Warning! Serious Post Ahead
June 2nd, 2008 @ 9:29 am by Mrs. Tiramisu
My parents are divorced.
I’m not unique in this fact. I don’t even have a sob story to tell about how my life was ruined, and in fact I had a happy childhood during which my parents never fought. Both my mom and my dad are now remarried, and in the end I got an extra (both awesome) set of parents out of it, not to mention a brother, sister, and a slew of cool step-relatives. So I’m really not here to complain. But the truth is, sometimes having divorced parents sucks.
There’s the obvious split up holidays, which I’ve mostly gotten used to, but still manage to have a yearly mini panic attack over. There’s the awkwardness that is unavoidable at events with both sets of families. There’s the question of what to call my brother and my sister- really my step-brother and half-sister if you want to get technical, but those titles seem so weird to me and we’ve never used them. And at the moment, there is the huge bummer of not having my mom and dad sitting together, smiling proudly at my wedding.
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We Just Know - When You Know, You Know
May 29th, 2008 @ 2:57 pm by Mrs. Pineapple
Mr. Pineapple and I dated “officially” for 8 months before he proposed. The first time he introduced me to someone as his girlfriend was 5 months before he proposed. I never thought that I would be dating my boyfriend for less than a year before he became my husband-to-be, but once we were there it felt like perfect timing.
Since Mr. P and worked together before we started dating, we got to see each other’s true colors long before a first kiss. I was a stubborn manager of a residence hall desk and he was my supervisor. If one of my employees didn’t show up for work and I had to sit at the desk from 4-8am, no excuse was good enough. Immediate probation. Mr. Pineapple on the other hand was the good cop who would convince me to give them another chance. I would get distracted and doodle during Mr. P’s meetings and there was the one time we had to call him and remind him that he should be at work with us rather than watching the Steelers.
The desk services team out for dinner in 2005.
Me vs. We
May 27th, 2008 @ 1:25 pm by Mrs. Canary
Since planning the wedding, Mr. Canary have put our social lives on hold due to the lack of two things a) time and b) money. And since I am the first of my friends to get married, I still have that lingering fear that all of them will think that we’ve become that married couple who spends their weekend visiting Home Depot and nesting. Truth be told, we have visited Home Depot fairly often since we’ve moved and need to fix up our new home.
Prior to the wedding planning and Mr. Canary making the big move to New York so that we were finally living in the same city together, I was free to do whatever on my weeknights. Although I was in a serious relationship, Mr. Canary lived three hours away so we talked every day via the requisite phone calls and emails, but aside from that I had a pretty open social life. I often missed Mr. Canary terribly and the only way to ward it off was either to work more and when not working, see my friends as often as possible. Sometimes, we’d make big elaborate plans and other times, we had no plans at all other than hanging out at each other’s apartments gabbing.
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The Uninvolved Fiance
May 7th, 2008 @ 4:20 pm by Mrs. Cream Puff
Not long after we booked both venues, the band and the caterer, Mr. Cream Puff told me that he thought our wedding was “too grand.” He was having a mini-freak-out about the size of our wedding, and it caught me totally off guard. To me, our wedding is pretty modest–we’re aiming for 130 guests. Apparently Mr. Cream Puff would be more comfortable with a smaller wedding–think 20 people–and he didn’t tell me until we’d already put down a bunch of deposits.
So I had a mini-freak-out. After all, this wedding should be representative of both of us, not just of me. However, we were in a position monetarily where we would lose out on thousands of dollars if we backed out for a smaller wedding. And the fact is, I’m not sure how we could get our guest list below 120 people, period. My family + Mr. CP’s family = 109 people, and that’s with none of our friends–not even those closest to us. We are both very close with our families, and the idea of leaving any of them out seemed like pure tragedy to me.
I consulted my friend Kathy, who was recently married. She told me that her husband-to-be had a very similar freak out before their wedding. She reassured me by telling me that her husband eventually got over it and actually started to look forward to the wedding.
