The power of Christmas

Yes, I am aware that it is April and my title is about Christmas but there is a reason for that.  Last night I was struck by an urge to bake while watching a Christmas episode of Melrose Place.  (Um, yeah – Jason and I watch old episodes of Melrose Place on the DIVA channel weekdays at 7PM…such bad acting and the clothes are hilarious!)  It wasn’t all the TV’s fault as I was also feeling a craving for something sweet but the carols certainly pushed the idea along.  So I broke out the cookbook and whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies.  Yummy!!

Jason says he will be putting on Christmas carols at random throughout the year now just to see if he can get me to bake.  Nice!

Little black dress dilemma

I have decided that for our wedding the bridesmaids will be wearing black.  My original idea was blue with ivory flowers, then it was black with blue flowers and now it is black with orange flowers (not many options out there for blue flowers – especially in October). 

So black dresses eh?  You would think this would be easy.  But alas, it is not proving to be as simple as one would think.  Last night, Linda, Sarah and Eva and I spent 3 hours scouring the stores of Yorkdale and although we have some options we certainly didn’t find a winner.  The options are more “well I don’t hate it” and not really “I love it” and I am looking for an “I love it” option.  I realize I have 6 months left to find these dresses but I was hoping to knock this item off my very large list of things to do and when I headed home last night I was very discouraged by the whole thing.  Sigh.

The hunt continues…

Mmmmmm….cheese!

Jason and I went to a cheese tasting last night that was put on by the McMaster University Alumni group/association/whatever at the Faculty Club at U of T.  It was really good actually.  Jason went to Mac and gets invites all the time to these kinds of events but we have never attended any.  We are glad we decided to check this one out though as it was a fun time.  We had some appetizers and then the Dean of the Cheese Education Guild…yes, there is actually a Dean of the Cheese Education Guild…walked us through 5 different kinds of Quebec cheeses.  Mmmmmmmmm…..cheese!

It was pretty fun and we have been wanting to get out and do different things and so this was a perfect way to spend a couple of hours.  In May the Alumni is hosting an event at Woodbine Racetrack.  I can’t wait for that one.  I’ve always wanted to go see the ponies but I’ve never been. 

In other news, in exactly 6 months from today at about this exact time I will be preparing to walk down the aisle on my way to becoming a married woman.  It is very exciting but a little stressful as well as I know how many things I still have to do before that wee walk.

I need a watch with more hours.

It is only Thursday and already my weekend is completely packed.  I normally look forward to the weekends to get some rest and relaxation but for some reason lately they just seem to be so busy that the work week seems like free time. 

Just to give you an example of what I am talking about, here are the current plans for just Saturday.

Saturday

Wake up.

Take Regal for a walk.

Go to the gym.

Eat breakfast.

Go to Brampton to a sports store to look for new Rugby boots for Jason.

Go to the pet store to get dog treats for Regal.

Go to Home Depot to look at patio sets. (We have this old plastic one that the previous owners left behind when they stole the standard one that came with the units so we are looking for something that we may actually get some use of.  Sitting on those plastic chairs is like sitting on a hot stove when the sun has been shining on them.)

Go to Canadian Tire or Toys R Us or some such place to look for an outdoor game or activity for my niece and nephew for their birthday on Sunday.

Take Regal for another walk.

Eat lunch.

Clean the house.

Possibly fit in some time to play GHIII.

Pick up Linda at the airport.  Wahoooooooo!! She is coming for a visit!!

Drive her to Ajax. (Possibly have dinner with the family.)

Take Regal for her third walk.

Sleep.

And that is just Saturday.  On Sunday we have the gym again, dog walking, brunch in Ajax, making invitations, ironing, laundry and I’m sure there are other things to do that I am just not thinking about at the moment.

See why I look forward to 8 hours of sitting at my desk??  It’s not that I don’t enjoy these tasks (well some of them I don’t enjoy like the cleaning and ironing – but most I do) it just seems like there is always a long list of stuff that needs to be done – and there is never enough time.

If the house is a rocking….

…well Jason and I are probably playing Guitar Hero III. 

After looking and looking and waiting and waiting and looking and looking and waiting….I was finally able to get us a copy of Guitar Hero III for Wii.  I ordered it last week and have been impatiently waiting for it to arrive.  It was delivered to the local post-office on Monday but wasn’t available for pick-up until yesterday.  Last night we headed up to the post-office on our dog walk (the post-office is in the back of the 7-Eleven so it is open late) and just as we were arriving I realized that I had forgotten my ID.  Dumbass!! 

