A short update

I know there hasn't been much in the way of wedding planning on here, but that's because I've been doing it instead of writing about it! We are just tying up last minute ends so that we can enjoy Christmas and the new year and the week of the wedding. We are in the teens -- 18 days left! D-man and I are both ready to take this next step and be married.

Here's what's gone on since I got back from H-town: 2 dress fittings, a meeting with the organist, e-mailing back and forth with R to finalize the order of service, designing and mailing invites for the rehearsal dinner, finalizing the menu for the reception and rehearsal dinner, buying a car that I love and will last us 10 years, emptying my checkbook (for the aforementioned car), and shopping for Christmas presents. Needless to say, it's been busy! I hope I can get some more writing in before the craziness of the wedding comes, but I can't promise anything.

79 out of 239....

My commentary to the paragraph below is that the older you get, the more films you will have seen, so if you're 20 and have seen 85, then maybe you have no life. 30? Not as sure about that. I could get up to 85 quite easily with a few more of these, but then I think I'd be done -- there are quite a few of these that I have no desire to see.

There are 239 films on this list. SUPPOSEDLY, if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life. If you wish, copy this list, go to your own facebook account, paste this as a note. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom.

() Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
() Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
() Neverending Story
() Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 6

(x) The Princess Bride
() Anchorman
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
() Saw
() Saw II
() White Noise
() White Oleander
() Anger Management
(x ) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
(x) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 12

() Scream
() Scream 2
() Scream 3
() Scary Movie
() Scary Movie 2
() Scary Movie 3
() Scary Movie 4
() American Pie
() American Pie 2
() American Wedding
() American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 12

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
() Resident Evil 1
() Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
(x ) Little Black Book
() The Village
() Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 18

(x) Finding Nemo
() Finding Neverland
() Signs
(x) The Grinch
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
() White Chicks
() Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
() I, Robot
() Robots
Total so far: 21

() Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
() Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
() Deep Impact
(x) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
() Eight Crazy Nights
(x) Joe Dirt
() KING KONG
Total so far: 28

() A Cinderella Story
() The Terminal
() The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
() Dumber & Dumberer
() Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
() Final Destination 3
() Halloween
() The Ring
() The Ring 2
() Surviving X-MAS
() Flubber
Total so far: 29

() Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
() Ghost Ship
() From Hell
() Hellboy
() Secret Window
() I Am Sam
() The Whole Nine Yards
() The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 31

() The Day After Tomorrow
() Child's Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
() Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Just Married
() Gothika
() Nightmare on Elm Street
() Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
() Coach Carter
() The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
() The Mask
() Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 33

() Bad Boys
() Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
() Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
() Bourne Supremacy
() Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
() Predator I
() Predator II
() The Fog
(x) Ice Age
() Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
Total so far: 38

(x) Independence Day
() Cujo
() A Bronx Tale
() Darkness Falls
() Christine
(x) ET
() Children of the Corn
() My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
() War of the Worlds
() Rush Hour
() Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 41

() Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
() Calendar Girls
() Sideways
() Mars Attacks
() Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
() Big Trouble in Little China
() The Terminator
() The Terminator 2
() The Terminator 3
Total so far: 46

() X-Men
() X-2
() X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
(x) Spider Man 3
() Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
() Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
() Cruel Intentions 2
() The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 56

() Swimfan
() Miracle on 34th street
() Old School
() The Notebook
() K-Pax
() Krippendorf's Tribe
() A Walk to Remember
() Ice Castles
() Boogeyman
() The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 56

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 62

() Baseketball
() Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
() House of 1000 Corpses
() Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
() Highlander
() Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History X
() Three
Total so Far: 64

() The Jacket
() Kung Fu Hustle
() Shaolin Soccer
() Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x)Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
() Shaun Of the Dead
() Willard
Total so far: 67

() High Tension
() Club Dread
() Hulk
() Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
() 28 days later
() Orgazmo
() Phantasm
() Waterworld
Total so far: 69

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
() Mortal Kombat
() Wolf Creek
() Kingdom of Heaven
() the Hills Have Eyes
() I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
() The Last House on the Left
() Re-Animator
() Army of Darkness
Total so far: 71

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x)Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
() Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
() Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 77

(x) The Matrix
() The Matrix Reloaded
() The Matrix Revolutions
()Animatrix
() Evil Dead
() Evil Dead 2
() Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
() Hannibal
Total so far: 79

Big Shady and the OTHER D-man

Sometimes life is just fun. I went to see Big Shady this weekend, and I expected a raucous good time, which I got. Dinner at P.F. Chang's, a trip to Toys 'R' Us and Wal-Mart, the purchase of four (4) books at B & N.... I also met the other D-man, whom I've been hearing a lot about. Friends, we have entered the Twilight Zone (cue music)....

