My first wedding was a blending of Catholic (as I was raised) and Quaker (Derk's side of the family). In deference to Derk's family, there was no music in the ceremony. We sat on the facing bench, and invited people to speak if so moved (and misterx almost gave me heart failure when he decided to speak). I was always bitter that I didn't get to have music, because it is such an intrinsic part of my life. Of course, Derk and I let *both* of our families hijack our wedding. We were young, and neither of us well known for having spines in the face of our respective families.

I get to have music this time, though, damnit. No invitations to speak, though, because gods only know what monologue Ashe would treat us to if given the chance. It would probably involve jazz hands. And a trumpet solo. Possibly a Lego montage. ;) Liam would undoubtedly just say 'meh.'

There is much to be said for the Quaker style of worship, though. And I have never fallen out of love with the concept of plain speech. I still use it with the boys; Geralyn uses it with me and vice versa (and she's a former Catholic, too. How DOES he find us?); I find it a good barometer for how close I am to someone if I find myself slipping into "thee-mode."

*g* And, when he pisses me off, I never get tired of hitting Derk with the rejoinder "Oh, fuck thee." These days, though, I say it more with affection than anything else. :)

There. That should muddy the waters sufficiently.

July 5, 2010.
Anderson St. Park, Bristol, TN.

Obviously, details will follow but...yeah. We set the date.

I stepped off the plane July 5, 2008. We got engaged a year later. It seems right that that would be the day. Good things happen in threes, and we can get the triple word score on this one. ;)

[Oh, my gods...we're really going to do this]

Forgot to shut off the alarm, so I wake in a confused panic when it goes off: check.
Unable to sleep past 7am: check.
Raining like a m^%$#@$^&*(*: check.

Yup. I'm off today. How did y'all guess?

Thankfully, nothing is so pressing that depositing my check can't wait until tomorrow. Kent doesn't have to go in to train today after all (the salad guy called out, so going in to train on making salads is kind of pointless), so we're just going to hibernate, I think.

We have leftovers from Asia Cafe (never did go out last night. It was too fucking sweaty to dress nicely and walk anywhere in this town, so we ordered in); Mary Louise is behaving again (the last 2 weekends, I hven't been able to get a signal from Friday afternoon until Sunday night. Is the Universe trying to tell me something?); I have projects and magazines...we can just have, as Liam puts it, a quiet day. Which doesn't suck.

I'm trying to think of something to write that won't come across as so content and smug that y'all will want to smack me. And I'm getting nil. Quite a change for this journal, huh?

Damn, the rain is really coming dowm.

Stupid LJ.
[Insert witty,insightful, profound LJ entry here]
Stupid, fucking, post-eating LJ.

Grrr....

Kent went to Tin Foil Hat Boy's for UFC 100. I'd actually halfway wanted to go (in between mentally whinging "do I have to????"), but my ride back home fell through, and I open this morning. I did send him with my betting sheet and $2.00, though.

Had a nice, quiet night, watching Law & Order reruns and eating pizza. Bliss. My nails are freshly polished: black amythyst on fingers, electric green on the toes. Went to bed and cheerfully hogged it...until about three, when I rolled over and Kent wasn't there. And wasn't on the computer (when he can't sleep, he'll play WoW wearing headphones). Took me a moment to remember he was doing boystuff in Mebane.

Now, I can't wait for him to get home. Gods, I'm pathetic.

We got to spent most of yesterday afternoon together, which was really nice...although I swear I felt like we were skipping school. I got cut early, and ran by Ba Da to say hi to the boy. There was *no one* there; hadn't been all day. They were blowing labor like mad. Kent looked at The Mad Russian, grinned, and said "See ya!" Stan thought he was joking, then was just following us out the door, hollering "Dude! I hope your neighbors call the cops on you!"

As well they might have, hearing "No...not there! There! No, no, no...slide you bitch! Sliiiide....yes!"

Yes, we have discovered Peggle. :)

Looking forward to tonight. We're going out to dinner to celebrate being engaged for a week. We won't have the day off together tomorrow since he's doing a training shift at the new job. I'll go uptown, deposit my check, maybe take my camera.

And now it is time to make the donuts.

I'm doing the illustrious 11-7 shift today, running home to change, and heading back up the hill to see Jacob's Ladder. I might just listen tonight, no rock journalism required. It has been...a week, to say the least. Kent's going to work job #2 (soon to be Job), so I'll be on my own, which is okay, too. I can always hang out with Gladys and Gary and the rest of the regular crowd. One of these days, I'm going to drag singamese and mirrani out to these concerts, too.

