A Visit from Mom

I think my mom’s visit was a rather successful one. We picked her up at 3:30am on Sunday down in Milwaukee. We were almost on time except the exit Jill told us to take didn’t exist (stupid Marquette construction…) so we had to overshoot and come back to the Greyhound station. We then drove back home and got in a few more hours of sleep. We went to the 9:30 mass, which was a huge mistake. It’s the “family mass” and there were entirely too many people there. And definitely too many people in the kid category. We had to sit way in the back but at least I didn’t have to let people climb over me to go take communion. This gave my mom an opportunity to see the church but unfortunately the service was accompanied by the piano rather than the organ so she didn’t get to hear that.

After church we stopped for a donut and then went back home. Having had part of her luggage stolen in Las Vegas, my mom and I went shopping to pick up some of the stuff she lost. I also found some new sweaters and a new bed-in-a-bag. (That’s another story that perhaps I’ll get to later.) While Adam watched the Packers get their butts kicked, I took a short nap and my mom surfed the net. We headed up to Appleton to have dinner at Good Company with Adam’s parents. This gave my mom the opportunity to see where the rehearsal dinner will be held and get a sampling of the food at our favorite restaurant in the area. I think things went well. Everyone seemed to get along and the topics that may have caused problems didn’t come up. After fighting over the bill we headed back to Adam’s parents’ house for awhile. He disappeared into the basement for quite some time while the rest of us chatted by the fire. After a few loud bangs he reappeared and joined in. We headed home early since we were all tired due to the disruption in our sleep that morning.

On Monday morning we got to sleep later than usual since I was on vacation and it was a normal day for Adam. I actually got up at 7 and watched my episode of 7th Heaven that I had DVR-d the night before. Then I went back to wake Adam up. After he left for work my mom and I sat around talking for awhile and then I finally got moving, took a shower, and we left to do some heavy-duty wedding shopping. I took her to all the stores I had investigated. Originally I had only planned to go to two of them but somehow we ended up at 4 (plus 2 shoe stores…) I guess we got caught up in the moment or something. We started downtown at The Brides. I tried on two dresses there, both of which were good choices. We browsed the veils and the mother-of-the-bride selections and I also showed her the bridesmaid dress I had chosen. We then headed out to Kaukauna to Bridal Staircase. I tried on a dress there and once again looked at the head accoutrements. We peeked in at the tuxes only to find that the area was overtaken by costumes left from Halloween. After that we drove back to Appleton and stopped for lunch at Mary’s. Since we were so close, we stopped in at Bridal Event after lunch (they’re right across the street from each other.) We got some good tips for the salesperson there about veils and what kind of veil would look good with the dress I’d chosen. Then we went across town to David’s to satisfy my curiosity as to whether the first dress I had tried on back in May was still there. It wasn’t. That didn’t surprise me, but they sure did try to find something else that I might like. The salesperson even ran out the door as we were leaving to tell me that Green Bay might have it. And the tux lady accosted me for the third time. We checked out the various MOTB dresses and veils and all that jazz at David’s just for fun. I also showed her the original inspiration for the bridesmaid dress I chose. She agreed that they were quite similar. To use up the rest of her film we headed to DSW so I could show her the shoes I was considering. After dropping her film at the one hour lab in Walmart (yes, she went to Walmart. She wouldn’t let me take her picture in it for proof though) we went over to the mall for a little to kill time. After an hour and a half we got her pictures back and went back home so she could pack her things. We watched a little Rachael Ray before setting off to Kohler. It was horrible driving weather – dark and foggy – and I always seemed to have some annoying truck tailgating me. But we made it pretty much on time to Mary Ann’s place. I stayed for dinner. We walked over to Quizno’s. I had never been to a Quizno’s before but I was very unimpressed. I ordered a chicken Caesar flatbread salad thing which was romaine, chicken, a three cheese blend, tomatoes, and red onions with a peppercorn dressing. I asked for it without the cheese or onions. What I got was romaine, chicken and bacon. There is not bacon on a Caesar salad. And I didn’t get tomatoes. And they tried to give me honey mustard dressing. *sigh* Not good. Anyway, I headed home around 9:30 and the drive back was a lot easier than the drive there had been. The fog must have burned off in those two hours. It was nice.

So, the conclusion to this long entry about the past couple days is this: I’ve chosen my dress and will be ordering it in the next week. I have to double check which measurements the store wants so I can get the Catherines’ dresses ordered as well. (Heads up, guys.) After which I can get color swatches and move on with the next set of tasks, including the flowers. I will also be ordering a pair of shoes soon so I can check them out. I can’t find them in any store so I decided to risk buying them on the internet in the hopes that they’re what I want. I’ll need to have the shoes and all the undergarment type things before the dress comes back so the alterations are accurate. Granted, the dress won’t be in until March or April, but I might as well get a head start since I’m the master of procrastination. I’m thinking I’ll wait for the veil and headpiece until after the dress is in but I have a pretty good idea of what I want already and I just need to find the right one in a brand the store carries.

Whew.