Sometimes Left Behind...But Never Forgotten

Q: What is titanium, round, size 10.5, and sitting on my bedside table?
A: D'oh!

I've never worn jewelry. Well, I think back in middle school I had a series of ill-fated gold chains that never seemed to last long. I got them at the mall. They were the type of gold-plated bling that could turn skin green and that definitely should not be taken into our neighborhood pool.. Oh, I suppose I wore a woven friendship bracelet or two in elementary school. I think I also wore a few of those 'jelly' bracelets back in the day. The Textile Embodiment of Friendship

Thankfully, I never pierced my ear. That's about the only bad jewelry fad I missed.

This wedding band thing has thrown me for a loop a few times. I take it off to sleep, and sometimes, in my horrific pre-coffee morning state, I forget to put it on for the day. Symbolically, this is not a good thing.

Overall, I have failed to wear "The Ring" 3 times since September 16 for a success rate of about 90%. A ring is a small piece of metal. Don't sweat the small stuff, they say, but they never had to face down a disappointed Shannon.

Gift Showcase Happy Time!

Gift #3: Le Creuset 3 Quart Dutch Oven
Uses So Far: Now this is some serious cookware, right here. A hearty hand-cast iron core surrounded by gleaming enamel gets hotter than a Ford Pinto in a fender-bender. This baby has transformed many pairs of chicken breast into sustenance. Is it a little odd for a male to be this excited about cookware? Probably. But I don't care. It's fabulous!

Overall Thoughts: This is another absolute treat for an aspiring cook. This cast iron cookware does pose a hernia risk if we try to lift it, so it stays on the stove, ever-vigilant and ready.

Gift #4: Staccato Place Settings
Uses So Far: We've been putting food items onto and into this gift. Then we use our brand new Nortica flatware to shovel it down. This food is transformed into energy so that Shannon can mold the minds of tomorrow and I can tinker with spreadsheets.

Overall Thoughts:
We're finally all grown up now! Our plates, bowls, saucers, and mugs all actually match. We've been carting around a hodge podge of not-so-fine china. Now, the cupboard is a monument to sweet dishwasher-safe homogeneity. We need to find some fresh-faced college student to take our old dishes so the circle can begin anew.

Congratulations to Mrs. Sieber

The world's greatest science teacher (even cooler than Mr. Wizard, in my opinion) has earned high praise from her students at Ratemyteachers.com

From one student's rating:
"mrs.kennedy is pretty cool. she gives a lot of homework sometimes. but i loved her as a teacher. she was totally awsome this year. she has the best eye for gum so watch out."

That goes for the rest of you. Gum in the trash can now. She's only going to ask once, then it's detention city.

New Blog Feature: Gift Showcase

We are in the exciting honeymoon phase where everything is sweet and happy...and we get to start using our fantabulous wedding gifts. So, to pay tribute, we'll feature some of the gifts we have received. So, without further ado:

Gift Showcase Tuesday:
Gift #1: Shun Classic 8'' Chef's Knife and Shun Classic 6'' Santoku Knife:

She isn't just beautiful, she's sharp as a tack, too!

Uses So Far: Chopping an onion for tortilla soup, slicing up chicken breast like it were warm buttah, mincing garlic into subatomic particles (garlictrons), slicing tomatos into tissue paper thin slices, and scaring Shannon by throwing a piece of paper in the air and chopping it in half midair with this ginsu blade of doom.

Overall Thoughts: I'm an aspiring cook, and having a great knife enhances the whole cooking experience. I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I don't need to be with these.

Gift #2: Krups Ice Cream Maker

Uses So Far: Made the the best vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberry that I have ever tasted. We also made Reese's Peanut Butter Cup gelato last night.

Overall Thoughts: This was the first gift we received in the mail, so it was a special moment. Shannon grew up eating homemade ice cream, so she and "I screamed" (get it?) when we opened it.

I'll post more of these mini showcases in the future. If your gift doesn't get featured, please don't be sad. We still love it!

