For Mom

Mom really wanted a nice picture of her daughter all dressed up from Victoria's wedding, and these are the only ones I have from my camera. The photographer got one of me and John, but I'm not sure if Vic's gotten all the pictures back yet. And yes, I was being silly down there on the right, but it's still a good picture.

I also realized that out of all those pictures from the big wedding post, not one really showed off Vic's dress-- which I think is absolutely gorgeous. So, I hope she forgives me for posting the one with the funny face, but it's the best one. All the other shots of her, some flowers or some guy's arm is blocking the front of her dress. Sheesh! Get out of the way of the dress people!

Victoria's Wedding

Yay! They finally did it! Victoria and Aaron made it official on December 27, 2008. Mazel Tov! (This picture of them with their license cracks me up; like they just got a diploma or something)

They had their wedding up in Pennsylvania at this really nice country club-- why PA? Well, as freak chance would have it, their extended families live within about an hour of each other. How weird is that? But Vic says that it makes it really convenient when they need to meet everybody at holidays! So John and I made this power drive to get Christmas in Lynchburg, Christmas in Va Beach, and then a wedding in Pennsylvania ... all within four days! whew!

BUBBLES!!

The Wedding Party: Best Man Tim, Maid of Honor Me, Bride, Groom, Bridesmaid Stephanie (Aaron's sister), flower girl Chloe (Aaron's niece), and Groomsman Sean (Vic's brother)

The not-so-glamorous side of being a bridesmaid: running around after a bride (who fidgets more than an ADHD two-year-old, may I say) trying to keep her train clean and lying flat.

The ceremony was on the old Mansion side of the country club, and the reception was in the Party Hall building. Sit-down dinner and dancing... and, MAN, was the food good! They could have just kept the appetizers coming, and I would have been happy. My favorite were the tiny spannicopitas (how on earth do you spell that word?!) but there were also crab cakes, crab/shrimp Rangoon pouch thingies, coconut shrimp, and sesame chicken skewers. Then came salad, and then the main course: fillet Mignon or sea bass. John and I signed up for one of each because at the time the invitations went out, it wasn't finalized what "beef" and "seafood" would be served. I felt like a heifer because I was the only one at our entire table to clean my plate. :( But the food was good!

The outcasts of Table 9, aka "Victoria's College friends who wouldn't enjoy themselves sitting with family members." We didn't mind so much except for the fact that we were on the VERY edge of the seating area out in social Siberia. On the plus side, we did get food first...

The reception was lots of fun. Besides seeing a good chunk of all the college friends who have scattered to the winds since graduation, it was just good times had by all. Vic and Aaron's first dance was the dance from the end of Dirty Dancing... no, not just using that "I've had the time of my life" song; they choreographed the actual dance from the movie! It was so cool! When the dj announced what they would be dancing to, I heckled them, "I want to see the lift!" Needless to say, Victoria stuck her tongue out at me, but the lift was a part of the dance. (You could hear her warn Aaron, "Don't put me into the ceiling!" just before it.)

Cutting the cake and the backside of the dress


For, verily, I ask thee, what is a wedding reception without the Chicken Dance? Yes, most of the dancing was done by the wedding party or the college kids, but darn it we had fun! (We also made sure to have the Electric Slide and the ChaCha Slide, too!)

And I might have made the bar make me a Toasted Almond. (Why do bartenders never know what goes in one? I always need to eh'splain it to thems.)

Happy Birthday to me!

Not that I am fishing for presents (really, I''m not) but I just had to share my birthday cake with you all. First off, though, I have to admit, I was doubting if I would get a cake this year, as I am the baker of the household. John cooks really well, but a main factor of our cohabitation is that he is the Chef and I am the Baker. Want a steak? Go to John. Want cookies or pie or bread? See me. So you can see how I was in doubt of getting a birthday cake that I would not have to make myself. (And frankly, making your own birthday cake is more depressing than not having one at all.)

So. We all went out to a REEEEEALLLLY nice dinner over in Richmond yesterday, and part of the nice-ness was asking if we were celebrating anything. Mom, and her irrational hatred of restraunts that sing for birthday parties, was about to say "NO!" ...though I reminded her that she can't lie when she is holding a big bag that says "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" across it (she was). And, they didn't do anything crazy during the meal, but when dessert was brought out, this is what I got:


And the swirlies were chocolate, caramel, and raspberry drizzle! yummy.... cake. I like cake.

