The Exam is Over!

I took my exam this evening to try and certify myself as a Professional in Human Resources. I've been studying with my co-workers, Kristen and Brandi, since last spring. It was probably the hardest exam I have ever taken. And definitely the longest effort I have ever put into studying for anything. It took me almost the full four hours to complete the exam. Despite no less than three panic periods during the exam when I was convinced I would fail and that I might as well just leave the testing center without finishing, I received a preliminary pass notification at the completion of the exam. I have to wait 2-3 weeks now for the official results. At that point, if I am still considered passing, I get to use initials after my name at work. And I will need to do a certain amount of education and activities in a year to keep my certification up.

I feel relieved to be done with the studying and the testing. The stress was removed from my shoulders for this project as soon as I was driving away from the testing center. The hours I have spent on studying can now be used to finish the wedding planning and to start knitting on a more regular basis again. Brandi, Kristen and I might actually take a real lunch break now and talk to each other about none HR things instead of studying during our lunch break.

I hope all of the effort was worth it.

Hola, Mexico!!

We finally booked our honeymoon today with our travel agent! We are going to jet off at dawn from Boston on the Monday morning after the wedding and spend 7 nights in Mexico. We are going to the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo located on the beach of Playa de Paraíso about a half hour from the Cancun airport. We are familiar with the Iberostar properties since we stayed in the Iberostar Quetzal in Playa del Carmen in Mexico several years ago. And we stayed in an Iberostar in Punta Cana two winters ago. And of course, we enjoyed the Playa del Carmen trip we took previously, especially the Mayan culture and our day trips seeing the ruins in Tulum and snorkeling. I think our honeymoon will be more about staying put at the resort and enjoying their unique swimming pools, our suite, and the restaurants at the resort. The Paraiso Linda has five pools that include a wave pool, a lazy river pool designed to encourage floating around on an innertube, and a lake style pool. They have a swim-up bar too so we can enjoy a frozen drink without even getting out of the water. Because we have been to this area of Mexico before, we won't have to try and read any travel books between now and the wedding. And we know we will love the area.

Stash Diving

Woohoo! One of my goals with my minor holiday at home today was to actually look through my yarn stash and try to find something that would be appropriate to start my Amanda Hat pattern with. I'm going knitting at Paula's house on Wednesday night and I cannot bare the thought of knitting another inch on my reversible cable scarf. I've been working on it since January 2007.

Well, I found a perfect yarn for the Amanda Hat as well as several other yarns I had forgotten about. I rediscovered a bag from the 2007 January Webbs trip with the Concord knitting group that I had been neglecting. In the bag, a green Araucania Nature Wool Chunky that will make a gorgeous Amanda hat. And I saw on ravelry that other people have used this yarn to make the Amanda hat as well, so it should be fine. An even better benefit, this green hat will most likely match the green reversible cable scarf. So realistically, I may have a green winter set for next winter, because I can't imagine finishing both the scarf and the hat before spring comes this year. I'm just a little busy right now.

Other stuff in the bag, blue worsted weight Araucania Nature Wool, light blue angora, a skein of green J. Knits Superwash Me sock yarn, and some navy blue merino wool. I must have been on a blue and green kick during that shopping spree. I didn't spend a cent today but it feels like I had a nice jaunt out to my local yarn store.

All Things Wedding...

My blog posts and knitting activities have taken a back seat to all things wedding lately. My ticker says the wedding is one month, two weeks and two days away. There is so much that has been done and yet so much left to do. The date is coming fast! It is hard to believe that when we were engaged back in July that picking a March date seemed so far away. I wasn't sure how I could wait that long, and now I am trying to figure out how to bring everything together in time without driving myself, Michael or the bridesmaids crazy.

We have the big things booked such as the DJ, caterer, reception hall, the florist, the photographer and a cake. Michael's wedding band has arrived.

Things left to do...

We have to pick a honeymoon destination. And we need to start thinking in more detail about our ceremony and reception to include vows, music, flow, and a schedule. I better get my dress fitted. We need to pick a place for Elleigh and Lucas to go while we are away on the honeymoon. It's time to work with the girls to put favors together, and ceremony programs, and struggle through who is a Mrs., Ms., or a Miss so it can be written on envelopes correctly. And I would never have thought I would have become an expert on the subtle shades of pink. Peachy pink and purple pink are not acceptable. But one fuchsia is not another bride's fuchsia, so I just walk around with swatches in my bag at all time. And our accent metal is silver, not gold.

I don't think I have turned into a Bridezilla yet. Michael will have to comment if I am not accurate on that point. I'm sure he has gotten a hairy eyeball look once or twice, but that's a long way off from a true Bridezilla moment.

What I want most of all is for Michael and I to have everything in place by the Thursday before the wedding so that we get to truly enjoy each other, our friends, our family and our wedding. And we both want everyone to have a great time and enjoy the evening as much as we will.

