Happy Fish Thanksgiving to you.

I just finished my lunch - a delicious tuna-fish sandwich, complete with grapes and goldfish crackers. Yum.

This lunch is brought to you by the Jewish holiday Yum Kippur.

Or should I say, my leftovers from Yum Kippur. ... Anyway, basically the holiday goes like this: you fast for 24 hours, then at sundown you eat a huge feast involving things such as bagels, and lox, and cream cheese, and tuna-salad, and smoked sable, and koogle, and 7-layer cake. Being a gentile myself, I'm sure I'm skipping over the actual importance of the day, so please forgive me. I really only celebrate the "feast" part of the festivities anyway.

So in honor of Yum Kippur (otherwise known as "The Day of Atonement" or, as I like to call it, "The Fish Thanksgiving!") this weekend I made Bryce a huge Jewish feast. Man, was it good.

So good that I'm still eating it today. Try not to be too jealous.

Check. Check. 1,2,3.

It's been awhile since I've enjoyed the quietness of having the whole house to myself on a Friday night. Bryce is out at a bachelor party and I'm sitting here, with my belly full of tai food, watching episodes of Dead Like Me while my toe-nail polish dries. If I was any more content right now, I would be purring.

I got out of work early today because there was a carnival in our parking lot. Seriously, there was literally a huge festival set up in the parking lot behind and on both sides of our building today. Apparently, it was the city's 50th birthday, or something. At about 2 they started sound-checking the music stage 500 feet away from the office in which I was trying to read about whole life insurance policies and variable annuities. Let's just say it's pretty hard to concentrate with someone playing the drums so loud that my desk is actually vibrating. Thank god they noticed and finally let us out at about 4:15.

I'm especially glad it's the weekend because I don't think my brain can hold any more information right now. We have reached capacity, folks. Plus I have about a hundred thank you notes to finish from our reception party. I really need to get those done and mailed already.

But not tonight. Tonight is for relaxing and doing nothing of consequence. Now I'm going to go back to watching my toe-nails dry. Have a good weekend, everyone!

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

Started the new job on Monday. Right now my only duties are to sit in a room with 3 other new hires and study to pass my Series 6 Licensing Test.

We sit in this room for 8 hours a day.
This room has no windows.
This room has florescent lighting that make us all look jaundiced.
This room feels like a basement dungeon straight out of Silence of the Lambs.
It rubs the lotion on its skin.
This room makes us all a little insane.

The other day our book had an example using a man named Phil (otherwise known to his friends as "Fast Philly" or "Phil the Deadbeat"). This made us laugh for like 20 minutes straight. Good old Phil the Deadbeat. What a great guy! Even typing it now is making me laugh. Is it actually funny - the fact that a textbook would print this jargon? Or is it funny because I'm mostly reading about things like call buying and dividends and preferred purchase stocks? ... I shall leave that for you to decide.

I'll be over here in the corner, crying a little bit.

Barefoot and not pregnant

Being a wife suits me just fine. I spent most of the day today in the kitchen, loving every minute of it. I made stuffed peppers for dinner with some of the many fragrant green-peppers from my garden. I made a few loaves of zucchinis bread with my last beautiful green zuke. I made the crust for an apple pie I plan on baking for tomorrow's dessert, using up part of the giant bag of apples Bryce and I bought this weekend for $3. I even made a pan of lasagna to be used for dinner later this week.

Kudos to the hubby for buying me this and this. There's nothing like new cookware to inspire the domestic goddess in me.

Wino dreaming

Yesterday it was summer. This morning I woke up and it was fall. Walking through the courtyard to breakfast I could smell it in the air. This time of year I wouldn't want to live anywhere else besides right here. It's fall in Michigan that reminds me of why I don't pack up my bags and leave during the other 9 months. This is why I stay.

Bryce and I talked very seriously about moving out of state for awhile. When we first got engaged we looked into it very seriously. What it came down to for us was that, beyond missing our family and friends, we would really miss Michigan itself. Yeah, the economy sucks right now and all that, but it really is a truly beautiful place to call home. Plus we found that what we really wanted to do with our lives, didn't have us leaving Michigan at all.

