Pictures
We finally have the first round of pics from the wedding.

To see what I had under my skirt, click here. It's a little blurry, so let me explain it a bit. At the top of my right thigh is a black splotchy thing. It's a button that says "Yes" and was borrowed from my friend Eliza. There are two garters (one to throw and one to keep) at each knee. They stayed up better there than up higher. On my right ankel is a blue plastic bracelet (also from my friend Eliza) and on my feet are my beautiful and comfy pink, low-top converse. Life was good that day clothes-wise.

And to see me livin' it up on the dance floor, click here.
This one's pretty self-explanatory, I think.

We also have Eliza to thank for these pics. She took them on her handy-dandy camera-phone. The technology is way beyond me and I so covet her ability to do things like this, but at least I can partake in her wisdom, right?

It's sort of hard to believe the wedding was a week ago today. The whole day just seems like a blur. It doesn't help that I had cried earlier that day and as a result a permanent film had settled on my contacts thereby creating a bit of cloud that I tried desperately to see through. Seeing the pictures has brought an entirely new perspective. My hair was really high. The dress was really big. The people were really awesome.

I had a fantastic time.

Ick
Can someone tell me what the deal is with old people and their tendency to not finish chewing before opening their mouths to take in another bite?

My grandma used to do it and I can remember staring in horror at her mouth as she opened it to add something to whatever was still in there. Tonight I had to go to a dinner and there happened to be a lot of senior citizens there and they were ALL doing it.

Does it have something to do with the Depression? Are there even still old people around who were part of the Depression? I really don't get it. And it's disturbing to me. Seniors everywhere please stop! It's grossing the rest of us out!

Deep Breath
Okay, now that all the wedding nonsense is over I have to deal with the repercussions. The main repercussion is the name-change. I?m getting a new last name and that means my business cards have to change, my work email, my personal email, my social security card, my driver?s license, my insurance paperwork, my bank information, and all the other legal representations of my person. God, it?s a drag.

In other news we are now gearing up for the trip out to MN. My parents want to have a party for us so at the end of the month we?re driving out to spend a few days there and participate in the celebration on their end. Also, to the delight of both sets of parents, we?ll be getting our marriage recognized by the Church. Woo hoo!

On the work front things couldn?t be busier. I can?t believe how fast the days go by. I have a dinner tonight and things to coordinate for next week, meetings up the wazoo (yes, I said wazoo), and in general, places to go, people to see. It?s been really fun up to this point and I hope it continues to be fun. I put on a suit every morning and for the first time in my life pay attention to my make-up, hair and nails. Probably at some point the novelty will wear off but until then it?s like playing dress up but only in real life.

And in the body arena my gym membership is up in 18 days. I hate going and I would absolutely not go at all if I could find a running partner but until then I use it mainly for two classes a week. Well, three if you count the Yoga on Mondays that I always miss due to work-related events. It?s ridiculously expensive and I think it?s probably more cost-effective to just drop out but if I drop will I stop working out altogether? Probably. Ugh.

See, this is what happens when I commit to daily entries without really having anything to say.

The Wedding Week
I picked up my mom at the airport on Monday night and Kevin and I took her to dinner at Mexicali Rose. This was the site of one of our very first dates and is located just a block away from where Kevin first lived when we started dating. It?s got a very interesting interior and has been voted Best Restaurant in New Jersey the last five years in a row. She loved it.

After dinner she and I went back to her hotel and we hung out for a while. It was nice just hanging with my mom.

The next morning I picked her up and we had breakfast at a place called the Tick Tock Diner before heading over to the train station. It took forever to find parking but once we did it was all good. We headed into New York and from Penn Station walked north on Fifth Avenue to the Plaza Hotel while stopping to window shop along the way. We had a blast. I love Tiffany?s. I saw the most wonderful necklace that I am still coveting.

After we were done playing we headed over to the Imperial Theater and saw The Boy From Oz starring the hotter-than-hot Hugh Jackman. ::sigh:: So pretty! We had kick-ass seats. I mean, really. We were roughly twenty feet from the stage and dead center. He looked right at me twice. It was amazing. Hi, Hugh!

