That Which Doesn't Kill Us....

...Makes us Stronger. Right?

I love Chris. I love Jackson. I love my job. But between the three of them, I may go completely insane over the next month. Seriously.

We met with the Church Lady. I need to stop calling her that. She was nice. She was optimistic, and she said she would give us a wedding date when the annulment process was headed to Chicago, not when it comes back, which is bending the rules a little bit.

BUT the paperwork Chris must complete is like 4-5 years of therapy that you have to type out in black and white. Your childhood, relationship with your parents, their relationship with each other, your relationship with your siblings, all of the gory details of your courtship, wedding and marriage. History of any physical abuse, sexual abuse, substance abuse, etc. He had a rough childhood - fortunately none of those abuses - but a rough childhood.

We have shared a bunch of tears. There is nothing written yet. I am hoping we can start him talking and me typing tonight.

Jackson is having major issues at day care. Some are related to our new family arrangement, but they are manifesting as potty issues at nap time at day care. It would be easy to separate if he had not had his potty issues when he was three. He is emotionally scarred. And now getting in trouble if he (a) gets up to go potty during nap time; and (b) has an accident at nap time.

He has taken to trying to bargain with me, grilling me on my meeting schedule, shopping himself around at school for somewhere to go other than Melody's. He even went so far as to be crushed that we weren't going to the doctor TODAY instead of going to Melody's.

I talked to him last night. I talked to her today. I talked to my AWESOME OF ALL AWESOME pediatric nurses for the 4th time. We have an appointment with the child counselor for Monday.

And work. Well, this is our hell season. I don't think I am going to sleep for the next month.

Last night I cried cuz I needed to talk to my mommy, but she has been so sick. But she did call me and leave a message while we were at my work function. God must know I need her. In the mean time, I have a nice hairy chest to cry into.

It will be fine. It will be okay.

Thanks. I feel better now. Kind of.

"Goin' to the Chapel...."

Chris proposed on Wednesday night!

It was sweet and romantic and kind of spontaneous (if you can count our two hour drive each way, lunch, then 2.5 hours with the jeweler during the day Wednesday as still being spontaneous -he said I was not going to get the ring for awhile!)

We have to go through the annulment process for Chris' previous marriage if we want to get married in the church. UGH. We meet with "The Church Lady" on Monday. Apparently we can't set a date until that is complete.

I have learned the flurry of questions that this brings out. And actually a male friend who also is recently engaged teased with his list of questions, and prompted me to write up my FAQs. So here they are:

Wedding Party?
My sister and our collective three boys.

Place?
Blessed Sacrament (unless I get too frustrated with the Church Lady).

Reception?
Likely the newly renovated Anchor Boat Club so we can have a more relaxed reception, not try to limit the guest list as much, and not still be paying for the wedding when it is time to pay college tuition. We can also use the decs from the ISPE "Survivor" convention - lanterns, bamboo & palm planters I made etc. (maybe not the netting and grass skirting, but you never know!) If the Church Lady says spring or summer time, we might get the party barge too. If it is winter, we may reconsider.

When? Ask the Church Lady.

Colors? Depends on time of year, so ask the Church Lady and my sister. She gets to pick her own dress since there will only be 1.

How Many People? - Probably 100-125 (unless they all die off before the Church Lady says we can get married).

Ring? Just under 1ct round with 5 channel set stones on each side. Matching band with 13 stones. His is tungsten, industrial looking because he works in construction. We went to a jeweler I know in Quincy so got it all at once.

Is it too soon? Not really. After being in the dating world since I was 15 or so - some 23 years - I think I know what I am looking for. But the Church Lady might think so.

Do you want more children? We have three great boys, so probably not. (plus, I can't have more children...so my guess would be NO)

Where will you live? My house. We have a room set up for the two older boys downstairs they love, downstairs family room almost done, and we just need the basement toilet to be functional again (new wax ring and new inerts - will actually probably just replace it), and we will be set. It would take the PERFECT house set down on my block or adjacent to my block for the same price I paid for my house to get me to move.

Have you told your parents? Yes. Dad is happy. Mom was too sick to talk. [From my sister-in-law, who thinks it is too soon - they dated for 4 years. I told her the conversation went much better than the 'I'm pregnant" call.]

How did he propose? On the couch without the ring in hand after watching Couples Retreat. It was actually romantic, spontaneous and I think much more meaningful for the two of us than his original "plan."

Stop the Spinning!!!

The world is moving much too fast. I will try to post some new pics tonight, but in case I don't, sorry in advance.

In other world news:

• Our party of 5 is going well....VERY well, in fact.
• Jackson started basketball. His first game he scored 2 baskets and they won (not that we keep score). His second game we learned a valuable lesson about everyone not playing fairly and coaches who don't know the rules and play street ball instead. Snacks were good, so Jackson did okay (mommy, not so much, but don't get me started).
• My mom continues her treatment. The chemo is over, but it seems like at least two more weeks of radiation. We saw her this weekend and her voice was shaky and she looked so weak.
• Our little company continues to grow, and we have landed several more project clients and a new association. Good help, I mean bless, us.
• The Christmas, I mean Valentines Day, I mean Mardi Gras lights are still up. With the walkway lights that resemble Christmas ornaments buried in snow, they might very well be Easter egg lights too. And YES, they still come on with the timer at night. Hey, it helps us find the house!
• Jackson is LOVING the Olympics, so despite not usually getting into the Winter Games, I kind of am too. Last night the three of us sat snuggled up on the couch, with Chris and Jackson having very animated discussions and commentary on the men's downhill slalom. And while he claims to not care so much for the pairs skating, he seemed to have lots of opinions on their performance too.
• Chris and I are heading out of town to do "a little shopping" tomorrow. I will post pics or news when/if there is some!