Day 72

No wedding stuff other than being irked when I got home last night that there were no responses in my mailbox. =P It's still been all rental all the time, but today is the last day. Thank God! I'll probably be ordering some stuff this weekend and really going through my lists. On Saturday I also have to pick up Steph's bridesmaid dress so Myles can send it out to her in Hawaii on Monday. Man, I just really need to go through my list and get it all taken care of. =P

Day 73

There was actually a teeny bit of wedding stuff today. On my lunch hour, I managed to find the car coin bank that I saw and wanted to get for Kevin's ringbearer present. Misty found a couple too and sent me the links. I'm okay with all of them, so I'll probably show them to Myles this weekend and just let him choose which one. Race car, train, tractor... =P I also talked briefly to Myles last night and asked him if I could buy a few things this weekend and get them out of the way. He said yes with no complaint. =) Was a nice change. I think he's realizing how close the wedding is getting and that I really do have to get this stuff done. I think I'll run into less resistance with him about wedding stuffs from here on out.

And another thing...I wish people would hurry up and send their freaking response cards back. LOL The sooner I get them all back (HA! Like I'll get ALL of them back) the sooner Myles and I will know how many people will be at the reception, which translates into how much moolah we have to spend. =P

That's all for now, folks!

Day 74

I thought a lot about the wedding in general today, but didn't actually do anything. I had a few meetings at work today and I had to leave for a while in the afternoon to go and let the carpet installers into the Salem rental. Yeah, they were pretty dang late. They didn't even finish today and will be coming back tomorrow. I need to get some stuff done and ordered...cake topper, paper for place cards, flower girl gifts, bridesmaid and maid of honor gifts, ring bearer gift, etc. I'm not going to go over it with Myles until this weekend, though, since he's going to be pretty consumed with Salem this week. And so am I from now until Thursday evening. But after it's done...it's wedding all the way!!! =)

Day 77, 76 and 75

No wedding stuff. Didn't even think about it. Friday, Saturday and Sunday (today) were all about the Salem Street rental. Went over there on Friday night and ended up with David and Myles putting the concrete cover on the old well, since the "old" tenants broke the cover that was on it. And me, being the smart that I am, well, I "decorated" it. Special thanks to Misty for the angel artwork. =) I'd love to be a fly on the wall in fifty to a hundred years from now when someone finds this (The guys put dirt on it today so it'll just look like "yard") and they think that someone buried their grandmother in the backyard. LOL I know, it's wrong, but it's my sense of humor. The only wedding stuff was yesterday at our neighbors' party and a few people asked un some general wedding questions. That's it. I might try and do something stuff this week, but the rental has to take priority since it needs to be done by Thursday night, so I'm not really counting on thinking about the wedding...other than my diet so I'll fit in my dress. =P

Day 78

Since Misty just reminded me that I had done this for day 79, I figured I'd better get on it. =)

The first wedding thing I did today was talk to Myles. Recently, he has been completely ignoring me or acting annoyed when I bring anything regarding the wedding up. With only two and a half months to go, I need him to take part. I know he's got the rental stuff going and he has a lot on my mind, but I need his input and his help. We agreed on work and rentals during the day and wedding in the evening. =) A small victory but one I am very pleased with.

I also called our minister up and made our first appointment with him. He wants us to do a couple of counseling sessions, and I'm actually curious to see how those turn out. We're going to be doing the first one on Monday Aug. 4. We'll be going over the wedding vows we chose, too.

Myles and I also discussed attendent gift. I'll be getting my girls gifts, but Myles has decided he's not going to do any for the guys. "Guys just don't give a shit about stuff like that." I guess he has a point there. Plus, they're his attendents and his choice, so whatever. =P I had chosen the gift for mine, but after all the "hidden" costs (engraving fees, shipping & handling and the like) it's just going to be WAY more money than I had budgeted. So, I spent yesterday evening looking for alternatives. I found some good ones, but I need to think about them and look some more. I really liked my first choice, and since Myles isn't doing gifts, I might be able to fudge the budget a little, but we'll see. I'm going to keep looking. =)

Dat 79

So, today I got an email with pictures of some jewelry designs for the 'maids from Stephanie. She was planning on working on more, but I already chose one that she already did 'cause I like it and so does Misty. =) And she's gonna make me one, too. Sweetness!

