I have several "wedding planning checklists" that arrive in my email inbox every month, and they are demanding little things! Apparently, in the timeline of wedding arrangements, I have a LOT to do this month. But, the things I "have to get done" are mostly things that I have already considered, and have decided that they are either not worth dealing with until the winter freeze sets in and I have to stay indoors, or things that I'm not interested in at all.
With so many of our outdoor household projects needing attention before next spring, I am in a frenzy of digging, and rock moving, and building repair, and all kinds of other jobs that occupy the majority of my available daylight hours. I must admit, though, that having so many of these projects underway has calmed me down a bit. Each individual job is taking a bit longer than I had at first anticipated, but the fact that each is begun makes me more confident in the completion of all the necessary tasks.
I have realized the house might not get painted before the wedding, I won't have time to build the chicken coop, the outbuildings probably will not get their lovely windows and trim, which means no window boxes with flowers, and the vegetable garden may have to wait ANOTHER year. But we have a lovely, large patio, the step out of the mudroom will be replaced with something much more sturdy, and the deck surround is shaping up to be very nice. I have made some planting decisions that just require execution before the first frost, and some of those I may relegate to FP --particularly the seeding of the lawn. I will dig rocks. He can run the seed broadcaster thingy.
I do suppose that I cannot continue to put off the dress shopping thing that I am so dreading, and some of my Bridesfolks are making sure I don't forget that little detail. The Save-the-Dates have to go out yesterday, but now we have a solid plan and, really, it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to execute.
The other things on that dreaded 9-months-to-go-list will just have to wait.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Weather Wary
It is hot today. I mean it is really, REALLY hot. As you know from my grumpy previous post this week, I have a retaining wall to put in, but it's just too darn hot to be out there digging and moving rocks today. It really was on my agenda for this afternoon, but sometimes weather is uncooperative.
This put me in a weather wary mood. According to the Old Farmers Almanac, "April and May will be cooler and rainier than normal, on average. Summer will be cooler and drier than normal, with the hottest periods in early to mid-June and early July." Um... So, I should plan for a cool, wet day for our early June nuptuals? Or is it a hot, dry day? We are planning to host this shin-dig outside. We have a plan for several small-ish tents scattered about the yard, and, of course, I would prefer they be used for shade than for rain shelter, but there is no way to accurately predict what the weather will do. This is distressing, but I'm actually not stressing about it..
Here is a quirk of mine: if I think I can control something, I MUST be in control of it. If I know I cannot control a thing, I am largely unphased by it. It is part of my contrary nature, I suppose. Weather is something to be planned for, but not to stress about.
My dad is a weather watcher. He knows what the weather is in any place where he knows someone. My grandmother is near Tampa, therefore, he keeps an eye on the Gulf Coast. My youngest sister is in Orlando, so he is sure of what is precipitating over Mickey Mouse. My eldest sister is in Cleveland, so Dad watches that lake effect snow come in. Dad is as good as a meteorologist --better, if, like me, you don't care what is happening in the rest of the tristate area.
I am unlike him. I have no idea what the weather will be. If it is sunny when I leave my house, I wear sandals, but I always keep an umbrella in my car in case it begins to rain. See? It's something to be planned for, but not stressed over. It is too hot today to work, but eventually it will cool down enough for me to do what needs to be done. FP might grumble because the patio is completely covered in flagstones for a few extra days, but it will get done when the clouds are favourable.
And if it rains on our wedding day? We strip down to our underwear and get hitched anyway.
This put me in a weather wary mood. According to the Old Farmers Almanac, "April and May will be cooler and rainier than normal, on average. Summer will be cooler and drier than normal, with the hottest periods in early to mid-June and early July." Um... So, I should plan for a cool, wet day for our early June nuptuals? Or is it a hot, dry day? We are planning to host this shin-dig outside. We have a plan for several small-ish tents scattered about the yard, and, of course, I would prefer they be used for shade than for rain shelter, but there is no way to accurately predict what the weather will do. This is distressing, but I'm actually not stressing about it..
