marriage factory

last weekend the fiance and i got our marriage license. a little piece of paper that says that now we are allowed to legally be married in the state of california. very exciting. we were warned that the county clerk's office was very busy on saturday because hey, guess what? most people work all day during the week. so we got to the office and there were a ton of couples there. the great thing about the county clerk's office is that you can not only get a license there, but you can get married! yup, a short 3 minute ceremony and you're married. they even offer four marriage "packages". for a $100 you just get married and get a keepsake marriage certificate. but for package D for $150, you get a photo AND a video AND a commemorative pen. a good deal if you ask me. john and i were tempted to do it and take the wedding money and run, but we knew my parents would track us down and murder us. murder's a strong word so i MAY be exaggerating. but you get the point.

the saddest part of the county clerk's office? the overwhelming number of pregnant girls waiting to be married. there were quite a few couples like that. oh, and john loved the number of guys with trucker hats who were chewing gum as they went into the tiny marriage rooms. when they came out they were still chewing gum but generally looked a bit happier. or so i like to think.