Another cake in the bank.

So with a little tweaking, mom turned her carrot cake into a low sugar cake and took it to the showerlette for testing. It was approved by all. The carrot cake will be one of the two low sugar cakes that will be part of the tower-o-cakes. So that gets all of the experimental bits out of the way. No more testing. Now we have a collection of proven recipes to work with. So all that is left now is to make them and freeze them.
And then we eat them.

My friends are slackers.

So the day started off with me trying to wrangle up the cats before heading out to the car (and driver) waiting for me by the curb. Needless to say they had to wait longer than they wanted to. Then on the way out to the street my large gunny sack that I had stuffed with all my gun stuff that wasn't specifically a gun (ammo, cleaning gear, more ammo, ear muffs, even more ammo) started ripping apart as I was walking. Thankfully it was just the strap, but it did make carrying it a bit more of a trick. I made it to the street and with help from Brian, to the car. To Johns we go!
After a brief bit of glad handing and bull $#!?ing, we started making the calls to everyone that wasn't there. After 15 min of this it became clear that nobody else was coming. Dan & Azim had rock solid legitimate excuses for not being there. Everyone else I'm going to give a hard time for years to come. Thomas and his bro Richard were meeting us at the range, so off we went.
To the shooting range!
Trap shooting is great way to start any party. I don't care that I missed almost every damned clay pigeon that flew across the sky. I had fun. We all did. All five of us shot the hell out of our shotguns. John managed to bruise up his shoulder by letting the butt of the gun slip away from his shoulder just before pulling the trigger. This causes the gun to punch you square in the shoulder real hard. It hurts a lot. I laughed at him for this. He would've done the same for me. That's what good friends do. And John is the best kind of friend. He takes a joke almost as well as he takes a shotgun to the shoulder.
Prado shooting range is great for skeet and trap shooting. They have a good pistol range as well, witch was good since Thomas, Richard, & my self brought a few hand guns to play with. Sadly though Prado is not set up for riffle shooting, so almost every long arm we had had to spend the day in the trunk of the cars. : (
So after filling our noses and lungs with the scent of burnt nitrogen and hot brass we packed up our toys and headed to the next stop.
To Dave & Buster's!
This place is great. I love the bartender we had. She is one of the few drink slingers that didn't turn me down when I asked for the spill matt shot. She cringed at the notion, but went around the whole bar and poured all the spill matts into a Collins glass for me. I love asking for this drink. I love it even more when someone will actually pour it for me. Believe it or not, its usually a tasty drink. Most of the time its more mixer than booze. This time it tasted like a lot of sweet&sour and a little bit of rum. Not bad for a free drink.
After much play time in the arcade it was decided that it was time to start winding down. So Thomas&Richard headed home while Brian, John, and my self headed back towards HB to have a bit of dessert before dropping off Brian before he passed out. Then it was just me, my self, and my best friend. So we headed out to Stubrik's in Fullerton to shoot some pool. This brings us to the afore mentioned hitch of 2am close down. We didn't even get to finish our first game when the place started closing down.
To Denney's!
Like all good parties it ended at Denny's. I tell ya, there is no better place to people watch than a Denny's near 3 bars at 2am. Oh my gosh drunk people are fun to watch. So that's what John and I did till about 4:30am.
All said and done, it was a good day. I had fun with my friends. I did get to pull off 1 of 2 bachelor party traditions I have. The first is the spill matt shot. Did that. The second is a bit more risky. I've been known to streak an In&Out once or twice. Alas this did not happen last night.
I know, I'm disappointed in me too.
So the bachelor party went off without a hitch.
Well, that is unless you count all the people that were invited that didn't show up. Then you could say that there were a few hitches. But aside from that it went well.
Well, unless you count the shooting range not allowing the use of almost all the rifles that we brought.You could sat that all the ammo we bought for them was a waste. That might count as a hitch. But aside from that it went well.
Well, there was also that pesky 2am closing of all the bars that kept my best man & I from spending any great amount of time in the bar. Or the pool table that we were playing on for that matter.
So that was my big party. It was good. Had some laughs. Had some good beer. And got to hang with some good friends. What more could I ask for?

The Sword Comes Together!!!

