My 2009 ended with on a wonderful note – HCFG and I are engaged!!! We are very excited and are looking forward to our future life together.

And a fa la la la la to you too!

Look for HCFG and I on the Great Lawn, we’ll be the ones having a really good time!

Hope to see you there!

“So Lisa B, what have you been doing during your rather ahem lengthy blog hiatus?”

“Thanks for asking oh-curious-unnamed-blogger! I suddenly looked up and months had gone by. How in the world did THAT happen???”

Anyway, here are a few of the highlights:

HCFG and I celebrated our one year anniversary. I truly can’t believe it, it’s almost hard for me to remember when he wasn’t a part of my life. And yes, we are still nauseatingly, blissfully, shmoopily happy.

We went to San Francisco on business and took an extra couple of days to celebrate. Lots of fun, but what’s with those darn hills everywhere?! Quite aerobic, anyway. We saw a couple of friends, including the lovely Kailyn. One of the highlights was a special anniversary supper at Boulevard. Quite chichi and absolutely delicious. We hung out all over the place including: Chinatown, North Beach, Union Square and San Jose. We were also complete tourists and went to Alcatraz. HCFG had been many years before with his son, but it was my first time. It’s quite something, all those old crumbling walls, along with the “to die for” view of San Francisco. The audio tour by the former inmates, guards, and families who used to live there was fascinating, and made it very easy to visualize what it was like back in the day. Next time we’re going to go on the presumably spooky as hell night tour!

We now have 8 bottles of SF’s most affordable finest wines sitting on my table. I had almost forgotten how much I like California wines! At the rate we drink we will still be enjoying them in time for next year’s trip.

We also went to Texas to celebrate our dear friend John’s birthday party. HCFG met the rest of my family, not to mention many of the Tea crowd. Of course everyone loved him and several of the older ladies whispered to me, “He’s so handsome!” I thought I was going to have to arm wrestle one of them cause she was definitely on the prowl. MEOW. One of the funnier moments was when I noticed all of my family was inside the house while all of John’s family was outside. I whispered to my Mom that it felt like “West Side Story.” MEOW IN STEREO. Hey, it’s me, remember? You know snarky remarks happen on my blog!

What else? Well, I got an iPhone. Which I love more than you should love any inanimate object. Best. Toy. Ever. All hail the mighty Apple!!!

Alrighty then.

I’m feeling creative again so you will probably be seeing a whole lot more of me ’round these parts. Hope to see you as well!

I saw her and Liam Neeson a few years ago on the Upper East Side. They just radiated glamour and class. Everyone was staring at them because it was simply impossible not to. And they were very gracious and friendly to everyone who approached.

And yesterday everyone gathered around them for a different reason. I counted no less than 12 news vans outside of Lenox Hill. The hospital is right next to the subway, and it was so bizarre watching people go about their life while the press was somewhat ghoulishly waiting. I know it’s the media’s job, but the family inside were going through agony beyond imagination. I’m sure all the press waiting and watching was the last thing they needed.

I cannot fathom what it is like to lose your soulmate.

They were a golden couple, and should have had years to enjoy their lives. Natasha Richardson’s untimely death is just so horribly unfair. And wrong.

Mr. Neeson, you and your family are in my prayers. All the best to you to you during this agonizing time. I wish you and your loved ones peace.

HCFG and I will be munching on girl scout cookies, watching reality tv, reading ourselves blind, and quaffing hot toddies, all the while continuing to be nauseatingly shmoopie.

Oh and we’ll also concentrating on secret projects, so secret that if I told you I’d have to… never mind.

I’ll be back!

Lisa: “You asked me to hide them so they wouldn’t tempt you, remember?”

HCFG is speaking slowly and carefully: “Right, I did. But that was last week. Now I’m requesting a few cookies so will you please bring me a handful?”

Lisa: “No.”

HCFG is shocked: “No?”

Lisa says firmly: “That’s right, no.”

HCFG is increasingly agitated: “What do you mean NO?!”

Lisa: “We agreed you would only eat sweets with lunch. Now it’s bedtime and I’m respecting your request not to give you any cookies at night.”

HCFG sounds pitiful: “But… I want some!”

Lisa is having way too much fun with this: “Them’s the breaks, Cowboy. Life is hard sometimes.”

HCFG changes tactics: “Pleaseeee? I just know my wonderful girlfriend who takes such great care of me wouldn’t mind giving me a few cookies.”

