Remember that two week "lull" in my crazy life I just had? Otherwise known as "the calm before the storm"? Not that a wedding is a storm, but, you know what I mean if you've ever married off a child! Bride OR Groom! ANYway, in that lull, I managed to squeeze in a Design School class offered by SIStv and taught by the amazingly talented fellow Fashionista, Lucy Folch. She makes the most amazing, wonderful, colorful, dimension layouts - and she does amazing things with paper and paint. So I was thrilled to be able to sign up for her class. And she walked us through the processes involved to make a layout, the end result of which you see above. I just love it! And now I see that there is a whole new dimension to paper if you wet it! SO fun. That layout is way, way out of my "norm" - and I LOVE that I could do it because I love that kind of work. I'm not that good at making stuff up on my own, but I'm a pretty good student!

Speaking of weddings, (were we?) today Chris and I are hosting all of Deborah and Gary's family (about 30) that are in from out of state for the wedding. We're having a catered dinner - HOPEfully out on our lovely deck. The weather is a concern today, but we always had a "Plan B" in mind just in case. And, of course, that plan is to have it INside (and on the front porch porch). And, with that little trouble-maker Hurricane Fay, the remnants of whom we are feeling today, it does look like we MAY have to be inside. But it will be fun anyway. And we'll survive!

And TOMORROW is the wedding day! Things are going well, I think. It's just a lot of work - especially for Dustin and Emily. And Deborah - who took on the task of doing all the flowers and decorating of the venue (chapel and tent) AND the cooking of a "Southern Picnic". Of course, she had to. It's just in her to do this and to want to do this. And I respect her. But I also think she's crazy. And, after tomorrow, she may just agree with me. But, all in all, I'm sure she (and I) will be glad she did it.

If you know me at all, then you know that I've pretty much burned myself out in the realm of cooking. Yeah, I've been there, done that. When the boys where little, we did the whole natural food thing (most of which I still enjoy) and I made EVERYthing (including yogurt, bread, mayo, etc.) from scratch. When the boys got older and discovered what tofu and tempeh and such was, that was the end of that. But I kept homecooking most everything anyway and, eventually, for me, that kinda got old. Chris started cooking a little bit and then when I went back to work, he started cooking a lot. Since I'm retired now, the cooking is pretty much a shared thing. We both enjoy eating out, but it's just not that affordable OR good for you. So we have tried cutting down on that, too.

I wouldn't be sad if I never had to cook another morsel in my entire life. I'm just sayin'. And now that Matthew and Martha are living here - they are doing a LOT of the cooking and I'm just as happy as I can be about it. (I do try to do the cleanups, though, to appease my lingering guilt.) All of this is a long explanation as to why you would never catch me in a gazillion years volunteering to cook an entire wedding meal for my daughter's (if I had one) wedding reception. For 100 people. Um, nope. Not me.

I'm not even cooking a meal for the dinner we're hosting tonight. We figured it out and figured having it catered wouldn't cost much more than doing it ourselves, so why not pay someone else to do it and slap it on the counter? Plus, the kitchen will be relatively clean for the party and we won't have to add that to our long list of to-do's today. (We're REALLY happy about that last part!) So, today, we are basically doing a good cleaning of the house and surroundings and setting up tables and chairs and making 'em pretty. And that's enough! (I made that sound a LOT easier that what it will really be!) And that's why, I suspect, that my mind started going at about 5:15 a.m. and I gave in and got up! A few quiet, coffee drinking hours before all heck breaks loose is good.

Very good. Happy Friday! The next post will be from a mother who has married off both children... :)