Meanwhile, Eight Years Later...

Mood: Content (just got back from a mini-vacation and celebrating my 8th wedding anniversary with the hubs!)

On Tv: Chopped (love what they give these chefs to work with - here's some hotdogs, liver, dried cranberries and dandelion greens - now make me a tasty dessert!)

Hubs and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on September 7th. In honor of this stunning accomplishment (seriously - his packrat tendencies and my OCD tendencies should have really created an ultimate death match situation far before now), we decided to take a small vacation to the St. Louis area and, for once, the vacation Gods smiled and we were allowed to (mostly) enjoy our days off!

First? We went to the Arch in St. Louis. Hubs has been before but I have not. I seriously underestimated two things.

1. Just how TALL the Arch really is.
2. Just how terrified of heights I really am (for the record? Terrified doesn't even begin to cover it.)  

Dude. That? Is tall. Props to hubs for doing the vertical pan to get it all in one picture because it was way more massive than I imagined. Also? Had no idea that there was a museum, shopping and other fun stuff under the arch...well, not under the arch but under the ground under the arch. Amazing. Really.

At first, I was all "no way am I going up to the top of that thing" and really that was a very smart initial reaction. I am a big baby. I make no bones about it and one of the things that I'm most terrified of is heights. Well...not so much heights as the potential for falling from them.

Then? I was all "I'm brave and I'm not going to allow my fears to limit my life experiences! I'm going up to the top of the arch!" So now I can say that, on this trip, I added to my list of life experiences : Going to the top of the Arch and Having a panic attack at a major National Monument. Go me!

Oh, and for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of going to the top of the Arch? You go up in a "pod". The pod is tiny, they cram up to 5 people in each one and it jerks and tilts as it makes its way up to the top of the Arch. I may have gotten a jump start on my panic attack in the pod on the way up. I may or may not have mentioned my fear that we were going to die.

                   Scary, tiny pod of doom ---------->


After we survived the Arch (and the resulting panic attack) we headed over to the Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch. Hubs raved on it, friends have raved on it and now I see why. The atmosphere was amazingly classy and romantic without being too over the top. The food was incredible and I tried an Italian Cream Soda. Quite possibly my favorite new drink of all time. Seriously, how did I not know about these and their amazingly creamy goodness?

The next day we *I* was all geared up to spend the day at the Grant Farm. It's a living history farm with all kinds of animals, historical demonstrations, A Deer Park, the famous Budweiser Clydesdales and all kinds of other fun and "squeee" worthy stuff. The best part? It was all free except for a nominal $11.00 parking fee. I was practically bouncing with excitement.

Thanks to my trusty smart phone GPS app we found the place easily enough but I was immediately concerned when I noted that the parking lot was completely deserted. The place was absolutely empty. Normally that would have made me happy but I realized there was no way that a place like this would be completely empty if it were, in fact, open.

Suddenly I had that sinking feeling that Clark Griswold must have felt when he arrived at Walley World

Unfortunately, there was no giant moose for me to punch. Why are there never giant mooses to punch when you need one???
Apparently the farm is only open on weekends after Labor Day. Well played Vacation Gods, well played.



Hubs and I quickly regrouped and decided to check out the St. Louis Zoo.

You guys? I got to play with stingrays. Baby stingrays, giant stingrays, black stingrays, gray stingrays...it was epically epic. I'm usually not a fan of touching wildlife of any kind and stingrays, well, they killed the crocodile hunter and he was pretty bad ass so normally I wouldn't even think of putting my hand in a tank of these things...but for some odd reason I really, really wanted to. And I LOVED it!

Oh, and ladies, try not to be too jealous but I have one more picture to share. My anniversary gift from my loving hubs:

 Some women get jewelry, some women get showered with priceless gems. I get a ceramic pig with a tiara and a tutu and it's absolutely perfect proving that my hubs "gets" me. :)

Happy Single Persons Appreciation Day!

Mood: Happy (Have had a decent weekend w/ the hubs. Still waiting for the appearance of my new neice/nephew...baby is being stubborn and my sister is being a trooper. No one should have to be in labor for over a week!)

