Day 9...master cleanse

Day 9 started out great. I weighed myself as I mentioned yesterday and lost more weight, so I'm down a total of 15 pounds. I had to make enough servings of orange juice to last me through the afternoon. Earlier this evening I had my first bowl of vegetable soup. About 3 hours later, I felt unfulfilled, so I had another bowl. No hunger, I feel great.

Tomorrow is the last day and I'm so glad. I get to have a salad, legitimately. I'm so looking forward to it. I'm going to try to hit the gym but I have so much to do since we're leaving Saturday so we'll see how it works out.

In wedding news, my DOC got the huge box Mike sent her with all of our ceremony and reception stuff as well as our parents and bridal party gifts. Just waiting on the programs to arrive and she'll have everything. We met with one of guests tonight who's purchasing our alcohol off a military base to go over everything so he knows what to get. I just hope we have enough. I would hate for the alcohol to run out before the party's over.

So basically, we're all set. On my to do list tomorrow is:
Pedicure and Manicure
Hair
Getting my e-ring dipped and cleaned
Picking up our fathers' and Mikes' suits
Packing

That's it. I sort of finalized our seating chart, although there are still some questionable folks in there that we're not certain about. Luckily, I refused to count them in the 1st numbers we gave to the caterer. Just in case they decide to come, I can add on but I can't take off.

8 more days as Ms.....

My shower is today!

January 31, 2008. Besides being the date for my shower, today is also Momma's birthday. Some of you may remember that we lost her 7 months ago, so today is filled with various emotions. Pops looks so sad and I feel helpless that I can't do anything to ease his pain. Mike went to North Carolina this weekend, not only to get his car inspected but to put flowers on his Mom's grave.
We'll get through this. I just know wedding day is going to have the same roller coaster of emotions.

On the upside, as I said my shower starts at 2 pm. I need to start getting ready. Mike's sister, niece, and Toya (Shaq's wife) are at the mall now doing last minute shopping. Slow as usual =)

I also got the hint that my bachelorette party is tonight also. I was only told to bring an overnight bag. Oooo, the suspense! I know it's going to be in New York, thanks to the bitter bridesmaid that's no longer with us, but I don't know all the details. Which is good, because I love surprises!

I'll be back with a full report and of course pics!

1st dress fitting!

It's official. The wedding is next month and I tried on everything for the first time yesterday. The jewelry, the shoes, oh the pink shoes, the veil from Occansey Designs, everything was perfect. I still have about 6 weeks to go so it's on at the gym! Because the dress has a corset back, I can still lose some more weight and not compromise the fit of the dress.

In other good news, Mike's cousin Jr. opened his eyes the other day. =) He now knows who's around him; before he was in a medically induced coma and on a respirator. He still needs the respirator because his heart isn't strong enough yet but we'll keep praying that he gets there.

I'm jumping back and forth here, but we also finally found a dress for my mom. Finally! She has an ivory 3 piece suit with gold embellishments on it. Very regal and classy. This weekend we're going to check out a dark brown suit for my father. Pops picked out a spiffy dark gray suit with white shirt and coral colored tie and hanky on Sunday at the men's store. The guys suits also came in and Mike tried his on with his ivory shirt. Looks rather good in it too if I must say so myself. The groomsman's shirts and brown.

Everything is coming together nicely. =)

Beyond words

Friday December 12, 2008 started out as any other day. I finished class early, done by 12 noon. Very good Homicide course that lasted 2 1/2 days. I decided to go up north to pick up Pops and bring him home. On the way, I stopped at the post office to get pricing for our invites. They're going to cost us a whopping $4.02 per invite to ship. Holy cow! I didn't expect that, but hey, it's the invites I wanted, so that's that.

Got home, started putting the stamps on the RSVP postcards and waited for Mike to get home before stuffing each box. An hour later, done. The night was going well, and I was looking forward to hitting the post office bright and early the next morning.

And then the unthinkable happens. That monkey wrench that comes out of nowhere. The devil at work and at his best. You know, good vs. evil. I now know what it means when there are people praying for blessings for you while there are others praying for the opposite. I'm not going to go into too much detail, but since this experience is a part of the overall experience of wedding planning and this roller coaster ride called life, I decided to at least include this much here. When I re-read it later it will serve as a reminder of all we have endured to get to February 20, 2009.

Turkey day!

Happy Thanksgiving! I am so thankful for today; so much that I can't be mad at those who try to bring me down. Thankful that we are truly blessed, no matter what happens. Family has arrived and we are cooking something up! All in attendance are Mike's brother, his wife and their grandson from North Carolina, my MOH's son (MOH had to work, :( ), Pops, Mike's brother from Florida, and his cousin Jr. Unfortunately, my mom came down with the flu, so my parents are unable to attend :( I'll save you guys a plate, don't worry!

