The snow is gorgeous this morning! The park across the street is beautiful. (wish I could get one of my pictures to transfer from the hosting place; I’d show you. Oh well, someone else with better tech skills will have better pictures, anyhow.)
We have three sets of tracks in the back yard. One looks like pheasants – we saw a huge ring-necked male late yesterday. Another set, up on the porch to get some of the water, is likely the female racoon, given that it looks like the ice crust was broken to wash the food rather than to drink.
I ought to start shoveling, but its a little early, and having feed the livestock (felines) who were so insistent about their 5:30am breakfast, I think I’m going to go back to bed after I put out fresh water, and have a big glass of orange juice.
Good morning, pond-dwellers. . shhh, the raccoon is still here!
Enjoy the morning – I hope Katiebird’s family has fun today.
Oh, where’s the coffee…CtE has been waking everyone (brother, mom, dogs, you name it) up every 15 minutes since about 5:30 this morning…looking for someone to play with…
Good lord, I think I’m turning into a southerner! It’s about 22 degrees this morning and I’m walking around the house in sweats, fuzzy socks and a scarf around my neck and my nose is still freezing. When we first moved down here I was the one laughing at all the wimpy southerners wearing down coats when it went below 50. Can it be much longer before I am truly one of them?
If I start saying things like “I’m goin git me a samwich” please smack me.
See, this is the real reason you don’t go home for Thanksgiving — you’ve got that southern fear of cold places. Smacking isn’t going to do it — you need to go a Browns home game right away (two games remaining)
Why didn’t I think of that? All I need to do is stand shirtless against the Lake Erie winds and snow, paint my torso orange and brown, and drink about 17 beers. Thanks, Andi. I’d kill to be at the Christmas Eve game against the Steelers. Even with all the Christmas cheer there will be lots of good brawls, in the stands and on the field.
I forgot the dog mask, which would only compliment the brown and orange torso.
I’ve got hot coffee, the sun is shining and it’s warming up fast…supposed to be about 50 today. I think I’ll survive. Today the boys are going to put up the Christmas lights, in combinations the homeowners assocciation will no doubt frown upon, but who gives a damn? We’re in one of those 80’s subdivisions where everyone has tiny white lights in the trees and shrubs and a candle in every window. How original. We’ve got a peace sign.
Heh, at 34 she’s already too young for me. I prefer older women. I find them easier to relate to. Most folks my age seem to me like they’re about 16 psychologically, and I ran out of patience with that years ago.
Like most Clevelanders, I have not recovered from that scumbag who shall not be named moving our team to that city that shall not be named.
And after hating the Steelers for my entire life, it became somewhat more difficult to do following the support and love (well, what passes for love between Browns and Steelers fans)that Pittsburgh showed Cleveland at that time. It was surreal.
Wedding update (feel free to skip this if you hate weddings)
Yesterday mr katiebird matted the photograph we’re giving my brother, at it looks great. Today we’ll wrap it. I hope they like it, but we’ve done everything we can to make it something special just for them and that’s all we can do.
I didn’t go to the rehearsal, I would have been in too much of a rush. But it seems the “family” is to march as the first group in the processional. We are also assigned a time with the photographer for family photographs. And we (groom’s family) is in the first set. So — I think I’m going to have to actually be at the hotel from about 3pm on. Which will make for a long day.
I did go to the rehearsal dinner last night. It was in a private room at a local restaurant (KC folks: Californos). There was an open bar and some appetizers (which I didn’t look at — who needs the grief?). As for the open bar – I’ve been deliberately dehydrating myself so that I wouldn’t have to unwrap my industrial strength underwear in public to go to the bathroom at the restaurant (a plan that worked by the way).
I walked in the door of the restaurant and was immediately greeted by my my-age cousin, which was a total surprise — no one had mentioned that she was coming at all. She’s 3 months older than me and we were pretty close as kids, but we had a disastrous visit last summer. She was (thoughtlessly?) rude in more ways than you could ever imagine. If she was a character in a movie, you wouldn’t have believed it. Her behavior made no sense at all it was so offensive.
Also, she has struggled with weight issues for even longer than I have. And nearly 3 years ago got surgery to reduce the size of her stomach. What I couldn’t understand then, and still don’t, is how can surgery change your eating habits? I totally understand the desperation that would drive you to it, but for My Cousin, it doesn’t seem to have worked, I’m pretty sure she has gained as much weight as I’ve lost. And (just guessing here) she weighs as much as she ever did. But she’s stuck with all the side effects of that surgery.
(Evil katiebird peaks out) But, the look on her face when she saw me was priceless! We last saw each other about a month before I started my NoSeconds/NoSnacks program, and we weighed pretty much the same. But, we don’t any longer!!!
From then on it was sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents — bouncing around and talking, talking, listening, listening. Really it was wonderful. My mom’s brother & sister-in-law & 2 of their kids came. And they are all among my most favorite people. My aunt and uncle are so upset about the Iraq war. I really wish there was a way to introduce my aunt to the BooTrib, it would really comfort her to spend time with people who think like her. And the two cousins from that side of the family are great. Just as easy as the other side is difficult.
Somehow, I looked as stylish as anyone and my hair behaved itself.
When I was leaving, I discovered that someone (accidentally) took the bag with my street shoes and winter gloves. It was pretty funny: First I don’t see the bag and I’m peaking around the coats to see if it fell on the floor behind them. I say, “Someone took my shoes!” and all 3 of the people in this tiny cloak room start retracing my search, confident that they will find the shoe bag. Other people come in and they looked.
