So all that stuff I wrote a few days ago, about engagement and such? Well, it's moot now cause N proposed!! and I said YES (obviously). Very sweet, lots of tears, it couldn't get much better.

Getting ready to leave for a while for the wedding. Good times, I'm sure. We've been packing and getting the house ready for JC while she watches our home and dog and garden.

Last night we were attacked by one ass mother fucking huge bee/wasp/hornet/whatever flying insect in our kitchen. N went nuts and cleaned the entire kitchen with bleach and words such as "FUCK" and "SHIT." Seriously, every time he found a few drops of the Raid Spray, he yelled like the world was going to explode in one millisecond. Then when I addressed this instance of rage, he's like "What? What's the matter?" I think he was mostly upset that the Raid smelled like roses.

Anyhow, I'll be gone from Charlottesville for a few days. While I am excited for the weekend, seeing N's family and friends, I am also a homebody and love to stay home and do stuff around the house and spend time with projects just for me. I often feel I don't get the time to do that. I also have this thing about waking up in my own bed. I spent the last 3 years living out of a suitcase, since almost every weekend I was travelling. And though the whole point of moving down here was to cut the travelling out of my life, we travel almost as much, with seeing my MMG and N's parents.

Oh, and if MMG brings up anything resembling the word "Ring" I will seriously go ape-shit. And the great thing is that I told her that. Seriously people. If one more person asks me - and I know I'll be inundated with that question this weekend - I might burst into tears. Cause I really don't have control over it. And I am happy and that's all that matters. N and I love each other, we are going to get married, and having a piece of jewelry to signify it is not my purpose in life. I am tired of living with the mentality "My life will begin as soon as I pass the bar, as soon as I move to Charlottesville, as soon as I get married..." This is my life dammit and I am happy just as it is. It doesn't need to be rushed.

On another note, I am almost finished this project at work that I've been dreading for weeks. Once in a while, I get a project that I just loathe, mostly because I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. This involved someone's estate and the accounting for it, and I don't really know what I'm doing, especially since I didn't start at the beginning. I just came in and picked up where the other attorney left off, which is harder than starting in the beginning. Anyhow, as I leave for the wedding, it feels great knowing that this will be in someone else's hands. I am so glad it's done. I've been avoiding it as much as possible, but finally, I just sat down, worked my brain hard, and figured it out the best I could.

Okay, that little diatribe about work wasn't that interesting so I'm gonna stop now.

At the local recycling center, there is a trailer where people drop off books so others can pick them up. There are always old encyclopedias and books with old pics, so I grabbed these to use for my card making adventures.

Just some flowers we got to brighten up the place.

It's a sickness, I know, but I just can't get enough of her.

I've crossed a line and want to go back, but am afraid it's too late. I'm becoming one of those annoying pet owners who talks about her dog constantly..constantly people. It's a real addiction and I'm trying to stop but I'm afraid I can't. I truly believe she's the meaning of adorableness. Anyhow, photos of Steve are posted on my Flickr account...Here's a teaser.

In other news, J and Nat are getting married in less than 2 weeks, and though we won't be officially sisters until N and I get 'er done, we are that much closer. I have three half-sisters who are much older than me, and I grew up with three other kids (story for another time), but besides all the adopted and half and step siblings, I am an only child. And if I don't act like an only child, then I certainly acted like the baby of the family when growing up, cause let's face it, I was a baby. I am the youngest cousin, the youngest child, and was always the youngest student in class (don't get any ideas of being in the presence of a genius - I skipped a year of pre-school).

J and N are very close, so I feel lucky that me and Nat have gotten to know each other so well over the past two years. We talk about all sorts of things, especially how much Bolton men love to fart. Now that she and J are going to be in Philly, we'll get to see them that much more. Nat and I are already planning our first pregnancy - can you imagine, calling each other up and asking - You got him in place? You ready? Let's go! Seriously people, we are going to drive the Bolton men NUTS. Heck, we already do. When the house gets filled with people, or we just need some peace and quiet, we can always count on each other to crawl into bed and watch MTV or read Popsugar or paint toenails. Seriously, I love it - someone with whom I will grow old, experience marriage and motherhood, mid-life crises, it's gonna rock. Sounds like a husband but it's different. N won't understand when I start getting hemorrhoids from being pregnant, or needing to go out clubbing dressed like a hooker when I'm 45. Now we just need to make sure that we stay close enough that a 4 hour car drive will do the trick.

