The Gallerita!

It has been awhile since

It has been awhile since I have written in this. I am going to steal a common phase of my sister, Kathleen; "I've just been so busy".

Stepan's parents did arrive as previously reported they would. They are very lovely people. Even though Vladimir speaks no English, he has a very welcoming posture and his body language and facial expressions speak very well for him. Helena speaks very good English. It amazes me so when someone speaks more than one language. I know that the entire Karl clan is going to love them and appreciate how Stepan turned out as wonderfully as he did.

Yesterday was rather stressful for me. I even called Jenny so we could comiserate with each other, but she was having no stressful feelings. When I got off work, I decided to try to pick up the bridal dress from Stepan's cousin's house. Her mom, Hanka made it. I called from the office where I was working and noone answered. I had stored Hanka's cell phone in my cell and tried it. Ron, the husband of Hanka (daughter of the dressmaker) answered and said that his mother-in-law does not answer the phone because she speaks no English. He said that he should be home in about 30 minutes. I guesstimated that was about the time I needed to get there. I knocked on the door and Hanka-the mom-answered it. We were able to agree that I was there to pick up the dress and that the dress was not ready yet. Shortly, Ron arrived home with Kacenka, his 4 year old daughter, and acted as translator. It was going to take about an hour to complete the dress. That worked out very well for me becaused the traffic going through Dallas at that time was awful. So while Hanka laboured away on the dress, Ron and I had a nice visit. In a bit, I was heading home. I kept thinking about the huge responsibility I had in transporting the bride's gown. At this time the gown was in the cargo area of my company van. This got me thinking about my tool boxes and hoped that they did not fall into the dress. This made me remember the tool box I forgot to retreave from the stair well of the central office I had just left. This central office is in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas. It is not a great part of town. I called one of my co-workers and asked him to let me call him back once I had made it out alive. I could tell that my voice was not sounding quite right. The stess was starting to build. On the way home after safely departing the Oak Cliff C.O. I called Danny and told him if I felt okay I was going to be bringing his bicycle back home and the blow up mattress that he was going to be using in Austin. I told him I would call him and let him know when I got closer to home. I got closer to Dana Point and decided I had too much to do to get ready to leave the next day and I decided to call Danny and tell him to pick up the mattress on his way to Austin. I was in the middle of this call when Jerry came and told me that to be helpful he had loaded the bike and the air mattress into his pickup truck, so off to Danny's house I went. Seeing Danny and Joanna is always a joy. Joy has a way of reducing stress. As an added bonus, I got to see Dan Erik, a good friend of Danny's from high school. I got home at around 10:30 pm. I logged into the computer and checked the flight schedule for Stepan's brother, Dominik. I was to pick them up from the airport the next day and transport them and the wedding dress to Austin. Arrival showed to be 8:15am on American Airlines flight number 948. I went to bed, woke the next morning, ate breakfast and powered up the computer to check the status of Dominik and Remo's flight. It was due to land 30 minutes earlier than previously posted. Yikes! I rushed around doing the regular morning stuff and left the house 30minutes prior to landing time. The rub? it was morning rush hour and noone gets anywhere fast heading north on Hwy 360 in Arlington, which is the route I needed to take to get to the airport. I hoped that they would be delayed in customs. I got to the international gate about 8:45. I called Jenny to tell her I was late. She assured me that Dominik had my cell phone number and he would have called if he had already arrived. About this time, the elevator doors opened to reveal a very youthful and cute shaggy-haired blond boy. I told Jen that, I hope this good-looking lad was he. I had written his name on a plain white sheet of paper and had it displayed prominantly across my chest. His friend, Remo, noticed me first. We greeted, I went and got the car and we loaded it and off to my house we went so I could pack. They gave a really cool stick that when you turn it over it sounds like the rain forrest. I love it. We got to Austin around 2PM. The dress is no longer my responsibility. Dominik and Remo are in Austin safe and sound.

Jennifer is spending the night with me at the hotel. I hope to "wash that gray right out of my hair" with her assistance. I am very sleepy, so it may need to wait til tomorrow.

I am sleepy. I look forward to seeing everyone here this weekend. We are truly going to have a wonderful celebration.