B.S. (an appropriate abbreviation) had been telling me that I wouldn't believe how much her D-man and my D-man were alike. She was right. I am still in a little shock, though in a pleasant sort of way. They have very similar senses of humor, and if her D-man's parents had used his dad's middle name instead of first, they would have the same middle name. They love cheese. They even look alike. Scary. Too bad my D-man can't remember his name.

I am so happy for Big Shady that I can't even stand it, and not because she has a man like mine. I am blessed that God has been showing her (and me!) how big He is, and that He answers our wisecracks about His sense of humor. He definitely has one, and it is weird just like ours.

Housewarming

I have been in Houston for the last week with the D-man, getting the house ready to have a woman in it (besides my m-i-l -- this used to be my in-laws' crash pad when they came home from Brasil). Here's a run-down of the last few days:

Friday: Pick D-man up from the airport, Thanksgiving dinner with dad

Saturday: Pick up the rental truck, watch UGA get their hearts broken, load said rental truck (with lots of discussion about how to tie furniture down so it wouldn't slide around)

Sunday: Load the last (forgotten) bits of furniture and boxes onto the rental truck and leave, finally, at 8:30. Drive I-20 to I-59 to I-12 to I-10. Hit massive amounts of traffic in Meridian, MS (a semi ran off the road) and between Hammond, LA and Lafayette, LA (just a bunch of idiots and Alabama fans going back to Texas).

Monday: Start the painting project that is sure to leave me sore until the wedding. Paint 1 coat in each bedroom. Make 1 trip to Home Depot to buy paint for coat #2. Find out they don't have one of the paints in stock. Make trip to Home Depot #2 -- no paint there, either.

Tuesday: Paint coat #2 in the back bedroom. Go to Wal-Mart (for groceries and assorteds, including a DVD player to replace the one that D-man sliced his finger open on that didn't work anyway). Go to Home Depot #3, pull the can of base paint from the shelf, take it to the nice man at the paint counter, give him one of the 2 labels I already have that tells him how to mix the paint, and get the paint for the front bedroom. Paint coat #2 in the front bedroom.

Wednesday: Drag the D-man to Wal-Mart for groceries and assorteds (not as much fun as I thought it should have been), waste 2 hours, take the extension out of the desk so that we can put a bed in the front bedroom, get lots done and feel like crap (methinks it has been a little touch of the flu -- or could it just be a cold combined with the aching joints of old age?).

Thursday: Roll the rest of the coins that were in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet -- we are rich with a grand total of $105.00. Clean the refrigerator so I can feel okay about storing things like fruits and vegetables in there. Move some furniture. OH! Another trip to Home Depot. Apparently I'm expensive. Waste some more time. Take all of the in-laws' stuff to the other house (the one that they now crash at -- another, SINGLE, son is living there). Find gift card to Pappasito's and go out to eat. Load bookshelf with books (as much as we can, because D-man is going to get more shelf supports today at . . . . Home Depot!).

Friday: Well, we're just getting started. D-man should be home any minute from work (after a stop at the Home Depot -- it's quickly become my favorite store in Houston), and then we'll get going again. I'm headed back home today and am sad to leave my hubby to be, but I am really looking forward to coming back in just over a month. When this house is "ours" instead of "his."

Yummy food

We had a meeting this morning with the owner of the restaurant where we're going to have the rehearsal dinner. I am so excited about it after talking with him.

He is good friends with my uncle, who also happens to be a loan shark at the local bank. Chef T had a meeting with said uncle the other day (my uncle did his restaurant loan), and he said that if the party wasn't done right, he'd raise Chef T's interest rate. Heh. The bank man is part Italian, so he could be part of the mafia, if we had one. We love knowing all the right people.

Chef T is a fancy chef for my little hometown, and his cooking style is self-proclaimed "Hawaiian fusion." It's a mix of seafood, chicken, beef, and island cuisine. Our dinner will be NICE, complete with floor-length tablecloths and stemware. Dessert will be delectable, because Chef T's instructors recommended that he be a pastry chef when he graduated from culinary school. It's a pity that he doesn't love baking, though his regular cuisine is excellent.

Does anybody remember when Susan died from licking her wedding envelopes because the glue was toxic? (For those of you who didn't get that reference right off, Susan was George's fiance on Seinfeld.)

I think about that and laugh every time I lick a wedding invitation envelope. Soon I'll be able to stop licking!

