1. Work/Programming
No change so far with my work situation. I’m employed through the end of the year.. and still up in the air as to what will happen next year.
A lot of make-work at the moment. Some big-wig came up with an “this must be done before the end of the month” task and I’m pretty certain they were not aware of the amount of work involved in this simple seeming request. So after spending a couple of days scoping my work and then dropping a lot of other tasks to hurry-up and get it done.. the deadline got pushed back to September. This is good and bad. Good in that we may actually get the project done before the deadline (which is a hard “things will stop working” deadline) and bad.. in that the more we work on it the more work we find to do on it and the more people come out of the wood-work to complain that “things will stop working” deadline has set their hair on fire.
That said.. I’ve come to the conclusion that some people are just not happy unless their hair is on fire.
2. Home
Nothing really huge going on at the house. It’s in a mild state of “we live here” and needs a quick going over to be considered “clean and presentable” but atm it’s still in acceptable shape.
Next week we head out of town for the Bachelor/Bachelorette party in Vegas. We’ve arranged for a dog/cat/bird/house sitter (need to get a key to her).
Finances are recovering from the “knighting” blow (just in time for the bachelor/bachelorette/wedding/baby blows I suppose).
3. Health
Kaiser does not allow you to video tape “the big ultrasound” so instead we got a few snapshots that the tech fired off for us. So far everything is looking good.
On Sunday, July 7, we went to the Marin county fair. It was a little bit hot but mostly nice. At one point we sat on a few hay bails and watched some horses in a ring. The next morning when I got up I noticed that I had bright red rashes on the backs of both my calves. I took a Clartin and contacted my Doctor. Doctor said it didn’t sound like something to worry about and recommended I take 25mg of Benadryl every 4-6 hrs over the next 24-48 hours. The rashes were super-itchy on Tuesday but seem to have stopped itching by Wednesday. Today (July 15) I still see slightly reddened patches on the backs of my calves.. but they do not itch.
In meeting with the Doctor on Wednesday (July 16) he said they look fine and nothing to worry about. Doctor also confirmed that so far everything looks normal, normal, normal.
This week especially Erik is making his presence known. Mostly in prods and pushes. Yes. Definitely something going on in there. Also my ankles are swelling. Not to the “we should be worried about Toxima” stage but just to the “this is kind of annoying and I’m glad the Doctor said it’s normal.. ’cause it’s definitely weird” stage. I am not a fan of the “sausage toes” look.
4. SCA/Projects
It’s weird to look over my calendar and know that we’re not going to be attending another SCA event until September. Just weird.
Anyway.. non SCA project. I am finally working on my wedding dress. In May, when we were back visiting my family for a cousin’s wedding we found the perfect wedding dress at the Montana Rescue mission for $150. I’ve finally cleared off my todo list and I’m working on refitting the dress for me. When we got the dress it was about 1-2 inches away from closing entirely at the back. I wasn’t worried. In looking inside the dress it looked like it had been sized down and had about 1-2 inches to spare in either side seam. I figured it would be a slam dunk to let out those side seams. I was right that it was easy to redo the seams.. but I had forgotten to factor the “baby weight” into my assessment. Although the now-resized dress would easily fit my 8-week pregnant self.. it’s a slightly different story with my (now) 22-week pregnant self.. or my (at the time of the wedding) 28-29 week pregnant self.
Luckily, I have a plan.
Fit issue #1: The armseye of the sleeve and the sleeves themselves are just a scootch too small to fit comfortably around my arms.
Remedy #1: I have purchased matching fabric and will be adding an underarm gusset.
Fit issue #2: The zipper is not going to close.. and in fact the tab broke off of the zipper rendering it useless. Add to that I don’t want to be worrying about that come the wedding day.
Remedy #2: I removed the zipper and fake buttons from the back and will be replacing them with lacing rings, a modesty panel and a nice wide lace. This should allow the dress to fit regardless of my shape. I have all the pieces and have started work on this.
At this time I have no backup plan. That makes me nervous.. but I’ll leave it at that for another week or so and see how I feel then.
5.
I still need to make my flight reservation.
Need to figure out exactly when Fearghus is leaving for Montana.
Invitations have been addressed and sent (in fact we’ve even gotten one of the RSVP cards back, Thanks Else!). Though I have now addresses for 3 more yet to send out.
Wedding rings have been purchased, received and approved.
Dress is in process.
Need to figure out shoes.
Need to hassle groomsmen to get their measurements at Men’s Wearhouse.
Reservation of pig for roasting has been done.
Caterer has been contacted.. we’re still reviewing pricing but it’s in the works.
Need to pay for Haley’s ticket to Montana.
Need to order M&Ms.
Need to order a cake for the “cutting of the cake”. After talking with Haley, caterer, she said she can do it.. but I want to go ahead and farm that piece out to a local cake place and remove that task from Haley’s todo list.
Confirmed Patsy will be able to draw tree.
Need to buy stamp pads.
Confirmed Edith will be able to mind the sign-in table and take pictures of guests as they sign in.
Need to double confirm we have photographer all setup.
Need to write ceremony.
Need to figure out outfit for “after the wedding dress” around the fire time.
Week before wedding:
Need to buy supplies for bar and for caterer.
Need to make bouquets/bootineers.
Need to figure out a hair place to get hair done on the morning of the wedding.
Need to visit JP and Marriage licence office and get that all set to go.
Future:
July 20: FREE WEEKEND!!! (We’re not attending Pennsic)
July 27: Bachelorette Party in VEGAS!
August 3: FREE WEEKEND!!!
August 10: FREE WEEKEND!!! (dress fitting cancelled)
August 17: FREE WEEKEND!!!
August 23-25: Purgatorio, Arcata, CA (maybe.. maybe not…)
August 31, 2013 My wedding in Billings Montana (Wedding website: https://sites.google.com/site/stroudwed/)
September 7: Return from Montana
September 14: Cyn-Mists War
September 21: FREE WEEKEND!!!
September 28: Mists Fall Coronet (maybe)
October 4-6: October Crown
October 9-14: Great Western War (F will be going, I will not)
October 19: FREE WEEKEND!!!
October 25: Alton Brown Tickets
October 26: Cynaguan Fall Coronet (daytrip)
November 2: FREE WEEKEND!!!
November 9: Collegium Occidentalis (maybe)
November 16: FREE WEEKEND!!!
November 18: Baby Due Date
December 7: Boar Hunt (maybe)
January 3-5: 12th Night, Concord CA? (maybe)