Got three more responses in the mail last night, all of people coming, but I was already expecting those peeps to come anyways, so they were already on my spreadsheet in the "yes" section, since we divided everyone into "yes", "no" and "maybe" sections.

Myles also got a phone call from his buddy Eric, who lives in Indy, and his wife won't be able to make it to the wedding. She was just put on permanent bed rest until the boys arrive, due to some complications. So, yeah, that sucks. Now there's a chance Eric might not be able to be in the wedding. Disappointing but COMPLETELY understandable.

Myles aslo got a phone call from his mother last night *cough* Misty *cough* Wondering why people out there and people who have only met me once MAYBE twice have been invited to my bridal shower. *raising an eyebrow* Care to explain that one, dear? And for the record, I gave Misty a specific list of people to invite, and she took it upon herself to invite more. =P So it's not my fault! For once.

Day 80

I managed to get a couple of minor things done today. I called and scheduled my final dress fitting. Yeah, I'm soooo scared for it. It's on August 30th, so that leaves me about five weeks to tone up my torso and lose the ten pounds or so that I still have to lose. But, hey, it's better than have to lose thirty pounds, which is what it was in the beginning. Eeek. I've been doing crazy amount of push-ups, since those are a good one to work your whole body, and I've been trying to do stretches and stuff while sitting at my desk. And I'm eating pretty healthy, too. Lots of water, yogurt, bananas, and Lean Cuisines. I eat "normal" for dinner, but I eat much smaller portions. And more water. I'm a woman on a mission. And if life would slow down just a teeny bit, and it would stop being 100 degrees outside, I might even be able to get some walks in in the evenings. At least I'm getting a bunch of exercise in with doing the rental, though. The dress zips up, I just can't take a deep breath in it, so I don't have too much to go at all.

I also called and left a message for my contact at the Holiday Inn Select to make some adjustments to the wedding. Just a couple of minor ones that won't really affect anything, but will save Myles and I some money, which is always good.

I also reorganized my "To Do/Buy" list, since I needed to add a couple of things to it, and it was getting messy. Those of you who know me know I don't like messy things. =) I'd rather re-write the whole list than to have to continue to look at the crossed-out items on it. That's just me, though.

And there has been nothing emotional or nothing "feeling"-wise lately. I don't think Myles and I have even discussed the wedding in a week or so. The last thing I want to do is bug him about wedding stuff when he's super-concentrated on getting Salem done and out of the way and paid for. So things are kind of on pause right now, and that's okay. We've got all the big stuff done, so we're pretty much good to go with everything. =)

Day 81

Not really any wedding stuffs today. I was pretty exhausted from this weekend, so I spent the day just trying to get through the day, not really thinking about anything other than what stuff still had to be done to Salem this coming weekend and maybe a couple of nights during this week. The tenants should be getting served today or tomorrow, so that'll amuse me, since they'll be pretty pissed off about it. =)

I got some response cards in the mail today and logged those into my spreadsheet, but I still have quite a few more that I need to get in. More than half of them. =) I love it when people are prompt, though. Myles and I really need them in, since we can budget better if we know how many people are attending.

I also talked a little bit to Ann about my bachelorette party today. Even though her plans for going out of town on October 4 aren't going to work out, she still wants to go out of town. I'm mixed on that. I'm going to have a TON of stuff to get done, plus, no one else will be able to go and I absolutely cannot afford ANY extra money on anything. But Ann said not to worry about that because she'll pay for me. Well, if no one else can go, that means she has to cover my whole cost, and that makes me feel bad. =(

Now I need to spend some time going through my To Do/To Buy list and figuring out what there is left to do.

Days 84 and 83 and 82

I'm just combining these two days because not really anything has gone on other than getting some wedding RSVPs in the mail and plugging them into my spreadsheet. We've just been messing with the Salem street rental constantly. God, I can't wait until that's done. I'm tired and the last thing I really feel like doing is anything having to do with the wedding. Or anything else for that matter.

