Neil tagged me for my top 10 OS X apps.
I must say, I’m kind of a what-comes-with-the-computer girl in this respect-
Safari
iPhoto
iChat
iCal
iTunes
Mail
However, a few add-ons that I use on a daily basis-
NetNewsWire RSS Reader
Quicksilver Expanded keyboard access and other cool stuff
ecto blog editor with multiple blogs and multiple blog platform support.
Conversation IRC Client
Sometime late last night, Guinness came home, perfectly safe and healthy.
He remains silent on where he was, what he was doing, and why he chose to scare his mom and dad half to death.
He is soooo grounded.
Guinness went out last night around 9:30 and has not returned. He was last seen wandering around in Fairlington wearing a leopard-print collar with two tags. He’s black with white paws, belly, and chin. And a pink nose.
And we miss him very much and want him to come home. Right now.
You should all go read the story of Yee & Lan, because I promise that even the blackest-hearted cynics among you will melt at least a little.
It’s probably safe to talk about this now, and if it isn’t, well, I don’t want Tom to think he’s the one who jinxed it.
We once again have A Plan. But in this new incarnation of the plan, we get married on Sunday, June 11 during the regular worship service at our church. This seems novel, but it used to be quite traditional. Then there will be a lunch reception at our favorite restaurant.
So, yay! Looks like I’ll get to send those invitations after all.
So look, I don’t want to jinx it because all the details aren’t settled yet… but there is A Plan. Which does not involve eloping.
Happy thoughts.
And thank for all the suggestions and advice and stuff.
There’s a conversation going on at Tom’s blog about whether weddings/marriage are really worth all the hassle. Since I’m completely unable to use Tom’s comment form from the office, I thought I’d post my little rant over here.
I’ve never really been a big fan of the idea that a wedding is supposed to be “All About Us.” It seems to me that when two people decide to commit their lives to one another, forsaking all others, as the vows go, that it’s a very public act that affects their roles in the community of family and friends to which they belong. It’s not just about the Two of Us, it’s about All of Us. In fact, the wedding liturgy of our church specifically includes a moment in which the minister asks the assembled community to stand and affirm that they will uphold and support the couple’s marriage, in recognition that their relationship exists in the context of that community, rather than in a vacuum.
So it was with that in mind when we started this whole planning fiasco that I resisted the idea of eloping- I wanted at least our close family present. And then we decided that we wanted our friends to be present as well. But we still didn’t want anything big or crazy- close family, a few friends, a relaxed celebration, some good food and a bit of wine, no big deal. No foofy snow beast dress, no prodigious wedding party (we have one attendant each!), just a little gathering of the people we love to celebrate a wonderful milestone in our lives as a couple. We had a modest budget in mind.
In support of this goal, we came up with several different plans that would have worked perfectly well, and would even have been within budget… except. The caterer for Glen Echo Park tried to rip us off. Ray’s isn’t going to open its banquet facility in time. The Boulevard is already booked. The backyard isn’t big enough to host even the family, let alone the friends.
It’s not like we were even asking for that much. I’ve been repeatedly asked if I was sure I wasn’t just settling for less than what I want for the sake of money. We weren’t. We cut out all the details we really didn’t care about so that we could focus our budget on the things that mattered. And yet, it still didn’t work. Are there other plans we could come up with and pull off in the less than two months that remain? Well, maybe. But frankly, we’ve come up with a lot of perfectly good ones and I’m a little tired of watching them come to naught.
So now, my dream wedding is Over. As in, what I really want is a wedding that’s already happened so we can get on with our married life. After all, most married couples I’ve talked to about it have told me that you really don’t remember much about the wedding itself. And I surely don’t want my only wedding-related memory to be how stressful and horrifying it was to plan the damn thing. But since I don’t possess a time machine, I’m starting to reconsider this All About Us idea as the best way to get what I want- which is a legal marriage without all this stupid stressful crap. Run away for a couple of days, sign the paperwork, exchange rings, and come back without the dark circles that have been developing under my eyes for the last few weeks?
Sounds better and better to me.
Our third fourth umpteenth wedding reception plan has fallen through.
Universe, why do you hate me?
Also, it turns out that since I got a few last paychecks from my previous employer in addition to my salary from my current job, I was mis-withheld and owe the feds rather a lot of money that I don’t really have at the moment for jumping tax brackets with the extra income. So basically, our current tax system victimizes people who better themselves. But we knew that already.
This has been an absolute shit day, and I’m going to bed.
Happy Easter, everyone. It probably says something about me as a person that I was making corrections to the songs played on “Stained Glass Bluegrass” on NPR this morning: “No, it was not ‘early one Sabbath morning’ when the disciples went to the tomb.”
Our church has this peculiar tradition, and it was something I had to get used to, of “Alleluia sticks.” What’s an Alleluia stick? It’s a drinking straw to which several colors of ribbon have been taped. Every time you hear the word “Alleluia” during the service on Easter, you have to shake your Alleluia stick. It’s rather a sight to see a couple hundred of these things going at once.
My Alleluia stick is poking out of my purse right now, to remind me to take the rejoicing with me this week. Where’s yours?
My mom called me last night after reading about the latest in a long string of wedding planning setbacks, to check on how I was doing. I had been pretty upset about it earlier in the day, but had just come out of Good Friday services, so that had kind of put things into perspective… (you think YOU had a bad day…)
So today I went wedding dress shopping with Steph. And, wonder of wonders, I found something! That fits! And is flattering! And only has to be altered a wee bit! W00t! This is like, the first thing that’s gone right! (sssh, I shouldn’t say that yet.) Even better, the ensemble was on sale! So now I just need to find some shoes.
We have a couple of ideas about the reception site. So we’ll see….
