Only 9 days left until our big day. Everyone keeps asking if I'm nervous. I don't think I am. I am stressed because there is so much left to do! Mostly running around and picking stuff up, and giving people money. If anyone has any extra money....just kidding.

I'm looking forward to seeing our friends and families together. I'm looking forward to our honeymoon. Most of all, I'm looking forward to our new life together and what our future will bring.

So today I turned 33. It looks kind of strange, seeing it in print. Then again, I could just write 32, which is the age my brother thinks I am. Perhaps he put that to make me feel better about being 30-something. At least it wasn't the "now-you're-3-years-older-than-me-on-paper" teasing I usually get from the kid.
When I was 20, 33 seemed like a million years away. Now when I look back and see all the things I've done since I was 20, I realize how blessed I am to have wonderful friends and family that have supported me through all my adventures. Some highlights (perhaps some lowlights too, depending on how you take them.)

• Under the category of "It seemed like a good idea at the time" getting married at 20 and divorced at 22.
• Another adventure that could qualify for the same category, moving to Toronto for a year, and then moving back home.
• Finding my (then) dream job working for The Body Shop, then realizing I was only working to pay for someone else's dream of having the perfect small business.
• Quitting my job and moving back home.
• Meeting Chris and Keltie and Amy - three of the most amazing women I know!
• Seeing a life enter the world: thank you Chris for allowing me to be there to share the birth of your daughter. Sharing that with you taught me a lot about what an amazing thing the human body is.
• The sense of satisfaction of applying for my first loan, and getting it without anyone having to co-sign! And driving away with my new red car, something my mom says I have wanted since I was 5...
• Making enough money on the stock market (thank you Home Depot and George!) to put a down payment on my house when I was 28 - again, with no one needed to co-sign the mortgage!
• Making it to Europe before I was 30 and having a great vacation with my mom and dad.
• Living in my neighborhood allowed me to spend what I now know was precious time with my Grandma Carbol and the Aunties.
• Seeing a life leave the world: losing 2 grandparents in 6 months and a precious pet shortly after that, made me realize that the one thing that is truly important is keeping the ones that you love close to you in every way possible. I miss Grandma C and Grandpa P and the Indypup every day, but the memories of them warm my heart. I have three of the best guardian angels...
• Who knew you could find love on the Internet? After my girlfriend at work met her husband on line, I thought, "What do I have to lose?" Nothing, it turns out. After a couple of interesting dates, (Note to anyone putting their picture on line, it helps to actually resemble your photo. Showing up for a blind date with no hair when your picture clearly shows you with hair is a first date faux pas....) I met Bryan. The rest is history!
• The next big event is the wedding, then the honeymoon...
• As for the rest, it will be a surprise to us all... stay tuned...

(First pic is a view of the school campus. Next pic is some of the teachers. Craig is on the left.)

Today I finally had a call from my brother Craig, who is teaching in China for a year.
I've had email, and updates from mom and dad, but this was the first call I've had. He sounds so happy! We tried to see if it would be possible for him to come home for the wedding, but it just wouldn't work. As an amazingly generous wedding gift, my Uncle Barry and Aunt Faye are flying him home in January, which is during the Chinese New Year break. I can't wait to see him and hear all about his trip, and share our stories of the wedding with him.
I did find out that he has no access to any blog site from China. Apparently they are banned. Not sure if this is just at the school, or for the entire country. I guess things are different in a communist country...He'll just have to look at this when he is back in the winter.

Note to all of those planning a wedding - when you count the number of guests to give the final numbers to the caterer, don't forget to include yourselves! I was going over the list, and it occured to me that someone was missing but I couldn't figure out who it was...I guess we won't eat... but Bryan gets faint if he doesn't eat, so maybe I should call the caterer....