When my sister and I told the Bride (so she’d know who’s they are when the show up again today) about it she said, “I hope mine are still there”. My sister said, “Nope, there’s nothing in there!” So, who knows how many shoes disappeared?
It was a wonderful party, but I was a little disturbed by the excessive expense. This was just the rehearsal dinner and I’m sure there were over 100 people there. They served a Fancy Green Salad with Walnuts, Lasagna or Vegetarian Pasta and Cheesecake. Can I say again, that this was the rehearsal dinner? This is Kansas City, why not just serve a bbq buffet? Oh, and THEY had gifts for some of us.
She’s really having a hundred people IN the wedding?
What’s coming tomorrow?
I mean, it’s great to see all my family. But, the extreme formality is almost as isolating as anything else. I’d like to be visiting people who are here only for the weekend. But, almost every minute is scheduled (the relaxed sister I visited with yesterday has to have her hair done at 9am).
Is the bride’s family paying for all of this? If so, just enjoy the Fancy Salad and don’t worry about it.
I feel sorry for your cousin but I know it felt good to see her face when she saw your awesome bod! She’s no doubt got some major psychological issues that contribute to her weight problem. Maybe your charitable task for the day will be to sit with her and be as nice as possible and maybe your good attitude about food will rub off on her and she’ll be the happy cousin you remember from your childhood the next time you see her.
Have fun today! I hate fancy schmancy social occasions as well. Especially when it involves people you’re used to seeing in jeans and sweats. Then it seems like everyone is playing a part in a movie and no one can really relax.
had 400 people at her wedding and the following sit-down dinner. It was horrible — it was like being in one of the crowd scenes in some roman orgy movie. I think that may have been the event that really ramped up my hate for big family events.
Oops, I’m supposed to be saying positive stuff, aren’t I?
Here’s the thing: It’s insensitive to have a sheeebang of this caliber so close to Christmas. Vacation, money, time, money — who needs an extra expense like this so close to Christmas? There are years in the very recent past where I couldn’t have bought new clothes to wear to this thing. Or even handled the expense of the photograph & frame. And I felt very badly for 2 of my cousins who clearly didn’t have money to buy fancy clothes AND come to the wedding.
Half of the family is doing very well in terms of money. But the other half, while not poor, doesn’t have a lot of extra money to throw around. And to stage an event that exposes those differences so blatantly is cruel. And to make those same people shift resources from their own families to a couple of people who obviously don’t need it — well that’s just outrageous.
I have every intention of enjoying myself visiting everyone, that’s not the point.
I just think of what you could do with all this money. And I sure wouldn’t choose to do this.
Well, there’s a difference between you and me — you dislike it on moral principles, I dislike it because I’m an asocial bitch. If we hang around together long enough, maybe we’ll have a mutually mitigating effect — we’ll both become principled cynics. ::smirks::
I have actual experience with this — my best friend in high school was an asocial bitch. We operated as a catalyst on each other — we willingly did stuff together we would have never done with alone or with anybody else. It was great fun (but we’re probably lucky we’re both alive and not in jail).
I suspect that if you, Indy, and me got together IRL, the righties would think the apocalypse was starting.
I had to doubletake at your post, since I thought you were talking about me and my high school best friend. The deviant stuff was always my idea, but she was always the one who goaded us into actually doing it. Of course, she and I were also having sex together, so there’s probably less overlap, but then again, she is straight, so who knows.
be without friends like that. I miss her terribly — she moved to Israel shortly after I got married (though I suspect her absence significantly contributed to the fact that my marriage has lasted).
my first wedding was at the courthouse in Breckenridge, Colorado. Just me and him and two witnesses fromthe judge’s office.
My second wedding, 22 later, was in my mother-in-law’s living room with just my kids and my in-laws present. I detest big, showy weddings and the emphasis put on them to the exclusion of the actual marriage.
I tried to have a small wedding but my mother fought me every step. I finally decided that this was the way it worked — the wedding was for the mother and the marriage was the me.
at putting together the ultimate in low-cost weddings. Somehow she was always able to find the high-quality cheap caterer, the reception place that was warm and friendly and not at all stuffy, the DJ with a great music selection for the dances, and of course the perfect dress that doesn’t break the bank.
She put on four weddings (including my brother’s — the bride’s family was in Southern California and were total flakes), and they all turned out fantastic.
My wedding: the rehearsal dinner was a catered buffet in my in-laws’ home, which was perfect for the attendants (many of whom were children; my youngest niece was a 5-year-old flower girl, and my nephews were 7 and 8 ring bearers). My dress was a very simple white prom dress — no ultra frilly trains to trip over. Reception was at the local community center; my mom used to work for the city so she knew who to call, and she got two rooms plus a wonderful outdoor courtyard with a stage where the DJ set up the dance floor. I think we had about 200+ there, mostly family but both the spouse and I were able to invite some friends from work.
Looking back, I think Mom should’ve gone into the wedding planning business…
But I rarely, maybe only around 10% of the time, see a mainstream American wedding that’s as enjoyable as ours was.
Because we were doing Scottish folk dancing at the time, we basically made it a trad-oriented dance party. The ceremony itself was a straight, simple Proddy 10-minute deal with some folk musicians. Then we adjourned to a rented church hall for the party. Everybody who had anything they could do in public if only for a minute or two did it sometime during the evening, and a number of our Scottish friends made their wedding gifts in the form of contributions to food or drink.
