Matrimoni

How did I learn? They didn't have an automatic at the Vienna airport. I am getting quite good, all excepo those 3 point turns. I don't mind so much when I get lost (like on the way to the airport to my hotel in Vienna, on the way from Coburg to my relatives in Schweikheim, near Stuttgart) because it means I get to practice.

I am leaving on my first Business Trip. It is to Germany!! I leave on Saturday and return the following Sunday. Pray for me, please!

I have reached page 100! Only 72 pages to go!

Let's just say we are learning how to be polite and patient with each other. Good things to learn for when we are married. It will be better then I am sure, because at least we will be able to talk face to face more often, and that relieves tension. Plus then we will be talking to each other, and not seeking validation from others for "my side" all the time.
My sister left me a great voicemail yesterday. She said on our honeymoon, we will be glad when it's over. I think she is right. But hopefully we breathe that first sigh of relief once the organ starts at 3 pm on July 24th, and not at 3 pm on the 25th, after the baptism! (my niece or nephew's, don't worry)

..I suppose my boss thought it would be a good idea to make me earn my job title. So after 5 weeks, I got my job description! Now I need to be the "self-starter" Moni I claim to be!

I drive ~50 miles each way to and from work. It would be shorter if I took the "expressway" through the city, but it would take much, much longer because of all the people who opt to drive downtown instead of taking the train (it took me 2.5 hours to get to my interview this way), so I take the interstate around the city. My commute is thus essentially a "C" shape, and I pay 3 tolls each way, but it only takes a little over an hour. This commute takes me to within a few miles of the Illinois-Indiana border. Today I drove to Indiana to get gas. Great move! I only paid $1.45, when the cheapest I have seen in Chicago (this morning) is $1.54. This brings the daily cost of my commute to ~$7.98!(plus wear and tear, accounting also for the 5% discount I get on gas through my credit card). This is down from the ~$9 I had estimated when I took this job!
So, yey for lower gas taxes in Indiana!
Maybe Thursday during my lunch I will venture farther into Hammond to see if I can find an even cheaper gas station!

...because I now officially have business cards! with an actual company name! and an actual title! which I will actually give to people when I do business with them! cool.

...we have made more or less final decisions about our wedding party: Not as difficult a task as we thought. Requests will be forthcoming... (for the women who know already.... as I hate to shop, any and all suggestions for bridal party attire are welcome, especially since you are the ones wearing the dresses, not me. I got to pick mine, so why shouldn't you (collectively, of course) get to pick yours?.... Email me catalogs, pics, etc. if you wish.

....it is unfathomable how much work it takes to come up with something as simple as a wedding guest list. I am still drained and we were working on it on Saturday night. We (really Kevin and his parents) knew who should be invited, but not all the last names or spouse's names, now that's a big family. Jenny and Chris....now I understand. The number is around 230 and we haven't even started on my relatives and family friends. Who knew God would give us so many ways to trust in His providence...?

Don't take this the wrong way, but as we are compiling the list now, if you are worried about being invited to the wedding, go ahead and leave a comment so we will be sure not to forget you. (I don't think we forgot any of our dear readers whom we know, as I sent you all an email with the link, so this is more for your own piece of mind, or maybe an indicator of how much you trust us ;)

I used to think that I was good at keeping in touch with people, that the reason some friendships had withered was due to lack of effort on the other party's part. To a certain extent I still believe that for some older friendships, but in the past few years, I seem also to have gotten lazy, or caught up, or other some such non-excuse for not keeping in touch.

Since the beginning of college, I have met a lot of interesting and different people, many of whom I have considered friends at one time or another. After moving into a different dorm, or spending a year in Europe, or finishing school and beginning "real life, " not to mention the fact that people have moved all over the country, and started "real lives" of their own, complete with communities, husbands, wives, and children, I seem to have fallen out of touch with a lot of them.

Now, my "real life" requires me to do a lot of driving, and I really mean a lot. I have put ~15,000 miles on my car since the middle of June: that means ~750 miles a week. I have also recently acquired a cellular phone (I still like to call it a Handy) for safety reasons because of all this driving. One of the most wonderful bonuses of this technological advance is that when I might have spent 3 hours listening to the Radio last night during my drive from Peoria, IL to Chicago, IL, instead this is the record of Handy usage:

7.56 pm: Mama calls, when are you coming home?
8.00 pm: call voicemail, 3 new messages:
1) Kevin, Friday, when are you gonna get here?
2) Mama Friday, you can call till eleven, thanks for letting us know you got there.
3) Matthew Vinu!
8.09 pm: call Kevin and ask directions to 24, because I turned left on University instead of right, like always.
8.12 pm: call Matthew Vinu back, leave a message.
8:13 pm: call Karin, leave a message.
8:14 pm: call Julie, leave a message.
8.15 pm: call Laura, who I haven't talked to for a long time. Great conversation until 9.35 pm.
9.05 pm: Karin calls me back, I tell her I will call her back.
9.36 pm: call Karin back, she is talking to Lisa, we decide to talk Monday.
9.40 pm: Julie calls me back.
10:00 pm: I call Payal, for the first time in ages, she is home.
10.45 pm: Matthew Vinu returns my call, I let him leave a message bc I haven't talked to Payal in almost a year.
so instead of listening to the radio. I got to talk with 3 dear friends. A 3 hours very well spent I would say!
11:15 pm: call Kevin, let him know I got home ok, pray St. Joseph Novena and prayer to St. ****thna (?) together.

And I will talk to some more people I love today, during my hour commute home! Yey for cell phones!