Spycow

As of 9:55pm (which is when I started writing this), Karen and I will be dancing to our last dance song at the wedding, almost exactly 6 hours after we’ll have started out ceremony. :D

Last weekend was the weekend we finalized almost all of the rest of the wedding stuff. We’ve decided on the menu, where on the grounds the ceremony will take place, all about the rehearsal dinner, the tent, and at least some of the cake decisions (since the apple cake was awesome). This is seriously shaping up to be one kickass occasion, and I can’t wait until it happens. Karen and I are really excited.

We met my parents up there so they could see the place. My mom was also really excited. It was funny seeing Mom and Karen getting all giddy about seeing the Inn. Mom managed to find two really good restaurants that also happened to have extensive (and I mean extensive) gluten-free menus. In the middle of New Hampshire… I don’t know how stuff like that happens.

Also, we brought Trillian in to the vet today for a checkup. The doctor said she looks really good and we’ll likely be able to take her off all medications in a little while. That, also, is really awesome. We have our cat back!

We brought Trilly to the vet today for a follow-up checkup, and it turns out that her feeding tube had been pulled out about 5 inches. So, a few things happened as a result of that. One, that explains why she was being really pissy this morning, running from Karen (who was trying to feed her). And two, it means the tube is out! So we have our cat mostly back to normal now… she’s eating, she’s social, and she’s jumping around. No running yet, but we figured that was because of the tube anyway, so that should come next.

The only problem now is that we have to figure out how to give her medicine without the tube. I will say that was way more convenient than trying to give her anything orally. Oh well, that’s a much better problem to have than one who won’t eat, so I’ll take it.

The venue is booked, the officiant is selected, the photographer is booked, the save-the-dates have been sent, the invitations have been ordered, the playlists have been sorted, the rings are on their way (and are currently in Tennessee!), and the latest is that Karen’s dress is now hanging in the spare room. There’s not much left to get done. I’m really excited.

There’s a much higher chance of you reading Karen’s blog, but I should mention here that Trillian has not been feeling well for the past two weeks. Over Memorial Day weekend, we had to bring her to the hospital because she wouldn’t eat anything and had gotten really thin. After all was said and done, she was diagnosed with hepatic lipidosis (essentially, “fatty liver”). For whatever reason (we’re still not sure) she stopped eating, which put her into a feedback loop which made her feel worse and eat less. She was a very yellow kitty when we brought her in.

They took her in and put her on an aggressive feeding schedule to make sure she got fed properly (through a feeding tube through her nose). After a few ups and downs in the hospital she eventually stabilized and was able to come home. Now she’s got a feeding tube straight into her neck, because we have to feed her ourselves (and the nose tube means she has to wear a cone, and that’s just not dignified). We’ve been force-feeding her some stinky combination of fish and chicken (at least that’s what it smells like) for a few days, with some medications mixed in, with the goal being that she’ll start eating on her own in a few weeks.

Well, as the title might suggest, she’s actually been eating quite a bit of food on her own the past day or so. Karen gave her half a can of some of the food we’re supposed to be blending to put in the tube and she eventually ate it all. We also gave her a can of Meow Mix wet food and she ate the whole thing in a day! She’s gained a pound and a half of weight back and the doctor said she looks less yellow.

I’m happy we have our kitty back and that she’s getting better.

I’ve had the occasion to have some quality time with babies recently (and some other youngsters as well, but who aren’t “babies” anymore). One is my nephew Nick (and his siblings Ben and Anna Grace) and Karen’s friend’s son Gabe. I should note here that in the past babies “weren’t my thing” and high on the list of “look but don’t touch”, partially because I didn’t want to accidentally break them (which, let’s face it, would be awkward—at best), but also because I didn’t want the responsibility. It has occurred to me that my thoughts on this subject are changing.

I bet this is part of the “getting older” and “biological clock” that I hear all the kids talking about nowadays, but now that Karen and I are starting a family (and you can be a family with just yourselves and your cat, so don’t read anything into this), I don’t find myself being afraid of being responsible for someone else’s life as much anymore. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, or maybe it’s because I have someone whom I know will always be there to help me (and who will need help from me, too). I think I’m just excited to share my life, and that’s spilling over into biological imperatives.

Don’t get me wrong, though, I don’t ever want to be the one changing diapers. ;)

Karen says: I has a boarding pass! I’m really coming home! Yay!

