Woo-hoo!! We're at a 42% response rate for wedding RSVPs. So far, 112 people are coming.
But 42% have given us SOME kind of answer, yes or no.
I am beyond surprised, and many of those who have not yet responded are family members who have no choice but to be there.
We're actually going to have a wedding- and people are actually coming to it!
Yikes.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
And growing...
Just a couple of weeks and inches and inches of rain later:
Close-up on the Cabbage:
the broccoli:
the basil:
the jalapeno peppers:
the zucchini
the still spindly eggplant
pots of rosemary and dill:
and our first pepper!!
Close-up on the Cabbage:
the broccoli:
the basil:
the jalapeno peppers:
the zucchini
the still spindly eggplant
pots of rosemary and dill:
and our first pepper!!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
And so it grows...
I started planting 2 weeks ago and had to stop due to excessive rain. I finished putting everything in the ground today!! We have lettuce, spinach, cabbage, eggplant, zucchini, broccoli, basil, jalapenos, and parsley. In the pots I planted rosemary and dill. Hopefully those will thrive and I can bring them in at the end of the warm months so we can have some fresh herbs even in the winter.
The irises bloomed too. They are beautiful, and absolutely everywhere in the STL right now, in all colors of the rainbow.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Let the Gardening Begin!
I had grand plans to expand our garden this year. I was going to do raised beds, bring in soil and have many more square feet to add many more plants. But then Rob went and decided we needed a wedding so I don't have time for that anymore. Still, I am going to garden in the space I used last year and will try to keep a small log of that process. We've had 22 inches of rain this spring, 9 above normal and have set a new record for rainfall so things are running behind. I managed to loosen the soil and take out the old dead basil branches from last year, and then composted my soil a few weeks ago. There were earthworms galore and many of them were so fat they resembled small snakes!! I was SO excited, I hope this means my little garden is off to a great start. These are the photos before planting began:
The greenery in the back are irises, which of course have been there for years and have bloomed a beautiful lavender this week. I will be adding plants this weekend. So far, I'm putting in spinach, purple cabbage, jalapenos, broccoli, basil, yellow squash, and butternut squash. I hope to get some eggplant starters from the Market this weekend too.
I heart gardening.
What a geek.
The greenery in the back are irises, which of course have been there for years and have bloomed a beautiful lavender this week. I will be adding plants this weekend. So far, I'm putting in spinach, purple cabbage, jalapenos, broccoli, basil, yellow squash, and butternut squash. I hope to get some eggplant starters from the Market this weekend too.
I heart gardening.
What a geek.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
CA Legalizes Gay Marriage
Two states down, 48 to go.
I'm so happy for Californians, may your weddings be joyful and your marriages long.
This made me happy.
I'm so happy for Californians, may your weddings be joyful and your marriages long.
This made me happy.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
We're Trendy
Oh my god. We plan a wedding on the cheap, the economy declines and now EVERYONE is planning a wedding on the cheap.
The average cost of a wedding is apparently dipping by a whopping $700 from $28,704, compared with $28,732 in 2007.
Hahaha.
Hilarious.
But we're still below the curve. Quite a bit, in fact. We may be trendy but that is quite a bit more than we plan to (and CAN) spend.
Imagine how much potable water one can buy for $28K.
That almost makes me cry.
The average cost of a wedding is apparently dipping by a whopping $700 from $28,704, compared with $28,732 in 2007.
Hahaha.
Hilarious.
But we're still below the curve. Quite a bit, in fact. We may be trendy but that is quite a bit more than we plan to (and CAN) spend.
Imagine how much potable water one can buy for $28K.
That almost makes me cry.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
14th Ward Obama Delegate
Oh, so this crazy thing happened and I'm somehow a small part of this historical election. On February 28, Missouri held its caucuses. I read this online, and never having been to a single ward or neighborhood association meeting since moving to my new 'hood 18 months ago, I thought what the heck? I'll go to the caucus.
I didn't understand the process fully, I STILL don't understand it but this was the Democratic Caucus for my ward. This meant that all the attendees got a chance to vote for their choice of Dem candidate by physically standing up for them and being counted. Edwards dropped out just before this, so at the meeting we could choose to caucus for either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. I suppose someone could have caucused for Edwards or anyone else or even "undecided" but no one did. We signed in to the meeting, said the pledge of allegiance, and then the Caucus Chair announced that Clinton supporters should go to one corner of the room and Obama folks to the other. The count was 12 for Clinton, 5 for Obama. This is surprising in some ways, given that Obama won my state and was heavily favored in my city, but not as surprising given that the demographic at the meeting appears superficially to be the types that Clinton attracts- white, working class, women.
