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| It's already Wednesday! Yay for four-day work weeks! | | |
| I was looking through some old family photos the other day and realized how important it is to capture milestones, as well as every-day, mundane moments in one's life. My parents took soooo many photos of my sister, brother, and I while we were growing up, and like most kids, we hated being in them (we're not smiling in the majority of our childhood photos). Looking through family albums years later sure can make a person feel nostolgic. There's this one picture that always makes me laugh, not necessarily because of the picture itself, but because of what memories the picture brings back. See, Judy and I used to gang up on our little brother a lot, not only because he was smaller than us, but also because he was the only boy. I guess it's always unfair like that...if a family has more girls than boys, the girls will always be the bullies, and vice versa for families with more boys than girls. And I guess the fact that Judy and I are twins made the bullying that much more harsh. (Gosh, I always feel so bad for my brother whenever I think back to those times. Our relationship is so different now....I would never do anything like that now. I adore him too much). For example, I don't think he realized it was bullying at the time 'cuz he was too young, but we'd dress him up in our dresses and paint his nails. And whenever he'd want to play with us, we'd always say "no", unless he agreed to play house with us (he was such a good sport). Judy and I always had each other to play with, but my brother was always such a loner (I'm gonna cry now). It wasn't until he was old enough to go to school and make friends did he learn to ignore our evil ways and become independent. Despite the torture and mental anguish we put him through, he turned out alright. Now, it's easy for older sisters to torture their younger brothers, but are there similar stories for older brothers and their younger sisters? | | |
| For those of you who can't see the picture (I have no idea why it's being all weird), just go to Dave's link (in my comments). It's the EXACT same picture that Irene sent me. After I saw that, I called Dwight at work and told him what happened. Without even looking at the picture that I forwarded him, he laughs hysterically and instantly says "it's probably a joke that my brother is playing on everyone. My brother's crazy...it's totally something he would do. He probably even sent it to my mom." Ugh...I'm so gullible.  I look at the picture now and realize that that really is impossible.
This is a picture of Dwight's sister-in-law Irene (well, her tummy). She's 7.5 months pregnant with her second son. I guess the little guy is itchin' to get out. Crazy cool! | | |
| Yesterday (Sunday July 16) was Janet's 26th birthday, so to celebrate
Judy, Grace, and I took her out to brunch. However, I wanted to use the
opportunity to also formally ask the girls to be my bridesmaids, since
the first time was done so casually due to unforseen circumstances.
Doing it on Janet's birthday was perfect because they didn't suspect
anything but to go out for a birthday brunch.
I had written a poem and bought each of them a "I know you accepted
already but thanks for accepting again to stand as my bridesmaid"
present. So I made an excuse and got to the restaurant a bit early so
that when the three of them arrived, the poem and the package would
already be waiting for them on the table.
 
This is what the poem read:
Special Request
Thanks for being the friend that you are,
When it comes to setting standards you raise the bar.
These past few months have been a bit weird,
But thankfully the uncertainties have all been cleared.
No more confusion to get us off track,
Right to the start is where we'll go back.
Engaged I am now to be married at last,
And for you I have a question to ask.
You're such an important part of my life,
That I couldn't get married without you by my side.
I've come to ask you on this special day,
Please do me the honor of being my bridesmaid?
Without you involved the next year won't be fun,
As we scramble and try to get all things done.
A year to plan may be more than enough,
But there will be times when things will get tough.
From choosing between the chicken and steak,
And all the favors we may have to make.
Despite the craziness please don't despair,
Just think of the times that we'll get to share.
It's already started, the excitement's begun,
We're all going to have ridiculous fun!!!
The poem may be a little cheezy, but I thought it'd make things more
fun. And to make sure that Janet felt special on her birthday (because
before anything else, it was still her birthday)...
.... here she is enjoying her b-day present from me.
Enjoying our yummy brunch
Afterwards, we went to a place called "Color Me Mine." It's this
really cute place at The Glen where you can pick from a wall of pottery
to paint your own work of art.
Here are the pieces that we picked out: three piggy banks, a hippo
bank, a watering can, and a doggy dish (Judy and Janet wanted to paint
two each).
 
The girls workin' on their masterpieces.
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the final products because it
won't be ready until Friday evening. I guess they have to be baked in
the oven a few times before we can take them home (I'll post pics once
we get them). Judy and Janet started out with two pieces each, but they
decided that one was sufficient after realizing that we had been in
there for 2.5 hours!! That's what you get with four perfectionists  .
But seriously, time flies when you're having fun with paint...we
enjoyed it almost as much as all the 8-year olds in the room. Yup, we
were the only group of adults there, besides the few parents who were
in the room to supervise their children. Hey, it was a lot of fun!
| | |
| Warning: Super long entry below.
I no longer have a boyfriend. I have a fiance!
It's all still very weird to me. I keep looking at my left hand because I'm still trying to grasp the fact that I really am engaged!
