Free cupcake

It's official! I'm 22!

didn't I say that already!? yeah, probably :)

Today we took Liz to the Marshall County Fair--an unforgettable event which ALWAYS coincides with my birthday. It was raining, but still Liz got all dolled up in requisite jeans and eyeliner to go check it out with her friend Sasha. Man, I was never so well-put together at her age, and I still got a boyfriend. . .I fear for her and my parents soon.

ANYWAY! Sometimes I wish that I could bring my friends from college back home with me to Marshall County to at least see the fair. It's a pagentry of what SOME would call white trash, but that's really not very kind. Nor respectful. In all honesty, I love the people around here, most of the time. They are kind and honest. Easy to get along with. Seems like the entire county comes to the fair at some point or another, and you see alot of interesting people. My favorite one was a little farmer girl with a boyish haircut and a soda, just walking around the fair, through the sawdust and the asphalt and the mud, with no shoes on. No problem.

Mom and I ate in the main building--we bought sauce dogs from the church group that was working the kitchen. And fries. . . . delicious, non-healthy stuff. And for dessert we got home-baked chocolate chip cookies, and when mom mentioned it was my birthday, they insisted I take a muffin. Mom tried to pay them for it, but they simply insisted. The ladies were really nice, and one said that in the past she would have sung happy birthday for me, but after her tumor surgery in her neck, she doesn't sing well anymore.

"better than not being able to talk at all" she said, with a shrug and a smile.

It was a delicious cupcake--moist with rich chocolate frosting and those little candy sprinkles. I was very thankful, and wish those ladies the best.

Don and Dad are supposed to come back on Friday for the weekend, so then we'll decorate my cake and have a little more birthdayish festivities. But I'm already getting used to the fact that after 21, birthdays just naturally become less festive. And that's ok!

A big Fedex truck rumbled down our driveway today, and delivered a pot of miniature roses--sent by the-sweetest-and-most-thoughtful-fiancee-Dave. They are so lovely, and I got to be all proud of getting something in front of mom and Liz (I think they were jealous!).

This weekend should also be the Oglebay Heritage Festival, where Dad's band is playing. Also Don and I want to go see 28 days later. I need more zombies in one summer.

Happy birthday to mee!

It's July 31st, and so now I am officially 22. Of course, it's not really that exciting at all, especially in comparison with the 21st birthday. Oh well!

In preperation for my big move to Madison (probably on August 10th), I am trying to get everyone my new e-mail address, but I wanted to post it here in a way that should deter webcrawling programs from stealing it for spam.

So, my new e-mail address will be at wisc.edu, and my username is agpollack. So it will be, like, USERNAME@wisc.edu, only use "agpollack" for the username part. You are all brilliant, wonderful people, so I think you'll get what I'm saying. If not, or if you have any other questions, just e-mail me at my hiram.edu account (pollackag).

The Tail of Prince Lee

Whooooo-boy, alot has happened since last I typed.

First off, I've been driving the family around in my Honda for the last week or so, and it's been generally great fun. I'm starting to accept that on a daily basis it isn't so horrible to almost have cars crash into you. I have had to accept that even if I obey every traffic law imaginable, there are stupid people out there who make things less safe.

The car drives really well, the speakers are gooood, and on a flat stretch of road the car just zooms happily at 75. For whatever reason, this car goes fast without you knowing it. Unless it's on a hill, where it shows its weakness. Sure, you can floor the gas, but the car will mainly make angry revving sounds--which I don't like but mom seems to ignore (which drives me crazy). It parks ridiculously well, being so small, and it turns like those crazy little cars on the little kid rollercoasters (read: it turns well and fast).

The week has been crazy, of course. We've had bad insurance guys that never showed to inspect our property. We're also expecting a change in tenants at one of the properties, and actually an old pal of mine from Junior high may be renting the place.

