Fun, fun, fun!

The last week has been somewhat of a blur. Dennis's family from Oregon came down to southern California and my sweetie has spent much of the week at The Disneyland Resort with them.

His dad is a high school band leader and his kids were performing at California Adventure so he spent a portion of the time wrangling teenagers which is always exciting but he had a fantastic time so the exhaustion was well worth the efforts. He even got to go swimming at their hotel pool which was a good time which was has by all as we has a very lovely and warm week.

I even got to join in the festivities on this past Friday. I took the whole day off at work to spend the day at the Land of Disney and at California Adventure - a place which I have really not been to except for a short jaunt through it a couple of weeks ago when I had the bejesus scared out of me on Sorin' Over California.

YIKES! that ride was just too much for the very afraid of heights me.

It was odd really. As I hung there on the hang glider apparatus with my eyes shut tight (except for the occasional peek) and my fingernails digging into Dennis's hand all I could think about was "What if my shoe falls off!!! Will I be able to retrieve it from the river/mountain top/field/etc.???"

Fear is an unusual and odd thing, that is for certain - especially an irrational one!

This time I stayed off of that ride and all was well. The surprise jewel of the afternoon (besides the high school band performance which I thought was very nice) was the Turtle Talk with Crush experience that Dennis's little brother Nate wanted to go on. It was totally interactive and hilarious! Must make note to go on that again the next time we visit the park! Dude!

All in all it was a fantastic day. I am not usually one to stop and watch the street performers but as we were with a very musical bunch we stopped and watched a number of them. It was very fun. We even managed to go on the Pirates ride twice which is always a good thing!

We ended the evening with dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. My mahi mahi and coconut shrimp was divine (albeit a bit pricey)! We even managed to squeeze in a quick Cha Cha when the performers outside the restaurant broke into an appropriate tune while we were on our way in to be seated. Yay!

I was doing pretty good there with the blogging but then *poof* it was gone...

Sue me, I've been busy. HA!

But I have been busy. Very. Despite the fact that we are entirely broke, there has been a fair amount of fun going on - mostly stemming from the fact that two of our very best friends just recently announced their engagement.

Huzzah!

I swear, last weekend N. and I must have poured for hours over flowers and dresses and menus and OMG all things wedding, etc. Dennis didn't mind or even notice really because he and C., the groom-to-be, were busy playing Grand Theft Auto or something. (Nope, not a video game person. At. All.) But that was all good because neither one of them were terribly interested in the Girlie™ which was exploding accross the room as N. and I did our thing.

*Squee!!* Wedding Stuffs®!

In addition to all that happy madness, Dennis and I celebrated our three-year aniversary on the 24th so yay for us! Well, we didn't actually celebrate it until tonight since my sweetie has not been home for a few days. He has been off at school, preparing to take his 100 Ton Masters test so that he can become a captain, purchase us a house and buy me a beautiful ring.

He says he plans to make an honest woman out of me at some point...if it's ok with my dad. LOL

(Heh. I said "LOL". I do that in speaking sometimes too. Such is the Intarweb inspired Brave New World that we live in now-a-days.)

But we DID celebrate tonight in high style at our most favorite eating establishment, Beach City Grill. Mmmmmmmm, YUMMY! Honestly, Larry (the owner, who was waiting tables this evening - YAY! He is so fun!) makes the best most flavorful dishes ever. EVER! We even had the pleasure of enjoying some of his famous Cajun Sweet Potato Fries with feta dip, homemade katsup and the always giggle-inspiring "Panty Ripper" hot sauce in addition to our main courses. Tee hee!

So all in all, it has been busy and happy (and delicious) and more busy and yet even more happy. Life is good.

Ah, Valentine's Day...♥

Another lovely one with Dennis. Funny, how I've grown to take it so for granted that my Valentine's Day will always be special, even if all we do is stay in bed all morning, talking and *ahem* stuff.

We've been together now for almost three years. In fact, if will BE three years exactly in ten days on February 24th. I always forget the date (and so does he so I really don't feel too badly about that). Every time we talk about how long we have been together - usually on holidays such as this - neither one of us can remember the exact date "We" began. We both remember the moment it was official though...

