Busy Busy Busy

Well, Dr. Mon is back in high spirits. Dr. J is in Gorgeous City, and I couldn't be happier. Today is a chill day for us because the past few days have been very busy. (I should be working on research today but I'm not--sue me!) This past Friday was my mother's last day on the job--she is now officially retired from state government after 32 years of service. On Friday her job threw her a nice farewell party, but I was not able to attend because I was helping to get things together for the surprise party my family was going to throw her on Saturday. So on Friday afternoon, while my mother was at the office party, my mom's favorite cousin flew down from DC. Normally when she comes down, she stays at my mom's house. But since everything was a surprise, Favorite Cousin flew here to Gorgeous City. So Dr. J and I went to pick her up at the airport and she spent the day with us lovebirds as we ran errands around town. By the end of the day, we were all exhausted, and unfortunately we didn't get much sleep as we had to be up at 6:30AM Saturday.

Although I live the farthest from Hometown, I was enlisted to get my mother out of the house Saturday morning so that the family could set up the party. I really was annoyed, but fortunately there was a bridal shop that was going out of business in Hometown on Saturday so I told my mother I was going to come up so we could look at their dresses. Dr. J, Favorite Cousin, and I arrived in Hometown around10:ooAM and made a quick stop in a church parking lot to unload the presents out of my car and drop off Favorite Cousin with another cousin to wait while I got mom out of the house. Everything was running smoothly until I got home and my mother was cooking and being very slow about leaving. I told her that Dr. J and I had plans to see one of his friends who was in town for the day, so that got her moving and finally out of the house.

Mom and I went to the bridal shop that was going out of business and I tried on my very first wedding dresses there. The prices were incredible ($100-200 range) but the dresses didn't grab me. Fortunately, mom had one other store in mind--a new boutique in downtown Hometown. This was especially fortunate since I received a text message from Dr. J asking that I keep her out until at least 1:00PM! So mom and I headed downtown and as luck would have it, the owner of the boutique was free and didn't have another appointment for an hour.

This shop was exquisite. The dresses were all beautiful and the owner/designer was very kind, helpful, and knowledgable. It was clear that we were in a top-of-the-line type store, however, the prices ranged widely from $300-8000 so there was something for every budget. I tried on about six dresses and fell in love with three. Unfortunately, due to designer restrictions, we weren't able to take pictures of most of the dresses. I do have this photo of one of my favorites. It fits like a glove and is on sale because the designer has had a hard time finding anyone who can fit it (it is about a size 4 which I believe is a 2 in every day women's wear):

*Picture Removed*

This will only be up for a second in the event Dr. J decides to read my blog on some whim--fortunately I can keep an eye on his computer usage today!

After feeling like a princess for a while, I finally received the okay to bring mom back home, but of course she wants to make one more stop--at the grocery store. Since she has no clue that we are having a cookout for her, she wants to pick up some more things to cook. I did my best to discourage her from making purchases at the store--but it was to no avail. When we finally return home around 1:30, as soon as she sees the cars around the house, she says "WHAT IS GOING ON??!!" Mom raced out of the car and went around to the back of the house and starts shoutin "Oh my GOODNESS" as she sees all the friends and family gathered together. She was so surprised to see Favorite Cousin and my Granny and Great-Aunt who traveled from out of town to attend. We had a great time at the party and my mother was just too tickled that Dr. J and I had tricked her. It was a good long, busy day and that was only the beginning of my busy busy weekend with my sweetheart...