6. 6. 06

That's right, it's 6-6-06. I'm sitting here, waiting for the apocalypse to happen. I guess it better come in the next half hour. Central standard time.

"Now what???" I can't believe I ended my last post with that question. As though I thought I was going to be bored, or something like that. In reality, I've scarcely been able to keep up with all that's been going on. In no particular chronological order:

• Heidi and Arlo had their little baby boy! Curse living across from the hospital when your friend is pregnant. Late on a Thursday night Scoot, Margo and I were sitting on my front steps having a beer, etc. and we saw Heidi and Arlo's car pull into the hospital parking lot. Arlo got out and walked into the hospital with a pillow. But this was 3 weeks before the baby was due, so of course I was a little worried. Margo, Scoot and I played sleuth and snuck across to determine whether that really was their car, because maybe Arlo had a good look-alike. We determined it was indeed their car, and then I spent almost the next 20 hours fretting, wondering what was going on, before I got the news. I didn't want to barge into the hospital and run up and down the halls shouting, "Heidi? Arlo? Baby? Are you in here? Where are you?" It was good to finally know everything is well and good. Cute baby too.
• Little brother DB graduated from high school. Congratulations! Lots of going here and there, but the best part was having everyone together all at once.
• And all of last week I was thoroughly consumed with packing up all my stuff, then moving... in with my parents. But only for a little while! I'm not making any money this summer, and paying rent just wasn't feasible. The depressing part was, of course, giving up my great little house. But also realizing yet again how much stuff I have.
• I found out I was accepted to read my poetry on a panel at the Midwest MLA conference in Chicago this November!!! I sent in my submission so long ago and I hadn't heard anything back that I just assumed I hadn't been accepted. But I was! So, Indianopolis in October for the Midwest Pop Culture Conference, and Chicago in November.
• Last of all, Josh and I got engaged! No, you probably didn't hear it here first, but I don't care. I'm finding it interesting, sociologically speaking, to see how people react to the news. Some people are so hysterically happy that I want to say, "Whoa, hold on. It's exciting, but don't expect this marriage to solve world poverty problems or anything." Other people don't seem to share in our excitement, which is naturally a little disappointing. And then, of course, people who never usually talk to me or notice me are suddenly approaching me. As though I suddenly matter now that I'll be getting married. As though everything else I have done in my life doesn't count for anything. As though acquiring a spouse is the highest achievement one can make in one's life.... Oh well.

We're getting married Dec. 29, then moving to Vermillion. Finally. The whole "planning a wedding" thing seems like the hugest headache in the world, and I can't fathom how some girls have been dreaming of this forever. I've also re-discovered how much I dislike being in any kind of spotlight. I truly find it stressful and disconcerting to have people gushing over me and asking me piles of questions. I can't wait until all of this is just normal news. I'm most looking forward to Dec. 30, and our life that follows after that. This past year with Josh has been good, but it has definitely been frustrating and challenging to juggle both our busy schedules. I have my looong days and commutes to USD and Josh has his 2 billion music activities. Between the two of us, often the only time we have toether is a few minutes late at night, and then random bits of time during the weekend when we're both exhausted. So what I'm really looking forward to is getting to spend more of those rare in-between minutes together, and not all of them when it's dark outside!

I think there's about 10 minutes left in the day. If we make it safely past 6-6-06, then next on the agenda is a trip to Ontario this weekend for my cousin's wedding. A trip to the motherland! Klassna! (that's Russian for "cool," which I thought I'd use instead of the stereotypical "eh.")