Being Sensible

Over the weekend, Adam and I ventured up to State College, PA to catch the Penn State vs. Iowa game and also to celebrate my future sister-in-law Cara's 21st birthday! We had been looking forward to the weekend for a long time and we were very excited to go up for the whiteout game.

Around noon on Saturday, it started to drizzle, and then the drizzling turned into a downpour. Thankfully, we were all in Adam's grandparent's RV enjoying chili and other football games on TV. Around 7, with the rain still coming down relatively hard, we all bundled up in sweatshirts, ponchos and hats and headed over to the game. Saying I was miserable would be an understatement. The game was wet, cold and the people in front of me decided to combat these two problems by making out through the entire first half. And to top it all off, Penn State played like crap, and they lost.

After the game, we met Cara and her friend and began the long trek down to the bars so she could be there and ready to party when the clock struck midnight. It took us longer than expected, and she actually ended up turning 21 while she was in the bathroom of a computer lab, complete with countdown and all.

Shortly after midnight, Adam's parents called to wish her a Happy Birthday and tell her to "be sensible." "Being sensible" then became the buzz phrase for her 21st birthday night. We went to a really cool, dirty and dingy Irish bar where everyone was getting warm and drowning their sorrows after the horrible game.

Overall, the celebration went off without a hitch: she got really drunk but didn't get sick (the sign of a successful 21st birthday), both the band and the entire bus on the way home sung happy birthday to her, she rode the children's carousel in front of the Giant at 2:30AM and Adam and I got to relive our long-lost college days.

Madness

I feel like the next few months might be the busiest and most exciting of my life so far.

For the past 16 months we have been waiting in anticipation for the big day...December 5, 2009, and with two and a half months to go, everything is moving very quickly. I'm sure that October and November will fly by and the big day will be there, staring me in the face.

This past weekend, we sent out invitations, met with the church wedding coordinator and went for the first floral meeting. Needless to say, it was so neat looking at pictures of flower arrangements and trying to pick the right color of roses for everyone's bouquets. I think the most exciting thing for me, was finally sending out our beautiful invitations and I can't wait to see who will come and share this wonderful day with us.

Other than worrying about all things wedding, I've also started back to grad school with a governmental budgeting class. Honestly, it's not a subject I am very interested in, but at least it will be over and I won't have to worry about it anymore after this semester.

Sorry this is just a boring life update entry, but life is pretty crazy right now!

What a guy!

Last weekend, Adam and I drove through Newark, Delaware on the way back from visiting my Grandma in Philadelphia. As we were going down Main Street, Adam asked me if I would go back to college if I could. I said no, because I think that it's exciting being in the working world: paying for your own stuff and a nice apartment, having responsibilities, working and being taken seriously (most of the time.) It was fun while it lasted, but I wouldn't want to go back to college.

Someone must have been listening to my comment and thinking, "hmmm I think this week would be a good time to give Rachel a good taste of grown-up life."

This morning, I got ready for work and headed out to my car. I Stuck the key in the ignition and nothing happened. Now, the reason I bought a brand new car was so I wouldn't have these problems anymore. So, pissed off and upset, I went back into the apartment and woke Adam up from his deep sleep. "Babe," I said, "my car won't start." Grumbling an inaudible statement, he proceeded to get up, throw some shorts on and walk outside with me, where we both confirmed again that my car was not starting.

Then came the big decision....what do I do now? Do I take the day off of work to call AAA and figure this out, or should I get Adam to take me to the train station and figure it out after work? We decided on the latter, and my wonderful fiance agreed to work from home and pick me up in the afternoon. So off we drove to the train station, he still shirtless and half-asleep and me still upset and wondering how much this will all cost, but when I got out, all he said was, "don't worry, I'm the man, I'll take care of all of this," and it made me feel much better.

Super Market = Not so super

Perhaps one of my least favorite errands to run after work is going to the food store. Adam and I usually go grocery shopping once every 2 weeks, but of course we always need something in between. Yesterday, I needed Catalina dressing and tomatoes for our taco salad.

The grocery store we visit also happens to be frequented by many elderly people. Nothing against older generations, but why must they do their grocery shopping at 5:00 on a Monday evening, when the whole working world goes to the store? Once, I was wearing my VA polo shirt while shopping and was accosted by a man in the produce section who wanted to know about his benefits (note to self: NEVER wear VA polo shirt in public.) Since we started shopping at this particular store, I have been almost hit in the parking lot twice, helped numerous other shoppers figure out the electronic scale and label maker, and have been asked by a little old lady to get the prune juice off of the top shelf.

Yesterday, I was not really in the helping mood and all I wanted to do was get home. I quickly grabbed my salad dressing and tomatoes and made my way to the check out lines. Of course all of the lanes with a checker had hoards of people stretched to the back of the store, so I made my way to the self check-out station.

In my opinion, self check-out lanes should have disclaimers posted above them stating that people must have enough knowledge to use them. I got into the line behind an elderly woman with only a small container of potato salad and some olive oil, thinking she would be speedy. Boy was I wrong! It seemed that having to type in the product code for her potato salad and weigh it was just a little too much for her, so she stood there glaring at the screen and refusing help from anyone, claiming that she "would like to figure it out by herself."

I could hear a collective sigh from the group of tired workers (who had only ventured into the store to purchase a few things for dinner that night) as they observed this lady ahead of them. Finally, one store employee took pity on us and opened another self check-out, which was quickly followed by a stampede of people to the newly-opened lane.

Maybe you should have to carry a special bonus card with you shopping to prove that you are a proficient self-checker, and if you don't scan your card, the lane doesn't work. Just some food for thought.