Family time...

For the first time in a good long while, I have an entire weekend off. I don't have to work; I don't have to study. I could do some house cleaning, but other than that, I am free...free as the wind!

This lends itself in an excellent way to family time. And it's a good thing that this weekend is so free because we have the possibility of having either of my stepsons involved in up to nine basketball games this weekend. It's a good thing that I have a lot of games downloaded to my cell phone because that is the only way I will make it through all that basketball with my sanity intact. We start out tomorrow at a tournament for Connor (age 13), head to a different county for Collin's (age 14) play-off game for the Diocesan championships, and then head back to home base to watch some games for both of their elite teams. Sunday, we have two games, again for the elite teams. Wow...that's a lot of basketball!

Tonight, we headed down to the town that Bill is from for the Knights of Columbus fish dinner that he, Connor, and Collin and Connor's brother Preston were working at. I went along for the fish and the company. While there, we saw one of our favorite people in the world, Mr. Ruppe. Mr. Ruppe is the father of some friends of ours, and he is among the best men you could ever hope to meet. He is one of those people who is always willing to give of himself for the good of others. He is someone who places his priorities in God and family, and he is a fantastic role model for me and Bill (his marriage is strong thanks to the fact that he and his wife work hard at it), as well as for Collin, Connor, and Preston. We are truly blessed to have someone like him in our lives.

Before Bill and I were planning to get married, I felt on the outskirts whenever we hung out with the Ruppe clan. It's a large, loud, boisterous family, much like the Caseys are. Their parties are legendary and used to go all night long. They are always up for some fun. When we used to attend these parties, I would invariably end up sitting off to the side, observing all the fun, not really in the mix. Sometimes, my brother-in-law's wife and Bill's cousin's girlfriend would be there, leaving me feeling like less of an outcast. I would imagine it was my own take on things, as opposed to how everyone else felt about me, but I never quite thought I fit in.

After Bill and I got married, we headed over to the Ruppe house one night for a visit. While there, I felt as if I finally fit in. After all, I was a Casey now, and the Casey and Ruppe families had been friends for many years. You know what? I was right. That night, Mr. Ruppe congratulated us on our wedding and welcomed me to the fold, telling me that I was family now. In marrying Bill, I had gained two families...my in-laws and this wonderful, crazy Ruppe clan.

In this crazy world, when sometimes husbands and wives (in this very house) might only see each other for minutes each day, it's nice to have time to share dinner with a great group of people who have as one of their missions to help the community. It might not be the community I grew up in or the community I live in, but it's a community I married into, and it means a lot to me. And now, as I type this, I hear Bill in the living room, laughing with Connor and Preston as they watch a movie, and my sweet puppy is chewing on his bone in the hallway. And I am thinking that I have got it pretty good...it's not everyone who can look forward to a whole weekend of family time.

Snowbound

When I left work at 7:00 PM last night, it was to head to my parents' house, which is in the same town where this here hospital is. My husband had called to tell me conditions were not good at home, and since I think ahead (sometimes), I had clothes packed in case I got stuck down here.

Today, I left my parents' house and headed in to work, and it wasn't bad because no one was out yet. And then when I got to work, I called my husband to report in, and he told me that it might be a good idea to stay at my parents' again because it was really bad there, and it didn't seem like it would end before 7:00 tonight.

I am spending my first Valentine's Day as a married woman with my parents, their dog, and their two cats. My husband is at home, being driven batty by a puppy that apparently doesn't like the snow. Tomorrow, I will wear to work the same outfit that I wore yesterday because I only brought one extra outfit with me when I headed out yesterday.

Ain't love grand?

Chafing under all the authority...

My husband wants us to write a budget and stick to it. I want to do that just about as much as I want to get some holes drilled in my head so that he can screw in some antennae and pick up his Sirius satellite radio through my teeth. And wouldn't I be a useful wife then?

Here's the thing...I am one of those people who is bad with money, but I masquerade as someone who has my stuff together. I don't spend money on large purchases like designer jeans or electronic equipment. I do, however, visit Target often, and I rarely leave there without spending $100. You all know how that is...

During my first years of work out of college, I really should have been budgeting because then I would not be in this abyss of credit card debt that I am in right now. And when I was in nursing school? I REALLY should have been budgeting because I was making about $600 per month. That was NOT enough to pay the bills. Instead, I kept my head barely above water with keeping up my payments, and I used things like savings' bonds and wedding money to supplement my income. And when I wanted to go to Target for some "essentials?" I used my credit card.