I feel a little sad for the many people, whether mainstream American or ethnic, who run the occasion as a series of stiff rituals like a royal coronation. Often these events I participate in are impressive as feats of staging, but they’re often very costly for the family and nervewracking for the participants. It’s often a great relief when something absurd goes wrong, whether it’s an elaborate carriage getting stuck in a rut, or the flower girl freaking out and running away or whatever, to bring a little humanity to the excessive majesty of the thing.
She was 18 months old in that picture. She 36 1/2 now and has two kids (that’s her on the far right, holding her youngest, Miles and the older boy on the left is Max):
It’s funny but I don’t think of Miles as looking like her at all but I think I’m being swayed by personality — she was a fantastically good-natured kid and Miles is Mr. Broody while Max is Mr. What Me Worry. So it’s Max that I always think of as being “like her.”
I think my mom has a picture of me being a flower girl at my cousin’s wedding in 1956. Next time I’m up at her place, I’ll see if I can find it and scan it in for public
I didn’t think you would deliberately ignore me. I forget about that cloaking thing.
I’ve never done it but I believe it’s real and possible. That’s what concerns me so much about the connection to torture these guys running the show have. Part of controlling/developing that skill in unwilling candidates is to force the mind to seperate from the body. I believe it happens naturally in death or near-death experiences. It’s not a stretch to consider a near-death experience being administered in a controlled environment to produce the same effect.
Chilling thought. And even if it proved impossible, I would never put it past some of our “leaders” to try to accomplish it or any other cruel thing, for that matter.
About forgetting you’re cloaked? 🙂 Don’t you find it really spooks the cats sometimes?
I’m kind of used to the cats ignoring me when I want something. They can hear a slice cheese being unwrapped in a dead sleep though.
Sometimes I think they see the people that I can’t see. By the way, you have a smudge on your moniter…;)
Does anyone else ever wonder why Macromedia’s Flash-Shockwave is set up to access and use a user’s system microphone and camera? It can be disabled by choice. This is for the neat ads that load with a webpage.
Good morning to all! I’m attending my nephew’s Long Island bar mitzvah later today. It is black tie optional. A “tad” over the top. It will be interesting to see people arriving in gowns and fancy clothes with all the snow we currently have.
Hopefully it will not rival “Mitzvahpalooza”….the bat mitzvah of David H. Brooks’ daughter cost $10 million and featured 50 Cent, Tom Petty, Aerosmith, Kenny G and others. I heard this on NPR last weekend and couldn’t believe it. What the hell is he gonna do for her wedding?
Hi everybody, I have to say thanks for all this wedding talk. You have jogged my “worst memory on the planet.” Oh yeah, I got married in December. My husband always brings home flowers and enjoys the joke that I have no idea why.
Now I’m forewarned, if I can only manage to maintain the thought until next Friday. Luckiest day of my life! 12/16/77, all the stars and planets were in perfect alignment.
Wishing the same for Katie’s brother and his bride.
Mornin’ all. I see some interesting looking topics I’ll need to peruse in a moment.
Afternoon moonrise yesterday over a Puget Sound hill. Puget4 and I whistle the Tara theme from Gone With the Wind when we see houses like this.
It’s a snowless but frosty, hazy morning today as migrating waterfowl drift near the shore of the saltwater bay near our house.
We’re having a few days’ respite from the grey and rain and brief snow of the past two months. Florida Mom is really getting into the appreciation of sun when it comes.
I was been very good at the glad game since childhood when I mentioned that my sister (who is missing three fingers on her left hand) was lucky because she’d never have to worry about doing the girl scout salute.
And a gracious good afternoon to one & all. May we all find reason to celebrate yet another winter’s day. Katiebird, I wish you & your family a joyous occasion!
Today my ‘happy story’ of last night continues: our mountains are bathed in righteous sunshine — which streams through the windows of my humble abode & heats the interior nicely. My feline allies — a young mother & her little one — toss themselves through the sunbeams. Yesterday’s online assessment of 8″ snowfall seems to have been a misunderestimate — the snow easily soaks my knees out on the field. I suppose I’ll be trekking out to the main road to shovel out the car today — about a half-mile out. Hup, hup, hup!
You definitely need to become a regular photo poster — I would love to see a photo of that scene (the mountains bathed in light, not the car dig-out).
Sorry you’ve got a hike to get to the car but since the sun is out, I hope you can treat as a nice walk in the woods (until you actually get to shoveling out the car).
We used to have tractor just so we could pull the cars out the drive (sounds like yours is like ours which is 1000 ft long) but thanks to AWD we now can have fuel-efficient cars and still get out the drive.
Thanks so much for your encouragement re: posting photos (enjoyable!) & snow chores (less so). I’ll post pix as I can. Regarding the trek out, today I’ll be beating out the footpath, which is more arduous than traveling the path will be later on. At one time the landowner’s father plowed out the drive for us as a favor to his son, but the land’s stewardship has been transferred & the current landowner won’t invest in seasonal plowing, being a summer resident. Ergo, yes, I’ll enjoy my trek beneath the trees as usual.
Eventually I hope to own a decent AWD vehicle or 4WD, though I doubt anything could push through this kind of accumulation (I’m guessing 10″ average total, with higher drifts).
Unless a AWD sits really low to the ground, 10 inches isn’t a problem. Both our Honda Element and Subarau Forester will go through that amount easily. Drifts are another issue of course but we carry shovels in both cars and just shovel as we need to.
Cool. Thanks for those recommendations — will bear them in mind once I’m in the market.
You’ll notice I’m not ‘on the road’ yet. Darn sluggish today, really, after ‘sleeping in’ — will likely put off the trek ’til tomorrow. The sun’s gone in, daylight fades & there’s plenty to do closer to home, which I shall attend to anon.