Perhaps the biggest news is our newest arrival to the Pollack family: a stray cat that we rescued from the parkinglot of Butch's Corner Store earlier in the week. Liz had asked to go there to get some food, so I drove. When we got there we found that cat, scared, and all skin and bones, and running desperately around trying to get inside the store or rub around Liz's ankles. So we brought the cat home, and though mom and dad were a little perturbed, they told us we'd done the right thing.

Very quickly, we were all endeared to this quiet, slow moving little black and white cat with a fluffy black tail and spots on its face. Don and I joked that it could be something out of a Stephen King story, where the cat was actually from hell and was casting a spell on us.

Yeah, we need hobbies.

Mom felt that the cat told her in a dream that its name was Princess Leia. That stuck for a couple days, until today when we took the cat to the vet and it turns out it should really be "Prince Lee"

so that's what we're calling him for now. He drinks out of the toilet, is taking pain medication for a hurt hip, is about 1 year old, and without disease. He sleeps on mom's head or my head during the night. Mocha, the puppy, is extremely jealous.

Blargh.

That is all.

A legitimately coool day

The weather may be yucky, and flooding most of my state. Mom's insurance agent for the property may be a royal jerko. I may have no parking space in the fall at UW, and the management company may have lost my lease.

But I do have my car. It's sitting in the driveway right now! It's still there!

I had to sign alot of papers! And now I have to figure out all the lights and doodadds. . . I have keyless entry and a panic button! My CD player works beautifully. I am a happy chica :)

And now I can pass out, happy in this fact

At 10AM this morning, mom knocked on my door, and asked me what I wanted to do today. We had dad home till 4PM--when we had to return him to Morgantown. I hadn't slept well. Had woken up in the early morning--when it was still dark and the house is still creepy and empty. So I was still dazed when mom woke me up. But I heard myself speak this one line:


"I want to go get my car"

And then I collapsed back in to bed.

You see, Monday started out pretty horrible. I slept in, and when I did wake up mom was bustling around the house and when she saw me, she smiled and said "Ok honey! today's your day!" and walked away. I was bewildered. Yes, it was supposed to be my day for car-shopping, but I didn't know what the parents wanted me to do, or frankly at all what I SHOULD do for this, my day.

After crying for about 3 minutes, I got to the phone and called Ohio Valley Honda. We had driven past them on the way to Steubenville, and mom's friend Debbie had bought her honda there, and was pleased. So I called, they were super friendly, and before I knew it I had seen many, many hondas. But one stood out in my head.

It was a little silver 1999 Civic, with high mileage. It had a CD player and power locks, but no power windows--this was the perfect configuration of power options for me, because I could give a shit about power windows, but I really was hoping for a CD player. They had just replaced the timing belt and the water pump--which dad informed me were the two typical things to go in a honda. It was in lovely condition (only a little scratch on the left rear bumper) and MOST importantly, was around 7,000 dollars--instead of 10,000 like the other hondas I'd been shown.

It just. . .endeared me somehow, but I didn't want to make a decision at the lot, so we went home. Of course, over the course of the evening and night, I just kindof clicked into the decision. I liked the car, and how the civics handled, and I could pay off the car in 4 years instead of 5.

So there I was speaking it without evening thinking about it on Tuesday morning. Dad wisely brought up the fact that I hadn't test-driven the car yet, and so I called up the guys and arranged a test drive. We hopped in the lil' car and zoomed around the interstate for a bit. I was really suprised to discover the brakes and accelleration on this car were much better than the one at Straub Honda's (the place with the scheistery guy). Everything was powerful, smooth, but still in my control. Dad tested the radio and the windshield wipers (without prior notice, while I was driving) and everything seemed to meet with his approval as well--although I thought the sales guy in the seat behind me had started speaking tongues, when in fact it was just 105.5 KISS FM.

The one problem we found was a small, but noticable "ding" in the windshield. Also the sales price on the car was much higher than what we had been offered yesterday. That sour, twisty feeling was growing in my stomach. I had been all set for this car, and now there were going to be problems.

