>I think it’s important to share with you both sides of this adventure. Hope that is okay! I just got home from the movies because I thought that a dark theater might be a safe haven from all of the million thoughts that I have about all the things I need to be deciding in planning our wedding. It was a good idea. Of course, the first song in the film was sung by a guy who was going on and on about how much he wanted this girl to be his bride, so I found myself all wrapped up in that for the moment. In fact, I jotted it down, and you just might hear it during our ceremony! It was a wacky one, which, I am sure, is why I liked it. I will have to live with it before making any final cut. Back to the topic at hand. Last night, I was searching for things on the Internet, and I was not finding what I was searching for, and all of a sudden, I realized that I am really getting married. Duh, right? No, seriously, I was just hit with this rush of “wow.” I woke up fairly early today, considering I had no reason to, and I started getting all overwhelmed again. So I made coffee. And ate Shredded Wheat. And took some ADHD medication. Good combination. I felt a little better. Then I started freaking out. Nothing visible, you see, but I caught my sister online, and I shared that with her.

That went on for a while, and I began to feel better, simply for having someone to communicate with about the stuff. Then, on my sister’s advice (she’s the maid of honor — MOH), I looked on http://www.theknot.com to enter my wedding date so their brilliant wedding planning software could generate a list of things for me to check off given that specific time frame. Guess what? On the list it generated for little ol’ me, there were gargantuan purple exclamation points to the left of each check box. Why? Because apparently the decisions I am working on making are generally made TWELVE MONTHS IN ADVANCE! Frankly, I do not know why anyone would PLAN to occupy twelve months of their lives with making a plan for anything, certainly not something they were very excited about starting in the first place, like a marriage. I rather enjoy the last-minute rush, hence the March wedding date!

When I woke up this morning and wanted to go look at wedding dresses, I realized that I have not had time or made time to make enough soul-sister-girlfriends since moving here 2.5 years ago. I kind of hit the ground running. And everyone is so buy when they get all grown up. I realized how blessed I have been to have made the friends (male and female) that I have made over the course of my lifetime thus far. Chris and I had lunch with a long-time friend today, Jeff McMahon, who is like a brother to me and who I have known since 1989 (yipes). Crazy. It was fun to finally introduce them to each other.

Back to wedding dresses. So, I spent the early morning hours sifting through pictures and ideas and printed some photos and style information to take with me to this boutique in Dallas. I checked their web site for business hours, was thrilled to find that they opened at 9:30 am on Sundays, and I packed the car and headed over there, ready to walk in armed and dangerous with my first five selections, ready to avert the hard-sell. Closed. The sign on the door said to pull the door hard. Still closed. And my dress was IN THE WINDOW. I swear. It looks exactly like what I am thinking of wearing. Beyond the glass. I shall try again tomorrow. And it better still be there!

After that mishap, all I could think to do was go to the movies. Perfect escape. So I went down the road to the theater, and the only movie available at that hour was going to last 2 hours and 15 minutes, which would have dug into the time I was going to meet Chris and Jeff. Abort. Then I went to Starbuck’s with one of my four gift cards, plugged in the laptop, ratcheted up some Dvorak in iTunes and began crossing things off the list. Karyn was right. It did make me feel better. Of course, what I was crossing off were not things I have already accomplished. They were simply things I am not even going to attempt! Nevertheless, they are marked off, and for a girl like me, that says “success!”

I am fairly certain I have decided on some colors. And I am 100% certain that I made up new names for each of them: pomegranate, melon and tangerine. A fruity, springy wedding. Sounds fresh, doesn’t it? I think ordinarily, I might have chosen something more muted, mature, demure. But heck, it’s going to be the first day of spring, and I think we should be festive. Tropical. Tangy. Slushy. Hmmm. Can you serve slushies at your wedding? Perhaps we shall.