W - 9 days

Tuesday, March 30, 2010...

Almost the end of March and only 9 days until the wedding.

And Jerry and I had dinner at El Pueblo. That's really the highlight of our entire day. People make fun of us for going there so much, but it's SO good! It's one of those restaurants where as soon as you think of it, you can't think of anything else! You must go there!

Unfortunately, I had to work when we got home. Two hours of home work! Gotta keep ahead so that I can enjoy being away.

Fortunately, Jerry let me watch the Dancing with the Stars results show and Chad survived elimination. So despite having to work at home, I still went to sleep happy.

W - 10 days

Just another Manic Monday... seriously!

Jerry's car died again this morning as he stopped for a breakfast at Brueggers.

I made it in to work, sat down at my desk at 8:15 and began tackling a long to-do list. When I looked up to check the time, it was close to 11:00! A little more work, a quick run to Wendy's, and back to work. It was an entirely frustrating afternoon. You can read my post about wanting to cry and see why. There is just so much that I have to get done by the end of this week, and having to rely on others is super-sucking right now!

But in one week, we will be landing in Vegas!

So back to Jerry... he opens the store on Mondays which means that he leaves work EARLY. He returned to his car to find that Yes, it still doesn't start, and he walked the approximately 3 miles back home. For the record, I offered to come pick him up and finish my afternoon working from home - which I would have totally preferred!

At 5:00, I left the office and ran home to pick up Jerry to take him back to his car and try once again to start it. Nope. We called AAA and they sent someone to help us. When he arrived, we told him which solution the last AAA dude had used (rubber mallet to the fuel pump) and he tried it. Sure enough it started. I'm glad he didn't waste time with all the diagnostic tools! Less than 5 minutes and he was back on his way. I really hope that Jerry's car can last through the week and we can send it to the repair shop while we are in Vegas.

Jerry treated me to dinner at Max and Erma's - I have fallen for their black bean burger, which is a statment I never thought I would make. In fact, if I heard someone say that they loved a black bean burger, I would probably make fun of him or her. Although, the BBB at Maribelle's Tavern is a little better, but M&E's has better toppings.

A tray of cookies later and we were ready to go home. Being full from dinner and with the pain in my lower back at it's worst since I noticed it, I curled up on the couch and fell asleep on top of Jerry. I feel bad for him when I do this because then he is stuck there.

While sleeping cuddled up next to Jerry felt good, there came a time when I had to sit up and move up to the bedroom. This was not good things! I think it took me a full 10 minutes of moving just an inch and then an inch more to get past the pain of sitting. Sleep did not come easily. Ok, it came easily - I can fall asleep anywhere! But it didn't last long. I tossed and turned all night, but woke up with much less pain and a little tightness in my back - hopefully a sign of good things to come.

So Monday was a bust in terms of doing anything productive in wedding land.

But Tuesday will be better. Jerry has to work late these next couple of days. I hope to use my increased alone time to clean around the house (in case the neighbors decide to pop in after we ask them to keep an eye on the house) and get things together for the trip. I am also hoping to put together an itinerary to keep Jerry on track while we are in Vegas! I mean, I'll give him an itinerary. If he follows it... well... we will see I guess.

W - 11 days

Sorry loyal readers (Jerry). I had this written on Monday and never posted it...

Sunday, March 28 was just like any other Sunday. I went to my parents' house for breakfast and Jerry had to work.

