"But You're Almost Done, Right?"

Saying to a new mother, "But babies sleep all the time, right?"

Saying to someone trying to lose weight but can't lose those pesky five pounds, "But if you just eat less you'll lose the weight, right?"

Saying to a bride six months befor her wedding, "But you're almost done, right?"

These are all justifiable grounds for smacking that person upside the head. And that person would deserve it!

C'mon, anyone who's gotten married EVER, ok, to be fair, in the last year or two can vouch for me. Just because you've nailed down the church, reception location, and a wedding dress doesn't mean you're remotely DONE with wedding planning, so why am I suddenly getting this question all the time! (Plus, since I'm now doing this without Matt, it's extra daunting.) I haven't picked shoes, I haven't ordered invitations, I haven't bought Matt's wedding ring, I haven't had my makeup trial, I haven't thought about cake . . .

Word to the wise: you can only tell a bride that she is done with wedding planning when it's a week AFTER her wedding!

For my friends who read this more to follow my wedding planning progress than to read me whining, here's some planning statuses:

• I registered. It was sad and strange doing it without Matt. But I survived.
• I have chosen the ceremony music and booked one of the ceremony musicians.
• I have chosen a design for the invitations.
• I have appointments with the cake people and the makeup person.
• I don't think I have driven anyone, myself included, completely crazy.

Oh and on a completely-unrelated-to-this-blog note: can we please have a moment of silence for our dearly departed golden girl, Bea Arthur. Thank you.

The Players Have Changed, But the Game's Still "Let's Plan A Wedding"

Previously, our wedding planning had me holding the playbook and Matt was my assistant coach.

Now, I'm still holding the playbook, but my assistant coach has been temporarily traded . . . to Virginia.

Matt got hired to work for the US of A and he's now in Virginia in a training program until August/September. Can you believe that the government wasn't willing to halt operations due to our wedding planning? Some nerve those people have!

So, in future posts, you may notice few references to Matt during the various match-ups -- Kathleen vs. Invitations, Kathleen vs. Bible Readings, Kathleen vs. Dinner Menu -- but I wanted to be clear that Matt's not a deadbeat groom! He's just got a different coach for awhile.

How Do You Measure A Year?

In Rent, they point out that 525,600 minutes is a year, so how do YOU measure a year?

Well, recently, it occurred to me that my transitions into and during my adult life could sort of be measured in bras. (I don't think they'll be working this sentiment into the Rent soundtrack.)

I went to the Ridgewood Corset Shop (yes, that is really the name of the store) to try to buy my wedding day underthings. Before we went, my mom traced the back of my dress using surgical tape so we knew which bra I should get. Good thinking, Mom! Anyway, this lady Marika owns the Corset Shop and has worked there for a million years or something. So she comes in the dressing room to measure me and whatnot, and suddenly, I have a flashback: I'm maybe 11 years old and getting measured - by her - for my very first bra. (On a scale of 1 to 10, that experience was a 15 in my level of embarassment.) Now, here I was, 18 years later, and the same woman is measuring me for my wedding day.

I guess the next milestone will be getting nursing bras from her!

I might have crossed over into TMI Land, so I'll sign off now.