Lab Rats & Wedding Belles
Oct. 29th, 2004 08:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wendyzskiWell, it's all done. I legally signed my name as witness to the marriage of Josephine Marie Thane and Nancy Romick!
We headed out to Ann Arbor Wednesday evening. En route, it got decided that it would be easier and less stressful to just do the legal ceremony Thursday night. So, between singing along with the soundtrack for 'Avenue Q" "Me up all night honk me horn for porn, porn, porn", phone calls were made and plans were set for the medium event. We got to the Motel 6 in Ann Arbor (Hey, are you guys here for the String Cheese concert?) and thanks to nerves and the over-zealous HVAC unit enjoyed a restless night's sleep. Of cuorse, we neglected to remember the time zone change, so Thursday morning began with the ever popular "Oh SHIT!!!"
Thursday was our venture into academia. Nancy (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tarsa) used to work in the Psych dept. at EMU, and knew some professors who were covering gender identity in their classes (Psychology of Women, and Abnormal Psychology), and she and Josie (jmthane) agreed to come and speak to the classes, to put a real-people face on these issues. Josie was terribly nervous, but with a minimum of babblng and a few cues from Yours Truly, she expressed herself and her situation very well. I talked about the process of watching this transition from the outside, as I met Dave back in 1994, and offered some observations on my own process as well as watching people react to her. Then Nan talked about her experience falling in love with this person and what she had to work through before she even said "hello". The students were very curious and respectful, and asked good questions. They even cheered when they revealed that they were to marry that evening. There were one or two people in each group who were obviously struggling with the need to put neat labels on things like gender and sexuality. (I think there will be an entry in a few days from me on this, as speaking about my experiences codified some thoughts I have on the subject.) It was a very interesting day for all of us.
I did my best to hold up my responsibilities as de-facto 'maid of honor' (attendant, witness, second, etc). I reminded people of stuff, carted around the paperwork, took pictures when needed, provided comic relief, and generally tried to help the trains run on time. We did have to stop back at the hotel to get the paperwork, and Nan had to squeeze in a voice lesson, plus there was showing Josie off to all Nan's former co-workers (I read a magazine in the lounge or watched my DVDs in the hall as required). But finally it was time to go over to Sidetrack.
Sidetrack is Nan's favorite bar - a fun eclectic place with moose heads and giant penguins on the walls, as well as a great draf selection, some nummy whickeys, and a decent menu. The staff dealt well with our "How many in your group?" "Um - we really don't know...." We ended up with about a dozen people, includingjulietbac, ewanioangal2511 and her fiancee, and bunches of others who I don't know if they have LJs or not. I had little ivory bows for all the girls to wear on their butts, and those prop metal gold rings with little bells on them, representing "shiny metal loopholes"! We ate, drank, talked silly politics and other stuff, then moved to one consolidated table and finally pulled out the paperwork. We all looked over it very carefully, becase we KNOW that it's going to end up in front of a judge at some point if not more than once. Tom performed the shortest wedding I have ever seen...
REV: Do you?
JOSIE: Yep.
REV: Do you?
NAN: Yes.
REV: You're married.
Hell, I didn't even have time to cry! I think the kiss was longer than the ceremony. People hung out for a while, telling ridiculous wedding stories, and finally drifted off in small bunches. Back to the Motel for some actual sleep this time.
At the alarm and the first round of smooches and "Good morning Mrs. Thane", "Good morning Mrs. Thane" from the other bed, I put my pillow over my head, seeking a few more minutes of sleep as well as plausible deniability. Nothing more awkward than a tickle-fight seemed to occur, and we took our time getting showered, checked out, and to breakfast. They dropped me off at the train station around 11:00, and they were off to register the license in Detroit. They are taking NO chances with the papers on this. Then they are going up to a B&B in northern Michigan for a romantic weekend which will include making their own wedding bands. Sounds neat!
I hope their day went better than mine. I was exhausted, and my train STARTED out 90 minutes late, and only got further behind from there. I finally rolled into Chicago nearly 3 hours behind, and then had to get home. Sorryjfc013, there was no way I was making it up to your place. I'm for a shower, a meal, and an early bed, as I have an interview downtown tomorrow early afternoon.
