Weekend Recap

Well ... I didn't post on Friday because I was too busy freaking out over the possibility that I'd lost 1000 pages of opposing counsel's documents. Not to worry ... it seems the guy started numbering at 1000. Thanks.

Fiance and I got on the same bus Friday evening and went straight to church. We've got a lot of church going on between now and our Easter (someday I'll explain why we're on a different calendar, but not right now).

After church we went home and vegged. I didn't even make dinner -- my stomach has been upset since Friday afternoon (blame the luncheonette's Manhattan clam chowder, or blame the guy who started numbering at 1000 ...).

Saturday morning we were all set to tackle a bunch of home projects -- mostly cleaning and organizing, but possibly putting up shelves and a tapestry. But, on my way down to the kitchen, I noticed the answering machine light blinking. Of course, I hadn't checked it on Friday night. Curiously, a woman named Angela left me a message, saying that her brother-in-law, a bus driver, had my purse, and that if I wanted to meet up with him to get it back before he turned it in, I should call her, since he can't answer his phone on his route. While it was playing, I thought, that's odd, I wonder how old this message is, since obviously I'd already gotten my purse back. When the message ended, my machine said "Friday, 8:13 p.m." Yup, folks, you guessed it: I left the same purse on the same bus for the second time in a week. I'm a genius.

So, I called Angela back, and got her answering machine. I called the number she'd left for the driver, and he answered (sleepily) and told me that he'd turned it in. I called the bus depot in Coney Island, and they confirmed that they had it. Eager to avoid the Manhattan Lost Property unit and Yee, I told Fiance that we had to go get it right away. He was amazing. He didn't make fun of me or lecture me or anything. So, we walked to where he had parked the car on Thursday night, and he clicked the button to unlock the doors. Nothing. We manually unlocked the car, put the key in the ignition ... nothing. Totally dead. This is my parents' "extra" car that we're borrowing for a while, and neither of us is that familiar with the automatic light settings. Fiance must have left a light on. He was probably pretty glad that he hadn't given me a hard time about leaving my purse on the bus (again). So, we called my dad, and he said not to bother with AAA, just to call a friend. We called my cousin, and he came right over with his super cool Mercedes, which laughed at our pathetic 9-yr-old Chrysler. Well, the jump was successful, and we drove to Coney Island.

I got my purse back with little difficulty, we drove around a little more, took the car to a gas station where the guy tried to sell us a new battery and a new alternator (we declined) and we drove home. I did my hair and Fiance napped on the couch, and then he went for a haircut. And THEN ----- I DROVE! I drove over to the haircut place and picked him up, and we drove over to church for our premarital counseling session. For those of you who don't know, I've driven about 5 times in the last 6 years, usually only under emergency circumstances. I already was sort of afraid of driving (since I totalled my brand new car in '01), and then being out of the practice has made me totally paranoid. It's practically a phobia. But, we were running late, and I decided to stop being a baby.

Premarital counseling was great. We went through the ceremony bit by bit, and we definitely have a greater appreciation for everything now. I'm very excited for the ceremony. It's a pretty cool idea -- you get everyone you know to come pray for your marriage. We stayed for Vespers after counseling, and then a whole bunch of us went out to dinner (I drove). Good times were had by all. After dinner, I drove my friend all the way to 59th street, and then I drove home. Woohoo -- that was in the dark!

Sunday, we drove to church (I drove!), and then I DROVE INTO THE CITY. Seriously. Got on the BQE, went through the Battery Tunnel, up the West Side highway (even though we were going to the east side, because we wanted to avoid the crane catastrophe traffic), and then drove across the park at 79th Street, and dropped off our friend. Then we parked in a garage, Fiance found a Dunkin Donuts, and I met my cousin for some serious shopping.

We started at a small store on Lex between 63rd and 64th, called Expose. Their dresses are ADORABLE. I found a ton that I really liked, and I narrowed it down to one dress for my bachelorette party, and an out-of-this-world dress for the rehearsal dinner.

Then we went over to Bloomingdales, and had good luck up at BCBG, where we found a ton of dresses for my shower. One of them was perfect. So ... lighter in the checkbook and heavier in the shopping bag, we headed out to grab a bite. It was great to spend the day with my cousin -- who, by the way, is an amazing maid of honor. We just don't get enough time together anymore. I'm glad we got to spend Sunday doing some super fun (and successful) shopping.

I went back over and met Fiance, we picked our friend back up, and I drove to my brother's house in Jersey. That's right, folks ... through the Lincoln Tunnel, on to Route 3, and so on and so forth. I'm practically a professional driver. My brother was stunned to see me get out of the driver's side.

We had a fun evening celebrating another friend's birthday. I got to see my ridiculously cute nephews, so that's always a good time. I finally made the Dr Pepper cake, and it was delicious. I probably should have greased the pan, and I probably should have mixed the ingredients with an electric mixer instead of a spatula, but it was super yummy. I frosted it with cool whip. I highly recommend it. Here's the recipe:

Dr Pepper Cake

Ingredients:
One box of cake mix
One can of Dr Pepper (I used diet)

Process:
Combine ingredients. Pour into greased cake pan. Bake at time and temp recommended on cake mix box.

Turn it out of the pan, cool slightly, and frost with Cool Whip. Enjoy.

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That's about all I have for now. I woke up feeling crappy -- my throat is sore and my stomach is still upset. I had to get off the bus 10 blocks early because of stupid traffic. I had a horrible nightmare last night that Fiance was eaten alive by mice in the subway, so I don't think I slept very well. I'm at work now, but I'd much rather be back in bed. Hope you're all having better Mondays.