Competition

Last night, I was a sore loser.

It's nothing new, actually. I'm a sore loser any time I lose. I'm especially nasty when I think I had a chance at winning and was foiled by some other player. It could be my husband, or even my own sweet mother, and I would still boil with nasty feelings, disappointment, and basically act like a jerk.

Last night I just happened to be participating in an activity that tends to cause my already over-active competitiveness to flare up painfully. That activity? A board game. Ah, there is nothing like the fierce tensions and aggressive table talk that comes forth when friends are gathered around a table and challenge each other via small, brightly color plastic figures arranged on a piece of cardboard.

It's so trivial, but something that really gets to me. I'm sort of ashamed of this problem of mine, but I just can't seem to control my reaction. It's really awful.

The other weird thing? I can be seething and spuming bile the night of the game, cursing my loved ones (mentally), and the next day I think to myself--Wasn't that so fun? We should have game night every week!

In this area, no amount of rationality has availed me. This is my warning, because I will probably ask you to play a game with me some day, and I just want you to be prepared. I love to play cards, board games, and several sports, and will gleefully revel in my triumphs, but if I lose please just ignore my evil looks and tart tongue. I'll be over it tomorrow.

Grandma's Caramels

Last weekend I helped make eight batches of fudge and one batch of caramel with help from my mother, my aunt, and my grandma. It is a Christmas tradition in my family to make candy and goodies like that to give and share with loved ones and friends during the holiday season. My grandma makes several batches and mails them to the far-flung cousins. Being a close-by cousin, I get to partake whenever I am visiting her or my mother's house, but I can only imagine how great it would be to get a huge box of homemade fudge, caramel, party mix, and peanut brittle in the mail from the loving hands of your family's matriarch.

I carried on the tradition last year down here in my new home. I was successful in all my fudge making, but failed time and again on making caramel. I think it was mostly dues to faulty candy thermometers, but also due to my meager experience in solo candy making. So, I was very excited to make my very own batch of caramel this year with my grandmother looking over my shoulder to tell me when it was ready. After all these years she can recognize the difference between the soft ball stage and the hard ball stage at a glance. She also has one awesome digital candy thermometer that I wouldn't mind having myself.

Making candy was pretty fun, especially with my mom and aunt to help stir and pour, but my favorite part was spending the day with all my close family. My cousin from Colorado was there, as were his brother and baby, my brother and sister-in-law, and Chad. It was wonderful! Spending time with family is without a doubt my favorite part of the holiday season. I could spend day after day eating and talking with these people who mean the most to me. And basically that is what we do from about the beginning of December to early January. I definitely feel very lucky and very loved during the holidays.

"Contrary to the belief that happiness is hard to explain, or that it depends on having great wealth, researchers have identified the core factors in a happy life. The primary components are number of friends, closeness of friends, closeness of family, and relationships with co-workers and neighbors. Together these features explain about 70 percent of personal happiness."

This is a quote from the book The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People. I read it and thought, of course! I, just like every other human being out there, needs good relationships with other people. My family and my friends are so very important to me, and without them I would be very unhappy.

I've been struggling to get back to blogging. It's not for lack of inspiration, it's more due to discretion. I heard a saying once, that discretion is the better part of valor. That's what I have been doing--being discreet.

Back Home Again in Indiana

We got back from our honeymoon last night. The change from 90 degree weather to mid-fifties and rainy hasn't been that enjoyable, but we are grateful to be back in our comfortable home.

I have to say, it doesn't get much better than nine days spent with your brand new spouse in paradise. And I also have to say that Hawaii is just as breath-takingly beautiful as everyone says it is--Maui especially.

What all did we do? In short, we drove around in a hot little Corvette, ate fabulously tasty fish, swam in the ocean day after day, got a little sunburnt, and really had a wonderful time together.

Aloha!

I'm getting married in the morning!
Ding dong! The bells are gonna chime.
Pull out the stopper!
Let's have a whopper!
But get me to the church on time!

