I'm back

Okay, so I realize it's been a month since I posted. I don't think anyone noticed, however.

So this morning as I was getting ready for work, H2B and I found ourselves in a small political discussion and he asked if I followed any local politics (MD and/or Baltimore). I scoffed at this question with an emphatic and resounding "NO." Why would I? I thought to myself. However in the hour or so that has passed since we had this conversation, I realized that I probably should start paying more attention since I suppose this is my town. I don't really consider it my town, even though I've been living within Baltimore city limits for almost two years and in the state of Maryland for 3 years. I don't even know who are governor is, so I have a lot of catching up to do...

I think that will all have to wait until after the wedding though, because it's 26 days away, can you believe it?!?!?

What's a-goin' on?

I know all of my millions of readers are on the edge of your seats wondering what's been going on with me, H2B and our dear Layla. So here's an update:

Layla has officially been "diagnosed" by her vet and her trainer as having severe separation anxiety. Basically, this means that our calm, lazy, well-tempered girl has a panic attack whenever left alone. This leads to destructive behavior in her attempt to find us. Our carpet may never recover. She is on some meds and we are working with her veerrrry sloowwwllly on being left alone for short periods of time (we're up to 5 to ten minutes). Thank goodness H2B is here to give her the company she needs or the apartment would probably no longer be standing. She's eating her food now, praise the lord. It has taken us awhile to get the right combo on kibble and wet food so that she'll actually eat it, and for her to be anxiety-free enough to eat. She loves the pig ears and her bones, so we'll put some weight on her in no time!

H2B is settling in nicely as well. The military movers delivered his things a week ago and he is already unpacked and our households have been officially consolidated. He is spending his days doing some much deserved relaxing, long walks with Layla, laundry, cooking, and cleaning. It's like heaven. I come home to a spotless house, a happy dog, and an H2B with dinner to greet me!

My own road has been a little bumpy during this transitional period. Not only are there so many (good) changes going on, but I am in the middle of a small medical scare. No need to bore you with the details, but I spend the day on Monday getting various tests done. Not exactly my favorite way to spend a vacation day from work. The worst part is that apparently stress can make this type of thing worse, so I need to relax. Can you see the vicious cycle forming? More details on that as things progress. Nothing life threatening, just a minor complication that can be easily fixed. More details on that as things progress.

Oh yeah, and there's wedding planning going on. Sorta. We got distracted...

Goodbye Army!

It's official! H2B is out of the Army and officially lives in Baltimore with me! Hooray! His movers should arrive with the rest of his stuff sometime next week, so nice that the Army pays for your move.

Life is good, Layla is adjusting to her new home, as is Chuck. Such a happy day!

Darlin' Won't You Ease My Worried Mind

Laaaaaaaylaaaa has found her forever home! (H2B loves Eric Clapton, so we are keeping her name. Layla is four years old (we think she may actually be a little older) and is VERY well behaved. She came to us pre-house trained, a definite plus and knows a few commands. She's very good at "Sit" and listens when you say "Layla no." She's okay with "Stay" and "Come." So far she hasn't chewed on anything that isn't hers and the biggest problem we have is keeping her off the bed. But once we tell her to stay on the floor and in her own bed, she stays there.

We picked Layla up from the rescue kennel on Saturday morning and oh what a great weekend it was! I forgot how a dog fills up a home! Sadly, however, Layla went to North Carolina with H2B. She has some abandonment issues (we are the second people to rescue her) and since H2B only has to work for one hour a day until he gets out of the Army on the 10th, it's better for her to be there with him. She is finally eating her food after several days of getting used to her new family and I am so relieved! I just hope she doesn't end up loving H2B more than me after this two week honeymoon period!

I'm headed down there tomorrow to visit for a weekend of Layla fun and then in just 8 days, H2B and Layla will be moving to Baltimore for good!




Layla on H2B's bed in North Carolina




Catching up on the sleep she missed in the kennel. Six whole weeks there were very stressful for her.



Layla and her new daddy, before she understood that she's allowed on the couch.



