It suddenly appears to be summer

Mid-90s today? Ouch. I'm trying to be grateful for the mild May we've had thus far. Ah, to live in a place where I could look forward to summer again...

I did something embarrassing last Wednesday. I've been going to a tanning place for a week or so, and last week, I overdid it and burned myself. I'm not sure if I'm more embarrassed about the fact that I went tanning at all, or that I didn't do it "responsibly." I know, I know -- it's horrible for you, and all that. I figure, what's four months of tanning, in the overall, cancer-risk scheme of things? After all, wedding photos are forever. Unfortunately, though, the eating less and losing weight plan has yet to take effect. Not aided by the sitting around and trying to move as little as possible, lest I disturb the angry burnt parts all over the backside of my body, plan that encompassed most of the long weekend.

We had a blessedly low-key weekend, speaking of. Lizzy was supposed to have -- yes, another -- birthday party Saturday, but the guest of honor was slightly ill, so her mother pushed it back to Monday. Which messed me up a little, because I had to work Monday -- it's been busy times here at work the past couple of weeks, but that's over today, hooray!, thus a blog entry. So, we all went, and I worked 'til late, and Lizzy got good and sweaty on the moonbounce. She said her favorite part was trying to knock over the seven dwarfs (sic -- Disney's spelling, not mine) with a water gun. A water gun that wasn't functioning very well, to the parents' chagrin, as it turned out to be a popular station of the "carnival" birthday festivities. A cute idea. The mom was REALLY forward-thinking and even had a book exchange, as opposed to receiving a heap of gifts for her daughter! Awesome. Wish I'd thought of it. Then again, I'd have to actually throw a party for my child to have to think of things like that, wouldn't I. Lizzy really sucked at the ring toss, by the way. She did awesomely on the basketball shoot (toy sized, of course). Her grandpa Williams would have been very proud. Dad -- birthday gift idea alert!!

On Saturday, Matt's mom was able to watch Lizzy for us, so Matt and I went off to explore the wilds of Tyson's Corner, with an eye to choosing a site -- probably sites -- at which to register for gifts. A task that seems fun, but made me feel exceedingly greedy. I cannot vouch for one thing that we genuinely need. Oh, sure. We could use a $40 mini-food processor. And, aren't those Milano-inspired margarita glasses darling, and, oh, there's a matching pitcher! Hey -- a set of rainbow-colored mixing bowls. Hm, don't like the glassware selection at the moment -- let's wait until later to see if anything new comes in. And on we went. Seriously, we need nothing. We can buy our own dang bedsheets. Our $12 coffee maker works fine. Our plates don't match? So what. When the President comes calling, he's unlikely to care. And yet -- I've been convinced of the necessity of registering. And not just registering, but registering for A LOT OF STUFF. Sometimes I hate our society. And then, as I said, I start to enjoy the process, and I hate it even more.

So we decided, to my surprise, that Crate and Barrel was the way to go, and we weren't all that dazzled by the stuff at Macy's. We did our little tour, gunning down a few items, until our enthusiasm waned, and, happily at the same time, our gun battery died. We 'downloaded' our purchases at the desk, where merry attendants shove booklets at you, urging you to get a bajillion place settings -- 'things break, and you never know when you'll be hosting the entire Upper East Side for Thanksgiving' -- and reminding you that you'll have this stuff your whole life! This is your One Big Chance to twist your friends' and family's arms for stuff, so Go To It! Oddly, they advise that you keep in mind that you're buying for life, but to go ahead and get stuff that you like now. If I had gotten married at age 20 or 22, all of my plates and possessions would be black. I would be hating it now, at (muffled) 30-somethingharrumph. I wasn't goth; I'm not sure what my deal was. And I don't think being a Portland Trail Blazer fan was enough of an excuse.

As we drove home, I examined the papers on which were listed our Possessions-To-Be (maybe). I commented to Matt, "Hey, we registered for only 18 things!" "So?" he says, after a pause. "We'll do another registry at Home Depot, right? Besides, how many more things are we supposed to register for?" It was one of those (frequent) moments where we were each convinced the other was bats.

When we got home, Matt logged on the trusty home computer to show his mom the stuff we'd registered for. At the top of the page was, "WARNING: Your registry is running low. Please add more items."
HA!

Today's wedding question: A two-fer. First, in what way (if any?) did you get carried away in the planning, way past what you intended when you started? Bonus points if the anecdote involves items for which you registered.

Also: I have been saying all along that I see no need for an extra dinnerware set. But it sort of seems like, hm, well what else am I going to register for? (Honestly. I should just put 'no gifts; just show up and have fun,' on the invites, but I know that would be a giant breach of etiquette. Because, you know, I'm not supposed to EXPECT gifts, right? And I truly don't. I would be somewhat pleased if we didn't get any.) I did add one to the registry; is this wise, along the lines of "I'll use it someday," and, "It's my turn to get nice things that I wouldn't buy for myself," or should I take it off? And, do I really need 10 sets? Although, this is a bit of a moot point, since probably not that many would be purchased, anyway.