Parking Nazis and New Furniture

Wow! What a weekend this has been! Matt & I have done so many things in such a short amount of time. Well, Friday night was somewhat calm, because he and I were recovering from the fantastic impromptu bonfire/dance party we hosted here at the Casa del Hollomans. To sum up Thursday evening in two sentences or less: We burned things and danced. Much fun was had by all in attendance.

Saturday morning, we lazed around for a bit, but then jumped into gear to get to Sarasota to meet Jason and Christy, who was hot off the plane from Baltimore to visit her adoring fans in sunny Florida. We met them downtown at The Two Senoritas for lunch, then parted ways briefly. Matt & I had some shopping to do. Next Saturday required a new dress, and Macy's delivered! We found the perfect dress for me. I won't even describe it, I shall post pictures as soon as they are taken next weekend at our Florida reception being given by my super parents-in-law. After we purchased the dress of my dreams, we found a matching tie at Saks. OMG, they were having a fantastic sale, and it was a STEAL! Our shopping mission accomplished, we made our way to the temporary beach abode of Christy and Shannon.

They were staying at Captiva Beach Resort, which is adjacent to the Tropical Shores, where Matt & I said our "I do's" over three months ago. Unlike Tropical Shores, the management of Captiva were not gracious hosts. At Tropical Shores, the staff says "Oh, you're getting married?! Let me upgrade your room." At Captiva, the staff says, "We're gonna tow your car." Mind you, we had parked my car off the premises, because parking WAS limited. This girl kept coming up to us, saying "My manager says you're in that Jeep over there, and we're gonna have to tow it." Our reply that we don't own a Jeep and that our vehicle wasn't even THERE fell on deaf ears, apparently. Our vehicle was NEVER at risk of being towed (because it was SOMEWHERE ELSE!), but it really chapped me that they kept threatening to tow us. I shall refer to them as "Parking Nazis" for the rest of my days. Anyway, after the Parking Nazi walked away, we (Christy, Jason, Matt & myself) headed down to the pristine white sand of Siesta Key Beach. We situated ourselves on a spot not far from where Matt & I married on March 5. We frolicked in the water and just generally enjoyed some time on the beach until Shannon finally arrived from work. He cut quite the imposing picture on the beach, dressed up to greet his lady friend. We all remarked on how dashing he looked, and then Christy & I tried on his hat. I felt like an extra in "Smooth Criminal."

At some point, Shannon & Christy opted to go back to their room. Matt, Jason, & I elected to stay on the beach for a bit. We wanted to give them a little time alone together. Jason was napping on the blanket. I was simply enjoying the ocean wind in my hair and the smell of the salt water. Matt wanted to swim some more. I quite enjoyed watching him play in the small Gulf waves. I delight in every move he makes. After he'd had his fill of swimming, I headed back to the room to shower and change. Matt and Jason followed shortly after. Christy and Shannon had plans for the rest of the evening to hang around there and be lazy (or whatever), while Jason, Matt, & I were going to go have some maki rolls at Pacific Rim. Unfortunately, Jason was having some issues with his car and elected to go on home. Matt & I were still going ahead with our maki roll plans, but it looked super-crowded when we were searching for a parking spot, and elected to eat a quick bite on the way home, instead.

This morning, we arose and went to church, thinking that we'd take Matt's parents to lunch somewhere here in Arcadia, since it was his dad's birthday. However, Matt's dad wanted to go eat at one of his favorite restaurants in Sarasota and browse through Barnes & Noble, so we were off to Sarasota again today. We had lunch and spent some time at the bookstore. Matt & I spent all of our time looking through travel books on Paris, the site of a future vacation. We found many places that we are planning to go, and I can barely contain my excitement! After we left Barnes & Noble, we made a brief stop at the mall, because I had forgotten to pick up a jar of my favorite moisturizer the day before. Then, we were off to the furniture store!