At the Taj Ma'Hoell, eccentric Uncle Odie joined us for breakfast. Since he is watching their house and dogs while mom and dad hit up Vegas, he stopped by for lessons in eye drop administration, and I imagine, how to properly lock the basement door (it's hard!). After breakfast, mom got a wild hair to decorate Easter Eggs. While she had 2 kits already, she launched a house-wide hunt for a 3rd kit that she swore she had. In the process, we found Christmas presents that she never gave us and travel Mad Gab - which we "lost" sometime in 2005 (would be my best guess). I will admit that dying Easter Eggs didn't suck completely, although I was getting annoyed by Odie's military-esque instrucitons on which colors to mix together. But I got over it. I think that I only fully decorated one egg (the most beautiful, and only photogenic one of the lot):

This took us through to 1:00! After dying time was over, I scooted to run a few errands and take lunch to Jerry at work, then home to finish up laundry to get us started toward vacation {cough cough wedding cough cough} packing. Jerry finally made it home and we had a rather boring dinner before deciding to laze about and watch TV (in between folding loads of laundry).

At some point this weekend, I injured myself. Don't know how or what I did, but I was suffering from terrible pain in my back that was slowly traveling down my thigh. Jerry offered me a muscle relaxer. As I took it, I had flashbacks to grade school safety days when they tell you never to take medication prescribed to someone else. But I had already had what seemed like half a bottle of advil and I had no relief. Well, the muscle relaxer provided no additional relief. But it did make me rather complacent.

Oh well, I guess... It was worth a shot.

I really think...

that I am going to cry.

I'm a mess right now.

Things are not going right at work. I worked on a report for over an hour and saved it. When I went to retrieve it for reference, it was gone. No recovery files...nothing.

I depend a lot on one of my co-workers to get projects finished. He doesn't seem to respect deadlines, processes, or adequate communication. I'm constantly having to remind him that I need things done 9things I can't otherwise do myself - at least not yet). They usually get done a day later than I ask. This doesn't work for me. I am frustrated to no end right now. He just sent me web stuff in the wrong format, which means I can't test it properly.

I depend on another co-worker for part of my daily work processes. She is flustered all the time. It takes her twice as long to complete a project than she is allotted. Her work is sub-par (not my opinion - I have been approached by the boss about it). I have tried to help the situation by preparing things further into the process than I am responsible for, and this offends her.

On top of that, my mother did something absolutely odd and confusing for the wedding. She bought something for my brother and father out of the blue to wear to the wedding. I'm confused. I don't know if it's something I said that made her think in this direction. part of my thinks, "Just go with it. The likely hood it shows up in pics is slim." Another part of me is ready to turn Bridezilla and tell her no, it's a dumb idea.

I think the real reason that I want to cry right now is because I have terrible pain in my lower left back. Based on how the pain started and the way that it has spread down my thigh makes me think bad things. Last night Jerry gave me a muscle relaxer, which, combined with Advil, did nothing to alleviate the pain - though it did make me terribly complacent and acutely aware of my heart beat. I am now more convinced of the pain's origin and that's just something that I cannot deal with right now!

Ugh!

On the bright side, we head to Vegas a week from today.

W - 13... or is it 12

I knew the day would come when I would be too busy (lazy?) to post an individual update. Here you get 2... shucks!

Friday was a great day.  Weather was kinda crappy, but it was a great day. Woke up to a dusting of snow on the ground and car and it was very cold most of the day... at the end of March! Oh wait, it's Cincinnati. 

It was one of those days at the office where everyone was BUSY all day and were "rewarded" with a trip to UDF courtesy of the boss. I left the office at 5:02 though I was sure that I would hear from work a million times this weekend. I have yet to hear anything. I had to leave on time though because it was the opening night of Beerfest. We got a totally awesome parking spot for free at a meter around the corner from the convention center!

Jerry and I went back and forth over whether we would go. For $40, you got 35 drink tickets for samples to fill a 5 ounce mug. After nerding out and doing the math, we figured that would come out to somewhere between about 6 and 14 beer equivalents in the span of 4 hours (depending on the size of the pour - which was supposed to be 2 oz). Knowing it was something Jerry would enjoy and that I would never make it through, not wanting to pay $80 total,  and acknowledging that we would not be able to get home on our own accord, I decided to go with the $10 designated driver ticket. 

