Not a Retraction

Conrad read my post and he said I should print a retraction. Not gonna do it. He HAS become somewhat fanatical about his teeth. I'm not sure though, why he just won't take a trip to the dentist and let THEM determine if all is well in Conrad land ....

The mudbug festival went fine, mighty fine. Conrad even went so far as to the suck the heads/body just "getting all of the juice" and NOT, he says, to freak me out. It did freak me out though. ICK!
I also tried the gumbo, even though it had shrimp in it. I ate around them- ate the sausage and the big chunks of rice. I wish I remembered how to get that rice to clump up like that. I dated a Cajun once and I learned how to make a pretty good jambaylaya ... and it was clumpy, like it's supposed to be, but darn if I can remember how I did it.

We are down to something like 26-27 days before the wedding. WOO HOO. Conrad made our hotel reservations for the wedding night. We are not going on a honeymoon just yet- it seems like so much to try to do.. plan a wedding, get a dog sitter, pack, get passports, etc... and have all your family and friends in town and not to mention the actual wedding. So we are going to mosey on back to the Galleria (I work in the Galleria area) and stay at the Hotel Derek for our wedding night. Google it, it's NICE! It's very similar to the W Hotel in Dallas- same sort of premise ... the place to be "seen". Anyway, they had a nice wedding night package with the strawberries and all that... AND free parking. Well when Conrad heard that, he pulled out his credit card and said SIGN US UP! :)

As for the honeymoon- Spain and Morrocco in October!!!

The DJ called today for his conference call ... all the RSVP's are flowing in- whether people can make it or not- which I LOVE- because I just need to know, are ya coming or not? I should be able to work on the wedding programs this week either here at lunchtime or at home at night, and get those out o' the way ... and then really we are just on to stuff like getting the marriag license and calling the venue to give them the final RSVP amount. It's really really happening!!!

...... and of course, the Houston bridal shower is this Satuday and I'm very excited about that. So much so, I am not even going garage saling that day! I had a MAJOR haul this weekend though. WOW, I bought some good stuff and spent a grand total of 6 bucks. I am THAT good!

Karyn

Mental Dental

WOW!

So I guess earlier this summer when I had all that dental work done, I must have scared Conrad. He has never gone to the dentist, since that time- but he has become PSYCHO when it comes to his teeth. He will deny it. He will read this post and force me to print a retraction, but just know that when I do, I am being FORCED.

I noticed a few weeks ago, Conrad was being very diligent in the cleansing of his teeth. He would go into the bathroom, in the evenings and brush and floss for several minutes, which I have never seen him do. He even breaks out the mouthwash. I knew we had trouble when last Thursday he started texting me, with hardly contained excitement : " Kohl's is having a sale this weekend on Oral B mechanical toothbrushes !!!!!!!!!!!!! "

Hmmm.... so we went to the Early Bird sale at Kohl's, cause we are just THAT cool ... and he picked one up and some extra heads. I really have been teasing him, but last night he went to far! He came out of the bathroom last night, holding my long hidden and long forgotten bottle of Periomed the dentist was making me use. He wanted to know wasn't I supposed to be using this every day?! Ok, so since August I haven't really... and so it's almost all the way full....

Ok- DAD, I GUESS.

I said "It tastes awful!"

He said "Well, I am going to put this where you can see it."

When I went to bed last night, the stupid thing was propped up on my pillow. He is an evil, evil, wicked genius.

This morning, I swished with the dadgum Periomed.

Ka

Grand Parents

I've been thinking about my grandparents a lot lately ....

I happen to have 6 of them, Conrad has the normal 4.

These days though, we are each down to 1. I've been thinking about it, I guess, because of the wedding coming up. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought they wouldn't be here and I'm not quite sure what to do with those feelings. Part of me says that's just life and we accept it and move on and the other part says if there's ANY way they can be there, they absolutely will be. I don't know what God allows for this sort of thing, and I do believe in SOME paranormal and supernatural things- I just don't know if they are from God or from the Other One. I just know that if He does grant them acccess, none of them would surely miss it for the world.

