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WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!  Andy and I are proud new homeowners.  We don't close till the middle of August, but the contract is settled and it is ours all the same.  Here's a link for you to check it out: http://www.realtor.com/realestate/st+louis-mo-63128-1097644653/  I'm sooo excited to start decorating and painting and even doing some yard work.  (Being a homeowner makes you totally boring, apparently.)  Once it is all put together, it will be party time!  So get excited!

Here's some more stuff I wanted to write about from the past couple weekends - I just had to put the housing news in there first!

New favorite fireworks watching spot: the East side, baby!  We watched the fireworks on the Fourth from the Casino Queen - got to see a lot of great people, had a nice view, and easy parking!  Thank you to Cyndi for organizing the party!

Saturday and Sunday (the 5th and 6th) Andy and I took advantage of my having Saturday off and went to Nashville.  We saw the Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's home) - it was apparently their busiest day of the year, and we had to wait outside for over an hour to get in, but I think it was worth it.  We also went to the Grand Ole Opry Museum, which was pretty interesting.  We had dinner at the Convention Center, and walked around there for a while, which sounds lame until I tell you that they have this courtyard that they've planted and decorated to look like a jungle, with waterfalls and different paths and walkways - it's very lovely, and I suggest going there if you're in Nashville.  Bonus points to Nashville for being an easy city to navigate in.

I dyed my hair blonde this weekend.  Well.  I tried to dye my hair blonde.  Parts of it are blonde, but most of it is kind of light orange.  Andy says he likes it, and I have gotten a compliment or two at work, but I think I am going to go back to Walgreens and see if I can find some more bleach to get it all the way blonde.  Any suggestions on what to do if you've dyed your hair orange are welcome and appreciated.

Andy and I leave this Thursday for Cozumel, Mexico.  Who is excited?  *points thumbs at herself*  This guy!  I have one day blocked out for visiting Mayan ruins, and the other six for drinking on the beach.  You have to have your priorities straight, you know.

[	Current Location	|	Missouri History Museum	]
[	mood	|	happy	]

Hello, I am married!  Spectacular!  I had a wonderful time, thanks in no small part to my lovely bridesmaids, Vanessa and Cyndi, and my family.  Andy also ran around all day getting things set up, so thanks are due to him as well.  I'm so glad that everyone could come who did, and it sounds like everyone had a great time, which makes me very happy.

The wedding ceremony went off with only a couple minor hitches: there was a little mixup with the music, and then Matt couldn't get the aisle runner to roll out correctly, so Andy had to get out his knife to help.  I always make fun of him for carrying a knife everwhere, but I'll stop now.  I also was crying on the way down the aisle (rather loudly at one point) and had to stop the ceremony to blow my nose.  I was told that the aisle runner incident was funny, and I choose to find the crying bit charming.

Though most of the reception is a blur, I did have a fantastic time.  I'm glad that everyone got to eat, drink, dance, and be merry.  I'm told the food was good - I didn't get a chance to eat much, but I had some of the leftovers and they tasted delicious.  It was all very exhausting, but it was great to talk to so many people, hear so many compliments, see everyone having fun, and just in general be the center of attention.

I won't give you all the details of the wedding night, but I will tell you that the hotel was beautiful, and the room had a jacuzzi tub, which we took full advantage of the next morning.  We also walked to Union Station and had lunch at Landry's (delicious!).

So far, married life is treating me very well.  We have lots of fantastic new gifts (most of which we don't plan to open until we move into a new house), and a lot of money to put in the bank and use to buy a new house.  Andy is even more attentive and loving than usual, and it's good to know that Caligula is finally legitimate.  Next on the list: finding a house.  Maybe soon I will throw another party, only this time it will be a housewarming one.

Thank you to everyone for coming and for having such a wonderful time.  I would like to say I'll do it again sometime, but I won't!  One of you will just have to get married instead.

[	Current Location	|	scanlan	]
[	mood	|	excited	]

My silver anniversary (25th birthday) is coming up!  I'm throwing myself a bowling party to celebrate.  The party's Friday, March 28th, at 7:00.  We're meeting at my place for drinks, walking down the street to the bowling alley, and then back here for more fun!  I sent an evite to everyone whose email address I had, but if you didn't get one, let me know your email address.

I'm having an in-town bachelorette party on Saturday, April 12th.  My plan is to meet at my house, and then head out from there to the bar(s).  I'm open to suggestions on where we go.  Also, if anyone is willing to play designated driver, please let me know.  I and all the other drunk ladies will be forever in your debt.

Also in the works is a trip to Chicago for an out-of-town bachelorette party.  Right now I'm looking at one of the last two weekends in April (April 18-21 or April 25-28).  We'll leave Friday after work (around 5:30), and come back on Monday afternoon.  I'm not looking to stay in a fancy hotel, so that won't be expensive (and of course we'll put as many people in a room as possible), and between a lot of people, gas won't be either.  Let me know if you think you could go, and if you have a preference on which weekend.

