Let me start from the beginning.
The boyfriend is a train nut, and a few years ago he started collecting motorcars. I've posted a few entries about them already, you can find them here: Nothing says romance quite like riding motorcars in Iowa, We ain't got no room for boring, and Some people bring spare parts, Popper Boy brings spare cars.
Or just Google "Fairmont Motorcar" - there are plenty of images online.
He not only collects them but he goes on organized runs with them all over the country. That's where those posts have come from as I went with him on a few in Iowa.
He's not the only one that collects them, in fact he's got a buddy who lives here who also has quite the selection.
So one day earlier this year his buddy decided he was going to sell a few to make some money. The first one that sold was the boyfriend's favorite. Apparently it's rare and has Nebraska history since it was delivered here originally. He also helped him rebuild it so when it sold he was heartbroken.
And bitter.
So bitter in fact that that's all I heard about for 6 months straight.
His buddy sold it to a guy in Oklahoma. The only problem is that the Oklahoman didn't have a trailer or a way to transport it. After a few unsuccessful attempts to come and get it he gave up and put it up for sale.
Keep in mind that this whole time it's still sitting in the boyfriend's buddy's garage.
The day that it went back onto the market the boyfriend mentioned it was for sale again and how much he still wanted it but didn't have the money for it at that time. I asked him if it was worth what he was selling it for and he said it was to him.
So, while he was on the phone with someone else, I Googled his buddy's number, called him and told him I was interested. He then put me in touch with the Oklahoman. The next day we worked out a deal and he said to send him a cashier's check.
Here's where all the work began.
I don't know about you all, but I've never dealt with cashier's checks at all so I had no idea what I was doing.
And what do you do when you have no idea what you're doing? You go to your mother cause she seems to know all.
Or at least that's what I did and luckily she did know what to do. We went to the bank, told the clerk the story, and she hooked me up with a cashier's check which I mailed to the Oklahoman.
After which I called the boyfriend's buddy and he said he would store it for me until December. A few days later I got a confirmation call from the Oklahoman saying he had received the check and it was officially mine.
Now the question was how do we keep this a secret? When I contacted the Oklahoman I told him who I was buying it for. He said that if anyone by that name called he would play dumb. Then I talked to the boyfriend's buddy who said that he would "let it slip" that the Oklahoman decided to sell it to a friend of his who would be out to pick it up in the spring. That way if the boyfriend saw that it was still in his garage he would have an excuse.
This is all fine and dandy but you have to remember that he was very passionate about this car AND it was only October with his birthday not 'til December.
When he learned it was sold he was heartbroken yet again, fearing someone would tear it apart, paint it the wrong color and all that. He was so passionate about it that he got mad at the Oklahoman who was (unbeknownst to me) supposed to call him if someone attempted to buy it. So that was kind of my fault. And since he was so passionate I got to hear all about it. Which was fun, as long as I could keep a straight face.
Two and a half months of straight faces - do you know how hard that is when you're this excited about something?
So fast forward a bit to the beginning of December. After playing phone tag for a few days I finally went over to the buddy's house to see the motorcar. He told me a bit of the history of it and asked if I wanted the key. Me, being the idiot that I am, assumed it would be you know like a normal key. No.
See that big black thing?
That's the key. Well, safety starter.
He also gave me the paperwork to wrap up. Just by the way, paperwork is a lot easier to wrap than a giant key. That took three of us. I should have taken pictures, it was hilarious.
Meanwhile the boyfriend is trying to figure out what to get me for Christmas and wants to know how much I spent on his gift. (This was his birthday/Christmas gift since they're so close together.) As it was a very specific number I couldn't tell him cause he'd know so I became quite secretive. That made him more curious and he started constantly guessing what it was. Luckily he was always way off...until the morning of his birthday.
Up until then I had him convinced it was a trip cause every time he would ask if it was one I would change the subject. I got some family to help out too - at Thanksgiving Oldest Sister said something to the effect of "shouldn't you have asked him about vacation time before planning something like that?" Thanks for that by the way.
But, for some reason, the morning of his birthday he guessed it. So I lied. Cause I wanted it to be a surprise.
Though, as his mother pointed out, he lied last year about Vegas so I don't feel so bad.
Then he thought it was something from the model train shop and I just let him think he was right. Cause I wanted it to be a surprise.
Flash forward to after work, he and his family were coming up to eat out for his birthday. With the key and paperwork in my car, I was driving around to find parking when I got a call saying to park in a specific parking garage. He was already there so he got to carry the key in - of course to him it was just a giant box. Not really heavy, just awkward to transport.
After the meal - Cajun food, I had catfish - he got to open his presents. We saved mine for last. Here's his reaction. Sorry it's sideways.
The answer to her question is ME! He sold it to me!
