Today, I am 32. This is the first year in a long time where I did not start mentioning my birthday at least a week in advance. In fact, I kept being surprised by reminders that it was coming up. Huh. I don't know if this is because I'm getting old and don't care, or if I'm getting old and forgetting :-) Actually, the culprit is most likely Wedding Planning which is threatening to take over my whole year.

We found a caterer, Culinary Excellence, who not only let us do a tasting, but told us we needed to do another three or four before everything's set. Hey, free food! They also offer free workshops and were even more upfront about their pricing than our previous possible caterer (Serves You Right). SYR not only refused to let us taste the food (well, we'd just missed the one this month and they wanted the deposit before the tasting next month) but seemed to think that sending them a deposit (to a PO Box, no less) without any sort of contract or even face-to-face meeting was something we should feel comfortable doing. I'm sure it's just because they're a small operation, and they still come highly recommended, but it was just too much to ask of us to pledge that much money on faith alone.

I also figured out our centerpieces yesterday, inspired by the last day of Michael's Dollar Days sale. I now only need candles and some hot glue and I'm set to make them! Whoot! I am very smug about this, as centerpieces are a big part of the decorations, and I really like the way they turned out. I was also much speedier at Michael's this time, even though I did get snagged in the rubber stamp aisle *again*. I came home and did a mock up of the invitations, which are much simpler than I'd originally envisioned them, but I have decided that I don't care; I'd rather spend my time on other details. They'll still be lovely.

I love being crafty.

I finished typing in that story I drafted in a week and had Tim read it yesterday. He had only very minor line edits here and there -- otherwise, it was declared good to go! Whoot! I love writing clean first drafts, I just wish it wasn't such a rare occurence :-) The title is "The Wreck of the Bevins" and I'm very happy with it. I think this is the fastest I've ever written a story (rough draft to polished manuscript = two weeks flat), although to be fair much of the imagery has been floating around in my head for years now (though the story is brand new and not at all what I thought would go with those images). I suspect deadlines are good for me, but don't tell anyone ;-)

Today I am sitting around in my soft robe. I may give myself the gift of a clean desk, or I may just lounge about. I've only opened three of mom's gifts so far (a lovely green necklace/ earrings set and two pretty barrettes, one of which is just so beautiful and so *me* that I can't bear to put it on yet, because I like looking at it so much :-). I got 2/3 of my presents from Tim last night (a sushi feast followed by a hot tub which knocked us both out, it relaxed us so much). We had a bonus Birthday Brunch this morning (ie, our usual Blackberry Bistro brunch, but with bonus soy latte) and sometime in the next week or two I'll get the Birthday Backrub (by a pro, not by Tim). Whoot! I like tangible gifts and must have them, but my mom does a very good job of filling that role, so I'm happy to spend Birthday experiences with my Tim.

I think that's it for now. Ciao!