What I'm Watching: Cheaters (I would be watching  the Olympics but stupid NBC is taking a break in coverage to bring me an absolutely useless infomercial)

It's Valentine's Day. That oh so special day that requires people in love to find one perfect gift or gesture that somehow conveys the sum total of affection they feel the other 364 days of the year. Unrealistic much? The truth is that if your partner doesn't appreciate you or show you love through the rest of the year a dozen roses on Valentine's Day probably doesn't mean anything more than the fact that he/she is stupid enough to A. pay way over-inflated floral prices and B. think that a dozen roses is going to "fix" a year's worth of jackassery.

It's not that I have anything against Valentine's Day, I really don't. A day dedicated to being grateful and showing appreciation for the ones we love is actually a great idea. Except for when you're alone. Now, I know that I'm lucky enough to be married to a great guy who has been very nice to me this Valentine's Day (hello? A trip to both B&N and Borders to shop for books? Total V-day win!) but I remember all too well the many Valentine's Days I spent alone being reminded by everyone and everything that I was alone.

Truthfully, I used to loathe Valentine's Day when I was single but if I'd known then what I know now I would have embraced the day as Single Persons Appreciation Day!

I would have:

1.) Accepted that the reason I was alone was not because I would never find anyone to love me but because I refused to settle for someone who was less than the person I deserved.

2.) Not wasted so much time being jealous of those who had a significant other on V-Day. I know now that being married/dating doesn't necessarily = happiness and that no amount of flowers on Feb. 14th can fix a broken and unhappy relationship.

3.) Pampered myself because I deserved it and because no one knows me and what I want/need better than me!

So, if you find yourself  unattached this Valentine's Day, embrace it. Declare it Single Persons Appreciation day and appreciate yourself!!! Enjoy having complete control over the television remote, being able to purchase a Valentine's gift for yourself that is exactly what you want, and what the heck, buy yourself some of your favorite flowers. You deserve them!

Eye Witness Report: Pig Tour 2009

Mood: Worn out (really worn out)

What I'm watching: Dateline, Real Life Mysteries (here's a thought, if a guy's last two wives have died under very suspicious circumstances, he might not make the best dating material...I'm just sayin').

Scott and I went to the Illinois State Fair this weekend. With all the things to see and do at the fair, my husband still insists on benchmarking the entire event by the foods that he's managed to consume (which has led me to dub it "Pig Tour 2009"). If it was deep fried, on a stick or somehow jammed into a bun with onions and peppers, he needed to eat it. Everything from a polish sausage to fried alligator (yes ALLIGATOR! Which surprisingly wasn't as disgusting one might expect) was consumed through the course of the day. FYI? A chocolate covered, deep fried twinkie? Not nearly as good as one might expect.

In addition to all the food, we saw our share of animals (is it sad that I want a pony?), arts and crafts displays (although really? some of what passes for art really just looks like a big pile of junk to me), and very interesting people (very interesting people).

We also did something that neither one of us has ever done before. We got a psychic reading. Now, I do believe that some people have some special 'abilities' for lack of a better term, but I also believe that most psychics who are out there making a living at it are probably just really good at reading people and making guesses.

But, I decided to go for it since it seemed like a fun and harmless way to pass some time. Besides? I figured that she would be completely wrong and Scott and I could spend the afternoon laughing about her erroneous assumptions and predictions.

Please note: I'm not laughing. I sat down, gave her my name and my birthdate....that was it. I tried to keep my face as unemotional as I could no matter what she said. To the point where she finally said that I was going to have to let her know if she was on the right track. She was. Uncomfortably on the right track as a matter of fact. She knew things that no one should have/could have known by just looking at me. Very specific things that couldn't just generally be guessed or generalizations that could be applied to anyone.

Not everything was spot on but I'd say fully 90% of what she said was so specifically accurate that it was all rather a bit unnerving honestly. The good news? She encouraged me to continue with my writing, (she said this a couple of times even though I never confirmed for her that I wrote). She said that I wasn't confident in my creative abilities (that's a given...what writer doesn't sometimes feel like a talentless hack?), but that I should continue to work on it...that I *needed* to write.

Lots to think about....