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Anticipation
I’m getting a bit more excited about my upcoming travel which is now less than three weeks away from starting. After a bit of difficulty in getting a bank cheque sorted through my bank, I sent in my passport forms and it came back within less than a week. In the end it would have been less hassle all around to just go to the consulate to do it.
I’m still working on getting others to cover my hours of work. I think it will work out in the end but I was told by my supervisor to remind late last month but when I did he just said to contact the other carers and see what shifts could be covered. But I came to a decision that I want to cut back on the hours as a carer when I come back so perhaps I will just do that from the end of this month instead of down the road. I will still be looking at working the one day a week plus my plan is to look for a proper library/information management sort of job.
I’m really hoping no major traumatic events occur while I’m there. It’s causing a bit of anxiety for me but also for the rest of the family. I am trying to avoid thinking about that because there’s really no point to it. But it does lurk in the back of the mind.
On the plus side I look forward to meeting up with several people while I’m back home. I have lots of family to see in NC and in PA but also college friends and some online friends. Of course there is also the wedding to attend. I am looking forward to meeting my future sister-in-law too. Will be kind of weird to be going back to my old neighbourhood to the same street but a different house than where we lived.
I think I had more to say about this but I seem to have forgotten. Which is the problem of writing so late at night.
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Wedding
My little brother is getting married!
He’s turning 50 next Friday. He’s had a number of relationships over the years but none have worked out until now. He more recently starting dating a woman who grew up around the corner from us. She’s a few years younger than us so I didn’t know here although I did know of her family. I suppose I may have met her when young too.
Anyway, she’s living in the house where she grew up and they started dating and got serious and announced their engagement a couple of weeks ago.
My first thought when I saw this is I hope they give enough advance notice so I can try to come to the wedding. As it is, the fiancé is organising a surprise birthday party for my brother, and I was invited. I think this may have been just before they got engaged. I was feeling a bit iffy about going…part of me wanted to go but then I didn’t go when my other brother turned 50 last year. Once the engagement came up my thought was I need to save one of my rare trips for their wedding so the birthday was definitely off the cards. But then I realised this will be her second wedding and maybe they won’t do anything special. Well, it turns out they are having something but it will be small but I am definitely invited. And it’s at the beginning of November so I now need to see if this can be done.
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Anniversaries
It occurred to me just now that the Scientist and I have known each other for over a quarter of a century. When we met, I wasn’t even that old and wouldn’t have fathomed knowing anyone for that long. Wow!
So it shouldn’t really come as such a surprise that we’ve been married (as of Sunday) eighteen years. I remember it was a gorgeous, sunny day with deep blue sky. And I remember passing by Saturday grocery shoppers as we arrived at the “church”, which was temporarily located in the shopping center while a building was being constructed. The ceremony itself is a bit of a blur in my memory, although remnants of a talk about the Velveteen Rabbit stick in my mind a bit. There was a reception at a small country club (ironically, the temporary home of another church our family attended before it was built). I remember a Glenn Miller song or two playing and my a speech that which sounded a bit alien from rather quiet father. Then we were at my parents’ house, being waved off by family and friends as we left for a honeymoon in my car, which was covered with writing in chalk (I think) which left its slight mark long after the message was gone. After driving three hours, we arrived at our bed and breakfast in Asheville and were rather impressed by the grandeur of our accommodation for the next couple of nights. Just the two of us for the next couple of days relaxing and enjoying each others’ company. And before we knew it, our brief honeymoon was over and we were headed back. All the excitement was over in a relative flash.
We celebrated this year by another Fremantle visit with lunch at the Mexican Kitchen. We’d never been there before although it has been calling out for us as many years as I can remember. Lunch was delicious, with the food being pretty close to what I associate with Mexican food back home. I had a  Mexi-plate with a taco, enchilada and flauta while the Scientist enjoyed a burrito. Dessert was pretty underwhelming, with a flan listed on the menu that didn’t seem to exist and a “Mexican mud cake” that was just a chocolate cake with some nice vanilla ice cream. We followed with a visit to the chocolateria where I think I reached my chocolate limit. No disappointment in my churros or the Scientist’s black forest trifle. All yummy! A long walk back to the car helped work off a tiny fraction of the calories and we were on our way home again. It’s very nice that the boys have reached an age where we can leave them home and go out alone. A freedom that I know I never appreciated until it was gone for several years and then regained.
Anyway, I am quite thankful for all the memories the Scientist and I have had together, in the eighteen years and for the many years before. Happy Anniversary to my dear Scientist!