T-minus 52 days!

Things are rolling along, and despite the constant changes, bumps in the road, my insane travel schedule and Jimmy's new career as a part-time college student, the wedding is approaching. No, not like an oncoming train... much!

For those planning to join us, please check out the website. We've put all the details there, because we can only fit so much on an invitation. 

Jimmy and I are so excited - nervous! but excited - as we approach this day. I hope everyone realizes that while we will have been engaged two and a half years by the time we go down the aisle, we have not spent all that time planning a wedding. Don't get us wrong: the wedding will be fun! And it's been fun planning it. It's been almost a joint hobby for us, as we have taken every step together, laughed at the silly stuff (like $1200 for a pair of shoes!) and worked together on compromise, budgeting, planning and keeping our perspective. You know, like married people do.

And that's really the key. What Jimmy and I have really been doing is preparing to be married. It's far too easy for couples to fall into the wedding crazy and spend all their time in preparation for a ceremony and a big party, and forget that the marriage is the important part. Both of us wanted to spend this time preparing mentally, emotionally and spiritually to be married, and it has been a wonderful experience. 

It's been described to us that the church and the priest do not actually marry the bride and groom; they bless the covenant that has already been woven between them. That's truly how we feel; we've spent this looooong engagement weaving a bond between us and among our children. We are a family, and the wedding is the blessing and celebration of that family's bond.

Whether you will be with us in November or you are wishing us well from afar, thank you for your love and support. We are blessed in friendship and family, and will never forget the love you all have shown us as we danced toward our castle.

Ohhhh jeez! 114 Days To Go till Ground Zero! Holy Godzilla!

Oh man! Do you see that title of this blog!? 114 DAYS TO GO! Oh holy Rodan and Mothra! Where is the time going? We are quickly counting down to being only 100 days before Elizabeth and I get married. Wow! It is getting so close, and to be honest with everyone, I'm scared. No...not scared that the wedding is not going to happen or is it going to have to be postponed again. Elizabeth has said we have non-refundable deposits down now, so no backing out of it now.

But I'm scared that as it gets closer, something is going to get overlooked or forgotten and then on the day of the wedding, BOOM! It will be staring us in the face that it got left out. I will say though, Elizabeth is doing her best to keep things on a list and keep everything organized as we keep moving forward on this crazy little adventure. But even she will look at the Knot website and I will hear a 'GULP!' when she sees how many days are left till the wedding.

But, even though this can be stressful as hell, I wouldn't trade this for anything else in the world. I've had so much fun with cake tastings and wedding shows that I really believe I'm going to miss all of the planning and running around we've done to get ready for this special day. Elizabeth started to talk about the wedding today and things that will happen during the wedding day. I couldn't help but get choked up and had to do my best to keep from crying tears of love. I love her...and I'm the luckiest man on Earth to have her in my life. 114 days...still to long of a wait.

Holy God and Godzilla! 137 DAYS TO GO!

Oh man! What happened to the time! Only 137 days to go to the wedding! What happened to the time? It feels like yesterday that I tripped on my heart and proposed to Elizabeth in front of the castle. Now here it is, 137 days until the wedding. Oh geez! We still have so much to do! So much that has to be done. But here we are, 137 days and counting. Well...I'm looking forward to the neck breaking speed that we are going to have to go through to make sure everything is ready for the big day that I take Elizabeth's hand in mine and have the honor to call her my wife.

A lot has happened since the last time I posted. The main thing that is happening in my life is that I'm going to be a grandfather soon and I'm also going to be a student again when I start going to college this fall. I'm looking forward to both of those things happening to me. But I'm still looking forward to being Elizabeth's husband so much. We have a lot to do in the next few months to be ready. But I know we can do it. But wow...137 days and counting. Time is going by so fast! Soon...I'll be in my tux trying my best to hold back my tears of love and happiness when I see Elizabeth walking down the aisle toward me. Get ready! Alot to do in the near future! GO!

