Party Central

I lost count of the number of lists we had going this morning.

Marta called about the shower for Jeri and Phil this coming Saturday. This isn't exactly a "shower," in the traditional sense, but a party for them--a movie night. We expect about 50-60 people to come. Marta let me know that we were in charge of food. I'd already volunteered to coordinate food for the wedding next Saturday and had sent out messages to people asking if they wanted to contribute anything.

In truth, I feel somewhat...no very...uncomfortable about that. Traditionally, the bride's family covers the wedding expenses, but this isn't a traditional wedding. It's a beach barbeque with a wedding thrown in at some point, and Jeri had been talking to people about making it a pot luck. Several had offered to bring food. So I sent out this message asking people that if they were going to bring food to let me know so I could coordinate buying food with what I knew was going to be there. I will, of course, be doing the cake(s).

So I set up a spreadsheet of all the people who are responding, whether they will or won't bring food and then will coordinate with Tom about what else we need to get.

Now there's the shower to plan. We talked about going to Costco, but then Jeri and Phil decided it would be nice to have non-traditional food that we make ourselves and they have a whole list of foods they are going to make. I've already planned to cook several dishes for the shower (which is an appetizer-dinner party, since it starts at 6 p.m.). Then Marta called to ask if I could make a cake for the shower too, so I have another cake to decorate as well.

Then there's the rehearsal dinner and where it's going to be and who is supposed to be coming and I don't know if we've even thought about what food is going to be served there, but Jeri has another spreadsheet for that decision too, trying to figure out if there was anyway to get all the people they wanted there along with all the people that had to be there, and ultimately deciding that Jeri had too many relatives.

I'm lovin' it all, but at this very moment in time it is starting to feel just a tad overwhelming. But I am leaving at the crack of dawn to go to Cousins Day and can put all thought of the nuts 'n' bolts part of the wedding aside until I get back, and that will be nice (and who knows? maybe I can con Peach and Kathy into bringing some finger food to the shower as well!)

In the meantime, Jeri has her own spreadsheets of who is probably going to come to the wedding, the 60 people who have said yes and all the people who haven't responded yet. We decided that there will be about 130 people, when it all comes together.

But after we discussed food and other plans, then we had some fun. First, we went off to the post office. I had a 41 lb package to mail to Australia and, while Walt had volunteered to carry it for me, how nice to have this almost-son-in-law, who happens to carry heavy objects for a living, to do it so the nearly 70 year old man didn't have to. We got the package mailed and then headed for the county courthouse in Woodland.

Last time I was there, Ellen and Shelly were getting married. And, in fact, there were a couple of women carrying flowers, dressed in white and grinning from ear to ear who were leaving the wedding room when we arrived. I don't know if they saw me smile at them, but I did.

It was time to get the license.

It's all so automated now. The first thing you do is to put all your information into the computer.

Then the nice lady takes all your information and puts data into HER computer.

Then they swear all the information is correct, give the nice lady some money, get all the instructions for how to file the paperwork after the wedding takes place, and voila! You're all set to go. They even add a handy dandy little booklet to help you in your life together. The clerk explained that she was required to hand it out, that she thought it had been put together in the 1950s, and that if nothing else, it would make a nice coloring book.

We left the courthouse and went to Dos Coyotes for lunch to celebrate.