Boy half a zone difference make you guys so far ahead ~ just as George (ego45) reminded me! BB just flashed her virginal gown yesterday ~ 1 so far! QF opened tons on Pops' Day ~ so thrilled & tho both Orig ES did each a quick one, our gloomy/rainy/storm days interrupted the momentum ~ got everyone in a napsy mood & clusters are still just that! Today sun did show up ~ hopefully shake everyone up! Oh but Blue Frost Serrata even in his *dip 'n dot* stage is already giving hints on the trio of colors ~ blue, lavender, pinks & loaded! T&S1 ~ that came frost bitten, is the most advanced w/ all sorts of new canes & clusters - ready to flash soon ~ in the most ideal site, the hole I prep'd last Fall. I clipped all the blooms she came in to speed up these new ones! T&S2 & T&S3 are doing fine w/ new canes & new cluster finials tho nowhere close to T&S1's #s Luis - to answer our musings on extra sun exposure ~ definitely affects bloom colors IMO based on observations on these 3 T&S planted in 3 diff exposures ~ then again I'm also considering soil diff in their 3 sites! Sorry ~ for long chit-chat! Follow ups later. OK?!

A bit of a different slant--Father of the groom shenanigans. When we got married, I bought my fiance a nice navy suit, which was quite the chore back in the day before there were lots of options for tall guys; he is/was 6'4" and 180 lbs. Anyway, I found a nice 3 piece suit in a conservative navy. My father had a nice suit in a conservative navy. I asked my future FIL to wear a nice suit in a conservative navy. At which point he went out and bought a nice suit in a conservative BROWN! I was sooooo angry at him, and since he was the best man I was convinced my dream wedding image for the guys was ruined. So, on our wedding day there was my FIL resplendent in his brown suit. I was still a tad miffed, right till we were all leaving the church and as we walked out the doors, he suddenly gave me the world's biggest hug, with the joyful comment 'now you're part of the family!' and the world's biggest smile to go along with it. He's gone now but thinking of that moment still makes me smile every time. It was a good lesson too about whats important and what's not on a wedding day. Happy memories come from what we do and say, not what we wear...have a wonderful wedding! Ann

Hi dana gardener - I am wondering, what do you want to do? Do you really want to go or do you feel that it is an obligation? Even if it is an obligation it doesn't matter as long as you strongly desire to be there for someone you Love and want to support and share in the person's special day. This is what counts. However, if you cannot afford this trip with all the expenses involved, even if you want to be there, then I would express that in a note to the Bride with a gift that you can afford. No one should feel "forced" to attend when it will be so costly to do so. You may feel bad for not going if you truly desire to share in this Blessed event but you should also feel free and not guilty if you decide not to go because of the financial, emotional, etc. stress that it will cause you. No matter what decision you make it is your right to do so whether you go or not.

Jude, the groom's family decorated the hall and cleaned that all up except the kitchen. They actually like to drink and dance. I don't drink and I don't dance, and I was trying to avoid the "reserved" table as I'd rather wander around, sit with my friends and do as I pleased. The groom's family did come back the next day and finish cleaning the rest of the hall. I made all the desserts and 27 dozen dinner rolls ahead of time, so those just had to be taken from the freezer and plated on serving trays. Appetizers were nachos at a make your own nacho bar, so that was done ahead of time too. The dinner was a pig roast and the rest was pot luck with family members bringing items, so they just had to be put out and dishes kept full, but all the roasters and serving dishes needed to be washed afterward and most of them came from my house because the hall came with no cooking utensils. I did hire one friend to help me with that and my cousin Patty helped by scrubbing pans, but 300 guests kept us hopping. I hired a bartender, so I didn't have to do that, but we went through 19 gallons of punch and finally at 10:30 I tore the punch fountain apart because the kids were just playing in it. I haven't even washed the iced tea container yet! I don't sit around well and I'm pretty hyperactive, so I'd rather be doing something, anything. The groom's mother even went to the bachelorette party where they took salsa dancing lessons then went to a comedy club, I begged off because I have absolutely no interest. So, did I enjoy the wedding? Not much but I usually don't attend receptions because I don't like parties. I did what I was comfortable doing, and the alternative was to sit around and do nothing, which makes me crazy. The person who was supposed to make sure the coffee urn stayed full didn't and the one that was supposed to run the CD player for the wedding march was no where to be found so I quickly pressed an ex BIL into service because he is in a band and I figured he could run the blasted thing. Everyone comes to me with the questions and problems because I'm usually the one solving them and making sure things happen. Amanda was sitting in the foyer of the church in her dress and veil as the guests were coming in. She was passing out string cheese to the 6 children in the wedding party (all under age 8) while her sister Ashley was polishing Amanda's toenails, LOL. It was pretty relaxed. At the reception, Ashley sang a song for them to dance to, although it wasn't the song they'd picked out for their first dance. Then they had the "official" first dance, then Amanda danced with Bud while Dave danced with Makayla, then Amanda had a father/daughter dance, first with Bruce, then with Elery. So, it wasn't structured, it wasn't a sit down catered meal and everything went fine. I avoided my ex-husband and his girlfriend and was home in bed by 11 pm and got to visit a little bit with Sherry and Peppi, so it was all good. And I'm back at work today to rest! Annie