Totally worth it to go this route. After checking my ID, I was given a wristband just like Jerry's and an identical souvenir/tasting mug - just no drink tickets. Jerry ended the night still holding 5 or 6 drink tickets, which makes me think that combined, we couldn't have made it much past the initial 35 tix total. And I was able to sip some of the more interesting of Jerry's selections, some of which I might have ended up just throwing out and essentially wasting the ticket. I think Jerry enjoyed it, but we have a few suggestions for the coordinators.

I pretty much went to bed as soon as we got home, because despite being a great day it was another LONG day for me.

Saturday (W - 12 days) began early. Jerry woke up to go to the bathroom around 6:15 and it was over. Neither of us could go back to sleep, but as Jerry so eloquently put it, "it's cold outside of coverland." So we just stayed there tucked away under the blankets, talking about how we should get up and get moving.

Because it was Kohl's super Saturday with Early Bird savings and an additional 20% off for me.

After spending about an hour in Kohl's and stocking up on a few items for the trip,  we hit up Meijer for a few travel size toiletries and then headed up to the Mangus house for a quick visit and to possibly get my "something borrowed." Baby Dylan is so incredibly adorable and so good! I'm glad I got to see Kelly before we head out. The fact that she got married in Vegas as well always leaves me with an additional bit of reassurance about this decision.

Then Jerry and I hit up Trader's World...I'm still not sure why. We left empty handed but got our fill of... well, Trader's World folk. 

We met my parents at Kohl's (different than the first one) and bought a few more items that we forgot we were looking for this morning. We then joined them for lunch at Bd's Mongolian Grill, where they were training a new bartender and sharing his training creations for free with the 21+ crowd. We shared a Mongo Rita, Mongolian Sunrise, and Hawaiian Volcano. 2 more quick stops and Jerry and I headed home for a nap.

I have NO idea how long we slept but we got up around 

6:00 and decided that in spite of all the offers we had to go out tonight, renting a movie and veggie on the couch were the way to go.  I of course supplemented this effort with trying on every pair of shorts and capris that I own in order to begin packing for Vegas. Yay for weight loss and my issue with ever throwing away any clothes.

Oh, and Jerry found me this:

Mmmmmm.... Margarita. And Melon to boot.

W - 14 days

Two Weeks People! Let me tell you that it CANNOT get here soon enough.

I've reached the point of stupid happy, with a hint of nerves.

At 2 weeks out, work seems to be that much more busy. Yesterday was a very long day and despite being in the office early, I still wasn't able to leave less than 1.5 hours after my "clock-out" time. It's just a REALLY busy time for one of my clients and going out of town right around some big deadlines means long hours. I'm ok with it. I'm just SO tired when I get home that it's dinner and then bed time for me! Unfortunately, that equates to less quality time with Jerry. Plus, there are a few things going on at work that may put me in a slightly deeper hole after the wedding - it's quite possible that I take on an additional client. I'm confident that I can handle the workload, but I'm freaking out about it as well.

But anyway... at 2 weeks out, things are shaping up rather nicely...
- Jerry's Bachelor "Activity" has been planned
- "Rehearsal Dinner" has been planned (in quotes because... there is no rehearsal!)
- Stripper 101 class has been booked
- I received items for the centerpieces for the Cincinnati Reception
- We received a wedding present from a friend of Jerry's family who cannot make the trip to the reception
- I have developed a shopping plan to pick up items that we will need for the trip (woo hoo for Kohls early bird specials, 20% discount, and opening at 7 am tomorrow!)

and...

wait for it...

A Wedding Coordinator from Planet Hollywood CALLED ME BACK. I know you're shocked. Take a minute to breathe. Actually she called my dad because the old wedding coordinator listed him as the groom, because she pulled the information from his credit card rather than Jerry's information on the CONTRACT when she put it in the system. I used my sweet voice to try to convince her that she needed to hook us up with some free upgrades. Unfortunately, the girl that called me is actually from Paris and is a transplant resulting from the Harrah's merger. She knows how to handle the process, but doesn't know details of the package. I hung up the phone with fewer answers than questions, but should be hearing back from her soon.

