There is no way I could possibly pick out one moment of this day as better than the rest. I am not even going to try. It was a perfect day. The weather was beautiful, the ceremony went smoothly, the vows the most heart felt I had ever heard, the food awesome and everyone looked great. A+ day!
Wedding

Prep day! Time to run around, set things up, run back out to the store for forgotten items, construct things and move things! We got a lot done, and I may have said it before but it feels good. Worked hard all day, looked around when I was finished and said, yes, this looks good. Maybe I should look into a new career as a construction worker, something where I can see the results of my labor. There were lots of good moments today, beautiful things to see, funny things spoken, lovely music heard. One of my favorite moments was driving home during the golden sunset listening to my favorite anime soundtrack-Escaflowne-and witnessing a bunch of colorful ballons being loosed into the blue sky. And though my head was saying oh no, the animals will eat the ballons, my heart was saying that is a beautiful sight.
Saturday

I had a lovely evening last night, it really made up for a mediocre day. First the wedding rehearsal, which was good. We had some laughs and worked out the wrinkles and it is all set. Then dinner at Sakura. Oh, how I love the american version of a japanese hibatchi! So good, the fried rice and vegetables and my chicken and shrimp. We had an excellent chef that entertained us very well, the way he spun that egg was nuts! Good conversation and even better friends. It was a good time all the way around. Thanks to Willow and his mom for the excellent meal!

I spent the morning and early afternoon with Willow, preparing for the wedding. I left the set-up with a good feeling of accomplishment. We put up this gigantic tent, tables, chair and a 25 foot fabric screen to block the neighbors view. I like a day of good physical work like that. I feel more accomplished then having sat in a chair all day at work. My back, neck and arms ached but in a pleasant sort of way. A way that says, hey you did something today! Of course, after Willow's mom treated us to lunch, I went home and vegetated on the sofa for the rest of the evening-and that was good too! :P

Wednesday-today I went shopping with Jamie! For Mary's wedding in May I needed a dress-for the maid of honor. Mary told me what color, the rest was up to me. But I was having a rather difficult time finding a black dress that wasn't too dressy but that looked good on me. I had some ideas of what I wanted but of course couldn't find anything. I went to Lane Bryant earlier in the week and found 2 dresses but I couldn't decide which I liked more. So today Jamie went with me and she helped me pick the right one. I got some really good bras, too! One was only $3.99! I love the dress, it is just what I wanted! That was a happy moment-finding the dress, it fit, it looked good and it wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be!
Second place moment goes to something Pete said, I won't actually say it here, it would require too much explanation but damn, it was funny! Made me laugh for a while tonight! Thanks Pete!

I got my plane tickets today! Finally, after much delay because of my parents, I got my tickets for the trip to Denver. And reserved my car. And it certainly wasn't the cost that made me happy today but just buying the tickets to go somewhere! Someplace new! I love flying, I really do. I should have been a pilot. I still think about getting my private pilots license but it is so expensive. Anyway, the tickets. It's all set, I am going to Mary and Ken's wedding. :) I am not quite sure what is so satisfying about buying plane tickets but I have always felt this way. I think it is the definite plans that I am going somewhere, doing something new and exciting. I'll be out there traveling. That almost mythic state that everyone one refers to with either excitement or dread. Bon voyage, have a good trip! Or be careful, there are crazies out there! Its an adventure and I like it. I have plane tickets!

Ugh, what a day! The bright spot in my day was a sort of recovery. After clothes shopping, which some of you may know is a chore for me, I stopped in Starbucks. Glory on high! I know many people complain about the corporate nature of Starbucks and it's ruining the little coffee shops but by god, if the little coffee shops had frappachinos I'd praise them as well! My latest Starbucks obsession-blackberry green tea frappachino. Hell yes! The sublime mellow green tea with a tangy burst of blackberry juices frozen with a mound of whipped cream. Sigh...It was glorious. And the pick me up I needed after a draining day.
By the way, a close second in happy moments today, seeing everyone that posted here! I love you guys!

Okay, this was a simple one. Sitting outside of the Wheel, smoking a cigarette, drinking a Coke and watching the clouds drift by in the blue sky. It was just the right temperature, I was comfortable in my jeans while I bathed in the sunlight. It was quiet, no crazy bass coming from the audio store next door. I just sat there and thought. Like Pooh, think think think! It was nice, relaxing, there was no stress, no crazy customers, no pressures. I could just sit and enjoy the beautiful afternoon and wonder about the thunderstorms and how much longer until they arrived. It was good!

