Yes, I'm trying to work on some good entries about the wedding and honeymoon. I'll get them done.......someday.

I have to brag about some things though. Sweetie and I really had a great day. Here are some reasons why.

1. We had the best guests ever. Really. Folks were so happy and in good spirits. The wedding coordinator at the country club could not stop telling us how nice our guests were. I don't know. Maybe other wedding guests are grumpy. Or demanding. Or maybe she was just humoring us. But I looked out at the sea of smiling faces, and watched everyone talking and enjoying themselves, and I know how far many of them traveled to see us wed. And I knew they were the best guests ever.

2. We had the cutest ring bearer and flower girl ever. No really. I can't tell you how cute and good these guys were. My youngest nephew as ring bearer was a hoot! We was awesome all day. Hung out with us women in the prep room. Took pictures with the guys. Carried the rings with the utmost diligence. Didn't pick his nose during the ceremony. Stood right in front of the groomsmen looking snazzy the whole time. Even took some adorable pictures that caught a smile on his face. The only thing he would not do?? Hold the flower girls hand. No way. Nope. Absolutely not.

She, also, was a fantastic trooper all day. Hung out with us women in the prep room. Sat down quietly to draw after her dress was on. Handed me two pictures as a wedding present. Laughed whenever the photographer told her to smile. And the cutest thing ever? - well - she had been showing me a ballet move for two days - the one where you put your arms over your head....palms and fingers facing each other - what do they call that? Very cute. When Sweetie and I watched one of the videos of the processional, we saw the two of them standing to walk down the aisle....waiting for their cue....and then....right before they set off together....Snap!....her arms went up over her head....little ballet move....and Snap!...her arms were down again....and she marched towards the aisle with her flower basket in arm. Holy crap!! It was soooooo cute!

3. We had the best flowers ever. I was pretty sure I could count on our florist to put something nice together. When we were talking to/interviewing florists for the wedding, she really seemed to "get it." It helped that she wasn't the woman who kept talking about my "red" flowers. Uhhhh....red is not one of our colors. The flowers she put together - everything - for the men, the women, the tables, etc.....all were awesome. Beautiful. She even ordered tuberoses from Hawai'i and stuck some in my bouquet so we had the sweet scent of the island with us all night. Fantastic.

4. We had the best toasts ever. My sister was happy and proud and emotional and funny. She spoke from her heart. She said the nicest things about us. She almost made me cry, but mostly she made me want to hug her and my Sweetie at the same time because I listened to her and knew how awesome they both are. The best man - well, you kind of had to be there, but it was priceless. Something along the lines of......I am going to describe their relationship using the language of love............mathematics.

And then he pulled out a graph. It was hilarious.

5. We had a great site. I've been browsing lots of wedding photos from other weddings. Lots of nice elements to other places. What I love about the pictures of our site is that - from every angle in every picture - you see nice nature backgrounds. A pond, golden brown grass, evergreen trees, fall-colored trees, flowers. Could not see the road, or the reception building. Just nature. Which is very us, I think.

Those are just some of the highlights of a crazy good day.

I think brides must fall somewhere on two ends of the spectrum. Some (dare I say the bridezillas) seem to see disaster in the smallest flaws, get upset at the slightest upset in plans, or feel the need to order everyone else around to get what they want. Some (hopefully me) see their wedding day through rose-colored glasses. And, barring any major disaster, are just plain tickled at all the good wishes, happy faces, and crazy behind-the-scenes events that no one else will know about. I'm sure a hundred brides out there would insist they have the best of everything also. But, darn it! it was my wedding day! So I can brag all I want. *stomp*

hmmm....I guess this can be counted as a wedding post.

In my opinion, you can do one of two things: You can threaten a lawsuit against Christmas trees, OR, you can complain that people accuse you of being a Grinch.  You cannot do both.  That may seem logical to most people.  It takes a lawyer not to see the irony of trying to do both.

Yes, I’m talking about the fact that officials at the Seattle Airport dismantled nine holiday trees, rather than facing a potential lawsuit from a rabbi who asked that a menorah also be displayed.  If you haven’t read the stories - the Airport had nine holiday trees decorated with ribbons and bows.  A rabbi asked if a menorah could also be displayed.  A lawsuit was threatened.  The airport managers decided to remove the trees, saying they would have to rethink their policies about representing all sorts of cultures around the holidays.

In the report, the rabbi was quoted as being “appalled” by the agency’s reaction to what he believed to be a simple request.

No.  See.......threatening someone with a lawsuit is not a simple request.

A simple request is “Hey, I see you have some nice holiday trees set up here at the airport.  They seem sort of Christmas-y.   In the interest of representing other holidays celebrated in December, would you consider putting up a menorah also?”  That is a request.  Maybe you talk to the airport officials.  Maybe you write a letter. 

When you go out and hire an attorney, make your case along with an attorney, then threaten to have your attorney SUE when your request is turned down.............this is NOT a “simple request.” 

So, the rabbi and his attorney did not get their way.  But then neither did the people who wanted to keep the holiday trees.  The lawyer (not the rabbi) is then quoted as saying “There is a concern here that the Jewish community will be portrayed as the Grinch.”  Well, you should have thought of that before you threatened to sue. 

Because after the fact, guess what? You (Mr. Attorney) are the grinch.  Not the entire Jewish community.  But you.  Not because you asked for a menorah.  Not because you made the airport officials rethink their decoration policies, but because you resorted to America’s favorite extortionist tactic - The Attorney-Backed-Threat-of-Lawsuit. 