Mike started the turkey and homemade stuffing this morning and he should be on his way back from picking up his other brother from the airport. In the meantime, I'm working on the cabbage with smoked turkey, baked macaroni and cheese, and the potato salad is DONE. Whew, I can't wait.

The only thing left is the yams with pineapple and the cornbread, which I'll start last.

On another note, I decided to call shiit starter bridesmaid and let her know there was no need to think about whether or not she wanted to be in the wedding. I was making the decision for her; I told her very nicely, just come to the wedding, if you still intend to do that, and have a good time. I wished her a Happy Thanksgiving and told her to enjoy her family before ending the conversation and that's that. I feel relieved because the women I have left truly want to stand next to me and they belong there. If you have to think about whether you want to participate, like you're doing me a favor when you started all the drama, thanks but not thanks.

So on to enjoy the holidays with loved ones and true friends. To all of you, Happy Thanksgiving!

New Projects

I looked at my list and right now, I can think of a few additional things I need to do:

• Guest book sign
• Brochures for OOT (out of town) bags
• Rehearsal dinner menus
• Memorial table sign (maybe)

The Memorial table is up in the air right now. Mike wants to honor his Mom in some way at the wedding but he hasn't quite figured out what he wants to do yet. If it includes a memorial table, I can hook it up.

This is the old list and what I have completed to date:

• fan programs
• sand ceremony frame trial
• photo sharing cards
• menu cards
• table numbers
• cocktail menu (signature drinks and spirits)
• RSVP cards
• map and directions cards
• fish net for card box

Not too bad. I went to AC Moore on Saturday and bought another bottle for the officiant to use for the sand ceremony and I bought a little hermit crab to go in the treasure chest. I also have my cocktail menu designed, a rough draft basically. I'll post pics tomorrow. And our rings arrived; I didnt' have time to add it today, so I'll post pics tomorrow also.

Can it get any worse???

Yesterday I get a call from Mike about 4:45 that his father fell in the house, is lying in a pool of blood, and can't get up. Mike calls the police and a good friend of ours to meet them there to kick in the back door if they can't get in. Luckily, the police were able to gain entry.

I went to work, basically to show my face, but I knew I was out of there when the traffic died down a little bit. My mind kept racing thinking about the worse; Mike's mom fell and hit her head, wound up in the hospital, then 2 months later we were planning a funeral. I tried to be upbeat and keep Mike from losing it as he headed home, naturally worried.
He called me a little later and let me know the ambulance was on their way to the hospital with him. I told my Lt. I was leaving and ironically he had to leave too; his mom fell and he had to tend to her. It really wasn't a good night all around.

I get to the hospital and see Pop lying on the board with a neck brace and his head taped down so he doesn't move around too much. At that point, they weren't sure what he had broken, if anything, so they wanted to keep him stable. He was uncomfortable, of course, but talking to me. I could see the gash across his right eyebrow, the point of impact with the coffee table in our family room. He also had a cut on his nose and the entire right side of his face was noticeably swollen. He was waiting for them to take him for x-rays, and growing impatient. I asked him what happened, and he told me he was sitting too close to the TV because he felt his pacemaker jumping, as he described it, so he tried to get up to move and blacked out. Next thing he knows, he's lying on the floor, next to the coffee table in a pool of blood and he can't get up. Luckily, he had his cell phone on his belt and was able to get to it to call Mike.

In the end, we found out he broke his nose in two places and required stitches to close up the two lacerations. The hospital is keeping him a few days for observation. Today the Doc said he may have a concussion. It could've been worse: so many what ifs play in my head, even now. What if he didn't have his cell phone on him? Mike wouldn't have found him until he got home from work, which might've been 2 hours later from when he called Mike. What if Mike would've gone to the gym after work, as he does at times? Well, it would've been later that Mike found him, and maybe too late at that time. I don't even leave work until 1 am so me finding him was definitely out of the question.

I don't know why we are being tested right now. It seems there's always something. Losing his father only 5 months after his Mom would've probably sent Mike over the age, and I can understand why. I hope we can go these next 3 1/2 months without any more issues. Lord, just let us make it to the wedding with everyone we have with us now.

I'm actually going to look into those medical alert things that he can wear on his wrist or around his neck, just in case. And poor Leo, Pops said all he could do was sit there and look at him. Even walked around the blood. Leo is not one of those dogs that calls 911, not happening. But, he did sit there with help until help arrived, so he wasn't totally alone.

Finished aisle runner!

