The Africam

A couple of months ago, I discovered the Africam. The gals at 2peas often post on the NSRB when there are sightings on the Africam. So, I checked it out. It can really be addicting. This morning I watched several zebras (including two really cute babies), wildebeests, some baboons, and even an elephant! It's amazing to watch the elephant stroll around and eat by pulling tree branches down and picking grass with its trunk. Check it out if you've never been there before:

http://www.wavelit.com/index.asp?ch=Wildlife&sh=africam

Since the time in South Africa is 7 hours ahead of local time, the best time I've watched has been in the morning - when it is evening there. There are also a couple of forums where people identify what the animals are that you are seeing here: http://www.africam.com/boma/viewforum.php?f=17 and some screen shots of the animals here: http://www.africam.com/boma/viewforum.php?f=13

Here is a picture of the cute ellie that I've been watching this morning.

How embarassing?

How embarassing is it to have a 'medical condition' that caused a 'body odor' that warranted concealing? How embarassing is it to cause a plane to make an emergency landing? How embarassing is it to make CNN's web site for the incident?

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/12/06/plane.passing.gas.ap/index.html

Finally, Wedding Pictures

I know that most of you thought that I've abandoned my blog. I consider it more of a hiatus. Planning a wedding is a lot of work, and we got busy. And, I got lazy.

I'm sure that everyone knows that the wedding did indeed happen. :-) I'm slowly getting used to signing my new name. We've merged households and bank accounts. We'll celebrate our first married Thanksgiving this week, and Christmas next month. And finally.....we have pictures!!

Here are a few of my favorites.

I am also very fond of this one (even though Tim is not).

Such a disappointment....

Yesterday afternoon, I enjoyed looking at some really bad wedding photos on someone's blog. The commentary was excellent. I laughed. I shared the link with some people. I even posted the link here. I was SO disappointed to find out this morning that the blog had been removed, along with all of the great pictures and commentary. I guess someone complained. Spoil sport!

I know I haven't posted in a while. It seems like we are in that 'lull' where we are just waiting for it to be closer to the wedding so that there is something to do.

In the mean time, this is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. http://badweddingphotos.blogspot.com. Check it out.

Monogram Me

So, it has been forever since I've posted anything. It feels like I haven't had anything to talk about, but really I have.

I have found myself to be addicted to the message boards on theknot.com lately. People post some of the coolest things about their weddings, and I intend to steal them all. SO many people are adding monograms to their wedding - the invitations, programs, linens, cakes, etc. I love monograms. I have loved them for years. I had monogrammed sweaters when I was in high school. I really like jewelry engraved with monograms. So, I am really loving this monogram trend with weddings. I have purchased a monogram cake topper like this one:

Of course, an "H", not an "M". I really like scroll-like design for our cake, and Tim even suggested that we see if we can have some of the scrolls look like H's. Look at Tim, coming up with an original idea! We have not nailed down a cake yet....but that is a story for another day. I would also like to have a monogrammed table runner on our cake table. I haven't done much searching for one yet.

I also want to have a dress label similar this:

and a bouquet ribbon like this:

Monograms will be our theme.

Valentine's Day

You'd think that Valentine's Day would be fun for someone who has been engaged for exactly 2 months.

It sucked.

Just sayin'.

A dress

Theknot.com reminds me every day how many days are left until the wedding. Today it says 232. Unfortunately, it doesn't remind me every day that I need to update my blog. I need to be better about that.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided that it was time to start looking at dresses. I have been collecting pictures from magazines for a while now, and while they look great on the skinny model in the magazine, that doesn't mean that they will look like anything but crap on me. So, knowing that David's Bridal carries dresses in a wide range of sizes, I talked Cindy into going there with me one day after work. That trip made me want to look into wearing a brown paper bag for the wedding. They do have a range of sizes to try on. But, everything was cut VERY small and so nothing that I tried on remotely fit. The sales girl couldn't have been any less helpful. It was so discouraging.

