Oh joy.

Well, I've discovered the truly fun part of being a bride in the 21st century...e-mail spam and phone calls from vendors soliciting my business. It's my own fault, I know...

I signed up about 2 weeks ago for a free wedding packet from KC Weddings, hoping that I could save a couple of bucks on having to purchase a magazine (which I received a free one of about 2 days later from one of the locations I visited, but I'm hoping that I'll receive a fall/winter magazine when they finally send one to me), and looking forward to receiving information about local vendors via e-mail and mail. The e-mail spam doesn't bother me, really. If I'm not interested, the "delete" key is only 2 inches from my main keyboard.

But on Tuesday, I received a call from an unknown number. I wasn't sure if it was my trainer at the gym finally getting in touch with me to set up our next appointment, or if it was someone calling to confirm my hair appointment a few days early, or what. I answered. It was some girl from a local bridal shop inquiring about my dress purchasing activities. First of all, they want to congratulate me. Nice. Secondly, they would like to know if I'd like to come in to look at dresses, or have I already purchased one? I had some questions of my own, too...how did they get my number? And did they realize my wedding wasn't for over a year? HELL no I don't have a dress yet!

I suppose that some girls will wear their mother's dress still these days. And perhaps there are those out there that would pick out a dress as soon as a whole year before they get married. Personally, I'm taking my time. I'd not only like to lose another dress size before I start shopping (I'm already down one size over the past 6 weeks...so I'm hoping that by the end of December I'll be in a size 14 - that should make it easier to try on more styles in more shops), but I've got other stuff on my mind right now. Finding the venue was one of them, and I think we've got that under control, but I'll know better at the end of next week. Still, it was just sort of shocking (and a bit annoying) to have someone call me out of the blue, in the middle of my work day, asking me about my dress-search activities. I managed to end the phone call without being too bitchy, explaining to the girl that their shop is actually on my list of ones to check out eventually, but that I wasn't going to start shopping until December. She thanked me for my time, and probably hung up hoping I'd lose their shop name and not come in to look for dresses there.

I don't like the feeling that I'm being rushed, and having these folks contact me before I'm ready for them is putting me right in that place, unfortunately. It's uncomfortable, and I don't like it. I can't WAIT to go look at dresses...but just not yet. It's not time. I hope the other stores will respect that concept, and hold off on calling me for a while.

In other news, the church is booked, and the deposit has been paid. The lady that helped me is really nice, and she's apparently the one that deals with most of the wedding planning stuff for the church outside of the priest that we'll be dealing with and who will be marrying us. When I went in to drop off the deposit, she gave me a little packet of information to take with me (basic rules about who they can allow to get married there, and what to expect, and how much it costs, etc...), and she offered me a second packet "to give to [my] mom..." I told her that it wouldn't be necessary. Actually, I think I said, "Oh, my mother is deceased." (I've been saying that a lot lately. To the priest, to certain location coordinators, now to this woman...seems that everyone expects a bride to be doing all this stuff with their mother!! I guess that would make sense, really, if my mother were alive of course. But even in that case, she would be in California...not very convenient for the wedding planning stuff, in my opinion.) The woman said, "Oh, I'm sorry!! My mom's deceased, too, so I understand how you must feel to have people saying that to you." I told her it wasn't a big deal, and she gave me the packet anyway, so I can pass it on to whomever else I have helping me out with certain stuff like dealing with church details (probably going to send it to my twin, so I can have a second brain helping me remember things like when we have to be done with pictures within the church, and what we can use as decorations inside the church itself). It's just funny to me, I guess. I know that a lot of people perceive my age as being much younger than it actually is, and while that's a nice thing, it still causes little hiccups like this now and then, and makes other people feel uncomfortable and excuses need to be made, and it's just a big mess sort of.

But that's ok. Because I have a wonderful stepmom who's willing and ready to help me in any way she can, and a new mother-in-law-to-be that is exactly the same way, and while it's inconvenient to be as far away as I am from the both of them (one in California and one in Indiana), I surely will be taking them up on their offers if I need to!! And I'm sure that mom's here with me too. I know she is, in fact. And for that, I'm always grateful...

Happy weekend everyone! (Go Trojans! Go Irish!)