Reason n + 42

...why my DH is a keeper: the very lovely birthday letter he wrote to me.

Sometimes the best gifts are the nonmaterial ones...

Set up like a rack of bowling pins...

Today is my birthday, and for dinner we went to my favorite Irish pub for good food, good music, and a few pints. That was my goal, anyway.

I got that, and a bit more! Not long after we were seated, DD borrowed some money from DH to tip the musician. When she came back, she was absolutely insistent that I come with her. Somehow, she'd told the musician it was my birthday, and I got called out to join him onstage, requested to down my fresh pint of Smithwicks (like Guinness in color, but an ale instead of a porter) while he sang "Happy Birthday" to me. In front of the entire pub.

I was rather embarrassed, but I have to admit I enjoyed it. And I did indeed manage to down my pint before the musician had finished, much to my surprise and to the loud approval of the audience. And I got a pint of Guinness on the house, which was much enjoyed.

All told I had three pints (one each of hard cider, Smithwicks and Guinness). And I'm still awake to blog!

I'm glad tomorrow is Saturday. We're in the middle of a 'cold snap' (at least in Floridian terms) - there's actually a freeze warning for tonight! Good sleeping-in weather.

Which is good, because I need to sleep off my pints!

Roses are red...or are they?

In the 17 Februaries that DH and I have been together, DH has been gone on business travel for Valentine's Day or my birthday (or both) 11 of those years. It's practically a running joke at this point.

When I got home tonight, there was a box, with this card:

Yes, it's become a bit of a joke,
but how's this for a punch line?

After assembly, the contents of the box were:

Very pretty. But there are three things about this seemingly ordinary bouquet that make it even more special:

There are 17 of them - one for each of the years we've been together

There are some white roses - my favorite color of rose!

DH knows I'm not a fan of red roses, but red is traditional. So he got me red roses that aren't really red:

The one on the left is from my bouquet. Compared to the red roses that DD got, mine are a rather deep pink. And a very lovely shade they are!

And the best part is...he'll be home for my birthday this year!

148 down, ? to go...

I just realized it's been over a week since I've blogged. Life continues here at Alternate Dementia, busy but not particularly noteworthy.

I haven't stitched since the first week of January, but I have been doing a lot of crochet on DD's First Communion veil.
Click for larger image
The one 'missing' motif in the lower corner is there to remind me which side is 'up' - with a size 8 steel hook and size 30 crochet cotton, it's a little hard to tell by looking at the motifs themselves. I'm up to 148 motifs, and since I don't know a definite size, I'm playing it by ear. Whatever I have done by the end of March will be pretty much it - I still need to make the dress!

In designing news, I have two smalls in the works that I hope to have out by the end of the month. I will go ahead and spill that one is a St. Patrick's Day design....
I haven't forgotten about the Spring bookmark, either - it also is in the works.

In other news, Lent is just over a week away, and I'm still trying to think about what I want to do. I've decided I'm going to give up the snooze button (again) and soft drinks (a recent vice caused partly by a surplus from our Super Bowl party). I still need to decide what I'm going to take up, though. Maybe something I can do with the time gained by not pounding the snooze button!

Eccentric, or weird?

I've been de facto tagged by both Shannon and Angi to come up with six weird things about myself.

Now it could be argued that there are many weird things about me...the tricky part is arriving at six items suitable for public consumption. Let's see...

1. I can bend my elbows at an approximately 210° angle. This makes for a great gross-out trick where I interlace my fingers, palms outward, and touch the insides of my elbows together.
   
2. I met my DH online, back when we had to explain what the Internet was to people, and accepted his marriage proposal the first time I saw him in person.
   
3. On average, I watch rather more televised sports than DH, although we both like the same sports.
   
4. I intensely dislike physically shopping. There are specific exceptions, such as needlework stores and bookstores, but for the most part I tend to be "get in, get item, get out". I avoid the mall as much as possible.
   
