Our dearly departed Robert Burns

When I married Brandon, I married into a semi-deep-rooted Scottish tradition. For example, our wedding included bagpipes, a drummer, and many, many kilts and tartans all around. Not that I am complaining because my wedding was absolutely wonderful; however, these were not so much choices that I made as a bride so much as they things that were expected by the groom. (Okay, maybe I balked a little at the mention of drums at my wedding, but they turned out to be wonderful. The sound of the pipes and drums filled the church.)

One might say that I am a little more accustomed to these Scottish brogues and their homeland pride. One might say.

Brandon's boss plays in a bluegrass band that often appears all over St. Louis, but most often is a staple at the local Scottish tavern called Scottish Arms. Brandon and I had wanted to go since the summer, but the music begins at nine o'clock on Wednesday nights and I have gotten old, so I don't stay up much past nine anymore. Last night, I finally broke down and we decided to frequent Scottish Arms.

If you like bluegrass, which I do on occasion, the band was pretty good. There was a mandolin, a fiddle, a banjo, and a few really strange looking guitars. They sang with the normal homespun twang, which Brandon thought might be the effect of a synthesizer, however it was truly the Real McCoy. Even the owner of the tavern came out to enjoy the music, clapping often offbeat and banging his feet on the floor. He was an interesting fellow with long flowing blond hair and his own kilt and knee socks with tassels.

The atmosphere of the tavern was great. All of the tables were built out of a heavy dark wood and the only light brightening the darkness came from simple pillar candles on the tables and the low-lit antique chandeliers. The whole tavern oozed Scottish pride: the wait staff were all dressed in their own kilts as well as many of the guests, the chandeliers were draped in tartan, and the walls were plastered with Scottish sayings, posters, and paraphernalia. It was definitely my kind of place.

On the menu, you could choose from Haggis fritters (fried and breaded sheep intestines), Cock-a-leekie soup (a creamy soup consisting of mostly onions), Scottish eggs (sausage encased 4-minute eggs), and several other favorites. I stuck safe and chose the classic Fish and Chips, which turned out to be a real winner.

We were enjoying the music from the band when they decided to take a break and suddenly it was semi-quiet in the tavern.

Suddenly, a band of bagpipes broke out into song.

I am not kidding.

Apparently, the national bard of Scotland was Robert Burns, in his day. He has written as least a million poems and odes and epitaphs and songs. Unbeknownst to me, yesterday was the birthday of the dearly departed Robert Burns and to celebrate, old men wearing bagpipes came into the tavern and began piping away on Scotland the Brave. I think they continued for at least half an hour. The owner of the tavern came out again and began his clapping regiment.

It was truly a sight to behold.

So I thought, in honor of the dearly departed Robert Burns, I would copy one of his more well-known poems here in my post. Ceud mil failte.

O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June:
O my Luve's like the melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare-thee-weel, my only Luve!
And fare-thee-weel, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' 'twere ten thousand mile!

February 3rd

My husband is planning a surprise.

Between my job, church, and his school, we are very busy right around Valentine's Day, so we were discussing appropriate days to celebrate.

Aside: for the last two years, one or the other of us has deserted on February 14th. I deserted him for a rugby tournament in North Carolina two years ago and last year, Brandon worked as a waiter that night.

The weekend before Valentine's Day, we have a conference at church with Dr. Ted Tripp (for those of you that know him) from Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia on Shepherding a Child's Heart and the weekend after, I am traveling for five days to Chicago to a book conference for work. Valentine's Day falls on a week day this year and I know that with all the school work that Brandon tends to have during the semester, we will not be able to go on that particular day, so we decided on February 3rd.

About a week ago, Brandon called and asked if I could take half a day at work on the 3rd. I okay 'd the day with my boss, but I am not allowed to know what we are going to be doing. The official word is that we are going to be ice-fishing in Forest Park, but somehow, I am not so quick to believe this idea since our honeymoon was also to be ice-fishing.

I have already scanned the page of my favorite band for possible concerts on this date, I googled St. Louis with the date and only found ice skating competition at the Saavis Center which is possible but not likely. We did see Disney on Ice one year which was really fun for me: I sang along to all the songs and Brandon hid his face. Other than these, I am a little clueless. I think maybe we could go for a nice dinner, maybe at the Melting Pot?? I have never been, but I am told it is so delish.

