New Profile Pix

Yes, I should be working... but you're seeing how that is going.

I have taken the time to update my profile pix. It's my avatar from my Skype account.

If you can see "me" I've got my tiara, my latte, and my iPod. I'm set to take on the world!

In other more important news:

We're in Denver today for the funeral. I'm at the dining room table trying to finish up some stuff so that I can in good conscience end my work week. We leave for the cemetery at 1pm (our time) and I've been told to expect about 400 people. Can I just say... 400!!! I would be so overwhelmed (as the family) but what an amazing testament to how well liked and respected Mr. B was. After the service we will head home and the across the street to the post funeral hang out at the house. Thank heavens for sunscreen, it's bright and 80 here today.

I just wish my darned allergies would calm down. The medicine I'm taking makes me feel a bit spacey. (more so than normal.)

Real life & the wedding

Let me get the fun stuff out of the way...

Wedding Invitations - mailed! I'm getting word that some local folks have already seen their 'tation. We are feeling badly about a couple - got word that an out of town friend is splitting with their spouse but they are still living together and are technically still married. The invite still goes to "Mr. & Mrs." but ouch. On the same day the invites were mailed we got word that one of the in-laws dearest friends had suddenly passed away. (more on that in the 'real life portion of this post.) In thinking about it - if it were me I would rather receive an invitation for Mr. & Mrs. TPgal vs. Mrs. TPgal if the timing of the departure of Mr. TPgal was so very unfortunate as to coincide with the arrival of any invitation. I am aware that our wedding invitation is a trivial concern to this family, but I don't think being concerned with the etiquette is out of line.

The Wedding Dress - my first fitting was this morning. (THANK YOU YAZ for coming!) I was having anxiety that the dress as purchased in November wouldn't fit or wouldn't still be loved. Alas... wrong on all counts. In fact, the darn thing doesn't need to be hemmed or anything. The dress maker is taking it in a little in the back so that it "lays perfectly" across my shoulders but that's it. I was going to have a key element changed, but upon consulting my fashonista advisor we..I opted to leave it as is. Classic, pretty and super "bridey". I will go back at the end of August and provided the minor adjustments are perfect I will get to bring it home.

Honeymoon - in as much as I'm looking forward to our wedding day, I am equally anticipating our honeymoon. We're going to explore the Washington Wine country in Walla Walla and then make our way to the Canadian Rockies. We have reservations all over and just booked a fabulous spa experience at the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel. I'm eagerly awaiting the 9 days we will spend without phones, work, alarms or 'work clothes'. Packing scares me a bit because we'll need casual clothes for our outings during the day, glacier hiking, exploring the countryside and then some nice things for our evenings in. We have a reservation at a swanky place at the Chateau Lake Louise so I picked up a HOT blue dress for that evening. I must look good for my new husband.

Pre-Wedding Pastoral Sessions - We finished our pre-wedding meetings with Pastor Kirby this week. I'm so glad we made the time to do this. Not only will Pastor K be able to speak about who we really are and how thankful we are to have found each other, but we explored some serious stuff about how to make a marriage work. The key is 'work'. Talking, communicating, owning your own crap (those are Kirby's words) and being a good friend. I can't suggest that our relationship is perfect, but it was a nice validation that we didn't discover any red flags or any new areas in which we don't have common ground during this deep dive into potential marital land mines.

So you thing you can't dance?- I really wanted to take dance lessons before the big party, but when it comes down to trying to schedule time to learn a cute dance for Jason and I to debut on our wedding day it just isn't practical. We will sway to the music and look each other in the eye. If you're expecting a huge Taiwanese Prison Camp production number, please be prepared for disappointment. We will take a few practice spins around the living room to take the edge off, but don't expect any lifts.

Onto real life. We were (are) so sad to hear that Mr. B passed away Monday. Mr. & Mrs. B have been Jason's neighbors since before he was born (I think). They are kind people who have been true friends to my future in-laws. I can't imagine how hard it would be to lose a dear friend so suddenly. Both of Jason's parents are extremely bummed out so Jason and I have decided to go to Denver for the service. Mr. B was 82, active and had a lovely spirit. I'm expecting the funeral to be a celebration of his impact on those he loved. It will be likely less attended than the Michael Jackson funeral, but that's a good thing in my opinion.

I hope our going provides some comfort to Jason's mom & dad and that our inept words of condolence to Mrs. B are able to convey the honor of having known him.

Our first 4th

Plans were up in the air for the 4th for quite a while. With Jason on call a long weekend away wasn't really an option. In the end we drove to Long Beach for a quick visit with June & the family Saturday. Sunday we came home, checked in with the work stuff, then went to the Duran Duran concert with Yaz and MC.

We did a lot of driving, but enjoyed our time. I felt badly about keeping Jason away from his wonderful family whom he normally spends time with on the 4th - but he seemed to enjoy the activities at the beach. In the city you don't really get to blow things up - but at the beach all bets are off.

Sunday, the driveway at June's parents house looked like a war zone with shrapnel and tiny plastic parachute men everywhere. I personally don't need to blow things up and am somewhat happy to sit back and watch others play with fire. The kids holding the torches and 'roman candle' type things was outside my comfort zone, but with both sets of parents in attendance I held my tongue. I"m often dismissed as the "safety girl" so I say my peace and then I'm done unless death is imminent.

Here's a small sample of what our at home fireworks show was all about. (this video was taken on my fancy new iPhone - fun!)

er... can I get some wranglers with that baby?

I was (avoiding work) and zipping through the critical updates to Facebook and found pictures of someones new baby. (Cute, pink, tiny - flat out adorable.)

