There’s no place like…. Omaha????

[….and the Corascope Chronicles continue….]

Well, poo.

Sunday morning I awoke happy and blissful and calm…. until I remembered it was Sunday morning, then I just kinda felt sucker-punched by Father Time. I was scheduled to leave Scope and fly back to Seattle at 7:30 pm, so—tick-tick-tick—I could definitely feel the minutes slipping by. And painfully so.

Blah.

But did I cry? No. Did I mope? Nope. Did I waste our last day together pouting, grumbling, whining, and throwing ridiculous temper tantrums like a spoiled Kindergartener? Well, maybe just a little. But so?

Scope and I, being quite the busy little bees this weekend, did not slack on Sunday either. No way! We took about a mile-long walk around the park; we stopped in a store or two to browse wedding decorations and whatnot; we had a yummy lunch at Paddy O’Splaine’s (corned beef and cabbage for Scope, and a grilled chicken sandwich for me); and (….drum roll please….) we decided on the wording of our wedding invitations, which I plan to order this weekend.

*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!*

Then we went back home so I could pack my bags, and then far too soon it was time to head for the airport.

We stopped along the way to try to postpone the inevitable by wandering in the The Container Store (which is awesome, by the way!) and then suddenly there we were back at Midway saying goodbye.

*sniffle*

My God, I hate that. But, please, these torturous goodbyes are numbered now. And the number is getting pretty small. Do you realize I’ve only got ONE more trip to Chicago before the wedding???? One. Isn’t that crazy? I know! And Scope has only got three more trips to Seattle, folks, and then *BANG* we’ll be married and all this flying back and forth will be over. Criminy!

I took a picture of us in Scope’s car….


….and then, most glumly, we walked into the airport and went our separate ways (for now.)

And that, my friends, brings my story to an end. I WISH!!!!

For some reason there was some serious confusion about which gate my plane would be departing from in Midway. They kept making us switch from gate to gate to gate. And, even more annoying, while they had us playing musical gates, a big ol’ snow storm hit the airport and all the planes had to be deiced. That 7:30 pm flight of mine didn’t take off until 9:00.

Ouch.

About 20 minutes into the flight, just as our plane leveled off in the air and I started doing the math in my head, realizing I likely wouldn’t land at Sea Tac until gone midnight (and my mom and daughter would be waiting there to pick me up – ON A SCHOOL NIGHT. Eeep!), I suddenly noticed the flight attendants scurrying back and forth down the aisle looking alarmingly tense. Uh-oh. I’m not a big fan of tense-looking flight attendants. Frankly, they make me quite nervous. One of them made a frantic announcement asking if there was a doctor or nurse on board.

There wasn’t.

And before the Captain even broke the bad news, I could feel the plane making its descent. Crap. The bad news? Someone at the back of the plane needed immediate medical care and we would be making an emergency landing in Omaha, Nebraska. My odds of getting home by Midnight went spinning and splashing right down the airplane toilet. Sploooosh!

As soon as we landed, this is what I saw….


….a sea of emergency vehicles was racing toward our plane. Paramedics were soon onboard and they removed a barely-conscious woman off the plane. I have no idea what was wrong with her, but she did not look good, and she had no-one travelling with her, which kinda freaked me out somewhat. I mean, surely someone was waiting for her in Seattle, y’know? Can you imagine getting that call from Omaha?…. Yeesh.

After the ill woman was removed, someone in a hazmat suit came in to clean up the lady’s seat. Ewwwwwwww. I don’t even wanna know in what way she’d managed to soil the seat *plugging my ears and singing la-la-la-la-la,* I’m just exceptionally glad I was sitting in ignorant bliss in the front of the plane! Holy cow!

Because we’d landed with a full tank of gas it was deemed an “overweight landing” and our plane had to be inspected and reports had to be filed. It was one lonnnnnggggggggg night just sitting and waiting and waiting and sitting on that stupid plane, staring out at the dark airport in Omaha. But at least it gave me the opportunity to call my mom and tell her NOT to meet me at the airport.

I didn’t get to Sea Tac until about 1:30 am. Then I hailed a cab and got home at about 2:00, and I, oddly, couldn’t get to sleep. Which was an ugly shame since I had to start work at 6:45 am.

*mammoth wimpering yawn*

© Love Letters By Cora

Because having clean balls is important, people.

[….and the Corascope Chronicals continue….]

Saturday morning Scope and I bolted out of bed bright and early and ran for the couch—hmm?….nah, it wasn’t the cartoons which reeled us in, silly! It was a Minister. We cuddled up under a blanket, propped up the speakerphone, and had a talk with the friend who will be the minister at our wedding. We made decisions and plans and things. We toyed with what will and won’t be said and done, where and when at the ceremony. We talked about vows, people!! Vows.

