Photographers

Let me tell you how I'm spending my Saturday afternoon.  I'm chained to my computer looking at wedding photographers, filling in my Excel spreadsheet with their information, and trying to find someone that 1) I like, 2) is reasonably priced, and 3) is available the date of our wedding.  It is no small project and not the most exciting thing, although I do LOVE looking at all the pictures. 

Just figuring out whose photos I like can be a challenge because really, I like almost all of them.  There hasn't been a single photographer where I look at the website and just think the pictures are awful.  Maybe I  haven't seen enough to know what my style is or to even really understand the style of each photographer but my head is spinning.  It's funny how things were initially going so fast and I was making decisions left and right and now each decision is taking ages and I often just can't decide for fear of making the wrong decision.  I probably should have gotten everything done the first three weeks after we got engaged - I would have thrown flew those decisions!

Alas, I was distracted by all the other things going on in my life and then spent three weeks in Europe and now I'm spending a beautiful Saturday afternoon sitting at a computer, just like I sit in front of a computer all day Monday through Friday.  Maybe the real problem here is that I actually have a job and have not been able to dedicate myself to planning the wedding full time.  So, what I'm saying is if I could quit my job and wedding plan full time, I totally would.

Procrastination

If I was a professional anything other than whatever my job is now (listen, it's hard to define my job when I'm a paralegal, secretary, head of our internal IT department of one, Ms. Fix-It, the list goes on), I'd be a professional procrastinator (or sleeper).  It's officially a problem.  I just looked and saw a blog post I was going to finish "a little later" and it was dated May 31st.  But that's not what prompted this post.  No, it was the fact that for almost a week now I've been putting off taking my quiz for my online legal research class for absolutely, positively, no good reason.  Last night I got sucked into my DVR, which was almost full after three weeks of me not watching anything, and decided the quiz might take too long so I should just to it later.  Before that, I was tired, busy, going to work on wedding stuff (wink, wink - I'll be doing the stuff I was supposed to do later), and going to clean the apartment.  Yeah, right, clean the apartment.  That's a good one.  I've been using that one for months but only twice since I've lived here have you been able to see all the countertops and tabletops - the day I moved in with all the furniture and game night, which was not a good day to look in my closet.  But again, I digress. 

After sitting on my couch for almost two hours trying to psych myself up to take the stupid quiz and finding little projects I could do, I finally sat down and took the stupid thing only to find out it took me a whopping 30, maybe 45 minutes.  All that procrastination for nothing.  This cannot be healthy.  I will use just about any excuse to get out of doing something I'm supposed to do.  The thing I'm supposed to do may not even be something really horrible, I just don't feel like doing it right at that exact moment so I find something else to do.  Something else used to include cleaning but it's gotten so bad I've found ways to put off activities I normally do while procrastinating.  And so, with that, I'm off to clean, instead of doing the wedding stuff I swore I was going to do tonight. 

Hot Dog Party

The other night I went to a hot dog party.  You're probably asking yourself what a hot dog party is.  Imagine a sundae bar or a make your own pizza party but with hot dogs instead.  Two of my very dear friends, J and E, saw something about all these different types of hot dogs and decided it was the perfect theme for a dinner party.  And it was.  I had no idea there were so many types of dogs or toppings for hot dogs.  Toppings included, but were not limited to, several types of mustard, ketchup, hot sauce, pickle relish, raw onion, sauteed onion, jalapeno, chili, cheese, sliced pickles, and cream cheese.  Yes, cream cheese.  J is one of the best hostesses whose home I've ever had the pleasure of being invited to for a party.  She had all the toppings in their individual dishes, three types of hot dogs, coleslaw, tater tots, sweet potato fries, and sweet potato tater tots.  Yum!  Did I mention the mango martinis or the watermelon and vodka concoction?  Having one of each on a Tuesday night wasn't the best idea I've ever had (especially considering I later found out the mango martini was three shots of alcohol and Lord only knows how much was in the watermelon treat) but it certainly wasn't the worst. 

Everyone else was quite adventurous, adding all kinds of toppings that I'm still not convinced belong on a hot dog.  I, on the other hand, stuck to my vegan dog (thank you, J, for getting the special dogs for me - BTW, only 50 calories) with lots of mustard, a little bit of ketchup, and dill pickle relish.  In that order.  They're always in that order.  As in, I remember getting very upset when I was about 7 that my mother would even consider the possibility of putting the toppings in another order.  I eat my hamburgers (sans meat) the same way but with pickles instead of relish and every now and then I throw on a tomato before the pickles.  It's delicious and I love it

The morals of the story?  1)  Hot dog party.  Throw one.  So easy, fabulous, and fun, not to mention perfect for summer.  2)  Anytime you wonder if I'm a little OCD about silly things, the answer is "Yes, I really am that crazy; yes, I know it's crazy; and yes, I really have always been like this."  At least I own my neurosis.

Ah Yes, The Wedding

Venue - check.  Wedding dress - check.  Menu - narrowed down but we need to do the tasting.  Yes, less than a month after getting engaged we had a venue, date, my dress, and most of the guest list complete.  And then we hit a speed bump.  First, it was figuring out the exact number and cutting the guest list.  Then it was bridesmaids' dresses (not that the wedding party is finalized or anything), and then it all came to a screeching halt.  The entire time I was in Europe I put it out of my head almost completely.  Now I'm back to reality and need to get focused again.  Classes start back in a little over a month and I need to get some additional portions of that to do list checked off before I'm too busy studying, driving, and sitting in class while working full-time and taking care of the puppy to even think about wedding things.  So this week, my mission is to get back on track, finalize all the things I've been putting off because I just don't want to think about them, and put together a plan of action for the next 8 months.  Oh dear goodness, I'm getting married in 249 days!!!  Yes, it's definitely time to get myself in gear and get a move on.

Has it been that long?

I'm back from three glorious weeks of gallivanting across Europe and can't decide if I'm really happy to be back in my bed, I'd rather be in Switzerland with Ryan, or if I really want to have my apartment and puppy both in Europe.  A girl can dream, right?  I'll post pictures and stories of our adventures later, but I need to finish going through the thousands, yes thousands, of pictures before I post any.  To say we had an amazing time is an understatement.  The worst part is the first few days seemed to last forever because we were able to fit so much in and I was certain it would feel like the longest vacation ever.  Then, I blinked and it was time for me to pack for the trip back home. 

Ryan will be gone for another two weeks and I'm sad I'll be missing more adventures but I was ready to come back.  I missed our puppy, my nice big bed with my uber comfy mattress and fabulous sheets, and my garden tub.  Believe it or not, a shower head in the corner of the bathroom (no shower curtain, no tub, no anything other than the fixtures to turn the water on and the shower head) gets real old, real fast.  And so it's back to reality for me, starting with work bright and early this morning after a 4:30 wake-up lick from Isabella.