Perchance to dream...

O.k. I've been struggling for months now trying to figure out just what sort of bedding to get for our bedroom. I really want to have something new...not something old that Joel or I had previously.

Part of me is a "shabby chic" kind of girl...I love older stuff, and being a sentimental fool I have collected a variety of "hand-me-down" pieces of furniture and other treasures...Joel has the same modpodge collection, so shabby chic fits what Joel and I have.

But I also like things with a bit of spunk...and I started going with a teal/brown color scheme in our bathrooms. Months ago when I created a Target registry (more for the fun of doing it than anything else), I put this bedding on the registry (you also get a 10% discount coupon to use in purchasing anything on your registry). (It comes with a matching bedskirt and pillow shams...) I thought it was modern, edgy, yet serene, and not frilly in any way.

So I've been flipping back and forth. Shabby chic or trendy?

As the weather has gotten colder, the idea of curling up underneath something more like a quilt has become more appealing. So Thursday night we bought a quilt coverlet--floral print (peonies!)--definitely creates a homey feel...but damn it, I can't get this comforter out of my mind.

So I have a decision to make...stay with what I have now or return the quilt and get this comforter instead?

Do you notice how good it looks with my blog motif?

Hmmmm.....

A Great Day for a Pinic

The cake--triple chocolate and triple good (from Turtle Bread Company)

Barb and John


Joel enjoying time with his childhood friends


The newest Tritabaugh--Scarlett

Southside friends

Y Misfit friends

Saturday we had beautiful weather for our picnic--our last wedding celebration with family and friends. Since we had such a small, intimate wedding we wanted to do something to celebrate with a wider circle of family and friends.

The picnic was it. The picnic pavillion (Hidden Falls) was wonderful--private with lots of picnic tables, shelter, and lots of grassy space surrounding it (it was also very near the river). We were blessed with perfect weather...which seemed to be the perfect trade-off for less-than-perfect weather on the wedding day.

I did a horrible job taking pictures...too busy running around taking care of food. Again, not one pic of just Joel and I (can anyone help me out?).

Thanks everyone for coming and enjoying the day with us!

Happy, Happy Birthday Joel!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Joel is celebrating his birthday on September 16th. Wish him well. If the video above does not work, try this link.

Dear Joel--

Happy, Happy Birthday, my love! This may not be a jumbotron birthday greeting (I'll surprise you someday), but here's a little birthday shoutout.

Thank you for a wonderful year of fun-filled adventures. I'm looking forward to new adventures in the coming year.

Thank you for making me laugh every day and for the love you have shown me. You're the best!

Love, your wife,

Risa

Random thoughts at 1 in the morning

I can't sleep.

Does it seem ironic to anyone else that at a point when your body (aging body that is ) seems to need more sleep, it's harder to get that sleep?

I got a shot of cortisone in my left hip today. I've had bursitis in my hip for years, haven't been able to sleep on that hip in ages, and finally it got to that point where I went to the doc for it. I was at that point where having an 6" needle stuck in my hip sounded like a good option. It was a somewhat painful injection (I actually squealed at one point), but if it works, it was worth it. I should feel some relief in 48 hours, but it may take a few weeks to know if the shot did the trick. If the one shot doesn't do the trick, I may need another injection.

I'm hoping there's no need to face the needle again.


My 20-year-old son, who is paining me with his growing pains, randomly sent me a picture on my camera today. Out of the blue, in the middle of the day, he sent me a photo of him and his sister when they were like ages 3 & 6. I think he sent it as sort of a "hey mom, don't you remember how cute I was and you still adore me, right?" message.

His message became the highlight of my day. I do so adore my kids. All around me I am surrounded by folks raising small children. My clients all have children under the age of 5. Several of my co-workers have young children. I love little kids and all the joy they bring to your life. If I was 10 years younger...

But having raised a few myself, I know how much work it is...and even how much work it still is having a 20 and 23 year old! I know my body couldn't go through all that again! Raising children consumes your life when you're in the midst of it. Kids become your priority and that's the way it should be.

But now, I'm sliding into that phase of my life when I get to reclaim my focus a bit...on myself and now, the relationship with my husband. It's really different sometimes. I still talk to my kids everyday if I can. I miss them like crazy if I don't see them every week. I still enjoy nurturing them with their favorite foods and things. I worry about them and I still want to protect them from the hard parts of life. Although there are days when I would like to worry about them less, I realize that day may never truly come. Yes, they will be more and more self-sufficient (they're well on their way) You can't just turn off the mommy meter that easily.

But you get to turn it down a notch or two.

A proposal on the jumbotron

This post is pulling double-duty...appearing on this as well as, my baseball blog...you'll see why.

A year ago on this Friday night (the date was actually Sept. 8th, but it was a Friday), Curveball (Joel) and I were at the Twins game. I have to previce this story by saying that he had been slightly annoying me all week...not for any real reason, other than he had been sort of weird, not himself...I couldn't put my finger on it but he wasn't himself. It wasn't anything major, but when he showed up at my place "late" (by this I mean he arrived about a half hour later than he had planned on arriving), I was even more in a tizzy. I'll admit it, I sort of laid into the poor guy. We were taking the city bus down to the Dome from my place in south Mpls and I always liked to arrive plenty early. But as we were waiting for the bus, I told him not to worry about it, I wasn't still mad. In fact, in an attempt to demonstrate my love and relax the guy, I told him that I had actually bought his birthday present that day.

