Eric and I are having a reception this December in Pittsburgh. I mentioned it before. And for this reception I want to wear my wedding dress again. Because who doesn’t want to wear their dress again?!?

But the logistics of getting a big wedding dress home? That could be complicated. I am getting in a mere two days before the party. Not nearly enough time to get the thing pressed. So I went to the post office to get a flat shipping rate box (smartest thing the post office did) and I sent that gown home to mamma.

My wonderful mother took it to the dry cleaners because the dress could use a little cleaning and they, my mom and the teenager working there, look at the care tag in the dress. And it says “do not dry clean.”

Do you know what is says?!?

Yes. You are looking at the only bride in the entire world that has ever bought a dress that said “machine wash. Cold water. Mild detergent.”

Don’t ever tell me I’m high maintenance.

Lisa and I are similar. Sometimes our luck is less than stellar. For example, yesterday Lisa bought a beautiful patio set because they have a nice patio and she wanted to take naps outside. So last night we were outside relaxing and we could hear her neighbors building something. An outside bar.

So all of those evenings that my sister will be outside trying to relax, her neighbors will be throwing keggers. Or at least we hope not.

So on Monday morning I took my car to the shop where I usually take my Vespa for repairs. The service engine light has been on for months and the car has been leaking like a faulty levy for months now. I took it to the vespa guys because they are now officially the only mechanics I trust. Why is it that as a woman, mechanics almost always automatically treat me like crap? I have gone so far as to have Winemonkey call a few days after me to get an estimate for the same work I requested. He inevitably gets a lower estimate. It really pisses me off! But I digress…

So I call on Tuesday and the guy tells me that I need a new water pump and a new oxygen sensor and I say, “Go ahead and fix it.” Because I just want this car to last me a few more years… Until I am in a place where I am saving money regularly. Anyway… I call at the end of the day to see if my car is ready to pick up and the mechanic tells me that they had some problems and that it should be fixed by tomorrow.

So Wednesday rolls in. And I patiently wait until about 4:30 to see if my car is ready. Because at this point I have been sitting in my house Monday and Tuesday night going a little stir crazy. And the mechanic tells me he just wants to take it for a drive around the block. So he calls me back after he does that and he tells me that it is running like crap and that they can’t figure out why.

So today I called at 4:30 and he was INCREDIBLY apologetic about my car still being broken. And he offers to pay for a rental car for this weekend. I tell him that if it isn’t fixed by 3:30 tomorrow we can discuss the rental car… but that he should keep working on it through tomorrow.

Long story short, today it wasn’t fixed at 4:30, but was fixed by 5:30. And the mechanic said that it is running much better than when I brought it in and I am going to be so “stoked”. I am looking forward to picking up my car tomorrow!

I wish these mechanics would move to Santa Rosa when I move.

Or at least the best thing that has happened for me in a while?

Then go to pearchpugs and see what it says at the bottom of the page by Pebbles.

Seriously. I just don’t think I can wait until March! Look out folks… this might just turn into a doggie blog. At least some of the time.

sort of…

Well, I got the government job that I was hoping for. But now I have to figure out a way to make it work. I can’t face 4+ hours of commuting every day. But paying rent at two places? That also seems to suck…

But importantly, I got the job. And now we are just hashing out details.

Well folks, today is the day. Well the first of what hopefully will be several days. I am having my first “phone discussion” with the hiring committee tonight. TONIGHT. And I am painfully nervous. Mostly because there are people on the committee that I worry about. But I gotta keep my head up and compete for this job like it is nobody’s business. Because truth be told, aside from the abnormal behavior of one of my co-workers, I really want this job. If for nothing else, because I don’t want to leave this area and it is the only place with the kind of job I want.

I love my job sometimes. Like on days like today. My “boss” came in and said that he was going to go to this special tasting at one of his client’s wineries. And I said, “You know, you really should have a designated driver.” And he said, “Well, my wife is at home with my sick son… would you like to go with me?”

And I did!

And I tasted $300 worth of premium chardonnay, pinot noir, and syrah. And I talked to one of the owners, the winemaker, and the assistant winemaker. I also got to meet a few more people in the same business as my “boss”. It was really fantastic.

Just another case of the right place at the right time.

So I was so freaked out about not getting any work done before my meeting with my advisor. But then I got an email last night around 10 saying that his trip home got botched and that he was going to have to cancel his meetings today.

Being the diligent student that I am… and having already traveled in to see him today, I asked if I could see him this afternoon around 5. But I am now hoping that he says that he can’t and that we should just meet over the phone on Friday.

But with this gift, I am going to take today and work my little butt off and see how far I can get. It has been an hour since I sat down and really started working, and I have already made a lot of progress. I think I am going to head over to the library to do some research.

Writing my dissertation is kind of like exercising. When I do it, it feels so good. But for some reason it takes a hell of a lot to get me to work on it.

I seriously went so that I could play with the kids and hang out with the moms, who are friends of mine. And one of them owns a business with her husband. They need some help with their business… mostly data entry and taking care of things around the office. I happen to need a job. So I start on Monday morning. Isn’t life kind of crazy like that? I should go to these playgroups more often.

Apparently our neighbor, although quiet in most aspects of his life, is painfully loud when he is banging women. Now I don’t know anything about him. I don’t even know if he is attractive or if he has a girlfriend. But Winemonkey was jolted awake last night with their antics in the room above ours. This was precisely why I didn’t want to have upstairs or downstairs neighbors.

But he is moving out so hopefully we won’t be stuck with another “quiet” neighbor.