Someone at work created a Unix command that shows you how many people have been at the company longer than you have. I've been here longer than 96.1% of the people currently working here! That's a scary thought to me. I really am an old-timer.

Adam got a Sloan interview!!

My tulips are going to die. That warm spell had the shoots sprouting--some of them are pretty tall now. Adam covered the bases with mulch yesterday, but with all this snow, I don't think it's going to do any good. My poor tulips. I planted so many of them this year.

Adam got an interview at Stern. Blah, New York. I told him that if he wanted me to sacrifice and move to New York, then I expected him to make a sacrifice at well. If we move to New York... he has to root for the Yankees. That may be the sole reason he decides not to go to business school at all.

Hard to type in an entry when my hands are completely numb. I just attended one of the greatest marketing ploys--I mean patriotic events--of my time. At exactly 5:12, the Olympic torch was to pass beneath my work building. And at precisely 5:52, it showed up. But not until the Coke van came driving slowly by handing out free Cokes. And then the second one came by handing out "I Saw the Flame" flags. And the Chevrolet SUV came by to hand out the blow-up kind of noisemakers. And the vendors came by selling shirts and flags. Much of the office went down to the street to watch, only it's cold out and none of us had planned on watching. I really wanted to see it, although I couldn't for the life of me tell you why, which is why I went in the first place. And then I had to stay, because once you've stayed this long, it's dumb to leave. I complained to Deb, "What's their problem? I could run faster than that." Deb said, "Watch it be some guy in a wheel chair." Eventually, the cops came to block off the road, and the motorcade of cops passed by really slowly. A van full of other torch carriers went by, and then finally, there was a van that was barely moving and behind it was the flicker of a flame... taped to the arm of a wheelchair. The guy in the wheelchair was flanked by two younger boys, one who was on crutches. I can't remember the last time I've ever seen anyone look so happy. But why not? when does anyone get to have a street blocked off for them while they're cheered on by hoardes of onlookers (the side of the street was pretty full with folks). The carriers wear these outfits that look like Olympic space suits. Still, it was a pretty cool thing to see.

The wedding machine is taking on a life of it's own. The quote for today is "You're not doing anything stupid like taking phen phen are you?" but I shall be so kind as to refrain from mentioning who said it. Things accomplished: Adam got copies of the photos sent to us by his parents and my parents to display on the guest book table; the "chuppa duppa do" arrived today (but shall remain unopened, as I'm sure that will make transporting it easier); most of the bridal party gifts arrived today (the order was a little short--I'm sure the rest will appear soon); the wine glass for stamping on arrived today (we decided to splurge on a pretty blue one as we will use the shards in a mezzuah we also bought); we made a date for the tasting for the wedding meal and checked on how much it would be for me to stay in the hotel the night before; I ordered new wedding undies (since the others didn't work out--went for the slightly pricier but way prettier ones); Adam ordered a birth certificate so he could get his passport; got stamps for the reply cards; picked up maps for the guest bags; and gathered most of our addresses for invites. Whew! And it was a full day at work!

Speaking of work, lots of fuss over the fact that we're finally in the money. I chose not to be one of the people who went in at 5:30 a.m. for champagne and breakfast to listen to the analysts call, although I did partake in the 5:30 p.m. champagne toast. It was nice but there was a distinct lack of old-timers there, which made it somewhat bittersweet. And Bezos had to ruin it all for me by uttering those words (on a speaker phone from New York) that I thought the company had finally banished: "Remember, it's still Day 1!" Yuck! Some of us were trying to count how many people at Amazon had been there longer than their five-year point, and we could only come up with four or so, and that includes Bezos himself (we weren't including anyone who's already given notice). I'm sure there are more than that, but certainly not many.

Sandra came over to help me put together my wedding ensemble. The lingerie doesn't work--it peeks through the top. I may have to splurge on the expensive stuff after all. I need it, though, before I can get the dress altered. Although, happily, there won't need to be much altering (Mom, you can stop worrying). I've lost enough weight since I've bought the dress that it zips up with no problem, although the buttons don't quite close (those are the fuschia flower petal buttons, Adam, in case you're reading this. They go nicely with the pirate sleeves). However, with proper fitting lingerie, that may not be an issue either. So at this point it's just minor adjustments to the straps. And no, Mom, stop worrying, there were no diet pills involved. We took some Polaroids of the outfit so I can show my hairdresser and use it to pick out jewelry. Also moved the dress upstairs, as the dampness of the basement was making the dress a little smelly, but nothing the cleaner won't be able to take care of. Speaking of which, I spoke to the cleaners about getting the dress done and pressed, and there should be no problems. Got a decent sounding place on the line for the rehearsal dinner. I'm borrowing Pam's crinoline for the wedding and will buy myself some new jewelry. Anyone got any ideas for something old and something blue?

Who knew registering would be such hard work? And who would've thought that Adam had a higher tolerance for it than I did? Both times we went I had to call it quits way before he did--I just maxed out on the whole shopping thing. Too overwhelming. I keep going back and forth on the every day plates--they're a little too nice for every day, but they're the ones we liked best. But will we like them ten years from now? Also, it's hard to envision where we'll be living next, so it's hard to pick out. Granted, a lot of the furniture we have will stay, but what a bummer we don't know where we'll end up, because there was a lot of furniture we both found really appealing. Oh well. We've made the decision not to post our registeries on the wedding Web site (feels too tacky--no one should feel obligated to buy us a gift), but I can say here that we've registered at Crate and Barrel and at the Bon. The whole shebang (should anyone ask) can be found at www.weddingchannel.com, although it's pretty lame and the direct sites are much better. My advice is to search under Adam's name, as there are 150 other brides out there with my name.