I'm so excited! We just booked the honeymoon - 6 days, 5 nights in Seattle. We found a really cool suite hotel on Expedia.ca. The MarQueen Hotel is a converted 1918 rooming house originally built as a residence for Ford workers. (Check it out on www.marqueen.com ) It has 10 foot ceilings, 645 sf suites with hardwood floors and each room has a small kitchen. We can walk to the Space Needle etc from the hotel. The selling point for me was the bakery/espresso bar that is located in the hotel....Sorry Bryan, I can't give it up...There is also a spa nearby. Hello pampering! Goodbye stress!
We are planning to go to Six Flags Amusement Park on the Saturday - they have a bunch of roller coasters, including a wooden one. Can't wait for that part!

I found us a cake - it's shiny and chocolatey and beautiful! Actually it's two cakes. I went to BonTon Bakery in the west end (149st/86ave) and ordered an amazing chocolate torte. Chocolate filled with chocolate with chocolate on top, decorated with chocolate. They could only make it 11x15, which serves 40, so I ordered a small round one that will serve 15-20. We'll cut the round one and then serve both. Did I mention that it's chocolate?

Greetings all, i post again!
Alright what to say, ok, Carrie is informing me what i should put, and well being a dutiful fiance i am honor bound to do just that; oh shes insulting me right now, standing over my right shoulder threatening to erase it all, CENSORSHIP CENSORSHIP!
Ok shes less then amused, but she just corrected my then err than, which i did honestly not know about...so kudos to her, because one thing i detest is to actually have typos when one should not be having them.
Shes informing me about how she beats me regularily....in scrabble...probably because i spell regularily WRONG! Damn she just hit me in the head with a bottle! Ok shes gone...now to get down to brass tacks; speaking of which what is the axiom for that idiom?
Anyways, by popular demand, a little about me.
Hmm, born many many many many did i mention many? moons ago, in a time of great calamity; well not really but it was during a snowstorm in the middle of the night when my mothers water broke. But all went well, or well enough because here i am, well not there because i am more then a collection of whatever font this is on this page in your computer after all, but you know what i meant. As you can see my sense of humor, or lack thereof is quite apparent, but whats more apparent is my lack of proper punctuation!
Lets see, born in a snowstorm, well it was snowing outside i was actually born in a nice toasty hospital room in north york, a quiet suburb of toronto; or by how modern torontoians call it...the center of the universe, well them and most politicians in this country. Well baring the ones in quebec of course, but thats neither here nor there, but back to here, which is where i am, and my derailed train of thought. Oh yes, lets see to summarize, water breaking 4am, birth at 5:55am, one baby boy named Bryan later and back home; of course those details i am not aware of because well its heresay actually, i have to take my mothers word on it because I cannot actually recall any of my birth. This disturbs me sometimes, most likely because i have never raised the question with others, i mean what if everyone else has some sort of memory of their birth, of their beginning and i am just missing that, i might be diminished somehow....nah :)
Ok, maybe thats enough of a rant for tonight, i'll rant more tomorrow night, in the continuing saga that is my life as i know it!
Stay tuned

So tomorrow I get to go find a cake. A giant chocolatey fudgy cake. Keltie asked if we were having a cake topper. Aside from the threat of Bryan's friends putting a Lego Darth Vader on the top when I'm not looking, no, there will be no frou-frou bride and groom on the top of our cake.

Sorry for the traditionalists in the audience...I started out planning this wedding by reading my wedding planner, Anti-Bride Ettiquettte Guide - The Rules and How to Break Them ( www.antibride.com ) because (gasp) I really don't like weddings...

I know that our wedding day will be one of the most important days we will share, but really, the days beyond the wedding are the ones that matter the most. I have seen many people put so much focus trying to make sure that everything is 'perfect' that they lose what it is really all about. Two people sharing their love and commitment to each other surrounded by family and friends. In 20,30,40 years, what memories will you have of that day? The ones that will stand out will probably not be about flowers or dresses or cakes, but the memories of the people who shared the day with you.

We can't wait to share our day with you - our family and friends alike.

