Strong Women and Whiskey

not for the delicate palate

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Location: Oxford, Pennsylvania, United States

I've found that if you speak as if with authority on nearly any topic, most people will believe you. This frightens me.

Friday, October 28, 2005

and now for a message from our sponsor

I'm still working on wedding posts, I'm a bit hesitant to write about all the events from the day since many of them are still raw to me and the pictures are more-or-less from sources other than our photographer. It'll happen yet, though.

What gets me is that sometimes I don't feel married yet. Walking past the magazine racks, I still gravitate toward the bridal stuff. I think, because the wedding was executed as a vague distillation of what was actually planned, some part of my brain is still churning out ideas. If anything, maybe it's more of a "post-partum" style depression -- On one side you have the relief that it's all over and on the other side you can't believe it's all over and that THING that you've been sweating over, angsting over, working on, thinking on -- is done. Done done done. So, it's bittersweet -- I'm so glad its done and so happy with Doug -- but I would have liked for more of the things that were planned to happen -- so I guess it feels, and bear with me on this, like a breakup of sorts. The kind that you feel is neccessary, but still need closure on. I need to breakup with my ideas on what the wedding was supposed to be like and accept on the good stuff that it was, and the not as good, and the unexpected good (which there was much of). The cool thing is that, in a way, we can extend the celebrations some. We didn't make it to the RenFaire due to the rain, so maybe next year we can arrange a big group trip down -- and it'll be fun without the pressure. Honestly, as tired as D and I were that evening, it's probably better we didn't all go! I think it was Doug's boss that said that the great thing about the extreme weather situation was that it completely leveled the playing field. He's right. No one knew what to expect-- and so the fact that there was lots of love, good food, something different, and a still-beautiful setting made it quite good, and quite memorable.

Okay, good, I needed to work that out, and somehow, it just wasn't happening in my head. I'll get those posts of pics up soon.

On the other hand, life right now is completely different.

Jen asked me what it was like to be married after living together -- I told her that it was very much the same, and yet completely different. I suppose you have to go through that, to understand. Fortunately, I'd gotten much the same advice from other friends, and passed it along to Doug. So I think we're pretty much prepared.

However, I was not prepared to be staying at home. It's taken me some time to get used to the whole deal. I'm trying to get on a schedule of sorts and make sure the days are stuctured. There's so much to do, I think I relaxed more when I was in the office!

We currently don't have heat. We have a furnace, but no oil. We don't want to buy oil since we're having a heat pump installed and don't think anyone would bring out 1/4 tank expecially to a customer that doesnt have an existing account. BUT we did get the wood stove hooked up on Tuesday and that does a really good job of keeping the autumn chill out. In fact, splitting wood really does keep me warm! *grin*

While on honeymoon,something got our beautiful red chickens. I'm pretty upset about that still, since they knew us and were so much fun. We did have three hens and a rooster brought down by Raven's mom from New Hampshire. The rooster has REALLY BIG SPURS. That makes me feel much better about the safety of the hens. The new chickens are mostly Wyandot -- two silver lace hens, a rooster (with a mix of somethign else by looking at him and his feathery feet) and a blue hen that looks like a Kochin (sp? - she has very fancy feet and petticoats) mix. So far they're starting to get used to me, but no eggs yet.

The rooster is lovely. E2 sent me a picture of a rooster once and he was all rainbow colored. I wanted one -- and now have one for free. This morning for the first time, he crowed. At 10 a.m. Now that's my kind of rooster! The little blue hen is so funny. She's a Collette chicken. Like our cat she seems very sweet and timid. When I come into the coop/pen she does all she can to hide behind the rooster, she doesn't "bawk" she cheeps, and shes kinda "pouffy" so she does not appear small, though she thinks she is -- much like Collette, one of our cats. One of the silver-lace hens is either molting horribly, or getting pecked at. I'm not sure which. I've observed the chickens for longish periods of time and don't see any pecking going on, so I'll watch a bit more. She may just be reacting to the stress of relocating. These are not young chickens so I imagine it's harder for them to adapt.

Aside from the cats and chickens, it's pretty quiet here. I've been trying to get things done -- trying is the operative word here -- and getting better at being motivated. I'm a pretty social creature, so when I hermit up, it's not neccessarily good for me. Also, with the days getting so short, I've noticed that I am beginning my seasonal depression battle. The good thing is that I'm not stuck in an office -- so I can go outside and be active and fight the good fight. The bad thing is that I don't HAVE to get up and go to the office, which makes it harder to get up and go :)

Today, what worked was getting dressed and getting my contacts in before I had even finished "waking up" -- I'll have to remember that trick. Now, off to run errands, split wood, clean house, do yardwork, husk walnuts, and maybe bake something.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Can you write a novel in a month?

http://www.nanowrimo.org/


...so tempting to give this a go, I mean, this is the first time since I was 12 or so where I'm not working, so what do I have to lose,right?

But, there's so much else to do right now (which is why I'm not working). Unless a great flash of brilliance hits me, I doubt I'll participate --however, Vickie -- this sounds right up your alley. :)

mmmmmmm

You're a Gimlet!  That's gin and lime juice.  You're generally pretty traditional but you do like a bit of Thai food.  You're most likely to be found in the corner of your local pub%2
""Which cocktail are you?""

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Sunday, October 23, 2005

when it rains.... installment 1

I have no idea why I've been procrastinating this entry for so long.... I suppose I needed some time to regroup. I must admit that the events of and surrounding the wedding will provide writing (and therapy) fodder for a while. :) Actually, considering the rain, it went remarkably well and everyone stayed in pretty good spirits. Doug and I are happily married, the food was good, the company was good, and if nothing else, this was definately a memorable event for all involved.

