Many brides-to-be spend the week before their wedding going to the spa, partying with their girlfriends and, ya know, generally takin' it easy before the big day.
Well, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords chose a more adventurous path, spending last weekend in Baghdad and trading her signature pink suit jacket for military fatigues.
Back safely, she is to get hitched to astronaut Mark Kelly today on a farm somewhere south of Green Valley — and green, too, are the festivities.
Notebook has learned that dinner will feature local produce and biodegradable supplies, and the bride will wear a secondhand Vera Wang wedding dress.
And although the long- awaited event has a green theme that the Sierra Club would be most proud of, we're told the dress is indeed some shade of white, not moss.
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The 300 to 350 guests will be the first to see the earthy friendly ceremony unfold, but Star readers can see pictures for themselves in Sunday's feature coverage of the nuptials.
Because of Giffords' schedule and Kelly's next trip into outer space, the honeymoon will wait until next year — somewhere on planet Earth.
No clear word yet on whether Giffords' potential 2008 rival, state Senate President Tim Bee, was among the "current and former members of the Legislature" who received invitations — invitations to the wedding, that is, not the honeymoon.
Pinhead alert
Tucson Unified School District Superintendent Roger Pfeuffer had the honor and privilege of being called a "pinhead" by cable TV pundit Bill O'Reilly this week, stemming from the district's handling of student protests at Catalina High Magnet School.
O'Reilly must have been unaware of TUSD's recent media practice: All accusations of pinheadedness must be submitted in writing.
A royal flush
State Rep. Pete Rios — still reeling from internal strife in the Democratic caucus 11 months ago — suggested this week that Tucson Rep. Phil Lopes has engaged in racial discrimination.
That's a serious charge, especially considering that Lopes represents a heavily Hispanic area.
But Rios, it seems, forgot to check the suit of his race card before he dealt it.
The strife between the two foes was resurrected after John Loredo, a former state lawmaker and Rios' former son-in-law, delivered remarks in Phoenix accusing Rios and other Southern Arizona renegade Democrats of siding with Republicans during last year's budget fight.
In a letter that first appeared in a Phoenix publication and later forwarded to Notebook, Rios calls Loredo a "has-been" and says Lopes "tried to remove four Hispanic legislators from committees that they were serving on and replace them with non-Hispanic Democratic members."
Lopes did attempt some switcheroos, which even his allies admit was a shrewd attempt to smack those who voted against him for minority leader.
But as for Rios' racial accusation, turns out that one of the newbies was Phoenix Rep. David Lujan.
Not only is Lujan a member of Arizona's Hispanic caucus, but he's also a member of the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators.
Oops.
Still, Rios' failure to let the feud die could spell trouble for Dems as they head into what could be a particularly acrimonious legislative session — a $600 million budget shortfall in the middle of an election year.
Meanwhile, Lopes took some heat for suggestions he made last week that reform of mandatory-sentencing laws and roll-backs in income-tax cuts should be on the table.
Now he's staying silent about the Rios accusations and the budget.
In other words: Retreat, but no surrender.
