I'm staring at the calendar. It says it's Thursday, June 8th, 2006. This means that today is my fifteenth wedding anniversary.
Let me repeat that: it's my FIFTEENTH wedding anniversary.
I'd say it again, but the horse is long past dead.
How is it that I've been married fifteen years already? I just met this girl at a speech tournament, what? Half an hour ago? She's so cool! She did this piece called "The .38" and in it this girl is assaulted and dragged down stairs and shot and it's really sick and really scary but she did it SO COOL! Yeah, I'm a sick twist but she doesn't know that yet. She'll probably find out tomorrow when we have...
Orange juice and bagels. What any speech geek needs to sustain the creative juices and quick wit. She says she likes the way I did Jabberwocky. Hates the author though. Calls him a drug addicted pedophile. Hmm... I really like this gal, though. I'll have to write her when I get back to campus. And make sure I make it to more tournaments. I like this speech stuff...
She wrote me back! She signed it "Love!" Oh boy...
Whirlwind of time... and suddenly we're getting married. After all the long distance phone calls and the quick weekend visits and the fights with my parents and the fights with her parents and all the other hoohaw... it's happening... it's really happening... she's said yes... she's going to be MY wife... oh boy... oh wow... Nothing fancy... immediate friends and family... and DAVE and Aaron made it!! He said he got the invite at almost literally the last moment. Luckily, he and Aaron had to go pick up a truck somewhere and we/us happened to be between the truck and home (Butte, Montana, can ya believe it?). I'm so thrilled...
... And we're moving to Oregon City... in-laws seem to think I've got a chance at a better job over here. I liked the paint store. Like Jim and Lupe, Vaughn and Sherrie, Bob...Playing Euchre til three in the morning in Jim and Lupe's basement, listening to Pink Floyd, ZZ Top, George "Thoroughly Good" (and no recreational pharmaceuticals... wow)...
... I'm hired!! I'll be the data entry person for ALLEGRO, the largest independent classical music distributor in North America. Not bad for a company that's basically working out of a commercial garage... Oh, we're moving? Ok, that's cool... It's out near the airport? Well that doubles my drive time... Oh well... Oh, you want me to do customer service now? Ok, that's cool... you need a data entry person?... Steph could do this job... She can?!! Cool! We work together! We play together! We... have a kid!?!?!?!!! oh wooooow..... I can't wait to meet
... Douglas Ryan James, born 7:00 pm April 11, 1996, via C-section. I can't believe the nurse, Maria, all four foot nothing of her, was up on top of Steph, pounding - almost jumping up and down - on her, trying to get Doug to let go of Steph's ribs. Doug, being the polite boy he is peed all over the doctor... that's my boy...
... tired of this job and it's bs... Chris and Kat say they've got a lead for me in Seattle. I've got to try. Steph's hesitant, and I should listen to her, but Chris hasn't let me down before....
... there's a first for everything. No job. Barely an interview. Now what do I do?... Dig in and try.... Yes, I have data entry experience... I'm hired!? oh boy... what do you mean, we have ANOTHER inventory?!?! THAT'S THE FIFTH ONE IN THE LAST FIVE WEEKS!!! I am so out of here...
... Think you could use an experience customer service rep? You are hiring?!?! ME?!?! oh wow... THANK YOU, Vince and Rico and Joe... THANK YOU... You won't regret it...
... you're letting me go?... But... Steph's pregnant again... NOW what do I do... dig in and try... Mark, I'll admit, I've got no experience, but I'll give it the old college try... You'll hire me?! Oh boy! I'm a crane inspector! oh boy...
... there's something wrong with the baby... Steph is freaking, and I'm not far behind... and this nurse!! Ugh!! She going to check for amniotic fluid, and if it's not there, she's going to send us home... CAN'T YOU SEE THERE'S A PROBLEM HERE?!?!... fluid check is positive?! We're staying... Steph goes on the Pit Drip to try and induce contractions... we've gone this route before... what's wrong my baby? Alexandra Noel, born March 14, 1999, not with a roar but with a half-whimper... I thought babies were supposed to cry when they're born? Helps with oxygen and blood flow... like butterflies... you can't help a butterfly escape its cocoon if you want it to live. The struggle to free itself forces "blood" into it's wings, strengthening them. Without that struggle, the butterfly will die, because it can't use it's wings. Can't move, can't escape... why are my baby's eyes crossed...
... doc says it's normal... in a pig's eye it's normal...
... Mark, I hate to say it, but I can't do this work any more. I gave it the old college try and... what's that... thank you for saving you from letting me go?... Oh good...
... 2000! Shouldn't we be making contact with divinities out near Jupiter? Here I am worrying about getting a job... Yes, I have data entry experience... Excel? I LOVE Excel!... a laundry, hm? Cleanroom laundry? Sounds interesting, sure why not... Data entry, customer service admin assistant, AND quality assurance admin assist? Sure, why not... oh, document control AS WELL?!?! Um... ok...
... And Jonathan Drake joins us on September 6, 2001... "This is what a NORMAL placenta looks like"... thanks doc, for verifying that you KNOW that something was and is wrong with my daughter, and the proof was at her birth...
... oh my sweet God... They've crashed an airplane into the World Trade Center... ANOTHER ONE!??!!! And one for the Pentagon... and another goes down in Pennsylvania...
... Rett Syndrome... why that of all things...
... WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE LETTING ME GO?!?! WHY?!?!!! For not sweeping the warehouse?!?! When am I supposed to do the job you hired me for?!?!? Sweep the warehouse... good riddance to this joint... happy Mother's Day...
...Rico?!?! Is that you?... Coffee? Sure... Customer service? You know me... Ah, I can't AFFORD to do this gig, if that's the way the insurance works. I'm sorry, but I just can't do it...
...Do I have call center experience? well, not true call center experience... what do you mean she doesn't think I'm qualified? Let me talk to her, explain my "experience"... I'm hired! Temp work, but oh well! I get to pay for Christmas!... have to let me go... oh... ok....
... Yes, I have data entry experience... a metal fab company, hm?... sounds interesting... nice and quiet... and I've got at least ONE person interested in my music...
... ADP's on the phone?...Would I like to work for you full time?!! Is that a joke?! I am SO there...
... Would I like to live next door to Mom and Dad? Is that a trick question?...
... What do you mean we no longer work for ADP?... Oh, a BILLION dollar buy-out! Wow!... and he's got $6 BILLION backing him!?!?! Holy....
... What do you mean it's June 8th, 2006... I just met this gal, what? Half an hour ago...
No comments:
Post a Comment