Ya know, one of the first things I wanted when Doug and I set out on planning this was for it to be ... and I quote myself in a moment of frustration.... "not another pissant Cecil County wedding".... so THAT it was definately not.

Be careful what you wish for, eh?


The Rehearsal

So the day before getting hitched the rains began in earnest. Lots of it. Torrents of it. But, I got up and got going to Mom's house to meet her before we head out for some time at the spa with plans to up around 2 p.m. at the site. I did mention this was an outdoor event, right? So I call the tent people on the way down and they inform me that the guys should be showing up by 9:30 or so, which is good. I call the lady that owns the property where the wedding is to be held, Mrs. Taylor, and let her know.

I get to Mom's, she's not quite ready to go, so I take some time to have DJ (my brother and for this event, the leader of The Brothers) unload the set up stuff from the car, and give him a list with some last minute stuff. We end up running pretty darn late to our spa appointments. I call and let them now. Mom and I get pretty tense with each other. Lateness is an issue in our family -- well, she's often late because she's trying to do too many things at once, and I am because, well, I get it honest. So when I'm on time, I tend to get testy with those that are running late because odds are, I'm barely on time, or am running late for the time I set myself. But hey, we got there and just as we're pulling up I get a call from Mrs. Taylor and she says the tent guys aren't there. So I call the tent people and give them a bunch of crap. At this point we're less than 30 minutes late for our appointments but I'm stuck on the phone with the tent people for another 20 while they figure out what's up and correct it.


I am now addicted to the following: massages, facials, pedicures, and manicures. I had my first pedi and facial at the bridal shower Lexi threw while she was in town (lovely!) so going the day before the wedding for more was a special treat for Mom and I. We really enjoyed it -- she even took my cell phone away from me so I wouldn't have to deal with anymore B.S. while we were there.


We run a few errands and get back home. Starving, we are starving. Have to load up to set up and at this point we're both late, in fact, we're all running late. Doug had to go to the site by himself to meet the tent people because his parents disappeared with Jon and Jen (later we found that they had to shop, which J and J were not expecting) then came back to the house in order to change and head back to the site (which is thirty minutes from our house). At Mom's the rain has picked up even harder and we grab something to eat -- in the time it takes most Moms to make sandwiches, my Mom has steak fried and sliced across crisp greens, tomatoes, and real blue cheese-- so at least we are ready to face the elements.


We start slogging through the set up and the minister arrives so -- bottom line -- it gets a bit crazy. We go through rehearsal. Have some jokes, get kept in line by the minister, Michelle, since she knew we did have to get out of there at some point-- have a huge blowout with my Mom (it's a prerequisite, I think) and get absolutely, soaking, clothes clinging to the skin, hair straggling, muddy, wet. Then go to the rehearsal dinner and hour late.


Doug's parents and sister had decorated the restaurant, Matilda's, beautifully and have waited patiently for everyone to get there. The dinner went off really well, the food was wonderful. Matilda's is an Australian restaurant and one of our favorites. Everyone really got along well. Doug's niece, Jaime, thought that Raven was really cool -- which made her day, the parents got along, my brothers really liked Jon, Jen and Raven hit it off -- it was interesting watching people meet for the first time and all get along. I got a kick out of it.


I think that evening it really finally sunk in that the wedding was really going to happen the next day -- literally, rain or shine. Jen and Raven went home with me, Doug and Jon went to a hotel. It was good to have the company that night. Nothing wild and crazy that night, just a much needed hot shower and some time to reflect.

Here are some pics from around the rehearsal time -- so far we don't have the proffessional pictures back, so most of these have been kindly donated by friends and family with some editing....


So, this is where the wedding was supposed to take place. A very lovely open field behind an equally lovely house with charming accents around the property. The Taylor's, who own said property are just amazingly wonderful people, too. Needless to say we were excited when they offered to let us have the wedding there.



Pretty....


Pretty...


RAINY!

The day before the wedding, this is how much standing water was on my Mom's porch. Lots, and lots and lots.


Mom taking a sugar-free popsicle break after we got back from being pampered. Her shirt says "If you're rich, I'm single." I love it.


Aren't they cute? Daryl (front) and DJ (back) on one of their multiple trips loading the car. Notice how the grass is a bit brown? That's because it hadn't rained significatly for weeks before the wedding.... weeks.


Betty Lynn is a friend of the family -- and really just did amazing things with the setup of the tent later in that evening. I think when I took this picture, I told her that I had to because she was the only one in the house still smiling....


"No, Trevor, you have to go THIS way!"

Fortunately my cousins Billy and Trish both have young children that they let me borrow for the wedding. Brynn was very serious about being a flower girl, she practiced for months... Trevor is less than two years old and will follow her wherever she goes... mostly... and I was thrilled that they could both participate.

At some point, you have to stop giving orders and start taking them. That was the hard part. Michelle, our minister did a great job getting us to buckle down and iron out the final details. At that point I was too stressed to be effective and poor Doug was exhausted with helping me cope. (see there's Betty Lynn and Mom still decorating! )


This is the main table -- Betty did he arrangement in the gold pail. Everywhere else we had big bright mums. As you can tell we were going for a bit of an autumn harvest theme as far as the decorating went. The cool thing about combining the ceremony and reception site was that what I thought would not be enough flowers actually ended up being a whole lot for the small space.


Friday, October 07, 2005

Good Luck

the reason they say that rain on your wedding day is good luck is to keep the bride from freaking out.....

I've stopped freaking but I'm still soaked. AND my 15 lbs of velvet tomorrow will be too. I think we've squeezed it all under the tent, this should be fascinating...

wish us luck.