How much for 47 cards?

It's that time of year again. Card time. You know exactly what I'm talking about...Mother's Day, Graduation, June weddings, baby showers and births, Father's Day...so on and so forth...LOL.

I love cards, even in this digital age, nothing is as special as getting a card (via snail mail) from someone...LOL. A card says, "hey, I was thinking about you...not that I don't always, but today you were REALLY on my mind". If I had 1 card for every 10 I have sent, I could build a House of Cards...LOL.

Now, not b/c I worked there, nor b/c i have a tattoo of the EXACT crown on my ankle...I am a Hallmark Whore and I am a flipper--after I read that card, I do turn it over to see if someone cared enough to send the very best. There is NOTHING like a Hallmark card. It is THE standard for the industry.

However, it does not mean that I do not LOVE every card I get...some people and some places have no access to Hallmark. I feel for those poor souls...LOL, but for the past few years, I have started making my own cards and people LOVE them. I do, too. (Not b/c I think I'm a creative genius, just that most times they are top notch...and whoever said it was cheaper to make cards than to buy them...well, they must have never made cards.) I, also, LOVE getting cards that people have made for me!!! In a hurry, though...I have been known to buy whatever is being sold, wherever I am...LOL. Desperate times call for desperate measures...LOL.

Anyway, besides planning this wedding, I am making cards hand over foot for everything under the sun these days. Maybe, you'll be fortunate enough to get one...LOL.

47,46,45,44,43...and so on. I hope you will stick with me.

The First 48...

Creating that guests list..well, it has turned into a real downer. I am almost sick to my stomach and Mr. Chad and I have argued over it ALL day.

We want to include everyone, but in this economy and with the new house, we have to set a limit that can be covered by the budget.

The 2 of us decided we would start with our aunts and uncles and then spread outward. Together, we have roughly 30 of those. Then 1st cousins-maybe 50. That's 80, not including kids... All of this is fine, the problem occurs when we start inviting friends.

I, definitely have more friends that I want to invite than he does...they are no more important than his...I just have more. The budget is set and there is NO WAY we can go over 110. So, I'm trying to figure if I should rob a bank now...or pick up a second job for the next few weeks. I just don't want this wedding to put us back into debt b/c we have worked so hard, and really sacrificed a lot to get where we are...

I need to let this go, pray about it, and see what the greater plan is...b/c right now...I am drained!

48,47,46,45,44...and so on. I hope you will stick with me.

49 cousins +

It is so nice when I get to see and spend time with my cousins (above are SOME, but not all of my faves...LOL). Girls tend to stick with girls in the family, and the guys do the same... But, we all have faves that are of the opposite sex, as well. I would LOVE to have all of my cousins there to share my wedding day with me, but we all have separate lives and I know that's not possible...

Year after year, we are slowly becoming somewhat like our mother's...or the exact opposite...and it is the funniest thing ever. Over the past year, I have not been able to hang out with them like I want to...but for the most part when we get together, everyone just picks up where we left off...I think that is a sign of a loving family.

Nothing important today, just something special. I thought i would list some of my cousins and my favorite memory of them.

Verlissa-truly, my big sister. I hung onto her as a kid like you wouldn't believe...still love her as much, maybe more...since she is my future husband's aunt-and my cousin...LOL.
Carrie-She was ALWAYS good with hair...once, she did the Bo Derek "10"-do for me. I thought I was hot stuff...LOL.

Riki-She was different from us, but loved coming down in the summer, and when she was young...she loved Elvis...I didn't until her...LOL.

Karen-We grew up together, but were never as close as we have become since I moved back from New Orleans. She will listen when I call, and feels free to call just to vent.

Today, I won't get into the guys, but there are some good stories there...most are with Jr. Boy...Ford Rangers, repulsive birds, Gigpole Slone, and how mercuchrome cures everything-including broken elbows...LOL. Those were the days.

49,48,47,46,45...and so on. I hope you will stick with me.

5150...how apropos (doing 2 days in one...LOL)

5150 is a great album by Van Halen and b/c of it we know what those numbers stand for...well, I do...and these days, if anyone follows entertainment news, Britney may have made it popular to them...Section 5150 is a section of California's Welfare and Institutions Code...and it states something to the effect that a person has a mental disorder that makes them a danger to his or her self...I live in Kentucky, and whether we have that or not I feel it sometimes...like I am a danger to myself, not often though...to others...YES. Since starting the major planning of our wedding, I have become one Crazy Bitch...However, I find it so hard when things don't go as planned...

Turns out the reception is one of those things not going as planned...and it is driving me batty... Here are just a few of the issues that I am currently having with the venue. For one, unlike every restaurant in the United States of America, they do not have WHITE linens. They don't have off-white, either. In fact, they have nothing that looks white...it is cream...very, very dark cream...almost yellow and they are not sure they have enough napkins??? So now I have to find white linens for the tables and white napkins for the guests.

Next, they have NO glassware...NONE. It is plastic. If that wasn't enough to send me over the edge...they have coffee cups, but no saucers. WHAT THE F? Have I mentioned this is one of the nicer places in the area??? If it were not already printed on the invites...I would sooooooooo have this somewhere else... **** I loathe drinking out of plastic, unless i am already inebriated and have beads wrapped around my neck, all the while yelling,"Throw me something, Mister".