172 days

I have no idea how we have been engaged for nearly two years, postponed twice and still can be behind schedule in planning this thing. The money is raised; it sits in an account, waiting for us to get a move on and give it to people.

Granted, little things like an impending grandchild, daughter's wedding, graduation, intermittent book tours, Jimmy's college application and release of two new books kind of distract us. As I told my father, priorities need to be observed. Our marriage is important; the wedding is not the marriage. Cost and crazy are managed. Lots of things get in the way, and sometimes there is irony. How funny is it to take a bit of cash from your own wedding fund for your daughter's wedding?

But just in case I was settling into some Zen about this thing, and everything's in perspective, I've got The Knot to send me a hysterical email.

ME: 172 DAYS.
JIMMY: Till the wedding?
ME: Yup.
JIMMY: Ohhhh.
ME: We will never be ready in time, we should...
JIMMY: NOOOOOOOOOOPPPOOOOOOOOOOOPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOERRRRRRR
JIMMY: NO
JIMMY: no
JIMMY: No
ME: We could probably get our deposits extended...
JIMMY: No. No. No.
ME: You're sure?
JIMMY: OHHHHH
ME: You're so much fun to torment.
JIMMY: NOOOOOOOOOOPPPOOOOOOOOOOOPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOERRRRRRR
ME: What does that even mean?
JIMMY: No. Times a gillion.
ME: If that is your final word on the matter...
JIMMY: Yes.
ME: Well, okay then. Meet you at the church, Nov. 8.
JIMMY: Good.
ME: Unless you come to your senses.
JIMMY: Hush.

Wedding Show Sitcom

ME: Dangit.
HIM: What?
ME: They've changed the Sunday shift to start earlier. My next Sunday shift is April 27. That's the Off-White Wedding Show.
HIM: What time?
ME: The show is 10:30 to 3 p.m. My shift will be 11 to 7. On the old shift, we could have gone before I have to work.
HIM: *pout*
ME: You can go without me.
HIM: It's no fun without you.
ME: I had to go to one alone... You're right. It was no fun. But we need the discounts.
HIM: I guess we have to miss it.
ME: It's the one with all the independent, sole entrepreneur vendors! The funky indie one... I could send you with Katie.
HIM: No.
ME: Why not?
HIM: That's the start of a bad wedding comedy.
ME: I think it's hilarious.
HIM: NO.
ME: Come on!
HIM: I don't wanna die!
ME: What?? How do you get killed going to a wedding show with Katie?
HIM: She has knitting needles. She's scary.
ME: My bridesmaid is not scary! Okay, she's a little scary. But she's not going to kill you!
HIM: No.

Of course, now I have this hilarious plotline started in my head...

More than a circle of metal...or always listen to your fiancee!

Finally! After months of searching and trying on several different styles of rings, we at last have The One Ring. Sorry... got a little Lord of the Rings geekiness out. But to be serious, it has been a long search to find a ring that would go well with Elizabeth's beautiful blue sapphire engagement ring. With it being so different and unique, most rings just did not go with it. The engagement ring would either overshadow the plain simple white gold bands we looked at or it would get overshadowed and swallowed by the big, clunky contoured bands we tried to match with it.

We even tried to look into getting a band of white gold made to match the ring. That way it would not have diamonds on it so as not to take away from the beauty of her engagement ring. But WOW! The price to get a custom-made ring without diamonds would be $600 to $700 dollars! A ring just made of white gold would cost more than one with diamonds? We were both sticker-shocked at the quotes we were given.

It was getting to the point that Elizabeth was thinking about not wearing a wedding band and just having her engagement ring blessed when we get married, doubling as her wedding ring. I did not like that idea at all. When she asked me why I didn't like it, I told her it was because of tradition and that she needed the wedding band. She giggled and we kept searching for the perfect ring for her.

We finally found it. A beautiful, delicate ring that was designed to look like it was a continuous infinity symbol made of white gold and very small diamonds. It matched her ring perfectly and the two rings actually complement each other. We checked the price for it and it wasn't that bad ether. We found it at Jared's, and since we got the engagement ring and my ring from them, we thought it would only be fitting to get her wedding band from them also. We debated about how we could pay for it, since this was an extra expense when our budget is already starting to feel the strain.