The next morning my mom and I got manicures and pedicures and then went to a tea-house in Sussex County where I introduced her for the first time to Kevin?s mom and sister. We had so much fun drinking tea and eating these teeny little finger sandwiches. It was a riot. Yes, I said a riot.

The following day MORE family flew in and it was a bit of a debacle. My dad arrived at Terminal A and my aunt and cousins arrived at Terminal C and then we had to rent them a car at Terminal P2. Getting everyone to where they all needed to be was a little time consuming but it all got taken care of.

From the airport I took everyone back out to Sussex County where Kevin?s parents were having a barbeque. We all ate, drank and were merry. I had a great time. They had a shower for us and it was so fun to watch the families meld together.

The only bad part came when I had to drive all the way home to Bloomfield that night. I left at about ten and was dreading the hour in the car until up on the horizon I noticed something. Not only was the moon tremendous, but it was orange. The big, orange moon played hide-and-seek with me in the trees all the way home. It was a beautiful.

Friday was cloudy and chilly and for the first time I started to think that Saturday might not be nice weather. I packed my stuff for the weekend (stupidly forgetting things like PAJAMAS) and headed back up to Sussex County. We caravanned to the Inn at Panther Valley, checked in and a few minutes later my brother, sister and sister?s boyfriend showed up. We hugged and laughed and commented on how long the trip had taken. They drove from Iowa to Jersey in eighteen hours. Well, my sister?s boyfriend drove most of the trip so he gets major props for taking that one for the team and getting them all to the hotel safe and sound. Within another hour my friend Joy arrived and we went up to my room to hang out.

The rehearsal began at four and we practiced the outside version and the inside version. I was incredibly calm until at the end of the rehearsal when I was surrounded on all sides by people firing questions at me. It was a little overwhelming. That was the beginning of what would accumulate into a big, fat meltdown later the next day.

But I?m getting ahead of myself. From Panther Valley we went to the Lafayette House for the dinner and after a little bit more tension we all sat down and ate. I had two glasses of wine and some champagne and then I was pretty much good to go. We gave out our gifts for people and everyone had a great time.

After the dinner we all went our respective ways. My family back to Panther Valley, Kevin?s back to their house. A little bit of celebrating ensued. Laughing, talking, reminiscing, accusations of pregnancy?you know, the usual.

The next morning I was up at seven and at the hair place by eight. They did a beautiful job on my hair and at nine-thirty I was at the make-up place. By ten-thirty I was done and back at the room where I hung out with Joy, Kim, Jennie, Colleen, my aunt Kathy, my mom, and waited for the photographer to arrive. At about ten to twelve I got in my dress and we started taking pictures. Kevin and I displayed a flagrant disregard for propriety by having our pictures taken before the ceremony but let me tell you, it was so worth it. After the ceremony (which we?ll get to) we went right into cocktail hour and the reception. There was no waiting around with the pictures while my guests partied down in the next room.

Where was I? Oh, yes, the pictures. After the pictures the guys left the room and the girls all went downstairs where there was more tension and realizing that we would have to get married inside because of the weather and forgetting who doesn?t take checks and signing the license and what-not. I have to say that I was expecting this marvelous moment of catharsis when I would sign my name with a flourish, look up and be married. Didn?t happen. My sister signed, then our friend Bob signed and that was it. We were married. Before the ceremony and without me really noticing. It wasn?t a good feeling.

The pianist arrived then and needed to be shown where to go and my bridesmaids disappeared except for Jennie and Kim and there was another moment of tension when I couldn?t find anyone to help me answer all the questions being thrown at me by the minister, pianist and florist and others and it was all so overwhelming and difficult that I started to lose it in the lobby. My mom, Jennie, Kim and my aunt got me back to the room where I asked to be ?let out? of my dress. After taking it off I put on a denim shirt over my underwear, hose and heals and sat on the floor and seriously let go. I was crying so hard I got stomach cramps. It wasn?t pretty. My mom was great, though. She just held my shoulders, gave me Kleenex and kept telling me it was okay.

