Sherry sent me an email this morning that made me smile. She wrote: “I miss your blog”.

Sigh. I know. I’ve been a very bad blogger for a very long time. I used the excuse of the wedding for a reason I wasn’t updating as much, but now that’s over and still, I rarely update. To be honest, I think I’ve just gotten out of the habit of writing here, and once you lose that groove, it’s really hard to get back into it. It was the same with my fiction writing. I hadn’t really written much in almost 4 years, so getting back into that was really tough. Hell, it still is, but gradually, I’m getting back into the habit of shutting myself away several times a week to write, even if it’s only for a half-hour or forty-five minutes.

Then there’s the fact that whenever I think, “I really should update my blog”, I wonder what the hell to write. I think most bloggers go through this every so often, because I’ve read plenty of entries like this, where you wonder why anyone would want to sit there and read about your day-to-day things, your work, your chores, your weekend, the movie you watched, the book you read, how much you love your husband/wife/whoever. But of course, I read blogs too, and sometimes those are my favourite entries because they allow me a glimpse into someone else’s life.

And so. Here is a short entry that I’m typing up at the start of my lunch hour because otherwise I know another week or two will go by with me intending to write something, but it just never fits into what’s going on.

This week is a bit busier than normal. Most weeknights, Neal and I go home, eat supper, sometimes go to the gym or for a walk, I’ll try to get some writing done, there are lunches to make, clothes to iron, showers to have, the occasional TV show to watch, and then we flop into bed. In other words, there is very little socializing going on Monday through Friday (Friday, of course, typically being our movie date night). Last night, though, I had a paralegal function thingy to go to. There were actually some conference lectures going on, but none of the topics had anything to do with foreclosures, so I couldn’t really justify going to one of those when I have a ton of work to get done. I did, however, want to meet some other paralegals in the city, so I ended up going to the cocktail reception thing. I am hoping that one of the talks next year will be applicable to me because it was a little embarassing to admit to people that I didn’t actually go to any of the lectures. “Nope, just here for the drinking… lush that I am…” Anyway, it was quiet but fun, I got to have two glasses of wine and some snacky things, and still managed to catch the ferry to go back over to the Dartmouth side at 6pm.

As for tonight, there’s a wine tasting/wine appreciation night at Cole Harbour Place, which is a 5-minute walk from our place. Jessie and Dylan are also going, so it should be a lot of fun. Supposedly, they have bits of wine to taste coupled with some food pairings so you can see how different food tastes can alter the taste of the wine. I’ve never gone to anything like that, really, so I’m pretty psyched about it. The closest we came to such a thing was going to a wine party some friends of Jessie and Dylan’s had where everyone brought a bottle or two of wine and something to eat. That was a lot of fun too.

Then Thursday things return to normal, as in going to the gym, watching “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, followed by “Grey’s”, and then flopping into bed. And Friday I’m REALLY hoping to be able to rent “Star Trek”!

As for now, I guess I should be off to get some grub into me!

I desperately want a cat.

This isn’t anything new, per se, but the desire has increased to an unprecedented level in the past while. I realize that this is the longest I have ever gone without a cat. When my sister and I were born, my parents already had a cat, Satan. Then, when he had to be euthanized at the ripe old age of 18, we all vowed to wait a few months before getting another cat. We lasted 2 weeks before my parents went to the SPCA to get Sargie and he lived to be 19. In fact, I moved out while Sargie was still kicking around.

I moved to Halifax in August of 2005, and in January of 2006, I got Milo from my friend Nancy. Now, long-time readers will remember some of the stories about Milo and will know that he was one hell of an aggressive cat.

I never wrote about what happened with him here. It’s not that I didn’t want to; I couldn’t, at first, because it was too painful. And then there was just one thing or another, and well, we all know that I haven’t exactly been an updating guru of late.

In a nutshell: The thing with Milo is that he could be extremely loveable a good part of the time. The problem was that every so often, with little or no provocation, he would just turn on… well, usually me. If he started chewing away on the artificial Xmas tree and I dragged him out for the upteenth time, he would suddenly lunge at me again and again until Neal could grab him, put him in a room and close the door for a bit until he could calm down. I had long given up on brushing him after he bit me extremely hard on my arm one time. It just wasn’t worth it. If he was that dead-set against being brushed, then he could just deal with fur-balls, y’know?

