A blog switch

I know this isn't fair to you, my loyal readership, but in honor of my "new" life I have a new blog. Or shall I say, we have a new blog! Before I redirect you to that, let me just say its been great. Lamarenita readers have treated me well, ok except for that one PETA post, and hopefully you can all stomach the transition here. Also, in deference to my last post, I did have one more bridal shower which was INCREDIBLE. I cannot, however elaborate or post anything on this blog as to the details as this is a family site. I will say that Amy and Jenn did fabulously with tiny cheesecakes and chocolatey thingeys. Salads and tasty treats were everywhere. Plus, it was at a very POSH clubhouse which was probably not cut out for the likes of me! Thanks again ladies, and attendees, it was a blast I will never forget!!!

Ok, see you at the new address...duhduhduhDAH: marenandbryan.blogspot.com. I promise I'm not selfish but bryanandmaren was already taken.

Bridal Shower Mania

I pretty much had the best bridal shower ever last weekend. It was amazing, and it looked better than my wedding possibly will. We had it out by Janette's pool and there were centerpieces and everything! I couldn't believe it was actually for me!

Unfortunately I only scored 70% in a game of "What Bryan Said" so we're hoping that doesn't bode for C- quality in our marriage.

Other than that, I haven't seen or done too much exciting. As not to disappoint my readers, I will tell you about something random that happened (fortuitously this evening). I was minding my own business, standing at a stoplight waiting to cross. Some random (possibly loony) man came running up next to me, punched the crosswalk button and ran back the other direction about 10 feet. Then he turned his back on me and put his hands behind his head like he was just hanging out there. When I crossed the street he didn't come with me. Just stood there on the corner, turned BACK around, and watched me cross. I was just invisioning the headline, "Crazy man stabs innocent girl on crowded street corner," as I looked over my shoulder all the way home as I was sure he was following me!

Make that twice

11. Forgot to take the trash to the curb on trash day AGAIN.

It's official. I have it.

Wedding Dementia. The dreaded diagnosis I hoped to avoid has finally reared its ugly head. Thankfully the damage is totally reversable given a nice long honeymoon. But for now, it looks to get worse before it gets better. I thought you might enjoy a list of the last 10 things I did because of my wedding dementia:

1. Bought a new wallet. (Ok, it was really cute and I did need it but still.)
2. Forgot what day it was. DAY, not date mind you.
3. Called my mom and forgot why.
4. Forgot all about one of my patients who has been coming to see me for months.
5. Became hysterical when Hayley refused to call the police about a "suspicious person" she saw outside.
6. Forgot to take the trash to the curb on trash day.
7. Put the wrong stamps on an international letter and promptly became hysterical about it.
8. Had a panic attack that I forgot to send an invite to a long-lost friend. It had been mailed with the rest of them.
9. Wore full bridal hair and makeup to the gym because I forgot I had it on.
10. Was on the verge of tears because I couldn't find my hot glue gun.

I never thought this could happen to me. I guess its just part of the rite of passage, you can't have the fun without the forgetfulness.

Better Speech and Hearing Month

I thought I would remind you all, since it is my professional responsibility, that May is Better Speech & Hearing month. I won't offer free advice again this year since last year I had no takers, but I will recommend a good movie to watch in celebration of this month. Last weekend we watched The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (watch out for 2 very "french" scenes) and I'm just going to brag a little and say that I have actually WORKED with a patient with the same problem as in that movie. It was hilarious to watch someone doing exactly what I do onscreen. I guess people with more normal jobs like accountants, lawyers, etc. get to do that with a lot of movies but I've never experienced it before. It really is a very inspirational movie, though Bryan will tell you very "long." Its an independent film, that happens. So check it out if you want to see a glimpse into my professional life...

In other news, we went camping this weekend, just the RS girls. What a great time. I came home so dirty (of course) and smoky but it was awesome. We put up our own tents, built our own fires, made 2 courses in a dutch oven, and as far as I know no one even broke a nail. Those are some well-rounded women, I tell you. My favorite part was when I tried to get coals out of the fire to make peach cobbler with a gardening shovel. Of course, I didn't think to use oven mitts too until I had tried about 10 times and almost burned my hands off. I'm really not too smart sometimes. This will not come as a surprise to close friends or family. When I was younger my parents used to ask me how I could be so smart and so dumb at the same time. A mystery that is yet unsolved...

Inflammatory

It has been brought to my attention that my commentary in the last post has offended some. I certainly did not set out to be mean-spirited by voicing my opinions. I hope we can agree to disagree if you think I'm an idiot.

March for Babies

Also by demand, though I won't say "popular" since it was only requested by one person, comes the post on the infamous March for Babies. Two weeks ago we walked to give premature babies a chance. In fact, there were many moments during this walk that were highly unexpected. I will list a few.

1. Miss La Mesa (complete with sash and beauty queen wave) cheering on runners at the first turn. I'm not sure why only La Mesa sent its beauty queen because we were downtown. Apparently Hillcrest does not have its own pageant.
2. Random high school cheerleaders racking up the community service points by standing along the sidelines cheering, "Babies!" Now you know why I'm embarrassed for all you ex-cheerers.
3. PETA representatives disguised as pro-March of Dimes passing out pamphlets. The topic of the pamphlet: "March of Dimes performs cruel animal research." I ask you, what is more cruel, babies dying or bunnies dying? So weird. I'm sorry but a pamphlet with kittens in a cage cannot hold a candle to the large poster 5 feet away about a 24 week preemie who is now Citizen of the Month in his kindergarten class. When Bryan found out what was going on he wanted to go back and tell them he kills animals every day for science. I encouraged him not to.
4. A Mariachi band near the middle of the race. All 5 members. And some cracked out lady sitting on a bench next to them doing erratic hand movements in rhythm with the tunes.
5. Jenn drinking a lot of "vitamin water" which she later found out was chock full of caffeine. That wasn't the kind of vitamin she was looking for but she sure got a lot done that day.
6. Our team represented with a grand total of 6 walkers. 2 of whom are not employees but were dragged out by employees. We like to exercise at my work.
7. Last but not least, the Liberty Mutual team. Spearheaded by this guy sitting at the finish line. Need I say more. Please note he has brought his WALKER to a 5k walk. I'm pretty sure he didn't do the race. Most teams just had t-shirts made but I appreciate their spirit. Also it was a very hot morning for crushed velvet.

And so we learn our lesson. Anything can happen in a 5k walk.

(credit for the post must be attributed to Jenn as she catalogued all the goings on)