116 days

Well, as my dear mother has suggested, there are less days to go until the big day.  116 to be precise.  Amazing how time just keeps ticking away, we count days until the wedding, others count days until school is done or vacation starts... and i am excited.  Someone at work asked me tonight how things were going and wasn't i just super excited?  And i had to think that perhaps i need to be a mite more bubbly and outwardly pumped... i think that inwardly i smile nonestop... but maybe i need to let that out a bit more freely!  So just know that i am happy and excited to be marrying my dear fellow.  I miss him so much during the week - and with every day that we count down, it's another day that we come closer to the day when we are united as husband and wife.  And all the steps along the way of making decisions about what sheets to buy or how many of this or that to order don't really amount to a hill of beans in the end right?  They are just the little tiny building steps along the road to a wedding which is but a step on the journey of married life for which there needs to be infinitely more preparation.  Hmmm.. sometimes i wonder how our lives will look in a year from now but we leave that in the hands of God who knows our ways and has them planned out before one of us even came to be.  That's comforting in a world of uncertainty!  Praise God!  

131 days...

Yes, it's true.  131 days to go until wedding day.  At times, the days fly by and i'm happy when it's the weekend again, Timothy is here and we can see each other.  At times, the days drag and i'm impatient.  Time to forget both of us living in separate cities and separate places.  Time to eat meals together, talk each evening freely without phones and just spend time puttering around our house together.  We are both looking forward to our married life. 
Realizing of course that there are lots and lots of adjustments, decisions and times of ups and downs to be experienced.  And to be honest, sometimes all the decisions leading up to a wedding day seem so...superfluous but at the same time, they are part of making the day special.  So sometimes i'm torn - is the exact colour of paper really necessary and essential to making things perfect?  No... and that puts things in perspective!   But it is a good exercise going through all the little and big details, making plans and decisions together.  I like making decisions together.  It's much nicer than being on your own - to share your thoughts and ideas, bounce things off one another and work through things and come out on the end joined closer by the experience.  Oh, dear, time to stop since i am waxing a bit deep and ?meaningful. 

So yes, it was 2:10 am

I am trying to find the right colour for my text - something dignified and snobby and i decided that purple was the colour of royalty so that would have to suffice.. A year or more ago, a friend introduced me to Downton Abbey, a new series from Masterpiece Classics and i watched season one with much eagerness and enjoyment - it was about the lives of a very rich family in England just before WWI and the parallel lives of their servants downstairs (i suppose an updated version of Upstairs, Downstairs?).  Anyhow, Season Two was at Costco a few months ago and i eagerly purchased it - and my dear friend Helen indicated that she was also a fan and we agreed to watch it together.  We got together about a month or so ago and watched the first three episodes but then after that, it seemed to be impossible to find a mutually agreeable time to indulge our thirst for class struggle and english mannerisms. 
Well, last night was the night appointed for our reunion and resumption of our viewing pleasure.  So after a dinner of maple chicken (thanks again Lauren and Mrs S!!) and a couple of courses (just to go with the theme of the night!) and a couple of forks (just for appearances - salad and main - couldn't come up with any more utensils), we settled down with some yummy rhubarb crisp.  We watched one episode, then another, and well, by the time we finished with the Christmas episode (which i'm sure was longer than a normal hour), we looked at the clock with some shock to discover that it was 2:10 am... boy, i haven't done a stunt like that in a long, long time... but it was fun.  And our appetites are whetted for next season!  Thanks Helen for a memorable night - go Dame Maggie Smith who definitely gets the best zingers!  She made us laugh quite often!

"Don't be defeatist dear.  It's very middle class!"

"It always happens.  When you give these little people power it goes to their heads like strong drink"

"I'm a woman, Mary.  I can be as contrary as i choose!"

"He's hardly the consummation devoutly to be wished"

Strawberries, fresh strawberries!!!

It's June 1st.  And despite all the heat and dry weather, the birds and the slugs, i managed to pull these beauties out of my little strawberry patch in the back garden.  They were super yummy warm from the sun and looking oh so fresh!  These are the great-grandchildren of a plant that i received from the Tigchelaar's and which has gone on to multiply and seek to take over the corner of my garden with runners galore.  But if there are results like this, i don't mind.  It's gonna take me a while to get enough for jam that's for sure(especially if i keep eating them right away!)  But they are berry, berry good....

For Tom

This picture is for my brother-in-law Tom.  Who seems to think that buying things in bulk is a funny idea - but in reality, many people do things like that.  Look at this person - they are prepared in case of a tornado or hurricane or spaghetti spill - it's the boy scout motto isn't it?  Be prepared!