Wedding Recap

 Whew!  What a whirlwind weekend; what with Thanksgiving AND the wedding.

So, our Thanksgiving was....

Oh, I know you aren't here for that.  You want to know about the wedding, don't you?  Read on.

It was perfect.  Well, except for the fact that my sister-in-law came down with food poisoning from something she ate on the way to get here and she ended up missing the wedding. 

But, other than that it was perfect.

Yes, I was in tears all day - but happy tears.  Seeing my husband in his suit and tie; teared up.  Seeing the broad, excited grin on my son's face just before the ceremony; teared up.  Watching as he walked up the aisle preceded by his best friends; teared up.  Seeing his face when he saw his bride for the first time; teared up.  Watching his bride walk up the aisle; teared up.  Seeing him wiping happy tears from his face; nearly lost it completely.

I'm telling you, there wasn't one moment when I didn't have tears leaking out of my eyes.

But this was another moment when I almost burst into sobs.

Her dress was absolutely stunning.

Look at how happy he looks.  A mother wants nothing more than to see her child this ridiculously happy.

Here's another that gives you a better look at the dress.

Stunning, I tell you.

Although, he did get a bit distracted from his beautiful bride for a minute...I caught him and most of his crew catching the final minutes of some silly football game.  Fortunately for him, his bride knew what she was getting into with this guy and football.

Seriously, guys?

This isn't the best picture of us - nor does it particularly show off my dress.  While I was okay with my (practically non-existent at this point) make up, I am not pleased with how my hair turned out.  But, you know what, I don't even care; because scroll back up to that first picture to see how happy he is. 

Other than the wedding, it was great to catch up with family.  Fun fact, we haven't been in the same room at the same time with both my husband's brother and sister's families since 2017!  And then, we were all staying in different places and didn't have many opportunities to catch up.

This time, as we were all staying in the same hotel; after the rehearsal dinner on Friday night, we all gathered in the lobby of the hotel and proceeded to catch up.  And then we were SHUSHED!  Now, in our defense it was only 9:00 pm on a Friday night (there were still young children in the lobby, for crying out loud) and it's not like we were rowdy; we were just laughing.  And is it our fault, that they decided to put the first floor guest rooms right next door to the lobby?  I mean, with a little forethought they could have made those rooms closest to the lobby store rooms instead of guest rooms.  Honestly, do I have to do all the thinking around here?

It was amazing; SO AMAZING...but I'm glad it is over (only because of how anxious it was making me; SO anxious).

And now we turn our attention to Christmas...

Duke Power - Doing What They Do Best; Mutilating Trees

Every year, about this time, Duke Power sends out their tree "experts" to mutilate "trim" the trees across the state.

And every year, about this time, I am reminded how much it infuriates me to see what they've done - all in the name of "trying to keep the power on if we get snow or, more likely, ice."

I'm also very thankful that the power lines in our neighborhood are under ground; because if they did this to my trees (minus the pines, after this happened TWICE; they can take down all the damn pines in my yard that they'd like) I would be raising such a fuss that I'm sure the cops would be called to take me away.

And they call themselves "experts"

They've ruined this tree and many, many others along this road and across the state.  

I mean I realize the "why" behind their reasoning, but honestly doing this to a tree should be illegal.  Seems to me that the money they spend mutilating trees would be better spent by putting the power lines underground; which coincidently would most likely stop this tree from toppling over into the road.

Christmas Pajamas

 I don't know about you but when I was a kid we had a Christmas tradition of being able to open one, VERY SPECIFIC, gift on Christmas Eve.

And that gift was Christmas pajamas.  Not the most exciting gift but we I loved it.  I have no idea whether my brother cared at all.

Later in life, the truth came out.  This tradition was born because my mother wanted to make sure we had nice pajamas for the inevitable opening gifts pictures on Christmas morning.

This was back in the day - before photo cards, Instagram and the internet were invented, obviously.  No, those photos were destined to be developed and placed lovingly into photo albums; even the ones that didn't turn out, were blurry or had a finger obscuring most of the picture.  My mother would have thought she'd died and gone to heaven if she had been handed a phone that she could take pictures with it - no developing necessary.  She would have never gone for the internet, Instagram, Facebook or texting.  But the ability to whip out her phone and just start taking pictures? Yes, please.  She would have been all over that!

All that to say, the official procurement of Christmas gifts has begun - I just ordered Christmas pajamas for the Happy Couple to open on Christmas Eve.  And this year, as usual, Man-Child will go through the charade of acting like he has NO IDEA what this gift might be. 

What can I say?  I have my traditions and he has his.

What about you?  Are Christmas pajamas a thing in your house?

Thinking Ahead and Crowd Sourcing a Solution

 As I vowed last year, I am beginning to prepare for Christmas early this year.

