The Beauty and the Mess

And now....a long update!

My bridal shower on Saturday almost didn't happen. I've mentioned that my mom recently remodeled their entire house, which included new carpet and new kitchen tile. I arrived about an hour early, and my mom mentioned a lot of gurgling coming from the refrigerator. We moved it out from the wall to see what it was, and water started gushing out from under the fridge, heading toward the newly carpeted dining room. We set up a barrier of towels, then frantically ran to get neighbors, who brought a Shop-Vac and turned off the water line at the curb. It turned out that the tile guys had run over the water-line hose when they pushed the fridge back in place, and there was a hole in it. The neighbor fixed it easily and turned the water back on. (We later took them party leftovers as a thank-you.) It was a close one. :\ God was taking care of us, though.

The party was great. Lots of friends came, including Robin, who was so sweet and gave me an array of towels. I'm excited to have them. Yay towels! :) Debra did a fantastic job hosting, which was even more impressive since she had done all the planning herself. I've been a bridesmaid four times now and I don't think I could handle a shower all alone! We watched the slide show Kathy's mom put together. Then we played the traditional shower games, plus Pin The Kiss On Clay Aiken (for those who haven't seen the photos). :D The food was excelente. My mom made sausage cheese balls, which I hadn't had in years. They're SO good. Kathy's mom couldn't be there, but she sent a gift - a Crock-Pot! She had given the same one to Kathy right before her wedding, so she says this is her way of replacing my Crock-Pot. LOL! Anyway, it was great to spend time with so many friends in one room.

After the shower everyone took off except for Myla, and we hung out and talked for a couple of hours. Then she went home and my mom, sister, and I went to see The Terminal at the second-run theater. To me, it was just as much of an experience the second time. I am excessively touched by that movie, and I'm not sure why. I don't think anyone else has been affected by it the way I have. Maybe it's just Tom Hanks, because Cast Away produces similar feelings. That one is sadder, though.

On Sunday morning Evan had to work, so I went to church without him. :( It was Communion Sunday (we have Communion once a month), and instead of having a whole sermon, my pastor did a communion meditation about Jesus as the Living Bread. It was neat. I wish I hadn't been so sleepy, so I could have concentrated better. After church a bunch of us went to Huey's, and then I went to my parents' to hang out for a while. When Evan was done with everything, he came over to get me and we went ring shopping! We ended up buying the bands we'd looked at at Gordon's - titanium for him, white gold for me. We considered a diamond band for me (it was so pretty) but agreed that it wasn't practical, given our financial situation. Maybe for our tenth anniversary. To celebrate, he took me to dinner at Firebirds. It was very nice. :)

We went to Wal-Mart after dinner to get some paint samples. In the tradition of Wal-Mart injuries started by Danielle, I slipped and fell in the rainy parking lot. At first I thought my foot was broken because it hurt so much. Evan wanted to carry me to the car, but I was afraid he'd fall too, so he brought the car around to get me. We sat examining my foot until we determined that it was okay- just a bruise and some swelling. Yesterday I was still hobbling a little, but today it's mostly better. I'm not up to doing aerobics yet, though. No hopping for a while.

My Current Mood has not changed since yesterday. I just want to sleep and sleep and sleep. Maybe I need more vitamins. Tomorrow the VP from Beverly Hills is coming for two days, so I have to look perky. :P

Happy birthday to my cat Gandalf, who is two years old today. I'm planning to give him an extra cat treat. :) Today is also my three-year anniversary at work, for which God gets all the praise. I was hired the day after Labor Day, 2001, exactly one week before 9/11. After the attacks my mother was convinced I would get laid off - last one in, first one out. At another company it might have happened, but I'm still here. Yay God.

This weekend was good. My mom and I met with the florist and really liked her. She just sent me a quote and it's a little high, but I'm going to discuss it with my dad. (Hey, recently married people, any advice on what's average as far as flower costs?) Evan and I went to see Garden State and were impressed. There's plenty of language and not-good stuff, but the overall plot was interesting and managed to be funny, thoughtful, and touching at the same time. The only place it was playing was Studio on the Square, where all the artsy films go, so we saw a bunch of previews for other artsy movies, and now we want to see those too. There's one coming out about a club of existentialists. It looks hilarious.

