Why so silent?

Probably has something to do with the wedding being 8 days away and me having almost literally a million errands and details to take care of.

It's late, so I'll be brief:

--Work colleagues threw a lovely luncheon/send-off, complete with good food, good company and live entertainment. (My successor led everyone in singing "Deep in the Heart of Texas" with lyrics re-written to be about my life and the changes ahead). Oh, and there were HATS. Will post photo separately since Blogger mucks up the spacing.

--Last day at work was also my birthday, which took a back seat to all the other preparations. Mike took me out for Thai food and surprised me with Martinelli's, lovely gifts and a movie. Saturday night, we enjoyed a salmon dinner at Lee & Angela's. Got to play with the kids and see Chris, Kirsten & Skye, who stopped by too. We also worked on putting the wedding ceremony program together, though our information was (and is [grr!]) incomplete.

--On the way home, I had what will probably be remembered as wedding meltdown #2, during which I raged loudly about how I can't cross an incomplete task off my list. Even though we made progress on the program, I was unsatisfied believe my exact words were, "If it's not 100% done, then it's NOT DONE!"

--Mike quoted my meltdown moment during birthday dinner with mom, dad, brother John and Christina Sunday night. When HE said it, it sounded so unreasonable...

--Alas, one of my cousins won't be making it to the wedding. I made the unfortunate mistake of scheduling our wedding one week before his employer, Kurt Bush the NASCAR driver, is getting married. (Could have been worse; think of the poor brides scheduled against Star Jones' product placement wedding).

--Got an interestingly timed email from an estranged friend, inquiring about how I'm doing. I invited her parents to the reception so I suspect she's heard about the wedding from them. I agonized over whether to invite her, but ultimately decided against. She'd been critical of me and Mike from the start; not the vibe I want at the wedding. Asking "how are you?" isn't enough of an olive branch after a year's worth of nastiness.

--Gave a talk in church Sunday re: my time in the Pasadena Ward and what I've learned from being a part of it. Gave context--where I was when I came into the ward, my "spiritual growth spurt" while I've been there, and where I'm going. Discussed my top 5 demonstrations of Christ's teaching enacted/embodied by people in the ward. The bishopric guy wisely scheduled me as the final speaker. Had some weird hissing/feedback from the microphone at the start of my talk--even after they turned it all the way off. Got a lot of positive comments afterward on my remarks and for handling the technical difficulties so well.

--I hereby repent of my past transgressions of not RSVPing to other people's weddings. I guess I should have seen that coming, eh karma?

Will try to write more leading up to the Big Day, but make no promises. Must. Sleep. Now.