Glad I taped it. I've watched it quite a few times.
He was very excited about it and immediately went into total sweetheart mode, taking me out for lunch the next day, then a movie that weekend, then coming up to visit me on a Sunday even though he had like 4 hours of sleep in 48 hours.
His response was to get me an ipod for Christmas. And not just an iPod, a 64 gig iPod cause my 32 gig is out of space. And old. And skips. And doesn't work with most apps. For those of you that know me you know how excited I was about the 64 since I have my iPod on me at all times. Also with the iPod he got me a bluetooth hookup for my car so that I can listen to it and also make handsfree calls. I was stoked. No more wires to mess with and all that. He even said he'd install it. So lucky to have a mechanic for a boyfriend. Changes my oil, fixes broken things and installs new fancy stuff. Very exciting.
He gave me that on Christmas Eve - that's when their family does Christmas. I had to work until 1 but went out there in the afternoon. They were playing Star Wars Monopoly by the time I got there and were getting pretty into it. It was entertaining to watch.
Christmas Eve is pretty relaxed with their family. They hang out all day, go to church, then eat supper and open presents. I got some other cool stuff from his family. They know how much I love Star Wars so I got a giant Yoda stuffed animal, an R2D2 candy jar, and then also some Husker stuff and a Fitbit which I'm wearing right now. Loving it. For those of you who don't know a Fitbit is something you wear around your wrist and it keeps track of how much you walk, how much you sleep, and the app helps you keep track of calories and all that.
Which is helpful because I'm about to make an even bigger lifestyle change.
Every year I say that one of my resolutions is to be healthier and then a week in I give up on it. This year is different. I have a game plan and support to go with it (see previous entries about our Hot Babes Getting Hotter weight loss plan). This week I cleaned out my fridge and cupboards getting rid of all the junk and filled it with newer and healthier options. Similar to how I gave up pop - I just took it away and didn't make it an option which made it much easier. I've also started packing my lunch with this new food. Gives me a chance to use my Slytherin lunch box from Christmas like 5 years ago.
Lost two pounds already. May not seem like a lot but it's only been a few days.
This lifestyle change is coming quickly after yet another one from about a month ago.
The boyfriend mentioned something about how I look nice in makeup and how maybe I should do that more often. When I mentioned it to my sisters the oldest responded with "if the guy that has to stare at you for the rest of your life says put on some makeup then put on some damn makeup" or something to that effect. Though she's been on me about it for years so I'm sure she was delighted.
So makeup wearing led to new clothes shopping which both of my sisters were happy to take part in. We hit up the Buckle, Dress Barn, and Famous Footwear for clothes and shoes. I came out with some new jeans, shirts, and two pairs of boots.
The people at work of course noticed right away, and ever since I've had many makeup/clothing conversations with my female coworkers. My favorite was with the New Girl and one of my new trainees. They were talking about foundation and one of them says she has some fancy stuff that she only pulls out on special occasions so we started calling it her Special Occasion Foundation. It was highly entertaining.
Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself, let's back up a bit back to Christmas. So Christmas morning I did with my parents. I got them a lot of stuff this year - especially Mom - cause they always give a lot of stuff. But they only got half of the stuff cause we saved most of our stuff for our family Christmas on New Years. After Christmas morning with them I went to the boyfriend's extended family Christmas where we ate, watched TV and played Rummy. First time for everything, and it was actually quite fun. Then that night the boyfriend and I went out to my parents and ate supper with them. Then we watched some holiday movies like Home Alone and Christmas with the Kranks.
Along with the original/animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas I think Home Alone is probably my favorite holiday movie. It's a classic, both funny and entertaining. When I was young and would watch it my dad would make me pause it and come get him when it came to the breaking in/pranks scene toward the end. That's probably the best part.
So that was Christmas, let's skip to New Years Eve. I don't know about you but to me New Years Eve seemed a lot more exciting when I was younger compared to now. Every year for like 15 years I would do the same thing. Hang out with P Squared watching all the countdown music shows, playing Dance Dance Revolution and cards, running around the house at midnight while drinking sparkling cider and then watching movies before crashing on the floor. Now it's like I feel so old because I don't know half of the bands that are playing.
Or I don't like half the bands that are playing.
For the past couple years the boyfriend and I have done the same thing. Stayed at home and were disappointed by the music - although this year we did watch The Lego Movie which was highly entertaining.
Gonna have to come up with a different game plan for next year cause I'm doubtful the music thing is gonna change.
Must just come with getting older, most of the bands are aimed at teens not adults.
So that was New Years Eve, after midnight I headed out to the farmhouse and stayed over so I was there for our family Christmas the next day.
