This and that...

We dropped off Gidget at my dad's house so my sister could dog-sit. She just got a puppy of her own. A miniature pinscher. Now, I know those are small dogs (because another sister has one), but I was not prepared for the teeny tiny-ness of it. Gidget, who isn't exactly ginormous herself, could have eaten that dog for lunch. The new pup's name? Cinnamon. To go with the sister dog, Nutmeg. I just call them the spice girls. Cinnamon is, of course, baby spice.

I also asked my sister to be my maid of honor. Now, we didn't and still don't plan on any kind of ceremony at the wedding. Originally, the idea was for SM and I to stand up, say what we needed to say and then have dinner. But I kinda like acknowledging my sister (she's my half-sister and 16 years younger than I am; I grew up with brothers only). So I asked her. I also told her that I didn't think it would involve any responsibilities or duties, that it was mainly an honorary title. I like the idea of having her as my maid of honor, regardless of what that does or does not entail. I want to honor my sister, as doofy as that sounds. Heck, it's an excuse for her to get a new dress, at the very least.

The house feels bizarrely still without the Gidge around. We already miss her. But that also allows us to accomplish stuff in peace, without her clamoring for attention or climbing on our laps. That's a nice stillness.

We leave for the airport in a few hours to fly to NH. I'm starting to look forward to it. I'm not sure why. One thing we're going to do is drive through SM's old neighborhood, so I can learn more about where he grew up. I am a bit excited to learn more about his world. It should be fun. If it doesn't snow. SM's dad said there's so much snow on the ground that if it snows any more, they "won't have any place to put it."

SM and I also exchanged presents this morning because we won't be together on Christmas -- and because I didn't want to wait until he got back and we had a leisurely morning to do it (i.e., next weekend). He got me four fantastic presents -- all of which I wanted very much and was very excited about. I got him a bunch of "stuff", most of which revolved around the Red Sox winning the World Series this year. And some clothes. He seemed to like them. Truth is, he got several of his Christmas presents months ago. I mean, I couldn't NOT give him the Red Sox tie when they won the division and then the World Series, right? He NEEDED that to wear to work. So he got it, back in October. As well as a fleece-lined denim jacket (that would be too light to wear in the winter but he could use in the fall). And another jacket. I just can't seem to wait. Ooops. So, we had a nice little pre-Christmas.

A few more little chores and final check-off on the packing to make sure we collected all of the presents for SM's family -- and then we're off. I'll probably be back on the blog on Christmas, if I have anything to write. SM won't be back yet, so I will have some down-time with Gidget.

Meanwhile... Happy Holiday Season, everyone!!!