Now, I have graduated from nursing school and am employed as a nurse. FULL TIME! My hourly rate has more than doubled from when I was an aide, and I also am working about twice as many hours per week. That is a considerable jump in my income. It is NICE... However, now is the time to take my place among the bill-payers in this household. Bill is being more than generous and is continuing to pay for everything until April 1. And then, a budget will be part of the plan.

We have come up with a nice plan, where he will keep handling the housing-related expenses (mortgage, insurance, etc.), while I will handle utilities (electric, cable, and Vonage). I will pay our cell phone bill, and he will pay the boys' cell phone bill. We will pay for our own cars. We will pay for our own car insurance. We will pay our own credit card payments. And I think this is all well and good. I want to do my part, and I can do my part.

My issue is when it comes to discretionary income. When I have leftover money in a month, I want to have some fun with it. I want to go to Target and but all that crap that I don't need. I want to be able to buy new shoes when I want, if I have the money. I want to go get my highlights retouched before my roots are two inches long. And I don't want that to be in a spreadsheet.

My brain knows that a budget is the way to go. And when I read some of the other budgetting bloggers that are out there, I figure I should just grow up already and realize that this is something that we need to do. After all, do I want to be paying off these credit card bills well into my forties? Certainly not...so I guess come April 1, I will let Bill but this budget into action and see how it goes. Before then? I see some new black boots in my future. And maybe some new make-up. And it won't be from Target. After all, a little gift to myself can't be all bad...

Almost done!

I HAD MY LAST CLASS ON THURSDAY!

Now, I am spending a lot of time sleeping, and I have even started reading a novel! Wacky! I have also acknowledged that Christmas is, in fact, coming, and I had better start preparing for it. Tonight, we put up our first Christmas tree as a married couple, and we were fortunate that Bill's sons could be here to do it with us. It looks good...a mix of Bill's matchy-matchy stuff and my childhood favorites. But it's so weird to have my ornaments on a tree other than that of my parents'!

We are also looking forward to Otto's first Christmas. His eyes became as round as saucers as he realized that a tree was moving into the house...but he's being pretty good about it. He hasn't (A) tried to climb it or (B) peed on it yet. That's good news!

Anyway, look for pictures this week as I finally clear off my camera's memory! And as I finally have time to blog more!

More soon...

Bad, bad blogger...

Can I just share with all of you out in the Blogosphere that my last day of class for nursing school is December 7 and my last day of practicum is December 11? That means that in nine days, I will be, for the most part, done with nursing school. It is unbelievable to me that this day will soon arrive...so unbelievable that I can't quite see the end yet. Check with me in nine days...maybe reality will have set in.

Moving on...

I am hopeful that one nursing school is over, I will be able to do the following things...

• sleep better and longer
• see my husband more
• go to more of my stepsons' sporting events
• read more books for fun
• sleep better and longer
• finish up several knitting projects
• start new knitting projects
• be a better blogger
• be a better wife
• sleep better and longer
• organize my house
• did I mention sleep better and longer?

Today was Day 6 of eight days of getting up at 5 AM. Getting up at 5 AM really bites the big one. No matter how often I do it, it doesn't get easier. Maybe working night shift will be worth the fact that I don't have to get up at 5 AM!

Last night, we had Bill's holiday party for work. We had a nice time...it was a cocktail hour, followed by a light dinner, at a hotel near his office. It was nice to see some of his coworkers whose company I enjoy. Halfway through the cocktail hour, I got a text message from my sister, telling me that my house was situated in the midst of a tornado warning and they were advising people to take to their basements. Luckily, when I got home, my house had not been hit by a tornado, and Otto was just fine. However, as I was driving home, I noticed that the area looked a little dark. Sure enough...our power was out! I had no idea where our flashlights here, so I wandered around looking for them by the light of my cell phone. I also had to set my cell phone's alarm to make sure I got up in time for work this morning. Needless to say, I did NOT sleep well. I will be stopping at Wal-Mart for a better flashlight or two and also a travel alarm clock on the way home today. Word is that power outages happen a lot in our neck of the woods, and next time I want to be ready!

And now, here's to the end of this completely random stream-of-consciousness post!

And the rest of the honeymoon...

The last day of the honeymoon ended up differently from what we expected. We were all set to head back into D.C. to see the Smithsonian...and then we woke up with aching backs and aching feet. Therefore, we made a plan change and decided to see some of the outlying attractions on the way home.

The first place we stopped was Fort McHenry, which is where the battle was during which Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that would become our national anthem. I have never been much for the history of the Revolution, so this was information I did not know. It was very interesting, and it was made a sight more interesting due to the fact that the place was swarming with Secret Service agents. We never figured out just who was there that warranted such protection, but we did watch a rather obvious motorcade drive away. Hmmm, interesting...

