I’m heading up to the bay area next week….trying to enjoy all the free time I have on my hands.
[From the Breakers to Bay Salmon Run site] I get sentimental over the little things. I know folks who have run in the Bay to Breakers race up north…and reading about the exploits of the racers always puts a smile on my face.
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Here’s a pix of my family and David’s friends. We used Jennie’s extra-special, super-pricey camera. The raw pix was something like 3000 pixels wide. Wowa. It’s from one of our last big meals for David….today, my Dad asked me to print out my bro’s marching papers. I almost teared up and made a fool out of myself. I know tears won’t help my bro. Only prayers and strength…..and booze…we’re going drinking tonight. Alcohol makes everything better. Just ask Mark….he pinched his back…and he said beer numbs the pain.
8 weeks since graduation…still un-employed. Andrea e-mailed me: “…but just remember God’s time isn’t our time. Thanks a lot God for being so infinite…”
I guess I have more waiting to do….
To keep busy – I got this wedding shindig to plan. Thankfully, most folks know when the wedding is happening – August 27….’cause we’re still waiting for the invitations to be designed and printed out. I should put an e-vite together…just to cover our bases….and maybe put in a call to Kinko’s to get a quote…’cause sometimes (often times) I end up designing and printing stuff out.
Mark got our wedding registries together. Neato. He also put a down payment on our honeymoon….so ready or not, Mexico – here we come!
Got in touch with my matron of honor and maid of honor….It sounds like our Vegas engagement/bridal shower shindig will go through….
According to both Mom and Dad….I can’t gain any more weight. So that I could fit into the dress…apparently, the word “alteration” doesn’t ring a bell with them. So, I figure I need to develop a psychosis and stop eating or start throwing up….one or the other…but not both – ’cause I’m not stupid…don’t you know.
OK….need to prove we’re Catholic to the Church. Mark’s mom mailed over his baptism certificate and proof of First Communion. Since I got confirmed at the church we’re getting married at, I had the rectory look up my confirmation records.
“Mom, where did I get baptized?”
“St. Mary’s,” she told me. “In Fullerton.”
Then I called up St. Mary’s and asked the office worker about getting my baptism record. She took down my name, my parents’ names, my date of birth and my phone number. She told me it would be ready the next day.
Next day – I drive twenty miles in hot Cali weather…in my BLACK Corolla (and people, black absorbs heat…so it’s hot….I have the air con at full blast) and park in the 15 minute green zone, in front of the church.
The office worker said she had to look up my records. I told her somebody said they would be ready by today.
She looked up my name in two books of 1978 records. I think the church burnt down…or something. All she could find under my last name: Vera, Anthony.
I was like, uh?
She told me to prove I was baptized at St. Mary’s – I needed to bring in a picture of my baptism. It needs to show the inside of the church and the priest doing the baptism. She said I also needed to bring in a copy of my birth certificate.
“You know, somebody could have told me all this information, yesterday – before I drove out here,” I told her.
“Yes, I know. I’m sorry,” she said.
I guess she’s just doing her job. But, I was still mad at her and the twit I talked to on the phone, the other day…..I ended up cursing under my breath on church property….I figured God had this master plan to prevent me from getting married….He was already doing a fine job of keeping me out of work.
On my way back home…I’m thinking – I’m not a Catholic. I’m a pagan. I am no longer a child of God. I still have orginal sin. I’ll have to go to Vegas to get married. Somebody’s fucking with my head and sanity…and the sad thing, it’s really easy to do both.
I turned off the radio in the car when I hit traffic on the 57. I started thinking about the different religions I could try out…like Judaism….or Buddhism…or Shintoism.
When I got home…I ran into my Dad, bro and Mark…apparently they had an equally pissy time looking for a notary in Covina. I bitched about being pagan and about having to cancel our wedding date at St. Denis.
“We might as well have not gotten out of bed today,” David said.
Then my dad asked me which Church I went to.
“St. Mary’s.”
He laughed,”Who told you that?” I told him I called Mom and he said, “She’s wrong. We went to St. Mary’s for church – but you were baptized at St. Philips.”
Guess who feels like a dork now? I felt super-bad about giving that poor office worker a hard time when she couldn’t find a baptism record that wasn’t suppose to be there….
DORK DORK DORK.
Nice job 😛 At the first sign of adversity, your first reactions were anger and questioning the faith instead of thinking ‘there must be a very logical reason for this’ ? Congratulations, you’ve taken your first steps towards the Dark Side 😉