Who knew?

Who knew that we'd be so old that we'd never make it through 2 let alone 3 of the movies at the drive in? We get there early and pick o good spot. Then we wait and hang out and chat. Then the first movie starts and we both watch it. Good movie and funny. The second movie starts and Pete falls asleep. He sleeps unitl the end of the second movie where I then wake him up and we drive home. Even with leaving early we didn't get to bed until 4am.

Who knew that riding in the car, in the rain would take so much out of a person? We got up at 8 Saturday (after about 4 hours of sleep) to meet some friends. We then got in their SUV and spent 3 hours driving to the sourthern part of the state to meet up with the group who was camping there. Whew. I was at the fire for about 1.5 hours and told Pete I needed to nap. I promptly fell asleep for 1 hour in the SUV. Woke up and it was time to to go. *sigh* Back in the SUV for a 3 hour drive home. Although we did stop for a lovely dinner on the way home.

Who knew you could be our age and sleep most of a Sunday? We were up early, but fell back asleep until 10 am or so. Ate a little, watched a little tv and were back asleep by 11:30 only to sleep again until 2. Up and I went grocery shopping (drepressing how much food actually costs) and we ate dinner. Went for a short ride and in bed by *gasp* 9pm where we watched TV until 11. Asleep again.

Who knew?

My keeper

There are little things that Pete says that make me giggle and remind me just how connected we are. As we were picking things out for the registry at Target I was choosing plasticware. I mean that's what people choose. Be it Tupperware or the store brand or whatever, they choose storage for the kitchen.

So I put on a box of plasticware and some other containers.

Pete pipes up with a "What are you doing?" I explain that we need storageware.

He laughs and says "I'm your keeper I know what will happen to those. You may as well just take them off. You take containers to work and never bring them home. Remember I'm your keeper and I do the dishes and see the amount of plasticware disappear."

It made me giggle. For he is right that I tend to not bring home the containers. But these will be wedding presents so I will bring them home (or at least that is my plan.)

LOL My keeper.

Stress

Stress can do funny things to a person.

Lately I've been having trouble falling asleep again. I lay down and my incomnia kicks in making it really hard to fall asleep. I lay awake listing the things that I need to get done for the wedding and all the plans that we have together this summer for other things. Eventually I fall alseep, but I don't think I'm sleeping deeply.

I had a bad stress headache yesterday. It went right up the back of my neck into my head and around to my jaw. I eneded up staying home and resting in bed trying to get rid of it. I think I need to try fitting in some running or exercising again to relieve the stress.

I'm also getting rapid heartbeats. I know that it's anxiety as I've had them before. It only lasts a couple of seconds and I remind myself to breath and relax.

Stress sucks.

"You ain't got class..."

"...until you've been burned with brass." by Pete.

So I shot the .500 yesterday. It's huge and fast and all you see is red flash. But I hit the target both times at 20 feet out. Then I got a .380 shell down my shirt. I was trying to rapid fire my carry gun to figure out why it jams for me. So I had a little conversation in my head about whether to stop shooting to get the brass out or not. The brass won and I have a .380 sized blister on my chest.

Friday night we went to dinner at the place that is catering the wedding for us. We got a ridiculously low price on a heavy appetizer meal. It's seriously half of what the ordiginal caterer wanted for heavy appetizers. Half. I was pretty excited.

Saturday we went to Alison's 6th birthday. What a cutie. Then off to a wedding outside at someone's house. It was pretty and they are so in love. Interesting to see what other people do for weddings and this was so very different from what ours is planned to be.

Sunday we got up at the crack of dawn. Ok, maybe not the crack, but early for a weekend. We got on the bike and rode to Mankato thinking that we'd hang out with the group and then ride back. Only we never got to the campground because they were on their way home. So we had breakfast with them and rode home. It was windy & not a fun ride. From Friday to Sunday we were on the bike for about 12 hours.

Last night we looked and called around for motorcycle campers. We're going to look at one this week. I'm excited to camp again.

You ain't got class...

My Guy

Have I told you lately how great my guy is? There are times when I'm on the back of the motorcycle going down the road that I hug him and whisper how much I love him. I wonder at the ability of two people to find love and keep love and be in love. Not just be. He is my world and I can't imagine it without him.

Back to his greatness. He bought me a beautiful engagement ring. I love the thought that he put into it and all the questions and information that he gathered from me without me knowing. I love it. We went this week to see about custom making a ban or bands to go with it for the wedding. It's not that I needed more jewelry. It's that I wanted something to signify that I wasn't just an engaged person I was a married person. Does that make sense?

