A good day, sort of

I had a nice day, sort of. Bernie and I got up and had breakfast, then played some christmas carols together on the piano. Very nice and cheesy. Then Bernie and I went shopping and browsed a bunch of furniture stores. We're thinking of what she calls a "Balinese" flavor for our new house. The color scheme we want for the main room is a rich dark chocolate brown for the wood and a nice icy blue for other surfaces, with a buttery maple color for the third color. Apparently, the furniture stores like it, as every one of them had pieces that use that very color scheme.

Anyway, about halfway through the day, I notice that my cell phone has messages, so I call voice mail and I've got 6 unheard messages. This is a surprise since I've had the phone with me 24 hours a day since yesterday morning and it hasn't rung at all except for two calls from friends. So I listen to the messages and they are all urgent calls from work. Wonderful. Now I look like a slacker to everyone that's been calling. Bernie takes a look at my phone while I'm driving and apparently there is some "privacy" setting that's been activated somehow. I'm not convinced. It's Loki playing tricks on me, I know it. How did the two calls that I answered get through? It doesn't add up. Anyway, I called everyone back and the troubles have sorted themselves out. Hopefully, I'm not in trouble.

So I put that all behind me and we finish our shopping trip, help my mother decorate the christmas tree, and I start to watch the UNC-VaT football game. Bad decision. I should have ignored the game entirely, like I usually do (UNC football is getting easier and easier to ignore). I give up in the 3rd quarter. Now I'm in a bad mood and it's bedtime. And I don't trust my cell phone any more, so I'm looking at it every few minutes. Sleep may not come easily tonight.

Turkey Day

Well, today was quite exciting for me. My wife, Bernie, got to experience her first Thanksgiving. Being from Malaysia, where the terms "pilgrim" and "Indian" mean two entirely different things, she was really looking forward to seeing what all the shouting was about.

Of course, Fate had to stick her two cents in and make an appearance to try to ruin it.

My poor darling is sick with a respiratory infection, and the antibiotics are making her nauseous. Last night we cancelled our plans to see the lighting of the Christmas tree at the local mall (which didn't faze me a bit - I wasn't looking forward to standing in the cold watching local celebs mug for the TV camera all evening). All night I tossed and turned worrying that she'd be too sick to enjoy herself, while she slept like a log in a drug-induced coma. She woke up complaining of bad dreams. Ugh. Great start to the day.

The good news is that her tummy wasn't upset and she decided to wait to take the antibiotics until late in the evening to avoid the nausea. She looks good to go for T-giving dinner at 1pm.

Thanksgiving dinner this year is being celebrated without my Grandmother and her husband. Grandma hasn't had a good year and isn't walking or using her right hand well, so she's in a wheelchair and in her weakened condition, we didn't want her to be exposed to all the germs that Bernie and my sister's kids are carrying around and possibly getting sick. Grandma will be getting her Thanksgiving at home later in the afternoon. I really missed her, though.

My contribution to the meal was a new dish, creamed onions. I found out on the internet that this is considered to be a traditional Thanksgiving dish by many people, so I gave it a shot and it turned out wonderful. Tastes like Clam Chowder without the clams. Yum. I also contributed my new dessert, Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Pie. The pie didn't survive the day, so it was well-received in my book. Triumph!

Bernie loaded her plate and cleaned it and had dessert afterward and felt fine all day. During our blessing before the meal, Dad mentioned all the great things that have happened to our family this year, Bernie being one of them. I made sure Bernie knew that the thing I'm most grateful for is her being here with me. Then we spent the remainder of the day visiting our house under construction, dodging the kids, cats, and dogs underfoot, and perusing all the ads to make plans for the next great family tradition - the 5am shopping spree on the day after Thanksgiving. The battle plan has been written and the troops will be mustered early tomorrow. Off to bed with us!

The setup

I'm not "just discovering" blogging. I've just discovered that everyone I know seems to be doing it, that's all. Whether I can manage to post my thoughts on a semi-regular basis seems to be my challenge, and I guess I'll give it a try.

That's the setup. Here's the payoff. Who am I?

I'm a 36 year old (24 years old inside) guy who spent most of his life feeling alone and cranky. Then, almost exactly two years ago, I met the woman of my dreams online. I know how it sounds, but after a couple of months of emailing and then online chatting, I knew I was in love and had to meet this girl, who lived in Malaysia. I saved my money, bought a plane ticket, spent 31 hours on a plane, and knew instantly that she was the one. One year later, we were married, and now we are living a wonderful existence together in North Carolina.

All those years I was alone, and now I know that my soul mate was placed half a planet away from me - that's either God testing me, or playing a joke on me. I guess I'll know the truth on judgement day. Regardless, I feel pretty lucky to have found her.

And that's the first post on my blog. More to come soon!