Gorgeous. But now I'm all "But where are the horsies going? Will they get there safely? What will they eat--everything's frozen. Are there dire wolves along the way? Will they have to cross ice and be possible prey to orcas or leopard seals? What happens next, I want to knoooow!!"

Only predators in Iceland are humans and the Arctic Fox. Well, and the island itself. And they're purely domesticated, brought there & bred by the Vikings. When they say "written into their DNA" it's not hyperbole: they've a genetic mutation that correlates with the ability to tölt, which is a very smooth running gait well suited for the terrain. Only a few other lines in the world have it. They've evolved to be well suited to the conditions.

I need to find my motivation today. I want to get to the gym and I have a Zillion things to do for ltc's Birthday party! Can you believe she's going to be 3?

Wow, 3! It really doesn't seem possible.

I skipped the gym today because both my brain and my body are freaking out. So I'm enjoying a cup of tea and some silence while ltc is at her last day of camp.

Excellent plan, sj!

Hope you're feeling better, Tom.

Good lord, the skies literally just opened up.

Wedding rehearsal for Tim's nephew's wedding was last night. Nephew and fiancee asked me to write the whole ceremony, because they just want the boilerplate standard vows, etc. So I have a few paragraphs of introductory stuff on their relationship, love, and whatnot, and then I grabbed vows from the internet.

But here's the problem when you let me write your ceremony: for my own wedding, we didn't include the "Who gives this woman" part, because it wasn't right for me personally, for a lot of reasons. So I completely forgot to put it in Nephew and Fiancee's ceremony. Fortunately, the wedding coordinator at the venue mentioned it when we got to that point of the ceremony, and I grabbed a pen and scribbled it in, so it's all good.

When I got home and told Tim about it, he said "That's what happens when you tell your feminist aunt that she can write the whole ceremony. They're lucky you aren't ending the ceremony by yelling 'Hillary Clinton forever!' " (My reply was "...wait, you mean I *shouldn't* do that???")

This wedding ceremony is a stark contrast to 2 years ago when I officiated for our BFFs, because they wrote every single word of their ceremony, and all I had to do was read it without crying. This one I had to scramble around the internet to come up with something meaningful (and short, because the wedding is outdoors, in the sun, with a high of 90 forecast for tomorrow, FML).

short, because the wedding is outdoors, in the sun, with a high of 90 forecast for tomorrow, FML

May you be an inspiration to officiants everywhere, but most of all to the officiant of the wedding that I'm a bridesmaid in, wearing black, outside, August 18, at 1 in the afternoon.

wearing black, outside, August 18, at 1 in the afternoon.

Solidarity: my Default Floral Dress(TM) that I'm wearing tomorrow is black with flowers on it. So I anticipate broiling. But the reception is indoors, with a/c, so I can power through the 10-minute ceremony and then drink many cold beverages.

Yes, high hopes for the (indoor) reception being a pleasanter temp than the ceremony!