The Royal Wedding

Don't take my being quiet as a sign of inactivity. Plans are in motion. Details are unfolding. Questions being asked. Lots of questions, actually. We are inching closer to having the procession sorted. Another singer has been procured, it's just a matter of timing. Oh, and what song.

This procession song is going to be the death of me. There are so many I love, and I keep doing that thing where you go 'I love this song' then you listen and remember it's a breakup song. I go through song after song listening to lyrics and how the song makes me feel and didn't I listen to this one already? Then on to whether or not Himself likes it. It's like I'm trying to iron a bra.

With just 8 months left things are going to start gearing up. Heh, that's the first time I've counted it up in a while. Seems like there's no time at all left. There's still so much to do. Breathe. In the meantime there is one thing about the wedding I can share which necessitates me telling the story of why I don't shop for earrings anymore.

My first Christmas with Scott was magical, despite the craziness of two extra roommates we were raising, the stress from the newly formed rift between my parents and me, all while trying to out tap dance the ultimately sinister stalker. Our love was new, though, and it was all I knew. All I could do was to marvel at the majesty of it. This was also when he proposed, beginning our eventual eight year engagement.

There was another gift Scott gave me that Christmas. It was so unexpected, it caught me off guard. He gave me a pair of diamond studs. No one had ever given me diamonds before, and these were my first real studs. Getting jewelry was a new experience. Suddenly I had a ring and earrings like some kind of Liberace. He's been that good from the beginning.

Fast forward 7 years. I have always gone in and out of phases where I wear my earrings. Just the original two standard piercings now, I set an age limit on certain things many years ago. So I hadn't been wearing earrings for a few years and one day while rummaging in the bathroom drawer i found an envelope I knew contained earrings. Thinking about putting some in I dumped them into my palm and looked at them.

When I found my diamond studs it was a surreal experience, like a lost memory coming rushing back into my brain. How had I forgotten them? Or ever stopped wearing them? So I put them in and I always wear them now. The other day Scott saw some earrings at the gettin' place and I thought, no. There is no need for me to ever get any other earrings. These are too special to me, and I'll tell you this for free, when I wear them I secretly feel transformed into exactly what I am, and old Queen in her crown jewels picking up kitty litter at Publix.

Now here is where we get to the wedding, because it dawned on me today that I'm going to be wearing these earrings for the wedding. I'm also going to be adopting what is traditionally a bride's, um, tradition, and using these earrings as...my......

One down, three to go.
Does anyone happen to know if blue tattoos count?

I vow to have better vows at our renewal ceremony

I'll just start by saying that I am in a much better place than I was when I wrote that last post. It was a rough holiday to get through, but now it is a new year and I have a renewed sense of vigor. The restaurant reopened to the excited return of all their customers. They were packed those first two days. Really incredible how much people love going there.

So things are returning to normal. The routine is back to normal and that's good on it's own. I got a lot of writing done and am now beginning to work with an editor to get it ready to publish. (cross em if you got em)

But none of that is really why you're here, is it? Well, okay then, let's talk about the wedding. This week I dusted off the little white book and we started going over what we want to do with the plans we made. Nothing much should change. The venue has been secured, which I'll reveal where later, and now both the ceremony and reception will be in the same place!

Unfortunately, our singer who was going to accompany us down the aisle has moved away, another casualty of the restaurant fire. We have been considering short songs, but nothing definite there yet. Chef has decided the menu will be a dinner instead of finger foods. He says it's easier and can be made weeks in advance (kidding) You guys are in for a treat!

Another good thing is all the items I chose are still in my Amazon wish list. I totally forgot about some of it, which is fun because I'm getting excited for the first time again about things. We did lose our bus tickets. That was my bad. So we will start from scratch for the honeymoon. As far as I know it's still New Orleans. I'm back to shooting blanks when it comes to vows. Maybe if I pretend I'm writing a wedding scene.

Lastly, it occurred to me just the other day that I have a great opportunity since we postponed the wedding. Now I have time to lose a little weight, maybe tone up a little. The moisturizing MUST begin. I have time to play with hair styles. Get a new tattoo so it'll be all nice and healed. Train the cats to carry the hems of our wedding capes.