But then, like I said, he could be just absolutely adorable. He come looking for me or Neal if we were in a different room. If I was home alone (and therefore no one would see), he would often get up on my lap for a bit to cuddle while watching TV. He waited outside our bedroom door for us to get up; even after I’d get up on the weekends to feed him and go back to bed, he would often run after me to try to get into the bedroom rather than eat because he just wanted to hang out (and MAN, that boy liked his food!). He liked to play hide-and-seek. Neal taught him “tricks”, such as to sit, give paw, or play dead to get treats.

But, y’know, we had to warn new people who came over: “Be careful - he can be really aggressive”. Whenever we’d have people over and Milo came into the living room, I would tense because although he didn’t want to miss out on anything, and although he would rub up against people’s legs, he was also likely to bite our guests.

I used to think about whenever Neal and I have a baby. I would imagine the baby being in the playpen in the living room while I went into the kitchen for something, and coming back to see Milo in the pen with the baby, and the thought scared me so much I felt sick. I knew the day would come when we would face a very difficult decision, but I figured we would give him the best home we could for as long as we could.

Then, last August, Neal was sailing and I had a busy day away from the house. I was at work all day, went for groceries, ate a quick supper at home, and then ended up going to the neighbours’ to hang out around their outdoor fire. I came home around 11, and I guess Milo was none too pleased to see me doing my usual routine for going to bed. I passed him in the hall, and out of nowhere, he lunged at my upper thigh and bit me hard enough to draw blood.

It didn’t get infected, but it was a bad bite. I knew this was it. We couldn’t keep going on like this.

This has already gone on longer than I intended, and I don’t really want to go into a huge amount of detail. Suffice it to say that I looked around for places he could go, a local vet tried to find him a place on a farm, but nothing worked. I eventually had to accept that I was probably going to have to euthanize him.

It tore me apart. I have NEVER cried so much for so many days in my life. It wasn’t fair; Milo had had a shitty start to his life, being taken away from his mother too early and then shifted from one home to another to another, having spent a lot of his early life before me locked in rooms. No fucking wonder he had problems.

I had talked to a coworker of mine, Karen, about Milo. She has volunteered at shelters and she is a Cat Lady (though she is married). She had… I think 9 cats and one dog in her house! Anyway, she asked around, but it was a no-go. She passed me in the hall one day and saw that I had been crying; I had just found out that my last farm possibility had said ‘no’. Seeing her made the tears well up in my eyes again, and I ended up going into the bathroom to lock myself in a stall and let myself have a good ol’ cry.

A minute later, Karen came into the bathroom.

“Listen, Amanda,” she said from the other side of the stall door, “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take Milo for a couple of weeks and see how things go. If he gets along with my cats, then great, but if not, I’ll have to figure something out. But the deal is that you can’t be upset with me about any decision I have to make.” In other words, if it really didn’t work out, he would have to be euthanized. I would pay for it, but if I wanted her to, she would take him. I told her that I’d want to go with her.

It was the last chance I could give him, and god knows I gave that cat more chances than a lot of people would have. The next night, Neal (as he was home from sailing) and I brought Milo over to Karen’s. That was hard too; Milo was confused about his surroundings, especially the presence of so many cats, and he was growling and unhappy. We hung out with him for a bit, but then we had to leave. That, too, tore me apart.

But it’s all been for the best. He is able to have “cat fights” with the other cats, and they put each other in their place. Karen and her husband absolutely adore Milo, and Karen often regales me with stories about Milo. It’s not so bad now, but it did make me feel a little sad at first to hear these things, but only because I missed him.

A couple of Christmases ago, a girlfriend bought me a Xmas tree ornament of a cat holding a banner that said “Milo” on it. Last year, even though he wasn’t here, I put that ornament on my tree. And it will go on there again this year. Because no matter what, Milo will always have a special place in my heart.

And so, it has been over a year since I had a cat. I’ve been going on the Bide Awhile shelter website a few times a week to look at the cats there. I dropped a few “hints” to Neal about how I’m going to need a cat soon, and then recently I told him outright that after our honeymoon in January or February, we are getting a cat. Tonight I confessed that I’ve been going on the shelter website a lot lately.

I’d love to go out tomorrow and get one, but I feel like it might be a little selfish of me. After all, we’re going away for a week to Cuba in Jan-Feb, so I don’t know how fair that would be to a cat only starting to get used to us; suddenly he would be home alone a lot more and would have strangers coming to feed him.

