Yesterday I took Regina to get a couple of her vaccinations updated and amazingly, the vet declared her at “her perfect weight.” (This is only significant because last summer they shamed us by saying she was five-ten pounds overweight and it was our fault. It turns out if you use the “cup” that comes with your dog’s food, it’s not actually a cup. It’s more like a cup and a half. Who’d have thought?)

Anyway, sadly for her this didn’t matter as she stood there on the exam table, shaking like a leaf, her tail tucked up into her nethers. Our dog is terrified of the silver table. We think it’s because she’s so scared of getting her nails trimmed, but who knows. She’s a pansy. The vet is standing there telling her she looks great, look at that waist, blah blah and she’s thinking, “I hate you. Stop touching me. Don’t talk to me. I WANT TO GO HOME.”

Awesome.

Plus when we left the house and I opened the car door for her, the ice that had crusted above slid down and sliced open the back of my fingers. That, of course, also terrified the dog. (Although it could’ve been partially the cursing.)

So things she’s scared of: ice falling from car doors, tall silver tables, the baby gate (um, I threw a ball, she chased it, the gate fell on her head, lol—it was plastic!), Petco (nails) and the driver’s side back door of my Jeep. I have no idea why, but she refuses to get in the car that way. We always have to be on the passenger side.

We’ve ruined our dog, lol.

Saturday movie reviews:

The Good German—The story was interesting, but the accents were awful, the filmography was almost-there-but-not-quite and overall, it was just slightly boring. And predictable.

Reign Over Me—I cried. Don Cheadle was awesome (as per usual), but Adam Sandler in a non-funny, tragic role? Surprisingly incredibly good. It did a great job of showing PTSD and how it affects everyone around you.

Mamma Mia—Much to the chagrin of the Porkchop, I love this movie. LOVE. It’s campy and hilarious and the music is awful, but so catchy and Pierce Brosnan can’t sing but he does it anyway. I watched it twice. (I know… Chop is so disturbed by this.) He got home as I was watching it a second time and as it turns out, he is not a fan. Jerkass. 😛

I suck at posting every day, and mainly it’s because I forget.

So yeah, I probably won’t make every day, but really, do you want to hear about my wedding plans? Me either.

The Chop is hanging with buddies today, so I’m busy doing some work and watching instant movies from my Netflix queue. Chop prefers I watch all of “my” movies (indies, foreign films, etc.) this way so he doesn’t have to sit through them. :p

The dog and I had planned a full day of frisbee, but it’s freakishly cold and neither of us are that keen on being outside. Nine more inches of snow tonight. Oh the joy.

I’ve managed to pick a ridiculously remote place for our wedding. And no, it wasn’t on purpose.

We’re heading up there (it’s in Maine) in February to meet with some people and take a walk through the chalet to make sure it’s what we want, and I’ve been trying to find a place for us to stay for days (bad sign, I keep thinking).

We wanted to bring the dog, but only a few places let you and then only in a few of their rooms. Oh, and did I mention it’s mainly B&B’s in the area? There are two resorts (which is where we were recommended to go), but unfortunately that weekend coincides with a holiday vacation up there and we’d have to book either a three-night or seven-night stay. We’re only planning on two. The B&B’s, while fine, are very.. um.. Victorian? Scary flower wallpaper, heavy drape-like blankets and breakfast at 8AM. No thanks.

I’ve finally found something that’s pretty cheap and while outside of the main town we’d like to be in (by 10 miles), it’s totally worth it. No wallpaper, more long-term suite stays than overnighters and they leave breakfast at your door.

All the major chain hotels have let me down, I might add. Not a one of them within two hours. Wtf.

We got Mario Kart Wii for Christmas. We’re both addicted and my thumbs hurt, but we have to beat each level in order to kick my sister’s boyfriend’s son’s (he’s 8) butt when we see him in December.

We played him when we were home at Christmas and except for one shining moment (the final game) we lost every time.

Revenge!

One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to blog every day. It may or may not happen, lol, but I’m going to try and the Chop thought I needed to state that on here for accountability. Darn him!

We finally succeeded in seeing Slumdog Millionaire today (we’ve been trying for well over a month) and if you have the chance to see it, you must. It’s incredible and moving and brilliant and sad and awesome. 😀

Insider tip: don’t leave when they start rolling the credits. They have something fun at the end.

The wedding planning is in full swing and so my other New Year’s Resolution, to not drink vodka at home, has flown out the window. We’ve chosen a date, a location and a photographer (I move fast) and while we are still hoping for a small family wedding, my mom keeps adding people to the invite list. Sigh. I swear I will cap it at 50, but we’re already at 40-something and I really don’t see her stopping anytime soon.

We’ve invested in a gross of alcohol for 2009.

The Chop and I went out for dinner at the most amazing Mexican place tonight.. very eclectic, authentic food, an awesome bartender and strong drinks. What more could you ask for?

We sat at the bar (hoping to catch a movie) and the father-daughter duo across from us, after hearing our order, had the bartender throw an order of sticky ribs on our list and paid for it. It was a) unbelievably nice and generous and b) the best, omg best short ribs we’ve ever had. There were moments of pure foodie bliss and quite a hilarious conversation with them and the bartender.

We missed the movie, lol.

We spent Christmas on the west coast, and while it was as entertaining as ever, it was not without stress. Amazingly wedding chatter was kept to a minimum, but only because my dad is quitting private practice and that was the talk of the house. It turns out that we have to get his new schedule before we can pick a date, so we were off the hook. Instead we were snowbound (hi, WA cannot deal with snow—something like 300 plows for five major cities?! please) and played a lot of Mario Kart (possibly the best group game for the Wii).

New Year’s was spent watching the snow fall (a lovely seven inches) and eating dinner at our favorite restaurant. I know, I know, we’re SUCH party people, lol. We ended up heading to bed around 2AM and frankly have spent most of today overcoming hangovers, LOL.

2009 should be interesting. The Chop and I are heading to Ireland in March (for a very much needed vacation), I’m heading to Vegas in April to speak at a conference (kill me now) and we’re hoping to get married in September or November up at Sunday River in Maine. We’ll see though, lol. I’m still all for eloping in March.

Happy New Year. 🙂

Tomorrow we’re supposed to leave for Christmas. Unfortunately we’ll be leaving from a storm-hit state to another storm-hit state, so the odds that we will be delayed and/or circling airports for hours? VERY HIGH. Which sucks, because seriously, who wants to deal with that nonsense.

For even more fun, when/if we do get to my parents’ for Christmas, we get to have a “sit down” to discuss the wedding. The Chop immediately poured himself a drink upon hearing that news. A sit down does not sound fun to us. We’re slightly terrified.

The Chop and I decided to only do small gifts between us this year and spend some on a joint present—we’re going to Ireland in March. AerLingus has been having this ridiculous sale and frankly, I haven’t had an actual vacation since I moved to the EC almost six years ago. Hopefully wendykat and her hubby will be able to make it over for a few days of drinking and general debauchery. Party time! 😀

I swear to god, I’m going to elope in Ireland.

Ever wonder what happens when you respond to a Nigerian money email scam?

This guy decided to find out.

Completely hilarious.