So, about 6 months and 1 week to go to the big day. Planning now slowly kicking into high gear. Every month now will bring more and more action to perform, rather than just 'choosing & planning'.
Save The Date announcements have gone out and have heard back from some guests. I guess they don't need to respond, but it's nice that they did. I was sort of hoping to hear back from more people than we did. I just hope everyone (or, at least, most of them) RSVPs when the invitations are sent out.
Readings have been selected (1 by Madeline L'Engle and 1 by Robert Louis Stevenson) and sent to Erin for review and practice. I know she'll do a good job.
Pastor Anita said when we first 'booked' her that we will meet with her (I think she said 6 times) in the months before the ceremony. Steve worried about what kinds of questions she'll ask us. I supposed she'll ask general stuff: how did we meet, how do we solve conflicts, etc. He's hoping she doesn't ask what kind of nicknames we have for each other....although, he has a point. How does one really explain to someone who doesn't know you the dippy-cutesy names you call each other?
Today I drafted the information sheet that will be sent with the invitations: directions to the church, address of the reception, etc. Looks pretty good, but Steve thinks the picture at the top of the paper looks too "South Park-y." I don't quite see it myself, but I'll see if I can find something else.
What's on the list for February? Ordering the invitations. Deciding on what to serve at the reception. That last one is going to be a tough one...ugh.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Ceremony Planning (1)
Sigh. Updated my planner/binder for the big ceremony. Today's creation: Expense spreadsheet. Not one of the more enjoyable pages, but nevertheless a necessity.
On the more fun side, also updated the readings. Out of nearly twenty-odd selections, Steef and I had only one in common (by Robert Louis Stevenson). That one's definitely a keeper, I guess.
Steef really liked one by Madeline L'Engle and I had to admit it was better than some of the ones I had picked out (even beating out the ol' stalwart Maya Angelou). That's probably the one we'll have Erin read. Still, I have one more anthology resource to review before we make any final choices...
On the more fun side, also updated the readings. Out of nearly twenty-odd selections, Steef and I had only one in common (by Robert Louis Stevenson). That one's definitely a keeper, I guess.
Steef really liked one by Madeline L'Engle and I had to admit it was better than some of the ones I had picked out (even beating out the ol' stalwart Maya Angelou). That's probably the one we'll have Erin read. Still, I have one more anthology resource to review before we make any final choices...
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Thunderbird Falls, Alaska
Up in Alaska, visiting my sister. Today we hiked up to Thunderbird Falls with the kids. This is my favorite hike in AK and they were especially thunderous today. Lots of spray-mist at the bottom. This is also where I gave Steef his ring, so they have a lot of meaning for me.
Friday, October 01, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
And Now We Pause For This Moment...
Steef wanted me to take a couple shots of the lilac bush in the backyard. Here it is in full bloom. We sat outside for last night's wine party and it was especially fragrant...
Saturday, May 01, 2010
The Houdini Ring, Part 2: We Are Detective
I have no idea how to research the ring--there are no identifying marks (trademark/factory stamps or serial numbers) from which to start. So, I have decided to research my great-Uncle Bill and work from there.
I started with the most obvious tool: Google. I typed in his full name ("William") and pretty much all I got back were hits for some dude with the same name's page on Facebook. Ah, no. Next I tried just "Bill" and got back a little bit more--a few more Facebook pages and a link for a gentleman of the same name who is a bigwig with Linux operating system. Hmmmm.
Okay, now what? Rather than go in a logical direction, I went with a whim: I typed in my great-aunt's name, Mabel. What do you know--I got something!
A link from the search page led me to what appeared to be at first an essay's rough draft. An essay about my great-uncle! Who was writing this? Who else was interested in my relative? There were no forwarding links or names or anything else identifiable on the page, so I started to read the essay. It was hard going at first as there is no punctuation--the first page was basically one long sentence! Steef read it over and suggested that it may actually be a transcription of an oral interview. I looked it over again and I think he's right.
Anyway, back to the content. The essay/interview question starts off with a potted history of my great-uncle, filling in some details I did not have (such as the year & place of his death; which, when I read it to my Dad, he said "Oh yeah, I knew that..." Thanks a lot, Dad. Feh.). It included the fact he married my great-aunt and mentioned her by name, which is what the Google search must have linked to. The article also referred him as a "Human Cork" and as "Unsinkable". I printed up the page and bookmarked it.