PvP (Pet vs Pet)

Harvey can't get all the blog space, so here are some snapshots of the rest of the fuzzy herd that we have at the house.

Maile stole the kitty's jiggle-bell-on-a-spring toy. Though the kitty could care less about it; he's happy with a bit of paper from the trash can. See if I ever buy him a toy again! At least the puppy appreciates my efforts.


Grey Momma is the "alpha kitty" and she guards the couch from invasion of the puppies.

Differences between cats & dogs: deny the lap to the kitty and she pretends like you don't exist, like she never wanted the lap in the first place; deny the puppy the lap and she whines and begs for it until you kick her off the couch entirely.


The original "laptop" examines her new competition.


A rare moment when all species are getting along with fighting. Unfortunately, that requires that they take over the couch, leaving none for John and myself.

Kitty!

Did I already make very clear that my cat is weird? The family cat back home, Mr. Frank, was Siamese and worked very hard to maintain his dignity, even when he was falling off the back of the couch because he was chasing dust mites. You always knew that he meant to do that. But Harvey.... well, let's just say Harvey doesn't try to maintain that "cool cat" attitude. He's a bit of a dingbat. Mentally challenged? Fuzz-headed? What is the appropriate word? Let's just say that in the mornings, he cries from the living room because he has lost me... because I have gone upstairs and he can't find me!

In all fairness, he's got Feline HIV, and maybe that affects his mental state... or maybe he's a Lover, not a Thinker.

And so I present to you, a montage of my fluffy kitty:

He's got fluffy toes! How weird is that? Toe feelers! Just on the back feet, though. Makes it really funny when he lose traction on the tile floor because of the fluff.


This was his favorite spot for a while. Overlooking the stairway... I don't know why.


I got a new laptop bag... and he got my old one.


Did I mention he steals bags?


Weird up-side down kitty head. He very much likes the stairway. Lets him look over the living room without getting spooked by whatever is happening at the moment. He's a real 'fraidy-cat. In fact, I think the term "scaredy-cat" was made because of Harvey. He spooks at ANYthing!

More in the album, "Weird place the kitty likes to sit"

Okay. So this last bit is 1) me playing with the video function on my camera, and 2) documenting the weird tongue-tail nerve connection in cats. All cat-people know that kitties love their spine scratched, but what not all people know is that somehow, the nerves in the tail connect to the nerves in the tongue. And when stimulated, the one will elicit a response in the other. Observe HarveyCat demonstrating: (so weird!)

Smurf Dogs!

Maybe because I grew up a "cat person," I never get tired of the grand event that is Giving the Dog a Bath. With the traditional family Christmas party this weekend, all three of the little monsters got baths so they would be pretty... or at least, not be stinky. While John and his sister ran the puppy assembly line, I hovered and took pictures because they all look so laughably miserable when wet. Like they got deflated, or something. But all three dogs just bear it, no one tries to escape.

And yes, their shampoo is bright blue (hence "smurf dogs"). It's special shampoo for white dogs; makes their coats bleach out or something, so they don't look dingy.

Littlest One is still not used to baths, but she is getting quite adept. The only concession we needed to make for her was to not use the sprayer. She wasn't so keen on the water being sprayed at her, but was OK with a cup pouring over her.


Survivalist Face: "What just happened to me?!"


Not to be read by Lara and other curly-haired friends of mine: Inu's hair curls up when showered and turns into a little white afro when brushed! It's too funny (says the straight-haired girl).


The face of a seasoned bather. Just stand there 'till it's over, for soon they will feel guilty and give you snacky treats.


Tiny smurf dog getting her belly cleaned!

LOOK! It's Mangey Kitty! He does exist! He's not just an urban legend. And I have photographic proof that is in-focus and undamaged. Take that, Loch Ness Monster and Big Foot photos!