Move over Bride/Groomzillas. The Wedding Kraken is back for the reboot. Crushing everything in his way, and he's perfectly willing to destroy everything to get what he wants.

To get married. That's what he wants, to get married.

The Wedding Kraken is me.
Ready to destroy.

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!

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 :)

You Just Can't Find A Good Tux With A Drop Seat

Nailed it on drowsy with a chance of brainstorms. Well, I wouldn't quite say brainstorms yet, but the lobes are getting dark and my little grey cells are swirling around. In spite of my computer idea ending up being not feasible at this time, I'm feeling quite fresh and sassy today. I'll go ahead and start pretending I'll write later.

Now, the ideas I'm getting need to be discussed with le fiancee, but with some alterations we might just make this fit. There will need to be a bit of scaling down as well as eliminations, but I'm beginning to see a way to still have a swanky, intimate affair.

One of the biggest things right now is what in the world are we going to wear? Storm lobes are a-rumbling about that one. Time to think outside the teeny tiny wedding box I've been in. Honestly, at this point I'd consider getting married in a Forever Lazy.

It's down to three months. Can I revamp this and make it work? Will we get our rings in time? Will we use battery operated lights to spice up what we wear? Will there still be Jell-o shots? How many decorations can I squeeze out of a penny? Does anyone object to Spametizers? When will I stop just asking questions? After one more. Taco Bell isn't looking so bad now, is it?

Wait, I just got a sudden last minute inspiration of what to wear.

So Get This

A couple of hours after venting to the postmistress, the guest book arrived. This changes nothing about my complaint, because I would've had it yesterday and none of that negative energy would have to have been generated if only they fixed their boxes two years ago. Or a year ago. Or, no, you know what, I'm done.

I'm sitting here and there was a single, tepid tap at the door. Imagine my surprise when I opened the door to find... a tube. I'll sadly admit that for a fraction of a second I hoped maybe the frame was disassembled inside somehow, but quickly saw the folly there. In the sellers defense, it does say frame not included. I just think it should've been more prominently noted than it was, especially since it was displayed framed. I guess the lemon bars from lemons is that we can choose our own frame. Plus now we need a 4x6 frame for a pretty little sign directing people to sign the "book".

There is a package supposedly coming Saturday, so once again I bet there'll be shenanigans with the post office. Then one more arriving who knows when from China. Can I say China? I never know anymore.

Today was aquarium day, and I just haven't recovered enough to write. I'm also far behind on reading and I need the mental escape, but my brain was in no mood to travel. I was going to try and come up with wedding ideas and explore a computer option I like, but have to discuss it with fiancee. I might actually make it until himself gets home. Ha, I just heard from him and I will see him before I go to bed. That will be a nice treat tonight to help bolster a taxing day.

Tomorrow's forecast: Drowsy with a chance of Brainstorms

Invitation Trek

I'm going to cut to the chase. When I made the hotel reservation I called the hotel to see their policy on taking the cost for the room. I was told they wouldn't until after 30 days before the reservation. Well, I woke up this morning and had way less than no money. The nice man I spoke to helped, confessing he didn't know why they took the money but he refunded it. It's yet to show up. Should've gotten his name.

That's not all. The adventure is happening. I called the post office and the invitations are there so screw redelivery, I'm going to pick them up this morning before my appointment. Still too frustrated to be excited.

The news so big he forgot

WE BOOKED THE HONEYMOON

We will be whisked away on the majestic Megabus with 8 hours to our destination. That should be enough time to become embroiled in a chilling murder mystery/can't stop the bus thrill ride like in Dame Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. I should be able to unveil the killer by our arrival in...

New Orleans. Where we will stay at the fairly priced for a hotel we will just sleep in Best Western Plus Landmark French Quarter. There are so many things we want to do. Besides food, though, there are tons of attractions. Plus I love to go off the beaten path. Find out where the locals eat. If it's their home, invite ourselves over. A plantation must be seen, but I promise not to look at the naughty bits. A river boat would be fun, but no gambling. Perhaps there'll be another killing on the riverboat and I''ll gather clues by listening in the windows from the deck, like in Dame Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile.

