Hindsight is Always 20/20

Well we are down to only 3 days people! Yes, we have survived, and while I've been given lots of advice to not stress and just to have fun, well, let's be honest, that doesn't happen in this little head of mine. I have what is called Kathysyndrome - it's where we like to take on a lot and then when we realize we have 5 minutes to finish 9,487 tasks, we might freak out a little. Maybe some tears, it all depends. Luckily, we have Courtney in our midst who is a freakish list taker like Kathy & I, she delegates and does it well. And she might take on a few tasks like the rest of us that may be too many - however tears don't happen with her. Lucky dog.

And while my list is slowly growing smaller - and I am finally able to gleefully mark a big check mark on the side, (and maybe do a little dance in my head), there are still a few things to do. But the biggest accomplishments: the programs and the slide show.

I would first like to not thank Kinko's for being so reasonably price, willing to help out a girl in dire need to print out 4 million pieces of paper - and not just any paper, 8.5 x 14 card stock. Bonus on my part: Tony. Oh yes, his calmness and frugalness and knowledge of Office Max led me and my 4 million programs to bliss. Done and done - and let me tell you 4 stars for Office Max!

The other impending thorn in my side: slide shows. Whomever began this little tradition of showing cute little pictures of people growing up and their time together, all with background music that is happy and upbeat in perfect timing - I would like to have words with you. You, who made me hate Power Point, iTunes (okay I don't dislike iTunes, however I wish I wouldn't have to rip music...I know, too technical, even for me), and deleting pictures all because at 35 minute show might be going over the top.

Sigh. But finally - I think it's completed. Or at least I hope that when Tony's brother boots it up and starts playing it, it won't freak out and starting freezing up or not playing at all. I have great and funny pictures of us growing up and darling ones of when we met and great background music that will make you want to dance.

And if it doesn't work - well, I guess I will have a glass of wine handy and tell everyone to gather round the small computer screen.

Beyond the slide show (that yes, I did threaten to throw my computer our the window, but also realized that was a bad decision since my computer is my work one and I would probably have to pay for it), everything else is coming together and little things are making me giddy for this weekend.

Things like, my mom telling me I looked like a bride. I don't know what made me look so bridal - maybe I should wax my eyebrows more often - or flash my ring even more!

Or things like friends sending me text messages and Facebook postings telling me how they are so excited to party it up this weekend - or knowing that it will be 74 and partly sunny - great for pictures- and NOT RAINING on Saturday. That knowledge will help me do more than just a dance in my head.

However these little things are not what makes my hindsight 20/20. It's knowing that I should probably start slide shows earlier and maybe remember where I put things. Like, thank you notes. Those would be good things to remember where you put them.

But I'm off to do more bridal to-do's and hopefully cross more things off my list. For all of my upcoming bridal friends - if you like, I will send you all my hundreds of To-Do's so you can start on yours earlier.

Or you can have the same experience as me. I will tell you, it is quite fun - or at least that's what I'll tell.

T-Minus 3 days.

Best Weekend Ever

We're down to the single digits and are almost ready. Gram is here, the RSVPs for the rehearsal dinner are coming in, and I only have a day and a half of work left.

So far the calmness is still here and I haven't stressed out yet. Yes, there are still things to do, but I know they will get done and if they don't, then who is going to notice....well except some of my readers and family who have seen my obnoxious To-Do lists. Oh well, that's how it works I suppose.

But before the final things come together, Tony and I actually had a nice little Saturday off of not doing wedding things and last week Tony got his wedding gift....for himself. But allow me to give you a little background of our week.

Saturday was our big walk for work and so I was busy with that - I mean like, working late until Friday night, and up before the crack of dawn on Saturday, but I pushed through, knowing that after this, my work would be done and I had our wedding to look forward to. And Tony was out of town for most of the week, in what was hopes to be his final travel (not so much, as he's going out of town this week too, boo.)

Side note, I just re-read that paragraph and possibly fell asleep - bo-ring. I'll try harder for the rest of this post, just stick with me!

But let me re-wind to Tony and my conversation earlier this week, let's say Tuesday.

