Christmas Already?

So much has happened since the wedding. Most of it is everyday stuff that is not worth sharing, however we did make a couple of trips out of town. In October, we went to Disney. We stayed in this amazing place called the Mona Lisa Suite Hotel. It was AMAZING!! We highly recommend it when staying in the Walt Disney World/Celebration area. Speaking of Celebration, it was creepy.


We also made a trip to Tallahassee in November for the Florida State Homecoming game against Boston College. It was one of those Black Out games. We always lose the Black Out games. I think it is a matter of psychology; players just are not used to their team wearing black. We stayed in the Red Roof in - it was horrible. The tv did not work, there were only four irons on the premises and we could not get one, and housekeeping chucked a hanger out of our second story room at us when we were leaving.


Now, Christmas is upon us. Being that it is 83 degrees outside, it just does not feel like Christmas. It happens like that in Florida, though. Merry Christmas and many blessing in the new year!!

It's Official... We're Married!!

Our wedding was absolutely beautiful thanks to all of our friends who came to share the day with us. A very special thank you to everyone who helped set up and clean up: Mommy, Aunt Sue, Uncle David, Julie, Jodee, John, Sam, Lanie, Meghan, Cindy, Rebecca, Veronica, Elliot, MaryLouise, Mike and the ladies at Michael Anthony's Signature Salon.

Our photographer, Ivy Hammer, posted some inital photographs on her website for everyone to see.

St. Augustine was the best trip ever!! We stayed at Casa de Solana and highly recommend it to everyone!! The Old City House Inn & Restuarant was a highlight of our trip; dinner was magnificent.

Accomodation Information

A block of rooms has been reserved at:

Courtyard by Marriott
3712 SW 38th Avenue
Ocala, Florida 34474
(352) 237-8000

Guests must ask for the Jamison/Gilman Wedding to receive the negotiated rate of $99 plus tax for your choice of a king or double room. The block of rooms will be held until March 21, 2008. After this date, rooms will be available on a first come first served basis and will not be specifically reserved for our wedding guests per hotel policy. A hot breakfast is available at the hotel for an additional cost.

Updated Information

Please click the "Wedding Details" link on the right to review all of the new, updated wedding information. As everyone can imagine everything has been very hectic since we had to postpone our wedding last fall.

Highlights include:
-The wedding ceremony will be held at 7:30pm
-The new hotel reservations are at the Courtyard by Marriott

Summer Is Coming To An End

Wow!! Where did the summer go?!

So much has gone on this summer it has been difficult to keep up. Michael graduated the Law Enforcement Academy on June 19 and started with the Citrus County Sheriff's Office on July 23. I have been wedding planning and lesson planning for next school year. I swear I need three more months of summer because I'm not done!!

In my last big wedding planning hurrah, I am heading down to Miami in the next couple of days for some shopping with Samantha. I will be purchasing fabric and decorations and who knows what else.

On the lesson planning front, does anyone know the population of Jerusalem at it's fall during the First Crusade in 1099? This has been bugging me now for several months and I just cannot get an answer.

A Package in the Mail

I am so excited because my purse came in the mail yesterday. I left it at Palazzi's house in Land O'Lakes when we went to the housewarming last Sunday. My cell phone was in it so I had to borrow one of Michael's multilple cell phones all week. It really stunk because I didn't have anyone's phone number.

My dear beloved Mother got mad at me for driving around without a driver's license or insurance card all week. But I didn't have to drive around without these very important items. The beauty of my master plan was that before we went to Land O' Lakes, I had forgotten my wallet on the counter at our house. Yes, it was a little inconvenient that we did not have money for the toll road, had to take a longer way there, and Michael did not speak to me for 20 miles, but my wallet was safe at home so it didn't really matter that I left my purse somewhere!

Photography and Video

We ended up hiring the photographer we met with at the end of March. Her name is Ivy Hammer and she is out of Gainesville. Michael and I both really love her work and she is so unbelievably nice.

Videography is the biggest challenge right now. If anyone knows a reasonable priced videographer in the area please let me know...

What do you mean it's been three months?!

I just realized that it is the end of March, but we were just having Christmas and I don't understand what happened to the three months in between!! I know that time has moved forward, but it just doesn't seem like it has been three full months.

Lots of things have happened on the wedding planning war front; found a dress, started registries, and I think I found a photographer. The dress is an amazing 1954 vintage pattern. The registries are coming along. We are meeting with the potential photographer on Wednesday.

In regular life, things are moving along. Michael only has three more months of academy and Citrus County wants to hire him. In nine more weeks I get rid of my Spring semester freshman. It's really wild because I got all of the great students at one time during the first semester, but my Spring freshman are just lazy stoners. I guess that is just the roulette wheel of public education!

Merry Christmas!!

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!! It's always nice to have a comfortable warm spot to curl up in after the gifts have been opened...

Bad Blogger...

Blogger switched over their stuff to a new format and it took me forever to get our accounts switched over so I haven't been able to post. Bad, bad Blogger.

Kitty Dukakis

I love my cough syrup. I really do. I use Robitussin Long-Acting. This stuff tastes like it is going to do something for me. It's not that sickly sweet stuff that makes you wonder about it's effectiveness. It has that medicine taste that foreshadows the banishing of evil cough. It works, too, for about seven hours as claimed. Coughing is worse than sneezing because of the not being able to breathe factor. I am completely uncomfortable with not being able to breathe.

