Wedding day

Just another day...

Haven't been blogging much, but I'm sure you all know why. The wedding is happening in about 38 hours... We are taking off for Vermont early Saturday morning.

Pictures and perhaps some short video pieces will come next week, I promise.

Sipping a mimosa

Since I started thinking about my bachelorette party a few days ago, I've been craving a mimosa (orange juice and champagne).

There's just something celebratory about them. And, of course, the first time I ever had one was at my friend Andrea's bachelorette party, so I do associate mimosas with parties.

Of course, it was five of nine on a Friday evening when I first thought of the yummy drink. No chance I would be able to make it to the liquor store! On Saturday, I didn't have time to do. And somehow, it didn't really seem like a priority.

On Sunday, I got a nice surprise: One of my friends brought over three bottles of champagne for the bachelorette. "It could be for tonight, or you can save them for your wedding," she said.
We didn't get around to drinking them, but after everyone left, I started thinking about mimosas again....

Of course, we had no OJ at home.

This afternoon, after being a good girl and going to the gym to burn off yesterday's pizza calories (the cheescake and brownie calories I'll have to burn off some other day), I had to go to Wal-Mart to get stuff for the out-of-town gift baskets I was putting together. As I walked past the frozen foods, the OJ was calling out to me!

As soon as I got home (and got off the phone with my grandmother), I popped open a bottle of champagne and mixed up some juice. Now I'm sitting here enjoying my delicious party drink and thinking of my wedding that is less than a week away... It is worth celebrating, right?

Bachelorette party

Today five of my girlfriends came over for a little bachelorette party. We played games, looked for CSI clues, decorated cookies and ate lots of food. No naked midgets, no male strippers and no puking. But I guess I am ready to get married now!!!

Writing again

For the past couple of weeks, I've been working on a research piece for The Register Citizen about past superintendents in Torrington. I didn't have as much time as I wanted to get in touch with people, so I mostly just quoted one person and then used past articles that I summarized. What's cool is that I found stuff out about every superintendent the city has ever had since 1896, when the salary was $1,800 a year. (It's now like $150,000 or something).

Here's Part I in the series, which was published today. Part II will be published Monday, and Part III will be published Tuesday.

(After I started writing, I realized that there was no way I could contain all that information in just one story.)

Hiking the Sleeping Giant

Anything is better than going to the gym. Since I only had plans to walk on the treadmill anyway, I asked Albie "can't we go hiking the Sleeping Giant today?" He agreed.

The Sleeping Giant, named so because from far away it looks like a giant laying down on his back, is across the street from Quinnipiac University where I went to school for four years. We took the Tower Trail, which goes all the way to the top the easy way with a nice gravel path. It's about 3.2 miles (5 km) and the highest elevation is 739 feet above sea level.

After our hike, we drove to New Haven for some good pizza. Of course, we didn't realize that today was the St. Patrick's Day parade in New Haven - a big deal to the locals. Everywhere was packed, and we ended up waiting two hours for a pizza at Sally's on Wooster Street. It was worth it though. Every step, and every bite.

Friday the 13th

The day hasn't meant much to me in the past since I'm not that superstitious, but as I was driving home last night I began thinking that I should believe in bad luck just a little bit.



This Friday the 13th, one of my friends was fired from work, I had to go to the eye doctor again and convince him to give me different contacts since I couldn't see, I pinched my eye when taking out said contact, and I later lost it on the floor in the office. When I found it 10 minutes later, it was shriveled up and fuzzy. Although I cleaned it, I'm sure it won't be useable. Oh, I also got into a big argument with my boss again (happens every day now since he's always WRONG), and I ended up having to pay $70 instead of the $20 they had promised me at the eye doctor...

15 days...

Only 15 days left now until my wedding day...

Worldless Wednesday

Look, I'm a Crock-Pot!

