An email exchange with a friend. She's married, has 3 kids.

>Maybe you weren't aware of it, but it's not at all clear to me that
>the time before the wedding is about supporting the groom.

Actually, the groom is just an accessory. You are necessary for the
goings-on, but really not all that relevant otherwise. The sooner
you accept and deal with this, the better. When are you getting
married? You might want to consider just ducking and hiding for,
say, the month before the wedding. And just agree with everything
she says. As my husband's late grandfather said to him as we left
our wedding: "make sure you always have the last word: yes dear."

Chris
- posted by cam @ 1:53 PM (0) comments

 
Suh-weet!

Tammie just found this website with everything that Fred will need to look good for the wedding photos. I love it!
- posted by cam @ 12:09 PM (0) comments

 
The Fred dog is coming! The Fred dog is coming!

I apparently caused some confusion in my "the knot" web page when I said that Fred wasn't going to be in the wedding. People took that to mean our baby was going to be kenneled someplace while we were off making him legit. That's actually not the case. We intend to load our baby up and drive him to St Louis with us. While I don't think St Cecilia's would appreciate a 75 pound dog checking the altar out for stray cats and squirrels, we are plotting as to how we can get Freddy in a few of the pictures. We'll probably need to designate a dog chauffeur who would be willing to run to Mom & Dad's (approx 5 minutes from the reception) and bring him to the reception for a few family pictures, and then run him back again.

The goal for this weekend: Thank you cards and shoes. Sounds weird, but I'm right on the borderline with my dress, and so have to get the flattest possible shoes to make the dress length correct. Unfortunately, flat, size 11, and stylish seem to be conflicting options. Dang it. Anyway, now that I've told everyone I'm going to do it, I have to. Or I'll have a boatload of people asking me why I fell down on the job.

Have a great weekend everyone!
- posted by cam @ 11:27 AM (0) comments

 
I'm under orders to write about the honeymoon. Cheryl has been very very good about not asking me to make many decisions about the wedding. My reaction to most of the choices involved in a wedding are along these lines.

Anyways, we're both cyclists, and we've both been to Europe, but on seperate trips. We'd like to go together and catch some cycling. The Tour de France seems very hectic and not very good for spectating. However, something like this struck us as pretty cool, since I was here and had a blast. So, the plan is (very roughly) to catch Flanders, Gent-Wevelgem and the queen of all classics, Paris-Roubaix. In between we'll see what we can of France and Belgium and of course we'll see a lot just traveling to watch the races. Reactions to this divide very evenly between blank stare (non-cyclists) and "Wow, that is so cool!"(cyclists). We'll keep you updated as we start to shop for tickets over the winter,when prices are very cheap and hotels over there still have low rates. Maybe I'll be interviewed by Belgian TV again.
- posted by cam @ 9:49 AM (0) comments

 
First: The wedding quote for the day, as submitted by Becky.
As the boy in Our Town says, "Looks like a fellow could get married without all this marchin' up and down."

Second: A good joke for your reading pleasure.
A tour group stopped at the Tower of London. A man from Prague and another from Athens got into a dispute. They decided to settle the matter using the accoutrements at hand. They donned armor and chain mail, while the rest of the group crowded around. But the onlookers couldn't tell one from the other. "Is that the Czech wearing the armor?" asked one tourist. "No," replied another, "the Greek is in the armor. The Czech is in the mail."

Finally: Listening to the radio this AM was enough to make you run screaming. Everything was about the Lindy England trial which quoted Lindy as saying "We were just having fun" in the Abu Ghraib prison in which she famously starred in the photos. Dude, who raised this woman, wolves? (Although that's probably unfair to the wolves) Were there no flies around to pull wings off of? Then her lawyer said it was no worse than what you would see at spring break. Remind me (in 18 years) that the kids can only go to Minneapolis for Spring break. I won't even comment on the forced vs non forced issue. Overall I'm not of the "Why would you bring children into this evil world" mindset, but it really does worry me when I think not only that we could give life to the next Mother Teresa, but also that we could give life to the next Lindy England. Ick.
- posted by cam @ 7:19 AM (0) comments

 
I think I now know what website I'm going to when wedding woes have gotten me down. It's "Going Bridal". Holy mackerel, the things people go through! I'm blessed to have fabulous bridesmaids, mellow parents (both sides of the family!), and a fiance who will do whatever the takes as long as it shuts me...er...I mean so that he can be supportive of whatever I do.

Oh yeah, and last night we were talking about the pans we got. Chris & Erin were asking if we had a chance to use them yet. Poor Chris, I hadn't posted anything to the blog, so he didn't know. So: Yes sweetie, I gave the Calphalon pots a whirl for the caramel chicken aka your new favorite meal. I like to think it worked out well for both of us!

Mmm, Eli & Lara - we went to Grecianland Bakery last night. Just thought I'd mention it. Chocolate covered baklava...mmmmmm....seragli....mmmmmm.... None of which is conducive to trying on that wedding dress again when it comes in. I think that'll end up being in September some time. I'm still having horrible flashbacks to the dress trying on. Argh! Thanks, I'll just have this nice saltine and a glass of water.
- posted by cam @ 7:03 AM (0) comments

 
Woohoo, I finally got my "save the date" emails out. I'm only 2 months late. Doh! But it's nice to check that off the list. It amazes me how many people for whom I don't have emails. I never realized how email dependent I am, but the more I think about it, the more I realized that the very little of my communication is via phone any more. I always think of the comedian who said that not being an email person any more is sort of like not being a phone person. He's just going to mail his airline request and a check in to the travel agent for his next trip. Anyway, my not having their emails doesn't mean that they don't have emails, or that they need them. Just funny to realize how much communicating I do by typing!

Update: DOH! Just found out I mistyped and excluded "unable" from my free form note. Dang it. No more free form typing for me. Either Chris checks it or I'm using the canned stuff.
- posted by cam @ 9:58 AM (0) comments

 
We found it! The ultimate tv show!

After getting back from Altoona yesterday, we both flopped in front of the tv and the fans and started surfing. And that's when we came across the Bridezilla marathon. I love watching other women melt down on the wedding, it makes me feel so sane by comparison. And so we spent our afternoon watching Bridezilla and Special Forces tv shows. A very nice balance of estrogen and testosterone.

Then it was off to see The Bourne Supremacy in a nice air conditioned movie theater. Or as Chris called it, the Bourne Witch Project. They were using the same shaky-cam techniques made popular in Blair Witch. It was really a shame, I thought the story was excellent, and Matt Damon looked good. er...was good. But take your dramamine before you go in, because the shots that aren't wobbling all over the place are rare. (And actually, when I put the link in to rotten tomatoes, I noticed that one of the critics also called it Bourne Witch. See sweetie, a film critic career lies ahead!)
- posted by cam @ 7:10 AM (0) comments