Defensive Driving and Such...

Like I told you, I had to go to defensive driving on Saturday, and it was definitely a crazy day. There were a lot of people there, but the instructor was funny. However, the very first thing we do is fill out forms, and he makes this huge deal of following his instructions and about how many of these forms get messed up every week, so of course I am the first person in the whole class to make a mistake! Grrr... Then he told us that they only take cash or check for the class payment, and I never have cash and I have a debit card so I don't carry checks, so Dave had to pay for me and my sister. One of the women in the class was absolutely crazy, and kept on admitting that all the bad things he was telling us not to do were things she does on a daily basis and is not going to change her habits, so all of us made sure we left before she did and noticed what her car looked like! She was insane, and kept talking over the instructor and making comments about her horrible driving habits. Then we had lunch, which was part of the fee we paid. Please keep in mind that this was at Ryan's in Killeen, so I only ate the rolls, a Caesar salad, and an ice cream cone. The food was pretty gross... Then, to top it off, as we were watching one of the videos in the afternoon, which presented the class with different scenarios then asked either multiple choice or true/false questions, the scenario came up that my sister got her ticket for. She was pulled over on her way to take her AP test because she had turned left across two lanes of traffic and pulled into the middle turn lane before merging into the closest lane and continuing on her way to school. The cop was behind her with his siren blaring and lights flashing, and since she was in the inside lane and not the farthest lane, she had to travel about 3/4 of a mile before she could safely get over and pull off the road. The cop told her that he had originally pulled her over for the turn lane thing, which he said was illegal, but he had decided to just give her a warning until she had refused to pull over. So he gave her a ticket for evading an officer, and promptly told her he could care less if she was late for her test, and he was giving her the ticket no matter what. Now, you have to understand, my sister is 17 and only been driving on her own for a few months now, so she was completely shaken up and was not able to take her test. Anyway, the scenario of waiting in the middle lane to merge into traffic comes up and it asks "this is legal, true or false?" So she is looking embarrassed because she didn't know and it was obviously false, and then it pops on the screen that it is TRUE! How messed up is that. The instructor would not comment since he didn't want to get involved, but the officer was a jerk, and she was pissed! She took one of the instructor's cards and has threatened to mail it to the officer and suggest he look into taking a defensive driving course, too.

After that I took Carol shopping so she could buy stuff with her first ever paycheck, and then I just spent the rest of the night getting the wedding invitations ready to send out. It took a while, but finally this morning I got everything sealed and ready to be mailed, so be looking out for your invite!

Today I had just planned on lounging, but Carol and Jessica wanted to go to Belton Lake, so I took them out there and we just layed out on the beach for a couple of hours. There were sooo many people there, and especially drunk GIs who hovered way too much. At the first break after we got there Carol and Jess wanted to go down the water slide, so I told them I would stay with the stuff, but to hurry up cause I needed to go to the bathroom. So I am lying there for like 30 minutes, and after giving serious contemplation to the thought of just going pee in the lake, my sis gets back. Literally as I am walking away to go to the bathroom, this obviously drunk guy comes up and is like "Can I interest you ladies in a trip to the water slide?" My sis told him they had just gone, and he looked at me and I told him no, hell no. "Man, I have been like 6 times already!" he drawls. Real mature. So he keeps on pestering us, and then offers us a beer. It is illegal to have beer at the lake, as it is a military facility, which my sis pointed out to him, and by the way they are 17 and can't have beer anyway. He promptly told us that he is only 19, so come have a beer with him!! At this point I had to go to the bathroom REALLY bad, so I had to be really mean to him to get him to leave. Idiot. Then when I was lying there by myself these two guys literally hovered over the top of me for 10 minutes trying to provoke me to acknowledge them without having to actually talk to me themselves, and I just kept my eyes closed and ignored them, which pissed them off, so they eventually left to harass someone else. I find all of this amusing, which is why I don't mind going, but it actually makes me appreciate how non-military Waco is. When we got home my dad had grilled steaks, and mom had fixed corn, yum! Well, I am back in Waco, and about to do some internet class stuff, so hopefully this week will be mellow before the craziness that is our trip to Alabama arrives.

Love you all! ~MB

Ahhh, Love!

Well, this past weekend was Jackie and Joseph's wedding, and it was a blast! Dave and I left Friday morning and we drove straight to the nail salon where Jackie had paid for me to get my nails done. I felt sorry for Dave because he had to sit and wait for me to get them done, but we went to Pappadeux's afterwards so it was all good. We checked into the hotel and I had to do my homework, but then I took a nap before the rehearsal. The rehearsal was crazy because Jackie had sooo many kids in the wedding! They were absolutely adorable, but they had no idea what they were supposed to be doing, so it took longer than usual. The rehearsal dinner was at the wedding planner's house, and it was more like a barbecue than a formal sit-down dinner. It was fun, and there were super-strong homemade margaritas! I was exhausted by the time dinner was over, so we went back to the hotel and crashed.