I gotta be there in the mornin'
Spruced up and lookin' in me prime.
Girls, come and kiss me;
Show how you'll miss me.
But get me to the church on time!

If I am dancin'
Roll up the floor.
If I am whistlin'
Whewt me out the door!

For I'm gettin' married in the mornin'
Ding dong! the bells are gonna chime.
Kick up an rumpus
But don't lost the compass;
And get me to the church,
Get me to the church,
For Gawd's sake, get me to the church on time!

Lately

I've been so busy or so tired lately that I haven't been taking the time to blog. We are closing in on the wedding day and I've been rushing around getting things ready. I thought my to-do list was getting smaller, until I retyped it today and added all the little notes on the side. Now it's just as long as it was before.

I'm going up to Muncie for the last shower before my wedding. This will be the fourth shower in total. I'm not sure if it typical to have so many bridal showers, but for my situation it work out better for all the separate groups in my life to hold their own party. My bridesmaids and friends were the first, coworkers for the second, in-laws for the third, and relatives for the fourth. I have to say, I love the gifts. My friends and family have been so generous and kind.

I will probably be pretty sporadic on this blog until after the wedding is over, but I don't want to be negligent. So, in parting I will give you this picture of Trinity, our dog. She wants nothing more than to be under the covers forever.

I'm not really a sports fan.

But free VIP tickets to a Colts game were too good to refuse.

Chad happens to be in the right position at work to get a few . . . rewards from suppliers. I can't remember what he has gotten in the past, but this time he really hit the jackpot: two tickets to a VIP Suite at an Indianapolis Colts game.

I was afraid that the evening would be a bust after we fought game-day traffic downtown. But as soon as we walked into the stadium, I knew all would be well. Except it wasn't, because we got lost.

I think Chad had a moment of men-don't-ask-for-directions and we ended up wandering a hallway. Then, when he finally stopped to ask one of the vested employees which way to go, he somehow gravitated to the most addled and toothless old man in the building. When we reached the top floor and had no where else to look, I gently lead Chad to the stairs, where--Hallelujah!--a very helpful woman told us how to find the suite.

Sweaty, stressed, and hungry we exited our VIP elevator onto a cool, carpeted hallway. We walked down to the right, passing suite after suite. Delicious odors floated from each well-catered room. Some of the suites were full to the brim, and others were shared by two or three people. In one room we passed, I saw a person in a horse costume hugging someone. It felt like we were in some other dimension.

When we finally found Suite 25B, we were greeted by Chad's supplier--John. We were given free drinks and quickly filled plates from the buffet. We sat down on high stools at a bar that overlooked the stadium. There was a small private seating area out in front of the suite, which was mostly full of people we didn't know. We settled in, and over beer and nachos we relaxed and really started to enjoy ourselves.

Throughout the game, John checked up on us and shared funny stories. The lovely lady behind the bar worked for another company which co-owned the suite. She kept Chad and me well supplied in drinks, and the buffet kept getting replenished with different dishes. Every 30 minutes or so we had to go up again and try the new food. I had nachos, ribs, pulled pork, and fresh fruit. I'm sure I missed a few here and there, but everything was delicious.

Chad and I barely watched the game. I found out later that the Colts were pretty soundly defeated. Instead, we talked and laughed like we haven't done in ages. It felt so nice to just sit and talk and snack and relax. We kept turning to each other and saying, "I'm having such a great time!"

When we decided to leave, our VIP elevator took us directly to the exit. We walked over to the Convention Center and walked through GenCon with a couple of our friends who were there for the weekend. (I am so going to GenCon next year. It looks awesome.)

Even if we went back to the suite again, I'm not sure we could recreate how fun that evening was. That was the best Friday night I've probably ever had.

(The pictures are from Chad's cell phone. I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to bring my camera, and now I am kicking myself. Ow.)