Yes Wii Can

So Serdic wandered into the living room shortly before dinner this evening and announced "I'm bored." This was followed up with "Let's go buy a Wii." Five minutes later we were in the car headed for Future Shop, and within the hour we were the proud owners of a brand spanking new Wii gaming console. Plus an extra controller (we don't share very well), some fun games, and all the rest of the paraphernalia one needs to be a true Wii expert.

This was not quite as out of the blue as it sounds. I've been saying for ages I'd like to get a Wii, and Serdic has been making noises about a new gaming system for awhile, although he's been talking about an XBox360. I hauled out the old school Playstation (not even a Playstation 2 -- a Playstation 1!) this afternoon to play some Tomb Raider and I think that decided him that we needed to upgrade. But it was still a pretty spur of the moment decision.

But, oh my, was it the right one. We have had a blast this evening, and I have kicked his ass in a number of sports. He'll tell you he was the one doing the ass kicking, but he's lying. My arms are sore now, though!

Anyone out there have a Wii? What games can we simply not live without?

My funny valentine

So we are inundated with Valentine's Day stuff, right? Everywhere you turn, cards, flowers, candy, hearts, chocolate, etc. So what do you suppose are the chances that on two separate nights in two different locations, Serdic and I would independently choose the same card for each other?

Greater than you'd think, apparently.

And since it was obviously a sentiment that spoke to both of us, I'm going to put it here as my Valentine's entry, instead of writing a bunch of other goopy stuff about how much I love him and how much I'm looking forward to spending my life with him.

A chance meeting
became a smile
became a conversation
became a touch
became a kiss
became a knowing
became destiny
I'm so glad we found each other

And here are a few photos of the floral arrangement that was just delivered. My boy has good taste, I will say that. Happy V-Day to all my loved ones, family and friends alike.

Random mid-week updates

I've had a series of interesting "customer service" encounters this week.

1) A couple of weeks ago my cell phone died -- it simply would not turn on. So I took it into the fine folks at Telus, where they tried the same things I had, with the same result. Pronouncing herself "stumped," the girl working at Telus said she had to send it out for repair (and when she gave me the repair request to sign, I was delighted to see that under the description of the problem she had used the phrase "but to no avail," making me a fan of hers for life). They gave me a loaner phone in the meantime (one that, interestingly, hadn't been cleared of the contacts and text messages of the last person to use it before me -- I made sure to wipe it clean myself before I returned it!) and life continued as normal. Monday afternoon I got a call on said loaner phone, that went something like this:

"Hello?"
"TheSinger, how are you today?"
"Uh, fine, thank you. And this is?"
"This is *mumble* from Telus. Your phone is back from repair."
"Oh, great. Thanks very much."
"So, uh, when are you coming in to pick it up?"

And I know it's hard to express tone on the interwebs, but this was said as if I had left it there to linger for six months and it was taking up all their storage space. So I kind of fumbled around and said I thought I could come in that evening but I wasn't sure, and suddenly he was all "Oh, whenever you can is good, just wanted to let you know it was here." Very weird.

2) My problem with making phone calls is documented in other entries, but to sum up briefly -- I hate making phone calls, and find it very stressful to the point where I will work myself up into severe anxiety and put off calls that need to be made for weeks (which, of course, feeds back into the anxiety because then I have guilt about not taking care of something, which makes me want to put it off even further, etc. etc. etc.). However, Tuesday I gave myself a stern talking to and determined I was being silly, and picked up the phone to call the medical clinic I use in order to book my annual check up, which I have put off for as long as possible but now needs to be done. After waiting on hold for ten minutes I got a real live person. I asked if I could book said check up and she said "We don't do bookings over the phone. You have to go to the website and do an online booking request," and hung up. I rolled my eyes, but headed over to the website and dutifully made the online request. Yesterday I got home from work to a message on the machine, "Yes, this is Medical Clinic, please give us a call." So I give myself a stern talking to and screw up my courage, and call. They would like to book my appointment. Over the phone. Me: "Um, I called yesterday and was told you don't do phone bookings." Them: "No, you have to do it online." Me: "But I'm talking to you now, am I not?"