Lisa smirks: “Not happening, sorry.”

HCFG grumbles: “It’s really annoying when you’re being all supportive of my weight loss efforts.”

Lisa: “I hear ya.”

We had to be extra-careful not to forget anything, since we’d be gone for 10 days. Surprisingly, the packing list included even more cold-weather gear than we usually needed in New York. The Pacific Northwest was still reeling from a snowstorm (their worst in 20 years) that had hit five days before. They weren’t equipped to deal with digging out from snow and ice – the county where HCFG’s parents live had only a handful of plow trucks. Although the Seattle airport itself was (barely) open, the roads everywhere were a complete mess.

Anyway, after about two hours of sleep (the car service picked us at 4:00 a.m.) we arrived bleary-eyed at La Guardia, cautiously optimistic that all was well. We were concerned, however, since it had snowed again the night before in Seattle, and because our former nonstop flight had changed into one with a connection through Cleveland.

We boarded the plane and sat on the runway. And sat some more. It ended up being two hours before we took off. HCFG remained relaxed while I sat there with smoke pouring out my ears. Keep in mind we had 55 minutes to make our connection. Cleveland Airport was apparently closed due to fog. I was freaking out, but HCFG stayed calm. He reassured me that the plane we were going to change to would probably be delayed getting into Cleveland by the very same fog, so it wouldn’t leave without us. Not content to leave well enough alone, he then lectured me about how much money the airlines lose when they strand people. You can just imagine how much I loved that conversation. I tapped my foot, gritted my teeth, and became even more stressed. HCFG went to sleep. Men!

Our plane finally took off for Cleveland and it was a smooth flight. The flight attendants couldn’t give us any information about our connection though so we had to ask when we deplaned. The perky agent said our connecting flight was leaving in 10 minutes. We were at Gate 5, our flight was at Gate 22. I thrust my very heavy carry-on bag at HCFG.

Lisa: “I’m going to run for it and see if we can make it. You gonna be ok?”

HCFG: “Go! I’ll be right behind you.”

I ran like OJ Simpson minus the bloody glove through the Cleveland airport. I was wearing a very heavy wool sweater, jeans and snow boots, so even without the carry-ons, I was still pretty out of breath as I reached the area. I got very near the gate and saw they were about to shut the doors.

My adrenaline was going like crazy, I felt like my heart is going to pound out of my chest.

Lisa: “Wait, please, we’re booked on that plane! Don’t leave! We’re here!

I ran up to the agent waving my boarding pass.

Flight Agent says reassuringly: “Don’t worry, you just made it. Is there someone else with you?”

Lisa: “My boyfriend is right behind me. His name is…”

HCFG: “I’m here!” He is weighed down with our carry-on bags, his computer and his heavy down coat.

Flight Agent: “You folks just made it. The pilot held the flight as long as he could waiting for all the connections. We’ve been on the ground for 50 minutes. Most of the other people aren’t going to make it. We are missing over 45 passengers.”

Lisa: “OMG, thank you so much!”

Flight Agent smiled at us both. “You two are lucky; we have to leave in about two minutes.”

We boarded the plane and collapsed in our seats. Only 3 other people got on behind us. Keep in mind about 40 people missed their connection. On Christmas Eve. The good news (for us anyway) is that we got to stretch out with an extra seat between us.

HCFG said smugly, “I told you we’d make it. See you were all worried for nothing.”

Lisa: “Oh please, you were as worried as I was. If either of us stopped for a minute to go to the bathroom like we wanted, we would have been stuck in Cleveland for Christmas.”

HCFG: “Nope, I knew it would all be fine.”

Luckily for HCFG I was too wiped out to tear him limb from limb but I certainly wanted to!

The rest of the flight was smooth and painless. We even made up the time we lost.

Stay tuned for Part 3, meeting the parents after a trip from hell with very little sleep.

(This post originally appeared on Kizmeet)

Lisa: “You know the owners of that furniture aren’t going to be too happy, their stuff is starting to get wet.”

Doorman: “It’s actually all going to be hauled away.”

Lisa: “Why?”

Doorman: “You know that elderly woman in 8F? No? Maybe you didn’t know her, she didn’t come downstairs very much. Well she had to go live in a nursing home and this is all the stuff from her apartment.”

Lisa: “Doesn’t she have children or friends who might want it?”

Doorman in a whisper: “Her son is a jerk, he doesn’t give a shit about her. He said he didn’t want any of her crap, just to throw it all out. He said he didn’t care what we did with it, just get rid of it.”