After I calmed down a bit and wiped my face I felt a lot better. The release had happened. When four o?clock came I was completely fine again. My mom and dad both walked me down the aisle and as I walked I saw nothing but smiling faces and happiness.

People told me later that during the ceremony I was beaming and I believe them because I felt like I was. Once we were up there I gave my flowers to my sister and Kevin and I just held hands and I sort of stopped paying attention to what the minister was saying which resulted in me answering one of the questions wrong ? luckily not the important question. The room had a good laugh and it broke the ice. After that I paid more attention.

We only had about forty people there and after we kissed they threw rose petals at us as we walked down the aisle to the receiving line. When that was over I went back to the getting-ready room changed out of my fancy white heals and into the pink cons I?d gotten when I visited Joy and we headed for the cocktail hour.

The great thing about having a small wedding is that we made all the rounds in that one hour and spent the rest of the night on the dance floor. Seriously. I danced every dance. Somebody told me I was the ?coolest little bride ever? because I only came off the floor to get water and pull people on. I had a blast. We danced to Fat Bottomed Girls, Bust-a-Move, Stuck in the Middle with You, Teenage Wedding, I?ve Loved These Days, Let it Bleed and more. I?ve never had so much fun at a wedding reception.

Throughout the reception I kept turning to people and announcing, ?I?m MARRIED!? partly in a state of excitement and partly in a state of shock. They kept answering, ?I know!?

Afterward, Kevin and I changed in our room and headed for the pub. We partied. Then we went back to the room with some friends and we partied some more. It was awesome.

Finally everyone left and we went to sleep. Yes, you read that right. It was late and we were both wasted.

Thought we were done? Not even close. The next morning I woke up at eight (I know, I?m a freak), met people for breakfast and coordinated the rest of the day.

I had rellies in town who wanted to see the city. Being the accommodating host that I am, I gladly arranged for us to go into New York. We had a such a great time. I showed them the Theatre District and Midtown. On the way to the city the bus driver told us the wrong gate number to catch the return bus so we were almost stranded but luckily we caught another bus to a stop that wasn?t too far away and Kevin picked us up. It was a bit of a debacle, but since he hadn?t gone into the city with us, it was all okay. Of course that meant that he and I didn?t spend our first day as a married couple together but it was fine.

It was my parents? last day in town so after he picked us up, we got my dad who had hung out at the hotel while we were in the city and went to dinner at a diner. After that we dropped them back off at the hotel and Kevin and I went home.

Once there we watched the Season Finale of the Sopranos (awesome), opened cards (a little shocking) and went to bed.

The next morning we picked up my parents at the hotel, took them to breakfast and then the airport and spent the rest of the day catching up on the practicalities of life. We did four loads of laundry, got all the grocery shopping done, checked the ten thousand emails received in the last few days, bought an air conditioner which we then proceeded to install incorrectly, took a walk around the park where we got engaged, watched Big Fish and went to bed.

Today was my first day back at work and it was a definite jolt. Now that all this nonsense is over look for more regular (i.e. daily) entries and as soon as I get some pictures.

Hey, you guys. I?m MARRIED!!!

Irritations
This morning I had to go to the mall to pick up some last-minutes stuff for the wedding (i.e. white stockings, dress for the rehearsal dinner, etc.). What I forgot is that today is Memorial Day and our town always has a parade on national holidays. So I got stuck in traffic and had to wait for the parade to end before I could get going. Then, I get to the mall and my tailor is closed. CLOSED! He told me last weekend that he?d be open so that I could pick up my dress. Now I have to go back sometime this week, which would be fine if the entire week weren?t already planned out. Bastard!

Side-note: I?m listening to Jagged Little Pill as I type this and I?m realizing that Alanis was a lot more interesting when she was angry. Her new song, ?Everything?? Sucks as bad as the rest of the crap she?s written since that first album. Get angry Alanis. Get angry and maybe I'll start listening to you again.

Healthy Lipstick
I read somewhere once that women eat something like five to ten pounds of lipstick every year. Gross, right? After that I didn?t wear lipstick for the longest time but now that I wear it everyday it got me thinking. If this statistic is correct, why don?t cosmetic companies add healthy stuff to lipstick? Calcium, protein or even vitamins would be an excellent addition to something you have to have on your mouth and will probably consume, anyway. Healthy lipstick. Someone needs to take this idea and run with it.