I’m back in for a short snack before finally tackling those sidewalks.
Sometime, when we are really in a bad way and needing a good laugh, we should do a diary asking people to tell about the worst/funniest family event they’ve attended. Having sung at over 100 weddings (I”m not making that number up, but it was in a much younger phase of life), I recall with great fondness the goat-roper wedding, the dogs-as-ringbearers wedding, and the wedding where the mother of the bride wore black including a black veil over her face. Gee, I’d have trouble choosing.
Anyway, the boots are on, no more reasons to delay. My sick spouse is finally upstairs sleeping where he won’t feel too guilty at “letting me” do it. As if I ever get his permission to do anything!
This is the deadline day for the hostages. The last I heard on Cdn news was midnight tonight our time. Not hearing has been really hard. And no one is positive about the outcome…
Today’s flower photo is an indoor one — I call it ‘Inside A Phalaenopsis Orchid’ :),
Phalaenopsis orchid, taken 10.09.2005 (view large)
There was some fungus on a tree trunk with a little pile of snow on it that I thought would make a great shot and it might have but with the bright light on the snow I couldn’t see anything in the lcd and just tried to guess — completely unsuccessfully.
I might have tried more but it was only 15 degrees out but I don’t think it would have mattered how many I tried. Maybe I’ll try it again tomorrow (should be cold enough to stay if it didn’t blow away) early when the sun won’t be so much of a problem.
I believe it is the little seen and much admired Orchid Bat, long thought to be extinct until its call was recently heard in the distant, exotic Jungles of Olivia. This may well be the only existing photograph of a living Orchid Bat.
Woke up with a major headache, so the spouse let me sleep late while he camped out on the computer for most of the morning. Now we need to get some work done…as well as go grocery shopping so I can cook dinner here — I’m in a domestic mood today. It’s too late to start anything in the slow-cooker, unless I used the HIGH setting and I prefer LOW. Plus, using the oven will help keep the apartment warm this evening. (Great — talking about food is making me hungry…)
All this wedding talk is tempting me to declare my hosting day on the 28th “Weddings Wednesday” and have everyone post their wedding pictures, share horror stories, and some such…consider yourselves duly warned…
I just got one ready to go but I was waiting to see if spiderleaf showed up since he was going to the afternoon diary. But I’m guessing he forgot so I’ll go ahead and do the new one.
Got big Saturday plans — like not shoveling snow?
The snow is gorgeous this morning! The park across the street is beautiful. (wish I could get one of my pictures to transfer from the hosting place; I’d show you. Oh well, someone else with better tech skills will have better pictures, anyhow.)
We have three sets of tracks in the back yard. One looks like pheasants – we saw a huge ring-necked male late yesterday. Another set, up on the porch to get some of the water, is likely the female racoon, given that it looks like the ice crust was broken to wash the food rather than to drink.
I ought to start shoveling, but its a little early, and having feed the livestock (felines) who were so insistent about their 5:30am breakfast, I think I’m going to go back to bed after I put out fresh water, and have a big glass of orange juice.
Good morning, pond-dwellers. . shhh, the raccoon is still here!
Enjoy the morning – I hope Katiebird’s family has fun today.
Sounds really nice. We want to see the pictures.
Which picture hosting are you using?
Oh, where’s the coffee…CtE has been waking everyone (brother, mom, dogs, you name it) up every 15 minutes since about 5:30 this morning…looking for someone to play with…
I’m so sleepy!
We should team CtE with Giddy, my malamutt — she’s always getting everybody up early and wanting us all to go outside and play.
But even our 3 dogs werent enough company this morning! And then I had to feel guilty about saying “but I’m not finished sleeping yet!”
I guess I can sleep in after he goes to college…
I could sleep when I’m dead. I did go every place that anybody would want to be seen at with her but I was always a little fuzzy.
Good lord, I think I’m turning into a southerner! It’s about 22 degrees this morning and I’m walking around the house in sweats, fuzzy socks and a scarf around my neck and my nose is still freezing. When we first moved down here I was the one laughing at all the wimpy southerners wearing down coats when it went below 50. Can it be much longer before I am truly one of them?
If I start saying things like “I’m goin git me a samwich” please smack me.
See, this is the real reason you don’t go home for Thanksgiving — you’ve got that southern fear of cold places. Smacking isn’t going to do it — you need to go a Browns home game right away (two games remaining)
…and wearing Black and Gold?
😉
When I read the diary title I keep thinking of the name Snow White being said in a southern accent.
I believe you can take partial credit for title since your punditry has been quite inspiring.
Why didn’t I think of that? All I need to do is stand shirtless against the Lake Erie winds and snow, paint my torso orange and brown, and drink about 17 beers. Thanks, Andi. I’d kill to be at the Christmas Eve game against the Steelers. Even with all the Christmas cheer there will be lots of good brawls, in the stands and on the field.
would be a helluva cure. I’m pretty sure I hear the siren call of “road trip” singing through the North Carolina air.
Besides, think of the bribe that Indy would offer to get that picture of you in all your painted glory.
I forgot the dog mask, which would only compliment the brown and orange torso.
I’ve got hot coffee, the sun is shining and it’s warming up fast…supposed to be about 50 today. I think I’ll survive. Today the boys are going to put up the Christmas lights, in combinations the homeowners assocciation will no doubt frown upon, but who gives a damn? We’re in one of those 80’s subdivisions where everyone has tiny white lights in the trees and shrubs and a candle in every window. How original. We’ve got a peace sign.
As I have been but utterly rejected by Second Nature for being “too young” (as if), there will henceforth be no bribing from me.
