The coming week...

[Taryn]

Starting monday, Ray and I will be getting things packed up, getting in contact w/the owners of the storage unit place so we can work out a schedule to place our stuff in there while we are gone, also to get a few things out that we will be needing for our trip. On Wednesday we are being taken up to Philly to go to the hotel, which by tomorrow should be taken care of (have to talk to the parents about paying for the room until we get out there, otherwise end up in a fleabag hotel from hell), and then we fly out Thursday morning for Cali, small pit stop in Dallas/Ft Worth to change planes and continue on.

BTW, for those who don't know, we are flying out on our 15th wedding anniversary, something we never thought we would make it to, but not only have we been married that long, but it's also the 16th anniversary of when we started to officially date, and no, we did NOT plan our wedding to happen like that, as the wedding was mostly planned by my parents and sister ~shakes head~ long story... And 3 days after our day, my nephew is getting married, to his high school sweetheart.

Shoko, I will be trying to get in touch with your Friday, sometime between getting my hair cut and colored, and still getting acclimated to Cali time and weather... ~laughs~ At that time we will figure out a time and place to meet up, as the original plans I had might not happen, as I have work that I also am going to be doing while there as well, might as well work and get paid while on vacation or end up screwed when we return. ~laughs~

So my time from Monday to Wednesday is going to be limited, though I might pop online Wednesday night, though it depends on if we get help from my parents for a hotel we want to stay at, or end up in a fleabag hotel. The high end hotel has not only a complimentary shuttle to the hotel, but also to Harrah's Casino in Philly, and that will help ease my worry about flying, poor Ray hasn't flown with me before, and I love my doc who prescribed me valium to help me "relax" during the flight. ~forces a smile~

~looks up and laughs~ Am rambling it seems, so I am going to go ahead and post this before I go on much more, just wanted to give you all a heads up on things. Oh and before I forget, we will be flying home on the 2nd of Oct, but might not be back online until 2 days afterwards, depends on a few things. And on good thing comes from this trip, the hotel we have been living at seems to be in a small bind, they are overbooked by 5 rooms, due to the NASCAR races this coming weekend, and not only were we going to be without a room, but the builders who are staying here while they build the Hampton Inn down the street (second time around, the first try was burned to the ground by an arsonist), are also looking for another place to go for the weekend, as NO hotels in the town have vacancies.

[Mercilayne]

Congrats on the anniversary and good luck on the flight!  -hugs-  Take care of yourselves and have a lot of fun.

[Tgol]

Enjoy the time away....everyone needs it sometime

[Taryn]

Reached our destination fine, though a bit sore, they don't make enough room for those who are tall with long legs... ~RME and looks at the bruises still forming on my knees from being smooshed into the booklet pocket~ Spent the day talking and visiting with family, plus trying on the clothes that my mom bought for Ray and I for the wedding ~snickers a bit on a certain bet that my mom won~

And as I got up this morning, I am told by my mom that my sister is taking me out to get a manicure and pedicure done... ~blinks and grins~ Have never had such before, but now found out what the allure is, that is if you can find a good place to go, and does things in the correct way... So, so far we have been spoiled, well I have, Ray just got to spend 2 hours with my mom shopping... ~busts up laughing and heads out~

Am off to spend some time with my adopted nephew and see what sort of trouble we can get into tonight... ~ebil grin~

[RAGNAR]

LOL

[Taryn]

The wedding was yesterday evening, at least they had the ceremony in the shade, though near the lake, which was beautiful while the sun was shining across it, but once it went into the shades, the bugs showed up and everyone, including the bride, groom and wedding party were trying hard not to let it affect them, but the witnesses, were slapping and waving them away... ~laughs~

It was definitely an interesting ceremony, slightly traditional, but not.. I do have a copy of the video of the ceremony and will find a way to post it somewhere that will be under password, because we have some friends who are going to want to see it, as they weren't able to make it to the wedding... Anyway, the Pastor made the announcement early on that he wanted to see smiles on everyone's faces, as this was a happy occasion, I believe that whenever the family of the bride or the family of the groom started to tear up, he would insert a joke... My favorite part was the Pastor telling Russell and Karen how to have a successful marriage, that Karen would have to wear the fragrance of computers, and Russell would have to wear the fragrance of art supplies... ~laughs~ As my nephew is the computer tech for the local school district, in fact, the same one he went through for most of his life, except for 2 years, when his family moved in with my parent's place when he was in junior high... And she's a graphic designer, who works for a medical company and helps produce medication videos, or some such things that have to do with the medical things...