We headed out to Ann Arbor Wednesday evening. En route, it got decided that it would be easier and less stressful to just do the legal ceremony Thursday night. So, between singing along with the soundtrack for 'Avenue Q" "Me up all night honk me horn for porn, porn, porn", phone calls were made and plans were set for the medium event. We got to the Motel 6 in Ann Arbor (Hey, are you guys here for the String Cheese concert?) and thanks to nerves and the over-zealous HVAC unit enjoyed a restless night's sleep. Of cuorse, we neglected to remember the time zone change, so Thursday morning began with the ever popular "Oh SHIT!!!"
Thursday was our venture into academia. Nancy (
tarsa) used to work in the Psych dept. at EMU, and knew some professors who were covering gender identity in their classes (Psychology of Women, and Abnormal Psychology), and she and Josie (jmthane) agreed to come and speak to the classes, to put a real-people face on these issues. Josie was terribly nervous, but with a minimum of babblng and a few cues from Yours Truly, she expressed herself and her situation very well. I talked about the process of watching this transition from the outside, as I met Dave back in 1994, and offered some observations on my own process as well as watching people react to her. Then Nan talked about her experience falling in love with this person and what she had to work through before she even said "hello". The students were very curious and respectful, and asked good questions. They even cheered when they revealed that they were to marry that evening. There were one or two people in each group who were obviously struggling with the need to put neat labels on things like gender and sexuality. (I think there will be an entry in a few days from me on this, as speaking about my experiences codified some thoughts I have on the subject.) It was a very interesting day for all of us.I did my best to hold up my responsibilities as de-facto 'maid of honor' (attendant, witness, second, etc). I reminded people of stuff, carted around the paperwork, took pictures when needed, provided comic relief, and generally tried to help the trains run on time. We did have to stop back at the hotel to get the paperwork, and Nan had to squeeze in a voice lesson, plus there was showing Josie off to all Nan's former co-workers (I read a magazine in the lounge or watched my DVDs in the hall as required). But finally it was time to go over to Sidetrack.
Sidetrack is Nan's favorite bar - a fun eclectic place with moose heads and giant penguins on the walls, as well as a great draf selection, some nummy whickeys, and a decent menu. The staff dealt well with our "How many in your group?" "Um - we really don't know...." We ended up with about a dozen people, including
julietbac, ewanioangal2511 and her fiancee, and bunches of others who I don't know if they have LJs or not. I had little ivory bows for all the girls to wear on their butts, and those prop metal gold rings with little bells on them, representing "shiny metal loopholes"! We ate, drank, talked silly politics and other stuff, then moved to one consolidated table and finally pulled out the paperwork. We all looked over it very carefully, becase we KNOW that it's going to end up in front of a judge at some point if not more than once. Tom performed the shortest wedding I have ever seen...REV: Do you?
JOSIE: Yep.
REV: Do you?
NAN: Yes.
REV: You're married.
Hell, I didn't even have time to cry! I think the kiss was longer than the ceremony. People hung out for a while, telling ridiculous wedding stories, and finally drifted off in small bunches. Back to the Motel for some actual sleep this time.
At the alarm and the first round of smooches and "Good morning Mrs. Thane", "Good morning Mrs. Thane" from the other bed, I put my pillow over my head, seeking a few more minutes of sleep as well as plausible deniability. Nothing more awkward than a tickle-fight seemed to occur, and we took our time getting showered, checked out, and to breakfast. They dropped me off at the train station around 11:00, and they were off to register the license in Detroit. They are taking NO chances with the papers on this. Then they are going up to a B&B in northern Michigan for a romantic weekend which will include making their own wedding bands. Sounds neat!
I hope their day went better than mine. I was exhausted, and my train STARTED out 90 minutes late, and only got further behind from there. I finally rolled into Chicago nearly 3 hours behind, and then had to get home. Sorry
jfc013, there was no way I was making it up to your place. I'm for a shower, a meal, and an early bed, as I have an interview downtown tomorrow early afternoon.
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no subject
Date: 2004-10-29 06:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-29 06:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-30 08:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-29 07:52 pm (UTC)*starts to bawl*
Maybe YOU didn't have time to cry, but i do!!
*sniffle* I love it. I'm particularly glad you had butt-bows for them. *L* Dang, wisht i coulda been there!!!!!!!!
I would be happy to . . .
Date: 2004-10-29 10:23 pm (UTC)Re: I would be happy to . . .
Date: 2004-10-29 10:24 pm (UTC)*happy dance!*
Date: 2004-10-30 06:56 am (UTC)Congrats, hugs, love, and kisses all around! ;)
no subject
Date: 2004-10-30 07:23 am (UTC)Love
'Nise