All things Bright and Beautiful

The weekend was perfect, aside from the cold that is plaguing the girl and attempting to take me down with it. I really couldn’t have asked for better, not at all. On Friday night, we came home and chilled for awhile before heading out to greet Abbie for her birthday celebration in downtown st pete. We are both so tired it was ridiculous, but we made an appearance, then took off for home after not too long. We made a midnight stop at walmart for breakfast supplies – my one request was for the girl to make me birthday breakfast. We got up on my birthday around 9, ate an amazing breakfast. I ran out for a few extra supplies and some more beer, then came home and hung pictures on the wall, laid on the couch and watched tv and cleaned the place up the rest of the way for our soon to be arriving visitors. It was nice, to have that time of peace and quiet before the crazy started. But, unlike other times, it was a good crazy. Although it was set to kick off at 4, the first couple arrived at about quarter till 5, we took turns running around the apartment complex to fetch people, since it is a bit of a maze and hard to find your way around. All in all, everyone was pretty much there at the same time, minus one or two. We had, from work (mine), Anna, Amy and her boyfriend Mark, Kirk and his fiancée Amelia, and Patrick. From Group, we had Catherine and Danielle, and in friends I had Aimee and her husband Larry and Sarah. Devon’s best friend, Leighann showed up late, by the time it was starting to wind down, and she brought Smashley. It was a great time, especially after 4 shots of tequila (did I mention I was drunk on Saturday, and I think it was the drunkest I had ever been, which was a big deal because I don’t let go like that, not ever – but I was safe. I knew Devon was there for me, and would take care of me, and it was okay – even after we left the house. By the time all my friends took off, we went (under protest) to Leighann’s for a Jamaican drink of some sort, where we met up with Gangbang, SDR and James (Leighann’s new husband) then continued on ( I obviously wasn’t driving) to the Freaky Tiki. It was free drinks there until 11. I didn’t pay for a drink all night. We hung out there for a few hours, danced, drank and sat outside and talked. Devon and I ended up calling a cab from the bar, since it was only 5 minutes up the road, got home and had our moment together that was special, in a drunk kind of way. She kept saying I better remember it in the morning – and I definitely do. After that we passed out wrapped around each other, smiling. The whole night passed in a blur with bits and pieces stuck in my mind that I know I’ll never forget – at least not the feel of them, the scent of them. The memory may flicker and fade, but the feeling remains.

On Sunday, she was up earlier than me, but both of us were out of bed by 9, which was strange considering how little sleep we got the last two nights. I was fine, no hangover, and we were looking forward to a day of relaxing and just enjoying each other. I went out and got breakfast. We watched True Blood ( I got her the first two seasons on DVD and ended up giving her that present early, since all next weekend for her actually birthday we will be out of town), lounged around on the couch and laughed until 2 or so, when we used the gift card to Outback that her dad and step-mom sent me for my birthday and did a call out order, complete with add-ons and desert. We watched more tv, drifted in and out of paying attention with our attention to each other, and passing out in short bursts. All in all it was perfect. Exactly what we wanted to do – started discussing and planning the wedding – set a time frame, at the very least. We’re thinking late may, early june. We’re going to end up having three separate yet connected events – a ceremony for her family and friends in Maine, then go to our honeymoon in Martha’s Vineyard and while we’re there, since it’s legal in Massachusetts, do the legal ceremony with just us, our officiate and our witnesses, then enjoy the rest of our honeymoon together. From there, we will return to Florida for the reception for all the people here who can’t travel across the country. The goal is to not make a big deal out of it – we want it low key, quiet, intimate and special. We don’t want anyone to stress out over it, or make a big deal of it. We just want to have it be special for us, so we actually remember it, and it doesn’t go by in a crazy blur of activity and stress. I know we can do it. And I’d rather do it sooner than later, since we spent a good part of Sunday morning watching various documentaries on the history channel about the science behind the end of the world in 2012. scary stuff.

That’s the weekend, and it’s back to work for 5 days before our vacation getaway to Orlando – I booked the hotel room last week, and just bought (officially) our tickets to Islands of Adventure to go see the Wizarding world of Harry Potter and go on the rides and act like crazy kids away from home for a weekend. Since it’s a long, holiday weened anyway, we’re coming back on Sunday afternoon for a day of rest, then will be dogsitting a different dog for the remainder of the week.

For my birthday, from the girl, I got the top from Inception – the totem that spins so you know you’re not dreaming “this is how you know it’s not all a dream, Julsey – it’s real, I love you more than ever, and I’m not going anywhere” and we had a momentary shared panic because the top spins for a REALLY long time. Seriously. And a beautiful, framed wheel of pagan holidays, what they mean, how you celebrate and when they are. From various other people, I got a wonderful toolkit from Sarah, a Fish from Leighann (a red beta that we named Oz McGile (oz from buffy and McGile, cause it’s a wonderful combination of our names), a god/goddess box from Catherine, homemade for prayers and wishes, two patio chairs from Danielle, and Anna took some great pre-emptive engagement photos outside of the party for me and Devon. My best friend sent me a gift card for Sees candy and a new cell phone holster since mine broke. Devon’s dad and step mom gave us the outback gift card. It was awesome – a really great birthday, and a wonderful weekend that was very laid back, hilarious and full of memories that I’m holding onto in the upcoming months. Love it.