Sandals, here we come!

Yep, its official. We're going to Sandals to get hitched. The wedding date is October 20th at 4:30p.m. On the beach even.

I'm so happy that its finally settled. I hated having things hanging in the air, and people asking me questions. I felt like the biggest buffoon saying "I'm not sure yet." Especially because I was so excited about the cruise.

The fun part comes in picking a dress. First, I expect to lose some weight between now and the wedding (hopefully 40lbs) which means lots of fittings. Then, I'm very particular about what I want to wear because it is going to take place outdoors on a beach. It would be silly to have a 6ft train dragging in the sand but I still would like a wedding dress that looks like a wedding dress. And of course, it has to be within my price range. Yeah, the dress is going to be a nightmare. Everything else is cake.

So my life is unexciting, as I'm sure you all realize that by now. I'm still hoping that my mom will tell Judy whats going on but its literally coming down to the midnight hour. I'll have to call my aunt Judy tonight and fish, see if my mom has even called her and when rent is due.

I was supposed to go and visit my aunt this past weekend but there was a death in the family. This is so sad, and senseless. My aunt has a son named Tony. Tony's in his 40's and dating a very nice woman of a similar age with children. One of the girlfriends' daughter's became pregnant, she was in her third year of college. Apparently she was a good student, got good grades and didnt drink, smoke, or party. Unfortunately she was overweight, and had terrible eating habits. When she became pregnant her blood pressure went up, and she continued to eat poorly. No veggies, fast food, soda, that kind of crap. The young woman was only 3 weeks from her delivery date, when she had a heart attack in bed and died. The mother found her in bed the next morning. The worst part is the baby was full term, he could have lived outside the womb. So my aunt's son is a wreck. He and his girlfriend move back in with my aunt, because they just cant stand to be in the same house where the girl died. I cant blame them, that's so awful.

Wedding Bells and the blues

My mom still hasnt told Aunt Judy she's planning on moving out. I'm going to see my Aunt Judy this weekend, and if Mom still hasnt told her, I will. Its not that I want to get into their business, or start a fight, but my mom is flat out wrong and my Aunt deserves to know what's going on. Better take some tums.

Poor Pita. The dumb cat ate something he shouldnt have (God only knows what) and it gave him the runs for days, til finally he couldnt make it to the litterbox. I took him to the veterinarian and he perscribed some pills that made Pita behave like a crack head. It was pretty awful, he couldnt get comfortable, couldnt sit still. I dont think he slept the first two days. Steve and I had a running joke about the vet, because I've never seen another customer in there. I mean, they've talked about other customers in front of me, but I've never actually seen any. I think its time to switch vet offices.

I went to the gym, finally, and got weighed. I lost 1 lb with no exercise over the holiday (because of my back and the cold), my arms and waist got a bit smaller but my hips, ass, and bust got bigger. Go figure. I gave up soda, and am leaving a bite of everything behind that I eat. Hopefully that will help. I really cant complain, because at the very least I didnt gain anything over the holiday, which is pretty good I guess.

I'm cracking down on the wedding planning. We'd put it off til after the holidays, mostly because we wanted some time to think our plans over. I knew I wanted a destination wedding as soon as Steve suggested it, so even though we're not doing the cruise we're still going somewhere for our wedding. I'm leaning heavily towards a Sandals Resort in Ocho Rios, in Jamaica. Sandals has the best balance between cost and things to do at the resort, plus the wedding is free if we stay 5+ nights which we planned to do anyway. The only thing I'm wrestling with now is a budget. We want to keep it reasonable, and not go into debt for our wedding but we also want to have a nice time. The biggest thing we're waiting on is to see how much of a raise Steve is getting this year. We're hoping it will be high since his resume landed his company a nice fat contract but who knows.

I've been filling up my wedding notebook like a mad woman. Pictures of dresses, invitations, flowers, colors, ideas. I've decided on the wedding favors which is an odd thing to pick so early but I guess it was just easy with what we'd planned. I'm going to pick up some medium to small sized metal buckets from any old craft store, and starfish magnets. I'll fill the buckets with some saltwater taffy, a few sea shells, and wrap it with blue cellophane. I dont imagine it will cost a whole lot, but the guest list is so small anyway.

I think butterflies will be a theme at my wedding. I realize they're somewhat overdone, but its very symbolic for me. I've thought about this a lot the past few weeks, about my life. I've grown so much in the past two years, in so many ways. I really do feel like a butterfly. I was reading through a bridal magazine today, and it was like a neon sign to me, this tiny advertisement to have butterflies released at weddings. I'm looking into it, and its actually affordable. I can probably sacrifice something to do that, but until I have hard numbers I wont know for sure.