My 16 Days as a Sieber

Well, I've been a Sieber for exactly 16 days. The signed marriage license is in my posssion, my kids are calling me, Mrs. Ken...Sieber, and I'm trying to find new ways to answer the question, "does it feel different?"

The negatives:

• I've found that initialling SK is much less difficult than my new SS on passes, and my former signature which consisted of "shlkdy" now is a mushed up version of shlksieber. It's hard when you've perfected a signature over the last 15 years of your life to all of the sudden change it!
• Doing all of this name changing stuff is HARD! Social Security Cards, Driver's License, Passport, oh my! At least I get to change the signature on my social security card from my 5th grade handwriting!!!!

The positives:

• I've found that my husband (teeheehee-I said "husband") has become much sweeter now that I am his wife! I know that wasn't part of our vows, but I'll take it all the same!
• When my school e-mail changes, that "i" before "e" can seriously benefit me by drastically reducing the number of parent e-mails! Woohoo!
• I think the cat has taken kindly to being Velcro "Charzar" Kennedy-Sieber, he's hyphenating!
• Christopher now owns 49% of the cat, that means 49% of scooping the poop!

I can't wait to have many future years as Mrs. Sieber. I know the initials and signature will come in time, the school parents will probably replace my preferred e-mails with phone calls, and Velcro will start urinating on all that is Kennedy very soon, but I'm looking forward to my new adventures with my new husband and family.

Cruisin' But Not Losin (Part 1)

Sunday, September 17th: Getting to the Honeymoon:
We awoke extremely groggily at 7:45 am on Sunday, September 17th. It was not a pretty picture. Our cruise ship would depart Galveston at 4 p.m., so we had some work to do to make it aboard on time for our honeymoon. Of course, we both hadn't packed our bags, and our apartment looked like a wedding fairy had thrown up on it.

So, we get home and begin frantically throwing clothes, toiletries, and bottles of wine into suitcases. It's about 8:45, and we still have an hour to go until "road time". Things are looking good.

Then, I hear the sound that every cat owner dreads: "HUHR-RUK. HUHR-RUK. HUUU. Splat". Thanks, Velcro! Even after cleaning up Velcro's gift, we're still on track. Minutes later, amid still more frantic packing, we notice Velcro has left another surprise for us on the carpet. Bodily function #2. Nice try, tabby, but we're still going.

Disaster Strikes:
It's now 9 a.m.: one hour until road time. Shannon opens her halfway packed suitcase to discover that our friend Velcro has used her nicely folded clothes as a urinal. To quote Shannon, "Ohhhhhhh Nooooooo."

No Problem, Mon:
Through this adversity, we actually made it to Galveston in excellent time. Our conversation went something like this repeated every 10 miles or so: "The wedding went really well. The whole night went really fast. I hope everyone had a great time. Did xxxx have a good time? What do you think, husband/wife? Tee hee hee. I called you husband/wife."

Sweet Ending (as a result of Shannon's training):
Hand in hand, we boarded the ship, ready to begin the first of what would be a lifetime of wonderous adventures together.

We Made It!

The wedding was an amazing whirlwind of an experience for us. We weathered all the chaos and last minute actions with absolutely tireless help from true friends. Those of you baking cookies, running errands, decorating the site, driving people around, printing pages, and keeping us sane and on track...Thank you!

It's funny; since that fateful evening, January 7th, 2006 we have been in planning mode. Months and months of preparation and anticipation came down to a beautiful evening that I can barely remember. The whole evening felt like about 5 minutes. Several people had warned us that that would happen, but it was shocking.

Shannon and I were touched and honored to have so many friends and family travel from all over the place to be at the big party. We really wanted the whole thing to be about great friends, great food, and great times, and I hope that showed up in the details.

Again, thank you to everyone..We love y'all...

License

The marriage license is in hand and ready to go.

Travis County marriage licenses are issued at the same County Clerk's office where I renew my automobile registration. It was amusing to have the normally disinterested county employees stop in the middle of form printing, signing, and stamping to congratulate us.

I also chuckled when we received the actual marriage license. I was expecting something like a temporary driver's license. The fancy lettering and gold seal on the certificate were a really nice touch!