Soooo, we went inside, sat down at the table, and brought up both issues. Turns out, no worries mate. The manager said if we were interested in the car he'd replace the windshield at no cost to us. And the price he gave us (the lower one) was the price he was offering us. The listed price was prior to our negotiation.

So baby, I signed the freaking papers, and once the windshield is replaced (likely before wednesday afternoon) I can drive my little baby home. And buy it air fresheners and make it mix CD's. And zoom all over creation with it. And this is what it looks like! :



Ok, so she's not ubersexxy or sleek or anything, but she really is endearing and lovely. A good, fun little car. I wanted to come up with a name for the car, but "the silver bullet" was too cliched for me. SO I'm thinking I'll go with "Lil' Klaive" in honor of my white wolf roots. I just can't shake the name. It may be geeky, but I care not.

It was a surreal day to be sure. Turns out July 22nd (the day I bought the car) may have been my real birthdate (according to mom, it was the day I was due to be born. . . but then I waited a week or so). So in a certain light I was crossing this milestone on my 22nd birthday.

Stay with me here. . . . How about this? My 22nd birthday on July 22? Also, my car is a '99, so it was born the year I graduated from highschool.

Ok, I 'm stretching the weirdness. The thing is, I just feel geniunely *good* about this car on a basic level. I'm taking it as a good thing, and trying to ignore the fact that the Chinese treat the number 2 as a bad number, meaning "death" in some sense. . .and I've got four 2's in a row. . . eeeek!!!

Weekend with the relativos

Well, I could go on complaining about how yucky, unmotivated, and all-around unstimulated by life I feel currently, but that would be pretty boring. Besides, it's past being theraputic to talk about it. I'm bored, and without independence.

Mom and dad had their big, approx. 35th highschool reunion this weekend. And I thought the fact that my 5th highschool reunion was coming up was a bit scary! So we went down to Clarksburgh to visit Uncle Dan and Aunt Ellen--the kids could hang out with them, while mom and dad impressed everyone with how fiiiiine they look past 50. They did look fantastic, and I'm hoping that when I'm their age, I look that good.

Aunt Ellen had broken her tibia, and wasn't allowed a walking cast--so we basically kept her entertained and hopefully off her feet as much as possible. The result? Many, many happy hours watching premium cable together. I now can brag that I've gotten to see "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" which is perhaps one of the nicest, funniest, and most helpful example of the makeover show.

"Oooh look! they put a living room where the crack den used to be!!!" (actual quote from the show)

First off, they don't just makeover the guy. They makeover his entire house. And cook dinner, and teach him how to cook it. They also teach him how to pick out clothes more tastefully, and how to better groom himself. I think it's safe to say that all should take caution not to think that all homosexuals act like these guys--but at least they aren't all the same Will & Grace Stereotype. OH enough trying to be PC. These guys are just plain clever and stylish, and they HELP this guy be more stylish--and feel better about himself--on his own.

Don was with us, so I got plenty of time to tease him and so we had good times. I barely get to see him anymore, and even less once I go to Madison, so I've gotta keep him in line while I can. We had picked up Liz at State 4-H camp, and I was so jealous of her for getting to go. I miss state camp. I feel kindof old these days, and it seems like one of those mystical places in the world that will always be summery and young in my mind.

One of things I really respect Aunt Ellen for is always asking lots of questions without seeming like small talk. She asks about my life like she cares. And basically what she got me to say is that I want the honda civic, and not the toyota corolla. I just feel more comfortable in the civic, and although it's noisier and rougher, I kindof like that.

So now we've got Dad back for the Monday--this means tomorrow is a car-shopping day. I've got some honda dealerships to call tomorrow, and maybe we'll find something reasonable. Mom says I'm getting a car tomorrow. This is encouraging, but I'm NOT getting my hopes up. These things just can't happen in a day.

but if it did, that would rule.

Wow, all I had to do was yell at blogger and now it publishes yesterday's entry?

Wow.