When we got to the shop I expressed how much I love the ring I had and how the gallery was important to me. The woman there showed how you can have a ring made to slip in the underneath of the center of my ring. Such that it doesn't show on the side of the gallery, but adds diamons and another small band to the shank of the ring.

That was it. Really IT. She wrote it up and sent it off for an eztimate. And I waited. When the store called they called with an estimate for one side of the band only. We had asked about both sides so they called for another estimate. It wasn't double, but a little over half as much as the inital estimate. My heart sank a little. Then I felt guilty. I was being way to demanding and greedy. Greedy.

So I called Pete and told him about the estimate and he asked me what I wanted. I told him that he felt guilt for asking for both sides, but he told me to order it. To make me happy.

Have I told you lately how much I love him. How wonderful he is to me?

I love him.

Just call me Crash

Friday night I crashed. Sleep crashed. I was trying to watch a movie with Pete and ended up falling asleep. Abotu 8:30 Saturday morning his phone rang. It was Scott asking if we wanted to go to a turkey feed for another motorcycle club. Of course we did. So Pete hauled out to Hutchinson to pick up his new gun and I started in on sewing the patches on the vests.

Sewing. I'm ok with sewing, but this is leather. I take out my machine & start to thread the bobbin only to realize that the machine hasn't been used in so long that the needle sticks in the down position. So I take out the machine that Pete got from his sister. Again, something is wrong and I can't figure it out. So I start hand sewing. On leather. With needles and thread and a pliers. Damn that hurts! In fact I cut myself with the scissors, I jabbed myself several times with the stick pins holding the patches. And worst of all - I used my left thumb to place where the needle came up so much that even 2 days later I can't use the thumb and the bed of the nail is bluish...

Pete gets home and we start packing the bags to leave. I go in his trunk to get my jean jacket and the lid falls and its me in the forehead. Man that hurts. I still have a sore spot there 2 days later.

We get to the feed and as we are prospects we have to do silly things that the members tell us. Remember this game as a kid? The one where you spin on the stick and then run to a line? Well just like this prospect we had to do it. See that pipe and cement to the right in the photo? Yep, you guessed it. I headed right at it, bounced off with my hip and fell to my knee on the cement. Damn that sucker HURTS!

Anyway, by the end of the day I told Pete that I wasn't going to do anything else other than sit around for fear of doing myself in. Today, two days later, my body is sore, my head hurts and my thumb is throbbing.

I had a scare

We have been running a lot lately. I say this as it's important. It's also importantl to realize that everyone has patterns that they follow as a guide to everyday life.

Anyway, we have been running a lot. We get home from work and leave again. Whether it's on the bike or in the car depends on the weather. But we head to stores to run errands, to Pete's sister about the house/estate, to pastor meetings, to the Harley dealer. We run.

Yesterday we got home and left again. This time to the Harley Owners Group meeting. Dinner at a restaurant. We got there and it was a lot going on. I was a little uncomfortable as I am with any group until I figure out my place. We had dinner, listend to the meeting and signed up for some rides.

Afterwards we rode home in the rain. And I loved my first drizzly rainy ride. We cleaned up the accumulated junk in the garage and I headed upstairs. I went to wash clothes & noted that we need laundry soap. So I took off my jewlery, took out my contacts and got ready for bed. During that time, Pete was upset about his broken bluetooth earpiece and asking me to do things for him.

We got settled in bed and talked. This is the best part of the day when we connect over silly to serious stuff, just the two of us. In the middle of the discussion I told him to get up. He didn't and I told him to get up again. He asked why and I told him my ring was gone.

We got up and tore apart the bedroom and I started crying. I kept thinking about where I would have lost it and how I should have gotten it sized smaller with the weight I lost. Then I was upset that I could lose it without even knowing it. Pete told me to calm down and we'd figure it out. After about 20 minutes of looking and me crying, Pete told me not to worry about it. But I did.

In the midst of this he was telling me to walk through my night. Then it came to me. I looked in my jewlery box and there it was with all the rest of my jewelry. I have never been so relieved. Pete asked me what I'd do if we didn't find it and I told him I'd be really sad. he told me we could just get another one and I told him that it would never be there same. That this is the one he gave me and I never want to lose it.

Dry Riders

We joined the Dry Riders motorcycle club. They are a cool group of people who do a lot together. This is a picture of us on our first ride. I can't wait to do more with them. There are campouts and things scheduled for the summer. Pete likes that there is a group of people that we can call if we're in the mood to ride so it's not just a single rider.

Picture heavy!!!

My favorite picture of Pete. My Harley man in his boots on a wood plank boardwalk at a restaurant.