Dallas

Well, the D-man and I just returned to Houston from a weekend in Dallas -- we have now officially finished our premarital counseling. We were greatly blessed by D-man's choice -- he chose a couple who were missionaries in Brasil for 38 years, and they have been married for 58. We figured they knew a little about marriage....

And so, we watched them interact and listened to the great things they had to say. They can't stand to be apart, even after all this time. I hope that in 58 years, D-man and I can look back and tell an even deeper story than we can now.

My baby brother is in Korea, and he sent me this video. Though I have never even been to Korea, I found myself laughing out loud. I think it applies to anyone who has lived in a foreign country.

Exciting times

I finally feel like I've gotten a few things under control. I still have a million things to do, but they are doable. My invitations came yesterday, and I'm excited about starting the process of assembling and addressing. 900 stamps are awaiting me as well.
Yesterday was an extremely productive day, and my to-do list is extremely lessened -- those phone calls just about kill me. I made two very important ones yesterday, and the phone calls are over for now.
I'm headed to Houston this weekend, with a side trip to Dallas. I haven't seen the D-man since August, and I am SO ready for this trip.

I know everyone says this, but my recent lack of blogging is due to simple busyness. I have not stopped running since I got home from Brazil almost 3 weeks ago. We have been making wedding decisions, ordering supplies, and checking off lists.

I had a panic moment today; I ordered invitations. I okayed the proof that the company sent. I am not stressed out that I am getting married; I will not rest until I have the invitations in my hands and know that everything is correct (type, size, etc). I often wonder why my life seems to invite stress. Or better yet, worry. I worry about entirely too much, entirely too much of the time. Planning seems to exacerbate that particular trait that I have -- not just for the wedding; any kind of planning will do. I'm not sure whether or not that has anything to do with the 6-month wait for my visa, with the perpetual need to send just one more document, with the feeling that there would always be one more thing to do.

I am also going through a little bit of culture shock. I have stepped into a totally different lifestyle, though I am hoping it will slow down now that we've gotten a good handle on wedding planning. I have been shopping at least 5 of the 20 days I have been home, and I feel like I am sustaining (or at least stimulating) the U.S. economy because my spending habits are so different here. Even though I'm not the one paying for the wedding, it's still a lot of money to spend, and I am having a little trouble adjusting. There always seems to be something to buy, or some bill to pay. I still have to look for a car and wonder exactly what will be best. I am still planning a wedding (and looking forward to being married). And I am still me, even in a different country.

The D-man is currently a full-time student and HATES not making any money. SO, He decided last week to apply for a job at UPS. They offer great hours for what he needs, and part-time is pretty much standard at UPS. Since he has worked there before, and they apparently loved him so much last time, they hired him and he starts on Monday. Morning. Like 3:30. Not an hour I ever see.

His hire date makes him part of the seasonal crowd with an option to return for permanent part-time in January. That means he doesn't have to take time off work to get married. Excellent, since he (like me) hates asking off. He can be done with the season and accept the permanent position (if that works out) after we get back to Houston. Our Father continues to provide everything we need as we walk towards marriage; I am so grateful.

For those of you who are not interested at all in wedding planning, please bear with me for the next few months, for that is exactly what I am doing (if you couldn't already tell). January 10 is the big day, and we have hit the ground running since I got home from Brasil.

I have been home for almost a week, and already I have gotten tons of planning done. I have been dress shopping, have picked out bridesmaid dresses, picked out invitations (and font), and I have found my dress. I ordered it yesterday and it's beautiful.

Other to-do's this week?

• Make hotel reservations for the D-man's family
• finish the guest list (kind of)
• order invitations

Ceramics

So the m-i-l is a giver. She loves to give gifts. I was the blessed recipient of yet another of her giving sprees a couple of weeks ago. We went to a ceramics factory about and hour-and-a-half north of Rio, and she decided that I needed a cafezinho set. She has been very vocal about wanting to send a gift for each of my showers, and I think she finally got the gifts bought.

Here is a list of what she bought for the D-man and me:

• a coffee/tea/dessert service for 6
• a plaque with our last name on it decorated in the pattern of my choice (it matches the tea service)

Things that I bought include a couple of plates (for decoration), two mug/plate sets with the Brasilian flag on them, and a dish to put my small jewelry in. We're headed back this week to see what else we can buy -- sensory overload can be fun!

Trashy. Gossip. Laughable.

I went to the State Board of Pharmacy website today and did something I haven't done in a long time. When I was working and getting the board's newsletter every month, I rushed to the administrative hearings section to see whose license had been revoked or suspended. I always wondered if I knew anyone.

