This year, like most, seems to have flown by but it has also seemed like SUCH a long time since January. The whirlwind that was the wedding dominated this year, but there were other moments, too. In order to properly remember these moments and to share them with you in some sort of logical way, I’ve decided to participate in Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. I’m not guaranteeing a post on all of the topics, as some would be rather difficult for me, but I’m game to try.

Stay tuned, tomorrow, when I’ll write about my favorite trip of the year (which means that I will have to choose from all of the great ones!).

I have had some horrible uploading trouble with Flickr over the past 24 hours. I think it’s a conspiracy to kill my excitement in my new camera.

Regardless, I am happy to wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.

Like most Americans, this is a short work week for me. I am working Monday through Wednesday. Then, I’m hoping to enjoy a gloriously carefree four days of simply not doing much. Not doing much really just means "not doing much that I don’t want to do." This will likely involve:

1) the arrival of a lens for my new DSLR camera (a Nikon D60) on Wednesday and the subsequent playing around with/learning how to work said lens and camera. I’ve gotten about halfway through the manual, but it’s hard for me to really learn when I can’t test out what I’m learning. It’s hard to test out things when you only have a camera body and no lens. Sadly, the lenses that The Husband has for his film SLR camera aren’t compatible with the DSLR since they don’t have an AutoFocus motor.

2) the making of my husband to prepare any dishes required to gain us a seat at the family Thanksgiving Day table. No one wants to eat food that I prepare. He’s a much better cook.

3) the hoping that The Husband doesn’t have to work on the holiday or the other three days that are supposed to be non-work days.

4) the eating of copious amounts of food on Thursday during the two Thanksgiving dinners that we’re attending. Does everyone think that their own family’s Thanksgiving dinners are superior to all others? I talked to my cousin about this. She is scheduled to go to her new manfriend’s family T-day dinner. She’s not necessarily looking forward to it only because she says that nobody likes T-day dinners that aren’t what they are used to. I tend to agree with this. When you’ve grown up forever eating a turkey and side dishes prepared the same day, it becomes part of the joy of the holiday. I wouldn’t know how to eat a properly moist turkey. The Husband isn’t quite sure what to think of the traditional Thanksgiving couscous. In short, my cousin and I contend that becoming an adult includes the suckiness of having to include other people’s holiday traditions into your own. Does that make me seem ungrateful or hateful? I hope not. People’s traditions are special to them because they are what they have always known. If you look forward, each year, to your family’s traditional Thanksgiving Football Game on the lawn outside then you’d probably hate my family’s traditional Thanksgiving Nap-A-Thon. This goes for other winter holidays, too.

This brings me to another point (and I probably should have just written a whole post about this, but, whatever). In my family, it’s always been pretty acceptable that new families that are created as offshoots of the main one are able and encouraged to create their own traditions. I remember quite well, that one of my uncle’s families seemed to have an alternating year kind of thing. One year, they’d be present at the huge family gathering for Christmas. The next year, they stayed at their home in a different state to work on making their own Christmas traditions. Of course, we missed seeing them on those years, but the adults seem to nod their heads, knowingly (and maybe a little wistfully). Families need to have their own traditions – mostly because traditions are often forced to change as we grow older. My family is still struggling to hang on to the threads of the traditions that we observed before the death of my grandparents. If we’d started making some side traditions, we’d have a safety net to fall back on instead of flailing around this part of the year. The big HOWEVER in this whole discussion, though, is that it seems like it’s only okay to create your own traditions if you are a traditional family. In my family, so far, that means that you have children. Case in point, it’s okay for my sister and her husband and children to find their own way through the holiday season – by means of making their own special moments and traditions. However, I don’t feel free to because it’s just me and The Husband. Maybe that’s my problem and not one that my family even thinks about. It may also have to do with the fact that both The Husband and I would rather sit at home enjoying ourselves on major holidays than be rushed and pushed and prodded and keep to schedules and before you know it, that particular holiday is over.

I so advocate to all that will listen the idea of throwing out the idea of giving gifts and taking a family trip somewhere lovely. I love gifts but I don’t love the stress that everyone goes through – emotional, financial and otherwise.

Wow. Diatribe. Back to the original post…what’s I’m doing this weekend.