I hope!

W - 15 days

My stomach gets a few more butterflies as each day ticks away.

15 days out was boring.

After a busy day of work, Jerry talked me into going to El Pueblo. Or did I talk him into it? Either way, we had El Pueblo for dinner. And it was DELICIOUS. But it always is.

After that, we were pretty much spent.

I sat by the phone waiting for my wedding coordinator to return my phone call. She didn't. That's ok though, because my contract says that final payment is due 30 days out once all fine details have been decided. Since I have questions about the details that are going unanswered, I don't consider that statement to be held up on their end. Ergo, no monies.

And that ended our boring Wednesday night.

I hope El Pueblo brings back the Mariachi band soon

W - 16 days

Long day...

Jerry went out last night with friends. No big deal since he didn't have to be to work until late today. But when he decided to come home at 2 am and found that his car didn't start, it was Gina to the rescue. I really didn't mind doing it - made me feel better that he wasn't driving anyway. But once I am awake enough to drive a car, I'm AWAKE. 

It took a while to fall back asleep and then I kept waking up. I took Jerry back to his car on my way to work to find that it still wouldn't start (was worth a shot).  Called AAA and waited. The dude that came to fix the car was very nice, friendly, and... creative. 

After all was said and done, I was already a half hour late for work. I decided to skip Free Pastry Day at Starbucks and forego stopping for any kind of coffee or caffeine alternative. I feel that if you're running late for work, it only looks worse if you stop for unnecessary beverages.

Anyhoo... wasn't shaping up to be a great day since I was already dragging. Since Jerry was working 2nd shift, I went straight to his work so that we could have dinner together (after working late to make up for coming in late). 

When I finally got home from this long day, I was greeted by this:

Yup... that's one of Jerry's friends. She took the RSVP card that we sent with the perfectly good stamp and put it in an envelope after copying the address exactly as it appeared on the post card. That kinda made my day. 

Well, that and realizing that it's 16 days until Jerry and I are married. Say it out loud. Crazy... 16 days!

Have you been wondering...

Why there hasn't been a Thinking and Driving Episode in a long time.

It's probably because my drive to and from work is less than half as long.

I don't sit in traffic or travel long stretches of high way any more.

My drive varies almost daily because there are so many ways that I can travel to my new office. (Though my route is usually dictated by construction - also known as "Spring in Cincinnati")

So I don't have time to think about weird things when I drive any more.

Sorry.

Hello Random Thought

A few years ago - quite honestly too few for this person to admit - my cousin commented on how confusing it must be to have 2 Uncle Bills. Both of my father's sisters married Bills. it's cool though because I have 10 other uncles* on my mom's side - none of them named Bill. (Ok, technically, Uncle Richard's real name is William, but I didn't know that until about 2 months ago.)

Anyway,  I was just thinking that should Jerry and I have children and Mindy never remarries (or marries someone named Mike), my kids will only have Uncle Mikes. That's probably ok since I just about never call my brother by his name.

*Wondering if I can name them all -  in no particular order: Terry, Johnny, Jeffrey, Frank, Dennis, Richard, Randy, Odie, Tommy, and Roy. (Look at me go!)

W - 17 days

Holy Schnikes... 17 days!

That means 14 days until we fly to Vegas! Woo hoo!

That also means that I tried again to get a hold of my wedding planner (she said Mondays and Tuesdays were best, because "weekends = weddings") and I still haven't received a response.

Oh well. She doesn't get paid until she confirms everything I have sent her. We'll just ignore that part of the contract that requires payment 30 days ahead.

In other news... Look what has been found and cleaned...

Heck yes, we have his and hers Fat Tuesday Mugs! I'm hoping we can add the FT at PH to our photo tour list. 

"What is Fat Tuesday?" You ask. Well, it's a whole bunch of awesomeness!