Sigh.

Ahhh, Friday night. How I love Friday nights!

This week wasn’t overly long, but it didn’t go by as quickly as I would have liked either. On a positive note, though, I was extremely productive at work, much to Nick’s (the lawyer I work with) chagrin: he was out of the office for two-and-a-half days for an exam and came back to a pile of files on his chair so high it was in danger of falling over. I apologized to him - afterall, who wants to come back to a ton of pressing work? - but hey, it’s not like *I* was out for a little over two days!!

When I finish work at 4pm on Fridays, Neal and I head over to the grocery store to pick up the week’s goods. I absolutely detest going on a Saturday, and so prefer to get it over with at the beginning of the weekend. We often pick up a frozen pizza (a la “Delissio” or “Crescendo”) to pop in the oven for a quick and easy supper to be eaten with the very-much-required Friday night beer, but once in awhile, like tonight, we pick up one of those BBQ rotisserie chicken meals. I’m sure it’s no healthier than the pizza, but Friday night is There Are No Such Things As Calories night.

Then, we typically stop at Blockbuster to get a movie for the evening. This week, since we wanted to watch “Transformers 2″, Neal picked it up last night. Probably a good thing too, as it just came out on dvd this week and the kids were off school today; it probably would’ve been completed rented out. Unless there is something else, which there often is not, Friday night is our Movie Date Night. After supper, we putter around, Neal reading the newspaper, me reading whatever novel I’m on, we surf online, whatever, and then come 9 or 9:30, we pop our movie in, Neal makes us some rum and cokes, I pour some chips into a bowl, and we settle on the couch.

And you know what? Quiet as it might be, I love our Friday Movie Date nights.

As I mentioned above, we’ve rented “Transformers 2″ for tonight, and I’ve been excited since this morning. I absolutely LOVED the first one; I know that sequels sometimes suck, but I’ve heard pretty good things about this one. I mentioned on Facebook that we were going to be watching it tonight, and someone told me to “put your brain in 12-year-old boy mode to truly enjoy it” - uh, SO not a problem! Heh.

I’m not sure what the plan for tomorrow is. We do have to stop at Sobeys for some snacks for a party we’re going to, but beyond that, I don’t know. Neal was planning on going to a martial arts seminar and I was going to spend the day writing (with maybe a wee bit of cleaning stuffed in there), but he has since decided not to go. I am definitely going to fit some writing in there though!

Tomorrow evening, we’re going to a “wine and cheese” type party. Some friends of friends of ours are really big into wine, and they’ve invited a bunch of people over to try different wines and whatnot. Everyone is supposed to bring a wine and a food pairing, so it should be fun. However, my recent experience with combining parties and wine has not been very good (well, the aftermath, anyway), so I will have to carefully watch how much I consume. I may try a sip or two of various wines, but then I’m going to choose one and have a maximum of 3 glasses.

Unless my will power goes for a hike once I start feeling inebriated.

Which is, sadly, usually what happens. Sigh.

Sunday is a big question mark as well. Despite my above plan to watch how much wine I drink, I am planning for a quiet-ish day, possibly a little bit hungover. Now that the cooler weather has come upon us, Sunday is my “cooking day”. I love my slow cooker. That’s not even doing my feelings justice. There is nothing like having your house filled with the yummy, scrumptious scents of stew/roast/soup/whatever, and then sitting down with a bottle of wine and enjoying said meal. Sunday is also our “Try a Different Wine” day. We have a little notebook and keep track of each wine we taste and what we think of it. This week, I’m cooking “Fall beef and beer casserole” in the slow cooker. It seems to be a stew with a beer-based sauce. Sounds pretty yummy!

So yes, the weekend. How wonderful it is! And now, I think I’m going to go curl up on the couch and read for a bit until the excitement over Transformers becomes too great to be contained!

What are you doing this weekend?

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a month since Neal and I got married. Really, where has the time gone? I would have thought that with life slowing down - no more major wedding planning, that is - that time would drag, even just a little bit, but definitely not! Hence the reason it’s been so long since I posted anything - it’s been hard to fit it into my evenings and weekends, and even when it’s been possible, I have found that after spending Monday to Friday in front of a computer screen at work, I haven’t really wanted to sit here in front of yet another screen - not for any length of time, at least.