Saturday was relaxing, and then in the evening Evan, Myla, my old high school friend Kristin, and I went to Wang's for dinner. Then we came back to the apartment and watched Beauty and the Beast. This meant we didn't listen to our football game, which was a shame because the Tigers beat Ole Miss for the second year in a row! This is going to be an awesome season. GO TIGERS GO! (Sorry, Danielle!) On Sunday we took care of some registry stuff and looked at wedding bands. We went to Gordon's, where the people are much nicer, and we'll probably go back and make our purchases there. They had a diamond band for me that was MUCH cheaper than the one at Kay. :) Later we went out to Luke and Myla's and spent a happy night eating and watching Brother Bear. It was Ryan's choice and I actually liked it, but seriously, what does it say about us that we watch so many Disney films? Don't answer that. Anyway, I was glad to have so much friend-time.

Yesterday was Kathy's birthday, so I went to her party at her parents' house. Then I went to my parents'. They're in the process of a massive remodeling and were painting the living room. Unfortunately, my dad doesn't like the new decor, so the atmosphere there wasn't so great. I tried to leave, but that only made them madder, so I ended up lying low until the painting was done. Personally, I think the new colors are awesome. They're using the exact shade of sage green that Evan and I want for our kitchen and bathroom. We're going to paint in October when it's cool enough to open the windows. I can't wait to make the apartment look nicer.

I've mentioned this before, but my work building is also being remodeled. For about a week now they've been doing stuff on the roof. They have an actual truck up there, and they keep driving it back and forth right over our heads. The ceiling visibly bounces every time. Last month, they were working under us on the first floor and kept jamming stuff into the ceiling/floor, so it felt and sounded like we were about to get stabbed from below. I feel so safe. :P Oh, and this week I probably won't be on LJ as much. I have all-day meetings tomorrow and Thursday for training on our new database. So don't fear that the truck has fallen on me.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I've gotten a lot of e-cards and paper cards from you guys. Thanks. :) I'm trying to be reconciled to the fact that I am now 25 and in an entirely new demographic. I'm now officially too old to be on The Real World. On the other hand, I don't have to pay insane car insurance bills anymore.

It was nice to have a long weekend. On Friday night we went over to Luke and Myla's to watch the Olympic opening ceremonies and had a nice time. Saturday was a long day. I shopped for various things with my mom and sister (we found my wedding shoes!) and spent some time singing with my brother while he practiced his guitar. After a lot of phone discussion with Myla, she and I decided not to go to the Derek Webb concert since the details were getting more and more sketchy. Instead, we went to see Edwin McCain, who was playing at a place nearby. It was fun to hang out, just us girls, but the concert pretty much consisted of us standing up for four hours waiting to hear "I'll Be." I thought I knew more of his stuff, but the aforementioned song and "I Could Not Ask For More" were the only ones I recognized. I liked watching his woodwind player, though - the guy had a tenor sax, a bari sax, and some sort of electronic clarinet, and he was awesome on all of them.

The next day I was completely exhausted, so after church and lunch, I took a long nap. In the evening, my mom, Debra, Evan, Ryan, Alli, and I ventured down to Graceland for the Elvis candlelight vigil. We had a good time. The whole thing was my mom's idea, so I did various things to appease her, like get my picture taken with several Elvises, and get one of those airbrush tattoos (it's mostly gone now). We talked to all kinds of people. Alli asked everyone where they were from. It was muy interesante. When we'd had enough, we all went to Perkins for pie. Our waiter was a vegan and kept responding to our orders with "I've heard that's good, but I'm a vegan, so I wouldn't know." Okay.

I got to sleep in on my birthday morning! I went to the DMV to renew my driver's license, but had to leave after two hours of waiting because I was meeting Kathy, Casey, and MaryElaine for lunch. I was really irritated. However, my friends and my McAlister's tea made everything better. Kathy gave me a Barnes & Noble giftcard, along with Pride & Prejudice "so you'll finally read it!" Yes, I'm sure it comes as a shock to many of you that I've never read P&P, especially since I lived with its biggest fan for seven years. I guess it's time to change my ways. Anyway, after lunch I tried again to renew my license online, and it finally worked! With that off my mind, I went thrift shopping. I only found one dress, but it was fun just to go since I never get to anymore.

After that, I went to my parents', and we all went to dinner at Red Lobster. My brother entertained us with stories of his friends. Our waitress was really nice and brought a dessert. We ended the day by watching the men's gymnastic finals. :) It was a nice birthday, but I felt a little bummed and didn't really know why. I guess birthdays aren't as special when you're planning a wedding. Or when you get old. Or spoiled. :P

Anyway, I have to go work now. More interesting stuff tomorrow.

