Very funny ladies!   Sometimes I actually have some spare time, believe it or not! (Usually when I’m asleep!)
Seriously, does anyone know how to make those pom-poms? I can always recruit someone if I can’t find the time.

Martha knows

http://www.marthastewart.com/good-things/pom-pom-car-decoration

They seem very easy to make and attach with suction cups.  What are your Colors?

Thanks M! Those do look easy.

My colors are Ivory and Truffle (Dark Brown)
Here’s the dress that my 2 Junior Bridemaids are wearing:
http://davidsbridal.com/bridesmaids_detail.jsp?stid=1674&prodgroup;=110
They’re both 14 and look adorable in this dress. Click on the dark brown square to see it in Truffle.
My other 3 Bridemaids are still trying to decide on a style.

What’s In Emmi’s Head?
Reconciliation, again...
Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve journaled.

The wedding plans are coming along very well. I recently received my invitations and ordered some personalized napkins. All I have left to do now is order the cake and finalize the booze list and decide on what kinds of decorations/flowers I need. Oh, and I have to find some shoes and gifts for my bridemaids, register at a couple places and get a wedding band for my future husband.... I guess there’s still a bunch of small details to do. At least the big things are done and that brings some relief.

I finally called my friend yesterday after 4 weeks of being very depressed and getting little sleep. She was originally one of my bridesmaids but after a stupid fight with my Fi’ she opted out. 4 weeks went by without a word. I didn’t understand why she was so upset with me when I hadn’t even done anything. Over the course of these last couple weeks I had spoken to one of her other friends. She and my friend have known each other since they were kids and were presently having a difficult time getting along as well. Well this friend kept telling me that my friend hated me and that she wouldn’t be receptive to my calls. I was very, very saddened by this but something in her tone made me uncertain that she was telling me the truth. What had I done? Why the hate? I don’t get it! So I finally got the courage to call yesterday. My friend wasn’t upset with me at all! She was upset because she thought that I thought she hated me and she’s mad at the friend for telling me that! It turns out that this friend was prolonging this stupid misunderstanding on purpose! (Next time I see her, we’re having some words.  ) Apparently she’s been jealous at all the time that my friend and I spend together and when my friend is upset with me those two hang out more. I get it now! This is so high school I can’t stand it! And as far as my Fi’ and my friend go, that’s all water under the bridge now. She’s not in the wedding. I’m okay with that. She’s taking college courses and works too so she really doesn’t have enough time or money to be in it. I told her that even though she’s not in it I’d like her to keep her ideas coming. She’s offered me lots of great suggestions. I’m so glad I called her. Now I don’t have to be gloomy anymore. Unbelievable!

Good for you Emmi and clearing the air!!!
It’s like the albatross has been lifted!

Cleda

Wow! I had a “friend” like that once. What is wrong with some people? I’m so happy to hear you called and got it all straightened out, what a load off!

Bree

I can identify a little with your situation a bit too.  But I was in the position of the Bridemaid.  I was not the first of her party to backout on her and that in itself is very telling.  When I called and tried to clear the air she wouldn’t listen.  I often had to leave things with her as “lets agree to disagree” to avoid arguments so it was not a friendship that really hurt to lose.  I still feel bad for her, and I don’t even know for sure if she got married in the end.

It is always better to clear the air.  I’m glad you talked directly to her and got to the bottom of it.  Will she at least be going to the wedding?

It is always better to clear the air.  I’m glad you talked directly to her and got to the bottom of it.  Will she at least be going to the wedding?

Yes it is better to clear the air and I usually prefer to do it in person rather than on the phone. We did get some face time in later. I should have talked to her a long time ago instead of waiting. I would have spared myself so much stress.

Yes, she’s going to the wedding. It wouldn’t feel right if she wasn’t there. My Fi’ introduced us when we first started dating and she’s been a mutual friend ever since.

What’s In Emmi’s Head?

Down To One Job, Finally!

I finally decided to quit bar-tending at the Moose. Even though I can use the extra money the amount of stress this place has been giving me is just not worth the aggravation. Recently new officers were installed. The Administrator (my Boss) quit after only 3 weeks. He couldn’t figure out the paperwork and just gave up. After he left one of the bartenders, a female and a nasty one too, decided to take full liberty of the set schedule and switched everyone up without consulting any of us first. Until I stopped in last week I had been under the impression that I was going to be working on Sunday. I turned to look at the schedule and I’m like WTF!!! She scribbled out my name and put hers in wherever she wanted. I took the sheet over to the Governor and asked him if he had okayed the changes. He didn’t even know anything about it! I told him that I wasn’t contacted at all and whomever decided to take liberties had no business doing so without asking. She’s not in charge! Those days she put me on I was unavailable for each since I had scheduled everything else around the days I thought I was working. I was fuming! How dare she?

