searched the house for Annabelle again...and then I started to really panic (and cry). She hides so well and is scared of everything. I searched the back yard and barely spotted her brown and black butt under the deck. Hubby crawled under and pulled her out. She was limp so my first concern was that maybe she got hit by a car. Once I got her in the house she was fine, she's just petrified of everything.

Sleepy Spike laying in Hubby's clothes.

Annabelle cuddling on the couch.

World's Worst Traveler = ME!!!!

We're back from the honeymoon : ( It was amazing! Pictures and details to follow.

The trip home was exhausting though:

3:30am - wake up call from hotel
4:00am - check out of gorgeous resort
4:00am - 5:00am - Wait for transportation to airport. We finally called a taxi because it was getting close to our flight time. Shuttle came, taxi cancelled = me left with 500 useless pesos.
5:30am - 6:30am - Wait in line to check in. Apparently, a flight attendant hit an emergency door button prior to take off yesterday so a flight was cancelled...meaning many more people waiting in line with us today than there should have been.
6:30am - throw out candle because DUH, you can't carry a candle in your carry on bag. I was really upset about this. It was a tall candle in a heart shaped glass that said Riviera Maya on it. Right on the other side of the security was a store selling the same damn candles....yes I bought one. Hubby calls it my angry candle.
7:30-10:00am - Flight to Dallas, Texas
10:00am - 11:00am - Run through immigration, pick up baggage, run through customs (I seriously had to pick up my bags to hand a chick a piece of paper!!!!), recheck bags - luckily I remembered to put my angry candle in my checked luggage this time, go through security AGAIN [So this time I set security off by a) not taking my shoes off - I didn't have to do this when leaving Mexico but whatever and by b) having my earphones in my travel pouch that I didn't take off going through the metal detector], find shuttle to other end of airport, board plane. Notice no time for food! Thank God for raiding the mini bar of peanuts and chocolate before we left.
11:30am - 2:45pm - Flight to Philadelphia!!! Arrival local time 3:45.
3:00pm - 4:00pm - Reclaim bags, wait for shuttle home.
4:45pm - Arrive home, greet kitty cats, order pizza, eat FINALLY!
7:30pm - Sleep....seriously!!

Hooray for Warranties

I bought a pretty expensive tv last July. It is a Phillip's 42" LCD HD television (from Sears). I actually just finished paying off the tv last month. I'm never one to buy extended warranties on anything but with the way things are made these days it seemed like a good idea. The tv itself was $1800 (ouch). I figured for $300 for a three year warranty it was well worth protecting my investment.

Hubby was trying to play Rockband 2 last night but there was no sound. We checked the connections and tried again. No luck! Past experience told us our Xbox 360 was at fault considering this is our 3rd Xbox and the last one malfunctioned after less than a year. We checked the DVD player and soon found out that none of the back audio inputs on the tv were working. I had not even considered that something could be wrong with the tv; not after only a year. Things just aren't made the same anymore. Gone are the days when a tv would last for 10-20 years. Luckily, we have a warranty, which I think I have Hubby to thank for talking me into getting one :) Sears is sending someone out to look at it on Saturday. Hopefully they'll just let us get a new one and be done with it, but I doubt it!

Limos, Favors, and the Rite of Marriage

Welcome to my wedding planning blog! UGH, at least that's what it seems like right. Wedding this, wedding that....my apologies. As the wedding gets closer it's all I think about. I'm constantly trying to check things off of my never ending to-do list. I've become obsessed with checking my parent's mail for RSVPs. I'm on theknot.com checking out the message boards, making sure that I haven't forgotten anything or to give advice to other obsessed brides.

Now, am I a "bridezilla"? Well let's see. The definition of a bridezilla according to urbandictionary.com is: Bridezillas are a new breed of soon-to-wed women who abuse the idea that weddings are their "day." They terrorize their bridal party and family members, make greedy demands and break all rules of etiquette, to insure that they are the single most important person on the planet from the time they are engaged to the time they are married. Now of course I'm biased but I think I've been the least bridezilla of brides I know. Up until this point I really haven't cared about much of anything. I really only cared when it mattered, such as keeping things on schedule. The menu, reception facility, the flowers, my dress, the limo, and the photographer have all fallen into place. I'm willing to work with my family, FH's family, and my vendors on everything and I've only been pushy when time was of the essence. There is still 1.5 months until the wedding so there's plenty of time to embrace my inner bridezilla!

Every bride has a bridezilla moment though and here is mine:

I ordered my invitations the middle of June. The website I ordered through said it would take a maximum of 7 business days. 7 business days pass and the company contacts me about the font color I selected. So I had to go the physical store to OK the font. No problem! They then told me to expect a proof via email in 2 days. A week goes by and no proof. I contact the company and they said the printer sent the proof but there were alot of errors. How can there possibly be errors when I spelled out on each individual line what should be printed? I get the proof and there's still an error. No problem! I correct the error and send it back. At this point I'm running out of time. No calligrapher for us! The company contacts me and says I will have my invitations by July 28th, they are going to overnight them to me, and they are going to reimburse me for shipping because of how long this is taking.

The invitations do arrive on July 28th but they were shipped UPS ground. No problem! I was OK. I needed them 2 weeks prior for calligraphy but it's ok. I remembered seeing the invitations in the store and all of this bull$hit would be ok because these invitations were going to be perfect....EXCEPT the font on the actual invitation was such a small font I could barely read it and I wrote the damn things so I know what they're supposed to say!! I was beyond pissed, cursing a whole bunch in front of my mother. Lucky for them, the invitation store is closed on Mondays so I had to wait until Tuesday to complain. I was even more pissed because Mondays I have pottery and it completely ruined my night. I managed to calm down overnight and not yell at the guy on the phone Tuesday morning. When I called the company, the guy was very understanding. He looked at the sample the printer sent him and immediately called them. He demanded the printer have the invitations to me by Thursday, which he assured me would happen. Needless to say the invitations arrived on Friday August 1st and were shipped yet again UPS ground. What is wrong with these people?

So the reason for this post really has nothing to with the wedding...I'm depressed because I'm P-M-S-ing. End. Of. Story.