UGH! I guess I'll write a post (A love letter)

There really hasn't been much to write about right now. Scott got a new job a few weeks ago, but we haven't even been able to begin to start the catch up game yet. But let's leave that for now. First let's talk about the bunghole restaurant Scott is trying his best to tolerate until the other one reopens.

I had hoped they would have improved from the original time he applied there a few years ago. The manager who interviewed him that time hit on him. Nice and professional, right? Well, he escaped the recent interview unscathed, only to dive under the surface, discovering the turds in the pool. They're such mean fags (it's allowed if you're one) who couldn't run a Fisher Price kitchen. They keep scheduling Scott clopens (where you close the restaurant and have to open it the next morning) not taking into account the minimum 90 minute bus ride he has each way. They're filthy, too. Oh, and P.S. Opening a can and throwing in some salt and pepper does not make it "homemade".

Okay, back to the catch up. The money is not as good, so catching up is so much more difficult. I don't pray, but I would gladly offer my services to the old job if it would help them to open up sooner.

Living without a phone is difficult for me and my paranoia. All those important calls I'm missing. You know, like ones from my doctor saying they "found something", or family, or the committee from the sweepstakes I don't remember entering but probably did because I can't be reached right now. Plus the daily hanging on tenterhooks because I not only haven't been able to communicate with the fiancee all day, so who knows what tragedy has befallen him, but also the unexpected shock when I hear someone at the door and I have no idea if it's him or the killer.

I have retreated into some form of emotional bubble where I sit without enjoyment and peek through the blinds to try and catch the next monster coming to take a shit on our little world. And this is where we will have a paradigm shift to the post.

Being on my own until I was 37, I knew nothing more than internally processing my depression, fears, worries and problems alone. There really hasn't been much progress made on the matter, which is my fault, but reeaallyy old habits die freaking hard. You have to stab them continually for years before you make even a dent in the skin of that demon. This must change because it isn't fair to Scott. The gears in my head have mismatched teeth, so way too often I simply forget that I'm not going through this alone, and I'm sorry.

I am not alone. Scott is not alone. We are together in all things us. I am so proud of him for not karate chopping the manager's balls off by now. He is probably the most responsible person I've ever dated, which makes a nice balance. I love him more than anything I've ever known in my life. After 8 years, not a day goes by when we don't vocalize our love dozens of times. Nothing will ever happen to us to destroy that love in me.

Things will eventually get back to normal, as long as I press myself to make sure Himself knows that I am by his side the entire way. This is all stuffing. Sometimes the couch sinks into lumps and you have to unzip the cushions and replace the innards with newer, firmer stuff. So get out of our fucking couch, Roxx, so we can get back to what's important, namely planning the rest of our lives together.

This part is for Scott.
Since we can't text right now, here are my texts and replies from today....
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you.
What time is it? Ok, more.
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you

Tip your server!

Words

Let me just take this time to get everyone updated as to what has been happening the past six months or so.Most recently I have been enjoying the killer new season of Doctor Who. The rest of TV has begun to air as well, but for some reason more than ever it just isn't stirring anything in me. This is more than likely an offshoot of changes I felt after our cats died. Certain things have just become less than important. Doctor Who is not one of those things, thankfully.

After we decided to postpone the wedding, I put it out of my mind for a while. Both Scott and I then fell back into the time/money vacuum known as Second Life. It was different this time. Mostly we played together, renting some land together and breeding some cute simulated pets. It was nice, except for the amount of money we pumped into it.

I made a decision to spend less time on and get back to my writing. Coincidentally, there was a fire at Scott's restaurant, plunging us into a frenzy. We sold a couple of things on Craigslist. Funny enough, they were two things we bought at the same time, my Bose headphones and Scott's laptop. So Scott's old tower that I had been using went back to him and I went back to my old tower, which had died at some point after it's last use. Now I am on my reeeaaalllyyy old laptop. It did take Windows 10 but is still a bit sluggish. Definitely no gaming.

Nevertheless I have been successful at completing a few new stories in this time, and am deciding how to proceed, be it submitting something to a contest or trying to have something published. I am but one story away from having a book length collection of stories about my creation, The Witch of Nothing.

Scott and I successfully emerged out of the year of the itch. The only other thing I have done successfully for eight years is to age. Right after our anniversary, Scott got a new job. It's going well, but he will have a decision to make because the old restaurant will be wanting him back after they finish rebuilding the kitchen.