Thank God, because there is just not enough money (or Lindt chocolate truffles) in the world.
just yesterday she claimed to be 34 and getting younger every year — pretty soon she’s going to be too young for you.
Heh, at 34 she’s already too young for me. I prefer older women. I find them easier to relate to. Most folks my age seem to me like they’re about 16 psychologically, and I ran out of patience with that years ago.
It would guarantee a sellout game. It would take that many beers to offset the windchill factor…maybe 2 or 3 coats of paint for insulation.
I’m a lifetime Steelers fan but even I was heartbroken when the Browns bolted way back when. Madness and mayhem for Christmas.
Like most Clevelanders, I have not recovered from that scumbag who shall not be named moving our team to that city that shall not be named.
And after hating the Steelers for my entire life, it became somewhat more difficult to do following the support and love (well, what passes for love between Browns and Steelers fans)that Pittsburgh showed Cleveland at that time. It was surreal.
Sometimes, stopping the mutual beatings long enough to call 911 for the other side is what passes for love.
😉
Some of my favorite family is in Cleveland. It’s a beautiful city no matter what anyone in the tri-state area says about it.
morning so I guess it is inevitable.
Andi – Hi Hi Hi!!
Wedding update (feel free to skip this if you hate weddings)
Yesterday mr katiebird matted the photograph we’re giving my brother, at it looks great. Today we’ll wrap it. I hope they like it, but we’ve done everything we can to make it something special just for them and that’s all we can do.
I didn’t go to the rehearsal, I would have been in too much of a rush. But it seems the “family” is to march as the first group in the processional. We are also assigned a time with the photographer for family photographs. And we (groom’s family) is in the first set. So — I think I’m going to have to actually be at the hotel from about 3pm on. Which will make for a long day.
I did go to the rehearsal dinner last night. It was in a private room at a local restaurant (KC folks: Californos). There was an open bar and some appetizers (which I didn’t look at — who needs the grief?). As for the open bar – I’ve been deliberately dehydrating myself so that I wouldn’t have to unwrap my industrial strength underwear in public to go to the bathroom at the restaurant (a plan that worked by the way).
I walked in the door of the restaurant and was immediately greeted by my my-age cousin, which was a total surprise — no one had mentioned that she was coming at all. She’s 3 months older than me and we were pretty close as kids, but we had a disastrous visit last summer. She was (thoughtlessly?) rude in more ways than you could ever imagine. If she was a character in a movie, you wouldn’t have believed it. Her behavior made no sense at all it was so offensive.
Also, she has struggled with weight issues for even longer than I have. And nearly 3 years ago got surgery to reduce the size of her stomach. What I couldn’t understand then, and still don’t, is how can surgery change your eating habits? I totally understand the desperation that would drive you to it, but for My Cousin, it doesn’t seem to have worked, I’m pretty sure she has gained as much weight as I’ve lost. And (just guessing here) she weighs as much as she ever did. But she’s stuck with all the side effects of that surgery.
(Evil katiebird peaks out) But, the look on her face when she saw me was priceless! We last saw each other about a month before I started my NoSeconds/NoSnacks program, and we weighed pretty much the same. But, we don’t any longer!!!
From then on it was sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents — bouncing around and talking, talking, listening, listening. Really it was wonderful. My mom’s brother & sister-in-law & 2 of their kids came. And they are all among my most favorite people. My aunt and uncle are so upset about the Iraq war. I really wish there was a way to introduce my aunt to the BooTrib, it would really comfort her to spend time with people who think like her. And the two cousins from that side of the family are great. Just as easy as the other side is difficult.
Somehow, I looked as stylish as anyone and my hair behaved itself.
When I was leaving, I discovered that someone (accidentally) took the bag with my street shoes and winter gloves. It was pretty funny: First I don’t see the bag and I’m peaking around the coats to see if it fell on the floor behind them. I say, “Someone took my shoes!” and all 3 of the people in this tiny cloak room start retracing my search, confident that they will find the shoe bag. Other people come in and they looked.
When my sister and I told the Bride (so she’d know who’s they are when the show up again today) about it she said, “I hope mine are still there”. My sister said, “Nope, there’s nothing in there!” So, who knows how many shoes disappeared?
It was a wonderful party, but I was a little disturbed by the excessive expense. This was just the rehearsal dinner and I’m sure there were over 100 people there. They served a Fancy Green Salad with Walnuts, Lasagna or Vegetarian Pasta and Cheesecake. Can I say again, that this was the rehearsal dinner? This is Kansas City, why not just serve a bbq buffet? Oh, and THEY had gifts for some of us.
She’s really having a hundred people IN the wedding?
What’s coming tomorrow?
I mean, it’s great to see all my family. But, the extreme formality is almost as isolating as anything else. I’d like to be visiting people who are here only for the weekend. But, almost every minute is scheduled (the relaxed sister I visited with yesterday has to have her hair done at 9am).
Is the bride’s family paying for all of this? If so, just enjoy the Fancy Salad and don’t worry about it.
I feel sorry for your cousin but I know it felt good to see her face when she saw your awesome bod! She’s no doubt got some major psychological issues that contribute to her weight problem. Maybe your charitable task for the day will be to sit with her and be as nice as possible and maybe your good attitude about food will rub off on her and she’ll be the happy cousin you remember from your childhood the next time you see her.
Have fun today! I hate fancy schmancy social occasions as well. Especially when it involves people you’re used to seeing in jeans and sweats. Then it seems like everyone is playing a part in a movie and no one can really relax.