Here is a quirk of mine: if I think I can control something, I MUST be in control of it. If I know I cannot control a thing, I am largely unphased by it. It is part of my contrary nature, I suppose. Weather is something to be planned for, but not to stress about.
My dad is a weather watcher. He knows what the weather is in any place where he knows someone. My grandmother is near Tampa, therefore, he keeps an eye on the Gulf Coast. My youngest sister is in Orlando, so he is sure of what is precipitating over Mickey Mouse. My eldest sister is in Cleveland, so Dad watches that lake effect snow come in. Dad is as good as a meteorologist --better, if, like me, you don't care what is happening in the rest of the tristate area.
I am unlike him. I have no idea what the weather will be. If it is sunny when I leave my house, I wear sandals, but I always keep an umbrella in my car in case it begins to rain. See? It's something to be planned for, but not stressed over. It is too hot today to work, but eventually it will cool down enough for me to do what needs to be done. FP might grumble because the patio is completely covered in flagstones for a few extra days, but it will get done when the clouds are favourable.
And if it rains on our wedding day? We strip down to our underwear and get hitched anyway.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
...off again....
It really was not intentional that this just happens to be the next post, but I'm over it again. I have too many other things that I'd rather be doing, my yard looks like crap, and there is no way in hell I am going to be able to get it ready to host a huge party in 276 days. What there is of landscaping looks like crap, and the stupid dogs keep digging up the ONE garden bed that actually looks like something. The front lawn needs seeded and then watered twice a day for the next three months, but it needs leveled first, and that requires buying, spreading, and leveling several cubic yards of dirt. But-- I have to put in the retaining wall first, which requres digging, leveling, and building a FREAKING RETAINING WALL!
Screw it. I'm taking my ball and going home.
Screw it. I'm taking my ball and going home.
Friday, August 19, 2011
...on again...
I have a love-hate relationship with my wedding. It is one of those high school on-again, off-again relationships that makes everyone one the outside roll their eyes and say, "Here we go again."
Lately, we have been in the on-again phase-- holding hands and making google eyes at each other. The caterer is booked, the favors are purchased and only require a little amendment, some decisions about decor have been made, and are we looking for bands again. These are all good things.
Our wedding is gonna be the coolest, funnest, most original, geeky, and eclectic day ever. :-)
Lately, we have been in the on-again phase-- holding hands and making google eyes at each other. The caterer is booked, the favors are purchased and only require a little amendment, some decisions about decor have been made, and are we looking for bands again. These are all good things.
Our wedding is gonna be the coolest, funnest, most original, geeky, and eclectic day ever. :-)
Thursday, August 4, 2011
A Happy Post--just to shake things up.
I have noticed that there is always an edge of the grump to my posts, so I thought I'd just change things up a bit and mention that my life really is fantastic, and a lot of that is due to my relationship with FP.
He makes me happy. Even when he is driving me absolutely bonkers, I love him best of all things in the world. I love him more than ice cream. I love him more than cookies. I love him more than Pepsi in a glass bottle with real sugar! 
If I had to choose between keeping FP and never having a Chipotle burrito ever again, I'd cry, but I'd still pick FP every time. If I were to be sent to a desert island and had to chose between the Oxford English Dictionary and FP. I'd take FP. He knows lots of words that I don't, so I'd gladly give up the OED in order to keep him. Plus, he'd find a way to make music, and that'd be nice on a desert island.
I know that I drive him almost as crazy as he drives me, but I also know that he'd pick me out of all other worldly possessions to take to that desert island. He thinks that I am smart and talented, and even when I doubt myself, he has confidence in my abilities, and loves me enough to call me on my shortcomings. I love that about him, too, even when it makes me mad.
FP has improved my life in ways that I haven't found words to quantify yet. No matter how frustrated I am with the planning of the event, I find that every day, I am still excited to marry him. We are going to have a hilarious, crazy, grumpy, curmudgeonly life together til the day one of us smothers the other with a pillow.
