The Countdown Begins

Okay, mark your calendars for May 30, 2009, High Noon, St. Francis Borgia Church, Washington, MO. Why?

I'm getting hitched!

That's right, Kenny and I are making it official. These are tentative plans so if anything changes, I'll post. We're still waiting on a letter from Rome, which should be here any day now, so we're just going ahead and planning like it's going to be here. We're planning on a Mass, but if the letter doesn't come through, we're getting married one way or the other. By the time we are able to get married, it will be 18 months since his paperwork has been in Rome.

I'm a little overwhelmed. I seriously considered the convent. He left the priesthood. Neither of us ever thought we'd get married. I'd resigned myself to ending up like the crazy cat lady from The Simpsons. He'd resigned himself to wearing the sin fighter suit forever, regardless of how miserable he was. Sometimes it takes God a while to smack you upside the head, get your attention, and say, "HEY! YOU! Look what I've put right in front of your face!" Of course, we can be a little slow on the uptake, too.

I have finally found a bridal shop, Chatfields, that specializes in rather unique bridal gowns. They cater to pregnant brides (which I'm not), Mormon brides, Orthodox Jewish Brides, and folks like me who are of the Weeble People variety and want sleeves. The lady is really nice and when I went to check out the shop and see what they had, she had me trying on tons of dresses before I knew what hit me. I've narrowed it down to 3. My Mom, Sebrina (Matron of Honor), Andrea (Bridesmaid), Carmel (Friend that Rocks), and Abby (my 13 year old Goddaughter who looks way too mature for 13!!!) are headed up here to help me narrow it down.

Without being too cheesy, because I hate mushy stuff, when I saw myself for the first time in a wedding gown, I burst into tears. I had been cracking up in the dressing room because it was more dress than I'd ever been in. All I could think of was the line from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" - "I look like the abominable snow beast." Then she put me up on that stand thing, fluffed the dress, and told me to look and I completely lost it. Why? I'm not sure. I never really thought I'd get married, so I had kind of quit planning for anything or even visualizing anything. Even after we got engaged, I guess I kind of figured something would go wrong and we'd split up or it really wouldn't happen. Then it hit me what we were really doing and I guess it kind of freaked me out. That whole "till death" thing is a really long time! I love him, I'm sure I want to be married to him, but it hit me how serious this is. Weird, I know, but there you have it.

In any case, friends, mark your calendars for the 30th of May. I'm sure much hilarity and stress will ensue between now and then, so I'll be posting.