Russell has never looked so dapper or handsome as he did yesterday, nor have I seen him look as happy as he did when he saw his soon to be bride walking down the aisle toward him... And as the best man said, as we have all been thinking since they got back together nearly 4 years ago, it's about time they got married... ~laughs again~

Now my niece, ~chuckles~ Karen, who I have considered such since the first time I meet her, when Russell brought her to meet the entire family, who loved her the moment they met her, was a beauty to behold... She has had some rough spots in her short life, but with Russell right there at her side, she has gotten through them all and when she come out into the open on the arm of her father, I could see the sparkle in her eyes, and when she and Russell were reading their vows, the love she has for my nephew could be seen by all, the same goes for Russell...

When I finally got to talk to them after the bouquet, and garter were thrown, the dances done, I told Russell he now knew what Ray and I went through for our wedding, and when we told them we had just celebrated our 15th anniversary 3 days before, he blinked a few times and shook his head, saying he couldn't believe it had been that long, but he also said that he knew that we were meant for one another, and I told him that he and his new bride were also made for one another, it just took a while longer for them to see it...

Oh and before I forget, when the newly married couple came into the reception area, the song that played was the ceremonial theme from Star Wars: A New Hope.. and when he went for the garter, the song playing was Indiana Jones' theme music... ~laughs~ So yes, this wedding and reception was done very well... And the professional photographer, who also happens to be a good friend of the family, as she's been around since she was 5 years old, give or take a few years, took over 2000 pictures of the entire thing from start to finish...

~glances up and shakes my head~ sorry if this seems a bit ramble like, but I wanted to share with you the reason we came to Cali... to see my one and only nephew get married... Though the next one on the list is my niece, Kathrine, who, when asked last night with her boyfriend of nearly 3 years sitting beside her, we were told; July 12, 2012... And I have a feeling that if that date lands on a weekend or a Friday, that might be the day they do get married... The really funny part about his boyfriend is, he's 2 years younger than I.. But they are happy together, and I do believe if they make it to 2012, they will make it for the rest of their lives...

[RAGNAR]

Sounds like a good time had by all.

Even though foolish... Heh heh heh...

Russel, life as you know it has come to an end. You are now owned. All your worldly possessions, your soul, your ass. Since the best advise I could offer is too late to give now, the next best is make sure you have a mancave. One of comfort and fully stocked with the necessities of life. Be certain it is bombproof. Well.... that will likely not help anyway. Just have an escape route planned and mapped out to occupy the cave when needed. Learn to love it. Its better than a doghouse.

[Taryn]

Only one and a half days left until we fly home, and tonight we are heading up to a bar in Canoga Park to hang out with a friend and his new wife, who we haven't met before, and she runs the karoke there, I believe this is one of two places she does this at.. So more than likely I won't be even able to pop into the room and watch for a few, as it's going to be an all night thing, maybe... ~laughs and looks at Ray~ as he's the one doing all the driving, and it's nearly 1 1/2 hours away from here...

LIZZIE!!!!!!!!!!!! I need to get ahold of you for our get together tomorrow, have an idea to throw at you... I will try calling you in a little bit, or leave you a message either here or on MSN... ~smiles and heads out to get a few more things taken care of so I can take a short nap to be ready tonight~

[Fishy!]

So... Mini-gathering West!

As dubbed by ray while he was eating very bloody prime rib -shudders-

Was a success!!! -dances-

[Daigon]

Glad You are having fun Taryn!

[Alex]

So... Mini-gathering West!