5) the sleeping in on Friday and being completely oblivious to all of the copious and conspicuous consumption going on throughout America. I may work on some birthday and Christmas gifts in the privacy of my own little sewing nook.

6) on Saturday and Sunday I see myself playing more with my camera if the weather cooperates and doing more and more crafty things. I’m sorely behind on a quilt sampler I’m making and I’ve got plenty of ideas brewing, as well.

What are your plans for the short week?

This weekend, we experienced a little bit of Indian Summer. Temperatures neared 70 on both Saturday and Sunday. The Husband was able to do some kayaking and I was able to do some crafting. We both went to a wedding of some co-workers and former co-workers. It was a wonderful weekend of relaxation. Here are some pics for your enjoyment!

I thought that a requisite part of getting married and having a fun reception was hiring a DJ. I think that every wedding I’ve ever been to had a DJ. However, I quickly learned that DJs are expensive and unpredictable. The same DJ at one friend’s wedding can have the place dancing their socks off and can play obscure music with no one on the dance floor at another friend’s wedding.

I was afraid – of a cheesy guy in a cheap tux, of the Macarena, Chicken Dance and Cha-Cha Slide, of somebody requesting the 13:00 long version of Guns ‘N’ Roses’ November Rain. I conquered these fears, though, through the phenomenon that is an iPod wedding reception. I pored over other brides’ playlists on the internet. We asked for requests on our RSVP cards (which not a lot of people noticed on the back of the card). I made playlists.

As it turned out, I had a lot of anxiety about those playlists, but I think it was much less than what I would have had with a DJ. I worried that I wouldn’t have enough music (I didn’t, for the dance portion). I worried that no one would like the music (they seemed to like it). I worried that no one would dance (they did!). I worried that technical difficulties would abound and we’d end up with no music (make sure you have a power cord for your iPod, as our battery died – best friends saved the day with the iHome charging dock in their car!).

Since I stalked other brides’ iPod reception music, I feel it’s only fair to share mine. Bear with me and our unconventional wedding throughout this.

Cocktail Hour (see detailed .pdf)

Our aim was to have a party (with a wedding!), so we started things off with a cocktail hour beginning at 5. This gave guests the opportunity to be fashionably late and it also gave me the opportunity to play some grandma-friendly music that The Husband and I both like but maybe isn’t what will inspire people on the dance floor.

As Time Goes By – From the Casablanca Soundtrack
What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
All of Me – Billie Holiday
Night and Day – Ella Fitzgerald
Getting Some Fun Out of Life – Madeleine Peyroux
Somewhere Over the Rainbow – Judy Garland
One Hand, One Heart – From the West Side Story Soundtrack
You’re My Thrill – Billie Holiday
Dream A Little Dream of Me – Louis Armstrong
It Had to Be You – Django Reinhardt
Memories Are Made of This – Dean Martin
The Sunshine of Love – Louis Armstrong
Dance Me to the End of Love – Madeleine Peyroux
Always – Bobby Darin
L-O-V-E – Nat King Cole

Ceremony Music (see detailed .pdf)

Our ceremony was short and sweet. The only thing I’d ever pictured about my wedding was walking down the aisle to Ashoken Farewell. The other two songs are both ones that are meaningful to us, they could be called “our songs.”

Processional of Wedding Part – Falling Slowly – Vitamin String Quartet
Bride’s Processional – Ashoken Farewell – Jay Ungar
Recessional – All I Want Is You – Barry Louis Polisar

Dinner & Dessert Music (see detailed .pdf)

I don’t even remember hearing any of these songs. It was super busy – I never believed people who told me that it would be.

