I wish Prince William and Kate the best...and I have always been a great admirer of Queen Elizabeth. Who can hate a wedding, after all?

But I was watching the news and listened to two survivors of the tornadoes...helping others even in their own grief and loss, expressing their gratitude to God for His mercy and grace in unthinkable circumstances...watching strangers lugging food to strangers...

Then the cameras switched to celebrity wedding guests, people squealing breathlessly about "The Dress", and a reporter exclaiming "Unbelievable!" because she had actually gotten a glimpse of the royal couple.

Having a hard time wrapping my mind around it all.

I know what you mean, my mind has been on the tragedy in our Southeren states as well. It does seem a bit palacious and wasteful, under the circumstances. Let 'em eat cake..huh..

The trees in Westminster Abbey were @ $83,000. Dress, cake, etc., OMG. There are so many needs out there.

kicker, you know I luvs ya, butttt ...

that $83,000 went into other people's pockets, and probably filled many needs, IMHO.

They call that, like, the Trickle down effect right? I'm sure it trickled down to the hungry and homeless

(Ah Twink, I'm not even very political. I just have seen some awful things.)

A "friend" I called a Republican (she had called me a bleeding heart liberal) said "Well, us Republicans have 2nd homes." True that. I'd spent some time at her shore house. (blush, shame coloring me)

We cannot have the highs without the lows. Even the British people who have been suffering without jobs, bad healthcare system, and high taxes, with the increase in the tuition at all colleges when interviewed said they were very much looking forward to seeing this event. We need distraction from our misery was what most said. Let them have the day. Could they have donated the money they were going to use towards good charities, yes, but then we would not have seen this royal wedding that is such a rare event. We need to be entertained. We need to see that our leaders are going to march forward and keep this train rolling. Having a royal wedding ensures that the monarchy will survive in their country so they saw it as a good thing, and that the prince made a good pick in Kate.

Kate and Williams parents paid for the majority of the event. not the taxpayers. Of course security was expected and provided by the people, but 99.9 % of those interviewed said they didnt begrudge them the day. William and Kate are doing things like doing without the majority of household staff. Kate shops for herself. Kate cooks her own healthy meals, and washes her own toilet. I hope they walk in a new way of life for the royals.

Without the bad times how would we be able to enjoy the good? Without the good times how would we find the strength to survive the bad? Its a circle. The important thing is that you give back when the circle is the good zone over the edge of your fence, and reach out to those who need help, when its in the bad. Its really hard to watch others suffer when they dont deserve what happened to them. They didnt build their house on a cliff and complain when it fell off. They didnt build in the middle of a flood plain and cry when it washed away.

I hope we can all find a way to give back. Whether its thru a pint of blood, a $10 check, a day to roll up our sleeves, and bang nails in our own neighborhoods, or a way to raise awareness so that others who have more can give.

When I worked as a Paramedic/nurse we hid the way we let off steam and deal with such tragedy day after day. We use what is called tumor humor. We find ways to laugh in the face of death, and we could make some inappropriate remarks, but it wasnt meant to disrespect, it was meant to protect our mental fragility from cracking under the constant stress. Like when my mom got prozac from the pharmacy instead of prilosec. I said "at least she wasnt depressed about it." Your brain simply wont allow you to wallow in that depression or overwhelming grief or it can tear at the fragile threads that hold you together. We need things like movies, weddings, and hopeful signs that the future is coming.

Just my not so humble opinion.

It wasn't particularly the cost that was bothering me. I remember once someone upset because there was a gas shortage (alleged) and all that gas was being wasted on car racing. At the time, a relative of mine was supporting his family by working on the pit crew at the local track. So.

What bothered me, and still bothers me, was the over-the-top swooning and squealing over getting a glimpse of the dress, etc., in direct contrast to the tragedy going on.

I know. That's life. Somebody's having a party while somebody else is having a funeral. I'm not even saying it was WRONG...just that it was upsetting me. Oh well.

Ok, so he's the FUTURE KING OF ENGLAND!!! He could possibly change the way things are done, how life is over there.

When, in our lifetime, will there be a wedding quite as big? Yes, it cost between 40 and 5 mil, and the bride's parents (who normally pay for weddings) paid $400,000, they got off CHEAP!! even though they are multi-milliionare's

Would you be happier if they went down to the court house and gave the 40 - 50 million to charity? If they did, guess what, people would still be starving, tornado's would still come through. Tragedy still happens.

There will never be enough giving to satisfy some people. As for the coverage, I saw on my DirecTV that some of the channels dedicated to the tornado coverage with nothing of the wedding, allbeit a lot of royal stuff the last few weeks, but like I said, when will it happen again? Harry's won't be as big. I doubt I will live long enough to see William and Catherine's child marry.

I guess I'm of the opinion that it was a big deal, it's over, and now the tragedy victims will get their airtime. for me, it was a nice break. I watched the tornado stuff on the net/and on TV, if you looked, you could find it fine.

Lastly, I wonder if Harry hopes she is not able to have kid's so he remains 3rd in line for the crown? LOL.