T: "Babe, I'm probably going to need Ted this weekend." (Ted is our car, the Tahoe, get it, Ted the Tahoe)
Me: "Why? What did you buy?"
T: "Um, well, I may have bought myself an early wedding present."
Me: "You bought wheels, didn't you?
T: "Uh, yes."

Awesome. But I have been impressed that he's held off this long - when we bought the car last December, I for sure thought I would be rollin' thug style the next week. But after a long period of waiting and Tony searching through millions of websites with wheels, he finally got them.

His reasoning: He wanted something nice for himself for the wedding.

Hello? You get me, duh.

So that began Tony's weekend. After working Saturday morning, he went to meet friends for the big Mizzou game and I went to dinner with some friends. I'm sorry, my game is off, bear with me for the excitement.

Jen and I went down to the Plaza - where I had a prime parking spot which I didn't need to have to parallel park for - score - and met T and friends to watch the big game. Which was a very good game, and yes, I even cheered.

And while the Mizzou game was going on and they were winning or scoring...I wasn't really paying attention, Jen and I were talking about how she couldn't pronounce Rutgers and how we liked Mizzou's pants - it came out.

Tony: "If we win this game and we (as in Tony and the Chiefs, since he's actually a part of the team) get a win tomorrow, this is the best weekend of my LIFE!"

Really.

Awesome. Did you forget about a certain date of October 30, 2010? And yes, there was an awkward moment that Jonathan, Karen and Jen all noticed.

His wedding gift is totally going back. Or rather, I'm going to buy myself a wedding gift too - a diamond grill for my teeth and some Tupac old school rap. What kind of heels to thugs wear anyway?

Better Than Shopping

It's been a crazy week so far - and it's only Tuesday and it's for sure going to get more nuts from here. But hey, everyone has a little crazy in their system, right? No? Just me? Awesome.

But there is reason to not let the crazy get to me - other than the fact that I've had my few breakdowns about the wedding in the past few weeks. However, we have 11 days to go and I'm as cool as a cucumber. Why you ask? What could have brought on this sudden calmness, this mild and happy deameanor?

Well, it might be the yoga classes that I've been taken recently - I do see myself becoming a yogi soon. Wearing those cute little tank tops and gently folding into my tree pose while letting all the worries of the day escape me. Okay, so I'm probably not that into yoga, but I do enjoy it alot - I already feel longer and leaner. But don't worry - I don't do those chants at the end, I find that odd and just pretend.

However it's not just the yoga that has me in a calm state - because I should be in a frenzy state, I made my final to do list (yeah, I know, I'll probably have one the day of the wedding, don't judge) and I also have a big work week - we do have our breast cancer walk this weekend. But no - none of those thing will get me down this week.

What could make this "bridezilla" so calm?

GRAM IS COMING!!! What, what??

Oh yeah, my one and only Mexican Gram is coming into town for the wedding! I'm beyond excited and I think the rest of the Faddis clan is just as pumped - even the littlest one who has not been embraced by the fabulous woman herself.

Although, we may have to get a sling for her to carry Caden the tank, he too will know his "Tita." Her arrival is better than Santa Claus and the Easter bunny and a shopping spree! Okay, so I would probably take a shopping spree too, but Gram over even that.

I don't know if I can sleep tonight!

IV's are the New Fad Diet

Tuesdays usually mean boring for Tony and I - I mean occasionally I have a few meetings and conference calls, and T uses Tuesday as a travel day or is primarily gone on a Tuesday. And obviously it means TBL, you know, The Biggest Loser. Oh yes, I live the TBL Tuesdays - it makes me want to eat a cupcake, run a marathon and lift weights to grunt out loud all at the same time.

However we decided to change things up for this Tuesday - or rather Mr. Tony decided that this Tuesday was going to be a little different. He was supposed to be traveling the day to Omaha, because he didn't want to drive last night. Luckily for Tony, he didn't travel last night, and got to sleep in his own bed. Unluckily (is that a word?) for Tony, he was up bright and early to say hello to the porcelain god, the loo, "the office," el bano for some. Oh yes, dear friends, Tony was up and sick at 5 am. Not only sick, but with a ginormous stomach ache that made him toss and turn.

