The aftermath

On Saturday I started to see the lighter side of my sweety again. We spent a relatively cheerful morning, nice and relaxed, until it was time for me to take him to work. The idea of another 10 hours in the crowded mall did quite a task of bringing him back down, though, and I was close to despair after I dropped him off.

Then I reminded myself that long ago in our relationship I learned that these things always pass, relatively soon, and I just have to have patience. Everything always changes. I set my jaw in determination, smiled to myself, and went about making positive things happen with my day. Kirstin was at another Thanksgiving feast, so I jumped at the chance to get a lot of running around accomplished. I did some Christmas shopping, and got Forest one of his main Christmas presents. (I hope he likes it.) I didn't rush around the mall; for once I had plenty of time on my hands. Instead I hummed Christmas carols to myself, and strolled through, taking a leisurely browse of things. I probably bought more than I should have, but I got several people on my list taken care of, and I really enjoyed the day. The mall was crowded, but I was never in a long line, and I got a lot accomplished.

Four hours later, I plunked down in Olga's with my bags, and ordered lunch from Forest, who actually made a few minutes to talk to me. It was very sweet of him, and I enjoyed his attention, however brief. I tipped him in Tylenol Cold, which I know he appreciated, and headed off to the wide world of Lansing for more sensible spending.

Well, I hope it was sensible. I went to the rental place and put down a deposit (*GULP*) on the tent, chairs, tables, and portajohns we will need for our wedding. All of this stuff is inconceiveably expensive, and I really hope that I got the right amounts of everything. I don't have a clue how many people I will really be expecting. Our invitation list tops out at about 200, but when I look at it, I really think that only about 160 people will be there. (Listen to me; ONLY 160 people. Eeek.)

It doesn't sound like a big difference, but when you are getting a tent, 40 people is a huge amount of square footage to consider. I have to be able to fit EVERYONE inside the tent in case it rains, with room to spare in case we have to have the ceremony in there. To make matters worse, there's a tent that accommodates about 165 people, and one that accommodates 250 people, and nothing in between; with a solid $250 price difference.

I decided that I had better play it safe and get the larger tent. I hope I did the right thing, because it's not refundable, and it's Christmas... but I won't worry about it. Right. Eek.

After all of that, I decided to slink home before I did any more damage to my pocketbook, and pretend that money and I weren't related in any way.