Day 85

The only wedding thing I did today was open some response cards and plug the "results" into my spreadsheet. One of them was actually pretty surprising. It looks like my future sister in law's husband will be coming. I've never met him but I've heard A LOT about him. And none of it has been good. I've heard he's a complete ass, and Myles has given me permissionto treat him as shitty as I see fit. LOL I'm pretty good at the whole bitch thing, so it shouldn't be a problem if he says something that annoys me or pisses me off. Plus, he hates Myles, and I've been told he'll probably dislike me for the simple fact that I'm marrying Myles. Oh well. As anyone who knows me knows, I really don't care if someone doesn't like me. =P

I guess you could say I did some other wedding stuff today, because I cleaned/organized some more of the house this afternoon/evening. By the time September 6 rolls around, everything will be poifect for all the peeps coming to my crib. Or something like that. Not that I'm dirty mind you. LOL It's more organizing that anything. I was given weird looks today because I clean my kitchen everyday. =P Thanks, Jenny...since I know you read this. LOL I'm just kinda anal about it. I get it from my mom. Her thing has ALWAYS been the kitchen. Ever since I can remember, the kitchen had to be clean. Didn't matter what was going on, who was over, or if we were all waiting to open presents on Christmas (afternoon with family, not morning ones), she did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen up. Yeah, it's in my genes. But I ain't complaining. 'Specially after seeing the state of one of our rentals....I think if anything I'll just get worse. =P

And yes, Misty will amend this. =P For those of you who haven't noticed, my maid of honor and bestest friend has been commenting on every post about what SHE did that day wedding-wise. =) I swear, she's doing more than I am right now. LOL

Day 86

Not a single bit of wedding stuff. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

Day 87

Wedding was the last thought in my head today. Myles went to one of our rentals this morning and said it was "destroyed" so I ended up over there with him after work, making lists of things to buy and things we have to do. Yeah, it's bad. It looks like an abandoned house full of trash...except there are people living in it. Yes, it's nasty. And through the scads of black dog hair, dust, and gunk, you can actually see some carpet. And that's no exagerration. It's pretty disgusting in there. I'm thinking that much of the next two weeks is going to be consumed with getting the Salem house repaired and ready for the next tenants, who had better not do the same thing that these guys have. *sigh* I'll be helping Myles side the back of the house, doing LOTS of cleaning, filling holes, painting, taping off trim, helping replace broken windows, replacing broken light fixtures, and did I mention cleaning?

Pray for us. Lots.

Day 88

Um...Not really much for me today. I spent a lot of time talking to Misty about wedding stuffs, but I didn't actually DO anything. =) I think I updated my task checklist, but again, I really did think or do anything about it. The only thing I was really thinking about is the fact that there is stuff I still need to order, but Myles is being a pain about it and is telling me to wait until August. =P And I was thinking that I hope we don't have to drive the cake topper out to the cake lady, because she lives WAY out in BFE. Like, past Attica. And I thought about whether to wear thigh highs or "full" panty hose under my dress, but I know you were all dying to know that. Come on, you can't deny it. I know you were. All in all, not so much of a big wedding planning day other than talking about stuffs with Misty. And I know she's going to comment on this and give her two cents about doing all sorts of stuffs. LOL And she's not lying. She's been doing a hell of a lot and I couldn't ask for a better best friend or maid of honor. No way no how. =) I love my Misty!!!!

Day 89

Not a whole heck of a lot of wedding stuffs today. I updated the guest list with the two RSVPs I've already gotten back. I love it when people are prompt!! And...I bought a "How well do you know your Bride/Groom" quiz/game thingy and made Myles do that with me last night. I won. LOL He kept getting frustrated because he said that what was really me, the answer wasn't on there, so it made it more difficult for him. =) And he was right. So I gave those ones to him, since technically he was right. But, it was fun.

Right as we were done, Misty called and we talked about the Bridal shower and such for a little while.