One would think that the medication that makes cough syrup effective does so by improvng the situation causing the cough reflex. That is a pipedream. The medication in cough syrup is a chemical that shuts down the neurological center in the brain responsible for triggering the diaphram when the lungs need the cough. For the record, I am fully opposed to shutting down neurological centers in my brain, however, there are exceptions to every rule. Coughing prevents breathing. I like breathing. Bring on the Robitussin and good night little neurons... I'll see you in seven hours when the chemicals wear off.

Fun Fact: In the late 1800's to the early 1900's, heroin was the cough suppressant du jour.

A little good news...

Although the toe incident was a freak accident fully attributed to Chaos Theory, I have found a way to prevent an occurance. The next day, I started pulling the knobbie to close the drain which effectively prevents any future occurances.

Gosh, time flies!

The end of the semester snuck up on me and I am out of time!!!

My World History class just submitted their research papers today and for the next two days, my Cultural Geography classes will be hold a Global Summit. They have researched and represented different nations during the course of the semester and will sit down during the "summit" to solve the world's problems. They have submitted their questions to me for approval and they are asking some fabulous questions that are seriously going to hold their classmates accountable for doing the required research. They understand cultural interaction, economic sustainablity, how to build infastructure and they can totally see through political rhetoric. I am so proud of what they've done this semester!!

My favorite overachiever, Michael, is still studying for when school starts again in January. He even color-codes information with highlighters. I only wish I had those study habits and work ethic. If I did, I would probably have a prestigious fellowship at one of those big fancy schools like Yale. I'm so glad I'm here instead, because it's a pretty good life.

9,243 Wedding Dresses later...

To date, I have seen 9,243 wedding dresses and they are all starting to look alike. It is so much to try these things on, but I thought this was supposed to be see it, love it, buy it...

Yay, Weekend!!

Woohoo, the weekend is here!! I am so excited. Maybe I'll catch up on grading papers... maybe I've got so many papers to grade it is futile... maybe I'll have a beverage!!

On Wednesday, Michael took his last test before Winter Break. He got a 96. He was disappointed. Today, he began studying material for when class starts in January. I wish he would learn to relax.

On again, off again planning...

School is getting really busy, so planning is on hiatus until December 22. However, life is certainly not on hiatus and my toe still hurts a little. Michael is taking his Defensive Tactics exam tonight. I predict that he will score high. I am getting geared up for semester end and Final Exams.

My classes are always crazy and I feel like I herd cats for a living. Last week we reenacted an Aztec ritual sacrifice with complete audience participation and it got pretty loud, especially when the chanting started.

A few weeks ago, the discipline administrator (who hired me) charged into my notorious Third Block because he thought a fight had broken out. There I was in the middle of the educational process, minding my own business and he comes tearing through my door. He scared the tar out of all of my students and me. It was dead silent with us looking at him and him looking at us. He started lecturing them about how they couldn't act like maniacs when their teacher stepped out of the classroom. Apparently, I had blended in because he realized that I was the one who had been egging them on... When he spotted me, I got THAT look.

During Fourth Block, I teach next door to my Department Head. Her class used to freak out when they heard us, and they would want her to check on my class. It's funny because she's like - you have no idea who their teacher is... She gets more concerned when my class is absolutely silent. Basically, if you teach next door to me and you're giving a test, warn me so I can take my crew to the computer lab that day.

However, I must be doing something right because today, I didn't have a voice. No, I mean at all. I could squeak a little later in the day, but for the most part - nothing. It was amazing because all of my classes behaved like angels. I'm not kidding. I couldn't speak so they gave me a break.

Where is all the sunshine?

Today is quite simply the dreariest day I have seen in a long time. The sky is completely overcast. As much as I dislike 98 degree heat, I love the sun and I don't function too well without it. I am so happy that I don't live in Seattle. I have been so sad all day for no other reason than the weather. I really hope it's sunny tomorrow.

The Devil is in the details...

Before I got side-tracked by my Post Office stories, I was going to update folks from out-of-town about the hotel accomodations. The update is that I am still working on it. I will probably choose a hotel this weekend after I have a chance to call back to one hotel that is in the running. So, stay tuned!

Save the Date cards are in the mail!

I'm a little late with this update, but Save the Date cards for the wedding went out on Tuesday! I wonder how long it will take all of them to get where they are going? I don't mean to be a naysayer of the great United States Postal Service, but I remember receiving mail that had been sent three months previously. By the time I got the thing, it had cancellation stamps from twenty-three different Post Offices on it. Okay, I pay our bills online. Obviously I am a Postal Service naysayer because I have more faith in the internet security versus cybertheives than I have in the good ole USPS.

That's not to say that there aren't great people working for the Post Office. The folks at the Inverness office are always wonderful. They are perky and the service is quick. I have some doubts about a couple of people at the Dunnellon Post Office, though. When we moved in to our house, we didn't get any mail at all for almost two full weeks. Come to find out, they had been returning it to sender because there was no known address. Apparently, the brand new house on the street with 8490 on the front of it with four inch numbers, the brand new mailbox and we that are directly across the street from 8489 was not obvious enough for anyone to realize that the address existed. However, when you go into the Dunnellon Post Office, they aren't quite as perky as the folks in Inverness, but they are insanely rapid quick. Everytime I go in there, I have to race to get everything together before I get called to the counter. In Tampa, there was no rush. When I went to the Post Office, I knew I would be a nice long while.

Chaos Theory and The Toe

So, you've heard of Chaos Theory, right? It's something to the effect of if a guy in Bangladesh sneezes then a piano will fall on a guy in Jersey. I'll be honest. My toe hurts. While I was getting ready for work yesterday morning, I got my toe caught in the drain in the bathroom sink. No, not my big toe, it was the toe next to it. I'm not sure what went wrong but I think Chaos Theory is the only reasonable explaination.