So we now have, though not in our possession at this time, our wedding sword.
Yay!
There were lots of renditions and revisions and total backtracking, but it is finally done. Went to a great blade smith in Norwalk Ca. by the name of Bill Stroman. He is good at what he does, and a real nice guy.
So I ended up deciding to give him a Irish style sword, as Nessa is my lil Pict. Then gave him the designs I wanted engraved onto the pommel and guard, and had him blue it to boot. I'd give you all a pic, but as of yet there are none to post.
But even though the type of work to be done on it was simple enough, compared to casting solid bronze pommel and guard, there were hidden troubles that neither he or I had expected. When he took the sword apart, it seems that the blade was epoxied into the handle and it actually broke at the tang. But again, Bill is good at what he does and a good guy, so he welded it all back together and gave it a proper polish. No extra charge. I like him.
So the ceremony will go off on a sword, without a hitch.
Or so I'm lead to believe.

How I popped the question Pt 2

So where was I? Oh yeah, I remember now.


Saturday morning. It started out like any other day. Coffee, boys talking to us, and me trying to get the engagement necklace & ring in the cargo pocket of my pants unnoticed. So that last part isn't so typical, but I did manage to pull it off. So far, so good.

Now to J&Bs pad.

There was more coffee waiting for us when we got there, and a bottle of champagne sitting out amongst the various bottles of wine that tend litter their dinning room area, from time to time. It blended in well, and I wouldn't have noticed it if Brian hadn't told me about it. But moving on.

Coffee and aebleskivers, made by yours truly, was the morning meal. Im not sure, but I think I might've started Irishing up my java a bit early that day. I honestly don't recall, but I know I was thinking it at some point. Now we are on stage, waiting for the rest of the players.

J&K are the first to arrive, coming in shortly after the food is gone and the second pot of coffee was put on to brew. Now comes the first tricky part, engage John and Brian in a long winded discussions about D&D stuff, food stuff, and almost anything we can think of that will not bring up the idea of actually brewing, as brewing wasn't the real reason for us all being there. Thankfully my cohorts are quite clever on their own and this was no problem. There was drinking involved at this point, which helped. I think the fact that plans have been known to get put aside for my drinking and eating and talking did help the overall credibility of the moment.

So we're all talking and drinking, and Bodi is chuffing at everyone with a vengeance. Now comes the time to call Mom and tell her the time is nigh.

In no time at all, mom and company (Rachel, Doug, and Francie) show up. Oh by the way, did I mention that Karen has managed to avoid eye contact with Nessa all day? Cause she did. It was the only way that she could keep from spilling into tears.

Remember, Ren is not our normal go to gal for keeping secrets.

So after some more hand grabbing, hugging, and petting of dogs we all manage (with only a few sly nods) to get into the dining room with Nessa sitting in what would be center stage. Dogs come in handy by the way.

I love dogs. They are a great excuse to get down onto the floor unnoticed. You see, normally when a guy tries to do what I did, the dropping to the ground is usually out of character and automatically suspect. But when there are dogs around, it’s not even note worthy.

So like I said, here we are in the dining area, Nessa sitting on a high chair (all the dining room chairs are high) and me crouched on the floor in front of her playing with the red dog, palming the engagement gift, and waiting for the perfect moment. Not that I knew what it would be, but I knew it was coming soon. And there was everyone else standing around (where did those cameras come from) looking at us and getting quiet.

I think that's when Nessa's danger sense kicked in, causing her to ask the best thing she could've asked.

"Why is everyone looking at me?"

That is what she said, cause they were.

Like I said, I knew the perfect moment was coming up. So that is when (while still kneeling on the ground) I looked up at her and said, "Because I'm about to ask you to marry me."

Now exactly what happened next I'm a bit fuzzy on the order of events. I know I stood up and let the necklace drop from my palm, letting the ring on it dangle. I told her that the ring was there as the historical symbol of engagement, and that the necklace was a symbol of the actual necklace that would become hers (once I made it). I did actually say the words, "Vanessa, will you marry me?" while I was holding the necklace & ring before her.

In response I got a great big kiss (I like those). Now while we were kissing my mom chimed in with, "I think that's a Yes." And while still kissing me, Nessa shook her head and... grunted? mummed? hummed? Whatever the name of the noise she made, it came out as kind of a two syllable negative.

Shortly after that, we stopped with the kissing (for the moment) and then she said yes. I then proceeded to place the necklace around her neck, a bit tightly if I recall, and then there was merriment all around.

Now that big bottle of champagne came into full view and now finally Ren could look Nessa in the eye.

So without going into the revelry that followed, that people is roughly how it all happened. Give or take a few small details.