Fat Tuesday is an adult frozen drink stand. There are 5 of them along the strip: Planet Hollywood, Stratosphere (don't know that I have ever been to this one), MGM, Caesars Palace (Forum Shops), and  Mandalay Bay  - according to the website. I swear Jerry and I found one in New York, New York as well though, but I don't remember - because I was too busy enjoying adult beverages! Mmmmm... Margaritas!

Anyway, you go to the stand and buy a drink in a reusable cup - with the extra shot of liquor. They have about 10 different size cups including some measured in yardage. We like the mug because it comes with a lid (not all of them do) and it stays cooler longer. Then, when you are ready for a refill, you simply take your cup back and they refill it for a reduced price. Totally worth it since you can walk around Vegas with an adult beverage at any time. WALK - NOT DRIVE. Not be in a car... walk!

I think it was once a favorite stop of Mindy's, but not any more. And with good reason. But that's a story for another time. 

If you're traveling out to Vegas, come to Fat Tuesday with us! Or you can hang out with us at Mindy's new favorite hot spot (I like it too!):

W - 18 days

It was a weird 18th day until the wedding... for me at least.

Started with the typical breakfast at the rents'. I ran to Dillards to look into a dress and tie that my mom saw while she was there. Dress would have been perfect for bridesmaids had I wanted them to wear long green dresses. I didn't.

Anyway, while I was there, I heard a lady talking to the sales person about a MOB dress. And then her husband helped her pick out dresses and followed her into the dressing room to help her try them. I saw a cute casual dress that I was thinking about trying on, but forget it with the old guy in the area.

I tried to visit Jerry for our typical Sunday lunch, but he was BUSY! So I ran to IGA to pick up a few things for dinner. As I walked in, I was cut off by an old guy smoking a cigar - in a grocery store! Probably another one of the locals. As I was leaving, I saw a guy cruising down the parking lot in some kind of funky bicycle contraption, with a basket full of random junk attached to the back.

Around 6, I decided to run to Macy's to return a gift of which we had multiples. I waited patiently as the old guy at the register helped the 2 women before me. Then another sales person walked up and rang out some lady that had been wandering around and just happened to stop the sales person and ask if there was another register available. No problem. But the female sales lady was then available before the dude. She started to walk away and then looked at me painfully before asking if she could help me. I said, "Yes, I want to return this item because I received 2 of them. It's from my registry." I then handed her the registry and she looked at me dumbfounded before asking, "Are you returning them because you can't cook?" Really lady?!?!?! You don't know me! So I again explained that I had received 2 items and didn't have any use for 2... wondering if it's because of not-nice people like her that stuff doesn't get taken off the registry in the first place. 

Ugh. What has 2 Thumbs and filled out the Macy's Customer satisfaction survey? This girl! (Guess that's only funny if you saw the motion that went with that statement)

And then as I was driving home, I saw the guy with the funky bike again, riding around the IGA parking lot. Interesting.

W - 19 days

Woo hoo! Broke through the 20s and we're down to 19 days.

No pictures today because I didn't get out the camera. 

We celebrated with a few fun wedding activities - checking off things left and right...

- Picked up Jerry's new black suit

- Picked up some adhesive gems to finish the cake-topper

- Bought a piece for our cake table

And...

Wait for it...

Pre-applied for our Marriage License (that means we get to go to the fast pass line at the courthouse in Vegas!)

Wow, we had a rather boring day after all. But yay, we're out of the 20s.

W - 20

Tomorrow, we break out of the 20s!

Today's post is coming much earlier in the day because I just received the best "Less than 3 weeks to go" present via text from Jerry...

(Warning: this may not be the best picture for the weak-stomached)

That's right folks... a pile of hair in the sink. But not just any pile of hair. That used to be Jerry's beard. Go ahead and wipe that tear away, I'll wait.

Let me take this opportunity to clarify something... I don't hate the beard. I think Jerry can grow a beard quite nicely... and ridiculously quickly as well. I just think that he has a handsome face and the beard hides it.