We HAD planned to go to the furniture store on Saturday, but time ran a bit short. Luckily, Matt's parent were agreeable to spend a little time while we finalized our decision to purchase a new bedroom suite. To my great joy, we also found the most PERFECT living room furniture! We all loved it, and it will be delivered, along with our new bedroom, on Friday. No more lumpy couch! Matt & I are both really excited about our new furniture. It is even more fun than I imagined it would be to select things for our home. I am stunned to realize that six months ago yesterday, Matt & I had our first online conversation. Now, we are making a home together! I am overwhelmed by gratefulness that God has brought me to where I am today.

More Sadness...

Although I'm tired, I wasn't ready for bed when my husband threw in the towel on his effort to stay awake this evening. I was just getting ready to check my email and possibly kill a little time by filling out some silly surveys on myspace when I heard my cell phone starting singing, "Hips don't Lie," the ringtone I have assigned to my gal pal Leslie. It was unusual for her to call this late. Actually, it's unusual for her to call at all. Not much of a phone talker, that Leslie. She was calling to tell me that the mother of one of her close friends died today. This friend of hers is someone with whom I've not always gotten along, but on St. Paddy's Day this year, she and I buried the hatchet for good. We formed a very fragile bond of friendship, but we are by no means close.

I feel so bad for her. It must be so awful to lose one's mother. I can't even imagine. I feel uncertain as to whether I should express my condolences in the form of a phone call, or send a card or flowers. I definitely want to reach out to her in some way, to let her know that she will be in my prayers. Each one who reads this, please say a small prayer for God to comfort Amanda as she grieves for her mother.

Help me decide...

This evening, I went to a Jujitzu class with my friend. Well, I watched. It looks like it might be kind of fun...I might decide to enroll, but I'm worried that it might spark up my hip problems if I land wrong from being flipped and what-not. I'm gonna give this some thought...

Overcome

This morning as I drove to work, my mind was busily planning what I would write about this evening. I had visions of reporting all of the tasks Matt and I accomplished with cleaning and working on our bathroom renovations. Shortly after I arrived at work, all of these thoughts fled from my mind. Today was an incredibly sad day.

I am somewhat shaken at the strength of my reaction to the news that a young woman I have never met, never even HEARD of until today, has been tragically taken in a car accident. The town where I work is a very small town. Everyone knows everyone. It's somewhat different from where I came from in that way. When I came in this morning, my coworkers were discussing a sixteen-year-old girl who had been in a bad accident on Friday night. We were taking up a collection for her family, and no one knew if she would live. I was immediately saddened at the thought of someone so young hanging on to life by a thread.

As the day progressed, people could talk of little else. I learned that this young woman's family had lost her brother in an accident not so long ago. My heart aches for this family, knowing that they are experiencing profound loss for a second time. Later in the day, we learned that she has been basically declared brain-dead, her body being kept alive by machines, for only as long as it takes to locate recipients for her organs. As I admire her family's generosity, I also grieve for them, knowing that they most likely will be in a state of limbo while the search for organ recipients could take days or weeks even. Today I have shed tears for strangers, grieving with them for the loss of such a young life. And I am touched.

I am touched by the charity and support from a small community for its own. I mentioned that a collection for the family was being taken. That is something of an understatement. Not only did we adults who work at the Y contribute, but so did members who were coming in to do their daily workouts. Also, the children in the day camp gave.

I walked back into the childcare area at one point this morning to look for my boss to approve a flyer I had made. I paused at the doorway to where the children were to listen to what was going on. These children were emptying their pockets in an effort to be giving to this family. I listened to one of the group leaders talking about how Jesus instructed us to take care of one another. I listened to her, knowing that by praising the children's generosity and caring gesture, she was instilling in them a Christian virtue. I cannot express how proud I am to be working in a place where God's work is done on a daily basis. In a place where Christian values are taught to the kids that come there to learn.

I am overcome.

New haircut and other adventures...

This weekend has been pretty fantastic! We slept in a bit on Saturday morning and then began to get ready for the day ahead of us. Matt started trying to figure out exactly how we would fit in everything that we had planned, and we ended up rescheduling a dinner with some friends of his for next weekend instead. I felt bad, but Matt insisted that they were ok with the change in plans. I hope he was right.






