Last Week!

And now we are in single digits. Today was day three until the wedding! It is definitely approaching.

This last week means that things have definitely picked up wedding-wise. Mom is constantly calling or e-mailing the leading ladies who are working on the wedding, and Mandy's been talking quite a bit with her bridesmaids and other important people.

On Friday (day seven), we had Mandy's last shower at one of the bridesmaid's house. We had a fun time giving her a few gifts and hearing/sharing wedding stories (some weren't wedding-related, but they were hilarious). On Saturday, we had the bridesmaids' luncheon, which was a decent-sized crowd. Our wedding coordinator, who threw/hosted the event, got a nice, southern-style restaurant to open for only us, and we had a yummy menu to choose from (Mom, Mandy, and I all had delicious shrimp and grits with peppers and onions). After that, a few of us went over to where the guys (and a few women) were sitting up at the reception location. That day happened to be pouring rain (and this isn't a mere drizzle. This is like a steady, constant, heavy rain that lasted for several hours), but the guys were real troopers, hanging up Christmas lights and wire, setting up pallets, and arranging hay bales in the rain.

Monday (day four) happened to be a rather hectic day. On Saturday evening, to make sure that we got everything done, I came up with the idea of writing down a list and marking off items when they completed. Part of our list required us to drive over to Athens (which is over an hour away from our house) to visit a few stores. It was a long ride, and we got a bit of cultural education in the process. On our way back from Athens, we stopped by the reception area, where the lights and electricity were being tested. Seeing the lights come on in the dark was stunning, and it made us very excited. We were concerned that there wouldn't be enough light, but last night convinced us otherwise. It was a good time for us to test things out, but we had to leave because it was getting late.

Today (day three) was also busy. We had to do quite a bit of shopping (I can't recall leaving Costco with two full carts), and there's still more to be done tomorrow. Again, we have our trusty list to help us. Hopefully things will slow down a bit by Thursday before the storm hits on Friday.

We've been keeping an eagle eye on the weather. So far, it looks like Friday will be just perfect: no rain and good temperatures. Which is a relief.

And so, onwards we go!