In sickness and in health...

Well, this weekend in married life, we had a little bit of both.

First, great weekend of poetry and seeing friends. We were invited to the Haiku Society of America meeting in Manhattan on Saturday. Enta Kusakabe was giving a talk about Gogyohka and we were invited. We also saw a very interesting lunar dance and listened to and were encouraged to write some haiku. It was oodles of fun.

I really liked it. I was having a grumpy day - a grumpy few days really. And this was just what I needed. I tried to shed my problems through doing things that made me happy - like plant this fantastic little bulb garden in my window box.

Worked for just a few minutes, but head ache came back and the anxiety was still there. But then, at the meeting, I was surrounded by some of my favorite things - words. And then I could process all the feelings and thoughts that I was having and felt better. And I met and spoke with lots of poets and got to see Enta and watch Tim and Enta and Peter and many other Gogyohkans - sorry Golda.

After the presentation of the society, we had a, well, I don't really know what to call it. Cocktail hour? that works. A cocktail hour at the home of Hiro and Nancy Sato. I won't go into how fun this was but, it was great. The apartment had a fantastic view of the Empire State Building. This was only the second time I've ever been in a Manhattan apartment. So it was pretty exciting! I loved it because both sides of the living room were book shelves. And they were covered with books.

After the cocktail party we went to dinner at this little restaurant called Bar 6. A scene from Julie & Julia was filmed here. Dinner was oodles of fun, we had a steamed artichoke with citrus aioli, moules frites, hummas, and a roasted pear and roquefort salad. Delicious. I watched poor Enta (who had just flown in on Thursday from Japan - and he is not the youngest of bucks) fall asleep into his tiny hand. But perked up after a giant hamburger.

Tim and I arrived home to sort laundry (the laundromat is empty on Sunday mornings) and get some sorely need sleep. However, here comes the in sickness part. We had such a mentally healthy day that what happens next is all the more shocking. Poor Tim. I've known him for almost 13 years. And I've had 3 nights like this with him before (possibly 4, he may have had food poisoning twice). Anyway, it was a night of pain as I woke up to hear these whimpers next to me in bed. Tim had stabbing pains in his stomach. Mind you, we ate exactly the same things last night. But poor Tim got the food poisoning. We had a really rough night - I think I've had maybe 2 hours of sleep total. I had horrible flashbacks of when he was super sick and we had to go to the hospital. But, Nurse Stimpy to the rescue. He is much better today after some pedialite, and homemade chicken noodle soup.

So, I guess I should re-arrange the title so that is says in health and in sickness for yesterday, but, I guess today, we went the more traditional route. Tim is better - that's all that matters. Here are just a few more wedding pics - these are from the Empire State Building photographer - sorry readers if you are tired of these - but I have lots of families in lots of different places. This just seems like more fun than emailing them. Enjoy.

Twirling
Twirling
Twirling

Is Married life different?

Hello readers. Just waiting for ladies figure skating short program (not kitty's favorite - he likes men's ice skating the best. He was cheering for Plushenko and was very cranky that a) we had to go to bed before Plushenko performed - why are the olympics on so late? and b) he was even crankier that Plushenko got the silver (Oscar is a Russian blue and still has loyalties to his mother country). We had a discussion the next morning about this - I told Oscar that Lysececk stayed true to fundamentals - nothing flashy like the quad. Kitty got really upset about this and he believes that daring and chances should be rewarded. No talking to him when he is like that. He then proceeded to chase his tail to show his example of the quad. not really impressive at all.

Anyway, married life. I must say that since Tim and I have been together for so long, and living together for a majority of our relationship, that married life really doesn't feel that different. while the photo suggests one thing - I must say, no babies (this is an old photo of us with our niece and nephew twin babies Nicolas and Charlotte - we're in love with them!) I feel a bit more protective - when Tim leaves the house I get a bit more worried about him. Maybe that's just me. And it's fun to look over and see his ring on his hand. But it didn't hit me until I was walking home tonight - and I thought that someday I might be a widow. It hit so hard (and I've only felt this way once before - the day that I realized that Oscar would someday die) that I felt my heart stop. So I wrote a Gogyohka about it:

Looking through the rain
I saw myself a widow
and my heart stopped.
I ran home
to feel his heartbeat.