However, her name left me wondering if it was a joke? Ava Montgomery Ward.

Maybe the Montgomery Ward company has been out of business so long that only us old (40!?) folks remember it. The one I remember in Olympia had an actual soda counter. We would go and get ice cream before buying our cheap crap.

Actually, in reviewing this strangers page I see a lot of M. middle names in the people lists so I'm assuming it is a family name and she just happened to marry a "Ward".

It's more "everywhere" than Santa

From Passive Aggressive Photos on Flickr

The note reads L

if you take anything from here... I know about it. (because I am everywhere)
- the holy spirit

Yes, that would stop me from taking your ding dong out of your lunch bag in the work fridge.


Here's another one...

It doesn't compute

We picked up the wedding wine last night and had an incident with the wine steward at Fred Meyer. (My dreams of a custom vintage bottled just for us vanished with the reality that we aren't in the position to live it up like Donald Trump.)

We've tasted lots of value priced wine and found some that we actually like and are drinking at home. Then, just as we landed on this wine, it went on sale at Fred Meyer. By on sale I mean more than $4 off per bottle, so we ordered the four cases we'll need to supplement the beer, champagne and booze we're having trucked in from Colorado. (Seriously, folks - get a hotel room and take the shuttle to and from the party!)

Fred Meyer, like most places will give you 10% off when you buy 6 or more. Actually, their posted signage says "buy 6 in the Fred Meyer travel bags and get 10% off" We calculated the price of the wine and came up with one price. Last night when we went to purchase our wine the price written on the cases was more than we anticipated. (Not more, like no food for the baby more, but it didn't add up.)

We asked to have the wine steward paged and he came out and tried to explain. His math went like this:

Fred Meyer Cost + 10% on all custom ordered cases.

Our math went like this:
Posted price - 10% - per the signage in the store.

Turns out that the Fred Meyer cost and the sale price were EXTREMELY close together and thus the difference between +10% and -10% was noticeable. We asked where the custom order pricing information was posted (as it wasn't explained when we ordered it) and the WS got irritated with us.

So then we asked, what do we have to do to get the posted price for the wine? His solution was to unbox the wine, put them in the cloth 6 pack carriers and purchase them that way. So, for less money we didn't get the boxes from the winery (which were free) but got the custom made cloth bags (which Fred Meyer paid for.) Strange.

We unboxed the wine, used eight of the wine carriers and got our discount. We opted NOT to ask a clerk at the check out for boxes instead went to the liquor store and picked up new boxes.

We may use the wine carrier bags as party favors for the wedding.

I would order wine again from Fred Meyer as the cost +10% pricing is reasonable - but I would check on the price before ordering. Had we known this was the scenario we would have just pulled the wine off the shelf.

it's all about me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finished assembling the wedding invitations Sunday, while we watched a painful movie about a marriage. It might not have been the best karma to throw onto the invites, but I'm hopeful that we can take it as a lesson in what NOT to do. (Revolutionary Road - KateWinslet & Leo DiCaprio) I think a key message is don't disclose a deep dark indiscretion like "I've always hated you" or "I've been sleeping with your mother" 10 minutes before dinner guests arrive.

We'll mail the invitations after the holiday and there will be no turning back at that point. Actually, since we've paid the caterer for the Baron of beef, salmon and chicken - so there's no turning back now. Neither of us want to, but it is a big milestone to drop the invitations in the mail. They are packaged up all nice and neat. Seeing them on the shelf brings me joy.

Jason & I have been talking quite a bit about marriage and our chances for long term success. We agree that any marriage that implodes (see Jon & Kate, Britney Spears & Kevin whatshisname) is tragic, but we shouldn't fear failure, but seek a continual flow of communication and respect. (are you gagging yet?) I don't think the time we spend talking about how we'll keep this little union of ours on track is wasted. The rules of engagement have come in handy during our couple moments of aggravation - his knowing that I need a moment to form the correct words has been very beneficial. I do at times say the wrong thing and need to step back to get to the root of my point - especially when frustrated or feeling unsteady. We are (maybe blindly) optimistic that ours is the marriage that will be sustainable until we are ancient, old and saggy - but that optimism feels great. I'm thankful that there aren't any nagging thoughts of "ooh, are you SURE this is the right move?"

But - back to the point. Things are on track and I'm spending way more time in "wedding mode" than I thought that I would. Some of this is due to the first of the serious and official pre-event events. A small, but lovely soiree in the back yard of a dear friend. We are honored and humbled that folks want to celebrate our good luck and happiness at finding each other.

I know there's been lots of other news to comment on: have you heard that Michael Jackson died, or that yelling guy who pitches the ShamWow!? Bernie Madoff got 150 years in prison - good for him. Enjoy the chipped "beef" on toast - you dream stealing mof0!

iSaturday

So, here we are again at the Apple Store in Bellevue - so it must be Saturday.

We ran into Janie & Mr. Janie again and we're waiting for Jason's appointment with the Geniuses (Geni?) to look at his wifi.  I think it is a weak attempt to claim the phone is broken so he can get the fancy NEW iPhone.  I wouldn't EVER tell him that to his face, because I'm nice and sweet.  (so he thinks.)

We will eventually make our way to the land of women so I can get my icky toes re-painted.  I'm trying not to be whiny about hanging out in the store considering he is going to have to entertain himself for more than an hour while I undergo maintenance.

It's too bad that there's no "spas" in walking distance of my hotel in San Jose.  That would be the perfect time to pamper the Terri.  

oh well.... we've moved from 4th to 3rd on the list, which means our (oooh, now we're #2!) 11:50 am appointment is right on time.  Too bad we got here at 10:30!