And that's about it for me. I'm sure as the date gets closer, my blogs will get longer. =)

I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Days 91 and 90

Day 91 = no wedding. We were too busy spending the evening getting a stove and carpeting for one of our rentals and then relaxing and watching movie.

Day 90

Today was, well, pretty much all about wedding. I picked Misty up this morning and we headed to South Bend to get my shoes and so I could try my dress on. I figured that since I was going to be there, I may as well bring my dress and see how it was fitting. Got to South Bend, picked up Mom and headed to David's Bridal. Thank God I brought my dress and tried it on there!! Misty went in the dressing room with me and got it on me just fine. Of course, it's a pretty heavy and poofy dress, so I was holding the back of it up as I walked out of the dressing room. As soon as I got out of the dressing room where there was more room around me to drop it, the zipper pulled apart. Yeah, no good. So that's why I say, thank God it happened there. The lady from alterations came out to look at it. They'll either fix the zipper or order a new zipper and replace it. Basically, the dress was too heavy and the zipper couldn't handle it. =P I still have a few more pounds to lose before it fits comfortably, but there is no problem zipping it. Woo hoo! I just can't take a deep breath when I have it on. LOL Yeah, little shallow breaths really suck. Not so good.

And, I'm glad it happened there, because that means I don't have to pay for it to be altered. That's nice. Now I just have to keep working on eating good, drinking lots of water, and start REALLY exercising. =)

I also went there with a specific pair of shoes I was going to buy. Yeah, I got them on, and I just didn't like them so much anymore. So I ended up getting a different pair I liked much better. =)

Yeah, it was a good day. Now I'm just sitting at home this evening, waiting for Myles to get home from schmoozing with a vendor from work at an airshow on Lake Michigan. So I'm sure he had a great day as well...except now he's going to have "plane" fever the way I get baby fever. For serious.

Day 92

Believe it or not, not a single wedding item today. I didn't even think about the wedding. I was too busy organizing the house. =)

Day 93

Nothing major today. I put the invitations in the mail today, so people should be getting them by Monday at the latest. Woo hoo! Then I'll get RSVP cards to see who's coming. =)

The only other wedding thing today was that my flower girl baskets came in. I love them! One is a gold/cream color and the other is a maroon color. They match the wedding, and they're simple enough and not all frilly that I'll be able to do something with them to decorate the house after the wedding. So, that's always good. If I have to spend money, I want to be able to use what I buy after the wedding...for the most part. There are things I won't be able to use, but I'm going to try and do something with as much of it as I can. Hell, I'm gonna try and do something with the red and ivory silk rose petals, too. =P Gotta make the most out of our money.

Not sure what other wedding stuff this week other than shoes and a dress fitting. And I HATE dress fittings. Last time it zipped but was tight, so I'm crossing my fingers that it's a bit looser this time than it was before. Eek. But hey, I've been trying to do some desk exercises at work throughout the day and I did weights for my arms this evening. I'll probably do another couple of sets before I go to bed, too. I know that desk exercises aren't as good as "real" cardio, but it's better than nothing, since I have to sit there all day. And my main concern for the wedding is my arms. *sigh* Boobs = back fat and easier-to-get flabby arms. There just ain't much that can be done about it. I'll always fight it.

I forgot to mention last night that I got kind of emotional, in a bad way, when talking to Myles about the wedding. But it wasn't so much emotional as it was frustration. He's been complaining about paying for wedding stuff, yet he put me in charge of the wedding finances. But he complains whenever I ask him to transfer money. I've asked him about five times, literally, to transfer money for my shoes on Saturday and for a couple of other things. Yesterday, I asked if he'd done it and, of course, the answer was no. Then he asked me how much he needed to transfer! A lot of the time with this wedding stuff, it's like he doesn't even listen or pay attention. And it's sooooo frustrating for me to have to go everything over and over and over again. I'm not saying I want him to be all gung-ho and involved...weddings are NOT a guy thing unless they are gay or serious romantics or metrosexuals. If you have a guy that's involved, you're lucky. I just want My to help with what little I ask him and work with me instead of ignoring me and making me repeat myself over and over. It's really really frustrating.

