Choosing the Day

When we last left off, and I apologize for the delay but the boys and I have just returned from a trek to the Great White North to visit the West-Coast portion of our family, I’d just proposed to The Canadian Gal.

And she’d laughed.

Not one to be put off by women laughing at me I pushed on.

“Are you laughing at me?” I said with what might have been mock incredulousness (and there’s no way to know as I refuse to look up the definition for incredulous).

“Are you serious?” she asked.

There was a little more back-and-forth banter during which I’m sure “Yes” was murmured at least once. (There’s really no other way to explain the fact we’re now married. And I have a definite memory of hearing the six-year-old squeal with delight.) 

I called my mother to tell her the news and without missing a beat she said, “I want to come!” This surprised me and caused me a bit of concern. I was surprised as I find it hard to believe anybody ever wants to go to a wedding. I was concerned as the folks like more than 2500 miles away from Vancouver and, you know, it’s sort of inconvenient.

The Canadian Gal and I had discussed a couple of dates I already had plane tickets for – one in late June and another in mid-July. As luck would have it the June date had been set up as my parents were going to be getting off a cruise ship in Vancouver then; they were returning from an Alaskan cruise to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. This made the June date very appealing.

Another reason June seemed like the best choice (past I couldn’t wait) is that the July date was when the boys and I had planned to go up for vacation. The Canadian and I were afraid if we pushed things back that far it would give us, and interested parties, too much time to plan. There was also the fear that… wait, let me do a dramatic re-enactment of a web chat we had going.

The Canadian Gal and I were on webcams and her phone rang. It was her sister calling to congratulate her. During the course of their conversation the sister asked how we chose the date.

“We’d considered July,” she said, “but The American and his boys are coming up then for vacation. We’re afraid if we have it then the wedding might overshadow vacation plans and there might be a lot of extra people here. It’s the first time all the kids will be together and we want it to be just the 10 of us.”

And then she laughed at how it sounded. “That’s right. Just the ten of us!”

I wasn’t worried. It wasn’t maniacal laughing or evil-genius laughing. Just good, old-fashioned happy laughing with a bit of can you believe how that sounds? thrown in.

The Proposal

“Do you think my mother should get married again?” It was The Canadian Gal’s six-year-old; she drew the words slowly and with genuine curiosity.

“I don’t know,” I said, trying to be playful, “what do you think? Should your mother get married again?’

“I think she should get married again,” she said, giving her mother and me a look before bounding off.

And that was good to know. The Canadian gal and I had been talking about getting married for a while. We’d casually introduced the idea to our children, over the previous months, to get a sense of what they were thinking and they all seemed on board.

However, we’d never discussed dates and I wasn’t not sure what she had in mind.  Due to some things going on in her life I’d assumed it would be after the new year.  Certainly after October.  I was a fan of as close to October as possible -- after all, it was several months closer than “after the new year.”

During one of our conversations The Canadian Gal suggested that waiting for October wasn’t really a concern.

So we had that.

And then of course the do-you-think-my-mother-should-get-married-again conversation.

And so it was I gave The Canadian Gal a call from my home in Ohio, my most recent trip to the Great White North just a day or two in the past. We talked for a couple of minutes and she said, “My youngest is eager to talk with you.” This wasn’t a surprise, I typically talked with a child or two whenever I called.

“Put her on,” I said.

And the youngest said, “Are you calling to ask my mother an important question?”

“What kind of important question?”

“You know the kind of important question I’m talking about.”

“I don’t know,” I said, “let me speak to her for a moment.”

The phone was passed back and I paused for a second. “Would you like to marry me?” I asked.

She didn’t pause at all.

She laughed.

(And I’ll have more on this later.)

 

Technorati Tags: Canadians Marrying Americans,Americans Marrying Canadians,The Proposal,Proposing

Wedding Photos

Let’s see, it’s been more than a week since I’ve been married. A better blogger would have had some photos up by now. What can I say? The wife has been keeping me busy since the wedding… if you know what I mean.

And if by “if you know what I mean” you think I mean “the two of you have been doing a lot of web chatting,” then you and I are on the same page. She and I, after all, live 2,500 miles apart for the time being. In two different countries (sort of, they’re very similar… Canada and my part of the US).

Anyway, how about some wedding photos.

Pre-wedding. My Dad and I show off the ice we scored to The Canadian Gal.

My Dad and one of my Sons, who would later be Best Man/Ring Bearer. He’d remove the hat for the wedding.

By the end of the day I’d be part owner of two parakeets (budgies).

And a dog that can double as a dust mop.

And another mini-van. This one has heated leather seats and that luggage thing on the top. Oh, and a CD player.

