Walking With Nora

TDH presented this to me after the rehearsal dinner on Friday evening in Jeff City.
He found at an alternative store in one of my favorite shopping areas.
The pendant means Eternal Perfection.
I probed him as to the reason why this necklace, why this pendant (I am a girl after all), and he said that he knew what it meant before he bought it for me. The necklace, he says, is a symbol of how he sees me and our relationship. Insert melting heart here.
I’ve worn the necklace every waking hour since Friday, even to the wedding.

Penguin!

One our first date we walked past this fun store that had about 10 penguins like this in the window.
For those of you who don’t know me that well, I really like penguins. A lot.
Right as rain, TDH bought me one.
He scores major points for remembering and for the fact that I made a comment about the penguins on our first date.

Home Decor by TDH

I have three big walls in my new bedroom and I’ll admit I’m still lacking sufficient pictures, paintings and etc.
Between TDH, my parents and my brother, I know have four more pieces of art/wall decor to add to my place.
TDH made this by hand for me, using the colors in my bedroom. He says he’s making two more panels so I can have three altogether. I think it’s beautiful in its simplicity.

Ugly Ghost

I can no longer sleep very well when I’m not with TDH.
I’m 25 and I still sleep cuddling a teddy bear or other stuffed animal.
This is TDH’s addition to my collection (well, now I have two options: this Ugly Ghost or a Valentine’s Day Bear from Darling) and he hopes it will act in his stead when he’s not around.
It’s an Ugly Doll, something I’ve heard but never seen. And we have a running inside joke about ghosts so it’s only fitting that he give me an Ugly Ghost. He’s surprisingly cuddly.
We’ve named him Frederick.

*****************
The TDH presents are awesome.
My parents did a spectacular job as well: Sex & the City: The Movie, a shopping trip for furniture, a shopping trip for clothes, two books, organic soap, a really awesome flag from Key West, fun sleepwear and a very Vogue Journal.

I’m back.

Wedding Weekend = phenomenal. Many stories to tell and photos to share.

Birthday = surprisingly great. TDH is a wonderful present giver (I’ll post pictures of each present this week). KH called in sick and spent the day with me yesterday. Darling, Boss and my brother also gave me awesome presents and showered me with love and affection.

Back to the grind of work (over 200 emails in just three days) and stress of grad school.

… to get Mel married. The whirlwind begins today. She called me yesterday in the middle of the work day to say she’s really glad I took the day off to ride down to her hometown with her. I think the nerves finally hit her.

Things I’ll blog about when I get back (hopefully):

• TDH met MY parents on Wednesday. It was amazing. They love him.
• Mel’s wedding festivities, of course
• 4 days until my quarterlife celebration… I’m freaking out. Not because of the number but because of other thoughts that are so very grown-up. Like how I am ready to settle down in the next few years (ack, did I really just say that??), that I’m thinking about kids (an even bigger ACK!) and other thoughts I dare not type at the moment.

Shout out  to KylaBea who’s wedding is also this Saturday- hope it is a splendid wedding. Can’t wait to read about it!

And to Darling who is kind enough to watch my dear dog Jack while I’m gone this weekend.

(Now go read their blogs.)

Hugs,

Nora, the Eternal Bridesmaid

I went to the allergist last Friday since my heightened, more frequent reactions have been disturbing not only my daily routine but my piece of mind as well.

I have new! Improved! Food! Allergies! (Big surprise, right?) They are independent of my oral food allergies, meaning I can’t eat them regardless of where they come from.

So in addition to every fruit, vegetable and nut that grown on a tree or in the ground where they are poisoned by pollen, the very same pollen that my body detests, I can’t eat: celery, carrots, soy, peanuts, oranges and seasame seeds. I can’t have these foods in any form… zest, seed, paste, etc.

Fortunately for me, except for the soy (it’s in a lot of the more healthful foods I eat) and seasame seeds (buh-bye hummus, yummy bagels from Panera and certain other breads), those aren’t food I eat often due to the oral food allergies.