Oh, I’m relaxed, and enjoying it. It’s just that I think that the excessive spending is in poor taste.
But, I’m the girl who ran off to SF and got married in the City Hall without telling anyone. So what do I know.
had 400 people at her wedding and the following sit-down dinner. It was horrible — it was like being in one of the crowd scenes in some roman orgy movie. I think that may have been the event that really ramped up my hate for big family events.
Oops, I’m supposed to be saying positive stuff, aren’t I?
Here’s the thing: It’s insensitive to have a sheeebang of this caliber so close to Christmas. Vacation, money, time, money — who needs an extra expense like this so close to Christmas? There are years in the very recent past where I couldn’t have bought new clothes to wear to this thing. Or even handled the expense of the photograph & frame. And I felt very badly for 2 of my cousins who clearly didn’t have money to buy fancy clothes AND come to the wedding.
Half of the family is doing very well in terms of money. But the other half, while not poor, doesn’t have a lot of extra money to throw around. And to stage an event that exposes those differences so blatantly is cruel. And to make those same people shift resources from their own families to a couple of people who obviously don’t need it — well that’s just outrageous.
I have every intention of enjoying myself visiting everyone, that’s not the point.
I just think of what you could do with all this money. And I sure wouldn’t choose to do this.
Well, there’s a difference between you and me — you dislike it on moral principles, I dislike it because I’m an asocial bitch. If we hang around together long enough, maybe we’ll have a mutually mitigating effect — we’ll both become principled cynics. ::smirks::
Hey Andi, how do you think two asocial bitches would get along in person? That would be interesting.
I have actual experience with this — my best friend in high school was an asocial bitch. We operated as a catalyst on each other — we willingly did stuff together we would have never done with alone or with anybody else. It was great fun (but we’re probably lucky we’re both alive and not in jail).
I suspect that if you, Indy, and me got together IRL, the righties would think the apocalypse was starting.
At some point even asocial bitches who enjoy each other’s company would have to admit that they’re not really asocial then. Just snobby.
is good. I can do snobby and call it a step up.
I had to doubletake at your post, since I thought you were talking about me and my high school best friend. The deviant stuff was always my idea, but she was always the one who goaded us into actually doing it. Of course, she and I were also having sex together, so there’s probably less overlap, but then again, she is straight, so who knows.
be without friends like that. I miss her terribly — she moved to Israel shortly after I got married (though I suspect her absence significantly contributed to the fact that my marriage has lasted).
Principled cynics
That’s my clique!
I read that as “pimpled cynics.” Well, gosh, no wonder they’re cynical.
my first wedding was at the courthouse in Breckenridge, Colorado. Just me and him and two witnesses fromthe judge’s office.
My second wedding, 22 later, was in my mother-in-law’s living room with just my kids and my in-laws present. I detest big, showy weddings and the emphasis put on them to the exclusion of the actual marriage.
I tried to have a small wedding but my mother fought me every step. I finally decided that this was the way it worked — the wedding was for the mother and the marriage was the me.
I live in fear that one of my children will have a real wedding forcing me to act as Mother of the Bride. The thought nauseates me.
the “wouldn’t you rather I just gave you the money” solution — if only I had been offered that.
at putting together the ultimate in low-cost weddings. Somehow she was always able to find the high-quality cheap caterer, the reception place that was warm and friendly and not at all stuffy, the DJ with a great music selection for the dances, and of course the perfect dress that doesn’t break the bank.
She put on four weddings (including my brother’s — the bride’s family was in Southern California and were total flakes), and they all turned out fantastic.
My wedding: the rehearsal dinner was a catered buffet in my in-laws’ home, which was perfect for the attendants (many of whom were children; my youngest niece was a 5-year-old flower girl, and my nephews were 7 and 8 ring bearers). My dress was a very simple white prom dress — no ultra frilly trains to trip over. Reception was at the local community center; my mom used to work for the city so she knew who to call, and she got two rooms plus a wonderful outdoor courtyard with a stage where the DJ set up the dance floor. I think we had about 200+ there, mostly family but both the spouse and I were able to invite some friends from work.
Looking back, I think Mom should’ve gone into the wedding planning business…
But I rarely, maybe only around 10% of the time, see a mainstream American wedding that’s as enjoyable as ours was.
Because we were doing Scottish folk dancing at the time, we basically made it a trad-oriented dance party. The ceremony itself was a straight, simple Proddy 10-minute deal with some folk musicians. Then we adjourned to a rented church hall for the party. Everybody who had anything they could do in public if only for a minute or two did it sometime during the evening, and a number of our Scottish friends made their wedding gifts in the form of contributions to food or drink.
I feel a little sad for the many people, whether mainstream American or ethnic, who run the occasion as a series of stiff rituals like a royal coronation. Often these events I participate in are impressive as feats of staging, but they’re often very costly for the family and nervewracking for the participants. It’s often a great relief when something absurd goes wrong, whether it’s an elaborate carriage getting stuck in a rut, or the flower girl freaking out and running away or whatever, to bring a little humanity to the excessive majesty of the thing.
Andi! You are adorable! I’m so envious, what a cutie.
That’s my flower girl (circa 1971).
WHo is now in her late 30’s? Yikes!
She was 18 months old in that picture. She 36 1/2 now and has two kids (that’s her on the far right, holding her youngest, Miles and the older boy on the left is Max):
Ok, put some blond hair and a dress on Miles, and he looks just like his mom did 36 years ago.
It’s funny but I don’t think of Miles as looking like her at all but I think I’m being swayed by personality — she was a fantastically good-natured kid and Miles is Mr. Broody while Max is Mr. What Me Worry. So it’s Max that I always think of as being “like her.”