Random Thought
I was just reading in one of the local newspapers about the craptacular reality of property taxes. The complaint is that if you own a house but don?t have kids then you?re paying to educate someone else?s child. The problem with this complaint is the social responsibility we all have to educate the next crop of youngsters.

The arguments goes on and on but I think I have a suggestion. Property taxes should not be property taxes. The government taxes your property but the end result is pubic school education. The tax should be called Education Tax and everyone who has a vested interest in a community (i.e. homeowners) should pay x amount. If you have a child you should pay x + 1. If you have two children you should pay x + 2 and so on. This way, everyone is holding up their end of the social responsibility, but those who actually benefit from the system put more in that those who don?t. Problem solved.

And don't give me that schlock about how this makes it a penality to have kids. Having kids is not a right it's a privilege.

Ten Days and Counting?.
In ten days I will be someone?s wife. We went to get the license yesterday and after the 72-hour wait period we will have a license to marry. Talk about life-changing experiences. I will be so glad when it?s all over and done with. On the current to-do list: get a haircut, get a garter, do the table seating, arrange the receiving line, make sure out-of-towners are renting a car, get white stockings, plan the schedule for that day, keep track of the rings, pick up license next week, buy thank you notes for the attendants, write thank you notes out, and wrap gifts for attendants. Add to that the non-wedding-related to-dos that have to get done and I am one busy girl.

And on top of everything else the 17-year life cycle of the cicadas is about to begin and when they hatch Jersey will be overrun with these red-eyed bugs that screech all night long. I can only hope that they wait another week and a half to come up from the ground. If they will just wait then I won?t even care if it rains that day. Duh. Except that if it rains we won?t be outside anyway and then the cicadas won?t matter. Gah! When did I get stupid?? I used to be smart. Honest. No, really!

Gah!

The Gas-Out, Other Options And Money
Some of the comments have expressed confusion over what a ?Gas-Out? is. A ?Gas-Out? is a boycott of gasoline purchases for one day. The theory is that one day of no profits will hurt the oil companies so much that they?ll lower their prices to keep from it ever happening again. As we saw last week, they don?t work.

As for the question from England regarding other options, the problem is that Ford, GM, and Chrysler give so much money to the government through campaign donations, etc., that the government won?t impose mandates on them regarding necessary miles per gallon.

Added to that the oil companies who also give money for the same purpose. If car companies started making automobiles that use fewer gallons of gas per mile it would cut into oil company profits because people would be buying less gas.

It all comes back to money. Now, I?m not suggesting that Democrats don?t take bribes, campaign donations or other ?soft money? contributions. Pretty much once you?re part of the government on any level, you?re probably crooked. That?s the way politics work.

What I do believe is that where Republicans will screw you over hard, Democrats will at least take you out to dinner and get you drunk first.

The Illusion of Control
On Tuesday night this week I received two forwards asking that I participate in the gas-out. The movement was supposed to encompass millions of people who would refuse to buy gas on Wednesday. Well, unfortunately, I was bone-dry and really needed gas. So on Wednesday morning I filled up. I paid $2.17 per gallon.

Last night as I passed the gas station I go to, I noticed that the price of gas is now $2.22 per gallon. Do you know what this means? Everyone who wouldn?t buy gas on Wednesday now has to gas up for the weekend and must pay five cents more a gallon. Basically, it?s a great big ?Piss off!? from the oil companies who know that we have to come crawling back at some point and when we do we can expect to get hammered.

What we have is only the illusion of control. We can pretend that we make a difference by getting together and boycotting gas for one day but in the end they know we need it and they?re going to make us pay for any attempt at controlling them.

If we really want to make a difference we should be getting ready for the election in November. More and more prisoner interviews and pictures are coming out and the result is that we are becoming (if we weren?t already) one of the most hated countries in the world. A change in leadership is paramount.

I?ve said it before and I?ll say it again. Just like the Roman Empire, our American Empire is crumbling stone by stone.