Picnic by the Lake (11 days)

Today we went for a picnic by the lake. We ate watermelon slices, feta, olives, hummus, and pitas. Also we had a water-bottle full of "grape juice." Here is a picture of the handsome guy I am marrying. I think he looks quite dashing!

It's been a quiet day. I spent all morning at home doing items from my to-do list, mostly wedding-related. Small last details. Most of them are not as stressful as those big decisions. Just things that have to get done.

One thing I did do was type up the vows. Using a template of course, but with a few touches of my own. It was strangely moving, even just going over them carefully. I got all teary. Pocket of Bolts got teary too when he read over them. Same with my mom. Maybe we're getting all the teariness out of the way now so we can say these things in proper clear voices during the actual occasion!

Pocket of Bolts went in to school for a lunch meeting, so I was on my own for lunch. I managed to make an amazingly tasty one:

1/2 cup (dry) whole wheat penne, cooked

1 original boca burger, heated on a pan with cooking spray until browned, then chopped into small pieces
1 t olive oil heated in a pan with a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper
1 c kale, sauteed in oil
1/4 of a red onion, chopped and thrown in with the kale, also the boca
1/2 c very ordinary plain spaghetti sauce, poured over the sauteed mixture with 1/2 c water and heated thoroughly

Sauce poured over pasta, so elegant and tasty, a perfect 6 point lunch (i.e., around 300-350 calories).

My Chinese friend called me just as I was about to leave the house. She's in Germany now, soon to start a PhD program. She was very curious about and interested in the wedding. I talked to her for some time. My Chinese is imperfect, but still good enough to get through a conversation. I really should work on it more.

Spent all afternoon shopping but unproductively. The lastest fashions don't suit me very well, and I'm just kind of waiting around for them to change. Pocket of Bolts found some interesting groomsman gifts, so that was something!

Then evening, our dinner picnic by the lake. This is Pocket of Bolts striking a pose, like Monsieur Crevelle in Balzac's Cousin Bette. Me looking oddly pliable. Lately I have a million and a half freckles, despite diligent application of 50 spf sunblock. It's just hard to stay out of the sun, especially on gorgeous days like this.

I suppose it's time to turn in. Pocket of Bolts is already sound asleep. I have been up answering e-mails from the last few people on the guest-list. I sent them little reminder e-mails and am fascinated by the types of responses they send, all very quickly, several with a story. How complicated lives are; each circle of like a machine with so many moving parts, and they move in impossibly complex ways, caught up in the gears of other circles which in turn are turned by other gears. I sometimes think it's amazing that anyone comes together or stays in contact at all.