I was down in the dumps and in need of a kind gesture or word or something...when he came to me bearing a gift (my green hookah) and stole my heart. We'd been flirtatious for a while already but...there really was no official commitment yet. But that day and that simple gift sealed it. And I've not been disappointed. The generosity and kindness Dennis has shown me over the last three years amazes me and I am so happy and grateful and tickled that he is in my life - every single day, not just Valentine's Day.

I can honestly say that I will love him forever.

(And that is a damn long time by the way and I am not one to make such grandiose and marvelous, fantastical statements on a regular basis!)

Our day was really nice. It started off sweet and steamy in the boudoir and meandered off in the direction of ordinary (laundry) and delicious (chocolates). We then set off to have breakfast at our favorite breakfast-type place: The Omelette & Waffle Shop. Yum. I had my usual, their cheddar and jalapeno waffle with a side of scrambled eggs. Heavenly.

And then, after we ate we set off on our way to our dance class. It was Foxtrot today, a very fun dance. We always have fun at our class though, regardless of the particular style. My sweetie is very talented and a super good lead!

And now I am back at home, waiting for him to get off work (folks do need to earn a dollar dontchaknow) but he ought to be home very soon and we will continue our day until it is time for me to fall asleep in his arms, just like I hope to every night for the rest of my life.

I truly am a very lucky girl. ♥

Island adventure!

I've been meaning to post about our most recent Catalina trip so since I have a minute here while my sweetie is doing the dishes, here ya go:

Last weekend, Dennis and I didn't have anything planned for Sunday so I suggested that we take a day trip to the island and see those Botanical Gardens we didn't make it to the last time we were in Avalon.

Remember that trip? The Great Drunken Disaster of 2008?

So anyways, I spent Saturday at work and then afterwards we went to a lovely birthday party for my nephew. My brother and his wife throw the best parties. Honestly, I can only hope to aspire to someday throwing parties as well as they do. I have no idea how they manage to pull of the shindigs they do, all the while wrangling children and mingling with guests. But they do, and it looks effortless. Amazing.

But back to Catalina...

On Sunday we had planned to hop on the 10:30 boat out of The Landing to Avalon which we would have been able to do without a problem, if there had in fact been a 10:30 boat! Turns out it was a 10:00 boat and by the time we got there at 10:10, it had already left. But no problem, we just got handed plenty of time to enjoy breakfast at the deli Dennis is always raving about. And he was right! Breakfast was delicious!

Fast forward a couple of hours...

The boat ride was wonderful. We saw a bunch of dolphins and even a couple of whales. Neat! Dennis got me some hot chocolate (since coffee is the Nectar of Satan™, according to my bladder lately) and we arrived on the island before we knew it.

We consulted our map to determine the way to the Gardens and set off. I'd walked it before in my younger days and did not recall the road being so long. Long it was though, miles even! Still, it was a lovely hike and there were nice things to look at along the way like The Nature Center at Avalon Canyon where we got to take a little rest and learn a little bit about The Catalina Island Conservancy's conservation efforts and native flora and fauna.

So after a long walk, we finally reached the Gardens, only to find out that they only take cash for admissions and alas, we had no cash! Only a debit card. D'oh! But the trolly bus guy who arrived not long after we did was kind enough to take us on a ride down to front street where we could use an ATM and procure our admission fee. He then took us back up to the Garden so we could get back to the business of visiting it, at long last.

It was beautiful. Even more so than I remembered when I'd first visited it previously. Of course, the day was colored by love.

We took a number of pictures, mostly of us in various places because hello! Vain like that!

After spending a terriffic afternoon walking about, we decided to get some dinner before boarding the boat back home. After careful consideration of the few places open for business (it is Winter, you know. Totally off-season!) we decided upon Topless Tacos where I think I had the best shrimp tacos EVER.

We then made our way back to the dock and boarded our boat back home. We even got to sit up in the Captain's Lounge as no one had booked it which was The Awesome since neither one of us was all that keen on watching to Superbowl and that was what was being watched on all of the other televisions on board.

We watched CSI: New York, I had more hot chocolate (damn evil bladder! Grrr!) and we got back to Long Beach in a flash. We then hopped on a bus and made our way back to our car over at The Queen Mary (free parking over there, yay!).

All in all, it was a lovely day with my sweetie. One of future thousands though, I am quite sure. ♥

The universe is funny sometimes.

