Thank you all so much for all your sweet comments on my engagement post last week! You all know how to make a gal feel special. I have spent the time since then gazing happily at my own left hand and occasionally squeezing in some work.

The summer class I’m teaching started on Monday and with it all my free time went right out the window. I am writing this post from my office, where I am supposed to be prepping for Monday’s class so I can relax this weekend, but I’ve made a devil’s bargain with myself: slack a little bit now, work more on Sunday. Isn’t that always the way?

This is going to be a busy weekend, actually — as is every weekend for the next month. Of course, all the busy weekends of the summer had to line up right in a bossy little row between late June and late July, just exactly at the time I am teaching. This weekend, CW’s college BFF is visiting us and we’re all going to see Bob Dylan (with Wilco and My Morning Jacket) in Atlanta. I am psyched, to say the least, and I’ll happily exchange some of my would-be couch vegetation time in order to see one of my all-time favorite musicians. Bob and I go way back, see, but I’ve never seen him perform live. It’s going to be fabulous. I’ll just be chillin’ like a villain with Bob Dylan, the good lord willin’.

Next weekend CW and I head up to Illinois for a W. family reunion, the weekend after that will be my last chance to pack up big things in my apartment and the weekend after that we move into our new house. The weekend after that? Grading final papers. In between all these weekends of course I’m teaching five days a week, with 100+ pages of reading to discuss every day and essays to grade each week. It’s all going so fast I won’t know what to do with myself and in the blink of an eye the class I’ve just begun will be over and I’ll be living in a new house with my fiancé (!) and we’ll be getting ready to start the fall semester. Can you tell I’m feeling the slightest bit overwhelmed?

It’s all great things that are happening, of course, and I’m certainly not complaining, except that I kind of am complaining. I think you can deal with it. This time tomorrow, though, I’ll be having an afternoon beer in Atlanta before the concert, and this time next week I’ll be sitting by a pool or lake or something, probably also having an afternoon beer, and hanging out with my soon-to-be in-laws. Life is still good.

In other news, I have been trying not to let the prospect of planning a wedding stress me out too much. While I usually very much enjoy the eye candy that is Pinterest, I am finding that the Weddings section is a haven for two types of women: 1) sorority types whose dads are paying for everything and therefore can afford the kind of invitations where live butterflies fly out, a bottle of fancy champagne and a Kate Spade bracelet for every bridesmaid, and a $5000 budget for photography; and 2) the crafty hipster who has unlimited time, access to hundreds of mason jars, a beautiful outdoor venue surrounded by redwoods, and a groom who likes to wear vests and suspenders sans jacket. I both despise and long to be each of these women. Simultaneously. It is a little trip to Crazy Town every time I log in. Here in the land of reality and teacher-appropriate budgets, however, there will be no live butterflies or mason jar centerpieces or professional photographers. We do have a date and a venue (this fall, here in town) and a wedding party, so that is a start.

I promise I won’t turn this blog into wedding-planning central, but it’ll probably come up every now and then. I do tend to write about whatever is going on with my life and that’s one thing that’s going on right now. Also, I have a question for you, if you all know —  Other than David’s, Nordstrom’s, and Macy’s, what are some good places to look at wedding dresses online? Ideas? I’m not trying to break the bank, so places with less expensive options are preferred.

FInally, please appreciate this woman I found in the Pinterest Wedding section, who may or may not be marrying a horse.