My Retort
March 31, 2008
First, you have to read this
To Benjamin, my future husband:
OK Buttface…first of all…the whole work thing is so not true. I am the one asking you every stinking day if you found the cure for cancer and am insanely jealous that you are busy all day long when I am generally bored out of my mind. Second, I WATCH you play on your computer when you are home and when I ask you what you are doing you say “dicking around” right? I can SEE google reader before and after you read all 100 articles/blogs every day…I receive the most random emails showing mini beds, random pieces of technology, Iphone garbage and so on. You find the most RANDOM blogs (this dude’s for example), pieces of information that no normal person would find when just checking email/working. This dude seems to have some serious communication issues with his wife. The difference between us and this couple is that I see you with my own eyes and you ADMIT that you are addicted to your computer.
Take that crazy pants!
I know having a public argument with a significant other is not looked upon highly but given the context of said argument I thought it was appropriate. I’ve learned that if you want to get your point across, you must speak the other persons language.
And for the record, he is most definitely addicted to his computer…we’ve even enlisted “computer rules.” Mainly being the first thing he does when he gets home cannot be open his computer.
Chicago weather
March 28, 2008
Here is what the weather did today:
Temps were around 30ish and it rained, snowed, sleeted, there were blizzard conditions for a while, oh and it also thundered (during the sleet/snow phase).
Jealous?
I forgot to mention that yesterday it was 55 and sunny.
Getting married is a cut-throat business
March 28, 2008
Literally, you better be damn sure you really want to get married or else you will be out of a ton of money with no one feeling sorry for you.
No worries, our wedding is most definitely going to happen but I feel sorry for the people whose weddings end up getting canceled or postponed. I picked out my bridesmaids’ dresses today and as I was signing the credit card receipt our bridal consultant starts telling us stories about girls whose weddings don’t happen.
The most recent episode was a case where the father of the bride called off the wedding…that’s right, the father of the bride. Sucks to be that girl (or she’s really lucky, you never know). They wanted all their money back and of course the bridal shop said no way! They ended up with a store credit for the amount of all the bridesmaid dresses and the bride’s dress to be used in the future. I thought that was pretty nice, actually.
Our consultant told us that weddings get canceled much more often than we think. After I signed my paycheck away she told me that bridesmaids often change their mind and ask not to be in the wedding after the dress is purchased. She also mentioned how she has had bridesmaids call up and tell her that they don’t care what the bride wants…they want THIS instead. Wow.
I am certainly happy that I don’t need to worry about this with my girls…they have basically told me they could care less what I choose for them, as long as I like it. I am very lucky to have friends like them…wouldn’t you say?
A good week.
March 21, 2008
Outside of the normal work things in life…the last week or so has been pretty darn good.
A recap:
We are absolutely ecstatic that we will be able to join two of our very dear friends in Hawaii to celebrate their wedding! It isn’t very often that you can say you will be going to Hawaii twice in one year but we are! We were quite upset about not being able to help them celebrate their big day (a new condo, plus a wedding, plus a honeymoon equals no money) and I had already tried to figure out a way to make our presence known. I’m am very happy I won’t have resort to those measures. A change in fortune is allowing us to join in the fun and we couldn’t be happier about the situation.
We FINALLY picked the florist for our wedding and it is going to be BEAUTIFUL!!
My grandmother who is 74 decided to quit smoking and has been a non-smoker for 2 weeks now!
This has absolutely no bearing on my life whatsoever but it was still fun….
For those that don’t know, Ben is in an MD/PhD program and will be in school for the rest of his life…but will be a very smart man at the end of all of it. If he stuck to just the MD path, he would have found out where his residency would have been yesterday. This was the case for all of his friends. We celebrated with them last night and it was such a happy and exciting moment for all of them that the feeling was completely contagious! We had such a great time talking with all of them and wishing them well that it makes me even more excited for Ben’s turn. Normally, I would be completely freaked out but given that I have about 4 more years to prepare I am OK. For some reason, the idea of the unknown is really exciting to me. Thursday morning, all of his 4th year friends were still students but by 10:00am they were all legitimate almost doctors. Most of them are going to far away lands like Boston, San Francisco, Oregon, and Connecticut with only a few staying in Chicago. I don’t know how to explain it…the whole situation makes me really happy and really excited to see what Ben ends up doing.
