Category: BlahBlahBabble

Ahhh… we are in Paris and it is beautiful! We arrived a little after 5:00 today, took a taxi to our hotel, and I immediately started to take photographs of the Pantheon, which is immediately outside of our hotel. Gorgeous in the glow of the setting sun.

After we took the luggage to the room, we headed out to enjoy some more of the fantastic weather and the sunset. We decided to go to Notre Dame instead of taking the metro to the Eiffel Tower. I was just happy to see it off in the skyline.

The steps to the top of the Notre Dame towers close at 7:30 pm normally, so I don’t think we will get to be up there for sunset – the sun has just finally gone down completely, and it’s 11:00 pm here.

After walking to Notre Dame, we decided to find a cafe and just relax. We walked a lot in London, as we had a long list of “must see” places. Paris will be a lot more about relaxing, seeing things like the Eiffel Tower (I didn’t go to the top in 1991 – I am going this time!), more of Notre Dame, and maybe some of the museums. The weather is too beautiful to waste it indoors.

Now I’m going back to eating my ice cream at the Cafe Panis just across the Seine from Notre Dame. I saw another man with a laptop out, and decided to take advantage of the WiFi while we were here.

It has been an absolutely fabulous trip so far, and I can’t wait to see what the week ahead has in store for us. Au revoir!

We arrived in London, safe and sound, at about 3:20 am Houston time. I have never flown business first class before, but damn – did that ever make the flight over a lot better! We had a fantastic dinner with several courses, finished off right with Blue Bell ice cream sundaes for desert. We were treated like royalty; I’m sure that the fact that I wore my tiara on to the plane helped, don’t you think?

After arriving at Gatwick, we took the train in to London Victoria station, which I didn’t discover until later is right around the corner from Buckingham palace. After arriving at the station, we took a cab to our hotel. When they checked us in, they upgraded us to a king suite. (I’m sure the tiara helped, but we had called ahead to ask about early check-in and told them at that time that we are here on our honeymoon.) The hotel itself is small, but so far the service is fantastic. Our room is nice, the decor is excellent, and it is located close to many things.

It is strange to feel like it’s 10:00 for me, when in fact it’s 4:00 in the afternoon here. It is interesting to see how different people dress here. I told Mike earlier that it feels like a mix of Boston and Germany. The houses and buildings remind me of Boston, but the strange road signs keep throwing me off. And you must remember to look right and then left when crossing a street – not left and right like you are used to doing. Fortunately, they painted instructions for us on some of the streets here in Kensington – maybe by the time I get to the more major streets I will remember.

We left behind 94 degree weather with a 104 degree heat index and no sign of rain at all. We landed to overcast weather that was 55 degrees when we hit the ground and it’s raining. It’s not the rain I am used to though. In Houston, the rain can hurt you, it’s so hard. Here it is a misty rain – like someone is spritzing you with a water bottle. No umbrella needed, a nice change. They say it should be sunny tomorrow and Thursday, which will be nice.

Off to Harrod’s and around Kensington for today. I think that we are going to keep it low key as we recover from our overnight flight. I’m posting from an Internet cafe right now, but hopefully I will be able to use my laptop at some time so I can post photos. For now, if you need an image – just think that it’s beautiful and wonderful. Simply fabulous!

The wedding took place yesterday at 4:30 pm at the St. Joseph’s Church Museum. We followed the wedding ceremony with dinner and dancing at the Tremont House. It was an absolutely fabulous day. We were truly grateful to be surrounded by family and friends that loved us, and we missed those of you that couldn’t be there with us.

Photo taken by Rannie. (Posted live from our wedding reception. A perfect touch.) Additional photos are at Kathy’s site.

Yes, I’m still up. Yes, I need to get some sleep. But Kymberlie had to leave the rehearsal dinner early tonight because her back hurt so bad that she thought she was going to be sick. She said she was going back to the hotel so she could lay down. I told her to call me and let me know how she was doing. About an hour or so later, I head back to the hotel room to change out of my heels and in to comfy shoes – only to discover that she had been throwing up the whole time since she had left. She looked so sad, like she felt so horrible. I realized that she probably hadn’t called me because she didn’t want to upset me – but I wasn’t upset at all. I was just worried about her.

I stayed with her for a little bit to get a sense for how she felt – and then I got out her insurance card and called in to the company to find out where she should go for emergency treatment. (I didn’t want to just take her anywhere and have her end up with a $5000 medical bill.) I had to lie, of course, to the insurance company and say that I was her to get the answers I needed. The nursing care hotline said that “my” symptoms sounded like possible kidney stones or a kidney infection, and either way, I should go to an ER.

Reason #647 to love and adore Mike? I called him – he was in the lobby visiting with the groomsmen – and told him what was going on. He knew I was tired and had had many late nights recently – so he took her to the hospital. (I don’t have my car down here on the island, so I had to figure out a way to get her there – and I can’t drive her Miata.)

I am worried about Kymberlie, but I know she is in good hands. I think I’ll check in for one more update and see how things are going and then try to get some sleep.

So it’s late, and I’m punchy, but I did get a chance to visit with my future brother-in-law (less that 14 hours to go!) about geektopia subjects like RSS, XML, and my open letter last year to Dave Winer.

Like I said earlier, things happen. Such is life. There will be a wedding in a few hours, and if she can’t make it out of bed to be there, that’s ok. I just want her to feel a lot better then she did when they left. If it is even possible, I love Mike even more for helping me take care of her. And I truly appreciate all of his friends for volunteering to help, to take her to the hospital, to do whatever we needed – even though they had just met me and Kymberlie tonight.

So say a little prayer or send Kymberlie some positive thoughts. She could really use them right now. Don’t worry about me – other than being concerned about her, I’m doing just fine. I have a wonderful family and terrific friends, and I’m marrying the man that I honestly didn’t even believe existed a few years ago, with all of those people at my side. A girl couldn’t ask for more…

Kymberlie, my Mom, Jason & I headed down to Galveston last night. It was nice to have a night away from all the hustle and bustle of wedding planning and just get settled in to the hotel for the weekend. Ahhhhhh…

Today we have the bridal luncheon at 1:00, nails at 3:00, rehearsal at 7:00 and the rehearsal dinner at Luigi’s at 8:00. Then tomorrow is the big day…

Now that I’m here, I’m no longer worried about all the little details. Whatever happens, happens. The most important thing? There will be a wedding at 4:30. Guests will be there to celebrate with us and we will have a good time. That’s what matters most!