Hooray!

Yes, in case you’re wondering, we have been singing that to ourselves for a few weeks now. Even now that we’re back we (at least I) still are.

If, in the future, you get the opportunity to stay in an all-expenses-paid resort on the coast in Puerto Vallarta, then I say you should take that opportunity, because it’s a fine way to spend a few days. There’s good sun, good wind, good sea, good food, good drink, and all around good times, ok? I spent 4 days there, but Karen spent 8, but even so, the normal “I want to go home”’s that occur at the end of a normal vacation weren’t happening for either of us. Yet, the world is cruel and conspired well in advance to thwart our plans by setting up societies and economies and crap like that where you can’t just sit around all day. Which I suppose is good, because then this place would be pretty full.

I digress. The hotel (Sol Meliá) was awesome, although it had this weird Flintstones thing going on. The food was good, if a little repetitive, although it did mean that Karen didn’t have to worry about getting glutened most of the time. It’s a lot easier when almost everything is corn-based.

We also went out to downtown Pto. Vallarta and patronized some of the shops there. Around sunset, we saw a mother and calf humpback whale performing for the boats that were out in the water, which was awesome. It was a surprise to us that they would come so close to shore (I’d say about 500 yards out). We also saw about 4 dozen pretty spectacular sunsets, although we missed one as a result of being in the water snorkelling.

On our way home we had a layover in LA (which, clearly, is the shortest route between PVR and BOS) so we had dinner with Karen’s aunt and cousins. This, also, we a lot of fun, those kids are really cute. Then we headed back home, got in at 6:30am and hit the hay. It’s a really good thing we took yesterday off, too, or we’d have been really hurting at work.

But, yeah, if you can go, go. It’s awesome, and we had a friggin’ blast.

I’ve come across a severe love of corned beef as of late. I’m not sure why (aside from the fact that it’s just friggin’ awesome), especially considering how much I’ve avoided it prior. I mean, I’ve had the corned beef hash at the Gold Star Diner and it was ok (better than the canned crap), but it didn’t really fill me with joy.

Then Karen and I made corned beef ourselves, and oh God was it good. Since then I’ve been ordering it at the Boytnon nearly constantly and we’ve cooked it ourselves a few times. The important thing to note here is that as a result of making our own, we’ve always had leftovers. And, of course, that means making corned beef hash. Apparently I’m quite good at making it, according to Karen. That just makes me want to make it more.

On a separate note, March is coming up. Karen’s going to be out of the country for a large portion of that (and I will be, as well, but for a small portion, as I will be joining her in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a few days). She gets to go to Scotland over Easter during her business trip to Cambridge, which is friggin cool. I wish I could go with her, but I’m glad she’ll get to go even if I’m not there.

On another separate note, we’ve booked the photographer for the wedding. Her samples were really really nice, so we’re optimistic about it turning out well. I’m getting excited about this already.

Ahhhh… second day back at work after a nice long vacation. Feels good.

With the newly rented Grand Prix, Karen and I set out on a whirlwind tour of the northeast, from MA to CT to NJ, back to MA, and up to NY before finally finishing back home. We visited my family in Dudley, Karen’s family in CT, my brother’s family in NJ, Karen’s family in NJ, the cat back in MA, then Karen’s college friends in NY.

We each got and gave a bunch of great gifts, and what’s awesome is that my parents gave us a dishwasher! I finally got to meet the entirety of Karen’s family, which was also awesome and a little intimidating as there were 20ish of us all staying in the same house.

There was a ridiculous amount of snow falling on the 30th in Albany, but luckily it was light and fluffy so the car swept off easily enough. New Year’s Eve was fun. We got dressed up and drank champagne and played Rock Band, whose guitar broke after 4 days of ownership by Bill. He was not pleased. But it was fun anyway.

All told, things are looking up for this year. :)

Karen and I hit up DC last week. It was pretty darned cool. I’d say something about it being weird to see all that history in one place, but I live in Boston, so… I will say it was a lot different to how it gets treated ‘round these parts. The National Mall in particular. A (relatively) vast expanse of “nothing” in the middle of a city, simply for the exposition of monuments. Karen has a bunch of the pictures from walking around the Mall on her facebook account. I found it a little touching that we’d care enough to honor our founding fathers so much to clear out a whole crapload of space just to show it. I also found it very dismal that not a quarter mile away were the people primarily responsible for removing the freedoms that those Founding Fathers fought so hard to secure, but what do I know? I occasionally write a self-centered blog post, so therefore I’m importants!