Then always came the question, "What did they do?" I remember my partners and I speculating on how in the world people did something bad enough to get fined by the State Board. I mean, you have to really break the law. There was the one guy who, upon a narcotics inspection, was short 800,000 Lortab in his inventory. I mean, what is that if not using, trafficking, selling drugs on the street to make a lot of money?

What's your guilty pleasure?

Ike

Well, even though I'm still in Brasil, Ike had me worried. The D-man lives in Houston, in what will be our house after we get married. His house has flooded 3 times in the past 8 years, so hurricanes and heavy rains make him and his family pretty nervous.

I talked to him during the weekend and got frequent updates. He had power the whole time, except for an hour one night (I can't remember which one). He had internet and phone service until Saturday night, AFTER the storm hit. Blech. He had minor roof damage and a leak into the coat closet. But only the coat closet.

What saved him? Or the house, I should say.... He put boards up around the bottom of his fence coming into his yard (see picture at left -- the right side of the picture is the street side). That, by itself, kept the waves from coming into his yard and into the house. Props to a man who plans well for impending emergencies!

So many numbers!

In addition to the rapidly growing (MASSIVE) guest list, my mom has had several people tell her they want to give me (and the D-man, if we can get him up to GA before the wedding) a wedding shower.

The list is up to about 40. Only in C-town, not to mention the few in the 'Ham that have offered. I love that everyone is so excited. I love that more showers mean more presents (is that tacky?).

We're already going to delegate the privilege of giving a brunch for the out-of-towners on the day of the wedding. Any ideas for the other 36 people?

Addendum

It hit me the other day, when I was looking over mom's guest list, that only 1 of the couples on her list lives out of town. THE 180-LINE SPREADSHEET DOES NOT INCLUDE OUT-OF-TOWNERS. Oh, my. We are preparing for the bash of the year, apparently. My m-i-l's guest list is seeming really short right now.

What's in a name?

Names are fun. Especially mine. My soon-to-be name, I mean. Everywhere I've looked, I've found that my first name (which won't change, of course) is a Cornish variation of "Guinevere" and means "fair lady." I've always loved the romantic attachment of my name to the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (though I don't so much love the association with the king's most trusted knight).

My new last name is going to be Fairchild, which, being a good English name, means just that. Fair child. I have to laugh at God's sense of humor. Who thinks my new name will be a bit redundant? Anyone? Who thinks we should name our first girl Sabrina?

Boxes

Lately, I've been having trouble keeping things nice and separate. I've always been able to do that, but my ability to keep things neat is leaving me. And I don't mean my house.

Case(s) in point: I am currently maintaining (or helping to maintain) 4 blogs. One is quickly coming to a close, but that still leaves 3. They are all attempts to separate different parts of my life. One is Brasilian, one is for the next phase of my life, one is to keep track of the books I'm reading, and the last is one I co-author by making general commentary about what I'm reading.

Sometimes I wonder if I am spinning plates or juggling knives, if something is bound to fall and destroy the order I work so hard to create. I am learning (albeit slowly) that life is messy. Compartments don't always work. People tend to drift from one compartment to another -- from friend to family to work and back. I try not to put people in boxes, to let them be who they are, but those compartments are just so handy. They keep people at bay, far enough away so that they don't see me at my most real. They lift responsibility from me to give of myself for others. At the end of the day, I can't justify that. And so, though it's hard to stay out of the boxes, I try. Life is messy. Jesus was messy. God is messy. Since I follow Him, my life will be messy. People will drift. Categories will be dynamic and fuzzy. What is truly order will seem like disorder to me, who is not used to the ways that God works. Still, after 18 years.

One thing I know. His way is always best.

Toasting....

When Arab J, the D-man's mom, and I went to Minas Gerais, we bought pewter. My future m-i-l saw some gorgeous champagne flutes and started asking me questions about them:

"What do you think of those?"

"Would that be a good wedding present?"

"What's the advantage of having a storage box?"

I'm sure there were several other questions involved, but that trip was 3 months ago. Unlike the D-man, my memory is failing quickly. I do remember my answer, though:

"If I were to buy those for someone, I would give them to the couple before the wedding and ask them to use them to toast at the reception."

Turns out, she was asking me those questions for ME. And so what are we going to do? As we're not going to have alcohol at the reception (for so many reasons -- cost, the tendency of people to overserve themselves, the reception is at a church), I thought about how we can use them. Eureka! We're toasting with Guaraná (a Brazilian soft drink that looks enough like champagne to cheat with). Exciting for us, though I really hope we get more to eat and drink at the reception than wedding cake and Guaraná....