My complaint is not necessarily against “the attack on Christmas” or whatever the conservative talk-show hosts call it.  While I am sick and tired of all the whining and complaining about different expressions of holiday spirit, that is not the subject of this rant. 

This is about my on-going frustration with lawsuits used as an extortionist tactic.  This just happens to be the latest example.  The problem is that, while there are some legitimately-filed lawsuits in the world, there seem to be far more frivolous ones that are allowed to wend their way through the legal system.  One of my biggest beefs is with lawsuits filed under the false auspices of a particular piece of legislation.  People tend to blame the legislation.  But that is the wrong way to look at it.  For example, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Endangered Species Act are good pieces of legislation that have been hijacked by fat people and greedy landowners, respectively.  Sorry, but it’s true.  This leads to calls to rescind these pieces of legislations from Congressmen and women who support fat people and greedy landowners over the truly disabled and the truly endangered.  And that is the wrong target.  We should be angry over frivolous lawsuits, not all the laws themselves.

The rabbi may have been sincere in a desire to be allowed to simply display a menorah.  And I would admit there are even cases where a lawsuit can be genuine and can lead to positive changes.  But don’t complain that, instead of granting your request or fighting you in court, the threatened party just packed up their marbles and left the playground.  What did you expect? Maybe next time you can make your case more persuasively with a letter to the editor or an Op Ed piece in the newspaper.  And those are even free!

Howdy folks!

Wow. What a whirlwind week and a half. Crazy. Busy. Relaxing. And truly wonderful.

I don't know how to blog all the details, but I have to say - I AM SO HAPPY!!!

Everything worked out so well, I can't even tell you. Fantastic. Blessed. Beautiful.

My Sweetie and my wedding was truly picture-perfect. We were surrounded by our family and good friends. So many family and extended family members. School friends, college friends, work friends, old bosses and co-workers, kids, babies, grandfathers. So many people! And......yes.......you guessed it......thanks for your positive thoughts on this one.......not ONE drop of rain!! On the wedding day. Sweetie and I were sitting in his hotel room the day before, waiting to go to the rehearsal. One of his buddies came in and said "Did you know it's hailing outside?" What!? Yes, it rained. And it was freezing cold during the rehearsal, and quite wet. But we weathered through it. And Saturday shone bright and sunny, the chairs dried out, the sky was clear, and it didn't get too cold until we had everyone inside for the reception.

Woo hoo!

All the usual wedding stuff and then ZAP! It was done. Done. No more planning. No more lists. No more nothing. We were done!

And then - ZIP! - Off to Yellowstone. Yes, apparently - when you live in Maui, you to go Wyoming for your honeymoon. We loved it! And again - don't know how - but we had perfect weather. Gorgeous. Cold, but clear. And it had just dumped snow and rain before we got there. But not on us. We spent two days in Jackson so we could see Grand Teton National Park. Hiked around Jenny Lake to the fabulous Inspiration Point. Wow! Then spent five days at Yellowstone. Saw Bald eagles, elk, moose, bison, coyote, a bear, a beaver, and a wolf. Yes! Yours truly, she who is part wolf - I saw one of my howling own out in the Lamar Valley......way out there......but there he was. It was amazing.

Anyway, just wanted to write a quick word. The pictures are still on the camera. I'll deal with those when we get back to Maui. I'll try and write more of a travelog. For now, thanks for all the good wishes, thanks a million times over to the loved ones who shared the day with us. And - HEY! Guess what?! I'm married.

Howdy folks!

Wow. What a whirlwind week and a half. Crazy. Busy. Relaxing. And truly wonderful.

I don't know how to blog all the details, but I have to say - I AM SO HAPPY!!!

Everything worked out so well, I can't even tell you. Fantastic. Blessed. Beautiful.

My Sweetie and my wedding was truly picture-perfect. We were surrounded by our family and good friends. So many family and extended family members. School friends, college friends, work friends, old bosses and co-workers, kids, babies, grandfathers. So many people! And......yes.......you guessed it......thanks for your positive thoughts on this one.......not ONE drop of rain!! On the wedding day. Sweetie and I were sitting in his hotel room the day before, waiting to go to the rehearsal. One of his buddies came in and said "Did you know it's hailing outside?" What!? Yes, it rained. And it was freezing cold during the rehearsal, and quite wet. But we weathered through it. And Saturday shone bright and sunny, the chairs dried out, the sky was clear, and it didn't get too cold until we had everyone inside for the reception.

Woo hoo!

All the usual wedding stuff and then ZAP! It was done. Done. No more planning. No more lists. No more nothing. We were done!

And then - ZIP! - Off to Yellowstone. Yes, apparently - when you live in Maui, you to go Wyoming for your honeymoon. We loved it! And again - don't know how - but we had perfect weather. Gorgeous. Cold, but clear. And it had just dumped snow and rain before we got there. But not on us. We spent two days in Jackson so we could see Grand Teton National Park. Hiked around Jenny Lake to the fabulous Inspiration Point. Wow! Then spent five days at Yellowstone. Saw Bald eagles, elk, moose, bison, coyote, a bear, a beaver, and a wolf. Yes! Yours truly, she who is part wolf - I saw one of my howling own out in the Lamar Valley......way out there......but there he was. It was amazing.

Anyway, just wanted to write a quick word. The pictures are still on the camera. I'll deal with those when we get back to Maui. I'll try and write more of a travelog. For now, thanks for all the good wishes, thanks a million times over to the loved ones who shared the day with us. And - HEY! Guess what?! I'm married.

...wooooooo!

This is fun and slightly hilarious.

In light of my upcoming nuptials, some of my dearest friends decided they would organize our very own Bachelorette Party. Wheeeee!