Thinking he would get better in a bit, I was off to work, attempting to be excited after a three day weekend. Soon, a call from sickie - still not feeling good, it's um, not pretty at home. Ugh. We just dealt with the plague that entered our house last week - why is it coming back?!?! We only have 18 days - we need our health to enjoy the beach!

After riveting conversations about how much his stomach hurt and what to do about work - Tony decided not to travel and I convinced him to call Ask-A-Nurse. While I would have called my friend Molly, Nurse Molly, Tony had already been convinced that going to the ER was much needed.

Gah! ER? Oh yes, and let me tell you, it's not as exciting as you see on Grey's Anatomy or the actual show ER - or even Boston Med - oh no, the most excitement we got was the old man with a cane and leg brace banging on the vending machine trying to get out some pretzels. And don't you think that I wasn't tempted to ask him for one or two - yes, Tony's stomach hurt, mine did not, it was hurting with hunger.

So after an hour of waiting - and before you even think twice, I am the one with the patience in the relationship, let's just say that here - we were off to the back so Tony could don a lovely robe and get poked and prodded. Oh yes, he got stuck three times before the IV fit in. I felt bad for the guy - not only is he not great at being sick, but he hates needles and being stuck - especially since they couldn't get a needle in him because he was so dehydrated. I obviously felt the need to point out that I have the good veins in the relationship.

Ah yes, big behind, but boy do my veins make any blood giver jealous. I'm like a vampires dream for dinner.

Two IV bags and three hours later we were released with Tony on an all liquid, BRAT diet. Can you feel the joy that is about to explode. We're home now, after a trip to the pharmacy for anti-nausea pills, 7Up and Gatorade. Oh and toothbrushes and paste - I mean come on, we were both sick last week, you don't get a new toothbrush after you're sick? Sicko.

So it wasn't a typical Tuesday for us.

Secretly, I think Tony was trying a last ditch effort to look better than me in a swimsuit.

It's a Martha Stewart Kind of Day

We're having our first official house guests in a couple of weeks and well, the Martha Stewart/Kathy F./June Cleaver in me wanted to make sure that our house would be stay ready for them. Of course this also includes Tony's list of things to do with the house. Obviously not at all similar lists, but things that need to get done around our house.

What's that? You want to know what our lists are? Okay, let me point them out.

Tony:
-Change the light fixtures on the front of the house
-Fix the wall next to the back door that was broken into 3 years ago that has missing dry wall and looks awesome because the wall is yellow and the holes are white
-Replace the bathmats in the guest bathroom that Caitlin may have turned from a khaki color to a dingy gray when she washed them with the black bath mats: key word, may
-And some other random things that I can't remember at this point

My list:
-Finish all the wedding stuff that is just staring me in the face, day after day, after, um...right
-Throw away the nasty pillow that Slick Rick made his commode
-Throw away the nasty, I mean, Tony's old college comforter
-Replace the old guest room shower curtain
-Replace the dingy looking bathmats that I may have turned gray - I mean come on, I used one of those Shout color catchers....it obviously doesn't catch the color black. Ripoff.
(But really, they actually match the new shower curtain...see...genius and I totally did it on purpose)
-Clean the house
-Miraculously have the house turn into a Crate & Barrel picture

Alright, so we may have a few things that are in common, but it was my mission to get the ones on my list done. Priorities people.

And guess who's list won?

Ta da! Yes indeedy! We not only hit up Crate & Barrel, and left way to soon in my opinion, but also did a little Bed, Bath and Beyond. If only we had been able to make it to Home Depot, then I might have even brought out a little Frank the Tank that night. No dirty mind, not in the streaking kind of way (Mom, Google Old School, it's a movie), more in the I would have worn a green hat, or in my case, a green purse...ooo or shoes. Definitely green shoes.

Anyway, I digress. We were able to get our new duvet cover and shams for the guest room. And while we didn't have an actual duvet to place in the new duvet cover, my little brain had a genius moment and we made it work...a la Tim Gunn.

But getting to the point where we admired our room took a minute - or 15. While in C&B, and figuring out we actually didn't have an extra duvet for the spare room, I figured we could actually just get the really cute green accent blanket that was on display as well. Sadly, Mr. T nixed that idea - but I did get away with the shams.

