All the wedding stuff is over with. The planning, the traveling, the ceremony and receptions are finished. Yesterday was our Texas open house and it was the last wedding party we had. So in total we had:
2 bridal showers
1 bachelor party
1 work luncheon/pot luck
3 flights
1 rental car
3 photographers (1 for Engagement photos, 1 for Bridals, and 1 for the wedding)
1 Temple ceremony
1 reception
3 days of open sea travel (with 1 day of semi-sea-sickness)
1 day of snorkeling
1 day of site-seeing in Nassau
1 New York City off- Broadway show
2 days worth of sunburn
1 week of peeling
and 1 open house
Now maybe I'll have some time to blog about all of it.
PS. A big "Thank You" to everyone who came, wished us well, and helped with the wedding madness.
14 August 2010
13 July 2010
Poetry depression
At my library I run a poetry open mic night. I started it in 2007 and it went really well for a long time. We didn't have oodles of people, but we had a good variety every month. This past year has been really rough though, with only 2 or 3 people coming in. And tonight we had no one, not even our one faithful regular who has come every month for the past year and a half.
There could be several reasons for this. The economy may be playing a factor here. People are more concerned about their jobs then about the arts. The library is also undergoing repairs, so there's scaffolding outside and occasional banging, which could be keeping people away. Also, we're downtown. For some reason people do not like to travel downtown unless they absolutely have to, or they're a tourist. But we're out of the way for tourist too because we're not right in the middle of the tourist attractions. *sigh*
I don't know what to do. I don't know whether I should just give it up or try to change something. I hear of poetry programs in other libraries that are really successful and I wonder what their secret is. What are they doing to get people into their programs? What sort of incentive would you need to go to participate in a library open mic?
There could be several reasons for this. The economy may be playing a factor here. People are more concerned about their jobs then about the arts. The library is also undergoing repairs, so there's scaffolding outside and occasional banging, which could be keeping people away. Also, we're downtown. For some reason people do not like to travel downtown unless they absolutely have to, or they're a tourist. But we're out of the way for tourist too because we're not right in the middle of the tourist attractions. *sigh*
I don't know what to do. I don't know whether I should just give it up or try to change something. I hear of poetry programs in other libraries that are really successful and I wonder what their secret is. What are they doing to get people into their programs? What sort of incentive would you need to go to participate in a library open mic?
25 June 2010
Princess for a day
This past weekend my sister came down to help doll me up for my bridal pictures. We spent Thursday night and Friday morning doing my hair (overnight curlers) and then rushed to the studio in the morning.
I normally don't like getting my picture taken, but this was an exception. After the photographer took some studio shots we headed to an outdoor location, the Landa library. The Landa library is gorgeous. It looks like an old mansion, it may very well be an old mansion, with a marble porch and columns, a massive ornamental lawn, and dark wood doors and stained glass.
As we were taking pictures two little girls walked by with their mothers, and they got so excited when they saw me. Their conversation went something like this:
"Look, its a princess!"
"Do you think she's a real princess?"
"She has to be one, she's so pretty."
I wonder what the librarians would have thought if they told them there was a princess on their side porch?
I normally don't like getting my picture taken, but this was an exception. After the photographer took some studio shots we headed to an outdoor location, the Landa library. The Landa library is gorgeous. It looks like an old mansion, it may very well be an old mansion, with a marble porch and columns, a massive ornamental lawn, and dark wood doors and stained glass.
As we were taking pictures two little girls walked by with their mothers, and they got so excited when they saw me. Their conversation went something like this:
"Look, its a princess!"
"Do you think she's a real princess?"
"She has to be one, she's so pretty."
I wonder what the librarians would have thought if they told them there was a princess on their side porch?
18 May 2010
Reading plan update
So out of the 8 books that I've picked out to read for my chick lit reading plan, I've only managed to read 2 so far. All my reading time seems to have disappeared into wedding plans, my fiance, and facebook. Not that I'm complaining about the wedding plans or the fiance. Oh, and all the other books I'm suppose to read for work but can't read on work time. But never mind that.
The books I've managed to read are Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding and Bookends by Jane Green. Bridget Jones was what I expected from chick lit. A single 20-30 something looking for love and dealing with parents, jobs, and the single scene. There are a couple of possible love interests, one is a player and one is not, and you wonder if Bridget will get the right guy. But of course she does in the end.
