A walk in the park

Last night, Cas and I took his mother to the tree-lighting event at Vitruvian Park in Addison. It was a pretty neat little event. There was stuff there for the kids, like an opportunity to get a photo with Santa and a guy who makes balloon animals. There was a band- a pretty good one, and there were food trucks.

We picked up Jeanne. I thought we'd have Dave with us, as well, but evidently, he had to work until nine. Ten hours a day, four days a week. Yuck. 

So, rather than a double date, it was a little more like Cas and I had a chaperone. It wasn't a typical chaperone situation, though. We each had a glass of wine. 

The lights were pretty, the band was good and the evening was a lot of fun. I think it's probably good that the three of us got out together. Whatever opinions she may have had of me are probably rock solid, now, good or bad. 

We were supposed to go to some party today with Cas' uncles on his dad's side, but we're officially skipping it. He's been kind of exhausted and overwhelmed lately, and it may be for the best to cut back on big events for the remainder of the weekend. 

Maybe I can talk him into decorating my Christmas tree with me and enjoying some pizza, instead. It could be our personal tree-lighting ceremony. 

A little trouble getting the band back together

Cas and I hadn't done any pub trivia since summertime. We both agreed that it would present a pretty substantial challenge to drink beers and play trivia on a Tuesday night and follow it up with any kind of meaningful instruction on a Wednesday.

Quizmaster Brett seemed glad to see us return, but he struggled to understand how our jobs would be so engrossing that we couldn't drink beers and play games every Tuesday night. I guess you'd have to be a teacher to get it. 

Anyhow, Cas and I managed to meet up with a friend of his who brought her two college-aged children with. We named our team "Down to Clown" and we did our level best. But wow, we're we rusty. It wasn't any help that none of our typical summer teammates were available last night. It would have been great if we could have gotten Jerone or Laura to come out. I'd have loved it if Crissy or Susan was there. I have to wait for the blog post from our friendly quizmaster, but I think we came in seventh. Rather embarrassing, actually. But a great time nonetheless. 

I'm having a leisurely morning, but I'll head out soon and hit up Big Lots on the way to mom and dad's house. I want to pick up the last few things for Christmas. I usually buy some cookies for my colleagues. Beyond that and maybe a gift basket of some sort for Cas' mom, I am totally done Christmas shopping. 

All that's left for seasonal shopping would be gifts for December birthdays. I always feel great triumph when I wrap up Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving, which is a pretty positive thing, because last night's poor showing at pub trivia left me needing a bit of a win. 

Sake and sushi

We had a Groupon last night for a sushi restaurant. It was $40 off the tab. The tab itself, because it was a BYOB place, turned out to be just under $42 before the deal was applied. The check was a buck and a half. Cas insisted on paying the whole thing. Whatta guy.

When we got to the place and saw the sign on the door that said BYOB, we asked where the closest store was that we could buy a bottle of wine. I had come to Cas' place with a bottle of red. He had bought a bottle of prosecco for us to enjoy after dinner. Both of these bottles were at his place, and we were too far to turn around. A third bottle was in order, and Sake seemed like the thing to do. 

We found ourselves standing in front of a big shelf at the beer and wine store with many varieties of Sake. He has an app on his phone that has you take a photo of a wine label.  The app reads it, then finds you reviews for that wine. Turns out, it worked. We made an informed decision and had a very tasty bottle of Sake. We're it not for that app, I may have talked him into a bottle that caught my eye for its funny name alone. I mean, who doesn't want to try Fu-Ki Sake? 

Alas, we went with a tasty, well reviewed bottle instead. How very grown up of us...  How do you say "oh well" in Japanese? 

Good fences make good neighbors

And it appears the inverse is also true. The fence between my half of the duplex and the other half gave way in a storm several weeks ago. And the owner of the other half is being rather truculent about his role in repairing it.

It's his fence. It doesn't even match my fence. His renters have asked him repeatedly to make the repair. Here's how it's gone so far:

Owner told renters (who told me...) that it's my responsibility, that he contacted me, and that I refused to pay. 