Ah yes! One of my most favorite things...well, 3 of them actually. Books! Going shopping tonight and buying books made all the dreary rain disappear. I had a pretty good day today, the good things outnumbered the bad as they usually do on the weekend. This was definitely a highlight, though, wandering around Borders and finding just what I had been looking for. I just finished a book titled "Big Weather" which was a gift to me from Mike. It was about chasing tornadoes and was an excellent read. So I wanted to continue with the weather books and this time I chose hurricanes instead of tornadoes. June 1st is the official start of hurricane season and having some more knowledge about the whole thing will be fun. Hey, I warned you in previous blogs that I am a weather dork! Next, a little fantasy for escape. I've always enjoyed Mercedes Lackey so I figured I would give this one a shot. It's nice to get away to magic, dragons, unicorns and romance for a little while. Like the bumper sticker says "I believe in good men and other fantasy creatures!" Ha ha ha! And last but so far from least, The Dalai Lama. Well, this ties in with one of those metaphysical things. Last night I dreamt that Jamie and I were climbing Mt. Everest. I'm not gonna go into complete detail here, just the important stuff. I was trying to get to the top to reach a Buddhist Temple that was there. I am not sure why Jamie was climbing, but anyway...I arrived and everything was snow covered and beautiful. A white temple with gorgeous gold statues. Unfortunately, I had to wait to see the master. I am unsure whether it was the Dalai Lama or not. He only oversees Tibetan Buddhism so it may not have been him. There are other fragmented images in my head but they wouldn't make any sense if I wrote them down, so I won't. This is not the first time I have dreamt about going to a Buddhist temple. When it happens, I like to read by Buddhism books again. Then earlier this afternoon, my mom started asking me about the Dalai Lama and if I had any of his books (which I do) and if she could read them. So I said to myself while in Borders, you should get another Dalai Lama book. So I did.
Saturday

Friday! So amongst many lovely happy moments today, I have settled on my favorite. Upon arrival at work this morning, after signing onto my computer and all the other junk, I checked my bank account. Lo and behold! My federal tax refund! $544! All for me! What a lovely thing! Options for spending this gift flooded my brain for the rest of the day. A tattoo? Clothes? Tires? Dentist? Pay off my credit card? Trip to Denver? Soo many choices, soo little money. But it is very nice for once to have a little extra money to do anything I want with. It has not already been ear-marked for bills or anything. I think I shall ponder what to do with it. But how lovely just to look in my savings account and see a 4 digit figure for the first time in a long time! Pathetic I know, compared to most peoples savings accounts. It is a lot for me and that is my source of pleasure today!

This one is really for Thursday! SKYWARN!
So I am absolutely, positively psyched about this one. For those of you who don't know, I am a weather junkie-the weather channel brings a smile to my face everyday. On The National Weather Service's website, I found this program called SkyWarn. I emailed the coordinator to register for the class and Thursday I got the reply!

Lori, Thank you for your interest in SkyWarn. I have registered you for the training and I will be sending a reminder email before May 8. Would you please email me a phone number where you can be reached? Thanks! Cathy

So that was my beautiful moment for Thursday. My coworkers laughed at my uncontrolled joy as I bounced around the teller line and told that how cool this is gonna be! For everyone who was no idea what SkyWarn is, I'm including a couple paragraphs from NWS's website about the program. Yippee! Storm chaser!

SKYWARN is a national network of volunteer severe weather spotters. The spotters are trained by local National Weather Service Forecast Offices on how to spot severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail and flooding. In some parts of the country, spotters also report snowfall and ice accumulation.

HOW DOES SKYWARN WORK?
When hazardous weather occurs such as severe thunderstorms, floods, tornadoes, snow and ice storms, our volunteers report what is happening at their location. They are asked to report whenever certain criteria are met such as when one inch of rain has fallen, four inches of snow is on the ground, a thunderstorm is producing hail, or trees have been blown down. Reports arrive at our office via the telephone, fax, internet, and amateur radio. The reports are combined with radar and satellite data to determine what the storms will do next. Spotters provide the "ground-truth" to our forecasters. Radar may tell us that heavy snow is falling, but it can not tell us how much snow is on the ground or if rain is mixing with the snow. Spotters do. The reports are used by forecasters to send out public statements, warnings and advisories, and short-term forecasts. These products reach the public through the internet, NOAA Weather Radio, the media and other commercial services. Skywarn reports also go into Storm Data, which is an official publication that documents severe weather across the country. Storm Data can be used to create a severe weather climatology (or history) of a local county or city. Storm Data is published (electronic and hard copy versions) by the National Climatic Data Center.

An Explanation of sorts,
I like kaleidoscopes. I love the vibrant colors. I love the way they shift and combine into new shapes. Always changing, never the same. Looking through the tube is like looking into a telescope, bringing far away things close so that I can see them more clearly. This is part of what I hope to do with this blog. Bring the things that make me happy closer to me, make them stand out from the mundane day-to-day crap that they seem to get bogged down in. Everything shifts and changes though and I want to do my best to find something different everyday that brings me pleasure, joy, passion, happiness. Even if it is just something as fleeting as rainblow. I also may mention in here the synchroncities and metaphysical light bulbs that flash for me. I need a place to keep track of these and this seemed like as good a place as any!