Wondering what I can eat? It’s a much shorter list than the allergic foods: meat (except fish), dairy, bread, broccoli, green beans, corn, pasteurized/processed fruit juice and wine. That’s all folks.

TDH upgraded me this weekend from saying “I really like you,” to “I more than like you.”

Ah, the butterflies with this man are never-ending.

Saturday afternoon we set off for another wedding at which we were just spectators (for a change) but unfortunately got stuck in dead-stop-traffic for over an hour.  I am not even joking when I say we moved less than a mile in one hour. We made the best of it, putting is iPod on shuffle, making up our own words to songs, speculating on our fellow traffic-sitters life stories (we took the Law & Order CSI approach so everyone was in trouble for some kind of crime) and laughing a ton, as always. I met more of his friends (it’s like a clown car… they just keep showing up and coming out!) on Saturday night and I think they are probably going to be my favorite of his friends mostly because a) I feel completely comfortable around them, no pretenses and etc and b) TDH is his complete self around those guys as well.

In other news... I’m leaving on Thursday for my last bridesmaid duties. I have to write a five-page paper, respond to online discussions and read four chapters before Thursday morning at 10 am. Additionally tonight is girls’ night at the Cardinals game, tomorrow TDH meets MY parents and Wednesday I’m making an appearance at my Wednesday night crew (have been spending too much time with TDH’s friends). Oh, and Jack has been sick since yesterday morning. He gracefully threw up on TDH’s bed and all over his house so I spent my Sunday doing laundry, scrubbing, cleaning, Febreeze-ing and worrying about my dog. The point of this diatribe? Posting will be light.

Girl: “My boyfriend says I walk like a penguin, but I don’t!”
Girl 2: “Were you pregnant when he said that?”
Girl: “Haha, no, that was before I was pregnant.”

The Professional Look

I vaguely recall this picture being taken at the Canada Wedding Reception. A friend emailed it to me early this week. I love the the way the tie looks with the dress, the way TDH is holding onto me and laughing, and just the reminder of the trip. It’s funny how we’ve been back for three weeks already and the trip seems a distant memory. I have been so wrapped up in my work, school and etc that I haven’t really had time to look back through my pictures and enjoy how much fun we had. I think I’ll add that to my list of things to do this weekend.

Updates: I am not giving TDH my blog address. I told him that I will just read him excerpts if/when he’s interested. Dinner went really well last night. His Gram was thrilled that I brought brownies, his sister is awesome (she invited us to dinner at their house) and I felt much more comfortable this time around. Do I dare say I like how things are going? That I’m actually enjoying myself?

I’m having blog-block lately. Too much on the brain I suppose, and as my regular readers know, it’s a cycle that I go through. So here’s the skinny…