Layla and her new mommy relaxing on the couch, it didn't take her long to make herself at home.

Big Step!

Well, H2B and I have decided to become pet parents. The discussion was jumpstarted by a friend of his who has three dogs and only wants to have one dog. We contemplated taking one, but unfortunately they are all of a breed that could potentially not be so friendly to "people puppies" (babies) which will likely be joining our family at some point while we have this dog.

H2B and I were at Bed, Bath, and Beyond spending a bridal shower gift card and after having lunch, we decided to cross the parking lot to roam around PetSmart to get an idea of various doggy costs (food, crate, bed, toys, treats, etc). Well, there was a doggy rescue organization there, trying to find pet parents for some of their rescue dogs. Of course H2B and I fell in love with the first one we saw and have applied to become her parents. Things are moving quickly, our three references have been called and we're trying to schedule our home visit. Hopefully we will be approved and can rescue her from the kennel soon. I swear, any ol' anybody can have a baby, but adopting a dog? That's a much more rigorous process!

Stay tuned for the results of our adoption application!

March is so much better than February

Wow, who knew there were such crazy trends as bad months??

Here's what's goin' on so far:

1) I had a great vacay, which you already read about
2) Last Saturday, I found my iPod in a ziplock bag on the hood of my car. Yup, some nice citizen actually returned it to me. I'm still wrapping my head around that one.
3) H2B is getting out of the Army early. Not as early as January, but 17 whole days sooner than his contract. 23 days and counting...
4) Since H2B will no longer be in North Carolina, I just bought my LAST place ticket into RDU. A one way ticket since we'll be driving home together. Our first really long road trip, I hope it goes well!
5) The weather might not be as nice as I'd like, but I haven't turned the heat on in our apartment for about 3 weeks now. I can't wait to rejoice in my gas/electric bill.

back from vacation

So I just returned from the best trip home I've had in a long time. For real. I flew out Wednesday morning and returned Sunday night. The perfect amount of time. One day less and it would have felt too short, one day more and it would have felt too long. My mom and I had a great time and hit the perfect balance of wedding productivity and tv watching laziness. The weather was perfect, with the exception of a little rain on Wednesday afternoon.

I got a ton of sleep, the really good kind of sleep that comes when you know you don't have to appreciate it because you have many nights in a row of not having to go to work the next day. I read a ton too, I don't remember the last time I read for the entire flights (cuz there are multiple flights when you're headed to Central California).

But there was a catch. In order to maximize my time at home, my flight didn't leave until 2:45pm and I didn't land in Baltimore until after midnight. Adding in shuttle time to the car and drive time to my apartment, it was a long day and morning came really fast. I now have this bizarre feeling of being very well-rested, but still dragging in the morning. Strange.

Overall though, a great vacation! Now, to get H2B safely out of the field and out of the Army! Only 49 days to go!

Aaah Weekend!!!

What a great weekend! H2B was in town since he had Friday AND Monday off for MLK day. He met me and some friends and coworkers at our usual Happy Hour spot at 5 and we all had a really great time. Happy hour went into over time, we didn't get home until about 9:30 or 10.

Saturday was a marathon. For someone who rarely likes to leave the house for extended periods of time on a weekend day (I mean really, if I need to go to Target and the grocery store, I break it up and do one per day), I'm amazed at myself for having this much stamina. So here was our Saturday:

Event #1: Crate & Barrel for our first wedding registry experience. Super overwhelming to pick wine glasses from an entire wall of them! But we had a good time and didn't disagree on much. Dishes, silverware, cookware, etc! The kitchen is really H2B's domain, so I deferred to his preference most of the time.

Event #2: Lunch (and a beer) at Buffalo Wild Wings. A nice break to clear our heads before Event #3

Event #3: Macy's for wedding registry part two. This time I was running the show, sheets and towels are some of my favorite things and The Hotel Collection is just so yum!

After that we went home for a short rest before

Event #4: Drinks with some friends at a bar near home. Super fun but we had to cut it short so we wouldn't be late for...