I think this new job is going to be really good for Kent. There's even talk that they're going to need a GM in the spring and he would be the one to get it *crosses fingers, eyes, and toes*

So, Kent's going to work, then hang out with Mikey-Mike for a bit, and I'm going to be groupie/roadie.

Then there's Saturday. At Keith's. Watching UFC. HOW do I get roped into these things? However, there will also be pizza, and playing of Rockband, and the expenditure of everyone's leftover fireworks.

*furrows brow* Do I know anyone who isn't suffering from (or thoroughly enjoying) a serious case of arrested development?

*looks at her nails, which are black with purple glitter*

Don't answer that.

Kent is doing shift #2 at the new job. I am a lazy, lazy girl, and decided to stroll up to Run In Jim's for dinner (okay, microwave popcorn. Same difference).

It is a block and a half. I can do it in, oh, 7 minutes if I talk to Jean.

Took me 45 today.

Everybody knows we got engaged. I swear, I feel so loved.

I am so proud of and happy for Kent today. He is doing his regular shift at BaDa and then starting training at the new job. He gave his 2 weeks and will be working doubles for much of that duration: one at BD, one (shorter, for training) at J&Js.

This when I'm working a 4 day week. You think I was Posty McPosterson before?

His first day in this adventure started out...less than auspisciously, to say the least. We got sucked into an online game for a while (leave it to him to find something like pinball, my Achilles heel). I made him go to bed....then sat up until five in the morning. Needless to say, we BOTH slept through the alarm. I never sleep through the alarm. Thankfully, he has the ability to hit the floor running (panic will do that to you).

I'm still pissed at Jim. Kent poured his heart and soul into BaDa and FB for FOUR YEARS (for those of y'all who have kept up with this circus since the beginning and know what Kent is like, the year FB reopened, he forgot my birthday. That is how much he gave the bastard). When Kent put in his notice, Jim basically said "Oh. Okay. Whatever."

That really hurt Kent. And enraged me. I'm proud of Kent for taking the moral high road but....oh, the minute he is out of there, all bets are off. I see Jim about 20 times a day, and if he thinks the last time he got a piece of my mind was unpleasant? Just wait.

*sigh* How many times do I have to say it? DON'T FUCK WITH THE PEOPLE I LOVE. Very simple, really.

The only downside to this job shift is that it is going to make going to Jacob's Ladder concerts a bit awkward, since they mostly are at FB. I don't see Kent being comfortable going there for a good long while, so I guess it will be just me.

He IS going Friday, though. Paul and the band are working on something special for us since we got engaged. Screw Jim. I want Kent by my side for this. I have no problem going alone for the rest of the summer, but this Friday...no.

I have been genuinely touched by the way my regulars and our coworkers have responded to the news. It has been almost as good as LJ and FB, with bonus hugs! *g*

Geez...how did it get to be one pm and the only productive thing I've done is paint my nails and throw in a load of laundry? I guess that's what happens when you wake up at 10:20....

My fellow (sister?) coupon clipping fiend: I love your stories about how much you get for how little. It may be silly, but I'm the same way and you spur me on to greater attempts.

Your updates are very real, and you have a true gift for showing life as it is. You give life to the miniscule details of the day-to-day.

You are an amazing photographer, an amazing mom, incredibly hardworking...and, whether you believe it or not, a beautiful, strong, SMART woman. Yes, life gets you down at times, but never out. I love your honesty, and the way you lay all of ourself out there, the good and the bad and the needy and the angry and, above all, the way you constantly strive to get what you want. Your posts are so raw and so honest, it takes my breath away at times.

I really admire you.

What can I say that you don't already know?

Brave, beautiful, from the same school of hard knocks as I am. You never let life knock you down. Fiercely protective mama bear, even from a distance. Amazingly creative. Fearless. You follow your heart, even if it seems unconventional or reckless to the rest of the world. Amazingly loving and loyal.

And damned sarcastic. :)

We have weathered some serious storm together, my heart's sister, and come out on the other side. I love you.