While making the bed, and using my old duvet (see, genius, but now I don't have one...) Tony and I had this conversation:

Me: Don't you like this? Isn't just so cute?
Tony: Yeah, but why do you need three duvets?
Me: What?
T: Yeah, why do you need this duvet for the pillow?
Me: Sigh. This is a sham, totally different from a duvet.
T: Wait, why are you putting in the white blanket?
Me: The white blanket it the duvet, the striped thing is the duvet cover and the thing that goes on the pillow is a sham. Different things.
T: You and your words for things.

Yep - my words for things.

Me: (and yes, I ignored that comment) Oh I just love it, it looks great!
T: You probably should have ironed it. If I had an iron I would have ironed it.

Yes- I walked away. Never mind that we have a brand new iron upstairs that also steams upright (yeah, I know, A-mazing).

So we had a nice little Martha Steward kind of day...or at least I did.

Hypochrondriac Harriet

Well it happened. The exact thought and feeling that I didn't want to happen three weeks before the wedding. We got sick. First Tony, then me. Ugh.

And if anyone knows us, we are not good sick people. We hate it - there is nothing worse than feeling like the world is ending, you can't move and all life has left your body. If I could raise my fist up and ask, "Why God, why me? Why do you place this plague of sickness on me??" I would have, except I didn't have the strength to even type a text to my friends. Sad.

And I may be exaggerating just a little bit. But you get my point - there is nothing worse than being sick and feeling like it will never go away and you try and remember what it feel like to be normal. To be able to run up and down the stairs and not be winded and feel like you need to take a break.....or really you don't have to be sick to have that feeling, maybe just out of shape.

At first, I thought I was just being a bit of a hypochondriac. I blame my friend Jen for this. She is number 1 Hypochondriac Harriet. Your thumb has a pain, look it up on Web MD, don't be surprised if it tells you that you may be dying and if you experience blindness or loss of hearing, please seek medical attention immediately.

Usually for Jen, it's allergies....or a migraine. But she makes you think. And so when I had a numb toe that was also making my throat swell up and slight numbness in my fingers, that could be going up my arm: Web Md. I have lupus, heartburn and I may be experiencing Morton's Neuroma.

Luckily for me, the numbness in my toe went away, the swelling of the throat was me not swallowing correctly and I luckily did not have lupus.

This time.

But the sickness stuck our household and family. Oh yes, it was not just Tony and I who have been sick. Typhoid Mary, aka, Kathy is on day 2 of laryngitis, possibly strep and maybe a slight cold. Courtney has been dealing with some sort of sickness that gives her a nasily voice and her poor little carrier monkeys have been dealt the same.

And what do we do? We hang out all together. We might as well start spitting on each other spread the germs early and often. My solution: Lysol.

As Tony was resting from his sickness - and yes, he calls it resting every time he gets sick, "I just need to rest some more." Weirdo. I took the time to Lysol the entire house - door knobs, light switches, toilet handles...pretty much anything and everything that a hand could touch.

Sadly, Tyson followed me around and probably snorted enough Lysol to make me worried. He's fine - still up and kicking.

However the Lysol trick didn't work on me. And this time, I was not imagining it. I was down and out for the count. Pretty sure I slept for almost 14 hours yesterday - well technically I had to go to work first because I didn't have any days left, but then I came home and slept.

I'm really hoping that all of this "resting" worked so I can be back on my feet today and the rest of the time before the wedding. We've got a party to attend!

Let's just hope I don't feel any other sickness before the big day....I'll just Web MD before I walk down the aisle.

It's Your Turn to Vacuum

I had my second dress fitting last night and I once again didn't want to take my dress off. I seriously might want to wear it the next day and maybe on the plane to Mexico. Would that be weird? No, okay. Well I figured it would be better than those cliche 'Just Married' tanks (although secretly I would totally wear one if my friends and family wouldn't judge me so much....you know you would want to do the same!)

But I wore it for a while as every part of my outfit for the day came together - and then my mom cried. Okay, so she claimed she had allergies, but she had to use a tissue. Courtney laughed - until she had to try on her dress. Bahahaha.

However it was the good advice my mom shared with my sister and I that we will always remember. And while most motherly advice is about cooking and keeping sane while you have children, my mom gives us advice about vacuuming....in high heels.

