more should follow as people add to the album. . . but here's some of the first snapshots of the wedding
http://photobucket.com/chanwedding

yes. . . i'm lazy and not putting a link.

things have been kinda nuts between regular CCD craziness, wedding stuffs, no budget, union stuff, and slowly looking for a new job.

CCD - i'll be at ocean beach near fulton on 9/20 if anyone wants to come out and chill with the jessicka! you can either go pick up trash (usually i'm beat by then b/c of setting up since 7am) or hang with me and direct volunteers.

wedding - i now have maybe 5 things left to buy/take care of. all the big stuff is bought and paid for and the invitations are going out tomrrow. just gotta figure out how to wear my hair (any suggestions on places in SF or castro valley? any suggestions for the hair in general?), decide on hairpiece vs veil (and if so which one), pick up my boots (knee high, black patent lace up platforms for under the dress - can't go all serious now!), and get my alterations done.

budget/jorb/union - rumor is the dems are going to agree to arnold's proposed budget. hello permanent cuts! goodbye job!! good thing is, i put together a resume last week. bad thing is, it's in the old fashioned style (job title/company followed by bullet points of duties) (heh, duties) and would love to have the new type (list of cool stuff you've done and want to highlight, followed by list of jorbs) but have no idea where to start with that. anyone wanna help a girl out?

we're coming down to the nitty gritty of the wedding planning. found out that more out of town relatives are coming than i thought would give a shit. on the one hand that's wonderful. but it also means that we're left with like 6 openings for local friends. narrowing down the guestlist will be much harder than i anticipated. rough plans are in the mix for a kick ass post wedding party just for friends that will happen once we get back from the honeymoon. so at least we'll still get to celebrate with everybody in some fashion.

in the meantime, i need feedback on a protocol question. is it rude to invite someone to the bridal shower and then not invite them to the wedding due to the size limitations? what about the bachelorette party?

synthesizedwave works at a game stop, so i asked him to hold a Wii for me the next time they got a shipment. he called me on monday telling me that he had one for me. i get out there and he hands me a bag with a wii, extra controller w/ mini game pack, and extra nunchuck thing and says "this is from me and ashly to make up for all the missed christmases and birthdays". i was like huh?, totally not comprehending it at first. i looked through the bag and found gift receipts. then it hit me, and i was like holy crap! i'd give him a hug, look in the bag some more, and give him another hug. i think i cried somewhere in there. it's easily one of the most generous things anyone has ever done for me (well, anyone that's not related to me or dating me).

after much searching, i found my wedding ring on saturday. it was totally nothing like what i thought i wanted, but when i put it on it just felt right. it's kind of a plain band with three diamonds in the center. because the economy sucks, they were having a crazy sale, and i got a $712 ring for $327! the funny part is, i dragged my poor mother around to 10 jewelry stores saturday morning, and i found my ring at another store after dropping her off at her luncheon. as a thank you, i bought her an opal and chrome diopside pendant and am giving it to her at lunch today.

speaking of mommy, her surgery is scheduled for april 18th. it is indeed a tumah, but it is about 1/3 the size of a pea. that's still pretty large for that area. to get to it, they will have to remove the back half of 2-4 neck bones and not put them back, which is kinda weird. this whole thing is really rare unless preceeded by major trauma, so that's also kinda weird. we're praying the surgery will go smoothly and also that the nerve damage (ie: arm pain) won't be permanent.

normally i don't do black friday. i think it's mean to the employees and mean to the rest of us who can't buy crap b/c it was all snatched up a week before payday. however, walgreens had this on sale for $70 + $20 mail in rebate. . .

. . . so wolf and i both now own one. it's not the best camera, but for $50 I'm not complaining. we decided to trek up to mervyns and best buy. they were both pretty dead considering the day. picked up a few things at best buy but were disappointed that the stainless steel cookware set was sold out at mervyns. bah!

my other big weekend purchase. . . . my wedding dress. i didn't want something big and white and poofy. . . but i fell in love with it when i put it on. mom convinced dad to buy it for me. it's the only money they'll spend on the wedding, and i'm grateful since i know some don't even get that. that leaves me trying to find a really cheap way of doing the wedding locally. the best i've found is a winery in the east bay and runs about $3000 (that includes everything - ceremony/reception venue, food, unlimited wine and non-alcoholic beverages for 4 hours, furniture setup/tear down, sound system, rehearsal time beforehand, coordinator, and bridal room). we'd have to keep the headcount to under 65, which would be difficult. i've mainly been looking at the east bay since most sf venues are $2000+ and require you to use their certified caterers that run $25+ per person. any suggestions of dirt cheap places (not churches) that can handle 80-100 people? i'm hoping for a house or hall, heck even a community center, that has a room, garden, or patio area for the ceremony on the same property.