I gotta hand it to my gals - they know how to organize a fantastic getaway. We had the most decadent, fun, relaxing weekend. We shared dinner. We went dancing. We shared lunch. We went to a spa. ahhhhh!!

I have to make one funny observation from our jaunt out on the town last night: I am soooooooo very very unhip. While I sit in my car and listen to NPR, the young folks of the urban lands are listening to music like I've never heard before. I admit it - I haven't been out dancing in a real club for........when was the last bachelorette party I went to?......well, it's been years. And it's been over 15 years since I went out dancing more than once a year. And my friends and I are stuck in the 80s during our own private dance crazes.

But out we went, my brave friends and I. One of whom actually goes out on a regular basis. And one of whom listens to MTV on a regular basis and recognized most of the songs being played.

Me? Pretty clueless. The kids on my street are all under 13 or so. I don't work with 20-somethings anymore. I don't watch MTV because I was under the impression they don't actually play VIDEOS anymore. *sigh*

Never a good dancer to begin with, I was somewhat grateful for a packed dance floor to hide my stumbles while I stared up at video screens showing videos of songs everyone else seem to know. Lil Mama. huh? Lady Sovereign. ehh?? Bob Sinclar. wha?? Justin Timberlake. Oh!! I've heard of him!! Sweet. It was pretty funny. I was probably the oldest person in the room, but hey - you know what? I’m only getting married once, and if my friends and I want to use the opportunity to dance ourselves to exhaustion like we used to, I say “Yea for us!!” Although it seems that exhaustion came a tad bit faster than I recollect it did 10 years ago.

It is also interesting to note that the age-old Club behavior still applies. For me it is "DO NOT make eye contact with anyone for more than 2 seconds." I love to look around at all the people, and it's fun to see how people dance and it's just nice to see people having a good time. BUT, inevitably, if you make eye contact with a guy for more than 2 seconds, he takes it as an invitation to come over and dance with you. And I use "dance" loosely. It's more - his own private grope fest. My friends and I had to rescue each other a couple of times during the night. Ug.

I was pretty excited when I heard Bob Sinclar’s song sampling that good ol’ dance staple of my youth - C & C Music Factory’s “Everybody Dance Now.” Nice to see the kids acknowledging the classics. Ha! I’m classic (that’s one word for it).

Wanna know what the kids are dancing to these days?

Check it out.....

Lil Mama - Lip Gloss

Bob Sinclar - Rock This Party

Lady Sovereign......

I don't think I can post anything and not have to change this entry to "Mature Content."

And, if you are like me, here is one you may know.

I’m reading this week’s (December 4) issue of Time magazine, and cleaning up K Street in Washington.  There’s been a lot of talk by politicians about the need for lobbying reforms in Washington D.C.  It must be quite a conundrum for all politicians who receive hefty amounts of money donations from lobbyists and their associates.  How do you rein in potential favors-for-money transactions without jeopardizing your own future war chests?

I’ll leave it to the folks in Congress, both new and old, to see if they can really create any reform in the system.  My hope is that people understand why such reform is needed. 

We all know (right?) that while the United States of America is a democratic country, our government is not run as a pure direct democracy.  We are, instead, a constitutional republic.  National law and national policy is not decided directly by the voters, but by our representatives.  That’s the way our government works.  Ideally, voters have done their research on candidates and candidates have represented themselves honestly, and we stand in our voting booths and vote for a representative that we feel will best speak for us in Congress.  That’s what we get.  We get one vote for each person, and then we get to sit back and hope they represent us well.

What happens when a Congressperson gets one vote from me, but then also gets $10,000 from another guy?  $10,000 can pay for a lot of campaign material come the next election.  Maybe someone could win 10 votes if they had $10,000 to spend on a commercial, or colorful flyers.  And maybe, just maybe, someone could win 100 votes if they used their position in Congress to spend $100,000 in their jurisdiction in such a way that would benefit a specific group of people.  If that person who hands my Congressperson $10,000 says “Do something for me when you win, and I’ll deliver more money and maybe a good block of votes.” 

Hey then.  What happened to *my* one vote?  What happened to my opinion on issues in my congressional district?  It’s probably not as important as the interests of the lobbyist in Washington D.C. who has the direct ear of my Congressperson.  A lobbyist who, by the way, may not even *live* in my congressional district.  Suddenly, while I and my neighbors are sitting around and talking about how we would like to see money for our public schools, a decent public transportation system, and  clean water, our Congressperson is slipping high-dollar “earmarks” into the legislation they are passing in Washington.  In case you didn’t click on that link above, this is what happens with earmarks:

In the United States legislative budget process, Congess has the power to earmark (designate) funds it appropriates (revenue) to be spent on specific named projects. This differs from the normal practice where Congress grants a lump sum to an agency to allocate entirely at its discretion, according to the agency's internal budgeting process. Earmarks tie the hands of agency bureaucrats, obliging them to spend a portion of the budget on special projects chosen by politicians.

So, my local transportation agency may have a long list of priorities to fix existing roads with big potholes and build a new light-rail system.  If they were given federal money to do their jobs, they chould choose which projects to spend the money on.  But with earmarks, our Congressperson designates very specific projects, and the federal money goes to that project. 

With a fixed federal budget, what happens to lump sum budget allocations when there are a ton of earmarks?  They go down, I think.  And if you think that earmarks aren’t taking a lot of money away from our local agencies, total earmarks in 2005 were about 47 billion dollars.   That’s 47 billion dollars that were chosen for just 15,000 earmarks.  To me, that sounds like 15,000 projects at over $3,000,000 per project.  How many things could your State Department of Education do with $3,000,000?  Or your Transporatation Department?  Who knows, because they won’t get to use money at their own discretion. 

