Who's having a birthday? I thought is was Thanksgiving...

Yeah, yeah. I know. These are the wedding cupcakes. I just want a cupcake, okay?

Huh? Wha? How did it become late November?

It's been a busy couple of months 'round these parts. Far more busy than I could have imagined... Right after getting back from my mini vacay after getting married, I learned that I got the promotion that I interviewed for. I was really happy, excited, stressed and totally bummed out at the same time.

The first three reactions are pretty obvious. Of COURSE I would be happy and excited for this new opportunity. Of COURSE I would be stressed because of all my new responsibilities and because I would, essentially, be doing 2 jobs until they hire someone to take my old position. But bummed out?

Let me explain. When we moved to our new offices, so far away from our old office (and more importantly, home), one consoling fact was that I would be sharing the hallway with all of my crazy friends. See, the office is build in 2 sections with a main atrium in between. Because of the way the offices were distributed, our division got offices on both sides of the atrium, with the majority of the group on one side of the atrium. So, a bunch of us plotted to choose offices on the OTHER side. And once we moved in, it became exactly what we had hoped - a hallway full of misfits, where crazy would break out at any moment, and where laugher was the rule versus the exception (oh, and because of the personalities, we are also able to get all our work done too).

Well, one of the things that had to happen when I got promoted to management was that I had to move into a "management" office, i.e., an office in the main group with everyone else. I begged and pleaded to stay where I was. There were plenty of members of my branch on that side of the building. It was "quieter." I would be able to work more effectively. Nope. I had to move. I was able to delay it a couple of weeks... but it could not be avoided. And so came the fateful day...

And the day I moved, I had some "help" from my friends... who would occasionally steal some things back from the cart I was using. I know. Wah wah. I got a promotion. There are consequences. But I truly feel like I'm missing out on the fun. Which I guess is part of the point of management, huh? But I miss them. And the joy. And laughter... across the atrium. But I know they miss me too...

*sigh* It makes me sad too.

Man and Wife! Say it!

We could not have asked for a more perfect day. Rain and clouds gave way to a beautiful, sunny afternoon and a gorgeous sunset.

There is not much I can say about the day other than it was everything that I had imagined. It was perfect.

Let me in the sound!

Last night was just amazing. AMAZING. Nearly perfect, in fact. There's not much that can top a perfect dinner at the new Cava on Capitol Hill followed by an incredible U2 concert. (Well, we'll see if something can top it in, oh, 10 days.)

I think I'm pretty much convinced that I will never, I mean NEVER get tired of seeing Bono, The Edge, Larry and Adam in concert. They are just so amazing live, in Arenas Stadiums, small spaces and large. They are just incredible performers, and Bono really knows how to work a stadium crowd.

They played about half of their new album throughout the show, but there was so much previous and classic material played, much to everyone's joy (they played, for the first time since I began seeing them in concert, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," which I had only seen "live" on Rattle and Hum). There really is nothing like you and 20,000 of your closest friends all singing in unison while Bono stands on stage taking it in. It was cool.

The stage was HUGE! And FedEx Field is not that big, so our seats were great!

Oh, Bono.

There were only a couple of odd things in the evening*. There was a woman passed out in a bathroom stall before U2 came on stage... We never figured out what happened there. And the guy next to me seemed very irritated with the political and social messages throughout the show - HELLO? It's effing U2! What the hell was he expecting?

But those were little things. It was all amazing. The dinner, the show, the company. Amazing.

*Oh, and Turg fell asleep during the middle of the show for about 4 song. Fitti, B_Cat and I were very amused by this. It was actually quite impressive. But he was sad he missed the acoustic "Stuck in a Moment" - a song he likes a lot. I tired to wake him up, really.

Ambush Shower!

Crazy, Dr. Lim, Miss Nancy and I went out for a "Girls Lunch" today, because Dr. Lim said in her email "I want to go to lunch and I never see you guys." I found this funny, because I feel like I see Dr. Lim all the time, but as we are only in the office one day a week all together (Tuesday), I didn't think much of it. Well, apparently, this was part of a ruse. When we returned from lunch, and were walking back to our offices, Dr. Lim turned around all of a sudden, followed by Crazy and Miss Nancy. Curious, I followed them into the conference room.

I entered the room, seeing much of my softball team and other friends and workmates sitting there... then hearing "SURPRISE!" And, me, not getting it, asked, "What's this for??"

Duh.

It was quite a lovely and sweet surprise. I'm not big for show, and really have been only telling people of Turg and my upcoming nuptuals when people ask, or when it comes up in conversation. So it really was a surprise to see that many people sitting there.

Of course, there was cake:

Can we tell that Crazy and Dr. Lim picked up the cake?

Again, hanging out with people I like and having good conversation. What a lovely surprise.

Perfectly showered

This past Sunday, I was showered with much love and joy at my bridal shower. Magenta* and Clio did a wonderful job planning and executing a shower that perfectly suited me. There were no games, I did not have to embarrassingly sit in front of everyone and open gifts, no ribbon bonnet, no toilet paper bride. A very un-showery bridal shower. In other words it was perfect. And very me. A gathering of some of my oldest and closest friends and family (I was quite sorry that my sister and niece-in-law could not make it), chatting, laughing and having a wonderful relaxed time.

Here are some of the highlights!

Lovely Ladies

Me with a very stylish CawfeeGuy and CawfeeMate

I felt Chewie needed some libations too

Sis-in-Laws

The former MzHines (now MrsSwan) and Trish

Two Muses and M

I want to thank everyone for coming and celebrating with me. I had such a wonderful time and felt so incredibly loved. Magenta commented after everyone left that everyone who came were the people we would be sitting in the corner talking to at any larger party. She was right. The corner was the whole party. Again, perfect.


*Magenta, I completely agree with Clio's assessment regarding your party planning/cooking/hostessing skills. Get over yourself. :)

Super-duper Cutest Nephew. Ever.

Getting this by email yesterday morning just brightened up my day. Andrew is now my desktop on my work computer... I see him peeking around my log-in window. It's fantastic. Thanks for the pic Jay!

Recovering (naughty) puppy

Thor continues to recover nicely. Strange looking but recovering. However, because he's been recovering so rapidly, he's beginning to get antsy - wanting to do all the things he's not supposed to in the first 2 weeks of his recovery (jumping, running, twisting...).

The other problem is that, because his movements are supposed to be restricted, he's being spoiled. We have to carry him up and down the stairs. In the beginning, we would carry him back if he got tired on his walks. He got to eat chicken rice with his food for the past week because the medication necessitated a bland diet. Spoiled. And getting naughty.

So last night, Turg and I are hanging out with Thor in the basement, watching TV and eating spaghetti for dinner. Thor is looking at me sitting on the floor, with my food, with longing eyes, because he's always hungry and we never feed him (in his mind). Anyway, I leaned over into his pen to grab a toy for him. He took this opportunity to pounce - face disappearing into my pasta bowl fast as lightning. When I yelled for him to stop, his face emerged, a load of spaghetti dangling from his mouth. I wanted to be mad. I really did. But he looked absolutely hilarious and I could not stop laughing. Hysterical.

*This is not Thor

*sigh*

Well, apparently discipline has gone out the window along with getting spoiled. We have a lot of work to do once he's fully recovered...