OurBigAdventure

We watched Forrest Gump tonight - what a great movie. It is definitely one of my favorites. Tom Hanks and Sally Field really did such a great job with their characters! It is one of those movies that you see is on - and you don’t want to change the channel to it because you know you will get sucked in and watch the whole thing. And we did!

I had a very realistic dream last night. One of those where you wake up and you realize you are in bed waking up from a dream, but you still are half-asleep and freaked out thinking that whatever happened in the dream really DID happen.

The highlights of the dream - I was at a party, I left and was driving alone. I was driving very fast and ahead there was a person chasing a panther into the road. By the time I reached them (very, very quickly since I was driving SO fast) the person was in the right lane and the panther just ahead of them in the left. I had a quick decision - run over the person or the panther. I picked the panther. The person freaked out yelling at me for killing the cat and I drove off in a hurry and turned down a side road to outrun them (not like they could have caught up with me anyway). I ran into a building and hid in a closet. I tried finding a switch to turn off the closet light and I couldn’t find it. I then reached up to unscrew the light bulb but it was too hot. Then I woke up.

I heard Chris move and I freaked out asking him if it was against the law to kill a Florida panther! He said “I think so” half asleep and I really freaked out! It took me about 10 minutes to realize it really was just a dream and it didn’t happen. Chris told me to look up this crazy dream in my dream book. Here is what I found:

*to dream of driving signifies unjust criticism of your seeming extravagance. You will be compelled to do things that appear undignified.
*to see a panther and experience fright denotes that contracts in love or business may be cancelled unexpectedly, owing to adverse influences working against your honor. But by killing or overpowering it the panther, you will experience joy and be successful in your undertakings. A panther, like the cat, seen in a dream portends evil to the dreamer unless he kills it.
*To dream of a light means success will attend you. If you dream the light goes out, you will be disagreeably surprised by some undertaking resulting in nothing.

Fun, huh? Chris had all kinds of things he thought all of that meant. It is interesting to see how my mind works when I sleep. I rarely have bad dreams unless I am hot when I sleep. Since our bed is in my office, it has been SO hot and I feel like I’ve had really scary dreams every night! I am going to seal the grout on our new tile tomorrow and then hopefully we can put the furniture back tomorrow night or Friday.

Doesn’t that sound odd? And like a waste of money? How hard is it to put on a wedding dress? Apparently it isn’t that easy! I’ve seen at least 5 weddings this year where the dress was not put on correctly and it really annoys me! The main problem is bridesmaids just don’t seem to care and they just want to zip the dress and be done. But the zipper on these expensive gowns is just a small part of the whole process! Most of these gowns have elastic parts built in along the bust and waist to help hold the dress up and in place. One wedding where the insides were not hooked up at all - the bride was tugging at her dress all night. It is sad because you only wear the dress that one day and it needs to be perfect.

When we had a wedding that hired a dresser from the dress shop, I thought it was odd. But I now realize when you are spending thousands on a dress it is worth it for that person to come put you in it correctly.

Then another thing I’ve seen twice this year - those little buttons not getting buttoned. The one above - they are just there for decoration. But on the fancier dresses, those buttons have little elastic loops that go around each and every button. Two different weddings this year the bridesmaids whispered to each other “don’t do those - that will take too long - she will never know” kind of thing. I would be really upset if they didn’t button them on my dress if it had them.

Anyway - that is my little soapbox post for today - if you have a dress with more than just a zipper - hire someone to help you get dressed!

I always thought it would be fun to go to the Kentucky Derby - the horses, the hats, the mint juleps. Since it seems to be getting harder and harder to get tickets, that item might not get checked off my list of things to do in my life. I decided that this year we would have a Kentucky Derby party, but we ended up booking a wedding - we always book a wedding on Kentucky Derby day!

But we got home tonight after the wedding and I decided to see who won - and it was Big Brown! I SO would have put my bet on that horse! Oh well…here is a shot of Big Brown:

One thing I don’t understand is why they are so quick to put down these horses when they get hurt. Is there really NO other solution? Poor Eight Belles was euthanized on the track following the race. She was in 2nd place right behind Big Brown:

Just looking at her makes me cry. She was a just a filly - the only one in the race.

I have this fear of bridal showers and baby showers. I am trying to figure out why I don’t like them and I think it all boils down to the presents. I never know what to buy! I know there are registries and yes those are great. But how much do I spend? I never know. I used to spend around $20 on shower gifts and $100 on wedding gifts. But it seems like every shower I’ve been to lately, I look stupid with my $20 vase when everyone else buys the $500 pots and pans set, the $400 vacuum, the $350 food processor, etc. It is really embarrassing and I feel like the guest of honor is looking at me with “that’s all you got me?” look.

The shower I am going to this time - I went online to view the registries and everything is gone! Well, not everything - but everything expensive. If it is over $150, it is fulfilled. All there is left is the $20 mixing spoon, the $30 pot holder, etc. I am going to look like such a cheapo showing up with a spoon with a bow on it! Yikes!

I just wish there was some kind of Emily Post guideline on what to spend. When we got married, most of our wedding gifts were around $40. So I worried thinking spending $100 was too much! And lately many of our friends have hired us as the photographer for their wedding and we have decided that will be our gift to them. But I’m not sure if they still expect a normal wedding present. Do they realized that if I do their wedding, I am turning away at least $2500 for that day? Then do they expect me to give them an album when the albums cost me roughly $800?

It is funny - we did a friend’s wedding a year ago and she was a total bridezilla. I don’t think she realized how insanely bridezilla she was! I tried to get times and locations and info for weeks leading up to the wedding - and then she said something to me that day that was really hurtful. When all was said and done and over - I was so relieved. A week after their wedding, I came home to a huge bouquet of flowers on our doorstep. I started crying thinking it was a thank you gift and I was actually appreciated - but it turned out to be an arrangement from my neighbor for watching her cat while she was away the previous week! Long story short - I don’t think I ever got a thank you. I am wondering if she is mad that I haven’t sent her a real gift - like a $100 place setting. Hmmm…I guess I will never know!