(Styrofoam from the box of an engagement gift)

More wedding preparations

a Marriage license

a Haircut
a Hair colored
a Teeth whitened
a Tanning
a Table cloths
a Napkins
a Favors
a Table decorations
a Jewelry
a Bridesmaids’ gifts
a Picking a poem
a Taking compatibility test
a Gifts for readers
a List of formal photos
a Menu set

Still left to do:
Manicure

Gift bags for out-of-towners
Gift for minister
Ask my boss about video camera
Thank-you notes for early gifts
Open joint account
Get rings engraved
Find out how/where to change my name
Start greencard application

Getting contacts

Driving home from work at night, I've noticed that I can't see as well as I used to. I knew it was time to get my eyes checked again to up my prescription, but I just never seemed to have the time to get around to it. Last week, I finally forced myself to do it.

I had been thinking about getting contacts for a while, but the idea of sticking my fingers into my eyes really bothered me. In fact, it still bothers me.

I went ahead and ordered contacts anyway, and was immediately offered a set of contacts to practice with. Of course, I first had to come back for a class to learn how to put them in and take them out. It was a bit embarrasing sitting at the store counter crying my eyes out and looking flustered, but after about half an hour or so, I had managed to put both contacts in. Another 20 minutes later, I finally got both of them out again and was able to go home.

For now, I struggle every day to keep the contacts in for a few hours at a time - 2 hours on Friday, 4 hours on Saturday, 6 hours on Sunday and 8 hours today. On Friday, I will go back to have the prescription checked again - and hopefully also pick up my new glasses!

Oh yeah, I am not planning to be one of those people, you know, the ones who walk around with contacts all the time looking pretty. I actually like my glasses; they make me look smarter.

The main reason for getting the contacts is for times like the wedding, or when I want to go skiing - times when glasses would just get in the way of things.

The only problem is that my test contacts don't seem to be the right prescription for me. I can see things far away, but looking at a computer screen is still very blurry (and this is after four days of wearing them!). I can't wait to see what the pages I design will look like this week before I get my real contacts...

No skiing today

We had planned to go skiing again today at Mohawk Mountain, since a friend gave us passes for rentals and lift tickets. I didn't get everything ready last night like I usually do, but I was really planning on getting up early and making sandwiches and everything.

Of course, after my alarm went off, I turned around and fell back asleep. Darn daylight savings time! I'll never get used to it.

An hour later, Albie woke me up and said "we need to talk." It was raining out, for the third day in a row. We were hoping that because of the higher elevation in Cornwall, perhaps it was snowing there. According to the weather web sites, it was not. According to the Mohawk Mountain web site, the facility will be closed until Thursday.

So no skiing for us today. Boy, am I glad I didn't get up early!

Passing the test

Today we passed the test for whether we can get married - the pre-marital counceling session with our minister, aka Albie's aunt.

Albie and I eached filled out a survey a few weeks ago - today we got to see the results.

Apparently, we answered a lot of questions the same or very similar. Sometimes, even too similar, in that we both said we are assertive and make the decisions at home, and that we both get what we want most of the time. I do all the cooking and the laundry, while Albie we share cleaning and pet responsibilities.

Religion is something that, perhaps, we should talk about. And oh yeah, perhaps it would be a good idea to actually talk about children and whether we want to have them? I also have to remember to make Albie a beneficiary on my life insurance plan!

We spent some time going over the Episcopalean wedding ceremony again (not as long as the Catholic one since there's no communion, but not as short as if we had chosen a justice of the peace).

I was really glad that the minister listened to me on one point: I absolutely refuse to have it announced at the end of the ceremony that we are Mr. and Mrs. Albert Yuravich, as if I completely were to lose my identity along with my first name.

Of course, she was a bit confused as to how to write it, because my name will now be Maiden Name-Yuravich, and Albie's is officially Toffey-Yuravich (although he never uses the Toffey part). I will not use the Toffey part; Albie will not use the Maiden Name part.

This all would have been so much easier if we could have both just picked Toffey, but this is not an option since his living relatives are all Yuraviches with the exception of the minster. But just think about it... Toffey... doesn't it sound yummy?

Bridezilla blogging

I'm sure you've heard of Bridezillas - the brides or brides-to-be who go from sweet to completely nuts in just a few seconds.