Christmas was fun. The family got there around 12:30ish. We ate prime rib, potatoes, desert and all that then opened presents. I got some cool stuff - Firefly Clue (i love that show, now have to find other fans to play with me), a couple of Husker hats, some new dishes, pajamas and of course a straightener from my sister. Remember the lifestyle change mentioned above? Apparently a straightener is necessary to complete it. We'll see about that.
The boyfriend got a lot of tools plus a signed hockey jersey courtesy of my parents (via me).
After food and presents there was a lot of football. Then napping and more food. Then more napping. Then more football. The boyfriend slept for a bit cause he was going into work that night.
All-in-all it was a good holiday season.
Immediately after the holiday season is our anniversary on the 2nd. 3 years. Doesn't feel like it was that long ago, but apparently it was. To celebrate we went to a hockey game where we won 3-2, then we watched some Forensic Files which has become our go-to show. Have you seen it? It's addicting. The hockey game was exciting enough, I don't think I've seen that many brawls in a single game ever. Tons of fighting and lots of penalties. It's like they knew it was a special occasion.
Or it's cause we were suppose to "turn a corner" after the holiday break and start winning games.
And speaking of winning games we played a hell of a game last night against our rivals and won it in overtime! It was huge game - not only because of they're our rivals but also because they were on a 9 game win streak. This was another one filled with brawls and by the end there were a lot of guys sidelined either in the penalty box or thrown out. Luckily a lot were able to come back for overtime. It was tied 2-2 for a while but then they went up 4-2. I thought we were toast but we scored and then we scored again with 2 minutes remaining. The guy that scored that one was playing his first game with us - he also had an assist - so pretty good for a new guy. Glad we acquired him.
Then for overtime we put in who I like to call either the 3 Musketeers or the 3 Amigos - Hoff, Gillespie, and Jozefek (who's my favorite). These guys can score when they're put together, honestly it's crazy how many times the three of them work together for goals. Hoff was able to shoot one passed the goalie and we took the victory. It was epic. I tweeted about it and it got favorited by all 3 Musketeers/Amigos and the general manager.
I love hockey, you meet the most interesting people while watching it. On one side you've got the drunken frat boys, on the other a redneck and behind us we have some awesome commentators and an archaeologist.
In Nebraska.
I made a friend. Ran into her in Walgreens and we started talking. Mostly about hockey. We ended up moving and sitting next to her during the game because it was packed and behind us it was empty. After the game we talked some more and now we're gonna do lunch. Turns out she works just a block over. Should be fun.
And last but not least....remember that whole patron having a stroke in the library thing? If not go here: I would shoulder a 12-year-old for you, that's love.
And then after that how Superwoman nominated me for a Customer Service Award? Go here: Hot babes getting hotter: You'll see less of us soon.
Well, turns out she nominated me for something else. A Mayor's Award of Excellence. And I got it.
Just have to meet the mayor and city council and not make a fool out of myself - no pressure.
Plus I'm horrified of public speaking and I guess I'm supposed to possibly say something in front of them. I think I have an idea of what to say, now it's just memorizing it and running through it over and over so I don't completely freeze and make a fool out of myself.
No pressure.
On to a Scale of Awesome's:
Serial
That's right, my first Scale of Awesome for a podcast. I actually learned about this from the parody skit on SNL. So I listened to all 12 episodes over the New Year's weekend (aka our family Christmas). It worked well because I did a crapton of driving so there was plenty of time to listen. I got so caught up in it that I was listening to it before I went to bed at night and then again in the morning when I woke up. My only thing against it was that it didn't really have the ending that I was looking for. I wanted to know if he was guilty or innocent and she didn't have an answer to that. Maybe they'll cover it in the second season which starts up soon. Scale of Awesome says 8/10.
Night at the Museum 3
Scale of Awesome says 8/10. I thought it was pretty good - very funny and since I'm an ancient Egypt nut I loved that aspect. Sad to see Robin Williams in it though knowing he's not around anymore.
Unbroken
Good movie but super long. Or at least it felt that way. Scale of Awesome says 7/10.
Tropic Thunder
If it wasn't for Robert Downey Jr. this movie would be awful. Fortunately he was in it and was fantastic so I'm giving it a 7/10.
The Departed
I think I watched this one a while ago with Mom back when we had Netflix but I don't remember anything about it. The one thing I will say about it now is it's long. Like you think it's about to be over and then it's not. And then it's still not. And then it's 2 hours later and he has to go to work so we have to finish it next time. It was okay I guess. I mean I like the people in it - Leo, Matt Damon, Marky Mark and Jack of course. I'd say 5/10 maybe?
And on to the music.
Dedication To My Ex - Lloyd
loving this song, very catchy. yes that's wayne brady.
Wasted Love - Matt McAndrew
was very surprised he didn't pull off the win, but craig was good too.