*soft smile* You are one of the sweetest men I have ever known. You have an amazing heart, a gift for words, a gorgeous smile (I have photographic proof, remember), a generous spirit. You have always made me feel special, and I know I am not the only one who feels that way. It takes a truly special person to get together a group like The Harem...and, let's face it...how often do people who meet online stay in each others' lives the way we have? You did that, my dear.

You're wonderful.

Kent and I rather pride ourselves on the fact the we don't adhere to traditional roles (aside from who hauls the garbage and who does the launry...because I value my cashmere sweaters, damnit!).

So, I'm in the shower, getting ready for work, and almost grab the wrong razor. His is blue; mine is pink. Easy to tell the difference, even if you are half blind (which we both are).

Reached for my shower scrubby...which is pink. I bought him a blue one as a joke.

Out of the shower now, and reach for my towel...which is pink. His is blue. (This is a variable because we also have green, purple, etc. Just go with it for the theme)

Toothbrushes? Yep. One blue, one pink. Guess which one is mine and which is his.

For some reason, I am deeply amused by this. It isn't like it was planned. I mean, yes, I like pink. But this is just...silly. :)

Never let it be said that The Glass Asylum is anything other than deeply silly.

I don't know you all that well, but the thing about you that always strikes me is your strength. Your resilience. You are a truly wonderful, loving woman who has been dealt a crappy hand by life, and yet you persevere. You're amazing.

I'm gonna cry now.

Kent wants to get married in Bristol.

We're talking about the gazebo in Anderson Park, and a reception at the Knights of Columbus hall.

He wants my family and friends to be there. He wants me to have the people I have loved forever to be there. He wants us to get married in my hometown.

I....have no words.

1. Reply to this post if you want me to tell you how cool you are.

2. Watch my journal over the next few days for a post just about you and why you rock my socks!

3. Post these instructions in your journal and give your friends a much needed dose of love and adoration.

Aside from Thriller, I was never a huge Michael Jackson fan. I am of the demographic where, for many of us, that was our first record album. And, back in the day, I had a massive crush on him. After that, though, I moved on to Prince (whom my mother absolutely forbade me to have music by, or pictures of, or anything else) and then Duran Duran...and then Aha. Yes, I was a child of the 80s.

[In retrospect, I find it endlessly amusing the amount of frustration it must have caused my sperm donor: one daughter sighing dreamily over an effete man of another race, and one with a serious Boy George fetish. Does not sit well with your average Marine.]

However, at the moment, I am finding the retrospective of his videos strangely compelling.

I suspect that this may have something to do with the fact that I had planned to detail the grout in the bathroom today. ;)

Seriously, though, I am stunned by the dancing. I'm watching the background dancers more than anything else, trying to figure out how you get your body to do that. I'm in decent shape, have a really good sense of rhythm, and am pretty damned flexible...and I wouldn't even know where to *start* some of those steps.

I've started doing my Gothic Bellydance dvd (after all, I took those classes in Bristol and a few in Easton and several here; I need to quit being such a slacker, but my work schedule won't let me work with the group anymore, so...dvd), so I am paying much more attention to dance, movement, etc. I'd forgotten how difficult it is to isolate movements when you're out of practice.

I'm curious to see how today is going to go for Kent. He's putting in his 2 weeks' and, although he's really excited about the new job, he's torn up with guilt. And, boy, do I ever get that. I've stayed in rotten, damn near abusive work situations out of some skewed version of employee loyalty *cough* Taco Bell *cough* And he is so emotionally invested in the work he's done for Jim. I anticipate a full scale meltdown tonight, which means I will either be completely away from the computer or on it all night, depending on whether he needs to withdraw or not.

Hey, at least I know (sorta) what to expect, and won't be freaked out by either outcome.

Okay...this isn't cleaning the grout. *grumble*

Children informed and asked how they feel about the engagement: check. (They're cool with it)
Grandfather asked for permission...and granma...and mom: check. (Gotten)
Rosemarie informed before I was even asked: check
Very sweet congratulatory phone call from the aforementioned: check
Lars called and asked for his blessing: check (Also recieved, after he asked me if I'd suffered a blow to the head recently)
Many, many well wishes from my LJ friends: check (and y'all rock!)

Life is good.

AND Kent got the new job.

Life is really, really good.

Sarah Palin?

Really?

"Wanna skip the pointless shift and pull a double later this week to make up the hours?"

Love my life. Love my job. Love Jodie.

Off to play pingpong (and lose) and be a juvenile deliquent. Which is infinitely better than closing.