12 days to go and waiting with bated breath

In twelve days, I marry the man I love.
In twelve days, I learn what my mom kept promising I'd learn.
In twelve days, I drop a last name to gain another.
In twelve days, I knit my soul to Robert's to be witnessed by my friends and family.
In twelve days, my real life begins.
In twelve days, I wear that gorgeous dress for its intended purpose.
In twelve days, I celebrate a family doubled.
In twelve days, I shed the skin of the unconfident woman I once was.
In twelve days, I enter into a blessed, deeply resonating bond.
In twelve days, my best friend vows to cherish me until death. And I him.
In twelve days, fantasies I never knew I desired will see reality.
In twelve days, I'll know what it means to love and be loved for eternity.
In thirteen days, I go to London with my husband, who promised to take me there the first time we spoke outside of class.

This weekend, Robert and I went up to my parents' home for a few reasons. The first, of course, is that it was Mother's Day weekend and I wanted to be able to see my mom. The second is that I had my final dress fitting on Saturday morning. The third was that there were still many things left to be done for the wedding.

Friday:
Robert and I managed to get to my parents' without a great deal of difficulty--the construction that stretches for 29 miles on the southside of our trip has started to open up (just a little), which relieves the bottlenecking that used to plague that area. We had dinner with my parents (Friday nights are pizza nights), and then we ran a couple of errands before returning home. My mom and I finished a couple of little projects here and there (mostly boxing up ceremony and reception necessities), and my sister and her fiance made it home. When I had thought about going to bed, I went upstairs to find my mom and sister sitting in my bedroom. (My mom had moved her computer into my old room, so my room quickly became what is fondly called "Wedding Land.") I felt like I was bottoming out and only wanted to go to sleep. Unfortunately, this was not in the cards for the next few hours. We stared at the computer for quite a long time, finishing table arrangements and meal selections. We finally went to bed around 2 a.m.

Saturday:
I was awoken by an unhappy father (who forgot I was sleeping in my bedroom and wanted to use the computer) at 7 a.m. I could barely understand an angry word he was saying to me, which was only making him angrier. I finally told him that I needed to get up and take my shower (even though it was an hour earlier than I anticipated) so that I could get myself ready and out the door for my final dress fitting. After a brief but explosive argument with him, I was able to get showered and dressed, and I went to the bridal store with my mom and sister. I am unbelievably in love with my dress. A phenomenon happens, though, when a bride tries on her dress so many times--she sometimes has amnesia about how much she loves her dress. Sure, she'll probably remember some of the more intricate details, but she'll forget just exactly how beautiful she looks when she's in it until she's in it again.

I have tried on my gown three times. And all three times, I am astonished to see that I look the way I do and that I feel the way I do. I can't wait for Robert to see me in it because I want to know how I look in his eyes. I can't wait to see the look he has on his face because I know I will feel even more beautiful when he looks at me.

After we left the bridal store, we met my grandparents, dad, and Robert at Mimi's Cafe for some New Orleans style breakfast. The breakfast was amazing, of course, because it's Mimi's. We went to the mall as a family and did some Mother's Day shopping. Unbelievably fun--but we always have a great deal of fun together when we go shopping. Mom also bought me five new dresses--one for the rehearsal, one for the getaway dress, and all five for the honeymoon. That evening, we went to see "Star Trek" and were completely blown away. I'm ready for the sequel.

That night, Robert ventured into Wedding Land to answer a few of my mom's questions and was sucked in until 12:30 when he simply couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. I joined at some point as well, and helped Mom fight with PowerPoint to force it to do what we wanted it to do. We celebrated our 1:30 bedtime a little prematurely--we still had more work to do without realizing it. Before we said goodnight, Mom looked at me and said, "We have to do the place cards for the rest of our guests." So, we stayed up for another half hour or so finishing those. She went to bed at 2; I went to bed at 2:15--I sent Robert several text messages to outline for him the plan for the day, including my hope that he would drive us home (I had driven up) because the severe lack of sleep for the past eight days was starting to mess with me.

Sunday:
I tried to sleep in late but could only make it to just after 8. We had a leisurely breakfast, waiting for the stores to open at noon, so that Mom, Lauren, and I could finish our necessary shopping (some in preparation for the wedding, other in preparation for the honeymoon). Unfortunately, the store had very little selection (turns out everyone in my size has been buying out all of the capris), so we ended up ultimately going back home to finish doing the shopping online. We did go to DSW to buy a pair of shoes for my adorable getaway dress...and then we ended up hanging out there for over an hour trying on all the new cute sandals. I told Mom that I should probably avoid going to London in flip flops (even though I do think they're adorable) because they would not do well for walking long distances and would easily point me out as an American tourist. We found a few pairs of sandals each, and mine are extremely comfortable. lightweight, and adorable! I can't wait to wear them. We didn't make it home until around 5, though, and I was dead on my feet by then.

After packing everything up (Robert helped load up my car with everything for the reception with my mom, which made everything unbelievably easier), Robert and I hit the road. I passed out for a short portion on the road, and we made amazing time back home. I've been feeling a little under the weather, and the sleep deprivation hasn't helped--I felt horrible because when we made it back into town, I couldn't spend any time with Robert's mom on Mother's Day. But I could hardly keep my eyes open. I think she understands and isn't hurt by it--next year will be better. I've promised both moms (who received nothing this year from Robert and me) that we're going to do something a great deal better. I'm planning on doing something at the duplex for them.

Monday:
Lauren and I delivered all of the boxes to our reception site, so now they're safely tucked away for the wedding. I cannot wait! :) I feel so much better knowing everything is taken care of. We ran some more errands as well, in order to prepare for the next twelve days. And, finally, Robert and I are going to the phone place in the next couple of days (I hope tomorrow, hehehe) to get me a new phone and phone plan. My current plan expires at midnight on Friday. Plus, if any of my readers have spent any time at all around me in the past twelve months, they would know how desperately I hate my current phone (the Samsung Glyde). It is actually considered a blight on touch screen phones. It malfunctions after only a couple of months' use. I've had to stick with this crappy phone for far too long. Imagine my excitement at the potential of getting a new phone. I'm hoping for a Blackberry Curve. :)

That's actually pretty much everything.

Oh yeah, and after we return from the honeymoon, I'm going to be relocating to a new blog...since I won't be a bride-in-training any longer and all. :)