Knowing that Leslie and I are going to make a day of it and dress shop next month, I figured I'd just wait until then to try again. Yesterday, I just couldn't wait any longer. So, Cindy and I set out to a different shop. What a difference a decent sales staff makes! The shop wasn't too big, but there were several dresses for me to try on. Of course, nothing fit, but I wasn't expecting any size 12 wedding dresses to fit. (Why don't they make wedding dresses in the same sizes as regular clothes? It would be so much less damaging to the ego!) I tried on about 10 dresses and got a pretty good idea of what I liked and what I didn't like. Of course, I have been told that a dress with a train is inappropriate, so I was looking for something with a cathedral train if I could find it. I tried on a BIG, poofy dress, I tried on a dress that was less. I even tried on a pink dress. It was kind of fun. So far, this dress is at the top of my short list:





















I really liked the bow around the waist. And, it has a train. Plenty of train, actually. I didn't think I would go for anything at all poofy, but I really liked it. Even with a crinoline on.

Until I go dress shopping with Leslie, this one will be 'the one'.

255 Days and Counting....

Yesterday, I was looking over the things-to-do checklist at theknot.com, and at the top of the page it said "September 30, 2006 • DAYS TO GO: 256". Nice to have that friendly reminder every day.

We have made a little more progress. We've picked a church - St. John's United Church of Christ. We saw a couple of pictures of it in an album at the bridal show, and went to check it out. The sanctuary is domed, and so the pews are curved. It is really pretty neat. It is supposed to be able to seat 700 people, yet it doesn't seem cavernous. It won't require a million decorations. The altar is not especially big, which will be nice for our small wedding party. I am pretty happy with the choice so far.

I think we've also decided to have the reception at the Packard Museum. There are still a few details to work out there - like signing a contract and then making a decision about catering. I guess baby steps are okay.

So what's appropriate, anyway?

Naturally, wedding planning is pretty much consuming nearly every waking moment right now. Lots of plans to make, and details to tend to. Since we've announced our engagement, I've heard more than one time about how something isn't 'appropriate' for a second-time wedding. Frankly, I think most of that etiquette crap is B.S. My personal opinion is that having the wedding that is an event that we both want is what is 'appropriate'. Just because this isn't the first time I've had a wedding doesn't mean that I should slink away quietly and get married someplace far away if that's not what I want to do.

Ever since we started talking about getting married, I've been thinking of how I can make this wedding different than the first - more fun, less stuffy and pretentious. I'm not out to impress anyone with my big, fancy wedding. It's more about getting together with my friends and family, and celebrating our day. If I want to wear a white dress and a veil - so be it! If I want to get married in a church, that's okay too.

Since I am in wedding planning mode, the book that I'm currently reading is titled, "The Wedding Guide for the Grownup Bride". It was written by a woman who was married for the first time in her early 40's to a man that was divorced. She makes a lot of good points about all of the things that go into planning a wedding when you are a 'mid-life bride', as she puts it. It's not just all about the flowers and the caterer. It's also about your career, your established, independent life, and things like that. The favorite thing that I've read so far is in the chapter called 'Coors light or Candlelight - Matters of Style'. It says, "On matters of style... consider this

• Again, forget about rules. Don't let anyone convice you that traditional weddings are inappropriate or silly for mature brides.
• If you are a second-timer, consider doing things differently than you did before."

and, finally

• Focus on fun rather than doing things "right."

So, for all of those who think a traditional wedding is inappropriate for a second-time bride, they either need to get over it or keep their inappropriate thoughts to themselves. I'm busy looking for cotton candy, funnel cake, and Brutus the Buckeye.

Progress

Well, we have made some progress. Not a lot, but some nonetheless. First, we have picked a date - September 30, 2006. That is 264 days from today!

We have picked a photographer. We met with him last Thursday and looked at some of his work, which is all SO good. Tim wanted to get an idea what else was out there to have something to compare with, so Saturday we headed off to the bridal show. There were several photographers there, and there was just no one that compared in quality and price. There were many that were less expensive, but their photos were crap - and, as Tim noted, a lot of the photos were out of focus.

I've called the florist, and am meeting with him tomorrow. Tim asked if we should comparison shop, and I've assured him that there is no need. This guy is just plain good, and there is no point in wasting much time.

