So Far So Good

We got done this weekend what we wanted/needed to get done. How often can I say that??

My motion in limine (with alternative forms of order) is done (the first draft -- but I'm not a multiple-draft kind of gal); my plan is to get it to Charlie this afternoon for signatures and have it filed tomorrow. That will truly be "something accomplished; something done" as my mother would have said. I also have some other work to do today for Charlie, but it's not too much (I hope!) to get done in the time allowed.

The Christmas ornaments have been put away (we follow the tradition of my parents -- the tree goes up just before Christmas and stays up for the twelve days of Christmas, which takes you to January 6) although we haven't yet gotten around to the Christmas cards and advent calendars. We have also denuded the refrigerator of its extensive magnet collection. The fridge is very elderly and so gets replaced on Wednesday with one almost precisely the same except that the drawer for cold cuts and cheeses won't fall down so often!

We also collected the basket o' books I won at the Forest City library raffle! I was in there mid-November and the raffle had just started: $1 per ticket or 3-for-$2. I really love this little library, so I handed over a $20 bill and then spent a LOT of time writing out all my raffle tickets. I was told once that you want to fold your slips of paper (which is what these raffle tickets amounted to) more than just once, so I did most of them into quarters and some into thirds. (Mind you, that technique didn't work at the Farm City Feast, where Starman had his heart set on winning a John Deere toy tractor, but hey -- that's life.) A couple days after Christmas we got the call: I'd won! So we drove down last Friday and collected it -- a huge basket filled with a couple dozen books at least, and of all sorts: Madeleine Albright's memoirs next to a Nora Roberts romance next to a James Patterson thriller next to Margaret Truman's "Murder at the Opera." And a fair selection of children's books, which have been sorted out for Starman's nieces and nephews, and the Jumping Bean & Beanette, Coffee Jones's little ones.

And we finished (even the extent of finding the last piece on the floor) the 1,500 piece jigsaw of a thatched cottage with extensive spring garden. We've been in a jigsaw groove for a while; we did one when Hub 1.0 was around for Thanksgiving, then another with him over Christmas, followed by the puzzle Starman got for Christmas (a challenging jazz painting that was borderline abstract), and now the behemoth cottage.

And with the holidays officially over, it's back to wedding planning: We're having trouble planning a tasting for the caterers. First of all, it's amazingly expensive: £350 (roughly $700) plus VAT (another 15% or something). I figured no way, but Starman -- who is worried that we're spending a huge amount of money on food that we've not tried -- seemed willing, provided it wasn't just us. We'd have liked to have had his brother's entire family come along, but the caterers can't do the Saturday (already booked for another event), Starman's sister-in-law can't do the Friday, the caterers can't do Wednesday or Thursday, and it's iffy for the Monday, and we can't do the Tuesday. *sigh* I'm not encouraged, but then I was okay with not doing the tasting. We'll just have to see how that all plays out.

I am relieved that an authority no less than Martha Stewart allows a nice, large window for getting wedding invitations out: two to four months before the event. I figure as ours is a small wedding and most of the invitees know they're invited and what the date is, we can wait until after our trip to England to get them out. That will be just under three months before the date, and I think that's okay. Which is good, because I don't think I have time to do them before we leave: They're a bit fussy, and I'm doing them myself.

Tomorrow -- if the fates allow! -- I'm off to see the famous Stephen, who I want to design & make my wedding dress. We've had half-a-dozen appointments fall through, mostly because of the weather. Tomorrow is supposed to be well up into the 50s here, so I think this one may actually happen.

The one thing that's a pressing deadline for me is also weather-dependent: quilting. I know that sounds weird, but as I mentioned before, I have to baste my current quilt (which is bed-sized) out in the barn, and it takes a long time, so I don't want to do it when it's around freezing. Tomorrow is supposed to be the warmest day for ages, so I've got to get out there. This is a bit of a crunch -- we're also due in Binghamton to sign our wills & other legal documents -- but I can do it if I make it a priority. So, it's a priority!

And that's my life: recent past, present, and tomorrow. As I say: So far, so good.