Eddy: "Why am I so fat?"
Saffy: "Because you eat too much, you drink too much, and you smoke too much"
Eddy: "Oh darling, its far more likely to be an allergy to something!"

So, as my last gasp (as opposed to my Last Shout) in the world of DVD & Video, I got to interview Jennifer Saunders (I know, I know, most of you are thinking, who the heck is Jennifer Saunders). I was really eager to do it, because I adore her show--it was my number one TV editor's pick for last year and the new series is coming out soon. (Eddie: "Pats used to go out with Keith Moon." Pats: "Well sort of, I mean I woke up underneath him in a hotel bedroom once."). She was quite nice on the phone, although she was pretty mellow (I called her at 4 p.m. London time and she sounded vaguely like she had just woken up). Not nearly as vivacious as her charcter (not that I expected her to be), but not one "dahling" or "sweetie" in the bunch. And while she really does love champagne, it's just ginger ale in all those glasses on the set, except sometimes when it's a special occasion. Bought a house in the country--she misses the shopping in London. She's no Edina, but she's still my hero.

Ticket to Vegas: check
Florist: check
Bedtime: check

Quote of the day:
Some folks aren't crazy that we've featured Queer As Folk in a mailing. I heard one customer once wrote in "There are more Christians than pagans and perverts in the world and there always will be."

More proof that I've picked a guy who's just like dear old Dad:
A: "I was psyched because there were only four people in the class last night. All those people stupid people I don't like didn't show up."
Me: "You've had one class and there are already people you don't like?"
A: "Hell, yes!"

This morning's conversation:
Me: "What kind of cookware are we registering for?" [Adam's job is research]
A: "Well, I like the Caphalon best, but it's so expensive."
Me: "How much?"
A: "It's about $80 a piece."
Me: "That's fine. We should just register for it if you want it. Don't think about the price. Without thinking about price, what do you want to register for?"
A: "A pony."
Me: "Fine! So we'll register for a pony!"
A: "No. Your mother would probably be allergic to it anyway."

My e-bay veil came last night... and it's beautiful! Exactly what I wanted. Yeah!

Making progress on the wedding front. Ceremony music: taken care of. Wedding undies: taken care of. Just ordered the kippot (two dozen lavender, three dozen ivory, satin, with a button, no trim). Called the store, and the woman who answered asked how we'd like them imprinted. "Adam & Jenny," I said. "Are you sure?" she asked suspiciously? "You are supposed to come first." "Really?" I said. "But I figured he could be first there, since I'm first everywhere else." In a totally serious voice, she said, "Oh no. You always come first." The imprinting will say "Jenny & Adam."

Oh, this is a good site! True stories from Ettiquette Hell.

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The wedding show was a tad overwhelming. Adam and I still need a florist and ceremony music, to start. I refused to stop at any florist who had an ice sculpture displayed. Spoke with a few videographers, and for the most part was completely grossed out. 85% of them were these sleazy things who had these horrible videos that started with the "photo montage" of the couple. If I want to look at photos, I don't need a video. I also don't want cheesy music playing over anything. I'm thinking we may skip the video. I asked one guy about an in-camera edit, and he looked at me like I was a total idiot. Yes, I know what it is, and yes, I don't care if there are jump cuts. It's better than fades and spirals and "highlights" from the day. If I have the video, why do I also need to see the highlights? Anyway, lots of gushing people. I spoke with wedding coordinators about just day-of coordinating, and only one of the five I spoke with had ever done a Jewish wedding. No point in hiring someone who is going to have to ask more questions than they can answer. Again, I think we'll stick with the no coordinator thing. Pam tried on a dress and I was looking at veils and Sandra and Julie P. were our pack mules, carrying our massive bags o' brochures. After trying on a bunch of $120 veils, I came home and ordered one on e-Bay. No need to be ridiculous about a piece of gauze that will be over my face for all of 20 minutes. Sandra "volunteered" to make the ring bearer's pillow (thanks, Sandra!!). I think I'm on about a zillion mailing lists now, but maybe I'll have ceremony music and a florist locked down in a week or so.

Do you hear that? It's the theme of Rocky playing. My muscles are tight! But not that sore... yet. The pain usually kicks in two days later. The boxing fitness class was definitely something I'm putting into the workout repetoire. Lots of jumping rope, a little weights, tossing around a medicine ball, tons of crunches. Then the good stuff really kicked in. I punched and punched and punched. I felt tough when the handwraps were first put on me, but then I felt really tough when I put on the boxing gloves and started learning my punches. I'm hoping to go tomorrow night, but going once a week on Saturdays may be the most realistic thing for me.

It wouldn't be a new year without the requisite list of New Year's Resolutions. Here are some of the highlights of my list this year, the ones I'm willing to publicly acclaim so that folks can keep me honest about them:

1. Get to the point where I can do three pull-ups in a row. (Currently, I can only do it on one of the machines that assists you with weights. I need a 76-pound assist to get through three right now.)
2. Revise my novel (An arduous task, but one that has to be faced, slowly but surely. I may not complete this task this year, but I should get moving on it already. Enough time has passed.)
3. Learn to box. (No joke. I need a new winter fitness sport. I'm taking my first boxing fitness class on Saturday and if all goes well, will take some sparring classes in a few months.)
4. Eat more fiber (Pretty self-explanatory, I believe).
5. Submit at least a piece a month (I will never get published if I don't at least try).

A good start to the New Year. I was right twice tonight and Adam was right, hm, what's that? not at all. It's 2002. I'm ahead in being right and I'm way behind in wedding planning. Things always seem to even themselves out. Happy New Year.