Get ready for pictures, with lots in cemeteries. I'll have to upload my pics to one of those places people go to look at other people's pictures. I feel so old when I talk about the internet now. I think my 3 year old great-nephew just created an app.

Of course, what would New Orleans be if not a witchy city. I want to see Anne Rice's house, or the one from Witching Hour if she moved. Do you voodoo? Cuz voodoo they got. You can voodoo without being voodoo. You can get voodoo variety. Personally, I have attained a few snippets of hair that I've been itching to put to use.

Scott can already taste a Hurricane. Nights will be fun, but I hope we go to a variety of places, not just the gay bars that are beginning to look more and more like nurseries to me. It will be fun to see what the gay boys are out dancing to these days. Whether or not they are paying homage to their roots. I fear I'll grow weary of their ways. Good thing is, in New Orleans, if you don't like one bar, you can literally barrel roll into another. Plus there are those basement blues clubs, all closed in and intimate. I wonder if they're still all smoky?

Time to break out the New Orleans travel books I got when we started going 2 years ago. Good thing it will be after Halloween. It might be a good idea to take sweatpants. I just remembered the beignets.

Take a looksee at our hotel...

17 Seconds In Heaven

First things first. I'm experiencing more frustration about something than I might ordinarily. You see, it appears, according to tracking, they attempted to deliver the invitations today. Computer says no. It said they left a slip and to follow the instructions on it, but someone out there is running around with pants 'o' fire tonight. This is where the elevated frustration comes in. We live in apartments with closed gates at night. There was no slip on our door, in the mailbox, on the leasing office door or at the call box of either gate.

As a quick history, I have had issues with our post office because I complained two years ago that the locks on the package mail boxes were broken. If the leasing office is closed, they have nowhere to put it. Heaven forbid they come to my door. Now I have to call the post office in the morning and they are NOT going to like it. If the invitations are there I may just have them hold them and go pick them up. It's a pain on public transportation but I need to get the stamps anyway. I wish they were open after dark. Have any of you experienced a sultry, frothy-aired Atlanta summer? Everyone begins to cook and go all cuckoo. Sometimes you get a bit of cabaret with your bus/train ride.

Now let me change topic because I have to let that go for now. We are one bottle away from having our collection of candle holders. I'm going to revisit my vows tonight and see what I come up with. 

The big news, though, that I mentioned last time, the news being overshadowed by the invitation kerfuffle with potential for crisis, the big, big news is (do do do do) we named our people. Sam, who will carry the rings is to be called the Eternity Bearer. Rena, who is going to be the keeper of the handfasting cord will be known as the Infinity Bearer. 

Oh good grief. Now I see that Andrea can't just be called the flower girl. I guess I need to make a program of featured players so all this naming doesn't go to waste, because maybe now Donna should be something more than simply that woman who is singing when they first dance. Any chore to distract me from my vows.

p.s.

I informed Scott that we should start practicing our kiss. He giggled, and it may sound silly, but we need to decide what we do and don't want to do. There's a certain viral video I'm thinking of. Sure, they never had kissed, bless, but it shows how one can get carried away in a moment. I really thought one of them was going to die. Duration is important, too. I personally don't think the kiss should last any longer than 17 seconds, but I can be a bit of a prude when it comes to pda's

FLASH UPDATE

doot--doot--doot-doot

THIS JUST IN

After painstaking minutes of waiting, we have received word from Andrea, AKA, Niecezilla, that she will indeed take on the role of flower girl, putting an end to literally moments of speculation. Surely, we can all rest better in our bed tonight knowing how well things are coming together. With one slot left in the wedding party, ladies and gentlemen, tensions are high while breaths are held on the edges of seats in anticipation of negotiations. Will the wedding couple attain their first choice in every case, or will they encounter their next major hurdle in a majestic endeavor we are just seeing begun?

As always, we will keep you up to date on the proceedings as they unfold and how they impact us. You may move on to the next post.