and here it is, friday already. it never gets any easier to believe. two and a half days and i'll be on my way back to the midwest. erica and i are so very much looking forward to this goodbye, because it is the last one - ever! do you have any idea the meaning of this for us? five long years of tear-filled goodbyes and i'll-see-you-ins and soon-enoughs and so-on-and-so-forths, and after sunday? never again!

yes, this break has flown by, and i have not accomplished near the amount of what i wanted to. but i have grown in love for this woman and in wonder of the privilege and beauty of marriage, which has been rather amazing. and to be sure, this is only the beginning.

last night's french cafe surprise bridal shower was a complete success. nobody thought she would buy my "let's go play dodgeball at the church" story, but i knew it would be perfect. mildred (a woman who, i think, was around for the founding of coopersburg, and perhaps even helped, and who is most likely our biggest fan) had a front row seat. when she gave us a beautiful amber depression-glass plate, she told us she had bought it with us in mind 2 or 3 years ago. she knew we would marry before we did! and she gave it to us in a "merry christmas from sears and roebuck co." box that looked like it was from the 20's. she may have been embarrassed seeing that box next to all the fancy white and gold and silver and what-have-you, but that silly little box was just my style and probably my favorite part of the whole evening, besides the waterproof-cd-player-for-the-shower someone got us.

but enough mooshy-goosh. wes and i are making a very impressive line of button sets that we will sell at tonight's show. roll your eyes all you'd like, but these are no hip and trendy emo kid buttons, these are high-quality aesthetically pleasing works of art, and there is no doubt in my mind that you'd be impressed, and maybe even be interested in purchasing some. perhaps i could take some pictures of them? there is the tricycle set, the VW bug set, the electrical outlet set, the hollow-body guitar set, the rubber-ducky set, and we could go on but you get the idea.

but enough of all this for now, there are places to run to and people to meet with and things to get done.