So......we need to pick our venue(s). I hit a real snafu a couple of weeks ago when I discovered that in order to get married in a Catholic church again, I will have to have an annullment. I'm not sure why their rules apply to me, the non-Catholic, but apparently they do. As a result, we've talked about all kinds of places to get married. We'd settled on the Dayton Art Institute until we found out that they are completely booked for all of 2006 except for August 12. We looked at the Packard Museum, which is still a potential reception site, but not appropriate for a ceremony too. We stopped at Cox Arboretum Saturday, and that is also a potential reception site, but there just didn't seem to be room to have both a ceremony and reception, unless we plan something outside. I just don't want to stress about the weather, and so I have to nix the outdoor idea. If it's nice, I'm happy to go outside for pictures - but I don't want the entire event to depend on the weather being good. Too much stress.

Also on Saturday, we saw some photos of a wedding in a church that is ironically called St. John's. As Tim pointed out, there was Saint John and then there was that other, not-so-saintly John. I guess if he doesn't have a problem with it, neither do I. I called there this morning, and hope to stop by there one day this week to take a look in person. The pictures looked good anyway.

I ran into an old friend on Saturday. She owns a catering business and was at the bridal show. I'm going to give her a call later in the week and see what advice she has for me.

Today is also weigh-in day. Ugh. I have been so uninspired since Christmas. It shows at the scale. I need to get back on track and start losing again. At least I haven't gained.

304 Days to go

So...it's 304 days until October 21. Which may not even be the real date. Of course, that is something that we'll have to decide now that IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

I was suprised (or maybe I should say shocked) last week. We had discussed putting up the Christmas tree several different times, and were going to give it another shot on Wednesday. I got out the tree while I was waiting for Tim to get there. I dug out the ornaments and the tree skirt. We went to dinner. After all that, I was completely uninspired to do anything besides sit on the couch, but Tim kept encouraging me to work on the tree. He was almost pouting before I gave in and started putting ornaments on the tree. Of course, I have some ornaments that are worthy of the front of the tree and others that are best hung on the back. With every ornament that he got out of the box, he asked 'what about this one?' and I would tell him front or back. When the box was empty, we were checking the tree over for bare spots and he turned around with the ring in his had and said 'what about this one?'. I was shocked! I was speechless! I had NO idea that he'd been toting the ring around with him in his shirt pocket all evening waiting for the right moment. Or, that I had almost foiled his plan with my lack of enthusiasm for decorating the tree! It was certainly a HUGE surprise - and a pretty good one, at that!

So, now we are in what Tim refers to as the 'phased roll-out' of telling everyone. I've been trying to tell as many people as I can in person. It's so much more fun to see everyone's reaction than to just call them on the phone. There are still a few to tell (surprise, NSwank!) - and hopefully I will be able to do that soon.

That's one thing to check off my things-to-do list. I've lost 4 pounds. My house is still a wreck. And, we'll work on some wedding planning after the first of the year. :-)

326 days and counting

So, we are talking about getting married. It seems like that means a really long things-to-do list. In general:

• 'Officially' get engaged
• Plan a wedding
• Fix up and sell my house, buy a new house, and move
• Lose 40 pounds

That's all. Just 4 things. Should be a piece of cake, right? With a tentative date of October 21, 2006, there is plenty of time!

Today is the official start of the weight loss part. Mom and I are going to delve back into the world of Weight Watchers. It worked so well last year, I just hope that I can stick with it and actually lose all of the weight that I re- gained over the last 17 months, plus another 10 pounds or so. And so, it begins....tomorrow. We have to start off with a celebratory trip to Graeter's after the WW meeting tonight. That will be followed by a trip to the grocery store to stock up on all the 'good' stuff. We did that last year and it seemed to work. Maybe I'm being supersticious, but why mess with a good thing?

The 'official' engagement part is totally out of my hands. And I hate waiting. And not knowing what's going to happen - and when! I think the rest of my things-to-do list will fall into place once the 'official' part happens. At least I hope so.