To top off the evening, Ben and Charlie (our yellow lab) had a male bonding moment. Charlie and I were the only sober ones in our little group so you can imagine the situation. On our evening walk Ben decided he needed to do his “job” with Charlie. To eliminate any confusion “Do your job” is our command for Charlie to go to the bathroom. So there I am, standing on the sidewalk in the park watching both my fiance and dog do their “job” on the fence, all the while Ben is laughing hysterically and racing Charlie to see who finishes first. Ben won.
So much popularness!
March 21, 2008
3,000, yo.
Only in my world
March 17, 2008
I can’t believe it has taken me this long to write about this…
Two weeks ago I went on yet another business trip. This one was a little unlike the others because I had to add a trip to the corporate office last minute in addition to my normal sales calls. My boss had me rearrange my travel so I could attend a meeting (that could have very easily been taken care of over the phone.) After I did all that, it turned out my flight was cancelled…blah blah blah insert travel woes here, and I didn’t arrived to our office until 5pm that day, 5 hours after I was supposed to get there. So plan B was to go back to the office the next morning to have this meeting…which still never happened.
OK, so assume I am slightly pissed that I had to rearrange everything to make this meeting that never happened. I finally decided at around 2pm I am going to leave so I can make it to my hotel and make one call in a reasonable time. The hotel should have been about 2 hours away but what I didn’t know was that I would have to drive through some random part of Manhattan (during rush hour) to get to my destination on Long Island. Well, I say it was Manhattan but really I have no idea, there were so many bridges, tunnels, and traffic that I was utterly lost. Thank goodness for GPS.
Anyway, as I am making my way through rush hour traffic trying my hardest not to run over any pedestrians I come to a stop at a stop light. I look around to take in the sights and OH MY GOD there is a penis! Yep, there is a man standing next to me with his ding-a-ling hanging out.
My conversation with myself: “OK, stay calm, you’re in NYC these things happen…you see this occasionally in Chicago. I am sure he is just peeing. Check back to make sure he is peeing…he probably just really has to go.” So I look back at him. “NOPE! NOT PEEING!”
It’s official people, I was flashed. He was smiling at me and doing other lovely things I will refrain from writing. I immediately looked away in disgust and prayed that the cops were still only 1 car behind me, which of course they weren’t.
So there you go friends. The last time I was there I was robbed, this time I was flashed. I can only imagine what will happen the next time I am there.
A Perfect Reason to Celebrate!
March 11, 2008
Engagement cards
March 5, 2008
These are quite possibly the funniest things I have ever received. The little kids I used to babysit gave Ben and I homemade engagement cards on their last visit. It’s quite funny to see what an 8 year-old and a 6 year-old think about getting married.
Here is Jonah’s:
In case you need translation:
The picture is of the Sears Tower with Ben and I at the front getting married…note the veil and flowers. Jonah is OBSESSED with the Sears Tower so he is more than excited about our wedding location (the building just south of it).
Jonah writes:
Dear Abbie and Ben (not sure why he scratched Ben’s name out)
Congratulations! I hope you have a happy engagement! We’re waiting for the big day! Best wishes for your whole life together!
Love, Jonah
PS. Is Ben doing fine?
Now to Emma’s…the real jewel:
She denotes the front and back of the card…just in case we weren’t sure. Also, that’s a picture of a lion if you were wondering. I also love the “Happy Hearts Engagement”
And she writes:
Dear Abbie and Ben!
What a day! You guys are married! Happy Engagement! This is the day of your life! I hope you have a happy engagement!
Love, Emma
PS. Happy Engagement! (in case she forgot to tell us already)
I LOVE these! Every time we read them we spend the next ten minutes cracking up.
Enjoy 