Whew! My aisle runner is done and I am happy with the results. I got instructions from knottie heatherjk on her blog at http://roadtotheaisle.blogspot.com/2007/07/diy-aisle-runner.html
The only thing I did different, which was minor, was use a regular pencil instead of a mechanical pencil mentioned in the link above, thanks to knottie kim&josh. Here's my version of the diy aisle runner. I bought the paint and an assortment of brushes from Michaels, using coupons of course to save some cash. I purchased an ivory french lace aisle runner off eBay for $13.95. It is so beautiful I was tempted to leave it as is:

I took my monogram to Kinkos as a jpeg and had them blow it up to 36 x 36. I then traced the monogram on the aisle runner. First tape the blown up version down then the aisle runner on top of it like this:

I'm tracing away...Finally, it's ready to be painted. This is probably really light, so you can't see it traced on the aisle runner. You can see the blown up version off to the right of it. Pops took this photo for me. He's so helpful!

The next day, I started painting the trees first using the pink color. Make sure you tape wax paper down first, then tape the aisle runner over the wax paper, Mike made himself useful and took these pics for me:

I was rusty at first, but after awhile I got the hang of it. Here's one finished tree:

The trees were a PITA! I decided for the next one it was easier to trace the outline first and then paint it:

I did a total of two coats of acrylic paint on the trees. The finished trees:

Yesterday, I finished the aisle runner using the brown paint on our names and dates. The finished product:

I love how it turned out and it will be a beautiful decoration for the ceremony. I forgot to mention that Mike suggested the monogram be in the middle so I measured it out and put the monogram approximately between 23 and 27 feet. The aisle runner is 50 feet.

I'm emotional...

and I can't let go, I am trying to...okay that's enough of Carl Thomas.

Seriously, I did have an emotional moment or two. We took my parents out tonight to celebrate their anniversary and my father's birthday. Pops came along with us too. We had a nice dinner and conversation; there was some reminiscing of Momma and the things she used to cook because Pop had commented that the mashed potatoes he ordered weren't his wife's. We all laughed and I felt myself reflecting on how empty the dinner table felt without her and how odd it really is to see Pop every single day without her. I held back my emotions and continued talking and trying to enjoy the rest of dinner. We finished up and heading out.

Once we got comfortable in the house I went back to finishing up the aisle runner while Mike and Pop were settling down. Pop came into the family room and I stopped to put on the television for him. That's when he started talking, he told me he wasn't going out anymore because he sees these couples, mostly seniors who remind of the years he won't have with Momma, and starts thinking too much. Then he broke down. I talked to him and listened to him talk and then the phone rang, bringing a welcome distraction. The phone was for him, so he stepped to his room to take the call.

Even though the 7th of this month will be 4 months since Mommas' transition, it still seems so unreal. I'm sitting here typing this now with Pops sitting not too far from me, Snapped playing on the TV, thinking about how we should've had more time with Momma. I don't want to get upset again so I'm going to stop now.

I just know the wedding day is going to be a joyous occasion but her physical absence will be a lot to handle.

Goodnight.

Celebration of Love!

Today is my Parents' 42nd wedding anniversary and Daddy's birthday. Yes, he was vain enough to get married on his birthday. Because it's the middle of the week, Mike and I opted to celebrate with them on Sunday, since I'm off work. So, more than likely, we'll take them to dinner where ever they want to go and of course get them each a nice gift. I might be able to talk Mike into getting a small cake, but I'll settle for dessert at the restaurant; still trying to watch what I eat, somewhat, the big day is right around the corner.

Both of our parents represent something that isn't seen too often nowadays when it comes to marriage. When Momma Kay passed, her and Pops (my affectionate name for Mike's Dad) celebrated 51 years of marriage. Unfortunately, Pops was in the hospital on their anniversary so they didn't get to actually celebrate that day, but when he got home I'm sure the sparks flew! Between our parents that's almost a century of anniversaries! They have truly taught us what marriage is all about and we have them to thank for it. I can only pray that we will be blessed to have so many years together as well.

Three's a company

On June 7, 2008, or as us brides knew the day, 06/07/08, Mike lost his mother. She had been in the hospital for 9 weeks prior to the Lord calling her home. Of course this was and still is a very devastating experience, especially when you don't expect it, and let's face it, no one is ever prepared for something like this.

I still remember how happy we all were at their 50th wedding anniversary party that we threw for them in our home February 2007. Who knew a year and a half later we'd be here? Life is funny like that.

Well, Pops, as I call him, Mike's dad and my future-father-in-law, now resides with us. He decided he no longer wanted to live in the home he shared with his wife, too many memories he says. Can't say I blame him. I enjoy his company and Mike's other siblings call often to check on him. Last night we stayed up until 3am after I got off work, talking and watching something on TV about the old country westerns actors. I still look at him sometimes and my heart hurts because I see how much he misses her. Like he told me last night, it hurts to lose your parent, but your spouse is a whole 'nother thing. I can feel him on that. Just keep praying for us all.