Ok, today was horrifically boring. Mom went to the pool with her friends, and then went to a dinner party with them. I spent the day with no car, and hardly anything edible. Yes I'm whining

the highpoint of my day was teaching the puppy to roll over. The low point was that my senile cat Snow almost got runover by our van, because for some reason she just stood in front of it. Thank goodness Mocha came down and scared her out of the way.

Going off tomorrow to visit Motown and my brother, but that's after we pick up Liz at state 4-H camp in Buchannon. And then after all that we're going to visit Uncle Dan and Aunt Ellen. That's my weekend!

Oh! actually, another high point of the day was finishing "The moon is a harsh mistress" --Still want to start a moon farm. And then I began reading "Christine" by Stephen King. I can't think of a more fitting book, since it's all about car lust and strainging against adult authority but also being afraid to grow up too much. So Mr. King, my brain is in your hands once again. . .

Ach! blogger! I will DESTROY YOU FOR YOUR SASSY NATURE!

Remember that little advice book?

You know, the one in all the Hallmark(tm) stores that was titled "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff" under which it added: "and it's ALL the small stuff.

Ok, so who can actually believe that craporama? It's better, I think, to just remember that the devil is in the details. And currently my life is all about details that I can't help but sweat.

I'm not all that happy, since I've spent most of my summer trying to get my life for August and beyond settled. Where am I going to live? What will I be able to afford? What kind of car will I have? What phone company? What classes? Where am I going to get the money for all this?

I know it's the typical ordeal everybody my age is going through, and I'm one of the lucky ones who doesn't have to find a job. . . But this has to be, hands down, the most frustrating and least-fun summer I can possibly ever remember. It's sortof hyperbole, because I have had good moments. But mostly it's been about me wanting to get stuff done so I don't have to worry about it, and then everything else not being conducive to that, and leaving me with just worrying.

AND, it so banal. . . .all the details of my life coming down monthly rates and credit ratings. I'm just a little disturbed at how old my life is getting. I've spent alot of my life trying to behave and be mature, and already I'm starting to think I've got alot of misspent youth. It's all so cliched, and I have no plans of helping the situation. Just saying it.

I'm not really depressed. Just feeling frustrated and unfulfilled, underneath it all. I'm sure I'll get excited once I actually get to living this life I've spent all summer planning. There are sure to be suprises. I just hope I can avoid feeling like this in the future. I guess that's all one CAN do.

Car Shopping. . . who knew?

Well, I got home on Sunday, and from then on it's been me and mom, and nobody else in the whole house. Liz is at State 4-H camp, Don is at summer session at WVU, and dad is also at WVU teaching for governor's institute.

So what have we been up to, we two little ladies?

Well, monday was epic. We:

#1 sent in a letter to get my remaining money out of my educational fund
#2 copied and mailed our signed lease agreement for the apartment in Madison
#3 bought mom cute shoes for her highschool reunion this weekend
#4 began the epic quest for a car!!

So, being that my first quest into buying cars is epic for me, I've decided to detail it here.

On monday we went down to a guy that 3 of mom's friends had recommended. He runs a garage/gas station/used car lot, and is a mechanic. He was a nice guy, very calm and friendly without being fast-talky or shifty. He took one look at me and said he only had one car I might be interested in, but it was his car. He took us out back, and there stood perhaps the sexiest car I've seen in a while. It was a black 1999 Pontiac Grand Am GT. Loverrrlly. Yeah, I did like it. But he said it needed a look-over of the brakes, so I could come and test drive it on Tuesday.

We went back up and grabbed Grandpa Garvin, and headed down to check out a buick mom might be interested in at Welty's in Wheeling--a sprawling set of lots with more buick's, pontiac's, and the like. I ended up test driving a '01 Pontaic Sunfire. First test drive EVER, and it had to be in horrific downtown wheeling, where some streets are one-way, but not marked as such.

I survived, and was ok with the way the car handled. By this I mean I could drive it without feeling out of control like I do in the van. It was well within my price range, maybe only because Grandpa knows the owner of the dealership. . . but I wasn't very excited. The salesguy had been there for 30 years, and only shook hands with grandpa and rarely even looked at me.