And so, short-and-sweet, what’s been going on for the last little while:

* We got our pictures back from Terri, our official wedding photographer. One of these days, I hope to post a few of them. To be honest, I’m a little hesitant to get into all of that because there are so many absolutely fantastic pictures, and I figure it would just take me an entire day to re-format them for posting here. But suffice it to say that Neal and I were extremely happy, ecstatic actually, about how the pictures turned out. After searching in various photography stores, we managed to find a photo album we liked at Wal-Mart, and we put a bunch of the pictures in there in time for going to Saint John for Thanksgiving last weekend. None of the grandparents were able to attend the wedding, so we wanted to have the album ready for them to look at.

* Work has started to get crazy again. It seemed to slow down slightly over the summer - though that doesn’t mean I ever had free time or a moment when I wondered what I could work on. But the rate at which new files came in from the banks slowed down considerably, and I wondered whether it was because a) our firm wasn’t getting the files resolved quickly enough so maybe the banks were going somewhere else (which would be VERY bad) or b) the recession was starting to wrap up. Turns out it was probably neither, but rather that the bank employees were going on summer vacations and therefore weren’t turning things out at their normal, maniacal rate. So it looks like I’ll have to put the lady who helps me from time to time to even greater use, and maybe have to start working through a few more lunches. I’m none too fond of the latter.

* I’ve started to get into the groove of writing again. It’s really hard to get back into that frame of mind when you’ve been away from it for a few years. I guess I was a little surprised at how hard it was, but I’ve never gone so long without writing. But it’s starting to come back. Now that we don’t have the wedding to plan, and as the days are growing colder which means less work done outside, I’m pushing myself to go downstairs into the office to do some writing. It feels really good to do that again. It has been way, WAY too long!

* Now that the wedding-planning is finished, we are now starting to make plans for our honeymoon! We had originally thought about going to the Mayan Riviera, but we’ve found that the price has gone up a bit, and now we’re leaning quite heavily toward Cuba. We bought a CD-Rom program to learn Spanish yesterday, which we’ll have to start this week, just so we will know a few phrases and words when we go down. Neal put on the Latino music station on the satellite today while I was cooking - that was pretty fun, shaking my hips in the kitchen and getting in the mood to go down south, heh.

* Neal and I bought a wine-making kit and the equipment a few weeks ago. They had a deal at a local store where first-time winemakers could buy a wine kit and you would get the necessary equipment for free. It worked out to be close to a $100 saving, and since we had been thinking about making wine for awhile, we figured we might as well take advantage of the sale. We finally got around to starting the whole process today, so it’s very exciting! It involves quite a bit of patience, as you have to let it sit and do its thing for a long time before drinking it, but alas, I’m sure it will be worth it. In the meantime, we’ll continue on with our weekly tradition of buying a different bottle of red every week and drinking it on Sunday with supper.

And, as far as I can recall at the moment, that’s about all that’s new ’round here. I hope to update more often from now on!!

… as Mrs. Amanda Guthrie! I think I’m going to enjoy saying that name for a very very long time.

After nearly two years of wedding planning, Neal and I have emerged as husband and wife. It’s true what they say - the day goes by so very quickly. Many said that I probably wouldn’t remember everything, but I do. There were a good many things I didn’t notice, simply because there was so much to take in, but for those things that did catch my attention, I remember it all.

The wedding went fabulously. I stayed at the hotel on Friday night, which was my husband’s (eee!) great idea. It meant that I could sleep in a relatively peaceful place. Don’t get me wrong - having everyone here at the house all week was wonderful, but given my stress level on Friday night, I think it was for the best that I went and stayed somewhere else. In fact, I did have a minor meltdown on Friday night, complete with tears, and although it was a little embarrassing as it was in front of my parents and Neal’s family, I think that that’s why I didn’t cry the day of the wedding - I had gotten it all out of my system.

I slept reasonably well Friday night; I woke up feeling pretty nervous on Saturday morning, but I got myself under control. I further calmed down while at the day spa where I had my hair and makeup done. I actually managed to eat a fair amount on Saturday, which was amazing!

The “worst” part of the day was when Sherry and I arrived at the church in the limo. We were about 15 minutes early (my mom told me that the piper said that it was the first time he had seen a bride show up so early, heh), and so I had to wait. And wait. And wait some more. I know it wasn’t really all that long, but when you’re all dressed up on the most important day of your life, even mere seconds feel like an eternity.