• TDH wants my blog address. I have read him snippets before, mostly from our earlier days of dating (it really seems like it’s been longer than three months), but I haven’t showed him the URL. I have mixed feelings about giving him my URL. I suppose it couldn’t hurt but I’d have to doubly watch what I say and I don’t know if I want to censor myself that much.
• I’m wearing dress # 7 next Saturday at Mel’s wedding. Yes, it’s already here. I’ve known Mel for seven years and I’ve known Mel with Corey for three of those years. I can’t believe that one of my best friends who really, truly gets me, without judgment, is going to be married. Of course I get completely emotional thinking about when I walk down the aisle, when she does, when they say their I-Dos and so much more. I’m especially nervous this time as this is the first time I’ve ever had a date to a wedding that I’ve been in, meaning TDH will be watching me walk down the aisle. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make eye contact with him! And with Mel’s wedding that leaves a handful of us not engaged or married…
• Three Words. No, TDH and I have not said those three words that many people wish/want/hope to hear. Many people have asked, so I thought I’d just put it out there. That’s not say I don’t want to hear them or haven’t necessarily thought them but after the LAST time I said them to a guy (his response: “Wow, that’s awesome, great,” as he walks away fro me) I am definitely not uttering them no matter how badly I want to say it.
• Health & Wealth. So I can’t run for six weeks. It’s causing me to go stir-crazy in away. Fall is my favorite time of year and with optimal weather I want to get outside and run as far and as fast I can. Stupid, crooked hips. I feel gross and mushy. I don’t feel as sexy and as hot as I did when I first met TDH which is causing me to be grumpy, not put myself together for days at the office and a general feeling of blah-ness. I don’t think it helps that I don’t make enough time for myself, constantly trying to see everyone, do everything, be a people-pleaser. I am craving a night on the couch, in my sweats, with a greasy pizza from Pizza Hut (ha, that’s good for the blah-ness, right?) and a stack of chickflicks.  Alone.
• My apartment. I finally have some pictures on the wall and last Wednesday I entertained Kel and TLo for a lovely wine, cheese and girl night. We had so much fun we are making it a bi-weekly event with different food and drink themes, just to keep it interesting. I am to the point now when I’m home (see, I called it home!) it feels good to be there, like it’s my space and not an empty shell. Jack has finally adjusted to the new digs and apart from when he acts semi-depressed because TDH isn’t there, he does well. (The other night he looked around for TDH… the bed, the kitchen, the living room… and when he didn’t see TDH he jumped on the couch and made a show of sticking his head under the throw pillows. Dramatic dog. But totally adorable.)
• Family Dinner. I mentioned I was invited back to TDH’s family dinner, so off we go this evening to celebrate Gram’s 80th birthday and for me to meet the only sister who lives in the U.S. One is coming back permanently in November (the one TDH is closest with) and I’m supernervous about that, just cause, as a sister, I know how we can be when it comes to our brother’s girlfriends.
• Birthday. OMG. My quarterlife birthday is coming up in 10 days. I have been ignoring it. Avoiding it. Shoving it off to the corners of my mind. I know it’s not old. I know it’s a milestone. It’s also a reminder of where I am in my life, and it’s not really where I thought I would be… not that where I am is bad. It’s just different. I suppose it’s time to set new goals and make new lists of fun things I want to do but in the meantime I’m ignoring my birthday as much as possible. The only exciting part? TDH evidently purchased two presents for me, and from what he has suggested they are rather expensive. Hmmmm…

My back, injured by the stupid red couch move, is doing much better. At the recommendation of my Physical Therapist friends, TDH, Kel and my parents I realized that as much as I love my chiropractor (I owe her a lot for the TDH set-up) it wasn’t fixing the problem.

Yesterday I went to a physical therapist who comes highly-recommended by Little Man’s mom. I was nervous, as I always am during doctor’s visits. It didn’t entirely help that the woman across from me was telling me about her degenerative back problems and that I should see a neurologist and make sure I haven’t torn my ligaments, that I don’t have a bulging disc. She went on and on, I presume because her husband wasn’t in the waiting room with her.

The experience was overwhelming positive. An hour later I walked away with a number of stretches and strengthening exercises to do, realized that for all my working out my gluteus medius is not strong enough (though the maximus and minimus are hanging in there), and a positive feeling about the fact that in four to six weeks I can do my full gym routine. In the meantime I’m allowed to walk and bike and do weights. Not my normal gym-fix, but it will have to do.

I laughed at myself as I managed to mess up my pelvis, hips and tailbone in only a way that is true to me. (When I get sick or hurt myself, I go all the way: broken ankle in three places, emergency appendectomy, a two inch thorn lodged in my food, sinus surgery, tonsilectomy…) My right hip is sitting higher than my left by about an inch, my tailbone is twisted up and to the left. Sounds glorious, right?

I celebrated by taking Jack for a very fast two mile walk in the fabulous fall breeze last night, leaves scuttling around our feet, before settling in for a night of studying. (It’s midterm week!)

I feel empowered. I know that everything will be back to normal soon. I can’t wait!

Now, if only I could remember to not cross my legs when I’m sitting at my desk we’ll be good to go…