Entries from November 2007
November 28, 2007 · 1 Comment
Are you getting married?
No, and it’s getting really annoying how many times I have been asked this exact question.
The answer is, things are good now, why force something when it’s fine the way it is. Forget the fact that we are from two different countries.
We have been together for 4 1/2 years. There are people that have met, “fell in love,” gotten married and divorced in this amount of time. At least we haven’t taken that route.
Honestly, we went through a period where it was tough. But we got through it and are much stronger.
So, when we get married, we will let you know. Until then, don’t ask.
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Not the English language, I suck at spelling and grammar. (I just did spell check on this post, and I can’t even spell grammer correctly)
But with English (British) everything. Specifically David Beckham and Jude Law. A cliche I know, but they are hot, hot, hot and have wonderfully beautiful accents.
I watched the movie The Holiday yesterday. It was great, not as great as Love Actually, but definitely up there. Makes me wanna run over to the English countryside and hole up in a cabin and light a fire. Which I might do when I head over in January when being stuffed into a smokey, small apartment with Dean’s dad becomes too much. But for now, the movie will have to do.
And it’s about that time to bust out the annual watching of Love Actually and Bridge Jones (both). These just put me in the holiday spirit and I can dream of a life in England while watching both. Yipee..
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8:45am. That’s the time that I get out of bed every morning.
Guess what I time I have to be at work???? 9:00am.
That’s what is absolutely great about my job. We get housing in a nice two-bedroom apartment overlooking Lake Geneva. There are two reasons this works wonderfully a) we don’t pay rent b)i can, literally, roll out of bed at 8:45am, jump in the shower, get dressed, pour my cereal and stroll over to my desk and be there at 9am ready to go.
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This week I have spent an absurd amount of money on MYSELF.
I haven’t been shopping in a very long time and we went to the outlet malls in Kenosha on Tuesday night. It was great. I got NO Christmas shopping at all, but just bought some sweaters and pants and shoes for myself. And I did feel bad for about a minute, but then I haven’t bought anything for myself pretty much since I got back from New Zealand besides a few splurges at Target.
And then today, my mom and I went to Kohls (my new favorite store, see below). I bought myself a very nice knife set and picked out a set of pots for my present from my parents for the Holiday season. And then went over to Target and bought curtains that Dean and I have had our eye on for a while but just haven’t bought them. Oh, and a memory foam mattress pad that I have wanted F-O-R-E-V-E-R.
*Kohls* I never liked Kohls because I only based it on the juniors clothes, but when you have a house and need housewares, it’s pretty much amazing. I could spend hours in the small appliances section, looking at sheets and browsing Vera Wang’s collection. And with all the bonus Kohl’s bucks that I earned today from my purchases, I am going to buy those 800-thread count sheets that will make our bed even more heavenly.
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Tomorrow will be the first Thanksgiving that I have spent in Beloit in three years.
2006– We had just moved into our studio apartment in New Zealand, I wasn’t working so we had a lamb roast and mashed potato’s for Thanksgiving. Seeing as Dean is English, he doesn’t understand Thanksgiving, referring to it as the “Americans celebrating the massacre of Indians”. I know horrible. But then I say, yes, but if the bloody English weren’t so stupid, the Pilgrims would have had no reason to run away to the soon-to-be United States of America.
2005-I was in Canada, it sucked. Enough said.
2004 – I left to go live in Australia the day before Thanksgiving and it was snowing! I was in the air and sleeping in San Francisco Airport on Thanksgiving of 2004. Sweet!
I am excited for all the great food that my dad is cooking and am having dinner with my friend tonight and then hitting the bars. I’m going to get wasted…..just kidding. I want to be able to enjoy my meal tomorrow because I have been saving up all week for all of the calories!
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Today, my two co-workers and I went on a little trip. We had to go order our Christmas Cards which meant a trip to Delavan. Which is always a trip.
We also needed some Christmas decorations for the office because we needed to make it a little more festive. And I was feeling creative. Too bad all they have at the $1 Store is crap, crap, crap. But, alas, we found some garland and giggled until we cried. We only spent $8 and the office looks like Christmas.
After this escapade, we decided we HAD to go to the Andes Candy Factory. Yes, Andes Candy are made in Delavan, WI.
I remember when I was a little girl we would get really excited to go to my Great Grandma’s apartment because she always had a bowl of Andes Candy. Maybe that is why I weigh a million and a half pounds now. Buy anyway….back to the story.