I know, most of you folks reading my blog probably already understand this. And I hope that our Congressfolks will take the recent voter discontent as a sign that there are several things that need to change in Washington.  They are being sent to Congress to represent a whole group of voters back home, not just a few people with a lot of money. 

If they spent more time listening to their constituents and doing things we need them to do, maybe they wouldn’t need a huge war chest to buy our votes in the next election.  Maybe they could earn our votes by representing our needs and serving us honestly.  Wouldn’t that be a refreshing change?

...I actually do have plenty of spare moments during the day.

It's more like - my brain is SO scattered, I can't seem to sit down and write anything. And I have some deep and meaningful thoughts in my head, believe me.

I also have random and unmeaningful thoughts in my head. It's all there. Rattling around.

It must be humid right now. It's really not that hot, but I cannot stop sweating. I feel like a sweaty, smelly lump. How nice.

Can I just say - as I'm working on so many wedding details....I am soooo happy Sweetie and I scheduled a honeymoon. We lollygagged for a looong time on that one. We were thinking we'd like to do a big international trip - maybe New Zealand. Maybe Switzerland and France. We talked about postponing the honeymoon until we could plan a big trip next year. Then, I told him - we need to just plan something for right after the wedding. There is a chance that, if we wait until next year, nothing will get planned. Also, I think we would really regret it if we didn't take some time off right after the wedding.

So, we agreed on a place, I took charge and planned the whole trip. We are taking a shortish trip to Yellowstone. And we have our itinerary all laid out and our reservations made. And, as I frazzle around getting ready for the wedding, I keep picturing myself doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in gorgeous Yellowstone National Park. And boy - that is a very soothing thought. Very nice. Can't wait. Calgon, take me awaaaay.

So, Sweetie and I have been attending some pre-marital counseling sessions. Given the chance, we would not have thought to do this ourselves. But, we asked my old pastor to travel to marry us, and my church has for years asked their new prospective married couples to get pre-marital counseling before marriage.

So, off we went.

I think we are a breath of fresh air for the woman we've been talking to. She rarely has people come in *before* some sort of relationship breakdown occurs. Here we sit in front of her - attentive to what she has to share, agreeing in many of our answers, downright laughing out loud together. And, thanks to a couple of consistent communication snafus we have, it's been advantageous to attend these sessions. She's not asking a lot of questions - or trying to figure things out. We told her a couple of things we recognize as problems. And she's been sharing some interesting communication tools with us. These are not rocket science ideas. But, due to the fact that a) we've been together long enough we have our own form of "shorthand" way of talking, and b) we are both old and stubborn, and c) we both have feelings that are sometimes sensitive - we tend to not take the time to follow some simple steps of communication. We don't always take time out of the day to really check in with each other. And, when we have something to complain about, we tend to just burst out with a complaint. Not necessarily asking each other if "hey is this a good time to jump down your throat about something" or "hey, here is something constructive to suggest, along with a small complaint."

Simple stuff, huh?

Not really. I'd love to say we're one of those couples that never, ever argue. Not about anything. Not ever. Kiss kiss.

We're not. We're foible-y humans (see above, re: old and stubborn). We get tired. We get stressed. One of us gets cramps from time to time.

So, I say - bravo to pre-marital counseling! I think it's giving us some good tools that we can use for the rest of our marriage. I think, for young couples out there, it's probably good to talk to someone about what bumps in the road you can hit before you commit. Maybe it's good just to talk to someone about why you want to commit to this other person. It doesn't take that much time. We're busy. We're working and planning a wedding. But, if this whole thing called Marriage is something we're willing to spend so much time on, isn't it worth it to sit down and talk about what that all means before you do it? Or just talk about something as simple as communication? hmmm....

My Big Sis (and mom and two old college roomies) hosted a wedding shower for me today. It was completely wonderful. There were vases and vases of fresh flowers, which I totally love. Tons of good homemade food. Fantastic people. And a good reason to celebrate.

It’s one of those instances where I totally enjoyed the day, I was thrilled to see my friends and family members,........and I had this surreal feeling - like I wasn’t quite sure why everyone was gathered at my mom’s house at the same time. Towards the end of the day, someone said “That was a nice bridal shower,” and I just looked at her in surprise. A what?! Oh yeahhhhh.....that’s what everyone was doing here. It sounded almost like a foreign word when applied to me. It’s kind of like when I tried on one veil after many wedding dresses. For some reason, seeing a veil on top of my head zapped my brain cells. I think I was in a haze while my sister planned this shower. So much so I can think of a couple of people I absolutely should have invited who never got an invite. Oooops. Also, I was probably a bad bride today and didn't spend enough time mingling with everyone. But, again, I think I was forgetting the reason why everyone was here.

So, I have a confession to make.

I (this is not the confession) really, really dislike excessive self-deprecation, so I’m going to try not to overdo it here. But (here’s the confession, of sorts) there are times in my life that I look around at the people who consider me a friend, and I am just amazed. It’s not that I’m not a good friend. I am fiercely loyal. And, though I have lapses of laziness, I work hard to keep in touch with good friends wherever they may be.

