Happy St. Patrick’s Day out there!  I had my celebration over the last two nights with my brother as I made a delicious (I must say) corned beef dinner in the crock pot.  We shared it two nights in a row and watched our favorite TV show “Chopped” and also saw Birdman (which I thought was brilliant and want to see it again) and Sleepless in Seattle.

My Dad is gone for a couple of months so I’ve been spending more time with Alfonse, going out to eat and a movie (we saw Into the Woods which was stellar!), and basically just hanging out.  He has been doing well for the most part and busy with his various activities at his mental health center, his personal trainer, the Chorus and now he’s been assigned a counselor from a local University who he really likes.

I’ve not been working on the book because I’ve been busy with other things and my writing has been primarily on the end of the Jodi Arias fiasco trial.  If you haven’t and want to check out any of my posts about the Juror 17 scandal there are are few on the other blog www.twoinnocents.com.

I’m getting my ducks in a row to head out to PA to spend two weeks with my love, writing and hanging out together (and getting a marriage license for our upcoming wedding–not this trip though).  Very exciting!

I had to go to the Courthouse Public Records division to unearth a copy of my prehistoric divorce decree from almost 2 decades ago.  Since it required a full on archeological dig, I had to go back twice to pick up the papers.

Picture this:  a busy government office where you pull a number and look up your case (if you’re lucky to get one of the computer terminals that someone else isn’t monopolizing or doesn’t have an Out of Order sign on it) then wait for the half hour or whatever listening for numbers to be called.

They had a system that jumped from letters M – R as far as I could tell like M114 and P479.  I pulled R444 the first time I went and I only remember this as the system called me to a window and an older lady was already sitting there.  My number was flashing over her window but she already had someone there who showed her number which was R442 so I knew she was ahead of me.  I said that (“she’s ahead of me so I’ll wait”) and the worker said “just have a seat in that chair and I”ll get to you next”.  I struck up a conversation with the nice lady waiting who was also getting her divorce papers but hers were from 1983.  They also required a Fred Flintstone intervention and we laughed about that.  She was getting hers to prove something related to her current spouse’s social security benefits.  Such entirely different reasons to be there.

It was going to take about an hour so I elected to split and come back later in the week which I did.  Lo and behold, in this busy office with many people seeking passports, marriage licenses and other records, I went up to the number generating machine and pulled…you guessed it…R444 AGAIN.

 

(you know I love my signs)

I literally turned around and flashed my number to the various people sitting there sharing “OMG I got this exact number last time I was here!”.  I couldn’t hold it in.

My papers were waiting for me so it was lickety split I was out of there and what a weird walk down memory lane seeing bills we had and things we split up and how we did it.  I barely remembered that other life.  I’m so grateful it was amicable.

I’m equally grateful that my fiance John’s divorce was amicable as well.  I’m not walking in to a mine field.  They have a young daughter so have to negotiate that of course and it’s so easy compared to other situations I’ve either been involved with or witnessed.  He’s an easy going guy so it fits…still what a relief.

So now my dress is being made, our wedding arrangements are set, our mini honeymoon plans are made (super psyched–simple but fun) and our custom made rings are in progress.  It’s very exciting!

I’ll pick up writing the book some this weekend as I head to Sedona with Alfonse for a long weekend (I left all those records up there) and then intensely over those two weeks in PA.  What a wonderful thing to be marrying a fellow writer.  We will write side by side in his cozy rural home.

I told him I have two goals–cooking and writing.  I want to show off my home cooking for him and that is a nice way to be creative for me.  I can’t wait.  I love him so much.

That’s it for now.  Just a little catch up.

Hope you all out there feel as lucky as I do today.