Day 94

Why is it that when in a room full of people, if anyone hears the slightest mention of the word "wedding" everyone wants to talk to you like they know you? Seriously. It drives me nuts. I was in the breakroom the other day and a coworker friend of mine asked how the wedding planning was going. Upon hearing that, two or three women that I don't know from Adam and couldn't give a shit less about starting talking to me about their weddings and asking me questions about mine. I was trying to be evasive and not really talk to them, but they must have had some serious dumb ass genes, because they just didn't get it. For those of you who know me, you know I'm not a people person. I am when I need to be and when I want to be, but for the most part, no, leave me the hell alone. For serious. And don't hug me, that just makes me despise you even more.



There's another thing I'm not looking forward to about the wedding. All the hugging. I don't want your hugs, dammit. Just shake my hand. I'm NOT a huggy, sappy, touchy-feely, overly emotion person. Stay out of my space! That part of the wedding is gonna be rough for me, but I'll keep my happy face plastered on, and I'll just be sure that my hand always has a drink in it to take the irritated edge off. =)



In actual, meaningful wedding news, I went to the flower shop after work to go over the flowers. I think they're going to turn out wonderfully. All white calla lilies, with some red roses in mine. The lady is super sweet and super accommodating and did everything she could to stay within my budget. She went $24 over, but I'm not going to fret over that. The only problem with her, was, well, she talked A LOT. Yes, I know what some of you are saying right now. "You have no room to talk about people talking a lot, Tera." Dude, she puts me to absolute shame. And while she was nice, she was too nice. To every freaking person that came into the store. For serious. Her husband called her while she was meeting with me. And she talked to him for TEN minutes while I just sat there. Twiddling my thumbs. Impatient to get out of there and get home because I was hungry as hell and had stuff I wanted to get done. Then she talked to every person that came into the shop. And not just "Hi, let me know if I can help you with anything." No, they were fullblown conversations, one of which was about fifteen minutes long with a woman from the flooding area in Ohio. While I was sitting there. Twiddling my thumbs. Waiting. It was pretty irritating.

I also got an email from my soon-to-be mother-in-law yesterday about reserving hotel rooms. It is now the second time that someone has had a problem reserving rooms for the wedding. It seems like people are getting transferred to Central Reservations, where they show no record of our block of rooms. I don't know what to tell people other than don't let yourself get transferred. I know the rooms are there. Whenever I call and talk to someone at the Lafayette location and they look it up, the rooms come up just fine, so I'm not quite sure what the deal is.

I also updated the wedding website. I'd give you the address for it, but well, I don't know what it is off the top of my head, so tough shit. If you're invited to the wedding, it's in the invitation. If not, well, tough shit.

And I finished putting the stamps on all the invitations. Tomorrow morning they go out, so people should be seeing them by Friday or Saturday. =) I'm excited to start getting RSVPs. I know it sounds weird, but yeah, I am.

Day 95

Today was fairly uneventful. I put what stamps I do have on invitations, called Mr. Penguin to see when the latest is that the guys can have their measurements in for tuxes, and updated my task checklist on Brides.com. For anyone in the market to get married, getting ready to start, or just starting to plan a wedding, Brides.com kicks ass. =)

I think Myles has finally gotten over the damn shoes and admitted defeat. LOL

The only other thing that's bugging me right now is how everyone is telling me how they would do it. I've had soooo many people pick at what I've done and how I've done it. Dude, it's my wedding, I'll do it my way. I really don't give a shit what you would have done. For serious. I'm not trying to offend anyone, but let me do shit my way. It's my wedding and I only get to do this once, so, well, I'm going to do it my own damn way. I don't give a shit if you don't like my colors, I don't care if you don't like red velvet cake, I don't care if you don't like what Myles and I chose for dinner, and I don't give a shit if you think the church is a little far out. If you don't like it, don't come...it'll save us money.

Day 96

Absolutely nothing wedding. I was too hungover from partying at Misty's to even begin to think of anything wedding related. I'll make up for it on Day 95. =) I promise.