For those of you not up-to-date on the animals of Chez Gallion, there were originally four outdoor cats:
Grey Momma - really an indoor/outdoor cat. She comes inside when the weather's nasty and she feels like sitting on a couch cushion. Alpha Kitty.
Harvey - abducted to be indoor cat when he got in a bad fight over the summer and needed recuperation. I just never kicked him back outside when he got better. :)
Handsome Kitty - the orange male who's pretty social once he lets you get near him. Most of the time, though, he keeps his distance.
Mangy Kitty - the feralest (most feral?) of the bunch. If you exit the house, he is already half-way out into the woods.

Re-donk-ulous

Has anyone seen these things on the road? I saw a set in Target and laughed to myself, because surely no one would want to dress their car up as Rudolph! ...Then I saw one in a parking lot... then another on the road ... and another...

Seriously, people, have a little pride. These things are ridiculous.

Gadgets!

Did I mention that I got a laptop for work? Anyhoo, I did. John was tired of listening to me fuss about the lack of computers there are at work, and he got me my Christmas and birthday present early (TOTALLY unexpected by me).

Well, I needed a mouse because I hate those little glide pads on laptops, and when we went shopping we saw the neatest bit of technology. They have developed "nano transmitters" for wireless mice so that it's super tiny when attached to your laptop! It's actually small enough that you can plug it in and forget about it. So cool! We were so transfixed that we had to get it.

Look at how small that baby it! Craziness!

Tiny Sweater!

Ok, so I found at my favorite LYS these tiny sweater key chains, one of which was in Tribe Pride colors. Well, sadly for Lara, there was only one. So this Christmas in my surge of tiny knitting, I made her a tiny sweater keychain too... really that's all the story behind it. It's a tiny sweater for crying out loud, it doesn't need much of an explanation! When was the last time you made a tiny sweater, huh? Though I probably can safely say that this will be my last time making a tiny sweater as it was a royal pain joining the sleeves to the body. :(

Then, as I got into the tiny-sock phase of Christmas (bet you didn't know that on the 13th day of Christmas you give out tiny socks, did you?), I wanted to play with color changes in the sock. My test-dummy was again Tibe Pride colors, and I think it turned out rather nicely, if I do say so myself. And I do say so. :)

Koolhaas Hat... Finally!

As sad as it makes John (and he gets really upset too!), I pulled out the Koolhaas hat that I had made way back during the Council meetings. It was too short, a fact made worse by it being a little too small and pulling itself off your head. So I just bumped the pattern up a needle size to make it just a little bit bigger... Little did I notice the first time I made the hat, only the ribbing at the bottom was on the size 6 needles. Not the whole hat as I made it. SO! My second attempt was to actually follow the pattern as written. Silly me.

Yay for taking pictures of yourself in the bathroom mirror. You never see all the shmutz on the mirror until you take a picture in it.


I really like the cable pattern that he used for this hat. It was pretty simple, too, once you got a few lines done and could see where you were in the pattern.


My favorite part, though, is the finishing top bit. I was worried as I was making it of how the top would end... Hey, I am living with a 6'4" person; the top of my head gets seen a lot more than most people's do. (don't mind the cat hair)

Ordo to the Rescue!

Shelf!

YAY! A DVD shelf! I feel like a real person now, rather than a homeless college kid who's movies permanently live in a DVD binder. Funniest part about all of this was that each shelf we looked at was too small for all my movies! We would've needed to buy two shelves immediately to fit all the movies I already have. This one was juuuuussst big enough, but if we get too many more, then we will need another shelf.

John was laughing at me, because setting up the shelf also required that all my movies be removed from the binder, put back in their cases, then alphabetized. He kept asking "don't you have paperwork to do?" And I was like, "Of course I have paperwork, why do you think I want to set up the shelves tonight?" :)

Looking at it makes my Type-A side feel so happy. :)

Camera

New cameras are a lot of fun, except when you have very little to take pictures of. Only the fuzzies are willing models for me. I have a lot of pictures of Harvey and the puppies. Like a crazy cat-lady. :(

Harvey Cat's "Regal Kitty" face

Harvey says "phtbtbhbhbhbtbhbhbhbhtthtbhbhbhbh!" [blows raspberry]

Maile says, "Whatchya doing up there? I am very short! Let me see, let me see!"

John is more interested in defeating the "smile detector" on my camera. You can set the camera to automatically take a picture when it recognizes a smile. However, what it calls a "smile" is only based on crinkled eyes and teeth shown, so the two pictures below are John "smiling" for the camera.