How I popped the question, Prt 1

Ok, so now its time to do a little boasting about how it all began.
The wedding thing, not the dating thing, that’s a story for later times. You see, thru no small amount of craftiness on my part, I managed to arrange for almost everyone we know to all be at the same place at the same time. And all unbeknownst to Nessa. This might seem like a small thing to most of you out there, but pulling one over on Nessa is harder than you'd think. She's good at reading people and can sniff out an line of BS from twenty paces. Hell, I don't even let her pick up her Christmass gifts untill its time for her to open them. She's that good. This was going to require finesse. Sadly I don't have much of that, so I went with deviousness. I have that to spare.
See it went like this...

First thing I did was to tell (not in any particular order) Mom, Jen & Brian, my Sister, John & Karren, and my Dad that I was planning to ask Nessa the BIG question. There were others I told as well, but they're not part of this story.
This was step one of a grand plan. A plan that hadn't been fully thought of yet, but grand none the less.

Second thing to do was decide on the When & Where. Jen & Brian's place seemed like the obvious choice for the "where", so I asked them. They said yes. That part was easy at least.

So then it was a matter of when. This was a trickier problem. First I had to figure out how to get everyone (save for Sister and Dad who just live too far away to be there) at J&B's, each with a reasonably believable story for being there. This took some thinking. Thankfully my best friend John is all shades of smart and into all shades of things, including (on the small scale) brewing beer. This is something that J&B are into (on not so small a scale) as well as my self. So Brian and I decided that that Saturday was going to be a BREWING day, wink wink. And since John was interested in brewing, we invited him and Ren to come down and help make a batch. Passed word along to John, and boom. Got four of the players lined up for the grand event. That was easy enough.

Now how to get mom down there. At the same time. Without seeming suspicious.
This took some thinking.
Not a lot mind you, as the Fates were kind to me. See while all this brew day planning was going on, my sister's friends Rachel & Dougie from across the pond were over here visiting with my mom and doing the tourist thing. Well as it turns out there aren't any wolves (or dogs that look like wolves) in England. Or not enough to speak of at any rate. So mom had the idea to use J&B's dogs (3 large wolf look alikes) as a stop on the site seeing map. J&B were cool with this. I was cool with this. Hell, this might just work.

Things were looking good. The stage was set, even if the script wasn't. Everyone knew their rolls.
Now all I had to do was set the hook, so to speak.

Thrifting!!! Who Knew?

Ok, so we've spent almost every Sat or Sun (and once or twice it was both) of almost every week hitting the thrift stores trying to stock up. This has proven to have two significant results. First and foremost is our building pile (or is it now piles, and stacks, and mounds) of wedding stuff. Mostly plates and fabric. I'm sure you've heard about this by now. So this is not that surprising to any of us. It's what we set out to do. But the second and possibly scariest thing to come of our outings is this...
I found, I kinda like thrifting.

I know, weird huh?

This is odd to me because, for the most part, I don't like going to garage sales or swap meets. One would think that if I didn't like one side of a coin, I'd not like the other side of the same coin. One would be wrong.

Not too sure why one is so much better than the other, but I do know what it is that I like about it.

It’s the stuff!

People throw away (or donate) some real cool stuff, I tell ya. Now before I go too much farther, let me say this. I'm not as fond of hunting for wedding stuff as I am of just looking at stuff. Yes, I try to keep my eye open for plates and cups and all that, but there is just so much cool stuff to be looked at. We've found groovy antiques, vintage clothes, and some sweet furniture. Sadly, money being as tight as it is, most of the groovy stuff we've found had to be left behind for others to find it. That is the only thing that is not fun about finding cool stuff, is not being able to go home with said stuff. Though, I guess that's a good thing, seeing how we do only have so much room in the apt. And most of it is being used to store wedding stuff.

Our Familly Sword

So for those of you who haven't heard about this part yet, one of the things that we're going to do at the wedding is make our vows on our family sword. That's very vinkingish. The only problem with this fun idea, neither of us has a sword worthy of such an honor. There are two ways to go when facing a problem like this. One is to buy a better sword than the one you already have (or just get a sword for the first time) and be happy with the idea that thousands of other people have carbon copies of your wedding sword. That's not how Nessa and I roll.


