Bachelor Weekend

This past weekend was my 'bachelor weekend'. It was spent with good friends in Minden, West Virginia doing things that I really enjoy. Those things included camping, frisbee, relaxing around the campfire, discussing 80's movies? and White Water Rafting. A BIG thanks goes to Curt for putting the whole trip together and to they guys that traveled far and wide to be there for the weekend.


The weekend was pretty laid back and the weather was perfect. It was just what I needed in the middle of all of the wedding planning. So thanks for coming out, I'm looking forward to having each of you there during my special day!

Dueling Printers

Perhaps you've heard of the Dueling Banjos song? Well this past weekend it was recreated, only without banjos, rather with printers. Here you can see them in action as they printed off information cards, reply postcards and wedding invitations.

Not quite as amusing as the banjos, but we had are moments. Most notable were the multiple paper jams or when the information on the front of a page was dependent on the information on the back and the printer grabbed 2 pages at once and threw off the whole set printing.

Invitations!

This weekend was Invitation weekend. I was not too productive on Saturday and needed some down time after last weeks visit to New Jersey for the funeral of a friend. Saturday served as a day to straighten up the guest list and prepare for a day of printing/designing. Since much of the printing work was automatic, we decided to rent Season 1 of 'LOST' and watched the first 12 episodes (first 3 discs of 6). The show is pretty good, though every now and again it gets a little strange with a couple folks having delusions. Looking forward to watching the rest of the season as planning continues.

The designs were created and the format of the invitation is something that Erin and I created. We had not seen anything like it and it is a simple design that lends itself to a simplified RSVP process. All in all we printed up 175 invitations.

At a couple points we had multiple printers going, spitting out information cards as well as RSVP cards. For the information cards we listed directions to the Rockwood, hotel information and the web address. We used Google Maps and Photoshop to create a small map of the Dublin, VA area. On the invite we used a picture taken on a trip that I (Rex) took to Hawaii last October.

I've also started working at the Rockwood on weeknights. Mainly because weekends there are getting filled up with the warm weather coming in. Last Friday we mapped out what was left and there is a lot. It includes plumbing, electric, erecting a wall, painting the walls and tiling the floor. 2 months remain.

The invitations should go out on Tuesday, be looking for yours in the mail :)

Picture of dueling printers to come...

Planning & the Guest List

Good to say that quite a bit of work has been done lately. I have preliminary plans for logistics (table set-up, moving guests, etc.), ventilation (put the new fan belts on the fans this weekend) and flow of the wedding weekend. Feels good to be a couple months out and have a pretty good idea of how everything is planned out. There is still a lot to be done and this weekend's focus will be selecting songs for the harpist to play during pre, post and the ceremony itself and sending out invitations. Erin has been working hard on the guest list and by the end of this weekend I am hoping to have ~200 invites sent out to ~300 guests.

I'm thinking that it'll be some sort of movie marathon weekend. Or maybe we'll just get a series of some TV show to follow for the weekend? Not completely sure yet, but it'll be a good time. I am also hoping to work at the Rockwood some this weekend. Overall things have been humming along extremely well. There have been things come up here and there, but I'm sure that by the day of the wedding they will all be worked out.

Pictures from the weekend...

The Ring Saw.

A ring saw, had never really seen one before this weekend. And I'm not wanting to see one again for a while. Here is the deal with the ring saw, it is used for cutting concrete. And it must have water at all times. If it does not then it comes to a screeching halt. It did that a few times. It is also HEAVY and in our case had to be held at all angles to cut a hole for the new door. It came to the point where it was too hard to hold up so we used one of those multi-fold ladders so that I could get to some of the areas. One ring saw took 3 people to use. One to use the saw, one to hold the water (it had a connector, but it was worthless) and one to hold the ladder with the board on it that I used as a floor while going up the wall.

Russel (Usher), my partner in demolition.

Look, a door!

Rex "the hammer" Card

Done for the day.

After creating a spot for the door we mixed some concrete and poured it in the door's foundation. Looks like I will not get back to the Rockwood for a few weeks, since this weekend a trip to Chatanooga to visit the rest of Erin's family (her sister, brother in law and two nephews) before the wedding. Good to know that after this weekend I've knocked everyone (I can, one is impossible to get a hold of) off of the 'must meet before the wedding' list! The list included:

• Katherine & JC
• Stephanie
• Diane
• Wendy
• Brandy
• Sherry
• Grandmother (Dad's Side)
• Grandparents (Mother's side)
• Lindsey
• Kim, Eric & the boys (this weekend!)
• Laura
• Jessica
• Sarah
• Amy (I think she is dead, she is unreachable)

My List for Erin to meet:

• Scott & Rebecca Baker
• Evan Wooten (not yet)
• Drew Paulette
• Chris Broadway
• Pete
• Mike
• Curt
• Paulettes
• Allen
• Grandmother & Great Grandmother

Tonight is another Wedding Wednesday & Invitations go out SOON!

A Door!

That's right this past weekend I knocked out a concrete wall using a ring saw and a sledge hammer with some help from Russell (Usher). Pictures will be posted soon. This construction thing is fun!