It was at this point I got the idea to reset the date. Subconsciously I had the idea of doing it by the time of our original wedding, so I just made it in time. With a new job, the prospect of the return of a job, and a year to plan (with a sweet head start) the time just felt right. There was no way I was just going to let the idea fade away.

Some people say, "Oh, a piece of paper doesn't change anything," but they're wrong. The piece of paper represents and idea, a concept, which are both very powerful forces. You may not see any physical evidence of change, but the intangible feelings that come with it are unmistakably powerful. Scott and I won't be "more together" after we get married, but we will be able to, with a word, express to others how deep our love is for each other, for why would we want to keep that to ourselves? For now, I'm happy we are able have such a word again. Fiancee.

Ready, Set, Go!

The time is here. At this moment, Scott and I were scheduled to walk down the aisle. The problem is our first attempt was made without allowing ourselves enough time. The temptation is there to run to the court house, but we really want our friends and supportive family there to share in the joy.

If you were following along here on my blog, you know there were some stressful times, which is the reason things have been so quiet since the postponement. After discussing it and looking over the year to come, we are officially taking the nuptials off of pause and beginning the preparations again, with a mighty good head start at that.

I left clues on Facebook about the big announcement today, so let me share some of those and what they mean...

In 2016, the 22nd of October is our 9th anniversary of being together, but more than that it will fall on a Saturday. So this is the date, mark your calendars now.

The planning starts today, so I have some emails to send to ensure some of our original ideas can still be done. There is, I feel sure, plenty of time now to organize this without my becoming a train wreck.

Our honeymoon plans are still to travel to new Orleans by Megabus, but the difference is that this time we will be there the week leading up to Halloween instead of the week after. This will give us the opportunity to attend the Vampire's Ball if we choose.

I'll try and do a recap this weekend, unless you feel like going back and refreshing yourself with our plans thus far. Bottom line, though...

SCOTT AND SHERIDAN ARE GETTING MARRIED!!!

I'll throw this in for free-We need to come up with a name. Most of you know I have no qualms in changing my name. Sheridan David Layman-Lowe isn't bad, but Sheridan David Lowe-Layman sounds like playing the name game. The other option is to come up with our own name. Something like Loehmann, Song  or Corleone, but we could go with something a bit out of the ordinary, like Yum-Yumm, Gallifrey, or 3.333

Stay tuned, it's all beginning again. Well, hopefully not the groomzillaing.

***Side Note***
Yes, to all my OCD friends. I am aware of how well this plays in with my number, which is three. 10/22/16 adds up to twelve (which adds up to three), and of course nine is my uber three. Adding the nine to either the twelve or three brings you back to three. This is in no way strange. Move along now.

Not to mention Long Awaited

Halloween

Suspended In Time

I know there has been a bit of a delay, but there has also been a lot to do. My jury duty date came and went, I was excused before I even had to go, so no juicy murder case for me. Tomorrow is my eye appointment to get new glasses, so I have to get to bed early tonight. We've been online gaming a lot, so lots of late mornings. We also lost three of our four goldfish. The fourth is in the ten gallon quarantine tank until I can thoroughly clean the big aquarium. Poor lonely feller.

But before I could update you, I had to contact some people first, like the owner of Phoenix & Dragon and also our officiant, Nan. Now that that is done I can let you know that we are having to postpone the wedding. Simply put we didn't give ourselves enough time. I don't know about my affluent readers, but on our budget, four months was not enough. The point is that we are moving it, not forgetting it. Plus we have a great head start.

We haven't really discussed a new date yet, what with the series of deaths that hit us, but I thought that January 23rd sounded nice because it would be 1.23 which would be easy to remember. That's an additional five months, so maybe. I have no problem having a Spring wedding, except it seems to me that would be a very busy time. Candace Apple, love that name, the owner of Phoenix & Dragon, is very amenable to our moving the date. Our honeymoon reservations are also changeable.

Once we have the date I'll announce it and the ball will start rolling again. I am already more confidant this time because of all the planning that's been completed. Almost eight years together and our love is still strong, so this is not a bad thing. It's just the biggest change yet, and kind of scary, which is why I've been afraid to share.

Who knows? This might be just what we need to add a few bells and whistles. Oooh, Spring could mean short sleeves and we can show off our tattoos!

Brace Yourself Effie - Part One Supplement: What Is Phoenix & Dragon?