My mom insists that Brandon would tell her if she asked, but we all know that is not true. My mom is the worst at keeping secrets. Maybe not in real life, but surely when it comes to me. This is the woman that dropped clues about my first date with Brandon (Quick honey, run out to the store right this minute and get something that I don't even need for the dinner I am fixing), the day we got engaged (You're going on a date tonight? Be sure to call and tell me all about it!), and the bridal shower my sister was planning for me (You should have called before you came to visit: I am at a person's house that I normally never visit and I can't leave, sorry. You will have to come here). My mom says that to a normal person these would not be clues, however to me, aka the Super Snoop, everything is a clue.

Believe what you may, my mom gives away surprises, so Brandon will not be telling her. Or me.

I already ventured a couple guesses.

My first guess was that we were going to be flying to St. Thomas for one night to eat at Duffy's Love Shack, (the best Caribbean Lobster place ever!) and to stay at Curlson and Gayle's lovely chateau. Duffy's is an amazing place that is located in a shack set up in a parking lot of a shopping center in St. Thomas. They place music all night, have crazy blended ice drinks and tiki torches, and they give you a plastic lei every time you go. Thursday night is Lobster Night and we did not eat better lobster at any other location on the island. So my first guess was that we were doing that. (Ha!)

I have not been so creative with my other guesses. The only information I have is that I need to be leaving work by two o'clock and that I might want to get my Valentine's manicure beforehand. (Whatever that means.) What throws me is the early off work: it is too late for lunch and too early for dinner, so we must be doing something else first, right?

I love Brandon for creating this elaborate surprise for me, but I can't stand not knowing!! I wish I didn't know that there was going to be a surprise. . . :)

Do I attract bad customer service? I must be wearing a target. . .

I hate to complain, but. . .

Last night I was pretty psyched to go to 24hour Fitness, so as soon as I got home, Brandon and I threw together a bag of clothes to change into and hopped into the car and headed over for our appointment to tour the gym. When we walked in, there was the standard perky girl happy to help us. I let her know that we had a six-thirty appointment and no, Crystal (the girl that I spoke to on the phone) did not tell us who the appointment was with. Pretty soon, Helpy Helperton (hereafter known as Jimmy Staab) comes over to see just what the problem is. After ten minutes of combing the entire book for our names, he asks what our appointment is for: personal trainer, diet and nutrition, etc. We let him know that we have come to receive our free week passes. Jimmy Staab has a mini-tantrum and lets us know that the appointment book he has been searching through is for members only and that we were probably supposed to just have an unscheduled sit-down with one of the sales people. It must have been our lucky day because Jimmy Staab is a sales person and, after he recovered from his fit, he led us to his desk for the sit-down. He had us fill out guest forms and asked us questions about our health and workout habits and typed away at his little computer that now holds a wealth of our information.

After we were properly enlisted, he took us on the grand tour. Fortunately, this particular 24hour Fitness is located in a shopping center and there is a huge picture window that shows off all the happy worker-outers on the exercise machines. My favorite. Anyway, it turns out that it is a pretty large facility with large group exercise rooms, basketball courts, swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, steam room, and millions of machine. I like the machine that I like to call the nautilus (the low impact elliptical aerobic workout machine) so as soon as I changed, I claimed one for my own and began my twenty minute workout. Brandon milled around for a bit and ended up on the nautilus next to me for the last seven minutes of my workout.

When we finished our session, we grabbed our clothes and headed over to see Jimmy Staab to grab our week long passes and hear about the amazing discounts they had available for Brandon and I. When Jimmy Staab presented all the lovely workout packages he had for us, none of them really appealed to me and I could tell by Brandon's facial expression that he wasn't buying it either. (I guess these were all trade-in-your-week-pass deals). Jimmy Staab looked at us intently and asked which plan he could sign us up for. Brandon said he wasn't sure he wanted to join yet, so Jimmy Staab turned to me and asked if I wanted to get started on my membership. I was like, are you kidding?! I didn't say that, though. I said, "I am still deciding." He asked, "What are you deciding on?" I said, as sweetly as I could manage, "Whether or not to join!"