Event #5: Dinner with other friends at a Baltimore fav, The Brewer's Art. The food was excellent, as was the beer. And the wine. And the company!

Sunday, H2B and I stayed close to home and made soup for lunch and a yummy yummy casserole for dinner. Finally some relaxation!

Monday, H2B left super early to beat the inauguration craziness of DC. Since it snowed all day, I spent the day in bed. I read a little, I watched a little TV, and I took a couple of naps. I also did some online wedding registry management. An altogether great weekend! Now I am back at work refreshed and ready to get stuff done!

Home is Where the Heart is

But what is you have trouble figuring out exactly where that is?

H2B and I spent a week in California, which was great. But as we boarded our plane yesterday to return to Baltimore, I had this feeling that I was going home. This isn't an unusual feeling; I've had it ever since I returned to college after that first Fall Break. A big part of me, though, felt like I was leaving home at the same time.

It's a strange feeling to feel like you have two homes. On the one hand, no matter where you are, you're always home. But on the other, you always miss home because you're never there. There's a sense of never really belonging anywhere and a constant feeling that I'm always waiting. In Baltimore I'm waiting until the next time I take time off from work to "go home" and when I'm in California, although I love being there, I still look forward to "going home" to get back to my life.

I really do love the life I've made for myself here. I have a great apartment, I love my job, and I have made some good friends. I simultaneously can't imagine ever leaving and look forward to a time when H2B and I decide to make a change.

I suppose this is better than a constant longing to be someplace else, doing other things. It's still pretty weird though...

December Already

"Time flies when you're having fun." Isn't that what they always say? Well, while I don't characterize a lot of my time as being spent "having fun," I certainly have been enjoying myself the past year or so.

Once H2B got home from Iraq last November, I've focused my attention on waiting for the next weekend together. It helps that I love my job and don't spend the day drumming my fingers and watching the clock. So time has really flown. So much so that about a month ago it dawned on me that H2B will be getting out of the army in January! A mere three months away (from the time I had this revelation)! Hooray!

In preparation for this joyous event, we stopped buying plane tickets (because when plans get canceled on a moment's notice, we wouldn't have time to use the credits), he started moving some of his things up to Baltimore, and getting registered for school (to finish his nursing degree). Life was, in general, just a little more cheerful.

And then two weeks ago, the Army informed us that they would not, in fact, be letting H2B out of his contract 90 early as they had previously promised. No, now we would have to wait until April 27. Granted, an additional 3 months isn't that long to wait. But it definitely feels like forever when you go from counting down 59 days to 149.

I am trying to stay positive and remember, as H2B keeps reminding me, that in 20 years it won't matter if he got out of the Army in January or April. But it's still a big fat bummer and I still have to spend countless more hours in airports, on planes, and waiting waiting waiting.

At least time is flying...

Sleepless Nights

I have always been a troubled sleep; my mom says that even as a baby I had trouble "letting go of my day." The past couple of nights have been especially bad though. So yesterday when I left work, I set out to do everything I could to ensure I got some good sleep before H2B arrives tonight for a three day weekend (for him, I still have to work tomorrow).

I went to the gym, cardio-ed for about 20 minutes and did 20 more minutes of weights. Traffic was not so relaxing in the rain, but I had some good tunes so that was fine. When I got home I had some ice cream (Ben & Jerry's Brownie Batter, I highly recommend it), and then took a 30 minute bubble bath in my jacuzzi tub with a glass of merlot. By 9, I was relaxed and clean. But still, I could not sleep. What is wrong with my brain!!??!?!?

Roommates

A co-worker/friend of mine owns her own home and has had a roommate renting a room for the past three and a half years. As most roommate experiences go, however, things are no longer working out. We’ve been hearing the amusing details for quite some time now and at lunch today, my friend announced that she is kicking the roommate out. Finally! So the super fun group with whom I had half-priced burgers for lunch spent the hour sharing funny roommate stories. I am sharing some of the best with you, my faithful readers:

• One guy moved in without notifying his roommates that he had two huge iguanas. Not a big deal? Yeah, except the roommate discovered this when she opened her door in the morning to find one of them in the hallway. Yup, Huge Iguana One and Huge Iguana Two were litter box trained and roamed the house. Creepy!

