Phragments from Phyllis for Dec. 4, 2008

Thanksgiving weekend was a wonderful time for me and my family.

All three of my children were home and even Cat's fiance joined us for dinner.

We spent all day cooking together. While Tom took care of the turkey and dressing, etc., MeMo made potato salad, Liz and I made an apple pie -- a Paula Deen recipe that includes red wine (incredible) -- and Cat and I followed up with white chocolate bread pudding. Everything was delicious.

Mac came over after working all day and then spent the night. It was especially wonderful to have all my children under our roof again.

Cade was delightful -- offering commentary at every turn. If only we knew what he was saying as he babbles incessantly.

Friday morning Cat had to work, so Liz and I braved the elements for Black Friday and went to the Augusta Mall. We didn't do too much serious shopping; however, we did meet my friend Joanne for lunch. We ate at PF Chang's. It was very nice.

Saturday dawned with wedding details to settle. Cat is still working on the right hairstyle, so we started at the hairdresser's. Cat then had a fitting for her wedding dress. It continues to impress me how beautiful it looks on her.

Liz then decided to try on a few wedding dresses. Like Cat she had found what she thought was the perfect dress on line. Unfortunately no one in the area carries it. When she didn't find the perfect dress in the store, she came home and looked for a shop that carried the designer of the dress she thought she was in love with. The only one around is in Columbia. She called and at 3 p.m. we went racing to get there and try on dresses before they closed at 5 p.m.

We arrived at Bella Vista around 4:20 p.m. and, of course, they carry the designer but not the dress Liz thought she had her heart set on. However, this shop has a designer who actually creates some of the designs that are marketed under the name we were looking for. She asked if Liz might like to see some of her in-house designs.

Liz explained the style she wanted, which includes absolutely no fru-fru (no beads, no pearls, no lace). She tried on about 10 styles, one of which she reluctantly tried on -- It had fru-fru on the bottom -- lace and sparkles, etc.

But when she came out with the dress on, I began to cry and she began to cry. The designer said, "Is this the one?" And Liz said, "Maybe," but all the while she couldn't stop smiling or crying. I told her the only other time a wedding dress has made me cry was when I first saw Cat in the wedding dress she chose. It was an incredible moment.

It was only after Liz and I agreed that it indeed was "the one," that I said, "Do we have any idea how much it costs?" Luckily, it was within a range I can live with.

So now we have two wedding dresses and, I must say, my daughters both have the dress that is absolutely perfect for them.

And I am giving thanks that we can stop looking for wedding dresses and bridesmaids dresses and move on to what's really important -- my dresses. After all, I'll need two.