Jimmy Staab shook his head and went to the office to grab some forms to get us our passes. When he came back, he asked, "Why did you guys even put your names in the drawing?" I tried not to look as appalled as I feel, but Brandon says I am not so good at hiding how I really feel. Luckily, Jimmy Staab answered his own question before we could respond: "Just to try out the club?" Brandon and I managed nods. OF COURSE TO TRY OUT THE CLUB, WHY DOES ANYONE ENTER A DRAWING FOR A FREE MEMBERSHIP?! YIKES!!

Brandon and I thanked Jimmy Staab, grabbed our passes, and headed out to the car before we could discuss the manner in which Jimmy Staab behaved. Maybe I am making too much out of this, but it just seemed that he was treating us like we were stupid. The people I work with told me to report him to the manager, however I have my week long pass and I wouldn't want to have to face him after I turned him in.

Besides, I think that would be a little over the top.

24hour fitness

Brandon and I have been thinking about joining a gym since we moved here. It's not that it is unsafe to run around our neighborhood, but there are no sidewalks and the park is a ways away. (In other words, we would have to drive to run in the park.) We both feel like we need exercise, but for me it is dark when I get home and I don't like to go real early in the morning. Plus, I love aerobics classes! I laugh at myself so much (and the instructors: how do they keep that smile on their faces?!), but I love learning the routines and I always get a great workout.

Here in the St. Louis Metro area, there are centers for the physical fitness called 24hour Fitness. As you may have guessed, these centers are open twenty-four hours a day. When my husband first sighted one such location, he told me we should definitely join "because then we could exercise at any time, even three in the morning!"

I must say that at first I was not convinced that these were anything spectacular. I am not one to exercise at three in the morning and the one we had first laid eyes on was in a shady part of town and attached to a mall.

Aside: I never understood why they would put a gym inside a shopping mall. I mean, who wants to be gawked at sweating and huffing by calm and cool shoppers like a freakish window display?!

Anyway, I put this particular gym in the back of my mind and over the past six months, Brandon has often brought it up informing me that there are many locations all over St. Louis and that, once again, we could exercise at any time of the day. I know this one detail is important to him because he is still a student and in the middle of studying and writing papers, he likes to take a break by exercising and not having access to a school gym has been a sad experience for him.

Well, on the day we were discussing our furniture shopping at the local Smoothie King, we happened upon a drawing for a six month free pass to 24hour Fitness. I thought, it couldn't hurt to try for it and if we get picked, we will have a free gym membership. Plus, I had spotted one on my way home from work that would be perfect to relieve end of day stress!

So, we entered our names in the drawing.

About a week later, we both got calls saying that we had won week long memberships to the gym. Okay, it's not six months, but we'll take it. Tonight we have appointments to tour the gym like VIPs and ask all our questions about membership and such. They have swimming pools, saunas, steam rooms, weight rooms, and my favorite: group exercise classes on land and in the pool! I can't wait to get out the old lycra pants and exercise clothes . . . :)

Friends

I think I had a great weekend. Nothing fancy, just nice and relaxing!

On Friday, we had a few people over for dinner (MOO BURGERS) and games. There was an intense Dance Dance Revolution challenge going on and even though there was not really one dominant champion, we all felt like winners. Old age, however, caused us to stop and play something a little less active. We ended up pulling out Imagineiff. . . This game is hilarious and works really well for large groups. Basically, you entertain questions like, "Imagine if Rebecca was a candy. Which would she be? 1) M&M 2) chocolate liqueur 3) jelly bean. (There were actually 6 different options but I can't remember all of them.) In this round, I was affectionately voted a jelly bean. I am still having a little trouble with that one. :) Even though I definitely came in last place, I really had fun and stayed up way past my bedtime which was nice for a change. I am excited that we are finally making friends. . .

Saturday was so relaxing. Brandon left to play football at seven-thirty and I don't remember this, but he said I put on a big pout when he kissed me good-bye. After he returned from football, we decided it was a good day for Cracker Barrel. I have a weird relationship with Cracker Barrel. I always think it is going to be really good, but I am often disappointed. Brandon says it is because I am picky. I tend to disagree.

