I can't wait till spring!!! Hopefully I will have a job by then, crossing my fingers, and I will have plenty of plants to keep me busy on the weekends!! That is if I get weekends off, heck I was so desperate for a job I told them I would work any shift and any hours, LOL. I have a feeling I may be on thirds, oh well we gotta do what we gotta do!! Cross your fingers everyone that I get the job, that means I may be able to move, eventually!!

Gold, shes welcome to come! Our photobooth is going to be a bit unconventional. We`re setting up a site with props and we`ve got some small dry erase boards and will have guests write their sentiment on the boards and that will serve as the guestbook. In addition, people can just use it for fun-we`ll have a digital camera available for the guest book, and pretty much everyone already has a digital camera or phone. I might look into a printer. We`re also.having lawn games, such as lawn yahtzee, lawn Jenga and lawn scrabble-using oversized pieces. Craft beers and Two Buck Chuck wine...the kids choice. They want it simple. I know-but its their big day and most of the crowd will be more interested in the mico-brew any way.

My brother for years would go on cruises and would talk of the great time they had, mentioning many of the benefits that others here have brought up as well: meals included, only unpack once, the shows and the other amenities on the ship. However it has never really appealed to me. The "only unpack once" sounds good, and not having to find accommodations in each new spot visited sounds great, but the rest of the experience did not seem enticing: shows? pass. gambling? I don't think so. Going somewhere "exotic" and then eating glorified cafeteria food? Bleah. And no matter where you go, even if the place might otherwise be a great place to visit, it is instantly crowded with people from the ship. However a couple of years ago, my wife was teaching on the Semester-at-Sea ship, which went out for a month-long voyage around the Caribbean, I went along as a plus-one, and had the best time of my life. She had to teach her class during the 12 days at sea, but on the days in port, she (and all of the students) were free to travel in and around the port country. The "voyage" was similar in many respects to a commercial cruise, but I think the differences are a big part of what made the trip more enjoyable for me. Some key differences were: no casino -- its been replaced with the largest library at sea. spends more than 6 to 8 hours in each port -- we had two or three days in each port rather than broadway-type shows there were sometimes lectures or movies about our upcoming destination small enough that it can stop in smaller, less visited ports we were allowed to bring aboard no more than two bottles of alcohol per person per port. The differences to me seem analogous to the differences between a credit union, and a large nationwide mega-bank, ie. same ostensible purpose, wildly different practices and methods employed in service of that purpose. For instance I'm sure there is someone at each of the major cruise lines whose job (in part) is to determine what the optimum level of quality for the food served in the regular service should be, to nudge people towards the pay-extra-restaurants, without driving people away altogether. Admittedly, since I've never been on a commercial cruise, I'm comparing my experience on the SAS ship with my cynical, pre-conceived notion of a commercial cruise. So even if you are a person who thinks "Cruises are not for me" there may be something similar, but slightly different that could be the time of your life.

Thanks Everyone! Daily update for you. The cake is ordered, appetizer trays done and catering finished. The bathroom is painted and a new mirror hung. Why do we wait until the last minute on these projects? The dining table is set for the bridal luncheon. Just a quiet one for a few of her dearest friends that will spend the day with us. I have decided to wear my everyday sand dollar necklace from DH. It's sentimental and I get lots of compliments. Plus a yellow topaz ring that was my mother's and a pair of small drop diamond earrings. Nothing dangling to temp little hands. I'll keep you posted!