Happiness is Sharing a Sun Spot...

Our children continue to be beautiful!

And we continue to try to be humble about it.

Elleigh and Lucas were sharing a sun spot on the couch Sunday morning and having some quiet time together.

Lucas has been in an intense teething mode. He hasn't been doing any destructive chewing, but he has been losing teeth and trying to cut new ones. Sometimes we rub his gums for him until he starts to drool. Other times he gnaws his bone aggressively. We've managed to find one baby tooth that fell out. He has a loose baby eye tooth that should be coming out soon. And it looks like he might be developing a little bit of an under bite. It may just be because his new teeth haven't yet lined up.

And Sunday is all about snuggling up with Daddy on the couch too. Here are all of my babies sharing a sun spot: Little Baby, Pretty Baby, and my Big Baby. Michael is not too impressed with his new pet name, but it fits the theme and I'm sticking with it.

Night Out with Asian Flavor

Have I mentioned that I have been studying for a Professional Human Resources certification exam? The test is next Monday and I have been studying in some sort of manner since early last summer. So I felt guilty that I would be going out with friends on Saturday evening when I could have been studying more, or wedding planning. But it turned out to be exactly what I needed- a good stress breaker.

It was Ed's birthday dinner night out and he wanted to go to Moritomo Japanese Restaurant in Concord, one of my favorite places to eat. I like their sushi bar, a delicious ginger dressing for their green salad, and they make a tasty hot mustard sauce that you can actually eat without burning your sinuses out. Nancy, Dale, Jacinda, Jeff, Alison, Glenn, Michael, Ed, Sam and I all sat around the teppanyaki table where the chef grilled up our orders and prepared dishes on the teppanyaki right before our eyes. The show included tossing food around and at us, making wisecracks, juggling sharp objects, cracking eggs with dramatic flare, and making a flaming volcano out of an onion.

After dinner, we moved to Szechuan Garden in Penacook where they have a dance floor and a Karaoke bar. I had never seen Karaoke done before. There were some people that got up to sing that I can say that they had a lot of guts and/or false confidence. There were also some real stars, most of whom seemed like they might be regulars living their own "American Idol" life at night in the bar at Szechuan Garden. It was fun to dance a little and let loose too.

I took several photos, but I didn't bring my own camera, so I was borrowing Alison and Glenn's camera off the table. Hopefully, Al or Glenn will send me some photos so I can enhance this blog post at some time in the near future.

Elleigh's Ready for Valentine's Day

Santa brought Elleigh and Lucas some new collars for Christmas. He left them on the tree like additional decorations. One of the collars that Elleigh got is loaded with pink hearts and Elleigh asked to have it put on today since Valentine's Day is just around the corner. She wants a pedicure too with her OPI Pawlish in Poodle Pink.

Basket Class

I went to basket class on Saturday and made this continuous weave basket. It's about 6 inches wide and about 5 inches tall. It still needs to be stained. I believe I will be keeping it for myself and not gifting this basket.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Nancy and Jacinda were both in the same class!

After class, the three of us ended up on an impromptu wedding shopping trip. We had a quick lunch at Taipei & Tokyo in Bedford, and then we were off to Grenon Trading Company. We searched through the vases, plant pots, decorations, ribbons, silk & artificial flowers, candles and more. I found potential vases for the wedding tables, as well as some candles for the table tops, and plenty of satin and gross grain ribbon in matching wedding colors.

Approaching 1000

Updated January 13th

Denise has received her bottle of White Chocolate Philosophy shampoo, bubble bath and shower gel. What's nicer than bathing yourself in chocolate? Mmmm....

We Have A Winner!

My 1000th visitor was my fellow knitting buddy, Denise. She's recently retired, so she gets to read my blog every day now. I am going to bring her one of my favorite things (not to be confused with one of Martha's Favorite Things) to our next Sunday knitting event. I don't want to spoil Denise's surprise, so you will all just have to wait until I give it to her to find out what 1000th visitor door prize is.

Updated Post January 7th

It's hard to believe, but by week's end, the magic 1000th viewer will most likely log in and check out my latest blog entry. I am at 973 when I started this blog edit. Please keep sending me comments and letting me know which number you are.

Post from January 2nd

You may have noticed that recently I moved my website counter closer to the top of my side bar. It logs all of the visitors to the site and I am very pleased that I am approaching 1000 visitors. At the time I started this blog entry, the counter was at 910. I can't believe that almost 1000 have come to see my blog. And more importantly, some people think I am interesting enough that they come back time and time again. The website counter will count my regular readers each day they come, but that's still a lot of views. I am very curious to know who will be my 1000th visitor, so please, take a look at the website counter in the sidebar to the right and comment on what number visitor you are.