After that, I got owner's number and got in touch for the first time.

After a day exchanging text messages (about three weeks ago) he finally agreed we should split the cost, and he would schedule the repair. 

About five or six different days came and went over the course of the past few weeks where the owner promised the renters that, "The fence guys are coming today." 

Finally, the whole bunch of us ended up in a group text where the renter offered to let my people take care of it and deduct the cost of the repair from her rent. This got his attention. He responded that she cannot do that because it's not her house. 

Apparently, owner's wife intervened and found new "fence guys." The scheduled repair date is Tuesday. 

I have learned by now that there is no reason to do either of the following:

1. Hold my breath and trust this person to complete repairs, or 

2. Believe a single word he says, because he claims to have spoken with me in October, when he didn't even have my number (or probably even remember my name.)

If I'm being honest, I'd like to rip out my half of the fence just to prove how little it means to me. My back yard is split by a driveway, and I see no need to enclose that small portion. I suppose I should just leave it as it is and pay the half when and if the repair ever occurs. Still, a part of me wants to write out a check and have it delivered in the slowest means possible. Maybe I can pay in pennies. I'll surely get right on paying my half of the repair costs with the same speed, honesty and courtesy as was shown to me. 

Ah, geez. Hockey, don'cha know?

Yesterday was Chad's birthday, and Cas got him a bit of a flashback. They used to attend a lot of Stars games. It's my impression that they used to go, but then Chad became a father, and every moment of his free time became daddy time. As a parent, this is the right move, but as a hockey fan, I'm guessing it left something to be desired.

Before the game, we all met up at Jeannie's house so Chad and Becky could leave Zoey with her grandmother. Never will new parents find a more willing babysitter than grandma. (Though she wishes to be called GiGi rather than grandma) 

We started out with barbecue in the West End, then walked to the American Airlines Center. The Dallas Stars (who had once been the Minnesota North Stars) were playing the Minnesota Wild. As a Minnesotan, this pairing pleased me. I figured that, whatever the outcome, it would feel like a victory. 

In the end, the Wild won 2-1, and the brothers who arrived proudly wearing their Stars jerseys were disappointed. No matter, though. I think they had a very nice afternoon. I know I did. 

After the game, we all made our way back to Jeannie and Dave's house to have a birthday dinner. 

It was a good day, and when Cas and I went back to his place, we decided to finish it all off with a little Netflix and a few cocktails. 

We're starting to plan out the holidays. It looks like Christmas Eve will be at my parents' house, and Christmas Day will be at his folks' place. 

In the meantime, I have some school stuff to do. Enjoy this photo of two Stars fans hanging out in "Big D" yesterday: 

Six months in, and still down to clown

We had our fancy dinner last night.  My mother gave Cas a gift card to Chamberlain's Fish Market for his birthday, and he saved it for a dinner to celebrate six months together.  Everything was perfect.  We decided that it would be so correct (and such an appropriate representation of who we are together) if we got a bit dressy, showed up a bit before our reservation and had some cocktails at the bar.  After that, we had a fantastic meal.  We returned to my house and dressed down a bit, then watched a stupid movie while drinking wine.  It was just about the perfect way to mark the occasion.

The stupid movie was Johnny Knoxville's Bad Grandpa.  Good lord, it was dumb.  It was also just the sort of thing that both of us agreed was appropriate to negate the formality we established earlier in the evening.

Cas often complements me.  He tells me he's fond of my looks, my mind, my sense of humor and my consistent status as someone who is "down to clown."  This is, of course a borrowed expression from my nephews.  I learned it over the summer, and I love the idea.  Would you like to do something?  Indeed!  I'm down to clown!  And we both are.  Fancy dinner?  Down to clown.  Silly movie?  Down to clown.  The myriad activities we've done over the past six months- we've both consistently been down to clown.

That's probably why he brought this particular bottle of wine to my house:

We had our fanciness.  We had some silliness,  We ate popcorn and drank circus wine.  And dangit, we looked pretty cute.  