So I thought about it for a couple days and decided that I know longer wanted to be part of it. This job has served its purpose and I’m going to need all my weekend time to take care of wedding details. Besides if the place does close down, which it will, I’ll be long gone. Some people have been skimming off the top. The Moose will unfortunately close. I don’t want to be anywhere near it when the #@it hits the fan. (And that female bartender is one of the suspected, too. She’s stolen from me before and unfortunately I had no proof.)

So now I can focus on what’s important and have more time for the gym, my Fi’ and my house. There is a silver lining to this after all. We all get what we deserve in the end. I know she’ll get hers.

Wedding Check List
1. Wedding date - Check
2. Church/Priest booked - Check
3. Create guest list - Check
4. Send out “Save The Date” cards - Check
5. Pick Wedding party - Check
6. Reception booked - Check
6. Catering booked - Check
8. DJ booked - Check
9. Favors bought - Check
10. Bridal gown purchased - Check (It’s gorgeous!)
11. Bridesmaids dresses chosen and bought - Check
12. Book Photographer - Check
13. Rehearsal dinner site - Check (My sister’s hostessing it)
14. Bought a Harley Davidson Wedding couple with bike cake topper! - Check (So cute!)
15. Invitations, response cards, Reception cards and Thank you cards. - Check
16. Reserved a block of rooms near the reception site. - Check
17. Got my gifts for my bridemaids - Almost done!
18. Pick out the Groomesmen Tuxes so all they have to do is rent it.
19. Finalize booze list - Almost done!
20. Picked a wedding cake place but have not finalized - Need $ for deposit
21. Flowers? Decorations? - Have ideas. Waiting for more Fall stuff to appear in craft stores
22. Need to meet with DJ and go over music list.
23. Need to meet with church music director and pick music.
24. I made 10 pom poms for the car so far!

Thank God you got out of there! What a miserable working situation. I feel for anyone who doesn’t have the easy choice of walking away.

Just remember—karma. She’ll get hers.

Bree

Wow - what nerve is right.  As a past manager of staff (lifeguards) I know how hard it can be to keep everyone happy with the work schedule.  But once it is set even the manager needs to ask staff before they make changes.  Just who does she think she is?!!!  Obviously someone without any consideration for others!!  Good for you for making a decision that is all round best for you.

What’s In Emmi’s Head?
My Trip to Cape May, NJ

We left Cleveland around 10:30AM on June 18th. Except for a few spots of rain the trip was relatively uneventful. We arrived at the Seahouse around 8PM. After settling in and some dinner with my hostess and her two friends my Fi’ and I went for a leisurely bike ride around the boardwalk and walked up to the ocean surf. I love the smell and sound of the ocean. The moon was out and it was spectacular. We rode through some of the side streets and were in awe at the homes. Cape May is a very Victorian style town and these folks do their homes up! So beautiful! We then went back to the Seahouse and slept like bricks.

The next morning, June 19th, I started off my day by going for a powerwalk on the beach by myself. (My Fi’ slept until 3PM that day!) It was a lovely walk. I could feel the burn in my calves and rear end from all that sand walking. That was hard! We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day! It was hot but not muggy. My friend, Carol - the hostess, and I layed out on the balcony for awhile and then I got myself cleaned up. It was 2:30 and I was hungry. I barged into the bedroom and announced to my Fi’ that I was going to the bar without him and I did. There is one just at the top of our street - how convenient! I enjoyed a yummy Bloody Mary and sure enough, my Fi’ walked in. I knew that would wake him up! We went back to the Seahouse and got ready to head out. We took the bikes to ride around town and found the Washington Mall. The Mall is a pedestrian only area with a bunch of cutesy shops, bars and restaurants. We decided to park our bikes and walk around and had a beverage and snack at the Ugly Mug. He wanted to ride all the way to the lighthouse but the bicycle seats were so uncomfortable that halfway there we turned around and headed home to the car. We wanted some seafood for dinner so we drove to the harbor and went to the Lobster House. This place is all connected to the fishermen’s wharf and the selection at the market can’t get any fresher than this. You can choose to eat inside or outside on the dock or in a dining schooner. There’s also a raw bar. We ate inside on this adventure and enjoyed some clams, oysters, crab and shrimp. When we got back to the Seahouse we decided to walk back up to the beach and help our belly’s settle.