Which, of course, will be because we love each other enough to do that, too.
He makes me happy. Even when he is driving me absolutely bonkers, I love him best of all things in the world. I love him more than ice cream. I love him more than cookies. I love him more than Pepsi in a glass bottle with real sugar! If I had to choose between keeping FP and never having a Chipotle burrito ever again, I'd cry, but I'd still pick FP every time. If I were to be sent to a desert island and had to chose between the Oxford English Dictionary and FP. I'd take FP. He knows lots of words that I don't, so I'd gladly give up the OED in order to keep him. Plus, he'd find a way to make music, and that'd be nice on a desert island. 
FP has improved my life in ways that I haven't found words to quantify yet. No matter how frustrated I am with the planning of the event, I find that every day, I am still excited to marry him. We are going to have a hilarious, crazy, grumpy, curmudgeonly life together til the day one of us smothers the other with a pillow.
Which, of course, will be because we love each other enough to do that, too.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Quitting planning.
I sent an email this week to all my bridesfolks letting them know that planning was just too annoying and I quit. What a lovely idea to just give all this up and go back to focusing on the day-to-day things that I used to think about. But, clearly, given that planning is not really FP's strong suit, I can't actually quit if we are going to get married. And he wants to get married. And I love him best of all. So I persevere... sortof.
Overachievers Anonymous
Sometimes I get overwhelmed. Not for any other reason than suddenly it all seems like too much. I've had this problem a lot the last couple months. There has been too much to do, too much to decide, too much to think about. This blog has been one of those things that I have felt was just one thing too many.
Because I am an overacheiver, I have felt each time I post, that my post must say something that matters, something that helps make a decision, or explains a decision that has been made. I also have felt that a brief paragraph or two was not sufficient as a full-fledged blogpost. Now, I know that many, many blogs are made up of very short observations, but remember, I am an overacheiver. I have seldom been satisfied with what is "good enough," preferring, rather, to live up to my own standard, however ridiculous or overblown.
I have decided, in the interest of not shutting down "The Unanticipated Bride," that I will call some posts (if only to myself) "bloglettes," and accept that they needn't be essays. That way, I may post more often without the feeling of having failed at this task that I had intended to be an outlet for frustrations, not an additional one. So, forgive me if some subsequent posts are short. Forgive me if some posts resemble more the rantings of a lunatic rather than the cohesive thoughts of an intelligent human being. Forgive me if I don't always double-check for typos and misspellings. I will do my best to post at least a weekly bloglette, but somtimes I will forget, or run out of time, or just plain not feel like it. And I have decided that that's OK, too.
I have just re-read this post and realized that if you were to substitute the wedding planning for the blog-posting, the above all applies to that, too. My problems are clearly universal. I have got to chill out.
Because I am an overacheiver, I have felt each time I post, that my post must say something that matters, something that helps make a decision, or explains a decision that has been made. I also have felt that a brief paragraph or two was not sufficient as a full-fledged blogpost. Now, I know that many, many blogs are made up of very short observations, but remember, I am an overacheiver. I have seldom been satisfied with what is "good enough," preferring, rather, to live up to my own standard, however ridiculous or overblown.
I have decided, in the interest of not shutting down "The Unanticipated Bride," that I will call some posts (if only to myself) "bloglettes," and accept that they needn't be essays. That way, I may post more often without the feeling of having failed at this task that I had intended to be an outlet for frustrations, not an additional one. So, forgive me if some subsequent posts are short. Forgive me if some posts resemble more the rantings of a lunatic rather than the cohesive thoughts of an intelligent human being. Forgive me if I don't always double-check for typos and misspellings. I will do my best to post at least a weekly bloglette, but somtimes I will forget, or run out of time, or just plain not feel like it. And I have decided that that's OK, too.
I have just re-read this post and realized that if you were to substitute the wedding planning for the blog-posting, the above all applies to that, too. My problems are clearly universal. I have got to chill out.
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