Broken Lives Matter

Lately I've been meeting with a lot of resistance from those closest to us, about the wedding. Of course they will deny that they meant anything negative, but it still keeps me up at night. This is just to be loud and clear from anyone who's reading. Yes, our wedding is on October 31st and yes , that happens to fall on a Wednesday this year. Let me explain. We wanted to marry on a memorable day, and the Celtic New Year's Eve--Shaheim--is the most sacred day in the Celtic calendar. Since Mikel's Celtic beliefs are central to who he is--the man I fell in love with--I was eager to accept this day as the day for our wedding. Yes, October 31st on the Julian calendar is Halloween, but that does not have any bearing on our reasons for choosing the date.We wanted it to be special, and we didn't want to be engaged two or three years, waiting for Shaheim to fall on a weekend. We are not trying to exclude anybody with our choices! We love you all, and we will be honore

By now we've all heard somebody say "I feel alive there" about one place or another. But I had resigned myself to the supposed fact that I would never be able to say that. At long last, I can! Our neighborhood has embraced us with open arms, and our new house reveals its quirks to us on a daily basis. We've just learned about the perils of Drano thanks to this little gem! Before that we had also been living without an oven in the kitchen thanks to a previous owner somehow managing to melt wires together through improper use. But we are coping happily:) Our housemates help us out; it was the handyman's idea to use Drano--for better or worse. And he has promised to do the major remodeling during a planned vacation to my home town this Spring. Hurray! No construction noise! Meanwhile I always tell myself while thinking fondly of Merle Haggard, "we like livin' right and bein' free".