I'm so delinquent. I blame the nasty cold and even nastier allergies I've been dealing with, all of which are on the mend, thanks to some lovely prescriptions which I now rely on heavily. I hate that. Though, this is apparently the worst time of year for allergies here, so at least I know it's not going to go any further downhill than my pink eye. Which isn't actually pink eye, but looks just enough like pink eye to make my co-workers walk around me with worried expressions and wash their hands obsessively. At least the prescriptions took care of that awkwardness.

While the early stages of wedding planning have begun to consume an inordinate number of my hours, I'm determined to keep myself cool, calm and composed. That being said, I'm already dealing with a bit of internal craziness over the booking of our venue. I think we've narrowed our search down to three locations, all of which would work with our (very loose) vision of the day, but none of which I want to jinx by mentioning...yet. Something about the fact that I'm here means that people take me less seriously and are less likely to get back to me, which is seriously annoying. I know it's because they can not physically lure me into their venue and pepper me with all of the amazingness and magic they encompass. I've actually filtered out one specific place for that reason only...it would have been perfect in every way, but their response time was crap and I just can't deal with chasing people down from here. My whole wedding budget would be consumed in long-distance charges. Anyways, the three finalists are all amazing for different reasons, and do what we need them to do. We want something unique, all-encompassing, God-less and well-situated, including a back-up plan and a great view. Is that too much to ask? IS IT??? No, I think not. Come on, Victoria. I sent half of my United Way donation to you last year, which means that one more homeless person has glasses...or something like that. Throw me a bone here.

Anyhoo...yes, what I was saying about being cool, calm and composed? Riiiight. I so am. Once this is nailed down, the rest will just fall into place. I know a big part of my problem also has to do with me being totally impatient, so I think some yoga is in the cards for me this weekend.

This week went by surprisingly fast. This time, I'm happy for time moving quickly. Mostly because I want to get to March 1st, which is when we are officially restarting our "regime". I haven't laced up my running shoes once since we got back (though I did a lot of running while we were away, and I DID have a nasty cold as an excuse), and I'm anxious to get going again. This week of sleeping in, missing breakfast and feeling too lazy and/or sick to cook has done a number on both of us. We're both very...blah. Anyways, Saturday it is. Running, new recipes, more sleep, clean the house. By the end of the weekend, we'll feel so "together" it will be ridiculous. At least, that's the plan...

Not over or underwhelmed...just whelmed.

So, along with my rock, I also brought back some sort of bug with me from our trip, and I'm going to just go ahead and blame the bratty kid behind me on the plane because he kicked the back of my chair for 3 hours straight (his lovely parents failed to notice this) and because I'm sure I heard him sneeze at least once. I went to bed last night with the all-telling tickle in the back of the throat and woke up this morning with a full-on head cold. Can't complain though...it's the first one I've had since last spring, so I'm pretty impressed that my immune system cooperated with me for as long as it did AND that this didn't hit while I was actually in Mexico.

Unfortunately, I really did feel too crappy to take advantage of a day at home and spend it leafing through my brand new pile of untouched wedding magazines, and had to resort to reruns of One Tree Hill, which I haven't been sold on. Yet.

Getting back into the routine hasn't been as easy as usual. I guess the oncoming cold explains my total lack of motivation to get our groceries organized and hit the road for morning runs this week. I don't feel too badly, because I exceeded all expectations and logged about 30 km of running with my Dad in Mexico last week, so I feel OK about missing a few now. If I tried to run this morning, as I had scheduled, I probably would have died. Or at the very least, been really, really tired.

So, the word has officially been spread. I had these great plans to phone and/or email everyone individually when we got back, but then, once everyone with close personal interests in this occasion had been informed (such as our respective backup boyfriends and girlfriends, of course), I decided to save myself the time and just do it Facebook-style. How very 2008 of me. It worked...the word is out AND I got to share the photos of how it happened, so really...it worked out well.

I've always wondered what this time feels like, and now I know. I'm sure that I'm feeling every feeling and thinking every thought that every other bride does right after they get engaged. Being unable to celebrate in person is a bit different, but we'll just do that when we're visiting in the summer. Still, I'm already getting all sorts of questions about where and when the big day will be, so the wheels have been put in motion. I don't mind...I've been so touched by the messages we've received and by just how many people are excited for us. Thinking about the 'wheres' and 'whens' is all part of the fun.

However, our geographic realities do make this whole process a bit trickier. Not only do we live here, in possibly the most inconvenient place anyone could ever live (save a few spots in, say, the African desert or northen Finland), but our friends and family are totally scattered. It would be lovely if we grew up in the same town and had all of our friends and family available to celebrate with us without travelling...but we didn't, and they're not. It would be lovely if I could start hunting for the perfect dress with my Mom right away...but I can't. It would be lovely if I could think of the perfect spot to get married and be able to go and see it without relying on internet photos...but that's not an option either. My saving grace(s) are my friends. I have a slew of been-there-done-thats who not only pulled off amazing weddings, but who managed to keep their heads on throughout the planning. I strive to maintain my cool. No bridezilla here. I think that our timeline gives me enough time to get everything done without freaking out...but I guess we'll see.

I can't believe how many decisions go into planning a wedding. I had always thought that Kurt and I would have a barefoot beach wedding in Mexico, with a couple of margaritas and a mariachi band, but as it turns out, having friends and family there is more important to us now than when we came up with that original plan, so it's looking like we'll probably have a real, actual wedding.

Yikes. OK...NOW I'm overwhelmed.