(edit: per Vanessa's comment, I've adjusted the dates to reflect this year's calendar.  Sorry for any confusion.)

[	Current Location	|	columbia lakes	]
[	mood	|	accomplished	]
[	music	|	hannity and colmes :(	]

Cause summer's almost here.  Or it feels like it, anyway.  I do love the nice weather, but it reminds me how much I wished I lived somewhere where it was like this all the time.  Maybe someday.  Keep your fingers crossed that once Andy takes the Foreign Service exam, he'll get assigned somewhere warm and beautiful.

Speaking of Andy, he has pneumonia.  "Walking pneumonia," as the doctor called it, but pneumonia nonetheless.  He's got antibiotics and cough syrup with codeine now, so he should be good to go in a few days.  I'm concerned that I'm going to get it next.  I wouldn't mind the time off work, I suppose, but we really don't have enough people that I can be gone for days at a time.

So far, I just have a little bit of a cough, but it only shows up about once an hour so I'm not getting worried yet.  I was feeling pretty nasty earlier (headache, achy, and exhausted), but I took some aspirin, and made myself move around and eat some dinner.  I feel much better now.  I'll go to bed early and count on my body to keep the world safe for democracy fight off the illness. 

We're moving at the end of the month, and I'm trying to cut down on all the stuff I have cause I don't feel like moving it.  Andy called a couple moving companies to get estimates so we wouldn't have to, but apparently to move one apartment's worth of stuff 20 miles will cost about $600.  For that, I'll carry my own boxes.  Today I went through another box out of the closet and threw away about half the things in it.  I also went through the bathroom cabinets and threw away all the old nail polish, bubble bath, and things like that.

I also made cookies today.  I call them pneumonia chocolate chip.  Maybe tomorrow I'll make consumption gooey butter.  I would offer you some but they mess up your lungs.

[	Current Location	|	columbia lakes	]
[	mood	|	lonely	]
[	music	|	a sad doggie	]

So Andy just left for Vegas/San Diego.  He'll be there until Christmas Eve.  I guess it is pretty co-dependent of me, but I hate it when he leaves.  When I was in college, I was always psyched when my roomate(s) would be gone and I would have the place to myself, but it isn't as exciting in this case.  It's still nice and everything, but lonely too.

The dog is confused as well.  He keeps going up to the door and sniffing it.  (No, he doesn't have to go out - I just took him.)  He is a good dog, though, cause he noticed me crying a little (I told you, co-dependent) and he got on my lap and licked my face.

I also don't like it when Andy's on vacation, because then I feel like I should be on vacation.  I think, "oh, time to go pack!  Tomorrow I will be on a flight to fun!"  It is a disappointment to remember I have to go to work tomorrow instead.  Really, it is just a disappointment to know I have to go to work at all.  But that is another post.

I guess I am pretty lame and you are probably sick of reading this.  I am going to go take a Darvocet so I can go to sleep.  If you're free this weekend you should let me know so we can go out and have good times.  I am especially looking at you kids who were not in town last weekend.

"Years ago, before the store moved to this location, you had postcards with Charles Lindbergh standing in front of his plane.  Do you still have that?"
"No, I don't think we do, but let me check on the postcard rack for you...no, I'm sorry, we don't have that postcard."
"You don't?!"
"No, we don't.  If we did, it would be here on the rack."
"So you don't have it?"
"No, I'm sorry."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes.  We don't have it.  I'm sorry."
*heavy sigh*

That is a conversation I just had with a customer.  I get about five customers a day who use the phrase "years ago, you had..." and then they try to describe some kind of merchandise.  This guy is the first one who gave me an attitude because he thought I was lying to him.

Also, here is a tip: if you are looking for a particular book, try to know the title of the book.  This is another conversation I have a lot:

"Do you have that one book on St. Louis?"
"We have about 100 books on St. Louis; do you know the title of the book you're looking for?"
"No, I don't know that...I think it was written by a guy named John."
"Unfortunately we don't have our books listed by author (at this point they usually get angry that we can't look up every book by 'John') but maybe you can tell me what the book's about?"
"It's about St. Louis!  You know, the history of it."
"Here is our section on St. Louis.  Good luck!"

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And I think our taking a strong position here would be similar to the difference between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, when he was dealing with Iran.  Jimmy Carter had hostages for 444 days. In one hour, the Iranians released the hostages. And they saw something different in Ronald Reagan's eyes than in Jimmy Carter's eyes.

They did not "see something different" in Reagan's eyes, so much as they saw him offer them weapons in exchange for the hostages!  Damn that Jimmy Carter, and damn his not wanting to sell arms to terrorists.