Bring on June Cleaver. Wowza.

Yep, my mom's advice to her two daughters was to get our balance and break in our wedding shoes by vacuuming our houses. Of course this means that Court and I would have to start vacuuming. Which seems silly since we basically are marrying or married to long lost twins who creepily enjoy cleaning and vacuuming.

Who enjoys doing those things? Oh right, my future hubby. Fine by me, I'll be happy to sit on the couch with my coffee and bonbons while watching my soaps, okay so I would actually be watching Real Housewives of any city.

However I shouldn't mock my mothers advice so soon -I did in fact take up her tip and vacuumed in my shoes the other day. Tony was out of town and Tyson and I decided to clean a bit. Luckily I was done vacuuming right before Tony got home, so he missed the lovely ensemble of running shorts, t-shirt and 3-inch heels. And Tony's response when I told him what I had just accomplished?

Tony: "Since when do you vacuum?"

Apparently I should start working on my June Cleaver outfit....

A New Kind of Bouquet

Tony and I were proud to get some of the wedding to-do's accomplished yesterday. Which included meeting with the caterer, which I'm pretty sure made Tony's wheels spin even more - and come to the realization that there are a bunch of little details that go into wedding planning. Which, thank goodness, because then he also realized I was not nuts when I kept saying I had things to do. Okay, so he probably still thinks that I'm nuts, but he he's the one that made the big offer to keep me!

But before we went to talk all about the food, the bar issues and colors of linens, we picked up Tony's ring. Oh yeah- its about time that all those hoochi....um, girls out there know that he is TAKEN! That's right girls, my little Italian Stallion, the Meatball Marinara is off the market in 27 days! And yes, he did think it was odd to be wearing a ring. Too bad, so sad, he'll deal with it.

We also had a conversation about exchanging wedding gifts. And while, we both said that we wouldn't spend a lot, there is nothing like something sparkly to go in my ears. But I digress. Tony has been wanting new wheels for the Tahoe since we drove it home. Why, I'm not sure and really it makes no difference to me - I would rather have a sun roof. His choice - so he's been looking at wheels at all different places and on-line since last December. But I told him that if he really wants them, then I would be happy to help pay for A wheel.

But we'll wait on those - instead I told him I would rather get him a watch and he would rather get me a Kindle. So we finished getting his ring and we were on to the next task. However, we did have this conversation in the car:

Tony: So you're going to get me a watch, that I can wear on the wedding.
Me: Yes, I want you to wear it on the wedding.
T: But you already have all of your jewelry for the wedding, right? You wouldn't wear earrings the day of?
Me: No, I just want them.
T: But since I would be wearing the watch, wouldn't you wear the earrings?
Me: Well, you also offered to get me a Kindle, so it wouldn't be like I would carry that down the aisle.
Tony then proceeded to almost spit out his swig of water all over the car.

So don't be surprised if I'm sporting a Kindle instead of the traditional bridal bouquet down the aisle.

On to the next To-Do.

The 10th Month of the Year

It's finally October. It's a little hard to believe that Tony and I have been engaged for almost 10 months, okay, so a little over 10th months - I've never really been good at math. But we are now officially able to say, "This month," when the question is asked, "So when are you getting married?"

Weird.

So it's probably time for us to really get on top of that to do list. We're waiting for final RSVP's to come in - oh yes, there are still some missing. But I supposed its something that every bride deals with, those late RSVPers - you know who you are, and yes I will call you out if I need to - maybe at the actual wedding, in front of all the other guests....and God. Dun du du.

For now, I'll be working on my to do list. Like trying to figure out how to make our wedding program, that is not the size of a newspaper. Who's idea was it to have so many people in the wedding party...oh right, me.

But I wouldn't change it - I'm pretty excited for the scheduled chaos that will happen on the wedding day - and for so many slaves, uh, helpers to assist my with calming my nerves. And letting me know if Tony bolted. I mean, I already told him I would have his head if he decided to change his mind at the last minute. You think I'm kidding too.

It's October. Officially our wedding month. Which also means Tony and I have 29 days to perfect our dance to make sure the nephews are ready to drop it low.