Oh, I should have known! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a photo taken during the wedding from the 1950s. I must need more coffee.
I think my mom has a picture of me being a flower girl at my cousin’s wedding in 1956. Next time I’m up at her place, I’ll see if I can find it and scan it in for public
viewing.
Morning, Everybody. Dog woke me up at 2:30. At 5 I went back to bed and just now got up. Cranky. Stiff. Tired. Sick of winter already.
Who wants to sit by me? 🙂
Loved the wedding report, kb. Cause I’m not paying for it and I’m not there.
Me, of course (see asocial bitch comment upstream).
Thank god. Crankiness loves company. Sorry to take so long to reply. I got distracted by reading about out of body experiences at Rigorous Intuition.
Anybody here ever had an OBE?
I waved to you over there. I guess you didn’t see me.
😉
You were cloaked. 🙂
I didn’t think you would deliberately ignore me. I forget about that cloaking thing.
I’ve never done it but I believe it’s real and possible. That’s what concerns me so much about the connection to torture these guys running the show have. Part of controlling/developing that skill in unwilling candidates is to force the mind to seperate from the body. I believe it happens naturally in death or near-death experiences. It’s not a stretch to consider a near-death experience being administered in a controlled environment to produce the same effect.
Chilling thought. And even if it proved impossible, I would never put it past some of our “leaders” to try to accomplish it or any other cruel thing, for that matter.
About forgetting you’re cloaked? 🙂 Don’t you find it really spooks the cats sometimes?
I’m kind of used to the cats ignoring me when I want something. They can hear a slice cheese being unwrapped in a dead sleep though.
Sometimes I think they see the people that I can’t see. By the way, you have a smudge on your moniter…;)
Does anyone else ever wonder why Macromedia’s Flash-Shockwave is set up to access and use a user’s system microphone and camera? It can be disabled by choice. This is for the neat ads that load with a webpage.
No problem — I just got back giving in to the dogs desire to desecrate every untrammeled patch of snow in the woods.
OBE — why yes, Queen Victoria gave me one of those for fearless facing crankiness for the good of the people.
Ha! Does that make you a Dame? I can’t keep my titles straight.
only works if I am actually interested in the subject.
lol! You have the best p-a detector I think I have ever met. I’m doomed.
Good morning to all! I’m attending my nephew’s Long Island bar mitzvah later today. It is black tie optional. A “tad” over the top. It will be interesting to see people arriving in gowns and fancy clothes with all the snow we currently have.
Weddings, bar mitzvahs. All I need now is for someone to mention baby showers and I’ll break out in hives.
But I’d love a picture of you doing the hora.
I’ll have a photo or two tomorrow.
Hopefully it will not rival “Mitzvahpalooza”….the bat mitzvah of David H. Brooks’ daughter cost $10 million and featured 50 Cent, Tom Petty, Aerosmith, Kenny G and others. I heard this on NPR last weekend and couldn’t believe it. What the hell is he gonna do for her wedding?
I believe that if my sister-in-law could do something like that, she would. Keeping up with the Goldbergs, so to speak.
Hi everybody, I have to say thanks for all this wedding talk. You have jogged my “worst memory on the planet.” Oh yeah, I got married in December. My husband always brings home flowers and enjoys the joke that I have no idea why.
Now I’m forewarned, if I can only manage to maintain the thought until next Friday. Luckiest day of my life! 12/16/77, all the stars and planets were in perfect alignment.
Wishing the same for Katie’s brother and his bride.
Thanks for the good wishes Alice! What happened at your wedding to make it your “worst memory on the planet”?
xxoo
I noticed that, but was hoping it would go unremarked.
What was your name again, honey?
Mornin’ all. I see some interesting looking topics I’ll need to peruse in a moment.
Afternoon moonrise yesterday over a Puget Sound hill. Puget4 and I whistle the Tara theme from Gone With the Wind when we see houses like this.
It’s a snowless but frosty, hazy morning today as migrating waterfowl drift near the shore of the saltwater bay near our house.
We’re having a few days’ respite from the grey and rain and brief snow of the past two months. Florida Mom is really getting into the appreciation of sun when it comes.
Very Nice photo’s Gooserock, thanks.
By the way among all the family that came out her to our Kansas City winter are my Vashon Island brother and my Seattle brother and sister.
My internet connections are working slow this morning… Just like me … :^)
the secret advantages of dial-up — when it’s slow, we don’t even notice.
A closet Pollyanna! Who would have gussed? 🙂
I was been very good at the glad game since childhood when I mentioned that my sister (who is missing three fingers on her left hand) was lucky because she’d never have to worry about doing the girl scout salute.
Coffee spit on screen.
things always look so much nicer in sepia (see how easy this is)
Question — spiderleaf was going to do the afternoon but he hasn’t done it yet so do you think I should go ahead and open a new one?
And a gracious good afternoon to one & all. May we all find reason to celebrate yet another winter’s day. Katiebird, I wish you & your family a joyous occasion!
Today my ‘happy story’ of last night continues: our mountains are bathed in righteous sunshine — which streams through the windows of my humble abode & heats the interior nicely. My feline allies — a young mother & her little one — toss themselves through the sunbeams. Yesterday’s online assessment of 8″ snowfall seems to have been a misunderestimate — the snow easily soaks my knees out on the field. I suppose I’ll be trekking out to the main road to shovel out the car today — about a half-mile out. Hup, hup, hup!
You definitely need to become a regular photo poster — I would love to see a photo of that scene (the mountains bathed in light, not the car dig-out).
