So...does getting engaged make you sick??

Andrew got the flu after he bought the ring and before we went to the faire where he gave it to me. Then, on the Monday after we returned, I had a migraine. Yesterday, I got the flu. Yippee.

I'm going to go lay down again.

Finally, a reason to post and a desire to do so!

Andrew & I got engaged this weekend at the Carolina Renaissance
Faire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was kind of thinking that he might do it this past weekend with it being
so close to my birthday & all, but I wasn’t sure how he’d pull it off. The
ring that we had looked at had to be ordered and would arrive close to the
holidays.

Unfortunately, he had the flu on my birthday. So I’m afraid that I spent
the evening checking his temperature and cooking chicken & rice.
Thankfully, he was well enough by Friday afternoon so we made it to
Charlotte by 10pm.

The faire is near Concord, just over the county line into Mecklenburg Co.
It is the faire that we went to twice 2 years ago when we first started
dating. Honestly, we feel like we fell in love there.
The faire was awesome and had expanded some.

The big event happened on Saturday at 5pm. The last bellydance show had
just ended featuring some of my Charlotte area dance friends. When the show
was about to end, Andrew said he was going to go "take his sword off". To
take it off, he has to stand, so I didn't think much about it. (It’s a
really huge sword about 3 feet long, and he carries it diagonally across his
back in a leather harness.) After the show, he pulled me over to my friend
LeeAnn's booth and made me put all my stuff down (cape, basket, etc). I had
no idea what was going on. Another bellydancer Naima was with us and it
became evident that she was going to take our picture somewhere with our new
digital camera....which also happens to take short videos. So I stumbled
along behind them over to the bridge next to the Dutch Door Stage where the
bellydancers had performed. Then, he said something to her about taking
"video" and that's when I started wondering if this was IT! When he went
down on one knee, I knew that the moment had arrived! He said really sweet
things about how this has been the happiest 2 years of his life, and that he
fell in love with me at this faire so it’s only fitting that he propose here
next to the bellydance stage. Then, he whipped out the ring and asked me to
marry him. The video is hilarious because you can't hear what Andrew is
saying, but you can hear all my gasps and squeals of delight. When he put
the ring on, you can hear people clapping. I have no idea how many people
were around us because I had such tunnel vision.

No date has been set yet, but we're thinking about next Fall............

So how long has it been since you bought tennis shoes? This year? Last year?

Brace yourself! I haven't bought tennis shoes in 17 years. Yep. 1986 was the last time. I bought black Reeboks in the summer after my senior year in high school. I'm pretty sure that I bought them at Hackney's in North Hills Mall. Scary that I can remember that.

Well, I guess that I should say that I hadn't bought tennis shoes in 17 years until today. Yep. I finally decided to do it because Andrew & I are going to DC this weekend, and I have nothing to walk around in.

I walked in Just for Feet, told the sales guy that I knew nothing about buying sneaks, and begged for his help. I tried on two pairs and bought the second pair....plus a cute pair of white socks with pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness and insoles that help with arch support. Anyway, I spent about $105. Ouch.

For the most part, I think most tennis shoes that I see people wearing are heinously UGLY. I guess that's mostly why I don't wear them. I bought a pair of Reeboks (again), and I like them pretty good so far.

They look really funny on my feet though. Well, at least, they do to me. So don't laugh. :P

Well, they are finally tearing North Hills down today, and I actually cried.

I grew up at that mall. David worked at Hackney's, the old sporting goods store, delivered prescriptions for the pharmacy, and, then, for the mall itself doing mall security. Barb wrapped presents at the old pharmacy and later worked at Chick-fil-A when it first opened. My first job was Chick-fil-A, and, then, Su & I worked together at Wills Book Store ~85-86. Oh, and let's not forget World Bazaar. For a long time,
half my house was decorated in crap that I got from the 3 or 4 months of working there.

I remember eating at K&W on Sundays after church and walking through the mall on the heels of my patent leather shoes and smacking my feet down just to hear the snap that my shoes would make. All the stores were closed of course. Well, all of them except for the pharmacy. It was Sunday, after all.

I remember getting "lost" in Penney's on several occasions and crying cuz I couldn't find Mom....only to find her with some nice saleslady's help 1 or 2 rows over. To this day, Mom would be naked if it weren't for Penney's (and Belk's). Thank goodness, it's staying put.

I remember Record Bar where I bought my first vinyl album, "Adam and the Ants". Damn, I'm sure that most if not all of the albums in my brother's HUGE old collection came from that place.....Zeppelin..Emerson, Lake, & Palmer...Moody Blues....

I remember the old pet store where Chick-fil-A is (was). I wanted that chow dog so much that I was saving my pennies in the Cooties game box. Seemed like a good enough place.

I remember the old Woolworth's. I always thought it was weird that they had grocery store shopping carts. Found out today that my cubical neighbor at work used to work there.

I remember stupid old Joey that I worked with at Chick-fil-A trying to kiss me out of the blue in the freight elevator when we went to take out trash when I was 16. Ick.

I barely remember the old hobby shop that had it's store front where the cookie store later appeared. As you walked in the mall entrance down that hall that later became the food court, there were display boxes of stuff imbedded in the wall that the hobby shop had to sell.

If I had a nickel for every Scotty dog or every K&W jello cube that I have eaten, I'd be rich.

Farewell, dear North Hills. You will live on in my heart!

Wow!

It's been a whole year since I first bared my belly and danced at my first hafla.