And, holy underpants, Batman! Talk about making it all feel REAL!

But the wedding hullabaloo didn’t end there. Nope. We opened a lovely surprise engagement gift sent to us by one of Scope’s friends. (awww)….


Inside the box was an adorable collection of Christmas ornaments which are said to bring good luck to a bride and groom. This one is my favorite….


Yeah, a heart. The symbol of love. *le sigh* Which looks like “butt cheeks,” according to my giggling kid.

Anyway....

Then Scope and I had our first dance by his dining table. Awwwwww, I know. Have I ever mentioned the odd itty bitty fact that I've never danced with a man before (except when I was a little girl and I used to stand on my Dad's toes as he spun me around the room to Beatles songs)? No? Oh. Well - I had never danced with a man before. There. I said it. I skipped most of the dances in school in favor of reading good books and painting quirky paintings. And, no, I never danced with my former-husband either because ooey gooey things like that just were never his style.

His loss.

Dancing with Scope was lovely. Absolutely lovely. I can't stop smiling every time I think of it. And, get this, next time Scope said he's going to dip me!

Ooh-la-la.

Soon we were feeling all brawny, buff and pumped up enough to tackle a few errands outside the house, like returning a shirt (and ogling the tuxedos) at The Men’s Wearhouse and browsing for possible future furniture at Arhaus, which had this Spoon and Fork Chandelier….



….that I instantly fell in love with and which made me laugh out loud because, as anyone who knew me back in college when I studied photography will gleefully tell you, I had a thing for fork art back then. But—uhhhhhh—with a $600 price tag on that chandelier pictured up there, my love evaporated. Quickly.

After Arhaus, we went to another store I'm reluctant to name yet, where they armed us with a scanning gun and let us loose on the hunt to kick-start our wedding registry. We stalked the aisles stealthily, preying on new pots and pans and bed sheets and a juicer, etc. And what with the bridal registry, ring shopping, and powwow with our Minister completed, we were feeling quite industrious indeed - *patting ourselves on the back* – but exhausted too. Sooo….

Off we went to the Goose Island Brewpub where we noshed on nachos and then we headed home. But wait--on the way we pulled over briefly to fulfill our duty as good bloggers by taking pictures of this hilarious sign just for YOU….


Hmm…. Now I just wanna know if their racks are firm or not. *wink*

[….to be continued….]

© Love Letters By Cora

There's no place like home.

At 5 am last Friday *prolonged dramatic yawn* I sleepily stumbled my way into SeaTac Airport to curl into a ball in an uncomfortable chair down at ye olde familiar Gate B-10 and await my flight to Chicago to see my sweet fiancé, Scope.

But wait a minute, wait a minute. Let’s back up for just a second: have I mentioned I’ve been sTrEsSeD oUt lately? It’s true. I won’t lie. The move + the wedding preparations + problems with someone I'm no longer allowed to mention here + guilt at leaving my daughter at He Who Must Not Be Named's house while she didn't want to be there + a million other things = panic. Plain and simple. Thus, it was a frazzled and very fragile Cora who curled up on that uncomfortable black faux leather chair, clutching a pile of legal forms and wanting to suck her thumb Friday morning.

As much as I desperately wanted and needed to see Scope, there was still a small and worried part of me which felt woefully irresponsible for flying 2000 miles away when there’s so much that needs to be done back here. But….

My plane took off as the sun started to rise and I was treated to breathtaking views like this one of Mt. Rainier through the grimy airplane window….


….and suddenly about 30 minutes into my flight *POOF* all the stress just magically disappeared. Just. Like. That. I was glad I was on that plane!! I needed a break from it all!! And even as we neared Chicago and all I could see was this kinda sinister-looking snowy-white frozen checkerboard landscape below me….


….I still felt relaxed and giggly and like me again for the first time in weeks.

*happy deep sigh*

Then just as I stepped off that plane into Midway Airport, it happened. I felt like… I felt like I was home.

Yeah.

I didn’t feel like I was visiting Scope, I felt like I was coming home. That’s the first time I’ve felt that. And it was an amazing feeling!

Wow.

And soon there was Scope, towering over the rest of the crowd beyond security, grinning from ear-to-ear at me. Then I was racing up to him. And then I was definitely home.

:-)

Scope and I took my bags onto the “L” train and headed into the city where we had a delicious lunch at Miller’s Pub; we took a mini look inside the fine arts school my daughter will be attending once we move to Chicago; and we bought (….wait for it….) (….wait for it some more….) wedding rings.

