have kindly sponsored

Car-less in the Motor City. It is amazing how limited your freedom is in Michigan, a state which bases its economy on the automotive industry. There is no public transit here. The buses that are available you have to walk two miles to get to. So it is almost under lock and key that I have been confined to my home ever since I got here.

Frankly, that is not as bad as it seems. I am relishing in the peace and quiet. And when a family member is nice enough to set me free in order to get wedding planning done, well, when you are let out only a couple hours a day, it is incredible how much fun planning a wedding can be. Really though, thinking back on the engagement so far, the word planning has not seen enough use. As you might have noticed, the indecisive nature of my family, and I will include myself here, has resulted in the most haphazard of arrangements.

For those of you placing bets, cash in your chips. We have yet again changed the wedding location.

As you may recall, my mother was none to happy with the location or management of it. And I was all set to fight her on this until I went with her and my sister to check it out. I will summarise - broken glass all over the pavement, the porch was flooded, and plastic hanging off broken windows on the top floor.

To say I was unhappy was probably an understatement. So I discussed the problems with my dad, and as my mom was willing to contribute some money to back her claims and encourage a move, we decided to go for it. We called up and another place we had looked at in the past is still available. My parents are going to meet this week and discuss it. Hopefully, we will have a deposit down before the week is out.

10 April 2000,

Stacie Lewis