Great thoughts, right? ugh. Some days, I wonder about my self. Anyway, loving life right now.

And, I realized that I haven't uploaded photos of the brunch. So, here you go.

So, this little bride decoration came from my office bridal shower. I placed her in my small tree - it's a weeping willow. I think she looks lovely there!















Here is the front of the apartment. We had flower garlands, paper flowers, paper bells, and this nifty Empire State Building ornament hanging from our chandelier. Many of these decorations will be on our Christmas Tree this year! Yay Christmas!

Here is a photo of the dining room. Our apartment is so little that it's really hard to get grand photos of it. This room was decorated more for Valentines Day. Lots of reds, pinks, purples, and hearts! And of course, paper flowers. It really did look pretty, this doesn't express it... Below you'll see the flowers - I made sleeves for the the vases (which were old sauerkraut jars!) Lots of carnations =good smells and lots of surface area. And they last - they are still on the dining room table. I make sure to stick my face in them ever chance that I get. I do the same thing to Oscar's belly and Tim's beard and chest... I heart them! More later!

Yeah, I forgot to take the butter dish off the table. That's my gift to you readers. Butter.

The Kitty Question

Hello readers. First, some housekeeping. Hehe, Houskeeping, knock, knock, knock. If you've ever seen this episode of the Family Guy, you'll get it.

Anyway, um, so. I'll send out an email every time there is a new post. There have been a few requests to do this, so not a problem, will do. It will actually come from Tim's email, maybe we'll have to double up on the new post! Gogyohka and wedding posts together.

Some new news, I'm going to get fitted for my dress on Thursday and I'm unbelievably excited about it. If you know me, I'm not terribly girly, but it's a soft flouncy dress! Even the Tomboyest of Tomboys would get excited over a new (free) dress right? I'm just hoping that this will again, seem a bit more real once I see myself in this virginal white dress. ugh. Anyway, we'll be working on our vows this week, so many more updates there.

This post, however, is about Oscar. I've had several questions about how we could incorporate Oscar into our ceremony. Ok, maybe two questions and the rest of the thoughts and questions I've had on my own. Kitty has been such a big part of our lives - how can we not include him?

Oscar came into my life in July 2000. He was about 2 weeks old and he was found in a garbage can with his sister. He was so tiny and his eyes had not yet turned the brilliant green that they are today - they were gray - the same color as his fur. I fell in love with him almost instantly. I didn't want to have another cat - I was planning on bringing my cat Zeus to Chestertown for the year. But sadly we found out he had FIV and it wouldn't be fair to move him to another home - he needed to stay on one place until he left this world. Sadly, he died in April of 2001. I think I made the right choice by leaving him with my parents.

Anyway, Oscar needed a home badly. So, soft hearted me, I walked home with this tiny cat, really no bigger than a hamster. His heart was beating fast, he was mewing, and he stole MY heart. We bonded instantly and he has been with me for nearly 10 years now. And really in Tim's life for 10 years, but they connected later. I cannot begin to explain the place that Oscar has in my heart. It pains me to think about the time when he will not be in my life.

So, how can we bring him into the wedding? Well, at our brunch kitty will be there. Probably a little afraid and hiding in the bedroom. But, how and should I mention kitty at the ceremony? I know that he'll be on my mind. How would he not - he's been with me for a third of my life. I've raised him from kittenhood, he's always been there for me, he bonded with Tim when Tim was sick (it is quite heartwarming - Kitty and Tim's bonding - not Tim being sick. Kitty stayed on the bed with Tim and placed his paw on Tim's hand. Kitty loves Tim.) Ok, I'm starting to scare myself.

Perhaps I can include him in the vows somewhere, we'll see.

So, enjoy the kitty photos, I'm kind of in shock that I do not have any pictures of the three of us together. Perhaps, when we get home from the wedding and dinner and bar we can take a picture of tim and me and kitty together. A family!