Kinda Almost LIke Having a Life...
Last weekend (10.11) Hilary and I had the pleasure of traveling up to Scranton to perform a handfasting for Sean and Chrissy. Chrissy was my college roommate who stuck by me through a bunch of ridiculous BS, and who was never above taking me back to Scranton to meet her crew and hang out. I met Sean through Hilary but we clicked and soon enough were wandering drunk and barefoot through the parking lot at Copper Ridge (in late October) singing Irish drinking songs at the top of our lungs and telling each other how much we desperately loved each other and would therefore never EVER sleep together because it wasn't Like That.
Having been along on the Beltane camping excursion where Sean and Chrissy officially began their relationship was also... an experience.
So it was with great happiness I finally saw (and officiated!) their handfasting. I was especially proud that I concocted the ceremony from mostly scratch, managed to make the Norse and the Romans happy. There were a few touch-and-go moments where I thought that objecting family members (objecting to the paganism, not the marriage) might really made a scene and upset the whole apple cart, but absolutely everyone conducted themselves maturely (owing perhaps to the myriad of swords stations around the circle?) and the whole thing went beautifully. The decorations were beautiful, the local was amazing, the 5 year old guardian memorized his line and delivered it perfectly, if sotto voce. Everyone who came with joyous intent really seemed JOYFUL. The rest of the haters... well, fuck 'em. ;)
The Catholic legal hullabaloo takes place October 2009, and I'm sure the hardline Catholics will enjoy watching us pagans squirm in the throes of full Catholic wedding mass.
Still and all, it was wonderful, I was pleased to be a part of it and I was blessed to be able to actually perform it, what with my current and ongoing spiritual confusion.
And then today I got up at 7am after 6 hours' sleep and headed over to Montco to register for my first semester of classes. Oh, I'm going to die. First, I waited at the Student Success Center to be seen by an adviser since I needed approval to register as a first semester student. Then, when my registration would go through owing to some kind of missing info somewhere, it was off to wait on the 45 minute admissions line to talk to a very nice girl named Yasmin who sorted the whole thing out in about 5 minutes. Then a trip by FinAid to figure out how i PAY for this whole mess, only to be told that owing to some other foul-up on my record that I am eligible for FinAid but it won't go through because I have some errant status code. Or something. Back to Student Success Center, where I am thankfully seen immediately by nice adviser lady, who tells me she absolutely can't help me but sets me up with someone who CAN, and into the bowls of the Admissions/FinAid cubicle warren we go until she finally ends up talking to the assistant director of FinAid while I sit outside face-to-face with the admin assistant, since the only visitor chairs are TWO FEET from her desk. Finally adviser lady #2 gives me the all clear, saying everything will be fixed in the FinAid system by tomorrow if I want to drop by and verify.
I don't trust this. I don't trust it at ALL. I will be back, of course, though not tomorrow since the semester doesn't begin until January. But I will be back to see how it all looks. I'm also trying to get Montco and the gov't to re-evaluate my FAFSA since this time I am scheduled for credits and last time I wasn't, when my aid was calculated. I have no idea if it will make a difference but it can't hurt. I am going to be in a lot of debt for a long time.
My Spring 2009 schedule includes Bio, Chem, Soc 101, Psychology of Personality and Historic Preservation. I am reasonably certain those hard sciences are going to kill me, but Hilary has pledged her help and support so I am hopeful that with that and with sheer brute determination I will make it through. Also, Psych and Soc are online courses, so I hope that will make it a bit easier.
And on the way home I very madly applied for a part time job at the new Trader Joe's opening in North Wales/Montgomeryville. Is my desperation showing? And yet, their philosophy is one I can get behind and I've always had a good experience shopping in their Jekintown/Abington store, so maybe? I'm a bit under-qualified and they have a zillion applicants, so they say... If I get a call by Friday, I'm in. If not, back to drawing board.
Either way though, I'm going back to school full time in Jan. (as soon as I find the $$), so won't that be exciting? And brain-exploding.
It's been a good time though, all considered. I hope the benefits continue to outweigh the hardships.
Having been along on the Beltane camping excursion where Sean and Chrissy officially began their relationship was also... an experience.
So it was with great happiness I finally saw (and officiated!) their handfasting. I was especially proud that I concocted the ceremony from mostly scratch, managed to make the Norse and the Romans happy. There were a few touch-and-go moments where I thought that objecting family members (objecting to the paganism, not the marriage) might really made a scene and upset the whole apple cart, but absolutely everyone conducted themselves maturely (owing perhaps to the myriad of swords stations around the circle?) and the whole thing went beautifully. The decorations were beautiful, the local was amazing, the 5 year old guardian memorized his line and delivered it perfectly, if sotto voce. Everyone who came with joyous intent really seemed JOYFUL. The rest of the haters... well, fuck 'em. ;)
The Catholic legal hullabaloo takes place October 2009, and I'm sure the hardline Catholics will enjoy watching us pagans squirm in the throes of full Catholic wedding mass.
Still and all, it was wonderful, I was pleased to be a part of it and I was blessed to be able to actually perform it, what with my current and ongoing spiritual confusion.
And then today I got up at 7am after 6 hours' sleep and headed over to Montco to register for my first semester of classes. Oh, I'm going to die. First, I waited at the Student Success Center to be seen by an adviser since I needed approval to register as a first semester student. Then, when my registration would go through owing to some kind of missing info somewhere, it was off to wait on the 45 minute admissions line to talk to a very nice girl named Yasmin who sorted the whole thing out in about 5 minutes. Then a trip by FinAid to figure out how i PAY for this whole mess, only to be told that owing to some other foul-up on my record that I am eligible for FinAid but it won't go through because I have some errant status code. Or something. Back to Student Success Center, where I am thankfully seen immediately by nice adviser lady, who tells me she absolutely can't help me but sets me up with someone who CAN, and into the bowls of the Admissions/FinAid cubicle warren we go until she finally ends up talking to the assistant director of FinAid while I sit outside face-to-face with the admin assistant, since the only visitor chairs are TWO FEET from her desk. Finally adviser lady #2 gives me the all clear, saying everything will be fixed in the FinAid system by tomorrow if I want to drop by and verify.
I don't trust this. I don't trust it at ALL. I will be back, of course, though not tomorrow since the semester doesn't begin until January. But I will be back to see how it all looks. I'm also trying to get Montco and the gov't to re-evaluate my FAFSA since this time I am scheduled for credits and last time I wasn't, when my aid was calculated. I have no idea if it will make a difference but it can't hurt. I am going to be in a lot of debt for a long time.
My Spring 2009 schedule includes Bio, Chem, Soc 101, Psychology of Personality and Historic Preservation. I am reasonably certain those hard sciences are going to kill me, but Hilary has pledged her help and support so I am hopeful that with that and with sheer brute determination I will make it through. Also, Psych and Soc are online courses, so I hope that will make it a bit easier.
And on the way home I very madly applied for a part time job at the new Trader Joe's opening in North Wales/Montgomeryville. Is my desperation showing? And yet, their philosophy is one I can get behind and I've always had a good experience shopping in their Jekintown/Abington store, so maybe? I'm a bit under-qualified and they have a zillion applicants, so they say... If I get a call by Friday, I'm in. If not, back to drawing board.
Either way though, I'm going back to school full time in Jan. (as soon as I find the $$), so won't that be exciting? And brain-exploding.
It's been a good time though, all considered. I hope the benefits continue to outweigh the hardships.