Next day, we went down to Elm grove and I test drove the Grand AM GT. Again, a good ride and I could handle it, but I wasn't really impressed--and I hadn't been impressed by what I read about Pontiac's on the internet the night before. Sure, it's a sexxxxxy freaking car and I would be lookin' good in it. But breaking down ain't sexy.

Then we went off to find the Toyota Dealership, and succeeded. We had to hike up the stairs to get to any salespeople, and found a guy who was pretty low-key, but friendly once again. He said he had a 01 Corolla that might suit me, so mom and I waited inside while he pulled it around. I joked that it better be any color but white. . . .

so of course, what color was it? BLEND-IN-THE-SNOW white.
But I drove it anyway. We took it up windy, windy roads towards Oglebay Park, and I was quite pleased with how it handled them. Very smooth. Maybe too smooth. Not sure about that :). The dealer came with us (this was a first) and we chatted about where I was going and what my father did, blah blah, and I found out he was roomates in college with my church youth director. So it was pleasant. He's got a young family and has always lived in the Ohio Valley. When we got back, he also offered me a black version of the same corolla with lower mileage--but it would cost about 2,000 more. Blargh. Not making things any easier, since I think black may be my favorite color for cars. Just so damn classy.

Mom and I left and got delicious mozzarella, tomato, basil, and prosciutto ham pita's at the italian deli across the street. Delicious. Refreshing.

It was after dinner time, but with the city cooling off we decided to fit a trip to the local honda dealership, once again in dowtown Wheeling.

The dealer we met here was perhaps my favorite dealer, in the sense that he was the most entertaining. Mom says he's a "horse trader." I guess this means that he's mostly business, and shady business at that. He wasn't smooth: he flat out asked us if we were rich at one point. He was constantly complimenting us about how nice and enthusiastic we were. It was pretty obvious, but that made it fun and manageable.

I decided to test drive a 2000 Honda Civic. Definitely an interesting ride. The acceleration was jumpier, but wasn't very strong going uphill. The brake was more rigid. All and all, it was a rougher ride than the Corolla, but I kindof liked it. I felt comfortable driving this car--like I was more in touch with the road and in more control of the car. I wish it had better pick-up on hills, but I did test it on the most brutal highway-hill in the ohio valley. And how many hills and I gonna see in wisconsin?

The dealer wouldn't give us a set price on the Civic, and instead tried to show us some new Hyundai's, which we turned down because I really can't afford one. I told him so. He told us that he would look into their inventory tonight, to see if there were any more Honda's that would work for me. He says "I can put you in something much better than that DX." That would be nice, as the DX is the very base model and doesn't come with even a cassette deck.

So now, here I am, trying to digest it all. I don't think I want any pontiacs. I'd trust the Toyota guy before the Honda guy. But I'd have to talk the Toyota guy down on the black corolla, and mom doesn't like the amount of mileage that white car has and I can't see myself standing white for that long. . . blargh

The Cheat. You are evil and you are constanly
causing trouble. Strangely you never get
blamed for it and you're very popular, probably
cuz you're so gosh darn cute. Rules were meant
to be broken, right?


What HomeStarRunner Character are you? (pictures)
brought to you by Quizilla


Ok, ok, so I think maybe I answered the questions on the quiz dishonestly, so that I could get The Cheat.

But isn't cheating to become the cheat really what it takes to be THE CHEAT?

Amber loses her faith in movies

I watched "Ringu" yesterday--the original Japanese suspsense/horror flick that "The Ring" is based off of. I enjoyed The Ring. It was legitimately disturbing without any hacking or popping out of dark corners. I was under the impression that "Ringu", being the original movie, would be superior. I mean, whenever we Americans make our version of a foreign film, we tend to mess it up; maybe just so that someone can say "Oh, the original one was SOOO much better."