From each caucus group, we had to elect one delegate and one alternate to represent our ward at the Congressional District meeting on March 17. We had to have one male and one female delegate, and one alternate of each gender also. The Obama group was all women, therefore we got to pick the 2 female spots and the Clinton crew got the 2 male spots. Four of the five of us were interested in being the delegate, so we went around our small circle and gave a short speech about why we wanted to be the delegate. By secret ballot, I was elected with two votes. TWO! Big support.
The Congressional District meeting was far different. Loud, crowded, chaotic and lubricated with beer. These meetings are all held in union halls and I suppose beer runs through these halls like the hallowed tradition of organized labor.
Lovely. I enjoy beer.
I had read up on the delegate process since being elected, but still understood minimally what was to happen. What I came to learn was that of that massive group of Obama supporters at the Congressional Meeting, we were electing 2 delegates to go to the NATIONAL convention in Denver. The big kahuna- oh, and two alternates as well. The Clinton supporters were also their to elect their delegates and the room was huge and unpartitioned, so as each group attempted to hear 1 minute speeches from our candidates, the other's group was doing the same thing. So confusing. Thank God for beer.
I did not run, as apparently there was paperwork that had to be navigated before one could declare oneself a candidate for the national convention. I would not have even known who to ask for that paperwork. We elected 2 young people, which thrills me to no end! A number of people running were middle aged elected people touting "35 years of experience" and dropping names left and right. I'm sure those folks have their place in this process, but to me a delegate represents their ward, district, and state and the vast majority of us are NEVER elected to anything and don't have names to drop. A young Wash U student who reminded me of a shorter, perkier version of Jeff Smith (imagine such a thing!!) who waged a serious campaign was our male delegate and an alderwoman who was elected at the ripe old age of 26 (and who now can't be a day over 28) was our female delegate. Our alternates came from Jefferson County. The voting bloc from JeffCo was unstoppable.
Next up is the State Democratic Convention, and all elected delegates (read: me) are eligible to attend and either run for a MO national delegate position, vote on who will be the national delegates, or both.
I wanted all my options open, so I called a number of people this time to see what paperwork I might need in order to keep myself eligible for whatever I chose to do. I was told my paperwork was in.
So this week is the convention! May 10, and I have been deluged with letters of requests for my support. Most of them are men, all white, and again most are elected to various offices. A handful have been regular, unelected Joes and I do believe two regular Janes are among the paper pushers. I've gotten two calls and one e-mail, one personally written poem, and a number of photos of people who want my vote. Only one is a person of color, and I am certain we have to elect a percentage of minority delegates that is consistent with the racial makeup of MO. We also have a choose at least 1 gay delegate, perhaps two. This might be tricky given that no one has an official Gay ID card, but I have gotten a letter from one guy claiming to be gay and running for delegate. I think I'll have to take his word for it. Of course my vote is already leaning towards him, based purely on his coming out to a bunch of strangers in the first line of a mass-mailed letter. Kudos, buddy. I don't remember his name. Hopefully he'll look like the gay guy at the convention. So kidding.
I may run. I may not. If I feel good about the people representing MO, I will not. I felt well represented by the delegates we elected at the congressional meeting so I have no reason to think we'll be picking all elected white middle aged namedroppers at this next meeting.
I've never been to a Democratic Convention, either- state or national. It will be an experience I think. If I run and win, I'll be headed to Denver in August for the Democratic National Convention and I'll be a delegate for Barack Obama, the presumed candidate for President.
I'm really, really excited about the chance to do that, but also just plain excited about his candidacy. The process has been confusing, but somehow I'm still a tiny part of history. Yes, we can.
I didn't understand the process fully, I STILL don't understand it but this was the Democratic Caucus for my ward. This meant that all the attendees got a chance to vote for their choice of Dem candidate by physically standing up for them and being counted. Edwards dropped out just before this, so at the meeting we could choose to caucus for either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. I suppose someone could have caucused for Edwards or anyone else or even "undecided" but no one did. We signed in to the meeting, said the pledge of allegiance, and then the Caucus Chair announced that Clinton supporters should go to one corner of the room and Obama folks to the other. The count was 12 for Clinton, 5 for Obama. This is surprising in some ways, given that Obama won my state and was heavily favored in my city, but not as surprising given that the demographic at the meeting appears superficially to be the types that Clinton attracts- white, working class, women.
