Wow

I never believed that one of the most stressful things a person could do in life was to get married. Isn't it supposed to be a fairy tale, lovey-dovey, float on clouds kind of thing?

Not a chance.

Then you add the stressy Tommy you already know and love and you get quite the basketcase!

It STARTED off being pretty easy. There were a lot of Internet searches, phone calls, and meetings. There was plenty of time to do this and that. You could actually go camping or fishing and allow each activity do what it was made for...NOT thinking! Leave the rest of the world behind for a bit, recharge the batteries, and RELAX.

Hmm, I guess that brings us to the past two months. With all the big things taken care of (or most of them) it was all about coordination, payments, final head counts, pick up odds and ends, finish the projects, etc. This is easily one of the longest tests of endurance that I've ever had. Mental endurance that is. Even with Sarah taking the lead on most of this (I do not know HOW she has maintained her sanity) I have become a shaky, tense, twitchy wreck. I've learned quite clearly that I HATE having a to-do list that never gets fully completed, and once one task is crossed off, another two rapidly replace it. (This literally happened one day...I erased something and when I came home two hours later...the whiteboard was full again.) I took last Friday off thinking I'd head into the woods, pick some huckleberries and chill for a bit. Well, it was requested that I take Lucca...okay, but with a lot of spots taken at 0930 in the morning...we ended up walking a ways. The berries are late this year, so I didn't do much picking. Having a hot lab sitting three feet from you...staring at you...and panting for an extended period of time while the flies buzz around your head isn't much fun. Plus I couldn't concentrate! I finally gave up and headed home...where I was busy doing projects until 4:30 in the afternoon. I worked harder on my dang-ol day off!

I never thought I'd plan out a lawn mowing schedule...but even that wasn't easy. First, how does one get rid of old saw gas so you can use the container for weed eater gas? Solution...use old saw gas (50:1) in the weed eater and "eyeball" more oil into it...assuming it will get you down to the required 25:1 mixture. I know, I know, probably the worst thing I can do for the machine...but at this point...whatever. Now you have to weed eat a week in advance so any bad cuts have time to grow in. Then you have to mow. Then you have to plan on mowing days before the rehearsal dinner so there are no unsightly clumps of grass...which leads you to believe you need to mow in a different pattern. (With a small yard, that's going to be a tough task.) You have to plan on a potential raking...and time to take the grass to the dump. It required me to get up early and watch all the automatic sprinklers and figure our why there are dry spots. Which means I'm doing some pruning tonight. And the whole time, you're worried about getting any cuts, blisters, sunburns, etc. AND THIS IS JUST MOWING THE LAWN!! I anticipate all of you reading this will think, "Tom, it's not that big of a deal. Just mow it and call it good." Sorry, can't. Already I'm worried about the garage. Should I clean it? Grrr.

Hair is another story altogether! I've been in the process for months...finding a decent barber who can "learn" what I like and record it. (Which I managed to do...a guy we shoot withs wife is an awesome barber.) Okay, so that done...how to keep up on the beard? I look like Bart Simpson if I shave completely, so that's not going to happen. I finally figured out which guide to use on my trimmer to maintain a length we like. Alright, so now for the first time in my life, I'm on a daily shaving schedule. Already I'm worried about razor burn...which I have right now. I need to make some time to try and lay in the sun to get at least a little color under my chin. I figured keeping it shaved for a couple weeks would do that...but no. I've got a "touch-up" haircut planned for this afternoon...and I'm worried about something bizarre happening.

Going back to a subject...the thought of getting hurt is constantly on my mind. My knee has been "crinkly" and so I want to start taking fish oil. But I'm waiting until after the wedding in case, for some unknown reason, I have a reaction to FISH OIL. I'm VERY concerned about cutting my hands...which you all know I'm good at...consequently, cutting any vegetables is out of the picture. No taters for me this week! I'm extremely careful about wearing sandals, as a twisted ankle isn't my idea of a good time...but again, I'm good at those too. Boots it is...not a big change from normal...but still on my mind. I almost hit my head on an edge of the shower this morning drying my feet, so now I have to pay very close attention to anything that can bonk me on the head. I constantly have achy muscles as I never truly relax, even sleeping! I've been going to bed uber-early (last night I went and read at 7:30) but I still wake up exhausted. I spend all night DREAMING about everything under the sun, and this has been going on for weeks. I've had to "clear" an attic, I've been shot in the head, I've yelled at people, ran from people, gotten lost, gotten in trouble, etc...and the whole time I actually realize that I'm asleep! And even knowing that, I can't turn it off. I've done a lot of planning for the wedding and I've been in the wedding a number of times. I've had discussions with Sarah and then been confused as to why she can't remember them...well, it's because we've been having them in my dreams! Ugh.

Any kind of rafting or boating trip is out of the question, which leads me to an interesting story that tiers directly off of the above paragraph. So, Saturday morning as Sarah and I are finishing up some arts and crafts, I got a phone call from Rod. Turns out they were out on his boat fishing...and catching some dandy smallmouth. He offered to pick me up somewhere and I quickly realized that's what I was going to do. But first I had to battle all the people that were crowding downtown for "Art on the Green" a three-day nightmare for those of us living downtown. (I was dropping our finally-finished vows off with our minister.) Well, I got to his shop to find him in a panic, turns out his dock on Hayden lake had lost a cable and was floating into the neighbors dock! Obviously, I called Rod and told him I couldn't make it...maybe Sunday...grabbed Butch and a bunch of rope, and headed up there. It turned out well as I had a nice new LONG rope that we used to tied it off to a tree...disaster averted. I waited around Sunday trying to get in touch with Rod, but neither him nor his son called me back so I bagged it. Talking to him this morning made me very thankful I didn't make it on the boat with him! His drain plug was old and worked it's way out of the drain hole. It filled the boat fast causing the bow to head to the sky like the titanic! When the motor FINALLY caught, he was able to power it to the dock...almost underwater by the time he got it there...and this is driving it nearly vertical! He managed to wrestle it onto the trailer and let it drain for...wait for it...30 minutes (it's a big boat)! The rest of his day was spent dealing with all of that.

I'm glad I wasn't there.

So. That's my life as of now. I can't concentrate on anything because I'm thinking about everything all at once. Both Sarah and I are very excited for Saturday...the day AFTER the wedding!