Steve after a long weekend

Steve after a long weekend, originally uploaded by elenafreed.

Baby Steve needs much rest tonight after a fun filled weekend of tearing down doors and eating all the deli meat from the counter. But seriously, how can you resist that adorable face even if you have to buy a brand new door?

Now that N is finished his first year of graduate school, he can play around the house more - doing fun projects like planting veggies in the garden, and putting up shelves in the crafty room, where all things crafty are born. He helped me sew a duvet cover for our bed on Sunday night, and it turned out better than I thought. Very beautiful fabric on the top and we found a king-size bed sheet at Marshalls for 10 bucks to use for the bottom. The first night I slept under it, I didn't move a muscle the entire night. Granted, that probably had more to do with the fact that I was still recovering from the birthday shindig we hosted for N and Maressa. It was their 50th birthday this year on Sunday. Happy Birthday!

We spent N's birthday on Sunday not only making the duvet and planting, but also playing with Baby Steve, making yogurt and dining at the very elegant Blue Grass Grill. N got corned beef hash and I had some choco chip panks with a side of bacon and a biscuit. Talk about yummy. It's all about the panks.

Yesterday I took a watercolor class from N (after I burst into tears that he didn't have a good assignment for me and that he likes his other students better than me, and why didn't I get any perks cause I'm sleeping with the professor - but anyway), and I did this thing where I tried to match 5 colors from the spider plant with watercolors and then painted in five distinct blocks. I took a pic of it and will put it up. N taught me that I should consider going back over it and try to match the colors again, considering my perception of the colors will be different today then they were yesterday. It was a cool project. For those 2 people reading this - yes, that was a boring rendition of the project but just trust me on this one, it was cool.

Mother's day on Sunday - MMG made me feel bad that she didn't have mother's day cards in her hand on Sunday and I told her that I sent them on Sat, but I didn't. I didn't lie, I just thought I'd be able to get them off to her on Sat. Anyhow, she does that a lot - makes me feel bad, but she does it with this way that she's joking, but it does hurt sometimes. Whatever. I'm over it. I love her, that's all that matters. Right?

Now that I'm a full-fledged VA lawyer, I'm getting my own cases and even got a salary!! Woohoo! I thought I wouldn't be working the second temp job, but decided to take one more assignment in order for us to catch up on finances. Seriously, it was harder these past few months, getting Steve and having not worked while studying for the bar exam and such. I think if I take on one more assignment, I can get us caught up on bills and we'll be okay. Not gonna lie to you, I do take pride in the fact that we somehow went 2 weeks with only 11 dollars in the bank account. Can I get some props for that plz? Me and JC talk about how proud we are that we got by this past pay period with such little funds. Is that something to be proud of or what?

Dear Shenandoah Steve,

I would like to tell you a few things as our new life together begins, and because I LOVE lists, I will format this letter in such a fashion.

1) I love you. I really do. You brighten up my day by just being a part of our family. I love giving you belly rubs when you get all roley poley on the ground, I love giving you pets and snuggling with you while we relax at home. I love to take you on long walks and don't even mind when you sniff something every 30 seconds - literally, it's every 30 seconds - during our walks. I'm just ecstatic that I can give you a good home, with food and shelter and lots of love.

Even though I love you as much as I do, I have a few requests.

2) Barking in the middle of the night is not necessary when there isn't a masked murderer trying to break into our home. Seriously, barking for the sake of barking is just not required in order to be a part of our family. Like two nights ago, when we were trying to get some sleep at 2 in the morning, there really wasn't any need to be barking at the television, especially since it was turned off. And last night, after we had been sleeping for an hour, you don't need to bark in order to wake us up so you can check out the downstairs. I promise, it hasn't changed. It's the same as it was when you came upstairs. No one is waiting for you down there, the couch that you like to shed your entire coat on is still there. There aren't even any cars driving by that you can look at out the window downstairs. So sweetheart, no need to bark in the middle of the night.

3) You are quite a voluptuous doggie, and we are trying to make sure you get a good, healthy diet. This does not mean that you can jump up to the counter, pull down the treats your Dad just bought you and eat the entire bag of chicken strip treats. This is not so good for your girlish figure, and we want you to grow up to be a healthy pooch. Oh, and carrying the container of treats in your mouth upstairs to show us you like your treats is also not necessary. We know you like them. But still, you can't eat the entire bag or container.

Shenandoah Steve, that's it for now. Don't even forget we love you, but these are just a few things I thought you should know about.

Love,
Your mama