That aside, the city itself was quite nice. I could see myself living there, although I may be skewed on the weather aspect considering it snowed while we were there. I have a feeling that doesn’t happen often. Meh, liked it just the same. We met up with Deb who moved down there a few months ago, which was cool. The food was really good, but a touch expensive. Though I’m not convinced that that wasn’t because we were just touristing… or maybe because we ate at the same 4 places all week. Hey, they were really freaking good, shut up. Greek/Lebanese tapas, Mexican tapas (we ate grasshoppers!), a steakhouse (with an extensive whiskey menu), and a “Grille” near the White House. It may have been repetitive, but it was good, damnit.

Karen went for a conference, so I worked on the days she did, and the other days we explored. I had a lot of fun, and considering that we didn’t see all of the Smithsonian museums, we’ll have to go back. Well, that, and we didn’t get into the Capitol or the Washington Monument either, but, you know, details.

Thanksgiving is a lovely time for relaxing and spending time with family. In this case, my future in-laws. Karen and I took our freshly rented car (more later) and went to CT and spent Thursday and Friday with her family. It was nice. Karen made two kinds of stuffing which were both awesome. We had all the normal fixin’s on the sizeable turkey. Quite a nice dinner, and we played some board games afterwards and have a nice relaxing evening.

Today we headed back and stopped at my parents’ place. By this time, though, Karen was feeling a bit under the weather so we sat around and chatted. This was also quite nice. I like spending time with our families. Now we’re sitting at home on the couch chillin’ with the kitty, who missed us greatly.

So, about the rental. Coming home from Worcester the previous Wednesday, we hit a deer on 495. Thankfully, Karen was alert enough to see it and warn me so I could slow down and not hit it at highway speeds. It’s getting appraised on Tuesday, so we’ll find out if we need to get another car or not.

In slightly related news, my brother got a Mini. I mention this because I was totally going to get a Mini for my next car and he completely stole my idea. Ah well.

... to get married in. And I say this because Karen and I have decided upon a time and place (which, really wasn’t all that hard a search. The first place we looked at was stunning). Set your calendars (and for the more forgetful among us, your watches) for October 4, 2008, probably nearing dusk. It’s going to be a friggin’ blast.

We’ve already secured the presence of a few people for the wedding party, and the rest will be coming into place shortly. What’s funny is that two of the people we picked have just recently started dating, which is odd in a wonderful kind of way. Well, not really odd since both Karen and I saw it coming a mile off. :)

We have to send out “Save the Date” cards now, since apparently invitations don’t get sent out nearly as far in advance as I thought. I could have sworn they get sent out like 6 months prior, but I’d never heard of “Save the Date” cards either until recently, so I guess that’s just something different they did when I was a kid? Maybe? And we need to get on to making the favors. The current idea is to etch video game characters and stuff onto wine glasses or champagne flutes. We spent a whole night at the Boynton a while back coming up with ideas. One my mother came up with is, instead of the glasses, we give bottles of real maple syrup in various grades. They both look good (according to Mom) and they’ll taste good (though I don’t care much for the “Real” stuff—I know, I know…).

God I’m excited about this now. :)

This coming month (October, that is), a lot of people are incrementing their age, myself included. Also included are Karen and about 500 people she knows. I’ll be turning 27, she’ll be turning 30. The problem is that when you write it out, it makes us sound like we’re on Old’s doorstep, but I know I certainly don’t feel old, and Karen doesn’t feel like she’s old either. So what’s the number? It’s crap, that’s what it is.

Plus, karaoke and Chinese food on Saturday. What better way to watch the number tick over (well, sorta… her party’s a few days before the birthday, but that’s just nitpicking)?

I had my teeth cleaned today. This, in itself is not interesting, but the conversation I had with the hygienist gave me a chance to reflect on what I have in my life, since I tend to only talk to my hygienist every 6 months or so. I’ve gotten engaged, my business is up to 11 people and doing well, my fiancee is working at a great company and just got a promotion. AND I have no cavities at all (though I have a chip on a molar they want to fix), which is apparently impressive for a 27 year old.

Life is good.