So we started looking at option two, witch is to have one made for us. A unique piece that no one else can claim they have. Believe it or not, that rout is very expensive. No joke, one of the sword makers I spoke to said that he has a 2yr wait list and his swords average out around two thousand bucks. Nice guy, good at what he does, just out of our range. I knew this going in mind you, but it was still a bit deflating when I started talking to sword makers. I was hoping to find a new maker who was still trying to get his name out there in the market. Sadly though, there are more knife makers like that than there are sword makers. By the time a guy starts making swords he already has a reputation. And reputations come with waiting lists and price tags.

So I've taken to the idea of blending the two paths into a third and just as fun, new option.

Customize the crap out of a production model!

The over all goal will be the same, a unique sword that we can say is OURS. But with the added bonus of being less than 2 Gs.

I'll keep you all up to speed as this Frankenstein labor of love starts to come together.

And then there was cake!!!

So as part of my job of handling the cake is making and eating cake. Tough job. We've decided what the top layer of cake will be and the shape it will be. That part was easy. We're using my spice cake recipe, since it's Nessa's fave. But since my mom is going to be the one actually making the cake I made the hike over to her pad (literaly I walked there) and gave her my recipe. Then for the fun and flavor of it all I took over part of her kitchen  and then we made a test run cake.

This was done for two reasons. First, so that when it come time for mom to make THE CAKE it will not be an entirely new recipe for her. And second, so we can eat it. Duh!

And since mom is a fantastic cook and baker in her own right, there was realy nothing to do in the demo/teaching department. About the only thing that was a point of interest was to find out how thick the batter is at the end. Aside from that, there was no real purpose other than we wanted to eat some cake.

Speaking of eating cake, we did, and it tasted good. Even grandma likes it. And Gran is a little picky these days as to what she likes. So I guess the top layer of the cake is Gran tested and Nessa approved. Off to a good start in my book. Now onto the next 17 layers!

Or was that 7?

Or maybe just 4?

Well, on to the NEXT layer! How's that? Yeah, that works.

Who knew...

Who knew that Bridal Shows could be fun? I'm not saying it was a blast and a half, but it was kinda fun. Between all the free food, the (few) fun people manning the booths, and the loads and loads of great ideas just sitting out in the open to be emmulated by the DIY crowd (namely Nessa) it was great. Did I mention the free food? There were booths that belonged to people who didn't even handle catering and they had cake out for grabs. Was almost confusing. One of the best things I ate was given out by a booth for vacation packages or something like that. No catering, but good food.
Go figure.
Speaking of cake, it has fallen onto me to be in charge of the whole cake thing. I say "fallen onto me" but realy I snatched it up from the get-go. I'll admit I'm kinda passive on a lot of the planning and designing stuff, but I wanted to have a hand (or just a few fingers) in the food department. One of the things I love about Nessa is that she is letting me run with this cake thing. And the pig thing too, she is suportive of that as well. If you didn't know, we're planning on having pig at the reception. I've always wanted to do a pit roasted pig, and now I get to do it.
I love her.
But like I was saying, the cake is the fun project of the moment. I think I've narrowed down how I want it to look. There was some tweaking of my original thoughts after seeing some stuff at the show, I won't lie. But the visual concept is solid. Now all I have to do is decide on the flavors, colors, and number of layers. I'm thinking 4 layers plus the topper. I guess I could go with 5 layers plus the topper, but I'm not that mean to the baker. Or am I?
Well that's one Bridal Show down and who knows how many more to go. But I'm glad to say that it was fun enough to make me look forward to the next one (whenever it is). I mean, you can never have too much free cake.

I almost can't...

It's hard to believe (at least for me and my oldest friends) that I found some one that I want to be married to. That's not the same as just spending the rest of our lives together. Whole different (and yet not) thing all together. Seeing how I'm not overly religious (pagan or otherwise) and I'm not from a family of wealth that needs to be tied to other families of great wealth to maintain our overall wealthiness, I've just always kinda felt the whole wedding/marriage thing was over rated.

But despite the odds, I found my self thinking "Why not?"
And then shortly after that "What could go wrong?" popped into my head.
And then "Well? What could go wrong that hasn't already?"
And then I had a whole conversation with my self over that one. Took a few hours if I remember correctly.
That's when it hit me. There was only one thing left that could go wrong.
She could say "NO".
So I mustered up my courage, called up our closest peeps, and dared her to say no. Well not really, but it sounds cool.
I still feel that marriage isn't for everyone, but I can say with a fair bit of certainty that it just might be for us. We'll see. After all, what else could go wrong?

EJ