So I got my hair cut. It's pretty short now. I had been toying with the idea of cutting it for a couple of months, and I just decided to go ahead and bite the bullet. I'm soooo glad I did. It is much, much cooler without hair clinging to my neck! Plus, I think it looks cute, too. Matt agrees.

After the haircut, we drove in to Sarasota to do a little furniture shopping. Before we made it to any furniture stores, we stopped at Home Depot and picked up a Father's Day present for Matt's dad and also a vanity and mirror for our bathroom. I'm really pleased with the one we picked out, and I can't wait until we are ready to install it!

We had such a good time shopping for furniture! I halfway expected us to have completely different tastes, based on some of his decorating choices that were made long before I moved into the house. To my surprise and utter delight, we both agreed which bedroom set was perfect for us right away! We flopped around on many different mattresses, attempting to find the perfect one at the perfect price, and we were in complete agreement about that, as well.

We didn't end up purchasing any furniture yesterday, but we have agreed that we will do so within the next couple of weeks, as the mattress we've been sleeping on, well, sucks.

After we had had our fun on many, many beds, we decided it was time to "feed Seymore." We went to one of our fave spots, The Pacific Rim. We had some sashimi and maki rolls, as well as an amazing dessert! It was splendid.

We followed dinner with a movie. It was actually our first time attending a theater together. Because we were so full from dinner, I didn't get to illustrate my obsession for eating popcorn and Raisinets while at the movies. He can find that out whenever he takes me to the movies without feeding me first, ha ha. The movie we watched was "Waitress" with Keri Russell. I loved it! It is so NOT a predictable movie. While we were watching the previews, we came up with two more must-see movies, "Joshua" and "Evening."

After the movie ended, we opted to head to the beach for a walk in the moonlight. It was incredibly romantic. The beach was almost completely deserted. It was as though we were the only two people being bathed in the light of the moon and stars. All of my life, I have waited to have someone with whom I can share special moments like that one. I am so thankful for Matt.

Ouch!

Precisely one week ago, I wrote all about how clumsy I am. I am now feeling the effects of my accidents that day pretty heavily. My elbow still aches from the sound cracking against the windowsill. But it is my hip that is plaguing me. I started off the day getting out of bed a little unsteadily. By the time I got off work, I was doing my best to hide my limp from my coworkers. Never let 'em see you hurt. Oh, Lord, but do I hurt! Matt was a little alarmed to see me hobble into the house. I have dosed up on some mild pain-killers and am hoping that this bout of the dreaded "old lady hip" is short-lived. If you get a spare minute, say a little prayer for me.

My Laughter-filled Life

I have found myself reflecting for the past few days upon how much the foundations of my happiness have changed. Of course, my faith remains constant and the Lord is the rock to which I cling. The change has come about in a subtle way.

Before, I was happiest when I had events or activities to attend. My idea of a perfect summer day was to go boating with friends, and to go drinking or dancing afterwards. Or maybe it would be to go hiking or camping with my friends. Always, I had to be DOING something or GOING somewhere. I still enjoy these things...

However, I am finding that I am just as content to watch a movie with my husband, delighting in the fact that we find the same moments or phrases particularly funny or poignant. I find just as much joy driving to church, both of us loudly singing a song we both love. Our excursions to the grocery store (and anyone who knows me well knows I HATE grocery shopping) are even fun as I ride on the cart that Matt pushes. I love that there is not a day that goes by that is not filled with laughter. Laughter over our silly cats, especially Buster, who gets a little antsy every evening and entertains us with his odd behavior. Laughter over my husband's attempts to "drop it like it's hot" upon my request. My goodness, you should have seen it! It was hilarious! Laughter over my terrible impression of a Japanese fan of Godzilla and Mothra.

I am happier now than I've ever been in my entire life. And it is not because I have a flurry of social engagements to attend. It is because I have the best companionship I could ever want.