I felt terribly sad. To think a lifetime of loved and cherished items ended up in the trash heap, and that her son didn’t even care enough about her to go through her things. It was quite poignant watching it rain on her now unwanted items.

I looked outside again and a pine microwave kitchen stand caught my eye. It was well made and in good shape.

Lisa: “Do you think it would be o.k. if I took this? It’s a really nice piece and I have been wanting one for ages.”

Doorman: “Sure, go ahead. It’s just going to the trash otherwise.”

I also rescued a two record album set, “Satchmo at Symphony Hall.”

I put the pine stand in my kitchen and it looks wonderful. It gives me extra storage space and brightens up the room. Although I never knew her, I said a quiet “thank you” and then said a prayer for her. And I will think of her sometimes.

I just hope she never knows what her son said and did.

Because no one deserves that.

Grunts emanate from the enormous tangle of covers on the bed.

“We promised to cook breakfast for our New Year’s Day celebration. You really need to get up now, o.k.?”

More grunts, but the pile of bedding begins to stir.

“Why did we offer to do this?” HCFG mumbles in a tired, put-upon tone.

“We were being good guests, remember?”

“Oh, right. Next time we’ll know better.”

I rolled my eyes for show but I quietly agreed with him.

HCFG reluctantly got out of bed. He groaned horrifically all the while giving me dirty looks. But he soldiered on and left the room. HCFG then paid it forward and went to wake up his son, CFT (aka Cute Fun Teenager). Our exhausted little team went to work while HCFG’s parents watched the Rose Parade and enjoyed their coffee.

HCFG is a fabulous brunch chef. First, he made scrambled eggs with two types of cheese for garnish. He then grilled tomatoes English style, while simultaneously making crispy bacon. I mixed up a batch of cornbread while CFT grated cheese, set the table, and generally made himself useful. The piece de resistance (i.e. dessert) we didn’t actually make. His parents had told us about an amazing Norwegian bakery in the next town. We bought cinnamon sticky buns which made your mouth water just looking at them. Carbohydrate-sugary-cinnamon goodness! Anyway, the whole meal was divine and HCFG’s parents loved it, which made it all worthwhile.

The rest of the day was spent in a relaxed lazy heap. We watched football, read, and were generally too lazy to move off our respective couches, armchairs or pile of pillows. Just the way New Year’s Day should be! Even better, no hangover remedies were required.

Happy New Year, Everyone. Hope 2009 is the best year ever for you and yours!

(This post originally appeared on Kizmeet)

We get back home and I have a message from an unknown caller too. I call my voicemail and hear a computer generated voice.

“Hello, this is ruin-your-long-awaited-holiday-plans-airlines. We have just cancelled your flight. Please call this number as soon as possible to reschedule your travel.”

“Sh*t! Honey, our flight just got cancelled.”

“What? It’s two days after the storm, I didn’t think the snow was still that bad!”

“I’m calling the number they gave me right now… Wonderful! They say at least a 30 minute wait.”

As you can imagine we were less than thrilled. After 45 minutes on hold, someone picked up. HCFG handled it while I sat nearby. He travels a lot on business so he stayed very calm. After a fairly long discussion, our flight was rescheduled to leave 3 days later, on Christmas Eve. There was literally so much chaos due to the storm that that was the earliest we could get out. With very little choice, he booked the flight. He then had to call his family and give them the bad news we were not arriving the next day. They were disappointed but understood. Meanwhile I was on my cell phone, cancelling our ride to the airport, calling the pet sitter to tell her we were picking Ally back up tomorrow, and letting various people who needed to know that our plans had changed.

After we finished our phone calls we were exhausted. And numb. It was such a letdown. We had gotten everything accomplished and we were already in “vacation mode.” As much as we love New York, we were ready to get out of town. It was especially hard on HCFG since he hadn’t seen his family in a while, and was really looking forward to being with them. Not to mention introducing me! His parents had planned a big welcome for us into their home and now it was postponed.

We were drained. And quite bummed as well.

“You know what Honey? Let’s just play hooky the next few days until we leave. We both need a pick-me-up. Let’s go see some of the new movies, relax and do exactly what we want. I don’t want to work until we have to, ok?”

“That sounds perfect.”

So that’s what we did.

And yes, we finally got away. We almost missed our flight connection in scenic Cleveland but that’s another story!

(This post originally appeared on Kizmeet)