After lunch, we headed to the furniture stores once again, this time to Weekends Only, a furniture store that is only open Friday through Sunday. The prices were much more reasonable there than in West County and we even found one that we like all right! Hopefully, it will be moved to our bedroom on Friday. (We have to borrow a truck). I even spent a good part of the afternoon yesterday cleaning for its arrival. I can't wait to put all my clothes away!

Saturday night, Brandon made dinner, (yay!) and we opened Christmas presents from my mom. (We are all just a little behind the times :)).

I have been trying to read Crime and Punishment, one in a long line of books that Brandon has recommended because I "should read more than just fluff." I will let you know how it goes, but no promises. The first chapter was not so bad, however, that is only one chapter out of a billion and the print is about the size of a pin head.

Last night we had a meeting about Kid's Quest (the program where I am going to be children's choir director) and I am pretty psyched. The two pastors' wives (Sara and Laurabeth) are going to teach and I will be the music lady. I am also glad to get to know Sara and Laurabeth because they are experienced pastors' wives and older and wiser than me. Kid's Quest starts next week, yikes!

In other news, despite my shady diagnosis, I am starting to feel better. I have one more day left of my prescription and hopefully it will give it one final kick and it will be out of my body!

Excuse me, but do you REALLY have a medical degree?

I have been coughing for three months. For three months, I tried every thing from cough medicine to cough drops to allergy medicine to Theraflu to Vicks VapoRub and still my cough persisted. My husband bugged me daily during these dreadful three months to make a doctor's appointment and go forth and be healthy. I daily "forgot" to make one and went on coughing. It has been kind of embarrassing, hacking and wheezing away taking short little walks, but nevertheless, I remained without a doctor's visit.

This past week, my symptoms intensified and it began to hurt when I breathe. Yesterday, I got to that point where I couldn't take it anymore and I made an appointment to go to the doctor.

Aside: When I started working here, I was new to the area and did not know which doctor to choose as my Primary Care Provider for my new insurance, so I flipped through the book and randomly chose one. I know, not a smart idea, right?

So, today I went into the appointment, not knowing what to expect, but hoping against hope that I could just get looked at and they would cure me. I arrived early for my appointment, optimistic that they would take me earlier. They did not take me back for the appointment until an hour after the time it was scheduled for. The nurse that took my weight and blood pressure did not take my temperature even though I was a sick patient. After another fifteen minutes of waiting, the doctor arrived.

I am young and I do not like when people look down on your youth, so let that be known when I say that she was a very young doctor. This raised a tiny red flag, but not a big one. She listened to me list my symptoms and asked how long they had been going on. I told her and she looked at my eyes, ears, nose, and throat. Then she listened to me breathe. She tried to explain sinus infections to me, but was yawning in the middle and stumbled over her words. Then she tried to tell me that my problem was allergies and it will go away.

Now, this is why I do not like to go to the doctor. This happens too often to me and I end up feeling like I have wasted my time and shouldn't bother to ever go again.

She took a second look at her chart and "remembered" that I had been sick for three months and said, "Maybe it is possible that you have some sort of infection." Anyway, she gave me a prescription for an anti-biotic just in case I want to take it. I will be starting it immediately because I am under the distinct impression that I do not just have allergies.

I think this must sound a little negative, but I guess I feel like if I am paying someone to give me medical care, they should give quality medical care. I will not be returning to that office. Fortunately, Brandon's cousins live here and we are just joining a church and between all the people we know, I am sure we can find a good doctor recommendation.

In other news, Brandon called me on Tuesday, very excited because he won tickets to see a basketball movie preview tonight. He was so psyched because he listens to AM Sports Radio and he was on the radio. "Everyone in the Saint Louis listening area heard me!" he told me. And I get to go home to him, Ladies and Gentleman. I told him I would gladly accompany him to a two hour basketball movie event if popcorn was included in the deal. So that is on my agenda for tonight. :) Ah, the lives of married seminary couples. . .

Shall I compare thee to a bedroom dresser?

Brandon and I have been saving up our Christmas money for another dresser for our bedroom. We have been trying to share one, but it is not working: we have too many clothes between the two of us for one dresser and the closet space in our old house is almost non-existent. Anyway, I heard about a ONE DAY ONLY sale at a furniture store from nine to nine yesterday guaranteed to deliver us the lowest prices of the century, so after dinner last night at about seven-thirty, we left for the furniture store.

