Happy New Year!

To one and all... !

To all the faithful readers out there, we resolve to post many fun upcoming dramas, incidents, and funny bridal anecdotes.

The wedding countdown is at 5 months and 10 days today, December 30, 2005.

We sincerely hope that 2006 is full of love, laughter, and light for all of you.

~Rob and Andrea

Merry Christmas...

To all, and to all a good night.
Friday night - Sharrie's to start Christmas with the girls. I truly believe Christmas is about kids, but yikes this is ridiculous! Three presents each for the girls, and one for Sharrie and Bobby! LOL
Saturday - Rob goes off to work and leave me to cook 15 pounds of potatoes for the Delmonicos I am required by family law to bring Christmas Eve as well as Christmas Day... labor of love.
Saturday night - off to Cindy and Joe's in Arlington for Eve festivities, Joe's balls, (MEATballs ...get your minds out of the gutter) Grammy's lemon torte, presents, Yankee Swap, and much frivolity. Then over to spend the night at my future in-laws in Lynn.
Sunday - Christmas morning with Rob's parents and Grandpa - breakfast, an obscene amount of gifts, and much fun.
Sunday afternoon - over the river and through the woods to UNK and Aunt Linda's we go... Delmonico's, playing with Laci and Abby - the two newest members of the family, swap gifts, and lots of fun.
Sunday night - collapse will be in order.

From the Polar Express: "Seeing is believing... but sometimes the most real things are what we don't see. "

Advance Santa

Poor Rob. I really need to think about changing my birthday when I change my name. Having to work all weekend and attend our friend's Holiday Party and remember my birthday a week before Christmas and go holiday shoping caused my beloved to go into a bit of overload. We did have a nice time on Sunday with my Mom and Dad, going out to an Italian restaurant near them. I got some lovely gifts from family and friends...for which I am truly touched and very very blessed.
Joe and Dimitri's party was, as always, a FABULOUS affair. Apparently I am not only known for my balls, (I make "sweet and sour" style meatballs that is engraved in stone that I MUST make them) now I am requested to make raspberry truffle martini's for future soirees. (Delighful winter drink... raspberry vodka, Bailey's and Godiva liquor, with a swirl of chocolate) Angus got bombed and invited everyone at Joe's party to our wedding... people whom I had not sent an invitation to, and had not planned on inviting. Joy and Rapture. Remind me to smack the Irishman.
Now we are in full week before Christmas mode... shopping, wrapping, and cooking what I can in advance along with a trip to Maine for the night to deliver presents to the co-best man, his wife, and daughter, whom I adore. Of course Rob comes down with a 24 hour flu of hell.... better or worse, sickness and in health.

So last night Rob picks me up from work, and tells me that we have to take a detour. He can't find his ATM debit card, and the last place he used it was to get gas earlier in the day. So off we go to the Hess station, where they give him the lost card- saying they saw it and put it under the counter. Now my beloved may be many things, but trusting is not one of his top ten (with folks he doesn't know, that is.) So he calls B of A to check balance and transactions. His end of the conversation I hear: "Yep, gas purchase....that was me this morning.... and what else? A $39 charge? For WHERE? I never heard of that. I didn't authorize that. OK How do I dispute this? Uh huh, uh huh... The name is what? Do you have a phone number? (frantic scribbling) OK, sure thanks. " He gets off the phone and says he has to go into the gas station and get a list of employees because someone made a $39 purchase to a place called Jessica's Biscuits. "Sounds like porn to me" he says. "Hold on." I say. "You drive let's go get dinner and I will call them and see what I can do to find out details." So I call, playing the good fiance. The man I speak to is very nice, but says that customer service for dispute situations is now closed, They are only open until 5, etc... so I ask what sort of company Jessica's biscuits is. Sounds vaguely like gourmet foods, I say to him. He says "We do catalog sales for lots of things, like cookbooks." Rob hears the word "cookbook" and grabs the phone off my ear and yells "WAIT! WAIT! That was me! I'm the one who placed an order! Don't cancel it!" (Mind you we've given no credit card information, name, or any details - this man had no idea to whom he was speaking) I am, at this point, hysterically laughing... knowing full well what this is.....and Rob has this miserable woebegone expression. You see, I had given Rob a list of what I wanted for Christmas, and had a couple of cookbook ideas on there, among other things. So off we go to dinner, and various other family dramas that are playing out with his sister unfold, but that's another story altogether. The best part of this story other than how funny it was that Rob went into ABORT ABORT status and nearly ripped my ear off trying to get the phone is that I am telling this story to Mom this morning and she says "What cookbook was it? You mean you told both Rob and I you wanted cookbooks?" Then she makes the patentended "Harrumph" noise of frustration all mothers have a genetic predisposition towards and says "I have to go call Rob now." Too funny. I love Christmas.