It all happened Saturday night. Two weeks ago, Dwight told me that one of his best friends from childhood (Neal) was going to propose to his girlfriend (Lillian) on Saturday the 17th, and to celebrate, all of his closest friends were to join the newly engaged couple for dinner downtown. So for two weeks, all Dwight kept talking about was how exciting it must be for Neal, how proud he was of Neal, and how he had to prepare a speech/toast for dinner Saturday night. Well, the 17th rolls around, and Dwight and I just stayed at home during the day and watched a couple of movies. We left the house around 5 to be at the restaurant by 6 (He kept emphasizing that we couldn't be late because he had to prepare a few things for Neal). I had asked him during the car ride there what the name of the restaurant was, and he said that it was a restaurant in a hotel right next to Navy Pier. I thought "ok" and left it at that. I didn't even stop to think that there was no hotel next to Navy Pier. So, we made good time and actually arrived 15 minutes early. However, due to the beautiful weather on Saturday, EVERYONE in Chicago was at Navy Pier, so all the street parking was taken and all the parking garages were completely full. We drove around for about 10 minutes until we found a parking garage a few blocks away with some vacancy. At this point, Dwight was starting to get a little upset/frustrated because he was "going to be late for one of the biggest days in Neal's life." I kept telling him that it was going to be OK. We could still catch a cab and make it to the restaurant by 6. So we tell the cab to book it to Navy Pier. We get dropped off in the middle of traffic and decide to run the rest of the way to the "hotel"...speed walking for me because i was in heels. We were all sweaty in our nice clothes on a hot June evening....lovely. I asked a couple of times during our weaving in and out of the crowd "where's the hotel? What's the name of it? where is it?" But all he said was "just keep up and follow me." As we finally started to slow down, he stopped near the water. I stood there next to him, looking around thinking "Ok. Great. He got the location or the name of the restaurant mixed up, didn't he." I look at him for some answers, when all of a sudden, he smiles and says "Just kidding."
Huh? Kidding about what? Kidding about being late? Kidding about dinner?
He points to a cruise liner behind him and I exclaim "Whoa! Neal made reservations for the Odyssey! This is where he's celebrating his engagement with Lillian???" I know, I'm slow. I realized a few seconds later that there was no dinner for Neal and Lillian. There was no proposal for Lillian, but a proposal for me. All I could do was laugh and say "you're such a good liar" (he had added all these little details in the story that made the lie so realistic and believable). I wanted to ask him so many questions that started with "So that/this/it/he/she really wasn't..........??" But he wouldn't allow me the satisfaction. He said I was not allowed to ask him any questions for the night. I could ask him as many as I wanted to the next day, but he wanted me to enjoy the evening with nothing else on my mind. So I did. The food...amazing. The live jazz band....amazing. The view...amazing. The experience on the Odyssey...amazing. The proposal....amazing (he proposed after dinner on the top deck). The funny thing is, this was all Plan B. He had Plan A in the works a few months ago, but Plan A was a flop. Do you wanna hear it? This entry is already getting pretty long. Well, I guess I can't stop the story here.
So, a few months ago, Dwight decided that it was time to propose, so he secretly met with Judy and Janet during the week to plan something special. However, he first wanted to meet with my parents so that they could be involved in the proposal and ask him any questions that they may have. So a couple of days later, Judy tells my parents the news and the potential plan. She makes sure to emphasize that "Sandy is NOT to know anything." Well, I come home from the gym one night later that week, and my mom calls me into the kitchen. This is how our conversation goes:
Mom: Do you have something you want to tell me?
Me (confused): About what?
Mom: You know. Didn't something happen that you want to tell me about?
Me: HUH? I have no idea what you're talking about?
Mom: .....*stare*.....
Me: .......*blank stare back*......
Mom: (starting to get a little upset because at this point, she thinks that I am intentionally keeping the proposal from her, and that I am not sharing big news with her).
Me: Umma, what are you talking about?
Mom: Something about a proposal? Don't you have something to tell me?
Me: Proposal?? (at this point, I kinda understand what's going on)
I run to Judy and throw a thousand questions at her. I tell her that mom apparently thinks I'm not sharing some bigs news about a proposal with her that I supposedly should already know about. She tries to cover up, but Judy's not a very good liar. I could see that she was trying to do her best to mend what my mother had done, but all was ruined. Judy goes to the kitchen and says to my mom "Umma! you weren't supposed to say anything! Dwight HAS NOT proposed yet." To this, my mom replies "oh. I forgot."
So I knew from a few months back that Dwight was planning to propose, and of course Dwight and I were disappointed at the fact that it was no longer going to be a surprise. But Judy and Janet kept telling me that just because I'm expecting a proposal now and that it's no longer going to be a surprise shouldn't matter. They tried to comfort me with the fact that even though the plan may have flopped, Plan B may turn out to be better....that I still won't know exactly when, where, and how he's going to do it, which was very true. I knew he was going to pop the question sometime soon, which made the whole "Neal proposing to Lillian" story a little suspicious, but he did a super job of making me think otherwise many times and fool me into a special, surprise proposal. Things always happen for a reason, and even though Dwight calls it Plan B, I'm sure that this plan was much better than what Plan A would've turned out to be. | | |
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