Woolly Mutts

Where the elevator breaks, the car dies, and we are locked in the stairwell.

One more gratuitous wedding photo so that Amazing Husband's family has tangible proof that he was at the wedding.  More are available here.  I'll continue to add photos as we get them.

Now that the whole thing is said and done I must say that I have new respect for florists, wedding planners, photographers, caterers, maintenance people, and friends who work like dogs for nothing but "thank you".  Seriously, these people work darn hard at what they do.  Trying to save money by doing everything yourself is an effective eye opener of appreciation.  A million thank yous to everyone who helped out.  I could not have done it without you. 

Yesterday we arrive at the reception venue to discover that the elevator is not working.  Considering that we have 100 chairs, and endless amounts of wedding STUFF to move out of the lower level this is something of a catastrophe.  AH, Trina and I head for the stairs, walk to the lower level and discover we are now locked in the stairwell.  Security technology hard at work.  Luckily, one of the security men saw us go into the stairwell and rescues us quickly.  By some miracle they get the elevator to work for one trip of about half the chairs, but from then on everything had to be carried up the steps. Thank goodness the bride and groom have young knees. An hour and a half later we have returned the room to it's original state and packed three cars to overflowing.  Another HUGE thank you to lovely people at Whitehead Realtors for allowing us to use the room free of charge.  Blessings on you all. 

So now I have a garage full of wedding, the kids have safely landed at their honeymoon destination, and all is well with the world.  I have been blessed with a new son-in-law and managed to pull off a picture perfect wedding.  I am super mother.  I am.....really tired. I am going to take a nap.  ta ta

It's a wrap.

                                                             

More photos here.  It was perfection.

11 hours, 56 minutes: Here we go!

Rehearsal went well.  Weather reports are mixed, but we're going on faith that they are telling the truth and we'll have a nice window of good weather at the magic hour.  Reception will be at the alternate site.  I am overwhelmed by all that still needs to be accomplished, but confident in our team of helpers and happy.  So happy. 

See you on the other side!

(Oh, btw, I went with the original buttons.  Thanks for all the input.  Your guys are just awesome!)

3 days, 11 hours, 23 minutes: Where we stop obsessing about the dress (sort of) and begin obsessing about the weather.

Here is the link for the local weekend weather forecast.  Go ahead and look, I'll wait.  For those of you that would rather not take the time, here is the condensed version: Friday-Sunny, Saturday-scattered thunderstorms, Sunday-Sunny.  Ergh.  Scattered....what the heck is scattered?  A little here, a little there?   40% chance, to be a little more specific.  We have an alternate rain site and it's not a bad one.  There are LOTS of pros to the back up site and lots of cons.  Mostly the con is that it isn't a candle/twinkle lights/firefly lit magical garden.  The big pro is that magical garden weddings with 80 pretty, dressed up people attending start to lose their magic when it rains.  So, at what point do we decide which venue to use?  What percentage of precipitation is the push we need?  I'm still praying for a miracle.  Weather.com is helping.  By tomorrow they will give me an hour by hour weather report of July 12.  The wonders of modern technology.  I'll keep you posted with an address of where to send the wine and chocolate.  I'm almost to that level of stress.

In other news (are you sitting down) I bought another dress.  I know, I know, you just want to slap me, don't you?  I can't say as I blame you, but girls, I know you feel my pain.  It HAD to be the right dress and this one is.  There she is on the right.  I realize that the picture doesn't exactly do it justice, but you're gonna have to trust me, this is THE dress.  (Sort of, we'll get to that in a minute.)  The color is perfect, it fits like a dream with no "area" issues.  It's a petite so the waist is where it's supposed to be and so is the length.  The sleeves are raglan so I don't need to fuss with the armhole placement and I LOVE The little ruffle at the bottom of the sleeve.  It's understated, but lovely and I feel pretty in it (BIG plus) AND I love it so much that I won't have to change after the ceremony.  The only thing is the buttons on the jacket.  Bling.  I don't really do bling.  They might be appropriate for a wedding, but I think they limit my jewelry choices a bit.  So, I went to the fabric store and bought a couple of other options that I'd love some opinions on.  Alternate button #1 is a sort of cracked mother-of-pearl number with a brown stripe down the center.  Not too casual, but not bling.

Alternate button #2 is a burnished brass with a leaf design.  Maybe, probably a little too casual for a wedding suit. 

So, to recap, our choices are: original bling buttons, alternate #1 mother of pearl and alternate #2 brass leaf.  Don't be shy, tell me what you think.  I'm leaning toward alternate #1, but still open.  I'm not going to change them until I find the right jewelry.  Maybe I should just get some fake diamond studs, keep the bling buttons and call it good.  I don't know.  I.do.not.know.  DO NOT KNOW.  Know not, do I.  Sorry.  See?  Time to break out the wine. 