Since we met on the internet, I have been curious how everyone else met their significant others. I know that Dallas and Darren are (say aww now) high school sweethearts, Keltie was chased by Robert for 2 years before she finally agreed to go out with him, my parents met on a blind date (my mom's best friend in nursing school went to high school with my dad) Amy met Ike when he was stationed near Medicine Hat, my uncle Barry met aunt Faye at Concordia College, Christine and Dan met when she was student teaching - the list could go on and on....
I would love to know more! Let us know how you met your sweetie...

So since Bryan mentioned the baby pics, I thought it was only fair that I post one of them....and one of me just to be fair. He's the one under the blankie! Thanks to Pat for the great photo....

Note that my parents were concerned for the safety of their first-born, and let me play in a baby walker....

Hiyas,
Seeing that most, ok all the posts previously have been done by my lovely bride to be i decided it was well past time to post something myself. Saying that though, what to post....well i'll just rant about myself perhaps. Ok, very little to say about myself, in fact asking her right now what i should put. Her suggestion about how we had my parents meet her parents last night; i was quite nervous about that happening but it went along rather nicely. My mother decided to bring over a photo album of their wedding pictures to show and a collection of all my baby pictures, thankfully without any of me running about bare assed. That and my parents brought over another load of my old stuff that has been basically in storage at their place, now its in storage at my place. My sisters came over as well and were actually fairly chatty... compared to how they typically are. All in all the evening went very well, now i would speculate that the next time they all see one another would be at the wedding. Which is coming up fast, might even be time for me to go get my suit one of these days. Well thats all from me for the time being, who knows i'll probably post again in a bit.

We went to the hotel and finalized the menu and room setup today. It was pouring rain, and when we asked about the parking (we had parked in the hotel lot, but didn't have a sticker) we were told we had to move....grrr. I guess spending $$ on a wedding doesn't get you free parking for 30 minutes.
Oh well, it was just a little rain.
For those coming to the wedding, there is parking at Alberta College, and at Telus Plaza. Both have to be accessed from the south side of the hotel - go east down Jasper and then turn south at Telus Plaza/the bus stop across from the Hotel Mac. Stay in the right lane and follow the road around, the Telus parkade is right there. (The drive lane next to it leads to the Inn for drop offs.) Or go a few feet further and go into the Alberta College parking lot. The Telus lot is heated underground parking, those who don't mind the weather can brave the Alberta College lot.

So we have the final guest rsvp's in, and it looks like everyone we thought could come will be coming! It feels a little like the first day of school and Christmas Eve all rolled into one.

We have to meet with the caterer/hotel on Friday to finalize the linen colors and sign the last few contracts. Next is talking to the organist at the church, and finalizing our vows, rehearsal details etc.

All I need is my dress, some flowers and some shoes. Oh yeah, and a cake. And favors. And he still needs a suit. And we have to pick up the rings....ARGH!

Anyone want to be a wedding planner?

My maid of honor arrives at midnight (approx 14 hours before the wedding) so I will have to get someone to pretend to be her at the rehearsal. Perhaps Molly can do the honors, if she can behave well enough and not chew on the pews....

So we only have a few more weeks until the wedding. I'm not sure if I should be more nervous, or panicked or what. All I have left to do is go to another couple of fittings, buy shoes and flowers and give a lot of people a lot of money. Bryan has to get a suit, which will take all of 5 minutes. Why is it that they can walk into any store and find something that fits perfectly? We go in, try stuff on, hate everything and then go eat ice cream because it cures all!

Anyway, we still have to decide on a cake - for all you chocoholics, yes, it will be chocolate. If anyone there doesn't like chocolate, well, too bad.

We just had a quiet weekend at the lake with my parents and Molly. How do you describe her? Bossy, rude and charming all at the same time. She's cute, and needs to learn to be a good dog all the time. Then again, life is never boring around her. She likes to try to catch moths at night, which is fun to watch. She hasn't figured out that they are on the outside of the window and she is on the inside. I have never witnessed a dog trying to bite through a window before.