Back to Google....
I started with the most obvious tool: Google. I typed in his full name ("William") and pretty much all I got back were hits for some dude with the same name's page on Facebook. Ah, no. Next I tried just "Bill" and got back a little bit more--a few more Facebook pages and a link for a gentleman of the same name who is a bigwig with Linux operating system. Hmmmm.
Okay, now what? Rather than go in a logical direction, I went with a whim: I typed in my great-aunt's name, Mabel. What do you know--I got something!
A link from the search page led me to what appeared to be at first an essay's rough draft. An essay about my great-uncle! Who was writing this? Who else was interested in my relative? There were no forwarding links or names or anything else identifiable on the page, so I started to read the essay. It was hard going at first as there is no punctuation--the first page was basically one long sentence! Steef read it over and suggested that it may actually be a transcription of an oral interview. I looked it over again and I think he's right.
Anyway, back to the content. The essay/interview question starts off with a potted history of my great-uncle, filling in some details I did not have (such as the year & place of his death; which, when I read it to my Dad, he said "Oh yeah, I knew that..." Thanks a lot, Dad. Feh.). It included the fact he married my great-aunt and mentioned her by name, which is what the Google search must have linked to. The article also referred him as a "Human Cork" and as "Unsinkable". I printed up the page and bookmarked it.
Back to Google....
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The Houdini Ring, Part 1: His-story
My great-aunt Mabel died in the mid-1980's. When she passed, I was given a ring that had been in her possession. It's an opal stone set on a silver ring. Supposedly, if you hold the ring up to the light just right, you are able to see the face of Jesus Christ in the prism. However, the opal is quite tarnished and you can see only a few spots of color now. There is no inscription of any kind on the inside of the ring.
Auntie Mabel (as I always knew her) was my mother's aunt; she was the sister of my mom's father. She had married a man named William, who died in the 1940's. Mom only met him once or twice, but as she had been very young she really didn't remember him. In fact, the clearest thing Mom remembers is that Auntie Mabel came to live with Mom and her family for a brief time after Uncle Bill passed away. Mom remembers Auntie Mabel "crying all the time." We have no pictures of Uncle Bill.
Below is the story my father told me when I received the ring:
Uncle Bill was known as a "floater". He could be put into a pool of water and he would not sink at all. However you tried to sink him, he would always rise to the surface. He would just float there, cool as all get-out. He took this 'talent' on the vaudeville circuit and performed in shows and spent many years in Minnesota. He passed away in West Viriginia in 1944. The ring had been his.
How he came to own the ring is unclear. One version of the story has it that the magician/escape artist Harry Houdini came to see Uncle Bill early in his career and the ring was a gift. Another is that Houdini only heard of Uncle Bill and sent him the ring. My father has changed the story each time I've asked him about it. The likely truth is that Houdini and the ring are not at all related and who knows if there ever was any connection between my great-uncle and Houdini.
Still, it makes a good story and I like to refer to it as the Houdini Ring.
Next entry: What happened when I was inspired to do some research.
Auntie Mabel (as I always knew her) was my mother's aunt; she was the sister of my mom's father. She had married a man named William, who died in the 1940's. Mom only met him once or twice, but as she had been very young she really didn't remember him. In fact, the clearest thing Mom remembers is that Auntie Mabel came to live with Mom and her family for a brief time after Uncle Bill passed away. Mom remembers Auntie Mabel "crying all the time." We have no pictures of Uncle Bill.
Below is the story my father told me when I received the ring:
Uncle Bill was known as a "floater". He could be put into a pool of water and he would not sink at all. However you tried to sink him, he would always rise to the surface. He would just float there, cool as all get-out. He took this 'talent' on the vaudeville circuit and performed in shows and spent many years in Minnesota. He passed away in West Viriginia in 1944. The ring had been his.
How he came to own the ring is unclear. One version of the story has it that the magician/escape artist Harry Houdini came to see Uncle Bill early in his career and the ring was a gift. Another is that Houdini only heard of Uncle Bill and sent him the ring. My father has changed the story each time I've asked him about it. The likely truth is that Houdini and the ring are not at all related and who knows if there ever was any connection between my great-uncle and Houdini.
Still, it makes a good story and I like to refer to it as the Houdini Ring.
Next entry: What happened when I was inspired to do some research.
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