Special weekend

No, not just because of the Shadow Lane party, although that's plenty special. This Saturday, August 30, John and I will be together 18 years.

We have never lived together, never spent more than four days at a stretch with each other. But we might as well be an old married couple, for how well we know each other. For our routines and rituals, silly made-up words, all those couple-y things. Eighteen years, and he can still make me laugh so hard, I have to pull over if I'm driving.

I wasn't kidding about the made-up words. Want an example?

Every weekend, when we're getting ready to go out, it's the same thing. All John has to do is put on his clothes, brush his teeth and run a comb through his hair. Me? Not quite that easy, since I have makeup to apply and hair that needs a bit more attention than just a comb. So, here's what happens:

John's voice from outside the bathroom: "Sweetie? Come on! I'm ready!"
Me: "I'm not!"
"But sweetie, I'm ready!"
"That's nice, honey. I'm not."
(Pause) "Sweetie?"
"Yes?"
"I'm ready!"

This continues, until...

Me: "OK, I'm ready."
John: "Oh, wait, I'm not ready."
Me: "Oh, for @#$%'s sake."
John: "You're being mean! I can't go now. I'm kermuffed."

(There's an explanation to that word, but I won't go into it now.)

In a few minutes...

Me: "Are you ready now?"
John: "I'm totally ready. I'm in a complete state of ready-tude."
Me: "Yes, but are you in a state of ready-osity?"
"OK, that's not a word."
"Neither is ready-tude!"
"Of course it isn't. What's wrong with you? I'm concerned for your welfare."

Somewhere about this point, I start banging my head into the wall. :-)

I love you, my sweetheart. Happy 18th.

In other news... it seems my clients unanimously decided to hold off sending me the work they have for me until after I come back, so I'm not experiencing the last-minute crank-it-out insanity I was expecting. I'm not looking forward to the pile-up once I get home, but I'll deal with that then. For now, it's hurry up and wait! I'm doing laundry, getting stuff pulled together, picking up our rental car this afternoon.

Yesterday, I read on FetLife that, although Joe and Ten didn't get a chance to print up brochures of the suite party itinerary, a schedule had been created for us on a free Smartphone app called Guidebook. Just install the app, put in the created Shadow Lane code, and poof, there it is, right?

Uh... except that Erica is a total cell phone dummy and has never used apps before. So I tried to figure out how to do so. I found an icon on my phone: "Apps." That has to be it, right? I tried all afternoon to access it, but I'd click it, it would say "Loading..." but never load. Finally, I shlepped to the Verizon store a few blocks away.

"Were you trying to access apps from here?" the tech asked, indicating the Apps button. I said yes, and he said, "That's the wrong place."

OK... so what do I do? He then showed me -- I had to go to Settings, and then I'd see a little icon at the top of that screen that looks like a suitcase. Click that, and it takes me to the Apps store.

Oh. Yeah, that's crystal clear. (sigh) Well, live and learn. I found the app, installed it, and found the schedule. Yay me. I feel so cool and tech-y.

I CAN'T WAIT! Hurry tomorrow! And please get us there in one piece, no traffic accidents, no last-minute crises. So many people are there already. I want to see our friends and get/give a million hugs. 

I won't be blogging over the weekend, but will still be checking comments and emails and so forth. Stay tuned for reports and pictures and all the low-down. Until then, have a great holiday weekend, y'all. :-)