On June 20th, Carol and I set out for a powerwalk together down the boardwalk and the beach. Another glorious day! We picked up some breakfast on the way back and laid out on the balcony for awhile while we waited for my Fi’ to wake up. He knew he had to get up early because we were picking up a friend at the ferry terminal. Our friend, Dave, lives in D.C. and he parked his car at the terminal in Delaware and took the Lewes Ferry to Cape May via the Delaware Bay. We were supposed to take a ferry over the bay and meet him in Delaware and ride the ferry back together but we read the map wrong and took a wrong turn, missing our boat. Oh well. We told Dave to get on board and we’d pick him up when he arrived. It’s only an 1.5 hour trip. The wrong turn we took took us to this hideaway beach. My Fi’ took his sandals off and started walking in the water until I screamed at him that he was surrounded by jellyfish! They were everywhere! He very carefully managed to get back up to the beach unstung. Whew! That would have ruined his whole day. From the beach we decided to check out the local Moose lodge since we were close by. The lodge was very big and everyone was friendly to us. When Dave called we went to pick him up and we stopped at Hoolihan Henry’s for a cocktail. This bar is right on the beach and perfect for watching the sunset. We then drove around a bit so Dave could see the town and headed home to let him settle in and freshen up for our land and sea tour that we were going to that night. The tour was cool. A trolley took us around town and we learned a lot about the history of Cape May. The we boarded a boat for the sea part of the tour. I had forgotten to bring a jacket and I was freezing. I didn’t enjoy this part of the trip as well because of it. But we did get a beautiful sunset and saw several dolphins. When we got home my Fi’ fell asleep and I decided to take Dave out and show him around. We walked down the boardwalk, down several side streets and ended up at the Mall and went to the Ugly Mug for a few. Boy was I tired when I got home! What a full day!

The next morning, June 21st, Carol and I went out for our morning walk on the beach and Dave went for a run. She was very upset. Her friend that she rode down with called her and told her that she was leaving early and if she wanted a ride she had to leave that day. The whole reason she was down at the Seahouse was to get it ready for the summer renters. She wasn’t ready. My Fi’ and I decided that we would stay one more day and take her home. We didn’t mind, really. We loved it down there! So this day’s activities were as such: more sunning and biking and walking around oogling all the beautiful houses. Later on we went to Sunset Beach so that I could by my bridesmaids these pretty necklaces that I saw there. I got each of them a Cape May “Diamond” pendant. For clear quartz they are gorgeous, cut and polished stones. My Fi’ had bought me some earrings and a pendant two days before. Then we headed to the Elks Lodge. Boy was that place huge! You should have seen all the senior citizens boogie-ing it down with the live band! It was great. We stayed there for about an hour and went back to the Lobster House for dinner. This time we ate our dinner outside on the attached schooner. Mmmmm we had more oysters, clams, crab, shrimp and calamari. With our belly’s full we headed back home and turned in early.
- continued below -

- continued-

Sunday, our last full day. After our morning powerwalk, we all got ourselves cleaned up and went out for breakfast. Carol took us to this little local place just outside of town. Mmmm I had an omelet with crab, shrimp, avocado and cheese and a cup of crab soup. It was rich but so yummy. After breakfast we went back home and I laid out in the sun some more before we headed into town to walk around some more. I bought a couple souvenirs and took lots of pictures.
We headed out to another seafood house for dinner that night. I could eat seafood all day long! I Love It!  This time I had scallops, cod, and a crab cake with vegetables and a salad. After dinner we walked up to the beach to see our last sunset. Our trip was over. We went home to pack our bags.

Monday morning I skipped the usual walk and helped Carol finish cleaning up the Seahouse so that we could leave at a decent hour. The doors were locked by 12:30 and we headed home.
The end

Pictures - from left to right
1. The Seahouse
2. The front porch of The Seahouse
3. Washington Mall
4. Seven Sisters - a man built a house for each of his seven sisters - hence the name. These are 2 of them.
5. Lewes Ferry Terminal - picture taken from the jellyfish infested beach
6. Hoolihan Henry’s - Dave on left and my Fiancé on right
7. Sunset on the Sea Tour - If you look carefuly you can see a dolphin fin in the upper right
8. Me on the schooner at the Lobster House

Bummed out!
I got to say I’m a bummed out about this Mastermind group. I wish I could be a part of it but there is no way I can pay $149 a month!!!! I feel like I’m missing out on something really cool! Why does it have to cost so much? I just got done doing number crunching to see if I could afford a personal trainer and found that at this time I can’t even do that! I feel so left out and I’ve been a consistent part of this MTM thing for well over a year now. I’ve given so much support to as many people as I can and now I’ll miss the new, big cool thing because of lack of funds. I think it stinks! I really don’t mean to offend anyone and I’m not asking for any pity but I just couldn’t keep this inside any longer. 

Hey Emmi, I know what you mean.  I am BROKE right now.  I had to borrow money from my parents the past 2 months and already buy everything generic at the grocery store.  I can’t be stretched any more.  I was reading on another thread how if you are dedicated, you will find a way.  That might be true for some people, but not for me when I’m struggling just to keep the electricity turned on.  I feel left out too.  Maybe we will both be able to join in January.  Let’s just think of it as we are letting them work all of the kinks out this first time! LOL