Days 99, 98, and 97

These days were all the same. Different days, same discussion.

First up on the discussion board was shoes. Myles keeps going on about shoes and how I shouldn't need to buy any. It's getting ridiculous. I am getting new shoes to wear with my wedding dress and that's final. No ifs ands or buts about it. I just don't get why he doesn't understand that. He rolls his eyes and complains about it everytime it's mentioned. I'm thinking he'll just have to get over it.

Second up that's been bugging me is the bachelorette party. I left it up to Ann to handle, and it turns out, nothing has even been figured out for it. She says she has, but she hasn't even talked to my bridesmaids about it yet. But she expects everyone to fork over the money for me. Not fair to them. By the time she notifies them of anything, they'll only have two months to figure out where to come up with money for themselves and for me. That's not cool at all. And yeah, she hasn't even told anyone, including the other maid of honor, what's going on. Whereas Myles's guys started working on his right away. They've known for months where they're going and how much they all need to put in. I'm just really frustrated. Hell, I'm not even supposed to know anything about it, yet right now it's stressing me out more than anything. And I never say anything about stuff, because I always want to keep people happy. And I love Ann to death, but this is just really bothering me. *frustrated scream* It's kind of one of the reasons that I just wanted to go out Saturday night here in town. Then no one would have to really spend anything.

So, that's where I am right now with the wedding. So far, so good. I think I'm just going to leave the bachelorette thing up to everyone else. It's not my job and I ain't even supposed to know. I'll be happy with whatever happens. I'm just going to let everyone else figure it out and from here on out, I don't want to hear anything about it, good bad, or otherwise. I've got enough to worry about without being stressed about that. Like I said, I'll be happy even if we stay here in town. Though Myles and the guys in the wedding party are going away for the weekend. ;P And he has more friends than me, so he has Kevin, Alex, Brian, Eric, Jeff and Matt going. So a weekend is more feasible for him, since there are more people to kick in on it. =P

Next stop, getting stamps and sending invitations out and picking out flowers.

Day 100

I called the flower shop today to set up an appointment to go in a discuss the flowers I want. I'm going in next Tuesday after work. I called Myles and asked him if he'd like to come with me. I find that this is a better approach than telling him he has to be there. When he feels he has a choice he usually does what I want him to. =) I've already made some compromises on the flowers, and I'm not freaking out about it. It's not that big of a deal. It's all in the name of saving money and when I find ways to save money on stuff, Myles is happier. And when Myles is happy my life is easier. I think most people find this to be the case with their partners, though. I really wanted dark red calla lilies, but since they are hard to find and "rarer" than white ones, that makes time more expensive. So unless the florist (Jan) tells me something amazing about them, I'll be going with white. And simple, smaller bouquets. I'd rather have small bouquets of real flowers than huge bouquets of artificial flowers. One thing that Myles and I both agree on. I also got online today an printed off some pictures of calla lily boutonierres and bouquets that I like to take into the flower shop. I'm sure it'll make the process much easier. And I like it when the process is much easier. =)

When I got home from work, I told Myles that I really needed to get the flower girl baskets and petals before they weren't on sale anymore. So, he gave me the card and I bought them. After all, he put me completely in charge of the wedding budget. =) But, the baskets didn't come without a "conversation". When I told him I needed to get the baskets, he made the comment "with all the baskets you have around here that you got from your mom, can't you just use one of those?" *sigh* Guys just don't understand things like that. But I found the baskets for $7.99 apiece. That's not bad at all. The only thing that sucked was the $8.90 shipping and handling costs, but what can you do about it? But even with the total of $25 for two baskets, it's still cheaper and easier than going to the craft store and buying the supplies to turn a couple of my baskets into flower girl baskets.

I think that's one of the difficult things about wedding stuff...guys don't think like girls do, so when buying stuff that you feel is mandatory, they're like "Um, why?" Like my wedding shoes. Myles assumed I was just going to wear shoes that I had in my closet already. Um, no? He thinks I have too many shoes, so that automatically means I'll wear a pair of them with my wedding dress. Not hardly, babe.