I have never (clearly) stopped him from growing a beard when he wants, and I never intend to, even at my own mother's Christmas request. (Yes, that's happened)

I'm just a little sad now that I have to wait ALL day to see the end result. Unless he decides to meet me for lunch... hint, hint!

By the way, here's a picture of Jerry the night before he shaved (he calls this the last night of awesomeness):

W - 21 days

Exactly 3 weeks until the actual wedding day.

Today was another long day at work, and another day that we didn't do anything wedding related - other than to acknowledge that the Fine and Levinson families will be joining our celebration in May.

I spent the day staring out the window and wishing I could get outside... and then realizing that I still have a pile of work to get done this week!

Jerry again spent the day smoking meat and joined friends to cook dinner for the families of the Ronald McDonald House. From what I hear, it was a hit. And I got to come home to the delicious smell of smoked meat and enjoy yesterday's dinner for a second time. 

And now we are spending the evening watching Harry Potter, but foregoing the dementors drinking game. I have no photo inspiration, but I hope you enjoy this as much as I do...

Hello. This is Alan Rickman.

W - 22 days

With 22 days to go, we were incredibly exciting people...

It was of course St. Patrick's Day.

I worked all day, wearing a green sweater, while Jerry, in a green Lucky Charms tee, hung out with Mindy, drank beer, and smoked meat. What a gorgeous day to be outside. I could tell through my office window!

Friends joined us for a traditional Irish dinner of ribs (beef and pork) and chicken, and a public tasting of Jerry's latest home brew. he thought it was missing something, but it was enjoyed with rave reviews from the Fessels, Fines, and Stewarts.

Other than that, we were rather boring people - ending the night by watching the latest episode of Chuck on Demand. 

I took no pictures, because... well... because I took no pictures.

W - 23 days

Tuesday, March 16 milestones:

- 23 days until the wedding

- 21 days until the following people arrive in the LV: Mindy, Michael J, Chrissy, Lela, Jerry, Carla, Mike M, Jacob, Jared, Jordan, Joshua, Marilee, Christopher, Mary Ann, Bill, Leslie, and Jesse (that I know of).

- The day that the cake topper is scheduled to arrive (don't let me down UPS)

- The day that Carla bought a dress

- The day that I make 3 blog posts, and one has 2 pictures:

On the left is Carla's dress and on the right is Mindy's - both purchased at Macy's I believe. I am gonna have to give Macy's another shot as I try to find a slightly more casual dress to change into for the Cincinnati reception. We shall see.

Yay, I'm excited. We are just getting crazy with checking things off the Wedding to do list!

W-24 days

Monday, March 15 milestones:

- 24 days until the wedding

- 21 days until Jerry and I (and mom and dad) leave for Vegas

- The day I did nothing wedding related! (except update the database of RSVPs - Yay because the Mitchells are coming. Boo that the Ellzeys are not)

I woke up extra early to get to work early because there was something that I just needed to get done early in the day that I was having issues working on over the weekend. The same project dragged on throughout the day and I finally left work a full 1.5 hours after I should have. Knowing that I wasn't going to have much time at home, and agreeing with Jerry that we needed a return to tradition, I picked up a $5 Little Caesar's pizza:

(picture coming soon)

And with that we have officially retired this tradition. It was not good! It's never been good, but I had some lingering false hope - something along the lines of absence and the heart growing fonder.

Post-blah pizza, we returned to another Monday night tradition: MLTrivia. We did not win. We were tied for first going into the last round and we tanked. We still managed to come in 4th, but it was an absolutely POOR showing. Don't know when we'll venture that way again, but it was quite nice when Dave, the Trivia Guy mentioned he was happy to see us make a return.

By the way, did I mention that the Little Caesar's pizza sucked?

Family

I have been having issues with my family lately... fortunately not my immediate family, but one extended family member in particular is driving me nuts!