Conrad and I are going to be sectioning off some time during the wedding to honor ALL of our grandparents, because we do have some remaning, but we're doing a special "In Memory Of"... I plan on unveiling this at the rehearsal dinner, to give the Mom's time to cry it all out... but I'm sure they'll cry it all out AGAIN at the actual wedding. :)

Tonight I have a dinner with our sales team. It starts at 6:30, so I have to hang around the Galleria in Houston for awhile after work. Not a problem- SHOPPING! Saturday is the big crawfish boil. Really, the entire IDEA of a crawfish BOIL is just awful. Nothing against all you delightful Cajuns out there, but um- crawfish are not shrimp. They are not fish ... they are bugs. If you have to dig them out of the GROUND to throw them in the pot, then that does not constitute "seafood" in my mind. They are bugs... that's why people in Texas call them MUDBUGS. DISGUSTING. Conrad eats them until the sauce drips down his chin and please do not even get me STARTED on those "seafood" lovers who suck the heads. VOMIT VOMIT

So I get to go on Saturday and watch people who I work with on a daily basis suck the heads off bugs and go into some sort of "bug-induced" coma after they have each eaten 50 pounds of the suckers ... and really, eating them is a lot of WORK. I know when I belly up to the table to eat my hamburger, I'm not really looking to skin, grind and prepare the cow meat ... it's not part of my dining experience. It takes them HOURS to eat a few pounds of bugs. You don't see me out in the front yard on Sunday's rounding up butterflys, beetles and praying mantis' to complete my Sunday feast. I don't have any idea how this got started. All I can say is I know most Cajuns descended from the French and I'm HUGE on being proud of your heritage ... but if your heritage is known for eating snails, well ....

I just don't understand it ....

Karyn

Press On!

Ok, yeah ... I will not be having the dry cleaners press the centerpiece fabric. They cost $50.00 for all three dozen of them and the dry cleaners wants to charge $98.00 to press them. Um, NO. I spoke to Conrad and he said we could each start ironing ... a little at a time. Sounds good to me. I'm not paying over double what they're worth. WOW.

But the dress looks great!

We had our first pre-wedding altercation. If you know us, you know that Conrad and I don't fight- we don't even bicker. Until yesterday. Out of respect for Conrad and our relationship, I will not divulge what the fight was about, but let's just say I'm TIRED and I'm STRESSED. I work 8 hours a day and commute almost 3 hours a day between the back and forth to work. Conrad works the same amount and on most days does 2-3 hours commute as well. We both work hard .... and then to throw the wedding on top of it ... well, for the most part, I have done most of the day to day detail work, etc... which is not to say Conrad isn't helping, isn't concerned and doesn't OFFER - but what I mean is, I keep the to do list and because I am a first child, a Type A personallity, a control freak and former event planner- I sort of taken the job upon myself. I pretty much laid out what I wanted, I have taken over most of it and I divy out jobs as people ask, or as I see fit. The entire thing is really my fault, because I just refuse to delegate. It's easier and I know it's done and done the way I want it to be, if I do it myself.

So yesterday I called Conrad about a small detail and I caught him at a bad time- when he was right in the middle of something and he kind of snapped at me... and it hurt my feelings and upset me and I carried it around with me the rest of the day. If you think about it, we have gotten through six months of relative calm, no hurt feelings, no fights, very little drama. I was just SO upset yesterday after that happened ... but now I can look back and say well- it was the first time, how lucky are WE?!

........ and also, every weekend from here on out is booked. We have the work crawfish boil this weekend, the Houston wedding shower the next weekend, the dry run on my hair and makeup the next weekend and I think sometime the next weekend- all the parents and grandparents are coming. Any free, wedding-less weekend is pretty much gone from now until the big day. So it's a little stressful and I guess we are both intitled to be a little snappish here and there.

One month from today, folks.
Am I nervous? Yep
Stressed? Yep
Excited? Yep
Happy? Yep

......... and I'm sure the entire thing will be a big blur when it's all over. Thank goodness for photography!

Karyn

Panic! at the Disco

As predicted, I went home yesterday and crashed out. I made a gourmet meal of grilled cheese sandwiches, played with my dog and finished my tags for wedding favors and then went right on to sleep. I slept so hard I never woke up in the middle of the night, which I normally do. I woke up right when the alarm went off. Slept GOOD!