But......well......how do I say this? I’m a bit of a geek sometimes. Plus, I can be a bit pushy with people I’m very comfortable with. Maybe pushy is not the right word. I tend to talk a lot (again with people I know - don’t expect to hear a peep from me until I know you). And I probably talk over people too much. And I’ve seen myself on video. I cringe. I mean, I’m a sincere gal, but I’m a big geek!* The first time I saw myself on video, I thought “Ick! How do my friends put up with me?!” They’re so......so......so NON-geeky! This is probably twice as true for the work friends I’ve made over the years. These guys had no choice but to put up with me through thick or thin in a very, very deadline driven, often stress-full, workplace. But many of us were lucky enough to truly enjoy each others’ company. I used to spend so much of my time outside of work with these folks. Drinks after work. Hiking. Book club. Halloween parties. Dinners. I suppose after spending so much time with them (some of them for almost 10 years now), I shouldn’t be surprised that they like me. But, well....sometimes it surprises me. It’s like - hey! You’re not being paid to spend time with me anymore. What are you doing here? Thinking about it - maybe I should give the most credit to my college and school friends - who had the chance to bolt when they met me, yet didn’t. And then, there is my family. Who, kind of like work folks, are sort of stuck with me. But who are more than just family - they are my friends. Which goes triple for my mom and sister, who are my best friends (along with my Sweetie). Who have been more than family to me for 36 years.

To see all these different parts of my life combine today - grade school, high school, college, work, old family, and new family - was wonderful and humbling. It really brought home how lucky I am, and motivates me to continue to work as hard as I can (harder than I have been lately) to stay in touch with everyone and let them know how important they are to me. To my sister, who made it all happen (today - not the wedding itself - for which I have to thank my Sweetie), THANK YOU!

*I am in no way trying to imply that being a geek is a bad thing, but when I was a kid, it tended to lead to a lonely social life, and that’s just what I was used to. It's refreshing, as an adult, to learn this isn't the fate of geeky kids. I wish all kids could learn this at an early age.

Ug.

I'm growing my hair out a little for the wedding. I haven't completely decided what I want to do, but I figure it will be mostly down, maybe with a few curls on the side and the top pulled back. Something simple. But I want my hair to be slightly long for the wedding, so I'm growing it out a bit.

Here's the ug part. I can't WAIT to cut my hair. Several reasons. You women can probably relate. While any men have probably stopped reading already. One reason - it takes so freaking long to wash my hair right now. Shampoo, fine. Conditioning - forEVER. Trying to get the conditioner out, along with the tangles, drives me batty. I can't wait for the days when I need just a tiny dab of conditioner, run it through my hair, and rinse it faster than I can sing the chorus to "Just You Wait, Henry Higgins" or some such musical tune. It will be sooo nice.

Another big reason - I lose so much more hair when it is long. I keep telling my Sweetie that I may be bald by the time we wed. But really, I don't lose nearly this much hair when it is short. Another reason why I look forward to that post-wedding haircut. It needs some time to recover.

Yeah, I should probably just cut it off now. But, I'll just trim it a little for a while. Hopefully, I'll have some left for our wedding pictures.

That’s U-ta-ha, to my mother. Not that I want to make fun of my mother, but I think it’s funny the way she pronounces Utah. I have my Sweetie pronouncing it this way now also. Ha!

Sweetie flew into California late on the night of Thursday July 5. I drove to Oakland and met him near the ATA luggage carousel, where we waited for his suitcase to appear. We stood around the carousel, and I thought “Wow, that must have been a big plane!” There were so many people. Then, the incomprehensible airport-loudspeaker-voice came on and many people shuffled from our carousel to the adjoining one. I think she mumbled something about JetBlue being moved. So we waited. And waited. And waited. Then, the flight number on the carousel changed and muffle-voice said something about “All the bags have been loaded onto the carousel.” Of course, I could not figure out what muffle-voice was saying. But a man standing next to me said that all the Maui bags were out, and now the airport folks were loading bags from a Honolulu flight. I felt bad for my poor Sweetie. His bag never appeared! But when I walked over to him, I realized that there was a crowd of people grumbling. It was not just Sweetie’s bag that had not appeared. There were many Maui travelers with no bags. Muffle-voice, in the guise of a real human woman, left the baggage area to check it out. More bags came out and Honolulu people left the airport. The real live human woman returned, disappeared back into the ATA office, and muffle-voice reappeared to tell us something about “Sorry for the inconvenience. Mmppfff. ......fffmmmmppphhh....phhmmmff....”

Finally, over an hour after arriving at the luggage carousel, sometime around midnight, the darn thing spit out Sweetie’s suitcase and we left Oakland International, which is certainly doing nothing to lift itself from the status of “My least-favorite-airport-ever.”

We managed to squeeze in some wedding stuff on Friday. We met with a DJ in the morning. Then we tried to look for invitations, but my brain fried after a couple of hours of this task. Then! we had the fun task of starting a gift registry. I wish we had more time to spend on that. But we were masters of efficiency, I have to say. Partly because Sweetie and I have very similar tastes when it comes to the overall look and feel of household things. We are both looking for comfortable, down-to-earth stuff that is just a little notch above regular quality stuff. So, we love things like soft bathroom towels in greens or blues. But really, who doesn’t?

And Saturday morning, we were off! The trek to Utah began with a drive to Sweetie’s aunt and uncle’s house where I dumped my car off and we stuffed the trunk of their car full of bags. We were armed with music mixes ala Sweetie that included Bill Cosby, Garrison Keilor, and Genesis (the band, not the Bible book). His aunt and uncle had books on tape AND - how cool is this - old radio episodes of The Shadow from the 1930s and 40s.

“Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of man?"

"The Shadow knows....... muuuhhahahahahaha!”

Yes, we had the makings of a good road trip.