And you know, fine, whatever, I have an appointment for next week and it's all good, and my phone issues are not their fault or problem, but I was just left shaking my head at the end of it.

In other, more exciting, less rambling and weird news, I have a couple of wedding updates. The biggest and best is that I ordered my dress on Saturday. I still have trouble comprehending that statement -- I ordered a wedding dress. For the wedding I am having. Because I am getting married. It's pretty damn cool. The dress is gorgeous and I knew right away that it was The Dress, and I can't wait to wear it. No, you can't see pictures. It's a secret. :-)

Other bookings include the DJ for dinner music and dancing, and PetDoc and Noise have booked their flights to come home for the wedding. Woo hoo! I went and looked at invitations last week and while we haven't ordered them yet (still tweaking the wording) I think I have a style picked out. We still haven't done anything about a photographer, which is the next big thing on my list and something we have to do asap. If anyone out there reading this has a suggestion for either an Ottawa or Kingston based photographer they can recommend, I'm all ears. I'd really like to get that taken care of in the next week.

And the list goes on. 36 weeks to go!

Here Comes the Bridezilla

I made a promise to myself, back when it first became apparent that Serdic and I would likely be heading down the aisle together, that I would not be The Bride for the whole year leading up to our wedding. I don't want to be The Bride who can only talk about The Wedding, who can only think about The Wedding, who expects every person in her life to make their lives revolve around The Wedding for the next year. I told my friend (and bridesmaid!) J this recently and she said "Yeah, every bride says she's not going to be The Bride. Good luck with that." And honestly, the fact of the matter is I'm getting married in less than nine months (eek!) and it is a Big Deal for me. But I am trying very hard not to insist that it be a Big Deal for everyone else. So I was going to try to keep wedding blogging to a minimum.

That, of course, means I haven't blogged in weeks, because about all I think and talk about is wedding stuff! So much for that resolution!

The planning is well underway. Serdic and I spent this past weekend in Hometown, where the big day will take place, meeting with our reception venue and various other interested parties. I have the music for the ceremony well in hand -- anyone who knows me will not be surprised that I have very definite ideas about what I do (and don't!) want, particularly when it comes to music, and we have some very generous and talented friends who have offered to share their gifts with us and our guests, which I am really excited about. I am particularly blessed to have my Aunt C, who has a wonderful eye for the more creative side of things (something I don't have AT ALL), and she is hard at work designing floral arrangements and organizing the multitude of little creative details that we have all come up with. We all have the ideas, Aunt C is the one who actually brings them into being. She was the unofficial wedding planner and decorator for PetDoc and Noise's wedding, and it was seriously the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to (no, I'm not biased, why do you ask?). We are very lucky and grateful that she is willing to take on this gigantic task again for us.

Let's see, what else? Preliminary guest list is drawn up. Church and reception venue are booked. Wedding party has been asked and all have accepted (well, in fact, I don't think I ever asked PetDoc ... I think it's just assumed!) -- it'll actually be a nice parallel, as Serdic and I are both having one sibling and one close friend stand up with us. Nice symmetry there, and nice symbolism of having both our friends and family there to support us.

There are a couple of major things that need to be crossed off the list in the very near future -- top of that list is my gown. My mom and a few other important women in my life are going to accompany me on a dress hunting expedition this weekend -- I can't wait! I've done some preliminary looking online and I definitely have a few dresses in mind, but of course until you start trying things on it's hard to tell what will work. So that will definitely be very exciting.

J and I will also be crossing the Atlantic soon, to have a bridesmaid dress shopping adventure in London with PetDoc. So I am very much looking forward to that. It is strange to be planning a wedding without my sister here, and while of course I can keep her involved through this wild and wonderful thing called the internet (email is a beautiful thing) it's not quite the same. So I'm really looking forward to some "in person" time with her in April, to share everything we've been working on.

So that's where the wedding planning stands for now. Lots of lists, lots of decisions to make, lots of planning still to come. I promise to blog about other things between now and October, though!