T-minus One Week

One week from today my sister will no longer be a miss. Weird to think about--really weird.

Tomorrow we have her Hen (i.e. Bachelorette--but the Brits say it better) party in downtown Columbia, then a weekend full of wedding ceremony and reception projects, then I head back up here for 2 days, and on Tuesday I head to Charleston for the festivities. It's going to be a crazy week!!

I have been mulling over my MOH toast and finding it a very hard thing to write. There's too much I want to say about my big sis. I love her so stinkin' much!!! She's so gracious, so loving, so forgiving, so humble, so generous, so funny, so faithful---she's just all-around amazing. Her fiance is the luckiest man in the world to have her. How do I condense all that love and affection and admiration into one, less-than-a-minute toast?? 

I've also been thinking about the days leading up to the wedding. Let's face it: I know I'll be emotional. Who wouldn't be?? My only sister is getting married!!! But how will I feel when M and I go to bed on Wednesday night--our last night sleeping together (we have our own rooms but usually when we're home we choose to sleep together)?? How will I feel when I'm helping her zip up that gorgeous dress?? How will I feel right before I walk down that aisle when I give her a squeeze?? How will I feel watching them drive away--now their own little family?? 

The answer to all those questions is, of course, "I don't know." All I know is that I am praying for grace to hold it together. I'm praying that the wave of  emotions doesn't hit me until the day after so that, among other things, my mascara won't run (Waterproof? Check.). 

There are many pics to come, I promise. 

Death Warmed Over. . .

That accurately describes how I am feeling right now. I have my first sinus infection and I have never felt more awful. My head hurts, my teeth hurt, my face hurts, my ears hurt, everything above the neck hurts pretty much. I can't smell or taste anything and I have to eat because of the antibiotic they put me on--it's truly impossible to find anything I want. All I have done for the past two and a half days is switch between the couch and my bed, dozing, watching movies, reading if my headache allows and trying not to go crazy.
Times like these I wish I were Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail so that I could get a bouquet of daisies from a man like Tom Hanks.

Also, I may have to miss the FSU game. Seeing as I can't even find the energy to get up and put in a load of laundry, I don't see how me standing in the student section screaming for 4 hours will work out. Funny thing: 2 years ago when FSU was in town I woke up with MRSA. I can tell you MRSA was a lot less painful and miserable than a sinus infection.

Job.

I need a job. . . desperately. If any of y'all know of any places hiring around the Anderson, Clemson, Easley, Greenville, and Seneca areas PLEASE let me know!!!  I would love to be doing something in or around healthcare sites--even if it's not clinical. Anything administrative or organizational would do the trick though. Or it would be fun to work retail in a cute boutique or work in a small business (I'm not really feeling the love for chains and nationally owned places currently). Maybe babysitting. Maybe wait staff at a nice restaurant. Maybe personal assistant. Maybe receptionist. Maybe anything. . .I'll take it.
I'm a hard-worker, fast-learner, good people skills, about to be proud owner of a BS type of girl!

Sorry I'm a lame blogger. . .

I'm back from the gym, and the endorphins did me good. I'm awake now, and not the walking dead I was before. Sorry I've been so silent lately, friends. There's lots going on.
Between corralling reference writers for applications, being a Maid of Honor (now affectionately called "Slave of Honor"), making sure 100 students here get the tickets they want for football games, checking on jobs every now and then, and the 4 home football games in a row, life is pretty crazy.

Did I mention: there are 25 days until "The Wedding"???? I feel like it's all I talk about these days, and it's not even mine. I think I will be more chill with my own because I don't fear disappointing myself. But anyway, mom and I talk an average of 3-5 times per day, each time with a new update or decision to be made.

Can I tell you my dress drama?? I'm telling everyone these days because it is quite hilarious/ironic/irking. When I say "dress" I am talking about none other than "The Bridesmaid Dress" (i.e. bane of my existence these days). So, back in June the ladies at the dress shop measured me. Lady 1 pulled the measuring tape from around my waist, checks her book and names a highly outrageous size number that I won't even write on here. Lady 2 says "No, that can't be right" after glancing my way and I feel a wave of relief rush over me. "Thank Goodness someone doesn't think I'm an elephant" was running through my head when she names a size one lower than that. REALLY?!? So I let it go (Big Mistake).
Skip to last Saturday when Mom brings the dress up and I try it on. . .YIKES. I think I was wearing 2 dresses. "Uh, I think the dress is beautiful" is what I said. I wanted to cry. Come Tuesday I go to a little alterations shop in Pendleton, SC to get it altered. You know it's bad when the lady does a double-take when you come out of the dressing room and says, "Well, gosh." That's it. Those were her words. And thus begins the pinning. She pulls in one side and then the other. Still too loose. Repeat 3 times. Finally when I feel as snug as a bug in a rug and can't put my arms by my side because there is so much fabric clumped at the sides of the dress, she smiles, looks in the mirror, and says, "Now aren't we looking better!!" I think my smile covered my entire face at that moment. I don't think my smile was quite as big when I discovered that the dress alterations re-making will cost me $56 dollars (in all fairness, they are re-making the thing).

So, I go to pick it up on Friday and I hope it's perfect. I'm quite excited about the fact that it has pockets and crinoline and we are going to be wearing gold, sparkly shoes with it!! It's every little girl's dream outfit, there's no denying that!!!

P.S. Mid-post writing I got a call: the engagement shoot is up on the photographer's website!! So, in case you haven't heard enough about my sister's wedding, check the pictures out here. 

Eyes, Stay Open.

The first round of tests has arrived. But, good news: It's the last first round of tests I will ever see in Undergrad!! Crazy. So, for now, I am going to urge my sleep-deprived body to get up off this couch and go to good old Fike. Then to bed, to bed goes my sleepy little head.

Continued Chronic Fatigue Chronicles

Nice alliteration, huh?? haha

If I'm honest, I was freaking out about coming back to school with the Chronic fatigue diagnosis. Partly because I was worried that nothing would be different (i.e. a nap a day, no energy for hanging out with friends, etc), and partly because I worried that I would discover that I'm simply a crappy student and a change in energy level wouldn't help that. But thankfully, it is DIFFERENT than previous years.

Do I still feel the 4 o' clock slump and require caffeine? Oh yes. Do I yawn? Yes. Do I still take naps? Yes--2 since I've been here but they were less than an hour each (and brought my total sleep for the day to about 8 hours. . . a vast improvement from 14). Am I productive every second of every day? No. Do I love life?? Heck yes!

I'm not superhuman all of the sudden but there's no denying that life is different---way different. I'm a good student, I love to learn! The day-to-day school experience has drastically changed. It's fun to go to classes now that I don't feel like I have dragged my body there. What else has changed?? Well, I'm running daily now (and loving it)!!! When it gets hard and my muscles are aching and my lungs are hurting, I have to smile because it "hurts so good"!! There is so much more time for laughs with roommates, joining small groups, long-distance communication, studying, spur-the-moment adventures, etc. I'm literally reveling in life--it is fun and there is so much to stay awake for!!