The Great Escape

We had originally decided that we wouldn't go on a proper honeymoon since we wouldn't be able to afford much after the wedding.  We figured we'd just spend a few days at Hampton Beach and save up to do something for our first anniversary.  Then Rick suggested he drive down to Virginia and he'd spend a few days down here with me.  Then we decided to stop over for a night in Atlantic City, NJ on the way.  Then I suggested we stop for a night in Ocean City, MD and a plan came together.



We will start our honeymoon adventure in Hampton Beach and drive down to Atlantic City on Tuesday.  We'll play a few slots, check out Ripley's Believe It or Not, and see what else Atlantic City has to offer.  We've booked an ocean front room at the Showboat. 

Then on Wednesday morning we'll head down to Ocean City for a couple of days.  I can't wait to show Rick one of my favorite places.  We'll do the Haunted House, play some miniature golf, and check out Trimper's Rides and the Jolly Roger Amusement Park.  We were able to get a gorgeous suite at the Hilton that is also ocean front.  And we will have to have some Captain's pizza--the best beach pizza in the East. 

We'll start for Virginia on Friday morning and Rick will head back up to Massachusetts early on Saturday.  Now all I have to figure out is how to travel light.  I swear I just heard Rick snicker all the way from Massachusetts as I typed that. 

We only get married and have a honeymoon once, so we thought we should make it count.  I know we're both looking forward to being able to relax too. 

Less than two weeks to go!

The Perfect Storm

I tend to be a pretty laid-back kind of guy. Even when things are at their absolute messiest in any aspect of life, I make every effort not to panic and just concentrate on taking things one step at a time.

At this point, I have decided to make an exception to this, and briefly allow myself to absolutely freak out.



exploding head courtesy of Tom Tomorrow

For the first time in my life, I am pretty sure I had some kind of mild panic attack yesterday morning. I am starting to realize that planning this wedding was a piece of cake (no pun intended) until we started getting down to the last few weeks and all the floating details that still need to be addressed. Details like:

• Place cards (we already have the holders)
• Confirming the final details of the cake
• Checking in with the DJ to make sure he can handle our insanely specific requests
• Getting my suit and Andy's dress pressed
• Matting and framing of our "guestbook" (a display of some antique postcards of Hampton Beach)
• Finalizing the seating chart
• Writing my vows
• Confirming the specifics of the ceremony with our JOP
• Finishing up the remaining centerpieces
• ...And probably a lot more that escapes me at the moment.

On top of all this, I get the feeling that life beyond the wedding is conspiring to drive me crazy. Work is overwhelming, with several upcoming trade shows and  lengthy business trips, our office moving to an as yet unidentified new location in Massachusetts, and a flood of complex daily problems and annoyances.

As Andy mentioned in her previous post, we also had a hurricane to contend with on her last visit up here, which thankfully didn't rob us of any of our precious time together.





Oh, and let's not forget that Spooky, in a totally surreal incident, saw the plastic storage container full of brown sand (for the centerpieces) that I had stupidly left open on the floor of my office, and apparently assumed it was some kind of new litterbox.

Not wanting to subject our guests to centerpieces that smelled like cat pee for 5½ hours straight, I had to throw the entire 20 lbs of sand in the trash and order more. I certainly couldn't be mad at her though, she was just doing what cats do. A large, open container on the floor, full of sand, is where Spooky is programmed to do her cat "business".



It's business time.

It has definitely been an interesting and stressful few weeks for us, but none of it has made me any less excited for the wedding. Many people have told me that the day will go by so fast that I'll barely notice it, but I'm hoping that's not true. I know we are both looking forward to spending a wonderful day at the beach celebrating our union with our friends and family.

Goodnight Irene

    
     On my last weekend up I did the hair and makeup dry run with the Soho Salon and Spa in Rye, NH.  I had envisioned something completely different than what the stylist came up with, but I loved it.  A partial up do and very simple makeup.  I'm glad I decided to let a pro do my hair and makeup.  That will be one less thing to go wrong on the big day.

     The weekend did not come without surprises of course.  Hurricane Irene bore down on the East Coast and I couldn't get a flight out until Tuesday and I had planned to leave on Sunday.  Flights were so backlogged out of Logan that I ended up flying out of Bradley International in Connecticut.  I have never seen an airport so empty. 

Yes, it always looks this empty.

     Everything was closed in Leominster on Sunday.  Luckily we didn't lose power and we managed to find one Chinese restaurant open.  Clearly we have more experience with hurricanes down South and don't tend to freak out and close everything when there's a little wind and rain.



 I'll be back up this weekend to work out the seating chart and visit one last time before the big day.  Don't forget to let one of us know where you're staying and if you will be attending the post wedding breakfast on Sunday.