That’s right. Wedding. Rings.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

And to top off the perfect day perfectly, Scope took me out for a scrumptious Valentine’s Day dinner at Bob Chinn’s Crab House. I had the tilapia with fried rice….


….and, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh myyyyyyyyyyyy gawwwwwwwwwd, it was sooooooooooooo gooooooooooooood. And so was the Chocolate Cake Sundae too. Mmmmmmmmmmm….

As for Scope, he had crabs. *ba-dum-bum-tish*….


And then after dinner we drove home together. And all was right with the world.

:-)

[….to be continued….]

© Love Letters By Cora

184-194/365

And now for an update on my attempt at Project 365!

Once again, I have waaaaayyyyyyy too many pictures to show you and not enough patience time for it all, so here are a few of my favorites just to catch you up to date….

Day 184 (January 18, 2010)

*le sigh* I made friends with my treadmill (something I need to do more of if I ever wanna fit back into my Summer clothes. *sniff*)….



Day 186 (Jan. 20)

Look how creeEEeeEEeepy my porch light looks in the dark. Eeeep!….



Day 187 (Jan. 21)

It’s Winter, you say? Really? Are you sure?….




My car was carjacked. Again….





Day 190 (Jan. 24)

Instead of a gingerbread house, this year I made a Tootsie Roll cabin for the holidays….



Day 193 (Jan. 27)

I’m back in business on eBay. This was about half the stuff I sold and had to haul to the post office this week….


I tried the “camera toss” experiment in my living room. Niiiiiiice….



Day 194 (Jan. 28)

More “camera toss” pictures. This time it was by the TV and the Valentine’s Day tree….











[….to be continued….]

© Love Letters By Cora

Gettin' Wordsy

Sunday afternoon, I ventured over to Blue C Sushi in Tukwila to meet up with ~E and Words Words Words.

Yes, it was Valentine’s Day. Good call. And, yes, I was meeting up with *gasp* another man. (Scope, even though you said you didn't mind it, I do sincerely and profusely apologize.) (Again.) (I love you deeply.) (*guilty squirm*) But as this was maybe my one and only chance of finally meeting the wickedly wonderful Words Words Words in person as he drove his way right through my city on his way up to Vancouver for the Olympics, I stuffed my screaming and flailing guilt into a big ol’ bag of rocks, flung it into the river, and decided to go for it.

Now, if you’ve been keeping score correctly you’ll know that ~E and I met once before back in July, but neither of us had had the pleasure of meeting Words Words Words yet. I arrived at the scene of the crime the restaurant first and after waiting patiently and most uber cooly for—ohhhhhhhhhhh—about three-and-a-half minutes, my hyper spazzy nature kicked in and I could keep my cool no longer. My cool, in fact, rocketed right out of my grip like a punctured balloon whizzing around a room: pththththththththth!! And I called Words to find out how close he was. Just ‘round the corner from me, it turned out, and within seconds there he was walking up to me with a big grin sprawled across his face, and I, of course, leapt up and hugged him.

Y’know, it’s funny. Really. It gets me every time. This is (I think????) the eighth time I’ve met a fellow blogger, and each and every time I’m stunned at just how much bloggers fit the images I have of them in my head.

Words was exactly as I’d always pictured him – funny, relaxed, easy to talk to, charming, prone to yawning. (*snicker*) (He swore the yawning had nothing to do with me – except that last one; the last one was my fault.) (Brat.)

We hung around talking outside until ~E arrived, jaw-droppingly gorgeous as always, then the three of us went in to get a table.


I’m not quite sure how long we were in there talking and noshing (I had the eel nigiri, which I soooooooooooooooo recommend) but soon it was time for Words to hit the road again and we said our goodbyes.

Oh! But wait! ~ First, I got Words to autograph a Chipmunks: The Squeakquel CD for my daughter.


Oh yes I did.

*Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!*

What?? Stop laughing!

According to Words, this was the very first autograph he’d ever given.

Ev. Er.

So, y’know, when he inevitably writes that Oscar-winning screenplay I just know he’s got in him, that CD might come in mighty handy. (Cha-ching.) See, don’t you wish you’d thought of that, hmm?!

;-)

And now please excuse me, I think I just heard my cool go whizzing by me again - pthththththththththththth!! – and I wanna try and catch it before it escapes me for good. ‘Bye!

© Love Letters By Cora

Seeing red

[….and the Corascope Chronicles continue….]

Saturday, Scope, Gwen (my daughter), and I cuddled up together again on my couch to finish watching the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy which we’d started the night before.

(ARRRRRGH!)