I sometimes think, if I was from Nevada, I’d be a little jealous of California’s topography. California has most everything - the low desert spots of Death Valley, the high of Mt. Whitney, the beauty of the Sierras, a coastline full of rugged hills and sandy beaches, and (where I grew up) acres and acres and acres of cropland. Orchards of almonds and pistachios, rows of grapes and artichokes, fields of hay and grazing land.

We drove on Interstate 80 through the foothills and past North Lake Tahoe and forests of pine trees. Sure, Nevada the state shares Lake Tahoe with California. But that doesn't last very long. Then we hit Reno and drove past it and across the high desert. And that’s what so much of Nevada is. High desert. Reno sits around 4,400 feet or so. It’s dry, and it seems like it only gets drier the further you go into Nevada. We drove all the way across and saw almost half a dozen wildfires burning in Nevada. There was lots of smoke. And, in two spots, the fires were big enough and close enough to the freeway that we saw the flames quite clearly. It was not a good week for fires in the west. There is beauty in the rugged peaks of Nevada’s mountains/mesas. But it looks so arid and empty, driving across it. Miles and miles of dust and sagebrush. A person can only take so much sagebrush before her eyes start to cross in her head. Or until her eyelids droop, and the enticing narration of the book-on-tape (can I call a CD a book-on-tape?) becomes as garbled as the Oakland airport loudspeaker muffle.

And so there I was, head jerking and lolling in the backseat as we wended our way to Wendover, Utah. Did you know there is a Wendover Nevada and a Wendover Utah? And did you know that Wendover Utah is in the Mountain Time zone, which is one hour ahead of the Pacific Time zone, where we had driven from? And did you know that, sometimes, the digital alarm clocks in hotel rooms in Wendover Utah are not set to Mountain, but to Pacific time? hmmmm.....

So, I was in the process of finally ordering some of our engagement photos. We had them taken a while ago, looked at them on-line, and then got swamped with work and travel and all sorts of things.

I ordered a few prints, including a couple of close-ups that I thought would work as the give-aways. The picture we send to our far-off relatives who we know won't make it to the wedding, and to our moms, etc. I got the prints, and I was not entirely happy. In one, my lazy eye is looking particularly lazy, and in the other my bra strap is peeking out. Of course, my mom says she didn't even notice these things. But last night, I ordered up a few more different prints, including one I just know will be perfect to make copies of.

Lots of the pictures are fun ones of us dunking and splashing in the river because, hey, the photographer told us to try that. For those of you who can see them (not all of you), I am even *gasp* including a couple here, even though I am sure I am violating some electronic agreement I clicked on at some point in my life, and I am now probably doomed forever. Oh well. It's three freakin' pictures, and our photographer was very nice, and I'm just trying this out. Enjoy.

OK, I have to admit it - one of the nicest things about getting married? People are genuinely happy to hear that I am getting married. And I'm not just talking about my mom and sister who have been waiting......2...4...6...10....*how many toes do I have?*...... years for me to find someone to settle down with. It goes without saying they are *ecstatic* about it. Especially since they like my Sweetie so darn much (he's a likable guy). And they understand that my years of being so dang picky have paid off.

No, not just them. My friends. His friends. Our parents' friends. The proprietors of our favorite bake shop on Maui. Granted, many of my friends had that same look in their eyes when they first handed out the congratulatory hugs. That look of "Congratulations!" (finally!) These are the patient, wonderful people who have listened to many years worth of highs and woes. Seen me fall in love, get hurt, hurt someone else, not fall in love with the person they thought was perfect for me, and all the other assorted torture we humans like to call dating.

People are genuinely happy for us. For a few minutes, as folks ask us about the wedding plans, how we met, and so on and so forth and things of that nature*, for those few minutes, it's all about US. In a positive way. And I have to admit, I kind of like it. Because hey - it's not going to happen again, and because other people seem so happy also. They make me smile. And I like it.

*anyone remember that SNL sketch? Think Governator.

Back in Northern California after a trip to Southern California. Sweetie and I flew into Los Angeles last Wednesday for a wedding. He was in the wedding, so we went down early for the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and bachelor party (not me), and all that fun stuff. We rented a car at LAX and tootled around for a few days. We visited friends in Long Beach and Ventura, in between the wedding festivities. I have to say, I got a good hotel/car rental package from Expedia.com. Both of those things (hotel and car) worked out pretty well, considering I was looking for something as cheap as possible.

The wedding was beautiful. A picture perfect sunny day in Malibu. Warm but not hot. Beautiful. The wedding was fun, and happy, and lovely. It was slightly lavish without being opulent. If that makes sense? Tasteful, beautiful, fun. It was really quite nice, and the bride and groom and their families just seemed so genuinely happy, which is very nice to see at a wedding. My Sweetie was dashingly handsome in his tux. We danced, we ate a lot of food, and we even got a couple of good ideas for our wedding. We had been thinking about what to do for a sign-in. I liked the idea of blowing up one of our engagement photos, mounting it with a big backing board, and having people sign the board. I've seen that done at a bunch of weddings. These guys turned a whole bunch of pictures into a bound book, something you can do at Snapfish, or probably any on-line photo place. Then, they had a bunch of metallic pens that people could use to sign the book, around the pictures. It was a very clever idea, very nice looking. We may try something like that!

Anyway, Sweetie flew back home today, and I flew up to Northern California. I should probably stop staring at my computer and sleep. We had a busy few days, and it will be nice to stay put for a while - no more travelin'. For now.

To keep you all up to date on my wedding vanities.