We then headed to the Inner Harbor for some shopping and lunch. Now, this was my kind of honeymoon! I hit the Body Shop and Yankee Candle for some good buys. After that, we headed to Hooters for some wings, shrimp, fried pickles, and beer. Wings, good. Shrimp, good. Fried pickles, SO good. And what can I say about beer? Even if it was just Miller Lite, the fact that it was draft made it taste like the nectar of the Gods. Then we hopped on the road and headed home to pick up Otto, who was vacationing at my parents' home. We had a lot of fun while we were away, and he was well-behaved and didn't destroy their house. It was the best of both worlds!

Now, I am at home, blogging at a little after 7:00 on a Saturday morning, and trying to get excited about the eleventeen million loads of laundry I have to do...more honeymoon, please!

Blogging the Honeymoon...IN REAL TIME!!!!

Sometimes, when people go on honeymoons, they go places where their major responsibilities include things like (A) drinking the included drinks at their all-inclusive resort and (B) lying on the beach all day. Other people (that would be us) pick places that involve walking ALL OVER THE PLACE in the COLD WEATHER...like Washington, D.C.

Bill (my husband!) and I arrived yesterday to our hotel, which was several blocks (24) away from the Metro station. There was a shuttle that ran to King Street, in Alexandria, but the Metro was still 14 blocks away. No matter! We were on our honeymoon! We set off in the direction of the Metro.

We arrived in D.C. and started making the rounds of the monuments. We saw the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the WW II Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. We could see the Jefferson Memorial in the distance, but we chose not to hike there. After a couple of hours of wandering around, we headed back to Alexandria, a little tired, but none the worse for wear. We stopped at a tapas restaurant for dinner and Sangria, both of which were yummy, and then we caught our shuttle back to the hotel for the night.

The only down point of yesterday was that it was colder than we expected here in D.C. Therefore, we were pretty chilled by the end of the day. Also, when I woke up this morning, I realized that the Dansko clogs that I had chosen as my comfy shoes for walking were not as comfy as I may have thought they were.

Today, we made our first stop, after getting on the Metro after taking a cab down to King Street, a mall at Pentagon City. Let me tell you that the mall was perhaps the mother of all malls. It called to me. My first stop was the Gap, where I chose a scarf and some gloves to help me out. They are lovely and have served me well. However, they were nothing compared to my next purchase. My friends, I was in the midst of a true shoe emergency. Luckily, there was a store in that mother all malls called the Walking Company, which would be the store that would be made if you took all my favorite brands of shoes and kept them all in the same place. Danskos? Yes! Uggs? Yes! Merrills? Yes, yes, yes! I picked out a lovely pair of Merrills and took them with me on my way. These shoes would turn out to be the key to a good honeymoon for both me and Bill (my husband!). I was able to walk without extreme agony, and he didn't have to listen to me whine. We both won!

We then headed off to Arlington National Cemetary. I highly recommend this trip...it was an amazing experience! We saw the tombs of Presidents Taft and Kennedy, along with those of other famous Americans. We saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. It was an awe-inspiring visit. However, it involved a lot of walking...a LOT of walking. By the time we arrived at the changing of the guard (just as it was starting), my cheeks were purple and my breathing was a bit labored. However, it was worth the mad dash to make it in time, and since I had my new shoes, I was in good shape!

We then headed into the city, where we went right to the National Holocaust Museum. Again, this is something I really recommend. It is an amazing account of the events that led up to the Holocaust, from the rise of Hitler to the liberation of the concentration camps. It's an important history lesson to learn...but not your typical honeymoon activity. And it is EXHAUSTING! We were there for three hours, easily, and we were on our feet the ENTIRE time. Once again, those shoes were a God-send!

After finishing up at the museum, we headed back to Alexandria to have some dinner at a local Irish pub, which was yummy. And now we are back in our room at 9:00 at night, where I am blogging and Bill (my husband!) is soaking his aching body in a warm bath. Tomorrow, we are aiming for less walking and perhaps more cab riding. I don't think these old bodies can take another day of this!

However, even though this isn't the typical beach honeymoon, it is totally perfect for Bill (my husband!) and me. We love museums and exploring new cities, and we love history. However, we don't love how our feet feel after a day of such exploration, and we were certainly happy to get back to our hotel!!!!

Tomorrow, it's back into D.C. to enjoy some of the Smithsonian, and then we head home to retrieve Otto from my mom and rejoin real life, already in progress. Does the honeymoon really have to end?