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I wrote this entry this afternoon. Then I saw the movie, which I LOVED and shall buy when it comes out. It's just what I needed right now.
High: Marie's home from a week away, and we spent hours gabbing and catching up.
Low: Listening to Calvin on the phone with Michael right now, and it sounds like he may not be able to make the wedding after all. I won't know until Calvin gets off the phone and I talk to him, but that's what it sounds like on this end.
Buying the worlds most comfortable walking sandals for our vacation. I just haven't found them yet.
We were watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" tonight, and Calvin laughed so hard he shot beer out of his nose.
"Hey, did you happen to see the most beautiful girl in the world..."
Michael left for boot camp.
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June 10, 2002
One hour in which to write.
A girlfriend from work and I are jetting out a bit early today to go see "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood". It's a girl thing. She's stressed and overworked, I'm inclined to think about nothing work-related lately, so we're going. With my boss' blessing, no less ("I wish I could go with you."). I figured it was a safe bet that neither my friend's significant other (a "good ol' boy" from some midwestern state) nor Calvin would be even remotely interested in going. I believe Calvin's exact words were, "What the hell is a Ya-Ya?" So we're going to a matinee, which will impact less on our evening routines. I'm about 30 pages into the book right now, but I think I'll set it aside and read "Little Altars Everywhere", which should be delivered to my doorstep today via Amazon and UPS. Gotta love Internet package tracking.
A little thing that stokes me is the sheer amount of good reading material I have available to me at the moment. Recently I went on a "Take Care Of MEMEME" spree and spent a couple of hours at the bookstore. I grabbed three or four titles, plus a couple of classical CD's. Then I got on Amazon and ordered a few more books and another classical CD. Then I had a luncheon/wedding shower hosted by my aforementioned friend, and I got a couple more books from my manager. And Archibael let slip that he's sending me a book from Amazon as a sort-of wedding present ("sort of" because Calvin doesn't read, so he can't share in the present). Now my only dilemma is going to be to not allow myself to take a day off from work just so I can sit around in my PJ's and read till my little heart's content.
So, yes, wedding plans and activities are in full throttled swing, which is the primary reason for my silence as of late. The secondary reason is that I'm spending much of my time on iVillage's "Shape Up Community Challenge" message boards (which fact makes Calvin scoff mightily). I'm determined (again) to get myself under control (hah) so that someday (maybe) I'll be able to stomach (don't mind the pun) myself in a bathing suit (guffaw). The thirdary (hush, I can make up words if I want to) reason is that when I *do* find the time to write, I'm strangely unmotivated to do so. I feel too stirred up and hyper to be able to calm myself down long enough to do up an entry. Plus, I know that I owe the second part of that horse story - weirdly enough, knowing that there's something that I *should* write about is making me feel like I don't want to write about *anything*.
I'm still staying pretty much in contact with the journaling community, though (Hi, Jill, glad you're back! Hi, Dawn, glad you added that extra detail in your latest entry!), so that I'm not completely emerging from under a rock when I do get around to updating more often.
I was taken to lunch last Friday and spoiled completely by my co-workers. I was forced to wear a gag veil during the lunch, was given a surprising amount of money from several folks with the strict admonition to spend it on ME and only ME, and was served up with the most scrumptious raspberry rum cake that creation ever did see. I then received an invitation from my boss, who, along with another lady from work, are throwing me a bachelorette party on the 22nd. They (about 10 so far) are arriving at my house promptly at 7:00 to whisk me away, but I'm not to know where we're going. Knowing several of the ladies as I do, I'm sure there will be semi-nude men and sweaty dollar bills on the agenda.
I guess I'm going to have to get over my hatred of being the center of attention. I just don' t know how I'm going to get out of wearing the veil to *that*, too. I've been "told" that that's the way it's going to be. It's my party, can't I dress how I want to? (Oh, whine a little more, why don't I?)
Let's see, what else has been going on?
Our friend AB, like the jewel that she is, was gracious enough to make all of our travel arrangements for the vacation we're taking after the wedding (she's a travel agent). Most folks would call that a honeymoon, but in the presence of Marie, it's a vacation. We're staying in LA for two nights, then Monterey for two nights, then San Francisco for two nights. We'll be driving up along the Pacific Coast Highway, so if any readers out there have any suggestions for some sights we shouldn't miss along the way, feel free to let me know! We are incredibly excited about this trip - AB took such good care of us! We're staying in a *very* posh place in Monterey, and the hotel room we're getting in San Francisco has panoramic views of the whole city. Throw in discounted tickets to Six Flags (which price is murderous if you pay in full), and she's a true Godsend. We're also planning on hitting the Monterey Aquarium and I'm sure we'll do the Alcatraz thing in San Francisco. A whirlwind trip to be done in just a week, to be sure.
