They Came!

The invitations came yesterday. They look as I expected. It is fun to see them in person and in their real format. Not just the copies I printed off on a normal printer. The box was a little smashed and bent the corners of some of the invitations. Phillip thinks I should call and complain. I don’t have the energy to do it. The mail is going to beat them up anyway and they aren’t that bad. They need to go out next week and I can’t afford to wait any longer for more to get printed and mailed. Now we need to buy envelopes and print labels and finish that dang address list….300+ addresses takes a long time to organize, when you don’t have them all.

I’d like to say I’ll get something done tonight, but I can tell you I won’t. I’m exhausted and with a new puppy in the house I’m also a little distracted. Tonight’s goal is simply getting the house clean; do some laundry done so we can work hard this weekend. Time is getting short.

The Countdown

At two months and six days before our wedding I have decided to write about the countdown. Is it bad timing to take on another project at this moment? Maybe, but it will be a great way to remember all that happens in these whirlwind months.

Our invitations are due to arrive tomorrow. The 7 ½ pound box is traveling across the country waiting to reveal whether they turned out or not. I’ve been a true DIY bride in order to save money and allow myself some creativity in this whole planning process. I created the invitations myself and unfortunately, found a few errors after I gave the ok to print. Darn it!! I looked at them so many times and others looked at them too. To most people it won’t matter. It bugs me, but I have to let it go. It’s not detrimental and who cares. Most people will hardly look at them and then toss them in the trash a few weeks down the road. Regardless, they are done, but I’m slightly annoyed. The goal is to get them out around Easter.

Today there won’t be any wedding work completed. We have a couple of tickets to see the Twins vs. the Royals tonight. We have never been to Target Field and it is supposed to be a beautiful night. I’m looking forward to it!

I'm Back...Maybe

I really should update this now and then. I get so busy with life and I just don’t think about it. I would like to proudly proclaim that I feel very much like a DIY Bride. I’m quite proud of that really. I’m trying to be as resourceful as possible. We are planning a very large wedding and every penny counts. My loving fiancé might be out of town for a couple of weeks. He’s going to see if he can help his parent’s finish their basement in preparation of my sister-in-law’s high school graduation. Perhaps I will write more about my DIYness then; since I’ll be alone with my thoughts and too broke to go out and do anything. Thus is the history of my blogging life…lots of posts and then long dry spells.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Verification

The Holiday Toy Store Parking Lot...
at an empty time...the upper right is
usually how it looks.

The months of November and December are the busiest at VEAP. We have a Holiday Food Program and a Holiday Toy Store in addition to all our other programs. It is also when the largest amount of our donations come in. One of the tasks that need to be completed is the verification of donated gift cards. The paper backing needs to be ripped off, the silver flaky stuff needs to be scratched off, and the amounts on the card need to be double checked. The last step is entering all the gift cards with their identification number, amount and who donated it entered into a spreadsheet. It is a long and messy project and my volunteers are very happy when it is over. Every year one volunteer is disappointed she didn't win something in her scratch off games and the others are joyful the process is over.

This year will bring extra celebration as one volunteer told me today, "So I was trying to verify these gift cards. You can't do these online so I called the number. There was a recording that said the number had changed. So I said, okay and wrote do the number they gave me, 11-11-8000. Then I proceeded to dial the new number. 9 (to get out) 1---1." Opps!! So in the end those gift cards will not be verified. Hopefully those donors are more honest than the one who donated a $25 gift card with only .50 cents on it. Yes, it because of those people we have to double check each one of the hundreds of gift cards that arrive at VEAP this time of year.

Everyday something crazy happens here. The parking lot is just scary to peer down at. Actually it is mesmerizing and it makes it very hard to want to work on anything productive. Clients are continually coming close to collision status. Watching them is like watching a train wreck; you can't help but stare and wince. Only one more day and I have a nice 5-day weekend. I am looking forward to that!

Spice it Up

I sense a little competition with Myriad Musings. Well maybe not a lot, but my friend updated her blog and made it all spiffy. Now I feel I need to spice mine up a little bit too! Hmmmm....I'm going to have to get working on that.

For now here is a beautiful picture of my toe while in urgent care last Saturday. I managed to be very stupid...ehh, I looked at it again and its too nasty to post. Let's just say lots of blood is oozing out of the two holes that were drilled in my nail (paiiiinful) and a couple other deep cuts.