Wedding Day

It's noon here and we've just finished running around doing last minute wedding errands. We picked up the cake at McMillan's and it is lovely. Rob Jordan of Elverston Jordan did the flowers and they are stunning.

All sorts of phone calls, cards and gifts are rolling in. It is so nice to be remembered. People have been amazingly generous and kind.

Off now to deliver the wine (a case from Moore Brothers given to us as a gift from Gina and John) to the restaurant and then I guess I will commence with bride stuff! I am the most mellow bride you could ever find at the moment, not anxiety ridden, just very very happy to be marrying Chris.

Next time I post I will be married.Can't imagine what that's going to feel like after all these years as a singleton!

Yippee!!!

December 27, 2005

We’re having a great time. Chris’ sisters, Maxine and Bernadette arrived on Christmas Day with Bernie’s boyfriend Mel, and her two daughters Katie and Becci. We had a wonderful Christmas meal together, which I could not have finished without Mel’s expertise in the kitchen. That’s a lot to ask – flying across the Atlantic and then finishing someone’s gravy! It was a huge help to me and very much appreciated.

We’ve been enjoying just hanging out. Last night our good friends John and Tom, Bill and Melissa and Ralph and Catherine came by to meet the family and partake in a fair amount of Christmas cheer. It was really fun – everyone got along well and we had a ton of laughs as usual.

The family is off to New York today and we have a few hours alone. The big day is tomorrow and I couldn’t be any happier.

P.S. Joanna, if you’re reading this, we miss you very very much!

Jitters

I am finally starting to succumb to a case of pre-marital jitters, heaven knows why! Maybe it’s because I still haven’t settled on a dress, but it certainly does not have anything to do with my choice of a partner. Chris is the right man at the right time. I’m also a bit nervous about hosting his family. I want it to be nice for them and for us. We’re thrilled they are coming.

It is freezing cold here right now. Tonight I am roasting a chicken and hoping it will warm up our drafty house.

Tomorrow is the birthday of one of my dearest friends, Lynne. Lynne’s been there for me through a lot of stuff since I met her 7 or 8 years ago and I have been there for her as well, I’m sure she’d say in answer to that. We’ve shared a lot of laughs and a good amount of tears. She’s as kind as anyone I have ever known and I love her very very much. I also adore her daughter, Julia, who has sat through more wine soaked dinners with us and our gang of crazy, cackling of hens than I am sure she cares to remember!. She’s always been the mature one. Lynne and Julia – a great team!

December 12, 2005

I am totally dragging after the weekend. After a really nice meal at Jo’s, we sent Alan and Paul off to the airport to fly back to Munich.

We had a great time yesterday afternoon. Jo made rigatoni and meatballs, pork and sausage, real comfort food. Lisa and Mike came too with Lisa’s nine year old niece Melissa who entertained all of us with her charming personality. Afterwards, Tom, John and Catherine came by and I laughed so hard that my stomach was in pain! It was a hoot of a day. We all were mentioning that we need to dry out for a few days and that is all it will be because on Wednesday, Jo and I are taking Lynne and some of her hand selected friends out to dinner to celebrate her 50th birthday.

Today’s agenda: Serious couch potato stuff. Grabbing a book and doing some major chilling.

What a great weekend we've had! It's been really fun hanging out with the guys. Last night, a bunch of us walked down to Little Tuna for dinner. We didn't sit down till nine thirty and we left just after eleven thirty so it was a good, long, laughter filled meal with loads of really nice wine. There were lots of anecdotes about the strip bar which had us all guffawing. It was one of those perfect nights where everyone was in good form, laughing, joking and totally going with the flow and enjoying the camaraderie. It was also a good mix of old friends and new, mine as well as Chris'. It was Alan's birthday also which lent a festive air to the entire night.

Today we are all headed to Joanna's for a meal. I suspect more wine will be involved. As the late great Warren Zevon said in a song "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

It’s been a long, but fun couple of days here. We had planned a stag night for Chris and a hen night for me for about a month and amazingly some friends of ours from Germany flew in for the festivities which were last night! Chris and the boys went out to some strip joint, which must have been fun because they didn’t get in until 3:30 this morning looking very bleary eyed indeed. Lisa Evans threw a small party for me at her place which was really fun and lovely and very touching. She’s a good egg. She invited my nearest and dearest girlfriends and my two sisters. We all made appetizers and there was an amazing array of really delicious food. It was a great night.

Chris was thrilled that Alan, his roommate of many years and Paul, who also was once a roommate, and years ago lived in Haddonfield and introduced us to each other, were able to come. It was a real surprise for him, and a really nice gesture. These are guys who have been there for each other. All of them expatriates in Munich, they really formed a tight little bond. It was fantastic of them to come so far and at major expense for this occasion. I think Chris was tickled pink.

They arrived Thursday night and they leave tomorrow. We’ve enjoyed sitting around our breakfast table laughing and sharing a lovely time.

Coincidentally it is Alan’s birthday so we’ll probably get up to some tomfoolery tonight. My liver will need to regenerate itself next week.

When the guys arrived, I had to put off having my nieces Lily, Kerry and Justine and my nephew Jack for the weekend till next weekend. We had planned to get our tree, bake cookies and make fudge and have a nice weekend together. With the exception of Justine who declared “If I can’t come this weekend, I’m not coming at all!” they were very understanding! So that will be next weekend’s antics.

Yesterday I spoke with my old boss from the industrial sewing machine days, Bob Weinstein. Bob and I worked side by side for almost thirteen years and developed a very close relationship. He’s happy to hear that I am settling down. He’s seen me through some tough times and is glad to see me moving forward at last. He knows a lot of crap about me and I know a lot about him – there’s something nice about that kind of familiarity. We've both been through the wringer in many ways, but we're both really happy with our lives. It's funny sometimes how things work out. Bob's a good guy.

Another big weekend ahead. It seems like there are two or three parties every weekend and I cannot resist a social event and neither can Chris. We’ll recover on our honeymoon in January.