I look like a spy or a big nerd in any wedding photo I’m in. In this one I look like a spy (if you were thinking “this is a ‘nerd’ one,” hang on… it gets worse). In this photo, our Wedding Commissioner, The Canadian Gal, and Bond… James Bond (don’t laugh… I could kill you with that recipe card I’m holding in my hands).

Prior to the ceremony I did 15 minutes of standup. Reviews were mixed but the audience was attentive. [Some of the attendees (mostly relatives.)]

One where I look like a nerd. My nerdiness is accentuated as I’m in the company of a fine-looking group of non-nerds.

You may be wondering, “where did all the kids come from in these last two photos?” The bride is providing a clue with her left hand.

Nerd and The Bride

The Canadian Gal, unsure of whether I’d look like a nerd or a spy later, thought she’d start drinking so it wouldn’t matter so much to her. (You nerds know what I’m talking about here.)

  The Bride and The Spy. My parents,  33% of my biological children, 100% of hers… I’ll let you sort out which kids go with what side of the family.

(My Name Is) Earl, The Canadian Gal and 20% of her biological children.

  My Son and I are hanging out at the airport in Minnesota. We’re on our way back home.

 

Technorati Tags: Canada,United States,Canadians Marrying Americans,Americans Marrying Canadians

Vacationing in Vancouver

The boys, and you’ll recall I have three between the ages of 11 and 15, will be leaving for Vancouver in a week. We’ll be flying into Seattle as it is sooo much cheaper to do that than it is to fly straight into Vancouver. The four of us can make the roundtrip flight to Seattle for $640 (that’s $160 each) – roundtrip to Vancouver was something better than $2,000.

My new wife, The Canadian Gal, will meet us at SeaTac and whisk us away to the Peace Arch Border Crossing and, finally, Surrey.

This is how it will look to the Canadian Border Patrol.

An American who has just married a Canadian is trying to cross the border with his three boys.

It doesn’t sound complicated or dangerous does it? However, I’ve been advised, and read, that is could be a problem unless I take certain precautions.

Before I go any further, let me say I’m not arguing against the process. After all, I’m sure the rules/regulations/precautions are in place as someone had tried something in the past to make them necessary.

I’ve been told the Canadian Border Patrol (and we’ll call them CBP) will likely want some sort of assurance that I intend on returning to the United States. After all, I’ve just married a Canadian and I’m bringing my three boys for a visit. For all they know I may have every intention of crossing the border and disappearing into the Great White North with my boys – all without their mother’s knowledge.

With this in mind we’ll take with us:

• A letter from the ex giving me permission to take the boys to Canada. We share joint custody, and I didn’t get one when the boys and I went to the Bahamas but, at that time, there wasn’t going to be any sort of announcement that I was going to visit a wife of mine who was not their mother.
• A couple of bills to prove I have roots in the United States. (This is an odd one to me. What if the bill I have is the final bill from whatever company it’s from? You know, now that I think about it, if anybody can track you down it’s someone you owe money to – maybe the CBP wants to know you’re carrying a little debt so they won’t be the only ones looking for you should you overstay your welcome.)
• My most-recent paycheck.
• And, just to be safe, a note from my mom. Mom’s don’t lie, after all.

I could be making the bit up about a note from my mom, and it seems I’ve left something off the list.

So, why tell the CBP we’re going to visit my wife and their step mother? Why not say “we’re coming up to visit a friend”?  Well, lying is wrong. And in any case I’m not good at it. Not to mention getting caught in a lie like this probably wouldn’t do us any good. (And I can’t trust my kids to keep quite.)

The Canadian Gal and I have both called our respective Border Patrol Teams up at the Peach Arch and we really don’t expect any problems. However, you don’t want to find you’re poorly prepared when you’re 2,500 miles from home and a mere 10 from your vacation destination.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

Technorati Tags: Canadians Marrying Americans,Americans Marrying Canadians,Surrey BC,British Columbia,Vancouver,Vacation in Canada

I’m getting Married

To a Canadian.

Which is not a big deal if you, yourself, are Canadian, but it is a little more work if you’re an American. Especially if the two of you lived 2500 miles apart when you "met.”

But I’m getting a little bit ahead of where I want to be right now.

I’m a divorced father of three boys. She’s a divorced mother of three girls.

The whole thing would be very Brady Bunch except for two things… the girls are all brunettes, so we’re sort of foiled with respect to the “They all had hair of gold,” lyric. And she also has two boys, so we’ve got more of an Eight is Enough thing working.

Eight children.

It sounds like a lot. However, if you consider that $1.20 Canadian is equal to $1.00 American these days, it’s not hard to imagine five children Canadian are the equivalent of four children American.

Not that it matters. Seven. Eight. We’ll still need to take two cars when we go places.

Technorati Tags: Blended Family,Blended Families,Eight is Enough,The Brady Bunch,Canada,United States