If It Weren’t for Calendars and Color-Coding, I Don’t Know What I’d Do

It has been quite awhile since I last wrote. I keep joking with people that “you know that I have been crazy busy if I haven’t even updated my Facebook status”. Such has been the case recently. Life is quite an undertaking unto itself when you are constantly chasing after your 15-month old, pulling non-edible items out of his mouth, and forever engaging his insatiable curiosities of the world around him. And the days of even attempting to type with one-hand are long gone. Caiden LOVES the computer, so as soon as he sees a keyboard, those little hands are instantly banging on the keys (Thanks, Grandpa. You’ve created this monster!). But toddler-rearing aside, my life is full of “extra-curricular undertakings”.

I am currently taking my FINAL graduate class. Once this is completed, my course load for Framingham State will be complete and I will only have to prepare a portfolio of work to be submitted to a review board. That will, essentially, serve as my comprehensive exam and then I will officially have my Masters degree in Special Education: Moderate Needs (Grades 5-12). If the stars all align, graduation will soon be around the corner! This course, in the meantime, is pretty intense though. Since it is a summer session, it has the majority of the work that is normally assigned during a regular semester crunched into a 6-week time frame. It is also accompanied by a 30-hour practicum. I have found myself writing papers into the wee small hours of the morning, waking up with Caiden 4 hours later, taking care of him as a normal day, and then writing more during his naptimes. This is getting increasingly difficult as he has (ever so conveniently, might I add) decided to change his own schedule and take only one nap a day instead of two. Dan has been very supportive throughout all of this though and helps whenever and wherever he can. I have found myself having to leave the house though some days and do my work at the college library or the public library because when I am at home, the boys (unintentionally) distract me. The mom in me has a tendency to want to intervene if I hear the lil’ guy crying or I find myself yelling downstairs, “Do you guys need anything?” , “What are you guys doing?”, “There are snacks in the cupboard!”. If Dan decides that he is going to take Caid to go visit a family member or to the park to give me some quiet time to work, I find myself longing to spend that quality family time together and either miss out on it or completely abandon my assignment all-together in order to not miss it. It’s definitely tough, but not nearly as tough as trying to plan a wedding with a toddler underfoot... Which leads me to my next undertaking.

As of this moment, our wedding day is officially 70 days away. Although, we seem to be in pretty good shape, it seems as though every time we cross something off of our to-do list, another 154,853,472 appear as a result of it. Case in point: a few weeks ago we went to the wedding venue to finalize the menu and details such as the linen choices and room setup. Going into the meeting a felt so excited because I knew that as soon as we left, I would be able to “X” off that appointment and be able to have our RSVP cards printed. Whoopee! Turns out: No. Not whoopee! “Whoopee” turned into “Now that you have finalized the menu, you need to get us an alphabetized guest list with each entrée denoted next to it. We will also need a copy of your wedding party affiliations in the event that the DJ does not make the appropriate introductions. Don’t forget that when you create the spreadsheet of guest seating, you must include no more than 10 per people per table and no less that 8 or you will be charged an extra fee so that we may staff the event appropriately. Etc. Etc. Etc.” Now, don’t get me wrong. This all makes perfect sense and I knew that tasks like this were on the horizon. But I would have much rather preferred to just make an “X” and shout, “Whoopee!”

Then there was the incredibly daunting task of “Wedding Invitations”. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am a practical gal who will try her best to save money where she can so it can be used on something that can benefit “the greater cause”. For me, wedding invitations were one of the least important things to spend a lot of money on when compared to getting a venue that served great food or choosing a couple of extra fun things that our guests will be (hopefully) talking about after that experience. Listen people, I know that I, for one, will toss out your invitation once your big day has come and gone—but if you have a kick ass DJ that had me “Cha-Cha Sliding” and “Cupid Shuffling” the entire night, THAT will be what I remember about your wedding! So I ended up purchasing DIY wedding invitation kits. PRO: the most expensive part of each invitation was probably the postage. CON: I had to do it myself. Once we created the templates, I was able to bring everything over to my local Staples store and have them printed. They even took care of printing the return labels. True to their motto, I can honestly say: “Staples. Now that was easy.” When I got everything home, though, the stress began to sink in. My basement was turned into an assembly station every night after 9pm because that is the “Caiden Play Zone” every other hour of our day. I was in charge of doing all of the handwritten addresses on the outside of the envelopes because Dan’s writing would have had it make it look like we hired a third-grader to do it (his words, not mine. Self-deprecating humor is a must in our household.). So 100 handwritten addresses were completed. “X”. Then came the assembly of the invitations. Put postage stamps here and there. “X”. Add an embellishment to each invitation here. “X”. Add in the RSVP cards, directions to the venue, guest information cards, and bridal registry cards. “X, X, X, and X”. It took me over a week to finish everything when all was said and done with regard to this process, and, despite my complaining, I am glad that I did take this route because it really was economically wise. However, that said, I am glad that I will never have to do it again. And, as a side note, I came to the realization after this particular experience that tasks such as this are always far more fun when you are doing it for someone other than yourself.

In other “wedding news”, I have an appointment with the florist this afternoon, my bridesmaids’ gifts are all ready to go, the cake has been ordered, the flower girls have their dresses, and tickets for our Jack & Jill celebration on July 23^rd are on sale. I am also happy to report that my first dress fitting resulted in the seamstress having to take it in a few sizes. “Whoopee!”