Happy 4th!

Happy  4th of July, a holiday I'd appreciate more if we didn't have a 75# german shepherd who is traumatized by fireworks (and our oven).  The neighborhood fireworks began Sunday afternoon, and Kimber promptly found a way to flee the backyard.  Luckily, he adopted two women who were walking around the lake we live on and followed them home.  They called, and we found the three of them sitting happily on their front porch.  They had her on a leash, a smart move since the last time she escaped and adopted another family, after they called and we arrived to pick her up, they opened the door, thinking she'd run joyously to see us again.  She ran joyously all right--just not in our direction, and the search resumed.  Every night since Sunday, Kimber refuses to leave the house after about 7:30 p.m.  Booms seem to be constant, and she's not taking any chances.  At least, we've learned what a strong bladder she has.  Today there will be a big fireworks display over the lake, so we'll give her a tranquilizer.  She'll look like Droopy or Deputy Dawg, but she'll be calm for the night.

There is good news on the marriage front.  The websites I'd found that included copies of the Iowa marriage license application form all said that applicants had to appear in person to file.  That meant that the trip to Iowa would be at least four days, given the three-day waiting period to pick up the license.  A four-day, 250 mile trip may not sound that difficult, but given that I crash every three or four hours and never know when or how often I'm going to need a bathroom, it sounded rather formidable.  But an old-fashioned call to the Polk County recorder's office revealed that the form (three pages, not the one page which I had found on other sites) could be submitted by mail.  I downloaded the form, and the next friend who visits us is going to be shanghaied to the nearest notary public, since we need the signature of a "disinterested party," and that signature, like ours, must be notarized.  Once the form is duly signed and notarized, I'll mail it, and then after three days the license will be ready and valid for the next six months.

I think we'll drive up on a Tuesday later this month.  On Wednesday we can pick up the license and perhaps take the hour trip to my hometown.  A tour of important places there from my childhood should take about thirty minutes (it's not a big town), and we can visit the graves of my parents and my maternal grandparents who are buried there.  Maybe we can find some good Norwegian food (that's an oxymoron) or least some authentic kumla.  And then on Thursday we can have the actual ceremony and drive back to Topeka.  All this sounds much more manageable--a shorter trip and just one thing to do each day. 

For some reason, BlogSpot will no longer allow me to publish an entry without a title for the post.  I'm not sure why, after over 170 posts, there's the new policy, but without a title, I can hit 'publish' as often as I want with no results.