To simply say that Phoenix & Dragon is a metaphysical bookstore does it injustice. They have been an Atlanta area institution for self-help/spirituality/empowerment for as long as I can remember. In addition to products like crystals, candles, incense, books, statuary, jewelry, essential oils, and gifts, they have classes and psychics and cats wandering the floors. The store always smells awesome and is such a tranquil store in which to shop.

They truly have something for everyone, from Christianity to Buddhism to Wiccan, as you can see by the pics I took that doesn't do their inventory justice.

DISCLAIMER: Phoenix & Dragon Bookstore have not compensated or even asked for my endorsement of their store. Besides the big news, it remains the best location for locations of this type, in terms of both supply and prices.

The pictures you are about to view may or may not represent your personal visual experience you have when you visit the store.

Dancing lights greet you

That broom is everything

The good, the bad and the smelly

More candles? Sure

Pick a gem, any gem

So, you might be wondering now more than before what in the world this store has to do with the big announcement. It's possible I've left something out. Find out at 5pm Eastern time!!!

Brace Yourself Effie - Part One: The Tease

The big announcement I've been teasing is coming today in part two of this post at 5pm Eastern time. Let me go back to Monday and lead you to the scene of the reveal. We got up late because we started playing DC Universe Online again and I set my alarm for 12am not 12pm. Without my usual 2 hours to wake up fully, things began normally with the exception of attempting a force wake.

It had the potential for a good day, so it was easy to ready ourselves for our two-bus journey.

This is how we roll on the bus

We traveled through Buckhead, after crossing to the right side of the tracks, and enjoyed the new look that it took them years of construction to complete, with beautiful results.

After disembarking on Peachtree at Piedmont, we waited for the second leg of our journey to begin.

My other kitchen is a Porsche

The next part of the trip took us to Roswell road where we switched to suburban view. It's not a bad trip, and it brings us to one of our favorite places to shop, or even just browse, Phoenix and Dragon Bookstore.

This is where I leave you wondering how this plays into a big wedding announcement until part two at 5pm. Ain't I a stinker?

I Am Groomzilla, Hear Me Roar

Hi! i'm Groomzilla, and I'll be co-hosting for the next 90 days covering any problems or stress I'm experiencing. You won't always notice I'm here, but when you do, you will.

Last time I mentioned some possible news, which is still in the works, but could prove to be the biggest change so far. There's a lot that applies, calls to be made, plans firmly cemented, but trust me this is big. Like, maybe order new invitations big. Which cuts my turnaround time seriously, especially since I should be mailing them now. I will furnish you with one more clue, which may or may not be literal.

The boxes that came are nicely made. The ring box is a little larger than I thought it was, but that's not even an issue. Fiancee mentioned there was no way for the ring to stand up. Shows how much I was thinking, i was just going to chuck them in. It's velvet lined. So I thought about it and it's nothing a small piece of foam and scrap of velvet won't fix.

Speaking of, Himself is off today and tomorrow so maybe a few things can get decided, like cake and/or food. I'm still loving the idea of cupcakes with a small cake for our topper. And to cut. Ooh, I need to show him the frames I found for the guest page.

That reminds me. I got a new idea for what to wear. Need to run those ideas past Scott, too, so we can have that settled. Oh my god, so much isn't settled.

I'm very tired today. I got to bed late after doing practically nothing, then at 930 I gave up on the incredible shrinking bed space and got up. The gay couple downstairs were at it early. Screaming, not sex. I think the sex might be when it sounds like someone's being thrown against the walls.

Did I mention I'm bipolar? Had it for ages. Been on meds and now I just have to ride the waves. It's making it hard to maneuver this process. Daily I can slip into despair over whether or not we can pull this off. Just as easily I can get over excited and make a wrong choice. To be a Groomzilla, strong potential i have.

That's it. Time to remove myself from this cat and move around. Also time for some hot, city-fresh air as I go get sugar. Scott probably won't be up for a little while so I can do that and then either read or write. Hopefully both today.

In summation...
Big development coming
2 days of couples planning
I'm up and down, so be wary of Groomzilla

The Dangers of Late Night Googling

While waiting for Scott to get home, I concentrated on two things. First, I got going on the wedding inspired story. I'm calling it The Halloween Wedding Tragedy, but that's probably just a working title. No spoilers, but I will say that it's blending science fiction and magic. I've said too much.

Next I tried to think of some alternatives on what to wear. These seem like good ideas. We have jeans and can splurge on the tie or something.

Of course, there's always the timeless lines of the 60's

But I really think that for sheer classic sock it to 'em, one must consider crochet.

I'm sure fiancee is going to agree crochet is the way to go :)