Cheryl & Chris's Wedding Blog
Friday, November 05, 2004
Oh thank heavens, I have finally found a cookbook that will have recipes Chris will like. Thanks James Lileks!
I've posted a very small selection of photos from the 10/30 engagement party. There are many, many more, but I didn't think everyone would necessarily want to see all of them.
PS - you have to click on the picture to open it, and to read any captions. (Not all of them are captioned)
Thursday, November 04, 2004
So far so good this morning on getting some wedding things done. I've emailed a Limo service about reserving a limo for wedding morning. I know I'm on the cusp of being a bit late on getting this done, so I won't send details until things are firmed up.
I ordered jelly bellys for our favors. Our flavors are A&W Cream Soda and French Vanilla for the white colors and then bubblegum for some pink like the flowers we ladies are carrying. Anyway - why jelly beans? First of all, why not? But also since they're one of Chris's favorite candies, it seemed like a more personal touch for us than the jordan almonds. And since I'm not much of a sweets person, and potato chips didn't seem like they would last long enough for our guests to enjoy, I went with Chris's jelly bean fancy.
Finally, I ordered some thank you cards that don't say "For the shower gifts" on them. I've got a busy weekend of thanking people ahead of me, and will probably take more than a few weeks to work through, so I'm going to need them!
Now it's all down to the details.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
update: Dates secured. A meeting about it later, but dates are secured for leaving.
I was such a whiner when I was in elementary school that Dad would make me say one nice thing about the day before I spent the rest of the car ride complaining. So, I had a very good experience in my first time voting, had a lovely sushi dinner with Cheryl in celebration of her test and the fall here has been amazing.
In mid July I asked off a few days here and there to race, plus the wedding. For whatever reason(s) (although I think I know why) the request for one week leave of absense for the wedding was only sort of approved yesterday. (And the dates we need to be in St. Louis have changed since then.) They're only giving me 3 days off. I have to make up 2 before I leave and 1 after I get back. I don't think we're allowed to work weekends anymore.
However, that plan is contingent on the results of my monthly evaluation. The evaluation criteria change, literally, every 1-3 months without prior notification. I have documentation going back 2 years to prove that. Moreover, I don't find out the results of my evaluation till Dec 1, 10 days before the wedding.
No word on what happens if I don't meet the standards. When Cheryl was really sweating our meeting with the priest, I told her that the Catholic Church was not going to stop us from getting married. I'm glad we didn't have all the crystal we have now, as I suspect some of it would have been thrown along with "Reason this, Dr Spock!". Apparently Davison might.
I am Jack's raging bile duct.
-CM
Here's an important election result which will most certainly be overlooked thanks to the chaos of our own elections.
May we not have to wait so long for the results of the US elections. What does make me happy is that Bush won the popular vote. That at least spares us 4 years of listening to people complain about electoral colleges and "real" winners, regardless of who wins. (As someone pointed out, the Yankees scored more runs than the Red Sox in the ALCS, which must mean they won the popular vote) Now everyone cross their fingers that this is settled soon, that the loser makes a classy, UNITING speech (Kerry made a very nice speech yesterday, by the way, before things really kicked off. Essentially he said that both he and the president loved America and the people would decide.), and we can get on with life.
Oh, and I'm still happy dancing over my test yesterday. It wasn't the kind of scores one would need to, say, enter MIT. But it was passing which is all that's necessary!
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
First off...our PSA:
Go VOTE!
Why?
A) Because if you don't vote this election, I don't want to hear your political views until the next election in which you do vote. Quit whining, go do something. Even if you pick the wrong guy. It's not infallible, it is important.
B) Because I am voting, and roughly half of you disagree with my viewpoints. If you disagree, you better do your best to counter my vote. If you agree...well um, half of you don't and I could use some help with this.
Anyways...and for those of you who pray, send good thoughts, whatever, think of me around noon today, my first certification test is today. I think I'm ready, but a little celestial help for maintaining some clarity of mind wouldn't come amiss.
Finally a huge congratulations to Ms Anna...er, I should say Dr Anna Noller who successfully defended her thesis. Way to go! Chris and I are so proud of you!
Monday, November 01, 2004
So what can we say about this weekend except…um….wow.
We went to Bowling Green to see Chris’s Mom, trade in my beater Cavalier, and attend a engagement party breakfast (breakfast party? Something like that) Anyway, we started with the breakfast. (Makes sense) Becky did a Bee-YOO-tiful job bringing people, decorations, and logistics together. It was a little stunning since Chris and I were not expecting any presents. We walked in and the table was stacked high with gifts. There were roughly 85 people there, all friends of Chris and his Mom. It’s really cool to be in a room where people all are wishing the best for you. Not that I spend a lot of time with people wishing me ill, but this is a little different. Everyone was just super, so it was a lot of fun. A lot of these people have known Chris since he was knee high to a grasshopper, so hopefully in the future, they can spill the good stories on him. Of course I know that can work both ways as a bunch of people at the wedding will be able to share the goods on me as well.
After the breakfast, we picked up our shiny new Accord. Then it was back home to open presents with Chris’s aunts. We filled Becky’s living room with gifts. It was amazing, gratifying, and completely overwhelming. We’ve kind of lived fairly simple lives, at least when it comes to owning/buying non-bike-related things. Chris moved to Pittsburgh in 2 station wagon trips. I have a lot of stuff, but it’s mostly papers, keepsakes and mementos. Suddenly we have pyrex, corning ware, towels, lamps, crystal, ornaments, etc. Oh sure, I signed up for a lot of this, but it’s still odd to see how much was there. And then there were the gift cards, and money. We both feel guilty, which I know is odd, but the whole experience is just strange. This will probably be the only time in our lives that we go through anything like this, and there’s really not much to prepare you for this outpouring of love and affection for us and for our parents. Anyway, not that it makes sense, I think a lot of it was just sort of the shock of the whole weekend. Then Sunday morning we loaded up the new car with our new gifts and drove home playing with the new XM radio. We did indeed get everything into the car – that’s a trunk full of gifts, the big bike bag, the suitcase, a bike, and the dog with room for him to stretch out in the back seat. We won’t mention any names but SOMEONE thought we couldn’t. She was afraid this car wouldn’t be able to fit a baby either…
Anyway, I have to say, for those of us who travel, XM radio rules. First three months are free, and that’s a good gamble on their part. We’ll probably keep it.
And now I’m off to talk Chris out of selling everything and going to do missionary work in India.
For those of you who are in a praying mode, my first CPIM test is tomorrow, and I feel woefully unprepared. Pray for me for clarity of mind, so I do my best!
