(Almost) Married: With Children & A Sinus Headache

My tanned hide is causing some people around the office to remark that I’ve lost more weight. Not that I’m complaining, but I feel kind of hypocritical with my deep tan and still-the-same proportions. Oh well.

Yes, I’m gearing up for my almost back-to-back vacations, and the wedding reception/ceremony action will be mixed in there somewhere. It’s all quickly approaching. There are about a hundred things I should be doing right now in preparation, but I think I’ve got the really important stuff set.

The Fabulous Vegas Bachelor(ette)/Wedding/Honeymoon is planned in its entirety. The Colorado/white water rafting/Six Flags vacation is loosely planned (we reserved a rental car & bought park tickets online), but hotel accommodations need to made. The reception – which takes place just after the Colorado vacay and a week before the Vegas trip – is the baby being produced by my mom/aunt/best friend/mom’s church lady friends. My input for the event has been minimal due to the fact that I’m no good at decorating. Plus, my brain is blinking with the elopement lights of Vegas and the treacherous Colorado rafting waters.

With so much about to happen, it’s easy to get caught up in the cyclone of event-planning, but lately I’ve been really reflective about the unbelievably great past year-and-a-half of my life. I’m not sure how I got so lucky (fortune favors the foolish?), but I feel like I’ve hit the Jackpot of Goodness. My man and I are constantly finding new levels of understanding between ourselves, and we keep surprising one another with the new layers of love and passion we’ve unconsciously built around ourselves. Yep, we’ve pretty much rolled ourselves up into a big love sandwich, or a love burrito, or maybe a love egg roll. In any case, it feels good to be smooshed between any type of breading with AJ.

I don’t mean to go on and be an embarrassing mess, but I never knew a relationship with a person could simultaneously be unprecedentedly profound and ridiculously fun.

Enough of that for now.....

Champion Teenager Update: She’s taking driver’s ed this week and diligently trying to pass the reading test that’s required for her to get her learner’s permit next month. Also, she had a one-day boyfriend last week with whom she remains friends even after an uneventful phone break-up.

Exquisite Banana Update: The world’s finest six-year-old continues her obsession with GnR’s version of "Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door" and recently peed in the woods for the very first time. I think she was disturbed by the puddle she left in the dirt, but was encouraged when I explained that puppies, kitties and boys pee outdoors all the time.

Wunderkind the Magnificent Update: After melting my heart by claiming that I will always be his "favorite step-mom" this past Saturday, Wunderkind sat on my lap and shot at trees with a toy pistol for half an hour. Then he literally spent all day Sunday curled at my feet, softly speaking to imaginary friends.

Since this entry is so scatterbrained anyway, I shall go ahead and mention my sudden middle-May sinus infection that caused me to go home yesterday, watch half an episode of Will and Grace, and then fall into bed for the rest of the night except for the 30 minutes I got up and washed the dishes. I can’t explain why I got up in the middle of the night and proceeded to clean a sink full of dishes in my cloud of sickness, but I remember feeling like it was the right thing to do at the time. I’m a girl who follows her gut. (Not really). Currently, Zithromax is working its way through my snotty system, chomping that bacteria to bits.

Here’s an Inadequate Way to End this Entry: Wow, this blog has filled more than 1 ½ WordPerfect pages!

Conquering Fears, Righting Wrongs, etc.

I’M READING A book that makes me want to be an eccentric, reclusive writer, just like in my old days.

I RODE THE four-wheeler down the road last night all by myself. I had a little trouble starting it when it died after reaching the bottom of the big hill. No big deal.

I SHALL PREPARE a meatloaf in the near future. Yes, I - Jennifer N. Garrison - shall cook meatloaf with my very own hands and kitchen utensils.

I ACHIEVE A wonderful, small sense of happiness each time I lie beneath the brand new ceiling fan in the bedroom.

A FRIEND SENT me a card wishing me "Happy Mother’s Day", and a new section of exciting reality opened in my brain.

I OBSERVED A pack of "no good thugs" walking the same streets as my future step-daughter, and I felt what can only be described as "a step-parent jolt of worry." Sometimes it’s hard to keep my post as Understanding Friend Who Doesn’t Really Get Involved in the Authority/Advisory Issues of the Champion Teenager Because I’m Not Her Real Mom Plus I’m Only a Decade Older Than She Is.

WE’RE GOING WITH calla lilies and the colors mint green and ecru for next month’s wedding reception.

WE ARE GONNA rock that Holiday Inn banquet hall, or at least make it a little more interesting.

I NEED TO update this blog more often because these are exciting times, and the Internet needs to know about them.