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.

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!

Seasons change...

For the past months of spring and summer, the woods behind our house have been lovely, lush, full, and green. However, the heat of summer has abated and the days are getting shorter, and the Season In Which I Will Be Getting Married is on its way.

See Exhibit A:


In other news, I really love my new FREE StatCounter account. It gives you great information on who is getting to your site and how they are getting there. I am in Info Ho...so I love this.

Finally, gratuitous photos of extreme cuteness...just think how bad I will be when it's a baby!


How he reacts when I say, "Otto! Otto!"


Heading my way...

Homebound

Here's how crazy things are getting around here, kids. I can't wait to go to work tomorrow. Yes, I said it. I am looking forward to going to a place where I sometimes have to hurt people by sticking needles in their veins and where sometimes poop ends up on my clothes. I have clearly gone up around the bend.

When I have the opportunity to choose to spend a day at home doing nothing, I love it. I do some knitting, do some reading, do some TV-watching, catch up on my DVRed programs, maybe do a little laundry, and delight in not getting out of my pajamas if I don't want to. Now, I am on Day 2 of Enforced Homebound Status (due to The Car that Won't Back Up, Dammit), and I can't wait for Bill to come home and take me grocery shopping. If he doesn't get here soon, I am opening up a bottle of wine, and I won't be responsible for what happens after that.

Tomorrow, my sweet and loving fiance is taking me to work, and my mom is picking me up. Then I will be hanging out at her house until Bill can come retrieve me. Saturday morning, at 9:05 AM, I have an appointment at the Subaru dealer down where my parents live to test drive and hopefully buy a 2007 Subaru Forester. And then I am hoping that I can have the car by Monday.

But I might just go batshit crazy before then...

Mania...

Sometimes, when you live in the mountains and your husband-to-be goes away for the weekend, you are totally SCREWED if the power goes out, causing an inability in your alarm clock to wake you up for work. Sometimes, you wake up, and you think, "Hmmm...it's a little too light out for my liking." And you notice that EVERY digital clock in your house is a big, black, blank screen. And you jump off the couch (where you were sleeping in front of the now-silent air conditioner) and fumble for you cell phone and realize that it is 6:32, and you should have left for work, well, 32 minutes ago. After throwing on some clothes (working at a job where you wear scrubs = SO good not to have to decide what to wear) and throwing your toothbrush and toothpaste in your purse (because the electric well pump needs some of that newfangled electricity to get the water to come out of your faucet), you hop in the car while frantically calling someone...ANYONE...at work (not always easy during the change of shift) to let them know that your morning has not been a good one and you will be there, at the earliest, at 7:15, which is a full half hour late. Damn that move up into the mountains, anyway.

Luckily, my coworkers are understanding and would prefer I arrive even later than that and also alive. Luckily, also, it was Sunday, so I was able to go a little heavier on the gas petal and not worry about cops so much and also there was no traffic. Luckily, as a final also, my day got better.

Yesterday, my friends, was my VERY FIRST BRIDAL SHOWER!!!! And there are also some tricky people in my life! TRICKY LIARS! However, it's okay because, man, I was surprised!

My baby sister turned 26 on Friday, and the Big Event of our Sunday was supposed to be dinner out for her birthday. She was to arrive at 6:00 or 6:30 at my parents', where I was going after work, and we were going to head out. I work closer to my parents' than to my house (again about the mountains), so I went to their house to shower (ah, the running water) and change and wait for her and her boyfriend and also Bill, who was out of town for the weekend. So I am sitting around reading the paper, and the phone rings. It's my parents' neighbor, Barb. Barb's son got married a few weeks ago, so when she invites us over to see the pictures of the wedding, fresh back from the photographer, I think nothing of it and report that we are on our way.

She meets us at the back door. We go into the house. I walk into the kitchen...and right into a trap. About fifteen members of our family of friends are standing in the kitchen, and I about fall over as they yell, "SURPRISE!" It's a party! It's for me (and Bill, who is still out of town...sneaky, sneaky man)!

Apparently, the birthday dinner was all a big ruse to get me down there and to lure an unsuspecting me into their trap of margaritas and merriment. I was, of course, touched and thrilled. After an initial moment of near hyperventilation and tears, we got down to the business of fiesta-ing, complete with margaritas and queso and fajitas and tacos and margarita cheesecake and frozen strawberry margarita pie. There were games. There were gifts. There were good times, had by all (especially me)! And at the end of the evening, there was an actual showing of the wedding pictures because they weren't actually lying to me (much)! I feel very lucky to have so many people who care about me.

Of course, no shower is complete without pictures...and those pictures had something to do with what I have done this morning. I noticed that the surprised and blushing bride, who was photographed walking into the ambush, was looking a little, um, wide across the beam. The camera adds ten pounds? Well, it had better add more like fifty because I was NOT happy with what I saw.

So this morning, I decided to get up and take a walk. Have I mentioned that I live in the mountains? Well, here in the mountains, they don't specialize in flat roadways. They specialize, instead, in neighborhoods where EVERY street goes uphill, and I don't know how I didn't walk all the way to heaven with all the uphills I was doing. It was dirty. It was ugly. It was wheeze-y. It was sweaty. It was forty-five minutes long, and although I felt great (tired) when I was done, it was definitely insult added to injury when I had to finish up the walk with a trek up my hellish driveway. Man, I can't wait to get that thing paved!

How was your weekend?