I had to particpate in a family activity recently that I REALLY wasn't looking forward to because
a) Insane family member would be there and
b) Mindy would not be there to have an admittedly snarky attitude with me.

But there's always a bright side... LB was there. And she shared some super fantastic news with me. I am really, really super excited and happy for her and look forward to more super exciting and happy things for her.

Love you cousin.

Side note if you're reading this: I did not blog yesterday because I was stuck at work late and told Jerry that I would accompany him and the usual suspects to Trivia last night. We did not win. We got home super late. I will double-blog about the countdown later today after I get home from work and partake in a catch-up nap.

W - 25 days

And according to blogger - this is my 100th post!

This was a long weekend, which is why I am writing on a Monday morning. We had a very full Saturday featuring our Special Guest, Alvin and an incredibly full Sunday as well. I enjoyed breakfast with my parents, a rather disappointing trip to the Monroe outlets with Marilee, and a baby shower on the west side before heading home to make Jerry a delicious dinner of pork chops and Saratoga chips before spending too much of my evening working.

Jerry had to work.

Since we didn't spend much time together, and I was rather whipped when we finally saw each other, I didn't get time to take any pictures. But I did have time this morning to "borrow" this picture:

I didn't cut her head off, Target.com did.

Post-outlet shopping and pre-picking my mom up for the baby shower, Merlin and I stopped at Target to look at this dress. I tried it on once before and loved it, but thought that it was a little too casual (for why I wanted to buy it). But I couldn't stop thinking about how cute it is.

I almost didn't buy it... because I couldn't find it. When I finally did (hidden among the next generation of this style), there were only 2 left. Yay! So this is most likely the dress that I will wear to our "Rehearsal Dinner" in Vegas.

When I finally made it back to MY home for the evening, I washed it and hung it on the laundry room door where Jerry saw it when he finally made it home for the evening. He thought it was cute too. I think I'll keep him.

(We leave for Vegas in 21 days!)

Insert randomness here

This morning I was having trouble sleeping in, so I proceeded to torment Jerry by asking him random questions that I heard on the radio this week.

Including the following question:

If you could be romantically linked to any celebrity (not actually involved, but just linked to), who would it be?

After thinking about it a little, I said, "Tiger Woods - because I figure that he has so many romantic endeavors that he would just believe that I was another one and I could get a hefty payoff."

Jerry's reply, "Actually, I was gonna say Oprah. I thought that she would have enought money to pay me off and shut me up."

Is there a more perfect match people?

W - 26 days

So, it's only 26 days to the wedding... which means it's 23 days until we leave for Vegas (can't come soon enough in my opinion).

How did Jerry (or should I call him Wayne?) and I celebrate today?

With a special guest...

Meet Alvin. 

He's puts the "A" in "WA" homebrew.

In fact that's some leftover WA Christmas Ale in them there mugs (last of that batch).

He came down to say hello and join us for a delicious dinner of Mexican greatness at El Pueblo. Mmmmm... El Pueblo.

W - 27 days

27 days... that's less than 4 weeks!

What did Jerry and I do to celebrate? (I hope you have picked up on the fact by now that we aren't actually celebrating the countdown, I am just taking pictures of what we do each day leading up to the wedding!)

We went to taste beers our local IGA. Four beers - $5 - free glass.

And an awesome free glass at that! We now have four of them. 

I do think this round sucked a little... mainly because it was just me, Jerry, and some awkward guy talking about his dad. Plus we sample Warsteiner and Killians... so really nothing new to the palate. We did have one that was a little fruity and I kinda liked it, but I forgot what it was called...sorry.

Next week they are sampling beers from Goose Island!

W - 28 days

Say Corby's....

Last night, Jerry and I headed down to Habits (plural, not possessive!) Cafe to celebrate the fact that it was only 28 days (exactly 4 weeks!) until the wedding. Ok, actually we went to meet a friend of his for a few drinks. And we stayed out just late enough that I was entirely too tired to update the old blog here last night.