Bookends was not so typical. Cath is a single in the city, but she's not looking for love. She has her best friend, Simon, and a group of other best friends that she's been with since college. What more does she need? James is an artist who doubles as a real estate agent and is obviously interested in her. They would have gotten together sooner if not for all the Drama happening in her friends' lives. This book started out as a fun light read, until the Drama happens. The abrupt change of tone was a bit jarring and completely unexpected. It tries to get back to being light and fun after, but it doesn't quit succeed. Considering the nature of the Drama, its possible it wasn't suppose to.
Overall I give both books 3 stars. No, I take that back, Bookends gets an extra 1/4 of a star for mentioning the TARDIS.
The books I've managed to read are Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding and Bookends by Jane Green. Bridget Jones was what I expected from chick lit. A single 20-30 something looking for love and dealing with parents, jobs, and the single scene. There are a couple of possible love interests, one is a player and one is not, and you wonder if Bridget will get the right guy. But of course she does in the end.
Bookends was not so typical. Cath is a single in the city, but she's not looking for love. She has her best friend, Simon, and a group of other best friends that she's been with since college. What more does she need? James is an artist who doubles as a real estate agent and is obviously interested in her. They would have gotten together sooner if not for all the Drama happening in her friends' lives. This book started out as a fun light read, until the Drama happens. The abrupt change of tone was a bit jarring and completely unexpected. It tries to get back to being light and fun after, but it doesn't quit succeed. Considering the nature of the Drama, its possible it wasn't suppose to.
Overall I give both books 3 stars. No, I take that back, Bookends gets an extra 1/4 of a star for mentioning the TARDIS.
02 May 2010
Cats and Ladders
Over the past couple of days Mark and I have been trying to fix my accent wall. A seal near the chimney became unsealed and water would run down the wall every time it rained. So its taken some time, but the sealed is resealed and we've now got supplies to make the wall look better. One of the supplies is a ladder. This morning Max decided to explore the ladder.
Max has always been a climber.
Max has always been a climber.
03 April 2010
Sleeplessness
All week I've been waking up in the middle of night, with no idea why. I think this was all in preparation for what I experienced last night -- a 4 AM FIRE ALARM!
Don't panic, there was no fire. The alarms simply went off, and off, and off. Even though the fire department is only 2 minutes away, it took them over 20 to show up. Apparently the company that monitors our alarm system did not notify the fire department when the alarm went off. They didn't have a clue that anything was happening until a neighbor called them. Good thing it wasn't a real fire, eh?
After about an hour of standing around outside, talking to my neighbors, the firemen, and the police, the alarms finally got turned off and we all got to go back to bed. But my mind wasn't ready to forget about the false alarm. I dreamed I was still outside, waiting. But it was okay because David Tennant was there to entertain me.
Don't panic, there was no fire. The alarms simply went off, and off, and off. Even though the fire department is only 2 minutes away, it took them over 20 to show up. Apparently the company that monitors our alarm system did not notify the fire department when the alarm went off. They didn't have a clue that anything was happening until a neighbor called them. Good thing it wasn't a real fire, eh?
After about an hour of standing around outside, talking to my neighbors, the firemen, and the police, the alarms finally got turned off and we all got to go back to bed. But my mind wasn't ready to forget about the false alarm. I dreamed I was still outside, waiting. But it was okay because David Tennant was there to entertain me.
01 April 2010
Wildlife on the River
Yesterday Mark and I took a stroll along the Riverwalk. People say that the Riverwalk is a major tourist attraction, but we disagree. We think its a convenient place for tourists because part of it is downtown amid the hotels and restaurants and the mall. So its something nice for out-of-towners, but its not something that people travel here for specifically, like Sea World or the Alamo.
We started at the mall and went north for a couple of miles and then circled around and went south, ending up in the King William district, before we headed back to our starting point. We saw several birds that we could not identify. One was crane-like, with a long body and legs, but black with a shorter bill. The other was red, with a face like a cardinal, but with black wings. Unfortunately, neither one of us remembered to bring a camera.
Other spotted "wildlife" included a cat, two dogs, multiple pigeons, sparrows and grackles, and, my favorite, a river snake. Which was actually swimming.
We started at the mall and went north for a couple of miles and then circled around and went south, ending up in the King William district, before we headed back to our starting point. We saw several birds that we could not identify. One was crane-like, with a long body and legs, but black with a shorter bill. The other was red, with a face like a cardinal, but with black wings. Unfortunately, neither one of us remembered to bring a camera.
Other spotted "wildlife" included a cat, two dogs, multiple pigeons, sparrows and grackles, and, my favorite, a river snake. Which was actually swimming.
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