One Love/People Get Ready – Bob Marley
God Only Knows – The Beach Boys
Blackbird – Sarah McLachlan
Sweet Thing – Van Morrison
If You Could Read My Mind – Johnny Cash
Turn Me On – Norah Jones
When I’m Sixty-Four – The Beatles
Only Fools Rush In – Elvis
Everyday – Dave Matthews Band
Grow Old With Me – The Postal Service
Green Eyes – Coldplay
My Winding Wheel – Ryan Adams
Think I’m In Love – Beck
Girl From the North Country – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
Anyone Else But You – The Moldy Peaches
Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Queen
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) – Marvin Gaye
When the Stars Go Blue – Ryan Adams
Crazy Love – Van Morrison
You Are So Beautiful – Joe Cocker
Remember When – Alan Jackson
My Girl – The Temptations
The Luckiest – Ben Folds
You Send Me – Sam Cooke
I Got a Woman – Ray Charles

Special Dances

We did something that wasn’t traditional, but I am SO glad we did it. It was all The Husband’s idea, and it worked beautifully. We did a toast to my parents – two people who have a wonderful love and life, together. The wedding was in their backyard. Then, we dedicated a song to my mom, from my dad (he was in on it). Her middle name is Rose, and they danced to Rose of My Heart by Johnny Cash (can you tell that we are Cash fans?).

For our first dance, we shuffled along while no one was paying attention to In My Life. We combined my love of The Beatles with The Husband’s love of Johnny Cash by doing his version of their song.

We never got around to the Father/Daughter dance, but I made sure to dance with my dad during the dance party to a song that was perfect!

The Dance Party! (see detailed .pdf)

I didn’t have enough dance music. People were sad when it was over. Even if you think it’s enough. It’s not! I tried to start this dancing where everyone – old and young – could be pleased and dance at the beginning. As the night went on, I correctly figured that the younger people would begin to dominate the dancing and planned the music accordingly. By younger, here, I mean my age. By my age, I mean that we grew up listening to early hip hop and were white kids who liked Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle in high school.

I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
A Little Less Conversation – Elvis Presley
I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) – The Four Tops
Love Shack – B-52s
Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond
Save the Last Dance For Me – Sam Cooke
Bust a Move – Young MC
Hey Ya! – Andre 3000
Get Down Tonight – KC & The Sunshine Band
Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers
What I Like About You – The Romantics
You May Be Right – Billy Joel
In the Mood
You & Me & The Bottle Makes Three – Big Bad Voodoo Daddies
Girls Just Want to Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper
Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield
Paradise – John Prine (my family’s song)
Wagon Wheel – Old Crow Medicine Show
Shook Me All Night – AC/DC
Honky Tonk Women – Rolling Stones
Let’s Stay Together – Al Green
Let’s Get it On – Marvin Gaye
These Arms of Mine – Otis Redding
Kiss – Prince
Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
Jump – The Pointer Sisters
The Way You Make Me Feel – Michael Jackson
I Think We’re Alone Now – Tiffany
Mack the Knife – Bobby Darin
Into the Mystic – Van Morrison
Shout – The Isley Brothers
Dancing Queen – ABBA
Old Time Rock & Roll – Bob Seger
Livin’ On A Prayer – Bon Jovi
Dog Catcher – Parliament Funkadelic
Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Queen
Jackson – Johnny & June Carter Cash
Bennie & the Jets – Elton John
Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
Get Low – Li’l Jon
You Never Even Called Me By My Name – David Allan Coe
Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys – Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson
Dixieland Delight – Alabama
Hypnotise – Notorious B.I.G.
Yeah – Usher
Humpty Dance – Digital Underground
Like A Prayer – Madonna
Cowboy Take Me Away – Dixie Chicks

If you read this blog via a feed reader, you’ve probably already seen a new project of mine. I’m launching a new crafts-only blog called LP Quilts and Crafts. I mistakenly posted regarding the wedding banner I made (in progress posted here) to this blog instead of that one. Doh!

]]> http://kylydia.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/lp-quilts-and-crafts/feed/ 0 LP http://kylydia.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/everyone-loves-a-montage/ http://kylydia.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/everyone-loves-a-montage/#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:09:39 +0000 LP http://kylydia.wordpress.com/?p=875 ]]>

Don’t have anything to do for the next 16 minutes? Click here to view the montage I made of wedding photos. You must supply a password. It is my new last name. If you don’t know that or can’t guess it, email me for access!

The daily quote in my Franklin Covey planner (I’m a paper and pencil kind of girl) is from Thomas Edison. It says: "The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense."