I don’t know why we went to the factory, maybe we were hoping to find loads of chocoalte and mint, or maybe just a little “reject” candy. The factory is very small, almost has home-like features. We drove around and when we didn’t see any shop, we decided to brave it and go in. Two of us went in and looked around. There was no one in sight but several bowls of Andes Candy. Different kinds of Andes Candy…….key lime, cherry, sugar free, gold wrappers. We grabbed a few handfuls and tried to get out the door before someone caught us and asked us what we were doing. In our quick getaway, we couldn’t get the door open and we were laughing really hard to the point of tears.
I guess you just had to be there!
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I especially love Saturday nights that I don’t have to work!
Last night I joined my mom and we went to the opening of NorthPointe in Roscoe, IL and extension of Beloit Memorial Hospital. It’s been my dad’s project for about five years and all I have heard about from him for that long. It was good to see it all done and finished.
It was truely an amazing place. Very state-of-the-art and decorated very well. The wellness center is gorgeous and if I lived closer, I would join and it would give me motivation to work-out.
We enjoyed wine and appetizers, and as I am watching what I eat, I did very well only consuming a piece of bread, one piece of cheese, and two bites of cake. See you can enjoy it in moderation.
I saw some old friends, found out some news and saw people that I have seen since I was 15 or so. It was good and when I left I was happy that I trekked down to Beloit.
I finished off my evening with a tasty Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet down at Gordys. Perfection.
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Deano is heading back to England for two months on December 5. It’s good for him because he will be able to get his legal 18-month work visa. And he will get to spend Christmas with his family, this he hasn’t done in over six years.
I am going to be mightly lonely though. Seeing as I don’t have many friends in the area and my life consists of walking between my office and my apartment (a whole 30 feet), I will be extremely lonely.
Oh, and another great thing is that I will get to go visit him. Which means I will get out of the country for at least a week.
I think that it will give us new energy in our relationship, which is really good. You know what they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder.
I won’t miss the Sportcenter, Boxing or Man in the Wild shows that he constantly is watching. Although I will miss sharing a bed with him, it will be nice to have the whole bed to myself. I hope that we can buy a bigger bed upon his return.
So, I will be sad when he leaves, but it will be good because I will be able to do what I want, when I want, and how I want for two whole months. Like if I want to go down to Chicago for the night, i can just go, no need to invite him or even ask him if it’s cool that I go (of course he would say go go, but I would still need to ask, what if he has something romantic planned!).
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I’m getting that itch to get on the move. I have decided Chicago would satisfy me right now.
Last year at this time we were living it up in Auckland. It’s not a huge city but it fulfilled my city craving. I got to ride the bus to work, stroll the high street browsing everything from shoes to the pharmacy. Walking to the grocery store.
Fast forward to this past weekend…we were doing all the same things. It was just what I needed. My taste of the city.
Three weeks ago I submitted a proposal to move my job down to Chicago for a few days a week. Because we have housing up here in Lake Geneva, we could put our money into a nice condo in the city and enjoy a little bit of city living. And when we get sick of it, we hop on the train and make our way back to the lake.
It’s all I really want in my life, just to move to the city, be near friends, and walk, walk, walk everywhere I go. We even have a condo picked out, dammit. So, dear Board of Directors, please make a decision on my future, all I want is to work in Chicago and have a life beyond Lake Geneva.
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Yesterday, as I drove the dreaded hour to Madison, I was listening to NPR and a discussion about Starbucks. How bad it is, how is it taking over every street corner.
And yes, I agree. If there is any other coffee shop in the area that I am going, I will go to the competition. I am not a fan of Starbucks. I went through a phase in New Zealand where I thought the only way to get through the morning was to have a Caramel Light Frappacino. But my stomach and thighs are still suffering from that craze.
There was one time that I was so excited to see a Starbucks I almost peed my pants. This past March on my way to India, I had a stop-over in Bangkok for 36 hours. I had to check out of my hotel and had about 6 hours to kill. I made a huge lists of everything that I was going to do to occupy my time including visiting one temple, getting a massage, hitting up some shopping on Khao San Road and ending with a delicious Pad Thai at my favorite restaurant.
All was fine, I got on the SkyTrain and headed downtown, vaguely remembering the area from previous visits. Got off the train and walked for about 15 minutes. Remembered how f’ing hot it was in Bangkok and I was close to death. I saw a Starbucks in the distance and decided that it would have to provide me with a few moments of air conditioning and a cold beverage. And I wasn’t up for drinking something out of a plastic bag like the Thai like to do.
One other problem…I don’t read or speak Thai and the translations on the board were not correct. I ended up ordering a cream frappacino which as just that, like a milk slushie with caramel. It was disgusting but I had never been so glad to see a Starbucks.
And in case you are wondering, I ended up spending about five hours strolling around an new air-conditioned modern mall in the center of Bangkok. Very uncultured of me, but the heat was unbearable. I did manage to get a two-hour massage though!
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