As dubbed by ray while he was eating very bloody prime rib -shudders-

Was a success!!! -dances-

....

bloody prime rib is the only way to eat it

[Fishy!]

disgusting! I asked them to burn mine -huge grin-

[Taryn]

Ray likes his prime rib as thus... chop off the hoofs and horns and walk it through a warm room... bloodier the better, and I am the same way... ~laughs~

But we the West Coast mini-gathering went really well, had too much fun, then again Ray and I got there earlier in the afternoon to play the last Matinee of Bingo at the casino... and no we didn't win anything but we both had a ball... Then we met up with Lizzie and AJ, and had dinner, where AJ got to enjoy his pesto pasta... ~cracks up laughing~ Then after dinner we played some of the 1 and 2 cent slots, Ray and I didn't win much, and the eBay slots wasn't very productive, then again, I have this feeling that all the machines had just paid out quite a bit to others who were playing while we were eating... So it was going to take some time until they were ready to pay out again... But then Ray and I had to head home, since we had someone meeting us at my parent's house, and also pack for our trip home the next morning... ~RME~

We left my parent's house around 6:15a, and got to John Wayne Airport around 7:30a, and our flight didn't leave until 10a, and even then, we almost didn't leave on time, but we got a tail wind and got to Dallas/Ft Worth nearly 15 mins early... Mind you, that 15 mins disappeared getting to the terminal, then the fun began, we only had 45 mins to get from the arriving terminal to the next terminal to get onto the next plane and head to Philly... Well we were told it was A9, by the time we got there, we got told it changed to A37, which we had to take the Skylink back to where we started and got there just before they called our group number to board the plane, but we got there, and settled in and we took off a bit early...

We got to Philly 35 mins early, called the hotel we were staying at last night to come pick us up and take us back to the hotel for the night, (BTW, if anyone wants to fly out of Philly, or visit Philly, there's a hotel in Chester, PA, called Best Western Widener, which is an almost all green hotel, and we can't say enough good things about this hotel, in fact, if we end up going to take a vacation in Philly, we will be staying there once again, go to their website and they have special prices for their hotel rooms on line, and they are worth the price, even though they are much lower than the hole in the wall motel/hotels out there...)

We are now back home, at the hotel we were staying in before we left, but for the next 3 nights we are staying in the suite upstairs for free, all thanks to the points we earned since we moved in back in December last year, and once we get our regular room back and go back to paying for the room like we were before, we will add more points to what we already have, which is over 100,000... ~laughs~ It was a nice surprise to look up and find out how much we earned in over 9 months, since we moved in 5 days before xmas... but we don't plan on being here much longer...

Anyway, we are home, I don't know if I am going to be in tonight as I am apparently sick, thanks to my niece, the one by blood, not the new bride... ~laughs~ Lizzy can tell you that my voice was off a bit Thursday afternoon/evening, and since then it's gotten worse... (sorry Lizzie, had no clue that it would turn into something worse ~huggles~) I will try, but no promises.. oh... and my fear of flying isn't as bad as it was before we headed out, then again, it might have been helped by the valium I was taking before each flight out.... ~smiles~

[Taryn]

And I almost forgot, we did have a Tsunami warning for the Southern California coast, and we actually had it hit the Santa Ana River at 6 inches... And it seems we left Cali before an earthquake hit.. ~laughs~ The odd/funny part of the earthquake that hit American Samoa Islands, though it's sad what happened, Ray and I were visiting an old friend that I grew up with, and we were discussing that a large earthquake that hits San Francisco next will more than likely put it under water as it separates from Cali and it will be underwater... The thing is, while we discussing it, at that time, the earthquake was happening... So as Ray said, no more talking about earthquakes with old friends... ~chuckles~

[Fishy!]

-rofl- srrsly at like 2pm on friday I was like... oh I bet they are in delaware by now [you prolly wernt yet but still] and then it started to rain... so you did bring me some rain! too bad you didnt get to enjoy it!

-snugglehugs- I can hardly wait till the next time you come out!