   

5 days, 11 hours, 32 minutes: Mystery

"I realized it for the first time in my life: there is nothing but mystery in the world, how it hides behind the fabric of our poor, browbeat days, shining brightly, and we don't even know it."   The Secret Life of Bees

I've been re-reading The Secret Life of Bees during my down time.  I can't seem to find my knitting mojo (not to fear, it will return) and I occasionally need something to get my mind off of the countless details of the upcoming big event.  I read in a magazine that they are making a movie from this amazing book, so I decided it was time for another walk through the pages.  I have read a large number of books and I must tell you that few are as beautifully written as The Secret Life of Bees.  There is not one word wasted, not one phrase that could have been said a better way.  I've been taking my highlighter and marking my paperback copy when I come across a particularly lovely choice of words and there is something highlighted on nearly every page.  When I found the little paragraph above I stopped and re-read several times.  Lily was referring to the miraculous relationship between bees and honey, but it can apply to nearly anything in life.  Sometimes we go through our days so quickly that we miss the magic hiding just out of sight.  I want to see all of it.

A wedding is full of mystery and magic.  People offer up little tokens of emotion and love that haven't been seen previously.  The desire to believe, commit to the belief in love, is in everyone and it comes to the forefront when we least expect it.  I am loving every little minute of every little detail.  Each little kind word, flower placed, bow tied has a mystery all it's own.   As I watch Kysa walk towards her future I am constantly and profoundly grateful for the love of my life and his presence beside me.  I wish for her nothing less than the soul deep devotion we have found. 

I hope that through all the lists and phone calls and details that I am open to the mystery beneath.  A wedding should shine brightly and this one will be no exception.  How lucky I am to be a part of it.

*The picture above is a little sneak preview of the bodice fabric on Kysa's gown.

9 days, 6 hours, 27 minutes: where I wax poetic about wedding software.

First I must say a giant thank you for all the kind emails and comments of support for my moment (months?) of sagging confidence.  With all of you behind me I am going to ROCK this wedding, area or no area. :-)

Wedding planning is not for sissies.  It's got some great, rewarding moments, but you seriously have to dig the details to pull it off.  I myself am a fan of the details, but the aging brain does not always manage that amount of information with the efficiency that I would like.  Right from the very start of planning this wedding I spent the best $29.95 of my life and purchased the iDo wedding software.  There are LOTS of wedding software out there, but I can't say enough good words about iDo.  It keeps track of the guest list from the initial invitation down to the RSVP and what choice of meal they want.  It will even help you keep track of where the out of town guests are staying, etc.  It helps organize your vendors, budget, to do list....just about anything you need to keep all the details doable.  It has saved me more than once.  Even after the wedding is over I'm going to keep it around in case I have another party to plan.  Thank you Elm Software for this great product.  I also purchased another of their products called Print Jobs  that allowed me to print the envelopes directly from the invitation list.  I'll make use of this product again when Christmas card time comes again.  Five stars and two thumbs up. 

All the RSVPS are in (finally), the florist is paid, the music planned AND the weather forecast is for low 80's and sunny.  PLEASE let it be so!  Things are progressing on schedule.  I think I need to knit myself a shawl, though.  Could get chilly after the ceremony.  I must do this because it is in my nature to make everything absolutely the most complicated it can possibly be.  What can I say?  It's a gift. 

10 day, 11 hours, 34 minutes; Where I continue to obsess over THE DRESS.

Ok, to keep things in perspective, not THE DRESS.  Her dress, the only one, if we're being forced to be rational here, that really matters, is exquisite.  Perfect in every way.  My dress is also very lovely, sort of, mostly.

Let's talk girl to girl for a minute, actually, woman to woman.  Anyone over 45 will most likely not understand about "the area".  Even taking into consideration that I have lost enough weight to meet my pre-wedding goal, there is a whole lotta girl that is going into this dress, and while I do not despise my entire body, "the area" I dislike with a passion.  Oh, you know where I'm talking about, the general tummy area that might have been flat and toned once, but now is going for best-in-show in the "Most resembles Michelin Man" competition.  The muffin top, the spare tire, the spillage.  On a good day with well fitting jeans and a black tee I can almost forget it's there.  On THE DAY standing next to my lovely daughter as  her matron-of-honor (and the two sticks that are the other bridesmaids) it feels like the second I stop sucking it in air horns are going to blast and "will the MOB please control the area" will sound over the loud speaker which is complete rubbish cause every eye is going to be on the happy couple and who cares if the MOB has a r.o.l.l., right?