Apparently, I’d forgotten how much of “At World’s End” I had—well—forgotten. There are some good parts, true, but overall, it pales pitifully in confusing comparison to the sheer, giggle-inducing awesomeness that is “Curse of the Black Pearl” that I never really watch Pirates 3. Ahh well. It doesn’t stop me from thirsting for Pirates 4 in any respect though!

Bring. It. On. Johnny.

Anyway….

After Pirates I made lunch.

Yes, lun—HEY!!!! STOP THAT!!!!

DON’T GIVE ME THAT LOOK!!!!

AND NO GASPING IN HORROR EITHER!!!!

PUNK!!!!

I KNOW, ALRIGHT?! I, TOO, FULLY REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO POOR, POOR SCOPE THE LAST TIME I COOKED FOR HIM, OKAY?! THAT WAS A FLUKE! A FLUKE!! AND HE CLEARLY SURVIVED, SO LET IT GO, PEOPLE!! JEEZ!!

This time Scope did not opt to let me make him some scrambled eggs. Go figure. Instead he bravely ate a Boca Burger. And then he had seconds. And he liked it. Yes, really. And he did not go running for the bathroom in terrified, sweaty panic either.

So, see? I CAN TOO COOK.

Or microwave.

Whatever.

After our very yummy, delicious, nutritious, fresh, non-poisonous lunch we ventured off to All About Weddings to browse the wedding invitation samples.

Most of them were gaudy, I won’t lie.

*gag*

Most of them brought to mind frightening visions of frilly, pastel-clad, cheek-pinching Grannies - or, worse, tantrum-throwing, perfection-mining, uber snooty Bridezillas.

*eek*

But we did find one we really liked….


Yes. It’s red. Well spotted.

Now, I can’t say for sure this will end up being what our wedding invitations look like. Who knows? Maybe we’ll find something else we like even better. But right now this puppy is soooooooo the leader of the pack! :-)

For dinner, we met up with my mom and daughter at Olive Garden. I had the tilapia, which I absolutely recommend. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Then for dessert, the four of us went over to Cold Stone.







**For legal reasons, I had to delete a huge portion of this post, which is why some of the following comments now make no sense. Sorry about that.**


[....to be continued....]

© Love Letters By Cora

I bought a toothbrush, some toothpaste, a flannel for my face, pajamas, a hairbrush, new shoes and a case….

Late last Thursday night Scope hopped an airplane and flew 2000 miles alllllllllllllllll the waaaaaayyyyyy over to Seattle to spend the weekend with me and my daughter, Gwen.

*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!*

Actually, it was scheduled to be a weekend with just little ol' me. Gwen was supposed to be visiting her dad that weekend, but when she got word that Scope would be in town she asked me if I’d switch weekends with her dad so that she could be with me and Scope “just like a family” instead. And I did. You see, it turns out my lovely kid is quite fond of my lovely fiancé (whom she calls “FBD” for Future Bonus Dad.)

All together now, shall we? ~ AWWWWWWWWW.

:-)

Okay, now *ZIIIIIIIP* let's fast-forward to Friday morning, shall we?: someone innocently uttered the words “toothbrush” and “toothpaste,” which “Tempted” Scope and me to break out in song.

Most understandably.

Of course.

*snicker*

After my daughter was done savagely pelting us with OH-MY-GOD-WHAT-WAS-THAT?!?! looks, the three of us leapt in my car and went to the theater (because the kiddo had no school that day) where we saw Avatar in 3-D.

The movie? Very, VERY cool. And so were the glasses….


Well, kinda. ;-)

After the movie, we had a date with Cassi, our adorable wedding coordinator, to go over some details at the Fairwood Golf & Country Club where we’ll be tying the knot this July. In my opinion, the meeting went fabulously. For us, especially!!!! You see, it turns out we’re getting TWICE the room space we thought we were!

SCORE!!

What was already a stunningly-great deal has now revealed itself to be an uber-amazingly-jaw-droppingly-stunningly-great deal. OooOOooOOooh, baby.

Wanna take a little peek at our spectacular venue? Sure you do….








Beautiful, huh?

I know!

*happy, glowing sigh*

After running around our future wedding hall taking pictures and congratulating ourselves on our good fortune, we went back home and my daughter and I took Scope’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” virginity (nope, he’d never seen any Jack Sparrow antics on film before) by watching “Curse of the Black Pearl” AND “Dead Man’s Chest” back-to-back.

ARRRRRRGH!

(….to be continued tomorrow where you’ll find me spinning yarns about gorgeous ruby red wedding invitations, Cold Stone ice cream, and Jack Sparrow. Again. Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!….]

© Love Letters By Cora