it's the little things...

The day I get to go back home? The 101st day of the presidency? The last day of April? Willie Nelson's 76th birthday? Yes, it's all of those things. It also marks 100 days till the wedding. Yikes! I can't believe, after all the weddings I've been in, that I'm finally going to be in my own. Woohoo!

During the very long flight yesterday morning, I was able to finish the third book in the Twilight series. And, you know, then spill coffee on it. So I have one more left and I can't tell you how pleased I am that I actually want to read it. Here's the quick recap. Twilight ? Loved it. Couldn't wait to get started on the second one. Requested the remaining 3 for Christmas and got them. I could see how they gained popularity and could definitely see myself being obsessed with them if I were a tween/teen. And I was glad that they aren't smutty. Unrealistically romantic? Definitely but I think the youngsters may be missing romance in their relationships. New Moon ? Sucked. She could have cut out the middle 2/3 and it would have been better. I was sick of the main character. I realize that breaking up with someone is a big deal and when you're a teenager you think (even more so) that your life is over, that you will never love again. But come on. Those

Today begins about 3 1/2 weeks of nightmare travel. I mean, way worse than normal. Want to know how it started? I had a 7:30 flight this morning. When I got to the airport I found out that it was cancelled. I got on the 8:00 instead. That left at 8:45. We boarded the plane only to find out that a 40 minute flight was going to take us 2 hours and 20 minutes due to routing us over Australia before getting us to Dallas. While on the plane, I spilled coffee all over my pants. That were (previously) not a dark color. When I got to the rental car place, my name was not on the board (something you hope for as a child but not a business traveler). Sigh... It's been a terribly long day. I'm beat. If this is any sign of what's to come, I'm crawling into bed (at some hotel) and am just going to hide.

I'm going to post as if people are still reading... I've seen a lot of fun pictures of engagement rings on many websites. A few photographers have given hints to getting a good shot and their first tip is to take the ring off your finger. Here are a few of mine (shots not fingers).

I went to download pictures just now and totally forgot what was previously on my camera. So two-part post this Monday morning. Awhile back I decided to pick up some flowers to try my hand at centerpiece arrangements. We (meaning me and some super helpful ladies) are doing the flowers ourselves. I haven't spoken to the florist to see what all we might be able to get in season (ish) but here are a few shots of my dream flowers. I heart ranunculus. And peonies. And fluffy and/or garden roses. The centerpieces will be in Mason jars and may look something like that. For some reason, I'm having a little bit of a hard time committing to a flower idea. In other wedding news, I have my bridal portraits scheduled, we picked a rehearsal dinner place, and I think we have a cake person (just need to decide between two good ones). +++++ The "beast" portion of this post is about Saturday's weather. Good grief, people. I'm glad The Fiance and I were home during the worst of

And the thing is, I don't think I get overwhelmed easily. I think it takes a lot ...which means I often have a lot on my plate. I'm going to tell myself that there are many people who would buckle under less because, hey, it makes me feel better. What's overwhelming me now? Work. Wedding planning. Work. Car maintenance. Work. My ever-changing, double-booked schedule. Yard work. Housework. Work work. The fact that there are so many things that are going on and up in the air and on the To Do list that--wait--there are so many things that many haven't even made it to a list. Having things missing from the list stresses me out. Being overwhelmed ends up with me stretched too thin and makes me feel like I'm doing a half-assed job at everything which makes me feel incompetent in general. This doesn't exactly lead to a person being more focused and productive. It also makes me feel like I'm neglecting the important people, especially The Fiance. Th

When I got home Friday morning after 1 am, I was greeted by the site of The Fiance's truck in my driveway. It was a nice surprise and I think what I'm most looking forward to about being married. We'll actually be living together. Obviously we spend a lot of time together when I'm in town but something shifted once that ring was on my finger. The time spent together increased. The thinking about things in terms of "we" was more pronounced. Before, it didn't seem like that symbol or that title change would make such a difference, but it does. I now have no doubt that it will change yet again when that second ring is on my finger (and he finally gets one!). For the most part, I was a happy single person. I have a lot of friends. I could do what I wanted when I wanted whether that meant going out or staying in. I worked hard to reach goals. Sure, I wished that I had someone to share life with but on a day-to-day basis you can ignore that part. What

I'm finishing up a very compact 3-day trip to California for work. By "compact" I mean that I had to get up ridiculously early on Tuesday to make it out here. And I won't get in until after midnight, probably closer to 1:30am, tonight. Ugh. "What makes it all worth it?" you ask. Is it that it means I still have a job even in this economy? Oh, sure. That's nice, too. But what makes me happiest here? Is it the weather? Ah, not this time. It's a little chilly. What makes this trip worth it is the sandwich. If you could be in love with a sandwich... This is the site where I take a nice little walk up to the liquor store to buy lunch. I know, I know. I don't drink my lunch. Perhaps if alcoholics could get their hands on this sandwich all their problems would be solved. It's the Christopher Columbus. It's mayo, mustard, turkey, provolone, avocado, and lettuce on sourdough. Sometimes I add tomato. If you so desired, you could a

Only FOUR months to go! At times, it all seems very surreal to me. Like maybe I'm just planning a party instead of a wedding. A wedding that will start a marriage . When I was single I really tried to keep some tiny shred of hope that this day would come but I unfortunately lost it several times. Thanks, Fiance, for picking me.

My clean bill of health (relatively speaking) couldn't have come at a better time. I had 5 appointments booked for us this weekend to try to knock out some of the remaining big wedding decisions. Again, I think I was hoping for the best but a scared little part of me was dragging its wedding-planning feet. No more. Saturday morning we met with a baker whose cake I just didn't like. Pretty important. It doesn't matter how beautiful the cake is, you still have to eat it. Taste is important. Scratch that place off the list. With our extra time before the next appointment, we visited with The Fiance's folks. Then off to the second bakery. Good cake. GOOD. And very reasonably priced. I would have been ready to pick them but I think The Fiance wants to eat more cake. There are a few other places we could try out but they have less convenient cake tasting times. We'll see. And meeting with these folks has helped me solidify what I want my cake to look like. For some reason

I've pretty much never been this relieved. Ever. No cancer. Results came back ok. Just need follow up in 6 months. That? I can handle. Praise. Tiny. Baby. Jesus.

I drove about 375 miles today. All in Texas. All for work. But, you know? It wasn't bad because probably 200 miles of it looked like this: (from here ) Ahh, Texas... (Still patiently awaiting biopsy results. Perhaps tomorrow.)