if only we could get away with this sort of treatment somedays

this reminds me of life before the corner coffee kisok
life when i had co-workers
http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=375

"that's how life usualy is, honey"

i spent my saturday late-morning and early-afternoon traversing from store to store in search of those perfect shoes.

my well planned trip took me to only three parking spaces, but i was able to cover dozens of stores (4 free-standing, and one mall included...adds a lot there)
the whole time i searched, my dear friend fer came with me via telephone. (because its hard to find someone who will actually come with me in person to hop stores as quickly as i ...just searching for that one pair of perfect shoes. )

my first stop, i discovered the most amazing shoe store..which i'll have to reattend on a day when i can permit myself to browse for non-wedding shoes..it was HUUGE and had so many different types of shoes to behold....but did not carry my perfect wedding shoes.

2nd, 3rd, and 4th stops were no good. lots of fall and winter clearance items..no white shoes...welll... none except for those pumps that resembled something from 1985.

at the mall i kept finding fancy silver shoes and gaudy gold shoes and no white satin shoes. i found some white casual platform sandals..but nothing wedding appropriate. nothing at all.

after nearly three hours of searching..and no moments of finding...and no more stores in the immediate area to shop in...i decided to put my search on hold til another day...to move on...to buy groceries...to finish my saturday without the perfect shoes in my possession.

i got my groceries...i went home..i unpacked my groceries...then i noticed that my "plan" for the day had been to be finished with shoe shopping and grocery buying around 3pm..but it was only 2:15 at the time...there was still shoe search time alloted!

i decided to look at one more place today..afterall...it was nearby..and wouldnt take very long just to check.
i drove about 1 mile...maybe less...to the shopping center where Shoe Carnival has recently been added. i HATE going into shoe carnival....thus why i had not looked there to begin with. to get my nerve up, i went into Goody's next door first...before facing the game-show-like employees of the dreaded shoe store. remembering that i'd found one of my favorite pairs of dress shoes at goody's once..

..i took a venture to their shoe department. on the first aisle i saw a pair of nice looking shoes..definately better than what i'd seen in all of my galavanting at the mall previously...but they weren't WHITE..they were BONE (which is a little bit nearer to ivory) i tried them on..and they looked okay...but the heel of them was brown like wood..instead of being white...and they did have pearls on them like everything else i'm wearing...but they also had some not as pretty beads.they were 1/2 price... i was about to just get them to have "in case"...when i turned around...and exactly behind me were the same shoes..but PERFECT.

they were white.
the heels were white.
the beads were EXACTLY like my jewelry.
(i felt certain these would be the most uncomfortable shoes on the planet. )
the moment i slipped my right foot into the shoe, another shopper --who, to me, seemed like a very wise woman-- said "oh my goodness! those look perfect on you!" and "You've got the legs for those" (and no one has ever told me that i have legs for any sort of shoes)
(and the shoes weren't uncomfortable at all.)
i looked at the woman and told her how i had just spent hours searching for these shoes ...and here i come to the nearest shopping center to my home, and there they are.
she replied "that's how life usualy is, honey"

i tell you...when i turned and found the shoes, i was pretty certain about them already...but she was like a messenger from the Lord.

because samantha asked how plans are going...

...and i have so few regular readers, i like to respond to them as proptly as i am able!

(i'd realy love for my readership to go up again...darn me taking so much time away from this blog!)

my goal for this week is to finally choose where we're ordering invitations from and what those invitations will look like.....hopfully all the way down to the wording...but that depends on when michael can work with me on that part...because i have a feeling he'll be better at it than i will.
(....i like run-ons....)

i'll at least make all the needed print shop visits and various phone calls and such this week to know where i can afford to best decide from...
...and by the end of next week weed down the invite list some more and redefine it...and fill in the blanks....
...and before march ends...we'll have them ordered so that we can get them back, address them, and have them going places before summertime is on us.

(ps....email me addresses if you would like to be included in the mail outs....i'll do my best to send to those who want to come! rjgosey at hotmail dot com.)

i also get to start deciding about shoes. i know shoes dont seem like anything difficult to choose to some people...but for me, i have a few criteria which must be met.

1. white shoes. not clear...not silver...not with gaudy metal stuff....not with ribbons to wrap around my leg.
2. heels with a little width. i cannot stand on toothpick heels...i'd die trying. but...i do want heels...otherwise, i'd just buy some slippers at belk and not be concerned with this at all. i am concerned. i want shoes that make me a little taller. (or maybe just a touch above short, as the case seems to be)
3. do not cost a rediculous amount. we're on a budget here. i like $20 enough.... i do not like $40... i'd need medication if i spent $70.
4. would go with things i wear after the wedding. i dont have any white shoes anymore...so while i'm shopping for some..they should be a little bit univesal.
5. dressy shoes. not flip flops... or brown heeled casual sandals...or the other beachy wear trend of white shoes i keep seeing.
6. i have to have this by the end of april. thankfully...its almost spring..so i should be able to find these soon.

recap: 1. please read my blog. 2. invitations soon. 3. shoes also soon.

If you see them, will you love them like i do?

as i stand here in this hospital..day after day...and i smile at as many people as i possibly can...and i know that i'm here for THIS...i begin to wonder..what is "this"?

what do i say to the woman who buys a smoothie or two every time she has an appointment..and tells me how well they settle her stomach during her chemo treatments?

what do i say to the man who says "pile on all the good stuff" as i make his hot chocolate...who is trying to decide where to go for his hospice stay while he simply waits on the end of it?

how do i encourage those who are stuck roaming these hallways..day after day...feeling trapped because of something they cannot change...?

i watch some go from wheelchair..to walker..to cain..to freedom....while the others i see fall in the other direction...from cain..to walker..to chair...and then i just dont see them anymore...

i watch men objectify women and say all sorts of improper things..and i watch women (and men, too) feel unlovely, lonely, or forgotten

yet...i love being here..i know that what little i do is something...but what more can i do...from behind this counter?

If You See Them
(sherri youngward)

My Father’s heart broke today
His children ran away
His children slipped out the back door
His children He loved and adored
And He said
Have you seen your brother Have you seen your sister
Where is your brother Have you seen your sister

If you see them will you love them like I do
And maybe they’ll remember who I am
I’d give anything and everything I have
Just to bring them back again

My Father paces the floor
I’ve never seen Him like this before
He says He won’t restUntil they’re all safe and sound
He says He won’t rest until they’re all found

five months from tomorrow

i'm in a bit of calm right now....its its rather surreal.

the first month was a whirlwind of teling and reading and deciding and making lists

this month was the realization that i dont have to do it all at once..and that i can't do it all at once

next month will be the calm moving forward with just what needs to be done

then the following few months will be when i have to take this planning brain up another notch again

and i dont even want to think about what all will have to come together those last couple of months

but in five months....i'll be collected and ready and excited