17 days and counting

Seventeen days is not a whole lot of time – but that’s precisely how much time is left before I get married. It’s even less time if I factor in when Devon and I are leaving for Maine prior to the wedding. It seems like our list of to-do items is growing like multiplying rabbits while things that have been done are shrinking – but that’s not really true. The majority of things have to be done at the last minute like picking up the rental linens and table-ware, setting up the reception hall, finalizing transportation, etc.

This is the last weekend prior to the wedding that Devon and I will be in Florida. We leave on the 8th for Maine – well, technically we’re flying into New Hampshire. It seems insane that next week is my last week of work before the whirlwind really begins.

Once we arrive in Maine, we will be kept constantly busy, I’m assuming. On Thursday, the 13th we are actually legally getting married in New Hampshire at the courthouse, and I will semi-officially be a McFarland. Our family ceremony on a quaint little island off the coast of Maine is on the 15th. There may be 50 people there – probably less. Truthfully, I can’t wait.

With all the rush and the hustle and the business and the appointments and the schedules, it’s hard to take just a quiet moment to reflect on what has brought us here – and how far we’ve come. I want to revel in this moment, roll around in it and burn this scent into my nostrils where I hope it will stay indefinitely. I have been waiting my whole life for moments like these and I don’t want a single one of them to go to waste.

Devon’s dress alteration is finished, and my suit is next on the list. I’m thinking I can drop it off on Friday. We still have to finalize who will be watching the kittens and the lizard while we’re away – and we’ll have to get a duplicate key to the apartment since Devon’s seems to have wandered off on its own somewhere – or it’s hiding under the mountain of clothes scattered all over our bedroom (which will be thoroughly cleaned before we set foot on an airplane, so help me goddess).

I keep thinking of things I need to remember to pack which probably means that I’ll forget them all. That’s how it goes. The family has been wonderful and accepting and they’ve taken on this wedding task with a vengeance and have gone out of their way to do everything for us. I got a Facebook message this morning that a deer apparently tried to eat Devon’s wedding flowers that are growing right next to mom’s front door on the island – but hey, they probably look tasty.

Apart from all the stress, I love it really. It seems like a lot of stress and everything seems kind of up in the air while we’re waiting, but I know everything will work out exactly the way it’s meant to be. Quite honestly, as long as she’s there, I’m good. What else would I possibly need?

My birthday was Monday and I greeted my 34th year with a head wound (don’t swim after consuming large quantities of tequila or you’re prone to meet a wall head-on) and a hurricane. Neither one are that bad. Devon’s birthday is on the 3rd and our long weekend is filling up quickly before our final week before departure. I want to freeze this moment in time while at the same time I want to fast-forward it and get to the relaxing, Hi-I’m-married part at the end.

The whole thing is beautiful. What more needs to be said?