Archive for July, 2003

Honeymoon

Sunday, July 27th, 2003

Our honeymoon started with a drive to Dallas mid-week after the wedding. We stayed Don, Laura, Alex, and Allison for a bit. We did fun summer activities like going to the park. Eric challenged the kids to a jumping competition to see who could jump farthest off the swing. They took us to Carrabbas where Eric had his first cheese stick. One of many firsts for the honeymoon.

We met up with BVo, our favorite maid of honor. He treated us to Chrissie’s very first baseball game. We got to see Nomar do his little preparation dance before every at bat. And Johnny Damon hit a home run! The kid in front kept looking back at Chrissie like she was crazy for asking extremely basic questions about baseball. The next day he took us down to see a poisonous fish exhibit, right before we were supposed to go swim in the Atlantic Ocean. The Dallas Aquarium was really nice though. Brian let Eric play in his softball game, where Eric got two double plays! And that night we had an indescribable eating experience, which left Brian with Italian leftovers for weeks on end. Believe the waiters at Buca when they tell you one entree is enough for an army!

From Dallas we took a plane to New York City where we boarded our cruise ship. A week of Bermuda sun and sea, entertainment every night, activities every day made for a wonderful time. During 50’s night, Eric took out all the guys quickly at the hula hoop competition. Everyone’s money was on the girl’s champion for the overall winner though. No one thought a guy could do it. Well, Eric held on until the six hula hoop round, and defeated her! One of our favorite activities was paddling a dual ocean kayak. Chrissie had never kayaked before and she loved it! Eric hopes to try her on a river next.

After the cruise we took a long walk through New York City with our luggage. Our destination: A Broadway musical. Our companion: Chris Went. The play: Into the Woods. The enjoyment: Exquisite. We would like to insert, that Act 1 of Into the Woods is by far the best. Leave before Act 2.

Next on our itinerary was a puddle jump to Syracuse, and then a short drive to Baldwinsville, where we visited Betty, Eric’s Grandma, Judy, Drew, Britt, Allyse, Richard, Ruth and Lynn, all from Eric’s dad’s side of the family.

We played many games, including but not limited to, bridge, DnD, CatchPhrase, Bethumped, croquet, and carom. Carom is a really fun game where you try and flick little rings across the table into pockets. Richard took us out on the Nemecek’s boat. Judy took us biking.

One magical day we drove out to Watkin’s Glen with Richard and Lynn. Watkin’s Glenn is the most serene and picturesque place!

On the way home from Dallas, we stopped in Norman for a few days to visit with the lovely Norman residents.

Rathbones

Sunday, July 27th, 2003

I worked for a time at a wonderful store called Rathbones. I had hoped to work in their floral arranging department, but they were just setting up a new store, and I think that that was even better, because I got to see how they set up a new flower shop from scratch. They sold antiques, home decor things, and in the fall, they are primarily a Christmas shop. So I put up more than a dozen Christmas trees this year! Becky took me with her to some commercial and residential sites to put up other peoples trees as well. I really enjoyed working there, and I know much more about setting up displays for retail shops. One of the best parts was that Mom bought a new tree and some garland and ornaments, so I got to put my new knowledge to work! I also got a little wedding experience. I helped Becky make corsages and bouttonieres, as well as little poseys to decorate the wedding cake. By that point she trusted me enough that I got to deliver it all myself!

Rathbones tips for Christmas Trees: 1.) Buy a pre-lit tree. It’s SO much easier! But if you don’t want to spend the money, use about a hundred lights per foot of tree and be sure to wrap each branch from the inside to the tip to give the tree depth. 2.) Don’t “tip” the ornaments. Put some of them in deep in the tree, again for depth.

Birthday Scavenger Hunt

Sunday, July 27th, 2003

While Doris was in town, we decided to celebrate our birthdays together, since we all have summer birthdays. Doris and Andrea came over to spend the night, and in the morning, we took off on our wonderful birthday scavenger hunt that Eric created for us. We had a goal of getting 72 points, with a certain number of points awarded to each crazy picture collected. Some of the pictures came with the disclaimer that it might not be a good or legal idea to take them, but there were more than enough options if we chose not to risk riding donkeys or penguin statues. We were often creative in getting pictures, check out Chrissie getting “covered by water”. That picture also worked for the waterfall. We made human pyramids, took pictures on a slide, took pictures of us making jewelry, found a creative way to send an I Love You to Aisha, and that’s just a few of the crazy fun things we did!