we'll make our homes on the waters, we'll build our walls of aluminum, we'll fill our mouths with cinnamon now.

Well, the nice nails are emphatically flaking, and the honeymoon is over I suppose. It's sinking in that I won't be going home from this vacation – I really live here, and Greg really lives here and we're really married. (I could not have imagined a better wedding, by the way.)

I'm starting to realize, too, that I graduated and that now I have to find a job! I worked a half day today (if I could work from home every day it would be delightful) and Thursday and Friday I'm going in to the office to work. Then I'm done! The business office at the college somehow screwed up my W-9 form, and so I won't get paid at all until February. Which is probably fine. It'll be like I'm getting paid in a month when I don't have work. It's just also massively inconvenient.

But what honeymoon would be complete without a bit of adventure? In addition to spoiling ourselves with nice meals and a visit to Maryland, we experienced massive amounts of adventure (most of it in the last two days, actually).

We bravely sacrificed some of our craft principles and went to Wal-Mart to buy crappy shelves of particle board to put in our house. Silly us, we got the tall bookcases, however. The ones with a “safety strap” that you're supposed to pound into the wall, because the things are massively unstable. Yeah. Those bookshelves. Problem-solvers that we are, we just split them in half, though, so now we have four small shelves that hold their own instead of two big shelves waiting to clobber us.

That means the ol' homestead is looking a lot less cluttered and a lot more like home. Greg bravely tried to build a set of oak bookshelves without a single tool, not even a hammer, not even a screwdriver (my set seems to have gone mysteriously missing during the move). Needless to say, that went on hold when he discovered a few measurements that needed trimming and discovered that some power sanding was required. Um. . . yes. We're figuring that one out. Needless to say, the crappy shelves gave Greg some encouragement that yes, his set of shelves will totally be worth the time.

Yesterday, we also tried to visit Philly to use an Ikea gift card we received. We went to the library to look directions up on the internet, then headed out. An hour and a half later, when we got to the Ikea (after traveling through the decidedly sketchy part of its suburbs), we discovered that I forgot my purse at the library – with the Ikea gift card, my driver's license, and my social security card inside it, not to mention important things like my budget notebook and my day planner. All my debit cards and credit card were, thankfully, safe in my pocket.

So I panicked for a little while and got really angry and generally upset and we started to drive back. I got ahold of the library, though, and they found my purse and promised to hold it behind the desk for me. So we went BACK to Ikea to see if it was even worth a second trip once we'd recovered the gift card.

Ikea is a MAZE. And they sell every tabletop separate from legs and drawers and shelves and things. SO WEIRD. We walked around a ton. We debated for several hours about what to get. When we finally decided, we couldn't find the exit for like ten minutes.

We finally escaped the store and started the drive back to get my purse and some dinner – a full four or so hours after we started our trip.

On the way back, we mysteriously ended up in Delaware. Forty minutes south of where we belonged. So the trip back took nearly 3 hours, instead of the 1 ½ it should have.

On the plus side, when we finally got back to the library, my purse was there with all its contents intact. How lucky is that?

And then we had leftovers and were very grateful not to have to cook after a nearly 7-hour trip.

And then I remembered that it was Aaron's birthday. Woot woot for my favorite 20 year-old!

I know. It sounds so normal, doesn't it? Well, an average sort of vacation for me, anyway. Poor Greg. He didn't know what he was marrying into. =)

It's been immense fun, though, to sit and gorge on books and clean up the house and investigate Italian pastry places and cafes and used bookstores in the city. Ooh, and visit Central Market. I'll write you a whole 'nother post on Central Market. It needs one.

So until next time dear readers, I did not die in the weeks since I have posted last. I just experienced massive amounts of wedding and marriage and adventure.

and there was evening, and there was morning -- the first day.

Last night I stayed in the new apartment for the first time!

And you know what? I feel so much more happy and excited to be getting married now than when I was staying at someone else's house.

Also, Jenn is now here and telling me funny stories and offering to take things off my list -- and she actually CAN because we're in the same place so I can easily hand her documents or whatever. How lovely. I hope it doesn't mean that I'm developing Bridezilla Syndrome that I'm delighted to be delegating. I've always been taught the value of compromise and being content with what you get and working around other people's plans -- and I've been TRYING to remember that, Mom -- so when I get what I want it feels so weird. But really excellent.

And you know what? If I've been a monster, don't tell me until after my honeymoon because I really don't want to do any soul searching until then.

is it because of cold feet that the bride and groom aren't supposed to see each other before the ceremony?

Why did the caterer automatically assume that we would like our punch to match our color scheme? Is it really something people ask about on a regular basis?
Why does the garter toss traditionally involve whoever catches it putting it back on whoever caught the bouquet? And did you know the higher he puts it the longer their marriage is supposed to be? How many other people run for the bathroom when it comes time for the bouquet toss? How does "engaged" still count as single for these events? Why is the cake such a big deal? I have never even liked cake that much. And from watching the food network, it looks like most wedding cakes sit around for three days before they even get to the wedding.

While I'm at this wedding thing, I wish somebody would answer all MY questions about the ridiculous particulars involved.

Oh, also, I wish I had eloped. At one point, Greg suggested a very quiet ceremony with just us and our immediate family members, then a reception with everyone who wanted to come. I kind of wish I'd taken him up on that idea because the closer it gets to time the more nervous I get about being one of the two centers of attention for such a meaningful moment. And I'm worried that an event with so many people at it can't possibly be the intimate moment it should be, even though I know all those people and like them.

Oh, and also, I'm worried that the week before the wedding I will be a bear, a crab, a cranky old lady who will hit you with her cane. And I really should behave well since it's my wedding. But I just want someone else to take care of it for me so I can drink tea and chat with my friends and family and go on dates with Greg and be in my new apartment. And sleep. A LOT. (although I have slept 7 hours for two nights in a row, so I think I've kicked the insomnia thing for a while)

The new apartment is lovely, by the way. I'm so impressed with it I could burst. I can't believe they let us sign a lease and put stuff in there -- we're really old enough for that? Are you sure? They must be joking. Are you serious that we could start having babies in a week if we wanted? Whaaaaaaat?

Anyway. That's my update. I'm thinking that brides and their blogs shouldn't be allowed to see each other for at least a week before the wedding. =)

even breathing feels alright

Yes, even bloggers take vacation!

And what an eventful (and yet blissfully relaxing) vacation it has been. We folded tons of origami orchids. We figured out where we're going to live. We drove 27 hours. We got "pounded" (apparently in the south when a party is thrown to outfit a new couple's kitchen with food it's called a pounding). Due to too much caffeine on the way home and being in a stranger's house at night, I slept somewhere around two restless hours last night and finally got out of bed at 4:30 a.m. I came to work this morning to find 43 unread messages in my inbox.

Yes, I can already see that it's going to be one of those weeks. One of those 11-12 day periods. (Only that much time separates me from getting married?)

In other news, we are seriously in need of some plastic ice cream buckets. If you can find me some, you will be my hero.