5. I am almost obsessive about having my hands clean, even when I'm not stitching.
   
6. I have in memory the SSN of everyone in my household as well as a large array of birthdays, account numbers, and other numeric sequences. Recently my being able to rattle off several of them while sitting at my sewing machine prompted my DsS to ask DH if I had a chip in my head. I guess some things are weird even by my family's definition!

Now, would it be better to be weird, or eccentric?

Playing twister!

To hear (or read) the news today, you'd think it's the end of the world. A streak of severe weather blew across Central Florida early this morning, spawning a few tornadoes that left a wake of destruction, primarily around the Orlando area.

I've already gotten several calls from concerned friends and relatives, so I wanted to post to reassure my readers that all is still well here in Alternate Dementia. Melbourne got wind and rain, but as those are the two primary weather events 9 months out of the year here anyway, there's no reported damage in my neck of the woods.

Now if the weather would just make up its mind whether to be hot or cold! It was 80F yesterday, after dropping below 40F two days prior.

Tempus fugit

I can scarcely believe it's February already! This year has really flown by!

I've noticed a lot of other folks doing monthy goals, and I've decided that I probably should start doing the same. I already have my 101 Things in 1001 Days list, but keeping track of shorter-term things might not be a bad idea. In a way I feel more accountable if I'm publicly declaring them. With that in mind, here goes!
Goals for February:

• Donate books to library (101List #4)
  
• Finish AB's website (101List #22)
  
• Design Assisi Spring bookmark
  
• Designs for "Pay It Forward" winners (Michelle, Allie, Nicole, Natty, and Jenn L)
  
• Read Eragon
  
• Update blog template
  
• Get DD's veil to 12x16 motifs
  
• Decide what to do for Lent
  
• Progress 50 miles toward Lorien

DH has joined me on the trek from Rivendell to Lorien. I guess that makes us the Fellowship of the (Wedding) Ring.

Playing dress-up

Last night was the formal event for which I made the hunter-green dress referenced in multiple posts this month. In a way it's like playing dress-up. My normal attire is top and jeans (or top and long skirt for Mass) so it's fun once in a while to wear something fancier and actually wear makeup and some of the nice jewelry DH has gotten me over the years. This year I had my nails done again, although I did my own hair.


The little jacket has a bit of sparkle to it:


And of course, my handsome escort:


The formal event had a "Gone With The Wind" theme to it, and DH had the thought of renting a 19th century military uniform. Unfortunately he didn't think of it until a couple hours beforehand - too late to actually do so. I got a fair number of Scarlett comments, though that was not my intent.

All in all, we had a good time. It was a nice night - it was in the 60s, calm and clear. It had been in the 40s at night earlier in the week, and tonight promises more of the same chill.

Although I did have one "D'oh!" moment...I woke up at 5:30 this morning and realized I'd forgotten to take my contacts out. Trying to remove contacts, while squinting because my eyes were used to darkness was not the easiest thing in the world. Even less so with long nails.

Needless to say, my nails are back to a more manageable length! They were starting to impact my typing anyway.

Cars...

Wow - I've made it almost a month without a meme! So it must be time for one, right?

I'm a Mazda RX-8!

You're sporty, yet practical, and you have a style of your own. You like to have fun, and you like to bring friends along for the ride, but when it comes time for everyday chores, you're willing to do your part.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Make mine blue, though. I'm not big on red cars (Lightning McQueen excepted...)

Bodice ripper!

No, this isn't about romance novels...I've already blogged about my thoughts on them.

Rather, it's a description of how I spent much of my evening. In previous entries I alluded to a hunter-green dress I'm making for an upcoming formal. I finished everything but the zipper Saturday night, but I wasn't happy with the seam attaching the bodice to the skirt. So today I painstakingly undid that seam and resewed it. By contrast, I got the zipper right on the first attempt.

So...here 'tis.

I still have to make the jacket, and I will get pictures once I'm all dolled up. (I'm not going to the formal with the stoner look I have in this pic, that's for sure!)

I'm trying to decide if I want to get my hair and nails done like I did last year...