Here is the dress.  The pic is fuzzy cause I stole it from the website where you can see it with much more clarity. The wedding colors are brown, mocha, cream, and pink.  The other sticks bridesmaids are wearing this.  I will coordinate while keeping with the basic color scheme.  It comes up around my no-neck and covers the upper arms nicely, and it does skim over "the area" not cling.  (with the usage of the proper restrictive under garments.) So why am I still obsessing?  I think only a qualified therapists could answer that.

But wait, it gets better.  After some consideration I decide that I will just wear the area-skimming dress for the ceremony and then change into something flowy and fun to dance in (and breathe in).  Upon further searching on same website I see the dress on the left.  Oh, be still my heart.  Love the colors, love the shape.  I might even eat cake wearing this dress!  I place my order and am told that this dress is being "pre-viewed" and will ship on July 7.  Oh. Well, we live in the age of amazement and if I order it to be shipped overnight I'm still golden.  Oh happy day.  Two dresses, both excellent.  So yesterday I look on the site again and see that the dress is now shipping on July 14!!!!  I quickly email the company, and to their credit I receive a very timely response, "we'll try to get it early for you, but no promises."  I am so not a happy camper.  I even have shoes for that dress.  (May I point out, not yellow as pictured.  What's up with that?) Ergh.

At this point I do what any woman would do, GO SHOPPING!  I hit the mall and make a stop into the Dress Barn and see that they are having a very, very fine dress sale.  I go in to the dressing room with an armload of dresses and come out with this one.   Once again, no a great picture, but you get the idea.  I loved the colors and the flowy skirt and the $29 price tag.  I think it might work if the other one doesn't come in time.  Shoes are an issues, but I can deal with that.  I pull it out today to take the pic and think...frumpy.  What is it with me?  I need a swift kick in the shorts.

Not to get all serious on you here, but I know what it is.  It's the ex-husband and his family that never liked me much in the 22 years that we were married and always thought I needed to lose weight, and that was back when I was thin.....er.  They are gonna see me, and "the area" and know they were right all along.  Why do we, as women, do this stuff to ourselves?  I mean really, who the heck cares what a bunch of narrow minded people think anyway?  Right?  Right! 

I think I'll go eat some chocolate now.      

Countdown to the Altar: 11 days, 14 minutes, 23 seconds. The Japanese Beetles vs the Huppa flowers.

The days are zooming past and I'm not going back to work until after the wedding so I am going to try, (no promises) to post daily to help keep some of you from out of town up to date on the latest in wedding happenings. To be honest, we've hit no major road bumps on the planning-a-wedding adventure.  We had a bit of bridesmaid dress drama, but disaster was averted by the incredible sewing talents of good friend Kathy.  Otherwise, it's been fun and a really special bonding experience between Kysa and myself....which....I think is the way it is supposed to be.  Today we hit a bump.

Meet Mr. Japanese Beetle.  Every year about this time he and around a million of his closest friends and relatives pay a deadly visit to our garden.  If you are unfamiliar, count your blessings.  A JB infestation can decimate a garden, and I'm not being dramatic here.  These buggers are veracious eaters.  Every year we put up numerous traps that get filled and replaced several times in a week.  This year we were a little late.

You may remember that Kysa and Josh want to be married under a canopy.  The pots holding the legs of the canopy are filled with plants that took 2 trips to area nurseries and hours of walking up and down aisles to find.  (Ok, I sort of obsessed.  It's that detail thing again.)  Just yesterday AH and I had carefully moved them to the picnic table in full sun where we could dead-head, water, and care for them until they get moved to the wedding location.  Today they became breakfast for the traveling beetle bunch.  I got home from a mani-pedi and AH quickly shared the news......the Japanese beetles were eating the huppa flowers.

Oh HAYLE no!  Not on my watch.  AH and I put our heads together, formed a strategy and quickly put it  into motion.  He went in the garage and pulled out the big guns......the PESTICIDE.  (dun da dun)  Now, if you know us at all you know that we do not use chemicals on our lawn or gardens, but drastic times call for drastic action and he sprayed each plant carefully.  This was not a decision made quickly or happily.  Anything else that we do like, butterflies, bees, dragonflies, will also meet their insect maker if they land on those plants, so we felt sort of sad, but it had to be done.  Then I went in the house and grabbed a bolt of tulle to cover the plants.  Notice the tennis racket in the picture?  There were so many that AH was batting them away from the flowers with the tennis racket.  For now, our plan of action seems to be working, but we certainly can't leave them covered for the next 11 days.  Suggestions, advice, glasses of wine will be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and the mower won't mow, but that's another story.