The Sanfords

Beth's cat, Tabby, is freaking out. He can tell that something is wrong. First of all, he was shaved last week and looks so funny, like a tabby cat lion or something. Secondly, he misses his friend, Beth's other cat, Baby Kitty (whom we affectionately call BFK, as in Baby Freakin' Kitty). And most of all, he misses Beth. For reasons I won't get into, Tabby is living here for two more weeks. BFK has already moved to Beth and Randy's new place because of complications with her declawing surgery, but Tabby is still here. And he is sad. Yesterday he was by my side pretty much all day long. Within 30 seconds of sitting on the couch (which I did a lot of yesterday because I was oh so tired), he'd be right up there with me. And now tonight I've been having a hard time keeping him off my keyboard and away from my computer screen. He keeps crying. He misses his Beth. Plus, his bed is gone. It's just a sad place to be for the cat.

And it's a bittersweet place to be for us humans. I miss Beth already, too, yet I'm oh so happy for her that it's hard to get too sad about it! Plus, I still have my fabulous Charlotte and Aleeta here, so it's not too lonely!

The wedding made for a hectic but fun week. Here are some photos from the festivities:

Beth and Randy at the rehearsal dinner.

Josie, Charlotte, Jillian and me.

The beautiful bride. The black-and-white photos are courtesy of our friend Stacy Mackey (see blog link at the right).

Charlotte and me. It was so fun being a bridesmaid with her!

Me and my wonderful date.

And so Beth is now Mrs. Sanford... And now it's time to start it all over again, at least for me, anyway. This year of change really just keeps throwing punches right and left. On Valentine's Day, my sister Natalie got engaged to her Kevin. They are tentatively planning an August 15 wedding, so things are already moving right along. I will be the Maid of Honor, and I won't be able to forget it. Practically every time we talk on the phone now, Natalie answers by saying, "Hello, Maid of Honor!" She's cute. And super-excited to be marrying Kevin. Last weekend Matthew and I made the trip back to Iowa so I could go wedding dress shopping with her and her other bridesmaids. It was a lot of fun, and she had success. Meanwhile, Dad and Matt went to Menards...

It was a really fun and full weekend, on top of the dress shopping. Matthew and I went to the Mount Mercy play, where I was able to introduce him to the one and only Kathi Pudzuvelis. I always need at least a yearly dose of Kathi to recharge my drama. We also attended two birthday parties over the course of the weekend- Saturday, in North Liberty, we celebrated Ben Morris' 30th, and then on Sunday we went to Pella for Matt's niece Hannah's fifth.

I just can't stop marveling at how much can change in a year. I remember that last March 13th was a great day (see my post from that day: "Hosanna"). I don't know why I remembered that it was March 13th, but I did. At that point, Mike and Annie had been dating for two days. Now they are married. Jenn and Tom are pregnant. Matthew and I will be celebrating six months soon. My little sister is engaged. Justin and Morgan are dating. Charlotte and her new beau Jody are going strong. And Beth and Randy are married, exactly one year later to the day.

Poor Tabby...