So, that's us six months into this whole thing.  It's pretty badass.  We have not made any solemn vows or anything, but we have both predicted that we will remain consistently down to clown going forward.  

Happy together

Tonight, I have a date. Cas and I have been going out, staying in and otherwise generally pleased with one another for six months, now. I'd say it's going well, but that would understate what's actually happening.

The truth is, we're both completely flummoxed by how spectacularly things are progressing between us. It's just this side of remarkable and surely unprecedented. Usually, in month six, I have found myself attempting to determine if the man is worthy of whatever concessions I would have to make in my own life to move forward. Usually, in his dating history, Cas would have walked away in half this time. 

I know those behaviors are what led us both to be single at this time in our lives. I'm pretty happy that most women bore him and that I eventually came to see the wisdom in parting ways with whomever I had found temporarily interesting. 

We have plans. We're seriously talking about living together. We also have logic. We know that anything major has to happen in the summer when we are blessed with more time. We also have self awareness enough to predict that the two of us will probably need space within the place we share, since we're both pretty accustomed to doing our own thing. 

I'm pumped up about the idea. It's been a wonderful (if totally unexpected) six months. I doubt either of us saw this coming, but now that we're here, we're both certain that this is correct. We're supposed to be a couple. 

I have to get a move on, though. I fully intend to be pretty when he gets here, and I have about an hour and a half to make that happen. 

Midterms

Twenty years ago, a Democratic President was in office. The mid-term elections came, and Republicans took control of both houses of congress.

Well, second verse, same as the first. Here we are with a Democratic President, and the Republicans have just seized control of the senate. They already had control of the house. 

We did what we could. I happen to be a Texas Democrat. We have long been a small and faithful group. I know that, when I go into work today, a particular ultra-conservative young man in one of my classes will gloat. I'm prepared for his verbal victory dance. In a way, it's like baseball. 

I hate the New York Yankees. I'm a Rangers fan. I don't follow it religiously or anything, but my heart is with the home team. They have twice appeared at the World Series. They didn't win. I don't know (and don't really care) how many times the Yankees have won it. I still root for the Rangers. And I am still a Texas Democrat. The last time Texas Democrats got to do any kind of a victory dance was when Ann Richards defeated Clayton Williams for governor before I was old enough to vote. Fun fact- she never led in the polls. 

So here I am, the morning after Wendy Davis lost to Greg Abbott. My team did not win. Still a fan, though. I am preparing right now to face the gloating of a fan of the victorious team...

'Mer-ca, heck yea

Yesterday was Halloween.  It was also the last day of our school's anti-drug red ribbon week campaign.  The dress theme for the day was "Put a cap on drugs," and everyone was encouraged to wear a hat.  I wore my fedora.  And some glasses.  I also wore a white button down shirt with black pants.  Oh, and I had the shirt unbuttoned all day.

No worries, though.  I had another shirt underneath.  It was, of course, this shirt:

So, I spent the day as a Clark Kent in mid-transformation.  After school, I went out and had a few beers with my sweetie just before we voted.  He told me early on in our relationship that he wasn't much for voting in off-year elections.  I was determined to change that behavior.  He felt he was not generally well informed enough in non-presidential election years, but I found a nice website for him to use (and I used it, too) where you could compare your ideology with those of the candidates running for office on the ballot in your precinct.  None of my results surprised me, but it was very helpful for Cas in his effort to be a more informed voter.

We went to an early voting polling place and participated in some democracy.  It was super easy, and it takes away the pressure on Tuesday of getting to the polls before or after school.  Hooray for early voting!

Today, I have to don my Greek Goddess dress and go to a party at Cas' brother's house.  My date will be in a toga.  After that, I'm afraid I have to dress like a regular person for a while.  A week from today, though, Cas and I are going out to a fancy dinner.  I suppose I can be a fancier version of my normal self for that evening.  We're going out to celebrate six months together, a milestone we will hit a week from tomorrow.  It's kind of hard for both of us to believe we've been dating for that long.

I am pretty sure if six more months were on the ballot, we would both vote yes.