stuff's getting done.

Last week, we:

• picked up our wedding bands
• ordered our cake (not exactly as planned, but still good enough)
• ordered Rod's tux
• met with the pastor for some general discussions about marriage and his 3-minute-counsel
• had my first bridal shower
• bought most of the flowers, ribbons, and decorations
• re-looked at the yard to see how long an aisle runner we'll need and show my parents how the ceremony will be set up
• bought ties for the best man and groomsman
• reserved a church as a backup venue in case of inclement weather

This week, we:

• discussed the ceremony and reception
• crossed things off the checklist that had been ignored for a few weeks
• bought and printed our invitations
• got penciled in for the chairs we're going to rent
• made an appointment for me to be fitted in my dress so that it can be altered to fit me
• ordered napkins with our names on them
• ordered stickers with our names for our favors
• bought the favors (various Hershey Kisses in gold and/or red wrappers)
• ordered gifts for our attendants

I won't be storying each event. By now, there's just too much!

BUT: Mom, Claire, and Cat all have their dresses for the wedding now! A woman from California (the one who was a missionary in Kenya and helped Rod go to high school) will be lighting his family's symbolic side of the unity candle. She also has her clothes for the wedding, though I haven't seen the picture yet. Here's the other three:

Mother of the Bride: When I showed Mom a picture of a dress this style, while brainstorming what to look for, she said it made her think of Barbara Bush. When I told Rodgers that, he said, "Well, Barbara Bush is pretty..." When Mom tried on this dress, we thought it looked nothing like Barbara Bush, but it is VERY pretty!!

Matron of Honor: This is neither Claire nor her dress. Her dress is this color and length. It isn't gathered at the side, and it has a cute little belt with a rhinestone buckle. It is strapless and is made by the same designer as this dress. She will borrow a sash/wrap from Amy, who wore this color dress, by this designer, in someone else's wedding.

Maid of Honour: Catriona printed a picture of a dress I found online that I liked and took it to a tailor in Senegal (where she was living until December). And the result is fabulous!

So, we'll all be wearing different styles and different colors (of course, I'll be the only one wearing white), but I think we will look great together. From what I gather, Rod's "mom" is wearing blue. The best man will be wearing white shirt, black slacks, and a goldish tie: it has diagonal stripes of different colors of golden yellow that fade into each other. Hard to describe, but the result is that it looks shiny. The groomsman has a similar tie with burgundy and black fading stripes. They were in the Christmas section of accessories, and we bought them in January, so they were on super sale!

And now, the invitations and RSVP cards have just finished printing!!

earrings

I wanted the bride, matron of honor, and maid of honour to all wear the same earrings in the wedding. I wanted these earrings to be pearls, but not just plain studs. And not on silver, on gold. I was never able to find any that worked. The closest was Avon, which had some hoops strung with pearls. And they came in a set of 3 pairs of earrings. BUT, one was white pearls, one pink, and one black. That doesn't really work. If they were all white and in different sizes, that'd be great. But, in the end, they don't really work. I'd wind up with 6 extra pairs of earrings.

So, Rodgers and I went to Michael's today. I wanted to look and see if they had the flowers I wanted for bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres. They did not. But, we did find some pearly beads and gold hoops. I don't know if these particular hoops are really for making into earrings as we did or not, but they work, and they look great!

 

Modeling our handiwork

 

We extras so that my mother and his "mother" (friend who knew him when he was a little kid and who will be lighting his side of the unity candle) could match us, too. I will wear bigger ones, and I think the matron of honor (Claire) will also wear bigger ones. The others can have the small kind.

not too big a mess

Monday was a busy day, but not too bad. Rod was able to get my car with no trouble. The radiator will be replaced, but not at the dealership where it was. They charge WAAAY too much. I've found a radiator shop here in Belton that quoted 50% of what Toyota in Brenham quoted. So, Rod's going to assist me once more, by taking Tallulah to the radiator shop in the morning, while I drive his car again.

Work is boring so far. Not that my job itself is boring. It will be a fairly easy job, and I'm looking forward to being able to actually start working. I'm still waiting on a lot of things, but at least now I'm being paid to wait.

In order to do my job, I need to be authorized to use a computer. In order to do that, I need to pass a computer usage test. In order to take the test, I need an account for something called AKO. In order to have that account, I need some form from personnel, or at least a number that's on that form. In order to have that number/form, they have to finish processing me as a new hire. Soooo...best case scenario, they will complete my processing tomorrow. I am to call and check sometime during the day tomorrow, so that if they have finished, I can go ahead and get things in motion. But so far, I've just been waiting. A lot of waiting. And logging on using other people's login cards, so that I could learn what I am to do. The guy I'm taking over from is going on leave next week, so he needed to go ahead and show me what he's been doing. So I learned and practiced while logged on as him, even though I haven't taken the test to prove that I know how to use a computer...

But, tomorrow's my birthday! Yay! I always feel special on my birthday.

monday

Tomorrow will be a mess.

I start in-processing at Fort Hood at 7:45 am. To get on post, you have to have a valid pass.

I have one for my car, but, yesterday my car overheated in Brenham. (We think it was something wrong with the thermostat.) We let it cool and added some water to the radiator (because we had no coolant) but it was hot again after about half a mile. When we couldn't drive it to a mechanic, I remembered I have roadside assistance with my insurance, so we got it towed for free. Unfortunately, noone works on cars in Brenham on the weekend, so they won't even look at it till tomorrow.

Pam loaned us one of her cars so we could get back to Temple. Rod's driving that to his final tomorrow, and I'm driving Rod's car. I went to the visitor center at Ft. Hood to get a pass for his car, but they aren't opened on the weekends right now.

Visitor center opens at 7:30, and there is generally a line for getting a pass, so I'm going to have to get there early. Which means I have to leave even earlier.

And it's gonna be a long day.

Hopefully they will call me about my car tomorrow. Rodgers doesn't have anything he has to do Tuesday morning, so as long as they can fix it tomorrow, he'll drive down to Brenham after work tomorrow. Then he can leave Pam's car for her, bring my car back here, and be back in time for work Tuesday afternoon.

Kind of a mess. Hope it all works out.

yeah, man, I can dig that...