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Meant To Bee
May 5th, 2008 @ 9:29 am by Mrs. Jasmine
There is a scene in Sex and the City where Charlotte is preparing Shabbas dinner with Miranda and Carrie. Miranda warns Charlotte not to be overeager about her future with Harry. Charlotte passionately replies, “It’s beshert! It’s meant to be!”
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Advice From The Pros
May 2nd, 2008 @ 3:32 pm by Mrs. Tiramisu
I’m completing my last rotation before I graduate from Optometry school in a Veterans Hospital. My passion in my field is kiddos, so I was pretty sure before I started that I was going to hate this particular placement. And to be honest, I will be happy to get back to what I love. But in the meantime I have to say I’ve met some pretty interesting old guys!
Innies and Outies
March 7th, 2008 @ 4:04 pm by Mrs. Peacock
Mr. Peacock and I are one of those “opposites attract” couples. Here is a quick list of the ways in which we differ:
- He went to all public schools, I went to all private schools
- He is the youngest of four, I am the oldest of four.
- We vote for different political parties
- He is a White Sox fan, I am a Cubs fan (as any of the Chicago readers can attest, this is a big deal)
Sitting in the Bullpen Bar at the Cell/Comisky. Crosstown Classic, June ’05.
I saved my “gear” for the game, but took no pictures!
The Language Of Love
March 3rd, 2008 @ 8:27 am by Mrs. Cupcake
This weekend, Mr. Cupcake and I attended a Marriage Preparation Workshop at the church where we’ll be getting married. We didn’t really know what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed the day’s events.
After lunch with six other couples who are getting married at the church this year, our workshop began with Betsy, a professional marriage counselor/therapist. The day focused much less on religion than it did on marriage and the issues that newlyweds face. The four main topics were:
• communication
• spending habits and financial planning
• family of origin
• sexuality and intimacy
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When Did You Know?
November 19th, 2007 @ 3:50 pm by Mrs. Peony
This past weekend I attended the wedding celebrations of Mr Peony’s cousin (congratulations, Laura and Wilson!). The MOH mentioned in her speech that Laura knew, just after her third date with Wilson, that they would be getting married one day.
I then turned to Mrs Poppy (my FSIL), who was sitting next to me, and asked if she and Mr Poppy knew right away as well. They did. 
My situation is vastly different. The very first time that I met Mr Peony, he tried to hit on me and I ran away. Fast forward 4 years and we started to become friends. We were friends for a while, then best friends, before he actually made his move. Even then, I’m sorry to say that I don’t think I was that attracted to him. I had been in a series of serious relationships where I had gotten my heart broken numerous times, so I wasn’t looking for anything serious at all - it was all for fun, something I had never done before.
Getting Down To Business
November 19th, 2007 @ 1:32 pm by Mrs. Kiwi
Mr. Kiwi and I have been married for two weeks now. People are still coming up to us and telling us how much they enjoyed the ceremony, and how beautiful the wedding was (pictures are coming, I swear). Other than that, nothing much has changed. Sure, there is the whole having to change my name over thing, and the “how’s married life?” questions to answer (wait: there is supposed to be a difference?), but that’s about it.
It’s strange because this is one of the hugest decisions you will likely make in your life. Despite what the celebrities are showing us, splitting up isn’t so easy after a marriage, and who goes into a marriage relying on the idea that divorce is always an option? I said it was strange because although it is such a huge step, the actual marriage part isn’t as different as I thought it’d be. The “Hot Thread” post from yesterday got me thinking about this little (big) thing called marriage.
Much like the poster, I also experienced some major what-ifs. Mr. Kiwi and I have been together for four years as well, with things between us more of a steady love, and less the “on-fire” type of love you seem to see all over the place. We’re getting married, right? Should we be more excited? Since day one of our reunion, I’ve known we’d end up married. Apparently, so did Mr. Kiwi. I’ve mentioned that we dated a decade ago, and throughout the years apart we grew up and became a little more stable, and wanted someone with the same ideals.