From each caucus group, we had to elect one delegate and one alternate to represent our ward at the Congressional District meeting on March 17. We had to have one male and one female delegate, and one alternate of each gender also. The Obama group was all women, therefore we got to pick the 2 female spots and the Clinton crew got the 2 male spots. Four of the five of us were interested in being the delegate, so we went around our small circle and gave a short speech about why we wanted to be the delegate. By secret ballot, I was elected with two votes. TWO! Big support.
The Congressional District meeting was far different. Loud, crowded, chaotic and lubricated with beer. These meetings are all held in union halls and I suppose beer runs through these halls like the hallowed tradition of organized labor.
Lovely. I enjoy beer.
I had read up on the delegate process since being elected, but still understood minimally what was to happen. What I came to learn was that of that massive group of Obama supporters at the Congressional Meeting, we were electing 2 delegates to go to the NATIONAL convention in Denver. The big kahuna- oh, and two alternates as well. The Clinton supporters were also their to elect their delegates and the room was huge and unpartitioned, so as each group attempted to hear 1 minute speeches from our candidates, the other's group was doing the same thing. So confusing. Thank God for beer.
I did not run, as apparently there was paperwork that had to be navigated before one could declare oneself a candidate for the national convention. I would not have even known who to ask for that paperwork. We elected 2 young people, which thrills me to no end! A number of people running were middle aged elected people touting "35 years of experience" and dropping names left and right. I'm sure those folks have their place in this process, but to me a delegate represents their ward, district, and state and the vast majority of us are NEVER elected to anything and don't have names to drop. A young Wash U student who reminded me of a shorter, perkier version of Jeff Smith (imagine such a thing!!) who waged a serious campaign was our male delegate and an alderwoman who was elected at the ripe old age of 26 (and who now can't be a day over 28) was our female delegate. Our alternates came from Jefferson County. The voting bloc from JeffCo was unstoppable.
Next up is the State Democratic Convention, and all elected delegates (read: me) are eligible to attend and either run for a MO national delegate position, vote on who will be the national delegates, or both.
I wanted all my options open, so I called a number of people this time to see what paperwork I might need in order to keep myself eligible for whatever I chose to do. I was told my paperwork was in.
So this week is the convention! May 10, and I have been deluged with letters of requests for my support. Most of them are men, all white, and again most are elected to various offices. A handful have been regular, unelected Joes and I do believe two regular Janes are among the paper pushers. I've gotten two calls and one e-mail, one personally written poem, and a number of photos of people who want my vote. Only one is a person of color, and I am certain we have to elect a percentage of minority delegates that is consistent with the racial makeup of MO. We also have a choose at least 1 gay delegate, perhaps two. This might be tricky given that no one has an official Gay ID card, but I have gotten a letter from one guy claiming to be gay and running for delegate. I think I'll have to take his word for it. Of course my vote is already leaning towards him, based purely on his coming out to a bunch of strangers in the first line of a mass-mailed letter. Kudos, buddy. I don't remember his name. Hopefully he'll look like the gay guy at the convention. So kidding.
I may run. I may not. If I feel good about the people representing MO, I will not. I felt well represented by the delegates we elected at the congressional meeting so I have no reason to think we'll be picking all elected white middle aged namedroppers at this next meeting.
I've never been to a Democratic Convention, either- state or national. It will be an experience I think. If I run and win, I'll be headed to Denver in August for the Democratic National Convention and I'll be a delegate for Barack Obama, the presumed candidate for President.
I'm really, really excited about the chance to do that, but also just plain excited about his candidacy. The process has been confusing, but somehow I'm still a tiny part of history. Yes, we can.
Update on wedding biz...
So the beer is ordered. Sort of.
And the wine is purchased. Mostly.
Invitations are on their way to us, ready to be addressed, stamped and mailed by us sometime in the next 3 weeks.
I have clothing! No shoes, but who needs shoes anyway?
Rob will still possibly be naked I guess, as there is nothing on the horizon for him to wear.
We now have 6 people standing up for each of us, and I'm very happy about that.
Food, tables, chairs, tents, tablecloths- check, check, check, check.
I see entire blogs from people detailing their wedding planning. Ours is just about 75 days away and I can't bring myself to write a full post. Ah, well, what can you do?
And the wine is purchased. Mostly.
Invitations are on their way to us, ready to be addressed, stamped and mailed by us sometime in the next 3 weeks.
I have clothing! No shoes, but who needs shoes anyway?
Rob will still possibly be naked I guess, as there is nothing on the horizon for him to wear.
We now have 6 people standing up for each of us, and I'm very happy about that.
Food, tables, chairs, tents, tablecloths- check, check, check, check.
I see entire blogs from people detailing their wedding planning. Ours is just about 75 days away and I can't bring myself to write a full post. Ah, well, what can you do?
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