Just a few days ago, while surfing the 'net, I wandered accross the webpage of someone I used to work with over a decade ago. J. seemed to be doing pretty well for himself so I decided to drop him a line and say "hello". A conversation ensued and my original determination was correct - he is indeed doing well both professionally and personally.

Splendid.

I love hearing about old friends who made good.

Here is the weird trip around the universe though: Not 5 hours later, my phone rings. OMG it's another person who used to work at the same shop as the guy I contacted previously, that I haven't heard from in over a decade either I think, calling me out of the blue to say "hello"! (By accident really since he was a tad bit in the intoxicated direction, but it was a random call from the same corner of my universe just the same.)

We had a nice little conversation, promised to keep in touch and meandered back to the paths we had originally been on prior to our random encounter. For him, it was back to the party he was attending. For me it was back to snoozing on the couch with my sweetie. ♥

The universe, she is an odd one. Just plain odd. But I love it!

Meh.

So yea, I keep saying to myself "I'm gonna blog today, I tell ya!" but alas...it just never comes to fruition.

*sigh*

And it makes me sad too because so many wonderful things are happening and I'll want to remember them when I'm *cough* old someday which incidentally will be at some point this year - specifically July 23rd - because that is going to be the day when I turn 40 and gray hair will spontaneously sprout from every pore in my body and my Alzheimers will begin to rear it's ugly, ugly head.

But there I'll sit, not being able to remember a God damn thing and I won't even have a blog to read about my Wonderful Life™ and all it's gloriousness.

Crap.

A brand New Year...2009

Ahhh...2009. New year, new (or not so new) dreams.

2008 was a great year, by and large. It saw my daughter finally come home; it also saw the relationship between Dennis and myself solidify to the point where I can sincerely see us together forever. There was always that hope there but it was just a little too grandiose and amazing and HUGE.

Dennis even made notice of the change when he told me the other day that he remembers the day that I couldn't look forward a month, let alone a year, let alone FOREVER. Oh, I was reveling in the moment, that is a fact. And I always had HOPES. But I just wasn't ready to risk jinxing the whole thing by setting the bar too high.

That day has passed.

At some point in 2009, probably in the Fall, we will Handfast and make our private commitment a public one. The details have not been worked out yet but they will be. All in good time. I won't be rushed or stressed about it, the most important part of the ceremony is LOVE and we already have plenty of that.♥

2008 also saw the financial ruin of America. *sigh* The odd thing is though, that my life really hasn't changed much because of it. I had to cut some extravagances out (like my trips to the salon) and create a budget that my household can stick to but really, that is just responsible spending - something I (and everyone else in the country) probably should have been doing all along. When folks live beyond their means, debt happens. Plain and simple. And when debt spirals out of control, *BOOM*, it is only a matter of time before the things it engulfs implode...

My bankruptcy, when I filed for it was actually in hindsight, the best decision I could have made. It freed me up from the past that I was unconsciously dragging around. I ignored the collections notices etc. for the most part but they and the debts behind them were still following me around, but no more. Good riddance to bad rubbish - once and for all.

2008 also nearly brought down General Motors which forced me to ask the question "do I jump ship now, or hope that I can weather the storm?". I chose to weather the storm and came to the comfortable conclusion that even if my job isn't here tomorrow, things will still be ok because I am a valuable commodity - a truly marketable individual who possesses skills which will still be needed in another industry in the event that my current industry fails. Knowledge (in the form of practical experience) really is power, and I have it.

OJ Simpson got his just desserts in 2008 too. FINALLY. More proof that Karma is The Awesome™.

Even Adam Walsh got his justice in 2008. Further proof that all dark deeds will come to light eventually.

We also elected ourselves an amazing new president in 2008. Barack Obama inherited probably the most monstrous mess in the history of all messes but he also ushered in a new era of HOPE. It will be a bumpy ride for him and I hope the American people can afford him a little patience because it is going to take a good long while to clean up this disaster. He is a smart man who surrounds himself with smart people. Thank the stars that 2009 will finally be the year that intelligence is "in" - we are sure gonna need it!

There is good and bad in every year really but I finally started to believe, really, truly, believe (as opposed to playing someone who does on the Internet) in 2008, that it is not what happens in any given year that defines us (or the year, for that matter) it is how we react to what happens to us.

2008 is the year that my inner pessimist was finally put in it's place. Somehow, someway, I think I finally found peace.

2009 will be the year that I will finally learn to keep it.