Okay... a quick shower TR.
Around Thursday I started to come down with a cold. I lost my voice towards the end of the work day which was not good. So I decided that since we were flying out on Sat morning I would take Friday off as a sick day.
On Friday, I slept in a little bit, took a long bath and had some tea to help my throat (side note: I tend to lose my voice when I'm in high stress situations... I had been having a REALLY rough time at work and paired with wedding stress, my voice conked out.) I went to the post office to mail something to Caryn (some bead thing that she couldn't take on a plane) and then I went to the library. I've been reading the True Blood book series and I enjoy them. However, the library didn't have them. So I went to Borders, and Borders didn't have them. So I went to Books A Million and THEY didn't have them. So I finally found them at Barnes and Noble. (Thank god. I can't get on a plane without a book to read.)
I went home and packed and took a nap because I was still feeling a little sick. Taking Friday off was the best thing I could have done. I was so stressed out from work and traveling is stressful in general so I was really glad I got some time to rest. Chris came home and we had dinner at Chilis and then he packed. Unbeknownst to me (and to him) he accidentally locked the cat in the garage.
The next morning the alarm went off at 4:45

We got up finished packing and I went to go feed the cat. It was odd because she's usually running around us waiting for us to feed her and she wasn't there. I was having some coffee when I heard a meow. I checked EVERY door in the house. I looked behind every toilet, behind the washer and dryer, under the bed. Finally, I open the garage and there she was. She meowed at me and I let her in and I guess she thought she was going to get in trouble because she wuoldn't let me pet her. I gave her some treats.
We left the house and drove to the airport. I had never flown Southwest before and I was pleased to see that there is a Chilis in the southwest terminal at our airport. Good to know. We sat in the first row of the plane and they gave us free alcohol for Valentine's day!

(For a picture of the free vodka, please see "Hank" above). We get off the plane and find my Dad and drive home.
Caryn, Megan and Mom were out buying things for the shower goody bags (tissue paper I think) so we hung out and did my taxes (don't be jealous of our fun). That is when Caryn decided to go into the basement and find some old toys. She came upstairs with a Ken doll and a Barbie gown and decided that Ken was going to become Drag Queen Ken. DQK came to the mall with us. (That was embarassing.)
After the mall, Chris and I went to go see his family. We had dinner with his aunt, uncle (the best man) and their kids (the ring bearers). Both his aunt and uncle realized that i was under and extreme amount of "Bride Stress" and happily provided me with martinis. I needed them.
The next morning, the house abuzz with activity. The shower started at 11 and Mary showed up at about 9. Chris's mom and Claudia came shortly after and everyone got to work putting together the goody bags (see picture above). Then Megan did my hair and I got dressed. Mom and the rest of the girls left to go set up the room and told me I should arrive at about 11:30.
All of the husbands were invited to come to my parents house during the shower, so I got to see my uncles. I think they all noticed my "Bride Stress"...
(Note about Bride Stress: I was very surprised to notice that I was experiencing it. I think it's mostly that this is the only time in my life that I get to be the "Bride" and that's a lot of pressure. I want to make sure that I do it right and live up to everyone's "Bride" expectations. I'm finding that difficult and I want to make sure that I do it right. I feel like Carrie on Sex and the City when she says that she doesn't have the bride gene)
To be continued.