I hate Textamerica.
And when I have time to figure out Jessie's newfangled thing, I'm switchin'.

Almost Official.

Todd and I went to get our marriage license today at lunch. First, we all know the typical government agency experience -- people aren't always the friendliest, it takes forever, yada yada yada. It wasn't that way at all. The lady who helped us was extremely friendly and so excited for us. When she made us raise our right hands to vow that all the information we'd provided her was correct, she actually made Todd vow some things like taking the trash out, etc. She was wonderful.

What was so upsetting about the trip, though, was what we saw around us. The other couples there for marriage licenses... You can't help but overhear (especially when you're trying to eavesdrop) all of the details of their situations.

Couple #1. When the female was asked if she was still married to her ex-husband she said no. Then she asked the clerk, "What if I were? What would we need to do?" The clerk replied that if she were, in fact, still married, then her husband of record would need to appear with them to give his permission for her to be married. Then the clerk asked the routine question of the husband to be: "Do you have any outstanding child support obligations?" He answered that he didn't on the form, but she had to verbally ask to clarify. When verbally asked, he said, "Well...yes. But I'll get the check in. I'll mail a check tomorrow."

Couple #2. There's not much more to say about this couple except for the fact that he was 29 and she was 17 and had to have her mother present because she was under age. I'm sure in some cultures this is normal. Hell, it's even normal in our culture. But they both looked so unhappy to be there, she looked scared to death. I just felt really sorry for her.

Couple #3. This was the couple I liked. They brought in cameras and asked if they could photograph every step in the process. Of course Todd and I both got our phones out and started taking some pictures of each other, just embarassed that we hadn't thought to bring in our own cameras.

So the paperwork is done. We could, legally, marry in 72 hours. I think we'll wait until the 13th. Which is about nine days away. Nine days.

Love Jack Johnson.

We saw Jack Johnson last night and it was a great show. So great, in fact, that I'm thinking of changing my Jack's middle name to Johnson. I've seen him live before, but this show was much better. I don't know what it was, but it was good. The music was good, but I really enjoyed the photography that was displayed behind him throughout the show. It was fantastic. And we had great seats. Awesome.

Spinners. Why?

12 Days.

The wedding is 12 days away. And I think I need to start up a 12-step program, but I can't get into that right now. To distract myself from the stress, I'm going to make a list of what a universal, and important, number the number 12 is. Sometimes I just wish that I could sit on the floor on the brown carpet on Pamela Drive and watch Sesame Street and Mister Rogers.

12 inches in a foot
12 months in a year
12 noon, 12 midnight -- our days are divided by it
12 signs in the Western and Chinese zodiac
12 pairs of ribs in the human body (normally)
12 is a dozen, and we measure all things by dozens, including eggs and cookies. Of course there's the Baker's Dozen, which is a mystery in itself.
12 jurors in felony trials (hence, 12 Angry Men)
12 Days of Christmas
Movies with 12: The Dirty Dozen, 12 Monkeys, Ocean's Twelve
12 function keys on most keyboards
Biblical references to the number:
the 12 sons of Jacob,
the 12 tribes of Israel,
the 12 golden dishes for the dedication of the alter,
the 12 baskets of bread,
the 12 Apostles,
the 12 stars on the woman's head,
the 12 gates and foundations of new Jerusalem.
"twice 12" is the number of the heavenly elders;
the tree of life bears 12 manner of fruit;
the 12 apostles of the Lamb.
(I looked those up online, so if anyone istheologicalcal scholar and is reading this and finds error, take it up with the WWW.)

There you go, kids. Now back to work for me.