October 2, 2002

This is going to be the best October ever! The month started with Kelly Sue's very satisfying wedding and it ends with Halloween! And in between, there's a visit from Jason, the premiere of Angel, a visit from Mama, disgruntledcon, and one last garage sale. Hooray!

Okay, technically, Kelly Sue's wedding was the end of September, but if I filled in the 2 blank squares at the beginning of October's calendar, it would be right there at the start--so spiritually, it's the same month. The wedding was perfect: lovely without being overdone, sincere without being aw-shucksy, well written, elegant dress & flowers, touching soundtrack, tasty morsels, perfect officiator, no unnerving family episodes. Just really--I don't know how to say this, exactly, but--really clean and honest and direct, no crappy cloying Hallmark hearts and roses, but no undertone of cynicism, either. It was like perfect fresh fruit served icy cold: lightly sweet and refreshing and surprisingly complex. And Jesus Christmascake, I'm a dork. But you get the idea. And I didn't feel even a whiff of my usual "we'll see how long this lasts" wryness. Top notch. Well worth the drive.

I also got in a good chunk of Ehren time, including way too much alcohol, a healthy dose of snubbing the locals (that was him, not me; Austin's no fancier than Kansas City), a few would-you games, some scandalous personal tidbits, idle gossip, and a drunken hike for late-night greasy fare. Plus the satisfying feeling of getting dolled up and having a well-turned-out, non-threatening (but also non-girl) escort. There's something ultimately dissatisfying about dressing up too much for girl's night out, and that's about all the dressing up I do anymore.

Then there was crisp and succulent chicken at Stroud's, a giant cinnamon roll from a truck stop in the middle of Kansas, and something called a toasty dog (or maybe toasted dog? either way, it was delectable!) at the Dog and Shake in Wichita. And although I logged more than 1500 miles, the driving was a piece of cake.

It all left me with a frenetic optimism about October and the whole rest of the year. (It also left me 5 pounds heavier, very annoying, but I should have that cleared up in a jiffy, once I hop off my ass and eat a vegetable or two.) The whole summer (and especially September) was cluttered and overwhelming and blanketed in dog hair. But it's October now, and things are looking up.

08.25.02