In just seven days...

It’s hard to believe that in just one short week, J and I will celebrate our 3rd anniversary. Maybe it’s because I just played for a wedding last weekend, or maybe it’s because of our upcoming anniversary, but I’ve had weddings on my brain lately. I love them! Always have. I played for my first wedding in 1992 (at the tender age of 12), and immediately began planning my own. Never mind that I was only 12 at the time, and the BIG details (like the groom….and the date) were a bit sketchy. I was learning through other couples what worked, what didn’t, and what I wanted to include in my own special day.

My parents bought me a computer for my high school graduation, and one of the first documents I remember typing was entitled, “My wedding—if it ever happens.” In this document, I listed important details such as color scheme, prospective bridesmaids, songs for the prelude, and songs for the ceremony itself. I had it all mapped out….well, as mapped out as you could get without an actual date. Or a groom. (Minor technicality…) While the songs changed over the years as I continued to add to my collection via other people’s weddings and my own personal tastes, a few remained on the list throughout.

So, I’ve decided to spend the next week in tribute to my DH. Let’s start with how we met, shall we? I'll also try to get back into my "routine" postings, too. Perhaps I can combine the theme...

I met J at Chuck E. Cheese. No, really. I did. But it wasn’t just happenstance. It was planned. You see, he works with my cousin’s wife and she had been trying to “hook us up” for months. Originally, she had planned to have us both over to her house for dinner, but the plans never quite gelled. So, one Friday in October 2005, she called my mom to see what she thought about planning an outing with me (and her two sons, ages 5 and 7 at the time) to Chuck E. Cheese after Sunday school. Mom thought it was a great idea, but Michelle (my cousin’s wife) wouldn’t confirm with J until she had heard from me personally. She reasoned that if we weren’t interested in each other, then at least there would be plenty of other stuff going on and we could just focus on that.

Before I knew it, there I was…getting out of Michelle’s car and walking across the mall parking lot to meet a guy at a kid’s pizza place. I can’t believe I’m doing this, I thought. Surprisingly, for the next 2 hours, we didn’t seem to have much trouble finding things to talk about. It was the day after our dinner theater in October, so he asked several questions about that and my involvement in the theater. He also asked me about teaching and grad school. As we were leaving, Michelle invited him to join us at Lowe’s (I was in the middle of building a house), but he declined the offer. But he did say that maybe we could get together sometime. I said that sounded good, and he said he’d get my number from Michelle.

A week later, I was helping with a community turkey dinner that Michelle happened to come to. She asked me if I had gotten a phone call yet. I said, “No, should I have?” She said she thought I would have by now and said that she would check on it on Monday. Apparently he’d been gathering up his nerve all week. He’d gotten my number on Monday after we met on Sunday. Then, on Tuesday, one of the ladies at the clinic asked if he’d called me yet and he said that he hadn’t because I had class on Monday night (he apparently paid close attention to what we were talking about). On Wednesday, he asked Michelle who might answer the phone if he called. By Friday, when he still hadn’t called, they told him that he’d waited too long for that weekend, but he’d better get on the ball for the next one.
The next Wednesday, he called me from his cell phone on his way home from work and asked if I would like to go to a movie and get something to eat on Saturday night. I told him that sounded good to me, and he said he’d call back the next evening to finalize plans. He did, and, well, I guess the rest is history!

Most people have an initial reaction of, Awww… when I tell them we met at Chuck E. Cheese’s. Usually, it’s followed by a, How old were you? A bit sheepishly, I must always reply, Well, I was 25 and he was 32… Whoa! Not what people expect to hear! But we have a nice laugh about it, and then I get to explain.

Sorry this post got so long! Until next time…

Hugs and baby dust,