We have a date.

After estimating how long the remaining governmental processes will take, then calling The Wagner House to find out their available dates around March and April 2004, then finding out that April 3 (and the entire month, actually) is way unlucky, we came down to March 13, which is the Saturday after Spring break next year. Mark your calendars, everyone.

Holy crap, my wedding is going to be in less than three months! It's been in the air so long that it's hard to believe it's finally happening. My mother is driving over to Clayton this afternoon to put down the deposit and lock the date in place. Woo!

Janet got the forms and instructions from the US Consulate in Singapore today. So after she gets a medical exam, and a copy of her police record, and various other things, she'll be able to turn them in and get an interview date. Then after the interview, she gets the visa.

You know, I have to say, with all my bitching about governmental red tape, both the US and Singapore have done a great job getting to our petition in a timely manner. I wish we hadn't had to wait five months to get the acceptance, but they warned us ahead of time that that was the minimum amount of time they could get to it. After the acceptance, things have just bulletted along, and she'll be here before I know it.

Yay!

***

The mall was packed to the rafters yesterday, even at 4:45 p.m. By the time I left, nearly two hours later, they were past the rafters and spilling out onto the streets. But I'm done. I have one Christmas card to get for this guy (as a thank-you for the big creative writing scholarship, which came in the mail two days ago), but as far as presents go, I have finished, J'ai fini, He acabado, Ich habe beendet, Ho rifinito, Eu terminei. No more crowds, no more screaming children, no more idiot drivers in the parking lot, no more teeming masses. Ahhhh.

When I got home last night, I had a few nice surprises waiting for me. My considerate lady bought a few books for me online, and they all happened to arrive on the same day: Passionate Journey by Frans Masereel, Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass, and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. Yay! It was funny opening them up, because I kept thinking, "Did I order something from Amazon lately?" and "Who the hell is sending me a book from Oregon?" (that was the Masereel book). But we cleared it all up over the phone last night; I couldn't imagine who else would have sent them, but there are lots of nice people out there, and this is the season for giving, so you never know.

Tonight, I go to see Return of the King with Jamie (who just revised his website; go look!) at 9:20. Which means I won't get out of the theater until ~1 a.m. Gonna need a big cuppa tomorrow morning. Tomorrow evening, I'm getting together with a friend from my writing class this semester, though I'm not sure what we're doing yet. Saturday evening will be doubly packed: a Christmas party at the house of a good high school friend at 7:00, and some "Homegrown Holiday Hoopla" at Six String with Taylor and Kyler at 10:00. Sunday will be more relaxing, though I'll be driving over to the parents' house to drop off some burned CDs and talk about wedding stuff. Busy times.

Now Reading:
The Art of the Novel by Milan Kundera

Stories Out to Publishers:
7

Books Read This Year:
58

Zines/Chapbooks/Fiction Mags Read This Year:
40