I promised myself that I would begin Christmas shopping in October.  And I did.  I bought TWO whole gifts.  So I'm still behind on that front.  Of course, it would be nice if people (ahem, my guys!) were giving me gift ideas, but they aren't.  In that case we will blame them for this failure.

Freezing cookie dough last year turned out to be SUCH a time saver and I've already started.  Currently, I have a batch of about 70 chocolate chip cookies and about 50 ginger snaps frozen and ready to go.  I had hoped to get around to testing out freezing the spritz cookie dough but never did.  So this year, I will still have to get those done at some point closer to Christmas; maybe this year I'll take some of the dough, freeze it and see how it does after Christmas.  This seems to be a sensible option.

Quick question for those of you that do freeze cookie dough - do you make a test batch before you start freezing?  Because I know myself, I do.  I'd rather find out now that I screwed something up than find out on the day I decide to actually make the cookies.

From here we will pivot away from Christmas for the rest of this post...because why not?

We are exactly THREE weeks away from the Big Day.  Eek!  How did that happen so quickly?

I have declined to have my hair and makeup done; mainly because who can say that this person can deal with this mop on my head?  Hell, I can barely deal with it.

So, I have decided that if, and only if, I am having a good hair day I will wear it down for the rehearsal dinner.  But it will definitely be up for the wedding.  I'm not taking any chances.  Plus, I know when I'm anxious (and I will most likely be anxious/nervous) I can't keep my hands out of my hair.  Which will lead to frizz.  So that is a no brainer decision.

What I need your help on (well, those of you that use makeup) is my makeup.  I'm fairly low-key when it comes to makeup. Maybe a bit of concealer, if needed.  Just the tiniest hint of eyeshadow in lieu of eyeliner, mascara, blush and lipstick.  I'd be shocked if it takes me five minutes to "do my face" on a normal day.

Obviously, I have to ramp it up a bit for the wedding and, more importantly, the pictures.

I think I have found a foundation that will work and hopefully act as an Instagram filter (I'm lying to myself; no foundation can do that.  Can it?). 

No, the conundrum I have yet to find a solution to are the bags under my eyes.  I have tried everything and so far nothing seems to work.  I've tried concealer, foundation, cool washcloths.  The only thing that seems to work is wearing glasses as they kinda sorta mask them.  Which, I don't plan to wear (but maybe I'll have to?).  

And that's where you come in.  Any ideas or suggestions?  Any must have products?  Any thoughts as to application of said products?  Am I just going to have to accept the fact that the bags are there and there they will stay; unhidden?  

Musings

How are we in November already?  HOW?!  This year is flying by - and honestly every year seems to fly by faster than the last.

Not much has been going on around here.  Just work, household chores and the like.  So nothing new or exciting to report.

Today it was "unseasonably" cold (no it wasn't; 50 degrees Fahrenheit is perfectly seasonable); which was a definite shock to my delicate system.  Today I had to don socks - but despite the socks, slippers and space heater my poor toes are frozen.  I expect they won't thaw out until May.  But despite this setback weather-wise, as I gaze out the window I notice my roses are still giving it their all.  I suppose I should cut some to bring in to enjoy before they die back.

Work has been work.  As it should be, I suppose.  Today was an exceptionally busy day - mainly, I expect because my boss is in a two day workshop that he has absolutely NO interest in being in as I received more emails and responses from him today than I normally do.

In other office news, apparently we are ditching actual telephones when we move.  Instead we will have something that ties into Teams.  Which is all well and good.  Until you remember we are going to have an "open floor plan."  So, we are to be receiving these special, noise cancelling headphones.  Are you freaking kidding me was the first thought out of my head.  The second was, "Oh my God, my hair!"  As I've mentioned before I NEVER have a good hair day at the office.  I think it was Nance who pointed out that office hair was a real thing.  Today, one of our "testers" mentioned to me that not only were the headphones ruining her hair, she couldn't wear earrings.  Now I am imagining that not only will my hair be one big, frizzy mess by the end of the day; I can't even pull the whole look together with my earrings.  Apparently Corporate America is trying to ruin my whole esthetic.  What's next, dull and drab uniforms for everyone?

Suzanne's post today has put my mind's wheels spinning.  And my husband probably just got a cold feeling wash over him after I typed that last sentence.  

If I were to move the guest room upstairs (which would require serious negotiation on my part because his un-used workout equipment currently resides up there) and turn this room into an actual office instead of a office/guest room I could have an entire wall of bookshelves...

I know one of my initial thoughts after moving here, however long ago it was now, was to keep this guest room and add another upstairs - but the fact is, at this point in time we have very few overnight guests; so this might make the most sense.  Of course, after I successfully talk him into ditching the un-used equipment.

Yes, this post has been all over the place.  What else is new?