Hint, Hint

Yesterday I got to work and in my email inbox I saw that Dan had forwarded me an article titled, "Boyfriends Do More Housework than Husbands." Hmm...is this a hint? Does he feel overworked in terms of amount of housework he is doing?

While Dan may have his own motives for sending me this article, it was rather interesting. It's based on the findings from an international survey, and one of the researcher says that the institution of marriage has a "traditionalizing effect" on couples - even those who see men and women as equals.

According to the study, men spent about 9 hours a week on housework where women spent more than 20. But the kicker was that live-in boyfriends did more housework than their live-in counterparts. Very interesting. Maybe men think they can "slack off" once they've tied the knot? Or maybe that traditionalizing effect will work its magic on me after we get back from the honeymoon!

Out of our systems

Don’t let the headline mislead you...Dan and I aren’t interested in “sewing wild oats” or doing anything crazy while we’re still “single.” But we do want to get any illnesses or beauty blunders (i.e. pimples) out of the way before the big day.

Now that we’re approaching the two-week mark, I’m starting to obsess about things. Well, more than usual anyway. Take the weather, for example. I have no control over it, but once I can see our wedding day on the 10-day forecast I will officially begin to obsess and check it compulsively. And I’m sure the forecast will change many times, and I bet at least one of those changes will call for rain.

But even more important than the weather is our health. There’s no room for colds or coughs or blemishes – but that’s an issue I’m taking up with my face wash.

I somehow managed to get sick last week. Luckily it only lasted a few days. But now Dan has whatever I had and is now home sick. If it is in fact what I had, then he should be in tip-top shape for the weekend. But it still won’t stop me from worrying about our health. This particular virus we had was one that gave us a major headache, chills/hot flashes and body aches. Ughh. See why I’m worrying?!

I’ll do my best to curb the worrying...but there better not be any rain in the forecast!

Bridal Trivia

I’m a sucker for tradition. And for the most part, Dan and I are having a very traditional wedding. We wouldn’t have it any other way. And most of the preparation and the wedding day itself involves tradition – even though half the time I have no idea where the tradition stems from.

For example, at my wedding shower I had a bit of trouble getting a ribbon off of one of my gifts. Of course, I grabbed a pair of scissors and solved that problem. And then my cousin Jenny cautioned me against doing that again because the number of ribbons separated would be how many children I would have. Or something like that. And then there’s the classic ribbon bouquet my bridesmaid Jen made for me with the adornments that came from my gifts.

The traditions go on and on. And one of the most obvious traditions is having a wedding party – the bridesmaids and groomsmen. I never even thought about where that stemmed from. I always assumed they were there to support the bride and groom. While I think that is the most practical interpretation, there is a bit of tradition and folklore behind it.

According to tradition and folklore, a bridesmaid’s purpose is to “confuse evil spirits so they wouldn’t know which one was the bride.”

What do you think – can you tell which one is me in this photo???

I've learned not to question tradition. I'm just trying to enjoy every last bit of the wedding planning and our engagement!

The Name Change...Again!

My office is moving to a new building next week - which means we all need new business cards to reflect the new address. And because it is so close to our wedding, it is no use ordering new cards with my current last name.

So I had my name printed on my cards as Laurie A. Leopold and I proofed it and looked it over several times before giving the ok on my order.

But the one thing I looked over was my email address. It was still printed as lmurphy@...

Oops!

Luckily someone pointed that out and changed it before the order was placed - but this is going to be so hard! I know I've said this before, but it really is going to be. Our IT people have already changed my email address to lleopold, but it will still allow for emails sent to lmurphy to come through.

The display name, however, has not changed to read Laurie Leopold yet. I'm a Murphy for three more weeks, and I'm going to revel in it!

One Month

Today is 8-9-07 - we are getting that much closer to 9-8-07!

We have a lot planned for this weekend too. Dan and I are actually heading to Kenosha this evening - hoping that the storms don't delay us. I suppose traveling in August is always a risk - given that it always so stormy, but we're holding out for a break from Mother Nature.

Tomorrow morning we are going to the County Courthouse to get our marriage license, which means five days after that we''ll technically, but unofficially, be married! Wisconsin requirements for getting a marriage license are fairly simple, but I've quadruple-checked the forms to make sure we have everything. I think we're at the stage where if something seems easy, there must be a reason why.