At last, the limo driver opened the door, and I could come out. My parents both started to cry, and my mom managed to choke out that I was beautiful. Honestly, I felt like a movie star all day!

Then came the surreal part, as I walked down the aisle and saw Neal there at the front of the church, all dressed up in his tux, waiting for me. I smiled at a few people as I walked down, but mostly I kept my eyes on Neal. The ceremony wasn’t long, but I will admit that a few times I thought, “More praying??”, but that was mainly because I couldn’t wait to become Neal’s wife.

I had been a tad concerned after the rehearsal because the minister didn’t go through what would be said in very much detail - what if I didn’t know what to do at a particular moment? The worry was all for naught, though, because everything was smooth. And then, at long last, the minister declared us husband and wife, and introduced us as Mr. and Mrs. Neal and Amanda Guthrie!!

The pictures seemed to go well - I think that Terri typically takes about two weeks to fix the pictures up and whatnot. Luckily though, as this is the age of everyone owning a digital camera, I have seen some pictures. In fact, I’ve looked at Sherry’s pictures of the wedding at least once daily since the wedding!

The reception also went super-well; the food (turkey and all the trimmings) was delicious, and we were able to actually eat our meals because instead of people hitting their glasses to get us to kiss, our guests had to go up to a putting green and get a hole-in-one. If they got it, we would kiss; if they missed, they had to kiss someone at the head table!

All in all, it was an amazing, fabulous day! The next day, my new sister-in-law, Carolyn, asked me if I felt any different. I told her I didn’t, really, because Neal and I had been living together for awhile. But as I thought about it more, I realized that that’s not altogether true. I do feel different, though in a more subtle way than I would have had we lived apart until we got married. We were already committed to one another, but the wedding was that last step, what made it all official. It’s amazing to think of Neal not as my boyfriend or fiancé (a very pretentious-sounding word, if you ask me!), but as my husband.

Everyone was gone from our house on Tuesday morning, and Neal and I spent the rest of the day doing some shopping with some of the gift cards people gave us for the wedding. Neal had to go back to work today - my first day back is tomorrow - so I spent the day cleaning and doing a ridiculous amount of laundry.

So yes, back to the “same old”, but a little different!

And now to share a few of the pictures I’ve seen; some favourites that Sherry took (hope you won’t mind Sherry!):

All ready!

On our way to the church. I was calling Neal’s best man, Brian, to make sure that Neal was there, but Brian had turned his phone off.

“Finally! I get to kiss him!”

Sisters

One of my favourite pictures!

And some pictures taken by the best man, Brian, and his wife Jaime:

Hayley and Steven

A very well-produced video from the UK on the dangers of texting while driving.

TWELVE DAYS TILL I GET HITCHED!

It is definitely getting harder and harder to concentrate at work. Well, anywhere, really. I’ll be sitting here at my desk, working away, somehow managing to focus on the task at hand, and then suddenly I will remember that I should call so-and-so about this detail, or that we should pick up some little thing for The Big Day ™.

I will do some work-related thing incorrectly - something I’ve done a gazillion times, but for some reason, I’ll get it wrong. You’ve heard of “Pregnant Brain”? Well, I have “Bride Brain”. From what I’ve heard of the former condition, I think the symptoms are pretty much the same.

The best part is when I look ahead on my calendar and write something down. It’s usually something work-related, something like, “September 18th - Sheriff Sale”, and I’ll think “I’ll be Amanda Guthrie then!” Or I’ll look down at my left hand and feel all a-flutter because I realize that very soon, I’ll have TWO rings on that finger.

Growing up, I always hoped I would get married. When I was really young, I even assumed I would someday. But it still feels so incredibly surreal that I soon will be. I will be a wife, and I will have a husband.

I can’t wait!

Today has been extremely unproductive - not that I really expected anything else, because last night was my bachelorette party.

We started the night out at Niche for supper. None of us had been there before, but it had always intrigued me. It’s a really nice restaurant. We sat outside because it was such a beautiful night, but the inside was gorgeous too.

My first drink of the night: Blue Hawaii, which was Bacardi coconut rum, Blue curacao, 7-up and pineapple juice. Yummy!

Our drinks - very colourful!

After we left, we stopped at a nearby bench to take some photos.

I was told to strike some poses, so I obliged.