I spoke with my Aunt about the wedding, thats all she can talk about. She's one of those women that can take a rubber band and twine and make it look like a million bucks. She's absolutely thrilled to impart her wisdom on me, and for the most part I'm happy to listen. Anyway, she's horrified that I havent picked my wedding colors yet. I didnt think it was such a big fat hairy deal. So that lit a fire under my ass and I'm thinking that I like shades of soft purple and blue, with bright blue touches. I wont know for sure til I talk more to the Sandals people.

Steve has been awesome during this whole thing. When his whole family refused to come on the Cruise, I said, "lets just run away and get married, and have a small dinner here." Then I said, "lets have a courthouse wedding here, and small reception and go have a second wedding at Sandals." Then I said, "lets get married at Sandals, and whoever comes, comes." Each time I changed my mind, he didnt roll his eyes or take me less seriously. Although he did laugh and accuse me of trying to give him a heart attack.

I'm so lucky I get to marry him. Weddings are only as good as the person you are marrying and the committment you are making. I'd marry him in a muddy field next to an outhouse if that was my only option. The fact that I get to have a destination wedding makes it that much sweeter.

Pita to the rescue!

The last few days have been the roughest I've had in awhile. Never fear, Pita is here! And, Spooky and Steve too, hehe.

Spooky has never been a silly antics type cat, she's just very affectionate when I'm upset and has been the past few days. Pita on the other hand, well lets just say his name should be changed to Do-do for all of the dumb stuff he's done these past few days.

It started out the night everything happened. I was laying in bed, having trouble falling asleep when I hear this paper bag start rattling. Do-do was playing with a small, Bath and Body Works bag. It's 2am and I'm like, "crum, should I beat his butt now or wait it out and hope Steve doesnt wake up?" Do-do then proceeds to get his head caught in the handle, and cant get it off. He jumps down, bag flapping behind him like a little cape and I hear, "what is that stupid cat doing?"

I chase him down, take off his cape and throw it in the bathroom, shutting the door so Do-do couldnt get to it again. I thought that would be the end of it, but no. There were two more incidents involving the bag.

The next morning I went into the bathroom to do my morning business and Do-do followed me in. He gets himself stuck in the bag, again, only this time he's all twisted in it and cant move. I just shake my head, exasperated, and untangle him from the bag, hanging it on the linen closet door knob.

Time goes by and I'm doing stuff around the house. When its time for my shower, Do-do follows me back into the bathroom. He spies his bag, and starts knocking it from underneath. He does this a few times, til finally he knocks it off the handle. All thats in this bag is some tissue paper. It has no weight at all. But when that bag landed on his head you'da thunk it was the sky falling down. He tore out of that bathroom like the bag just bit his ear off and spit in his eye.

I shake my head, laughing at the dumb cat and take my shower. I get out, blow dry my hair and do other girly things to prep for the day. I'm in and out of the bathroom doing this, and I hear Do-do start meowing. As far as cats go, he's quiet. He doesnt even meow for food. So, I walk out of the bathroom to check him out, and he ambushes my legs. Apparently, hosiery offends him and must be destroyed at all costs. Do-do did this a few other times, luring me out of the bathroom with his piteous mewlings only to jump at my legs. He's so lucky he's been declawed. If he'd run my pantyhose I dont think we would have reconciled that.

Last night, Steve came into the computer room to play World of Warcraft with me. Steve spies Do-do in his chair, and he says, "Pita, thats my chair, get out." Then Steve, who "wouldnt care if the cat were gone tomorrow" picks Do-do up off his chair, sits down in it, and puts Do-do in his lap. Then, Steve, who always picks on me when he catches me talking to the cats, says, "Uh oh Pita, I dont know if we can play WoW tonight buddy. I think the log in servers are down." Priceless. So so priceless. I think I snickered for a half hour over that one.

Which brings us to today. I go into the bathroom and am standing in front of the sink, preparing for my shower. Do-do sees me in the bathroom and jumps into the sink, alternating between staring at me to turn the water on and twitching his tail (thanks Steve). Something made me reach out, and snap on the faucet full force, then turn it off. And, he just sat there. He licked himself, then turned expectantly to me to turn on his faucet to a healthy dribble. I couldnt help myself, I turned it on full blast and off again. This time, he got smart and lept out of the sinking, purposely knocking over everything in his path in his grand escape.

Hopping down onto the floor, he sees that his side has become the water faucet he was seeking. His fur is long, but not thick so it doesnt hold water. Water just runs off of him rather than soaking in. So, he's chasing himself in circles, trying to play with the water dripping off his fur. The mess was worth the laughing I got from that one.

Cats are definitely therapuetic. Usually. Sometimes.

*giggle*