I remember being so scared and so sure that I wasn't ready to dance in front of people. I remember feeling so unsure about the choreography. I remember feeling so daring for wearing a choli. Of course, everything went WONDERFULLY. My parents, 3 dear friends, and my boyfriend all came to support me. Dad still calls me a "hootchie cootchie dancer", but at least I know that he's just kidding.

After 11 mos of dancing, I was asked to join a local troupe which has been quite challenging. I haven't given up yet though. I guess that it would have been nice to come into a troupe where the exisiting members took you under their wings for a while. Not this troupe! I've been expected to act as an equal to my troupe sisters, and that's where the challenge comes in. I'm giving it my best shot for sure.

Random thoughts: Nikki went to the vet last week, and ALL her blood tests came back fine....which is awesome for a 16 year old furpuss. On the work front, I met all my objectives for my quarterly bonus! YIPEE!!! Yesterday, Andrew & I hung rich burgandy red draperies in the computer room to help block out the sun since he'll be working from home in his new job. Oh, and I went to a scary movie Friday night. Yep, me! "House of 1001 Corpes" could have been worse for a non-scary-movie-watching person. No bad dreams yet.

What is one of the loudest noises that you've ever heard?

What events in your life have scared you to death?

Well, I do believe that I had the @#$% scared outta me by one of the loudest noises that I've ever heard, this morning around 4:45am. Yep, I was jolted outta my sleep by what sounded like a transformer exploding below our bedroom window or by something being struck by lightening just below our bedroom window. I thought we were being bombed by Iraq. Honest. I know that may sound funny to your wide-awake mind (chances are you are more awake reading this that I was at 4:45am this morning, right?), but I was scared out of my wits and my first thought was that it was a bomb. There was a flash of white light & a horrendously loud boom. My whole insides seemed to shake, and the sound of the "bomb" could be heard reverberating for some time. Immediately, I sat up and called Andrew's name.

"What was that?", I asked. Oddly enough, he was wide awake as well and had heard it too. A car alarm was going off, and, shortly, thereafter, a fire truck arrived & a police car. Andrew looked out the front door and saw that they were across the parking lot near the end of our building and another building. Sleepily, we were satisfied that the "bomb" must have been somehow related to the fierce thunderstorm that was kicking up speed overhead.

We went back to bed. I don't know how I went back to sleep. Honestly. I was on the verge of tears because in an instant I was so afraid. Isn't that a sign of the times? At 4:45am, I wake up and think we're being bombed.

Andrew & I watched the president's news conference tonight. First, I'll say this: I don't like Bush's politics, but I like him as a man. I think he is a good man, regardless of whether or not I agree with him. I truly believe that he doesn't want to go to war. He wants SH to disarm. However, as Bush said, SH has had 12 years to disarm. Why the heck do we think he will now?

I am not a supporter of war. I think it's sad that we can't settle our differences peacefully. "Why can't we all just get along?" said my mom. I know that it's idealistic, but I feel the same.

My brother is a major in the army, and I support him 100%. I was just shy of 23 when he was sent to the Gulf War in '90. I really don't know how my family made it through the ~6 mos that he was gone. It made me sick to my stomach to think of where he was and why....and how there was the chance that he might not come home. Thankfully, he did.

I can't fathom how I'll feel if my brother gets sent over there this time. I'm older & wiser & more scared.

There are few people that even know where the following quote comes from. I came across the email that contained it and felt like posting it for eternity. It still tickles me.

**************************************************************************************

A wanderer of the night, the Dwarf Eppauletted Fruit

Bat eyes a plump fig. A Wanderer of the Night,

the DwarfEppaulettedFruitBat

eyes

a

plump

fig.

I want a bat. ^..^

-Name withheld to protect the innocent

So I'm sitting at my computer today at work, and I open a bottle of Diet Coke that I just bought from the machine. It makes the most wonderful sound. (How's that for marketing, huh?)

Anyway, I suddenly thought of what Andrew was telling me that other day that Thich Nhat Hanh said in his book "Peace is Every Step". Thich (who is a world-renowned Zen master, spritual leader, and author) told of taking, on a regular basis as a kid, 3 hours to eat a cookie.......just so he could savor the experience. Hmmm. For some reason, the story of Thich's slow cookie eating came to me today, and I took an hour to enjoy my Diet Coke. First, I smelled it and enjoyed the feeling of the fizz hitting my nose. Hee.

I'm thinking that I've been a little too busy lately and that I need to slow the hell down.............

Ta-Da!!!

Snad is back!! :D

I've tried to post a few times in the past few months, but nothing ever went through due to error 503. Whatever. Decided to change my template today and---presto!---my blog is working again. Like the kitty? =^..^=

I've been superbusy lately with my bellydancing. I joined a troupe in October, and it's been nutz ever since. I still really like dancing. It fullfils me in a way that I would never have expected.

I danced yesterday with a few dance sisters at the peace rally/march. Our banner said "Bellydancers for peace & justice". We created quite a stir, of course. We were thrilled to find some drummers to drum for us so we shimmied our muffins off.

My brother is a major in the Army, and I've always been proud of him and always will be. I support him and the rest of our troups 100%. They are just doing their jobs. However, I wish that we could solve this without war.

My favorite sign from yesterday: "The word "War" begins with Dubya."

Peace, y'all.....

Comments: snadolicious@yahoo.com

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous
circumstances, would have lain dormant.

-- Horace 65-8 B.C.


And, with that, folks, I am back. :)