The other is a picture of our shadows on the bike. I'm still trying for a better picture though.

The ribs from Ribfest. Actually what was left of the ribs we had been eating. They were good! Our rings! Great match for not being shold as a set and from different stores.

Love Letter to Pete

Gosh how much I love you! We met with the Pastor last night and I know that you were somewhat worried about it. But the Pastor only confirmed what we both knew - we're very similar in our views and ideas and a strong couple.

This morning, like every morning, you touched my nose to wake me up. I woke slightly, gave you a kiss and told you that I loved you. In turn you kissed me back and as I was rolling over to grab the covers, you covered me up. I love the tender,t houghtful things that you do for me. And I love you.

When I close my eyes...

When I close my eyes I smell the minty air from the grove of trees we just passed. The fresh clean smell of the lilac bushes in the last yard. I smell the exhaust frm the truck in front of us. The smell of rain drops on hot pavement that signal summer. I smell Pete's cologne wisping past my face.

When I close my eyes I hear the low whine of the SUV's tires on the road and the high whine of the little car's tires. I hear the honking of a horn and the honking of the geese above. I hear the radio from the vehicle that just passed us on the right. I hear the air slip past my face and ears. I hear the rumble of the engine as Pete accellerates.

When I close my eyes I feel the vibration of the cycle all through my body. I feel the air separate at the tip of my nose and slide back past my ears. I feel the whisps of hair tickle my nose and cheek when it flies forward. I feel Pete's back warm against my front. I feel the leather collar on my jacket rub my chin. At times I feel Pete's phone vibrate if my hand just happens to be over it.

When I open my eyes I see the man I love, on the motorcycle he loves, with me on the back. It's a wonderful thing.

I have to laugh...

So granted the garage isn't that big. But it's big enough to make sure that my suv and Pete's bike fits in. I've spent years with my Dad teaching me how to manuver a vehicle around things. We had 4, sometimes more cars in our driveway all the time and no one ever moved for you, you went around them. Pete doesn't trust me though. So this is what it looks like.

I realize now that it's hard to see...but the space between the vehicles is wide. And I have more than enough space to get in and out. I guess though if it was my bike (not that it isn't) I'd be worried too.

Weekend Goodness

Wow, what a weekend.

Friday night we picked up the bike from the shop for it's 1000 mile check up. All good to go and Pete got the new handlebars put on. We dropped it off and went to shop for laptops. Pete had to turn in his work one because someone was going overseas and needed it. We bought a 16 inch home theater one that wasn't that expensive and should suit out needs well. We got home and Pete set it up for what he wanted and then went to shine the bike.

Saturday morning we got up at 7 and met a small group to ride to Hutchinson. It took a while and it was a chilly morning. When we got to Hutch we met up with a group called Dry Riders . We went on a range ride which meant that we rode to a gun shop and looked around. Then we went to and outdoor range and spent the day shooting. It was a lot of fun.

The group was pretty darn cool. We got warm welcomes from a lot of the group and they were really nice. They had lunch for everyone and prizes from raffle tickets (Pete won a cool wooden box) and everyone had weapons that they let others shoot. Pete invited Nancy from work who is the one that taught us in the conceal & carry class. She and her husband fit right in. It was such a cool day that we are going to prospect to join the club. And I got to shoot a .470 revolver. Pete helped steady my hands, but it was really powerful and cool!

We left there about 4 and started riding home. It was sunny and 80 something in Hutch. Only the closer we got to home, the cooler it was and the wetter it was. We were almost home and going around a corner when I yelled to Pete - "Is that SNOW?" and then realized that it was lots of small pea sized hail all over. Apparently we just missed the storm, which was a good thing as there is no place to hide on that stretch of drive. Saturday night we went to see some music in Minneapolis.

Sunday I woke up to find Pete washing and shining the bike. We got ready and left to have breakfast at Grantite City Brewery . Then we went to Best Buy where Pete bought me a new camera. It's a little Cannon Elph. It's got much the same features as my big camera, only small enough to fit in my palm & easy to carry. I tired it out on the back of the bike (lol) and it stablizied my pics so well that I am in love. We ran down to Centennial Lakes to see how a couple had it set up for a wedding. Then to his sisters to load up the old Harley. It went to a guy's house to be worked on. If it can get fixed, it's going to be my bike next year. If not, we'll have to look at getting a new one for me. Then we took a ride through Jordan and Belle Plaine. Only to come back to Raceway Park for the races. They were kind of borning and we left after the figure 8's.

Boy am I tired. Tired and red. I need to invest in some good sunblock and get a nap in!