The Countdown

Well, this time next week it will all be over..that's right, "the wedding," or as we say in the South, "tha-weddin." On Friday I drove a car load of gifts to Oxford--no exaggeration there; everyone has been so sweet and generous. I took my friend Alicia with me. Wow, I could not believe Russell's house! I did not know it until after the fact, but Callie had stayed there last weekend while Russell was at the bachelor party and put things to right. The house was clean and relatively uncluttered, but the biggest difference was the decorating. You can tell that it is no longer a place for a man and his dog. There are throw pillows, lamps, sofa covers, wedding gifts placed decoratively in the right places (Did I mention that I love the copper bowl? It's on the coffee table in the study; looks great!), old pieces of furniture painted bright white, empty spaces filled with attractive pieces of furniture, and even an attractive old spread to be turned into a bed for Wendell. This is what the house has needed--a woman's touch and a woman to tell Russell what to do. The screened porch had actually been pressure washed and the porch furniture hosed off and out in the sun to dry. The raised beds were producing wonderfully, and everything was so attractive.

It was good to see Russell. He had been to the barber shop and the dentist, and he's lost the little roll he was carrying around the middle. He looked so good. Russell had time to ride us around the camp on the golf cart. Alicia had not seen the new landscaping around the chapel, tree houses, or zip line. She seemed to really enjoy the tour and was most impressed with the tree houses.

We had a good visit and ended with lunch at Volta, always a good choice.

I faxed David's tux measurements in to House of Tux last week, and that was really the last thing on my to-do list until I start packing on Thursday. A friend from church who details cars to earn a little extra money is coming Thursday afternoon so that the car will be clean for the weekend since I have no idea who all we will be giving rides to. I'm sure that I will be driving the two grandmothers with me to the bridesmaid's luncheon, if nothing else.

Becky, the caterer, lost her mother a week ago Thursday and had to leave for Illinois the next day. She was gone almost a week, which put our final meeting about the last-minute details off until she got back. We met briefly Friday, Saturday, and today, and everything is squared away and I feel really good about it all. David and I have finished making the markers with the table numbers on them, and she will arrange them all decoratively at the dinner. People will come in and see what table they are sitting at, but they can sit anywhere at that table. I liked that idea a lot, and the table markers become part of a decorative centerpiece.

Becky had one glitch in the menu; she could not get the prime rib from the first source that we had requested. She did get it from the next guy, and we were very happy with that. She actually got it from the same place where we get our ribs, pork tenderloin, and turkey breast, so we know it will be great even though we have never actually had his beef.

Friday morning David and I will go for hair appts., then finish packing. When the bank opens, we will go cash a check; we are surprising Russell with some cash for the honeymoon. His birthday is Thursday, so we are giving it to him for his birthday. He thinks that we are going to give him about $200, and we are really excited that we have been saving and will give him about 4 times that much. It's been really hard to do with the expense of the rehearsal, but it's been something that David really wanted to do. He has never forgotten his dad giving him some cash right before we left for our honeymoon, and it's been important to him to do this for Russell.

I'll address the expense of being the groom's parents in another post. Don't want to do a "downer" right now.

So, a few more days.....