I need to let some things go...as long as the food is good, and my friends and family are with me...nothing else should matter...especially not the color of the tableclothes...

5150,49,48,47,46...and so on. I hope you will stick with me.

52 weeks of "new" recipes

I LOVE to cook. OK, I like to cook...but I do LOVE cooking shows and the Food Channel. I, also, LOVE to read cookbooks and look at the pictures...and wouldn't y'all (We all said it before Paula made it popular and chic, but she is authentically real...and cool!) know it...I'm marrying a man that only eats chicken, bacon, and bread. Alright, he eats a few other things (you will be shocked in just a few paragraphs on what "few other things" means) like chips and candy, but those are snacks...not what I would call food, really.

He doesn't eat pizza, steak, seafood--of any kind, pasta, nothing he can't pronounce, of course...LOL. Personally, I think it stems from "only-child" syndrome, but that is merely an educated guess...LOL. His parents aren't picky eaters that I'm aware of...maybe his Mom, a bit.

Not wanting to try Chicken with Chorizo and Cannellini is one thing, but living on (God, I can't believe I'm telling people this...) "potted" meat with Ruffles plain chips...I, though not sure, think that is a sin, maybe the 8th deadly one. It blows my mind that he can eat that stuff, but won't try BBQ ribs...YUMMMMM-O.

What is funny about his eating habits, and I have had to let this issue go completely b/c it's a losing battle, is that he will eat certain things, but won't put them together. For example, he eats tomatoes and lettuce (I think...I know he eats cabbage), but he won't eat a salad. He eats different sorts of breads, but doesn't eat pancakes. Eats fries and raw potatoes, but won't eat hash browns. Do you see my dilemma?

In my opinion, he drinks waaaayyy too much, waaayyyy to often and chances are...his taste buds are probably already dead...but from the look of him, he ain't starvin'. Here's my plan, after we wed, I'm going to make something new every week and ASK him to try it. I guess, if he doesn't...that's more for me...LOL.

52,51,50,49,48...and so on. I hope you will stick with me.

5th 3rd...banking issues and marriage.

Is it wrong to want to keep finances separate when getting married? Currently, Mr. Chad makes most of the money, but I hope...very soon, that we become equal to some degree. I think the 2 of us should split everything 50/50...but that whatever is left over, not including-- retirement, vacations, and educating the kids, that we should be able to do what we want with the rest.

Mr. Chad wants to build a race car/racing team/heck, just anything to do with him being behind the wheel of a car--any kind of car, for that matter...and I'm GREAT with that...I, on the other hand, want a luxury car(preferably a BMW of any kind without the word wagon after it...LOL) and to travel with the kids. In fact, I would skip on the luxury car to travel with my girls.

He sees what I want to do as time that I don't want to be with him, but I think it's a wonderful plan...when he races, his Dad gets to be with him...and when the girls and I travel, they get to be with "their" Mom. How perfect is that?

Ultimately though, we both want to be debt free. I would love to pay the house off in 10 years and just live a little frugal to enjoy later...he does not think that will happen. I spend too much and rarely plan for a rainy day. I am working on that, but he's right. Thank goodness for savers and planners. LOL

53,52,51,50,49...and so on. I hope you will stick with me.

54 Shades of OPI and 5400 of everything else...

It turns out, because somewhere it is written, I am to be trying to figure out make-up, nails, tan, hair, etc. for the "Big Day"...other than the tanning part (which I LOVE doing, either real or fake...LOL), I have never been a make-up, hair, and nails kinda girl.

Ok, well, I'm lying to an extent. I am a hair gal, but not fixing, cutting, or styling. I am more of the every 6 to 8 weeks helping the "new growth" (as my cousin Carrie calls it, and she has a right. She owns and instructs at a Beauty School) blend with the rest of my "natural" color...LOL.

Nails, I almost always have my toenails painted, but never did much with my fingernails, until recently... and now, thanks to Ms. Mary, I'm getting a French-tip manicure EVERY Friday. I heart having my nails painted this way, I've had it in the past...but had let them go for the last couple of years just opting for a clear coat to help them look healthy. Never was much of a cutter, either...more of a filer of those that would break off...LOL. I hope I can keep this up, but I'm betting between new house and summer garden this won't last long...LOL.

Father, forgive me for what I am getting ready to say...Make-up scares me, but I love it! I am not good at applying it on myself, though great applying it on others, and I really limit myself to the same colors. I have had the same blush for 13 years-I swear. I love MAC make-up and buy mascara from them...1, sometimes 2 times a year. I, also, use MAC lipstick. The rest is a cornucopia-of-crap. I've always been good about cleansing products, but I only use them a couple of times a week (month)...LOL

For me, the best, and only, solution is to make sure someone is there to do all this for me! I want my hair down at the ceremony and up at the reception, make-up light in the church and dark at the reception, French tip mani and pedi at both...as long as it's one of OPI's bridal colors then I think that covers it...I'm set now!

54,53,52,51,50...and so on. I hope you will stick with me.