calendar countdown...

5 months and 27 days.
Less than 6 months until the day we say "I do." We got the headpiece, flower girl baskets, rose petals... just a few items using some coupons. It was a good time to take advantage of the deals out there. (When I say we, I refer to Mom and I, as Rob can't see any of this. )
For a smaller countdown, it's 6 days until my birthday. I tell you - Rob got this wedding right under the wire. Several years ago, I told him my goal was to be married by the time I was 40. Not in my 40th year, not on my 40th birthday. With a June wedding, he got it done with 6 months to spare. :)
We went and had our picture taken with Santa. We are both really into Christmas, which I love. We also promised eachother that next year, we will decorate the place we move to within an inch of it's life. This year, not so much. For right now, I live with a true Scrooge, who really doesn't like Christmas at all and it's so not worth it to hear his bitching and moaning not to mention how he doesn't really respect my love of Christmas - read as putting the animals and Mary into comprimising positions in my nativity manger- so I just said the heck with it and deal for this last year.

December 2005

And Christmas insanity is a whirlwind gaining speed and momentum. I seriously wish that utilities would give a Christmas present to their customers and say "hey - don't worry "bout paying us until January"... and that includes my landlord! Oh well - 'tis the season of wishing.
At any rate - we've picked the tuxedos from Mr. Tux - VERY nice and I like them alot. Best of all the sales rep was amazingly nice - hugging Rob and I, and just mothering us. Too sweet - props to Sheila at the Square One Mall :)
In other wedding news, my funniest Christmas card thus far came from my cousin Jeff and was addressed to Bridezilla and Groom Monster at my address - and it actually got to me! I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry that the postman knew this. (Given that I am in a multi unit apartment building)
I've seen some nice invitations as well as program covers, but that's a January/February kind of thing. My FMIL - the MOG Darlene cannot wait to being "being crafty" and helping me do the centerpieces and favors. (By the way - FMIL = Future Mother In Law and MOG = Mother of Groom)
So that's where we are. My first Christmas as an engaged lady, my last Christmas with my maiden name.... wow.... Rob continues to amaze me. We've promised to take it easy with Christmas gifts - and of course he calls me Diamond Lil and tells me not to count on any more jewelry! I still love him. :)

December 2005

And Christmas insanity is a whirlwind gaining speed and momentum. I seriously wish that utilities would give a Christmas present to their customers and say "hey - don't worry "bout paying us until January"... and that includes my landlord! Oh well - 'tis the season of wishing.
At any rate - we've picked the tuxedos from Mr. Tux - VERY nice and I like them alot. Best of all the sales rep was amazingly nice - hugging Rob and I, and just mothering us. Too sweet - props to Sheila at the Square One Mall :)
In other wedding news, my funniest Christmas card thus far came from my cousin Jeff and was addressed to Bridezilla and Groom Monster at my address - and it actually got to me! I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry that the postman knew this. (Given that I am in a multi unit apartment building)
I've seen some nice invitations as well as program covers, but that's a January/February kind of thing. My FMIL - the MOG Darlene cannot wait to being "being crafty" and helping me do the centerpieces and favors. (By the way - FMIL = Future Mother In Law and MOG = Mother of Groom)
So that's where we are. My first Christmas as an engaged lady, my last Christmas with my maiden name.... wow.... Rob continues to amaze me. We've promised to take it easy with Christmas gifts - and of course he calls me Diamond Lil and tells me not to count on any more jewelry! I still love him. :)