The smile: I think the WhiteStrips worked pretty well. If you can believe this, my camera has been dead for a long while, so I couldn't take my own pictures of my smile to see how my dead tooth looks. However, Sweetie says it looks good. AND, we do have over 300 engagement pictures to peruse from our engagement photographer. From what I can tell, the electronic files are not touched up. And I think my smile looks great in these pictures! So, I am very happy with the results. Sweetie is going to try them next.

I ended up not using the full box of WhiteStrips. One of the side effects is that they can make your teeth sensitive. They did. And it was driving me crazy! It was not just that my teeth were sensitive to hot or cold or touch. On their own, they just ached. And ached. I would sit at my desk rubbing my teeth as hard as I could to dull the ache. I went down to one strip a day instead of two. But they still ached. I couldn't put up with it anymore, so I just stopped. So, I guess it's pretty good that they worked even though I didn't finish the box.

My weight: Has stalled. The good thing is, I was sure I had re-gained all my weight by being back in California and not exercising. But no, I'm happy to say, I am pretty consistent. Which means, I have lost about 4 pounds since about three months ago. Considering I only wanted to lose about 10 pounds, I'm happy with the progress. I will try and get back into a exercise routine now that I am back home. And it definitely helps when I have time to cook dinner for Sweetie and me. He thinks he's losing a bit of weight just because we eat better when we are home. So, I will keep working on this. I'm totally off any food diet restrictions. I'm really crappy at staying on diets. Thankfully, I don't really have to worry about my weight, which is good because I loooove food. I am still limiting my intake of processed sugar because I think that is just a good idea all around. I eat fruit at night while watching TV instead of cookies or other snacks. And only one diet soda a day, if at all. Lots and lots of water. All in all, I think these are good habits. And they seem to be helping.

I've been a little remiss on the wedding updates. Friends, I would love to regale you with tales of wedding-planning chaos and outrageous Bridezilla behavior. Truth is, the wedding planning is going pretty smoothly. Sweetie and I got a bunch of things finalized when we were visiting California in March. We found our wedding/reception site and reserved a photographer and an officiator. Those were the biggies for me, and I promised my Sweetie I would not stress out after those things were taken care of.

OK. Well.

Not that I lied, but I think it's impossible for me to NOT stress out while planning something. But, I'm trying to keep it low-key with only the occasional Tourette's Syndrome-Like outbursts in the middle of the night.

*silence*

*wind blowing*

*chirp*

"Ack! WHO WILL MAKE THE CAKE!!!"

zzzzzz.........*chirp*

zzzz........ "CRAP! WHAT IF IT RAINS/IS OVER 100-DEGREES/IS WINDY/STARTS RAINING GREEN TOADS!?!!?!"

Anyway, in between stress attacks, we get more progress completed. I found my dress and found bridesmaids dresses. We've figured out colors (sort of) and talked to a florist and a DJ. And we are trying to finalize guest lists and addresses and trying to figure out what the groom wants for his grooms cake. All in all, not bad.

Sorry I don't have any juicy gossip or tales of woe. It's amazing to read some of the stories on the wedding websites that are out there. Women who fight with their future in-laws, women who scream at wedding consultants, women who get shafted by their caterers, a woman who is pissed at the world because no one likes her red wedding dress. So, I guess what I'm saying is: I could be worse! My little stress attacks don't seem so bad compared to all that, right?

By the way, you can take a Bridezilla quiz here:

http://www.we.tv/uploads/Bridezillas2006/quiz/bridezilla_quiz.html

My Results are below. I don't know if I quite agree. I think I'm slightly more Bridezilla-y than that, but maybe someday, someone will be able to call me serene.

You are a:

SKILLED NEGOTIATOR

You’ve found the perfect balance between practical and whimsical for your big day. You envision your wedding as an elegant event on a grand scale, but are careful not to lose the romance and tradition of the day. You are a level-headed negotiator, able to handle unexpected bumps in the road without losing your cool. Your serenity in the face of possible chaos will diffuse the situation and leave your wedding day a splendid celebration for everyone involved.

Image from: http://images.stonegirlblog.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/orig/RyQ9CQoKCtcAAEawc2w311/1.gif?et=EOUwWv%2BLPe95%2Byxn4B84tQ

Nothing too exciting here. We cleaned house all day today. All day. Much cleaning. Did I mention we have a crapload of red dust on Maui?? We cleaned for hours, and there is still dust in the house. But the carpets are cleaner, the shelves are cleaner, the windows (some of them) are cleaner, the towels are cleaner, the dishes are cleaner. Feels good (after I finally showered).

Also, Sweetie hung up almost all the pictures we had lying around since I moved here in August. They've been leaning against walls for months, but the walls are finally adorned. The house is looking lived-in and clean. Not bad for a day's work!

We had so much fun on Friday! We had some engagement photos taken. We met the photographer at the Iao Valley and followed him around posing for pictures at all sorts of spots. It was so much fun!! We were at a beautiful spot here on the island, the photographer spent over two hours with us, and we got to be models for a day.

I'm a model! (I say this picturing Carrie in Sex and the City’s episode “The Real Me”, right before she falls flat on her face on the runway). Thankfully, I didn't fall flat on my face. But it was really a lot of work! Our photographer was really excited about trying out the area for good photo spots, so he took a ton of pictures. He had us pose by trees, tall grasses, rocks, streams, and more trees. I ended up in the stream, by myself, trying to lounge back on two rocks while looking off in the trees and dabbling my bare foot in the stream. Ha! It was hard work! Especially trying to listen to his directions over the sound of the stream.

"You want my left leg forward?!" "No?" "Back more?!" "What??" "Twist WHICH WAY??"

"Whatdaya mean lean ALL the way back?!" "What?!"