The above picture is a sign above the table at which we were sitting. It has become a running joke between Jerry and me that any time we go to Habits, he leans in and softly whispers, "Corby's." The parrot told him to do it. A long time ago, in a far away land, we tried to convince Dusty the bartender that we should be gifted the Corby's sign only to be met with objection - not because it would be unfair and possibly somewhere along the lines of theft, but rather because the walls are probably so discolored around the sign that it would look stupid after removal. Oh well.

Anyhoo, as we were rounding the median to find parking, I updated my foursquare to say that I was at Habits... and apparently, I have been there enough that I am now the "Mayor" of Habits. A true feat indeed.

W - 29 days

OMG, we broke through the 30s! And I am blogging with a photo for the 3rd day in a row.

Today, Jerry and I went on an adventure. I took him to Macy's to pick up his wedding ring that we pre-ordered on Sunday.

Here it is in the box:

What? Did you think I was actually going to show it to you? It's made of tungsten and carbon fiber and awesomeness. 

W - 30

I tricked Jerry into going shopping at Kohl's tonight in order to celebrate the fact that it's only 30 days until I trick him into saying "I Do." 

Or because it was the last day that I could use my extra 15% discount and there was something that I wanted to buy while it was on sale...

As of today, these are the ties that the men of the wedding (all the Jerrys and Mikes) will be wearing. Unless we find something else. We are making one more shopping trip where they might have ties and if I find something there... well, Kohl's has a good return policy.

Side Note: Interested in what's going on with the Las Vegas wedding or Cincinnati reception? Check out our wedding website: gina-and-jerry.webs.com

I'm sure I will update it at some point.

The final countdown W - 31

It's one month until the wedding. That's 31 days until the wedding.

Let's try this photo blog thing again. I'm gonna TRY to take a picture to see how we are preparing for the big day.

Today's photo: pork chops on the grill!

Today, we celebrated the one month mark with Jerry grilling pork chops. OK, maybe he was doing it because it was an absolutely gorgeous day outside and you HAVE to take advantage of the first usable grilling day of the season.

debating....

French manicure or pink and white acrylics?

(for the wedding of course!)

How does one have a good day?

I am having a great day. So far today...

-Jerry and I saw Alice in Wonderland in IMAX 3D

-We had a wonderful lunch of City BBQ (which we don't get as often as we used to)

- We bought Jerry's wedding ring at Macy's. They have a sale that starts Wednesday, but they are allowing you to buy fine jewelry through a presale, so we got it for less than half the listed price, but we have to wait until Wednesday to pick it up at the store.

-We got 80s Party outfits at TJ Maxx and bottles of Bartles and James to complete our ensembles

-As I was pulling into the driveway, Christopher sent me a message to let me know that he bought his plane tix for Vegas!

-I got a note from Delta that they are crediting my skymiles account 1000 miles because of all our delays last week in getting to SLC.

And it can only get better... because we're going to an 80s Party tonight!

I speaka* the French...

I went to see a movie with Jerry the other day: "Brooklyn's Finest." We got free passes. And had we not received free passes I don't know that I would have even looked at the description of this movie. And having seen the movie with free passes, I feel confident in saying this... don't waste your money! (Wait, is that phrase copyrighted?)

Anyway, Ethan Hawke plays a Brooklyn cop in this movie and he does something not so good and hits up the confessional. While in confessional, he says something to the effect of saying his Hail Marys and going.

And that's when I realized something...

I instinctively think of the French version of the Hail Mary rather than English.

My mind immediately went, "Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grace..."

Really?

I couldn't even think of the words to the Hail Mary in English, at least not right away. Blame, I mean Thank 3 years of French at a Catholic High School for that one.

What's even more sad? That reciting the Ave Maria in French in my head was more captivating than this movie.

*Not spelled wrong, say it out loud. Now add a sterotypical French-trying-to-speak-English accent.