Sorry you’ve got a hike to get to the car but since the sun is out, I hope you can treat as a nice walk in the woods (until you actually get to shoveling out the car).
We used to have tractor just so we could pull the cars out the drive (sounds like yours is like ours which is 1000 ft long) but thanks to AWD we now can have fuel-efficient cars and still get out the drive.
Thanks so much for your encouragement re: posting photos (enjoyable!) & snow chores (less so). I’ll post pix as I can. Regarding the trek out, today I’ll be beating out the footpath, which is more arduous than traveling the path will be later on. At one time the landowner’s father plowed out the drive for us as a favor to his son, but the land’s stewardship has been transferred & the current landowner won’t invest in seasonal plowing, being a summer resident. Ergo, yes, I’ll enjoy my trek beneath the trees as usual.
Eventually I hope to own a decent AWD vehicle or 4WD, though I doubt anything could push through this kind of accumulation (I’m guessing 10″ average total, with higher drifts).
Unless a AWD sits really low to the ground, 10 inches isn’t a problem. Both our Honda Element and Subarau Forester will go through that amount easily. Drifts are another issue of course but we carry shovels in both cars and just shovel as we need to.
Cool. Thanks for those recommendations — will bear them in mind once I’m in the market.
You’ll notice I’m not ‘on the road’ yet. Darn sluggish today, really, after ‘sleeping in’ — will likely put off the trek ’til tomorrow. The sun’s gone in, daylight fades & there’s plenty to do closer to home, which I shall attend to anon.
I’m back in for a short snack before finally tackling those sidewalks.
Sometime, when we are really in a bad way and needing a good laugh, we should do a diary asking people to tell about the worst/funniest family event they’ve attended. Having sung at over 100 weddings (I”m not making that number up, but it was in a much younger phase of life), I recall with great fondness the goat-roper wedding, the dogs-as-ringbearers wedding, and the wedding where the mother of the bride wore black including a black veil over her face. Gee, I’d have trouble choosing.
Anyway, the boots are on, no more reasons to delay. My sick spouse is finally upstairs sleeping where he won’t feel too guilty at “letting me” do it. As if I ever get his permission to do anything!
The goat-roping wedding? I have to hear about that one sometime. Good luck on the walks.
This is the deadline day for the hostages. The last I heard on Cdn news was midnight tonight our time. Not hearing has been really hard. And no one is positive about the outcome…
Today’s flower photo is an indoor one — I call it ‘Inside A Phalaenopsis Orchid’ :),
Phalaenopsis orchid, taken 10.09.2005 (view large)
It looks great as wallpaper. Try it.
There’s something exotic about orchids… Like Andi said below, they look more than a plant, like a bug or even body parts :o)
In the larger shots especially, it looks like some strange and wonderful flying being — something from an image that Sally Cat would post.
How are you feeling?
Hi Olivia. I’m pretty much over it — just a big draggy.
Not the draggy bit… Draggy is still a pain. 🙂
There was some fungus on a tree trunk with a little pile of snow on it that I thought would make a great shot and it might have but with the bright light on the snow I couldn’t see anything in the lcd and just tried to guess — completely unsuccessfully.
That’s too bad. Sounds like a neat image. Happens to me too. I end up with 1 nice capture out of 100 clicks. Good thing I enjoy the process.
I might have tried more but it was only 15 degrees out but I don’t think it would have mattered how many I tried. Maybe I’ll try it again tomorrow (should be cold enough to stay if it didn’t blow away) early when the sun won’t be so much of a problem.
I believe it is the little seen and much admired Orchid Bat, long thought to be extinct until its call was recently heard in the distant, exotic Jungles of Olivia. This may well be the only existing photograph of a living Orchid Bat.
Sadly, my intuitive sense regarding the hostages is not positive. But we may hope.
Thank you for a truly lovely image! Absolutely amazing, the beauty of nature’s blessing.
Woah, that’s an incredible picture. All we can do is hope for the hostages.
Sometimes, hope is all we have.
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of Me.
~ Dickinson
One of our members was using that first line as their sig line — can’t remember who it was though.
…now I can’t get the comparison of orchids to body parts out of my mind.
😉
Afternoon everyone. Lovely buffet Andi. Did I see cheesecake? I’m supposed to be working, but our weekend guest, Kim Lee wanted to say hello 😉
Did someone get a bit wet in the snow. S/he looks very put upon.
Her ground clearance is minimal so I took pity and shoveled a few spots off for future visits to the loo.
Woke up with a major headache, so the spouse let me sleep late while he camped out on the computer for most of the morning. Now we need to get some work done…as well as go grocery shopping so I can cook dinner here — I’m in a domestic mood today. It’s too late to start anything in the slow-cooker, unless I used the HIGH setting and I prefer LOW. Plus, using the oven will help keep the apartment warm this evening. (Great — talking about food is making me hungry…)
All this wedding talk is tempting me to declare my hosting day on the 28th “Weddings Wednesday” and have everyone post their wedding pictures, share horror stories, and some such…consider yourselves duly warned…
If you do that it may replace the 7th as the day of infamy 😀
Do you want to open a new cafe under your moniker, or shall we try a froggybottom version?
I just got one ready to go but I was waiting to see if spiderleaf showed up since he was going to the afternoon diary. But I’m guessing he forgot so I’ll go ahead and do the new one.
You are stalwart. I thought spidey was a she!
I have no idea which s/he is so whatever you say is fine with me but doesn’t change that there’s no diary from spiderleaf.
Will the checker recheck the next check last checked?
Click here for the new one.