There was a birthday. I made a bird.

My friend Gwennie turned one whole year old a few weekends ago.  In celebration, her mom and dad had a fun and festive birthday bbq.  To commemorate her first year, and to have an excuse to break out my new sewing machine, I made a bird.  It looks more like a penguin, but it doesn't really matter.  He is so ugly he's cute and I'm quite proud to say it took me one morning, three bobbins of thread and not too much cursing :-)  I shall continue.  Beware of stuffed toys from me on YOUR next birthday!

Wedding Update

Lots of happenings lately! In recent wedding news we have: 

• picked out and purchased wedding bands
  
• picked out and reserved tuxedos
  
• decided on favors (again!)
  
• picked a menu for the rehearsal dinner
  
• picked a menu for the wedding reception
  
• decided on an engagement photo session location
  
• nailed down all dates leading up to the wedding (showers, bachelor/bachelorette parties, etc.)
  
• picked out invitations 
• called and reserved the Fendor Sound System and microphone for our "DJ" to use with my iPod
• cleared it with the art studios to let the table guy set up and tear down the day before/after
• decided on final decorations for the reception

Now to execute a few of these things and start on the DIY projects that are looming.  I've only got three or four weekends between now and the wedding that are fairly calm, so it's crunch time for sure.  I find myself making decisions about things I never thought I'd need to think about and with each one, I am simultaneously more excited and more nervous about pulling this giant event off.  Every once in a while,  I wish it was someone else's wedding I was planning - I think I'd be a little more clear-headed.  

This morning, instead of grading my stack of student research papers, my project is to start compiling a list of all the things we'll need for our DIY bar.  I haven't even begun writing yet and I've got cups, and lemons and limes and corkscrews and napkins and ice buckets and coolers and kegs and alcohol all swimming through my brain.   We're hiring three of Matt's students  - two to tend the bar and another to clean up empties and run out for more ice if we need it.  I will feel better when there is a list.  For some reason a list makes me feel like it's done, even if there is still a lot to follow through with.  

By the end of this, I'll be available for hire if anyone wants me to plan a wedding.  Maybe if this actually goes as planned, and when I'm tired of this thing they call teaching,  I'll join the wedding industry as a wedding planner extraordinaire!  

Easter

My mom called me today.  I said "Hello?" and she replied with, "Well, all I know is that you must be way too busy."  She of course, was referring to the fact that I had not yet updated my blog with an Easter post.  I am behind and have a lot going on in all areas of my life.  It's funny how those are the times when I blog the least - when there is actually more to blog about in the first place.  That, after all, is the purpose of this blog.  It is to be a virtual scrapbook to keep all the memories in one place and to share with those who might want to take a look.  Well, in the interest of using this blog for its intended use, I add an Easter post and a promise to update again soon with wedding/life information.  

We spent our Easter weekend in Saint Peters this year with the Chipleys and extended families.  We had a wonderful time of Egg-dying, movie-watching, feast- eating fun. 

 

Easter Eggs!

Visit to Grandma French's House!

East Morning Candies!

Visit to Grandma and Grandpa Chipley's!

Too much sun makes for an awkward family photo...

Before and after?

  

To all who celebrate, we hope you had a Happy Easter :-) 

Breaking for Spring

So for once, it seems that our weather in Columbia is just as nice as if we'd gone away for spring break! And I've never felt such a need for a break from the grind of school and students and grading and homework and 21 minutes for lunch and squeezing things into my life between the hours of 4:00pm and 10:00pm. Saturday and Sunday were spent at the home improvement store and lounging, Monday was a day full of sweeping, mopping, scrubbing vacuuming and laundering. Tuesday included a visit from my mom and two sisters so they could go with me to try on my dress that is now in at the dress shop as well as an ice cold beer on a patio with friends. And today I went for a sunny, 80 degree walk with Griffin around the neighborhood followed by an afternoon reading session on the patio. The weather has been glorious!

And all the while, things are changing so quickly outside. Every morning I go outside to see all of the bits of our yard (and our neighbor's yards) that have grown just a bit more :-)

Happy Springtime to all!

Griffindog

It's a rainy Sunday morning here in Columbia. With half the weekend behind us, we're enjoying a quiet morning before we start preparing for the week. I personally have a stack a mile high to grade, Matt has employee schedules to make and the dogs have lots of sleeping, licking and chewing to attend to.

Many of you know how difficult it was to transition Griffin to apartment living after his first initial summer with me on my parents' farm. I was plagued with guilt over his unhappiness. We took walks lasting hours and hours. Countless toys were purchased to keep him busy. Bitter apple spray was applied to everything I owned and the apartment the two of us shared. He sprayed his crate with all manner of bodily fluids in rebellion when I was gone. The vet put him on an expensive medication called Clomacalm that made him act stoned, for which I also felt much guilt. I paid for expensive training classes and went to the dog park. I bought a 40 foot training leash so I could play fetch with him in the small patch of grass outside my apartment. Letting him off the leash would have been as good as saying goodbye.

More than once, I felt like it was in his best interest to give him up, which broke my heart. As obnoxious and persistent as he can sometimes be, I can't imagine life without him. Before "Marley and Me" was a film in theaters, a good friend once told me Griffin was my "Marley." I think she may have been right. I'm not certain, but I can guess that that end to that story is a sad one. Just think of Old Yeller - minus the rabies and the gun, I can imagine there is some sort of loss. And I'm not ready to face that for my journey with Griffin.

These days, he's a happy Border Doodle living in a home with a big fenced in yard and a friend to play with. He still has frustrating moments, but he shows signs of loyalty I had never seen until this year. In our third year of being together he's growing, albeit slowly, out of puppyhood and into a much more mellow version of himself. The vet likes the 5 pounds he has gained in the last year. He takes it as a sign that he's not so nervous. He has been off the Clomacalm for over a year now, and I don't think he has seen his crate for more than a combined total of two hours in the past 10 months since we moved into the new house. And all involved are happy with that.

On this rainy morning, he occupies himself with one of those toys purchased almost three years ago to keep him busy. It is one of the few remaining in our possession and definitely his favorite. Last week, I brought it out of retirement because both Griffin and Bama were deserving of a treat.

Normally this Kong is filled with peanut butter and given to him for a snack, but today, he enjoys it without anything tasty inside. Forty minutes after taking the video below, he is still bumbling quietly around the living room in his own little world :-)