• One home-owner’s roommate refused to admit that there was a problem with his toilet and, apparently unable to fix it any other way, scratched up the porcelain in the bowl with a coat hanger.

• Another home-owner found that he was always low on spoons. He dismissed these thoughts, figuring his roommate was a slob and not bringing things back to the kitchen from her room. She then moved out, at which point he counted his spoons. His set of 24 was down to 6. He still doesn’t know what she did with all the spoons.

• One person had a vegetarian roommate who just assumed that various vegetarian foods including peanut butter, hummus, and tofu must belong to him and ate them, even if he hadn’t been grocery shopping in weeks and so clearly had not purchased these items. And it’s not like carnivores eat the occasional PB&J or anything.

• A crazy roommate who liked to passive aggressively test her roommates considerate-ness left leftover sushi on the kitchen counter for three days waiting to see if they would throw it away. Gross.

• A drama queen roommate had crazy screaming fights with her boyfriend ("All my friends are married and having babies. I don’t see any babies, Max! Do you see any babies?!?!”) in common living space, leaving her roomie no escape route. Helpful hint: when yelling at your boyfriend, be courteous and time it so your roommate/landlord is not at home.

Some of these stories are my own. I have countless more horror stories and just as many positive tales of late night gossip and eating cool whip straight from the tub. I am, however, happy to have been living alone for over a year and just as happy that the next roommate I have will be H2B

We have set a date!!

At last I have an answer when people ask when I'm getting married! Hooray! July 11, 2009!

Most people who know me well (and some who don't) know that on most days (we're talking 99 out of 100) I get a 44 oz. fountain diet coke, also known as a Super Big Gulp or SBG. Thus, H2B and I felt it was important that our anniversary be 7-11. We are so glad that our one stop shop venue (ceremony and reception) was available on this special day!

I have decided on a dress and once I get back to Baltimore (I'm visiting my mom in California at the moment) I have an appointment to get measured and order it!

On to flowers, invitations, and cake! Oh my!

A non-linear process for a linear thinker

Last weekend, H2B and I toured our first possible wedding venue. Granted, it's the one and only place we've seen so far, but it's pretty awesome. The cost is not prohibitively high, and seems almost reasonable, and the best part is this: they do everything for you but the flowers, cake and music. YES! Fewer logistics for me to deal with! I'm also getting ready to fly to California to visit my mom and order my dress.

So a picture of my wedding, oops, OUR wedding, has begun to form in my head. Great! I was starting to feel like a defective bride! So for the past few days, instead of focusing my undivided attention on watching the many many hours of shows that are recorded in my TiVo, I've been googling like crazy!

Yup, CRAZY. I am a linear thinker so my first instinct is to take on one thing at a time. I'm learning, however, that this way of thinking is not compatible with the wedding planning process. My brain does not know what to do with this. In the span of one hour last night, with a glass of wine at my side, I googled the following (and sent H2B many many links for his opinions): wedding hair, honeymoon locations, wedding cakes, invitations, and area rugs. Okay, so that last one actually falls in the home decorating category, but you can see my point.

All of these ideas are great, but guess what? We can't do anything until we find and book a place. I am so anxious to do that because I feel like once a date is set, the next logical thing will magically make itself known to me. Plus the added bonus of having an actual answer when people ask when the wedding is!

I'm sure my fabulous Excel skills will help me keep track of what has been done and what still needs to be done. It's a shame that project management of this magnitude is not an appropriate thing to put on a resume!

I Moved!!

Yay! The move that I’ve been waiting for since H2B and I signed the lease in JUNE finally happened over the long weekend! Now that it’s over, I can tell you that it’s done, all my belongings are in tact and within the four walls of my new swanky apartment. However, the road getting there was so full of bumps and potholes, I prefer to call it an obstacle course.