I’ve got the first and third nailed. I can be a hard worker when I set my mind to it and I have more than your average person’s share of common sense. The Husband might try to debate that last point, but he would be wrong. I struggle and fail miserably in the stick-to-itiveness department. I am a classic case of a gung-ho beginner, a ho-hum doer and a rare finisher of projects/tasks/goals, etc. How does one be a stick-to-itive kind of person? Nike tells us to Just Do It. The Army used to tell us to be all that we could be. Rarely have people been inspired to just be blah and do whatever.

How are you do make yourself Stick To It? I’d seriously like to know.

You may not have heard the story of former US foreign service officer, Michael Hoh, and his recent resignation from the State Department. He was stationed in Afghanistan. He has resigned, basically, because he doesn’t know what we are fighting for, there, and could not countenance being a part of something that was sending more American soldiers to their deaths without a good reason. Obviously, that’s paraphrased, but check out this link for more (and this and this).

On the way home from work, this afternoon, I had what might be my first NPR “Driveway Moment” (if I had a driveway). It was a moment where I was so captivated by the radio that I sat outside my house, waiting for the interview to be concluded. Just sat and listened. A phrase taken from Hoh’s resignation letter, and presented toward the end of the interview, had tears welling in my eyes:

American families, he said at the end of the letter, “must be reassured their dead have sacrificed for a purpose worthy of futures lost, love vanished, and promised dreams unkept. I have lost confidence such assurances can be made any more.” source

I don’t have as much knowledge as Mr. Hoh, since I don’t work for the State Department, but I agree with everything that I heard him say. I don’t understand why we are still fighting the war in Afghanistan. I never understood why we went into a war in Iraq. I was opposed to both and am even more opposed now that we are eight years in.

What are your reactions to Mr. Hoh’s resignation? I think it takes courage to step up, as a civilian in no way related to the war, and say that you don’t agree with our nation’s foreign policies. I think it takes a hell of a lot more to do so when those foreign policies are your job. It’s always easier to just keep quiet and go along. I’d call it patriotic. Where would we be if we didn’t have people who spoke about what they knew was right? Thomas Paine and Nathan Hale would be just two dead guys that lived in America in the 18th century – except that America just might not be America without those patriots who put action to philosophy.

]]> http://kylydia.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/on-the-resignation-of-michael-hoh/feed/ 1 LP http://kylydia.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/out-with-the-old/ http://kylydia.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/out-with-the-old/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:47:11 +0000 LP http://kylydia.wordpress.com/?p=866 ]]>

This week, I’ve been working on finding places for all of our wonderful wedding gifts. I should be writing thank you notes, but I like to use the gift in order to write a better note. The bulk of our gifts were kitchen-related. Making room for them hasn’t been easy.

The kitchen is a point of contention for various reasons and with various people. When I bought the house five years ago, the kitchen was the room that I thought needed the most work. True to form it’s not yet finished. I laid tile, painted walls, bought some new appliances, took down pantry doors and refinished the cabinets. I should say that I’m still in the process of refinishing the cabinets. Their formerly grease-spattered exteriors are/were painted with high gloss oil-based paint. Many of the cabinets don’t have doors because I just didn’t strip them well enough. My aunt, the cabinet finisher extraordinaire promised to finish the remaining doors as our wedding present. I am stoked.

All of this is to say that even though the cabinets will soon be completed, there isn’t (be any means) enough room for all of the kitchen stuff we have. That’s why we’ll, hopefully, have a new kitchen island in the next week or so. On the list of things to do is sort and clean out the pantry. There are many things I haven’t used in years. Donating some of that should free up some space. We are donating all of the mish mash of plates and glasses and plastic cups I’ve accumulated over the years. There are the Pier One clearance melamine plates, the Big Gulp stadium cup and the random garage sale pieces I thought would be full of character. Luckily, Jason didn’t bring much kitchen paraphernalia to the relationship! I’m happy to say that I found an excellent charity to donate all our unwanteds to. Normally, it would all go to the Goodwill. However, I had a minute of brilliance and decided to donate it all to the local safe house for victims of domestic violence. I hope that the cheery stripes and the colorful array of drinking ware will help cheer someone who was forced to walk out on their own home and life.

After the kitchen is in order, it won’t be difficult to find a proper place for our other new gifts. I’m looking forward to purging the closet and re-organizing my sewing room.

ETA – Sorry, this may be the most boring post I’ve ever written! I’m trying to get back in the swing of things!