Reenacting Preparation

This week has been all about prepping for the reenactment that we are headed to tomorrow afternoon.

Monday was rest day, and also my six-month wedding anniversary. I made a Facebook post about it, which alerted my sweet husband to what the date was. He is terrible with dates (which doesn't surprise me, so I can completely forgive him and not think twice about it), so he didn't realize just what day it was!

So, he brought be a completely unexpected gift: a bouquet he had picked out at Wal-Mart (yes, we're cheap, but this was the first bouquet he ever purchased for a girl, so... I'm perfectly okay with it!). He also brought a box of Reese's Pieces, which we ate for dessert while watching a Tim Hawkins DVD.

Tuesday was the first real work day. I got a load of laundry in the wash and also made lemonade... but it turns out I got so wiped out that I didn't make supper (whoops........) and it wasn't until later in the evening that I made the meal for the weekend: goulash. It will be providing us with our Saturday and Sunday lunches. The lemonade is really good, by the way!

Cookie, watching me make cookies today

Yesterday, Wednesday, I had enough energy to wash the dishes and hang that load of laundry, while getting another out to wash. And, I made bread sticks and later on some spaghetti with a new marinara sauce recipe (which my husband said there wasn't enough of, so that one is a go! Yay!). On top of that, the little kitten, Cookie, got a lesson in staying off the table. The bread sticks were rising there, and so he wanted to check them out. I had them covered with a towel, but even so, he was walking on them. You can't have bread sticks rise while a kitten is putting his little paws on them. No worries: the bread sticks rose just fine in the end! He learned his lesson, and I haven't seen him on the table, since.

We had an Italian supper and also some lemonade last night. It was great.

Today is the last "prep" day. And today is the most fun! I just finished taking the last batch of cookies out of the toaster oven. My sister-in-law came over, bringing wash tubs for me to use over the weekend, and a cooler and cooking utensils. We put my hoop skirt back together (which was really dirty and so it was washed last week), and then shrank it down again to go under my dress. Cookie tried to help with that, but wasn't very useful.

My sister-in-law ended up bringing my gown back home with her to adjust some hooks and eyes and add some more for Saturday's ball. I, uh, am a little large for the dress, but not too large to make it too small for this weekend. It will be close, though!

I have a load on the line, hanging out to dry. I have another load waiting to be folded, which will be easy. I need to make some sweet tea for the weekend... and I need to wash dishes.

It sounds like a list, but really it won't be too bad. Sweet tea is EASY and I'm saving the folding laundry for last. That means that I need to get up and do dishes....

My sweet husband is shopping after work today, bringing home stuff we'll need (mostly edibles, like pop tarts and clementines/mandarins) for the weekend. He needs to clean out the cat crate yet for keeping the little Cookie in while we're busy (like at the ball or if I do end up going on the battlefield). And tonight we're taking our weekend showers, since that's not happening tomorrow.

My winner, Guess Who Charlie, in the winner's circle

Tomorrow's project? Pack! We leave ASAP after D gets back from work in the afternoon. I'm really looking forward to it. It's been too long since I've been out there, reenacting!

In other news, in about 2 1/2 weeks I'll be half-way through this pregnancy. Yeah, I'm developing a baby bump! I will say... loosening my belt is slightly weird-feeling. Last Saturday's day at the races was pretty good, and D and I each picked one winner (there were a couple races neither of us bothered to really choose anyone to win). We didn't bet, but we still had fun.