Ultimately what we mapped out - our 10 year plan, if you will - is that we want to move up here, to the Traverse City area, and open our own winery. This is something we would both just die to do, so we've started a loose time line for how we can make it happen ... including paying off all our debt, buying our cars, selling the house, saving up a shit-ton of money, etc.

So this is me, just putting it out to the universe. Got it, universe? Carolynne and Bryce are going to own a winery. And live in a big house overlooking all the grapes. Also, throw in some kids and a dog or two. K? Thanks.

And put a little more vodka in the next one, Miguel

So I start the new job on Monday. And yes, I'm being pointedly vague on where I'll be working. Employers read the internet, people! And I'm a pansy. And just in case I ever say anything negative about my job, god forbid, I do not want it to come back to haunt me. Suffice it to say that I'm very excited. The end.

Anyway, in the spirit of my last week of freedom, I headed out last night on a business trip with my husband. When I say "business", I mean that he works and I get to lay around the hotel pool all day, sipping cocktails. Or whatever it is that rich housewives do on their husband's business trips.

I'm currently typing this from a very nice desk at the Day's Inn in lovely Traverse City - where I spent the morning wandering around town, looking in all the cute shops, taking pictures of the harbor, and eating some of the best gelato I've ever tasted. I'm so totally going back there tomorrow.

Or maybe later today. ... After my nap, that is.

Now I can say I'm working on my second marriage

I don't remember much at all about the ceremony, I just remember his face - locking eyes with him and finding that everything else melted away. I mouthed "I love you" and he winked at me. We were just us. No one else was even in the room. And then we were walking back down the isle. Smiles, flashbulbs, and it was all over.

Then it was back to his parents house for food and drinks and smashing of cake. His Grandfather gave a very touching toast, wishing us the same happy 63 years that he has enjoyed so far in his marriage. Lots of hugs, he told us, that was the secret. Then one of my best friends Ryan, whom I've known for as long as I can remember, gave a toast talking about all the ways Bryce and I balance each other. It was equal parts funny and insightful, and was probably one of the highlights of the whole evening for me.

On to Saturday night, and we opened the dance floor with "Fly Me to the Moon" - our song. We ate heartily and drank even more so. Bryce's cousin Adrian manned the bar and spent most of the later hours creating his own special shots and passing them out to all who were standing nearby. I did several with my father, who was having the time of his life - with the rosy cheeks of happy drunkenness to prove it. We danced and drank the night away, not heading to bed until well after 3 am.

Our families did a hell of a job throwing the parties. My weekend was, in a word, amazing. I am truly blessed by all the people in my life. I can't think of a better way to get married for the second time.

I would marry him a hundred times over

So I'm getting married today. Again. And it's been a crazy couple of days. If this is even a tenth of the hectic-ness that comes with being a bride, I am so glad that Bryce and I ran away to Vegas.

I'm sitting here, with Crest Whitestips on my teeth, making a list of the things still today that I need to do. I can't believe it's finally here. It really feels like I'm getting married all over again, only this time with my family to witness. I actually get to walk down the isle with my father, in a pretty white dress that Bryce hasn't even seen me in yet, and today we get stand up and say our vows to each other in front of everyone. It's pretty exciting.

I'm just glad it's a small ceremony, because any more details than this and I might actually be frazzled right now.

And tomorrow is the big party. Complete with a DJ, lots of booze and even an ice luge (but a home-made one - that was just the only link I could find).

On that note, I'm off to get my hair done. Wish me luck, everyone!

Family Traditions

This weekend, my family - and about 60,000 other people - walked across the Mackinac Bridge.



We've been doing this every Labor Day for as long as we can remember. It's the only day all year that they allow foot traffic on the 5 1/2 mile long suspension bridge between the upper and lower peninsulas - and it's just really cool.



This year was extra special because it marked the 50th Anniversary of the bridge's opening. And also, even better than that, it was the first year that Bryce got to be a part of the tradition.



And even though there was an INSANE amount of people this year and the food service seemed to be way too slow everywhere we went and my left ear ended up getting really sun-burnt on the walk (who thinks to put sunscreen on their ear? seriously), it was a really great time.