The closest store was in West County and since I live here and you don't, let me explain something about West County. West County is a sort of artificial part of the city where the most wealthy St. Louisans live. The homes there, some of them, were built for the World's Fair almost a century ago and are complete with ballrooms on the third floor. We run around in that area often given that the seminary and our church are located there, but it definitely a far cry from the part of the city where we call home. The one important thing to remember is that chain stores and restaurants can charge almost double what they charge in the rest of St. Louis and get away with it. We forgot this until we got out of the car and trudged into the store. There were about ten salesmen ready to pounce no matter what route we took trying to avoid them and in unison they cried, "May we help you?" desperate for a sale. We meekly replied that we were shopping for a dresser and they pointed us to the back wall where there was display after display of beautiful bedroom sets. Seeing that they were all pretty well out of our price range, we scooted out of the store within five minutes of arriving. Just before we reached the door, the breathless salesmen caught up with us and asked, "Were you able to find anything?" Brandon shook his head and said, "Not this time." (That wasn't exactly true - we found plenty, we just could not see spending a billion dollars on one dresser.) We finally managed to escape the store.

Later on, over smoothies from Smoothie King, we decided that we would carefully watch the outlet version of that store that is about five minutes from our house. The prices we had seen there were a lot closer to the truth and they were bound to get in one of the dressers we liked eventually. The trip wasn't a total waste - I always end up discovering new parts of the city that I never realized existed. And upon my first time seeing these areas, they are not so friendly since I am usually lost and tired when I happen upon them. But a second viewing is always kinder and more appealing and makes me want to drive back out that way another time.

Also, I wasn't driving and I got to stare out the window at all the Christmas lights still up and shining. I always feel a little sad when the Christmas lights come down because then the reality of winter actually hits. Cold weather (which we haven't had a lot of recently because apparently I live in the South now), dead looking trees, and gray skies. Snow makes for a pretty winter, but I'm not sure how much of that we are going to get.

I am once again writing at work and hopefully this day will prove busier than yesterday. I was so bored! Our normal call volume is at least twice what it was yesterday. Goodness.

I think I am the new children's choir director for our church. I have taken the last couple weeks to think about it and I have pretty much decided I am going to do it. I am pretty psyched. I will be able to stop by church on the way home from work and practice the piano music (I miss piano so much!) and I will get a chance to be teaching again. I really didn't think that I would mind not teaching this year, but I do. I miss the kids from Tall Oaks and I even miss recess duty. Maybe I'll teach again someday. . .

A new year

Happy New Year! As I say every year, I can't believe another year is over. Time goes so quickly when you are old.

This year was the first I was away from my family for the holidays, but in a way, our Christmas was really special just the two of us. We had our really short Christmas tree and our Christmas duckling and a couple pies. We didn't even end up eating until ten o'clock in the evening, but we pulled out all the stops with our "fine" linens and tablerunner and napkin holders. I even suggested that we shall our one place setting of fine china, but we just stuck with the everyday flatware.

Brandon and I rang in the new year with a couple of friends from seminary and church and had a blast playing "Apples to Apples" and "Dance Dance Revolution." We have so much food left over! There is no room left in our refrigerator!

Today, unlike the rest of the free world, I am working. Our company decided to give us the new year holiday on July 3rd. Go figure. I am halfway through the day and the phone has rang (rung?) four times total. So I have been busy doing the Catholic word search and Bible quiz from this month's Liguorian. Apparenly, I am only a novice at the Bible Trivia because I always forget names, places, and numbers. Oh, well.

Brandon's first semester at seminary is finally over - only 7 more to go! Friends of ours are going to be doing college ministry in England next year and Brandon might do some of his ministry hours over there with them because he is also interested in that type of ministry.

My niece is in love with Brandon. She practiced all day so she could call him and tell him, "Hoppy New Year!" Anytime she calls and I answer the phone, she says, "Hi Baca! Where's Brandon?" Here is her Christmas picture: (she thought the cookies were real and cried when they wouldn't let her have them)