So, yes, mild panic has set in. I have 32 days to find fabulous gifts for the wedding party and parents and I'm not having any ideas. Normally I am so good at this, but for some reason, this one is stumping me. I have my Dad figured out and probably my Man of Honor... Conrad is in charge of HIS dad and HIS Best Man... the mom's I guess are up to me ... and I am almost finished with the hosts of the rehearsal dinner. I made my invitation list for THAT last night. 33 people. THIRTY THREE. Where on the earth will they all sit, WHAT will they eat, etc, etc ... so much to think about.

But SERIOUSLY - what do you give the man who is selling out like $7000 for your wedding? Certainly not cuff links, a tie, a tie organizer, a flask, a cigar cutter. Nothing feels quite right. How do you repay him for the most special day of your life? I am really struggling with this one.

Going to pick up my dress from the cleaners tonight and dropping off the fabric for the centerpieces (to be pressed) at the same time.

I seriously, really and totally need a day off, from life. I need a day to just go to a spa and eat quiche and sit in a robe and drink cucumber flavored water and - and sit around with the other women and talk about horse racing (that seriously happened to me one time). I just need.... something.

Ka

Back to the Grind

I didn't hardly sleep a WINK last night. About once a month or every six weeks, on a Sunday, night, I will have a bout with insomnia. I did some wedding stuff late last night and I should have known better, Of COURSE my brain was consumed with wedding stuff last night- all the stuff I need to do, haven't done, money I need to put into it, things I need to tell people, RSVP's to enter into the spreadsheet, picking up my dress from the cleaners (the stains CAME OUT!!!!) and so on. I should have known my mind would wander all night.... and it did. I need a strict rule to put ALL wedding stuff away by 9 or so at night and read a good book or something.

Ok, so the dress I bought was from Craigslist. It was a $1000 Alfred Angelo and I picked it up for $100. It laces up the back, so fitting was very very easy. I just had to have it taken in a bit, shortened and have the bustle put in because it has a big ol' train which I didn't care for. I'm not a train kinda girl. I'm actually not a wedding dress kinda girl. Anyway, so it looked like the girl who wore it before me got into a fight with a catsup bottle.... or maybe a small child with catsup on his hands, grabbed her and hugged her. It was in various spots on the dress- front and back. So ... I took it to the cleaners this week and it's not ready yet (not been steamed) but they did let me see it on Friday and it was CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN- nary a stain to be found. WHAT A LOAD OFF! I was a bit worried about it- since the dress was used almost a year ago, the stains could have set. But now not a problem. All is well.

We enjoyed our Easter, Blanca enjoyed her birthday and I promise to download her Huggie Buggie pics soon. I'm just so tired from not sleeping ... and work is tough this morning- lots o' emails. I guess that's the price for being closed on Friday- all of our customers weren't... so they were still sending out requests ...

33 days ....

Karyn

All About Blanca

Happy Easter to you all! It's actually a beautiful Spring day here in Houston and we've got the windows all open.

Today's post is all about Blanca. Today my precious angel turns 4 years old! We are having big time birthday stuff going on today. This morning I made french toast for me and her daddy- and then afterwards I presented her with a new toy- it's a ladybug rope toy we call Huggie Buggie. She loves it. I took pics and will post them soon of her with her new toy. She appears to really like it!

Then for lunch today, I am going to saute her some garlic shrimp. She loves shrimp, but her mama doesn't like paying for it! I bought a bag of frozen cocktail shrimp to add to Conrad's pasta and stuff, so I'm going to thaw and cook her about ten of them- for her birthday lunch. What a lucky girl!

In tomorrow's post I will tell you more about a business opportunity I may go ahead and move forward with today. It involves, of course, garage saling and thrifting and crafts ... Conrad and I are heading to a craft mall later today to check out some things. I am feeling pretty inspired and pretty hopeful. Putting together all these gifts, on a budget, for the people helping out with the wedding as really helped me get a better idea of what I can and want to do ... more tomorrow!

.......... and some pics of the baby and her birthday!

Karyn