The lovely and once chatty Betty Beth has been sadly absent from our comments sections for several months now -- but not without good reason, as she explained in recent e-mail:
...my long absence... boils down to a
shiny new job, a shiny new engagement, and decreased time at my computer
due to both of those. I'm thrilled to death about both, of course, and
still read TUJD daily - but I haven't been commenting of late. I'll
do my best to get right back on that!! Especially as I am waiting with
bated breath to see which of the books winds up winning (and/or
placing highly) in the tournament... I'm unfortunately not allowed to
vote at this point because I haven't read all of them, but that works in
my favor: whichever ones win that I haven't read are coming with me on
my honeymoon!
...I just passed
my six month mark at my current job (coordinating and hiring sailors and
their schedules, and training, and paperwork, and the list goes on and
on!), and it's immensely enjoyable. I'm learning things I never even
thought of before, and occasionally I get to go on an ocean-going
freighter heading to Alaska to take pictures for training! I haven't
yet made it to Alaska, but my fingers are crossed. :D I promise if I do
ever make it aboard for more than a weekend, I'll bring Mrs. Neels with
me, and I'll make some sailors photograph a Betty-in-the-Ocean to prove
it!
I'm immensely excited about the wedding as well - he
may not be a Rich Dutch Doctor, but my fiance and I have been dating
for four years, and we're both looking forward to marriage and a family
down the line. He's a teacher, though, so maybe I shall call him the
Professor?
True to any Neels heroine, I am making all sorts of
lists! My future husband and I are planning a honeymoon on Kauai after
our December 1st wedding (which will be down at my parish church, with a
lunch reception in my parent's backyard down in San Diego, so hopefully
Mrs. Neels would approve!), so I definitely need all the help I can get
in picking which books to pack for lazy beach reading and the massive
amounts of plane travel I'll be doing! Any advice from the Bettys would
be very gratefully accepted...
Hopefully I will be back soon - we're resolving the
internet connection difficulties at home, and once those have vanished,
hopefully sometime next week, I will again be able to comment with the
best of them! Until then, however, I remain your faithful reader (on
work computers during my breaks, at least...)
We know already that Children Ruin Everything, but please chime in with any other advice you'd like to share on beach-reading, professional success, marriage, weddings or sailors, or any combination thereof.
I would def recommend any of BN's books which have the heroine just recently married, so that you would relate...
ReplyDeleteBetty Francesca.
Congratulations Betty Beth! Did you know that you've picked Betty Keira's birthday as you wedding day? Very serendipitous.
ReplyDeleteAs for Betty books, since it's a December wedding you could go with ones that include Christmas (if you look up the blog achive for December 2010, we reviewed a bunch).
p.s. If you're working with freighters that go to Alaska does that mean you're here on the West Coast?
Congratulations, Betty Beth! My personal suggestion: Year's Happy Ending going by chartered plane, the sun, the sea, beaches, swimming, driving along the boulevard, walking along the beach path by moonlight, a storm, ... the wedding, ... and the story ends just before Christmas.
DeleteBetty Beth is right up the street from you, Betty Debbie -- you may recall she commiserated with you during January's power outage. And I'm answering for her because she may have power, but her web access is limited for now.
DeleteMy mind is like a sieve these days - we've got a wedding going on here a week from tomorrow...so my mind is pretty focused on that.
DeleteI am *psyched* for the Betty in the Wild photos of your son and new DIL dancing with a copy of Wedding Bells for Beatrice in their clasped hands, and one of a slice of cake served on a copy of Matilda's Wedding, and then the line of bridesmaids and ushers, each holding a book: Heidelberg Wedding, The Bachelor's Wedding, Three for a Wedding, Cruise to a Wedding...
DeleteNow I need to dig out my "wedding" Neels and secretly stash them around next Saturday...perhaps a little photo-bombing?
DeleteOn Marriage - To quote my Bro-in-Law married to a Latina with a temper (when I was marveling at how patient her was with her) - Love is not an act of the heart, It is an act of the will. So even when you don't feel it, say you love him many times day. The more you say it out loud or silently to yourself the more it will become a reality.
ReplyDeleteOn Children: Today is the first year anniversary of my mom's passing, so I'll quote something she said and believed.
Accept every child God sends you as a treasure, because they are the only thing of value on earth that you can have in Heaven with you.
Books for the Honeymoon? I tend to think that the ones with more Hero POV are a little more romantic. So you might take Making Sure of Sarah and Discovering Daisy. And since you'll be in Hawaii you will need a white bikini and some oil stained shorts which you'll find in Tabitha in Moonlight.
Enjoy the wedding and if you intend to stay married avoid Sailors. Congratulation and tons of best wishes!
Betty Barbara -- totally off-topic, but if you're here and have a moment to offer some advice about antique/used furniture shopping in Ellicott City, I would be grateful for your perspective.
ReplyDeleteBetty Barbara here---
DeleteBetty van den Betsy, it all depends on what you are looking for (well, of course it does). It has been a while since I've done any serious shopping in old Ellicott City, so I'm not sure who is still in business, etc.
That said, all the shops are laid out along one main road; some of the shops are multi-storied, with merchandise on all floors. It is very hilly(!!!!!). Weekends are really, really crowded, especially if the weather is nice.
Two links--
My favorite store, Ellicott's Country Store is HERE
Fabulous tea room, Tea on the Tiber, is HERE
Quite frankly, it needs more than one day to see everything, but spend some time on the base Ellicott City web site to get a feel for what's available.
Have fun!