Yesterday Calvin and I drove up to Sedona to meet with Rev. Andrew and the wedding coordinator, Margaret. Calvin and I are in the throes of warm fuzziness, which is just as it should be when we're getting married in 19 days, don't you think? I always love going on road trips with him, even short ones such as an excursion to Sedona (two hours one way). We talk about everything and nothing, listen to all of our mix CD's, constantly reach out to hold hands or pat legs, and truly enjoy ourselves.
Rev. Andrew was charming - a very quiet man but with a wry wit dwelling beneath the surface. We met at a little coffee shop that had a few rooms situated with comfortable couches and chairs. He commandeered one of the rooms and we settled down for an hour-long conversation. He asked us how we met, what qualities we appreciated in one another, and what marriage meant to us. A couple of times Calvin's responses were so touching he had me tearing up. I'm marrying the most wonderful man in the world, did I tell you that?
Anyway, after meeting Rev. Andrew I am completely at ease with the knowledge that he will give us a lovely ceremony. His philosophy is very compatible with mine and Calvin's. He's warm without being dramatic, and spiritual without being preachy. He's very sincere and we can tell he absolutely loves what he does in his life.
Then, after covering a few last details with Margaret (final guest count, menu finalization, hair dresser details), Calvin and I walked around Sedona a bit and found a good restaurant in which to have lunch. The Cowboy Club is just the sort of place you'd expect of a locale whose visitors come there to dwell in the whole "Wild West Experience". But it managed to pull off the atmosphere without being kitschy or tourist-trapish. Of course, we were a little concerned with the fact that another patron, with a complete horse's ass of a laugh, was gaffawing at extreme decibels at a nearby table. It was so bad that all the other patrons were exchanging raised-eyebrow looks at each other and the waiters. But they left before our appetizers came. The food was outstanding - Coconut Tempura Shrimp with some sort of raspberry jam (a strange-sounding but excellent combination), a pulled pork sandwich for Calvin, and a buffalo meat burger for myself. We lingered over a couple of mugs of their locally brewed amber beer, and soaked in the lover's high that we seem to be floating around in over the past few days.
We took a quick excursion through Tlaquepaque (don't ask me how to pronounce it), an artsy shopping village in Sedona that I've always driven by but never gone into. The architecture is very southwestern, with Spanish influence - all creeping vines and courtyards accessed through arched doorways. The galleries have southwest art as well as modern and abstract - hugely priced but enjoyable to drool over. Then we grabbed a smoothie on the way out and headed home. We got back by 5:00 - Marie was at her mother's last week and they took a weekend trip to San Diego, so we were expecting her back. Come to find out, though, that they weren't due in until about 11:00 p.m., so she'll come home today instead.
And if you need any more proof positive that Calvin is a really, truly great guy - he sat down with me last night and watched Harry Potter *all the way through*. It wasn't his thing, he wasn't really interested, but he did it because he knew it would make me happy to snuggle on the couch with him and watch a movie.
You can't have him. He's mine. "Down down down! Back back back! Mine mine mine!"
The rest of my time between now and the wedding will be spent buying a last few necessary items (though I finally found the shoes last weekend), making lists, completing lists, making more lists, getting my hair highlighted, going to a Diamondbacks game for Father's Day, going to the David Lee Roth/Sammy Hagar concert, going to my bachelorette party, giving myself a mini-spa day (facial, manicure, pedicure, waxing), packing, figuring out how all the relatives are getting *to* Sedona and how the kids are getting back *from* Sedona (Calvin and I are staying an extra night), and going mildly mad.
With that said, you can expect things to be relatively quiet around the website for the next month or so. I'm not going on hiatus, just letting you know to expect about the same frequency of updates as has been occurring lately. My Notify List gets updated on the occasion that I have something to say and am disinclined to post a full fledged entry, so if you're inclined you may want to sign yourself up. I know I owe you lots of pictures, I owe you part two of the horse story, and I owe it to myself to write more often than I do.
I'll be back.