Nina givin’ me some love

Me and Jenny

Me and Nancy, my Bachelorette-organizer

Me and Nina

Terri and Nina both had to leave after supper - Terri because she had to get up early this morning to shoot some pictures for someone, and Nina because her son (who is almost a year) decided not to sleep much at all on Thursday night, so Nina didn’t get much sleep either.

Nancy, Jenny and I headed to our next stop, The Lower Deck where Shameless was playing

Nancy and Jenny were quite taken with the base player

As I was wearing a banner thing that said “Bachelorette” and a tiara and veil with “Bride to Be” written on the front, I was noticed quite a bit throughout the night. A lot of people congratulated me, and then the lead singer of the band saw me and called me up onstage.

Me, Nancy and Jenny (Jenny realized later just how low her dress was getting and I fixed it for her by tightening it)

Nancy sitting the base player’s lap, heh

She then wanted me to get a picture with him

Nancy started talking to a guy at the bar so the three of us joined him and his friends upstairs and closed that bar, around 2 a.m. Jenny had left a little earlier, but Nancy and I ended up going with that guy to a dance club called the Liquor Dome. And we closed THAT bar, which closes at either 3 or 3:30. We got a cab with that guy and some friends of his, I got Nancy out of the cab at my house so the guys could go off to their homes, and I called her cab to pick her up as she wanted to go home and sleep in her own bed.

So I probably got to bed around 4 a.m. or so. Hence the reason that I stayed in bed until 12:30 when Neal left with the guys to go to our neighbour’s camp for his bachelor party, and I have spent the rest of the day reading and napping on the couch. After I finish up this entry, I’m probably going to play some more of the Playstation 3 game we rented last week, “Viking” (awesome game!), and then head to bed.

But despite the suffering today, I had a great time!

When I took Friday, August 7th off, it wasn’t for the sheer enjoyment of having a Friday off work. As soon as I heard that that was the day that Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, had chosen to bring the Cup to town, I knew I wanted that day off. The part of Halifax where I live, Cole Harbour, is where Crosby grew up, and he played hockey as a kid at the gym where Neal and I work out. That he was bringing the Stanley Cup to his hometown was a BIG DEAL, to say the least!

Neal, unfortunately, had to work in the morning, but it wasn’t so bad. Afterall, the reason he had to work was because he had to set up the P.A. system for the first part of Sidney Crosby Day (declared so by the mayor!) which took place at the navy dockyard.

Neal, hard at work:

First, Sidney flew in on a Sea King.

Carrying the cup:

Neal and Maxime Talbot (got the two goals in last game against Detroit that won the Cup) - I’m mildly jealous:

Neal, luckily, was still able to get home in time to join me at the festivities over at Cole Harbour Place, where Crosby’s parade was going to take place. Will and Angela called earlier in the day to see if they could park at our place and come with me - we, fortunately, live within a 5-minute walk of where it was all going down.

Me, Will and Angela, on our way to see Crosby and the Cup!

Me and Angela, excited to be there:

And the crowd - in the paper, they said there were around 75,000 people there:

(They probably had one hell of a view!)

The crowd following the Cup:

Maxime Talbot:

And here it is, the moment we were ALL waiting for!

SIDNEY CROSBY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Honestly, it was a very exciting day, and I had shivers going up and down my spine as I stood there, fifteen feet away!

My grandmother would have been proud. Although she was a Canadiens fan, I think she would have really liked Crosby.

… I will be Mrs. Amanda Guthrie!!!

How insane is that? When I was a kid, I - of course - hoped that I would get married someday. I expected I would, I guess, in that way that kids assume that such things as marriage, children, owning a house, etc. will come their way. As I grew older, that expectation did turn to hope, as I realized that it wasn’t, in fact, a matter of course that people got married.

And so, I feel very fortunate. I am fortunate that I met Neal and that we hit it off so wonderfully.

It’s really hard to believe that after what we thought would be a really long engagement - it was close to two years - it’s almost here. Things are going well - the panic bubbles up inside me as I think to myself that I must have missed something, but then I look at my checklist and see that we’re actually doing quite well. There are still a few things to be done, of course, but I think we’re on track. The goal is for us to have as much done as possible before our families show up (well, it’s doubtful that that will be the case with Sherry and they’re supposed to be in Halifax around the 19th - yahoo!!!!).

Anyway, I meant to put a longer entry up today, to commemorate this day, but alas, making lunches and lawn mowing and ironing got in the way. But I did want to come and acknowledge this day because I know that the next 31 days are going to fly by!