We arrived at the dome and Joel had to pick up the tickets. Joel had arranged to buy tickets for "good seats" behind home plate. He said something about getting these seats for our "anniversary" (we had been dating 6 months). I didn't think anything of it...hey, I'll take good seats anytime I can get them!

We settled in. There was a family with two young boys sitting next to us...they were really cute and wearing "Joe Mauer sideburns". I did notice Joel being sort of fidgety at one point, playing with a straw or something in a way not typical of him. I almost made a smart comment like, "Nervous or something?", but I didn't want to resurrect the tension between us from earlier in the evening.

Garza was pitching that night, but not having his best outing. We were behind in the 5th inning and it looked like Garza may already be done for the night. Before the Twins came up to bat in the 5th, I looked up to the Jumbotron and read "Risa, I love you. Will you marry me? Love, Joe."

Now the first thing I want to point out is that it read "Joe". The man sitting next to me is named "Joel". He never goes by Joe. I read it a second and probably third time. My heart started racing. I'm thinking...how many other Risa's could be here...did they mean Joel? (Note: this is not the sort of thing you want to be wrong about). It really was one of those surreal moments, when time takes on a different dimension. Everything became a little fuzzy. I finally realized the woman next to me (who Joel had clued in while I was in the bathroom) was asking me if it was "yes" AND Joel was trying to get on his knee and get the ring out of his pocket AND there was a cameraman right in front of us.

The second thing I want to point out is that the answer was always, without a doubt, "YES". Joel asked me exactly how I wanted to be asked--at a Twins game on the jumbotron. I love baseball. I think it's very romantic (as long as you both love baseball--Joel had actually "found" me on match.com by typing "twins baseball" in the common interest search). And I think any man who will ask that question in front of 40,000 people...well, you don't have to doubt their committment.

Obviously, I wasn't expecting a proposal that evening. He didn't give me any hint that he was going to propose that night...and after the fact, I realized that his "weirdness" all week was due to his nervousness. He had spent the night before (a rare evening we were not together) posting on one of the baseball blogs about his plans to propose.

Back to the proposal...

It was wonderful. We were on the jumbotron, but the cameraman had a hard time capturing it because a hotdog vendor had decided our row was the place to set up shop (and Joel was too nervous to tell him to go away). Joel had a wonderful engagement ring for me...a 1987 World Series ring (a replica for fans). Both of us were shaking when the whole thing was done.

Shortly after the proposal, I got a cellphone call from my boss. I said to Joel, "I can't believe work is calling me right now. I am so not dealing with problems at work." But on the other end, Sue was asking, "Did you say 'yes'?" One of my co-workers was at the game, saw it all and had called Sue. Then Joel asked me if I was going to call Julie, my best friend (who lives in New York). I was dying to call her, so I went out to the concession area...made the call and got her voicemail. I left a message something like, "Umm, we're at the Twins game and Joel just sort of proposed..." Julie picked up the phone before I could finish and laughed, "he sort of proposed..."

It was a magical evening. The Twins came up to bat in the bottom of the 5th and started hitting. Neshek started pitching and got the win.

Really though, I think I was the winner that night.

Oh ya, one final..."I (meaning "moi") was such a dope for being mad at you" moment...when we got back to my place, Joel went to his car and opened up the trunk and pulled out a dozen roses. That's why he was a half hour late that night...he had stopped to buy roses for me and hid them in the trunk, so I wouldn't see them till post-proposal. The whole proposal tells you why I love the man...he pays attention, he really tries to do those things that matter.

So yup, as you all know, we got married June 3rd. It wasn't a baseball-themed wedding, but we did have Twins mini-helmuts on the cake. I think, as Joel said that evening a year ago, we'll have lots of fun growing old together. And that will include lots of baseball games!

Wedding photos slideshow

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This past weekend I put together a wedding picture slideshow, complete with music and fun graphics. I did it to create a keepsake for us, but thought I would share it with anyone who is interested in viewing. Yes, it is a little long (a little over 6 minutes), but I love the pics of Ana catching my bouquet and then Adam (her boyfriend) catching the garter. And the ones of me and the hubbie are pretty nice too.

(Thanks Mel for helping me get the video posted!)

If you are unable to get the video above to load, try clicking on this link.

One final trip to the fair

Today Joel and I celebrated our 3-month anniversary by making one more trip to the State Fair. Believe it or not, this is the first time I've gone to the Fair on the final day--Labor Day. It was my fourth trip this year. Hey, Joel went six times (he went one day to get some baseball autographs and another day with his daughter). We had Bree along today as well.

So in 4 trips to the fair, I consumed--

3 porkchops & 1 chicken breast (all on a stick)
4 malts (1 chocolate and 3 blackberry, my new favorite)
2 corndogs
1 bag of mini-donuts
2 shaved ice
1 scone with fruit
1 chocolate cream puff
1 gelato
1 cashew nut roll
slice of pizza
frozen mocha on a stick
1 order of french fries (shared with Joel)
lots of diet coke
Kashi cereal (they had a travelling exhibit at the start of the fair)
and I'm sure plenty of bites of some other things Joel tried (like corn on the cob, yum!)

I also walked countless miles, observed lots of strange fair outfits, took a ride on the Skyway swing (never again), and was on t.v. during FSN's Twins postgame show (broadcast from the fair). It's probably a good thing the Fair only happens once a year, but I can't wait till it's back...and I'll be there for Opening Day 2008.