Whew! Who knew posing was such a hard job? We both ended up in the stream at the end. In? Yes, in. So much for bringing along my extra makeup and a brush!! Not necessary!

But we had such a blast!

But alas, I fell back to reality on Saturday as both of us ended up working. No, I won't quit my day job to try out for America's Next Top Model. Not because I didn't enjoy being in front of the camera for a day (which is crazy for me because I MUCH prefer to be behind the camera than in front - hence my lack of self-pics around here). Not because I didn't have fun trying to contort my body in all sorts of ways, while trying to look natural. But, I don't think I'm cut out for this because - ouch! - my muscles were sore! Geez. Calves, legs, arms. Sore! I swear we didn't hike around for more than half a mile, but it takes too much muscle to hold still for so long. Who would've thought?

So, back to reality. And a clean house. And an office job. Not bad that.

Holy Crap! I'm going to be a bride!

There are just certain connections that my brain makes very, very slowly.

Like, when a friend of mine was moving out of town. I was very supportive. I was excited about potential new opportunities for him. I thought it was interesting. Then, a couple of days before he left, I realized "If he moves *there*, that means he will no longer live *here.*" And suddenly I didn't like the idea so much anymore. I never thought in terms of him not being in the same town as me.

So, my mind has been full of wedding, wedding, wedding. I'm comfortable with the idea of the wedding. I'm actually having a great time planning with my Sweetie. But today, with just me standing up there on top of the cheesy round dais at the bridal store, it suddenly hit me - being the female member of this wedding means - I am going to be a bride. Ack! Who'da thunk it?

It only really hit when one sales lady let me try on a veil to go with a dress. I've tried on clothes before in stores. Do it all the time. 'Course, not usually long, white, evening-gown looking dresses with a train, but hey - clothes are clothes right? But stick a comb on top of my non-coiffed head, with a veil on it no less, and my brain short circuits.

"What is the ridiculous thing on the top of my head?!"

*zap*

Hooray! We have found a place for the wedding. I, if you can imagine this, am very pleased. We found a great place with a Saturday available at a reasonable price. And we said “Sign us up!”

We probably called about 15 to 20 venues. We visited about nine places. We seriously considered two. The decision wasn’t too hard, and I think we are both quite happy with where we ended up. Today, I called the photographer to book his time. Those were the two big things in my mind - venue and photographer.

Sweetie flew back home yesterday, and I am hanging out here for a while. Partially to get some more things accomplished (dress anyone?) and partially because we figured out that this week must correspond with the beginning of Spring Break. Because - wo! - those ticket prices went waaaaay up this week. I can usually find a one-way ticket from $129 to $180 or so. But not this week. All the prices were $500 to $1,100. Hey, how ‘bout that nice California weather? Yeah, I think I’ll stick around for a while. I might shop around a bit more for florists.

I have to admit to being a typical engaged person in one regard - I want to lose a tiny bit of weight before the wedding. Just a tiny bit. My mom asked me tonight “Where can you lose weight from?!” But she should understand because she and I are both slightly apple-shaped, so any fat we do carry is right on our stomachs. I barely have thighs and hips, but my pants are starting to feel not-so-comfy, and I know I’ve been flip-flopping on my weight. I lost some weight at the end of last year. But then the holidays - and many visitors out to Maui, which meant several visits to Alexander’s (yum!) and the Maui Bake Shop (yum yum!). And, with visitors coming, and us leaving, my exercise regime is toast. So, I gained back everything I lost, and then some. And I need to keep exercising regularly because I really do enjoy it, when I discipline myself enough to get off the couch and jump on my lateral thigh trainer at home. But hey, I have Buffy Season 7 waiting at home for me to re-watch while I exercise. Now that’s a good incentive! My modest goal is to lose 10 pounds. I have about six months. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Hooray! We have found a place for the wedding. I, if you can imagine this, am very pleased. We found a great place with a Saturday available at a reasonable price. And we said “Sign us up!”

We probably called about 15 to 20 venues. We visited about nine places. We seriously considered two. The decision wasn’t too hard, and I think we are both quite happy with where we ended up. Today, I called the photographer to book his time. Those were the two big things in my mind - venue and photographer.

Sweetie flew back home yesterday, and I am hanging out here for a while. Partially to get some more things accomplished (dress anyone?) and partially because we figured out that this week must correspond with the beginning of Spring Break. Because - wo! - those ticket prices went waaaaay up this week. I can usually find a one-way ticket from $129 to $180 or so. But not this week. All the prices were $500 to $1,100. Hey, how ‘bout that nice California weather? Yeah, I think I’ll stick around for a while. I might shop around a bit more for florists.

I have to admit to being a typical engaged person in one regard - I want to lose a tiny bit of weight before the wedding. Just a tiny bit. My mom asked me tonight “Where can you lose weight from?!” But she should understand because she and I are both slightly apple-shaped, so any fat we do carry is right on our stomachs. I barely have thighs and hips, but my pants are starting to feel not-so-comfy, and I know I’ve been flip-flopping on my weight. I lost some weight at the end of last year. But then the holidays - and many visitors out to Maui, which meant several visits to Alexander’s (yum!) and the Maui Bake Shop (yum yum!). And, with visitors coming, and us leaving, my exercise regime is toast. So, I gained back everything I lost, and then some. And I need to keep exercising regularly because I really do enjoy it, when I discipline myself enough to get off the couch and jump on my lateral thigh trainer at home. But hey, I have Buffy Season 7 waiting at home for me to re-watch while I exercise. Now that’s a good incentive! My modest goal is to lose 10 pounds. I have about six months. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?