Sunday 30 June 2013

101 Progress Check - 30th June 2013

Hi Guys,

Well, this is probably going to be my last post for a while. Next weekend will be my last weekend before I go on holiday, and I still have a fair bit to do (and will probably be getting the stuff ready for packing sorted out).

I realised today (after reading Angela´s blog here) that I have one year left of my 101 in 1001 days challenge left, and looking at my list I still have quite a lot to achieve.

However, when I get back from holiday I will be able to cross off at least things off my list as I am off to Vegas to get married - woohoo!!! All my amazing organisational skills (ha ha ha!!! says the girl who ordered her dress less than three weeks ago, with an expected delivery date approximately four days before we are due to leave the country). But I have to say, the service from Light in the Box was fantastic, and the dress arrived twelve days after I placed the order - job done!!!

We had a total palaver with the only thing I did organise in plenty of time - the rings... We ordered then at the beginning of May and were told they would be ready in three weeks, and when I called them four weeks later to find out where they were I was told that they take three weeks so should be there in the next two weeks??? Needless to say I thought this was a rather strange response, but when you´re doing your best to deal with something like this in a language you´re not totally comfortable with it´s not easy. I left it another couple of weeks and called again (on a Friday afternoon), at which point the woman did say that they seemed to be taking a long time and that she would call them and call me right back... so I sat at my desk all afternoon on tenterhooks and... Nada... not  a bloody thing.
I tried again on the Monday to discover they were closed, and again on the Tuesday morning when another woman said she would call them and get right back to me. She was true to her word and called me back, only to tell me that the order had been lost due to a "technical error" - and asked when I needed the rings for. I said July 12th, and she asked if I´d be able to pick them up on July 11th... not really my idea of fun, waiting until literally the last minute so there would be no time to sort something else out if there was a problem, so we agreed on July 9th. But today I checked my work email and there was the mail I wanted to see - the rings are now ready for collection.

This little adventure has taught me one thing... don´t try to organise stuff too far in advance, someone or something else will only scupper it for you and add extra stress. Actually, it has taught me two things - the jewellers need a Filofax to keep track of when they are expecting items in for their customers so they can follow up on items that are late :o)

Apart from the big things like dress, rings and booking the flights/hotel I hadn´t done anything until last weekend (when I sorted out my Filofax to make my list). I have now done almost everything important(apart from shoes - as I have to call the store tomorrow to see if they have the shoes I want in stock, if not I will have to try for some others as these ones take 10-15 working days to deliver, and will be married by then). Hair and makeup ideas I guess will be next, but if I run out of time I can always shave my head and wear a headscarf :o)

Catch you all later, have a great few weeks,

LJx

Sunday 23 June 2013

101 Progress Check - 23rd June 2013

Firstly, may I just say I am very, very sorry - I have been absolutely shockingly rubbish at keeping up with my blog recently (I haven't even been reading the blogs that I follow), life seems to have just taken over at the moment.

However, I do have some progress to report :o)

Firstly, although I haven't been spending time teaching Christopher to read in English, because he is learning to read at school (in German) he is becoming more interested in reading English too. The last two nights he has been reading to Marcus at bedtime (which is so cute to hear), and is doing really well. I think he will be happy to spend some time with me soon to learn some of the rules so that he is more easily able to read words that he doesn't recognise.

We had a family day out last weekend, which was totally unplanned. We took the boys to NONAM (Northern Native American Museum) in Zurich for a look round with a couple of our friends in the morning and the boys joined in the children's workshop, so it was a couple of hours later by the time we left. Then we went to the park to have Bratwurst for lunch in the sunshine. The boys love the Chinese Garden at Tiefenbrunnen so we ended up going there for a while, before heading into town to get ice cream from the Mövenpick shop. By the time we got home it was almost time for dinner and we'd all had a great day - result!!!

And now the big stuff... wedding plans!!! Rings were ordered at the beginning of May (they were due to be ready 3 weeks later, but are now expected to be ready July 9th... not overly impressed, but as long as we can collect them before we leave I'm not too bothered), the dress was ordered last week and I've received an email saying it should be delivered tomorrow (I can't wait to try it on), and the flights and hotel were all booked via Expedia last week as well.

There is still quite a lot to do and less than three weeks left to do it all, but I'm sure it'll all get done. I finally got round to finding out what I need to do and now have a list, so I can actually start getting it done. Here are my outstanding tasks:
                       - get Ben's suit and shoes
                       - order clothes and shoes for Vegas (I seem to have no shorts, swimsuits, sandals etc)
                       - choose and buy wedding accessories (shoes, hair stuff/tiara etc)
                       - complete ESTA (otherwise we won't be able to get into the US)
                       - decide what to do re hair (colour, cut, have it put up...?) and makeup. I'm thinking I
                         may need to get someone to hair and makeup for me.
                       - book the wedding (decide on date and which package)
                       - pick up the rings
                       - cake (we probably don't need one, but they have fabulous wedding cakes there)
                       - pre-register for marriage license (we don't need to, but it saves time when you get there

Time to get moving :o)

Have a great week,

LJx

Monday 3 June 2013

101 Progress Check - 2nd June 2013

Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish!!! Yes, I typed the title for this post yesterday and didn´t remember to actually write it - shocking memory!!!

Although I should look on the bright side, it´s made the post a bit longer :o)

As mentioned in my previous post, I wasn´t going to be getting much (if anything) of my 101 done in the last couple of weeks as I had to go to a conference in the UK, and then back to the UK again the following week for non-work stuff.

However, the first UK trip wasn´t without it´s benefits - I found a dress for my wedding!!! Or so I thought until the following weekend when my fabulous man just happened to spy a shop that stocks Italian suits. He tried on a fabulous suit and now I think he´s going to have to have it as he looks absolutely gorgeous in it - although I´ll have to make sure he doesn´t wear it for too long before the wedding, otherwise someone else may snap him up :o)

I still haven´t actually booked anything relating to the wedding yet, yes I know, so many Filofaxes and still completely unorganised about any of my personal stuff - ha ha ha!!!

So as far as my 101 goes I will be getting married, this will be achieved, it´s just that it may end up being a bit of a last minute thing :-D

Have a great week,

LJx