Well, I'm hear to tell you that, while certainly a good idea for a horror movie, and definitely more mood-driven than actual horror. . .don't waste your hard-earned money on "Ringu." It left me craving the American version, which although really spotty in the storyline, has EXCELLENT imagery that sticks with you when you try to close your eyes and go to sleep (and THAT is a good horror movie, imho).

I wanna be a pirate!

I don't know. . . I don't think I'm the only one out there who has been rather dissapointed with movies lately. In March, it seemed like there were alot of great movies on the way. A new Matrix installment and T3 both looked supremely promising. . . .

But I saw T3, and was happy to watch it, but left unsatisfied. The minute The Terminator said "Talk to the Hand" I felt myself die a little inside, as a lover of movies.

In the middle of all this business in my own life about becoming older and more adult, I was beginning to worry that part of getting older would be that movies would stop being so wonderous. I mean, I remember how I felt the first time I watched ALIENS or Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom. And you can't get that feeling back for the movie after you've deflowered it. I remember how I got sucked right into Jurassic Park to where I thought I could smell the triceratops dung, and I remember how unsastisfying Lost World was after that. . . it's depressing.

I thought, maybe I'm getting older and my imagination is going. . . until I saw "Pirates of the Carribean"

Quite frankly, this is the best fucking movie of the year 2003 (so far, as there's still another LOTR movie in the fall). Admittedly, I'm biased because I love all things pirate, and have ever since I rode the ride "pirates of the carribean" at Disney World. It's my favorite ride. If I close my eyes I can smell the damp air and hear the pirates singing now. . . It's locked in my memory.

The movie version is good for many various reasons, but the main reason is this: whoever worked on this film loved the genre and respected the audience enough to make a quality movie.

Now here's my top ten reasons why you should go see this movie:

10. Johnny Depp is totally edible. Ok, so if you're a guy that doesn't quite do it for you, same goes for maybe if he doesn't do it for ya. But on an acting level, I'm majorly impressed. Dave and I agree that he was able to be this totally strange and affected character--not act strange, BE strange. And he wears eyeliner.

9. Orlando Bloom can actually be something other than Legolas . . . although don't expect much more than good sword fighting from him.

8. The genius of creating a movie based on an amusement park ride just ripples me with pleasure. An actual, new idea. And they incorporate many famous scenes from the ride into the movie, but they do it SEAMLESSLY (without going "hey look! here's a scene from the ride!). And the nostalgic value is amazing.

7. Kudos to the creators of this movie for having sword fighting scenes that are full of swash-buckling without weird effects. As great as "Crouching Tiger. . ." was, afterwards everyone and their mother thought a complex, gravity-defying fight scene was required for it to be considered good action. The fights scenes in "pirates" are inventive but most of all BELIEVABLE.

6. The movie grabs the best of the pirates cliches, both funny and dramatic. Ports of call overrun by brawling pirates and cannons a firing!

5. The curse in the movie is a really good curse. Good as in, you wouldn't want to be cursed with it. But not a simple curse. That would've been lame.

4. The cursed pirates aren't just corpses trying to kill people--they are clever, personal, and you actually like them.

3. Nothing in this movie is stupid. There is only one possibly dumb one-liner, but its forgivable.

2. This movie will make you want to be a pirate. I'm so fucking sick of more recent movies that seem to have the sole purpose of being 'realistic' to the point of showing how brutal the life of a pirate is. I don't want to see a movie that makes me go "man, scurvy was lame, I don't think I want to be a pirate anymore." I want a movie that makes me crave the open sea!!!

1. Zombies who are also Pirates. . . what the heck more could you ask for!? Maybe if they were Ninjas I guess. .

The fastest-slowest week perhaps ever ever ever

Goodness, its amazing to think that, really, an entire week has gone by and I have only one entry to cover it. Maybe happiness is inversely related to frequency of blog entries. Eh.