I can't think of an appropriate lead-in, so I'll just start talking.

( Long rundown of my weekend )

Now I'm tired of typing.

I miss Helen, because she'd also find our new receptionist situation at work annoying. Our nice receptionists were removed from the entrances about a month ago and moved to building C, where they just field calls. Instead of Lois, who was always sweet and pleasant to talk to, there's a professional security guard in a suit sitting at the front desk every day. He's nice enough, but twice a day he demands to see my name badge. (I should point out that our badges also serve as keys, meaning you can't open the door without one.) It's gotten kind of ridiculous, to the point that he calls people by name and asks to see their badges. The only way to placate him is to keep my badge clipped to the outside of my purse at all times, which is 1) unsafe when I'm out in public and 2) increasing the chances of losing my badge, in which case I will probably never get into the office again. :P

Now that I've vented about that, I'm ready to share the official Wedding Lineup! ( Blathering - here's a cut for the uninterested. )

Gosh, I could go on for quite a while about other wedding things, but how much can you guys take? Plus, I probably ought to find work to do. I already feel bad about my wedding fixation during work hours.

There has been an abundance of food at my office this week. The architects in my department had a vendor come today to give a presentation, and he brought a huge Italian lunch. The guys are all still talking about it. It reminded me of this...

Phoebe: There's a whole table of mini-muffin baskets. Which one did you send?
Ross: The small one.
Rachel: What? You actually thought that basket was gonna get you the apartment?
Ross: Well, yeah! Someone sent us a basket at work once, and people went crazy over those little muffins. It was the best day!
Chandler: Your work makes me sad.

Today is my Friday since I'm taking off tomorrow for the wedding festivities. Tonight we're taking Emily to Tunica for her bachelorette party. We're meeting up with some other people there...it should be interesting. I'm not a fan of gambling, so my slots limit is one dollar. :P Tomorrow is the bridesmaid luncheon, and then the rehearsal dinner (to which Evan is invited, yay!). Then Saturday is the wedding- it's going to be great. I'm excited! The only sad part about it all is that when it's over, Em will be moving to Washington DC, even further away from us. :( But we'll get to visit her and Daniel, I hope.

I need to delete my whole LJ bio and just write, "Weddings. Friends. Books. Fashion. Evan." That's all I talk about here. Well, I should stop apologizing for it. This is me. I might as well accept my fluffiness. :P :)

What a weekend! I had a pretty fun one. On Friday night Evan and I ate at McAlister's and then went to see Shrek 2. It was GREAT- I liked it even better than the first one! I laughed so hard. The only annoying thing was a guy sitting behind us who was pretending to have a mental/behavioral problem- he laughed weirdly and yelled weird things throughout the movie. I thought he really had a problem, so I tried hard not to be annoyed, but Evan saw/heard signs that he was just being a jerk. What possesses people to do things like that? Anyway, it was a great movie, and I highly recommend it if you need to laugh this week.

On Saturday I mostly sat around and read Shopaholic Takes Manhattan. Coincidentally I also watched Maid In Manhattan, which Kathy has on DVD. It was terrible. Kathy came home late in the afternoon, and we made a run to Garden Ridge together. Then she, Evan, and I went to a Chinese dinner with Helen and Andy, one of our Beverly Hills co-workers who was here for the weekend. (I'm told he's maxdank on LJ, but he doesn't post.) We had a great, funny time. My fortune cookie fortune said, "Your romantic fantasies are about to come true," to which Evan responded "No pressure there" when everyone turned to look at him. :) Then I had to say goodbye to Helen (she's moving), which was sad. Then the three of us went home, and Evan and I played Scrabble on the new deluxe set I got from Helen. It was fun having the letters stay in place instead of moving every time someone added a word.

Sunday we had church, went to lunch at Abner's, and then to Ryan's apartment to go swimming again. This week there were a lot more teenies in the pool area, so we got tired of it sooner than usual. Later we went to the new Super Target by his place, which I have avoided, lest my Target addiction take control of me. But the guys were there to keep me safe. :) All I bought were a few liters of their new sparkling flavored water. It doesn't sound that great, but I promise you, it's good. So far I've tried Tangerine Lime, White Grape, and Wild Cherry. It's calorie free, but I can't tell. Try some today! *cheesy commercial grin*

Today has been interesting so far. Evan's brakes blew out while I was on my lunch break and I went to help him. He said he might post about it, so I'll let him tell the story. Needless to say, it could have been a lot worse, even though it's never fun to have your vehicle break down.