Sooooooo, we went home and I picked up my ID and the car keys and headed back out to pick up my parcel.  Jason didn’t know what I had ordered so he was a little confused as to what could possibly be so exciting that I couldn’t wait until tonight to pick up.  He was just as excited as I was when he saw the box however.  We couldn’t wait to play it so at 9:30 last night we unwrapped our new toy and got the rockin’ started.  Our concert lasted until 11.  We would have kept going but 5:40AM comes very quickly when you go to bed at 11 so we had to tuck our bands in for the night and head to bed.  We can’t wait to get home tonight!

Wedding planning update

So for those of you who are interested in how the wedding plans are going I thought I would give you a wee update.

Wedding Date? – Check.  We are booked for October 18, 2008.  (Only 6 months to go….ack!)

Wedding Venue? (ceremony and reception) – Check.  We are getting married and partying at Hockley Valley Resort in Orangeville.

Wedding Dress? – Check.  I was dreading the idea of dress shopping actually (I’m not much of a shopping fan and I was expecting it would take forever) but Linda and I went out one time and we came home with a dress.  And it cost $299!!!  It needs to be altered as it is actually too big – shocking I know! – but no biggie – it will still be a bargain!

Invitations? – sort of a check.  We are making them ourselves (we originally decided that this would be a cheaper option but at the end of the day it will probably cost us twice what it would have if we just got someone else to do it) and I have the overall design all sorted out but the construction of them is not moving ahead all that quickly.  I have 39 covers done (about 20 to go) but the fiddly bits (ribbon and little pockets to hold maps etc.) are not even started.

Wedding favours? – Idea is done – actual favours? – not even started.  I won’t give away the whole idea but I will tell you that it will involve baked goods.  The baking won’t happen until much closer to the wedding but I need to do some sample runs to see what works best.

Wedding Cake? – well this one has been a challenge because as a baker it really grinds my gears to be quoted $500 and up for a cake.  And that is for a very simple cake!  So we have an idea of getting some whole cheesecakes from a restaurant that we love and if that doesn’t work out I have a few contacts of some cake ladies that may be able to give us a deal.

Flowers? – Check – sort of.  We went on Saturday to the florist to get ideas and a price.  We now have the ideas but I am just waiting to see what the price is.  If it is something I can live with – we can mark this one off as well.  I am expecting it to be reasonable as it is a florist I actually know but we shall see.

DJ? – Check!

Photographer? – Check!  We originally were just going to get either a friend or one of Jason’s uncles to take pictures but Jason’s mom told us about a guy that does wedding photography on the side and we went to see him and his stuff was really good and he gave us a FANTASTIC deal as we were the kids of a friend of a friend and so we signed him up.  As it turns out he is now an award winning photographer as he just won two awards in Vegas.  Way to go Ian!

Bridesmaid Dresses?  Still outstanding.  We have come to a decision on colours (original idea was blue but we have moved on to black) but we are still looking for a dress that works.  Linda (who is my Matron of Honour) is coming for a visit in early May so hopefully we can get everyone sorted out then.

And I think that about gets you up to speed on where we are.  We still have a number of things to get together like meal choices, songs, itineraries for the DJ and photographer, printing of invitations and a ton of other items that are small details but seem to add up.  I’m tired just thinking about it actually.  I just need to remember that it is supposed to be fun and exciting.  Most of the time that is easy but I will admit there have been a few times already where I have forgotten and it just seems like more work that I don’t have time to finish.  Where does the time go??

Dear Blog…I miss you!

Last night Jason was asking me if I had written anything on my blog lately and I said no.  He asked why not and my response was no time.  But maybe I should try to find some time as I do miss the creative outlet.  With being back at work and planning a wedding and owning a dog and going to the gym and having a house to clean, meals to make and laundry to do – I just don’t seem to have any time to do anything else.  I am sure that I have lost all of my loyal readers with my lack of posting lately but even if I am the only one left reading it, I hope to try and find some time to share my thoughts.  I have  lot of things going on at the moment so you would think I have a lot of things to say but to be honest the things that are not absolute must-dos are the first things to get dropped and unfortunately that is what has happened to my poor blog.

As I am looking at the familiar screen as I type I realize how much I used to enjoy adding a little note here every day before I went to sleep.  Even more than the outlet I miss the sharing and the connection with those people who faithfully followed my daily ramblings.  I am so sorry for deserting you.  I am so sorry for allowing mundane tasks like laundry to take me away from something I enjoy.