As I may have mentioned previously, my new apartment building is indeed new. It was just built. When H2B and I first toured it, the interior walls weren't even up yet, just the framing so we could see (sort of) the size and shape of the rooms. Our fingers were tightly crossed that we would be able to move Saturday or Sunday of Labor Day weekend, instead of having to wait till Monday of this rare three-day weekend. After going back and forth a million times with the managers, we finally convinced them to let us in on Sunday.

Stubborn H2B did not feel that the cost of hiring movers for something we could do ourselves was not money well spent. I was not able to change his mind on this, but he did convince his army friend, Frank, to come up and help out. I was a little nervous about this, no offense Frank, because I've had professional movers several times in the past and they are great. Moving yourself just blows. So mid-week last week, H2B calls me and says Frank can't come. I paniced and made the executive decision that professioal movers were now not only preferrable, but necessary. I found some who were available on this very popular moving weekend, 3 movers for 3 hours for only $306. Not bad at ALL! A half hour later, H2B calls back saying Frank now CAN come. I kept the movers, but welcomed Frank to come up and enjoy the wonders of Baltimore.

Sunday morning, at 9am, the three of us were hanging out on my front steps waiting. Around 9:30, H2B asks if we should call the movers to see where they are. Trying to be very laid back and relaxed (totally uncharacteristically), I tell him movers are always late and not to worry. 9:45 rolls around. No movers. I call the company, they are worried because this crew is supposedly very reliable. Yeah, they were in a horrible car accident and at a local hospital, wondering if their driver was going to make it or not. Of course I felt horrible for them, but was also thinking "well now what am I going to do?" This most excellent moving company got me a replacement crew by noon! Amazing! I highly recommend them, if you're moving soon, check out movers4hire.com

So my new apartment is all set. At least at first glace. All boxes and miscellaneous furniture is in the spare bedroom, with the door shut. I foresee it staying that way until H2B returns to town. He is the nester of the two of us. I'm not one to put stuff up on the walls or unpack boxes full of crap that I should probably throw away when I could be on the couch watching a Law & Order SVU marathon or trashy movies on Lifetime.

Every other Friday-ish

Today is Friday (at long last!) and I have a seat on my usual flight to North Carolina (did I mention my Husband-to-be lives there for the time being?). I take the same early evening flight at least once a month, sometimes more often, averaging every other week, I’d say. Not only have I developed a keen sense of what time to leave work to quickly drop by home to pick up the mail and grab whatever it is that I forgot to pack Thursday night/Friday morning, but I’m a frequent enough flyer that there’s a group of business travelers who now recognize me. More on that in another post.

Preparing to go to the airport takes almost 24 hours. Of course there’s the customary online check-in precisely 23 hours and 59 minutes before the flight time, as most Southwest passengers now have done to a science, I’m sure. This week, I’m A54 (I was about 20 minutes late, a little out of practice since it’s been about a month since my last trip). Throughout the day at work, I check the weather. Baltimore, of course, is the first zip code I check, hourly forecast. Today, we have “isolated thunderstorms” all afternoon and into the night. Not as bad as “scattered thunderstorms,” so far I predict a delay of 30 minutes (I should add that this flight is almost never on time, when it is, I do a happy dance in my head). Next, I check the zip code of the NC airport. Hmm, depending on how long we’re delayed in Baltimore, could be isolated or scattered thunderstorms. I shift my prediction to an hour delay. Just for my own information, I check the radar map for NC, because H2B lives over an hour away from the airport, so I want to see how the weather might affect the length of our drive. This step is least important, since I don’t much care once we’re together.

Now, the less seasoned traveler might stop here. I, however, next checked the weather for the airport in New York where my flight will originate later this afternoon. Ouch, scattered thunderstorms there too. Major bummer. I should add that part of the reason I schedule myself on this particular flight, requiring that I leave work early and race against the clock to park and get through security with just enough time to line up with my boarding group, is that Baltimore is only the second stop for this flight. The later flight originates in California and Baltimore is its fifth stop. Much smaller chance for a delay for me, thank you.

Looks like tonight I’ll be spending some extra time with my friend Al. More on Al later...