( Here are a few pictures. )

It's a pretty good day - one of those days when I like my job. I had a problem earlier with a hotel opening, and my boss stepped in and expertly took care of the situation. Now I know I need to be more forceful with these people. Also, we had a fun lunch at Huey's today, and I got to ride in Helen's new car and discuss work things with her. I'll be sad when she moves in a couple of weeks!

I'm debating buying a new CD walkman. I have two cheap ones- one for walking and one for the car (I mistakenly thought one of them was dead and bought another). But I used to have a nice radio tuner/CD player for walking, which really did stop working. Now that I'm walking so much, I'm getting sick of my CDs. Radio would be helpful if only for variety. I just received some unexpected money and I'm trying to decide whether to spend it on this, or something else, or save it.

You know, tithing is really important. God promises in Malachi to bless us if we tithe and even says, "Test me in this." I've been giving a little more at church lately, which has made me nervous, but somehow my needs are still more than provided for. I know it's not a coincidence. :)

Tonight I'm turning down two potentially beneficial events to sit at home with the guys and watch American Idol. I feel guilty.

My Caedmon's Call Chronicles CD finally came in the mail yesterday. I ordered it three weeks ago. Yay!

This "Life Soundtrack" thing was going around a while ago, so I saved it and have been working on it over time. It's finally done. I altered the options a little bit because some of them were repetitive, and some seemed like they should be included but weren't. Have fun! ( The music in the background )

I'm back! I was without a computer from yesterday until about 11 am today. It was a long morning...it looks to be a long afternoon, too. I got to leave a little early yesterday since there was nothing for us to do, so I headed to the library. They have a new discards bookstore that I'd never been in because it's only open in the daytime. Well, it's awesome! I got several books for a few dollars (including A Severe Mercy, which I've wanted to read forever) and a Chris Rice CD for one dollar. Woo hoo!

Tonight a girl from the RUF New Class is having a cookout. Casey and Alli told me about it and assured me that Evan and I were invited, so we're going to go. It should be fun, although we're pretty out of touch with their group. Our friend Chris is forever talking to me about these RUF girls as if I know them, and I have to remind him I don't have a clue who he's talking about. It's strange to be old. :) Speaking of Chris, the other day after church we were talking about kids' names and we decided he should name his future son Walker. Because Walker Texas Ranger Jones is the coolest name ever! I think you'd have to know Chris to understand why that's so funny.

My hands are hurting from typing a bunch of labels on the typewriter earlier. Someone came by and said, "It's funny to see someone using one of those things." Good grief, is it that primitive? I typed all my high school papers (and stories) on my Smith-Corona. I didn't have a PC until I was in college. Sigh.

Okay, done crowding your friends page now. :)

I feel good (na na na na na na na) today. The weather is so nice and more things are blooming. There's a dogwood tree near my work that I keep meaning to take a picture of. I can do it tomorrow, since I was informed earlier that our office will be closing at 2! :) I almost feel guilty for being in such a good mood today. It's Maundy Thursday- I'm supposed to be somber. Sunday is for happiness.

My orchestra practice last night was wack. I came straight from work and then had to sit there for an hour while the choir rehearsed. (They're singing "Were You There" and it gave me chills...I can't wait to hear it in the service.) Finally they allowed us to come practice the song we're doing with them, and then we had to practice our own song. I got home at 8:30, very irritated. The cool thing about the night was that Kristin and Amy, the other two flutes, gave me a flute stand! They wanted us all to match for our trio in a few weeks. Kristin said they don't let just anybody into the "Flute Stand Club." I feel loved. :) Since joining the band (a year ago!) I feel much more plugged in at the church. Yay for serving!

I had lunch with my friend Rachel today and it was great. She's such a cool person. She's a little younger than me and really involved in RUF, so she updated me on the latest happenings in the group. Stuff like that makes me feel old, but in a good way, now. :) I'll see her again tonight at communion service. Traditionally we have pie afterward, but I have to get home for The Apprentice, which is far more addictive than pie. Oh, did anyone see the Omarosa sketch on SNL last week? Where things kept falling on her head? Hilarious.

Almost every day, I check my Amazon wishlist to see if there are any really low used prices. The problem is, even if you find a book for, say, $1.60 (like today), by the time you add shipping it's over $5. Which is not so ridiculously cheap. Sigh. Also, why can I not find green flip-flops anywhere? Has anyone seen any? Okay, now I'm just babbling. Sorry. :)