We've all heard the stories and seen the pictures of these women who maul their in-laws and cause thousands of dollars worth of damage after ruining cars, homes or reception sites. Now there are even tests online where you can check if you have turned into Bridezilla.

I don't need to take a test, however - I already know I have.

Friends at work already call me Bridezilla. Mostly, it's because I go off on the littlest things when it comes to my wedding. What I hate the most is when people tell me "well, if you are going to do this, then you must also to that."

"I don't have to do anything," I tell them. "It is my wedding. I know what I want, and that's how it's going to be!"

What I want to say is "It might not be traditional, but just deal with it!"

Then, of course, there was the caterer who huffed and puffed over the fact that even dared suggest food could be served from the kitchen. Oh, and we won't be having matching plates for everyone. How could I possibly work? I mean, how will people know where to put their food if they have a blue plate instead of a green???

I probably should have hinted more towards the fact that everyone of our friends and family can cook really well, so perhaps we really don't need a caterer?

Sometimes, the helpful suggestions from others are the worst.
"There's a great hairdresser down at the center of town. They only charge $23 for a haircut, so you might want to make an appointment there the morning of the wedding."
"To do what?"
"You know, have them style your hair."
"Style how?"
"Blow dry it nicely and stuff."
"You don't think I can blow dry by own hair???"
Geez.

So I took the Bridezilla test a few minutes ago: "Your results: Low-Maintenance Bride. You're a very easygoing bride who knows what getting married is really all about. Give yourself a pat on the back for being so down to earth!"

So there, I guess it's not that bad after all.

Worldless Wednesday

My little princess.

Knitting interrupted

Today I was trying to finish a scarf I started knitting well before Christmas. I sat down to watch the season finale of "The Bachelor" (very dramatic!), and I dug out my yarn and needles from their safe spot high up in my closet.

Less than a minute later, Pip jumped up on the couch and started chewing the yarn. I pushed him away. He started pawing the needles. I pushed him away. He grabbed the entire ball of yarn in his mouth and tried walking away with it. Again, I pushed him away.

Pip finally settled about four inches away from me. I just picked up the needles again, when Sophie jumped up - right on top of the already knitted part of the scarf - and settled in as if this was the one and only spot where she would be able to sleep.

I looked at Pip and said "really, this is all YOUR fault." He got up and moved closer, until he was actually on top of the yarn, and settled in for the evening.

So I watched the entire three hours of "The Bachelor" - but I didn't get much knitting done at all. Perhaps by next Christmas the scarf will be finished.

More from the Vermont trip

We drove up through a blizzard - it had only been raining in Connecticut. We stopped in Whately, Mass., for some snacks and a bathroom break. Apparently a town ordinance prevents the sale of single beers, supposedly to stop people from drinking in the car. Not sure why people can't still do that if they buy six, but there are stupid laws everywhere... The Chinese food is from First Wok in West Dover, where we stopped on our way home.

Getting our marriage license

Last weekend we were in Vermont checking out the place where we are getting married. We also stopped by Town Hall to get our marriage license.


I had called Jackie, the town clerk and tax collector (it's a small town!), ahead of time to find out what we needed to bring.

"As long as you know both mothers' maide names and the towns where everyone was born, it shouldn't be a problem," she said.


We showed up armed with passports, driver's licenses and state ID cards. "Which would you prefer?" I asked Jackie. "Neither," she said. "There's no need to see ID."


Albie and I, and his mom and aunt, sat down at a large table in the middle of the room and started the paperwork. Albie, of course, found a bowl of peanuts he started munching on. A nice fireplace was letting out heat behind us... all in all, it was the nicest town hall visit I think I've had in a long time.


When we had some questions, Jackie referred to a 2-inch binder that was about half full.
"Is that everyone who has gotten married here in the last ten years?" I asked, somewhat sarcastic.

"Oh no," Jackie replied. "These are all the weddings, births, deaths and divorces dating back from 1994."


Like I said, it's a small town.