So, in general, it's been a busy but not stressful for me week at the Dembinski Household. Sure, there were arguments and some tense moments about getting Dave's sister's wedding reception smoothed out and ready to roll. But it was best I didn't get involved. So I didn't. The week generally flowed in a predictable pattern: Dave would come downstairs and wake me up at 10AM. I'd have cereal and we'd chat and watch TV together a bit. Then at noon, we'd take him to work, and then either some adventure/errand would occur, or a quiet afternoon with long hours of cable TV. Either way, I spent alot of time with Dave's mother and two sisters. After I got less nervous, it was a very nice thing.

The highlights of the week were many. Dave and I escaped the famiy and drove out to the penninsula in search of the sunset . . . missed it somehow, but still got to be on a "date" of sorts. Walking in a parkinglot in Findlay, I ran into Barrie--I could hardly believe it, I mean, what are the odds? Sounds like everything is happy and good for her and Sam, and baby, that makes me so happy to hear it. On wednesday Dave and I took Dave's Dad to see Terminator 3 for his birthday. Ehhhh, what can I say about T3? Basically just what Adam said in his journal. It was good, but it lacked the James Cameron touch. I'd still recommend it for viewing, though. The last 30 minutes is worth it.

On thursday, Justin drove in from Meadeville and picked me up for a day of wandering around the mall--which was really just what the doctor ordered. I like hanging out with Justin because he is a wealth of knowledge and good times. With him I feel like I'm talking about exciting independent living things, plans for the future. That and he's one of the few people that tell me a long engagement is a good and smart thing. We looked at some suits for Justin, which helped because I want to learn more about shopping for Men's apparel so I can be of more use to Dave. We also both picked up video games--I am now the proud owner of Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams for the the X-box, and it's scaring the freaking crap out of me but I keep gleefully pushing the buttons.

Friday was the big reception. I got to wear my pretty little green and green paisely number I bought during my voyage into the Petites section of JCPenney's, and received good praise for it. The Sunset Inn looked beautiful, with our little butterfly favors and the clean, white table linens. It had thunderstormed that morning, but quit in time for the evening. When the guests first arrived, it was a little horrifying for me, since I dont' know anyone. . . at all. So many people introducing themselves and five seconds into the conversation I realize I've forgotten their names. And they ask when Dave and I are getting married, and it always sounds awkward when I say in a couple years or after graduation. I mean, to me it sounds smart, and that's all that matters, but I don't think it's what many people want to hear. I guess long engagements are rarer than I realized.

Anyway, things calmed down as Dave and I grabbed drinks and scurried outside. Luckily, we did have the excuse of being in love and therefore wanting to spend time being googley-eyed at one another. Or at least, that's what I told myself. We're allowed to run away, at least until everything calmed down. Once adjusted, we could eat dinner without getting up every two minutes to say hello and introduce and such. The reception was beautiful, and the DJ was charming. And Dave danced with me, which was the best part, for me. Don't ask me why, but dancing just turns me to emotional mush. I just get to look up at him and hold his hand and sway about. . . .and i am the happiest thing in all the universe. It's times like this where I just go "WOW I love this guy. Never was there anyone more handsome or kind or charming. This is the guy I want to be dancing with."

So yeah, I had a good time :)

Saturday we reunited with Justin, and ate greasy delicious food at Quaker Steak, and bought beer and rented movies and spent the evening chilling away. "Death to Smoochy" is a must for EVERYONE.

Sunday, well, was kindof mild and quiet. I woke up at 6AM thinking there was a snake in the room--one of those pesky hallucinations I get sometimes before I fully wake up. Ate half a donut and went to bed, only to wake up at noon. I was starting to get a bit bummed, because the weekend was over and although Friday had been lovely, I hadn't really spent much alone time with Dave. I mean, that's to be expected, since we're in a house that's occupied by an entire family plus visitors. So I tried to just shrug it off, but frankly, that makes me more upset usually. The inner pouting, bleh. I was about ready to despair, but then Dave and I watched Magnolia together, just the two of us, and now I feel better. Mucho better-o.