The next day was the Big Day, and Dave and I started off with a big breakfast at Cracker barrel!! I LOVE Cracker barrel!! I know it is very country, but it is yummy. Thankfully we both ate a huge breakfast, because I did not eat until almost 10:00 that night! The ceremony was so pretty, but it went by really fast! After the wedding was food and party time, then we went out to decorate Joseph and Jackie's car. Joseph was so pissed! It was hilarious... We also had all been stuffing Joseph's pockets full of condoms all night, so I hope they had a great honeymoon!! We love you guys!!

Well, this week at work has been hard, but rewarding. We painted the wagons all week, but we are almost done now! I got to meet Jessica's boyfriend Jason on Monday, and I think I freaked him out because I gave him a big bear hug when Jessica introduced us. It just felt weird to shake his hand all formal-like when we met since I feel like I already know him! I remember when Jess first showed me his info on eharmony.com, and I am so happy for them that it has all worked out. This weekend my mom and I are sending out wedding invitations, and then my sister and I have defensive driving tomorrow:( I actually deserve my ticket, but my sister doesn't, and then Dave got a ticket on the way to Waxahachie, so we are all in it together now! It hopefully won't be that bad, but we shall see... Updates to come!!!

Love, Mary Beth

Oh Crazy Days!

I am officially overcome with wedding fever. Please do not come visit if you would rather not see me like this! I am actually very excited about Jackie's wedding this weekend! I have known them from practically the very first week of their relationship, so it will be so amazing to watch them get married. I am excited about my wedding too, there is just so much to think about. However, I think my obsessive-compulsive nature has made it so I will be done with everything by next week, so I will not be stressing too much on the big day. Dave of course it totally not worried about it. Guys! We are in the process of setting dates for the Bridal Shower and the Bachelorette Party, and I have a final fitting date and a bridal portrait date as well. I got to pick out the music this past weekend, and it is really going to be pretty. Lots of updates to come!!

In other news, and this is simply because my whole life right now is work and my wedding, but I have successfully implemented podcasting at the museum!! Of course I have had A LOT of help from Joy. It is pretty exciting since we are so small, but you should totally subscribe to our podcast! www.drpeppermuseum.podomatic.com The only thing available right now is the Audio Wand Tour, but there are a couple of posts that joy and I recently recorded mixed in there too.

Tomorrow David and I will have been dating for 5 years and 4 months. That is also 64 months. Which sounds longer? I think 64 months, and Dave thinks 5 years 4 months. Either way, it has been forever; bout time he made an honest woman of me!!!

Otherwise, I am working on my internet class, which has many bossy, opinionated people enrolled in it. I speak my mind, but mostly I try and just answer the questions and pass the class. This is not my ususal philosophy on classes, but at this point it is almost over. Well, until one of you comes to see me, or after this weekend, nothing new will happen, so I will write again when the excitment arrives!!

~MB

Fun Times!!

As I said in my last post, I got to go to Dallas this weekend for my friend Jackie's Bachelorette Party, whish was a blast!! This is the first time in a while that I have been able to go out and just let loose, so I was really looking forward to it. I met Jackie and the other bridesmaids at Fireside Pies, which is this tiny little pizza bistro in downtown Dallas. We had to wait a while, but when we finally got seated it was amazing! Pamela, who is the bridesmaid who planned everything since Jackie's little sister/maid of honor is only 17, got Jackie these beautiful white roses and a bunch of pink balloons that said "The Fling Before the Ring." It was soo cute! And the food was amazing. I had a Bellini-tini, which was awesome. I got to catch up with Maria, Jackie's roomate, and Jackie's mom Tammy. After dinner we went to Pamela's apartment where all the naughty stuff was! The made Jackie this sash that said "Bachelorette" with flavored condoms and pictures of naked, VERY well-endowed men on it! It was hilarious, especially since Jackie is such a modest person. There were penis-shaped jello shots, which kept on coming out in blobs instead of in the shape of a penis. Then Jackie opened all of her lingerie, which was all very cute. THEN... we went to Pete's Dueling Piano bar, which is like Piano Man at Treff's but all the time!! There are two pianos on the stage, and different people played throughout the night, and when they played Devil Went Down to Georgia one guy got up on top of the piano and played the fiddle! We all put our money together and they pulled Jackie up on stage! She was so funny, and it was a perfect way to end the night. I got pretty drunk, but not sick-drunk, it was so fun!! I got to know the rest of the bridesmaids, who were all a blast. I am really looking forward to the wedding now! Unfortunately, I am going to have to miss Stephanie's birthday party in Austin, which I am pretty bummed about:(

Less fun is the fact that I am in the middle of my internet class, which requires SO much reading. This week I have to go home for a scholarship luncheon, so go me for getting money!! Otherwise, I have a busy week at work painting the wagons, and I will be reporting when anything new happens!! ~MB