Believe it or not, it's because I was lucky enough to have my car blow up.

I know what you are thinking. 'How can your car blowing its motorhead be a lucky thing?' Simple, really. Without the car, my money is not going to gas and car insurance, just a bus pass. So it is now free to go to this special ring that we found. We were discussing our options on how to pay for it. I really wanted to go with Jared because they have treated us so wonderfully, and the lady who had sold us Elizabeth's engagement ring had gone out of her way to help us get the ring.

But then a little dilemma came up. We checked out a jewelry store in the Galleria before we had lunch. They had the same ring! And it was $100 dollars cheaper than Jared's asking price. As much as we loved Jared, that was a big price difference that we really couldn't ignore. We went to eat lunch and tried to decide which place to go to get the ring. We loved the price difference, but we love all the good customer service that Jared has provided for us. We had no idea how well this other place was going to treat us or to take care of the ring on their warranty.

Elizabeth suggested once again that she just use her engagement ring as her wedding ring. I told her that would not be right. She asked me, putting tradition aside, why it was so important that she have a wedding band.

I thought about it for a minute trying to find the right words. I told her that the wedding band is not just a circle of metal. It is blessed by our priest beside my wedding band, forming a spiritual bond between the rings and between us. It will not only join the rings together in love, but also our souls, and make it a promise that this time, we will make this work. She asked, "Why wouldn't it be the same with the engagement ring?"

I said that it is because the engagement ring is a representation of my love for her and the desire for me to marry her. The wedding band is the actual bond between us, with her ring and mine touched and blessed by a priest. She smiled and said that I was adorable.

We decided to go to Jared and tell them that we found the ring they carried at a cheaper price at the competition, in hopes that we could keep our business with them. As luck or fate would have it, the woman who sold us Elizabeth's engagement ring now works at the Jared store over on our side of the river. We went there today and we found the ring that we wanted.

Elizabeth told her that we had found this same ring cheaper at another store, and asked if there was any way they could match their price. Jared Lady told us she would talk to her manager about it. She went away and Elizabeth told me to go look at the shinies. That lasted until Jared Lady came back and said that would be no problem at all.

I was overjoyed and it showed on my face. Elizabeth informs me that I am not allowed to ever play poker because I have no game face at all. I made my first down payment on this beautiful ring and left the store.

As we drove home, I told her that I was surprised that they agreed to lower the price of the ring. She smiled and said I should always listen to what my woman says. I laughed, and said that she was right. She asked for me to repeat that. I gladly did. Elizabeth is always right... and I have no shame in saying that. ;)

Swag

We've just returned from a bridal event. Hush, three of the vendors we needed to talk to were there, so it was convenient. We conferred with one of our potential florists, rental company and caterer, plus we met a new cake vendor. Jimmy personally devoured half her samples, I swear.

When we got home, I sorted through the swag bag and found a pair of pink panties, tied in curling ribbon. I pulled them out and unfurled them. Courtesy of the Dillard's lingerie department, at which I have never shopped because literally nothing is in my size. Including these tiny pink panties they put in the swag bag. Now, there may have been a time when I could have worn this scrap of fabric, but it definitely was before graduating from school and bearing a child.

"Look at this," I said, showing them to Jimmy. "One size fits all my ass. Literally."

Jimmy took the panties from me and held them up. "Yeah, that's ridiculous."

Of course, Ian chose that moment to walk into the dining room. And saw me and Jimmy sitting at the table. With Jimmy holding women's lingerie up in the air.

Ian stopped in the doorway, staring. Jimmy turned to him, still holding the panties up in the air. "Um," Jimmy said. "It... it came with the stuff. From the show."

I was no help at all, since I was laughing my ass off.

Without missing a beat, Ian said, "Jimmy, if you're not too busy..."

Jimmy gratefully escaped outside to toss the Frisbee around with the boy. I still haven't stopped laughing.