But I Still Can't Do a Bar Mitzvah

It has been 353 days since New Year's Day 2011. That's a lot of sunrises, sunsets, breakfasts, lunches and dinners. It's a lot of cups of coffee, a lot of shaving and showering and shampooing, of trips to the grocery store and the gas station, of glasses of wine and, if you've been lucky, lots of kisses hello and goodbye.


There are only 12 days left in 2011 to reflect on the past year. What happened? What did you do? Who did you meet? What did you learn? What did you do that you had never done before? I love creating this kind of little introspective-retrospective every year (although, to be fair, I am both a little nerdy and extremely easily amused). 


I'm still reflecting on what I did this year. I have been hard at work on explanations, excuses, rationalizations and revisionist histories, so I don't know exactly how 2011's story is going to look when I'm finished, but I do know one event that will definitely make the final cut: I officiated at a wedding.

Yes, you read that right: I officiated at a wedding. A while back, on what was admittedly a bit of a whim, I was ordained via the internet by the Universal Life Church, which authorizes me to legally perform marriage ceremonies. (Really. I checked. Multiple times.)  


So when a woman I know asked me to officiate at her wedding, naturally, I said "Yes."  Once the panic subsided and I phoned the county clerk (again) to make sure my credentials were in order, I began rehearsing the vows they had written. The day arrived, the bride was beautiful, the groom was beaming, the vows were recited, the rings were exchanged, and everybody clapped at their first kiss. 

After the ceremony, I completed the marriage certificate and then hand-carried it down to the courthouse and watched as the Clerk recorded it (o.k., that was clearly an overabundance of caution, but hey--it was my first time). 


Three hundred and fifty-three days ago, on January 1, 2011, I never, ever, ever imagined that I'd be signing a marriage certificate. Which makes me wonder...what in the world will I find myself doing in 2012? I'll keep you posted. 


Related posts: Resolutions You Can Keep
                          Oh, I Can Do This

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