Stupid cold. Made it to art today and gave Chali her birthday present- she's 13! Old lady :) She's got an iPod Nano from her mom and Grant (mother's live-in boyfriend/father figure-ish guy) which totally trumps my little handmade bracelet but she liked it. Greg gave her a card (I told him about her birthday last night at dinner -it's something of a Thursday night ritual, dinner at the Carp with him and my parents. ANYWAY) He spelled her name wrong :) Shally. It's Chali. But she thought it was so sweet for him to think of her, she didn't say anything. That's my girl :) Woman. child. thing.

^^

Totally sick. Will respond in full when brain is functioning properly. love love.

Failed verification. lovely.

I miss you, my lovely ladies!

Happy Halloween!

Love Love Love

Damn You, David's Bridal! They took away my flowers! What the hell?!?! Well, they did have flowers on the little accessory part by the ribbons. Maybe they still have them in the store, they just took them off of the website? *Hopefully* because they were cool!

Oh no...the car doesn't know who it's messing with! It's not ready for the wrath of Mama! :) How are your classes going?

Oh! Ok, question...We are getting discounted flights, and I can get one the goes from Milwaukee to Memphis, and you'd pick up Buggy there, and then come in to New Orleans...AND we're getting even MORE discounted hotel rooms...Mom's got the connections, but I needed to know if #1, thats' cool with you, and #2, how long y'all are wanting to stay. The wedding is on Saturday, and it's a lot cheaper to get the flights on Thursday and then on Monday, but that is completely up to y'all. I wouldn't mind y'all staying for months! :)

Also, it's looking like we'll have to change the date to the 3rd. EVERYWHERE was booked up the weekend of the 10th. Only problem is that Webb would have to come in from offshore a week early, and we're waiting on the ok from his company before we can officially change it...I knew it was impossible for everything to run smoothly! lol.

Oh, Elizabeth asked me about shoes, hair, etc...Shoes don't matter, black, I would imagine, but it doesn't make a difference what they look like, whatever is comfortable for you. I'll probably be getting appointments here for the day of the wedding, but you can have your hair done however you want, and I'll most likely be paying for that, because I'm sure we'll all be getting our hair done together. :) Do either of you want to bring someone? If you do, and you want us to set up the plane tickets, just let me know.

I can't thank you guys enough for coming to be in my wedding. You don't know what it means to me to have ALL of my family here! I love you guys!

My bridal search continues- where did you get the flowers? I didn't see those. They're a nice alternative to the ribbons.

Today the car acted up while I was driving home from Fort, scared the crap out of me. It started making this noise like a cell phone vibrating inside plastic or metal; it was so *loud*. I pulled over at a bar outside of Whitewater and called my mom. The car seemed to be running fine, but- yeah. I did *not* want to push it. She came and switched cars with me, not sure why, except then it would be her 'fault' if something happened to the car.

I'm driving it to class tomorrow. I'm also charging my cell phone and taking all my extra warm goodies (hat, scarf, lovely things like that) in case I break down. Hopefully I won't blow up or anything.

Damn...forgot to put pictures!! I have a few bridesmaid dresses created, and my dress, and the tuxes so that you get an idea of the formality of the event! The white tux is Webb's and the black is the for the groomsmen. Love You!

Ok...I really wanna make sure I reply to everything you said, Mama.

Dresses...doesn't have to be too insanely dressy, I have a few pictures of what I kinda had in mind, but if you wanna go with a shorter skirt, or something different, that's fine...I want you guys to be comfortable! Yepp, it can be all black with a white ribbon, or vice versa, that's very cool too! And the weather should be really nice, not too cold, but not hot either...that's when our very nice COOL weather is, so if you wanted to go with more of a sleeve, or skirt, or less of either, I'm sure it would be fine. Candace is all about the strapless stuff, so I'm sure that's what she'll be in, but I'm sure whatever you guys pick out will be gorgeous!

As far as affording...I will help as much as I possibly can. Mom and Dad will be paying for a lot of the wedding, Webb and I just have his and Malachi's tuxes...rings, etc...but I will help if need be...you guys HAVE to be here, and I cannot WAIT for Malachi to meet his Aunties!!

I'm loving the posts everyday...I think I can manage at least a sentence! I hate getting on here and either having missed a whole bunch, or seeing just nothing. :( Makes me sad and miss you guys horribly!!

Ahhh...sleep...sleep is wonderful. Malachi used to wake up every 3 hours! That was horrible since Webb works offshore and is only home 1 week out of the month, but now, he's sleeping all night most nights, and when he doesn't, he'll wake up at about 1, take a bottle, and then go back to sleep. I've been getting up at 8am for the last few weeks and it's wonderful. We also started him on a little baby food, because he's 4 months old now, and he weighs 19lbs 10ozs. Poor child has rolls where no person should have rolls...like behind his ears! No shit...I'm not kidding, but he's my world, and he makes everything around me more beautiful, so I wouldn't trade his big ole butt for the world! :)

Mama, I'm so glad you posted! And I'm so glad that I got to talk to you both yesterday...yes, the Bug is still alive and very much kickin! I love you two so much and I can't believe it's been so long since I've seen my best friends!
I Love Love Love you!

ps...according to spell check, strapless, and Malachi are not words...wtf? Damn You, Spell Check!

How dressy should our bridesmaid dresses be? Looking at the separates there seems to be a range, and while I kind of like the big taffeta ball gown skirt, I'm not sure that's what you had in mind. But I'm also not sure I could get away with wearing a simple satin skirt. Are there any specific styles you want or really *don't* want? It took me a while just to figure out what 'tea-length' was so I have ask about length- floor length? tea? below the knee? Can it be all black with a white ribbon? Or vice versa? And what's the weather going to be like in March? Here it'll be a few degrees short of snow (if were lucky) so I'm not sure what to wear warmth-wise either.

I have to honest: right now, I'm not sure I can afford this trip. But it means too much to me, and to you, to just roll over and say die. So. I'm looking for a job. I've said that I don't know how many times, and it usually ends with nothing or something that doesn't pay, but I'm hoping (praying) that this time will be different. Necessity does amazing things.

I'm going to talk to my parents, and my art class, and brainstorm over what I can do. It feels like there aren't a lot of options, but you know me- there's a reason I'm not Opi. When it comes to me, especially to the possibility that someone might employ me, in any capacity, I am the greatest defeatist there is. Sad but true.

One more thing: this is my first, in what I hope will be a long line of posts from all of us. One post, every day. One sentence, that's all you have to write. It can be anything from 'Bahhh tuna is nasty!!!' to a five page dissertation on exactly how you feel in that moment, or how you felt five years ago. Doesn't matter. There's no pressure because there's no performance. We don't have to 'impress' each other or feel like we have to come up with something 'special'. Just write and create a place we know we can go back to any day of the week and find each other so when it does matter, we're there. Okay?

The stars are beautiful at 4am. Cold and crisp and I felt like I could reach out pluck them from the sky, this ice-cold diamond of light, hard and insubstantial at the same time. Instead I went back in, crawled into bed with Bailey and slept till 9. Sleep is good :)