We are also meeting with the baker to finalize our cake order - yummy. Maybe they'll give us more samples? And then we're off to meet with Deacon Terry who will be officiating our ceremony. He is such a nice man and we couldn't be happier that he is the one doing it. We're pretty confident that all of our guest will feel the same way.

And that's our short list for this weekend. It's going to be a busy one....

Flashback...

Poor Britney Spears. K-Fed is suing for more custody of their two children. Given what you see in the news these days, those two boys would be better off if that were the case.

Anyhoo...came across this funny photo of Dan and I from Halloween 2005.

We dressed up as Britney and K-Fed when they were expecting their first child.

This photo always makes me laugh - Dan and I are in rare form with that get-up!

Would YOU do it?

Now that we are about a month away from the big day, Dan and I are pulling out all the stops to make sure we look and feel our best.

We started Crest Whitestrips last week - and let me tell you, they are legit! I can already notice our brighter smiles. They're sort of a pain to wear, even though it's only for a half hour each day. They have a slimy gel that has a goofy taste, but it's a small price to pay. Anything for beauty right?

That's pretty much been the extent of Dan's "beauty" routine. He doesn't like when I refer to it as that:) Which brings me to my next point...should a man get his eyebrows waxed before his wedding?

This is where Dan and I aren't in agreement. I'm allowed to trim his brows - but he is really frightened of tweezers. My suggestion for a nice, manly eyebrow trim: WAX! It doesn't hurt - and it lasts so much longer.

We're interested to hear what you think. Help us settle the debate!

Should Dan get his eyebrows waxed before the wedding?
	Yes, even men need pampering
	No, that's for chicks
pollcode.com free polls

An open letter to the Washington DC Metro

Dear Metro,

I’ve been riding you for more than three years now, and overall I think you’re pretty great. Sure you can be slow and sometimes a little hot and smelly, and you do insist on running four-car trains at rush hour...but I suppose you do get me to work on time. I like to think we have a pretty good relationship – but you really let me down yesterday.

You see, yesterday was my fiancé’s birthday. (For the record – he thinks that you are the nicest public transportation systems he has ever used.) I left work about 20 minutes early because I wanted to surprise him with ballons and cake – and I needed to run to the store to get one more ingredient for the dinner I was planning on cooking for him. Chicken parmesan, if you must know.

But when I got to Foggy Bottom metro station, you were a little backed up. But I was able to get on a train – four-car of course – headed in the right direction. Sure it was packed and we were squeezed in like sardines but it is only a ten minute ride. I can suck it up for ten minutes.

But then you got stuck. For an hour. In between Foggy Bottom and Rosslyn. And we were in the part where the train is underwater. And I couldn’t get any cell phone service.

Also, your speakers were not working properly. So while one of your conductors thought he was explaining why we were stopped all we really heard was, “blahablaha...thank you for your patience.” Patience – as if we had a choice?

Some people were passing out. Luckily they were ok and there were some nice riders who constructed fans out of loose papers. Sure I made it out ok, but it took a long time. And we had to de-board at Rosslyn because our train was disabled.

Because of this incident Metro I wasn’t able to surprise my fiancé. He actually had to come pick me up at Rosslyn because I didn’t have another way to get home. And after being on a hot train standing for an hour, I didn’t exactly want to go home and cook a hot meal for an hour and a half.

Metro, I hope you now understand why our relationship is strained. You’re going to have to prove to me that you can be efficient again.

Sincerely,

Laurie

My 'Source' Ties the Knot

It’s no secret that I love television. And I’m often the one with inside “scoop” on plot twists and spoilers with my favorite shows. Because the only thing that is better than watching TV is reading about it! My “source” is none other than E! Online’s Kristin Veitch (now Kristin Dos Santos) from Watch With Kristin.


I’ve been a loyal follower for three years now – I even link to her column on the sidebar of this blog! She gives just enough dish to keep you “in the know,” but doesn’t completely spoil anything. And, she tied the knot on 7-7-07. And she had TV personalities at her wedding! Veronica Mars was there, so was Hiro from Heroes! And Sylar! And Jin from Lost! And the Lost writer Damon Lindelof! I wonder if for a wedding present he gave her some juicy Lost scoop!

What a lucky girl...